Lillian Kuri, our Vice President, Strategic Grantmaking, Arts & Urban Design Initiatives, was live on Fox 8 yesterday representing the Cleveland Foundation as one of five investors participating in Cleveland Chain Reaction, an economic development project that will match local investors with local entrepreneurs to open five new businesses in a Cleveland neighborhood in 2017. Cleveland Chain Reaction is being produced by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) and Glazen Urban, along with media partner WJW Fox 8. The goal? To deliver up to $1 million of investment to a neighborhood in the city of Cleveland!
How we’re involved
Cleveland Chain Reaction investors, left to right: Fred Geis, Andrew Jackson, Justin Miller, Claudia Young and Lillian Kuri (Cleveland Foundation)
The Cleveland Foundation is participating in the effort as an investor, along with local entrepreneurs Fred Geis of Hemingway Development, Andrew Jackson of Elson’s International, Justin Miller of CleanLife Energy and Claudia Young of Velvet Tango Room & Citizen Pie. Our involvement in Chain Reaction aligns with our history of support for economic and neighborhood development projects. In 2016 alone, the Cleveland Foundation and our donors invested more than $3.5 million supporting economic development and more than $12.2 million supporting neighborhoods in Greater Cleveland.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress is coordinating the neighborhood competition to determine which neighborhood will host Cleveland Chain Reaction. Ten neighborhoods applied and four finalists have been selected:
- Clark Fulton/La Villa Hispana – West 25th Street and Clark Ave.
- North Shore Collinwood – East 185th Street
- Slavic Village – Fleet Ave.
- St. Clair Superior – St. Clair Ave. (from East 50th Street to East 69th Street)
How you can get involved
We invite you to help the investors choose the winning neighborhood by casting your vote on Fox 8’s website here. Votes will be collected until April 14, and the winning neighborhood will be announced live on Fox 8 News in the Morning on April 21!
Cleveland Chain Reaction is also accepting applications from businesses and entrepreneurs who are interested in being considered as one of the five companies who will work with our investors to build a new business in the selected neighborhood. Learn more and pitch your business via www.clevelandchainreaction.org.
Stay tuned – Fox 8 will feature the finalist neighborhoods on air April 7, 13 and 14. We look forward to participating in this exciting opportunity for our community!
