The Global Center for Health Innovation, only partially open, is starting to draw a crowd.
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Case Western Reserve University students (from left) Haipei Zhou, Da He, Ayush Bharad Waj and Xiaolei Zhang were among the big data enthusiasts attending a reception at the Global Center for Health Innovation. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland's Global Center for Health Innovation may be months away from opening to the public, but one marquee tenant -- the industry leader in healthcare information technology -- has completed its space on the top floor and is welcoming an in-the-know crowd.
That includes members of the Cleveland Big Data and Hadoop User Group, about 200 of whom found their way to the white box aside the new Cleveland Convention Center Monday night.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society -- or HIMMS -- spent some $2 million outfitting the entire fourth floor of the Global Center into an exhibition and product-testing center. The bright lights and colors, multi-media kiosks and touchscreens the size of big screen TVs impressed a crowd accustomed to state-of-the-art technology.
So did the full bar and the presentations by industry experts, which commenced after happy hour.
"When I walked in I was like, 'This is so cool,' said Doug Meil, a software engineer and president of the Cleveland Hadoop User Group, or CHUG.
Hadoop is a widely used, open source framework for large-scale data processing. The local user group was founded by Meil and others working with big data at companies like Explorys, Progressive Insurance and the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank.
Monday's meetup attracted a larger than usual crowd and Meil knows why.
"It's nerds on the loose," he said. "Everyone wanted to see this building. Hadoop is all about IT innovation and doing neat things with data. This place, the theme fits us perfectly."
HIMMS executives hope other IT specialist in the area feel the same way, especially those working in healthcare.
Representing 52,000 IT executives, Chicago-based HIMSS (pronounced like church "hymns") is one of the largest medical organizations in the world. It's best known for its Interoperability Showcase, a feature of its annual convention, which allows hospitals and healthcare institutions to test new products and technologies to insure the equipment is compatible with their current networks.
HIMMS had been looking for a permanent location for its plug-and-play showcase. When it chose Cleveland last February, leaders of the Global Center knew they had an anchor tenant that could attract wide attention.
John Paganini, a Cleveland data specialist recently appointed senior manager for interoperability initiatives at HIMMS Cleveland, said he expects companies large and small to make Cleveland their medical product testing center -- once the Global Center is fully open.
Meantime, he's leading tours and hosting special events with kindred spirits, sharing his vision for a one-of-a-kind place.
"Cleveland is hopefully destined to become the healthcare mecca of the universe," he told CHUG members. "The future looks very interesting."
Ernst & Young chooses new leader for its new era
A new leader is rising to the top of Ernst & Young LLP, a company that assumed a more prominent position in the civic psyche when it moved to a new office tower in the Flats.
Cleveland native Julie Boland, a resident of Shaker Heights, will become managing partner of the Big Four accounting firm, the company announced this week.
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Julie BolandBoland succeeds Lee Thomas, who is retiring after 38 years with the venerable firm.
A.C. Ernst founded the Ernst & Ernst accounting firm in Cleveland in 1903. Today, his legacy is a member firm of EY Global, which employs 175,000 people worldwide, about 1,300 in Northeast Ohio.
In June, the Cleveland office moved its headquarters from the Huntington Bank Building on Euclid Avenue to the silvery office tower on the East Bank of the Flats, anchoring the emerging development.
Mark Weinberger, the company's global chairman and CEO, said Cleveland remains "a key market for EY globally" and that Boland was an excellent choice to steward the Ernst legacy.
"Julie is an exceptional leader," Weinberger said in a press release. "Julie's global vision and broad experience will enable her to build on the firm's rich legacy in Cleveland."
Boland, who serves as the company's East Central Region's Energy Market Segment Leader, has been with EY less than four years but has more than 26 years of financial and business management experience, the company said.
Previously, she served as chief financial officer of Flight Options LLC and Oglebay Norton and has been an investment banker in New York and London.
A married mother of four children, Boland serves on the boards of the Achievement Centers for Children, the Great Lakes Science Center, Positively Cleveland and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
She's a graduate of Orange High School, class of 1984.
Beer, bowling and startup lessons
Two game-changing entrepreneurs will share their stories and maybe some of their secrets at the next edition of TechPint, the beer-friendly networking series for technology entrepreneurs and investors.
Charles Stack, co-founder of the Cleveland business accelerator FlashStarts, and Doug Hardman, the chief executive of fast-growing SparkBase, will address a crowd expected to number about 300 at TechPint 4. It unfolds next Thursday, Jan. 23, at Mahall's, an iconic Lakewood bowling alley reborn under new ownership into a music club with bowling lanes -- which will be open.
In the spirit of FlashStarts, this mixer will feature a business pitch competition with cash prizes. That starts at 5 p.m. The speakers will begin the conversation at 6:30 and there will be food and bowling and networking until past 10.
Cost is $15. The first pint is free. To register, go to techpint.org.
Cleveland Orchestra beckons young professionals
To draw a young professional crowd, it helps to offer a new scene in an intriguing venue. How about the Best Band in the Land at a world-class concert hall?
To welcome a new, business-savvy generation, The Cleveland Orchestra has created The Circle, a group designed for twenty and thirtysomethings who enjoy music and are ready to learn more about a cultural gem.
The Circle launches this Friday, January 17, at a 6:30 p.m. reception prior to the 8 p.m. concert conducted by Franz Welser-Most at Severance Hall. Membership in The Circle, $15 a month, includes bi-monthly concert tickets and invitations to receptions and networking events at Severance Hall and Blossom Music Center.
Mackenzie Hutton, a program management specialist for Forest City Enterprises and president of The Circle, called the new group "a great addition to the Cleveland young professionals scene."
To order tickets or to join, contact thecircle@clevelandorchestra.com. Learn more at clevelandorchestra.com.
Robert L. Smith covers economic development for The Plain Dealer. Follow him on Twitter @rlsmithpd.