As the number of local bike commuters continues to increase, so too does the number of savvy entrepreneurs who serve and service them. In recent years, a mini boom of bike-based businesses has developed across Northeast Ohio, including frame builders, messenger bag makers, rickshaw drivers and an indoor bike park that attracts visitors from throughout the Midwest.

When Will Friedman took the helm of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority in June 2010, he soon learned about Dike 14, an outcropping of land on Cleveland's east side that had been a dredging facility from 1979 until 1999. Friedman quickly realized that the Port could do more to transform this burgeoning wildlife paradise -- which was closed to the public due to environmental concerns -- into a world-class nature preserve.

"I saw it as a potentially great addition to the lakefront," says Friedman. "Previously, the Port had not been all that interested in retaining it, but I didn't see it that way. I told our board this was an asset we'd inherited, there was nothing preventing us from opening it, and that we should get on with it."

So get on with it he did. Working in collaboration with environmental groups that had lobbied for a park, the Port spearheaded efforts to move the project forward. A year and a half later, the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve is now open to the public.

That kind of leadership and gumption not only has earned Friedman high marks from environmental groups, it also has set the Port sailing in a new direction -- creating new waterfront parks and green space. Although that might sound like an unusual role for a Port Authority to play, it's actually not, Friedman says.

"I came from the Port of Seattle, which has 15 parks and green spaces," he says. "Port authorities are typically front and center in environmental projects, and helping to plan for and create green spaces is definitely in our wheelhouse."

Friedman also led the creation of the Port Authority's new strategic plan, which makes creating public green spaces a part of the organization's ongoing work.

Next, Friedman and his staff are working on the future of the Preserve, including enhancing habitat value, creating additional trails and adding an observation deck to maximize the stunning views of downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie.

The Port also is working closely with partners to plan the future of the Flats, including creating better riverfront access for city residents and visitors.


Source: Will Friedman
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Grace Brothers, a seven-acre nursery and garden store in Broadview Heights that previously relied upon the suburban market, is vying for a new, urban market. This month, the family-owned company will open a gardening, farming and pet store in the growing Detroit Shoreway neighborhood on Cleveland's west side.

"We were selling to the new home market and kind of living the bubble, but then it evaporated over the last four years and things came to a standstill," says Kevin Grace, who co-owns the company with his brother, Don Grace. "We saw the revitalization happening on the near west side, and attended the GardenWalk Cleveland and saw how people take an interest in their yard. We definitely believe there's an underserved market here that's grown in the last few years."

When the dust settles on their renovation work, the pair will open Grace Brothers Farm, Garden and Pet in a vacant storefront at W. 65th Street and Fir Avenue in the Cleveland EcoVillage. The location is a quarter mile from the Gordon Square Arts District, the centerpiece of a multimillion dollar neighborhood redevelopment. It's also just a few blocks from Zone Recreation Center, whose exterior grounds are being rebuilt into a sustainable, family-friendly park.

Grace Brothers will sell seeds, soils and fertilizers for backyard gardeners (including many organic products). The store will also offer herbs, vegetable plants and fruit trees. Budding urban farmers can purchase chicks here each spring, as well as support products such as chicken and rabbit feed and bird seed. Finally, Grace will market some cost-effective brands of cat and dog food, too.

"We'll be selling organic mulches and other materials that you can't find in Home Depot and other big box stores," says Kevin Grace. "We will also be offering classes in raising chickens, and as part of the fee, you'll get three chicks."

Having watched the urban gardening market soar in other cities, Grace believes Cleveland has similar potential. "Can we make any money on it? I'm hopin'."


Source: Kevin Grace
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Vedette Gavin knows how difficult it can be for any new initiative to take root in an older neighborhood. So, instead of pushing her "Healthy Eating and Active Living" program onto residents of the Buckeye and Shaker Square-Larchmere neighborhoods, she has planted seeds in resident leaders who are growing it from the ground up.

"Place impacts choice and choice impacts health," says Gavin, a Community Health Fellow with the Saint Luke's Foundation, a three-year placement that focuses on community initiatives that support healthy lifestyles. "What I do is help people to wrap their arms around these ideas and make change."

