By Tom Breckenridge / The Cleveland Plain Dealer
November 09, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On Mark Coticchia's first day at Case Western Reserve University, an e-mail arrived from a noted faculty member.
He informed Coticchia that his mission to spin university research into new business "was all a bunch of bull- - - -."
The missive was no surprise to Coticchia. Finding acceptance, much less success, on a stage of high technology, big egos and naked capitalism would not be easy.
It was eight years ago that the Pittsburgh native arrived at CWRU. Since then, Coticchia has parlayed his venture capital savvy, a well-paid staff and a smile that beams like a lighthouse at midnight into a steady flow of high-tech deals and new business.
Read more ...
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Incubator for heart-care businesses taking shape near the Cleveland Clinic
By Tom Breckenridge / Plain Dealer Reporter
Dec. 15, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The next, crucial phase in growing regional and statewide business in heart care is rising two stories over East 101st Street and Cedar Avenue.
The boxy shell of a building looks unspectacular. But the $19 million new-business incubator, to be run by the Cleveland Clinic, is the latest manifestation of Ohio's biggest-ever outlay of high-tech development money -- the 2007 grant of $60 million for the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center.
Read more ...
Dec. 15, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The next, crucial phase in growing regional and statewide business in heart care is rising two stories over East 101st Street and Cedar Avenue.
The boxy shell of a building looks unspectacular. But the $19 million new-business incubator, to be run by the Cleveland Clinic, is the latest manifestation of Ohio's biggest-ever outlay of high-tech development money -- the 2007 grant of $60 million for the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center.
Read more ...
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Project to run a ferry between Cleveland and Port Stanley, Ontario, looks dead in the water
By Tom Breckenridge / Plain Dealer Reporter
Sept. 8, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An effort to establish a Lake Erie ferry between Cleveland's downtown port and Ontario appears dead, despite nearly $1 million spent in pursuit of the project.
Withering support on the Canadian side, a new vision for Cleveland's port and an unresolved U.S. tax issue appear to have sucked the life from the project.
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority's redevelopment plans no longer include a truck-and-passenger ferry terminal northwest of Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Sept. 8, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An effort to establish a Lake Erie ferry between Cleveland's downtown port and Ontario appears dead, despite nearly $1 million spent in pursuit of the project.
Withering support on the Canadian side, a new vision for Cleveland's port and an unresolved U.S. tax issue appear to have sucked the life from the project.
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority's redevelopment plans no longer include a truck-and-passenger ferry terminal northwest of Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
NASA's Plum Brook Station re-created as unique test facility
by Tom Breckenridge/Plain Dealer Reporter
Saturday July 25, 2009, 3:00 PM
Business and elected leaders say a runway large enough to handle spacecraft cargo holds the key for a renaissance of NASA's Plum Brook Station, 50 miles west of Cleveland.
The federal space agency is pouring $152 million into a cavernous test facility at the site south of Sandusky, in preparation for a return to the moon.
NASA is creating a unique test site, officials say, where crews will run space simulations that shake and blast large space components with heat, cold and sound.
And it could be enhanced with a 9,000-foot runway on the southern end of the 6,400-acre federal expanse in Erie County's Perkins Township. That would make it easier to get spacecraft to the facility for testing, giving Plum Brook the same easy accessibility as competing space centers.
Officials say the developments could lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs for north central Ohio.
Read more ...
Saturday July 25, 2009, 3:00 PM
Business and elected leaders say a runway large enough to handle spacecraft cargo holds the key for a renaissance of NASA's Plum Brook Station, 50 miles west of Cleveland.
The federal space agency is pouring $152 million into a cavernous test facility at the site south of Sandusky, in preparation for a return to the moon.
NASA is creating a unique test site, officials say, where crews will run space simulations that shake and blast large space components with heat, cold and sound.
And it could be enhanced with a 9,000-foot runway on the southern end of the 6,400-acre federal expanse in Erie County's Perkins Township. That would make it easier to get spacecraft to the facility for testing, giving Plum Brook the same easy accessibility as competing space centers.
Officials say the developments could lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs for north central Ohio.
Read more ...
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Baiju Shah leads a BioEnterprise team helping build Northeast Ohio's biomedical industry
by Tom Breckenridge/Plain Dealer Reporter
Sunday June 28, 2009, 4:00 AM
Baiju Shah likes to make the pieces fit.
Whether it was slapping together 50-piece puzzles as a Mayfield toddler or coaxing new business from the region's medical powerhouses, Shah thrills to the greater good that grows with each new link.
A man variously described as "a walking Rolodex," "smart as hell" and a "master facilitator" heads BioEnterprise.
