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Kirk Andreae

PRESIDENT AND CEO Clarke Power Services

Andreae is the third-generation leader of the company that was founded by his grandfather as Clarke GM Diesel in 1964. The organization includes Clarke Fire Protection Products, Clarke Power Generation, VEHICARE, and Clarke Heavy Duty and has more than 800 employees, 180 mobile service units, 23 retail locations, two manufacturing plants, and an asset management call center to serve clients in more than 150 countries. It posted $290 million in revenue in 2020.

Jeff Billingsley

GENERAL MANAGER DHL

Billingsley has worked for the global cargo carrier for more than 20 years and replaced Joanie Arias as GM in 2019. The largest package carrier in the world has expanded its operations at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport multiple times since moving from Wilmington in 2009. It employs more than 4,400 employees in the region. It raised starting pay to more than $20 per hour this year.

Hometown: Florence, Alabama Education: University of South Alabama (undergraduate)

Tom Brennan

CEO School Outfi tters

Brennan founded the company that provides furniture, supplies, and support to schools in 1998. The firm helps manage purchasing programs for districts around the country, off ering co-op programs and stocking more than 300 products. Chief Operating Officer Betsy Neyer, who has worked for the company since 2004, was promoted to President in 2018. The company posted more than $100 million in revenue in 2020.

Dan Busken

PRESIDENT AND CEO Busken Bakery

Busken is the third generation to lead the company founded by his grandfather Joe in 1928. He describes the family operation as one of the city’s iconic food businesses with Skyline and Gold Star chilis, Montgomery Inn ribs, and Graeter’s ice cream. Busken opened a walk-up window at the Hyde Park store in June to off er people walking the Wasson Way trail respite and a doughnut.

Hometown: Cincinnati

Ken Cohen

PRESIDENT Cohen Recycling

Founded in 1924, the family-owned company is one of the largest metal recycling companies in North America, processing over 1.25 million tons annually. It operates more than 20 facilities in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee and provides customer service around the world. The company employs more than 300 people and posted revenue of almost $370 million in 2020.

Hometown: Middletown, Ohio Education: University of Pennsylvania (undergraduate)

Mike Castrucci

PRESIDENT Mike Castrucci Automotive

Castrucci has been in the business since 1994, operating Ford and Chevrolet dealerships in Milford and Lincoln Mercury in Alexandria. The company is building a Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Ram showroom on the Red Bank Road site of the former Swallen’s store in Fairfax. The dealership sold more than 6,500 vehicles and posted revenue of over $307 million in 2020.

Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Xavier University (undergraduate)

Michael Dever

CEO Performance Automotive

Dever has been in the automobile business for more than 45 years. The company has 16 locations in Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Salt Lake City in addition to several repair shops and a dealership dedicated to motorcycles and ATVs. It’s the third-largest privately owned company in the region, with revenue of more than $1.5 billion on more than 12,000 vehicles sold in 2020.

Chris Cicchinelli

PRESIDENT AND CEO Pure Romance

Cicchinelli has led the company founded by his mother Patty Brisben since 2007. It sells intimacy products through independent consultants and has become the world’s largest in-home party company. In June, it announced plans to move its headquarters into a three-building complex across from Great American Ball Park. Pure Romance posted revenue of more than $310 million in 2020.

Hometown: Milford Education: University of Mount Union (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Being forced to slow down. Before the pandemic, I was traveling 250 days a year. Looking back, that slowdown allowed me to reexamine our sales channels and product off erings, which resulted in a company-wide rebrand with an enhanced brand purpose, packaging, and brand extensions in women’s wellness.

Leigh Fox

PRESIDENT AND CEO Cincinnati Bell

Fox has led the iconic local company since 2017. Its $2.9 billion acquisition by Macquarie Infrastructure Partners was completed in September. The deal takes the public company, which posted revenue of $1.5 billion in 2020, private for the fi rst time since the 1880s. The new ownership will allow Cincinnati Bell to speed the buildout of its next-generation fi ber network that will deliver faster internet service. It has more than 2,000 employees in the region.

Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Miami University (undergraduate), University of Cincinnati (MBA)

Adam Greenberg

PRESIDENT Topicz

Greenberg is the grandson of Marvin Schwartz, who in 1983 acquired the convenience-store distributor that was founded in 1926. It serves more than 900 customers across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The fi rm, which operates from a 120,000-squarefoot facility in Amberley Village, posted $430 million in revenue in 2020.

Hometown: Highland Park, Illinois Education: University of Denver (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Creating a spirit of team unity and collaboration. Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? When I started at Topicz, I had a diffi cult time incorporating change. But with the pandemic I’ve found that instilling change is what’s helped our business grow and become even more successful.

Ronald Joseph

CEO Joseph Auto Group

Joseph is the majority shareholder in the family-owned business, founded as Columbia Oldsmobile in 1938 by his father. He took over in 1966, expanding the company to 16 dealerships in Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus. The company sells Acura, Audi, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hyundai, Infi niti, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen models.

Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Xavier University (undergraduate and MBA)

Brian Habegger

PRESIDENT AND CEO Habegger Corp.

Habegger, grandson of company founder Fred Habegger Sr. and son of Fred Jr., leads the family-owned HVAC company founded in 1952. It’s one of the largest distributors in the U.S. and the largest independent Bryant distributor in North America, with more than 500 employees and 40 locations in eight states. The company posted revenue of more than $380 million in 2020.

Brian Hodgett

DIRECTOR, OHIO GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS Procter & Gamble

Hodgett is the local investment face of the worldwide consumer products giant that has a long tradition of supporting multiple organizations and eff orts in its hometown. He is a visible link to the local community as the Board Chair-Elect and member of the executive committee of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, as well as serving on the executive committees of REDI and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

Hometown: Middleburg Heights, Ohio Education: Ohio State University (undergraduate), Florida State University (master’s)

Kim Klosterman

CEO Klosterman Baking

Klosterman has been CEO of the 125-year-old family-owned company since 2008. She and her brother, Chip, run the company that supplies bread to more than 4,000 restaurants, stores, hospitals, and schools in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana from 11 distribution centers. It posted more than $190 million in 2020 revenue. The Klostermans’ father, Ken, who joined the business in the 1950s and led the company from 1968 until 2009, died in 2020 at age 87.

Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Stephens College (undergraduate)

Dave Klotter

CEO TSC Apparel

Klotter has led the wholesale supplier since 2018. It distributes T-shirts, hats, fleece, and other activewear that can be printed for promotional items from seven national distribution facilities, including one in Sharonville. In February, it moved its Southern California center to a 125,000-square-foot building that will increase its inventory by 25 percent. TSC posted revenue of $263 million in 2020.

Brian Kocher

PRESIDENT AND CEO The Castellini Group

Kocher oversees the Wilder-based consortium, chaired by Reds Owner Bob Castellini, which employs about 850 people in Northern Kentucky. Kocher was COO and interim CEO of Chiquita during his 10-year career with that company. Castellini posted revenue of $1.1 billion in 2020, making it the 10th-largest privately-owned company in Greater Cincinnati.

Education: Ohio University (undergraduate)

Brad Lindner

CEO United Dairy Farmers

Lindner is the third-generation leader of the family-owned retail chain that was founded by Carl Lindner Sr. in 1938. It has more than 200 locations and employs about 2,900 people. The company posted revenue of almost $615 million in 2020. This year UDF contributed $1 million to the CROWN (Cincinnati Riding Or Walking Network), the 34-mile urban trail loop being built through the region.

Hometown: Cincinnati

Jeff Lykins

PRESIDENT AND CEO Lykins Energy Solutions

Lykins is the third-generation leader of the family-owned company founded by his grandfather, Guy, in 1948. The Milford-based firm supplies independent service stations with Marathon, BP, Shell, and Gulf fuel products in addition to commercial fl eet fueling, petroleum transportation, and residential heating oil and propane sales. It sold its electricity and energy analysis and procurement division to Shipley Energy of Pennsylvania in January.

