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July 2009
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Social Disappointment
I hate to lose. Whether it’s money, time or a game (especially when you have the best player, best record and home-court advantage), losing sucks. I should know better by now. The growing litany of Cleveland sports disappointments should have prepared me. Maybe that’s why I recoil when some expert suggests I spend hours each day on social media. Seriously, if LeBron can’t bring us a championship, how is Twitter going to deliver more business? Well, for one, social media is growing at a... |
Green 2.0
You can admit it. It’s fine. We felt the same way. Just don’t say it near your Chief Sustainability Officer: A lot of this green technology is really not all that exciting. Sure, it’s good to stop messing up Earth any more than we already have. And ultimately, it’s the responsible thing to do. But considering how going green is now more hip than hippie, generating buzz that draws some folks to scoop up anything labeled eco-friendly, it’s hard to get excited about anot... Here Comes the Sun
The math doesn’t add up for Mark Schuetz. It hasn’t for years. The mechanical engineer began his career in the late 1970s as the country weathered an energy crisis and gas shortages. Back then, groups of college students were taking on such projects as human-propelled flight, while utility companies were building huge reflector farms in the southwest to harness solar energy. The crises passed, though, and most businesses and innovators turned their attentions elsewhere. But Schuetz maintaine... Not Just Hot Air
Mark Cironi’s dream was on hold in 2006. It had been two years since the computer industry veteran had turned his attention to wind power. He was developing a product that would generate more power out of lower-speed gusts. But the more Cironi and others looked at an existing wind amplifier made by a college in northern New York, the more unease they had about releasing it on the market: Would the energy it generated be enough to justify the expense of installing the device that funnels stronger w... Power From the People
For 1,500 miles, the backpack bounced up and down. Up and down. It was 1996, and Aaron LeMieux had just finished a particularly tough but successful semester at the University of Toledo. He wanted to reward himself with this ultra-hike along the Appalachian Trail. LeMieux had attached his pack around his waist in an effort to take some of the weight off his shoulders. As the bag tugged at his skin, he developed saddle sores. Then he got to thinking. (“When you backpack 1,500 miles, you have a lot ... Wizard of Wind Energy
New-to-town company seeks long-term relationship. Must be willing to grow in our relationship. Cleanliness, professionalism and punctuality is imperative. No games please — looking for the one. Sorry, no direct calls. If interested, contact Ed Weston at the Great Lakes Wind Network. From wind-energy consultant to master matchmaker, Great Lakes Wind Network''s Ed Weston is the middleman between a burgeoning industry and potential Northeast Ohio suppliers clamoring for a piece of the action. Essenti... |
Filling Big Shoes
Promises, promises. That’s what you get when someone new takes over. The thing is, outgoing CSU president Michael Schwartz kept his, turning a desolate strip of Euclid Avenue into a campus, increasing enrollment and creating an honors program, among other things. His replacement, Ronald Berkman, 62, takes over the job this month. Just before doing so, he took a break from his vacation in New Mexico to offer promises of his own. His past took him from New Jersey to the Ivy League and,... IB Indicator
0 . That’s the number of General Motors plants closing in Northeast Ohio. With a flurry of plant closings nationwide spurred by the automaker’s impending bankruptcy, this is great news in itself. But it doesn’t mean local businesses and auto manufacturing suppliers won’t see some negative impacts from the problems in Detroit. John Colm, president and executive director of manufacturing industry cheerleader WIRE-Net, says that within a few miles from his company’s Cleveland ... Think Inside the Box
The MBA Degree in a Box , the latest gift-wrapped fun from the creators ofMental Floss magazine, promises “all the prestige at a fraction of the price.” In addition to the coursework, it includes your very own MBA diploma. (How generous to assume we did well on the exam!) After adding an MBA to our résumé, we asked Mark Hauserman, director of the Muldoon Center for Business Entrepreneurship at John Carroll University, to give our coursework a look-over to make sure we didn’t ... Wisdom in 50 Words Or Less
