No password needed for the Red Room

Guest on CC's hot radio show a couple of weeks ago was Cathy Panzica--the person who started the Red Room dialogues, which she modeled on an organization she'd seen in England. The point is to bring together private industry and government for the purpose of transforming Northeast Ohio.

Cathy is one of several principals who operate Panzica Investments, a group that's decided to invest aggressively in the local technology community. They're
"putting our money where our mouth is," starting with a technology park located in Mayfield Village, where two companies already reside. But that wasn't enough--they also began the Beta Opportunities Fund to drive tech business and recently, on advice from John Medved, a financier they imported from Israel, have increased the fund to $100 million.

So far they've got money in 8 firms that expect to generate a couple of hundred jobs in the next six months. They're forming cluster spinouts and focusing on equipment know-how--making equipment on the manufacturing floor smart. When equipment can sense vibrations, speeds, heat, etc., companies can avoid shutdowns and save huge amounts of money.

They're looking at companies that will facilitate the coming communications convergence--eliminating voice mail, for example, with "voice packets"--and a software (Gauntlet) that keeps impaired drivers off the road. Cathy's also instrumental in the Red Room Revolution – a plan to bring foreign companies here instead of to Boston, Silicon Valley, and others.

And Cathy's not alone--lots of players in Northeast Ohio are sitting in the Red Room and organizing exciting doings. Hang on, Cleveland, the Revolution is here. Read more here. And listen to the radio broadcast here.