NEOinc » Mansfield

Incentives for technology companies

NEOinc — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:22:47 +0000

Just about every entrepreneur is looking for funding for their startup; this is particularly true for technology companies. Republished here with permission from the author (The Tech Czar himself), is a great recap of economic incentives for the high tech sector. From the city level to the state, whether it’s tax credits or loan funds, the information below is a wide-ranging snapshot of incentive options for your high-tech startup. A big thanks to Michael and LNE for pulling this together.

NEOinc would add to the list to include the Innovation Loan Fund at Lorain County Community College (grants up to 25K, loans up to 100K), and the Cuyahoga County New Product Development Fund, administered by MAGNET (loans up to 60K).

Without further ado – on to the incentives.

Economic Incentives for the High Tech Industry

City of Cleveland

Technology Business Grant Program

This program was designed by the City of Cleveland to attract new business to the City while helping reinforce the City’s “brain gain.” Grant assistance can be applied to both new and existing technology businesses with strong prospects of growth and commercialization of proprietary technologies. Approved companies will receive up to $50,000 per year for three years, based on 50% of new City of Cleveland income taxes generated.

Economic Development Loan Program

The Economic Development Loan Program is designed to help companies from across all industries. This program offers long-term, fixed-rate financing at 4.0% interest. Loans for this program range from $35,000 to $500,000 and cannot exceed 40% of the total project’s cost. Terms are typically 5-7 years on equipment and to up 15 years on land and buildings. The City will take a subordinated collateral position to a private lender.

Vacant Property Initiative Fund

For technology-based companies looking to buy a building for office space or to build their new headquarters or technology showcase space, the Vacant Property Initiative Fund may help secure the facility you need. These loans are designed to overcome barriers to the re-use of abandoned, idled or underutilized commercial properties. Loans may be used for property acquisition, environment site assessments, site clearance and demolition and new construction. The funding is up to 45.0% forgivable. The loans have a 6.0% fixed interest rate and are made for a maximum of one-year.

The City of Cleveland has various other economic incentives available for business and commercial development, please contact us at the LNE Group to discuss in more detail.

Cuyahoga County

NorthCoast Opportunities Technology Fund

The NCO Tech Fund program targets technology companies that are excellent candidates for future venture capital investment and possess high growth job creation potential. Approved companies will receive a payment-deferred, low interest loan to complete a specific initiative or project that is expected to make the company significantly more attractive to pre-seed investors. Evaluation and selection will be performed by the County in collaboration with the State of Ohio funded TechLift entrepreneurial signature program. Funding rounds will occur on a bi-monthly basis.

Key Business Requirements

Loans can be for $25K- $125K, with typical loans in the $50-75K range
Interest rate of 5%
Payments deferred for five years or until:
Significant financing event (greater than $1.5 million)
Sale of company or company assets
Failure to comply with terms of agreement (i.e. leaving Cuyahoga County)
Loan proceeds must be used for a specific project or initiative that will bring the company closer to achieving pre-seed funding.
Loan is secured by the personal property and assets of company

Grow Cuyahoga Fund

The Grow Cuyahoga County Fund is a regional economic development fund operated in conjunction with the National Development Council which is a licensed SBA 7(a) lender. The National Development Council (NDC) is one of the nation’s oldest non-profit organizations for community and economic development. Through its Grow America Fund subsidiary, NDC provides SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans to small businesses in partnership with client communities throughout the country.

The Grow Cuyahoga County Fund can make loans ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. The loans will generally be at rates of prime minus 2% to prime plus 2%, for terms up to 25 years depending on the proposed use of funds. Loan proceeds may be used for any legitimate business purpose, including working capital, machinery and equipment, acquisition of land and building, construction, renovations and tenant improvements. The Grow Cuyahoga County Fund does not provide venture capital and cannot provide funds for research and development or to satisfy equity or near-equity needs.

Economic Development Loan Program

The Economic Development Loan Fund provides businesses with financial assistance to support the retention and creation of jobs for County residents. The fund provides long term, fixed-rate financing at interest rates lower than conventional financing. Interest rate is typically four and a quarter percent (4.25%). The fund is intended to fill a financing gap beyond the amount of private participation and equity investment that can be raised. Loans generally range from a minimum of $35,000 to a maximum of $350,000, up to forty percent (40.00%) of total project cost. Loan terms are up to seven (7) years on equipment and up to fifteen (15) years on land and building. Loans can be used to finance the acquisition of land, buildings, machinery and equipment as well as for new construction, renovation, expansion and/or conversion of facilities. Loans cannot be used to refinance debt, purchase inventory, pay other non-capital costs or on speculative projects. The County will take a subordinated collateral position provided there is adequate collateral available as security, up to a ninety percent (90.00%) loan to value ratio.

