Five Questions with Mustard Seed Development Owner, Daryl Anderson
Founded in 2011, Mustard Seed Development is a community-based business that specializes in real estate development/construction on the near West Side of Cleveland. The company renovates quality, affordable housing for low income, refugee and immigrant families and also hires and trains refugees and immigrants in construction skills, empowering them to start their own businesses and/or
Five Questions With Faithful Homes, LLC Founders, Karla & Carl Miller
Nearly two decades ago, Faithful Homes began by providing care for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities in need of respite care. Since then, the company has grown and now provides residential and homemaker personal care for these individuals, in addition to non-medical transportation and travel services, helping them become more involved in activities they
From Light Bulb Moment To Industry Leader, Wireless Environment Illuminates Cleveland’s Culture Of Innovation
David Levine and Michael Recker were tired of the same old lighting fixtures: the kind with tangles of wires and a complicated installation process that required an electrician. So, they set out to create a simpler, more cost-effective solution: bright, efficient, wireless lighting that could be easily installed anywhere. The Solution Wireless Environment launched
Five Lessons I Learned Founding OnShift From My Cleveland Basement
More than a decade ago, I moved to Cleveland from San Francisco and started a brand new company called BAZMANsms. Today, the company I launched from my basement employs nearly 150 people, has thousands of customers across the U.S., has raised over $33 million in capital and is showing no signs of stopping. What’s that
Meet Our Core City: Cleveland Impact Program’s Spring 2018 Cohort
We are excited to welcome the fifth cohort to our Core City: Cleveland Impact Program! This 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. Over the next three months, these five individuals will be learning and
This Entrepreneur Brings A New Groove To Downtown
Anjua Maximo was working at fashion giant lululemon while teaching fitness in Los Angeles when she was first inspired to open a boutique studio focused on fitness and personal development. When her career led her to Cleveland, Anjua decided it was time to make the dream a reality. Her first consideration: Was there even a
Meet Our Newest NEXT Fund Portfolio Company: ReadySet Surgical
The JumpStart NEXT Fund has already invested more than $8.5 million in growing tech startups across the state of Ohio. Now, the NEXT Fund has a new portfolio company—Cincinnati-based ReadySet Surgical. Founder & CEO Keerthi Kanubaddi launched the company in 2014 to solve a critical, but little-known problem in medicine—miscommunication among hospitals, surgeons and the
Charisma Curry Is Making Life Easier For Busy Families
As a child, Charisma Curry saw the struggles her own mother faced while trying to balance her work schedule with her parental responsibilities as a single mother. So, when Charisma became a mom herself, she was already aware of the challenges that lie ahead. Still, this understanding didn’t make the actual experience of balancing work,
OnShift’s Visionary Technology Solves Big Workforce Challenges
Mark Woodka and his partners wanted to solve the costly challenges of managing the senior care workforce. Post-acute care and senior living providers often deal with workforce shortages, high turnover rates and wage pressures that chip away at the bottom line. Mark and his team knew that the right technology could improve employee engagement, business
Meet Plug And Play Founder And CEO Saeed Amidi
In October, Cleveland Clinic and JumpStart announced a partnership with Silicon Valley’s renowned Plug and Play Inc. to bring a new biotech and digital health innovation accelerator to downtown Cleveland. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Plug and Play is one of the world’s best and largest accelerator programs. As they prepare to expand to Northeast Ohio,
Entrepreneur Insight: Chris Nickless, Vlipsy
For the last eight years of his career, Chris Nickless has been working in the growing “expressive content” space, planning, building and deploying solutions that allow people to represent themselves and communicate more effectively on digital platforms. Through this work, Nickless realized something important was missing from online communication. When speaking face to face, he
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,