Welcome to the latest edition of Who’s Hiring in Cleveland?
 
There are plenty of good jobs to be found here in Cleveland. This is the latest installment in a regular series of posts in which we feature companies that are hiring, what those employers are looking for, and how to apply.
 
Here’s the latest Cleveland hiring news:
 
Lazorpoint, a customer-service driven information systems consulting company, has positions available within their IT help desk. The company also needs support/system engineers, .NET application developer and a CRM architect. Visit the Lazorpoint careers page for more information on each position and how to apply.
 
JumpStart, an organization that partners with community leaders to spark the growth of new entrepreneurial companies and builds resources and support for those companies, has three positions open: a marketing principal; a director of the mentoring program development; and a product development manager. Register with JumpStart’s career center to apply for these jobs.
 
Beachwood-based Luscious Verde, creators of handmade cards, invitations and announcements, needs a rock star full time salesperson. The position pays a base salary plus commission. The candidate with a great track record will be compensated accordingly. Send resume and cover letter to the hiring manager.
 
Have hiring news you’d like to share? Email Karin at Fresh Water Cleveland and send us this information or career links!

When Tim Hayes told his family as a kid that he wanted to make a cardboard box fly, they laughed at him. Yet decades later, he drew on those childhood experiences to help name his two-year-old product development company after the kind of imaginative, "blue sky" thinking that he exhibited on that day. 

Cardboard Helicopter Product Development, as it is now called, might just be inventing the next big consumer product right from the heart of Lakewood.

"I've wanted to be an inventor forever," says Hayes, an industrial designer who started the company with two childhood friends that he's known for years, Sean Barry and Carlo Russo, and fellow Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) grad Mustafa Kalic. "That's kind of why I went to school, to do my own thing one day."

Although Cleveland isn't as well known for product development as coastal cities like San Francisco, and Hayes has watched dozens of talented coworkers leave the area over the years, the landscape is shifting. Companies are more open to ideas from outside than in the past, thanks in part to the trend of open innovation. Essentially, Cardboard Helicopter's founders spend their days pitching ideas to companies, in hopes that they'll get a chance to create the next big thing.

Hayes explains that the business is broken into three parts: contract industrial design for hire, where Cardboard Helicopter helps design a product that's already sketched out; product licensing, where the firm designs a product from scratch and then attempts to license it with a company; and manufacturing, where the company attempts to create its own products.

The company's 6,000-square-foot headquarters on Detroit in Lakewood's west end provide a veritable playground for dreaming up and creating new ideas. The upstairs is an open-space studio with a ping pong table and pool table "to help get the blood flowing once in a while," says Hayes. The downstairs has a shipping area, large kitchen and shop where products can be built and tested.

Hayes and most of his coworkers live in Lakewood and enjoy walking or biking to work. The company recently has done work for Enerco and Jokari, among others.

"In the next five years, we'll hopefully have hundreds of licensed products," says Hayes. "We're able to do everything at a very low cost, because we have industrial design resources here. [We're] about keeping creative talent here. I went to school and just watched everybody leave, but there are so many manufacturing companies here. I think people can stay here and have longevity."

The New Ventures Healthcare Challenge once again will kick off the Cleveland Clinic’s 2014 Medical Innovation Summit, introducing the world to healthcare information technology companies with new and creative concepts.
 
"We’re looking for anything creative, innovative or inspiring," says Gary Fingerhut, executive director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI). “We want anything that’s going to revolutionize the health of our patients.”
 
While the summit does not start until October 27, the deadline for the first round of the challenge -- a video submission -- is Friday, May 30. “This year is a much more structured approach, with three rounds,” says Fingerhut. “There is the new video round, which explains what’s unique, why the idea is a game changer and how big an impact it will have." The second round is a web conference presentation. A select group of candidates will then be asked to present at the summit to a panel of experts and venture capitalists."
 
The winning company will work with CCI and its advisory board on commercialization strategies. The team will also demonstrate its product to a select group of Cleveland Clinic caregivers.
 