The Healthy Eating and Active Living program is conducted in partnership with the Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities at MetroHealth. Residents, stakeholders and community groups are represented on an Advisory Board.

So far, Gavin has partnered with a local salon and barbershop to introduce "Shop Talk," a series of informal, drop-in conversations about healthy lifestyles; introduced a community gardening program that offers residents simple, low-maintenance ways to grow fresh produce; and organized fun community exercise programs that include line dancing and the ever-popular Zumba.

Gavin, who has a Master's in Public Health and an evident passion for helping to make low-income, urban neighborhoods healthier places to live, says her goal is to ensure that the program lives well beyond her three-year tenure. "We're taking healthy eating and active living and weaving it into the neighborhood."


Source: Vedette Gavin
Writer: Lee Chilcote

With a strong manufacturing infrastructure and more than 630,000 skilled workers, Ohio has the opportunity to become one of the most attractive states in the U.S. for clean energy manufacturers, according to the Ohio BlueGreen Apollo Alliance. Yet while Ohio has created policies to make clean manufacturing a priority, it needs to create further incentives to spur growth, according to The Ohio Green Manufacturing Action Plan (GreenMAP), a report by the Alliance.

“Successful renewable energy programs and energy-efficient projects over the past few years have proven that there’s significant potential for Ohio to meet the growing demands of the clean energy sector,” said Shanelle Smith, Ohio senior coordinator of the Alliance. “Ohio can’t afford to stand on the sidelines while other states and countries compete to win good jobs in one of the world’s fastest growing industries.”

The report praise Ohio’s new incentive programs for renewable energy installations and energy efficiency projects, as well as the new Alternative Energy Portfolio standard. However, it recommends renewed efforts targeting clean energy manufacturing.

“The state has lost over 400,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000 and needs to reassert itself as a manufacturing hub,” the report states. “The infrastructure and expertise remain in place … Ohio policymakers should bolster the manufacturing sector by doing more to support those trying to compete in the growing clean energy industry.”

The GreenMAP report outlines specific recommendations to help ramp up Ohio’s growth in clean manufacturing. These recommendations include expanding financing and incentives, prioritizing support for small to mid-size clean energy manufacturers and increasing support for research and development. Other recommendations include broadening workforce development programs to train more employees for these new industries, expanding Ohio’s demand-side clean-energy policies, and pushing for improvements in clean-energy manufacturing policy at the federal and regional levels.

The report emerged from a special task force comprised of representatives from the business, investor, labor, policy and environmental communities. The group aims to provide a blueprint for Ohio to win the competition for future clean-energy jobs.


Source:  Shanelle Smith, Ohio BlueGreen Apollo Alliance
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

The newly minted nonprofit Bike Cleveland will bring together Northeast Ohio cyclists through cycling events, educational programming and advocacy work, says Jacob Van Sickle, the group's new Executive Director. The group also will provide area cyclists with a unified voice in transportation planning across the region.

Over the course of the next year, Bike Cleveland plans to focus on prioritizing bike investments in the West Shoreway project, collaborating with the City of Cleveland to update and prioritize its Bikeway Master Plan, creating fun biking events and advocating for cyclist-friendly policies throughout the region.

One of the group's first advocacy projects will be to rally against HR 7, the transportation bill that has been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives. That bill would eliminate dedicated funding for transportation, cut funding that helps to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and shortchange funding for repairing existing roads and bridges and improving roadways for cyclists.

For several years, Cleveland's cycling community has been fragmented among different organizations. The launch of Bike Cleveland last summer and now the hiring of Van Sickle unites cyclists under a common banner for the first time.

Van Sickle says Cleveland's energized cycling community has a lot ot be proud of. The 2010 American Community Survey shows that .8 percent of Clevelanders now use a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation to work -- a figure well above the national average of .53 percent. This is a 280-percent increase over one decade, giving Cleveland the highest 10-year increase in the country.

“I am looking forward to working with current and future Bike Cleveland members, and the greater cycling community, to continue to grow the cycling movement in Greater Cleveland," said Van Sickle in a press release.


