Inside Business articles from August 2007

Inside Business archives from August 2007

Sherwin-Williams battles lead-paint lawsuits and what it means to you.(ABSOLUTELY)
August 1, 2007... For those who paid close attention in Bible class, it was not money that was evil, it was the love of money--the love of money is the root of all evil. It is a lesson worth remembering as you read this month's cover story (page 28) on...

Not cynical, just honest.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... In Michael Roberts' July column, "A Reality Problem," he is not being cynical in his view on the city of Cleveland--he is merely being openly observant, honest and, I'm sad to say, right on the money. As a native Clevelander, the state of...

Spelling out the obvious.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2007... Another great article by columnist Pat Perry (president of ERC)! He is always the first one I read when I receive your magazine. Pat always has such good insights and often expresses the blinding obvious, which many business folks do not...

Cellular sensor: Akron firm launches cell phone-use detector for law enforcement.(INNOVATION)
August 1, 2007... You're driving. You're bored. You pick up the phone to make a call. You don't happen to notice you've crossed into the city of Brooklyn near Cleveland where dialing and driving is illegal. No one will notice, right? Wrong. Akron-based...

Page turners.(BOOKS)
August 1, 2007... Here are Amazon.com's top five best-selling Business/Finance books for Northeast Ohio for the month of June. 1. "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High" By Kerry Patterson 2. "Now, Discover Your Strengths" By...

400.(BY THE NUMBERS)
August 1, 2007... The number of televisions powered throughout Jacobs Field by 42 solar panels installed in June. SOURCE: THE CLEVELAND INDIANS

The check is in the mail: small Lorain company lands billion-dollar client.(PARTNERSHIPS)(Erdie Industries Inc. marketing and supply agreement with Sonoco)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... This summer Lorain-based Erdie Industries Inc. plans on spreading its innovative mailing and shipping technology to new markets with a little help from a big friend. The firm recently landed a marketing and supply agreement with Sonoco, a...

Leading by example: Union club names first female president.(MILESTONE)(Mary Lynn Laughlin)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Title first time Mary Lynn Laughlin visited the Union Club in downtown Cleveland, she had to enter through the back door. In the early 1980s, women weren't allowed to use the main entrance. "I couldn't even go up the steps," Laughlin says....

Back to school: Lorain mayor grabs CFO post at Tri-C.(TRANSITIONS)
August 1, 2007... After a nearly eight-year tenure as mayor of Lorain, Craig Foltin will assume the top finance position this month at Cuyahoga Community College. Foltin, who was named executive vice president for finance and business services, will serve...

Trip tips.
August 1, 2007... As families enjoy the last month for summer vacations, Oakwood Village-based Gillmore Security offers seven tips to keep their homes secure: * Request a test of an installed security system. * Leave window blinds up so neighbors can...

In the designer's seat: Cadillac CTS hrs Cleveland roots.(INNOVATORS)
August 1, 2007... Erwin Angala's favorite car as a youth was the Pontiac Fiero GT. It was just one of the many models he could name while he and his friends watched from Edgewater Park vehicles zipping by on the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. He could even...

Worth every penny.(TECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Turning Technologies big as Sanyo or Samsung or some of the other companies that turned up to hawk their wares at InfoComm, a major audiovisual industry trade show. But the Youngstown-based information technology company still managed to grab...

$700,000.(BY THE NUMBERS)
August 1, 2007... What Cleveland Browns' rookie Brady Quinn paid in June for his four-bedroom, 4,500-square-foot home in Avon Lake's Britannia Estates. SOURCE LORAIN COUNTY AUDITOR'S OFFICE

Get a (Second) Life! For a second chance at life and your business, check out www.secondlife.com to compete for real-world dollars in a universe of new customers.(E-INDUSTRY)
August 1, 2007... Get a life. Most likely you've been on the receiving end of that insult. But what if you could get a life--a second life? What would you do differently in your personal and business life if you had a chance to start over? You can start...

Biz links: Northeast Ohio's business resource guide.(Directory)(Table)
August 1, 2007... Northeast Ohio's business resource guide ACCOUNTING & FINANCIAL PLANNING Zinner & Co. LLP (216) 831-0733 www.zinnerco.com ADVERTISING ASSOCIATION American Advertising (440) 673-0020...

Wages of welfare: Cleveland's future can only be faced by confronting its problems in an intelligent and equitable way, not by going' 60s-retro.(AT LARGE)
August 1, 2007... Earlier this summer, an elite black businessmen's organization, the Presidents' Council, and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson released, with much fanfare, the results of a study on regional racial equality they had commissioned. The study called...

