Local businesses prepare for meeting with President Obama

CLEVELAND - Plato may have said that necessity was the mother of invention, but Cleveland's Aaron LeMieux put the words into practice.

It was 1996 and LeMieux was on a 1,500-mile hike through the Appalachian Trail when he found himself constantly having to replace the batteries needed to power his electronics.

"About 14 years of thinking about this, I finally came up with a way to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy," he said.

His invention was the N Power Peg, a small tube like device that uses the body's movements to generate energy. 

"As you walk along it harvests your up and down walking motion, it stores that power inside of its internal battery and then you plug in a cable and download the power directly into your mobile electronic device," he said.

LeMieux founded Tremont Electric four years ago to begin work on the N Power Peg. 

It wasn't difficult to get past the first funding round, it's the second broader round where things are tough. 

"What we've seen is access to capital is very very difficult," said LeMieux. "When you reach commercialization, there really becomes a point where you need to manufacture things and without having access to capital that makes it very difficult."

And that's a point he's hoping to make to President Barack Obama Tuesday when he takes part in a small business forum at Cleveland State University.

"What we're looking to hear from the President is an extension of the no capital gains taxes for invest in the early stage companies like Tremont Electric.

"All the indications are out there that money is out there, we're still bringing investment into Tremont Electric, it's just more difficult to get people to invest," he said.

Also taking part in the forum will be Cardinal Fastener John Grabner. Obama visited Cardinal in January 2009 a week before being sworn in. 

The manufacturer of parts for wind turbines weathered a tough 2009 to see a 47 percent increase in manufacturing jobs in 2010. Even still Grabner says the credit market remains very tight even for proven companies like his.

"So how do you free up those funds that are out there because they're there," said Grabner.

"Somehow or another the banking system has got to look at companies like ours a little bit differently and some of the other small companies [that] will be there [at the forum] as to how we can get funds flowing into these operations to grow," he said.