Key Business Requirements

Businesses are required to create one new, full time, permanent job for every $35,000 loaned within three years of loan closing.
Businesses must provide a minimum of ten percent (10.00%) equity. The business owner or majority stockholder must provide a personal guarantee for the loan amount.
A majority or fifty-one percent (51.00%) of the jobs created must be made available to low and moderate income persons as defined by the federal government.
The business must execute Workforce Cooperation Agreement with the County that designates as first source of referral for mutually agreed positions at the company.
Business must demonstrate the ability to repay the loan as well as have adequate collateral and acceptable credit.
When loan funds are used for construction, federal prevailing wage rates must be paid and a departmental environmental review must be conducted.
The business owner or majority stockholder must provide a personal guaranty in the amount of the loan. Additionally, key man insurance and hazard of business insurance is required in the amount of the loan with Cuyahoga County Board of County Commissioners as the loss payee

Enterprise Zone Tax Incentives

A business enterprise located within a Cuyahoga County Enterprise Zone is eligible for negotiated tax incentives for new investment. Currently there are twenty-six (26) enterprise zones designated in Cuyahoga County municipalities which include: Bedford, Bedford Heights, Berea, Brook Park, Cuyahoga Heights, Euclid, Garfield Heights, Glenwillow, Highland Heights, Highland Hills, Maple Heights, Mayfield Heights, Newburgh Heights, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Oakwood, Olmsted Falls, Parma, Richmond Heights, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid, Strongsville, Valley View, Walton Hills and Westlake.

Key Business Requirements

Businesses must apply directly to the municipality which is the site of the new investment. Local governments can grant exemptions of up to seventy five percent (75%) on eligible new investments. The term of these incentives can be for up to ten (10) years. Once an agreement is negotiated between the company and the municipality, the agreement must be approved by the Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners. The project cannot begin prior to the Commissioners’ approval.
The companies are required to negotiate and execute a Workforce Cooperation Agreement with the County, which designates the County as the first source of referral for mutually agreed entry-level positions at the company.
All intra-state relocations require a relocation waiver issued by the Ohio Department of Development. A letter from the mayor of the exited community is required on intra-county relocations.
Fees include a one-time application fee of $750.00 payable to the Ohio Department of Development. There is also an annual monitoring fee charged by the municipality and split with the County. This fee is equal to one percent (1%) of the taxes exempted, minimum $500 and not to exceed $2,500 per year for the life of the agreement.

For more information on the Cuyahoga County economic incentives please feel welcome to contact me at 216.781.9000 or at mdealoia@lnegroup.com.

State of Ohio

Job Creation Tax Credit

The Job Creation Tax Credit allows companies that are creating at least 25 new full-time jobs that are paying at least 150% of federal minimum wage to apply for state income tax credits. Certain project that create 10 or more full-time jobs and pay more than 400% of the federal minimum wage may also be eligible for the tax credits. The credit is calculated as a percentage of state income tax revenue withheld by the business for new employees. The credit also allows a municipality to grant a credit against its income tax to business that receives it from the state.

Technology Investment Tax Credit Program

This credit program offers a variety of benefits to Ohio taxpayers who invest in small, research and development or tech-based firms. Through this innovative program, Ohio investors may reduce their state taxes by 25.0% (and in some cases 30.0%) of the amount they invest in qualified, technology-based Ohio companies. Both the companies and the investor’s must meet several requirements specified by Ohio law in order to gain access to this program.

Ohio Research & Development Investment Tax Credit

The Ohio Research & Development Investment Tax Credit provides a non-refundable tax credit against the corporate franchise tax and is designed to encourage Ohio-based companies to invest in increased research and development activities.

Research & Development Sales Tax Exemption

A unique way for a company to support its research and development activities is the Research & Development Sales Tax Exemption which allows for an exemption from the usual state and county sales tax for companies that purchase equipment for research and development activities. This allows Ohio-based companies to enjoy significant tax savings while undertaking research and development activities.