The nonprofit, headquartered in University Circle, is charged with boosting growth in the region's health care economy.
So far, BioEnterprise claims a hand in the growth of 89 biomedical companies throughout Northeast Ohio. They've drawn $859 million in capital and generated 1,900 jobs.
Read more ...
Sunday June 28, 2009, 4:00 AM
Baiju Shah likes to make the pieces fit.
Whether it was slapping together 50-piece puzzles as a Mayfield toddler or coaxing new business from the region's medical powerhouses, Shah thrills to the greater good that grows with each new link.
A man variously described as "a walking Rolodex," "smart as hell" and a "master facilitator" heads BioEnterprise.
The nonprofit, headquartered in University Circle, is charged with boosting growth in the region's health care economy.
So far, BioEnterprise claims a hand in the growth of 89 biomedical companies throughout Northeast Ohio. They've drawn $859 million in capital and generated 1,900 jobs.
Read more ...
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Recession will last longest in Midwest, including Ohio, two reports show
by Tom Breckenridge/Plain Dealer Reporter
Wednesday June 17, 2009, 12:01 a.m.
CLEVELAND -- The recession has hit hardest and will last the longest in manufacturing-heavy areas of the Midwest, including Ohio and Cleveland, two new snapshots of the nation's economy show.
The Cleveland area's economic output -- the value of all goods and services -- has declined more than most metro areas' since its last peak in late 2004, a Brookings Institution report to be released today shows.
Greater Cleveland ranked 95th among the nation's largest 100 metropolitan areas in economic growth, with a 6.2 percent drop, the Brookings analysis of Moody's Economy.com data said.
"The auto industry and its supply chain have fallen off a cliff, and so has the Cleveland economy," said Brookings economist Howard Wial, one of the study's authors.
Read more ...
Wednesday June 17, 2009, 12:01 a.m.
CLEVELAND -- The recession has hit hardest and will last the longest in manufacturing-heavy areas of the Midwest, including Ohio and Cleveland, two new snapshots of the nation's economy show.
The Cleveland area's economic output -- the value of all goods and services -- has declined more than most metro areas' since its last peak in late 2004, a Brookings Institution report to be released today shows.
Greater Cleveland ranked 95th among the nation's largest 100 metropolitan areas in economic growth, with a 6.2 percent drop, the Brookings analysis of Moody's Economy.com data said.
"The auto industry and its supply chain have fallen off a cliff, and so has the Cleveland economy," said Brookings economist Howard Wial, one of the study's authors.
Read more ...
Thursday, May 28, 2009
NASA Glenn visitor center could close or have a new home later this year
By Tom Breckenridge/Plain Dealer Reporter
Wednesday May 27, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
BROOK PARK -- The NASA Glenn visitor center, host to three decades of wide-eyed wonder about space and flight, could close or have a new home later this year.
It could also stay right where it is on the center's sprawling Brook Park campus -- if NASA Glenn can find new partners and money to plug a funding gap.
All options -- even a move to the Great Lakes Science Center -- are up for discussion, said Howard Ross, acting director of external programs at NASA Glenn.
Read more ...
Wednesday May 27, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
BROOK PARK -- The NASA Glenn visitor center, host to three decades of wide-eyed wonder about space and flight, could close or have a new home later this year.
It could also stay right where it is on the center's sprawling Brook Park campus -- if NASA Glenn can find new partners and money to plug a funding gap.
All options -- even a move to the Great Lakes Science Center -- are up for discussion, said Howard Ross, acting director of external programs at NASA Glenn.
Read more ...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Lake Shore Electric Railway Inc. may be forced to auction 30-plus trolley car collection
by Tom Breckenridge/Plain Dealer Reporter
CLEVELAND - Another big idea for downtown Cleveland derailed before it left the station.
A nonprofit group with a warehouse full of old trolley cars is nixing plans to build a tourist-attracting rail loop downtown and a trolley museum nearby.
Instead, Lake Shore Electric Railway Inc. wants to put a 30-plus car collection up for auction as soon as July, said Mark Ricchiuto, group spokesman and an executive with Marous Brothers Construction.
Civic and elected leaders supported the project, he said. But the economic recession stanched fund raising. The stalled Flats East Bank project hurt as well, he said.
Read more ...
CLEVELAND - Another big idea for downtown Cleveland derailed before it left the station.
A nonprofit group with a warehouse full of old trolley cars is nixing plans to build a tourist-attracting rail loop downtown and a trolley museum nearby.
