Manufacturing is not going away in Ohio — here’s why.

There is a lack of skilled workers over the next 3 to 10 years. According to a recent study, North-East Ohio will lose 60,000 manufacturing workers over the next 10 years.

Ohio manufacturing is responsible for more than one fourth of Ohio’s Gross State Product!

For the State of Ohio, manufacturing’s average wages are exceeded only by mining. (Ohio Bureau of Labor Market Information)

Ohio ranks third nationwide in manufacturing output.

Manufacturing leads other Ohio industries in Contribution to Gross State Product.

 

Started in 2002 with less than 20 companies, the AWT has now grown to over 95 companies all working together to create a farm system for skilled workers.

Over the past year, the AWT has focused its efforts on the college education of future employees. Working with Lakeland Community College and Auburn Career Center, an associate of applied science in manufacturing has been developed as well as an educational and career pathway. This degree is also aligned with the National Association of Manufacturers Credentialing System.

More organizations virtualize computer stations, enabling users to access software remotely

By CHUCK SODER
4:30 am, January 10, 2011

(Reprinted with Author’s permission)

 

Most of the employees who will populate the new University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center will work on computers shaped like tissue boxes.

They won’t be alone: A growing number of companies and organizations in Northeast Ohio are working to “virtualize” their desktops, and even more are thinking about it.

For University Hospitals, the Ahuja Medical Center is just the beginning. The hospital system plans to replace most of its personal computers with those “tissue boxes” — referred to as “thin client” computers — over the next few years, said Brad Chilton, chief technology officer in the hospital system’s information technology department.

How did you become a Journalist?

How did you become a Journalist?

Interview with Ed Waters Jr. from the FrederickNewsPost.com
by Andrew R. Spriegel

I read a great story the other day by Ed Waters Jr. about a company that uses border collies to chase geese away from ponds and grassy areas without harming them.

Dog, Dog … Goose
Unwanted fowl are no match for Geese Police
Originally published June 14, 2010

By Ed Waters Jr.
News-Post Staff

E-mail him at ewaters@newspost.com or call him at 240-215-8607.

Click here to read the story.

However, after reading the story  I was interested in how Ed Waters Jr. became a journalist.  Here is the interview that followed:

Andrew R. Spriegel: When did you start working for the Frederick News Post?

Ed Waters Jr: I’ve worked at the Frederick News-Post since 1965, started the night after I graduated from Frederick High School.  I worked as a pressman in hot type for about 13 months, was drafted into service and was in the Marines (July 1966-July 1968) including a tour of duty in Vietnam. I returned and worked as a pressman (the company had moved and installed a cold type system), then worked in other production jobs — plate making, typesetting, composing.  I traveled a lot, did photography as a hobby  and started writing travel and feature articles and taking photos of light news such as weekend festivals, etc.

Andrew R. Spriegel: You mentioned that you went to school part time while working at the paper?

Ed Waters Jr: When Hood College, in Frederick, opened up to male day students (now it is fully co-ed), I began studying in the spring of 1973.  I went part time, took eight years to get a B.A. in communications (journalism, English, art).  I had taken two internships at the paper (worked my nights off from the production department in the newsroom at no extra pay) and in January 1976 joined the newsroom full time. I was still attending Hood College, during the day, working at night and around classes covering the county government for a year, then Frederick City government for about five years.

Andrew R. Spriegel: What else do you do at the paper?

Ed Waters Jr: Along with the city coverage, I also began covering business, real estate and automotive news, which I still do today.  At the time, editors did all of the work from writing, photos, layout, graphics, etc.  Now that is done by copy editors and page designers.  I didn’t plan to be a journalist, just looking for a job out of high school.  I still see myself as an employee of the paper, after 45 years, part of the entire operation and not just a reporter or editor.

Andrew R. Spriegel: Do you enjoy your job?

