toledo/northwest ohio : Innovation + Job News

uHeart StartUps, a University of Toledo digital media conference, will host a “Pitch & Pour” after party on May 10 at the Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex  for aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch their business idea to a panel of judges. The winning idea will receive up to $5,000, but attendees stand to benefit regardless by connecting with local business leaders in attendance.
 
Scott McIntyre, Manager of Business Incubation at the University of Toledo, sees the event as an opportunity to energize the entrepreneurial spirit of Toledo, and convince area innovators to realize their dreams right in the Glass City, spurring job growth for the hard-hit region. To do this, McIntyre isn’t just counting on Toledoans.
 
“We’ve solicited participants from Indiana and Michigan,” McIntyre says, affectionately calling it the tri-state area. “We’re trying to spread the word that the University of Toledo is a place for digital media innovation.”
 
McIntyre is familiar with the opportunities presented in Toledo, because he’s lived through the journey of starting a new enterprise in town.
 
After living in California for 18 years, McIntyre returned to Toledo to help out his mother, who ended up starting a regional lifestyle and culture magazine, InToledo, with her husband, Dennis Hicks, Minority Health Coordinator at Toledo-Lucas County Health Department. “In the process of getting the magazine published, I learned a lot about the city,” he recalls. “Toledo has a lot of advantages for small businesses and large businesses,” namely low cost of living and logistical location to the “knowledge bases” of Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland. For these reasons and more, McIntyre believes entrepreneurs will leave Pitch & Pour with a new picture of Toledo.
 
“We really have the ingredients to inspire entrepreneurs,” he says. “We’re working to get people to stay here and create jobs.”
 
Interested attendees can RSVP to the event on Facebook. More information at uheartdigitalmedia.com/pitchandpour.
 
 
Source: Scott McIntyre
Writer: Joe Baur

Buyvite, a Toledo-based social payment company, has launched a private label group payment API for developers to allow for cost splitting and social payment functionality on any ecommerce website or application.
 
“We built it because we heard from a lot of customers saying they liked they idea,” says founder Brandy Alexander-Wimberly on her way to the company’s sister headquarters in Chicago for another round of funding. “What we have developed is the ability for a company to go to our website and launch a crowdfunding transaction with a custom API.” This makes for easier, secure transactions between the end-user and company.
 
Supported in part by Rocket Ventures and a group of private investors, Wimberley says Buyvite’s latest development is a stepping-stone to allowing social payment transactions between anyone who visits their website. “The hosted payment page is what we’re coming out with in the next couple of weeks,” she explains.
 
For example, this will allow anyone to seek reimbursement for events or presents where the costs were split amongst a group of people. In fact, that’s how Wimberly originally came up with the idea. After spending money to pay for her friends’ concert tickets, Wimberly thought there must be a better, organized way to get paid back.
 
“We feel like people are going to expect this functionality,” she says. “They may not yet, but we really feel this functionality will need to be done, and we do it the right way.”
 
 
Source: Brandy Alexander-Wimberly
Writer: Joe Baur

Home improvement retailer Menard, Inc. plans to add up to 350 jobs at its distribution center in Williams County, thanks largely to a 55 percent, 10-year tax credit from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. The credit was a key factor in the company’s decision to expand in Ohio.
 
State development officials said the additional jobs, coming over the next three years, will add $8.2 million in payroll to the facility’s current $10.6 million payroll. Menards agreed to maintain that payroll for at least 13 years, starting in 2013. The average wage for the new positions is $11.30 per hour, plus $2.12 per hour in benefits, according to the Ohio Department of Development.
 
“We decided to expand our distribution center because Holiday City is a great community and pleasant area to do business, plus we had the room to expand,” said Jeff Abbott, spokesperson for the privately-held chain based in Eau Claire, Wis. Menards was founded in 1960 by John Menard. The second generation of the family now operates the company.
 
“It would appear that Ohio is having a lively debate over balancing practical fiscal responsibility with the needs of the citizenry. The growing awareness of economic responsibility on the part of the state bodes well for future growth of the economy in Ohio,” said Abbott.
 
