Columbus CEO – February 2022 issue by The Columbus Dispatch/Dispatch Magazines

Big Kitty Labs

Tech consultancy marries creativity with what’s next. PAGE 16

Therapy dogs

Helping pandemic-weary health care workers. PAGE 38

One man’s trash

Entrepreneurs keeping things from the landfill. PAGE 18

February 2022

BUILD, BABY, BUILD Lark Mallory is on a mission to help the Columbus region meet its residents’ significant affordable housing needs. $4.99

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Contents

ONE MAN’S 18 TRASH… SWACO has made strides in reducing the amount of waste that goes into landfills, but there is still plenty to do to keep pace with the Columbus region’s fast-growing population. That’s where five startup companies fit in as they work to make a difference with innovations aimed at turning trash into treasure.

Departments 04 Editor’s Note Ode to mountains of trash.

47 Leaderboard Columbus region general contractors in construction.

48 Breakdown The region’s population is skyrocketing, but where will everyone go? The housing industry has its work cut out for it.

Fresh Bloom Bins founder Tia Johnson Photo ROB HARDIN

FEBRUARY 2022 Cover photo by

ROB HARDIN

February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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Photo ROB HARDIN

62 E. Broad St., P.O. Box 1289 Columbus, Ohio 43216 Phone: 614-540-8900 • Fax: 614-461-8746

ColumbusCEO.com

VOLUME 31 / NUMBER 2 PUBLISHER/GENERAL MANAGER

Ray Paprocki E DITORIAL

EDITOR

Katy Smith ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jess Deyo CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jeff Bell, Linda Deitch D E S I G N & P RODUCT ION

PRODUCTION/DESIGN DIRECTOR

Craig Rusnak ART DIRECTOR

The Manifest Solutions team

THEY GET IT

Yogesh Chaudhary DIGITAL

EDITOR

Julanne Hohbach ASSISTANT DIGITAL EDITOR

Jack Long P H OTOGRAP HY

Local firms S-S Bendure Hartwig and Manifest Solutions understand the value of diversity in the workplace and are serious about making it part of how they do business.

PHOTO EDITOR

Insider

Tim Johnson ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

Rob Hardin A DVE RT ISING

VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES

Eugene Jackson MULTIMEDIA SALES EXECUTIVES

Tia Hardman, Jackie Thiam CLASSIFIED SALES

Amy Vidrick PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Rebecca Zimmer M ARKE T ING

MARKETING MANAGER

Lauren Reinhard PRESS RELEASES

pressreleases@columbusceo.com ADVERTISING

advertise@columbusceo.com Columbus CEO (ISSN 1085-911X) is published monthly by Gannett. All contents of this magazine are copyrighted © Gannett Co., Inc. 2021, all rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without written permission, of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited materials. Known address of publication is 62 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43215. Periodicals postage paid at Columbus, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Columbus CEO, PO Box 460160 Escondido CA 92046

SUBSCRIPTIONS

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In-Depth

06 Profile

28 Diverse Leaders in Law

Lark Mallory faces major challenges as she leads the charge for more affordable housing in the Columbus region. Those who hired her say she is the perfect person for the job.

Law firms need to do a better job in retaining and promoting women attorneys. Three experts have some ideas on how to get there.

10 Tech Talk Ghostwave is out to clear the air with its innovative radar system.

12 Spotlight: Small Business Sports Imports has overcome tragedies to become a player in the volleyball equipment field.

14 Spotlight: Nonprofit Adaptive Sports Connection is on a mission to empower those with physical and cognitive challenges.

16 Spotlight: Innovation The folks at Big Kitty Labs move at warp speed to help clients with their innovation projects.

32 Family-owned businesses Reitter Stucco builds on its proud history with a new co-CEO model.

38 Health Watch Therapy dogs can be just the right medicine for health care workers burned out from another COVID winter.

Advertising Section PAGE 41

BUSINESS 2022

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HEALTHCARE Doctor of Healthcare Administration Doctor Healthcare Administration Doctor ofof Nursing Practice (DNP) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) MBA-Healthcare MBA-Healthcare Master of Healthcare Administration Master of Healthcare Administration M.S. in Health Informatics M.S. Health(MSN)-Generalist Informatics M.S. in in Nursing M.S. in Nursing (MSN)-Generalist MSN-Adult-Gerontology Primary Care MSN-Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Nurse Practitioner MSN-Family Nurse Practitioner MSN-Family Nurse Practitioner MSN-Nurse Administrator MSN-Nurse Administrator MSN-Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner MSN-Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

