May  2012

On the Agenda
Click here for updated listing of industry events.


Job Opportunities
Click here for recent job notices.


CNDC Committee Meetings

CNDC Board - May 22nd at 8:30 a.m.
Housing - May 23rd at noon

All meetings are held at the offices of CNDC,
3751 Prospect Avenue unless otherwise noted.


Industry Items of Interest
$14 Million Pledged to Help Cleveland's Neighborhoods
In mid-February, Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that he is committing $75 million of the money awarded to Ohio in a 49 state settlement agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage lenders for the demolition of vacant and blighted structures.  To that end, the Cuyahoga Land Bank, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor and the City of Cleveland came together to determine what they could do to insure that sufficient monies come to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio to address vacant and abandoned properties that are waiting to be demolished.  The Cuyahoga Land Bank has committed $5 million this year and into next year, the City of Cleveland has committed $4 million and the County Prosecutor has committed $5 million, designating $1 million for demolition in the City of Cleveland.  The partners are asking the Attroney General to match this $14 million total in order to assist with countywide demolition efforts.

Successful Recycling in Your Business    The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management District invites all business owners to a waste and recycling seminar.  Join Business Recycling Specialist Doreen Schreiber as she walks you through the steps to launch a successful recycling program in your place of business.  The first session is set to take place on Tuesday, May 22nd from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.  The cost is FREE and will take place at District headquarters located at 4750 East 131st Street in Garfield Heights.  For more information, contact Doreen Schreiber at 216-443-3732 or dschreiber@cuyahogacounty.us.  Registration is required.  Register online at www.cuyahogaswd.org.  These same sessions will  also take place on Wednesday, June 27th and Thursday, September 20th.

                                         

YES   You and the Environment Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum  This symposium will take place on Saturday, June 2nd at 9 a.m. at the Downtown YMCA located at 2200 Prospect Avenue.  The symposium will feature keynote speakers Bob Gedert, Director of Resource Recovery in Austin, Texas and Neil Seldman, President of the Institute for Self-Reliance in Washington, DC.  The forum will also feature local experts on composting and recycling and what the plans are for recycling programs in Cleveland and across the country.  Sponsors include CNDC, Evironmental Health Watch, Earth Day Coalition, Sierra Club and GreenCityBlueLake with support from the George Gund Foundation.   For more information contact Sarah Batke at sbatke@ohiocitizen.org or at 216-861-5200.

Bike Cleveland Announces Summer Long Bike Challenge  
Thanks to collaboration and months of development, Bike Cleveland is excited to present Cleveland neighborhoods with the Bike Cleveland Bike Challenge.  This FREE challenge runs from May 1 to August 31, 2012 and will be held as part of a national effort.  This collaboration has resulted in a calculator that allows you to log your miles, check how greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced, calories burned, and money saved just by biking and logging your miles.  Participants can compete as individuals and teams of 10.  Because of the tie to the national challenge, you can see your standing on both local and national levels.  There's even an app that can be downloaded to smartphones which will track and log the trips you take.  To learn more about the Challenge, visit BikeCleveland.org/Challenge.  Participants can join the challenge directly at nationalbikechallenge.org.  For more information, email Jacob VanSickle at Bike Cleveland at Jacob@bikecleveland.org or by phone at 216-245-3101.
 

 Retail Spaces Update  May is the month dedicated to the upcoming quarterly updates to the CNDC website, retailspacescleveland.com.  If your CDC is not already included on this website, the deadline for information is May 18, 2012; if you have been included on the website in the past, but have a new listing, the deadline is May 25, 2012.  Send information and/or questions to Chris King at chris@creativekeys.net or by phone at 440-918-1313. 

Legal Aid of Cleveland offers Free Legal Advice Clinics  Legal Aid is hosting a series of FREE clinics in the month of May.  All clinics are on a first come, first serve basis; clients are asked to bring all relevant paperwork with them.  The following clinics are scheduled for this month:

  • May 5th from 9:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center, 13944 Euclid Avenue.
  • May 9th from 5-7 p.m. at the American Legion of Ashtabula, 1804 West 19th Street.
  • May 24 from 2-4 p.m. at the West Side Community House, 9300 Lorain Avenue
  • May 24 from 2-4 p.m. at Catholic Charities, Lorain Family Center, 203 West 8th Street.