“We’ve found Ohio’s workers to be hard working team players and are the number one reason we are expanding in Ohio.”
 
The company has 17 stores in Ohio.

There’s plenty of mystery about Corporate Research International, but its growth is anything but, says CRI’s VP sales, Brad Holdgreve.

“Our growth has really been due to our technology and getting in the door with . . . national and international clients that have thousands of locations,” Holdgreve says of the Findlay-based mystery shopping company. “The big thing for us is really our technology and how we recruit and train our own shoppers. It doesn’t hurt that we customize our programs.”

Formed in 1997 by President and CEO Mike Mallett, the company charted an average yearly growth of 200 percent a year from 2005 to 2008, Holdgreven notes. That growth landed the company on Inc.’s list of fastest growing firms in 2005 and 2006. While the pace has slowed somewhat during the economic downturn, the company is continuing to add clients and revenue, Holdreve says.

What differentiates the company from some of its competition includes early use of the Internet and customized programs for clients, he says.

Mallett “decided to take everything online in terms of creating the jobs available for the shoppers out in the field, how the shopper would submit the information back to us online and how we’d report the data back to the customer,” Holdgreve says.  “We recruited our own shopper data base and we train all the shoppers based on each individual (client’s) program -- so its not a general sign-up-and-take-a-job type process like other companies would use.”

The big fish as far as customers include retailers, convenience stores, groceries, and banks. Holdgreve declined to name current clients -- it’s a mystery shopping enterprise, after all.

The company was acquired earlier this year by Stericycle, a Lake Forest, Ill.,-based medical waste company. Mallett remains president and CEO, and Stericycle says there are no plans to move CRI from its Ohio home base.

The company employs 55.

Sources: Brad Holdgreve, Corporate Research International, and Stericycle
Writer: Gene Monteith

When Dr. William Mars started his company, battle tank treads were the last thing on his mind. These days, they're at the forefront of his thinking.

For the next two years, Endurica LLC -- the company Mars started in 2008 to help companies predict the fatigue life of their materials -- will be focusing on the tank parts after landing a $730,000 Small Business Innovation Research award to help the U.S. Army examine the rubber components involved. The company, based in Findlay, has developed a patented system that can predict weaknesses in rubber products, their expected life spans and how to avoid failures in rubber parts.

The system, which Mars developed, allows clients like the Army to accurately predict these attributes without having to go through the repetitive process of having a prototype made and tested. It involves several numerical formulae that Mars says took 10 years to develop.

Now, clients can use a computer program to predict the performance of rubber and synthetics, and shave time and cost from their research and development budgets.

"Those processes tend to be extremely costly, producing a prototype and testing it over and over," says Mars. "We allow them to model their product in a huge range of operating conditions, and streamline that process."

For the Army, that could mean eliminating steps along the way that could run into the millions.

Endurica will be examining the track system on the Abrams tank via a two-year, $730,000 grant. Eliminating traditional testing steps could save the military millions, Mars explains.

"For something that big, testing means producing the prototype, putting it on a tank and running the tank for about 2,000 miles. Then, doing it again once you've made an adjustment. That's $2 million every time they test a new version," Mars adds.

While the Army contract allowed Mars to take Endurica from a "nights and weekends" operation to a full-time gig, Mars also expects it to be a springboard for his company. He's already adding full-time staff, and expects to expand further in the coming years with potentially vast client pool ranging from the automotive and aeronautical industries to biomedical companies.

"The Army contract is a validation of our technology, and the value it offers. It's brought us a lot of attention," adds Mars.

Source: William Mars, Endurica
Writer: Dave Malaska

Materials giant Dyesol Inc. and Ohio-based glass manufacturer Pilkington North America, both with a strong presence in northwestern Ohio, have teamed up to form DyeTec Solar. The venture, they hope, will become a truly transformative one.

"We like to say we'll be turning buildings into power plants," says Dyesol CEO Mark Thomas.

