cleveland/northeast ohio : Innovation + Job News

Catacel Corp. exists because William Whittenberger and two colleagues didn't want to move to Alabama.

Based in Garrettsville, Catacel -- an innovator in the fuel cell, hydrogen, gas-to-liquid, petrochemical and aerospace industries -- is the offspring of Camet, a Hiram-based company that made its name developing and manufacturing emission control products made from coated metal foils.

Camet was purchased by W.R. Grace in 1993, and then by Engelhard in 1998. Then, in 2000, the decision was made to move most of Camet to Alabama.

"A few of us said we didn't want to move to Alabama," says Whittenberger, Catacel's president. "The team was here. We knew all about the metal foil business, and we said what shall we do?"

The answer was to establish Catacel. Now the three are using what they knew about metal foils and catalytic coatings to supply crucial materials for hydrogen fuel cells, heat-exchange systems and industrial hydrogen production.

The company ended fiscal 2009 with an 86 percent growth in employment, a 50-percent increase in work space and a 72-percent increase in revenues. Commercial sales for Catacel increased from $900,000 in 2008 to just under $2 million this year.

Along the way, Catacel has benefited from nearly $5 million in Ohio Third Frontier grants, a recent $250,000 investment commitment by JumpStart Inc., and its own investments of more than $2 million.

The company employs 20 "but we're getting ready to hire more," Whittenberger says.

Source: William Whittenberger, Catacel
Writer: Gene Monteith

More than 40 years ago, researchers at Kent State University had an idea that liquid crystals could revolutionize modern technology. The soft, yet fluid, crystals could be aligned by electric charges, and voil� � crystal clear displays.

The idea was scoffed at � even ridiculed. Glenn Brown, the lead researcher on the project, was thought of as "crazy." But other Kent State researchers signed on. That mad-professor technology has morphed from a brilliant idea to a homegrown LCD Kent-made wristwatch, and into technology that has shaped the last few decades.

Modern televisions, cell phones and laptop computers are just a few of the products that simply could not exist without the innovation of the KSU Liquid Crystal Institute, says director Oleg Lavrentovich. He estimates that just last year the liquid crystal industry � for flat panel TVs alone � was worth about $140 billion. There are an estimated 1,000 jobs in Ohio related to the technology, and "tens of thousands" more around the globe

"The success story is not associated with the number of people employed, but the increased quality of life," Lavrentovich says. "Just about everything that carries information uses liquid crystal displays."

In 2008, the institute hauled in about $17 million in research dollars from state and federal agencies, divided among liquid crystal researchers around Ohio.

"Scientific exploration can lead to enormous economy impact in just a couple of decades," Lavrentovich says. "The 1960s in Kent is an example of that. From the first (liquid crystal) wristwatch in Kent to a $140 billion industry is just an illustration� it's mind-blowing."

Source: Oleg Lavrentovich
Writer: HiVelocity Staff

A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a growing pipeline of "potential best-in-class therapeutics" with high-hopes of tackling issues such as heart attacks, obesity and cognitive disorders�

Sound too good to be true?

The drugs � although still in the clinical stages � are very real to Athersys.

Currently, the Cleveland-based company is continuing its enrollments in safety and efficacy trials of its adult stem-cell therapy MultiStem, for heart attack patients and for those who run the risk of rejecting bone marrow transplants. MulitStem is a biologic product manufactured from human stem cells obtained from adult bone marrow.

However, Athersys is also exploring other avenues of development including medicines for the treatment of metabolic and central nervous system disorders � utilizing proprietary technologies, including Random Activation of Gene Expression (RAGE).

While the company is still in the clinical phase of developing its pharmaceutical remedies, Ahtersys leaders remain optimistic.

"Based on our research to date, we believe that MultiStem may provide key benefits over current standards of care in the bone marrow transplantation area, as well as other areas such as heart attack, stroke and other ischemic neurological disorders," Athersys CEO Gil Van Bokkelen says in a recent statement to his shareholders.

Van Bokkelen co-founded Athersys in October 1995 and has served as its CEO and a director from the beginning. Just recently, he rang the NASDAQ closing bell in Times Square.

"In addition to advancing our clinical and preclinical programs, we remain actively engaged in partnering discussions involving multiple programs," Bokkelen says.

Source: Gil Van Bokkelen
Writer: Colin McEwen

Ohio is emerging as a national hub for the growth of minority and female-owned businesses as well as those in the inner city, says Cathy Belk.

