Cleveland/Northeast Ohio : Innovation + Job News

No doctor wants a cure that's worse than the problem it treats. In the case of traditional radiation therapy for cancer patients, internal organs affected by cancer can shift, causing radiation to be directed accidentally to healthy tissue.

"The problem is," says Greg Ayers, president and CEO of Oakwood Village-based ViewRay, "if you scan continuously, you will kill the patient by imaging him."

ViewRay, which moved to northeastern Ohio two years ago from Florida, believes it has found a better way. The company, with assistance from the Ohio Third Frontier, is in the final development stages of a new process that combines magnetic resonance imaging and radiotherapy that Ayers says allows clinicians to see where the radiation is being delivered throughout the treatment. The technology is designed to reduce side affects and improve the treatment of patients with all sorts of cancer.

"What the MR imaging allows is for continuously watching that tumor and shutting off the radiation or adapting the radiation depending on the tumor's location," Ayers says.

Ayres is hoping to see a product in the marketplace within the next year to year and a half. But already, the work being done at ViewRay is drawing attention. Last month, NorTech -- the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition -- and Crain's Cleveland Business, recognized ViewRay's advancements with a NorTech Innovation Award. The honor is given to businesses and other organizations that "transform technical and scientific knowledge into novel products, services and processes that result in a positive economic impact."

Ayers says his company moved to Ohio from Gainesville because of the Cleveland area's long-time expertise in MR technology and workforce knowledge. Since arriving, the company has increased its employee base from two to 49.

Source: Greg Ayers, ViewRay
Writer: Gene Monteith

When Kent Displays launched Improv Electronics as a new business unit Jan. 21, the company expected its first direct-to-consumer product to be popular. What it didn't expect was that, in a matter of days, its U.S. distributor -- Amazon.com -- would be sold out.

Buyers are boogieing toward what, at first glance, is a big step up from the Magna Doodle and giant leap from the Magic Slate -- that plastic-over-wax tablet that kids once used to sketch animals and nasty notes to siblings.

It's the Boogie Board, and unlike lower-tech, paperless writing tablets, it capitalizes on Kent Displays' "ReflexTM, no power LCD technology."

"The image is completely produced by the ambient light reflecting off of the display," explains Kevin Oswald, Kent Displays' communications director. "And because it reflects off of the display, there's no power required. When you write on it, that writing will stay on there indefinitely until I push the erase button."

The company sees the Boogie Board as an alternative to sticky notes, memo pads, and other paper-intensive writing tools. At half the size of a steno pad, it can fit into a purse, briefcase, or backpack.

People with physical disabilities might also find the Boogie Board useful, Oswald says. "If you've got a speech problem due to an injury or a birth defect, this is a board you can write on."

Oswald declined to say how many of the units have been sold, but said the company is working to keep supplies ahead of demand. In the meantime, the new product has contributed to a boost in employment from 60 last fall to more than 75 now.

Source: Kevin Oswald, Kent Displays
Writer: Gene Monteith

Parker Hannifin is known worldwide for manufacturing valves, fittings, hoses and dozens of other products.

The Cleveland-based company can now add another product to its catalog. Sometime this year, the company is expected to launch its line of high-speed brakes for wind turbines, similar to those used in helicopters.

Although the company is already well established � with more than 50,000 employees (4,000 in Ohio) and a 90-year history � Parker Hannifin is getting some serious support for this new economy project.

The company was awarded $1 million for the Ohio Wind Turbine Brake Commercialization project from the state's Third Frontier initiative and is working with other agencies, including Case Western Reserve University.

Spokesman Aidan Gormley says as many as 40 high-paying technology-based jobs will be added over the next six years, thanks to the company's new line.

The company is modeling the wind turbine technology off of its current helicopter brake experience. The part will be manufactured at its Aircraft Wheel and Brake Division in Avon � one of 30 Parker plants in Ohio.

"This is simply an adaptation and integration of our existing technology capabilities into solutions for a new and rapidly expanding market." Gormley says, adding that the company is moving toward the development of more energy efficient technologies � including geothermal, ocean energy, fuel cell, solar and hydropower applications.

