CAUSE's topics - tribe.net

erp implementation

Patrick Hudson — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:47:33 GMT

Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) integrate (or attempt to integrate) all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data for the various system modules. For integrating all aspects of data and processes related to an organistaion ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) is developed.In this system all the datas under different groups are combined to make one integrated system to share the data across the enterprise.It is a software package which will contain multiple package for the use of organisations.

http://www.erpwire.com

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ACTION Cleveland June 4

Tue, 24 May 2005 12:54:49 GMT

Please attend. We need your participation in the process. Details are under "Event" listing.

Frank

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Café Society: Cleveland

Thu, 12 May 2005 19:09:07 GMT

Finally, "Café Society: Cleveland" -- http://www.cafecleveland.blogspot.com -- Urban Paradoxes newest blog is up and running. So, please, grab a cup of coffee and join us for a leisurely, but lively, discussion guaranteed to raise the bar & challenge assumptions.

Frank

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Looking For connections

buildingblocks — Thu, 15 Apr 2004 15:07:20 GMT

Hey folks. I am putting this out on many different tribes post to invite as many people over as possible.
If it doesn't seem as if it is on topic (it's community building and political) with your tribe I apologize. I'm sending it where I think the people that will be interested might go.

The tribe is called Renaissance Farms and the idea behind it is to get people connected. We have let too many politicians and corporate types run things for too long. I wasn't a big Dean supporter but it shows what you can do with the internet and a little imagination.

I am going to use this tribe and a website that I am currently working on to try and connect a LARGE group of like minded people together. I had originally said that this was for people from the the " Left to FAR Left, Libertarian, Progressives, Dems and Open Minded Republicans (yes they do exist)" although all views are welcome as long as they aren't hateful. (All that really maters is that you have a mind open to what is possible, which is anything. Oh yeah. The no Hateful still applies) It is about taking back some of the economic power.. The idea is to to keep the money within the group(or demographic or tribe or among people that vote similiarly or whatever you want to call it).. I am going to set up a website for the state of Ohio that will be a kind of directory of liberal links and businesses that are owned by people with a more left leaning attitude. Yes that is a divisive and partisan way to set something up but I have found that people on the left are more likely to give "experiments" and "crazy projects" a chance. If you have a different opinion i'd be glad to hear it. I've already been called on it by one person and learned something new.

A good example is that say you were going to donate money to a political campaign. Then there was storm and a tree fell through your roof. So now that money needs to go to fix your roof. If you go through a service provider that has similar political beliefs then it is possible that some of that money may still go to the same causes that you support. It is just closing up the system to a degree. .(Yes we already have some sites like these but I have not found any that are anywhere comprehensive enough)

There are an endless number of organizations and businesses in each state but they have never been put into one place. So I will get numbers and contact info from people like Stonewall and environmental groups, Unitarian churches, NPR affiliates and other organizations (Political Orgs-Dems, Green, Libertarian, do Anarchists organize???) and every kind of business that I can think of. The GLBT community has the Lavender pages (some are the Pink pages). Same concept. So now I need to start compiling a list of these groups and places. If you know any please start a list and pass it on and I will make contact to get all of the necessary info. It will take some time to get a comprehensive site going but I will keep the members of Renaissance Farms notified of progress as I go. I have posted to see if there are people in other Ohio cities that can help. Then once it is up and running it can be a place for people to find service providers and organizations. Then we can create sites for other states and group them together under one site. Make connections. And eventually it can be more. One importatnt thing will be the quality of the markeing blitz that we put out.(no not superbowl ads or even what Moveon.org does) We can use conventional marketing to get the word out. Things like the Alternative Papers. Booths at festivals and Bumperstickers. It's drive with which it is done that matters.

How many people do you know that are trying to run painting companies or freelance web design so that they can control their time and spend more with their families? How often would one sale make the difference between their staying in business or not. The stronger each individual is the stronger the whole. If a person has more time, money and less stress then there is a better chance that they will work to improve their community and world. I would prefer to give them my business than give it to someone that I have no connection with. We have to take care of each other just as the Conservatives have. Ours can be a community with all ethnicities and creeds, orientations and leanings. All that matters is an open mind. And the stronger each individual is in the community the stronger the community.

If you know anyone else that might be interested then pass along the info. The bigger it gets the more power it will have to change things and educate people (humanities, arts, history, even business and economics). THe more we all know and know about each other the better.

Peace
Andy

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Taxohio: Ohio Jumps to Third Most Taxed State

Jason — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 04:34:57 GMT

The Tax Foundation released their most recent analysis of taxes from state to state. Ohio jumped from 14 to 3 in terms of relative taxation. Only NY and Maine have higher taxes.

Could this situation be contributing to our precipitous decline?

New Data Show
How Your State
Ranks in Taxes

Major Increases Shift Assessment
Of Where Burdens Are Lowest;
Ohio Jumps to Third Highest
By NANCY KEATES
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
April 8, 2004; Page D1

When Eloise Warfel retired last year, she and her husband started to think about where they wanted to live for the rest of their lives. Her heart led to Mississippi, where a daughter lives, but Tennessee seemed a better choice, given its reputation as a tax haven.

So when Tennessee raised its sales tax last year -- making Ms. Warfel, 61 years old, worry that big-ticket items, such as a car, would be too expensive -- she was almost happy about it. "We could no longer see the benefit of living there," she says. She and her husband now plan on moving to Mississippi.

As many states close their budget gaps by raising taxes, an important factor in the calculus of where to live is shifting, particularly for retirees or people with an option of choosing between neighboring states. In the past year, 20 states raised taxes significantly in one way or another. That comes on top of significant tax increases by 18 states in 2002, the first such raises at this level in almost a decade.

All of this activity has caused major changes in the rankings of state-tax burdens, according to a study released yesterday by the Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning Washington, D.C., research group. The foundation ranks states from one (highest tax burden) to 50 (lowest burden), based on income, sales, property and other state and local tax-collection data, culled from, among other sources, the Commerce Department and projections from the Congressional Budget Office.

Some states, such as Alaska, are perennial low-tax havens. Others have moved significantly in the rankings in recent years. Partly because of a controversial sales-tax increase last year to 6% from 5% -- as well as cigarette and motor-fuel tax increases -- Ohio jumped to the No. 3 spot in 2004 from No. 14 in 1999.

On the high end, New York ranked as the least tax-friendly state -- residents pay an average of 12.9% of income in all state and local taxes -- and Maine came next, with residents paying 12.3% of their income in state and local taxes. (If it were a state, Washington, D.C., would have earned second place on this year's tally.)

Of course, most people don't base where they live on taxes alone. Family, work and climate are the most important factors. And most of the states' increases followed cuts during the 1990s, when state coffers were flush with cash from a booming economy. But every year approximately one in seven Americans changes residences, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and tax advisers and real-estate agents agree that taxes are becoming more of a consideration.

Retirees and soon-to-be retirees are increasingly interested in tax changes, says E. Thomas Wetzel, president of the Retirement Living Information Center Inc., in Redding, Conn. As a result, the center now lists up-to-date state-tax data on its Web site.

Sometimes it's not policy changes alone that cause states to move in the rankings. Take California, which fell to a midrange No. 26 on this year's survey from No. 11 in 1999. One reason for the state's lower ranking this year is that it chose to borrow heavily instead of raising taxes to plug its budget gap, says the Tax Foundation's Bill Ahern. The other reason: The technology bust hit California harder than just about anywhere else -- and drastically reduced capital-gains and income tax collections there.

Other notable changes include Idaho, whose one-percentage-point sales tax increase in 2003 helped cause it to jump up eight places to No. 11 from 2002. And a half-point hike in personal-income-tax rates for the top bracket last year helped move Connecticut to No. 9 this year from No. 12 two years ago.

Iowa, conversely, has chosen to cut spending instead of raising taxes; in fact, the state continues to enact tax cuts that were legislated before the state's recent fiscal downturn. This has helped it move down to No. 27 from No. 18 in 2002.

States that are conspicuously keeping their taxes low are attracting more interest. Real-estate agents in New Mexico are ecstatic about the recent personal-income-tax cut that has helped keep the state out of the top 20 for the past two years. "I think it's making a big difference" in attracting buyers, says Nick French, who manages Sotheby's International Realty in Santa Fe.

It did for Julie and Jerome Miller, a homemaker and health consultant, respectively. While they say lifestyle is the main reason they plan to move to New Mexico from California this May, Mrs. Miller, 42, says New Mexico's lower rates sweetened the decision, because the couple had been hit so hard by property-tax increases in California. "If it had been the opposite, and the taxes were higher in New Mexico, we wouldn't be moving," she says.

Yet figuring out the best state to live in for tax reasons can be even more complicated than doing your own tax return. States, cities and other municipalities have a wide range of taxes, fees and other levies that make comparisons tricky, which makes your personal situation all the more important when weighing the advantages of one state over another. How vulnerable are you to a high income tax? Is avoiding an estate tax an important concern? How much will you be affected by high property taxes?

John Farber says he never would decide where to live based primarily on taxes, but when the 48-year-old entrepreneur moved recently to Rhode Island from New York, he was surprised with the tax increases that followed him there, making the cost of living in his new domain higher than he expected. As a result, he already is eyeing next-door Massachusetts -- once nicknamed "Taxachusetts," but now ranked a respectable No. 36 on the Tax Foundation's list. (Credit the lower income and property tax rates the state enacted years ago.) "Anyone confronted with the difference would have to consider it," he says. "It's part of the calculus."

Write to Nancy Keates at nancy.keates@wsj.com

The tax burden that the following individual would pay in the 43 states that impose an income tax: A married man who makes $150,000 a year. His wife doesn't work, he has a 15-year mortgage at 6% on a house valued at $600,000, he owns two cars, he has two kids in elementary school, and he has invested $100,000 in mutual fund.
Taxing Authority Taxable Income Tax Liability
Internal Revenue $94,439 $16,845
Arizona $95,739 $3,245
Arkansas $113,047 $7,299
California $112,843 $5,984
Colorado $101,110 $4,681
Connecticut $157,423 $7,331
Delaware $113,310 $5,675
District of Columbia $107,830 $9,238
Georgia $101,216 $5,813
Hawaii $103,664 $7,297
Idaho $101,111 $7,338
Illinois $149,423 $4,483
Indiana $150,423 $6,994
Iowa $96,096 $7,004
Kansas $104,310 $5,783
Kentucky $135,256 $7,855
Louisiana $140,578 $6,708
Maine $101,910 $7,516
Maryland $102,510 $7,995
Massachusetts $138,343 $7,389
Michigan $143,823 $5,753
Minnesota $101,181 $7,560
Mississippi $98,310 $4,717
Missouri $89,105 $5,044
Montana $89,586 $7,632
Nebraska $114,635 $6,393
New Hampshire $(1,008) 0
New Jersey $152,423 $5,667
New Mexico $93,439 $5,700
New York $111,310 $7,625
North Carolina $105,310 $7,199
North Dakota $94,115 $2,826
Ohio $152,423 $8,143
Oklahoma $85,594 $6,456
Oregon $109,053 $9,492
Pennsylvania $157,423 $4,408
Rhode Island $94,439 $5,047
South Carolina $100,635 $6,687
Tennessee $2,372 $142
Utah $95,735 $6,460
Vermont $94,007 $5,061
Virginia $110,114 $6,013
West Virgina $149,423 $8,587
Wisconsin $153,975 $7,726

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CASE, School of Law, Presents Tom Herman, "Reflections on Startup.Com and govWorks"

Jason — Sat, 06 Mar 2004 15:17:55 GMT

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Center for Business Law & Regulation presents:

"Reflections on Startup.Com and govWorks"

Thomas J. Herman
Co-founder of the pioneering e-commerce site govWorks.com
March 26, 2004 * Noon-1 PM
Case School of Law * Room 157
Free & open to the public * Lunch available

To register, send name & event(s) you will attend to:
ams45@case.edu by Tues., March 23 at 1 PM For more info, call 216.368.3304

Thomas J. Herman is General Manager of Interlocken, an international educational center which sends students around the world for cross-cultural adventures. In addition, he is an affiliate and advisor to the Recognition Group, a full-service restructuring advisory and principal investment firm serving small and mid-market companies in transition. Mr. Herman was co-Founder, and CTO of govWorks, Inc., a NY-based company that helped create the global "e-government" marketplace. The govWorks transaction processing middleware products web-enable state and local government transactions like infractions and tax payments, business and recreational permit applications, government records retrieval and voter registration. Under Mr. Herman's guidance, the firm designed, built, and launched the proprietary e-commerce payment engine to serve the $500b municipal payments market and a government resource portal rated "Best of the Best" by Forbes Magazine.
See: http://www.forbesbest.com/asp/tearsheet.asp?section=Look+it+up&reviewNO=490&category=Gov+Help&ToUse=Look+it+Up>
As CTO, he also led govWorks through the due diligence process on dozens of acquisition candidates and technical partnerships. Previously, Tom was a Senior Web Architect for Molecular, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a leading Web design firm specializing in e-business solutions, responsible for development of Analog Device Inc.'s electronic product catalog for engineers. He was also Executive Producer for Arepa Inc., an e-commerce software leasing company based in Cambridge. Tom has extensive experience in Internet-based database interfaces, e-commerce solutions, content management systems, business process re-engineering, and project management. Tom graduated from Bates College with a degree in Psychology and Computer Science.