Want evidence? Consider the choice of Cleveland for a Dec. 3 conference that is expected to draw 250 entrepreneurs from throughout the Midwest.

Belk, chief marketing officer for Jumpstart Inc. -- the northeast Ohio venture development organization that accelerates the progress of high growth early-stage businesses -- says the conference is unique in its focus.

"This is definitely the first of its kind in Cleveland which focuses on minority, female and inner city early stage companies and raising capital for them," she says.

Titled "Transforming the Landscape of Business in America: A Minority Business Early-Stage Capital Summit," the summit is a partnership between JumpStart, The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), The Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking, and The Marathon Club.

Two panels will feature expert angel investors and venture investors to help emerging companies understand what it takes to find capital.

Speakers will include Deborah Shufrin, senior vice president and director of programs, ICIC, who will focus on her organization's partnership with the Obama Administration in fulfilling the administration's Urban Strategy. Serial entrepreneur William Pickard will give the luncheon keynote address. Pickard organized the Detroit partners of the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit and owns a significant stake in five African-American newspapers, several automotive companies, and multiple McDonald's restaurant franchises.

The event also will feature investor pitch presentations, open to all attendees, from six of Northeast Ohio's most promising minority entrepreneurs.

For more information or to register, go here.

Source: Cathy Belk, Jumpstart Inc.
Writer: Gene Monteith

Hearts beat, lungs expand and patients squirm, all factors that can cause a magnetic resonance imaging machine to produce blurry images. And when it comes to detecting potentially cancerous tissues, a blurry MRI scan is not a good thing.

Quality Electrodynamics, located in Mayfield Village, is helping companies like Siemens and Toshiba produce machines that scan in a much shorter period of time, resulting in crisper, clearer images. Founded by Hiroyuki Fujita, QED manufactures the radio frequency coils that have made these machines the platinum standard of the industry.

"These machines are setting the standard for spatial resolution," explains Fujita, the company's president. "By producing better images of a patient's anatomy, we can find cancerous tissues that may be impossible to detect otherwise." QED crafts a variety of coils that are optimized for different parts of the body.

What began in a 300-square-foot incubator space at the Case Western Reserve University physics department is now a 27,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. In four short years, the company expanded from just two employees to more than 50. Things are going so well for QED, says Fujita, that he expects the company to double it staff in the next two years.

While Fujita deserves credit for the success of his company, he says that he couldn't have done it without help from the State of Ohio. "Without the Third Frontier grant for our business," he explains, "we never could have remained financially independent. Thanks to the state, we didn't have to raise any funds from venture capital companies."

Source: Hiroyuki Fujita, QED
Writer: Douglas Trattner

Paul Edmiston, a chemistry professor at Wooster College, had been working on his experimental, patented nano-glass for a few years but couldn't quite figure out a way to market a product.

But thanks to a chance encounter on an airplane this past January with entrepreneur Stephen Spoonamore, that all changed.

Since then, Absorbent Materials Company has exceeded both of their expectations, creating a workforce of nine and manufacturing two operational products -- with a few more in development. By year's end, the reactive glass company hopes to pad its staff by as many as 10 additional employees -- including sales, engineering and production positions -- as the business continues to expand.

The mainstay of ABS Materials' product line is Osorb, a stable engineered silica capable of swelling to absorb eight times its weight in liquids. One of ABS Materials' products, Osorb Water Mesh, separates dirty, toxic water mined as a byproduct to gas and oil, using Edmiston's hi-tech, patented embedded glass mesh.

Another, Iron-Osorb TCE, soaks up and remediates excess chemicals in the ground near commercial production facilities.

During initial conversations, Spoonamore recalls Edmiston saying "No one is taking me seriously."

"I took his science very seriously," says Spoonamore, now chief executive officer of the firm. "I recognized his brilliance."

The company now has a lab in Wooster, as well as a production facility and office. ABS Materials hopes to add some labs at the Ohio State University in the coming year.

For its innovative work, ABS Materials was awarded a GLIDE award from the state, initial funding from private investors and is working with two initial customers on recovery and remediation operations.

Source: Stephen Spoonamore, Absorbent Materials Company
Writer: Colin McEwen

In 1997, Bahman Taheri, Tamas Kosa and Peter Palffy were researchers at Kent State University's Liquid Crystal Institute. Then the U.S. Air Force came calling -- and the trio became businessmen.

