Joan Wenk, a resident of Maple Heights and mother of three, applied for a small-business loan after a discouraging search for affordable daycare in 1968. That year, Joan, with a lifelong friend, Shirley Jeric, founded Creative Playrooms with just five children in attendance. Forty years later, Creative Playrooms has schools in Solon, Westlake, Strongsville, Parma, Stow and Independence in addition to its original Maple Heights location. In 2009, Joan was awarded a U.S. Small Business Administration Entrepreneurial Success Award.