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Columbus explores what it means to have "smart" transit

May 20, 2019
The capital of Ohio won $40 million in federal funding for its projects last year.
Smart Columbus Experience Center
City of Columbus

Can Cleveland require contractors to hire local workers?

Apr 30, 2019
The Supreme Court of Ohio will decide.
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland is undergoing a $185 million renovation. The construction firm on the project has voluntarily agreed to comply with a local ordinance that requires contractors on certain publicly funded construction projects allocate at least 20% of the work hours to Cleveland residents.
Adrian Ma/ideastream

Ohio experiments with bitcoin tax payments

Apr 8, 2019
The state treasurer's office is trying something new.
A window display at the Blockland Solutions Conference in Cleveland this past December.
Adrian Ma/ideastream

The cost of youth unemployment

Apr 4, 2019
There are about 4.5 million young adults in their late teens and early 20s who are neither in school nor working.
Ricco Williams of Euclid, Ohio, never finished high school, but recently enrolled in a free tutoring program to prepare for the GED exam.
Adrian Ma/ideastream

Can a lake have legal rights? Voters in Toledo, Ohio, will decide

Feb 22, 2019
Ballot measure supporters want to stop pollution in Lake Erie. Opponents say the measure could unleash a torrent of frivolous lawsuits.
Members of a grassroots group called Toledoans for Safe Water set up a sign on a highway overpass urging people to vote for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.
Adrian Ma/ideastream

After a layoff, moving home could relieve some financial burden

Oct 3, 2018
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, nearly half of all workers will at some point in their career become “displaced” — that is, they will lose a job through no fault of their own. When that happens, getting back to the level of income earned before the displacement often takes years, if not […]
A worker packs a box with clothing while moving a family in Tiburon, Calif.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

A Lawson’s store in Lakewood, Ohio in 1975 (left), and a Lawson store in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighborhood in 2018. Even though the brand was founded in Ohio, there are zero Lawson stores in the continental U.S. today, and over 14,000 in Japan. 
Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library & Adrian Ma/Marketplace

While challenges remain for transgender jobseekers, more businesses are reaching out to the trans community

Jun 8, 2018
Looking for a job can be difficult for anyone, but for transgender people, it can be especially tough.
At a recent “Transgender Job Fair” hosted by Cleveland’s Metro Health hospital, the organizers gave away buttons that participants could use to indicate their gender pronouns.
Adrian Ma for Marketplace

As the housing market heats up, so does competition among realtors

Mar 16, 2018
With fewer homes to sell, realtors say they need to look for new ways to find business
Jim Haffey, an agent at Howard Hanna Realty Services, says the influx of new realtors has him working harder to find new business. Recently, he's started sending video postcards to potential clients.
Adrian Ma for Marketplace