Second Cohort of Scalerator NEO Program Underway
The second cohort of
the Scalerator NEO program, co-funded by Burton D. Morgan Foundation and Richard J. Fasenmyer Foundation, launched on April 19. Scalerator NEO is a six-month, cohort-based educational program for entrepreneurs and leaders who want to deliver immediate growth to their businesses and are open to learning new ways to achieve this goal.
Scalerator was developed by Daniel Isenberg, founding director of the Babson College Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project. Over 170 companies have participated in Scalerator to date, with previous cohorts taking place in Northeast Ohio, Milwaukee, Manizales (Colombia) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The Scalerator curriculum, focused on the 3 Cs of growth – Customers, Capacity and Cash – has helped companies from diverse industries and sectors grow, with 75% increasing growth by 25% or more following the program. The target profile for Scalerator NEO is companies between $5 million and $15 million in sales and a desire to grow their businesses. Companies from all sectors were encouraged to apply, as a diverse cohort of companies has proven to provide the most fertile ground for a successful Scalerator experience.
Fifteen Northeast Ohio companies are participating in the second cohort of Scalerator NEO. The participants include manufacturers, service businesses, and tech companies from Cuyahoga, Medina, Lake, and Summit counties. The businesses average roughly $5.4 million in sales and 27 employees. Cohort members include:
- ABC Packaging Direct
- 33 Mile Radius, LLC
- ALICE Training Institute
- AMFM Inc., dba OmegaOne
- Brand Castle, LLC
- Clearsulting LLC
- Excelsior Marking
- Lakes Heating & Air Conditioning
- Logan Clutch Corporation
- MakerGear
- Marine Services International, Inc.
- QualTech Technologies, Inc.
- Regency Construction Services, Inc.
- Surface Materials
- The Sheet Metal Products Co., Inc.
Scalerator NEO complements other services currently available to support established, growing enterprises in Northeast Ohio by offering highly-motivated entrepreneurs an opportunity to learn practical skills with a small, select group of peers. The cohort learning environment has proven to stimulate new growth strategies and inspire entrepreneurs to aggressively grow their businesses. Many local economic development organizations and professionals have rallied behind Scalerator NEO, and were a part of the effort to identify the first and second cohort. Serving as administrator of the program is EDGE, a nonprofit economic development organization focused on innovation and entrepreneurship in Northeast Ohio.
Results of Scalerator NEO Cohort 1:
- Fourteen companies graduated from the first Scalerator NEO program in 2017, which included a mix of manufacturers, software companies, and service providers and say the experience transformed their businesses.
- Collectively the participating companies experienced a growth in earnings (EBIT) of 40% from 2016 to 2017.
- While average company revenues grew nearly 9% in 2017, as a whole, the group plans to double revenue growth to a projected 18% in 2018.
Testimonials:
“Using the lessons we learned from Scalerator, we turned an initial $50K project into a $1.75M project.”
— Mike Smith, President, HyperProductive
“We’ve grown that business year to date ... 18% ... In our market it typically grows no more than 3-5% growth, so that is really great performance!”
— Ron Zieske, CEO, Heat Seal
Scalerator NEO workshops take place on the campus of Baldwin Wallace University. For more information about Scalerator NEO, please visit ScaleratorNEO.org.