With the national unemployment rate climbing over 10%, the new Career Development and Transition Services at Cuyahoga Community College are reaching out to area residents impacted by the economic recession. We provide enhanced support services to the unemployed in Northeast Ohio. These much-needed services assist unemployed individuals with career planning and job coaching; skills and interests assessments; education planning to support retraining; appropriate academic and technical training programs; job search preparation; and job placement assistance.

First Federal of Lakewood, a Lakewood, Ohio-based financial institution, has announced it will begin offering its customers a full line of personal and commercial insurance products, through the establishment of FFL Insurance Agency, LLC. The new agency began operations on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010.

Gary R. Fix, president and CEO of First Federal of Lakewood, said that the creation of the insurance agency enables First Federal to be the one source for financial and insurance services in the communities it serves, combined with the highest level of customer service, strength and stability that families and businesses have relied on since 1935.

“Creating FFL Insurance Agency, LLC, gives us the opportunity to provide our customers a full-service insurance agency, offering a wide variety of products from leading carriers” noted Fix. “This structure allows First Federal to develop customized insurance solutions to meet the unique needs of each customer, protect their assets and be their trusted partner for all of their financial services.”

About First Federal of Lakewood
First Federal of Lakewood offers a full array of retail and business products through 13 full-service branch locations in Northeast Ohio and five First Federal Lending offices throughout Ohio, with total assets exceeding $1.2 billion. Founded in 1935, First Federal of Lakewood is a community savings and loan institution with a deep-rooted tradition of financial strength, stability and integrity. Visit www.FFL.net for additional information.

A few years ago, Cox Communications surveyed customers about what they wanted from local programming. Cox responded to numerous requests to support local animal shelters with Pet ConneXions. The program that airs on Cox’s local channel 45, supports nine local animal shelters by introducing their homeless pets to the community.

“We have been honored to have our adoptable animals featured on Pet ConneXions,” said Sharon Harvey, Cleveland Animal Protective League Executive Director. “We want people to think ‘adoption first’ when looking to add a pet to their family.”

The Cleveland APL began using Pet ConneXions in 2008. Since then, more than 170 of the animals they featured have been adopted.

At the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Luncheon at Around the Corner on Friday, June 18th, the Chamber honored the following individuals and members. We congratulate and thank them for their support and service. Each of them has contributed to the strength, longevity and success of our organization.

There's a new store in town and it caters to your health, happiness, peace, and prosperity. I have stumbled upon a great treasure in Lakewood, Radiance Organics opened its doors at the end of last year with a committment to improving the quality of life in Lakewood. Offering a wide range of products and services that are good for you, good for the environment, and good for the community. It's owner, Tom Murach, said, "I wanted to start a retail business that would make a significant impact on the quality of life. There are too many things in our environment that damage our health and well-being without us even being aware. Radiance Organics promotes healthy products and a healthy lifestyle through the great things we sell and the educational courses we offer."

One of the main educational courses offered is the Transcendental Meditation program, the most researched meditation technique available - over 600 studies in peer reviewed, refereed journals attest to the efficacy of this natural technique. "TM is endorsed by doctors, psychologists, educators, clergy, and professionals from all walks of life. The National Institutes of Health has awarded more than 25 million dollars for studies on the TM technique and how it improves our health," said Tom. Free lectures are offered every Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM.

Save the date- June 24, 25, 26.  The streets of Lakewood will be abuzz with bargains and fun for Lakewood's first city-wide street sale. Residents and merchants alike will be offering their wares. All are welcome - Residents, Block clubs, Merchants, PTA, Scouts, Non profits....

The little garage at the corner of Clarence and Detroit has housed various iterations of car related businesses over the years, but with a fresh coat of green paint outside, Lakewood can now claim a garden center of it very own. Owners Paul and Jenna have successfully taken a dingy garage and transformed the interior into an appealing combination of garden themed industrial chic. After spending much of his adult life working at other people’s garden centers, Paul’s expertise is a welcome addition for a city filled with passionate gardeners. During my behind the scenes tour, the husband and wife team voiced their enthusiasm about filling a long empty niche in Lakewood. Their excitement has only grown as these Cleveland Heights residents continue to discover the supportive nature of Lakewood’s small business community, the City of Lakewood, and of course, Lakewood residents.

