2013 Economic Impact of Companies Funded and/or Assisted by the Northeast Ohio Entrepreneurial Signature Program

This report measures the economic impact of early-stage companies that have been supported by JumpStart Inc. and its partners in the Northeast Ohio Entrepreneurial Signature Program (ESP).1 Companies included in this report have received significant technical assistance and/or direct investment funding from entrepreneurial support organizations in the ESP. It is important to note that North Coast Angel Fund invests in companies throughout Ohio and the economic outcomes generated by these firms are included in the statewide economic impact reported here; while the remainder of the ESP’s entrepreneurial acceleration activities are confined geographically to the 21 counties of Northeast Ohio. The Center for Economic Development at Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs prepared this economic impact study for JumpStart. In total, 339 JumpStart and/or ESP companies were surveyed for this study. Of those 339, 94 were excluded because they reported no employment, payroll, or expenditures, suggesting that they do not yet create an economic impact, thus leaving 245 companies which were included in the impact analysis. Of these, 112 (portfolio companies) were funded and received significant business assistance from an ESP partner, 9 were funded by an ESP partner but received no business assistance, and 124 (client companies) received significant business assistance but no direct funding from an ESP partner