Entrepreneurial Programs : Featured Stories

Data shows Ohio's rural communities and smaller metros are hemorrhaging young adults -- a key to maintaining an entrepreneurial and civically engaged society. Despite the uphill battle, many smaller communities in Ohio are finding creative means to retain and attract young, talented workers.

With help from incubators, venture capitalists and nonprofits, Ohio's smaller cities -- including Dayton, Youngstown and Athens -- are fast becoming centers for new ideas and innovation outside of the big 3C cities.

As new VP of operations for the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp (LEEDCo), Dave Karpinski will guide the organization through the next phase in the process of building the nation’s first freshwater offshore wind project. With its first round of financing in tow, LEEDCo must now compete for a critical second infusion of funds against six other projects across the country.

Created by engineers and artists from Cleveland, the waterfall swing has now been featured in tech festivals from New York to California and become an overnight Youtube sensation.

Two new hackerspaces have just joined a host of shops across the state. hiVelocity took a peek inside these quirky garage shops and found everything we didn't expect, from kettles of brewing beer to pinball machines. But nothing was more inviting than the hackers themselves.

Laura Chenault transformed an abandoned garage into a space for filming music videos and indie documentaries and hosting cooking classes and dance parties. Springboard, a nine-week course that teaches artists to run businesses, helped turn her dream into a reality.

Less than five percent of food Ohioans consume is estimated to come from local farms. The reason is inefficient supply chains for local foods. Yet Ohioans are increasingly embracing supply chain innovation and technology to "reshore" more food in-state.

Explorys, which offers a secure software platform that allows healthcare systems to summarize, analyze and manage data, has moved into the former home of MOCA. The Cleveland-based company currently has more than 80 employees and is expected to climb to between 110 and 125 by next year.