In these days of economic uncertainty it can seem, at times, that the number of negative stories in the news still outweigh the few that are positive. We hear small businesses continue to suffer and the vacant storefronts on Lakewood’s major streets are hard to miss. But in spite of all the hype, many businesses are doing well and have been steadily growing. One such company, which has chosen to move in to Lakewood’s East Side, is known as University Tees.

The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, Cox Business, and the City of Lakewood are sponsoring the second annual “Businesses Back the Beck” campaign beginning April 9th. Over 200 Lakewood and West Shore area businesses will have eye-catching donation cans on their counters or at their registers labeled “This Business Backs the Beck” where customers can drop their change to show support for The Beck Center for the Arts. The Chamber’s involvement in “Businesses Back the Beck” is an acknowledgement of the $10 million annual economic impact that The Beck Center has on the City of Lakewood: seventy-five percent of The Beck’s customers – over 56,000 people – are drawn from other communities to The Beck Center, and while they are in Lakewood, they often patronize Lakewood businesses.

Many people know the Beck Center because of its professional theater program. In addition, the Beck provides the most comprehensive arts education program in the region, with classes in dance, theater, music, visual arts, and Creative Arts Therapies. They serve 3,000 students every week, with programming for infants to adults.

GrafTech won a $965,000 grant to commercialize new products at its Lakewood, Ohio location. The award comes from Ohio’s Third Frontier Program, which is a competitive grant program designed to fund innovative, job-creating technologies in Ohio.

GrafTech, which has a site in Lakewood, will be the beneficiary of the newly commercialized product, a “thermal management solution for lithium ion batteries.” GrafTech seeks to commercialize a product that keeps lithium ion batteries cool, which improves the batteries’ performance, durability and safety. GrafTech’s partners in the program include Mobius Power, Nexergy, and the Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University.

Our project began as all projects do, with an idea.

We are high school seniors who have been dancing at Silhouette School of Dance and Fine Arts since we were little. We decided that our wonderful studio needed a lot of tender loving care. The studio is a 6,000 square foot space that used to be a party center located at 12501 Madison above the Bi-Rite Grocery store in Birdtown. We began by thinking of all the wonderful things we could do to make the studio better. Megan and I began thinking of paint colors, new lighting, and rearranging to make everything look as a dance studio should. 

Phoenix Coffee is gone. Lakewood’s near perfect coffee house has closed. Lakewood's best cup of coffee is no longer! Well that is not quite true. It’s back and it is better, bigger, friendlier, more comfortable than ever- and with some great additions. All for you, and your friends.

First Federal of Lakewood hosted its annual scholarship awards ceremony for the Classic at Mastick 5K run, Saturday, Dec. 5, at First Federal’s Lakewood headquarters. The race took place Aug. 12, 2009.

Gary R. Fix, First Federal of Lakewood president and CEO, presented 16 local high school seniors with individual $500 scholarships based on their academic and athletic achievements, awarding a total of $8,000 in scholarships. Fix, along with the Classic at Mastick race coordinator John Nakel, offered congratulations to the students and their families at the ceremony.

“We are pleased to honor this year’s scholarship winners and hope for their continued success in the future,” said Fix. “We will continue to support this program in 2010, as First Federal of Lakewood will be the primary race sponsor for the seventh consecutive year.”

With over 250 businesses stretching three miles long Madison Avenue Merchants Association (MAMA) has been steadily growing and gaining ground in its mission to improve connections between Madison businesses with its surrounding community. More and more Madison businesses are coming together to meet, share ideas, and identify how improvements can be made for Madison. With the wide range of diversity among these businesses brings opportunity to share expertise with one another to help manage all the many aspects of running a successful small business.

Lakewood, Ohio: The City of Lakewood and the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce officially welcomed Five Guys Burgers and Fries to Lakewood with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, December 3rd. Mayor Ed Fitzgerald, City Council members Brian Powers and Tom Bullock, Lakewood Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Patty Ryan, LakewoodAlive Executive Director Mary Anne Crampton, and many staff members from City Hall, Downtown Lakewood, LakewoodAlive, and the Chamber of Commerce gathered to cut the ribbon inside the new eatery at 15012 Detroit Avenue.