JOIN US FOR Dinner & a Movie at Case School of Law * Room 158

Thursday, March 25, 2004 * 6-8 PM
"Start-up.Com" - the movie that documented the creation of the pioneering e-commerce site govWorks.com by childhood-friends-turned-business-partners Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman.

Free & open to the public * Pizza & beverages served

You can also purchase the DVD for startup.com at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005N5QV/korosecpersonale

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Taking Control

Mon, 01 Mar 2004 14:31:33 GMT

A copy of the new IdeasMatter:NEO blog, "Taking Control," has been posted at GREAT AGA!N. If you have not already done so, please join the Tribe and post your thoughts.

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GreatAgaIn Tribe

Sat, 28 Feb 2004 01:03:44 GMT

Here's the tribe to discuss your thoughts on making NEO a great place to live and do business. Please join and add your five-cents worth. Just go to the <GreatAgain.tribe.net>

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PARTNER: PUREmail

normroulet — Thu, 29 Jan 2004 10:21:20 GMT

PARTNER: PUREmail

PUREmail, Inc. seeks STRATEGIC PARTNERS:

The last few weeks have shown we can't legislate away SPAM, and the on-line virus world is just starting to show symptoms of the vulnerability of organizations and individual Internet users to harm from the WWW.

Developed over several years, PUREmail has invented systematic, Artificially Intelligent, unique solutions to manage enterprise-wide email traffic, to eliminate threats and waste, while protecting users and the organization from losing important messages because of ineffective filtering technologies and services.

Already protecting a broad customer base, PUREmail seeks strategic partners who want to take a leadership position in this exciting focal-point of the global information technology industry - at a critical time and place in its history!

PUREmail is:
- A cutting-edge technology for Email Hygiene and Content Management

- An external solution for Detection, Detention, and Deletion of Un-wanted Email (e.g. spam and virus) - much before it reaches an individual user's desktop.

- Completely customizable at the individual level - the user decides what kind of Email is "Wanted" or "Un-wanted"

- An efficient "Outsourced" Email Management system for the entire Enterprise - serving everybody@yourdomain.com

- External Archiving and Backup of incoming Email

- External Audit Logs of incoming Email - serving as "Proof-of-Delivery" by a third-party

And much more...

Please review the executive summary below, and visit http://www.puremail.com for a site overview. For a trial account, demonstration, copy of business plan and financials, please contact:

Raj Baronia - Founder, President/CEO
raj@puremail.com
925-866-4141 x1140
http://www.puremail.com

PUREmail Executive Summary

The Need

•Email Hygiene: Unsolicited email (spam and virus) is a growing threat for both individuals and businesses. With over 15 billion unsolicited messages sent every day, spam accounted for about 40% of internet email during 2002, and is expected to double every year. An individual user spends an average of 4.4 seconds to process each incoming spam message. That adds upto $4 billion in lost productivity for businesses each year. Spam is also sowing distrust among online shoppers in the $3.9 trillion global e-commerce market.

•Email Content Management: The new “Sarbanes-Oxley ”law requires companies to maintain adequate archives and audit of all email communications. Since “in-house ”archives and audits can be tempered –these processes must be “outsourced ”to third-party providers.

PUREmail Solution

A cutting-edge technology offering a fully integrated solution for Email Hygiene and Content Management

•An external solution for Detection, Detention, and Deletion of Un-wanted Email - much before it reaches an individual user's desktop –thus saving time, bandwidth and computing resources for the user as well as the service-provider/enterprise.

•Completely customizable at the individual level - the user decides what kind of email is "Wanted" or "Un-wanted" (e.g. a user may elect to receive travel offers, while blocking other unsolicited mail). The user may also change “Preferences ”at any time, as the needs change.

•An efficient "Outsourced" Email Management system for the entire Enterprise - serving everybody@yourdomain.com - offering significant cost savings as compared to “in-house ”resources (hardware, software and personnel) deployed for managing email content

•External Archiving and Backup of incoming Email

•External Audit Logs of incoming Email - serving as "Proof-of-Delivery" by a third-party.

Market Opportunity*

•74% of the executives say email is even more vital to their business than the telephone

•The cost of handling unwanted email in 2002 was over $8.9 billion for businesses and $500 million for service providers in the US alone, and additional $2.5 billion in Europe.

•It is estimated that businesses and service providers would need to spend additional $3.7 billion each year to buy more powerful servers and more bandwidth to cope with the skyrocketing volume of spam and virus.

•Sales of anti-spam software are expected to reach $653 million in 2003, and to double in 2 years.

Competition and their Limitations - vs. PUREmail Advantage

•Segregated products/services for spam-filtering, anti-virus, archival and audit

o Normally a customer has to buy spam-filtering and anti-virus solutions as separate products and services from multiple vendors.

o Often these independent products/services are incompatible with each other, resulting in major inefficiencies and overheads.

o While many companies maintain their own archival and audit logs “in-house ”, the concept of external archival and third-party audit is almost non-existent (or in infancy at best).
PUREmail offers a one-stop solution for spam-filtering, anti-virus, archival and audit

•Desk-top (client-side) products (Norton Anti-Spam, McAfee SpamKiller)

o Most anti-spam and anti-virus products in the market, need to be installed and properly configured on user ’s desktop, thus consuming user ’s computing resources

o As new spam and viruses emerge, the anti-spam and anti-virus software on user ’s computer must be constantly updated.

o If the user changes the computer, or upgrades the operating system, the software has to be reinstalled all over again.

o All the spam and virus is first downloaded to user ’s computer before it is detected by the installed software, thus wasting download time and disk-space/memory for the user, as well as consuming significant bandwidth for the ISP.

o As the volume of spam and virus increases, the software has to constantly run in over-drive, often causing the user ’s computer to crash

PUREmail eliminates all these hassles, since it is a Server-Side technology. There is no installation, configuration or maintenance required at the user end.

•“One-size-fits-all ”approach to spam-filtering (Brightmail, Postini, MessageLabs)

o The definition of junk is highly subjective. What is junk for one person, may be useful for another person. For example, a home-owner looking to refinance her mortgage may welcome unsolicited email about low mortgage rates.

o Most anti-spam filters are based upon keywords matching –thus flagging an email as junk if a suspect keyword is found. For example, a legitimate email communication between a health-care professional and a patient may include the word “Viagra ”, which would be automatically filtered out as junk by most anti-spam products.

While all the anti-spam solutions in the market make the blanket judgment on behalf of everyone, only PUREmail empowers the individual user with full control and personalized preferences.

•“Heuristics ”based solutions (Matador)

o The products which can be “trained on-the-fly ”, place a massive burden on the user who must be tech-savvy with good analytical and logical aptitude

o Such user-trained products can cause more harm than good if the filters are programmed incorrectly
PUREmail takes away such burden from the user. There is no filter programming or training done at the user end.

•“Challenge-Response ”solutions (SpamArrest, Vetomail, Earthlink)

o This approach blocks all incoming messages unless the sender manually verifies each message by entering a password.

o Such solutions are highly restrictive, as they require a human eye at the other end to send and subsequently authenticate a message.

o Such solutions blocks all auto-generated email –spam as well as genuine email communication that results from participating in various online services and e-commerce activities (such as banking, stock trade, travel reservations, online newsletters, etc.)

PUREmail takes away such burden from the sender of the email. There is no password authentication required in order to send or receive email.

Target Customers

•ISPs
•Small and Medium Business enterprises
•Public sector (Govt. Agencies, etc.)
•Educational Institutions

Revenue Model

•Structured as a “Service ”(not a “Product ”)

•Monthly Subscription Fee –ensuring a recurring revenue-stream

•Fee structure based upon number of users

Contact PUREMail for financials

Current Status

•Already in operation and successfully being used everyday by beta customers

•Trademark registered in USA and Canada

•Preparations underway for patenting the technology

•“Self-funded ”by the founders –with NO debts or external financing

Team

•Raj Baronia - Founder, President/CEO
•Plamen Petrov - Engineering
•Louis Taylor - Software
•Sandeep Gupta - Finance
•Vandana Agrawal - Operations

For a demonstration, copy of business plan and financials, please contact:

Raj Baronia - Founder, President/CEO
raj@puremail.com
925-866-4141 x1140

Raj Baronia is the founder, CEO of PUREmail. A computer engineer by profession, Baronia did “Rocket-Science ”at NASA Ames for over 10 years before venturing out on his own. Other companies he founded include Genius Technologies, Inc., at http://www.genius.net and IndoLink at http://www.indolink.com/

posted in CAUSE - 5 replies

PARTNER: Missing Lynx

normroulet — Thu, 29 Jan 2004 10:25:41 GMT

PARTNER: Missing Lynx Systems

Missing Lynx discovered
http://missinglynxsystems.com

Being based in a telecommunications incubator introduces one to many exciting ventures and entrepreneurs. Some of the most remarkable folks I've met here, or anywhere, are the geniuses behind Missing Lynx Systems - a great team.

Missing Lynx Systems has quietly developed a remarkable networking protocol and technology, known as "kitten".

But they're less of a secret every day... especially as their COO Mary Mason finds herself at the heart of nationwide opposition to DOMA legislation proposed by the Ohio statehouse - Mary has been quoted on the matter in many newspapers and is flying to Columbus this weekend for related press conferences and rallies.

All that attention, without even considering her company is starting a communications revolution... which will be well known soon enough!

The programming genius behind Missing Lynx is Lynx Crowe. In 38 years of programming and engineering, he has been the only or lead programmer for over 70 products, using over 60 languages, and only one bug was ever detected in his code, for a synthesizer, after 10 years of use – Lynx fixed it that weekend.

Lynx was the youngest employee ever hired at Collins Radio - as a lead engineer, at age 15 –where he worked under Jack Bunce on the Apollo technologies. His achievements and breakthroughs extend from there to “kitten ”.

In brief, Kitten is a real-time, scalable, variable bandwidth, platform independent, peer-to-peer, intelligent, dynamically reconfigurable, self-addressing, token ring network device and protocol. Market value is $ billions!

I should also mention their general systems theory based ERP application IBIS, but that may be too overwhelming.

Check it out for yourself, at Missing Lynx new site, being developed at http://missinglynxsystems.com.

