"Baru" is vying to disrupt the multibillion-dollar market for cabinets with an online, custom approach that puts idle manufacturing capacity to work. But first, founder Tino Go and Baru Inc. need more money.

After four-plus years of fits and starts, Baru launched a website on Jan. 25 where industry pros – interior designers, cabinet dealers and remodeling contractors – can order custom cabinets. Those orders, translated into machining instructions, go to regional cabinet makers whose computer-controlled machines turn those instructions, and Baru-supplied materials, into products. The result is custom cabinets that are priced competitively and delivered more quickly than the industry average – six weeks or sooner from the order, rather than several months, Go said.

https://www.ideastream.org/economy/2024-02-07/cleveland-startup-wants-to-become-the-uber-of-custom-cabinets

Accompanied by two nephews and a niece, an emotional Jodie Perry was sworn in Friday morning as Mansfield's new mayor. Since 2014, Perry has been the president and CEO of Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development. She reduced her role to COO of the chamber after she became a candidate. She previously said she began thinking about running for office while working on the Mansfield Rising plan in 2018.

Jodie Perry helped lead the Mansfield Rising downtown investment and improvement plan four years ago. She will lead a city-wide improvement effort for the next four years as the new mayor. A Republican, Perry defeated Democrat Sherry Vaught on Tuesday, winning 65.74 percent of the vote from city voters, according to final, unofficial totals from the Richland County Board of Elections.

Kent State graduate Brandon Lazenko’s short film “October Roses,” inspired by Stephen King’s short story “Nona,” premiered on the KSU campus on October 13, 2023.

“October Roses” follows Adam, a college professor who, from his jail cell, recounts the night he returned to his hometown and met a woman named Nona at a bar. He became enamored with Nona, and from there, Adam and Nona go on a hitchhiking journey. Eventually, Adam must confront his dark past, which involves the death of someone close to him. The movie was filmed primarily in the greater Mansfield area, including a scene in the Braintree Building. https://kentwired.com/103390/latest-updates/alumnus-brings-stephen-kings-work-to-the-silver-screen/?fbclid=IwAR2AB9-yOJZYd471maXT6jrwl-DgRYaCtjWFywjqA9bWNO2jkD72Dsm_i3o

• Baru, a Braintree ESP client, has completed the Fulcrum Ventures' accelerator program. This program is focused specifically on helping founders go through the fundraising process.

“We are thrilled to announce the seventh cohort,” said CEO Will Sacks. “The journey to this point has been a rigorous one, involving the meticulous review of hundreds of companies. After careful consideration, we have handpicked the most promising ventures set to graduate in September 2023“.

At the heart of Fulcrum’s selection process lies a keen focus on the founders and their potential to create positive change in the world. “We are genuinely excited about the visionary minds behind these startups and their ability to build scalable companies that make a difference,” said Program Director Cailin Hardell.

Fulcrum is proud to announce the companies in its seventh cohort:

Big Blue People —The Largest Service Marketplace in Latin America (CEO Gustavo Huenelaf)

Crypto Legacy — Unbreakable Zero-Trust Digital Vault (CEO Sree Chintala)

Devour.io — Revolutionizing Customer Engagement for Restaurants (CEO Shelly Rupel)

Field House — Maximizing Athlete Performance and Longevity (CEO Alec Parower)

Galliwant — AI-Powered Personalized Travel Experiences (CEO Kapil Sharma)

Gathr — The Digital Gateway for Storytellers (CEO Scott Glosserman)

GolferX — AI-Powered Golf Advice (CEO Andrew Ajax)

Heartful Sprout — AI-Based Infant and Toddler Nutrition (CEO Kay Lim)

Hello Baru — Shared-Economy Digital Manufacturing Platform (CEO Tino Go)

Kaira.ai — Supporting Employee’s Financial Health (CEO Eric Mac Nicoll)

Liber8 — Your Unique Path to Emotional Freedom (CEO Raj Jana)

Love Lace — The First Generative AI Platform for VR (CEO Kayla Comalli)

Manis — Fintech-As-A-Service (CEO Denson Xu)

Movig — Accelerating Brand Deals for Creators (CEO Ibrahim Ayub)

Neural Wave — Smart Productivity Assistant (CEO Chayan Bhattacharyay)

Vieaura — No-code Industrial Frontline Platform (CEO Shrikant Yarlagadda )

United Effects — Simplifying Auth and Integration for SMBs (CEO Bo Motlagh)

Fulcrum adopts a unique approach by identifying promising startups and founders at an early stage and facilitating the closing of seed capital to help them elevate their ventures. Notable graduates like Nori, Plannery, and Expectful have either raised subsequent funding rounds or been acquired.