The resulting company, AlphaMicron, Inc., set out to solve a nagging problem with the forward positioning of flight deck displays, says Kosa. Specifically, military pilots in a dogfight must always look forward, unable to turn their heads to look outside.

What if you projected the data on the inside of a pilot's visor instead? Problem one: No one had the technology to place a liquid crystal display on a curved surface like a visor. Problem two: The data needed to be visible even with the sun shining in the pilot's eyes. And it couldn't go dark if the pilot ejected.

"Our response was, let's start a company," says Kosa, now AlphaMicron's chief operating officer. (Taheri became AlphaMicron's chief executive officer and Palffy, who remains on staff at Kent State, is what Kosa describes as "a silent partner.")

AlphaMicron, based in Kent, solved the first problem by developing the world's only liquid crystal technology for curved surfaces. While the firm continues to perfect technology needed for a usable military visor, the 35-employee company is making waves with a line of "switchable" goggles that allow skiers and snowboarders to adjust to prevailing conditions.

Sun too bright? Push a button and dim your lenses. Sun behind a cloud? Push it again. Developed in collaboration with Uvex Sports in 2004, the goggles won a Popular Science "Best of What's New" award in 2004. Similar technology is now being used to commercialize switchable visors for other sports eyewear and motorcycle helmets, Kosa said.

Source: Tamas Kosa, AlphaMicron
Writer: Gene Monteith

As Ohio manufacturers, start-ups and individuals look to impact � and benefit from � the emerging green economy, an Akron-based company is developing a product to capture waste heat and solar thermal energy, converting it into electricity.

Today about 60 percent of heat generated by burning fossil fuels is wasted, released into the environment, according to two-year-old rexorce. And every day, the sun shines down enough thermal energy to power the world's demands for a year.

Now, rexorce -- A privately held company founded by CEO Philip Brennan and CTO Michael Gurin -- is developing the ThermafficientTM heat engine. This system recovers thermal energy from industrial and commercial waste heat, solar thermal, bottom and top cycling in power plants and other sources.

That energy, in turn is converted into electricity to power Ohio's homes and companies. The company has a growing intellectual property portfolio that protects the novel means by which their engine harvests heat and creates power, heat and shaft work.

The founders of rexorce describe their work as pursuing "profit with a purpose, by providing innovative solutions to the world's energy challenges." Its aim is to radically improve the way thermal energy is sourced, produced, distributed and consumed.

"The reason I got involved is because I have passion to help find a real solution to the energy challenge," Brennan said.

Individuals and companies are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of their activities, and increasingly are looking for ways to curb that impact. Now, rexorce has the potential to tap into a large area of wasted and renewal energy sources.

The company was founded April 1st, 2007 and employs 17 people, mostly engineers. The company soon will bring on two more employees, and has received millions in financial support from the state including from Jumpstart and the Ohio Third Frontier. Most recently the company was awarded $1.5 million from the Innovation Ohio Loan Fund.

That support has allowed the company to make great progress, says Brennan, who previously worked for several Fortune 50 companies as a packaged goods marketer. His partner is a veteran engineer who has done contract development work for NASA, BMW and Caterpillar.

"We are in the final stages of development with deployment of a commercial scale system with two industrial partners in Q1 and Q2 of next year," Brennan said.

A commercial launch is planned for late 2010, and will be marketed in steel, cement, pulp and paper, petrochemicals, oil and gas sectors.

Source: Philip Brennan, rexorce
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

Sooth Inc. is hoping to put thousands of technology geeks into a box. A really small box.

Erwin Bruder, the CEO of the Beachwood-based company, says Sooth could permanently change the way computer networks run with its cost-saving programs that eliminate the need for an army of behind-the-scenes techies.

His company's innovative new programs lend a hands-off approach to keep things running smoothly.

For example, Seer and Supervisor are two programs that can function together or on their own. Seer collects and reports information ranging from inventory to troubleshooting, and Supervisor, like its name suggests, does the busy work -- freeing up high-level technicians to do more important things.

"We have automated this. You don't have to have a person dusting and cleaning," says Bruder. "Unless there's smoke coming out of the back of the device, you'll never have to touch it again."

The company was formed in 2006 by networking expert Michael Carpenter and computer scientist Dennis Dumont -- who each have 20 years of experience in the networking sector of the computer industry.

"The two got together and realized these things were all done manually, and asked 'Why hasn't anybody automated this?'" Bruder says. "Automobiles used to be painted by hand. Now they are painted by robots. Why are these networking problems still managed by hand when they can be managed by robots?"'

