Dennis Cocco is Co-Director of GLIDE and responsible for developing marketing and technology-based business strategies in support of GLIDE. His responsibilities include identifying and recruiting technology-based start-up companies to locate within GLIDE, which is an Ohio Edison Technology Incubator. He also coordinates the delivery of Entrepreneurial Expert services in support of the Entrepreneurial Signature Program as well as providing support services for entrepreneurs and providing business counseling to GLIDE client companies. Dennis Cocco was Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications of PolyOne Corporation, a leading global polymer services company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. At PolyOne and its predecessor companies, Geon and BFGoodrich, he was the company spokesperson for inquiries from the news media, prospective investors and analysts. He also had responsibility for communications with government officials and legislatures to make certain the company’s views were heard regarding legislative bills that can affect the future of PolyOne employees. His more than 37-year career included product and application research and development, as well as technical service and marketing. He served various business management roles including being named Director of Marketing. His experience also includes three years with Exxon Mobile Research and Engineering, and ten years with Diamond Shamrock Dennis graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. He has authored various papers including contributions to the Encyclopedia of Packaging and the Journal of Vinyl Technology. He was a member of the SPE (Society of Plastic Engineers) Vinyl Division Technical Program Committee and served in the past as secretary and chairman. He is also an active member of the Ohio Polymer Strategy Council, the National Investors Relations Institute, board member and past president of the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity and current member of the board for the Great Lakes Science Center.

As Co-Director of GLIDE, Jim is responsible for the planning, organizing and directing of all GLIDE activities.  Jim's responsibilities include managing support services for entrepreneurs, including first level assessments, a comprehensive resource network, and providing business advisory services to companies.

Jim was Co-Founder of Banyan Technology, North America's leading innovator of live carrier and API connectivity for transportation management.  At Banyan, Jim served as CEO and CCO of a high growth software as a service (SaaS) model company.

A native of Northeast Ohio, Jim earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Ashland University.  He has been very active in the non-profit community serving on many boards including Leadership Lorain County, Lorain County Community Action Agency (LCCCA), and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Currently serving as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) for medical device and biosensor technologies at GLIDE, BioEnterprise and JumpStart, Russell Donda has more than 25 years of management experience at both executive and entrepreneurial levels. As an EIR, he helps company founders assess the commercial feasibility of their technology; with that feasibility confirmed, he assists in creating and implementing their development plan and ushers them through the local seed funds. Among other projects, Russ was the founding CEO and chairman of the board for ViewRay Incorporated, (www.viewray.com), a company developing a novel form of radiation therapy. It was subsequently venture funded by Aisling Capital, Fidelity Biosciences, Kearny Venture Partners, OrbiMed Advisors and Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) GmbH. Russ was a founding member of and co-chair of investment review for the Emergent Growth Fund, LLC (www.emergentgrowth.com), an angel investment fund focused on technology businesses. Additionally, he was a founding manager of and spearheaded business development for the allograft implant company, Regeneration Technologies, a privately held, for-profit spinout of The University of Florida Orthopedic Tissue Bank which went public (www.rtix.com).

 As Co-Director of GLIDE, Cliff is responsible for the planning, organizing, and directing of all GLIDE’s activities. Cliff’s responsibilities include managing support services for entrepreneurs including first level assessments, a comprehensive resource network and providing business counseling to GLIDE client companies. In 1984, Cliff co-founded DIY Home Warehouse, a regional home improvement warehouse retailer. Cliff served as President and Chief Executive Officer. The Cleveland-based startup grew to 16 stores, 1,800 employees, and $220 million in annual sales. He led the executive management team through a $25 million NASDAQ IPO. Through the years, he implemented strategic initiatives to reduce the impact of competing national warehouse chains. In addition to managing all business development, Cliff led activities pertaining to real estate, merchandising, operations, finance and marketing. In 1993, DIY was selected #5 in Forbes Magazine – Best Small Companies in America. Prior to joining GLIDE, Cliff founded Chatham Consulting, LLC, which helped privately held companies to analyze product mix, advertising programs, expense structures and administrative overhead. Previously, Cliff held a senior level VP position at Eclipse Industries, Inc., a regional home improvement warehouse retailer located in St. Louis, MO. While in this position, he was instrumental in growing the business from 4 retail locations to a 9-unit chain. He was a member of the Executive team responsible for increasing sales from $15 million to $60 million. A native of Boston, MA, Cliff earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Western New England College in Springfield, MA. Cliff has been involved with Youth Sports, Indian Guides, and has been very active in his church. He and his wife, Mary, live in Hudson, Ohio. They have two married children and four grandchildren.

Heather Hall has made a career of building and growing technology teams.  Having worked at both startups and Fortune 500 companies, she has developed global experience in developing corporate identity, including sales strategy and go-to-market positioning for both business to business and business to consumer focused brands.  She currently serves as an Entreprenuer In Residence, where she works with early-stage software and IT startups, focusing on go-to-market strategies, funding, and revenue growth via sales and marketing development.

Previously, Heather served as Engagement Manager at Sales Benchmark Index, a management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing to help clients accelerate their rate of revenue growth.  She also led the Sales Enablement Group at Acxiom, a marketing technology and services company that sells to Fortune 1000 business to business brands.  With a heavy focus on what it takes to drive a deal to close, she developed a unique perspective on the sales process and built a meaningful go-to-market strategy that helped drive $675 million in contract value.

Not constrained to a sales channel view, Heather has also led large consulting teams, supporting blue chip clients such as Foot Locker, Microsoft, Altria, L'Oreal, Vera Bradley and others in developing data-driven insights and customer strategies that drive top line growth, while driving feedback into the product development cycle to ensure that corporate growth stays closely connected with demand.  Additionally, as part of AT&T New Ventures and Lucent New Ventures, she helped incubate and launch both software and hardware-based businesses.

Heather attended Saint Louis University, where she received dual degrees in Political Science and History.

 Bob assists growing high tech startups as an EIR at YBI and JumpStart.

After 25 years of executive management and technology sales & marketing in industry,  Chris Mather has had the opportunity over the past ten years to be involved in the development of one of the best entrepreneurial ecosystems in the U.S., and in the design and implementation of creative, unique and impactful  technology-based economic development programs.  

In 2004, Chris entered the world of technology-based economic development, for what he planned to be a “2 - 4 year gig”. In his nearly 10 years of work in economic  and entrepreneurial development, he has been a very successful entrepreneurial coach, has formed entrepreneruial  support structures, developed funding structures and helped lead communities to effective entrepreneurial development.  He performed in executive roles  directly for NorTech and JumpStart, both nationally recognized ED organizations.  In 2010, he officially formed Leveragent, but his consulting work has taken place at various time since 1998. 

Chris’s 25 year industry career includes significant sales, marketing and executive management roles in the technology industry.  He spent 13 years in sales, marketing and management at Hewlett Packard Company, focused on the test & measurement, microprocessor development and computer businesses.  He also held sales/marketing management positions at Denmark Based Bruel and Kjaer Instruments and Analogic Corp.  

Chris held a number of executive and general management positions from 1993 through 2004.  He was General Manager of the SmartWare Division of American Power Conversion, President of the ThermoSpectra Test and Measurement group, which included Gould Instrument Systems and a division of Nicolet Instruments, and CEO of Apsco International, Ohio’s largest electronic manufacturing services provider, now a part of U.K.-based TT Electronics.  Chris raised $6.8 million in venture capital for Ion Optics Inc., which is now part of FLIR Systems.

He has served on the boards of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, the Cleveland Engineering Society, CWRU’s Institute for Management and Engineering, the Nanotechnology Alliance and a number of technology companies.  

Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.