Entrepreneurship : Innovation + Job News

CellBank Technologies offers a way for surgery patients to plan for future surgeries. The startup company allows patients undergoing knee and hip replacement surgeries to store their own stem cells for possible future procedures. CellBank recently received $25,000 from the Innovation Fund.
 
“We offer a way to harvest and store stem cells without requiring a second surgical procedure,” explains Rachel Uram, CellBank founder and president. “There are one million hip or knee replacement surgeries each year, and surgeons go in and throw out a lot of stem cell-rich tissue. In 2005, five percent of replacement patients had a second surgery that required a bone graft.”
 
Using a patient’s own stem cells in a grafting procedure is “the gold standard in grafting,” says Uram. “Ten years ago they would go into the hip and harvest the tissue and use it. There were more patient complications and it was more painful.”
 
CellBank offers a better solution. “We collect specific tissues, process and store them so the patient doesn’t need a second procedure in situations like bone graft surgeries,” says Uram.
 
The family-run business has three founders, and they have brought on four part-time consultants. They are in the process of raising $1.5 million in seed money to complete testing. The Innovation Fund money will help bring CellBank closer to accepting customers.
 
“When we’re up and running we expect to have 15 to 16 employees,” says Uram. “Everybody loves the idea.”

 
Source: Rachel Uram
Writer: Karin Connelly

Nine Northeast Ohio minority-owned companies were recognized on May 22 at the JumpStart offices as inaugural members of the Charter One Launch100 Leadership Circle. The Circle recognizes diverse entrepreneurs committed to turning their business ideas into some of the region’s most impactful minority-owned or led companies. 
 
“It was a really wonderful event,” says Gloria Ware, JumpStart senior advisor. “It was a really good example of companies that are willing to grow jobs and keep moving forward.”
 
Minorities account for 40 percent of the entrepreneurial community, yet many of the companies have only one or two employees. These nine companies are on track to have an average of 50 employees in the next three to five years.
 
“We would like to highlight these entrepreneurs who are mentors or role models to other minority entrepreneurs in the community,” says Ware.  “Entrepreneurs in general can feel very overwhelmed and alone in their business. I think this was a good event for them to move forward.”
 
The nine companies are: Algae Producers of America, CFRC Water & Energy Solutions; MET Innovations; OPTIMA Lender Services; Queen Ann Inc.; RKN Corporation; Simply Southern Sides; Wellness Integrated Network; and Zuga Medical.
 
Ware says the event was also beneficial for the Charter One bankers in attendance. “They got to hear some of the entrepreneur’s struggles,” she says. “It was a win-win for everyone.”

 
Source: Gloria Ware
Writer: Karin Connelly

Games are serious business for Cincinnati-based GamiGen, a startup founded on gaming-inspired 3D training software designed for the health, oil and gas, mining, academic, manufacturing and public safety industries.

"What we do is take gaming engine technology to create training simulation technology and make efficient safe, cost-effective training programs," says company founder Brett Canter. "That is our goal: we want to simulate complex or dangerous simulations,"

The company, previously known as 7 Moose Games, is developing "games" to help companies train large groups of employees. One of the first is a fire extinguisher training simulation that users manipulate online.

"We give them the task of putting out virtual fires," Canter says. "They have to use a sweeping motion to spray and point the extinguisher in the right place," giving employees a more real-life experience than watching a video or just examining a fire extinguisher.

This form of training can be less expensive and more detailed than traditional employee training sessions, Canter says. Companies with between 5,000 and 10,000 employees can benefit from this type of training technology, he says.

"Our main customers are companies that maintain OSHA compliancy, and have the need for some kind of recurring training," Canter says.

The company plan to make its games compatible with motion sensor gaming systems like the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox Kinnect.


Source: Brett Canter
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

“The sun is shining, it’s nice, crisp weather and I’m on the right side of the grass – life is good.” Dr. Roy Church’s meteorology report can also describe the forecast for the nations’ startup community after Lorain County Community College received a $1 million grant from the Kauffman Foundation to take their successful Innovation Fund program to the national stage.
 
