Cleveland attorney Richard  Herman sent me an outstanding analysis (posted below) of a Duke University study released on January 4, 2007, which is attached to this posting and "concludes that foreign-born entrepreneurs were founders of over 25% of the technology and engineering companies started from 1995 to 2005," and surfaces that "Only 14% of Ohio's tech companies were founded by immigrants, well below the national average." "The study further found that Indians have founded more engineering and technology companies in the U .S. in the past decade than immigrants from U.K, China, Taiwan and Japan combined.  26% of all immigrant-founded companies have Indian founders." "Similarly, the study found that Ohio was successful in attracting only 1% of the Indian tech entrepreneurs and only 5% of the UK tech entrepreneurs." Richard offers three excellent suggestions for addressing this problem, and you should read those and his entire Economic Development Advisory and the attached report below.

Building blocks for bridging digital divide in East Cleveland 

In a recent article on bridging the digital divide in NEO, "It seems time to open up the OneCleveland network vision of Cleveland Heights, to see if there is value for others", I mentioned "An example of a progressive community building a mesh broadband network environment is found in Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN), which is a world- leader in such grass-roots broadband community service and technology. That is a model we are exploring in trying to help residents of underserved communities of East Cleveland and Cleveland secure access to broadband services, as carriers have underserved their neighborhoods, and poverty there is a significant issue."

Well, I was pleased to start the first work-day of 2007 with the correspondence posted below, from the Executive Director of CUWiN - globally celebrated community computing expert Sascha Meinrath - who is helping us center in on a viable model for East Cleveland and other undersupported urban neighborhoods in the region to bridge the digital divide here. Read on, as we are clearly on the right track and farther along than anyone may imagine. I'll add related insight and next steps as they develop.

If we have anything to thank Ohio Republican legislators for, and especially Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican,  it is that their cloak-of-night passage of Substitute Senate Bill 117, which seeks to outlaw cities suing polluters for public nuisances they cause, and legislate-away other consumer rights for Ohioans, has driven our state capital of Columbus and now huge Ohio city Cincinnati to storm their courthouses to sue Sherwin-Williams and other paint companies over the public nuisance of lead poisoning in their communities, which is a legal position proved valid in the courts of the State of Rhode Island. In Columbus, the Mayor has said it was the action of these Republicans that forced them to sue. Of course, Ohioans' greatest appreciation goes to Mayor Brewer, of East Cleveland, who was the man who brought such public nuisance lead litigation to Ohio to protect his residents, the most effected by lead poisoning in the state, and so he is protecting all citizens of Ohio.

Since late June, 2006, a growing team of innovative community leaders has been working together with Lamond Williams, the owner of Hot Sauce Williams BBQ, and East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer and Community Development Director Tim Goler, and government leadership in Cleveland, to determine how best to redevelop the historic Hough Bakery Complex, formerly the Star Bakery, which Lamond also owns. The objective is to use that redevelopment as a catalyst for transformation of the neighborhoods surrounding that significant property, located on Lakeview, partially in both Cleveland and East Cleveland. On the map above, the Star Complex is in magenta, and the green circle marks a 1/2 mile radius surrounding that - the other colored areas are key neighborhoods and assets within that radius.

The other day I saw, in The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Crain's Cleveland Business, an announcement Case University is funding OneCleveland to put wifi in some high density, affluent commercial and residential rental and home ownership cores of Cleveland Heights. Justifying the expenditure, from Crain's: “Part of the entry into Cleveland Heights is that it’s really an extended community of Case Western,” said OneCommunity chief operating officer Mark Ansboury, and Cleveland Heights law director John Gibbon said. “It’s designed primarily as a trial for the business district, but it certainly will hit a number of residences, as well.” From the PD: "Lewis Zipkin, a major Cleveland Heights landlord" is qouted saying: "It's going to be a terrific benefit for me, my properties and the community". If I were a Case student or trustee, SBC/AT&T, the Cable company or a person living in a less affluent community, I'd have serious concerns about all of this. In fact, as my wife is a Case Ph.D. student being assessed $100s a year by Case for a technology fee, which it now seems is going to Cleveland Heights, I guess I have a right to be concerned myself.

One might think when the capital of our state sues one of the biggest companies in our state, Sherwin-Williams, which is based in the Plain Dealer's home town of Cleveland, and is defended by one of the world's most powerful law firms, also based in our hometown, seeking over $1 billion, that story would rank a few real column inches in the local paper... perhaps hit Section One, or Metro. Not in the Sherwin-Williams Plain Dealer...

Having truly faced environmental and economic crisis, New Orleans has had to attack urban planning in a more real way than any other city in America ever has. Being the largest employer and most important institution in the region, Tulane University has taken on its role and responsibility in the planning process very seriously, looking far beyond the interests of the institution to the needs of all people there and their futures. The latest demonstration of their commitment is found in the "Project New Orleans" initiative and exhibition just opened at the New Orleans African American Museum there. As the less battered but still embattled Northeast Ohio starts looking at the future of this region with greater intelligence, and hopefully collaboration, the advances in planning and process in New Orleans offer excellent models for our improvement. Read on and take a look at the linked website for related insight... and, note, the current "Home House Project" show at the Cleveland Institute of Art is an excellent step in the right directions here.

