Outside company emerges as a bidder for Hugo Boss

BROOKLYN, Ohio - A recent development in the fate of the Hugo Boss manufacturing plant in Brooklyn emerged Friday evening.

 

According to Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, an outside company has made an offer of intent for the purchase of the building and the equipment.

 

According to Kucinich, the company, which is also an apparel manufacturer, intends to operate the plant at its present site as an ongoing clothing manufacturing business, with a union shop, keeping the current employees in place.

 

The bid is believed to be in excess of $2 million.

 

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/a-possible-bidder-for-brooklyn%27s-hugo-boss-plant-emerges

Interesting.  Any idea on who the new manufacturer might be?

California company puts in bid for Hugo Boss plan

BROOKLYN, Ohio -- A California company has bid to buy the Hugo Boss plant, but the union doesn't view it as a realistic option for keeping the plant from closing.

 

JCH International Apparel Inc. of San Jose, which markets its own men's clothing, has never run a manufacturing plant. The company "has sourced product off-shore," said company spokeswoman Judith Oppenheimer.

 

She declined to say how much business the company does. According to the Linkedin profile of Chief Operating Officer Isaac Crawford, the company was formed in January 2010. Before that, he headed its predecessor, JCH Unlimited, which was formed in 2006.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/04/hugo_boss_may_have_buyer.html

VERY interesting news for a Cleveland start-up:

 

Low-cost solar panels made in Cleveland working to change the world

Maureen  Kyle    Updated: 4/6/2010 7:57:46 AM  Posted: 4/6/2010 6:36:03 AM

 

 

CLEVELAND -- Cleveland is working to position itself as a leader in alternative energy manufacturing. And while there's been a big emphasis on wind energy, a start up company downtown is working to take their solar panel system global. 

 

 

In an abandoned flower shop in downtown Cleveland, something new is growing. A company called Sunflower Solutions.  It started as Chris Clark's senior project at Miami of Ohio University.

 

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=133742&catid=3

 

Another great article on the Evergreen Cooperatives. Might be time for them to get their own thread ... I thought there was one at one point?

 

KEYNOTE: ANCHOR MAN

Urbanite #70 April 10

Marc Steiner

 

Three years ago, Ted Howard got a call from the Cleveland Foundation, a community foundation that pools the city’s philanthropic resources and gives out grants for local projects. Like Baltimore, Cleveland had fallen a long way since its mid-century glory days. For the last several years, the Great Lakes burg has been dueling with Detroit and Buffalo for the title of poorest big city in America.

 

The folks at the Cleveland Foundation had been following Howard’s work at the Democracy Collaborative, a research and policy center at the University of Maryland, College Park, that fosters what Howard calls “wealth-building opportunities” for the poor. And they wanted his help ...

 

... More at http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?ArticleID=1471&IssueID=83&SectionID=4.

 

^could you double check that link, please.  It brings up an error message for me.

Thanks

 

I found it from the main sites seach function.  Good article.  What I found interesting is how much money from the gov't becomes available once private money, or in this case Foundation money, is put towards the project.

http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?ArticleID=1471&IssueID=83&SectionID=4

That was a great article.  It would definitely benefit many in the city for these types of businesses to be created.  Let's hope that more come about, and soon!

<b>Scottrade to move local office to Strongsville from downtown Cleveland</b>

 

Online brokerage firm Scottrade is moving its office in downtown Cleveland to Strongsville.

 

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20100416/FREE/100419887

<b>Scottrade to move local office to Strongsville from downtown Cleveland</b>

 

Online brokerage firm Scottrade is moving its office in downtown Cleveland to Strongsville.

 

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20100416/FREE/100419887

 

And Mayor Prosperity's Economic Development Office did.....?

:roll: I didn't know an economic development department could force someone to locate their offices somewhere against their will.

 

and FYI.  Scottrade has about 5 employees here.

:roll: I didn't know an economic development department could force someone to locate their offices somewhere against their will.

 

and FYI. Scottrade has about 5 employees here.

 

Well then, that makes it OK.

It'll have free parking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so what you say the city do? Sue them into staying? Build them a parking structure over E. 9th street and let their customers use it for free?

 

these sort of small operations move into and out of the city all the time. I'm surprised this was even reported.  This has nothing to do with economic development offers, this has to do with what one little operations needs were and how they best thought they could serve their customers.