“When we created our business incubator GLIDE (Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise), we discovered very early on that many of the entrepreneurs that were trying to start new companies were experiencing a financial valley of death,” explains Church, President of Lorain County Community College. “There was clearly a dearth of pre-seed capital to get them started.”
 
The Innovation Fund, launched by the Lorain County Community College Foundation in 2007 to support high-growth technology entrepreneurs in Northeast Ohio, was created to fill the capital gap and help small businesses generate revenue, catching the eyes of much-needed angel investors. Explains Church, “Our foundation came up with the idea of using philanthropic dollars from previously successful entrepreneurs to make those very earliest investments in companies.”
 
Donations to the fund are used to complete essential early tasks, such as presenting a proof of concept, finishing a prototype or creating a launch initiative. “85 companies have received about $5.6 million since 2007. These 85 companies have had a tremendous amount of success, evidenced by the private sector investment since their launch.”
 
Now the successful concept of philanthropic entrepreneurship behind Innovation Fund will be used in a pilot program to impact other regions across the country. “Community colleges are playing a unique role in higher education in that they are intended to be responsive to the unique needs of a local community,” says Church. “And since community colleges serve specific geographical regions, it makes sense to try to roll this model out through other community colleges in other parts of the country.”


Source: Dr. Roy Church
Writer: Joe Baur

More than 50 Ohio companies have received export assistance from the Ohio Department of Development’s International Market Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE) program.
 
“The Office of Business Assistance leads the initiative to strengthen Ohio’s exporting economy and advance its leadership position in the global marketplace,” says Assistant Deputy Chief of Export Assistance, Wesley Aubihl. “Specifically, export assistance strives to increase international sales of Ohio-made goods and services, creating more and better jobs for Ohioans.”
 
Designed to increase exports and create jobs, IMAGE helps companies promote their products and services in new international markets. Best of all, IMAGE will reimburse companies a maximum of $6,000 or 50 percent on qualifying expenditures up to $12,000 for activities associated with new international marketing initiatives, such as trade shows and foreign marketing material translation.
 
Airstream Inc., developers of lightweight travel trailers in Jackson Center, is just one example of a company that has taken off (no pun intended) thanks to assistance from IMAGE grant funds. Explains Aubihl, “[The funds] offset the costs of participating in a State of Ohio-Council of Great Lakes Governors trade mission to Brazil. The trade mission enabled Airstream to meet potential key customers in the Brazilian market.”

Justin Humphreys, Vice President of Sales at Airstream, has credited the Ohio Department of Development with playing a special role in their ability to meet with key players in Brazil to assess the potential of doing business abroad.
 
Aubihl is hopeful a slew of Ohio businesses will follow in Airstream’s footsteps and experience similar international success. “Since the program began in January, the Ohio Department of Development has awarded 15 trade mission stipends, supported 37 international trade shows, 10 U.S. Commercial Service projects, 20 translations of websites or printed materials, and three export education activities,” he explains. “The participating companies have reported more than $5 million in actual export sales, with additional sales expected over the next 12 months."


Source: Wesley Aubihl
Writer: Joe Baur

Polymers are big business in Ohio. According to Wayne Earley, CEO of PolymerOhio,  “Ohio is definitely a leader in the production and use of polymers.” According to its website, PolymerOhio is an Ohio Edison Technology Center focused on “enhancing the Ohio polymer industry company's global competitiveness and growth.”

Earley’s comments came on the eve of the two-day Ohio Polymer Summit, which was held June 6-7 in Columbus and attended by more than 150 people from throughout Ohio. This was the Ninth Annual Biennial Ohio Polymer Summit.

