CUYAHOGA COUNTY — Almost daily, the hum of mixers and the scent of fresh cake fill the former U.S. Post Office building on Garfield Boulevard in Garfield Heights. It’s the home of Park Avenue Muffin, a family bakery that has survived changing times, shifting markets and the rise of big business.

At its center now is Mark Orahoske, a 100% disabled Navy veteran whose life has been shaped by his service, family and the steady rhythm of small business.

Many know him as the “Muffin Man.”

Many more know his cakes.

They’re sold in individual metal pans at local markets across Cuyahoga County.

How did the eponymously named Muffin Man come to sell cakes?

Orahoske, one of nine children, grew up in the bakery world. His father opened Mike’s Donuts in 1964 on Clement Avenue in Maple Heights, just up the street from the high school.

“That building was where it all started,” Orahoske said, while recalling memories of making doughnuts as a kid. “I was there all the time. Dad gave me my work ethic. We were up a 4 a.m. and it was ‘go, go, go…’ and I would deliver bakery every morning before going to school.”

His father, a child of Eastern European immigrants, kept growing the business until Orahoske rejoined the mix after returning home from serving in the Navy in 1982.

Based on demand in the area from coffee shops, hotels and corporate offices like Ernst & Young, his father switched from a doughnut shop to a provider of muffin and cookie batter in a new Maple Heights location with the name Park Avenue Muffin.

When the demand changed again, so did Park Avenue Muffin.

Orahoske said the business adjusted in the late ‘90s to cake production, creating block and quarter sheet cakes for neighborhood stores.

In 2007 the business moved and repurposed the former Post Office space into a sterile bakery at 8525 Garfield Blvd. His time in the military shaped how he runs the bakery with fastidious standards. Orahoske estimates 28 million cakes have been meticulously created and sold since the 1990s.

You can find all eight flavors—carrot, wedding, red velvet, banana, lemon, raspberry, pumpkin and chocolate—for under $2 at local Dave’s Market, Marc’s and Drug Mart stores. They are also sold by a distributor to many states around the country.

“Our cleanliness is beyond what the government demands,” he said. “It’s immaculate because food safety isn’t something you take lightly.”

Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne got a tour of the facility after a ribbon cutting with the Cleveland Metroparks and the City of Garfield Heights for the revitalization efforts along Garfield Boulevard. Totaling just over $5 million, the project involved the resurfacing of Garfield Boulevard from Warner Road to Turney Road, and the addition of a vital trail connection to Garfield Park. This investment not only improves safety and mobility, but also supports a healthier community with more connected neighborhoods to businesses.

Supporting small businesses and creating space to connect them is also important for Orahoske.

It’s about more than production—which is about 5,000 cakes a day.  It is about people, the employees who find steady work and the families who gather around Orahoske’s cakes.

“Small business gives people a place to belong,” he said. “It’s the backbone of this county. It’s how communities grow.”

Sentiment that is echoed by Executive Ronayne and the Department of Development Deputy Director Vaughn Johnson who oversees the County’s Office of Small Business.

“Veteran-owned small businesses remind us what service looks like long after the uniform comes off. They strengthen our neighborhoods, create jobs, and carry forward the values of commitment and community that make Cuyahoga County strong,” Ronayne said.

The County is eager to collaborate with small businesses. Contact the Office of Small Business at smallbusiness@cuyahogacounty.gov to get started.

Orahoske employees between two and eight part- and full-time employees, based on orders.

“We pay better than minimum wage because we expect better than minimum wage work,” he said.

Generations of his family work there, too.

“It is the American dream to own your own small company and take care of your grandchildren,” the father of three said. He plans to give the company to their children.

Giving has always been part of his small business mission.

Over the years, Orahoske said he has donated nearly half a million cakes to food banks and shelters.

“If it’s good food, it should go to someone who needs it,” he said simply.

His generosity is welcome always, but even more important now as about 190,000 in Cuyahoga County on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients face uncertainty with the longest federal government shutdown in this county’s history. Those also seeking ways to help or who need help, may visit the Cuyahoga County Hunger Response Team website.

Orahoske’s experience and values are threaded throughout his family. Now at 66, he continues to work alongside his children and grandchildren, keeping both the family and the business moving forward.

“I could have taken other jobs after the Navy,” he said. “But this is where I belong. My father built this, and it’s my job to keep it going.”

From a single doughnut shop in Maple Heights to a production bakery in Garfield Heights that supplies to 14,000 stores nationwide from Detroit down to Ft. Lauderdale, Orahoske’s story mirrors the strength of small business across Cuyahoga County.

 It’s grounded in family and service. It’s sustained by the belief that good work and good food never go out of style.

When someone’s eating his cake, he said he hopes they think, “Man, it’s good to be alive because I’m eating this sensational product.”