Any questions or comments - feel free to post here, send a message to me via tribe or norm@icearth.com, or contact Lynx directly at lynx@missinglynxsystems.com

For more about Mary's ledership on the DOMA issue in Ohio, see the "Ohio Anti-Creative Class" Discussion at this tribe: http://clevelandcause.tribe.net

If you want to partner on this, you'd better do so now, before Kitten grows up.

posted in CAUSE - 3 replies

Strategic vision most important leadership trait

creativecommunications — Wed, 18 Feb 2004 22:07:49 GMT

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2004/02/16/daily14.html?f=et79

LATEST NEWS
7:56 AM PST Tuesday
Survey: Strategic vision most important leadership trait
What are the most important attributes for today's managers? According to 34 percent of executives polled recently, strategic vision is the most essential quality for successful leadership. Strong interpersonal skills and integrity each received 29 percent of the response.

"As the economy continues to show signs of improvement, company leaders are focused on developing a loyal and motivated work force," says Tracey Turner, executive director of The Creative Group, a Menlo Park-based company which places workers in temporary and contract positions in advertising and related professions.

"Managers who share their firm's strategic vision with staff members and describe the role each employee will play in achieving company objectives have the best chance of retaining their top performers," she says.

"Integrity has always been an essential leadership quality, but the focus has intensified in the wake of widely publicized corporate misdeeds in recent years. Managers must make a concerted effort to earn employee trust. Even seemingly minor missteps can call their credibility into question," according to Ms. Turner.

Four of the most common mistakes that can undermine a manager's credibility with employees, according to Ms. Turner:

Deserting your team. Managers who fail to stand up for staff members when they are unfairly criticized or when times are tough lose their employees' trust.
Sending mixed signals. If you're receiving contradictory messages from a client or senior executives, you may be passing this confusion on to your team. Make sure you have all the facts, and be consistent in the direction you give. If parameters or goals change, explain why.
Not giving credit where it's due. Acknowledge employee contributions on projects, and never take credit for someone else's ideas or efforts. Shining the spotlight on your team makes everyone look good.
Breaking promises. Only promise what you know you can deliver to your staff. If, for example, employees have been told they will receive a promotion, raise or bonus when company profits improve, follow through on your word as soon as feasible.
The survey was developed by The Creative Group and was conducted by an independent research firm. It includes 250 responses -- 125 from advertising executives among the nation's 1,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 from senior marketing executives among the nation's 1,000 largest companies.

© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.

Web reprint information

posted in CAUSE - 2 replies

5 may co-locate in Cleveland

normroulet — Mon, 02 Feb 2004 11:16:40 GMT

I’m a native Clevelander who has co-located my company ICEarth in Cleveland and in San Ramon, California. Being based in an incubator in CA, I’ve identified a number of companies that would be wonderful assets to Northeast Ohio.

I propose to co-locate at least five companies in both Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, and San Ramon, Northern California. It is worth exploring making this a formal sister region relationship, offering Cleveland entrepreneurs a door to California and California entrepreneurs their entrance into Cleveland. That certainly is not a condition of our further discussions.

Here is a brief overview of the companies interested to co-locate in Cleveland, and some general assumptions and expectations:

1) Missing Lynx Systems (MLS) is an inventive computer science and engineering company with two significant products to deploy now, and a think tank of products in reserves.

One product to deploy is Integrated Business Information System (IBIS), a general systems theory based enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite, designed to provide any size enterprise with SAP level functionality, but with better capabilities, at a fraction of the cost, overhead, complexity, and disruption.

MLS’ other mature product is Kitten, a real-time, scalable, variable bandwidth, platform independent, peer-to-peer, intelligent, dynamically reconfigurable, self-addressing, token ring network device and protocol. You may visit http://missinglynxsystems.com/ to learn about their products and purpose.

COO Mary Mason finds herself front and center in a DOMA legislation battle in Ohio, drawing much economic development, media and public attention to MLS. While her position is that she opposes this legislation, I think she has been so impressed by the support she has seen for her concerns, and the large number of calls and interviews and emails that she’s received from Ohioans, that she may well consider moving some operations to Cleveland, regardless of the immediate DOMA outcome. She certainly has nothing against Cleveland.

Missing Lynx Systems would spin off IBIS into another company, and may base that in Cleveland – leading to dozens of programming jobs, and significant administrative and operations staffing – leading to 100s of jobs.

Kitten would spin off as well, for which is needed many programmers and engineers, leading to manufacturing and sales and distribution of a significant software and hardware product – 100s of jobs, very quickly. Missing Lynx Systems could work in technology transfer with CASE Engineering and Computer Science departments, and with TIIME and CAMP, offering them all high value collaboration. That is just an introduction to what Missing Lynx Systems offers the community.

2) PUREmail seems to be the best spam and virus management solution on the market today, and they’d like to work in a community that will help them stay #1. Developed over several years, by CEO Raj Baronia, PUREmail already has customers and works great. MyDoom reminds us how important email and virus management is. PUREmail is in the press right now as one of the first applications to spot the MyDoom virus! See http://www.puremail.com.

Raj has also developed an important Indian eCom portal called IndoLink, at http://www.indolink.com. His development company is called Genius, Inc., and is found at http://www.genius.net.

PUREmail is a unique, timely product ready to grow in a nurturing environment. PUREmail runs on enterprise servers, allowing customers (generally employees of corporations) to access preferences over the Internet and configure their personal levels of filtering of email, so they only receive mail that interests them – all the other mail stays on the PUREmail server. A benefit of the architecture is PUREmail provides an archive of all email, meeting prudent and legal off-site 3rd party storage back-up requirements – and protecting valuable assets.

A former NASA engineer, Raj is a leader in the global Indian technology world and knows how to develop fair-trade sourcing strategies using both local resources and programmers from his native country of India. His company will be a great, high profile asset to Cleveland’s portfolio.

He’s receptive to moving the business there. He would base in Cleveland servers and administrators and other support staff, which should include designers, programmers, analysts, marketing and sales positions, and other technical specialists – all good paying jobs.

3) Telelase Communications Inc. is an engineering firm specialized in designing and implementing broadband wireless Free-Space Optics (FSO) and Radio Frequency (RF) links. Telelase provides customized wireless solutions for broadband backbone network access from 10 Mbps to 5 Gbps and has wireless solutions for organizations facing lack of cost-effective last mile access, and communications augmentation for disaster planning. Telelase’s FSO and RF solutions provide dedicated broadband carrier access for virtual private networks, Internet access, video, voice and quality of service guaranteed data links. Read more at http://telelase.com

Their services are a perfect fit with OneCleveland and the fiber infrastructure there, in that there is significant fiber throughout the region but often still last mile issues. Telelase provides the most cost effective and valuable last mile solutions, including distributing the network into WiFi throughout the end customer facilities. They also provide Voice over Internet (VoIP) and broadband Internet access, with proprietary software managing all services. They supplement current efforts to make Cleveland a world-leader in wireless, bringing high purpose to OneCleveland’s efforts and offering Cleveland facilities, businesses and government competitive advantages.

With good support in the community, Telelase will commit to make Cleveland its next and highest priority service territory and immediately begin installing networks for Cleveland businesses and facilities, creating technical and administrative jobs. They’ll base there any operations and administrative functions and staff that are cost effective.

4) iManuals Now, Inc., is "the world's largest on-line source for instruction manuals", and a fundamental B2C eCommerce business selling on-line manuals for 1,000s of products (e.g. VCRs, Camcorders) - they are operational, selling to individuals over the internet, and lining up retailers as subscription distributors (making counter sales to walk-in customers). See http://www.imanualsnow.com

They’ve invested in their technology, so there is a lot under the front-end. They have the ability to protect a sole source position for a valuable, unique product representing 100s of brands and manufacturers – indicating strong opportunity for synergistic relationships – perfect partner for someone with high public traffic site, providing a B2C, service looking for another strong product, or for someone wanting webspace with a unique branded product to build upon. Manufacturer relationships and links are valuable.

iManuals is seeking partners interested in B2C and consumer product eCommerce, to help define the best possible business model to develop in Cleveland – seeking innovative thinkers and doers.

5) ICEarth is currently based in San Ramon, California, but will always consider Cleveland home. While useful to have a presence and contract in the San Francisco area, ICEarth intends to grow in Cleveland. ICEarth provides subscription access to a datawarehouse of internet performance metrics – secure access to comparative analyses of benchmarks of website effectiveness, and access to best practices. See http://icearth.com/

ICEarth is deploying aspects of Missing Lynx Systems IBIS technology, enabling standardized, secure, open source public data management and infomediation services. Over a very short time, ICEarth will hire dozens of analysts, programmers, administrators, writers, managers and consultants – as multilingual as possible - we have a significant product to deliver and customers waiting to be served.

ICEarth seeks in Cleveland a half-dozen strategic advisory board members and a half dozen board of directors members, and their favorable relations.

All of our companies will need physical facilities. Missing Lynx Systems will need office, lab, engineering and manufacturing/assembly facilities expanding over a 12 to 24 month roll-out. The rest of us could start with a shared incubator, with multimedia lab, datacenter, meeting and presentation facility, like our incubator in San Ramon. Other companies are of course welcome – as many synergistic start-ups as manageable.

Arrangements must be made for cost-effective transitional and visiting entrepreneurs housing, near the incubation area. It will be necessary for California (and other outside) staff to spend some time working in Cleveland, and for staff relocating there to have temporary accommodations while they find permanent housing – this may be combined with work space – all should have high bandwidth.

Each co-locating company needs individual counseling on other benefits and services available to our businesses for moving to Cleveland, and we need local expertise to determine best ways to leverage opportunities, like back-to-work training, economic development zones, and buying facilities versus leasing. We need relations with entrepreneurial landlords, vendors and service providers, like accountants, lawyers, designers and developers – as much hand holding as possible. We each need inside advisors and board members, which also intermesh our businesses with the established business community and culture. We need honorary memberships in all the local trade organizations and associations, with the opportunity to present to the memberships, and access to free education and workshop services

And we need to all work together to promote our shared objective, creating jobs in Northeast Ohio. To create jobs, Missing Lynx Systems, PUREmail, and Telelase will be looking for major corporate customers, and so will pursue good public relations and to be received in a community that thinks “spend at home”! All of us will expect to be embraced by vibrant local entrepreneurship and technology transfer communities.

We cannot succeed if treated as outsiders by the local community. And the same level of attention we seek above for these companies should be made avaialble for all companies seeking to develop businesses in Cleveland, wherever they're from.

Norm Roulet
norm@icearth.com
1-925-866-4123

posted in CAUSE - 1 reply

Press Release!!!

Tue, 17 Feb 2004 22:45:33 GMT

The Fund for our Economic Future, an unprecedented, both in Ohio, and the US, collaboration of NEO's private, community, and corporate foundations was launched today in Akron. This fund, totaling over $32 million dollars, is the largest and most comprehensive philanthropic collaboration of its kind in the US. The money will, and future monies raised, will go entirely (no cost factor overhead) to business startup.

Something to cheer for in NEO!

posted in CAUSE - 1 reply

PROGRESS REPORT

normroulet — Tue, 17 Feb 2004 09:26:41 GMT

I'm pleased to report that I have found entrepreneurship leaders in Northeast Ohio receptive to my outreach to develop new economy businesses there.

To date, I've been in communication with Tim Moran, of the CIty of Clevelnd, who has been proactive and communicative, and with Ray Leach and Becca Braun, of JumpStart, who have been real champions. It seems NEOhio has good spokespeople.

In reward, a few companies I know in Northern California shall provide Tim and Becca with business plans to co-locate their businesses there.

Progress reports will post here - feel free to post questions on how this is developing!

posted in CAUSE - 2 replies

Opinions on regional focus for economic development

normroulet — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 12:09:04 GMT

It's clear North East Ohio regional community and business leaders are looking at restructuring economic development from a regional focus - restructuring government alignment that way, as well. All done right, this is a good strategy, certainly necessary.

During the transition it is critical that "Cleveland" does not get slighted and neglected - the city is already under a budget crunch and having to eliminate important services, and needs to make major investments in infrastructure and human resources and quality of life improvements.

Cleveland needs new economy and jobs in the city, so there must continue to be a separate, proactive, integrated, whole hearted push for Cleveland's economic development, in unison with the regional (and state) efforts. With great leadership at the local and regional levels, all the strategies being discussed make good sense.