Tony Maas

CEO JTM Food Group

Maas is the second-generation leader of the family-owned company that started in a Delhi Township butcher shop in 1960. The seven children of Jack and Joann Maas and 15 grandchildren have been involved with the operation that’s evolved into a national company. The pandemic cut into its restaurant and school business last year, so it pivoted to a new line of packaged foods for retail as people ate more meals at home. JTM posted $220 million in revenue in 2020.

Keith McCluskey

CEO McCluskey Automotive Group

McCluskey runs the company founded by his father, Dan, in 1973. The new car showroom is at Kings Automall, with used-car locations in Reading and Groesbeck. McCluskey is the No. 1 volume Chevrolet new car dealer in the world. The company sold more than 8,700 vehicles in 2019, making it the sixth-largest automotive dealer in Greater Cincinnati.

Rodney McMullen

CHAIRMAN AND CEO Kroger Co.

McMullen, who began his career as a parttime stock clerk, was named CEO of the country’s largest traditional supermarket operator in 2014. It increased its quarterly dividend by almost 17 percent in June, the most in nine years. For the 2020 fi scal year, Kroger reported earnings of $1.9 billion on more than $130 billion in revenue. It’s the region’s largest company and largest employer with over 18,000 workers.

Hometown: Williamstown, Kentucky Education: University of Kentucky (undergraduate and MBA)

Kevin McNamara

PRESIDENT AND CEO Chemed

Chemed is the parent company of VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s largest hospice organization, and Roto-Rooter, North America’s largest plumbing and drain cleaning provider. McNamara, who has been with company for more than 40 years, became CEO in 2001. It posted more than $2 billion in revenue in 2020 and employs more than 15,500 people through its subsidiaries.

Mike Parks

CEO Rhinegeist

Parks was hired in August to oversee the brewing operation created by Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding in 2013. Rhinegeist made 2,000 barrels in its fi rst year and now produces more than 100,000 annually and has more than 300 employees with 10 divisions, from events to distribution. Parks is the former CEO of TNT Crust, a frozen pizza crust maker, and also worked at spirits companies Brown-Forman and Diageo.

Education: University of Kentucky (undergraduate), Bellarmine University (MBA)

Adrian Melendez

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Amazon Air

Melendez is Amazon’s top local offi cial at the operation, replacing Chris Bateman. The giant online retailer opened its new $1.5 billion hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in August. The seven-building, 800,000-square-foot complex covers 600 acres. The project will add 2,000 jobs to the existing 4,000 people it employs at CVG. By the end of the year, the hub will handle dozens of fl ights per day and process millions of packages per week.

Education: University of Louisville (undergraduate)

Daniel Rajczak

PRESIDENT AND CEO Totes-Isotoner

Rajczak, who was a 17-year veteran of Procter & Gamble, became the top executive at Totes in 2016. The easy-to-carry rubber rain boots were created in Oakley in 1924, and the company introduced the fi rst easy-to-fold collapsible umbrella in 1970. It’s the world’s largest manufacturer of weather apparel, with six facilities around the world and revenue of more than $175 million in 2020.

Education: University of Waterloo, Canada (undergraduate)

Vail Miller Jr.

CEO Heidelberg Distributing

Miller is the fourth generation to lead the company, founded in 1938 by Al Vontz, that delivers more than 18,000 brands of beer, wine, spirits, and nonalcoholic beverages to 26,000 retailers in Ohio and Kentucky from nine locations. It partnered with Fretboard Brewing this year to make the Blue Ash-based company’s products available in Kentucky for the fi rst time.

Hometown: Dayton, Ohio Education: Miami University (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Staying safe, healthy, and operational, which required greater and deeper communication, new strategies, and an improved meeting rhythm that leveraged Zoom. Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? I stayed focused on the same core values: knowledge, excellence, empathy, pride, passion, communication, teamwork, integrity, innovation, and respect.