Sam Miller, co-chairman of the board and treasurer, Forest City Enterprises: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. I’ve found whatever modicum of success I’ve enjoyed came from people I’ve helped when I didn’t need to. A committeeman today in a local ward is eventually going to become a senator or a congressman.” |
Phil of the Future
Phil Davis remembers April 26, 2004, as the worst day of his life: the day he closed the downtown location of his award-winning Phil the Fire chicken-and-waffles restaurant. The popular Southern-style, comfort-food restaurant chain collapsed in a swirl of controversy, financial negligence and legal battles after a business partnership went sour. It was Davis’ second failed Cleveland-based venture. He was broke and couldn’t afford health insurance for his only daughter. No one in the restauran... |
Small-city Staffer
Coming to Cleveland: Six years ago, Kimberly Sullivan moved to Cleveland from her small hometown, Williamstown, Mass., to attend Case Western University. Ultimately, she thought she would like to end up in a major metropolitan area such as New York or Boston. But those thoughts couldn’t be further from her mind now. After graduating from CWRU, Sullivan started with Beachwood-based online interactive marketing agency Brulant, which was acquired by Rosetta in July 2008. Fortunately, the acquisition ... |
Small-city Staffer
Coming to Cleveland: Six years ago, Kimberly Sullivan moved to Cleveland from her small hometown, Williamstown, Mass., to attend Case Western University. Ultimately, she thought she would like to end up in a major metropolitan area such as New York or Boston. But those thoughts couldn’t be further from her mind now. After graduating from CWRU, Sullivan started with Beachwood-based online interactive marketing agency Brulant, which was acquired by Rosetta in July 2008. Fortunately, the acquisition ... |
401(k) First-aid Kit
Retirement. Ron Dellinger can’t stop thinking about it. The 74-year-old retiree, who in his career held sales positions in fields as various as real estate and irrigation supply, has seen the balance in his retirement account take a beating over the course of the past year. He and his wife held what they thought to be a conservative portfolio that would be able to weather the economic storm ravaging the markets for the better part of the past year. Unfortunately, that was not the case because his ... Ask the Experts
Jim Divoky Assistant dean College of Business Administration University of Akron Q:Why is now a good time to further my education? A: The global economy demands that people be adaptable in thought, current in their knowledge, cooperative in their approach to work and accountable for their actions. Furthering your education helps you to develop these traits that will last you a lifetime and over many different careers. Dale Kramer Director of the MBA and EMBA programs Baldwin-Wallace College Q: Can I spe... Bonds... Tame Bonds
The bond: dependable, persevering — maybe a tad dull. Amazing how a recession can bring dullness back into style. The whipping given to retirement accounts around Northeast Ohio by the current economic downturn has brought the bond — which typically offers more stable, albeit lower returns — back into vogue. Though his firm deals mostly in equities, Douglas S. MacKay, chief investment officer and CEO of Hudson-based asset management firm Broadleaf Partners LLC, says he has seen somewha... Performance Review
Michael Morrow-Fox was staring down a $100,000 conference. The American Heart Association’s Great Rivers Affiliate, based in Columbus, needed to bring together staffers from the Heart Association’s Ohio, Delaware, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania offices for its quarterly all-affiliate recognition meeting, where employees are singled out for their contributions. The aim was to “stop work and celebrate outstanding achievements,” says Morrow-Fox, the Great Rivers Affil... Why I Went Back To School
Reem Wani University of Phoenix Master of business administration Coming to the United States from Syria as an undergraduate in 2000, Reem Wani faced a difficult challenge: She spoke very little English in a demanding biology and chemistry program at the University of Akron. Yet she overcame the language barrier and went on to graduate in 2005, starting her career at a local laboratory. It was then that Wani, 28, confronted another kind of barrier — the advancements she wanted to make in her compa... |
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