The partnership, funded with a $950,000 grant from the Ohio Third Frontier, will meld the glassmaker's expertise with new technology hatched in the Dyesol labs -- dye-sensitized solar cells. The materials, applied to common building materials, can turn any surface into energy-gathering solar panels.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (or DSCs) consist of film-like layers of an electrolyte and dyes. Like any solar cell, DSCs convert light into electrical energy. Unlike traditional solar cells, however, DSCs don't need direct sunlight. They're also comparatively inexpensive to produce and can be applied to any surface.

"It's a technology that has endless potential. Because its can be integrated into products that already exist and are already used, it's very cost-effective. But instead of a building just being a building, or a window just being a window, that building or that window can generate power and augment energy requirements," adds Thomas.

Dyseol had been working on the technology for the last 15 years, Thomas says. Three years ago, they moved beyond the research and development phase, striking a partnership with British Steel (NOW) to produce DSC-enhanced steel commercially available. DyeTec, the partnership between Dyesol and Pilkington, has just started manufacturing process for glass applications. The partnership expects to add almost 100 high-tech jobs as production nears.

When products using that glass hit the commercial markets in the next three to five years, consumers could charge car batteries by parking in the sun, charge their cell phone by setting it on their desk or see their electric bills drop when their windows are contributing to the power grid.

"We're very excited about the possibilities, and have very strong commitments from our partners," adds Thomas. "The potential is very clear, and very promising."

Source: Marc Thomas, CEO/Dysol
Writer: Dave Malaska

On any given day, at any given time, some 75 employees at Toledo’s Bolt Express are dispatching and tracking millions of tons of cargo being transported by truck and air freight carrier all over North America, including Canada and Mexico.

The company’s operations center is teeming with activity 24/7/365, managing shipments for its hundreds of customers in the manufacturing, retail and construction sectors.

““We track our customers’ freight from door to door, coordinating every aspect of it,” explains Guy Sanderson, the company’s chief operating officer. “We do it by satellite and provide real-time updates to customers.”

The company’s innovative technology is what makes the load tracking possible, says Sanderson. “We invest heavily in technology and have a product development team dedicated to creating new capabilities to handle all the shipments we’re in charge of.”  

One of the tracking capabilities the team developed is called “Border Advantage,” which is used for Canadian and Mexican shipments. “It simplifies the complex customs procedure for freight and enables our customers to check the status of their shipment at any time during the border-crossing process,” he explains.

Elizabeth and Ben Bauman established Bolt Express in 2001. The company, which started with four employees, has pursued an aggressive growth strategy. It built a new state-of-the-art headquarters in 2005 and expanded its services in 2007 to offer cross border and intra-Mexico shipping. Bolt Express now has 90 employees and was recently recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing privately owned companies in America.

While the company doesn’t own any trucks itself, it works with some 300 truck owner/operators and also partners with air carrier networks. To maintain quality, Bolt Express mandates that all drivers who work for its partner owner/operators complete rigorous training provided by the company.

Regardless where a shipment originates or terminates in North America, if it’s being dispatched and tracked by Bolt Express, it’s in capable hands.

Source:  Guy Sanderson, Bolt Express
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

A new intermodal freight facility near Toledo already employs 200 but could result in as many as another 2,600 indirect jobs down the road.

CSX, one of the nation's leading freight logistics service providers, recently opened a new container yard in North Baltimore, Ohio. One study suggests 2,600 jobs could spring up in the area as a direct result of the new yard.

An intermodal yard is basically a high-volume loading dock, where large cranes load and unload train cars. The North Baltimore Facility will load double-stack trains to run along the interstate National Gateway rail lines. CSX began constructing the facility in the third quarter of 2009. It opened for business in February and held a public open house in late June.

The $175-million North Baltimore Intermodal yard is the latest CSX operation in Ohio. CSX operates intermodal terminals in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Marion; TRANSFLO terminals in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, major rails yards throughout the state; and automotive distribution centers in Cleveland, Warren and Walbridge.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission cites the new development as a sign of Ohio's continued growth as a central shipping corridor in the Midwest. The North Baltimore intermodal yard will service CSX's National Gateway Project. The National Gateway Project is a double-stack train corridor initiative between CSX, the Ohio Rail Development Commission and the Federal Highway Administration Eastern Federal Lands Division, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The public-private partnership will require clearance creation on 40 bridges, tunnels and tracks, will increase shipping through the state while reducing the carbon emissions as it decreases tractor-trailer logistics.

