Home      About Us      News      Tenants      IT Alliance      ITAC      Partners      Resources

Braintree   201 East Fifth Street    Mansfield, Ohio 44902       419/525-1614 PH     419/525-3492 Fax    Email

About Braintree

The Braintree Center for Business Innovation, one of Northeast Ohio's technology incubators, is a part of the statewide network of incubators and centers funded by the Edison Technology Program of the Ohio Department of Development.  In addition to the incubator program (officially known as Mansfield/Richland Incubator), the Center also houses an office of the Small Business Development Center at Ashland University, an International Trade Assistance Center that serves new-to-export companies in a nineteen county region, and the Northern Ohio IT Alliance, serving a thirteen county area as the regional affiliate of the Ohio IT Alliance.  As a technology incubator, Braintree's main focus is on four clusters: advanced manufacturing, IT, biosciences, and international.

Bob Leach, Director of Operations

Bob Leach joined Braintree in April 2007 as coordinator of all activities of the Mansfield/Richland Incubator program, and also as director of the Northern Ohio IT Alliance.  Previously he spent 11 years as the Facility Manager and Systems Administrator for an Optical Disk and Video Duplication facility in Grove City, OH. Prior to that, Bob spent ten years in management for a large Home Center retailer and four years in the US Navy.

 Bob is a Graduate of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and served on board the commissioning crew of the USS Georgia SSBN 729.  Bob’s entrepreneurial experience comes from several companies in the construction industry.

Bob Cohen, CEO, Director of Business Assistance

Bob Cohen has served as CEO and Director Of Business Assistance since March of 2007. In this role, he serves as a resource person for technology entrepreneurs in a multi-county area of north east Ohio as part of Ohio's Third Frontier-funded TechLift Program. He served as Braintree's Executive Director from July of 2004 until March of 2007.  Previous to accepting the position at Braintree, he spent ten years working as regional manager for a Washington-based international business development agency and one year as operations manager for a Columbus-based micro-enterprise program.  Cohen, who has lived in the Mansfield area since 1988, has served as an adjunct faculty member of North Central State College and Ashland University, and is currently on the faculty of The Ohio State University Mansfield, and OSU’s Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster.

Bob has a Ph.D in Higher Education from Ohio University, an M.A. from The Ohio State University, an MBA from Franklin University, and a B.A. from the University of Akron.  He is a licensed insurance agent, and a Certified Business Advisor (CBA).  His entrepreneurial background is in the insurance and broadcasting industries.  In his spare time he enjoys traveling and has been to all fifty states, all ten Canadian provinces and a total of 32 countries.

Ken Cline, Director of Manufacturing and Technology Small Business Development Center

Ken is a U.S. Navy Veteran, having served in the Viet Nam conflict.  He is a lifelong Mansfield, Ohio area resident   Ken is a graduate of Ashland University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management.  He has over 30 years in operations management experience at AK Steel in Mansfield, Ohio.  In addition, he as served as a substitute teacher and real estate agent, as well as sales coordinator for Carter Machine Company in Galion, Ohio.  Prior to becoming the MTSBDC Director, Ken was the Director of the Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative at Ashland University.  Ken will be serving the small manufacturers in a seventeen county area as a Certified Business Advisor.

Braintree Board Members

Sally Gesouras, Vice President, KeyBank, Mansfield
David Grant, Assistant Vice President, Huntington Bank, Ontario
William Harvey C.P.A., Whitcomb & Hess, Ashland
Scott Huffman, President, Graywacke Engineering, Mansfield
Barb Miller, Assistant Vice President, Richland Bank, Mansfield
Jim Miller, President, Skybox Investments, Brasspack, Mansfield
Matt Miller, Ashland County Commissioner
Kevin Nestor, President, Mansfield Richland Area Chamber of Commerce
Mayor Don Culliver, City of Mansfield
John Siegenthaler, Jr., President, Lind Advertising, Mansfield
Marge Thompson, Owner NCO Chuck Warner & Associates, Mansfield
Tim Wert, Richland County Commissioner
Rachel Yarger, Architect, MKC Associates, Mansfield
Tim Bowersock, Economic Development Director, City of Mansfield
Glenna Cannon, Superintendent, Pioneer Career & Technology Center, Shelby
Jack Iliff, SCORE, Mansfield
Dan Fox, Director, Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Ashland
Mike Greene, President, REDeC, Mansfield
Tim Moore, Director, Small Business Development Center at Ashland University
Herm Stine, Governor's Regional Economic Development Director
Dave Williamson, Director, Crawford County Economic Development Partnership
Evan Scurti, Director, Ashland Area Council for Economic Development
Don Plotts, Interim President North Central State College