From business leaders to politicians, those in power know that it is work to get to the top and a struggle to stay there. Challenges from opponents can present themselves at any time and then there’s always the next test, the next task, the next obstacle. Cincy’s 15th annual Power 100 list recognizes those people who hold and use the most clout to benefit the region. By David Holthaus & The Editors = New to the Top Ten
Carl H. Lindner III
John Cranley
FC Cincinnati, majority owner;
city of Cincinnati, mayor
president & CEO
DAVID SORCHER
Lindner, sometimes known as “C3,” continued his family’s legacy of major contributions to the community when his ownership group secured a Major League Soccer franchise for FC Cincinnati and then broke ground on a new stadium in the heart of the city. Lindner and his fellow owners pledged to commit up to $350 million for the new stadium. As co-CEO (with his brother, Craig) of American Financial Group, Lindner runs one of the region’s largest employers and insurers, and a Fortune 500 financial services firm.
Mike Brown
John F. Barrett
Cincinnati Bengals,
Western & Southern
president & principal owner
Financial Group,
DAVID SORCHER
Although the Bengals’ onthe-field futility continued last season, Brown reached a far-reaching deal with Hamilton County officials that will affect the future of the Cincinnati riverfront and The Banks, as well as the county’s finances. Brown agreed to give up a parking lot next to the stadium so the county could build a longsought music venue. The team also agreed to end Hamilton County’s multimillion-dollar annual payments to the club and cap the county’s costs for stadium improvements. It was a new day of cooperation between the county and the club, a plus for taxpayers and another step forward for riverfront development. 44
In the first year of his second term as Cincinnati’s top elected official, Cranley continued to work to reduce child poverty, bringing together businesses, notfor-profits and government agencies to commit to longterm goals to bring down the city’s high rate of poverty. His administration won a grant worth $2.5 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies to help achieve ambitious energy-efficiency goals, significantly increased city spending with African-American owned businesses, broke ground on a new Major League Soccer stadium and championed the effort to obtain the old King Records site for restoration. DAVID SORCHER
American Financial Group, co-
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chairman, president & CEO
Nearly 30 years into his l e a d e r s h ip of We s te rn & Southern, Barrett has grown the financial services firm into a diversified Fortune 500 giant. He’s been influential in the development of downtown and Over-the-Rhine, including Queen City Square with its skyline-dominating Great American Tower. His latest project is the redevelopment of downtown’s signature Lytle Park to include a hotel and other amenities. Barrett’s influence extends into philanthropy, as he’s made a long-term commitment to expand and further cancer research in Cincinnati.
Robert H. Castellini
Joe Deters
Cincinnati Reds,
Hamilton County prosecutor
principal owner & CEO; Castellini Co., chairman
After a disastrous 2018 season for the Reds, C a s te l l i n i p r o m i s e d a better 2019 and his club took steps to deliver. He pledged the team would have its highest payroll ever, and then the front office consummated a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He continued his chairmanship of the Joint Banks Steering committee, which influences decision-making on the riverfront. The group endorsed a local promoter for the yet-to-be-built music venue and helped hammer out a deal for the property with the Bengals.
As the top law enforcement of ficial in Hamilton County, Deters has been front and center on many of the toughest controversies in the region. The shooting at Fifth Third on Fountain Square, Cincinnati City Council’s Gang of Five dispute, the Kyle Plush investigation and the prosecution of former UC police officer Ray Tensing are just some of the matters in which he played a central role. He is the county’s longest-serving prosecutor, with a total of 20 years leading the office. He’s served in statewide office, came back in 2004 to save the prosecutor’s office for the GOP, and is expected to run again in 2020.
Neville Pinto
Eliot Isaac
University of Cincinnati,
City of Cincinnati,
president
police chief
In his second year as UC’s president, Pinto laid out the strategic direction he envisions for Ohio’s second-largest university, calling for more responsive n ess to th e n e e d s of the community and businesses. The school’s 1819 Innovation Hub, for example, named after the year of UC’s founding, is a place where corporations, faculty and students can work together on new ideas. He outlined plans for “Co-op 2.0,” to provide students experience in the digital knowledge economy and for a closer relationship with Cincinnati Public Schools.