::) I didn't know an economic development department could force someone to locate their offices somewhere against their will.

 

and FYI.  Scottrade has about 5 employees here.

 

Well then, that makes it OK.

 

Do you know why ST moved and what criteria ST used to determine their office location?

Scottrade wouldn't need a massive parking lot, particularly with an office that small.  My guess: They just got a better lease deal.

Fast Cities 2010: Constructing the perfect city means blending the best and boldest ideas from across the nation. Here are 12 we hope all future cities will embrace. - Fast Company

http://www.fastcompany.com/cities/2010

 

Cleveland: Venture-Capital Mind-Set [Fast Cities 2010]

 

BioEnterprise has since created or recruited more than 100 companies and attracted nearly $1 billion in new funding. Cleveland's biomedical industry now outpaces the nation's at 7.4% annual growth, bringing with it 20,000 related jobs. A number of venture funds have opened offices in Cleveland, and a Medical Market & Convention Center breaks ground this year.

 

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/145/fast-cities-venture-capital-mind-set-cleveland.html

 

Scottrade wouldn't need a massive parking lot, particularly with an office that small. My guess: They just got a better lease deal.

 

I think the point about free parking is that clients can quickly pop in and out.

Yay Sun Newspapers! Nice scoop! Anyone else have the story?

 

Hugo Boss, union reach tentative agreement at Brooklyn plant

By Mark Holan, Sun News

April 23, 2010, 9:02AM

 

BROOKLYN Early this morning, representatives of Worker United and Hugo Boss reached a tentative agreement that would keep the company’s Tiedeman Road plant open. Workers United members will vote on the three-year agreement at starting at 9 a.m. at the plant.

 

Once ratified by the Union’s 300 members, the scheduled Tuesday closure of the company’s Brooklyn facility will be cancelled.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://blog.cleveland.com/parmasunpost/2010/04/hugo_boss_union_reach_tentativ.html

Crains had it at 8:35am.  This is a big win and a really nice example of a collaborative approach.  We were following this one in one of my organizing classes in DC.   

I wonder how much they had to give up?  (I was surprised at how little they were already making)

We should know later today. 

I don't expect them to stay long. Hugo Boss management is too cheap to stay in America, and there's always another Thailand or Malaysia around the next corner.

Yeah... three years is NOT that long at all.  I'm don't mean to be a debbie downer, but I think this is just postponing the inevitable.  I hope the workers at the plant are thinking about the future- I really don't see this company in the region for the long term.   

Likely.  We had the head of the AFL-CIO and others in talking about some of these issues the other day, and he was talking about the big push to unionize in our competing manufacturing markets.  It might take some time but they thought it would do alot in leveling the playing field.  But as you said there is always another emerging market to exploit.     

Likely. We had the head of the AFL-CIO and others in talking about some of these issues the other day, and he was talking about the big push to unionize in our competing manufacturing markets. It might take some time but they thought it would do alot in leveling the playing field. But as you said there is always another emerging market to exploit.

 

Capital will always migrate to "cheap" labor.  We of course see that within the USA as well.  Companies don't relocate to North Carolina because its a great place to live and work, they relocate there because labor is relatively cheap and "at will".

JumpStart Inc. has $90 million impact on Northeast Ohio economy, Cleveland State study shows

 

By Tom Breckenridge, The Plain Dealer

April 28, 2010

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The nonprofit organization that invests in and coaches some of the region's most promising companies had a growing economic impact in 2009, a study says.

 

JumpStart Inc. and the 47 companies it helped had a $90 million impact last year, up 20 percent from 2008, according to the Center for Economic Development at Cleveland State University.

 

JumpStart's activities created or retained 664 jobs and bumped household earnings up by $39.8 million last year, the study said.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/04/jumpstart_had_90_million_impac.html

 

 

so what you say the city do? Sue them into staying? Build them a parking structure over E. 9th street and let their customers use it for free?

 

these sort of small operations move into and out of the city all the time. I'm surprised this was even reported. This has nothing to do with economic development offers, this has to do with what one little operations needs were and how they best thought they could serve their customers.

 

Net zero tax breaks, subsidized parking, subsidized RTA passes, etc. in return for lease commitments, hiring commitments, establishing  a Securities Zone, loan rebate offer for employees that buy walking distance condo's.  Should I go on?