Robert Reichert

CHAIRMAN Kenwood Dealer Group

Reichert bought Schenke Lincoln Mercury in 1975 and built it into one of the largest local auto dealerships with 15 locations. He opened Kings Toyota in 1987, the fi rst at Kings Auto Mall, and now oversees more than 1,000 employees in sales, service, and repair roles. The company sold more than 23,250 vehicles in 2020, posting revenue of almost $860 million.

Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Cincinnati (undergraduate), Southland University (J.D.)

Jake Rouse

CEO Braxton Brewing

The Rouse family, including brother Evan and father Greg, created the company after experimenting with beer recipes in Evan’s garage. Braxton was early to the hard seltzer growth, introducing Vive in 2019, and within a year it accounted for 30 percent of company sales. Braxton now sells hard seltzer in Texas, where the market is larger than its previous distribution area. Evan Rouse was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Food & Drink infl uencers in 2020.

Hometown: Union, Kentucky Education: Indiana University (undergraduate)

Todd Schneider

CEO Cintas Corporation

Schneider, who has worked at the company since 1989, replaced Scott Farmer in June. Farmer had led the fi rm since 2003, helping double its size from revenue of $2.7 billion to more than $7 billion in 2020, and he’ll remain Executive Chairman. The Mason-based uniform and workplace supply giant employs more than 42,000 people. Farmer’s father, Richard, who took control of the business in 1959, died at 86 in August.

William Rumpke Jr.

PRESIDENT AND CEO Rumpke Waste and Recycling

Rumpke, the grandson of founder William Rumpke, replaced his father as CEO at one of the largest privately-owned waste and recycling fi rms in the country in 2014. It bought Central Kentucky Fiber Resources of Lexington in January, then bought more than 460 acres in Whitewater Township to expand its existing landfi ll. Rumpke posted revenue of $735 million in 2020.

Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Miami University (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? The uncertainty and health risks associated with COVID presented tough decisions. The initial and long-lasting impacts of the virus on the waste and recycling industry are still being felt today, such as increased waste at the curb, supply chain issues, increasing costs, and increased labor demand. A big challenge, of course, has been keeping our team connected, despite working remotely.

Tom Sedler

CEO Home City Ice

Sedler is the latest family member to run the company founded in Riverside in the 1890s and bought by the family in 1924. It is one of the three largest packaged ice manufacturers in the country, operating plants and distribution centers from New York to Arkansas that produce more than 7,000 tons of ice per day. The company posted revenue of $200 million in 2020 and employs about 1,400 people.

Carl Satterwhite

PRESIDENT AND CEO RCF Group

Satterwhite and Scott Robertson, owner of Globe Business Interiors, formed RCF in 2003 to provide workplace solutions for offi ce furniture, architectural services, and facilities maintenance. Satterwhite created the Black Leadership Forum in 2018 as a support system for African Americans relocating to the area by creating a sense of belonging and improve their chances of success.

Robert Slattery

CEO Slatts Group

Slattery’s entrepreneurial zeal encompasses a number of fi elds. He bought the local Valpak advertising franchise in 1978, then founded and sold Reach magazine and launched Housetrends. He founded Perimeter Technologies, the maker of PetStop, an electronic fencing system. On the hospitality front, he opened Slatts Pub in Blue Ash, 50 West Brewing in Cincinnati and Chillicothe, and the Robert James Distillery in Norwood.

Hometown: Cleveland Education: Miami University (undergraduate and master’s) How are your employees feeling as they and your business emerge from the pandemic? I can’t thank them enough for helping our various business entities survive and often thrive during the pandemic. This changing world hopefully creates an atmosphere where people are more empathetic toward one another.

Amy Spiller

PRESIDENT, OHIO AND KENTUCKY REGION Duke Energy

Spiller, who has worked for the company and its predecessors for more than 15 years, has led the local operation since 2018. The North Carolina-based provider serves about 860,000 electric customers and almost 540,000 natural gas consumers. Duke teamed with the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber to provide multiple $5,000 grants to minority, women, and veteran-owned small business this year. Spiller received the YWCA Career Women of Achievement award in 2021.