Ohio Innovation Loan Fund

The Innovation Ohio Loan Fund (“IOF”) was created to assist existing Ohio companies develop next generation products and services within certain “Targeted Industry Sectors” by financing the acquisition, construction and related costs of technology, facilities and equipment. The IOF provide competitive financing terms on loans to finance projects that will positively impact Ohio by creating high-value jobs, increased tax revenues and improve the welfare of the State.

The IOF is intended to supply capital to Ohio companies having difficulty securing funds from conventional sources due to technical and commercial risk factors associated with the development of a new product or service. The IOF can finance up to75.0% of a project’s allowable costs to a maximum of $3.0 million and a minimum of $500,000.

Key Business Requirements

The IOF will target industry sectors involving the production or use of:

Advanced Materials
Instruments, Controls & Electronics (“ICE”)
Power & Propulsion
Biosciences
Information Technology

The IOF is intended to support the capital needs of established Ohio companies that have:

A recent history of positive cash flow
A minimum of three years of operating history
Attracted or are likely to attract additional third party capital to the project

Positive Change in Northeast Ohio – May 2009 Recap

NEOinc — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:06:14 +0000

Cleveland sports may not be working out the way we had hoped here in early June, but the economic development activities in our region certainly seem to be bearing fruit.

At the Team NEO Economic Development Impact Awards last week, ten awards were handed out recognizing various organizations and initiatives for their positive economic impact our our region. Here’s a recap of the winners in the various categories:

Asset Creation: Akron’s BioInnovation Institute
Business Attraction: Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber
Business Expansion: Ashland Area Council for Economic Development, Ashland County, Jackson Twsp.Ashland Area Council for Economic Development, Ashland County, Jackson Twsp.
Business Retention: City of Akron, Greater Akron Chamber, County of Summit, Summit County Port Authority
Foreign Investment: Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County
Fostering Entrepreneurship: Lorain County Community College Foundation
Marketing Cleveland Plus: Cohen & Co.
Minority Business Development: City of Lakewood & LakewoodAlive
Public-Private Partnership: Maple Street Commerce LLC. City of North Canton, and Stark Development Board
Workforce Development: Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering Center of Cuyahoga Community College

After about the forth or fifth award, I lost count of all the jobs created, millions of dollars invested, and businesses attracted. Rest assured it was an impressive total.

Three things really stuck out during the awards. First – the overall coverage of the region by the winners. From Youngstown to Lorain; from Ashtabula to Canton, great things are happening all over the place. Second – many of the winners were collaborations themselves, providing examples to others on how to partner and accomplish great things. Finally – the list above is simply the recognized winner in each category. For all ten categories, there were another 2-3 finalists in the running (and easily another fifty or so overall submissions).

There is a lot of positive change happening in the region, particularly around entrepreneurial activities and economic development. NEOinc follows several regional blogs reporting on these topics. Sometimes the posts shine a spotlight nationally (or internationally) on the region. Every month we publish a short list of some of the stories we’ve noticed that embody the spirit of achievement, growth and change in our region.

Congratulations to all the winners, finalists and everyone submitting an entry. In the spirit of Team NEO’s awards, congratulations to our region for recognizing the great work we’ve all done over the past year. Now, let’s look at what happened last month.

Reflective of the Team NEO awards, this month’s recap is all over the region and state, and definitely highlights job creation, collaboration and economic development of all types. Here then is NEOinc’s May recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

May ‘09 Recap

This list certainly isn’t meant to be exhaustive, merely a representative sample of some of the more positive articles we saw throughout the month. We want to hear from you too! Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts with us here at NEOinc and our other readers. Come on, you know you want to.

We’re also looking for other blogs to follow that report on positive entrepreneurship and economic development activities throughout Northeast Ohio. You can review the list below of the blogs we currently follow. Please post any additional recommendations via the comment box at the end of this post.

NEOinc’s blog reports regularly on entrepreneurial activities within the region, news and successes within the five incubators making up our collaborative, and resources available throughout Northeast Ohio. If you found this post useful, please consider subscribing to our blog. Our “Connect With Us” page will give you all the information you need to subscribe via your RSS reader or receive E-Mail updates.

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs. Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
Crain’s Cleveland
NorTech – NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.

Positive Change in Northeast Ohio – April 2009 Recap

NEOinc — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:46:38 +0000

It’s mid-May and Cleveland basketball is still being played, so “positive change” is definitely underway! Here’s two eight more “W’s”!

