Bioscience Executive on Building a Successful Bio Business

Don Brown, CEO of Arteriocyte in Cleveland, Ohio has worked in the health care industry for more than 26 years. He understands the challenges and rewards that come with bringing a product to market and recognizes the extensive support a company in the bioscience industry needs to be successful.

Don credits Ohio Third Frontier with enabling Arteriocyte to grow from a start up to a commercial stage research and development organization. He spoke with me about the importance of having this type of state program; one that focuses on the three critical aspects of building a successful life science company: investing in research, growing talent and providing investment capital.

Click here to read my complete interview with Don.

Youngstown, Ohio Named One of the 10 Best U.S. Cities for Entrepreneurs

In a recent article on the ten most “start-up friendly” cities in the U.S., Entrepreneur Magazine names Orlando, Portland, Atlanta – and Youngstown, Ohio. In other words, Youngstown is considered to have one of the best entrepreneurial spirits in the country. In the latter part of the 20th century, this was not exactly the case. Business in Youngstown had hit several bumps in the road after a number of layoffs from area manufacturing plants. However, over the last decade, something special happened in this Northeast Ohio city. It is now filled with an openness and energy that permeates the whole culture.

Proof of this energy is Mike Broderick’s Youngstown-based Turning Technologies, which is one of the seven fastest growing tech companies in the country. The 134-employee Turning Technologies, which Mike launched in 2001, makes audience response systems used in college lectures, corporate events and even game shows. “I’ve found Youngstown to be a brilliant place for a startup,” says Mike. He attributes the pace at which the company grew to its low cost location. Youngstown’s lower-than-average rent and taxes mean dollars stretch further than they would in Silicon Valley.

Another example of Youngstown’s entrepreneurial energy is Jim Cossler, owner of Youngstown Business Incubator, which offers mentors to fledgling B2B software companies. The company also provides networking and services like office space and bandwidth for free or at a deferred cost. The incubator concept was revolutionary enough to help ignite a renaissance in Youngstown. Cossler says, “The new generation is envisioning things we wouldn’t have talked about 10 years ago.” He points to the work of the area’s dynamic congressman and energetic young mayor as examples. Cossler says, “There’s a radical transformation going on here right now.”

Click here to read the full article on from Entrepreneur Magazine.

Ohio’s Leading Hospitals Develop Synergies Amongst Skilled Workforce

Instead of competing with one another, two of Northeast Ohio’s largest hospitals have decided to join forces. The newly announced collaboration amongst The Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth System connects five high-level departments to best serve Northern Ohio's most severely injured patients. The network – called Northern Ohio Regional Trauma Network, or NORTN – means that badly injured patients who are treated at MetroHealth or the Clinic's four area hospitals will have care that is coordinated among specialists who draw from the expertise at both institutions, underscoring the power of creating synergies amongst Ohio’s skilled workforce.

With the new trauma network, clinicians will share best medical practices and work together to ensure that patients are transported to the hospital that can best care for their particular level of trauma. Behind the scenes, clinicians will share protocols and compare notes and outcomes to improve treatment. Highlighting both the strength and resources of Ohio’s medical care facilities, the collaboration involves a $2.4 million donation over the next two years by The Cleveland Clinic to a foundation earmarked for use by MetroHealth to offset the costs of uncompensated care and support education and research in trauma care.

Click here to read the full article on Cleveland.com.

Securing Our Tech-Belt Potential

By: Lorie Llorens, Marketing Manager, BrandMuscle Inc.

If you live in the Northeast, or have an interest in high-tech entrepreneurship, you may have heard rumblings of a new Cleveland-Pittsburgh Technology Corridor.

The initiative, according to collaborators, “is an economic development strategy designed to reinvigorate the region by building on its unique civic, educational, healthcare and industrial institutions.”

The corridor would encompass Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh, which share common traits. Because all of these cities were built on a foundation of entrepreneurial spirit and innovation – and their success depends on their ability to generate new products, technologies and wealth – the idea makes a lot of sense.

The trick will be bringing the idea to fruition and ensuring the corridor’s long-term success. That’s not so easy. While many areas have attempted to build a technology corridor, only a handful has been successful, including Silicon Valley and RTP in North Carolina.

Successful corridors share commonalities:

• A single regional coordinating organization
• Cooperation between city leaders, business leaders and local citizens
• Infrastructure improvements
• Human capital (either home-grown or transplanted from other regions)
• Venture capital
• Top-line universities as anchors
• Standardized, above-area-average wages and employer benefit contributions
• Reasonable cost of living
• Desirable quality of life
• Business tax incentives

It’s fair to say that we have some of these covered. We have the top-notch universities, medical facilities and research institutions. In Cleveland, our cost of living is much more reasonable than in other parts of the country, and many enjoy the area’s family-friendly quality of life.

Additionally, the number of high-tech jobs in Northeast Ohio has been gaining ground since 2007, according to the Northeast Ohio High Tech Economy Report, released March 12, 2009. Additionally, nearly 2,500 tech companies are listed in the Northeast Ohio Software Association directory, and several organizations, including the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition (Nortech), are growing northeast Ohio's high-tech economy across all sectors. Likewise, the Pittsburgh Technology Council listed nearly 7,300 tech firms in its State of the Industry Report 2007.

However, other aspects may take some work. It will be up to the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and the Alleghany Conference on Community Development and its Affiliates to support and advocate on behalf of the Tech Belt Initiative.

We hope we have what it takes!