"Parker believes that Ohio has a tremendous opportunity to grow its economy by building on the strengths of its existing business base in advanced energy technologies."

Source: Aidan Gormley, Parker Hannifin
Writer: Colin McEwen

It can take as long as 24 hours to detect toxins (ranging from E-coli to anthrax) and the people affected could be long gone by the time lab technicians and health departments figure it out. Thanks to new technology, that may all change.

Crystal Diagnostics � with its parent company Pathogen Systems Inc. � is working to develop liquid crystal biosensors to detect pathogens in real-time, instead of a day.

The detection device � jointly invented by researchers at Kent State University and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in Rootstown � combines both liquid crystal technology and antibody research to find harmful pathogens.

Work at the Crystal Diagnostics Applied Research Laboratory on the campus of NEOUCOM is ongoing. And plans are in motion to move into Centennial Park at KSU for manufacturing the device.

As the project grows, so will the local workforce.

Walter E. Horton Jr., NEOUCOM's vice president for research, said there are a total of 15 full-time positions at Crystal Diagnostics, and that when the device goes "live" there could be a dozen jobs added immediately.

"We see this as one of the innovation success in Ohio," says Horton, who also oversees the millions of dollars the company has received from the Ohio Third Frontier initiative in the last two years. "We have two public entities � Kent State and NEOUCOM � working together. This is exactly the direction this state wants to go."

"This company is based in Colorado, but (Pathogen Systems) saw a real benefit of moving to Northeast Ohio, because of the support of the Third Frontier and because of the regional success in terms of biomedical innovation," he says.

Source: Walter E. Horton Jr.
Writer: hiVelocity staff

As founder of the American Migraine Center, Bahman Guyuron sees about 3,000 migraine sufferers per year. Potential treatments range from pain medications and Botox injections to full-blown surgery, the latter of which Dr. Guyuron pioneered as Chair of the Department of Plastic Surgery at University Hospitals.

But not all of his patients desire medication or are good candidates for surgical intervention. For those migraine sufferers, the doctor developed a portable heating and cooling device that relieves pain on contact. "The efficacy of heating and cooling therapy in alleviating pain has been recognized for years within the medical community and amongst patients," explains Guyuron.

Along with Brad Pulver, the doctor founded Innovative Medical Equipment, the Cleveland-based company that sells the SootheAway Thermal Therapy System. Unlike traditional heat and ice packs, which are messy, clumsy and inconsistent, this small device -- it measures in at just 11 inches by four inches by four inches -- circulates thermostatically controlled water through therapeutic pads. Various pads target specific areas of the body, such as the forehead, eyes and neck.

Started just six months ago with two principles, Innovative Medical recently launched a website and is already filling orders from around the country.

"We're growing rapidly," says Pulver. "We are already up to five employees, and will be adding sales and marketing staff soon."

As SootheAway expands into other markets, namely orthopedics, physical therapy, and pre- and post-surgical, additional jobs will likely follow.

The company also markets Laser-Seal, a gel-based wound dressing that Guyuron invented.

Sources: Brad Pulver and Bahman Guyuron, Innovative Medical Equipment
Writer: Douglas Trattner

The Garland Company began manufacturing and marketing environmentally-conscious roofing and flooring solutions long before the term "sustainable design" became stylish. Today, sustainability is Garland doctrine.

The company that began with just one employee more than 100 years ago now employs more than 500 people across 12 sister companies under the umbrella organization of Garland Industries Inc.

Founded in 1895 as an oil, grease and paint supplier, Garland today is 100 percent employee-owned, manufacturing high-performance products for commercial, industrial and public properties.

The product line includes reflective, modified bitumen, metal, vegetative and photovoltaic solutions.

"Garland is at the forefront of our industry in the area of sustainable technology for the total building envelope," says Tom Bauer, a Garland Company product Manager. "We've built our entire family of technologies around the belief that longevity is the primary attribute of sustainable design."

Garland's earliest vegetative roofs were introduced to the market in 1991. And in 2008 the company launched "Garland Greenhouse" branding to identify its growing family of sustainable offerings.

Last year, Garland was recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in Northeast Ohio, receiving the Weatherhead Centurion award from the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management and the Council Of Smaller Enterprises.