The goal of Legal Aid is to make Legal Aid as accessible to as many as possible.  For more information call 888-817-3777 or visit lasclev.org.

CNDC NEWS

CNDC COMMITTEE UPDATES:
March CDC Executive Director Lunch Meeting  Marcia Nolan of CASH and Matt Yourkvitch and David Moore of the Laurentum Group, LTD shared with CDC Executive Directors their report entitled REHABILITATION LENDING ACTIVITY IN CLEVELAND: an alternative policy response to the foreclosure crisis.  Several strategies have evolved as a result of the great work completed by Marcia, Matt and David including:  1) promoting rehabilitation and preservation programs available in the City of Cleveland as an alternate to demolition; 2) Establishing an oversight committee to monitor rehab lending and to suggest policy in relation to the findings; 3) special attention and counsel on toxic issues; 4) relationship development with local lending institutions to encourage products and programs that encourage rehabilitation; 5) education and relationship building between home repair agencies and CDCs in terms of programs available to homeowners; and 6) public education for community residents.
March Organizers and Allies Committee  This month the committee continued their focus on health inequity and how health relates to community development.  Participants viewed the next in a series of the multi-part documentary, Unnatural Causes.  A robust discussion about racial and socioeconomic inequities in health followed with members sharing experiences, reactions and suggesting ways to change present conditions.
Housing Committee  In March, the commitee heard from Paula Miller of Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland with an overview of the programs and training they offer to the residents of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.  Frank Ford updated the group on what VAPAC (Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council) is and what they have accomplished since their creation in 2005.  Some of those highlights include 1) developing guidelines for Municipal CRA agreements; 2) developed mortgage servicer guidelines for REO disposition; 3) developed an REO Code of Conduct; 4) prepared recommendations for Cuyahoga County Tax Lien Sales to minimize irresponsible flipping of abandoned property; and 5) sponsored a county-wide Code Enforcement Summit.  Michael Halpern of Safeguard Properties updated the group on what information can be found on the Compliance Connections website and April Hirsch of Case Western Reserve University told the group about some interesting and useful updates to the NST Web App.  The next meeting of the Housing Committee will take place on Wednesday, May 22nd at noon.
Economic Development Committee  The Economic Development Committee hosted Daavid Cooper, Deputy Director of Building & Housing with the City of Cleveland at their April meeting.  Deputy Director Cooper shared information about the Building & Housing Department, such as new procedures and policy changes.  He also presented upcoming improvements to the B & H website, including added information that will be available on line, (i.e. plan review and status).  Most importantly, he listened to committee feedback and indicated some of the suggestions would be implemented.  The committee also discussed Cleveland Bike Month (May 2012) and opportunities to showcase retail/commercial districts in conjunction with Bike Month activities.

MEMBER NEWS

The Detroit-Shoreway Community Development Organization is conducting a Best Business Plan Competition to attract independent retail start-up businesses.  Awards for the top three business plans are as follows:

  • First place will receive one year of free rent (maximum value of $10,000).
  • Second place will receive six months of free rent (maximum value of $5,000).
  • Third place will receive three months of free rent (maximum value of $2,500).

Applications will be accepted until June 29, 2012.  For more information and application guidelines, please contact Nick Fedor at nfedor@dscdo.org or by phone at 216-961-4242.

Healthy Cleveland Resolution :  Moving from Ideas to Practice  CNDC is proud to be one of the sponsors of this summit set to take place on Friday, May 11th from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Cleveland City Council Chambers.  This event emerged from Resolution 257-11, the Healthy Cleveland Resolution, which was passed by Council a year ago.  This resolution outlines the framework for tackling the root causes of the health disparities which exist between communities of means and low income communities.  This summit was made possible due to the generous support of ReachU.S. (a program of the YMCA) and the St. Luke's Foundation.  For more information and to RSVP, email Colleen Gilson at cgilson@cndc2.org.  Please RSVP by May 7, 2012.