Cleveland : Buzz

Recently, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron recommended to the Ohio Legislature changes to Ohio's energy efficiency portfolio that would essentially freeze the energy efficiency mandate found in Senate Bill 221 at current levels. As currently written, Senate Bill 221 calls for Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) to undertake energy efficiency improvements by 2025 equal to 22% of 2008's energy consumption. FirstEnergy's proposed changes would end the mandate at the less than 3% cumulative reduction required to date.

Ohio's Legislature should consider carefully any request to alter Ohio's course on energy efficiency. For many reasons, a reduction in the energy efficiency goal does not appear to be a good idea at this time.

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President Barack Obama's re-election means the Affordable Care Act is here to stay, and Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove has a clear view of the next steps for health systems, employers and citizens.

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Chrysler Group LLC is hiring more than 1,100 new workers at its sprawling Toledo, Ohio, manufacturing complex. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) is looking for hundreds of bankers in Columbus. And the Cleveland Clinic has been adding registered nurses at such a clip that it rented out the Cleveland Browns football stadium for a job fair.
Long an emblem of rust belt decay and despair, Ohio is now outpacing the national economy.

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It’s a shame. Amidst the financiapocalypse, Cleveland, Ohio, has 13,000 homes and other structures in such disrepair that they need to be torn down. It’s a $4 billion job. And at least one designer is trying to find the bright side.

Daniel Cuffaro, department chair at the Cleveland Institute of Art and founder of Abeo Design, has created a modular workspace called the Hive Workstation. It’s similar to the premium corporate furnishings offered by companies like Steelcase, but there’s a key difference: Hive is built from the failed housing projects of Cleveland itself. Every piece has a secondary purpose, to “literally create value from the rubble of economic collapse.”

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Automation, long a way for manufacturers to cut costs and improve efficiency, now is becoming a solution to the problem created by an ever-growing shortage of skilled workers.

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The nation’s wind energy industry is growing, and that’s helping Ohio, according to a new report by an environmental group. The Natural Resources Defense Council says its new study finds that a wind farm, consisting of something like 10 wind turbines, creates a lot of jobs.

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FierceHealthcare, the leading source of healthcare management news for healthcare industry executives, recently published a Q and A with Cleveland Clinic Chief Wellness Officer Michael Roizen.

"As Cleveland Clinic's wellness program hits its five-year anniversary, Chief Wellness Officer Michael Roizen says the program is showing real results and returns. FierceHealthcare spoke with Roizen about how the program has affected the patients, the community and employees -- plus previews a patient wellness widget that's in the works."

"Our goal is to help our employees be as healthy as they can be, which obviously will drive down our costs, which drive down the community's costs, which make our communities competitive for jobs," says Roizen.

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Join other industry experts at the 2012 19th Annual NASVF Conference "Advancing Innovation: Seeding Tomorrow’s Opportunities” which will take place in Cleveland, Ohio October 15th -17th. Register here.

The Ohio Capital Fund, Ohio Venture Association, JumpStart, TechColumbus and CincyTech are working to plan the Great Lakes Venture Fair for October 17-18th in downtown Cleveland.

This day-and-a-half event will be a fast-paced gathering for investors and entrepreneurs, featuring the highest potential entrepreneurs and their venture-backable companies from Ohio and the Midwest.

Starting Wednesday afternoon immediately following the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds meeting, the Venture Fair will feature early stage opportunities and a reception in the evening. The following day, the program will include presentations showcasing the best of the region's vigorous startup and investment activity and driving the conversation around building future growth.

The GLVF builds upon momentum driven by seven successful years of The Ohio Capital Fund's Early Stage Summit programs.

Click here for complete conference information and registration.

"For investors looking to go off the beaten track to find quality deals, Ohio might be the answer," Mitchell Rosich, partner at Athenian Venture Partners, writes in VentureBeat.

"According to the most recent Ohio Venture Capital Report, venture capital activity in Ohio was up more than 80 percent in 2010, surpassing the national average, which was up only 20 percent."

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Michael Goldberg, a professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and a managing partner of a venture capital fund that invests in early stage medical device companies, certainly has a bevy of knowledge and experience to share with others. He is currently taking some time off teaching in Cleveland to focus his attention on a different part of the world. 

In this article, published in Vietnam, he urges Vietnamese entrepreneurs to dream and take risks.

Fast Company calls out Cleveland in its article on 15 Tech Scenes in Places You'd Never Think to Look.