Your independence day: don't get trapped in a job you hate. Find your passion and free yourself from job dissatisfaction.(HUMAN RESOURCES)
August 1, 2007... "I only have 11 more years to work!" I'll never forget those words, many years ago, being spoken by a former neighbor of mine. We had been out doing yard work and engaged in conversation that ranged from local sports teams to the type of...

Leading ladies.(the Web: IBmag.com)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Inside Business invites you to celebrate the region's leading ladies at this year's ATHENA Awards, which honor outstanding women who have achieved professional excellence, given back to their communities and created leadership opportunities for...

Raise the roof: from a profit loss in its first year to more than $4 million in revenue today, Kenneth Paine of Hy-Tech products in Parma has taken his business through the roof.(Ohio Entrepreneur)(Company overview)
August 1, 2007... Growing up in Strongsville and playing high-school football, Kenneth Paine got the taste for winning early on. "We won every game but one," he recalls. "And once you start to win, who wants to lose?" Paine has taken that thrill of...

Jolt of electricity: Matt Brakey of EnergyManager.com turned to the Business Clinic at Baldwin-Wallace College to revamp his business plan.(OHIO ENTREPRENEUR)
August 1, 2007... Matt Brakey can crack the code baffling many small-business owners--the electric bill. "This is very, very complicated stuff," Brakey says. "We are talking about subject matter that few people have expertise in, involving hundreds of...

Road map.(OHIO ENTREPRENEUR)(Directory)
August 1, 2007... Ohio Entrepreneur is a partnership of companies, universities and economic development organizations dedicated to providing access to the information and services entrepreneurs need to start, locate and expand their businesses in Northeast...

Disorder in the court: public-nuisance claims on former lead-based paint manufacturers are stirring up controversy for Cleveland's own The Sherwin-Williams Co.--and could affect Ohio businesses for decades to come.(Cover story)
August 1, 2007... Many Ohio business leaders are seeing red. A legal maneuver by trial lawyers and local and state governments are blaming products, legally made and sold, as public nuisances. The controversy is centered on efforts by municipalities and...

Making the grade: new case Western Reserve President Barbara Snyder is banking on her experience managing money and improving academic performance at Ohio State to turn around the university's finances.(HIGHER EDUCATION)
August 1, 2007... The mercury topped 80 degrees, but the July humidity made it feel closer to 90-degree temperatures. Even after an hour-long tour of the Case Western Reserve University campus, Barbara Snyder was poised and smiling as she crossed Juniper Drive....

God Inc.: Paul Endrei's Church on the Rise in Westlake leads a flock of growing nondenominational West Side churches that use business principles to boost membership and fundraising.(CHURCHES)
August 1, 2007... "It's a sin to bore people in church," quips Paul Endrei, the boyish senior pastor at Church on the Rise, a rapidly growing nondenominational church in Westlake. With cropped sandy blond hair and golden highlights, Endrei sports a neatly...

Dream come true: Ron Trzcinski founded the Original Mattress Factory based on a hunch that eliminating the middleman would benefit the consumer and his business. Today, he is enjoying the fruits of his labor.(PROFILE)
August 1, 2007... In an age of conspicuous consumption, Ron Trzcinski is something of an anomaly. Even after opening 11 factories and 87 stores in nine states, the 62-year-old founder and president of Cleveland-based Original Mattress Factory still hasn't...

Academic achiever.(ONE 2 WATCH)(Biography)
August 1, 2007... Kendra Preer, 36 founder and consultant, The College Group kpreer@thecollegegroupworldwide.com SUPER STAR: Kendra Preer pursued a career with entertainment powerhouses E! Networks and Paramount Studios in Los Angeles after graduating...

Great meetings: Northeast Ohio's exclusive guide to the premier locations for your meetings and events.(Directory)
August 1, 2007... HUGHIES AUDIO-VISUAL & COMPUTER RENTALS 1260 E. 38th St. Cleveland, OH 44114 P: (216) 361-4600 and (800) 449-4115 F: (216) 361-2570 www.hughies.com Fifty-four years ago, an idea sprouted at a little shop called...

COSE: helping entrepreneurs maintain their independence.(Entrepreneur's TOOLKIT)
August 1, 2007... You remember it as one of the most exciting aspects of starting your own business. As an entrepreneur, you now felt the independence to chase your own dreams instead of following someone else's. That meant you had total control--total freedom....

