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The Covid-19 pandemic hit manufacturers early, disrupting the supply of raw materials, parts and components from China as early as February. In March, COVID hit the demand side, shutting down the U.S. economy and bringing production at many factories to a halt. In April, the U.S. Purchasing Managers Index registered its biggest drop since the […]

COVID-19 has not stopped the entrepreneurial spirit, despite many Richland County businesses being ordered to close their doors.Mark Hess, of Hess Industries at 108 Sawyer Parkway, and his team have created a new way for doors to open without passing the germs from one's hands on to the door handle's surface."It's a hands-free door handle […]

n 2006, Julianne Klinger was pregnant with her first child with husband Jonathan. They were living in Jonathan’s native England, where midwives urge pregnant women to play music for their unborn babies to promote bonding.Julianne looked for a device that would make it easy to play music to her baby in the womb. There were […]

Last fall, gener8tor announced it would launch a cohort of gBETA programs in the Cleveland area — featuring up to three of the seven-week programs a year, held in spring, summer and fall — as well as Backline, a free accelerator program for local musicians and bands. The Greater Cleveland region marks the 18th market […]

9. Root Insurance $350.0MRound: Series EMonth of Funding: AugustDescription: Root, the largest property-casualty InsurTech in the country, offers personalized, affordable coverage in an app. Founded by Alex Timm and Dan Manges in 2015, Root Insurance has now raised a total of $527.5MCoatue Management, DST Global, Ribbit Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, and Tiger Global Management.Investors in […]

It’s easy to take for granted the numerous metal products around us. Phone chargers, pots and pans, door hinges are all so ubiquitous, it would be easy to assume they are near-effortless to make.Yet all of these products owe their existence to the tool and die makers. They manufacture the equipment that is foundational to […]

Inspiration arrives in unexpected ways.Thirteen years ago, Jonathan Klinger came home from work to find his wife, Julianne, in the living room of their home in Cambridge, England. She was holding a CD player and had big earmuff-sized headphones strapped to her pregnant belly.More than a decade later, the couple's baby-tech startup has gone through […]

For an athlete, speed can be the difference between a casual hobby and a shot at a scholarship or a professional career. So why are the tools athletes use to improve their quickness often so clunky and outdated? That’s the problem Todd Kelley of Aspire Technologies is trying to fix. Aspire works with various resistance-based […]

Fledgling company Balloon announced today that it has raised $2.1 million in seed funding, led by angel investor Jason Calacanis, who was an early investor in Uber. Balloon, however, has nothing to do with the sharing economy. Rather it is a workplace communication platform similar to Slack but anonymous so co-workers can share ideas without […]

After weeks of anticipation, the Richland Area Chamber has named Baker’s Collision Repair and Hess Industries Ltd. the winners of this year’s Small Business of the Year award.Hess Industries received the honor in the 14 or fewer employees category; Baker’s in the 15 or more employees category.The two businesses were honored along with four additional […]