JumpStart Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to helping entrepreneurs grow, announced the network during its annual meeting in Cleveland. The network replaces TechLift, a 3-year-old consortium that provided support and investment advice for fledgling technology companies.
View full sizeScreen shot of JumpStart Inc. website.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A network of business advisers, investors and mentors is trying to solve the puzzle of starting and cultivating a company in Northeast Ohio.
The JumpStart Enterprenurial Network, unveiled Tuesday, unites dozens of business-support organizations in 21 counties under a single website and a shared mission: Making it easier for entrepreneurs to figure out where to look for space, whom to ask for money and how to find education and advice.
JumpStart Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to helping entrepreneurs grow, announced the network during its annual meeting in Cleveland. The network replaces TechLift, a 3-year-old consortium that provided support and investment advice for fledgling technology companies.
This new initiative takes a broader approach, connecting a manufacturing advocacy organization; business incubators in Lorain, Mansfield, Youngstown and Akron; investors ranging from start-up funds to government sources; and BioEnterprise, a business formation and growth initiative focused on health-care companies and bioscience.
For years, these groups have been working behind the scenes to match entrepreneurs with the right services and organizations, said Baiju Shah, chief executive officer of BioEnterprise. But, he added, "I think it's fair to say that hasn't necessarily been clear to the entrepreneurs."
JumpStart hopes to change that. Tuesday, the nonprofit launched a website that it views as one-stop-shopping for emerging and growing businesses. Entrepreneurs who visit the site can fill out a short form with information about their companies, products or ideas. Based on information about a company's growth stage, funding needs, employment and other factors, JumpStart and its partners will direct an entrepreneur to the appropriate contacts.
"This new collaboration focuses on making it easier for entrepreneurs," said Cathy Belk, JumpStart's chief marketing officer. "They haven't really known where to go first, or if they should go to all the organizations at the same time."
Members of the network have received funding from Ohio Third Frontier, a state program designed to advance high-tech industries. In May, the Ohio Third Frontier Commission awarded JumpStart $1.7 million for the network and provided grants to several network participants, including venture-capital funds that support early-stage companies.
According to JumpStart, network members have provided services to 7,640 entrepreneurs, raised $319 million in risk capital and created and supported 850 jobs, at an average salary topping $67,000, during the past three years. The organizations hope a refashioned network and a central website will bring more businesses and ideas their way.
"The website provides a starting point for this coordination," said Bob Cohen, director of business assistance for the Braintree Business Development Center, an incubator in Mansfield. "We will have a better way of finding out about entrepreneurs"
Facebook and LinkedIn will be used to communicate among collaborators, Cohen said.
"To a large extent, the enhanced network reflects the enhanced technology - not only keeping up with technology, but keeping ahead of it."