A word is just a word, right? Wrong! Carefully selected words could make or break your company's Web site in capturing customers and profits.(Entrepreneur's TOOLKIT: Technology)
August 1, 2007... When it comes to your company's Web site or blog, do you know which words are most valuable to your business? For a company like Patio Enclosures Inc., just two words--sunroom, sunrooms--increased consumer traffic to its Web site by 130 percent...

Corporate decisions: there are critical choices to make when structuring your company before the "open for business" sign goes up.(Entrepreneur's TOOLKIT: Law)
August 1, 2007... Starting a new business can be an exciting time for many entrepreneurs. The vision of being in business for yourself, dreams of success with an original idea and, of course, the prospects of making money, all contribute to the thrill of...

Getting the cash to flow: finding alternative financing sources can mean the difference between a growing or stagnant business.(Entrepreneur's TOOLKIT: Finance)(Liquid Capital )
August 1, 2007... A yes or no answer at the bank can make or break any small business. But when credit problems stand between your company and the working capital needed for success, John and Maryann Doucette say it's time to get creative. "People don't go...

Remotely working? How one Cleveland entrepreneur successfully manages remote employees to get the work done.(Entrepreneur's TOOLKIT: Management)
August 1, 2007... CoolCleveland.com creator Thomas Mulready turned the third floor of his Lakewood home into a 600-square-foot office space complete with WiFi, Ikea office furniture, even a foosball table. While music filled the air at CoolCleveland.com's...

Moguls in the media: besides giving you the opportunity to share your expertise, the media can be a great marketing outlet for your growing company.(Entrepreneur's TOOLKIT: Marketing)
August 1, 2007... Every time you turn on the TV or read the newspaper, expert sources are at your disposal. Journalists interview experts because they offer credibility to their articles. But it can also be an effective networking and marketing tool for the...

All's well and good: wellness programs benefit employees personally and business owners financially.(Entrepreneur's TOOLKIT: Human Resources)
August 1, 2007... Do your employees: A) Seem happy? B) Seem healthy? C) Seem mentally astute and friendly? D) Produce quality work in sufficient quantities? E) Show up for work regularly? If you answered no to any of the above...

Educating the next generation of entrepreneurs: Kent State University gives students and local businesses the tools and resources they need for entrepreneurial success.(Education Sponsor SPOTLIGHT)
August 1, 2007... In an Ernst & Young study of leading Americans, 80 percent believe entrepreneurship to be the defining trend of the 21st century. That's one reason Kent State University's Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation...

Resource directory.(Directory)
August 1, 2007... Beachwood Chamber of Commerce Tom Sudow Executive Director 23230 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 900A Beachwood, OH 44122 P: (216) 831-0003 tom@beachwood.org www.beachwood.org As a leading voice for the business...

A work of art: Susanne Casgar creates an eclectic, yet cozy aura in her Shaker Heights home, elegantly decorated with original artwork and trinkets from her travels across the globe.(Off The Clock: At Home With ...)
August 1, 2007... This house has been an absolutely wonderful house," begins Susanne Casgar in the foyer of her Shaker Heights home. If this affluent neighborhood is known for one thing, it is the beautiful, historic mansions along Van Aken Boulevard with large,...

Lawyer's after-hours are about Y.O.U.: when it comes to the city's at-risk teens, there's work to be done. that's why Jones day's Stephen Mixter spends his time chairing youth opportunities unlimited.(Off The Clock: Giving Back)
August 1, 2007... Stephen Mixter is energized by adversity, especially when it comes to teens. The fact that 1,300 Cleveland Municipal School System's high school seniors were unable to receive their diplomas last May because they flunked the Ohio...

LCCC's Entrepreneurship Innovation Center grand opening.(WORKING THE ROOM)
August 1, 2007... Lorain County Community College celebrated the grand opening of its Entrepreneurship Innovation Center in the campus' Great Lakes Technology Park on May 31. Speakers at the dedication included U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, U.S. Reps Betty Sutton and...

Kirtland Capital Partners 30th anniversary.(WORKING THE ROOM)
August 1, 2007... Kirtland Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Beachwood, celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on May 17. Kirtland founder Jack Turben and other members of the firm's executive team joined more...

Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber ATHENA Awards.(WORKING THE ROOM)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Nearly 700 guests gathered in May to honor this year's Youngstown ATHENA Award winners to recognize the influence of women in their professional and philanthropic endeavors. This year's recipient was Molly Seals, vice president of human...

2007 Team NEO Economic Development Impact Awards.(WORKING THE ROOM)
August 1, 2007... Inside Business magazine, in conjunction with Team NEO, a private sector-led regional economic development organization, hosted the first Team NEO Economic Development Impact Awards on June 7 at the Doubletree Hotel in Independence. More than...