Likely. We had the head of the AFL-CIO and others in talking about some of these issues the other day, and he was talking about the big push to unionize in our competing manufacturing markets. It might take some time but they thought it would do alot in leveling the playing field. But as you said there is always another emerging market to exploit.

 

Capital will always migrate to "cheap" labor. We of course see that within the USA as well. Companies don't relocate to North Carolina because its a great place to live and work, they relocate there because labor is relatively cheap and "at will".

 

 

 

"they relocate there because labor is relatively cheap and "at will"."

 

More the latter than the former.  Much more than you would believe.  Average wage rates at Ohio's Honda plants are not that much different than Detroit's big three.  The labor attitude, flexibility, etc. is night and day different.  Management can handle the rest.

 

 

New data released by a local Cleveland economics firm, "Underemployment in the United States", ranks metro areas in terms of underemployment (surplus of high-skilled workers).

 

Columbus:#56

Cleveland: #94

Cincinnati: #99

Dayton: #202

Toledo: #207

 

http://www.chmuraecon.com/underempl/

 

May the Trimmest Building Win

By SINDYA N. BHANOO

 

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced an energy efficiency contest to help buildings around the nation trim their consumption.

 

Called the National Building Competition, it is patterned after “The Biggest Loser,” an NBC show that spotlights overweight contestants trying to lose weight. The competitors include an office building in Midtown Manhattan, a department store in Southern California, a medical center in Cleveland and elementary schools in Colorado and New Jersey.

 

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/may-the-trimmest-building-win/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Hospital breathes life into biomed corridor

Ribbon-cutting for specialty hospital at former Taylor Pontiac site on East Market Street

 

By Cheryl Powell

Beacon Journal staff writer

 

POSTED: 03:10 p.m. EDT, Jul 23, 2008

 

A new specialty hospital for critically ill patients is bringing life to the city of Akron's efforts to boost medical-related economic development.

 

Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic joined leaders of a national specialty hospital chain and Akron General and Summa health systems on today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the city's newest hospital: a 60-bed, jointly owned facility for patients who require hospital stays averaging 25 days or longer.

 

 

 

Hospital Moving

 

This is a breath of fresh air to the Cleveland Akron area.

Is this spam?

Steris to build $11 million facility, add 300 jobs

By Angela Townsend, The Plain Dealer

May 11, 2010, 2:01PM

 

MENTOR, Ohio -- Steris Corp. chief executive Walt Rosebrough today announced the company's plans to build an $11 million facility in Mentor and add 300 jobs there over the next three years. Sixty-one of those positions are new. The other 239 jobs are being transferred from Steris' facility in Erie, Pa. beginning this fall.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/medical/index.ssf/2010/05/steris_to_build_11_million_fac.html

 

Cleveland's local unemployment rate, according to the the DLS, was 9.8% during the month of March (a high number, but still lower than LA, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Tampa, etc).  Manufacturing jobs up by 5,000 since last October while Mining, Logging, and Construction lost close to 12,000 during the same time frame (!).  I know that's due to the seasons, but that's a loss of A LOT of employment during the winter months.  Education and health services now takes up close to 20% of the total non-farm employment in the region :)  Good stuff!!

 

 

Discussion of Sun-Opto's relocation to Cleveland has been moved here:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,23088.0.html

I was pleasantly surprised when the April unemployment rates came out.

 

http://www.bls.gov/web/metro/laummtrk.htm

 

The Cleveland metropolitan area has an unemployment rate of 8.9.  This is the lowest of any major area in the state.  It looks like things are starting to turn around for us.

 

I was also surprised that Cincinnati's unemployment rate has actually gone up to 10.2. 

Wow...who would have thunk it.  Cleveland has the lowest umemployment rate in the state.  Thanks for sharing.

Cleveland has had the lowest unemployment rate (or lowest tied with Columbus) for as long as I have been tracking this (about 6 months).  Of course the Plain Dealer would never report this.

Yeah, our unemployment rate in April '10 is better than Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Detroit.  I was just discussing this at work with someone- who said "no, that can't be.  There's NO WAY our unemployment rate is lower than Columbus- Cleveland has NOTHING".