Source: Jacob Van Sickle
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Local writer, speaker and entrepreneur Craig James has some big ideas. In fact, he is a regular contributor to NEOtropolis's "What’s the Big Idea" segment on PBS. He and his partner Sue James formed CatalystStrategies, which helps organizations best communicate their message, market and meaning. In this "Letter to Cleveland," James pens an open letter to the city he loves.

Leaders of the institutions that anchor University Circle have long wished for a hotel within walking distance of all of the amenities that the neighborhood has to offer. Now, a public-private partnership, along with $15 million in New Markets Tax Credits and completion of the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, have finally brought that idea to life.

This month, The Snavely Group broke ground on an eight-story, 153-room Courtyard by Marriott that is scheduled to open this time next year. The hotel is located on Cornell Drive -- just off of Euclid Avenue -- and directly across from the new Seidman Cancer Center and the University Hospitals main campus. The $27 million project is expected to create 135 construction jobs and 55 full-time equivalent jobs.

"The anchor of the Seidman Cancer Center has really given us a market," says Chris Ronayne, President of University Circle Incorporated (UCI), the nonprofit organization that shepherded the project along by assembling the land, securing tax credits and seeking a developer. "Beyond patients and their families, that market is also students, parents, businesspeople and culture-goers."

The new hotel also adds to the impressive development boom that has occurred in University Circle. "This location is the epicenter of a $2 billion Euclid Avenue transformation from East 105th to Lakeview Cemetery," says Ronayne.


Source: Chris Ronayne
Writer: Lee Chilcote

For decades, the east side of Cleveland was almost hopelessly cut off from its lakefront by scars of past planning mistakes -- the ugly sutures of highways, concrete barriers, railroads and, of course, industry.

No more. With the opening this week of the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve, these impoverished neighborhoods -- and indeed, all of Greater Cleveland and beyond -- have access to a premiere wildlife habitat in the heart of the city.

This new, 88-acre urban preserve is located just north of where Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. meets I-90, and it is accessible from Lakeshore Boulevard before it enters Bratenahl. The park is built upon the former Dike 14, a dredging disposal facility operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1979 until 1999.

For more than a decade, a coalition of environmental groups calling themselves the Dike 14 Nature Preservation Committee has been fighting to turn this manmade outcropping into a park. Their vision was simple: no ballfields, just park benches and a loop trail that allow visitors a peaceful retreat among the flora and fauna, as well as stupendous view of downtown Cleveland from the "beak" of the park.

Thanks to the critical leadership of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority, this vision finally became a reality. When new CEO Will Friedman took the Port's helm, he made the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve an institutional priority. The Port will continue to manage and oversee the Preserve now that it's open.

Despite the barbed wire fences, birds still stop here on their annual migrations, trees and plants grow in abandon, and many animals call this place home. (Truth is: hikers, birders and wildlife lovers have been slipping through a neglected gap in the fence for more than a decade to enjoy winsome walks along the coast.)

Still -- there's something to be said for the fact that it's now official.


Source: Earthday Coalition
Writer: Lee Chilcote

This week, the partners planning the West Side Market's Centennial Celebration unveiled a trio of unprecedented special events that will celebrate its wealth of small businesses, unite food lovers across the region and launch the icon's next 100 years. They include a family-friendly party and ice cream social by Mitchell's Ice Cream on Saturday, June 2, as well as a street festival with food trucks and Parade the Circle puppets on Sunday, October 7.

"The West Side Market is the most important icon in the City of Cleveland," said Ward 3 Councilman Joe Cimperman at a press conference at the Market this past Monday. "This place brings us together as a city."

The West Side Market Centennial events have also spurred a small but important shift within the venerable institution. For the first time in its 100-year history, the market will be open on a Sunday during the October 7 celebration. The nonprofit Ohio City Inc. has been working with the West Side Market for several years to boost its marketing efforts and broaden its already diverse appeal.

"There truly is a new energy in the neighborhood that is complementing the energy that's been here for 100 years," said Eric Wobser, Director of OCI.

No major changes will be made to the market or its offerings this year. Instead, a facilities assessment is being conducted that will guide future decision-making.