About Fulcrum & Fundraising Mastery

Fulcrum Venture Accelerator’s mission is to help human potential flourish by identifying the most promising entrepreneurs working on impactful startups, and leading them through an intensive process of fundraising development so they close seed financing. Fulcrum has worked with 100+ promising companies since 2019. Alumni using the Fulcrum process have raised $50M+ in pre-seed, seed and follow-on funding. https://fulcrumventures.io/2023/07/26/fulcrum-venture-accelerator-launches-seventh-cohort-of-groundbreaking-startups-pioneering-the-future-of-innovation

Richland Area Chamber recently marked an important addition to Mansfield’s creative industry with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Leapyear Studios. Situated in the Braintree building at 201 E. Fifth St., Suite 320, the studio is poised to become a hub for filmmakers and visual artists. https://1812blockhouse.com/business-politics/a-cinematic-leap-in-mansfield

Andy Gardner and Jen Enskat celebrated the launch of Leapyear Studios Friday. Leapyear Studios film school is located in the Braintree Business Development Center. 

Leapyear Films, the business founded by Gardner and Enstat in 2011, produced TEDx Mansfield in 2018. Its documentary “The Bride Prince” won four “best documentary” awards and two awards of excellence in the categories of Liberation/Social Justice/Protest and Best Use of Film for Social Change.

The Manufacturing Hall of Fame has inducted a new cohort which includes four individuals and five families. Angela Phillips of Phillips Tube Group, Paki Goyal of Ohio Brass and Goyal Industries, and Jim Snyder of Hi-Lo Trailers. Paki Goyal was one of the early tenants of the incubator program. When Ohio Brass closed, he and some other former employees struck out on their own. Paki's son Jay Goyal, is a Braintree Board member.

Posthumously:

• Don Snyder of Tappan Stove Company and Snyder/ Hi-Lo Trailers
• Rudolph(1873-1948), Frank(1877-1954), Lewis(1910-1960) & Albert (1915-2002) Hartman of Hartman Circuit Board/ Electric Company (now TE Connectivity)
• Henry Huggins(1857-1936) & Henry Bostwick(1895-1979) Sanford of New Method Stove Company
• John(1909-1990), Buss(1913-1961) & Hod(1915-1996) Bolesky, and Dutch(1901-1974) & Jim R(1929-2015) Germany of Mansfield Electric Controls/ Therm-O-Disc
• Thomas J(1871-1918), William H(1873-1960), Albert I(1880-1959), Samuel(1883-1972), John Jr(1885-1931), Harold(1887-1950), Frank A(1888-1968) & James G(1891-1945) Davey of Mansfield Sheet & Tin Plate Company (now Cleveland Cliffs)
• William J(1860-1936), Paul(1887-1978), Alan(1894-1972) & Dick(1914-2007) Tappan of Eclipse/ Tappan Stove Company

Each inductee received a personalized cutting board from Miller Fabricating and Welding. Descendants or business partners accepted the awards for posthumously inducted family members.

“October Roses” follows a down-on-his-luck college professor who is hitchhiking through Maine when he is forced to find shelter from a summer downpour. When Adam enters a roadside bar, an eerily familiar woman entices him to accompany her on a path for vengeance. Shelby Bryant and Brandon Lazenko bought the rights to adapt Steven King's “Nona” in 2021 and created the script and storyboard starting in January 2022.

They filmed at locations across Richland County in August, including the Mansfield Cemetery, Brown Derby RoadHouse, the Plymouth Township Building, Braintree and Dynasty Lanes in Willard.

https://www.richlandsource.com/life_and_culture/movie-recorded-in-mansfield-raising-money-to-premiere-october-roses-this-fall/article_b03d1c72-eab3-11ed-9aff-a3873ae2526d.html

In a four-person field, Perry claimed 56.2% of the votes to secure the Republican nomination for Mansfield mayor in Tuesday's primary election. In final, unofficial results from the Richland County Board of Elections, Perry accumulated 1,584 votes. Finance Director Linn Steward was second with 643 votes, followed by At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader with 326 votes and political newcomer Jim Holsinger with 268. Perry will face Democrat Sherry Vaught in the November general election.

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/2023/05/03/chamber-of-commerces-perry-wins-republican-nom-for-mansfield-mayor/70169673007/?utm_source=pman-dailybriefing-automated&utm_content=1019mn%20-daily%20briefing&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Trending%20Stories