The City of Lakewood and the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce officially welcomed Panera Bread to Lakewood with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, November 18th. Mayor Ed Fitzgerald, City Council members Brian Powers, Tom Bullock, and Nickie Antonio, Lakewood Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Patty Ryan, LakewoodAlive Executive Director Mary Anne Crampton, and many staff members from City Hall, Downtown Lakewood, LakewoodAlive, and the Chamber of Commerce gathered to cut the ribbon in front of the new eatery on the southwest corner of St. Charles and Detroit.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries will open its newest store here in Lakewood on Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 11:00 AM. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m. to celebrate the opening. It is open to the public.

The Chamber of Commerce has combined the convenience of shopping online with the benefit of buying local! Bidding...Bidding...Bought!, an online holiday goods and services auction, is live and open for bidding through December 8th.

The staff at Nature’s Bin is proud to be recognized as a “Be Food Safe” award winner from the Food Protection Unit of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. Nature’s Bin was recognized for demonstrating an outstanding commitment to food safety and sanitation by demonstrating several key components of a food safety plan. “Like all facilities that handle and prepare food, Nature’s Bin is inspected by the Cuyahoga County Board of Health," commented Food Service Manager Josie Duennes, “Inspectors make regular visits to Nature’s Bin and always find a working 'critical control points' plan and food handling log in place, a high level of knowledge about food handling requirements among staff, a record of regular participation in food safety classes, and a clean, sanitary kitchen.”

Madison Avenue is full of small and modest storefront businesses that are simply owned by fellow Lakewood residents doing something they love and offering it to the community. Even in cases of the most modest incomes, the independence and freedom of running their own business provides satisfying rewards. These rewards are passed on to the surrounding community in so many ways. One being the diversity and convenience of offered goods and services paired with expertise and customer service. A perfect example of this would be All-American Sports. Looking for a place where you can not only purchase sports items, but also challenge someone to a Duel? No, this is not the Old West!  It's a small storefront on Madison Avenue. This family-friendly retail store features baseball, basketball, football, hockey, racing, and golf packs of sports cards. But that's not all.

Buy local in the comfort of your own home! The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce will be auctioning off a number of fun and unique items to raise money to support the Chamber’s economic development programs. Lakewood businesses are donating goods, services, memberships, gift certificates, event tickets - and more - to the online auction site that will be open for public bidding starting on November 15th. Bid on everything from a gift certificate to one of our fine Lakewood eateries, to a hot air balloon ride for 2!

Join the Lakewood and Rocky River Chambers of Commerce for a combined November Chamber luncheon on Thursday, November 19th at Westwood Country Club. Cox Business brings Richard Yamarone, author of The Trader’s Guide to Key Economic Indicators, Updated and Expanded Edition, to present “What Should We Watch for Signs of Recovery.” Mr. Yamarone, senior vice president and director of economic research at Argus Research Corporation, has more than two decades of experience on Wall Street, analyzing and researching domestic and international economic trends, monitoring monetary and fiscal policy developments, and forecasting the U.S. macro economy. In 2007, USA Today highlighted Mr. Yamarone as one of the top ten economists in the nation.

The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce welcomed candidates for Lakewood City Council-At-Large, Lakewood School Board and Lakewood Municipal Court Judge to a luncheon forum that was held on October 16th in the new banquet facility at Around The Corner, 18616 Detroit Avenue. Nikki Farley, Vice Chair, Legislative & Governmental Affairs Task Force for the Chamber, welcomed sixty Chamber members and guests to the event. Candidates in attendance were Patrick Carroll (Municipal Court Judge), Ed Favre (Lakewood School Board), Nickie Antonio, Ryan Patrick Demro, Brian Powers, Daniel Shields, and Monique Smith (Lakewood City Council-At-Large). Each candidate gave a short three minute introduction of themselves and their respective records. The Council-At-Large candidates were asked to respond to several questions regarding economic development issues and their respective visions for Lakewood’s future. They were also given the opportunity to offer concluding remarks and to state why they were the best person to be elected to an At-Large position on Lakewood City Council.

Theresa Ferline-Carr, born and raised in Lakewood, is feeling particularly good about starting her business right here in her home town. As the artist/owner of the new Tess’ Tender Touch, she’s excited about developing exciting new creative adventures within our community.
    Tess’ Tender Touch is located at 14309 Madison Avenue. It features hand-painted glassware and gift items great for any occasion.
    An artist for most of her life, Theresa has been creating coveted pieces for family, friends, and customers from her home on Robinwood Avenue. “I realized that my hobby was growing to include more areas in my home than just my office, and it was time to take the plunge,” says Theresa. “I’ve often dreamed of the time when I could have a place to create and present my work that would be visible and accessible to more people, and I was fortunate to find a place close to home that would work for me and my family.”

