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
The restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic are opening up the Tuesday, Feb. 23, meeting, which will feature a chat with Tricia Griffith, president and CEO of Progressive Corp., who will discuss the company's data and technology strategy, its approach to innovation and its recent partnerships with technology startups.
Entrepreneur sees a business angle for software startup Emvitals in pandemic
Jennifer Hunter
Editor s note: This article was updated at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 1, to clarify that results of the Emvitals software s assessment of an employee s emotional health are confidential and are seen only by the employee.
Certainly she couldn t have anticipated it, but entrepreneur Jennifer Hunter sees a role for her nearly 2-year-old business, Emvitals Inc., in easing the emotional stresses aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic maybe even helping people cope with the recent clash at the U.S. Capitol.
Hunter, a mental health therapist by training, is building a software business that is designed as a component of corporate wellness and employee assistance programs. Emvitals is an entry point to an online wellness or employee assistance program for someone seeking help with a mental health issue. It s used to measure and track an individual s emotional health, helping both employers and employe