A presentation on innovation engineering leadership was one of the summit highlights, according to Earley. There was also a segment on shale gas and its impact on Ohio’s polymer industry. “Shale gas is very significant to our industry here in Ohio by lowering energy costs and also lowering the cost of basic polymer materials,” he explains.

Another important session was the introduction of the new computational methods program. “Small- and medium-size companies can’t afford to acquire the software needed for such things as mold design and extruder simulation,” Earley says. “With the assistance of a federal grant, Polymer Ohio is now making these tools available to smaller companies.” 

The polymer industry is Ohio’s largest manufacturing industry, he states. “More than 130,000 people are employed in Ohio’s polymer industry. It’s a growing industry here.

There’s high growth in several specific segments, including conductive and electronic polymer materials, polymer nanocomposites, biomaterials and feed stocks and recyclable polymers.”

Earley points out that polymers aren’t just plastic. “They’re also in adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings and composites of other materials.”

He says that Ohio is the world leader in compounding of polymers – combining different materials to achieve a set of specifications. PolyOne in Avon Lake is the state’s largest compounder, according to Earley. “They’re successful because they have the technology and the capabilities to develop materials and compounds that are specific to certain important applications. They’re also very innovative,” he adds.

Source:  Wayne Earley, PolymerOhio, Inc.
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

The founders of Commuter Advertising – wife Katie Hill and husband Russell Gottesman --  came up with the idea for their company while going home from a White Sox game on the “L” train in Chicago.

“We were approaching the stop for Chinatown and thought it would be a good idea to have a 10- or 20-second audio message there to get people into the restaurants,” recalls Hill.

Hill was with an ad agency and Gottesman worked at a company that sells traffic reports to radio stations. “He was familiar with short, quick audio segments, and I was in advertising, so coming up with the concept was a blend of both our backgrounds,” she notes.

Commuter Advertising produces audio announcements over bus and train sound systems. The announcements advertise products, services and sales of companies located near the bus or train stops. That means advertising messages can be timed to match the location of advertisers, and special promotions can be tailored to passengers.

Hill and Gottesman landed their first contract in 2008 with the Greater Dayton RTA. “They had a request for proposals out at the time,” Hill says. “It was for traditional print advertising, but they were open to other ideas.” 

The couple moved from Chicago to Dayton and have several patents for their concept. They’ve  expanded their market share to reach 100 million riders per year in Toledo, Ohio; Chicago and Champaign, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; Kansas City, Missouri; Rockland County, New York; and Jacksonville, Florida.

According to Hill, the ads cost $250 to $300 per location per month. “That’s typically about 4,000 plays a month of 10- to 20-second audio messages and a scrolling ticker at the front of the vehicle,” she says. “We professionally produce all the ads, and they can contain music, special effects, a variety of voices and languages.”

Very importantly, the transit authorities share in the profits and receive much-needed revenue. “Passengers benefit because this helps keep the cost of fares stable,” Hill notes.

Commuter Advertising has received financial assistance from the Ohio Third Frontier. They’ve expanded from a staff of two to 22 and plan to hire more employees by the end of the year.


Source: Katie Hill, Commuter Advertising
Writer: Lynne Meyer

More than 100 people turned out May 16 at the Ohio City Firehouse to celebrate the newest graduates of Bad Girl Ventures’ business plan competition. Babies Travel Too was the recipient of a $25,000 loan from KeyBank.

Babies Travel Too was created by Alison Musser, who based the company on her own experiences as a parent. The company provides nightly and weekly rentals of full-size cribs, car seats, strollers and other essential baby gear to people traveling to the Cleveland metropolitan area. The equipment is JPMA-certified and sanitized before every rental.

“Musser not only had a good idea; she was the right person to run the business,” says Rachel Czernin, director of marketing and developments for BGV. “She is smart, dedicated, and has personal experience in this area. She uniquely understands the predicament traveling mothers have and has the business sense to develop her concept and turn this regional business into a national business.”

