MedCity News awarded $25,000 from Lorain County Community College Foundation

CLEVELAND, Ohio — MedCity News on Thursday was awarded a grant from the Innovation Fund of the Lorain County Community College Foundation that’s meant for nascent businesses to build out technology to improve their businesses and lead to job growth.

MedCity News received the group’s “A Grant,” which includes $25,000 to build a cutting edge content-management system that will eventually be the centerpiece of its business.

“From the Innovation Fund committee’s evaluation, MedCity News represents a unique platform approach for how news will be distributed across many different kinds of media in the future through the Internet, more so than just that it’s chosen to develop that platform around medical news,” said Don Knechtges, senior advisor to the Innovation Fund of Lorain County Community College Foundation. “We think very strongly that it represents a significant change in the whole news distribution business.”

MedCity News is a next-generation content provider that focuses on the health-care sector. Its products include:

The MedCity News Service, which operates like a niche version of The Associated Press by producing news stories on business, innovation and influence in health care for use by digital, print and broadcast media.
MedCity News Custom, in which publishers and organizations can order specific content written by experienced health-care writers who are managed by MedCity News.
MedCityNews.com, a destination health-care Web site that provides information for stakeholders in the medical industry.

“We are thrilled to be awarded this grant and grateful to the Lorain Community College Foundation,” said Chris Seper, co-founder of MedCity News. “Awards by organizations like the Innovation Fund and, previously, Cleveland’s Civic Innovation Lab, validate our business model and demonstrate the value of our approach to our industry. We value not only the financial award from the fund but their expertise, which will help us continue to improve on an already sound business.”

The Innovation Fund of the Lorain County Community College Foundation, established in 2007, is a regional fund focused on supporting technology-based entrepreneurial endeavors and emerging technology-based businesses. The fund is administered by the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE).

“The goal of the innovation fund is to help companies be successful because it’s a philanthropic fund. So, it is not just about giving the money, it’s about helping,” Knechtges said.

GLIDE, established in 2001, is a comprehensive regional innovation center, resource hub and business incubator that supports all facets of the start-up, development and growth of enterprises. Created by a partnership between the Lorain County Commissioners, Lorain County Community College and the Ohio Department of Development, GLIDE’s objective is to grow jobs and spearhead economic growth in both Lorain County and the Northern Ohio region.

For more information, contact Amanda Todorovich of MedCity News at: amanda@medcitynews.com