The Braintree Center for Business Innovation, one of Northeast Ohio’s technology incubators, is a part of the statewide network of incubators and centers funded by the Edison Technology Program of the Ohio Department of Development.  In addition to the incubator program (officially known as Mansfield/Richland Incubator), the Center also houses an office of the Small Business Development Center at Ashland University, an International Trade Assistance Center that serves new-to-export companies in a nineteen county region, and the Northern Ohio IT Alliance, serving a thirteen county area as the regional affiliate of the Ohio IT Alliance.  As a technology incubator, Braintree’s main focus is on four clusters: advanced manufacturing, IT, biosciences, and international.

Bob Leach, Director of Operations

Bob Leach joined Braintree in April 2007 as coordinator of all activities of the Mansfield/Richland Incubator program, and also as director of the Northern Ohio IT Alliance.  Previously he spent 11 years as the Facility Manager and Systems Administrator for an Optical Disk and Video Duplication facility in Grove City, OH. Prior to that, Bob spent ten years in management for a large Home Center retailer and four years in the US Navy. Bob is a Graduate of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and served on board the commissioning crew of the USS Georgia SSBN 729.  Bob’s entrepreneurial experience comes from several companies in the construction industry.

Bob Cohen, CEO, Director of Business Assistance

Bob Cohen has served as CEO and Director Of Business Assistance since March of 2007.  In this role, he serves as a resource person for technology entrepreneurs in a multi-county area of north east Ohio as part of Ohio’s Third Frontier ESP program.  He served as Braintree’s Executive Director from July of 2004 until March of 2007.   Previous to accepting the position at Braintree, he spent ten years working as regional manager for a Washington-based international business development agency and one year as operations manager for a Columbus-based micro-enterprise program.  Cohen, who has lived in the Mansfield area since 1988, has also served as an adjunct faculty member of both North Central State College and the Ohio State University at Mansfield. 

Bob has a B.A. from the University of Akron, an M.A. from The Ohio State University, and an MBA from Franklin University.  He is a licensed insurance agent, and a Certified Business Advisor (CBA).  His entrepreneurial background is in the insurance and broadcasting industries. In his spare time he enjoys traveling and has been to all fifty states, all ten Canadian provinces and a total of 32 countries.