Three additional companies received $5,000 loans from The Giving Back Gang. Those companies were: Anne Hartnett, creator of Harness Fitness, Inc., Cleveland's first sustainably run group cycling studio and fitness clothing retailer; Karen Malone Wright, creator of TheNotMom.com, a blog for women who are childless; and Kelley Hynds creator of Hyndsight Media, an online video journalism platform that provides short-form video web spots on current social and civic topics.
 
The event was sponsored by Huntington Bank, Additional support came from The Cleveland Foundation and The Business of Good Foundation. “Catering was provided by past finalist and loan recipient Hungry Bee Catering.
 

Source: Rachel Czernin
Writer: Karin Connelly

Two budding Central Ohio entrepreneurs have identified a problem in the bankruptcy marketplace and  developed a streamlined solution -- a new company called One Exchange Street.

One Exchange Street is an online bankruptcy claims trading engine that Todd Zoha and Sean O’Riordan established in January of this year. The startup company is designed to be a one-stop shop for both buyers and sellers of bankruptcy claims.

While working together in the turnaround and restructuring advisory unit of a global business consulting firm, Zoha and O’Riordan noticed something critical.

“We were working on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and saw how the marketing for unsecured bond positions was very transparent and liquid,” explains Zoha, President and CEO of the company. “We wondered why there wasn’t that same kind of transparency and liquidity for other types of bankruptcy claims, specifically general unsecured claims and administrative claims.”

Buyers of bankruptcy claims are generally sophisticated about the process, he notes. “If you’re a claims seller, however, you’re getting all these calls and contacts from buyers, and you have no way to evaluate whether the price you’re being offered is fair and reasonable,” Zoha says. “This is a big problem for sellers.”

With One Exchange Street, Zoha and O’Riordan have opened up and streamlined the process for bankruptcy market participants. “Claims sellers can list their claims and see recent transaction amounts for similar claims,” Zoha explains. They can also see prices at which bidders are willing to buy. “An important advantage we offer is that all members on our exchange agree to transact using a standardized claim transfer agreement. This enables real-time execution of transactions. These two things differentiate us from our competitors."

There are advantages for buyers of bankruptcy claims as well. “First, we’re a source of information for them about claims sellers,” Zoha says. “Buyers can also aggregate and buy multiple claims at once. Finally, buyers can turn around and sell a claim to other institutional buyers.”

Zoha and O’Riordan raised approximately $600,000 from friends and family for their startup and received a $300,000 investment from TechColumbus in April.

Source:  Todd Zoha, One Exchange Street
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

Brian Wildes, founder and CEO of Ecolibrium Solar, is a big believer in sustainable business practices, and the name of his Athens-based company reflects that.

“I named it Ecolibrium because we have to realize that our economics have to be in line with our ecology in order for sustainability to be reached,” he explains.

The company’s product, EcoFoot, is the first 100 percent recycled plastic mounting system for flat-roof solar arrays. It provides a systematic arrangement of solar panels in rows and columns.
 
Wildes got the idea for EcoFoot while working as an engineer for a solar panel installation company. “We were always in search of new and better products and not satisfied with what existed in the marketplace,” he recalls.
 
There are three types of applications for solar panels – a flat roof, a pitched roof and ground mounting. EcoFoot is designed for flat roof mounting only.
 
According to Wildes, his product represents a big step toward enabling grid parity. “That will occur when the solar industry will match the cost of grid-delivered electricity without price subsidy,” he explains. “EcoFoot saves both time and money for solar panel installations.”
 
Wildes established Ecolibrium Solar by himself in April 2010. Since then, he has added six employees and is ready to roll out EcoFoot 2 in a couple of months. “This will be significantly different from the first version,” he says. “It will have a lower ballast weight, integrated grounding and wire management and will be more durable.” The materials in both products are recyclable, he adds.
 
“We stack up well against our competitors,” Wildes notes. “We’re leading the trends of material changes in the industry.” He plans to increase his sales force for more penetration of national and international markets.
 
