From a news perspective, August was a fairly slow month.  We’ve recapped a nice selection of positive news from after the break.

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.

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

August ‘08 Recap

• ARCHAngels and LCCC form new fund
• Lake Erie College gains $1M grant
• A. Schulman to expand in Akron
• CleveX secures $1.4M in funding
• Lots of good results reported (Ferro, PolyOne, Hawk, JoAnn Stores, Preformed Line, Olympic Steel, McDermott)
• Cleveland Professional Club 20/30 joins Advance Northeast Ohio partners (congrats Dan and Alex)
• Ohio outshining Silicon Valley (no, we mean it!)
• A. Schulman expanding
• PartSource gets $50M in venture funding
• NEOinc tenants in the news (Knotice, PolyFlow)
• Primus raises $275M for sixth fund
• Expedient continues Garfield Heights expansion
• Diebold wins Brazilian contract

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.

It is with great enthusiasm and a shared sense of optimism for our future that we present to the people of Ohio our economic development strategic plan. Ohio, Home of Innovation and Opportunity is a bold, practical, and forward-thinking plan to change the trajectory of Ohio’s economy by purposefully redesigning our business climate to increase the global competitiveness of Ohio’s employers.

The website makes the full plan available, including an executive summary and an area to “share your thoughts”.

According to the article in the Beacon Journal, reXorce plans to use the money to hire up to 12 new engineers and locate a new base of operations.  While the Akron location has been “incredibly supportive in handling their growth” it simply isn’t big enough to handle the demonstrations systems reXorce plans to build.

reXorce is not looking for a new building however.   Their plan is to locate an old, unused building and renovate it into an advanced energy showcase.

COO Phil Brennan, as quoted in the article:

We are surrounded by resources we misuse.  The cost in energy to tear down a building and put up a new one is irresponsible. We’d rather bring an old building back to life.

Wait - an advanced energy company in Northeast Ohio gets a $5M investment and they not only want to stay in the region, but are socially responsible too?

NEOinc sure knows how to pick ‘em!

(Thanks to Paula Schleis, Beacon Journal business writer, for her continued focus entrepreneurial activity in the Akron area.  We need a few more Paula’s around the region!)

Here’s the latest update out of the Youngstown Business Incubator:

We haven’t talked about SofTek Software in a while. They are kind of our quiet company, offering a proprietary PoS (point-of-sale) software to four major market verticals, while taking customers from industry giants in those spaces like Reynolds & Reynolds and ADP.

And all the while, they have been quietly building all the necessary internal infrastructure, like one of the best customer support systems we have ever seen, to sustain and further grow the company.

Well in 2008, the pay off for all their hard work is finally here and sales are moving off the charts.

How good?

We’re pleased to report that in spite of a very good year in 2007, SofTek sold more systems in the first half of this year than they did the entire previous year. And to support that sales growth,  five new employees started work at the firm just yesterday alone.

Visit SofTek Software to see the next rising star in the Youngstown Business Incubator portfolio.

Jim Cossler
Chief Evangelist
Youngstown Business Incubator

I know what you’re thinking: “Yea, yea heard it all before.”  Actually, so have we.  You’re not in the incubator business very long before you realize perpetual motion machines and tires to oil ideas walk through your door fairly frequently.

But Joe Hensel and the rest of the guys in PolyFlow may just have something this time.

As the Plain Dealer article profiles, PolyFlow has what is called a demonstration plant up and running down in Akron.  A demonstration plant is a scaled-down version of the eventual full production plant.  The demo plant is being used to validate the technology and demonstrate the process to venture capitalists and plastics industry reps.

Guess what - it works!

In a process called pyrolysis, shredded plastic is vaporized, condensed and ultimately distilled back into it’s chemical raw components.  That’s world-changer #1 - no longer do I need to buy a new barrel of oil for my raw materials, I can now get them from PolyFlow.

World-Changer #2 is that PolyFlow’s process works with any plastic.  Did you ever notice those numbers on the bottom of plastic containers and how your city only wants you to recycle 1’s and 2’s (at least in my city that’s how it works).  That’s because the higher the number, the harder they are to re-process.  PolyFlow’s technology removes that barrier and allows any plastic to be processed.

PolyFlow is still validating their technology, but if the VCs and plastics executives visiting a grassy park lot down in Akron are any indication, we’re looking at another big win for the region.

For more details about Joe, his team, and PolyFlow, please read the entire PD article.