A 28-year veteran of the Cincinnati Police Department, Isaac worked his way up through the department from street patrol to criminal investigations commander to internal investigations to district commander and then in 2015 to Cincinnati’s 15th police chief. His low-key leadership style has been effective, as he was a calming presence in the wake of the Fifth Third shooting, serious crime declined significantly year over year and he weathered internal strife and the resignation of City Manager Harry Black.
Tom Williams
Denise Driehaus
North American
Hamilton County Board of
Properties Inc., Reds, co-principal owner/vice chairman
Williams has been a model of civic engagement and leadership for years, with some of his most recent roles being co-chair of the Cincinnati Child Poverty Collaborative and a director of the Center City Development Collaborative (3CDC) and the state’s economic development organization, JobsOhio. He’s also led one of the region’s largest real estate firms for more than 20 years, a company that recently purchased a signature riverfront property, Newport on the Levee.
Commissioners, president
With three Democrats now on the board of Hamilton County Commissioners, Driehaus, as the newly selected president, will be in a position to wield substantial influence over the county government’s $240 million budget, a spending plan that includes the sheriff’s office, emergency services, the courts and elections. A state legislator for eight years, she has deep connections in Columbus, which have helped secure funding for economic development projects in the county. She’s also re-energized the county’s role in fighting the heroin epidemic by bringing together law enforcement, treatment providers, local activists and others to collaborate on the problem. JOE SIMON
president & CEO; Cincinnati
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Those who didn’t make the top 10 are still important players in town. Below are the remaining 90, sorted by organization type. = New to this year’s list
BUSINESS Stuart Aitken 84.51, CEO Neil Bortz Towne Properties, co-founder & principal Katie Brown Blackburn Cincinnati Bengals, executive vice president Willam P. Butler Corporex Cos., chairman & founder Julie Calvert Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau, president & CEO Greg D. Carmichael Fifth Third Bancorp, chairman, president & CEO Phil Castellini Cincinnati Reds, president & chief operating officer Brent Cooper Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, president & CEO Alfonso Cornejo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, president Bill Cunningham WLW Radio Talk Show host W. Stuart Dornette Taft Stettinius & Hollister, partner; Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, board chair Jocile Ehrlich Better Business Bureau, president & CEO Scott D. Farmer Cintas Corp,. chairman & CEO Leigh Fox Cincinnati Bell Inc., president & CEO S. Kay Geiger PNC Bank, Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, president Charles H. Gerhardt III Government Strategies Group, president & founder 46
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George T. Glover Taft/Focused Capitol Solutions, managing director Christopher S. Habel Frost Brown Todd, member-in-charge Cincinnati Gary Heiman Standard Textile Inc., president & CEO Stephen Hightower Hightowers Petroleum Co., president & CEO David L. Joyce GE Aviation, president & CEO Eric Kearney Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky African-American Chamber of Commerce, president & CEO Stephen G. Leeper Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC), president & CEO Steve Martenet Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Ohio, president Candace McGraw Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, CEO James J. McGraw Jr. Keating Muething & Klekamp, corporate partner; KMK Consulting, CEO Rodney McMullen Kroger Co., chairman & CEO; Cincinnati Business Committee, chair Jill P. Meyer Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, president & CEO Molly North Al. Neyer Inc., president & CEO; Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber chair Julia Poston Cincinnati Regional Business Committee, co-chair; Ernst & Young, managing partner Mike Prescott US Bank, Cincinnati region, president Maribeth S. Rahe Fort Washington Investment Advisors, president & CEO Carl Satterwhite RCF Group, president & co-founder J. Michael Schlotman Kenton County Airport Board, chairman; Kroger Co., executive vice president & CFO
Larry Sheakley Sheakley Group, CEO Jamie Smith Cincinnati Business Courier, publisher Amy B. Spiller Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky, president David S. Taylor Procter & Gamble Co., chairman, president & CEO
G OV E R N M E N T & P O L I T I C S Steve Chabot U.S. Representative, Ohio’s 1st District Warren Davidson U.S. Representative, Ohio’s 8th District Patrick Duhaney City of Cincinnati, city manager Kris Knochelmann Kenton County, judge executive
H. Lytle Thomas Heritage Bank, president & CEO