In keeping with the eco-friendly qualities of the National Gateway Project, the North Baltimore facility is equipped for sustainable productivity. Eco-friendly features include Hans Kuenz GmbH cranes designed to reduce energy consumption and reduce emissions.

High-sodium bulbs light the terminal and the yard will utilize recycled NARSTCO steel ties. CSX emphasizes the eco-friendly qualities of the North Baltimore facility as well as the overall benefits of the benefits of the National Gateway Project. Ultra-efficient cranes installed by Hans Kuenz GmbH will reduce energy consumption, improve efficiency and significantly reduce emissions.

Sources: National Gateway, CSX
Writer: Kitty McConnell

Eluminator LLP started in 2002 to help a law-enforcement sales company develop a high-intensity LED light. When the sales company ran into financial difficulty, Eluminator decided to go it alone. 

Since then the Mansfield-based company has forged ahead with a product designed to improve safety on school buses and other vehicles. 

The light, which went to market in 2003, was originally used on speed trailers. Sold to law enforcement, it was shown to reduce the number of rear-end collisions and so-called "pass-bys" when used as an auxiliary stop light on school buses.

"Most pass-bys are caused by people not paying attention. You can see this white light miles away when it's flashing. In testing, in Alabama, the light reduced passbys from the front of the bus by 52 percent," says Cliff Broeder, company president.

"Ninety percent of the light's energy is concentrated in only 15 degrees, seven and a half degrees on either side of the center point," Broeder explains.

Other applications for the device include golf carts and railroad signals (where limited battery drain, extended use and extreme brightness are required), industrial and building lighting, and others. The company also makes brake lights and directional signal lights.

Eluminator, LLP is a Braintree Incubator tenant.

Source: Cliff Broeder, President, Eluminator, LLP
Writer: Patrick G. Mahoney

Scientists have long recognized nitric oxide as an important building block of human life. Arguably as critical as oxygen, the blood-born compound is critical in transmitting information between cells within our bodies. It's key to vasoregulation, as well as the immune system and neurological processes. But because it's hard to isolate from blood, all of its functions aren't fully understood.

An Ohio company, Accord Biosciences Inc., hopes to change that.

The three-year-old company, based in Sylvania, is advancing the field of study to develop practical sensor systems to measure nitric oxide. Using a proprietary membrane and stabilization techniques allows them to separate nitric oxide from its protein carriers, giving researchers its best look yet at the compound.

"Up until now, it's been very difficult to study nitric oxide and its carriers because we haven't had the right tools," says Accord president Kristyn Aalto. "Based on that need and the criticality for better tools, out reception has been overwhelming."

Last year, the company roped in $3.8 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Cleveland Clinic and venture capitalists. While currently focused primarily on the research applications of their work, Aalto says Accord's work will eventually find its way to clinical use, leading to earlier diagnosis and treatment for a range of hyper- and hypotensive diseases, such as pulmonary hypertension, preeclampsia in pregnant women and sepsis. It could also head to market as a hand-held, glucose meter-type self-diagnostic tool.

"There's unlimited potential," Aalto adds.

Incorporated in 2008, Accord spun out from research conducted at the University of Michigan.  Late last year, the company moved its administrative headquarters to Sylvania in northwest Ohio to take advantage of new partnerships and opportunities, but also took an office in Cleveland's Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, home to a technology commercialization consortium of 20 emerging cardiovascular companies.

With seven employees split between Sylvania and the lab back in Ann Arbor, Aalto says major growth is expected for the company over the next 18 months. By the end of this year, its lab will move to Ohio. By the end of 2012, Accord's staff is expected to double, as they continue their work, she says.

"We've already had a very positive response from the research community," she explains. "It's not too hard to anticipate just as positive a response from the clinical community, too."

Source: Kristyn Aalto, Accord Biosciences
Writer: Dave Malaska

A joint venture between the Regional Growth Partnership and the University of Toledo is expected to streamline administration of incubation services and support for technology startups in northwest Ohio.

