Green Akron

This week I got to take a tour of the Global Business Accelerator in Akron. It's been around for 25 years but I'm not sure how many people realize it exists.

It's in Canal Place where the BF Goodrich Tire factory used to be. The whole thing takes up 9 floors. Basically, they house 43 new businesses and help them get started. Some of those businesses are working on new "green" technologies, and as we took the tour we learned that in spite of the current economic climate, the businesses in the Accelerator are growing and thriving.

It was very cool to see an organization working on something positive for the future of Akron, creating jobs in the hole left by an old tire factory. I'm going to talk more with some of the people working on green technologies in the Global Business Accelerator during a live broadcast on Earth Day (April 22nd). We've got some big stuff planned and I think it's going to be really fun -- plus it all ends with a free concert with local musician/Summit friend Zach, and you can't beat free music.

More about the Summit's Earth Day celebration here.

In the meantime, here's the playlist from last week's Found Sound:

A.C. Newman – “Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer” – Get Guilty (Matador)

Spoon – “Well Alright” – Dark Was the Night (4AD)

Dan Auerbach – “Heartbroken, in Disrepair” – Keep it Hid (Nonesuch)

Neil Young – “Johnny Magic” – Fork in the Road (out 4/7 on Reprise)

The Heartless Bastards – “Out to Sea” – The Mountain (Fat Possum)

Neko Case – “People Gotta Lotta Nerve” – Middle Cyclone (ANTI-)

Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel – “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” – XL Recordings Sampler

Hot Chip – “Transmission” – War Child/Heroes Compilation (Astralwerks)

Maria Taylor – “Cartoons and Forever Plans” – LadyLuck (out 4/7 on Nettwerk)

O+S – “Permanent Scar” – O+S (out 3/24 on Saddle Creek)

Cursive – “I Couldn’t Love You Any More” – Mama, I’m Swollen (out 3/10 on Saddle Creek)

U2 – “No Line on the Horizon” – No Line on the Horizon (Interscope)

Adele and the Raconteurs – “Many Shades of Black” – XL Recordings Sampler

Ben Kweller – “On Her Own” – Changing Horses (ATO)

Morrissey – “Something is Squeezing My Skull” – Years of Refusal (Attack/Lost Highway)