Thomas Massie U.S. Representative, Kentucky’s 4th District
Eddie Tyner USA Today Network, Gannett Midwest regional president (Enquirer Media)
Gwen McFarlin Hamilton County Democratic Party, chair
Matthew D. Van Sant Clermont County Chamber, president & CEO
Luke Messer U.S. House of Representatives, Indiana’s 6th District from Shelbyville
Mike Venerable CincyTech, CEO
Gary Moore Boone County judge executive
George H. Vincent Dinsmore & Shohl, managing partner & chairman
Jim Neil Hamilton County, sheriff
Becky Wilber Union Centre Boulevard Merchants Association, president; CTI Restaurants, owner James Zimmerman Taft Stettinius & Hollister, Cincinnati partner-in-charge
Steve Pendery Campbell County judge executive Mark R. Policinski Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, CEO Rob Portman United States Senator, from Ohio Todd Portune Hamilton County Board of Commissioners
John Graft Butler Tech, Superintendent/CEO
T.C. Rogers Butler County, Board of Commissioners, and OKI Regional Council of Goverments, executive board
The Rev. Michael J. Graham Xavier University, president
Chris Seelbach Cincinnati City Council, member
Laura Mitchell Cincinnati Public Schools, superintendent
P.G. Sittenfeld Cincinnati City Council, member
Monica Posey Cincinnati State Technical & Community College, president
Joshua A. Smith City of Hamilton, city manager
E D U C AT I O N
Harry Snyder Great Oaks Career Campuses, president & CEO Ashish Vaidya Northern Kentucky University, president
Alex Triantafilou Hamilton County Republican Party, chairman Brad Wenstrup U.S. Representative, Ohio’s 2nd District
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Thane Maynard Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, director The Rev. Wendell Mettey Matthew 25 Ministries, president & founder John Pepper Procter & Gamble Co., retired chairman & CEO
NONPROFITS Laura N. Brunner The Port (formerly Greater Cincinnati Redevelopment Authority), president & CEO
Barbara Perez YWCA of Greater Cincinnati, president & CEO
Mark Clement TriHealth, president & CEO
Jorge Perez YMCA of Greater Cincinnati, president & CEO
Garren Colvin St. Elizabeth Healthcare, president & CEO
Elizabeth Pierce Cincinnati Museum Center, president & CEO
Michael Fisher Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, president & CEO
Arturo Polizzi The Christ Hospital, president & CEO Most Rev. Dennis M. Schnurr Archdiocese of Cincinnati, archbishop
Most Rev. Roger J. Foys Diocese of Covington, bishop
Neil F. Tilow Talbert House, president & CEO
Ellen M. Katz Greater Cincinnati Foundation, president & CEO
Brian Tome Crossroads Church, senior pastor
Dr. Richard P. Lofgren UC Health, president & CEO
John Starcher Mercy Health, president & CEO
Timothy J. Maloney Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, president & CEO
Dick Weiland Philanthropist
ONES TO WATCH
They may not be on this year’s Power 100, but here are some people to keep an eye on this year. Pete Blackshaw, CEO of Centrifuse, returned to Cincinnati after a stint leading digital marketing at Nestle, S.A., to take on his new role with the entrepreneurship-focused organization. He will lead the group backed by some of Cincinnati’s largest corporations with the goal of making Cincinnati the top hub for entrepreneurship in the Midwest.
Tamaya Dennard, Cincinnati City Council member, was raised by a single mother, is a graduate of Aiken High School and was elected to council in the fall of 2017 on her first attempt. She’s emerged as an outspoken voice for diversity, inclusion and social justice, principles she also practices in her job with a nonprofit social innovation design firm. David Adams, University of Cincinnati’s chief innovation officer, reports directly to President Neville Pinto and is CEO of the university’s newly christened 1819 Innovation Hub. The Hub is a centerpiece of the budding Uptown Innovation
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Corridor designed to serve as a magnet for breakthrough ideas, innovative solutions and strategic partnerships. Shiloh Turner, executive director of Preschool Promise, was originally part of the Leadership Cincinnati team that developed the Preschool Promise concept in 2012. In 2018 she was named executive director of the $15 million program designed to enroll more children in preschool and upgrade preschool providers. Kimm Lauterbach, president and CEO of REDI Cincinnati, was appointed to lead the organization in September after five years as vice president of business development with the group. With years of economic development experience in the city and the suburbs, she’ll engineer strategies for growth for the three-state, 15-county region. Stephanie Dumas won a spot on the Hamilton County Commission in the 2018 election in a surprise upset, making her the first African American on the commission. With Dumas joining fellow commissioners Denise Driehaus and Todd Portune, all three commissioners will be Democrats for the first time in Hamilton County history, and the majority will be women for the first time as well.