Two programs administered by the RGP -- the Rocket Ventures program, which invests Ohio Third Frontier funds in technology companies, and Launch, a tech-based business incubation program -- will now be run from University of Toledo Innovation Enterprises.

Four technology-focused staff members from the RGP moved to the university earlier this month.

"The scope of work, the program itself, what your'e trying to accomplish, none of those things will change at all -- you simply are taking both organizations that should be very closely aligned and taking the best of both worlds," says Dean Monske, president and CEO of the RGP. "Each one had great resources but they each lacked something and the other one had exactly what the other one lacked. And we're going to do it with less dollars."

Some type of consolidation of business assistance programs has been discussed in northwest Ohio for some time, says Dan Slifko, chief operating officer of the partnership (which will operate under the Rocket Ventures name), and director of the Rocket Ventures Fund.

"Under one roof, RGP was doing the traditional economic development activities of attraction and retention, while also helping technology based businesses and early stage companies," he explains. "As time went on, many counties and a multitude of economic development agencies were doing the same things and competing for money."

While the RGP was able to provide only "virtual" incubation services through the Launch program, physical incubation space is provided at the University of Toledo. Additionally, the new arrangement will allow young technology companies working with Rocket Ventures to more easily tap the research and academic strengths of the University, which has been instrumental in spinning off companies within the solar industry and other technology sectors, Slifko says.

Sources: Dan Slifko, Rocket Ventures, and Dean Monske, the Regional Growth Partnership
Writer: Gene Monteith

SuGanit Systems wants to be among the first to produce ethanol from cellulosic biomass � the inedible parts of plants � and the Ohio Third Frontier Commission is betting it will be successful.

In February, SuGanit, founded in Reston Va., but now growing its presence at the University of Toledo's Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and Innovation, received a $2-million Ohio Third Frontier grant to build a pilot plant using a new pretreatment process that breaks down the tougher parts of plants so that they can be converted into sugars, fermented, and made into ethanol.

It's the third Third Frontier Grant that the company has received or shared since its founding in 2006, says President and Founder Praveen Paripati.

The partnership with the University of Toledo, which developed an early technology for pre-treating cellulosic biomass, has led to continued development of the process and a collaboration that should result in a pilot plant by the end of the year, Paripati says.

Cellulosic materials, unlike edible products, typically take a long time to convert into sugars using existing methods, Paripati says.

"If we don't do some preprocessing it can take a few weeks to a few months to break the biomass down," he says. "So the trick is to find a mechanism by which you can break it down. And break it down without producing a lot of bad side effects. The innovation comes in an ionic liquid pretreatment technology that makes it possible for enzymes to break down biomass into sugars efficiently, within 24 to 36 hours."

The pilot plant is intended to scale up the technology to process about half a ton to one ton of biomass a day. 

"The next scale would probably be 40 to 50 tons a day, a scale which would end up producing a million gallons of cellulosic ethanol or other products. And a larger commercial scale would be anywhere from 500 tons to 2,500 tons a day."

The company currently has four employees at UT and at its Toledo laboratory. Additionally, Paripati says Third Frontier and U.S. Department of Energy grants have enabled SuGanit to fund three students workers. SuGanit plans plans to add eight more as it develops the pilot unit and reaches full operation.

Source: Praveen Paripati, SuGanit Systems
Writer: Gene Monteith

The University Clean Energy Alliance of Ohio was founded five years ago by Ohio's 15 research universities. The goal: to advance the cause of clean energy in Ohio in a collaborative way.

Since then, the Toledo-based organization has worked with a wide array of academic, government and business entities to further business-university partnerships in advanced energy and to encourage dialog on energy issues facing the state.

"The whole idea behind the alliance was to facilitate collaboration among the universities in their efforts to do research," says Jane Harf the UCEA's director. "And it's not the ivory tower research -- it's development and deployment. We really want to see these technologies make it to the marketplace -- commercialization and technology transfer."

While the organization started with the 15 research institutions, it has expanded its membership over the years to several community colleges and organizations like the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio. Institutions such as the NASA Glenn Research Center and EWI (formerly the Edison Welding Institute) -- are also members.