Located on the corner of Detroit and Webb Avenues is a unique dry-cleaning operation called New Westlake Cleaners. The store has been a dry-cleaning shop for many years, but the current owner decided in 2007 to change from a traditional “Perk” chemical cleaning solution to a more expensive organic solvent. These owners wanted to use a more environmentally and clothes friendly method of dry-cleaning to better serve their customers. 

Steve and Jill Kim introduced Lakewood residents to organic dry-cleaning as a way to increase business. The Kims are from South Korea, however, they met in Lakewood. Steve had lived in America since he was five years old. For all practical purposes, he is fully Americanized! Steve met Jill on a blind date in 1994. The amazing thing is that Steve agreed to meet Jill on this blind date which was set up by Steve’s mother. After one date with Jill, Steve knew that he would always have even more respect for his mother. Today Steve and Jill have three beautiful children and a growing business located in our beautiful City of Lakewood.

by Tony Toy

Keep Lakewood Beautiful honored the winners of the 2009 Beautiful Homes and Beautiful Business Awards on September 18, 2009. This year’s awards breakfast, co-sponsored by The Salem Team of Howard Hanna and Cleveland Home Title, was held at Brennan’s Banquet Center and was hosted by The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce.  Keep Lakewood Beautiful has bestowed a Beautiful Home Award to one home in each elementary school district in Lakewood for the past 25 years. The Beautiful Business Award category was established 15 years ago, and awards are given to three business or non-residential properties in the subcategories of: Large Business, Small Business, and Front Door/Back Door.

2009 Beautiful Homes Award Winners

The Board of Directors of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Patricia L. Ryan has been appointed to the position of President & Chief Executive Officer.

Education is very important in our community and it is a long standing tradition that the local businesses invite any new teacher or administrator in Lakewood to a banquet in their honor.  This year the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce invited 30 new public and parochial school teachers to the 53rd Annual New Teacher Luncheon.

89 volunteers. 60 gallons of paint. 55 ladders. 1 lift.  26 babies. 16 hours. Two houses. Eight Companies.
          One Community. One Day!

Neubert Painting, in partnership with Sherwin-Williams, provided a much-needed paint job at Providence House last week as part of their 2nd Annual Charity Paint Giveaway. John Neubert, Owner of Neubert Painting started the Charity Paint Giveaway project in 2008 as a way to provide paint services and support to individuals or organizations who cannot afford the cost of house painting services. This year, Providence House was selected from 55 other community nominations for the 2009 Charity Paint Giveaway.

"We truly could not have picked a more deserving organization - or a more interesting project!” said Neubert. “We were happy to get involved with such a worthy cause. Now they’ll have an even more beautiful house to shelter at-risk infants and children.”

Providence House, Ohio’s first and one of the nation’s longest operating crisis nurseries, provides safe and loving care for the area’s most vulnerable children. It is an emergency shelter for infants and children from newborn through age five. Providence House offers support to families in crisis through innovative, intensive case management programs  as well as family education.

Several Lakewood businesses contributed to make the Charity Paint Giveaway a reality: Sherwin-Williams generously donated over 60 gallons of paint and supplies; Einstein Bagels donated a couple hundred bagels for breakfast and Chipotle provided 100 burritos for the hungry crew.  Each volunteer also received two tickets to the August 21st Indians vs. Mariners game, courtesy of a long-time supporter of Providence House; The Cleveland Indians. 

This was an extremely complicated project with a three color scheme and six 40 ft. peaks on a very large house. A normal painting crew would need 15-20 days to complete this project.

Other contributors included Sunbelt rentals who contributed a 60 ft. aerial lift. The Fresh Market in Shaker Hts. provided water and Quantum Graphics designed the flyers and signs. Bill Mannion, a watercolorist from Bay Village and Neubert Painting customer also provided a beautiful watercolor of the house.

Leo’s House, the 6,000 square foot historic Victorian home on the Providence House campus in Ohio City, was the main focus of the project. In order to  provide enough manpower, Neubert Painting  suspended its business operations on August 4th and asked that their employees donate their time to the cause. 
The project was completed in one day by the efforts of 89 volunteers. John Neubert stated, “I am extremely proud that 75% of our painters volunteered for this project.”