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TECHNOLOGY M.S. Computer Science M.S. Science M.S. in Computer Cybersecurity M.S. Cybersecurity M.S. in in Data Analytics M.S. Data Analytics M.S. in in Information Technology M.S. in Information Technology

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Editor’s Notes * ksmith@ColumbusCEO.com

Mountains of choices Photo Gettyimages.com

ave you ever thought about what happens to your trash after you part ways? Would you recognize a bag of your own trash from 10 years ago? Do you find it upsetting to know that it’s basically still around, somewhere in a landfill, smashed into oblivion? Have you visited a landfill? I have. You can imagine the sick, sweet smell of mountains of garbage. Mountains so tall that I actually felt nervous as I was taken up to the top of one in a truck, the incline so steep it felt as if we might slide backward. That was the Franklin County landfill in 2009-ish. Just think how much more trash has gone to it since then!

Perhaps more horrifying than the disposable, wasteful culture we have created—me too, for sure—is the fact that three quarters of what we throw away could actually be recycled. Let that sink in. The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio says 76 percent of what’s in the landfill is recyclable, and it has a goal to reduce the amount of material we send there by 75 percent in the coming years. It has help from creative Columbus entrepreneurs who have founded businesses based on keeping things out of the landfill. The ideas featured in this month’s story by Jess Deyo are exciting—prosthetics crafted from recycled materials; an exchange connecting organizations looking to get

rid of unwanted fabric with designers who desire it; a consultant getting to the bottom of food waste; refillable containers for self-care products; and a trash bin cleaning company. New year, new consumer habits, new hope in the fight against climate change? I think I’ll make a few resolutions of my own.

Katy Smith, Editor

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VOTE IN THE 15TH ANNUAL BEST OF BUSINESS AWARDS

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PROFILE By STEVE WARTENBERG + Photos by ROB HARDIN

Lark Mallory President and CEO

Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County Age: 52 In position since: August 2021 Previous: General counsel and director of CDFI investments, Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County, 20162021; partner, Frost Brown Todd (Columbus), 2012-16; attorney, Chester Wilcox & Saxbe, 2004-12; associate attorney, Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., 2001-04 Education: BSBA-accounting, Ohio State

University Fisher College of Business, 1991; JD, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, 1997; LLM-tax law, University of Florida Levin College of Law, 1998

Resides: Reynoldsburg Family: Children, Tasia, 22, Micah, 19

Build, baby, build Lark Mallory is on a mission to help the Columbus region meets its residents’ significant affordable housing needs. She has a feeling she can accomplish it with the buy-in of diverse municipalities, real estate interests and funders.

he term “affordable housing” has been in the news a lot lately. So what exactly does it mean? Let’s begin with what it doesn’t mean, with the help of Lark Mallory, the new president and CEO of the Af-

fordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County. “It doesn’t mean homelessness, and it doesn’t mean Housing Choice Vouchers,” she says, adding these are different—and important—topics that need to be addressed, along with the societal issues that created them, such as systemic racism. “What I’m talking about are teachers not being able to afford to live in the districts where they teach. I’m talking about retail workers not being able to live near where they work and having to take a bus two hours to get there,” Mallory says. “People with full-time jobs should be able to live in the communities where they work— the people we call the workforce housing group.” U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty has called the affordable housing problem “a health-care crisis” and “a social justice crisis.” The general rule is that people

shouldn’t pay more than 30 percent of their combined household income on housing. If they do, they are considered “cost burdened.” According to local experts, the number of Columbus-area residents who spend 50 percent or more of their income on housing is about 54,000. The number is growing, as property values and rents spiral upward and the region’s population continues to increase. “That’s the affordable housing crisis I’m talking about,” Mallory says, adding that “what’s affordable to me may not be affordable to the young lady making my coffee at Starbucks.” Mallory was selected to lead the Affordable Housing Trust in August, replacing the retiring Steve Gladman. A lawyer, accountant and tax expert, Mallory was a partner with Frost Brown Todd when she was named to the trust’s board in 2009, and she joined the organization on a full-time basis in 2016 as general counsel and

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Lark Mallory

director of CDFI investments. “She was impressive as a board member and made a real effort to learn more about what we did, and she had a lot of skills,” Gladman says. Mallory helped the organization receive federal CDFI Fund (Community Development Financial Institutions) designation, and she played a key role in the trust’s successful campaign to create a $100 million Housing Action Fund

People with fulltime jobs should be able to live in the communities where they work ... Lark Mallory, president and CEO, Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County

that launched in 2020. This increased the total funds the agency is able to lend to about $200 million. Mallory has a long list of plans to add to this momentum and a host of ideas on what’s needed on a regional basis to reduce the affordable housing problem. “Lark is brilliant in terms of her knowledge of finance, and she’s so personable. People trust her,” says Robert Weiler, founder and chairman of Robert Weiler Co. and chairman of the Affordable Housing Trust board.