Bauer says there are no plans to leave the area.

"(Cleveland) has been hospitable to the numerous expansions we have undertaken over the years," he says. "We have been fortunate enough to have benefited at times from various economic development initiatives offered by the city, and (we) are proud to call Cleveland our home."

Sources: Michelle Sweitzer and Tom Bauer, The Garland Company
Writer: Colin McEwen

More than $1 billion in venture capital has been invested in northeast Ohio companies during the past five years -- a commitment to growing firms that, in time, could result in more than 40,000 jobs.

Not just that, but 2009 seed funding for the newest northeast Ohio firms was the highest in four years.

That's the lowdown as presented Tuesday by the Venture Capital Advisory Task Force, a group of regional venture community members who have been formally tracking such investments since 2006.

While the report isn't all rosy -- total venture capital investment was down significantly between 2008 and 2009 -- VC leaders said they're encouraged by the fact that 2009 seed stage investment -- $18 million spread among 27 companies -- is rising while national numbers remain flat. They call it a sign that state job-creation programs are working.

The regional task force report shows that the largest single investment sector in northeast Ohio was in healthcare, in which $729 million was invested in 69 companies. The second largest sector was "cleantech," in which 33 companies benefited from $115 in equity capital.

Cathy Belk, chief marketing officer for Jumpstart, a venture development organization that accelerates the progress of early-stage businesses in northeast Ohio, says the report demonstrates the important role the Ohio Third Frontier, the Ohio Investment Tax Credit Program and the Ohio Capital Fund have played in growing Ohio jobs. She says it also points to the need to keep those funding sources available for future entrepreneurs.

The report mirrors an announcement by the Ohio Third Frontier Tuesday that seed and early stage investments in Ohio increased by 67 percent in 2008 while national numbers declined about 20 percent.

Source: Cathy Belk, Jumpstart, and wire sources
Writer: Gene Monteith

Stem cell research is a hot topic, both scientifically and politically, and nowhere is it hotter than at the Center for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine in Cleveland.

Founded in 2003 with a $19.4-millon Ohio Third Frontier grant as a Wright Center of Innovation, CSCRM now conducts research that may someday lead to new treatments for cancer and all sorts of blood, neurodegenerative, musculoskeletal, orthopedic and cardiovascular disorders.

"The center has a huge amount of intelligence behind it," says Director Stan Gerson. "We have about 90 investigators with funding. It's fair to argue that we have as many different types of stem cells in clinical trials as anywhere in the world."

The center is not one entity, but a collaboration of six: Case Western Reserve University, The Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, The Ohio State University and Athersys, Inc., a leading company in development of therapeutic stem cell treatments.

CSCRM has continually received support for its work from the State of Ohio, including an additional $8-million award in 2006 from Ohio's Biomedical Research and Commercialization Program and a $5-million award last June from the Ohio Third Frontier Commission.

Despite progress being made, Gerson cautions that cures arising from stem cell research may not come as quickly as some would like.

"If you've heard of early phase technology, this is it," he says. Creating new drugs from stem cells "is a 25-year process."

In early December, the National Institutes of Health announced approval of 13 new cell lines for study using tax dollars.

"It's going to be very helpful to us to have access to additional cell lines," Gerson says.

Source: Stan Gerson, Center for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine
Writer: Gene Monteith

Novolyte Technologies blew the candles out a little early to mark its first year in business, but the eagerness could be well understood: There was plenty to celebrate.

The manufacturer of products such as lithium battery electrolytes hired five people in Ohio (14 worldwide) in its first year, added $561,000 to the local payroll and plans to invest $750,000 at its Independence headquarters in 2010.

Spun off of from the chemical division of Ferro Corp., Novolyte consists of two business platforms: energy storage products (battery materials) and performance materials, says CEO Edward Frindt.

Among the uses for the performance materials are solvents and other specialty materials for pharmaceuticals, agricultural, coatings, inks and gas scrubbing. Frindt is also excited about the company's new green product line.

Those products are shaped at the Independence location, which doubles as a headquarters and a research/development facility.

Novolyte was awarded a $20.6-million grant from the Department of Energy and a $1.2-million Ohio Third Frontier Grant for the company's work on the "electrification of the auto industry."