“It’s amazing to see this many people willing to help out and donate their time,” said Natalie Leek-Nelson, CEO and President of Providence House. “We’ve got 26 little people to feed, shelter and clothe.  Given the current state of the economy, it is highly unlikely that we would have been able to afford this paint project ourselves.”

When asked about next year’s project, John Neubert said that they will be looking for a deserving organization or individuals and will be accepting nominations starting March 1, 2010. Nominations may be made at NeubertPainting.com.

To find out more about Providence House and/or volunteer, please visit their website at  HYPERLINK "http://www.provhouse.org" www.provhouse.org or call Prividence House at 216-651-5982.

No matter how hard we try to re-invent ourselves, Lakewood’s economic health is still tied to the automobile industry. Like dominos falling, with each passing week our economic downturn continues to affect our local businesses. Familiar greater Cleveland family names such as Spitzer, Ganley, Axelrod, Serpentini, and others are struggling to make ends meet.

On May 14, 2009, Chas Geiger of Geiger's, Mary Evans of Green Smart Gifts, Julie Hutchison of Phoenix Coffee, and Marie Marzech of Aladdin's, along with "Downtown Lakewood", hosted a breakfast meeting for businesses within the "Downtown Lakewood" district (the area between Bunts and Arthur). Their goal- to create synergy among merchants in the downtown area. Over twenty business owners attended, and there was growing excitement as people began to share ideas.

2009 marks the 22nd year that the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce has recognized a member of the community for their outstanding business leadership and civic involvement. Over those 22 years, a veritable Who’s Who of Lakewood business men and women have been honored for their contribution to the community.

We are proud to announce the 2009 Lakewood Business Person of the Year is Mickey Krivosh, the owner of Around the Corner.  Mickey's love for Lakewood is evident in both his professional and personal life.  He exemplifies the qualities the Chamber of Commerce has set forth for this award:  "An individual with a business interest in the community who works to better Lakewood in one or more ways; contributing time and effort in civic, recreational, school and/or church activities." 

A number of Northeast Ohio Local Chambers of Commerce are pleased to announce a travel tour for Chamber members and guests to China in April, 2010.

Kathy Berkshire, President of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce believes this trip will also support collaboration among its attendees right here at home. “A trip of this type is a great opportunity to bring small business leaders from across our region together to not only experience a unique culture and business environment, but also to create relationships with each other that will further collaboration right here in our own region—whether those that go on the trip decide to do business internationally or not.”  

On Friday, May 15th the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce honored their 2009 Scholarship recipients at a breakfast at Pier W Restaurant.  Congratulations to Courtney Smith, Karmen Stovadinovic, and Ryan Walsh, current seniors at Lakewood High School; and Michael Carroll, a senior at St. Edward High School. The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Program focuses on students who perform exceptionally in the classroom, are active in extracurricular activities and hold down a part time job.  This year’s scholarship recipients were all exceptional.  Best of luck to each of them as they head of to college next fall!

First Federal of Lakewood donated $3,500 to the Cleveland Foodbank for its annual branch-wide checking account promotion.  First Federal donated $5 for each checking account opened Sept. 1 – Dec. 31, 2008.

Green Smart Gifts is located in a typical unassuming Lakewood storefront between Belle and Marlowe on Detroit Rd., but owner Mary Evans is proving that with the right mission, and a lot of hard work, even a small business endeavor can accomplish big things here in Lakewood. A transplant from Buffalo to the Cleveland area due to a job transfer, Mary ended up in Lakewood almost by accident. “I had three weeks to find a place and was looking to downsize my life. Friends mentioned that there were lots of places to rent in Lakewood and so here I am,” said the now four year Lakewood resident. 

In harsh economic climates many people who have been downsized or are fearing lay-offs find themselves considering opening their own business. The dream of being self sufficient and your own boss is tempting, but to make this dream a reality often requires capital.

Seven Downtown Lakewood establishments have pooled resources to fund a pilot program for enhanced security in Lakewood’s downtown commercial district. Administered by LakewoodAlive, the program will provide for increased police presence in the area for nine weeks, starting in early April.

Speed Queen washers and dryers have long been a fixture of commercial laundromats. The washers and dryers are built for top performance in the commercial industry, but now they are available for your home from Bob’s Appliance Service of Lakewood. These are new consumer washers and dryers which have the same commercial design and long-lasting components.

Another plus is that the washers and dryers are made in the USA by a company that dates back to 1908.