Instead, Lake Shore Electric Railway Inc. wants to put a 30-plus car collection up for auction as soon as July, said Mark Ricchiuto, group spokesman and an executive with Marous Brothers Construction.
Civic and elected leaders supported the project, he said. But the economic recession stanched fund raising. The stalled Flats East Bank project hurt as well, he said.
Read more ...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Cleveland wants to use dry river muck to create industrial park in the Cuyahoga River valley
by Tom Breckenridge/Plain Dealer Reporter
CLEVELAND -- Mounds of dried river muck would be dumped and leveled to help create a large industrial park in the Cuyahoga River valley, under a unique plan crafted by Cleveland officials.
The city is working with the Army Corps of Engineers on an effort to scoop 500,000 cubic yards of dredged muck from dikes north of Burke Lakefront Airport.
The dirt -- enough to fill 154 Olympic-sized pools -- could be taken to a valley west and south of Pershing Avenue and Interstate 77, officials say. That would be only half of what's needed.
Cleveland seeks 1 million cubic yards of fill to create a 54-acre industrial site, with a project cost of $18 million, said Tracey Nichols, the city's economic development director. The site could handle 500,000 square feet of manufacturing and create up to 300 jobs, Nichols said.
Read more ...
CLEVELAND -- Mounds of dried river muck would be dumped and leveled to help create a large industrial park in the Cuyahoga River valley, under a unique plan crafted by Cleveland officials.
The city is working with the Army Corps of Engineers on an effort to scoop 500,000 cubic yards of dredged muck from dikes north of Burke Lakefront Airport.
The dirt -- enough to fill 154 Olympic-sized pools -- could be taken to a valley west and south of Pershing Avenue and Interstate 77, officials say. That would be only half of what's needed.
Cleveland seeks 1 million cubic yards of fill to create a 54-acre industrial site, with a project cost of $18 million, said Tracey Nichols, the city's economic development director. The site could handle 500,000 square feet of manufacturing and create up to 300 jobs, Nichols said.
Read more ...
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Interest in self-employment rises among those laid off and college students
Tom Breckenridge
The Plain Dealer
Steve Giordano is 55 and jobless, miffed that the layoff broom swept him from the corporate world five weeks ago.
A return to the ranks of wage slaves leaves him chilled. So the sales-and-marketing executive is hot on the idea of being his own boss.
Like others adrift in a dismal economy, the North Ridgeville resident is considering starting his own business.
"If you do a good job, you won't face corporate downsizing again," said Giordano, who is researching business-to-business franchises. "You're not at the whims of someone else who wants to target you."
He's not alone. Local advocates for entrepreneurship say interest in self-employment rose in recent months, not only among those laid off but also among college students facing the toughest job market in a lifetime.
Read more ...
The Plain Dealer
Steve Giordano is 55 and jobless, miffed that the layoff broom swept him from the corporate world five weeks ago.
A return to the ranks of wage slaves leaves him chilled. So the sales-and-marketing executive is hot on the idea of being his own boss.
Like others adrift in a dismal economy, the North Ridgeville resident is considering starting his own business.
"If you do a good job, you won't face corporate downsizing again," said Giordano, who is researching business-to-business franchises. "You're not at the whims of someone else who wants to target you."
He's not alone. Local advocates for entrepreneurship say interest in self-employment rose in recent months, not only among those laid off but also among college students facing the toughest job market in a lifetime.
Read more ...
Cleveland's downtown waterfront gets a makeover on paper that envisions public spaces, fishing piers
Tom Breckenridge
The Plain Dealer
Cleveland's new image will start with a walkable waterfront that embraces all the allure and activity a river and a Great Lake can bring, influential planners and developers say.
That includes public squares, promenades and fishing piers in a world-class, maritime neighborhood that port, city and civic leaders envision for the gritty port lands on Cleveland's downtown lakefront.
During afternoon and evening sessions, four experts in urban redevelopment captivated crowds totaling more than 200 at the Great Lakes Science Center and Cleveland State University with views on how the 100 acres west of Cleveland Browns Stadium can become a regional signature.
Read more ...
The Plain Dealer
Cleveland's new image will start with a walkable waterfront that embraces all the allure and activity a river and a Great Lake can bring, influential planners and developers say.
That includes public squares, promenades and fishing piers in a world-class, maritime neighborhood that port, city and civic leaders envision for the gritty port lands on Cleveland's downtown lakefront.
During afternoon and evening sessions, four experts in urban redevelopment captivated crowds totaling more than 200 at the Great Lakes Science Center and Cleveland State University with views on how the 100 acres west of Cleveland Browns Stadium can become a regional signature.
Read more ...
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