The leaders for Cleveland for this are Tim Mueller and Tim Moran, and my observation is they are entrepreneurial, receptive, and effective, so the city's new economy opportunity is in good hands... Tim Moran is listed in the contacts above if you have an initiative to develop in Cleveland.

What are your thoughts on this?

posted in CAUSE - 9 replies

Why have a creative class

normroulet — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 23:28:21 GMT

Why have a creative class:

In Cleveland there is a strong push to increase public funding for the arts - most significantly as part of funds being raised by bonds or taxes to support a convention center. The organization leading the public awareness campaign is the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture - CPAC - and they are very active. The reason they state for their activity is economic:

----------------------
"Why Consider Public Funding for Arts & Culture?

A strong arts and cultural sector provides jobs and strengthens our region's economy. Arts and culture transform neighborhoods and add value to our communities. And arts and culture strengthen our students and schools.

Historically, Cuyahoga County has enjoyed one of the highest concentrations of arts and cultural institutions in the nation. These world-renowned assets are now at risk. The area has failed to protect them with reasonable public support even though some of the corporations and families who built them are gone. And competing metropolitan areas provide public support - including Columbus, Pittsburgh, Dayton, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Without reasonable public funding we will lose one of our most significant competitive advantages as a region. "
---------------

Visit CPAC's wensite to learn more about this issue, and see the events listings for the next Cultural Roundtable, Jan 29. Feel free to comment on this issue.

CPAC website: http://www.supportartsandculture.com/index.html

Weekly Cultural Roundtables scheduled at http://www.supportartsandculture.com/upcomingevents/

Subscribe to their updates by registering at http://www.supportartsandculture.com/action.html

posted in CAUSE - 5 replies

“Sustainable” and socially conscious businesses

normroulet — Wed, 11 Feb 2004 19:11:52 GMT

If you’re interested in opportunity developing new economy around “sustainable” and socially conscious businesses, which is a buzz in Cleveland, consider the meaning and impact that has here in Northern California - they call us leaders of a new renaissance providing 1,000s of jobs and pumping $100s millions into the local economy. But, read what and why here and plan for long-term change. Here’s a blueprint.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/30/BUGPU3ASC51.DTL

Post your thoughts on any aspects of these issues and opportunities!

posted in CAUSE - 1 reply

CPR Cleveland Professionals Resource fund

normroulet — Mon, 02 Feb 2004 12:09:55 GMT

CPR Cleveland Professionals Resource fund

CoolCleveland reported that, at the party announcing plans for JumpStart, OfficeMax founder Michael Feuer offered sane advice to entrepreneurs - borrow from attorneys and physicians, as “they have lower expectations...".

While I don’t use his reasoning, I agree start-up entrepreneurs in Cleveland must borrow from attorneys and physicians, because they hold a large percentage of the region’s wealth – it needs to go into circulation in the new economy, rather than exclusively mutual funds and such conventional investments.

I suggest a fund be established to allow such professionals – who are qualified investors – to invest some percentage of their investment portfolios, perhaps from 5 to 10%, in a CPR fund (Cleveland Professionals Resources), and those funds from 1,000s of professionals may exceed $100,000,000. The funds should be used for investments in 100s of Northeast Ohio start-ups, at more friendly than typical angel terms.

James Ireland, who runs an early-stage investment firm, estimates this region could easily absorb another $250 million in venture capital. The Plain Dealer suggests one source may be our foundations, many of them created by earlier entrepreneurs and now considering how they can replenish the region's wealth. Northeast Ohio foundations control roughly $6 billion. Pooling even 2 percent into a well-managed venture fund would make $120 million available.

A CPR fund could take care of the rest, and really balance out the economic tables in the region – sharing risk and opportunity for all.

posted in CAUSE - 2 replies

NEO Regionalism

Thu, 12 Feb 2004 17:08:52 GMT

For a project and an essay: I would like to hear your thoughts on regionalism as it applies to NEO.

Thanks

posted in CAUSE - 4 replies

REI@Weatherhead & network capitalism

normroulet — Wed, 11 Feb 2004 16:05:58 GMT

I have just realized REI - the Weatherhead School of Management Center for Regional Economic Issues - has totally come alive in the past six month, and is taking a central position leading economic development research and practice in Northeast Ohio.

This development is fantastic for the community, as there is a need for the highest possible level of insight in this area, which must come from proactive intellectual investigation - and REI also is providing networking, collaboration and consulting among their academic and student participants and the entire entrepreneurial world - they seem very open!

I've always felt this is exactly what was needed in Northeast Ohio, and a role CASE should play. Being an exceptional university, it has much to offer the region. With the support of Progressive Insurance CEO Peter Lewis, they built Cleveland's most beautiful recent landmark building for their business school, which includes REI. So this is a first class outreach all the way around.

It is an important indication that CASE has worked through its transformation from a 20th century academic conglomeration to a 21st century economic engine for the community, which very much needs this type of leadership.

Read below how REI has brought key pieces together to take an important role in Northeast Ohio, and become active in their programs, from tuesdays@REI to collaboration - contact them with your ideas.

http://weatherhead.case.edu/rei/default.cfm

---------------------

Of interest:

REI hires new Executive Director

8/1/2003
After several months of interviews and many outstanding candidates, Weatherhead School of Management and Center for Regional Economic Issues search committee members have chosen Edward F. Morrison to head up REI.

Ed has over 18 years experience in the economic development industry. After managing tax and trade legislation for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Ed went on to a distinguished career working on economic development primarily in the South. Of mention, Ed manages the Community Assessment Program for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, is the architect of the strategic economic development plan for Oklahoma City (Forward Oklahoma City) and has served as economic development consultant to the Chamber since 2004, and has authored the 1998 report for the Commission on the Future of the South.

Ed holds a BA degree from Yale University and a MBA and JD degree from the University of Virginia.

------------

Weatherhead hires REI Academic Director and prof

8/1/2003
The Weatherhead School of Management has hired a new professor of economics and Academic Director for REI, Dr. Scott Shane. In conjunction with the hiring of Edward Morrison as REI’s new Executive Director, Dr. Shane will help fill the vacancy left when REI Director and Weatherhead professor Richard A. Shatten passed away February 2002. Dr. Shane comes to Weatherhead and to REI from previous appointments at the University of Maryland, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Shane has also consulted to numerous large and small organizations, and has taught in executive education programs in Norway, Poland, New Zealand and the United States.

Dr. Shane’s primary interests are in technology transfer, franchising, and entrepreneurship having authored over 50 scholarly articles on entrepreneurship and innovation.

Scott Shane holds an AB from Brown University *(’86), a MS from Georgetown University (’88), and a PhD. from the University of Pennsylvania (’92).

URL: http://weatherhead.case.edu/wsom/profiles/shanes.htm

Scott Shane
Professor of Economics

Telephone: 216/368-5538
Year of hire: 2003
Email: Scott Shane@case.edu

Research Interests:
Technology entrepreneurship
Firm formation process
Business format franchising
The role of entrepreneurship in economic development
University technology transfer and commercialization

Teaching Interests:
Entrepreneurship

------------

One initiative REI has implemented is meetings every Tuesday at 4 PM to discuss economic development issues, like Sustainability and Network Capitalism. See info on this at http://www.smartmeetingdesign.com/rei/index.php/Main/REITuesdays

Tuesdays@REI
The Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) hosts weekly forums called Tuesdays@REI. These public discussions are part of “Making Change”, a regional initiative coordinated by REI@Weatherhead, which is helping to build a new level of civic engagement for our Innovation Economy in Northeast Ohio. For our public calendar, follow the link below.
Related website: public calendar

----------------------------------------------

Here's an article from Crain's Tech that provides much more information about what is developing with REI - very exciting!

Making change at REI

9:39 AM Nov. 13, 2003
By CHRIS THOMPSON

http://neohio.craintech.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=3315

Ed Morrison is ready to get things done, not do more studies.

The new executive director of REI@Weatherhead wants to transform the research organization into one of the architects of the "innovation economy of Northeast Ohio."

Northeast Ohio will get a better idea of how that will be done at a lunchtime program on Nov. 20 where Mr. Morrison, Weatherhead School of Management Dean Mohsen Anvari and Case Western Reserve University President Edward Hundert will speak. Online registration and more details of the REI program are available here.

REI is best known for developing numerous reports and studies that evaluate the performance of the region's economy. The depth and number of the studies done by REI's own researchers and the faculty of Weatherhead have prompted some to say Northeast Ohio is the most studied regional economy in the country.

REI will continue to conduct research, but the research won't be the end product.

"We're here to design and build stuff," Mr. Morrison vowed.

Mr. Morrison spent seven years working on economic development issues in Oklahoma City before returning to his native home earlier this year to run REI. He has quickly moved to engage REI, more formally known as the Center for Regional Economic Issues, in conversations about transforming and growing the region's economy.

"We are in an age of network capitalism," he said. "The whole value is in the network." One of REI's goals will be to connect existing networks of entrepreneurs, researchers, civic leaders and corporate executives.

"The future of Cleveland is in the intersections" of those networks, he said.

REI has adopted the theme "Making Change" for its efforts - it's a title developed by his predecessor, the late Richard Shatten. It has primarily been used for a series of news reports on the evolving area economy done on local public radio and television.

Mr. Morrison plans to expand on those efforts by developing web sites, blogs and a series of meetings to discuss various issues - ranging from wireless technologies to sustainable development - that influence the region's economy. The Nov. 20 program is entitled: Making Change: Networks for our Innovation Economy. A follow-up meeting is already scheduled for May 17 that will assess the progress being made by REI.

Also, REI is hosting weekly community meetings at its Weatherhead offices on Tuesday afternoons from 4 to 6 p.m. The public is invited to attend and engage in the discussions.

"We want to know what people are thinking," Mr. Morrison said.

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Good news for CAUSE

normroulet — Thu, 15 Jan 2004 21:48:36 GMT

I don't have access to Cleveland print and TV so get all my local and business news over the Internet. This offers push and pull choices - some websites I visit to pull in the news I want - like http://www.cleveland.com for Plain Dealer stories - and others push headlines to me by email.

I'm interested in recommendations for push and pull news sources focused on Cleveland and regional economic development - especially for high tech and early stage businesses. What do you find useful and informative? I read:

Crains Cleveland has email alert subscription service and news at http://www.crainscleveland.com/

CrainsTech is focused on High Tech news and has separate alert services, all rooted at http://www.neohio.craintech.com/

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is found at http://www.cleveland.com and they offer 18 different types of notifications - none focused on entrepreneurs or high-tech

The PD has started experimenting with "Blogs", which offer excellent in-depth local high tech business perspectives from their technology journalist, Chris Seper, and now high level news insight from their editor, Doug Clifton. Read what they have to say, out of print and personal:

Seper's blog: http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/chatroomlive/
Clifton's blog: http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/dougclifton/
Cleveland.com blog index: http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/

Performance Art Festival founder Thomas Mulready has started a very popular, informative and insightful e-newsletter, being an edited compilation of area news tidbits and event highlights, sent weekly to a large list of subscribers - that should include you... go to: http://www.coolcleveland.com/

Do you have other suggestions for how new economy entrepreneurs may stay informed about new economy news in NE Ohio? Post a reply with details!

posted in CAUSE - 6 replies

PARTNER: iManualsNow

normroulet — Thu, 29 Jan 2004 10:11:57 GMT

SEEKING STRATEGIC PARTNERS: iManualsNow.com Inc.

San Ramon, California based iManualsNow.com Inc. is the largest secure repository and online digital library specializing in instant access to and delivery of current and out of print instruction and technical manuals, training manuals, product literature, repair books and related information ~ Worldwide!

The company is operational at http://www.imanualsnow.com and generating revenues - while adding to their dealer distribution network and constantly expanding content. They handle consumer requests direct through their secure gateway and dealer member channels of distribution, taking the hassle out of the time consuming task of providing customers with the information they request by placing it at their fingertips via a single online source, saving manufacturers time, resources and money.

iManualsNow is seeking strategic development partners interested to leverage global relationships with manufacturers and with dealers, which is a rich area for customer contact and product distribution.

