A Catalyst For Civic Entrepreneurship- (Why not in your community?)

A ‘civic innovation lab’ encourages and supports residents who want to invigorate the city’s economy.

‘Civic lab’ seeks ideas to help boost city

Becky Gaylord
Plain Dealer Reporter

It’s a talent contest for residents who want to invigorate the city’s economy.

The Cleveland Foundation yesterday launched a $200,000 "civic innovation lab" to unearth, and then support, projects that can yield tangible economic impact in the community.
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The lab wants fresh, even risky, ideas. Mentors will then closely work with the people who dream up ideas that are selected so they flourish. And the lab will pave access to networks and other sources of money.

"We’re trying to allow people to get their ideas accomplished," said Jennifer Thomas, the project’s director and founder of the high-tech networking group Cleveland Clicks.

Failures are fine, as long as they instruct, says Brad Whitehead of the Cleveland Foundation. Copy what high-tech companies do when they need to make big changes, the lab’s backers say: experiment with a broad range of ideas instead of relying on just one.

The lab hopes to uncover ideas like the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, which works to get movies filmed here, and Bulldogs on the Cuyahoga, a group of Yale University graduates that tries to lure students from the school to work here.

The idea is to scour everywhere for civic entrepreneurs.

Organizers want to look everywhere – not just around corporate and nonprofit boardrooms – for people who fervently want to help get this city back on track.

Another goal: Scooping up the best ideas and letting them take seed before bureaucracy, frustration and ennui smother them. Critics often portray Cleveland as a stodgy town that does little to encourage innovation.

The lab has gestated for years and grew out of the Cleveland Foundation’s strategy to strengthen its focus and investment on economic development.

Applications are already being accepted on the Web (www.civicinnovationlab.org), and the lab plans to award grants of up to $30,000 for the best entries. A loose affiliation of partners will supply mentors to help develop the ideas.

Ideas, that is, which aim to attract and retain talented people, encourage entrepreneurs and help make Cleveland a better place to live.

It’s not that the region doesn’t have any examples now.

The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission attracts amateur sporting events, including the recent Gravity Games; Say Yes to Cleveland connects with former Clevelanders who now live in other cities; and Bulldogs on the Cuyahoga brings up to 40 Yale undergraduates to Cleveland for paid internships, mentoring from alumni and social events at the city’s top attractions.

The foundation’s partners for the lab include Business Volunteers Unlimited, Cleveland Bridgebuilders, Council of Smaller Enterprises, Leadership Cleveland and the President’s Council.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-5029

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