As part of the celebration, organizers are also planning a birthday gala on November 2nd that will feature celebrity chefs Jonathon Sawyer and Michael Symon, as well as a dozen or so of their chef friends from across the country.

Charter One Bank, which has made a $200,000 gift, is the presenting sponsor of the celebration. Other goings-on include the International Public Markets Conference from Sept. 21-23 and the fall release of a new book by Laura Taxel and Marilous Suszko, "The West Side Market: 100 Years and Still Cooking."


Source: Ohio City Inc.
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Last month, Jenita McGowan was sworn in as Cleveland's new Chief of Sustainability, replacing the outgoing Andrew Watterson. A Northeast Ohio resident since 1996, McGowan's an adopted Clevelander in every sense. Fresh Water contributor Erin O'Brien sat down with McGowan and got the lowdown on the status of sustainability in Cleveland.

On Tuesday, February 7, Global Cleveland opened the doors to its Public Square welcome center. The organization is tasked with attracting and retaining talent to the region from around the globe, with the goal of adding 100,000 people to the region. Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski was at the ribbon cutting.

The foreclosure prevention plans that President Obama announced in his recent State of the Union address may help struggling Northeast Ohio homeowners, says Lou Tisler of the nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), but our hard-hit region is not out of the woods yet.

"When lenders and government-sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac look at what keeps people out of foreclosure, they see it's principal reduction," says Tisler. "The new program that the Obama administration has proposed offers triple the incentives to lenders to keep people in their homes through principal reduction."

Although Tisler says that it's "obscene" that the government must provide lenders with additional help, he adds that it's crucial that lenders come to the table and negotiate. "Banks continue to say that they can't reduce principal because that would mean that every homeowner would want a reduction. Yet we're not seeing people strategically defaulting and trashing their credit ratings. People are coming through our door nonstop, and until they're gainfully employed, it won't stop."

Unfortunately, Tisler does see an end to the steady stream of people calling his office seeking help. Yet he believes that principal reductions, more effective foreclosure relief and an economic uptick that reduces unemployment will eventually reduce foreclosures. Until then, he says, Northeast Ohio can continue to expect the foreclosure problem to be an unwelcome guest on its doorstep.


Source: Lou Tisler
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University has recently introduced a new form of sustainable consulting for small and medium-sized businesses.

In partnership with True Market Solutions, a San Francisco-based company, the Fowler Center introduced its Sustainability Circles initiative in October. The effort aims to help such businesses enhance their performance by fully integrating sustainable business practices into what they do.

The Fowler Center's Sustainability Circles include both peer-based learning and professional advising. The program brings up to nine organizations at a time into a peer learning community for one day a month for six months. Sustainable business practice topics range from the built environment to operational environments.

At the end of the process, Sustainability Circles participants walk away with specific outcomes that are intended to help them transition into more sustainable, effective businesses. Such results include a complete carbon footprint analysis, an initial project and a customized Sustainability Action Plan.

"This is about a whole new lens for business," says Beau Daane, Manager of the Fowler Center. "In a world with rising customer expectations and declining natural resources, businesses have to consider sustainable value or they'll be left in the dust. For us, this is where the scholarship meets the practice."


Source: Beau Daane
Writer: Lee Chilcote

A few weeks ago, Cleveland Heights City Council passed legislation that allows residents to purchase city-owned residential lots for as little as $100. With this move, the inner ring suburb became the latest city in Northeast Ohio to encourage "blotting," the practice of homeowners absorbing adjacent lots for yard expansion, urban gardening or beautification.

Like many inner ring suburbs, Cleveland Heights has been hard hit by foreclosure and vacancy in recent years, and has pressed hard to demolish homes that it deems beyond saving. As a result, it has acquired vacant lots. City officials deem selling these lots as one way to re-purpose these once-blighted properties.

The city plans to offer these vacant properties to individuals who own the adjacent properties. If both of the neighboring owners are interested, the lot could possibly be split or sold to the highest bidder. Six to 12 properties currently are  available, with more expected to become available later this year.

Although the lots are large enough to accommodate new homes, the city expects most of them to be used for activities like gardening and neighborhood cookouts.