Their perfect partners will understand the consumer products industries and have an interest in associating with a world-leader in this important virtual market-space …looking for natural win-wins.

If this fits your product or investment interests, please feel free to contact the CEO of i Manuals Now:

Corey Thompson
President and CEO
cjthompson@imanualsnow.com
1-925-866-4175
http://www.imanualsnow.com

From their “About Us ”:

iManualsNow is the “Largest Online Source for Instruction and Technical Manuals, Training Manuals, Product Brochures, Repair Books, Cross-Reference Charts, and more —Worldwide! ”Tap into our dynamic digital library for the Ultimate Customer Service Solution!

Founded in response to the needs of consumers who found it an overwhelming challenge obtaining replacement instruction manuals and relevant materials for current and discontinued consumer electronic and photographic products.
iManualsNow eliminates this challenge by fulfilling consumer requests directly through our single online gateway, delivering instructional information quickly, securely and cost effectively. From inquiry to delivery and appliances to xylophones, we handle it all.

Our network builds on existing digital document infrastructure and dealer channels of distribution to create a global, real-time customer service solution.

You will execute the latest and most reliable technology such as, Sun, Java, Cisco, Oracle and Adobe without the expense of building out your infrastructure and maintaining an expensive document delivery system. We deliver a product ideally suited for every day consumers, Manufacturer sales representatives, retailers, online merchants, and others currently underserved by traditional distribution mechanisms.

http://www.imanualsnow.com

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

World’s aerosol art capital?!?!

normroulet — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 06:43:22 GMT

Aerosol art (as opposed to graffiti) is of global interest, and Cleveland has a strong base of talented such artists – and lots of ugly, blank and graffitied walls.

Being home to Sherwin Williams, which is I believe the world’s largest manufacturer of spray paint, Cleveland seems a natural city to be the world’s aerosol art capital – up there with Frankfurt and like progressive global arts capitals. There was an aerosol art competition in Ohio City last summer – on temporary walls – with great turnout and outcomes. In how many realms may we hope to be the world-leader, leveraging one of our few world-leadership enterprises? This will draw artists and arts follows from around the world, and they’ll enjoy our other cultural resources while here – perhaps decide to stay.

What are your thoughts?

posted in CAUSE - 2 replies

VCs lean to biotech

normroulet — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:52:36 GMT

VCs lean to biotech
IT sees less venture investment

This article on a recent report on VC investment shows a 20%drop in VC funding in 2003, below 2002, and very weak funding for IT companies... although uptick in 4th quarter 03.

Best inidcators are for Biotech! Cleveland is well positioned for biotech start-ups and the marketplace is clearly active!

John Shinal, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, January 27, 2004
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/01/27/BUGTC4ICL41.DTL

Biotechnology startups grabbed a bigger slice of a shrinking venture capital pie in 2003, according to a report released Monday.

That's in stark contrast to information technology companies, which saw venture investments plummet to their lowest annual total in six years.

The total amount invested in all venture-backed startups fell 20 percent to $16.9 billion last year from $21 billion a year earlier, according to the joint report from industry researcher VentureOne and the consulting firm Ernst & Young.

The shift toward biotech investments "is one of the biggest trends we're seeing" in venture investing, said John Gabbert, the vice president of worldwide research at VentureOne in San Francisco.

Read whole story at
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/01/27/BUGTC4ICL41.DTL

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Team NEO leadership developmet

normroulet — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 22:55:17 GMT

From Crain's Cleveland Business:
http://www.crainscleveland.com/news.cms?newsId=1806

Feel free to reply with feedback on Team NEO

-----------------------------

Vinney to chair Team NEO

Directors of Team Northeast Ohio have announced that Steris Corp. president and CEO Les Vinney has been named acting chairman of the regional economic development organization.

Mr. Vinney fills the vacancy in the chairman's role created by the recent death of FirstEnergy Corp. CEO H. Peter Burg.

Bob Farley, president of Team NEO, said Mr. Vinney “brings a strategic focus and entrepreneurial spirit" that will help the fledgling organization make a difference in Northeast Ohio.

------------------------

ABOUT TEAM NEO:
http://www.teamneo.org/index.html

Team NEO is a private sector-led, regional economic development organization formed through the collaboration of many of the region’s leading business organizations to support and stimulate higher levels of targeted business attraction, retention, and expansion in Northeast Ohio. Team NEO will deliver value added services to the entire region and its businesses through a new relationship management model supported by: 1) a targeted sales and marketing capability; and 2) more coordination and cooperation among existing economic development organizations in order to enhance regional assets.

The need for a regional approach to economic development was first identified by Cleveland Tomorrow and refined through the Greater Cleveland Growth Association’s strategic plan. The Team NEO approach resonated with other business and community leaders and led Cleveland Tomorrow and the Greater Cleveland Growth Association to collaborate on the development of a working model. The Cleveland Foundation supported the partnership by dedicating funds to retain McKinsey & Company for a ten-week project and by participating with leaders from Cleveland Tomorrow, Greater Cleveland Growth Association and other organizations in the region in a Steering Committee comprised of business and community leaders across the region formed to oversee the McKinsey work.

The Steering Committee recommended that specific implementation plans be developed and the Interim Steering Committee subsequently was formed to guide the planning effort.

Subsequently, using the business plan developed by McKinsey & Company as a starting point, the Interim Steering Committee has reached consensus on a plan for implementation of Team NEO as described in herein.

Rationale

Team NEO responds to several challenges and opportunities confronting the region:

Job growth and wage growth in Northeast Ohio are lagging the nation and competitor regions.

This is in part because the region achieves only a grade of "C" on measures of product quality, but also because we have not sold well what we have.

The pressures of the global economy threaten our existing base of companies.

At the same time, the region has a tremendous amount of Fortune 1000 companies that represent an enormous, but untapped, asset to build upon.

We have missed opportunities to capture growth from existing companies. We are not competing effectively for attraction prospects. Site location consultants often eliminate the region in the early stages of a project location analysis.

Regions are the key units of competition in today’s economy. Many of our competitors already have organized on a regional basis. We must leapfrog our competitors in order to catch up.
There is a need for a more coordinated regional voice to advocate for continual improvements in physical and human infrastructure.

Objectives

Expand the pool of business attraction prospects to the region by generating leads through targeted international and domestic marketing efforts, while also capitalizing on more growth opportunities from existing companies. The new Team NEO president will establish specific targets in consultation with the board and Management Council.

In collaboration with its economic development partners in the public and private sectors, specific performance goals will be established to influence improving the region’s overall product grade from a C to a B, with no Ds.
Link and leverage the region’s existing economic development resources.

Functions

Team NEO will be the first point of contact for targeted businesses that are looking to expand or locate in Northeast Ohio.

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

MERGER: Enterprise Development Inc. and NEOpreneur Inc. (New Name to be Announced Tonight)

Jason — Thu, 22 Jan 2004 17:21:24 GMT

From CrainTech.
(http://neohio.craintech.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=3467)

New name to be unveiled tonight

10:48 AM Jan. 19, 2004

And the new name is…

Sorry, but you’ll have to come to the NEOpreneur Exchange networking party Thursday night at the Pickwick & Frolic if you want to learn the name of the new entrepreneurial assistance organization taking shape to serve the region.

The new organization is being created through the merger of Enterprise Development Inc. and NEOpreneur Inc. Its new board will meet officially for the first time on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and then Ray Leach, chief executive of the new organization, plans to unveil the new name at the networking event, which is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. More information on the event and online registration is available here.

Mr. Leach said he would also detail the mission and programs of the new organization. The merger was announced in November and Mr. Leach was named to lead the organization last month.

Also speaking at the networking event will be Brad Whitehead of the Cleveland Foundation, who will detail efforts by area foundations to stimulate economic development in the region; Jamie Ireland of Early Stage Partners; and OfficeMax co-founder Michael Feuer, who will detail his plans for a new venture fund, called Max-Ventures, that will target specialty retail investment opportunities.

The NEOpreneur party, which costs $40 to attend, will also feature structured networking opportunities.

posted in CAUSE - 3 replies

Real estate investors?

JohnCorey — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 09:02:08 GMT

Any investors in this group? Norm and I have exchanged a few messages about the topic in general and a bit about Cleveland. I am curious to hear more from folks who might be on the ground in the metro area (or anywhere in the State for that matter).

John

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Gambling Heart of the heartland

normroulet — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 07:49:52 GMT

While I don't personally "gamble", and have found trips to gambling cities Las Vegas and Atlantic City odd and depressing, it is clear Cleveland is being surrounded by options for folks who want to gamble, including racetracks and bookies galore. The Plain Dealer, which in the past opposed gambling, is now writing influential editorials in its favor, and referencing plans for casinos connected to a new convention center initiative.

I've long held that a tract of land in or near the Flats should be turned over to the Native Americans who lived in Ohio before the European settlers came through, allowing them to establish a reservation and provide casinos - though Ohio no longer has Indian reservations, 44 tribes are represented in the state - an excellent series of articles on Ohio Indian history is found at http://www.cleveland.com/tears/

Obviously, by having a reservation the tribe(s) could seek permits for casinos - perhaps even duty free shopping - whatever laws allow, without a statewide vote. Cleveland could get an exclusive jump on the regional gambling industry without having to convince the entire state it is best - and it would probably dissuade the rest of the state from passing gambling legislations, as we'd have a many year head start.

Of course, gambling will bring tourism and justify a convention center, and create construction and service jobs and lead to more hotels and better shopping - there will be many very localized, long lasting benefits. Planned well, this could be a very positive initiative.

As an endnote, this also offers some restitution to Indians who lost their lands, and I encourage the owners of the Cleveland Indians baseball team to change its name - my recommendation is the Progressives - Pros for short - with Progressive Insurance as naming sponsor, of course... we need to run that by them...

PD perspectives on gambling in Cleveland at:
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/brent_larkin/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1074335668172183.xml

What are your thoughts on all this?

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Philip Johnson architecture school for Cleveland?

normroulet — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 06:30:13 GMT

The world-renowned architect Philip Johnson (AT&T Headquarters, Glass House, etc., now in his 90s) is from Cleveland (still having family there) and while there to unveil some sculptures he created for CWRU, a few years back, he offered to provide Cleveland the world’s most innovative school of architecture, which Cleveland is lacking. He proposes a unique curriculum and I imagine may provide quite a remarkable design, if still able. Tell me a more remarkable anchor for Cleveland’s lakefront, a better attraction of outside talent, and a stronger addition to our mix of resources.

What do you think about this prospect - could an architecture school thrive in Cleveland?

Thoughts on Philip Johnson or his proposal?

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

''What is essential is invisible to the eye''

normroulet — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 06:23:26 GMT

''What is essential is invisible to the eye''

From Saint-Exupéry's ''Little Prince,'' said to be James Dean's favorite line, etched in his memorial at the location of his death, in 1955.

This inspiring quote and context, from a New York Times article on the San Andreas fault, now in my backyard, is a good place to develop a mission for nurturing entrepreneurship in Cleveland – accept what is essential is invisible.

When I see all the posturing of entrepreneurship “leaders” and resources in Cleveland, I see every leader focusing on what is obvious to them and 1,000,000s of other leaders and consultants, in major cities and boondocks around the world. So, NorTech hires McKinsey to create reports on the obvious, and everyone there focuses all attention on the obvious things the report recommends. Florida writes you need a creative class, and that is the “agenda.”

Those who see our future in biotech, fuel cells, polymers, advanced machining, LCDs, and even artists, film and sustainability see the obvious… the opportunities to expand and produce products and services in already known, highly competitive marketplaces, to hope to beat out those in Cambridge, and Silicon Valley, and Israel, and every center of amassed genius in the world. In the visible world, Clevelanders are about 478,403 of the 6,332,273,593 - there are 13,000+ other “Cleveland-equivalents” out there… even viewed regionally, we’re 1 in 2,000+. Obviously, “Cleveland” is nothing special, from today’s global economic perspectives.

