20110314-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_--
3/11/2011
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$1.50/MARCH 14 - 20, 2011
VOL. 32, NO. 11
Construction jobs conundrum Large-scale commercial projects boost employment in NE Ohio, but whether work is sustainable remains to be seen INSIDE: Construction employment in Northeast Ohio still sags. Page 9
By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
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elders’ torches are blazing again near the Cuyahoga River as the Flats East Bank mixed-use project starts up after a two-year stall. Power shovel operators are razing buildings at the old Cleveland Convention Center to make way for a new one. Scaffolds cling to the
Higbee Building as part of it becomes a Caesars Horseshoe Casino. In the most battered job sector of all — construction — these signs of life in downtown Cleveland are welcome, though they don’t tell the full story. These big projects are
JumpStart model is raising questions Investment group defends setup, plans forum to solicit ideas
See CONSTRUCTION Page 9
By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
MARC GOLUB
Cranes moving dirt at the site of the Cleveland medical mart are a welcome sight for the battered construction industry.
Charter university idea intrigues schools New chancellor sees ways to improve operations By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com
NEWSPAPER
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Ohio’s new higher education chief has floated the idea of turning some of the state’s public colleges and uni-
versities into quasi-private institutions, and his pitch has piqued the interest of education leaders in the region who would like to be freed from a barrage of red tape. Although the idea still is amorphous, the plan is to allow some institutions to evolve into “charter univer-
Petro
sities,” an arrangement that would offer the schools more autonomy in exchange for a smaller — but predictable — amount of state financial support, according to Jim Petro, who today, March 14, takes over as chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents.
“What we’d look to do is streamline the operations of universities and give them authority to run on their own judgment,” Mr. Petro told Crain’s Cleveland Business in an interview. Northeast Ohio’s higher education leaders have griped for years about state regulations under which they operate, and they have expressed their desire to function more like private businesses. One such burden See PETRO Page 8
See JUMPSTART Page 6
INSIDE The West Side Market fosters small business development and expansion, and activity is expected to increase as its centennial nears. See Small Business, Page 18.
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Is JumpStart Inc. doing a good job? Three area entrepreneurs have said “no” in a loud way — by sending a long chain of e-mails to business leaders and politicians throughout Northeast Ohio. Among other complaints, they argue in the e-mails that the nonprofit spends too much on salaries, too little on investing and hasn’t created enough jobs. So how does JumpStart, which assists and invests in startup companies in the region, spend its money? And what are the people of Northeast Ohio getting from the organization, which receives much of its money from public sources? In the e-mails, the three entrepreneurs — Visual Evidence/E-Discovery LLC co-founder Ron Copfer, Charitee Golf LLC founder Mike Burkons and Broadband Mechanics founder Marc Canter — asked JumpStart officials to answer a long list of questions revolving around those two themes. In response, JumpStart plans to hold a public forum next Monday, March 21, at Corporate College East. The forum is meant to spur discussion about ideas and opportunities, and “to answer questions about JumpStart given all its changes over the last year,” JumpStart CEO Ray Leach wrote in an e-mail addressed to people associated with the group. The nonprofit has changed in the last couple years. It employs 47, up from 28 when the group filed its IRS Form