Ed Waters Jr: I enjoy the job, it is an education each day to meet people, see what is going on locally and around the world. I’ve met a president (Clinton), interviewed other well-known people, traveled and got to to know some great people in the community I probably would not have known if I was in another job.

Andrew R. Spriegel: What are your hobbies?

Ed Waters Jr: I don’t do much photography any more, but enjoy working around my house, reading (histories, mysteries), exercising (walking, yoga with 5-lb weights) and church (I speak each Sunday for a half-hour service at an assisted living center prior to the regular service at the church which is nearby).

Andrew R. Spriegel: Keep up the great work.

Innovators and Genius in Ohio

Innovators and Genius in Ohio
Tom Moran
By Andrew R. Spriegel
December 30, 2010

There are many stories about the lack of innovation and the down economy in the Ohio and Cleveland Area.  Enter Tom Moran of Midwest Plastic Fabricators (MPF) in Aurora, Ohio.  Innovator and Inventor of numerous patented manufacturing processes and products, Tom is a 45 year veteran and leader in the industry.

One of the innovative products is a line of NEMA PVC Junction Boxes.  A combination of innovative materials and patented cutting edge technology combines for easy installation and reduced life cycle cost.

PVC offers less resistance than conventional metal in cutting holes for conduit entrance.  In addition, non-conductive PVC eliminates potential shock hazard.  In addition, its non-corrosive properties offer longer life and environmental integrity.

Photo Above: Light weight PC Enclosures offer Heavy Duty Performance for food process applications

Photo Above: Innovative Non Metallic PVC Enclosures feature Three-Point Latching

Photo Above: Patented PVC Elbow Crate Saves warehouse Space and is a dispenser pack.

Consider the Fulton Road Bridge,

a Cleveland engineering landmarks is a $44 million architectural attraction that spans the Cleveland Metropark Zoo

and Big Creek Valley.

Interview with Inventor and Patent Attorney Andrew Spriegel about the Portion PadL

By Tara1 | Published: December 1, 2010

My thanks to Inventor and Patent Attorney Andrew Spriegel for agreeing to an interview with me about his business partner Greg Getzinger’s invention the Portion PadL and how together they brought the product to market. The Portion PadL was invented to enable pizza businesses to quickly and easily slice pizzas into equal pieces. The Portion PadL is available for both commercial and home use.

Tara: Please could you tell me a little bit about yourself, where you are based and your career background?

Andrew: I worked most of my career as a Manager or a Lead Senior Electro-Mechanical Engineer for Fortune 100 companies, GE, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Invacare and others.  My experience involves a wide range of products, satellites, locomotives, off-highway vehicles, medical durable goods, surgical devices and consumer goods.  I have many US and international patents and had made a lot of money for other companies.  At 48 years old I decided to go to law school to become a patent attorney and commercialize my own products and other’s products.  I now own a patent law firm (www.Smart2Patent.com) and own several businesses commercializing products.

Tara: Is the Portion PadL the first invention you have bought to market?

Andrew: No, I had brought numerous products to market prior to the Portion PadL.

Tara: I understand that the original idea for the Portion PadL was invented by Greg Getzinger with whom you are now in business. Please could you tell me a little bit about Greg, how he came up with his invention and how the two of you connected and set up your business?

Andrew: Prior to owning a pizza business (Pizza BOGO, www.pizzabogo.com) ), Greg was a Vice President for a large Insurance Company.  He developed the equal slice pizza cutting board (Portion PadL, www.PortionPadL.com) for his business to develop school and institutional accounts.  He heard complaints about unequal size slices of pizzas and worked on developing a solution for the problem.  Greg and I met at a networking event that his group was having at the building where my law firm is located.  It was a chili cook-off and Greg brought in a “chili pizza” on one of his prototype boards.  I saw the board and I asked him if it was patented and said that if it wasn’t it would be a great product to patent and commercialize.  We formed NuVo Grand, LLC as equal members.

Tara: Did you start with working drawings of the product or did you make a prototype?

