Roundup: handshake deals, COOs & more

Weekend News Roundup — By Melanie McIntyre on June 4, 2011 at 8:00 am

Former Iams owner Clayton Mathile put $130 million toward launching and funding Dayton-based Aileron. Since its opening, more than 20,000 small business owners and their employees have taken the institute’s business classes, used its resources, and gotten counseling to improve their companies. [Read More]

Failure to communicate everything involved in a handshake deal more often than not leads to a courtroom battle, says Julie Phillips, associate at Worley Law LLC. [Read More]

Even startups can benefit from having a chief operating officer, says Firas Raouf, partner at OpenView Partners. [Read More]

BounceFire, an Internet marketing firm and former Dublin Entrepreneurial Center tenant, has been acquired by BizziBiz. [Read More]

Bryan Griffith has left the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center and merged his law firm with Sanborn, Brandon, Duvall & Bobbit Co. LPA. [Read More]

Creative Spot, a marketing, advertising, and design agency in downtown Columbus, specializes in helping small and mid-size businesses maximize their marketing dollars. [Read More]

Big Change Strategies, a strategic consulting firm, is the newest addition to Qwirk Coworking Columbus. [Read More]

Westerville City Council has approved a $100,000 partnership to join TechColumbus’s Entrepreneurial Signature Program. [Read More]

Central Ohio’s prospects for job growth and investment look promising, says Kenny McDonald, CEO of Columbus2020! [Read More]

Author Bio: Melanie McIntyre:
Melanie McIntyre is The Metropreneur’s Editorial Director. Upon earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University in 2004, she became a staff writer for a business and legal newspaper in Columbus. During her tenure there, she wrote more than 500 stories about finance and real estate and development in Central Ohio. Since leaving the paper in 2008, Melanie has worked on a freelance basis for several local entities, including Columbus Underground, where she has been a featured writer since April 2009. She also writes about fashion and style at Thoroughly Modern Melly. She lives in Columbus’s Short North and enjoys reading, running, and sarcasm.