After a couple months that were a bit light on the positive news, there was lots to choose from in April. What was maybe most surprising were many articles about significant capital and job influxes coming into Ohio and Northeast Ohio. 250 jobs here, $14M of investment there, and all of a sudden things aren’t looking so bad after all.

Lastly, if you are a entrepreneur looking for funding for a product-based business, you have until Noon, Friday the 15th to take advantage of the Cuyahoga County New Product Development and Entrepreneurship Loan Fund, administered by MAGNET. Long term, low interest loans of $15K, $40K and $60K are available through this competitive program. Details, documents and contacts are all available online.

Here is NEOinc’s April recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

April ‘09 Recap

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs. Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
Crain’s Cleveland
NorTech – NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.

New Product funding round just announced

NEOinc — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:03:46 +0000

Do you need funding to help develop a new product or know someone who does? If so, MAGNET has loan funding that helps entrepreneurs or small businesses bring their ideas to reality.

MAGNET administers the New Product Development and Entrepreneurship Program, Product Innovation Loan Fund on behalf of the Cuyahoga County Department of Development. In the last four years, the fund has provided over $3.5 million for new product development in NE Ohio and $500,000 in additional funds are now available. Results of the program have been outstanding with loan recipients attracting over $18 million in additional investment, generating almost $9 million in revenue through the sales of over 330,000 product units, and creating 124 jobs.

The process is competitive. Applicants will have their submissions reviewed and approved by a committee consisting of local business leaders, venture capitalists, designers, entrepreneurs and representatives from Cuyahoga County. Applications for the current funding round are being accepted with a submission deadline of NOON EDT on Friday, May 15, 2009. Loans of up to $115,000 can be made in phased increments ranging from $15,000 to $60,000 depending upon how much development has already been completed and what remains to be done.

The loans have an interest rate of 3.5%. There are no interest or principal payments for the first three years after disbursement. Small companies of less than $50 million in sales as well as entrepreneurs can use this money to fund their product development process for such activities as market research, patent services, industrial design, engineering and prototyping efforts. Software development companies are also eligible.

Full details of the program along with application forms are available at http://www.magnetwork.org/programs/cuyahoga-loan-fund.htm.

If you have further questions you can contact Barbara Paul by phone at 216-432-5322, or by email at barbara.paul@magnetwork.org

PS If you don’t need funding yourself we’d appreciate it if you help publicize this opportunity through your network. Thanks.

Positive Change in Northeast Ohio – March 2009 Recap

NEOinc — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:06:49 +0000

Maybe it’s the Cavs, maybe it’s the Spring weather (come on, it was just two days of snow), but things are starting to feel like they’re looking up. With a two week Wall Street rally and the beginnings of optimism, perhaps the worst is behind us.

While the entrepreneurial spirit continues to run high and NEOinc incubators have seen no shortage of innovation over the winter, we would particularly like to recognize the growing student entrepreneur movement. Colleges and universities throughout NE Ohio are embracing entrepreneurship through education, programs and competitions. NEOinc, along with it’s partners, continues to be impressed by the quality of the business concepts and the professionalism of the students.

In particular, the recent LauncTtown finals event, held this year at Baldwin Wallace, saw eight student entrepreneur teams present their concepts. The LaunchTown Entrepreneurship Awards competition is an annual event open to students of any Northeast Ohio four-year college. Students, individually, or in 2-5 person teams, submit a 5-10 page essay describing their idea for a new business, product, or service. The best ideas shared $10,000 in cash prizes, including a $5,000 grand prize, and over $30,000 in business services to help bring their ideas and concepts to reality.

Participating universities and members of the sponsoring Entrepreneurship Education Consortium include John Carroll University, University of Akron, Kent State University, Baldwin Wallace College and Ashland University. Other schools participating in the 2009 open competition included Hiram College, Youngstown State University, Oberlin College, The College of Wooster, Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, Walsh University, Cleveland Institute of Music and Lake Erie College.

Every student participating in the event is a winner and all the business concepts had merit. NEOinc congratulates Citizen Groove, this year’s winner of the LaunchTown event. Before we get to this month’s positive news, here’s a short video describing Citizen Groove’s concept (video developed by the student entrepreneurs).

Here is NEOinc’s March recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

March ‘09 Recap

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs. Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
Crain’s Cleveland
NorTech – NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.