On next Wednesday, December 6, 2006,  it will have been two years since I proposed to Northeast Ohio that we can easily and inexpensively bridge the digital divide for East Cleveland, and other communities in need in the region, by deploying mesh wifi networks here and distributing recycled computers running open source software (see original posting below, and linked with other related files here). I called this vision ECHO - originally "East Cleveland Homes Online", renamed "Extending Community Home Online". While I've driven some ECHO progress, over these years, especially deploying to people in need recycled computers running Ubuntu, the mesh is still to come. The time has come.

There is an important article in the NYTimes today titled "Cities Compete in Hipness Battle to Attract Young" which, in the closing paragraph, briefly summarizes what I feel has been one of NEO leaderships' greatest weaknesses: “The real issue was, is your city open to a set of ideas from young people, and their wish to realize their dream or objective in your city,” he said.

 As an excellent sign of the times, on November 13, 2006 it was announced "Carbon Neutral" is the Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year. Unlike what is typically defined here as underpinnings of sustainability, being Business as Agents of World Benefit, I see this trend toward individual social responsibility reflects the real world, being Individuals as the Agents of World Benefit, and, in fact, I believe it is only through individuals as agents that businesses act as agents of anything, and so the rising of Carbon Neutral as the word of the year is very hopeful for the future of the world... this reflects social consciousness becoming mainstream.

A friend sent me the folllowing article from the Wall Street Journal, suggesting it may be an excellent model for Northeast Ohio. I'll plan to make a visit and report further some time I'm passing through Erie, which is frequently. In the mean time, this article paints the picture well, and makes a good case for "Rembrandt in the Rust Belt"

Dozens of best practices to be learned in this posting... From the North Coast of Lake Ontario comes the following story of an entrepreneur for sustainability in Toronto who has found “There is no longer a paradigm conflict, Renewable energy doesn’t have to cost more”. This entrepreneur, Alex Winch, found his strategy for retrofitting a run-down Laundromat to solar has paid off... "He’s kept prices low—lower than his competition—while tripling revenues and charting an annual 10% rate of return on investment." I'm exploring working with Alex and Toronto-based glass and neon artist Alfred Engerer to use solar and perhaps wind to generate the electricity for a major off-the-grid, hand blown neon installation in Toronto, while, in the big picture, Mondial is looking to go public. As you'll read below, "Alex Winch puts his money where his mouth is and, these days, he laughs all the way to the bank." For all the attention leadership of this community puts on renewable energy, what do we really have to show in the community. Perhaps a NEO Solar Laundromat would be the best next step.

Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

Want to know what Greater Ohio has been saying to gubernatorial and legislative candidates this election season? It's in the book - the Greater Ohio's briefing book for candidates, officially titled, "If Sprawl Meant Jobs, Ohio Would Have Full Employment: Policies for Redeveloping a Great State" (also available from Greater Ohio's home page).

Today, at WVIZ IdeaCenter, Ingenuity Festival founder and director James Levin hosted his peer Steve Dietz, director of a remarkable "sister" arts and technology festival ZeroOne San Jose, along with a group of NEO arts leaders, for intimate planning for the 3rd Ingenuity Festival, which will be held around Playhouse Square and Cleveland State University in 2007. James introduced the discussion by explaining he had been in San Jose last month for ZeroOne and is working with the organizers of that event in his brainstorming for our festival, which is one of the most exceptional of its type in the world. And, based on what was presented and discussed today with Steve Dietz, Ingenuity Festival is about to get much more exceptional... James is looking and partnering very globally and focused on strengthening the integration of "technology" into Ingenuity 2007. This was clearly a strength in the exciting artistic expressions of ZeroOne, as presented in an impressive overview by Dietz.

The Plain Dealer finally has their headline article in the battle to protect citizens against lead poisoning - Sherwin Williams is suing East Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus for them filing suit against Sherwin Williams over lead poisoning... this, rather than the impacts and history of lead poisoning, is what has made the headlines in the paper, featured on top of the business section (rather than the front page, where the news belongs). So, Sherwin Wlliams and their local attorneys Jones Day feel they can intimidate or perhaps bankrupt Ohio cities by attacking them over what has already been determined against Sherwin Wiliams and Jones Day in Rhode Island and is in court in 26 other states, all because  Sherwin Wiliams and Jones Day believe Ohio and our courts are so in the pockets of this rich and powerful local company and law firm they will endorse Blackmail.

