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The Ohio International Market Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE) program is now accepting applications. All activities must be pre-approved in advance and executed no later than September 30, 2013.

IMAGE is a 50 percent reimbursement program designed to offset the costs associated with certain exporting initiatives. IMAGE is funded by the State of Ohio and the United States Small Business Administration as part of the National Export Initiative to double U.S. exports by 2015. The purpose of IMAGE is to increase exports and create jobs in Ohio by helping small businesses expand into new international markets.

Click here for more information.

The Ohio Aerospace Institute will host the Aerospace Capital Forum On July 9 in Cleveland.

The forum will address why aerospace investments are important to industry growth. Panel discussions will focus on aerospace capital for large businesses and growth capital investments for entrepreneurs and small companies.

Complete information is available here.

For patrons of McDonald’s restaurants from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, the 180,000-square-foot distribution operation at Ohio Commerce Center here is key to every visit, from the pickles on your Big Mac to the 75-gallon tanks that dispense soft drinks.

Get the whole burger here.

The giant machine might be anchored to the floor, but program everything right and it can fool a super-sized bearing into believing it’s 300 feet in the air. The equipment occupies one-half of a bay in the Stark State College and Timken Co. Technology and Test Center. Timken researchers can run tests to find out how bearings will stand up under a variety of conditions that the machinery can simulate.

Funding for the project came from: Timken Co., $6 million, Stark State College, $3 million, supported by $500,000 from the Timken Foundation, Ohio’s Third Frontier commission, $2.1 million, Ohio Air Quality Development Authority’s Advanced Energy Jobs Stimulus Program, $1.5 million.
Get the whole story here.

Youngstown-based Strollo Architects is ready to start a $4 million- plus rehabilitation project of the long-vacant Wells Building downtown to turn it into the company’s new headquarters with 12 apartments on its upper three floors.

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A business in Lorain has grown into a national leader supporting online sales of other companies. Trademark Global, in the former Lorain Ford plant at Baumhart Road and West Erie Avenue, is a multi-faceted business growing into its latest home -- 300,000 square feet of warehouse space at the former automotive plant.

Get the full story here.

A young Hudson software company has received a $21 million investment from Summit Partners of Boston. The company, COMS Interactive, will use some of the money to add staff and tailor its software -- which is popular among nursing homes -- for other long-term care providers.

Read the whole story here.

Avon Lake residents may soon be able to harvest a portion of their home’s energy from the offshore winds of Lake Erie.

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), a regional economic development corporation started in 2009, was granted $4 million from the Department of Energy and an additional $1 million from private partners in December to spur an offshore freshwater wind pilot project that called for the manufacturing of five to nine wind turbines placed in Lake Erie, seven miles off the coast of Cleveland.

Get the whole story here.

Ohio could add as many as 67,000 new entrepreneurs as a result of the federal government subsidies made available to aspiring business owners through the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.

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Bright ideas are taking shape across Greater Cincinnati as the region embraces the value of supporting innovation that will create business and jobs for the future. The goal: to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports the brightest startups with investment capital, physical space to grow and mentorship from top corporate, business and university experts in the region.


Read about all of Josh Pichler's 10 top startups to watch in 2013 here.

Vallourec Star dedicated its new seamless pipe mill on June 12 in Youngstown.

First announced in February 2010 with an initial price tag of $650 million, the state-of-the-art facility, which cost more than $1 billion, was constructed in response to growing demand for small-diameter pipe used for hydraulic fracturing, a process that uses water, chemicals and sand to extract natural gas and oil from shale rock thousands of feet below the earth’s surface.

Read the full story here.

According to Avon Mayor Jim Smith, Jenne officials are looking to double the size of their 65,000 square-foot facility. The $5 million expansion is expected to create 24 full-time positions at the company. The hiring of 24 employees will add $1,920,000 to the company’s payroll over the next three years.

Jenne Distributors, headquartered in Avon, is a leading wholesale distributor of business telephony, data, audio and video conferencing, and security technology products.

Read the whole story here.

On Thursday, June 20, the first TechPint event will be held in Cleveland at the Market Garden Brewery. This new event series will then be held every three months in drinking establishments across the city. TechPint will feature speakers that will shake things up for you and give you a chance to see how fellow innovators are progressing with new ventures. Pints will be flowing freely, and undoubtedly new ideas and connections, too. Cost: $12.

Get all the detail and registration info here.

Dayton ranks 10th among the nation’s large metro areas in the percentage of high-paying jobs that require science, technology, engineering and math skills, a study released today by the Brookings Institution has found.

Read the whole story here.