What is obvious, in the highly visible “business” world, is that every smart new economy “businessman” is looking for the cheapest, best square footage, the most bandwidth/buck, the lowest cost trained labor, and any other subsidy, break, advantage or free thing or service you may offer – those are de rigueur expectations, world-wide. Reduce my costs and ease and speed-up my time to profitability, and I’ll base some operations, hire and invest in Cleveland.

Of course, we should compete in appropriate industries, which leverage local talent pools and resources, but what is essential to making Cleveland fundamentally more successful is developing a culture that nurtures each essential, invisible 1 person in 6 billion who may succeed with the unknown. Become great at nurturing those who see essential opportunities in what to others is invisible, and I’ll return ICEarth’s heart, mind and soul to Cleveland.

Make Cleveland a place that sees that thugs, invisible on a street corner, may become the essential Bone Thugs n Harmony, rather than focusing all the attention on the obvious but equally risky LeBrons, and Cleveland will thrive. Make Cleveland work for 1,000s of such creators, and Cleveland will become one of the world’s greatest cities, as it has the potential to become.

The first step to making Cleveland more nurturing for entrepreneurs is accepting what is essential for our economic future is right now invisible - being Socratic… knowing all we know is we know nothing. Knowing that, we may focus on putting in place the mindset, services and processes which support creators, rather than those doing the obvious, for the obvious. I don’t see that happening in Cleveland, today.

Dealing with the invisible, I seek a cheap, simple place to do my work, untouched by those who believe they know better, with windows looking over a lake to infinity. I want to share experiences with other essential creators. I want Socratic service providers, who want to help entrepreneurs give the once invisible essence… making my creations obvious to others, and thus “marketable”. I can make a more complete list, but must know Cleveland entrepreneurship leaders are receptive to the invisible, which I haven’t found in the past.

Let me know Cleveland accepts what is essential is invisible, and I’ll be pleased to help create new economy there, and find for Cleveland other essential seers, from CAUSE for Cleveland and where still invisible.

I look forward to your thoughts on all of this.

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Entrepreneurs outlooks

normroulet — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 05:47:52 GMT

Cleveland CAUSE:

On the dawn of the realignment of Northeast Ohio economic development to a regional focus, and an era of other big change not long ago unimaginable - including casino gambling in downtown Cleveland - I’d like to share an entrepreneurs’ outlook, from both native Clevelander and West Coast transplant points of view. These are observations from experience, analyzing and developing businesses both places – my high level working notes.

It has been reported Northeast Ohio has a lack of good entrepreneurial initiatives, a poor flow of venture funds, and a difficult business culture, especially for start-ups. Analyses show nation-wide there are four times the pent up venture funds available as good ventures to take the investments – so it should now be a great time to undertake new businesses. That is what Northeast Ohio wants to see happen, so the community should market to attract entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs should be proactive and reach out for support.

Last week, Ray Leach announced he is where entrepreneurs should start, as he will lead a business, industry, media and university supported program called JumpStart, proposed to become the hub for entrepreneurship in a 13 county region they call Northeast Ohio. It absorbs NEOpreneur, which was an entrepreneur-roots outreach of NorTech, an industry supported economic development service organization of Cleveland Tomorrow, an industry think tank.

JumpStart takes the name of an existing start-up venture fund called JumpStart LLC, and merges with Enterprise Development, Inc. (EDI), both providing early stage business development support, education, coaching, and incubator services in affiliation with Case Western Reserve University (CASE),. CASE also supports technology transfer and numerous engineering, technology, biotechnology and management programs for commercializing intellectual property, including BioEnterprise, CAMP, and TIIME. Entrepreneurs are wise to visit the websites of each of these organizations for ideas and contacts.

CASE plays a big role in the region’s economy, as their many schools and departments collaborate with industry and draw funding from many sources, they fuel creativity and commercialize education programs, business services, and intellectual property. They also draw donations from alumni, and grants and government funds, which all benefit the Cleveland community. CASE technology transfer is led by a team of Carnegie Mellon transplants, who arrived via Silicon Valley, offering world-class capabilities. They are aligned with University Hospitals, and in close proximity to the Cleveland Clinic, all being anchors of what is becoming a BioTech Corridor – Euclid Avenue. It seems start-ups in this and the healthcare sector are well served here – they should definitely consider locating in Cleveland.

Other universities in the region offer similar localized business development collaboration opportunities and objectives – Cleveland State, Kent State, Oberlin, and University of Akron in particular. Each has its own board, leadership, expertise and objectives, and so plan independent strategies. JumpStart envisions representing the interests of all the universities, and having some umbrella representation does strengthen their positions, and regional capabilities.

JumpStart, CASE, other universities, EDI, CAMP, BioEnterprise, and TIIME are each important to entrepreneurship, Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. To represent them all under one coordinated advocacy organization called JumpStart is great – this offers some economies of scale and critical mass in the larger marketplace for funds – public and private. It also may attract better management and business support.

It seems the current leader of JumpStart, Ray Leach, is well qualified. He comes with a background ranging from MIT to working in the polymers sector, based around Akron. At the party announcing the JumpStart name and organization strategy, Ray said he had over 100 business plans to review, which means they have driven plenty of awareness. Entrepreneurs have been waiting years for this day, when we have a single service center for help in Northeast Ohio. Now we need to get more plans flowing into their pipeline, and processed. The day the first JumpStart funded start-up is announced will prove the impact of this strategy.

JumpStart should receive all the support possible, in the media and from leaders in all segments of the community – say yes to their every request, as they offer new, broad, and well managed and led regional opportunity.

But, JumpStart is not all that entrepreneurs need to succeed in Northeast Ohio, and does not meet all the region’s economic development concerns. JumpStart provides many services and solutions, and there must continue to be many others, and each must become stronger.

Each city must continue to have strong internal economic development departments and leaders, and the strongest possible management – which Cleveland now seems to have. Campbell is showing she has a voice and will speak up, and she is having an impact and making intelligent decisions – she is proving to be a highly effective mayor. Her team seems well qualified and effective, as well.

Cleveland matters – it is the biggest city in the region, the reason the region is so densely populated in the first place, and the hub of our area economy. Cleveland is the center of population, transportation, healthcare, law, justice, education, entertainment, hospitality, cuisine, culture, commerce, research and development, bioenterprise, information, technology, design, manufacturing, and everything else important – from New York to Detroit and Chicago, and south to Columbus.

A regional JumpStart will better attract and manage state and federal resources, but local initiatives must still make certain Clevelanders are well educated, happy participants in the economy, and that public and social services are good, the infrastructure is well maintained, and people are safe. Assuming they are well managed, cities are the competitive advantages of regions seeking to stand out in the global economy – and Cleveland is very attractive.

If I am to do business in Northeast Ohio, I want a healthy Cleveland, proper. So I am highly focused on local development issues. To track Cleveland entrepreneur support issues, and services, I established this tribe.

This is intended as an entirely self managed, proactive forum. As Tribe services are free, there is no cost for this community to exist, so it is what it is, for all to determine. Enjoy.

Read through the postings - and feel free to post a resonse to this posting, with your outlook on this range of situations.

For more information, contact Norm Roulet at norm@roulets.net or invite me into your network from my member link

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

$100,000 CASE Business Launch Competition

Jason — Thu, 15 Jan 2004 06:50:36 GMT

The 2004, $100,000 CASE Business Launch Competition

TIIME is proud to announce the kick-off of the 2004, $100,000 CASE Business Launch Competition. This year's Competition features both a Bioscience and a Technology Track, and the winners in each will receive up to $50,000 plus other valuable benefits.

Executive summaries are due February 5, 2004. For additional information, please print the attached document or log-on to our website at http://www.tiime.case.edu or send an e-mail to tiime@case.edu to get on our mailing list for competition updates and due dates.

Regards,

Rob Harris
Director of Entrepreneurial Programs
The Institute for the Integration of Management and Engineering
Case Western Reserve University
Phone: 216-368-1145
e-mail: robert.harris@case.edu

posted in CAUSE - 6 replies

Silicon Valley predictions

normroulet — Wed, 21 Jan 2004 01:54:36 GMT

I don't see why these predictions shouldn't hold true and read as significant for the Cuyahoga valley, as well - especially interesting are statements like:

"there is still too much venture capital chasing too few good investments"

"There is four times more venture capital than can be wisely invested"

So it doesn't seem this is a problem isolated to NE Ohio and indicates to me the entrepreneurs with viable products and services should be able to find the support they need, if promoted effectively.

VCs may need to redefine their role in the entrepreneurial world, more as friends and angels, with shared pools of perhaps higher risk money going to more earlier stage start-ups... even smart high school kids... speading the risk and opportunity while catching more hot pospects while still in the formative stage. Read on and share your thoughts:

VCs make Silicon Valley predictions
Robert Mullins

Software as a service, little computers everywhere and Microsoft buying Google after it goes public. These were some of the predictions for 2004 of Silicon Valley's leading venture capitalists at a Thursday night forum in Palo Alto.

But while the valley's economy seems to be rebounding, there is still too much venture capital chasing too few good investments, said panelists at the Churchill Club's 6th Annual Top Ten Tech Trends Debate, which drew nearly 700 people to a Crowne Plaza Hotel ballroom.

The most viable new software companies will be those that sell software as a service, which means businesses pay for their software as they use it, like electricity, says Jim Breyer, managing partner at Accel Partners, a venture capital firm.

"If a new startup software firm does not have a managed service model, we wouldn't fund it," says Mr. Breyer.

But while the trend is towards software as a service, it may not be complete, said Esther Dyson, chairman of Edventure Holdings. Some companies will want to buy software in a package that they are licensed to use in perpetuity. And a startup software company would be happy make a million dollar packaged software sale if that's what the customer wants, Ms. Dyson says.

VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson will consider investing in companies that make small computing devices in pens, phones, cars or other handheld devices that network with one another, says Tim Draper, managing director.

"You'll see more interesting computers that do all sorts of things," Mr. Draper says.

And there may be a surprise when, as expected, Mountain View-based search engine company Google Inc. files for an initial public offering of stock, says Tony Perkins, program moderator and creator and editor of AlwaysOn, a tech-focused Web log, or blog.

There have been an increasing number of people writing in blogs predicting that software giant Microsoft Corp., of Redmond, Wash., will launch a hostile takeover of Google after it's IPO. Mr. Perkins compared the growing number of comments on the topic to the "chatter" that Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge hears about terrorist plots.

But while innovation is going to continue in Silicon Valley, there are still going to be many ventures funded that will fail, says John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Beyers.

"There is four times more venture capital than can be wisely invested," Mr. Doerr says.

While there may be 10 startups going after a particular market segment, the market may need only three, so the investors in these companies won't make as much money as they hope, if any.

"There is [going to be] no return to these investors. They won't even get passbook savings," he says.

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2004/01/12/daily50.html

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

2004 Index of Silicon Valley

normroulet — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:17:24 GMT

Looking at the issue of regional economic development, it seems the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network is a good model - read the following press release on their 2004 index of regional performance and growth issues for insight for NE Ohio - the report is being released Friday.

Press Release
Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network
Topic: Joint Venture’s 2004 Index of Silicon Valley Release
Contact: Linda Holroyd, Director of Marketing and Business Development
(408) 938-1511, lholroyd@jointventure.org

San Jose, Calif, January 19, 2004

THE 2004 INDEX OF SILICON VALLEY

Statement by Russell Hancock

President and CEO, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network

By all accounts, the burning question about Silicon Valley – will it come back from the rubble of the dot.com bubble -- has been answered: Yes, but the Valley will look different, and we must invest in the skills of our people to prepare for new jobs.

We are poised for another recovery in a long history of economic rebounds in our dynamic region sparked by underlying innovative strength from a creative and determined population and business community.