It takes a village “I like to say that I believe my grandmother saved my life and my aunt made this life possible,” Mallory says. She was born in Warren in industrial northeast Ohio, surrounded by a large and loving extended family, including several relatives who worked in local manufacturing plants

that have since closed or dramatically downsized. Mallory’s grandmother, Eula Mae Mallory, took her in soon after birth. “My grandmother and grandfather [Leroy Mallory] had six girls, my mother was the youngest, and she wasn’t ready to be a mother,” Mallory says. When she was 3 or 4 (she’s not quite sure), Mallory went to live with one of her five aunts, Earnestine, who had just graduated from high school. She worked two jobs, at a chicken factory and Packard Electric. “I became her daughter,” Mallory says. A few years later, her aunt married William Mack, who worked in the steel mills. Mallory was a bit on the precocious side, a gifted student who tended to talk a little too much in class when she got bored. She was a majorette at Warren Harding High, “the only Black majorette,” she says. “I remember going to a different high school [to perform at football games] and there was some cat calling. The game at Steubenville stands out.” For reasons she can’t really explain, Mallory, who was excellent in math, decided she wanted to major in accounting in college and earned a scholarship to attend Ohio State University. Even if she hadn’t received a scholarship, Mallory is certain her aunt would have found a way to get her there. After working for a few years as an auditor, Mallory decided it was time to try something different. “It was a lot of tracking the books and I didn’t like that,” she says, adding a headhunter told her she had the personality of a tax attorney. She’s still not sure if this was a compliment. After scoring exceptionally well on the LSAT, Mallory was awarded a scholarship to Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law. She followed up with a degree in tax law from the University of Florida. Mallory eventually moved to Washington, D.C., with her former husband and began her practice as a tax attorney and as a mom. She and her two children, Tasia and Micah, moved back to Columbus in 2004. Mallory continued her law practice, and she was eventually named a partner at Frost Brown Todd. “I was a single mom and had a car and resources,” Mallory says. And then she imagines what life is like for a single mother with a full-time, February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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Q&A Lark Mallory shares the hopes she has for her role and for Columbus. You started in this position in August. Describe your first few weeks on the job. On my first day, I kicked off my listening tour. I met with all our board members, city council, developers. I had a zoom meeting with [several Huntington executives, including Stephen Steinour, the chairman, president and CEO]. He says, “Lark, go out there and be dynamic. If you make mistakes, that’s OK, get back up and keep trying. It’s going to take more people like you who are committed and can see the bigger issues and move the agenda forward.” What are the bigger issues? Affordable housing affects everyone, it’s not just impoverished people. It’s an economic development issue. It’s a feminist issue if a woman is in an abusive situation and can’t afford to leave. It’s an economic issue, a social justice issue, a crime issue. It affects everybody. We have to start elevating people, which can be through education that leads to better-paying jobs. What’s an example of something new you’d like to do? The development community isn’t very diverse [in terms of] women and people of color. My emerging developer program would address this. Let’s say a developer is doing a duplex or two. We can take them through the process and provide technical assistance, a training program over several weeks, and teach them about zoning and working with general contractors and financial institutions and putting together pro forma. This would help them move from a duplex or two to a 10-unit development. These developers will hire other small contractors and we’ll elevate more and more people and create more diversity. What motivates you to do what you do? I had an uncle who always told me I had brains and beauty and could do anything I wanted to do. Not everyone has someone who tells them that.

minimum-wage-paying job who can’t afford a car. She describes how this woman takes public transportation to a daycare center, then another bus to get to work—and repeats all of this in reverse at the end of the workday. And so, Mallory pushes for the larger, new developments the Affordable Housing Trust helps finance to include daycare centers.