There are currently nine employees at Sooth, but Bruder expects to add as many as 35 technical support and sales positions by the end of 2010.

"After that, our growth will be exponential," he says. "We are just cranking up right now."

Source: Erwin Bruder
Writer: Colin McEwen

Geoff Hardman admits that his Cleveland-based company lacks the sex appeal of other, more glamorous tech startups. As a processor of customized stored-value programs, SparkBase operates behind the scenes, servicing its client base while garnering little attention.

"Folks never think about these systems, but somebody has to make them run," says Hardman, the company's president.

When a customer uses a gift or loyalty card at one of his or her favorite merchants, the transaction is wired to a company like SparkBase, which manages and keeps track of the money. Fast becoming a leader in the stored-value card field, SparkBase handles millions of transactions annually for merchants in five different countries.

What makes SparkBase unique, says Hardman, is that clients have complete control of the loyalty card programs, which allows them to rebrand them any way they wish before marketing them to merchants. The system is also fully customizable, permitting configurations that appeal to a wider range of companies.

"We are more like a technology partner," adds Hardman. "Every bit of code, every piece of hardware is owned by us."

Founded in 2004 and located in Cleveland's AsiaTown neighborhood, SparkBase has 10 full-time employees. That number is expected to double in the very near future, says Hardman, as the technology expands to new applications.

Source: Geoff Hardman, SparkBase
Writer: Douglas Trattner

Light bulbs often flick on during the darkest times. The light bulb behind Turning Technologies went on after 9/11.

At the time, Mike Broderick was working at a firm that provided businesses with audience response software used in settings like annual meetings. When the Twin Towers fell, U.S. companies immediately canceled events that depended on travel.

"Our business went away for the rest of the year," says Broderick, now Turning Technologies' chief executive officer. "We saw it as an opportunity. We said 'if we sat down with a blank sheet of paper and applied the technology to universities, schools, corporate learning environments, how would we do it?'"

The Youngstown-based firm seems to have done it right. In 2007 -- just five years after Turning Technologies opened its doors -- Inc. Magazine ranked it the fasted-growing, privately held software firm in the country and the 18th fastest over all, with respect to revenues.

Key has been the company's flagship product, TurningPoint, which integrates natively into Microsoft PowerPoint.

"With this technology, everybody in the audience is forced to be engaged," Broderick explains. "Responses are anonymous to others in the class, but the instructor is able to know who responded and how well the entire class understands the material. It can also be used for homework and to reduce paperwork."

Turning Technologies products are now found in 1,800 major colleges and universities and 15,000 to 20,000 K-12 buildings, Broderick says.

While the firm is no longer growing at its previous pace, Broderick expects to add a modest number of jobs this year to his current 150-employee base and to enjoy double-digit revenue growth "for the foreseeable future."

Source: Mike Broderick, Turning Technologies
Writer: Gene Monteith

Like most freelance jazz musicians, John Knific was always searching for his next gig. While attending classes at Case Western Reserve University, the student supplemented his income by playing in trios at restaurants. When Knific looked at ways to promote himself on the Internet, he found that the available tools were woefully lacking.

"The only real option was MySpace Music, which was like Web 1.0," explains Knific. What he was looking for, he adds, was something more like LinkedIn for musicians. The model didn't exist -- so he created it.

Founded last year, CitizenGroove is radically different from the "flat" one-person, one-profile social networking sites dedicated to music, says Knific, the Cleveland-based startup's CEO. Artists work with numerous people on various projects, making static portfolio pages inadequate. CitizenGroove's dynamic platform links musicians to all the artists with whom they have collaborated.

This structure makes it easier for listeners to discover new music by creating a trail from a favorite band or artist. Talent scouts can use the site similarly, finding acts that fill certain niches and attract specific audiences. Conservatories are finding the platform extremely useful in promoting their music students and helping them succeed in the post-grad world.

At present, the company employs the four founders and a fulltime developer. The team has wrapped a successful beta launch and is preparing to go live in early 2010.

After receiving his undergraduate degree, Knific was accepted to Case Western's medical school. That's on hold.

"I took a one year deferral to make a go of this company because I knew I'd never forgive myself if I didn't," he says. "I don't think I'm ever going back."