 

I HATE this negative perception.  But the beat goes on, and Cleveland continues to slowly, and silently, transform.  We haven't been hit as hard as we would have in the past because our economy has finally diversified. 

Cleveland has had the lowest unemployment rate (or lowest tied with Columbus) for as long as I have been tracking this (about 6 months). Of course the Plain Dealer would never report this.

 

Keep in mind that this statistic only measures those unemployed who are still eligible for benefits.  It does not take in to consideration the chronically unemployed.  So while current rates may be lower in CLE it can also be because the unemployment rate was already high and therefore the economy didn't have far to fall.  The measure of course is where the rate will be when the recovery gets into high gear.  Will CLE's rate improve dramatically? 

^This is true, but if you look at the region's employment by sector, manufacturing as a whole takes up a little over 10%, not 30% as in the recent past.  Also, the health care field accounts for close to 20% of total local employment, which has proven to be more recession-proof than other sectors (though it is still affected by recessions, just not as much as manufacturing, for instance).

 

These are good numbers, and I'm sure that they will improve in the short term. 

Cargill Deicing Technology adds 20 jobs, expands Cleveland operations

Published: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 4:00 PM    Updated: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 4:05 PM

Janet Cho, The Plain Dealer

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cargill Deicing Technology is spending $13.8 million to expand the capacity of its rock salt mine near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, a move that will add about 20 jobs at the mine and at its North Olmsted headquarters.

 

"This investment reflects Cargill's commitment to Cleveland and Ohio," said Dale Fehrenbach, president of Cargill Deicing Technology, in a statement announcing the investment.

 

Supko said the Cleveland mine is the only North American salt mine able to send products out via boat, rail or truck.

 

The mine, part of one of the world's largest salt beds, goes 1,800 feet below the surface and extends three miles out under Lake Erie.

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/06/cargill_deicing_technology_add.html

 

^I'm very interested in watching the change. My second and third floor look right onto Cargill's operations. I love watching the Manistee, the Cuyahoga and the McKee Son's, load up with salt and ship out to the various Great Lakes' ports on a daily basis.

 

Dan Gilbert (owner of the Cavs) founded a business training institute for selected folks in Detroit who show strong business potential, with the intention of helping the city of Detroit. We need a similar program in Cleveland!

 

Fostering Entrepreneurs, and Trying to Revive a City

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/business/smallbusiness/24sbiz.html?scp=16&sq=Cleveland&st=nyt

I actually personally know 2 of these guys, and they really are "Cleveland lovers":

 

Starting up in Cleveland: Young tech entrepreneurs may look elsewhere for success

Jennifer Daddario

 

 

Cleveland may rock, but for young tech entrepreneurs, it's the bright lights, big cities, and the call and experience of Silicon Valley that may lead to their success. Tim Gasper, 22, and Jim England, 23, are young Case Western Reserve grads who recently created CorkShare, a content-sharing website, in Cleveland. But the duo has hit the road and is spending their summer in Austin, Texas, to participate in the business incubator program Capital Factory.

 

The idea is constantly and rapidly changing through the course of the Capital Factory program, but the duo hopes to have it all figured out by September, when they give their final presentation, a pitch of the company and product they have created. After that, the future of the company and the location of their headquarters are up in the air. Gasper, a self-described "Cleveland lover," says he knows he will be back one day, but also says, "We're trying to do whatever is best to keep moving our business forward."

 

And that may mean taking their startup to another area. The tech community in Cleveland isn't as developed as in Silicon Valley or Austin, Gasper explains. "We want to get as many users as possible, and once you have a lot of users, then you apply a business model," Gasper adds. "It's an unconventional business model anywhere except the Valley."

 

But Cleveland will always be a part of their plans. While the goal to make their business successful may take them away from their hometown, once success has been achieved, Cleveland is the next stop, and Gasper can foresee spearheading an incubator program like Capital Factory in Cleveland.

 

 

 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5535276/starting_up_in_cleveland_young_tech.html?cat=8

 

Cargill Deicing Technology adds 20 jobs, expands Cleveland operations

Published: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 4:00 PM    Updated: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 4:05 PM

Janet Cho, The Plain Dealer

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cargill Deicing Technology is spending $13.8 million to expand the capacity of its rock salt mine near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, a move that will add about 20 jobs at the mine and at its North Olmsted headquarters.

