I went to the Midtown Brews Thursday evening to see Jim Cossler of the Youngstown Business Incubator and Craig Zamary of Green Energy TV, and found the event electric. Midtown Brews is a monthly NEO creativity economy forum in which I-Open, Meet The Bloggers, Insivia, Webtego, EarthWatch Ohio, and a cast of Clevelanders brave enough to believe in our region create an exciting, monthly environment in which to imagine (and work toward!) a greater Northeast Ohio economy.
Jim Cossler spoke about the Youngstown Business Incubator’s focus on business-to-business information technologies, and the adamantly “open-source” relationships he is building between innovative incubator residents. YBI holds its tenant companies accountable for playing well with others. “YBI is about connections,” Jim said, and described his expanding campus in the heart of Youngstown which connects people inside the incubator through smart design of hallways and offices, through BBQ pits and greenspaces, and through the expectation that incubating companies help each other problem solve. I’m a sucker for an operation charging itself with making connections between innovators, but he takes it one step beyond by promoting YBI networking outside its building as well, using people-networks to efficiently reach out to make connections across Northeast Ohio and around the world. Even the artists springing up in YBI’s backyard are being considered important to the process…perhaps it’s time Cleveland, Greater Cleveland, and the entire Clevelandy-Cleveland+ region stops looking down its nose, and looks ahead to where Youngstown has gone in the meantime. Maybe we could consider following in their lead…
Craig Zamary’s concept of a Green Energy TV site serving as a “YouTube for sustainability efforts” is exciting, and I am very interested to see how this company evolves. It’s worth logging on just to scroll down the multitude of videos they house to find subjects of interest. I will have to settle for my own guess work on his long-term strategy, because the Green Energy TV business plan, unlike the open-source nature of all else YBI, is top secret.
Congratulations to Midtown Brews for keeping a vital forum alive and thriving!
Tags: Add new tag, Cleveland, Green Energy TV, I-Open, Innovation, Insivia, Meet The Bloggers, Technology, Youngstown, Youngstown Business Incubator