Knoticedelivers integrated marketing communications across email, web, mobile and emerging digital channels and is a JumpStart portfolio company.  Knotice is adding customers and growing quickly.  The Beacon Journal story provides some background on the company founders, why they are here in Northeast Ohio, and how bright their future looks.  (This is a 3 page story - be sure to click the page numbers to advance and read the entire article).

Congratulations Knotice!

The response has been extremely informative, and the survey will be closed soon.  Before that time however, we are opening up this survey to regional entrepreneurs regardless of whether they are involved with NEOinc or not.

If you are a technology entrepeneur and would like to participate in our brief survey, follow this link.  The survey is designed to take only a few short minutes out of your day, and we thank you in advance for your participation.

Recently, the ARCHAngel network sent out a very big announcement.

“We wanted to share with you some exciting news…………..  Thanks to our growing alliance with the Lorain County Community College (LCCC) and the hard work of the team lead by Tracy Green, we are happy to report that we have formed the Innovation Alliance Fund to provide very early stage technology and business gap funding.

The Innovation Alliance Fund has just received a Third Frontier Pre Seed Grant from the Ohio Department of Development of $500,000 which will be matched by an additional $500,000 from LCCC and UARF.  Our alliance with LCCC will both increase deal flow and provide access to very early stage preseed funding for our ARCHAngel companies.  A reminder that none of this goes to salaries and overhead but is all directed to where it will do the most good - the entrepreneur.

The ARCHAngels were also highlighted in today’s Akron Beacon Journal Business Section, with some very kind words from Exacter’s CEO John Luletta. Thanks to all of you who continue to provide their unique skills and resources to high potential companies like Exacter.   See these two articles by Paula Schleis in today’s Akron Beacon Journal: Investors network making impact and $7.5 million will provide startup help.

We appreciate all of the ARCHAngel efforts which have brought us to this next step on our ARCHAngel growth curve.  We will have lots to discuss on Wednesday September 10th and hope that you can join us for our quarterly meeting.”

Are you an Entrepreneur with an innovative business that needs the right resources and financing, or an Investor looking for a well developed ideas to invest in that will grow and provide you a competitive return in 3-5 years?  If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, and don’t know about the Akron ARCHAngels, then head over to their website, do your homework and contact them as appropriate.  Barry and Gordon are making great things happen in Akron - don’t miss out!

We’ve recapped a nice selection of positive news from July after the break.

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.

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

July ‘08 Recap

• MemPro Ceramics gains $500,000 grant 
• Hyland Software acquires Calif. company 
• Northeast Ohio industrial sites in demand (some facts and figures)
• Building Biomedical jobs
• Advanced Energy and Northeast Ohio (as in, the story keeps getting better)
• Rainbow given $1M to study childhood cancer
• Cleveland Clinic wins $1.4M grant
• Cleveland State receives two $1M grants
• Eaton wins Cessna fuel systems work
• Cavaliers re-sign Daniel Gibson 
• Orthopedic hospital breaks ground 
• Parker Hannifan wins huge supply contract
• Timken issues upbeat forecast 
• Case engineering school receives $250K gift
• Timken outlook defies “downturn”
• Ohio is committed to technology innovation
• UoA foundation & LCCC team up for tech
• Youngstown’s collaboration recognized nationally
• Babcock & Wilcox unit lands $30M contract
• Ohio ranks high in biotechnology
• $7.5M to provide startup help
• Akron ARCHAngels making an impact
• Profits soar at Steris

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.

That “perfect balance” is protrayed throughout the site and supporting collateral primarily as a balance between work and life; portraying Ohio as a place where people get serious work done, but also a place with the cultural and environmental infrastructure to support an active, fulfilling personal agenda:

Welcome to Ohio, the State of Perfect Balance, where world class companies and those who aspire to be don’t have to compromise professional or personal satisfaction in pursuit of their ambitions. The same goes for their families and the employees whom they lead. The Great State of Ohio offers business and industry many unique qualities that contribute to better balance and, ultimately, optimal business performance. It’s a correlation that is becoming increasingly clear.

The quote above was taken from this page, which also presents several articles in support of the proposition that better work/life balance improves P&L performance.  Other sections of the site speak to Ohio’s key industries, regions, market access, relatively lower cost to do business and workforce & education.

You can find OBDC’s blog here, and a media kit here. 

The website is a wealth of information useful in promoting Ohio as a business destination.  If you are looking for materials that could be useful in attracting investors or employees to Ohio, this site should be on your list.

OBDC has also developed a short video that tells Ohio’s great story.  You can view the video on YouTube here.