Mass of Christian Burial for Laura J. Retar (nee Fox), age 91, of Wickliffe, will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, July 29, 2024 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church 29850 Euclid Ave., Wickliffe. Mrs. Retar passed away July 23, 2024. She was born July 3, 1933 in Cleveland, OH to the late Clark and Ellen (nee Coffey) Fox.Laura and her late husband moved to Wickliffe in 1963 and was a longtime parishioner of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church for 61 years where she was also involved with the Isabella Guild. She was also a member of the American Legion Brewer Tarasco Post 7 Auxiliary, Parents of Priests and AMLA Lodge 4.Laura was the beloved wife of the late John A.; dearest mother of Father John C., Brian (deceased) (Kristin) and Jeffrey (Kimberlee); devoted grandmother of Christopher, Cody and Addison; dear sister of Mary Jo (Alfred) Bundy and Mabel (Paul) Fleming (all deceased).The family will receive friends at The Orlando-Donsante-Previte Funeral Home 29550 Euclid Ave., Wickliffe, on Sunday, July 28th from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. Burial will be in All Souls Cemetery in Chardon Twp.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Laura’s memory to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church or St. Vitus Church Endowment Fund 6019 Lausche Ave., Cleveland, OH 44103.To leave condolences for the family, please visit www.orlandodonsanteprevitefh.com.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Following the launch of the new Office of Small Business, Cuyahoga County is taking extra steps to support women- and minority-owned shops.

Executive Chris Ronayne has proposed spending up to $3.4 million dollars over the next two years to create a Small Business Program focusing on helping more women or minority entrepreneurs start or grow their businesses. The money would go to one of six providers that would then either provide participants with technical assistance or loans.

The county has been placing more importance on small businesses as “a key driver of innovation, job creation, wealth creation and economic opportunity,” with the creation of the new Office of Small Business, according to documents presented to county council.

The office is meant to be a one-stop shop for the county’s 30,000 small businesses, where they can receive personalized assistance, guidance, funding, education, succession planning – whatever they need. It can also help owners explore contracts with the county.

But the county wanted more targeted support “to overcome the effects of past discrimination against minority and women business entrepreneurs and owners…” documents say.

The county is considering funding six providers that would work with the businesses:

• Economic & Community Development Institute, up to $983,334 

• Grow America, up to $791,666 

• Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development, up to $650,000 

• UBIZ Venture Capital, up to $350,000 

• JumpStart, Inc., up to $330,000 

• Village Capital Corporation, up to $320,000 

Companies can be reimbursed $100 per hour for technical assistance or their loan amount, plus an administrative fee.

The funding passed council’s Economic Development & Planning Committee and is expected to be approved by the full body next week.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Whether they have hearing, vision, cognitive or ambulatory difficulties, disabled Ohioans are protected through the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed on July 26, 1990.

Signed into law by then-President George H.W. Bush, the ADA is the nation’s strongest measure protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities, barring discrimination based on disability and guaranteeing equal access to public buildings and businesses, employment opportunities, transportation, telecommunications, commercial facilities, and state and local government services.

In Ohio, 14.4% of the state’s total population has some sort of disability, or nearly 1-out-of-7 people, according to the most recent census estimates. This is above the 2022 average in the country of 13.4%, but not the highest overall. Almost 20% of West Virginia has a disability. The state with the lowest rate is Utah, at 10.6%.

The highest percent of disability types in Ohio is ambulatory disability, which affects a person’s ability to walk or move around, making up 48% of people with a disability in the state. This is followed by those with a cognitive disability, which affects a person’s brain capacity, at 41%.

In Northeast Ohio, a number of counties have disability rates higher than even the state average. In Ashtabula County, the disability rate is 15.9%. Cuyahoga County has a rate of 15.4% and Lorain County has a rate of 16.3%

Some disabilities make it difficult to work, and 30% of the state’s population not in the labor force has a disability. However, for those in the labor force, wages are significantly lower than state averages.

Men with a disability made an estimated annual wage of $31,432, compared to those without a disability at $50,306. Women with a disability made an estimated annual wage of $24,132, compared to those without a disability at $35,594, according to census estimates.

As a group, full-time, year-round workers with a disability earn 87 cents for every dollar earned by those with no disability. Additionally, people with a disability are less likely to earn a full-time wage.

Ambulatory, hearing and cognitive are the most common difficulties among workers with a disability, which may have an impact on the type of jobs they can get.

The most common occupations for people with a disability in the United States are janitors and building cleaners, who make up 11% of workers in this occupation. Other large occupations for workers with disabilities are truck drivers, retail, cashiers, and freight, stock and material movers.

The Midwest is the region with the second highest rate of disabilities in the country as of 2021, at 13.1%, following only the South at 13.8%.

Regional disability rates may differ for a variety of reasons. For example, disability is often associated with age, so regions that contain states with a higher proportion of the population age 65 and over may be more likely to report higher rates of disability.

Disability rates in the country, on average, were higher in rural areas than in urban areas, with the regions with the highest percentage of disabled people also having the highest percentage of people living in rural areas (24.8% of the Midwest).

Zachary Smith is the data reporter for cleveland.com. You can reach him at zsmith@cleveland.com.