Hometown: Gaylord, Michigan Education: Albion College (undergraduate), Wake Forest University (J.D.)

Michael Stagnaro

PRESIDENT AND CEO Stagnaro Distributing

Stagnaro and his brother, Chris, who is Vice President, manage the business that their father, Arthur, started in 1975. It annually distributes more than 7 million cases of beverages from breweries and other manufacturers to about 3,500 retail locations in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana from facilities in Cincinnati and Erlanger. It posted revenue of $110 million in 2020.

Mike Stuart

DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE STRATEGY MadTree Brewing

Stuart is responsible for human resources at the company, founded in 2013 by Brady Duncan and Kenny McNutt. After moving to Oakley in 2017, MadTree is the second-largest local craft brewery with more than 25,000 barrels sold in 2020. The company plans to open The Alcove on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine on the site of the former Kaze restaurant that will feature a large outdoor courtyard.

Hometown: Cincinnati Education: University of Cincinnati (undergraduate)

Craig Sumerel

PRESIDENT AAA Bob Sumerel

The son of the tire store founder leads the auto care and car wash operations for the parent company created when Bob Sumerel Tire and AAA merged more than 10 years ago. The Sumerel name is still attached to the more than 30 tire store and car care locations in the Tristate. The AAA Allied Group has more than 85 locations in 13 states under three names: AAA Car Care, AAA Tire and Auto, and AAA Bob Sumerel.

Education: Miami University (undergraduate)

Jacob Sweeney

CEO Jake Sweeney Automotive

The Sweeney family has been in the automobile business for more than 100 years. It opened a Jeep-only dealership in Springdale in July, spending more than $7 million to convert its former Mazda showroom to a 25,000-square-foot stand-alone operation. The group sells new and used cars at 12 locations. Sweeney sold almost 10,700 vehicles and posted revenue of more than $460 million in 2020.

David Taylor

PRESIDENT AND CEO Procter & Gamble

Taylor, who became CEO in 2015, announced in July that he will step down in November and be replaced by Chief Operating Offi cer Jon Moeller. Taylor will remain Executive Chairman. Moeller joined P&G in 1988, was named Chief Financial Offi cer in 2009, Vice Chairman in 2017, and COO in 2019. When Taylor took over, P&G stock was near $76 per share and valued at $207.8 billion; in August, stock was trading at $142 and the market capitalization was $348.2 billion.

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina Education: Duke University (undergraduate)

Jay Woffi ngton

CEO Cincinnati Beverage Company

Woffington acquired the Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. from Greg Hardman, who had brought back the local beer brands Christian Moerlein, Hudepohl, Burger, and Little Kings here in 2004. Woff ington, his wife Jodi, and Michael Graham led the company through a reorganization that closed its production facility and contracted with other local brewers.

Hometown: Pittsburgh Education: Duke University (undergraduate), Northwestern University (MBA) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic? Given that our business was in distress before the pandemic, we had to make the diffi cult decision to pivot our production model to contract brewing. This meant laying off our entire brewery staff and closing down our production facility.

Chip Wood

CHAIRMAN Tire Discounters

Wood started the company as a onebay shop in 1976. It has 140 stores in six states, employs more than 1,500 people, and posted revenue of $300 million in 2020. In March, it moved into its renovated six-story, 33,000-square-foot headquarters at Fourth and Plum streets downtown that consolidated its business operations in one location. The company opened its largest location, a 10,800-square-foot, 12-bay store in Eastgate in May.

Jeff Wyler

CEO Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

Wyler began his empire in 1973 with a Chevrolet dealership in Clermont County. The dealership sold 180 cars that fi rst year. In 2020, the company sold more than 18,000 vehicles with $1.4 billion in revenue. It is one of the top 50 dealerships in the U.S. with locations in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The University of Cincinnati graduate was named the recipient of the school’s William Howard Taft Medal for Notable Achievement this year.

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