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
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
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
Entrepreneur Insight: Paul Hugenberg, InfoGPS Networks
The question is simple and straightforward—where is your organization’s sensitive consumer data stored? The answer, on the other hand, tends to be far more complex. Paul Hugenberg experienced the struggle of answering this question frequently while working as an IT consultant, so he took it upon himself to develop an efficient and effective means of
Core City Cleveland: Entrepreneur Showcase In Pictures
On August 11, our second group 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. The event also featured a small exhibition hall, where attendees could network with alumni of the impact program and
Five Questions With Owens Print & Creative Solutions Founder James Owens
After spending 10 years in the commercial print and graphic design industry working for big box retailers, James Owens made a decision to start working for himself. In late 2014, he founded Owens Print & Creative Solutions, a company that specializes in the quick turnaround of commercial printing, graphic design, web design and other marketing
Five Questions With Making A Difference Consulting Founder Angela Flowers
As a licensed social worker, Angela Flowers has a knack for nurturing children and families that deal with difficult issues in their daily lives. While working in the school system, Angela realized that the mental health care for students was insufficient. Angela decided to tackle this problem by co-founding Making A Difference Consulting, an in-school
Five Questions With Asbestek Founder William Beard
Experience is usually the best teacher. For William Beard, his hands-on business experience as an asbestos contractor helped him to see a major opportunity for a technology-based tool that can improve process for other contractors in the industry. We recently sat down with William to talk about the idea behind his startup, Asbestek, his participation
National Small Business Week Spotlight: Mike Kennedy And Sibling Revelry Brewing
Now in its 53rd year, National Small Business Week celebrates the positive impact entrepreneurs and small businesses have on the economy. In honor of this week, we’ll be profiling a group of local scaleup businesses that are connected to our work. These scaleups are established small businesses who have made it through the difficult startup