The data in the 2004 Index of Silicon Valley, released today by Joint Venture, says that after three painful years, “we are now seeing the early signs of yet another Silicon Valley reinvention”. Although it is slower than we would like it to be, we are seeing clear evidence that the Valley’s future is taking shape.

But now there is another question: a comeback to what?

While job loss has slowed, changes are taking place in the structure of our region’s economy from dominance in information technology to new industries. In particular, the Index finds that “employment gains are taking place in some high-wage occupational clusters, employment is growing in the Health Services cluster, and the Biomedical cluster is becoming more concentrated in Silicon Valley than in the nation.”

Employment in the high-wage occupational clusters in Silicon Valley, the Index reports, is 25% of our total employment compared to 13% nationally. In our most concentrated clusters, average wages are more than $80,000. And our higher skills give us comparative advantage over other regions.

A Special Analysis in this year’s Index examines “the unique and changing occupational structure of our Valley.” It describes how we compare to the nation, what occupational clusters are growing and declining here, what makes this structure unique, and how our occupational clusters have shifted over time.”

We need, therefore, to understand what our occupational changes mean for future jobs; prepare our workforce for these occupations to stay competitive in the global economy; recognize the importance of career progression from low-level to mid-level to high-level occupations; and help the workforce to make the transition.

Four occupation groupings are highly concentrated in Silicon Valley relative to the U.S., the Index reports. These are innovation R&D; professional services; headquarters; and technical production.

Another six groups are not as highly concentrated but important: administration; installation, repair and production; sales, marketing and distribution; health and human services; education and training; and personal services.

The Index makes clear that we also have significant employment with mid-level wages. The Special Analysis concludes that our region “is not a two-tiered hourglass economy with high-wage research and professional services and low-wage personal services. Our region also has a majority of employment in mid-wage occupational groupings.”

To promote an innovative economy in the future, our region will need to broaden prosperity by retraining our existing workforce to transition to higher-skilled jobs. Our global competitiveness will depend on investing in the skills of our people.

There are other challenges, as well, and Joint Venture announced four Initiatives last fall to address several of them.

One is designed to help sustain our economic recovery. We must have structural reforms in the state’s budget process to provide a strong foundation and a healthier business climate for more good jobs, broader individual prosperity, and a better quality of life. We must seize this moment to make basic changes in our government, which can help maintain our environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.

To this end, Joint Venture has joined with the Bay Area Economic Forum to pursue a non-partisan, Bay Area effort in Sacramento providing a community-wide voice involving leaders from business, labor, education, community organizations, and local government. We want to promote the idea of working together to find solutions and not engage in finger pointing or pushing narrow agendas.

The other initiatives were organized to help accelerate the convergence of biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology; expand the use of information technology to improve health, education and transportation; and build relationships among technology leaders in Silicon Valley and other regions of the world for mutual economic benefit.

#####

About Joint Venture
Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network (www.jointventure.org) is a nonprofit organization that provides analysis and action on issues affecting the economy and quality of life in Silicon Valley. The organization brings together new and established leaders from business, labor, government, education, non-profits, and the broader community to build a sustainable region that is poised for competition in the global economy.

About Joint Venture
Vision
Build a sustainable community that competes globally.

Mission
Mobilize people from business, labor, government, education, and all segments of the community to identify and to act on regional issues to:

sustain our innovative economy, increase productivity and broaden prosperity;
protect the environment and promote livability; and
connect people to opportunities through shared solutions and regional stewardship for a vital and vibrant community.
Core Values
Diverse, Inclusive and Meaningful Engagement: We actively seek out leadership that reflects the community, involving all sectors and cultures.
Trust and Caring: We bring leaders together to encourage their trust in each other and to provide focus for their efforts to build a better community.
Collaboration: We communicate the value of the civic-engagement process; building community is a journey, not a destination.
Results and Benefits: We are committed to delivering results that will benefit Silicon Valley's residents, businesses and community institutions.

What is Silicon Valley?
Joint Venture's regional network covers all of Santa Clara County, California, as well as San Mateo County from Route 92 south, Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County, and Fremont, Newark and Union City in Alameda County. With a population of more than 2 million people, Silicon Valley is larger than 18 states in America. See map.

Funds for Joint Venture are provided by businesses, local governments, professional associations, labor organizations, foundations, and individuals. Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.

See their website: http://www.jointventure.org/index.html

Joint Venture created the annual Index of Silicon Valley in order to provide a reliable source of information on the economy and quality of life in Silicon Valley. In addition to fostering a sense of regional identity, the Index provides a sound basis for proactive, coordinated efforts to make Silicon Valley a better place to live, work and do business.
Using a variety of regional indicators, the Index measures progress toward the goals of Silicon Valley 2010: A Regional Framework for Growing Together, published by Joint Venture in 1998. The 17 goals of Silicon Valley 2010 were developed with input from more than 2,000 Silicon Valley residents. These goals have four main areas of focus:

Our Innovative Economy Increases Productivity and Broadens Prosperity.
Our Communities Protect the Natural Environment and Promote Livability.
Our Inclusive Society Connects People to Opportunities
Our Regional Stewardship Develops Shared Solutions.

See 2010 Plan: http://www.jointventure.org/siliconvalley2010/a1.htm

posted in CAUSE - 1 reply

Civic Innovation Lab awards grants

normroulet — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 06:03:26 GMT

Lab grants go to tech orgs

Exciting to read the following - these folks have worked fast and chosen interesting and valuable projects to sponsor. Visit the Civic Innovation Lab website to see their guidelines and consider submitting a proposal - they award grants quarterly.
See contact above, or at website

http://www.neohio.craintech.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=3470

Article:-------------------------------------------

Lab grants go to tech orgs

4:17 PM Jan. 16, 2004
By SHASTA CLARK

The first round of grants by the Civic Innovation Lab has a distinctly tech bent.

The Cleveland Foundation launched the lab in September to fund and assist emerging economic development initiatives. Two of its first four grants are to technology oriented organizations, NEOBio and the Ohio MEMS Association’s Microsystems Academy.

A third grant went to an e-mail based newletter, Cool Cleveland, which often highlights local innovations and technology-related developments.

The fourth organization to receive assistance was the Cleveland Rowing Foundation. Both the Rowing Foundation and NEOBio received the maximum grant of $30,000. NEOBio works to support and build a bioscience community in Northeast Ohio.

http://www.neohio.craintech.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=3470

posted in CAUSE - 2 replies

How to use Tribe: For Entrepreneurs

normroulet — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 13:10:07 GMT

Simple suggestions.

If you are an entrepreneur seeking to develop an enterprise or project in North East Ohio, browse through this wide range of discussions - feel free to post new ones and interact to share insight. This should give you good access to resources available in the community to help you.

You may feel free to post a reasonably brief executive summary of your plans and needs as a discussion, which means people will be able to comment and you should monitor any feedback and be interactive.

You may also want to set up your own tribe for your initiative, and you may use this tribe to announce your tribe – send me your notification, if you want me to post it for you.

Below you will see a list of events, which are all largely geared toward developing the regional new economy and supporting entrepreneurship - and networking, as well. Each event listing has links to related material and registrations, etc., so you should have all the information you need to get involved in the community!

If you'd like to include an appropriate event, email the details to me and I'll post it, or post it yourself... use your best judgment as to whether it is appropriate and be careful not to send it out beyond this tribe (you'll see directions as you go through the posting process).

The listings above are all the people and all the resources we know of to help entrepreneurs succeed in NE Ohio. Before contacting a stranger on this list, review their description and website to see if they are right for you, and likely to be receptive. Use your best judgment, as you may become blocked if considered inappropriate - and you may block people from reaching you, if you like... you control others’ access to you.

If you know a person or service that should be included in the listings, email the information to me for verification and to post, in compliance with the contact's wishes and proper policy.

At the bottom of the tribe page you'll see photos of some of the members of this tribe. You'll see a link to show them all, and each photo has a link to their profile, it you'd like to learn more about them. I invite you to join my network, which makes you part of a network of 10,000s of people. You should invite other people you know to join your networking in Tribe. To this tribe. Only invite entrepreneurs and their champions – let me know if you have questions on this policy.

We are doing all this within one tribe of the Tribe network, which is a social network of 10,000s of people who are all on-line, new economy pioneers - welcome to the leading edge of virtual community. One nice thing about CAUSE is it brings this slice of new economy into the region, where it will spread, as is linkedin. So, we nurture new economy through new economy... now to make that all work for NE Ohio.

You may find the public side of Tribe.net interesting and useful, as well. This is where I'm locating staff candidates and partnering for my company, and you may see similar value yourself. You'll certainly find interesting people and things being discussed in other tribes.

Some words of caution are that this is all a free domain with free speech and 10,000s of hip techie, liberal, artsy 20-30 somethings, mixed with a few 1,000 other types of people, from all over the world but concentrated on the west coast. So, you may be shocked or offended by some content, and this place is not appropriate for youths under 18. If you find that objectionable, then stay within the private CAUSE tribe and you will find civilized people and behavior.

If any activity within this tribe causes you concern, please contact me directly.

Feel free to reply with comments on your experience with this tribe and thoughts on Tribe.net in general.

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Ray Leach promotes new entrepreneur leadership organization

normroulet — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 11:34:19 GMT

For many months Cleveland area business leaders and entrepreneurs have awaited this, the formalization of merging efforts of EDI and NorTech into one regionally focused entrepreneurial support organization, to be led by the highly qualified and respected Ray Leach.

As explained below, this week there's a major networking event where Ray will announce the new name of this organization, and certainly indicate some next steps. Everything you need to know is below and linked in... also on events schedule below.

Come back here after the event and post your comments!

From today's CrainTech.
http://neohio.craintech.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=3467

New name to be unveiled

3:48 PM Jan. 16, 2004

And the new name is…

Sorry, but you’ll have to come to the NEOpreneur Exchange networking party Thursday night at the Pickwick & Frolic if you want to learn the name of the new entrepreneurial assistance organization taking shape to serve the region.

The new organization is being created through the merger of Enterprise Development Inc. and NEOpreneur Inc. Its new board will meet officially for the first time on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and then Ray Leach, chief executive of the new organization, plans to unveil the new name at the networking event, which is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. More information on the event and online registration is available here.

http://www.enterprise-development.org/neoex.asp

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

High tech city best practices

normroulet — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 10:51:01 GMT

Here are the best practices described by the Chambers of Commerce of the three cities Entrepreneur magazing ranked best for high tech growth in 2003...

Article--------------------------------

Atlanta
Metro population: 4.26 million
Telecommunications, software development, transportation logistics, biosciences and manufacturing are all major technology areas to which Atlanta has staked a big claim, says Hans Gant, senior vice president of Economic Development with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

Gant also sees a trend toward foreign technology companies locating in Atlanta. "We have focused our efforts on attracting and growing what we call 'Industries of the Mind,'" he says. Established research institutions (like Emory University and Georgia Tech), a major international airport, incubators and a large support-services infrastructure make Atlanta an attractive big-city location for technology entrepreneurs.

Austin, Texas
Metro population: 1.25 million
Austin boasts about 1,800 technology companies, some 1,100 of which are small businesses. Carolyn Stark, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Austin Technology Council, says the hot areas are software development, semiconductors, chip design and manufacturing. Stark sees future growth in nanotechnology, biomechanics, clean energy and wireless. "Austin has a strong venture capital community, the legal and accounting systems to support start-ups, a good university with technologies coming out of it and a nice quality of life," Stark says. Incubators and a pool of retired tech executives offering expertise to the growing companies add to Austin's reputation as a hotbed of technology.

Boise, Idaho
Metro population: 467,000
Shirl Boyce, vice president of economic development with the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, says Boise is home to more than 300 technology businesses, including Micron, which was founded there. Says Boyce, "We're really trying to promote and help [technology] entrepreneurs because we are a very entrepreneurial community."

Boise is somewhat isolated, but the quality of life, low electricity and gas costs, and a budding engineering program at Boise State University are feeding growth in software, research and development, and the silicon industry.

