JumpStart, Inc.

JumpStart provides business assistance to a broad range of companies, both directly and by working in partnership with its service provider networks. JumpStart employs Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Venture Partners, Market Research Analysts, Talent professionals and Marketing professionals to provide direct support to tech-based startups through the Northern Ohio ESP Networks and main street businesses through Core City programming.

DIRECT SUPPORT

JumpStart works collaboratively with partner organizations to ensure entrepreneurs across Northern Ohio have access to the programming they need to succeed. To this end, in addition to one-on-one work with entrepreneurs, JumpStart offers free educational workshops on a wide variety of topics. While some of these workshops are targeted towards early-stage tech-based companies (such as the Launch Your MVP Program focused on software products), subjects such as Talent Strategy, Social Media Strategy, and Digital Marketing are open to any business meeting size and growth criteria. For high-potential clients eager for intensive assistance, JumpStart offers the Impact Program, a 12-week business assistance program with an emphasis on financial projections and capital pitches.

In addition to assistance and programming provided by paid JumpStart staff, clients may also be matched with a mentor from the Burton D. Morgan Mentoring Program at JumpStart, where those with experience in entrepreneurship and who are subject matter experts volunteer their time to assist entrepreneurs to validate and grow their companies, or a mentor from the Core City Encore Mentoring Program, which matches individuals (age 50+) who want to give back to their community with entrepreneurs in search of advice to grow their businesses.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT

JumpStart manages networks of entrepreneurial service organizations set-up to assist early-stage, high-tech entrepreneurs across the 39 counties of Northern Ohio (including 21 counties in Northeast Ohio and 18 counties in Northwest Ohio). JumpStart secures partial support for these service organizations from the Ohio Third Frontier, a program of the State of Ohio. As network manager, JumpStart not only manages all invoicing and reporting to the state but brings 14 partner organizations together on a regular basis to assess startup client deal flow and allocate resources using a shared client management system.

Together with the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Equity and Inclusion division, JumpStart has helped establish a network to provide the same kind of coordinated support to the minority small business community that is available to tech entrepreneurs. With this intention, the Business Growth Collaborative (BGC) and the Business Growth Collaborative Funding Pool were formed, first in Cleveland and then in Toledo. JumpStart provides backbone management support and is a member, working to provide assistance and connections to small business owners.