Ecolibrium has received funding from TechGROWTH Ohio.


Source:  Brian Wildes
Writer:    Lynne Meyer

The Central Ohio-based company e-Cycle wants you and your business to understand the importance of responsibly recycling your mobile devices.
 
“A lot of our clients don’t even know that they might be sitting on a goldmine,” says Founder and CEO Christopher Irion, who launched the campaign after receiving feedback from corporate leaders who were unaware a company like his existed. “If a company has 1,000 used blackberries, that could be worth $50,000 of access to sensitive corporate information.”
 
Irion wants e-Cycle’s current and prospective clients to know there is a solution to safely disposing sensitive information. “e-Cycle will not only pay you for all the used devices, but also make sure that all your personal and corporate information is deleted from the devices.”

Best of all, they’re able to do so in an environmentally friendly manner. “The last thing we want any individual or corporation to do is get rid of these devices by disposing them in a trash can, because of the environmental risks associated with it.” All mobile phones are shredded at their facility with the shredded materials recycled in an ISO Certified, EPA-registered facility where the materials are reclaimed for reuse.
 
e-Cycle has been hosting events with current partners and targeting prospective clients through email and marketing campaigns to help spread the good word. The response from the business community has been strong. With over 14,000 corporate customers, e-Cycle is continuing to grow.

“Based on the amount of phones we’ve received from this initiative, this will be the best month in company history,” explains Irion. “We’re really excited about not only this month, but obviously the impact this is having on our future business.”


Source: Christopher Irion
Writer: Joe Baur

The Athens-based company Eco2Capture has been awarded $100,000 by the Ohio Third Frontier for its project, Demonstration of Advanced Polymer Membranes for Algal Growth Enhancement, which will showcase how to mass-produce algae for the CO2 capture and biofuel markets.

“We’re commercializing some technology developed at Ohio University to enhance the amount of carbon dioxide that is taken from the air or from a gas, like at a power plant, and transfer it into the water where algae grows,” explains Dr. David Bayless, President of Eco2Capture. “In theory, you can grow more algae with more carbon dioxide and that really changes the economics of algal growth, because the more algae you can grow within a fixed system, the better your return.”

Algae is used for fuel, Omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, nutraceuticals, and all kinds of dyes. The ECO2Capture membranes will be used to increase the productivity of algae for commercial algae growers by providing very inexpensive, just-in-time carbon dioxide to promote photosynthesis. The just-in-time delivery will also significantly lower variations in water acidity and promote algae culture health.

The technology, which Bayless characterizes as “quite simple,” is a membrane technology that accelerates the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, which in turn accelerates its acceptance into the water. Dr. Bayless and his supporting staff of Jesus Pagan and Dr. Ben Stuart will demonstrate the technology at four different sites at two different levels. First is an initial exam showing people that it works.  “The other is to actually do some eco-productivity measurements and analysis of the algae.”

Dr. Bayless and his team are excited for the opportunity. “It’s a big step and without that funding from the state of Ohio, it would have been a real challenge for us to try to get pre-seed funding to do this demonstration,” he says. “This technology is very interesting, but it has not been proven at a very large scale. What we’re trying to do is take it out of the university environment and turn it into something that is actually practical.”


Source: David Bayless
Writer: Joe Baur

Dennis Cocco has a good problem: he and other leaders of Lorain County Community College's Innovation Fund have a hard time choosing winners each year because applications are so strong.

“We’ve been doing this for four-plus years,” says the director of the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE), a partner of the Innovation Fund. "The quality of the business idea, the entrepreneur and the presentation are better today than what we saw back in those early days. It’s because of the ecosystem we’ve created here in Northeast Ohio to mentor, lead and help young businesses understand the process to be an entrepreneur. We now have one of the better ecosystems in the country.”