Link-----------------------------------

http://www.entrepreneur.com/Magazines/Copy_of_MA_SegArticle/0,4453,308612,00.html

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

8 Issues Inhibiting Entrepreneurship in NEOhio

normroulet — Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:02:50 GMT

8 Key Issues Inhibiting Entrepreneurship in NEOhio

A NorTech 2003 Entrepreneurship Task Force report (PDF at www.nortech.org) identified “8 issues inhibiting entrepreneurship in NEO". It is highly recommended you read this report!

As it's been nearly a year since area leaders were made aware of these issues, it's worth revisiting the list and seeing if the community has progressed in any way, and how to better address the obstacles for the future.

The 8 inhibitors, in no determined order, are:

-NEO entrepreneurs oftentimes lack the skills to convert ideas into nationally competitive business concepts/plans

-There is a perceived shortage of entrepreneurs and supplemental talent in NEO

-High quality networking opportunities for entrepreneurs are scarce

-There is a limited understanding of the capital continuum, poor visibility into the available capital for different stages of a business' life cycle, and a shortage of capital in the pre-seed and seed stages

-Significant ambiguity exists about entrepreneur assistance organizations (EAOs) and there is a perception of duplicative service offerings

-NEO historically has not celebrated its successful entrepreneurs and has had a low tolerance for entrepreneurial failure

-Regional marketing efforts have failed to create a fair perception of NEO's strengths

-The business community has been largely indifferent to supporting or sourcing from local entrepreneurs

Knowing the problems is a good step toward developing solutions. All this said, do you feel we know the issues, and do you feel leaders are devising proper solutions?

In this discussion, please provide feedback on this list - was it accurate and complete, are there other items to include, and what progress has been made toward resolving any of these inhibitors.

All feedback is welcome!

posted in CAUSE - 1 reply

Ohio Isreal Chamber of Commerce

normroulet — Mon, 19 Jan 2004 16:32:28 GMT

One international business network that seems to have an impact in NEOhio is the Ohio Israel Chamber of Commerce - some very important collaborations have developed with their assistance, and their President, Howard Gudell, is quite proactive building bridges between this region and Israel.

If you have had experience working with them, please share your perspectives here in reply. For more info...

See their website at http://www.ohioisraelchamber.com/

Ohio-Israel Chamber of Commerce
1801 East Ninth Street
Suite 1105
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
USA

Tel. 216-621-6832
Fax 216-621-6862

Alan Schonberg, Co-Chair
aschonberg@adelphia.net

Daniel Austin, Co-Chair
oicc@aol.com

Howard Gudell, President
hgudell@aol.com

Linda Simchon, Program Director
lsimchon@aol.com

General information
oicc@aol.com

The Ohio-Israel Chamber is a statewide non-profit economic development organization founded in 1996 to facilitate business between Ohio and Israel. We provide enterprise solutions to create collaborative relationships between companies seeking to commercialize technologies. We will work with your company to: » Identify innovative technologies to complement your core products and growth strategies
» Evaluate potential joint venture partners, products and technologies to ensure relevant matches
» Facilitate joint ventures and strategic partnerships
» Assist with overseas market research, advertising and public relations
» Develop industry specific business exchanges/ trade missions
» Increase cultural awareness and business counseling on doing business in Israel
» Provide access to sophisticated international R&D centers and programs

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

British American Chamber of Commerce

normroulet — Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:47:23 GMT

Last year I attended an event at the Cleveland Institute of Art co-hosted by the British American Chamber of Commerce - focused on the importance of arts and design to our economy - excellent affair attended by many community leaders I know.

The BACCGL (Great Lakes Chapter) holds frequent mixers for "Passport Professionals" - I've posted an announcement for the next, on January 28, 04. They are very efficient in communicating their schedule and work with other BACCs so provide a global connections.

I'm curious who at CAUSE participates with the BACC in any way - attending Passport Pro meetings or doing business in connection with their Chamber in the UK. They clearly are an effective organization so I recommend any entrepreneurs interested in trade with the UK check out their website and activities and subscribe to their newsletter.

See: www.baccgl.org for info
See the event listing below for the next BACCGL activity
See their listing above for further contact info

Post your experience and feedback here

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Innovest applications due: 1/29/04 or 2/26/04

normroulet — Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:53:36 GMT

Innovest - http://www.innovest.org/

Innovest is an annual venture capital conference that provides an opportunity for 30 companies to present their business plan to an audience of investors.

Presenter Information
Charles Burkett
216-229-9445 x157
cburkett@edinc.org

Call for Presenters

Priority Application Deadline: January 29, 2004
Final Application Deadline: February 26, 2004

Be one of approximately thirty high-growth companies from throughout the Great Lakes region to present your business opportunity to an audience of investors, corporate and professional service executives and technology transfer professionals from across the nation. Past Innovest presenters have raised over $620 million in the last seven years.

There is no fee to apply. Fees only apply AFTER you are accepted.

Fill in the online application and attached your 2 page executive summary.

Benefits of Innovest

Better odds of finding funding

Meet one-on-one with venture capitalists, private investors, and corporate technology directors all in one location.

Present your business opportunity in a formal 10-minute oral presentation.

Maximize your exposure by showcasing your company for 2 days at a booth in the exhibit area.

Publish your two page executive summary in the conference materials distributed to all attendees.

Practice your presentation and receive individualized coaching prior to the conference from a professional presentation consultant.

Three Easy Steps to Apply to Present your Business Plan At Innovest

Complete a two-page business plan summary using the following format... see links at http://www.innovest.org/presenter.html

You may find the criteria, FAQ and the sample executive summary helpful.

Complete the Innovest presenter application. Sign the form and indicate which date you are available to attend a practice session.

Review the Application Checklist. Submit the 2 page business plan summary and the application by the deadline (January 29 or February 26)

Questions can be directed to:
Charles Burkett
Enterprise Development, Inc.
11000 Cedar Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106
Fax: (216) 229-3236
Attention: Charles Burkett, regarding Innovest Application
Email: cburkett@edinc.org

No money is needed at the time of application. You will receive an invoice after you are accepted.

You will receive a confirmation that we have received your application at the email address you specify in your application within 48 hours.

Application Process

Companies that want to present submit a presenter application form and two page executive summary (Applicants applying by January 29th save $100 on the presentation fee, if accepted. The final deadline is February 27th, but don't wait till the last minute. Here's why.)

Applications are evaluated by a review committee and about 30 are selected to present.

Presenters informed of acceptance status, accepted presenters are invoiced and their practice sessions scheduled. Please note: the CEO or President is expected to make the practice presentation and presentation at the conference. If the CEO or the President will not be making the presentation it must be approved by the Innovest team.

Each accepted presenter attends one required practice presentation held in one of three convenient (hopefully) locations: Cleveland: 3/25/04 Columbus: 4/6/04 Cincinnati: 4/7/04

Each accepted presenter will be scheduled to present at a specific time on either May 13 or May 14.
Application Deadlines and Fees

January 29, 2004- Priority Application Deadline Presenter fee, once accepted: $200

February 26, 2004- Final Application Deadline Presenter fee, once accepted: $300

Cancellation Policy
No refunds issued for presenters canceling after Wednesday, March 31, 2004.

Got Questions? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions.

If your question is not answered there, contact Charles Burkett

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Who's an entrepreneur

normroulet — Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:50:03 GMT

In 2003, I participated in an entrepreneurs forum at EDI and was told there were not many good entrepreneurs in North East Ohio - that they had difficulty finding start-ups to bring to their roundtable. The group they had assembled defied categorization... a fancy paper distributor, someone planning tea-houses, a clothing importer, a technology company, a tutor... no commonality at all

I've since been communicating with other community and media leaders exploring the issue of "who is an entrepreneur". Being derived from the French verb "entreprendre" - to undertake - the dictionary definition is "A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture", which would include most small business owners – suggesting community leaders take a very broad view of entrepreneurial economic development.

A NorTech 2003 Entrepreneurship Task Force report (PDF at http://www.nortech.org/contentImages/NETFreport.pdf) specified that entrepreneurial enterprises are "defined as young businesses in high-growth (usually technology-driven) industries"... which narrows the scope but still leaves much to interpretation. For more on the findings of this report, see the “8 issues inhibiting entrepreneurship in NEO” posting here.

As the above mentioned report found NEOhio near or at the bottom of every comparative analysis of entrepreneurial and major metropolitan communities they studied, and concluded growth of entrepreneurial enterprise is the best hope for future job growth in this region, it seems a good time to create a directory of who are our entrepreneurs. If there aren't many, as EDI and NorTech contend, it will be a short, easy list to assemble.

All the hype I've seen, in the last year, about developing new economy in Cleveland has been focused on Biotech, Fuel Cells, Polymers, and now sustainability... the same sectors every major city is trying to develop. It should not be at all difficult to make a list of all the area entrepreneurs and researchers in these sectors, assess their needs and community interests and value, and provide them support as appropriate. Harder to define, categorize and identify are the soft science entrepreneurs - application developers, technology service providers, tutors, if they should be included.

I don't have a better definition for entrepreneurs than the French, but I know many NEOhio entrepreneurs who've never made it on EDI or NorTech's radar. I also know entrepreneurs outside NEOhio who will relocate their business to NEOhio, if area leaders are supportive.

At this Tribe, I'm posting information on entrepreneurs I know are interested to develop new economy in NEOhio. If you're an entrepreneur, I encourage you to add your initiative… and list and refer others, if you know of their needs and interests. Be certain all entrepreneurs listed are invited into this Tribe, as they will ultimately need to speak for themselves.

Entrepreneurs can't expect to be loved by a community where they aren't known - so let's get to know each other.

List each entrepreneur/enterprise as a separate discussion, so others may ask questions and comment.

Feel free to reply to this posting, if you have suggestions for better defining and identifying who's an entrepreneur.

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Ohio Venture Association and you

normroulet — Fri, 16 Jan 2004 11:06:55 GMT

I'm researching the entrepreneurial support organizations in Cleveland and am curious who has experience working with OVA - they have monthly lunches at the Union Club and in every way seem to operate at a high level... anyone here attend their lunches, serve on their board, or otherwise have experience here?

URL: http://www.ohioventure.org
Next lunch: See events below

Mission
The Ohio Venture Association is a group of northeast Ohio business people dedicated to providing an atmosphere for the interchange of ideas on entrepreneurship, new ventures and venture capital. The Association provides a scheduled forum for this interchange.

OVA has monthly meetings (except August) at The Union Club, 1211 Euclid Avenue. The meeting schedule is:

11:30 am - Networking
12:00 noon - Lunch
12:40 pm - Five Minute Forum
12:55 pm - Guest Speaker
1:30 pm - Adjourn

See information on this month's speaker.

For more information, contact OVA at admin@ohioventure.org or (216) 566-8884.

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies

Welcome to the CAUSE Tribe

normroulet — Fri, 16 Jan 2004 02:54:08 GMT

CAUSE for Cleveland started as an outreach, from one alumnus of a Cleveland-area school to all the alumni, seeking entrepreneurs interested in the Cleveland-area economy.

The interest is to build community among all the entrepreneurial people, resources and support services available in this region to help entrepreneurs succeed here - in North East Ohio.

CAUSE is intended to be a large, virtual social community for entrepreneurs interested in North East Ohio - regardless of your background. If you have been invited here by a member, we encourage you to participate, and to invite other appropriate friends.

The purpose of this private tribe is to give area entrepreneurs a place to post timely listings, recommendations, event notices and discussion topics - even business plan executive summaries. We organize this tribe on "Tribe", the most collaborative "social network community" on the Internet...

Everyone has equal rights and say here - feel free to post any topic you think is of interest and appropriate, and reply to topics at will. You'll see a list of members of the tribe and clicking on their names will open their profiles and allow you to send them email - you are welcome to email other members of this tribe, and are expected to be responsive if contacted... all for one.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to email me through my tribe profile or at norm@roulets.net

Browse the other listings and feel free to post and respond, for CAUSE.

Norm Roulet

posted in CAUSE - 0 replies