“Last year, the competition added a lot of energy because we had these really bright entrepreneurs from 40 states and 20 countries,” says Fingerhut. “It’s an exciting way to kick things off.” Eleven teams ultimately presented their concepts to the board.
 
Last year’s winner presented a thermometer that connects to the cloud for predictive analysis of the flu across the country. CCI currently is assisting the team with commercialization end of the product.
 
Applicants must submit a You Tube link to MIS2014@ccf.org  by May 30 to be considered for the video round.
 

Camino, a new Mexican restaurant and "tequileria," has opened on West Ninth Street in the heart of the Warehouse District. Eddy Galindo, the restaurateur behind Luchita’s, opened the venue to provide a casual, everyday option for downtown’s growing residential base.
 
Camino aims to capture the neighborhood’s “up-and-coming and increasingly residential community,” explains manager Lindsey Henderson. The venue, which is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, serves tacos, wings, burgers, empanadas, salsas and guacamole. On the drinks side is a sizeable selection of tequilas, craft beer and margaritas.

The menu features small plates priced from $3 to $5, including flank steak, mango-chicken, and chicken tacos. Margarita flavors include cucumber and pineapple-chili, but mojitos also are a big crowd pleaser.

Camino's tasty food and drinks are accompanied by a modern, unique dining room. A long communal table sits in the middle of the room, providing guests with the option to dine family style. Spacious tables and a large bar provide plenty of additional seating. Patio seating also is available; Camino is in the process of obtaining a license so that guests can enjoy their margaritas outside.
 
The owners plan to honor regulars and neighbors by implementing a rewards card system that would give benefits and discounts to those who stop by frequently.

Finding the perfect apartment to rent can be a pain in the neck. Factor in the desired amenities, attractions and location, and the search becomes even more difficult. Amit Patel thought of all that when designing Quo, a rental tool that matches users with apartments that suit their lifestyles.

“The idea around Quo is how we can change the way people search for residential rentals,” explains Patel. “There are hundreds of places on sites like Craigslist, all with the same feel and all through the same basic search engine. We wanted to understand what people are looking for, what their lifestyle is.”
 
Scheduled to launch later this month, Quo targets college students and young professionals who are looking for specific features in their neighborhoods. “Now you can put in preferences like, I want to live near a Starbucks, or near nightlife or places to eat,” explains Patel. “Or, choose areas that are walkable, bikeable or driveable.”
 
The site also will have a renter’s toolkit, where users can pay rent, split the rent between roommates and purchase renters insurance. A referral program offers incentives for renters who introduce friends to Quo. If a referral rents an apartment through the site, the referring user gets a cash incentive.
 
Even though Quo hasn’t yet officially launched, excitement already is building through word of mouth. The company already has more than 2,100 likes on its Facebook page.
 

Rachel Kingsbury, a young, first-time entrepreneur who previously worked as a restaurant manager at Town Hall and Liquid Planet, has signed a lease to open The Grocery in a long-vacant building at 3815 Lorain Avenue. The 1,000-square-foot neighborhood market will offer everything from produce to meat to dairy, much of it sourced from local farmers.

"In addition to having thriving entertainment districts, other cities have essentials like grocery stores, bread shops and butchers," she says. "That's what spawned my desire to open a grocery store in Ohio City. This is something I felt was necessary for the development of Cleveland and the development of the neighborhood. I decided to focus more on organic-style products because people are becoming more conscious eaters. They're very aware of where their food comes from."

The owners are restoring the exterior through the City of Cleveland's Storefront Renovation Program. They will bring back the original transom windows, adding more natural light to the store, which has 12-foot ceilings on the main floor.

Kingsbury says she was attracted to the location because of other new businesses in the area, such as Jackflaps, which often has a line out the door during weekend brunch, she says, Platform Beer Company and Buck Buck Studio and Gallery.

She says that she wants her store to serve the entire community, and she's looking into accepting EBT and WIC. "This is the kind of place you go to shop every couple days and bump into your neighbor there. We want to be an integral part of building a very strong community."