"The company built its reputation on quality and service through custom manufacturing and established a loyal customer base by consistently meeting specific technical requirements," Frindt says.

Novolyte employes about 165 people, with 24 people in Independence, 90 at its Baton Rouge, La., facility and about another 50 at the company's plant in China.

"We have added 14 jobs in 2009, five in Ohio, during one of the worst recessions in several generations as we have continued to fund our growth plans," Frindt says.

Source: Edward Frindt, Novolyte
Writer: Colin McEwen

Akron's Steve Washington based his business on a simple, but previously overlooked concept: offer financial services to people who want to invest, but have limited funds and might not know where to start.

Washington, a finance instructor at the University of Akron with a background in investment banking, last year launched Member Share Saving Network, reaching out to young workers, minorities and women looking to invest in their futures. The company is a division of SaveDaily.com, Inc., which aims to offer low cost financial services through an online asset management platform. Members Share currently has four employees.

"We offer services to unserved and underserved investment markets, using technology that significantly reduces the cost of the delivering services," Washington explained. "We are micro-investing small amounts of money the same way wealthy people invest large amounts."

The majority of the company's 7,400 clients are in Ohio, but investors from 43 states have become part of the Member Share Saving Network.

Washington said less wealthy investors are a large market that is just beginning to be tapped. And though Member Share is a business, it has a greater mission as well.

"It's estimated that 70- to 80-million people are outside the traditional investment or retirement apparatus in this country," he said. "It's a good business � but it's also socially important that as many people as possible participate in retirement planning for their own good, their families and the country as a whole to lessen the pressure on social security and other social services.

Source: Steve Washington, CEO Member Share Network
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

FirstEnergy has taken a 92-acre first step toward developing a massive natural gas and compressed-air power plant near Akron.

But this certainly isn't your mother's power plant. The recently purchased site in Norton would employ technology that compresses air through a turbine when demand is low at night, and release it during the day when demand is at its highest. And it could prove to be capable of producing as much electricity as three nuclear reactors.

FirstEnergy also bought the rights to a 600-acre abandoned underground limestone mine. FirstEnergy spokeswoman Ellen Raines says the high-tech system could be combined with renewable energy technologies.

"The wind blows when the wind blows and the sun shines when the sun shines," Raines says. "If you can combine those intermittent energies with storage, the storage acts like a large battery."

There are only other two such facilities in the world � one in Alabama and the other in Germany. But Raines says with the potential to produce as much as 2,700 megawatts, the mine in Norton would be much larger. To put that in perspective, one megawatt serves approximately 600 homes.

Raines says there is no timetable set when the plant would become operational. Nor is there a firm figure of jobs the mine would create.

"This has enormous potential down the road," she says. "People have looked at this Norton mine for decades to see how it could be used. We're just very happy to have purchased these rights to take advantage of this when the time is right."

Source: Ellen Raines, FirstEnergy
Writer: Colin McEwen

Words like "milking" and "feedlot" might be most commonly associated with a cow pasture. But for Highland Heights-based Phycal, something else comes to mind: Algae.

The burgeoning bio-tech company is developing a production system for growing algae and extracting its energy � converting its oil to biodiesel. That finished product can be used as drop-in replacements to diesel, jet-fuel and other energy products.

Phycal's extraction process, Olexal, continuously milks oil from algae without dewatering and recycles the living algae back to ponds, says Jeffrey Bargiel, Phycal's business development specialist. "We call it milking because we milk the cow rather than killing it," he says.

That variety of innovation has drawn lots of attention. The Wall Street Journal called 2009 "The Year of Algae." Both Crain's and Business Week featured the up-and-coming Phycal. "We've been laying low," Bargiel says. "We can't keep ourselves hidden any longer."

Phycal has a research facility in St. Louis, and plans for pilot facility in Hawaii. There are about 25 positions at the company's Ohio location (where there are two 40-foot ponds for research and development), but the workforce continues to grow.

And so does the algae.

Source: Jeffrey Bargiel
Writer: Colin McEwen

Electricity in places like Appalachia and the deserts of the Middle East can be somewhat scarce. But with a little help from Cleveland-based Technology Management Inc., those places could be led from the dark.