In a unique and powerful arts development in town, the Cleveland Foundation has started an initiative to showcase artists studying at the Cleveland Insitute of Art in a series of exhibitions at the Foundation offices, at 1422 Euclid Ave., Suite 1300, starting with "Heterotopia", now showing - the public is welcome to view the exhibition at The Cleveland Foundation offices Monday through Friday during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

I'm sure everyone who follows news and current events knows about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' speech at the UN, declaring US President Bush the devil. In today's NY Times there is an insightful expansion on this story, as they report that during Chávez' speech he held up a copy of retired MIT Professor Noam Chomsky’s book “Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance,” a critique of American foreign policy, and urged his audience “very respectfully, to those who have not read this book, to read it.” The NY Times reports sales in America of the book have since spiked - I certainly now plan to read it. Hegemony is preponderant influence or authority over others. Chomsky writes: "One can discern two trajectories in current history: one aiming toward hegemony, acting rationally within a lunatic doctrinal framework as it threatens survival; the other dedicated to the belief that “another world is possible,” in the words that animate the World Social Forum, challenging the reigning ideological system and seeking to create constructive alternatives of thought, action and institutions. Which trajectory will dominate, no one can foretell." Another quote from the book, and the NY Times article are below...

 “If they can get you asking the wrong question, they don’t have to worry about the answers.”

Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow

There is much effort put into rationalizing our current economic conditions in NEO, but I don't see anyone in NEO analyzing our genuine progress... our GPI (see America, above... how's NEO doing?). At the core of this challenge is, what's the economy for in the first place? An article at the New Dream website asks that question, and states "It’s time to demand that champions of the status quo defend their implicit answer to that question.  Do they actually believe that the purpose of the economy is to achieve the grossest domestic product and allow the richest among us to multiply their treasures without limits?" "But what if we answer the question... The greatest good for the greatest number over the long run.” "In that light, economic success cannot be measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or stock prices alone.  It must take into account the other values that constitute the greatest good — health, happiness, knowledge, kindness — for the greatest number — equality, access to opportunity — over the long run — in a healthy democracy and sustainable environment." Based on that, are the NEO and American economies healthy? Read the rest of the article to see what you think...

Imagine a day when the NY Times writes about NEO not just because of great real estate visionary David Perkowski but for political visionaries like in California. NEO leaders talk of how large our regional economy is, and the world knows how large a producer of greenhouse gases we are, so we should be ranked with New York and California in addressing greenhouse gas emissions. In the NY Times today there is an excellent article digging deeper into programs in California, developed by their democratic legislature and republican governor, addressing California's role in the global pollution crisis, and their respnse. We have an election coming up in Ohio in November to choose a new governor and a bunch of other politicians and the number one question of candidates should be how are you going to put Ohio on the same high level of global consciousness about global warming as has California leadership. We must raise the consciousness on this if we are to develop a new economy here, ever... here's how the Times writes of California... "This is the state that in the early 1970’s jump-started the worldwide adoption of catalytic converters... this is the state whose per capita energy consumption has been almost flat for 30 years, even as per capita consumption has risen 50 percent nationally... California, in fact, is making a huge bet: that it can reduce emissions without wrecking its economy, and therefore inspire other states — and countries — to follow its example on slowing climate change." Read more about CA's brave public leadership and the highly-paid, cowardly energy industry lobbyist-attornies below...

The Plain Dealer is taking a high road right now in dealing with politicians and the local economy - the same high road of Ronn Richard and the Cleveland Foundation, and most other community leaders in town... we need good education to have an effective economy. The PD quotes Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard as saying, at the City Club Friday, "Any plan to reinvigorate Northeast Ohio has to include reinventing, not just improving, public education... In fact, overhauling our educational system must become a national priority". In the Sunday, 09/10/06 Plain Dealer, the PD proudly proclaims: "Newspapers aim to set the agenda for election"... "Some of Ohio's largest newspapers are banding together to urge candidates in the governor's race to focus on three critical issues: kids, college and jobs." Yet neither Ronn Richard or the PD acknowledge the silent crisis of lead poisoning (and, BTW, mercury in our lakes, rivers and Perch-fries) that guarantees each year 10,000s of children in Ohio will not be able to be educated, or become effective members of the economy or society, and will instead be lifelong burdens. As the Washingtonian acknowledges (large PDF) in their more intelligent August 2006 coverage of social issues in Washington, DC, "In DC, hundreds of children are being damaged every year—and the results will be more school dropouts and more crime." For NEO and Ohio leaders to talk about improving education without attacking the lead and toxin crisis is either ignorant of deceitful. I tend to lean toward deceitful, as in the same PD that proposes to care about education, the business section features a puff-piece on the CEO of Ohio coatings manufacturer RPM, which is in the middle of major litigation over asbestos, and the PD uses this opportunity to position that litigation as fraudulent. The interview with RPM CEO Frank Sullivan features he joking about his relations with Sherwin Williams CEO Connor, who is fighting for his life to battle litigation all over America (except in Ohio) against his company over lead poisoning millions of Americans... to these people, harming millions of people is just good business, and the PD celebrates that.

Yesterday, I got an email from Voices and Choices providing feedback from the Choicebook I completed online in July, in preparation for the community meeting they are holding next weekend. Did you complete a choicebook and get your results? Based on the data, showing at best only around 539 other people completed choicebooks, I assume you did not. That means you do not have a voice in how the establishment will steer $100s of millions in "Fund for the economic future" foundation and public money and attempt to steer our economy over the coming decade.