In addition to local produce and pasture-raised meats, The Grocery will feature value-added products created by area food entrepreneurs. Kingsbury is partnering with the Economic and Community Development Institute (ECDI), a microlender with offices in the Midtown neighborhood, and Cleveland Culinary Launch to stock her shelves with products they're helping bring to market.

The Grocery will be open seven days a week: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Kingston is keeping the buildout simple, and has applied for permits and licenses through the City of Cleveland. She also is pursuing an equipment loan from ECDI. She plans to open in July.


Source: Rachel Kingsbury
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Talk about hot in Cleveland: The housing market in Tremont is so tight right now that buyers and real estate agents often can be heard complaining there's nothing for sale. Some of that pressure should be alleviated with the rise of new units at Starkweather Place, a 31-unit development that began in 2006, slowed down quite a bit in the recession, and recently revved back up again.

Keith Sutton of Sutton Builders, one of Tremont's original developers, who 25 years ago began building homes here, recently broke ground on six new units. With five already sold, the project is entering the home stretch. He's gearing up for a groundbreaking on the last six units and expects the project to wrap up next year.

"We got hit hard in the recession, but 2013 was a great year for us, especially considering the last five," he says. "This year, there's definitely been an uptick."

The 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath townhomes start at $250,000 and go up from there. Amenities include contemporary design, granite countertops and a deck overlooking the neighborhood. The units are green-built and include a 15-year, 100-percent tax abatement.

"There seems to be kind of a pent-up demand now, so we've even been able to raise our prices a little bit," Sutton says. "With the cost of building going up, we had to."

Why such demand? "I'm told we have a rare commodity. There's just not a whole lot of stuff available in the neighborhood, and we're well suited for that niche."

Sutton also is a partner in Portside Distilling, which just sold out of its first run of canned craft beer. He runs his development company out of a renovated building at East 23rd and Hamilton. He calls it a "business incubator" that has so far lured a flooring company and a plastering company to move into the city from the 'burbs.

Sutton contributes his recent success to the neighborhood's ever-improving dynamics.
 
"It's never been better," he says of Tremont. "Part of why commercial businesses are thriving here is because of the residential component. But people are coming from everywhere. This is truly a destination place."

Disease Diagnostics Group, a startup company out of CWRU, won the top $1,500 prize in the Charter One Foundation Student Business Idea Competition. Three winners were announced at the Northeast Ohio Entrepreneur Expo on April 7.

Disease Diagnostics has developed a hand-held device for early detection of malaria. The company was founded by CEO John Lewandowski, who earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and his masters in engineering management from CWRU, and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) Brian Grimberg, assistant professor of international health at Case School of Medicine’s Center for Global Health and Disease.
 
“It was Dr. Grimberg’s technology,” explains Lewandowski. “This device is reusable, portable, inexpensive and fast. One billion tests are needed. Five hundred million to 700 million cases are documented and people don’t even know they have it.”
 
Disease Diagnostics’ Rapid Assessment of Malaria (RAM) device can help people get treatment early. The test costs only about 25 cents to run, takes about a minute for results and has 94 percent accuracy. “Malaria is completely curable disease,” says Lewandowski. “With early detection, you won’t die from it and you won’t spread it. Being able to detect it in someone who doesn’t have symptoms yet would be monumental.”
 
The company is in the final stages of testing its device and collecting field data, in part thanks to funding from the Case-Coulter Translational Partnership. Lewandowski foresees the RAM device to be on the market soon for national and international government programs.
 
Lewandowski says they will use the $1,500 for final prototyping and lab tests.
 
Other recipients of Charter One Foundation funds were Sprav Water, a company out of Case that is developing a shower head that monitors water consumption, and Holmes Mouthwatering Applesauce, an applesauce manufacturer out of Hiram College. Sprav received $400 and Holmes received $600.
 
The three winners were selected by a panel of judges and by popular vote.

