Akron-area heavy hitters offer advice on ‘One Crucial Thing
North Coast Ventures
GOJO CEO Carey Jaros and J.M. Smucker CEO Mark Smucker were two of the presenters at North Coast Ventures One Crucial Thing virtual event on April 13.
If you had a busy Tuesday on April 13 and didn t have time for YouTube, you missed the live broadcast of North Coast Ventures One Crucial Thing virtual event. But you haven t missed it entirely.
The event had 25 speakers, including big hitters from the Akron area, such as J.M. Smucker Co. CEO Mark Smucker and GOJO CEO Carey Jaros, all giving advice to current and future entrepreneurs.
80-year-old Progressive works to stay in touch with startup businesses
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Tricia Griffith, CEO of Progressive Corp., speaking at the virtual annual meeting of the North Coast Venture Fund.
Progressive Corp., the Mayfield Village-based insurer, may be the largest company in the region and, at 83 years old, one of its great growth stories, with a worldwide market. But, said CEO Tricia Griffith, it s important that the company think young and stay in touch with what s happening at companies in Northeast Ohio and elsewhere that are struggling to get off the ground. That s how I think about startups, she told the virtual attendees at the annual meeting of North Coast Ventures, the 15-year-old Cleveland investment group that helps to finance technology startups, primarily software businesses. I think about the fact that they don t have the legacy systems and they can be really nimble, and that is going to be expected of all (businesses) to be that way, even though we re over