Andrew: Greg built numerous prototypes (20+) of the equal slice pizza cutting board.  He was trying to perfect the cutting board for his business.  He did not have drawings, rather his father-in-law was making various designs based on Greg’s dimensions.  Greg tried numerous materials, sizes, grooves…

Tara: How did you go about protecting the invention?

Andrew: I have written two utility patents on the cutting board and I am working on a third utility patent.  We are building up a lot of intellectual property around the product.

Click here to see Video

Tara; Were there any mistakes, issues or problems you both experienced in the process of commercialization of the idea?

Andrew: Actually it has gone very smoothly.  Greg and I seem to compliment each other’s skill sets.  Greg is great at sales and marketing and I knew how to have the product manufactured, the manufacturers, the processes and protecting intellectual property.  I spent my career commercializing complex products very quickly and therefore I help inventors avoid the mistakes made by the typical inventors. Greg did encounter a big snow storm delivering materials to the manufacturer…a two hour trip turning into a twelve hour ordeal.

Tara: Did you consider licensing the invention or did you always plan to manufacture it yourself?

Andrew: The only products that I pursue are patentable, simple, revolutionary and either we can manufacture or have someone manufacture, preferably one at a time.  I prefer to take an order and then manufacture the product, that way you get to positive cash flow quickly.  Inventors often run out of money because they buy large quantities of product to get a good price on the product and they wind up with a garage full of product they can’t sell.

In my experience, licensing a product is a difficult thing to do.  Either you don’t get a deal, someone attempts to steal or design around the product or you get offered pennies on the dollar.

If you can manufacture and sell the product you start to “take away market share” and companies sit up and notice.  At that point if you sell or license the product you get a much better deal.

Tara: How will you go about marketing and publicizing your product? Do you intend to sell the product direct to businesses and public yourself or are you planning to wholesale it?

Andrew: Greg started marketing the product to large companies right away.  He has a real talent for sales.  Greg knows that it takes a lot of “no responses” to get a single yes.  Now our customers are Domino’s, Schwan’s, Speedway, Piccadilly Circus Pizza…and many Mom and Pop pizza shops.

I built the website www.PortionPadL.com and work with bloggers and social networking to build the brand.  If you Google “Portion PadL” we are the main listing for about the first six pages.

Tara: How long has it taken from Greg’s initial idea to where you both are now with the business?

Andrew: We have been working together less than a year.

Tara: What advice would you give to an aspiring inventor who thinks they have a good idea?

Andrew: We all love our own ideas, you have to determine if there is a market for the product.

Here are some of my key decision factors:

• 1. Is the product Protectable? (Patent, Trademark, Copyright…)
  • a. If you have a great product and it is not protected people will copy it fairly quickly.
  • b. If you can’t protect the product I wouldn’t bother commercializing it
    • i. However, there are products that sell very well such as the Snuggies, the Amish Fireplace…but those products have been successful because of large ad campaigns
  • c.    The Portion PadL is protected by numerous Utility Patents Pending so it’s met that key decision factor
• 2.    Is the product Revolutionary?
  • a. If it meets “a need” it is likely a commodity
    • i. People can listen to music on a large number of MP3 players
  • b.    If it meets “a want” it is likely Revolutionary
    • i. The iPod is the product that people want to listen to music on and therefore they have the largest market share.
  • c. The Portion PadL has numerous advantages over the existing products that assist people in cutting and therefore it is a “want” product.
• 3. Can be manufactured “one at a time” until you have volume orders?
  • a. In the initial stages of commercializing the product we bought a full sheet of Richlite and when a customer ordered one we had the manufacturer make one and ship it.  That way we got to positive cash flow quickly.

Tara: What advice would you give to an inventor who has already developed and manufactured their product and are now looking at ways to publicize and market it?

Andrew: If they don’t have the expertise get help.  Many inventors have a great idea or product but they get in their own way because they have no idea how to sell it.  The product fails not because of the product but because the inventor cannot let go of controlling everything.