Harf says that as part of its work, UCEA has engaged in a number of projects related to clean energy advancement, including a study on business and university collaborations, focus groups with businesses to assess the challenges and opportunities for clean energy and programs supporting the state's nine university-based Advanced Energy Centers of Excellence.

On April 26 and 27, the organization will hold it's fifth annual conference in Columbus, where it will showcase the work being done at those centers and work being done by students -- and at which it will offer breakout sessions on  a variety of topics including energy projects under way in Ohio, intellectual property issues surrounding university-business partnerships, policy issues around advanced and alternative energy and the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Ohio.

Also at the conference, the UCEA will roll out a new database that Harf says will provide advanced energy companies and others with current information about individual researchers and the work they do, programs of study available to those who are seeking degrees in alternative energy and on facilities and equipment available to businesses to further their technology development.

To register, go here. 

Source: Jane Harf, UCEA
Writer: Gene Monteith

TechTol Imaging is building a business based on a faster, less expensive way to create 360-degree rotational and 3D imaging.

TechTol claims a patent-pending system which it calls "the first -- and only -- in the world that instantly captures and then creates 3D rotational images for use with any computer-based system."

TechTol's imaging studio and software can turn out 360-degree or 3D images in a matter of minutes or seconds, says Phil Cox, managing member and founder. More typical industry methods can take hours at best and weeks at worst because of time needed to edit, he says.

Rather than taking a series of photos as an object spins on a turntable -- the industry's standard aproach -- TechTol captures simultaneous images of a stationary object from multiple angles. Because all the photos are from the same moment in time, changes in expression or movement of limbs do not affect the quality of the final image -- thus vastly reducing the need for editing.

The company, which is headquartered on the Owens Community College's Toledo campus, recently rolled out 3DTOAD.com, an online image database designed to provide educational institutions with a vast number of 3D images when schools don't have the real thing on hand.

"Think of an example like a skull rotating that the instructor has control over in the classroom and can turn the skull around and point to different attributes and can teach from that," Cox says. "It also can be viewed by the student at home, so there's a variety of applications there that can be employed, and you can generate CDs that can be compatible with the course syllabus."

While education is the company's main focus -- it has been providing Owens with images and says it is nearing an agreement with Bowling Green State University -- it also provides 360-degree rotational and 3D web imaging for consumer products.

The company was formed in 2008 and was assisted early on by a $50,000 Ignite Grant from the Regional Growth Partnership's Rocket Ventures . The company, an LLC, has 13 partners who all contribute to the operations in some way, Cox says.

Sources: Phil Cox, managing member and Zak Ward, VP of visual operations, TechTol
Writer: Gene Monteith

"This is so yummy you ought to sell it" has warmed many a home cook's heart. And for more than 10 years, Ohioans with recipes and dreams have been using the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen in Bowling Green to launch their businesses.

NOCK was established by the Agricultural Incubator Foundation as a place where regional residents can access a professional-grade facility. A catering kitchen opened first, followed by a cannery in 2005 and blanching/freezing space in 2010. Many jars of barbecue sauce, boxes of chocolates and so on have rolled out of NOCK's doors over the years.

Early "graduates" have been so successful their products were sold at major retailers and at numerous regional markets. Today, 27 entrepreneurs are renting the NOCK resources for production, says manager Paula Ray.

Requirements include a deposit fee, insurance, a business plan and approval of the Agricultural Incubator Foundation board of trustees. Once approved, tenants must sign a lease, participate in an orientation and training program and agree to schedule their time.

The non-profit Foundation was formed by a group of Ohio farmers, people involved in agribusiness, educators and researchers to nurture "the development, advancement and appreciation of agricultural systems in Northwest Ohio that are economically, ecologically and socially sustainable," it states on its website.

Besides NOCK, the Foundation makes available meeting space, organic farmland, greenhouses, and a fish farm. Bowling Green State University, the Ohio State University Extension, and the Toledo-based Center for Innovative Food Technology are among Foundation supporters.

Source: Paula Ray, Agricultural Incubator Foundation/NOCK
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs