Meet The Participants Of The Cleveland Small Business Impact Program’s 18th Cohort
JumpStart’s Small Business Impact Program is a 12-week business accelerator that provides hands-on advising and industry-specific mentoring to participants. The program focuses on helping these entrepreneurs overcome key business issues, with a significant emphasis on financial projections and capital pitches. Throughout the program, participants will have the opportunity to work closely with the Impact Program
Partnerships Fuel The Future: Read Our 2023 Community Impact Book
For years, entrepreneurship has fueled economic growth in Northern Ohio. Building on a groundswell of community support for local startups and small businesses, entrepreneurial service organizations like JumpStart are helping accelerate this regional transformation. In 2022, the businesses JumpStart serves created nearly 11,000 jobs and generated more than $1.3B in economic impact. But beyond the
DE&I In Our DNA: A Farewell Interview with Lamont Mackley, JumpStart’s Retiring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Community Engagement Officer
Lamont Mackley’s unwavering commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has shaped both his personal and professional life. Over the course of thirteen years at JumpStart, Lamont has consistently emphasized the importance of integrating DE&I into our very core. As our Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Community Engagement Officer, Lamont has seamlessly merged his personal
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Amy Witzigreuter of Witzi’s Raw Granola
Back when Amy Witizigreuter’s son was young, she was a mother on a mission. Faced with multiple health problems, including an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, Amy was doing everything in her power to help her son Paul find relief and optimize his health outcomes. By the time he was eight, Paul had received both
Small Business, Big Conversations: Sharia Livingston of Living Rich
How do you prioritize a life on your own terms AND build a legacy of success for your family? Do what you love. Sharia Livingston has always dreamed of owning her own clothing business, but as a young mother, she opted for the safe bet and pursued a career in nursing. Her obsession with high-quality
The 7 Deadly Sins of Digital Marketing
As the piano man once said, ♫ I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun. ♫ While that sentiment might make for a great social life, it can spell death for your digital marketing efforts. The seven deadly sins listed below are common mistakes that small business
Small Business, Big Conversations: Dan Brown of Rust Belt Riders
The average US family will throw away as much as $1,500 worth of perfectly edible food each year. This waste costs our economy significant sums of money, but by avoiding this needless waste, we can redirect those funds to invest in infrastructure and services to divert that material from landfills. Since 2014, Rust Belt Riders
Entrepreneur Spotlight: David Levine, My Home Park
David Levine is hooked on entrepreneurship. Now on his third venture, Levine credits his enterprising spirit to his father, who owned and operated a drug store in New England. Along with being innovative, Levine says his dad was “un-hirable.” “He couldn’t work for anybody—it was just his personality,” Levine explains. Indeed, there’s a certain type
3 Digital Marketing Enhancements to Try This Spring
Spring is finally here, which means it’s an egg-citing time for growth and renewal—especially for small businesses—and now is the perfect opportunity to take a fresh look at your digital marketing strategy and explore new ways to attract and engage with customers online. Digital marketing is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and attention.
What’s Worse For Your Business: A Terrible Website Or No Website At All?
I’ll admit it, I’m a snob. When researching new business (whether I need a service or a product) a bad website is an immediate no-go. Simultaneously, I do ALL my research online, so how would I ever give you my money if there’s no way to find you? It’s 2023 (I checked the calendar this
Small Business, Big Conversations: DaRon Henderson of LO-KEY Entertainment
When DaRon Henderson was a sophomore in high school, he was approached by a friend about the possibility of playing music at an upcoming junior high dance. He owned a pair of speakers and a set of turntables, so they decided to give it a shot to see what they could pull off. They brought
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Nicole Paolozzi, OndeCare
It is often said that ‘necessity is the mother of invention,’ and for Nicole Paolozzi, founder of OndeCare, her past life as a single mom working a demanding job in Chicago planted the seeds for her current company’s success. “Back then, when I was traveling to the UK every six weeks, I used to dream