Entrepreneurship : Innovation + Job News

Like many start ups, Dayton's Applied Optimization Inc. was a case of smart folks deciding to work for themselves.

"I always worked very, very long hours, and was never home. So my wife said If you're going to work this much, you should start your own business," says company founder and Principal Scientist Anil Chaudhary, an MIT grad.

Chaudhary left a job in Air Force-related research to launch Applied Optimization in 1995. The specialized company uses computational mathematics to develop new generation manufacturing processes for the aerospace and manufacturing industries, eliminating trial and error. These new processes can reduce manufacturing costs while increasing efficiency. Clients include the Air Force Research Laboratory, Boeing and Edison Welding Institute.

A more off-the-beaten-path application for the company's mathematical wizardry is in space sciences. Tamara Payne, the company's principal scientist, noted in December that the company has catalogued 36,000 pieces of space junk that can now be tracked in a less expensive and more timely manner.

The company has 11 full- and part-time employees, including three who were hired last year. Chaudhary says the company's move into the Dayton Entrepreneur Center in 2002 has helped it grow.

"The ability to speak with people in the corridor who have similar problems is very helpful. Also there are support services that are provided; if I have a question they will point me to right person," Chaudhary says.

"The federal customers and Air Force base are here in Dayton, and those were important factors. But the support that is here in the city for this kind of work is very encouraging and positive," he says.

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

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

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

Nathan Poeppelman loved amusement parks. But he could never seem to find real-time, organized information about the places he wanted to visit.

So, he took matters into his own hands: He formed Boz Adventures.

Poeppelman founded Boz Adventures in 2004, the same year he graduated from Miami University with a management information systems degree and entrepreneurial minor. He began offering travel information and park data through his Boz Adventures website. But the website alone, he says, really wasn't meeting the vision he had for real-time, at-your-fingertips information.

Earlier this year, Poeppelman incorporated the Columbus company and launched a new software application that allows users to tap trip logistics and inside-the-park specs through their iPhones -- wherever they are.

Want to know the wait-time for The Beast at King's Island? An interface allows park operators -- or Adventure Map users -- to upload both average wait times and real time information into a usable format. Want to know when Dollywood opens and how far it is from your Gatlinburg rental cabin? Ask your iPhone.

Poeppelman says Adventure Map currently lists more than 8,500 points of interest around the world and has signed on 31 parks on a trial basis, allowing them to upload real-time information free -- for now. While his customer base is still small, those who have downloaded the app are diverse, Poeppelman says, hailing from as far away as Great Britain, Denmark, and Australia.

Closer to home, he reports that his company is working on a partnership with Columbus-based KidsLinked, an online guide for family-friendly activities which in January won Tech Columbus's Outstanding Service Award.

Source: Nathan Poeppelman, Boz Adventures
Writer: Gene Monteith

David Scholl says it took his company more than 10 years before it sold its first product. But what he describes as "care and nurture" within the Ohio University community appears to have paid off.

Founded at OU in 1983 with about a dozen employees, Scholl's Athens-based Diagnostic HYBRIDS has grown to 225. Scholl, president and chief executive officer, cites a 75 percent increase in jobs over the past four years.

Among the products powering growth are those related to thyroid conditions. For example, in 2000, the company partnered with OU on a $1 million grant from the Ohio Third Frontier's Action Fund, luring scientist Leonard Kohn to Ohio to support development of early detector of Graves' disease.

"About 32 million people have the disease, and there are 300,000 to 400,000 new cases diagnosed per year in the United States," Scholl says. "We began commercialization of that product in 2001, and it's been selling to the point where we decided to make a refined version, which the FDA approved in May."

The new test cuts the typical results time from three days to one. Diagnostic HYBRIDS is counting on a new web-based education and marketing effort -- and direct mail to doctors -- to raise awareness and drive earlier treatment.

The firm won a $5-million Third Frontier Award last year to further develop viral diagnostic and treatment capabilities. More recently, Diagnostic HYBRIDS licensed a test to detect recurring thyroid cancer. And it just won FDA approval for FastPoint, a test that detects two common influenza strains in less than 30 minutes.

Source: David Scholl, Diagnostic HYBRIDS
Writer: Gene Monteith

Imagine hitting a hole-in-one on your favorite golf course. Now imagine that the once-in-a-lifetime experience occurred during an afternoon of solo play, while nobody was around to verify it. Ouch!

For courses equipped with the VeriShot monitoring system, that dream shot would be recorded for all to see. Concocted by a law student who worked part time as a golf course cashier, the system uses high-tech digital cameras to record memorable golf shots at select holes.

During tournaments and group outings, the holes that feature closest-to-the-pin and hole-in-one competitions generate the most buzz. But those scenarios require manpower to run them. The VeriShot system essentially turns every hole into a potential contest hole.

Golfers who choose to participate pony up a small fee at the pro shop before teeing off. Those who sink a hole-in-one can win as much as $10,000 and have video of their shot posted on VeriShot's Winning Golf Shots website. The system can also be used to record swings and other contest scenarios.

Founded in 2004 and based in Independence, Ohio, Verishot is marketed to golf courses as a way to increase revenue by generating heightened golfer excitement. The main system utilizes a solar-powered camera pole mounted by the featured hole, while a portable version can be rolled out for special events and tournaments.

"Since the program started at Falcon Ridge, the Verishot system has created quite the buzz among our customers," explains Dean Lytton of Kansas City's Falcon Ridge Golf Club. "After only one month we were able to reward one of our golfers with $10,000 for a hole-in-one."

Sources: Verishot, (http://www.verishot.com/); Dean Lytton, Falcon Ridge Golf Club
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

What do you get when an occupational therapist brainstorms with a nuclear engineer?

If you're a child with a disability, you get a chance at a better future.

Elisabeth Wharton, an occupational therapist for the Toledo Public Schools, wanted to help her pupils develop very basic skills. She asked husband Randy � trained to study and solve problems � for some ideas.

"Some of her kids had problems with gross motor skills, they couldn't do things like other kids because their hands got in the way," Randy says.

The solution: "Cuttables" and "Traceables," patent-pending round and square shapes with special handles that a child can more easily grip. Magnets enable the shapes to be changed and repositioned as needed. A square can become a house! A circle can be a face! Even a vision-impaired child has been able to create pictures with the shapes, which are "in pretty colors and fun to use," Wharton says. "They look cool and like neat toys."

The Whartons maintain their day jobs while running Createable Learning Concepts. TheToledo Chamber of Commerce has provided assistance and the Regional Growth Partnership granted Createable Learning $10,265 while providing coaching and counseling to help the start-up get off the ground. Wharton says although the Chamber and RGP usually back tech ventures, they advanced this one because its products (manufactured at Plastic Technologies Inc. in Holland, Ohio) help children develop higher levels of independence and achievement, which will make them better students and thus, better adults.

Next up for the Whartons: Web site upgrades and partnering with major distributors. Once Cuttables and Traceables are in stores and sales volume picks up, the Whartons will delegate some tasks and begin hiring.

Source: Randy Wharton, Createable Learning Concepts
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs