Five Questions With Our Favorite Things Boutique Founder Lisa McGuthry
Decades ago, Lisa McGuthry’s grandmother sold peanuts at baseball and football games in Cleveland Municipal Stadium. She grew her operation by employing many neighborhood children and provided many with their very first job. In 2002, Lisa decided to take a page from her grandmother’s book when she founded her own business, Our Favorite Things Boutique,
Five Questions With Backattack Snacks Founder Lauren Back
Poor snacking habits aren’t easy to shake, and most of us are no stranger to the struggle of finding alternative, guilt-free options that are just as delicious as they are nourishing. To help change that, husband and wife team Brian and Lauren Back founded BackAttack Snacks. Their company offers tasty, healthy snacking alternatives, including certified
Tips For Tracking Your Supplier Diversity Data
Last month, JumpStart Accounting Manager Nancy Schlairet and I flew to Las Vegas to present at Advantage 2017, Sage Intacct’s annual gathering of its accounting system’s users and partners. The slogan for this year’s gathering was “Lead the Future,” a phrase that could just as easily be applied to what JumpStart is trying to do
Five Questions With Getting Our Babies To College 101 Founder Jowan Smith
Paying for college is difficult for many families, but the burden is often far greater for single parents, and even more so for single parents that head low-income households. Jowan Smith doesn’t want the dream of obtaining a college degree to be out of reach for any child, no matter their family’s financial situation. This
Core City: Cleveland Open Mic Night Offers Inspiration To Entrepreneurs
Two minutes isn’t a very long time, but it’s all the time local entrepreneurs and small business owners had to present their elevator pitches during our recent Core City: Cleveland Open Mic Pitch Night. In a casual atmosphere, without any pressure to compete, more than a dozen participants polished their skills in front of a
Rust Belt Riders Is Turning Food Waste Into Gold
Daniel Brown and Michael Robinson spent many years working in the restaurant industry, seeing exactly how much food ends up in the trash. Aware of the stark reality that nearly 40% of food is wasted*, they were inspired to find a productive use for that waste. THE SOLUTION They started by collecting compostable food
Meet Our Core City: Cleveland Impact Program’s Fall 2017 Cohort
We are excited to welcome the fourth cohort to our Core City: Cleveland Impact Program! As the name implies, the 12-week business assistance program is designed to drive economic impact in the city of Cleveland by helping individuals overcome obstacles to entrepreneurship through hands-on advising and industry-specific mentoring. The free program accepted five aspiring entrepreneurs
Entrepreneur Insight: Tom Barrett, 7Signal
In today’s workplace, manufacturers, universities, hospitals and many other enterprises all depend on reliable wi-fi networks. These organizations are full of mission-critical, and in some cases life-critical, equipment and processes. And while wi-fi tends to make everything run more efficiently, interference, network congestion and coverage issues can cause major headaches. Fortunately, Cleveland-based 7Signal offers a
Five Questions With Image Voice Productions Founder Dana Simmons
Dana Simmons knows how to freeze time. For nearly two decades, the Cleveland native has preserved the memories of families and told the stories of brands through his work at Image Voice Productions, a multi-media company he founded after recognizing that he could turn his passion for photography and video into something more. Image Voice
Entrepreneur Insight: Gene Groys, The Burton D. Morgan Mentoring Program
When Gene Groys founded OnShift more than a decade ago, he was prepared to pursue his idea. However, as a first-time entrepreneur, he wasn’t exactly sure where to start. Along the path to creating the thriving and sustainable business that OnShift has become, Gene stumbled through numerous obstacles, but he credits each as a valuable
Core City: Cleveland Impact Program Spring Showcase In Pictures
On May 16, our third cohort of Core City: Cleveland Impact Program participants took the stage to present their fine-tuned, demo day-style pitches to an audience of friends, family, community members and a panel of judges. We would like to congratulate each of the Core City Impact Program participants on their completion of the 12-week business assistance
Entrepreneur Insight: Amy Husted and Audrey Wallace, Komae
In just 35 days and two minutes, business partners Amy Husted and Audrey Wallace, both stay-at-home moms, raised $30,000 to get their startup Komae off the ground. With Kickstarter backing and a pitch competition win under their belts, the duo was equipped with the necessary resources to begin developing a social app – one designed