Mentoring Minute: A Conversation with Courtney Gras

Courtney Gras serves as Startup Community Lead at Amazon Web Services where she manages the strategy and operations for a global community of over 6,000 startup CTOs. A former cleantech founder herself, Courtney mentors tech startup founders in Northeast Ohio with Burton D. Morgan Mentoring Program and is the author of The Student Startup Guide,

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Celebrating Black Business Month 2023

Every August, Black Business Month invites us to champion the more than 3 million Black-owned businesses across the nation. Black Business Month was created to not only highlight Black-owned businesses in the United States, but to raise awareness of the unique challenges Black entrepreneurs face and to help shape and inform policy decisions that affect

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Breakthrough Science, Based in Cleveland: Afif Ghannoum of BIOHM

Afif Ghannoum calls himself an ignition entrepreneur; he thrives on turning ideas into reality. As CEO of BIOHM, an innovative microbiome company, he has done just that. Founded on his father Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum’s discovery of the important role fungus plays in digestive health, Afif converted biotechnology into commercial opportunities. Born and raised in Lebanon,

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Building Solutions For Enterprise Influencers: Joshua Reid of Inphlu

No matter what, Joshua Reid goes all in on his ideas. Be it developing a fitness program, setting up a coworking space or running a digital marketing agency, this drive has fueled his passion projects and built businesses from the ground up. Most recently, Joshua founded lnphlu, an Ohio-based social media automation platform that enables

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Making Hiring Personal: Beth Potratz of Drive My Way

As a seasoned HR professional, Beth Potratz is passionate about helping people find jobs that fit their lifestyles. But the way people work has changed drastically in recent years – and Beth understood that the hiring process needed to shift as well. While consulting for a large carrier that needed drivers, Potratz realized that the

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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

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Mentoring Minute: A Conversation with Mark Hoersten

The Entrepreneurship Education Consortium (EEC) is ramping up for its Spring 2023 Tech Side Hustle. Offered each semester to member colleges and universities in Northeast Ohio, Tech Side Hustle is an extracurricular program designed to attract, coach, and fund student entrepreneurs. Participating student cohorts are paired with experienced local mentors like Mark Hoersten, who guide

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Celebrating the Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the nation comes together to honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, I am taken back to a moment in history that helped shape my life and my purpose. I was ten years old living in Arlington, Virginia on August 28, 1963 when Dr. King marched in Washington D.C. and delivered

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What (or Who) Will It Take to Build a Thriving Entrepreneurial Ecosystem?

Earlier this year, the White House delivered a proclamation designating November National Entrepreneurship Month. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of entrepreneurship to transform communities. Reflecting on nearly 20 years as CEO of JumpStart, a nationally recognized entrepreneurial support organization, I’ve experienced first-hand the impact entrepreneurs have on the cities and regions they call home. Startups

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JumpStart Launches Year-End Giving Campaign To Help Tech Startups And Small Businesses Go Further, Faster

JumpStart is kicking-off its year-end giving campaign to expand entrepreneurial support services to tech founders, innovators and small business owners across Northern Ohio. As a venture development organization, JumpStart unlocks the power of entrepreneurship to transform communities, helping entrepreneurs grow, researchers commercialize and corporations innovate. When startups and small businesses face roadblocks, JumpStart helps move

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