Northeast Ohio has emerged from the recession with a much stronger economy, yet we must accelerate the pace of job creation. Here are five Cleveland companies leading the charge.

Just after marking its one-year anniversary in business, PrestoFresh Grocery, which delivers groceries out of Zagara’s Marketplace in Cleveland Heights to all of Cuyahoga County and parts of Lorain, Lake, Summit and Portage Counties, has doubled its business and is expanding again.

Founder Steve DeMoulpied says that sales have grown by 115 percent during the first year. He has 15 employees – eight on staff and seven contractors – and is currently hiring order preppers, pickers, packers and drivers.

Now PrestoFresh is expanding its services to include wellness and nutrition expert Amy Jamieson-Petonic, AKA Amy J.

Amy J. will write a free monthly blog for all PrestoFresh newsletter registrants. Amy J. looks for foods that keep her clients energized and healthy throughout the year and she even adds humor and science to her blogs. This month’s topic is “Top 5 Foods for Health & Happiness This Holiday Season.”
 
DeMoulpied has a background in health and wellness and he knew when he started PrestoFresh that he wanted to incorporate that component into his services. “We thought we could do more than just deliver groceries,” he says. “We thought we could be a foundation for other things. We make it easier for people to access high quality foods. The first little step in that direction is to think about what else we can do from a health and wellness standpoint.” The link will be in PrestoFresh’s bi-weekly newsletter.
 
Amy J. will offer her wellness consulting from her website, making it easier for PrestoFresh customers to find and select the products that make the most sense for their personal nutrition goals.
 
PrestoFresh and Amy J. are also cross-promoting each other. PrestoFresh customers can use their rewards points for a free 30-minute consultation with Amy J., while customers who sign up for two months of coaching with Amy J. will receive free delivery during that period.

Chris Tarr has a vision of uniting Cleveland’s west side neighborhoods into one large playground of great restaurants and tasty beers. The establishments already exist, but getting around safely, affordably and easily is another challenge.
 
After being stranded at Brew 133 in Lakewood during a snow storm last year, Tarr came up with the idea for the West Side Shuffle – a black school bus with a big white sign advertising the phone number to call to get on board -- that takes passengers from Lakewood to Ohio City and everywhere in between. The bus runs from 9pm to 2:45am on Friday and Saturday nights.
 
“I had this idea to unify all of these neighborhoods,” Tarr explains of his plan. “You should be able to go to any of the bars and restaurants in the neighborhood. People who live here love it here, and I wanted them to be more connected to the area.”
 
Tarr has been running the West Side Shuffle for the past two weekends, and by Saturday night he had turned a profit. “Saturday was fantastic,” he says. “We filled the bus two times. Some people called our number for a pickup; some people flagged us down on our route. People were very receptive, and everyone was nice and courteous.”
 
While Tarr rides the bus, collects the fares and mingles with the passengers, he employs a head driver, insured with a commercial driver’s license, and has two back-up drivers.
 
After two weekends, Tarr has already made some changes, based on riders’ requests. He is in the process of creating route maps, flyers and easier access to the Shuffle’s phone number – (216) 673-4222. He’s been working with some of the bars to create coasters with the number on them. Tarr also now allows riders to play their own music from their phones on the bus’ sound system.
 
While the normal fare is $4 cash or $6 with a credit card, Tarr has instituted a discount deal for certain bars. If riders are already on W. 25^th, they can ride the West Side Shuffle to Porco Lounge and Tikki Room, Platform Beer Co. or Jukebox for just $2.
 
As business grows, Tarr plans to expand service to West Park, W. 6^th Street and W. 4^th Street.

Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute, the French restaurant at Shaker Square that employs ex-convicts and gives them on-the-job training and a foothold in the industry in an upscale restaurant, celebrated its first birthday on November 1st.

Founder and chef Brandon Chrostowski sees many reasons to celebrate with the success the restaurant has seen in its first year. Forty-four students have graduated from the program and 40 have gone on to work in fine dining establishments in the region. In the first class, 100 percent of the graduates had jobs within 30 days of graduation and 85 percent of the graduates still were working in their jobs six months later.
 
Edwins took in $1.4 million last year, which covered roughly 73% of the school portion of the restaurant’s model, which teaches its student employees virtually every aspect of running a restaurant. Edwins also has a long list of sponsors and supporters who believe in second chances.
 
Goals for Edwins’ second year include 75 graduates with 80 percent job retention after a year; 81 percent of total expenses covered by restaurant sales and diner contributions; and a less than five percent recidivism rate.
 
Chrostowski says the restaurant has learned some lessons in the first year as well. Smaller classes of 12 to 15 accepted every six weeks instead of 55 students starting all at once result in a higher graduation rate. “You’re going to get better results with a smaller class because you’re going to get to know the students more,” explains Chrostowski.
 
Housing, transportation and childcare are the biggest issues for Edwins students to overcome. Those issues are being resolved through the kindness of patrons and friends. A group of Ruffing Montessori School parents and teachers recently walked in to Edwins to offer their help. That group now provides childcare five days a week. Chrostowski was able to secure 30 beds on E. 130^th Street and St. Clair Avenue for those employees who need a place to stay. And he recently brought on a case manager to help with additional support needs.
 
“We’re all working as hard as we can for each other to get on with the next phase of their lives,” says Chrostowski, who also credits his staff of three managers with providing guidance and support. Chrostowski is always looking for volunteers to help continue Edwins’ success.
 

The premier healthcare gathering in the country takes place this week at the Cleveland Convention Center. Here are four Cleveland healthcare innovators being featured at the conference.

The Shark Tank style competition, now in its second year, is designed to give new businesses financial assistance and expert advice to get off the ground.

With fireworks and smoke machines, and science experiments galore, CWRU officials on Thursday officially broke ground on the new home to thinkbox, a collaboration and innovation center housed in the former Lincoln Storage Building, now known as the Richey-Mixon Building.
 
The CWRU board of trustees voted unanimously last Sunday, October 12 to approve the renovations with the $25 million out of a $30 million goal. Phase I is due to be completed in August 2015.
 
Phase I includes renovations to the first four floors. A glass skyway will connect the athletic center to the thinkbox entrance. The first floor will be a community floor with a bike station. “It will be a younger-feeling creative space that suits our students’ lifestyle,” explains thinkbox manager Ian Charnas. “The second floor will be the ideation floor with amenities such as whiteboards and meeting rooms modeled after Stanford d. School in California.”
 
Floors three and four are dedicated to some real hands-on innovation. Three will house a prototyping floor and a small metal shop, will offer tools for nearly every metal project conceivable. “We’re sending an email out, saying 'come enjoy several thousand square feel to do your projects and get messy.'”
 
Charnas expects thinkbox to both attract and retain innovative thinkers to Cleveland. “This is helping to build industry in the region,” he says. “Most of our students are recruited from outside of Cleveland, and even Ohio. This is a big golden carrot to keep these folks in the area.”
 
The announcement was made during Case’s homecoming celebration. Case president Barbara Snyder was accompanied by the major donors to make the announcement amid smoke machines and fireworks displays on monitors. Instead of a ribbon-cutting, the group flipped a giant old-fashioned power switch.
 
Students dressed in white lab coats embroidered with thinkbox and blue hard hats made commemorative chocolate coins using liquid nitrogen, with the help of Sweet Designs Chocolatier and Piccadilly Creamery. A laminar flow fountain – the kind where the liquid leaps about – dispensed punch that shot from a white display case into guests’ glasses.
 
Charnas says they hope to raise the remaining funds in the next year and shoot straight into phase II renovations, which will include the remaining top three floors.