Source: City of Cleveland Heights
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Inefficient, drafty homes in Cleveland not only are an impediment to attracting savvy urban homebuyers, they're also a harsh economic reality for those who must swallow high utility bills. Despite the daunting prospect of renovating an old home, there are simple, cost-effective ways to save energy -- and money -- that don't involve notching the thermostat down another degree or donning Eskimo-like clothing.

That's the impetus behind Cleveland Energy $aver, a new program just launched by the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Action to Support Housing (CASH), Cleveland Housing Network (CHN), LAND Studio and the U.S. Department of Energy. The program aims to make 100 homes in Cleveland energy-efficient by fall of this year.

Homeowners who enroll in this program can obtain a complete energy audit for a mere $50, a tidy sum that likely amounts to a fraction of their monthly heating bill. After the audit has been completed, owners will work with program staff to develop a scope of work, seek low-interest financing if needed, and hire a contractor. When the job is completed, professionals will help evaluate the work to make sure it's been done properly. As an enticement, owners will save 20 percent off the top, and another 20 percent when the work is complete.

“Cleveland Energy $aver will provide homeowners with tools they need to make energy-efficient improvements to their homes,” says Marcia Nolan, Executive Director of Cleveland Action to Support Housing (CASH). “It will also help Cleveland to become more sustainable and competitive to future residents.”


Source: Marcia Nolan
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The City of Cleveland has scheduled two meetings to allow public comment on its new lakefront plan, the most ambitious effort in years to redevelop the city's long-dormant downtown shoreline. Portions of the plan, including an event series to be launched this summer, could begin to show progress this year.

The City plans to hire a Harbor Manager in the next few months, who will be responsible for overseeing waterfront activities, including management of the contract for a planned 53-slip marina. Other responsibilities will include property management, overseeing a vending program to allow food trucks and other vendors to sell their wares on the East 9th Street pier, and organizing lakeside concerts and festivals to be added to the city's lineup of summer events.

"The vision is to try to create more activity on the waterfront, and we're in the process of finalizing our strategy," says Ricky Smith, Director of Port Control for the City of Cleveland. Smith added that he expects construction on the marina, which has already been funded and will allow for short-term docking, to begin this year and wrap up in spring of 2013. He expects the same timeline for an iconic, moveable pedestrian bridge that is slated to traverse the North Coast Harbor.


Source: Ricky Smith
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Former County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, who prophesied Ohio's foreclosure crisis as early as 2000 and was a prime mover behind Ohio's land banking law and the Cuyahoga Land Bank, is now working with the newly formed Thriving Communities Institute to form land banks throughout Ohio.

The Thriving Communities Institute was formed last year by the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, a nonprofit that works to preserve undeveloped land in Northeast Ohio, as a way to spread the successful land banking movement. It has since grown rapidly, and Rokakis now finds himself traveling throughout Ohio to provide technical assistance and help counties set up land banks.

Since the Cuyahoga Land Bank was formed, Rokakis says, it has effectively shut down the supply of low value properties to investors in the county, secured agreements with lenders to acquire distressed properties, and facilitated over 1,000 demolitions of eyesore properties throughout Cleveland.

Now other counties in Ohio are following Cuyahoga County's lead. "There's a land bank in Montgomery County now, Franklin is close and we've just been hired by Hamilton County," says Rokakis, stressing that vacant properties are not just an urban issue. "Land banks work in urban, rural and suburban settings."

The gradually declining numbers of foreclosures are misleading, Rokakis says, because they don't reflect the number of delinquent homeowners or the fact that banks are frequently walking away from properties without taking title. To address these ongoing problems, cities and counties need more tools and money for acquisition and redevelopment. "If we don't take the eyesores and turn them into things of beauty, the problem will only get worse," he says. "This isn't just about demolition, it's also about positioning properties for redevelopment."

The long-term solution? Instead of another bank bailout, relief for underwater homeowners and communities saddled with foreclosures is needed, he says. Rokakis is now working with a group of state and federal legislators to propose a federal tax credit that would create a pool of money for property redevelopment.


Source: Jim Rokakis
Writer: Lee Chilcote