Source: John Knific, CitizenGroove
Writer: Douglas Trattner

Chefs adore locally grown produce. Farmers enjoy selling it to them. The problem, though, has always been connecting the far-flung parties in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

That's where Fresh Fork Market comes in. Founded by Case Western Reserve University grad Trevor Clatterbuck, the innovative start-up offers a supply chain solution that moves the product from grower to chef.

The concept � billed as a "virtual farmers market" � has caught the attention of the Cleveland Foundation's Civic Innovation Lab, which doles out $30,000 grants to start-ups it believes can provide a boost to the local economy. During its six-year existence, the Lab has contributed roughly $1.5 million to help nurture over 50 great ideas -- ideas that might not attract the interest of more traditional funders.

It appears to be working. A recent study conducted by Cleveland State University's Center for Economic Development found that the Civic Innovation Lab generated $9.4 million and added 128 jobs to the local economy. In addition to Fresh Fork, the Lab has extended a financial leg up to an indoor mountain bike park, a teen-centric magazine, and CityWheels, the first car-sharing service in Ohio.

The modest grants are often the difference between survival and success. Often more helpful than the cash is the mentorship and training these young companies receive from more seasoned professionals.

"The money from the Civic Innovation Lab really gave Fresh Fork traction," explains Clatterbuck. "We used it to build an innovative web platform for local farmers and customers to interact. It turns out that what was designed to be a tool for us is actually a desirable product to sell as well. The business has now evolved to involve licensing the technology to other parties across the country."

Sources: Trevor Clatterbuck, Fresh Fork; Civic Innovation Lab
Writer: Douglas Trattner

GrafTech International has one foot planted solidly in the past and the other in the future. The combination seems to be a winner.

The Parma-based company built its early reputation by supplying arc lights to Cleveland in the early 1900s -- making that city the first in the U.S. with electric street lights. Later, the company made it big in steel-making and continues to be a leading producer of graphite electrodes used in arc furnaces.

While industrial materials -- primarily steel-related graphite products -- constitute 85 percent of GrafTech's sales, the company is emerging as a high-tech innovator in Ohio's new economy.

Beginning in the 1970s, the company began working on products needed to drive a fuel-cell powered car, says Lionel Batty, GrafTech's director of research and product development. Today, 75 percent to 85 percent of all fuel cells -- including one inside the Buckeye Bullet 2, a speed-setting hydrogen fuel cell-powered car designed by Ohio State University engineering students -- have GrafTech components, he says.

But just in case you aren't using fuel cells, let's bring it down to earth. A pioneer in thin-film graphite, which is 50 percent more thermally conducive (meaning cooler) than copper and four times lighter, GrafTech has probably made its way into your home.

"Almost all cell phones have our material in them," Batty says.

And if you have a laptop computer or panel display television purchased in the past two years, chances are it's got GrafTech inside, too.

GraftTech's new economy efforts have attracted the attention of state-funded programs like the Ohio Third Frontier, which has provided funding for both fuel cell development and graphite nanocomposites for next generation electronics.

Source: Lionel Batty, GrafTech
Writer: Gene Monteith

What's your favorite color? That question may seem inconsequential now, but for those about to drop $1,000 on a sporty new laptop it can be downright paralyzing.

Thanks to the creative geniuses at Kent Displays, future laptop owners will be able to change the exterior colors of their machines with the proverbial flick of a switch. Cloaked in the company's Reflex LCD eSkin, a paper-thin liquid crystal display, devices such as laptops, smartphones and MP3 players can change appearances as quickly as a chameleon.

Founded by Dr. J. William Doane, former director of Kent State University's Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent Displays is a pioneer in cholesteric liquid crystal technology. Unlike standard LCDs that require a constant source of power, Reflex displays will retain an image indefinitely, even when the power is off.

The eSkin application is only the "tip of the iceberg," says Kevin Oswald, Kent Display's communications director. A new portable hard drive from Verbatim, for example, uses the technology to display available space even when the USB drive is disconnected.

Perhaps more impressive is the environmentally friendly eNote, a portable writing tablet. Consumers use a stylus to write on the pressure-sensitive display, eliminating the need for pen and paper.

While 99 percent of glass LCDs are still manufactured in Asia, Kent Display's plastic LCDs are produced on site at its Kent, Ohio facilities.

Kent Displays currently employs 60 people, but with the impending release of its eNote Tablet, and expected wide-spread adoption of its eSkin application, that number is expected to grow.

Source: Kevin Oswald, Kent Displays
Writer: Douglas Trattner