Positive Change in Northeast Ohio – February 2009 Recap

NEOinc — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:10:41 +0000

Reports from Indians training camp on the news… “Intriguing” Brown’s trade rumors… Cav’s are headed (positive thinking) to the NBA Finals…

All three can only mean one thing: Spring is just around the corner. While NE Ohio weather supports this notion one day, and denies it the next, both the calendar and the sports report confirm that Opening Day, an NBA title and daffodils can’t be too far away! So in that spirit of rebirth, growth, and a little positive thinking, we offer the February positive change recap.

Here is NEOinc’s February recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

February ‘09 Recap

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs. Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
Crain’s Cleveland
NorTech – NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.

Positive Change in Northeast Ohio – January 2009 Recap

NEOinc — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:49:41 +0000

Happy New Year!

…and “good riddance” to 2008 many are saying. While there’s little comfort in the uncertainty before us, the symbolism of a fresh start associated with the new year was certainly welcome. Granted, even our rose-colored glasses are becoming a bit tarnished these days, and the recap seems to get shorter every month, but there are bright spots and individuals, organizations, and officials trying to head us in the right direction. The foundation they are building will set us up for greater success not if, but when the recovery happens.

Here is NEOinc’s January recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

January ‘09 Recap

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs. Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
Crain’s Cleveland
NorTech – NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.

Regional Entreprenreurial Calendar

NEOinc — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:28:02 +0000

If you’ve been on the NEOinc site lately, you probably noticed our new addition: a Regional Entrepreneurial Calendar.

Any page you are on, whether it’s the home page or a blog post, will have the next five upcoming events listed in an “Upcoming Events” window on the left-hand side. The full calendar can be viewed on it’s own page, accessible from the top menu. The calendar is fully interactive and offers a number of ways to interact with both the calendar and individual events. We think you’ll find two aspects of the calendar particularly useful:

The calendar has it’s own RSS feed. Subscribe to the feed and you’ll automatically get updates in your feed reader whenever we add events to the calendar.
You can easily add events of interest to your own personal calendar. When viewing the calendar, simply check the box next to the event you are interested in, then click the “Add to my Calendar” button at the top of the calendar. Multiple calendar formats are supported, including Outlook, Yahoo and Google.

NEOinc would like to thank MAGNET for hosting the calendar. It is actually a subset of MAGNET’s comprehensive Regional Datebook, listing events of interest from around the region.

While NEOinc member incubators regularly host events of interest to entrepreneurs, we know our events are just the tip of the iceberg. If you have an event of interest to entrepeneurs, and would like it included in the NEOinc Regional Entrepreneurial Calendar, send details of your event to:

Lynne Brakeman (MAGNET)
lynne.brakeman@magnetwork.org

Please include as much detail as possible about your event, making sure to include the event’s contact person, website and registration link (if available).

NEOinc is pleased to provide this calendar of events to our region’s entrepreneurs, partners and support organizations. We hope you find it valuable and take the time to contribute your events.

Positive Change in Northeast Ohio – December 2008 Recap

NEOinc — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:02:28 +0000

I think it’s fair to say that no one was particularly upset bidding farewell to 2008. What a year!

The winds of change are blowing however, and NEOinc continues to see positive entrepreneurial activity throughout the region. Incoming requests for assistance for all our member incubators remains strong. Cuyahoga County kicked off a new support program for high potential technology startups. VC and investment activity is still strong, albeit perhaps a bit more cautious, with most investors telling us to continue bringing them good opportunities.

So while the list of news items below is perhaps not as long as usual, NEOinc and all it’s partner organizations remain very optimistic about the state of Northeast Ohio entrepreneurship.

Here is NEOinc’s December recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

December ‘08 Recap

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs. Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
Crain’s Cleveland
NorTech – NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.

Positive Change in Northeast Ohio – November 2008 Recap

NEOinc — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:00:23 +0000

Between the temperature drop and the snow on the ground it’s safe to say our Indian Summer is over and we are making the turn toward winter. NEOinc wishes you and yours a safe, healthy and joyous holiday season.

The current economic climate is challenging to say the least, and positive news, let alone positive change, has been in scarcer supply than months past. However, it is said “you find what you look for” and there are still plenty of bright spots to report this month. In particular, a number of regional entrepreneurs either launched their businesses or received significant funding.

Here is NEOinc’s November recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

November ‘08 Recap

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs. Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
Crain’s Cleveland
NorTech - NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.