 

"This investment reflects Cargill's commitment to Cleveland and Ohio," said Dale Fehrenbach, president of Cargill Deicing Technology, in a statement announcing the investment.

 

Supko said the Cleveland mine is the only North American salt mine able to send products out via boat, rail or truck.

 

The mine, part of one of the world's largest salt beds, goes 1,800 feet below the surface and extends three miles out under Lake Erie.

 

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/06/cargill_deicing_technology_add.html

 

 

Look like a few more jobs for the North Coast shore:

 

Great Lakes Towing Co. expansion plans include 700-ton mobile crane and 25 new jobs

Published: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 6:02 PM

Tom Breckenridge, The Plain Dealer

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A tugboat company with a growing stature in ship building and repair just received a 700-ton lift in its plans to expand.

 

Great Lakes Towing Co. hosted Gov. Ted Strickland and a handful of elected officials Thursday, to celebrate an $8 million development on the Old River Channel, near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.

 

The state will chip in a $6 million loan, enabling Great Lakes to buy a mobile crane that can lift 700 tons. The company will spend another $2 million to cut a new slip into its waterside property.

 

The work will expand Great Lakes capacity to build new tugboats and repair a wide array of Great Lakes vessels. Company President Ron Rasmus hopes the development will be done in a year and expects to create 25 jobs.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/07/great_lakes_towing_co_to_use_a.html

Cleveland’s Comeback

Reimagining the City from the Ground Up

 

By Marc Lefkowitz

 

“They’d tell you, ‘If I wasn’t a Garden Boyz, I don’t know what I would be doing,’” Glaspie says. “Jobs for 13- to 17-year-olds are nonexistent. They earn about $50 a week, which isn’t a lot. But they use it to buy their own clothes and school uniforms. They’ll help their mother out bringing food home and cooking for the family. I had one boy who bought his brother winter boots with his money. They are looked up to by most of their peers.”

 

http://americancity.org/magazine/article/clevelands-comeback/

The NYTimes featured some Cleveland area companies in a piece today about a possible shortage of manufacturing workers with enough skills to fill jobs in increasingly automated US factories:

 

Factory Jobs Return, but Employers Find Skills Shortage

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/business/economy/02manufacturing.html?pagewanted=1&ref=homepage&src=me

 

All candidates at Ben Venue must pass a basic skills test showing they can read and understand math at a ninth-grade level. A significant portion of recent applicants failed, and the company has been disappointed by the quality of graduates from local training

programs. It is now struggling to fill 100 positions.

 

This article kind of illustrates the limitations of journalism...tough to know from anecdotes how widespread this problem is.  Assuming it's true, it raises many questions...Are these types of workers plentiful in other cities?  If the employers are having so much trouble finding workers with enough skills, shouldn't they be paying higher wages to attract better candidates?  In any case, not exactly good news for the multitudes of very low skilled workers.

Very surprised to see Cleveland on the front page of the NY Times ...and it's not Lebron...

Looks like they are coming downtown after all!!!  165+ jobs, to the PD builidng that is. 

 

Tech company MCPc in final lease negotiations to move headquarters, 165 jobs to downtown Cleveland

Published: Tuesday, July 06, 2010, 11:10 AM    Updated: Tuesday, July 06, 2010, 11:22 AM

Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer

 

A suburban technology company is in the final stages of negotiating to move 165 jobs and its corporate headquarters to the eastern edge of downtown Cleveland.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/07/tech_company_mcpc_in_final_lea.html

I guess this as a good of place for this as anywhere.

 

Pulled this chart out when I started looking at Cleveland vs Miami in the Cavaliers Thread.

 

Cuyahoga county has the lowest unemployment rate out of the US and Ohio (and Franklin county too). Why are we viewed nationally as being so depressed? Is this just perception lagging behind reality? Our population is stagnant, spreading out but basically stagnant which indicates stability. We are not a booming economy but just average and stable, which is a hell of a lot better than the national perception of us.

 

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemployment&met=unemployment_rate&idim=county:CN390350&dl=en&hl=en&q=unemployment+cuyahoga+county+oh#met=unemployment_rate&idim=state:ST390000&idim=county:CN390350&tdim=true

If you're looking to improve your neighborhoods at all....you have one month:

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/07/grassroots_cleveland_groups_wo.html