Tara: You have started creating a series of books for inventors chronicling the journey of inventors from invention idea to commercialization, perhaps you could tell me a little more about what you hope to achieve with the books?

Andrew: The series is called the Spilled Coffee Chronicles of Invention. I have several writers documenting inventors progress in commercializing products.  I have a high success rate in commercializing products and the books will help inventors avoid the many inventors pitfalls.  The books describe the successes and the failures along the way.  The volumes are just starting to be published but the first volume for the Portion PadL is on Kindle and Amazon at: http://tinyurl.com/2wspqrh and http://tinyurl.com/36ypa6a, respectively.  The books are also written to dispel many of the myths around inventing.  It is not a get rich quick thing, it takes hard work and persistence.  The books generate income for the inventors, the writers, myself and for reinvesting in publishing the series.

Self Publishing is a Great Way to Promote your Business and Services

Self Publishing is a Great Way to Promote your Business and Services
by Andrew R. Spriegel
Patent Attorney
Spriegel & Associates, LLC
Patent and Trademark Attorneys
http://www.smart2Patent.com

Self publishing a book has become easier and more profitable and a great way to brand yourself.

The Spilled Coffee Chronicles is a series of volumes that document real world examples of an actual invention or business. This series (the Equal Slice Cutting Board) is made up of numerous volumes.  The Equal Slice Cutting Board (www.PortionPadL.com) series is the factual story and the actual experience of an inventor Greg Getzinger and me as we worked together to move an invention from an idea to a successful, commercialized product.  The Product is exceeding all sales expectations with Domino’s Pizza, Schwan’s Foods, Piccadilly Circus Pizza, Speedway and many others.

The Spilled Coffee Chronicles of Invention™ is a series of volumes about any invention, created and owned by Andrew R. Spriegel.  Each series of volumes documents the actual ideas, creation, production and marketing of a single invention.  The SCCI documents both the
successes and failures along the path.  Inventing the Pizza Cutting Board (the Portion PadL™) examines one invention with multiple volumes that concentrate on one or more aspects of the process. Volume One, The Inventors, takes a look at what it takes to be
an inventor and helps you to commercialize your idea or product if you move forward.

Books available in both electronic and paperback versions:

Paperback book on Amazon $14.99

 

Electronic book on Kindle $4.95

Invent and Grow Rich – Here are a few examples of Self-Made Millionares

33 percent of Self Made Millionaires are Entrepreneurs – Many based on simple or accidental Ideas

 

FitDeck – http://www.fitdeck.com

Create a deck of cards featuring exercise routines, and sell it online for $18.95. Sounds like a disastrous idea to me. But former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black reported 2005 sales of $4.7 million. Surely beats what the military pays.

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Designer Diaper Bags – http://www.diapeesandwipees.com/ 

Christie Rein was tired of carrying diapers around in a freezer bag. The 34-year-old mother of three found herself constantly stuffing diapers for her infant son into freezer bags to keep them from getting scrunched up in her purse. Rein wanted something that was compact, sleek and stylish, so in November 2004, she sat down with her husband, Marcus, who helped her design a custom diaper bag that’s big enough to hold a travel pack of wipes and two to four diapers. With more than $180,000 in sales for 2005, Christie’s company, Diapees & Wipees, has bags in 22 different styles, available online and in 120 boutiques across the globe for $14.99.