Cocco says that those companies who don’t get funded (this year there were over 40 applications with 6 winners) can come back next quarter. In the meantime, “We offer a debriefing, explain what we saw as their strengths and weaknesses, how to make their businesses better.” Cocco says that because of this support system, there are more people starting businesses than four or five years ago.

Innovation Fund awards go to startups in the fields of alternative and advanced energy, advanced materials, instruments, electronics and controls, biomedical innovations, and advanced propulsion – categories determined by partner/funder Ohio Third Frontier.

This year’s awards went to startups in Elyria, Massilon, Hiram, Shaker Heights, Parma Heights, and Concord. They include alternative financing for retailers (IGW Finance Alternative); products to improve the energy efficiency of heating, cooling, and lighting systems (Paragon Robotics); a faster method of testing biological samples (QURA Scientific); a coating material to control corrosion (Tesla Nanocoastings); a sensor-based system to transmit patients’ clinical data to nurses’s stations (Future Path Medical); and a marketing platform for musical events (In2une).


Source: Dennis Cocco
Writer: Catherine Podojil

The statistics for obesity in the United States are staggering.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity is common, serious and costly -- more than one-third of adults (35.7 percent) and approximately 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer.

Matthew During, Ph.D., founder of Obgenex, is well aware of these sobering statistics.  The professor and full-time researcher at The Ohio State University is working to develop an effective treatment for obesity.

“When investigating environmental manipulation to control cancer, we discovered that so-called enriched environments reduced body fat and made animals resistant to obesity," During explains. "We then discovered the molecular pathways in the brain that made these animals obesity resistant.”

That led to developing the Obgenex treatment. “Our product will be the first biological and neurosurgical therapy for obesity,” he notes. “We essentially reset that part of the brain that regulates appetite and metabolism.”

Obgenex recently received a grant of $100,000 from Ohio Third Frontier to conduct a proof-of-concept study. “The study will take six to 12 months and will demonstrate efficacy and safety, which means effective weight loss with no adverse events,” During says. He is using a specific type of mice in the study. “They have an identical mutation that is found in the subgroup of human subjects who we plan to enroll in our Phase I clinical trial.”

The successful completion of the study is necessary for FDA approval to move forward on clinical trials with humans and will be used to lure investors to fund larger scale trials.  The technology will be licensed from The Ohio State University.

 
Source:  Matthew During
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

Shelley Freed, co-founder of Ashton Business Solutions, a consulting group specializing in research-based business strategies, admits that she relies on technology just as much as the next person. But amidst all the emails and text messages, Freed’s goal is to put the human touch back into ABS’s strategic marketing and positioning.
 
“I do a lot of market research and strategic research for companies,” says Freed. “I get to interact with companies’ internal teams about how customers impact their businesses. Inevitably, I end up interacting with their databases.”
 
In doing so, Freed found that many companies do not have complete data on their customers, and therefore can’t make informed decisions on how to make improvements to their customer service.
 
“Very few companies have really solid data,” says Freed. “So I started thinking, wouldn’t it be great if companies would update their records -- throw in an extra question as a customer service touch point, like, Is there anything we can do for you today?"
 
The thought prompted the creation of ABS’s Customer Service Outsource Center. “And it’s a real person on the phone,” says Freed. “People still want to be able to talk to a human being. It makes a big difference. It’s all about humanity in business, even if it’s sometimes easier to send off an email.”
 
ABS is rolling out the center, including a secret shopper service. “This, then, is more than a data bank for customer information; it is intended to be an invaluable resource that can help companies discover new and highly successful ways of growing their businesses,” explains Freed.
 
ABS has several part-time people on staff now and Freed is interviewing for the call center. They recently hired someone to lead the telemarketing aspect of the company.

“The initiative for Ashton this year is to push the humanity back into business,” Freed says. “Business is about relationships. That means getting on the phones to talk with customers, prospects and referral sources on a regular basis all the time. We’re hoping by the end of the year to have a handful of people in permanent part-time positions.”
 

Source: Shelley Freed
Writer: Karin Connelly