"What would your life by like without 24/7 electricity � 24/7 availability?" asks TMI CEO/President Benson Lee, who is also the founder. "There are many people who know what that's like."

TMI has been developing modular, solid-oxide fuel-cell systems since 1990, but the company isn't satisfied with simply using natural gas as its fuel. The company employs a chemical process converting "ordinary" fuel into electricity, using what's available in a specific area. In Ohio, soybeans and corn are choice.

There are only a handful of companies in the world using "ordinary" fuel-cell systems. "We are the only ones in the world with Ohio in the address," Lee says.

Companies like Lockheed Martin have taken notice. So have other big supporters, including the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture and the EPA.

"Having someone in the bleachers always helps," Lee says. "The typical technology company starts by pushing, and eventually the market starts getting it. We think we're seeing that happen now with fuel cells."

The portably designed device could be parachuted into places like the front lines of the Middle East. "If we can use it in Afghanistan, we can use it in places like Appalachia."

Currently, there are 14 people employed with TMI. "We decided to be the nimble, fast-moving entrepreneurial group."

Source: Benson Lee
Writer: Colin McEwen

About 100 years ago, 20 percent of Cleveland's population was composed of immigrants. Those entrepreneurial and innovative minds helped shape the Rockefeller-run city. Today, Cleveland's immigrant population has sunk to 4 percent.

TiE Ohio is hoping to reverse that trend.

The organization (founded in the 1990s in Silicon Valley) is filling a niche in Northeast Ohio's business-development landscape by focusing on immigrant and minority entrepreneurs within the region � and encouraging others to consider Ohio as a destination for new businesses.

The Ohio chapter of TiE (The International Entrepreneur) is the 50th out of 53 worldwide and celebrated its one-year anniversary in October. So far, so good.

While the chapter covers the entire state, most members are based in Northeast Ohio. Every month, 113 members of TiE Ohio meet at the organization's Cleveland office to socialize. And talk shop.

R�ka Barab�s, the executive director of TiE Ohio, says networking is key, but the organization also provides support to up-and-coming entrepreneurs through mentoring and business education programs.
But, why Cleveland?

"If you think about what the made the U.S. great -- and Cleveland for that matter -- it was immigrant entrepreneurs," she says. "If you came to the US to pursue your dreams, you were a risk taker� When the immigrant population is gone, you lose that fresh, entrepreneurial spirit."

There are plenty of opportunities to re-create a lively economy in Ohio, with a burgeoning medical and technology base. And the potential for lots of additional jobs.

"We certainly hope that will be the ripple effect of what we do," Barab�s says. "In our first year, we are just trying to promote international entrepreneurship."

Source: R�ka Barab�s
Writer: Colin McEwen

CardioInsight Technologies takes its work to heart. Literally.

The Cleveland-based company is working to develop the first non-invasive, real-time, beat-to-beat simultaneous mapping solution for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure.

And with heart disease as the leading cause of death worldwide, there is certainly a market for CardioInsight's work.

Headquartered at University Hospitals of Cleveland, CardioInsight has taken tremendous strides lately, including its involvement in a number of trials and its movement toward a commercial trial for its technology called Electrocardiographic Mapping.

The technology -- which takes non-invasive images of the heart's surface -- was developed at Case Western Reserve University.

The mapping and localization technology could be critical to ongoing efforts to improve the diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions, company officials say. The ECM will provide detailed cardiac electrical activity information for the entire epicardial surface of the heart for each heartbeat by combining body surface electrical data simultaneously with 3-D anatomical data obtained from CT scans.

Officials say ECM fills the gaps where current cardiac mapping falls short -- including simultaneous, beat-by-beat mapping and making the entire process quicker.

CardioInsight was quietly founded in May 2006 as a collaborative enterprise by Dr. Charu Ramanathan and Dr. Ping Jia, Case Western Reserve University, Jumpstart Inc. and Draper Triangle Ventures.

There are now 14 people employed with the company including contractors and researchers, says CardioInsight spokesperson Norma Simione. The technology has been evaluated extensively in animal studies and more than 75 human studies. Stay tuned.

Source: Norma Simione
Writer: Colin McEwen