Crain's Cleveland Business
In the eyes of Jennifer Thomas, the Civic Innovation Lab's successes outweigh its failures, even if they don't outnumber them.
The Lab describes more than a quarter of the 45 economic development projects it has supported financially as “successes,” though just as many have failed or are struggling, according to Ms. Thomas, the lab's director.
She says the 50-50 split is good enough for her. The economic impact from just a few of those successes, in her view, has been enough to offset the cost of grants given to failed projects.
“I suppose we'd be happy with even a lower number of successes,” Ms. Thomas said.
The Lab deems 12 projects successes, 21 as promising and 13 as failed or struggling. Most of those in the promising category were financed over the past two years, while most of the others are older.
The Lab, founded in 2003 by the Cleveland Foundation, issues grants of up to $30,000 to individuals so they can start companies, nonprofits and other organizations that they believe could boost downtown Cleveland, support entrepreneurship, reverse the region's brain drain or start a new industry. It also provides mentors to each recipient.
Because grant recipients aren't tasked with creating jobs or generating a monetary return on investment, it's difficult to define a project as a “success” in the traditional sense. All projects in that category, however, are sustaining themselves through either sales or fundraising, Ms. Thomas said.
She singled out some of the lab's leading initiatives:
Ray's Mountain Bike Park, located in what was an empty warehouse on Cleveland's West Side, brought in 7,000 riders during its 2007-2008 season, which starts in November and ends in May, and sales are up 40% so far this year. The rarity of indoor bike parks helps Ray's attract 80% of its riders from out of state.
The Women's Leadership Initiative gives career development assistance to about 1,200 women per year. The program, run by YWCA Greater Cleveland, plans to expand to Akron in May and sustains itself through fees charged to participants.
Cool Networks LLC distributes the Cool Cleveland e-mail newsletter to 80,000 people each week. The newsletter, financed by advertisers, has helped increase visibility of arts and entertainment in Cleveland.
Fuel Circle Fuels sells about 1,250 gallons of biodiesel and filtered vegetable oil per month from a revamped gasoline station in Oberlin. The company also has modified more than 200 vehicles to burn vegetable oil.
Some of the groups in the “success” category still face challenges. For instance, the Entrepreneurship Preparatory School, or E Prep, has had difficulties raising as much cash as it needs to continue providing a longer school day and school year to its students, even though test scores among the charter school's 240 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders have greatly improved since their arrival.
The Cleveland Foundation is commissioning an independent review of the Civic Innovation Lab, but so far it is pleased with the results, said Bob Eckardt, senior vice president of programs and evaluation with the foundation. He noted Cool Cleveland's wide circulation as an example.
“Now you look back and say, "Wow, that's part of the fabric of the community,'” Mr. Eckardt said.