On Thursday, May 1, Global Cleveland will officially launch its talent attraction campaign at a major event at the Cleveland Convention Center. The event -- like the organization hosting it -- is focused on increasing the population while strengthening the local economy.

Sustainable Community Associates and Everstream have announced that ultra-high-speed, fiber-based broadband network services will soon come to the Fairmount Creamery building, a 100,000-square-foot property that is under redevelopment in Tremont.

The high-speed Internet services will be available to both residential and commercial tenants. Everstream is a project of OneCommunity, which has spent more than a decade building the most advanced fiber-optic network in Northeast Ohio. Everstream was created to bring high-speed Internet to private businesses.

"We are really excited to be working with Everstream to bring the fastest residential Internet service to the Creamery," said Josh Rosen, one of the three partners in Sustainable Community Associates, in a release. "The Everstream network will be a significant asset for both our residents and businesses."

The Internet service will be 10 to 20 times faster than traditional networks. Rosen hopes the project will help create a "fiberhood" in Tremont that proves attractive to businesses, especially tech-based enterprises and startups. LaunchHouse is planning to open a new office here when the building opens in late 2014.

“The Creamery project is a perfect example of how developers and managers of mixed-use properties gain a competitive advantage by providing best-in-class service,” said Brett Lindsey, President of Everstream.


Source: Josh Rosen
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Melissa Khoury loves pork so much that she's earned the title “Queen of Pork.” Growing up watching local butchers cut her steaks, then gaining even more exposure to butcheries while living in Atlanta, Khoury discovered her passion early on.
 
When Khoury moved back to Cleveland in 2009, she worked as a chef in a number of well known restaurants with no intention of staying in town. But then, everything began falling into place and Saucisson was born in 2013.
 
Saucisson sells hand-cured meats and specialty sausages, all sourced from local farmers and butchers. Currently, Khoury works out of the Cleveland Culinary Launch and sells her products at local farmers markets and the Cleveland Flea.
 
From chorizo to smoked Tasso ham, Khoury has found her calling. “I love everything about it,” she says. “It’s like my Zen. It’s me and my animal and it’s relaxing to me.”
 
Khoury’s love of pork was no secret to area chefs, but she was less known to retail consumers. “When I started the company, chefs in the city knew who I was and knew about my pork obsession, but the general consumer didn’t know unless they were patrons of one of the restaurants I worked at,” she says.
 
Khoury is a big supporter of other local businesses like Fresh Fork Market, Thirsty Dog Brewing Company and New Creations Farm in Geauga County. They often work together to share their creations. For example, Khoury buys her meat from New Creations, sells her sausage through Fresh Fork and uses Thirsty Dog lager in some of her sausages.
 
Now that customers have had a chance to get to know Khoury and the products she sells through Saucisson, her next goal is to open a female-owned butcher shop. In doing so, she wants not only to sell her products, but also inform the general public about fresh and cured meats and sustainable butchery.
 
"I educate the general consumer, whether it’s a sausage sandwich or spaghetti sauce,” she explains. “It’s cool to see people get adventurous with my products. But I don’t want to make anything that will scare anyone away. I’m making sausage approachable.”
 
To help achieve those goals, Khoury recently brought on Penny Barend as a business partner.

 
Source: Melissa Khoury
Writer: Karin Connelly

Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and CharterOne Foundation have announced the creation of a Clean&Green Cleveland program, which offers a fully stocked trailer to assist neighborhood residents with beautification projects. The trailer comes equipped with all the tools and equipment necessary to clean up vacant lots, maintain community gardens, tackle neighborhood improvement projects, and more.

The nonprofit introduced the trailer as part of its ongoing efforts to beautify and reimagine vacant properties in Cleveland. The trailer is available on a "first come, first reserved" basis, according to the website. Applications, use forms, waivers and other information all can be found online, and groups are encouraged to apply. The trailer is for use in the City of Cleveland only.
 
In a release, CNP stated that the Clean&Green program will offer opportunities not only for beautification, but also for community building among neighbors.


Source: Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
Writer: Lee Chilcote