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Got Junk – http://www.1800gotjunk.com

This junk removal service was established in Vancouver, Canada in 1989 by founder and current CEO Brian Scudamore. He purchased a used pickup truck for $700 and came up with the slogan “We’ll stash your trash in a flash.” In 1993, months before his graduation, Scudamore quit university to concentrate on his business full time. Naturally his father, who was a Doctor by occupation, wasn’t too excited about his son’s professional plans but had to give in seeing his son’s enthusiasm. All you’ve got to do is call the company up, tell them you have a bunch of junk stashed up, and they will come and hurl it away! The company has established more than 220 franchises throughout the United States, Canada and Australia, and is worth more than $100 million

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http://www.pickydomains.com

Setting up a website today is a piece of cake. But finding the domain name that you want and which already is not taken is quite the opposite. So one man exploited this opportunity and came up with a unique idea that made him considerably rich; he simply suggested domain names for websites. Mind you it does take a certain degree of creativity! So here is how it works: after depositing 50 dollars, clients start receiving a list of available domain names via e-mail for a 30 day period. If they see a domain they like, they register it and notify the service about domain acquired. If no domain is registered, the money is refunded in full. The firm is now worth at least $5 million, courtesy this ridiculously simple idea.

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Toll House Cookies

When she ran out of baker’s chocolate in 1930, Ruth Wakefield of Whitman, Mass., baked the first chocolate-chip cookie by adding semisweet chocolate bits to the recipe. Incorrectly, she had assumed the end result would be plain chocolate cookies. She named the accidental result after the inn in which she baked, the Toll House.

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Inspirational Inventor and Entrepreneur Unveils Latest Evolution of Sleep Comfort and Support

www.neezeez.com

www.neezeez.com

20 Essential Blog Directories to Submit your Blog to

by Loren Baker

Search Engine Journal | @lorenbaker

Loren Baker is the Editor in Chief of Search Engine Journal and a Managing Partner at Search & Social. Involved in SEO for more than a decade, Loren launched SEJ in 2003 with the goal to share search marketing information and reporting on happenings in search.

Read more: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/20-essential-blog-directories-to-submit-your-blog-to/5998/#ixzz0pexYsihu

Gaining exposure for your blog is critical to building a following, readership, and revenue. Besides the basic SEO steps of adding compelling and keyword friendly titles, URL structure and descriptions (along with the basic WordPress SEO plugins) basic link building for blogs begins with listing them in blog directories.

Personally, I love launching a new blog, or adding one to an existing site, and watching the high valued links roll in. And as we know, BLOG = Better Listings On Google.

There are many paths to consider when building links to your site or blog such as link baiting or blogroll link swapping, but few are as easy to implement and cost effective as submitting to blog directories – and good link juice is essential to a healthy growing blog.

Read more: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/20-essential-blog-directories-to-submit-your-blog-to/5998/#ixzz0pewBCR2l

Let us take a look at 20 popular directories worthy of your consideration.

1. Best of the Web Blog Search La Crem de la Crem, Best of the Web’s Blog Directory is very selective and only lists aged and valuable blogs. A link from here is majestic and well deserved.

Link Building Best Practices – A Guide to Effective Link Building Methods

by SEOFocused.Com
submitted 11-02-2009

For your 1 stop link building needs, visit the author’s Link Building Service site.

Just to cover the ground, lets go over what link building is quickly. Link building is the process of building backlinks to your site. More backlinks (link form other sites to your site) a site has, higher it ranks on the search engines. Link building therefore is a mission of all money making webmasters.

Link building methods have changed form time to time and a specific method that worked yesterday may not work today anymore. This is due to changes in the industry over time and in some cases extreme abuse. If a specific link building method has been abused too much, then that method will not work anymore. It is therefore very important to know which link building method works today so that you can spend your time in a most productive way.

There are many link building methods out there today that work with some working better than others. Below are some of the today’s popular links building methods that work to some extent:

Article Submission: If you are reading this article, then you know that you can publish your own article on article directories. Not only you gain backlinks to your site from your published articles (see bottom of this article), you get some traffic as a bonus. Think of you reading this article. There can be many reading your published articles as well.

Article submission is a great way to building backlinks as it provides you with 100% relevant contextual backlinks that Google loves.

Directory Submission: Directory submission used to work lot better before but it is still a popular link building method that still works if done properly. How many web directories are out there as of this date is anyone’s guess but one thing is certain that most of the directories don’t worth submitting.