The next steps Mallory connected with and formed a bond with Donna James, managing director of Lardon & Associates and chairwoman of the Victoria’s Secret board. James has mentored several young Black women as they navigated the law firm world. “It’s tough being a partner in a law firm period, and when you’re female and African American, or a woman of color, it’s even more of a challenge,” James says. “It’s a relationship business. You have to build relationships, and Lark navigated that well and had great relationships with her clients.” When the opportunity for a full-time position at the Affordable Housing Trust was on the table, Mallory met with her mentor to discuss the opportunity. “I remember sitting at dinner, and she took out a placemat and mapped out her strategy and thoughts about the housing market and affordable housing and development; she gave me a tutorial,” James says. According to Weiler, several members of the agency’s board were in favor of dispensing with a formal search and appointing Mallory to replace Gladman. As chairman of the board, he decided a formal search was necessary. “I didn’t think it would be fair to Lark,” he says of appointing her without a search. “If she could stand the test of the process, she’d be better off going forward.” Several well-qualified candidates were interviewed, and “Lark stood head and shoulders above everyone else,” Weiler says. “She hit the ground running and nobody else could have taken over the way she has.”

Finding funding The Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County was created in 2001, and the funds it was able to loan to developers for affordable housing projects grew. They came from a portion of the city’s bed tax and

the county’s transfer fee for the sale of properties. “We don’t give the money out, we loan it,” Mallory says, adding that as loans are repaid, the funds are then loaned out again, creating a cycle of investment in affordable housing. The agency loaned $33 million in 2020, according to its annual report. These loans will produce or preserve 1,314 housing units. This was an increase from the 2019 totals of $28 million in loans to build or preserve 974 units. An example is the 50-unit Kenlawn Place in North Linden, developed by Homeport with the help of a $3 million loan from the trust. To increase the funds it can loan, the agency applied for and received CDFI certification in 2015. “[Mallory] took the lead on some parts [of the process] and led us to receive fairly significant grants,” Gladman says of the $4.7 million in CDFI federal grants the trust has received. CDFI certification allows organizations to “provide financial services in low-income communities and to people who lack access to financing,” according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Being CDFI-certified also made the Affordable Housing Trust a better option for financial institutions, as it provided another outlet for them to meet Community Reinvestment Act requirements. This 1977 federal law encourages and monitors how well banks meet the credit needs of the communities in which they’re located. With the CDFI certification in hand, the trust created a Housing Action Fund that eventually acquired $100 million in funding from local financial institutions as well as other local organizations, including charitable nonprofits. These millions aren’t donations, Mallory points out, they’re interest-paying loans to the developers that are building or renovating housing that meets the agency’s “affordable housing” requirements. Huntington was one of the first to invest in the Housing Action Funding, putting in $40 million. The return, about 3 percent, is potentially less than the bank could make on other investment options. “I think of it as good business,” says Stephen Steinour, Huntington’s chairman, president and CEO. By this, he means that providing more affordable housing is good for the community and “the better the community does, the better we do.”

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Lark Mallory

rent per bedroom for studio, one-, two, three- and four-bedroom apartments. For example, for a single person making the area median income of $59,000, the 30 percent housing rule would equal $17,700, or, $1,475 a month, for a studio apartment. Apply the Affordable Housing Trust’s 80 percent rule, and it drops to $1,180. This Affordable Housing Trust requirement can reduce profitability for a developer. Developers, Mallory says, are willing to adhere to these requirements because some want to do what’s best for the region and also because they often need agency funds to make the math work.

Increasing needs

Some of the other investors in the Housing Action Fund include Heartland Bank, Park National Bank, PNC Bank, Columbus Foundation and NiSource Charitable Foundation.

By the numbers The Affordable Housing Trust has some flexibility in its lending practices, but it has developed specific requirements developers must meet. “This gets complicated,” Mallory says as she pulls out a chart that quantifies the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s “rent and income limits.” The calculations to determine these limits begin with the area median income, which is the midpoint of a region’s income distribution, meaning half the families make more than the median, half make less. The area median income in Franklin County varies by the number of people living in a household. For an adult living alone, the median is $59,000. It’s $67,400 for a two-person household, jumps

to $75,800 for three people, and is $84,200 for four people. Here comes the complicated part. To qualify for a loan from the agency’s Housing Action Fund, “a developer has to commit to at least 51 percent of the units being affordable to families at 80 percent of the area median income,” Mallory says. “Rents on all of the units must be affordable to families at 120 percent of the area median income.” This leads to a maximum allowable

I’d like to see a comprehensive plan that would bring more people to the table ... Lark Mallory, president and CEO, Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County

“We’re not going to build our way out of this,” Mallory says of the affordable housing issue, adding that solving the problem is vital to the region’s continued economic growth. The 15-county Columbus region population was about 2.2 million in 2010, and it is expected to increase to 3 million by 2050. This would require the addition of about 14,000 new housing units a year for the next 10 years, and a total of 270,000 by 2050. The region “needs to produce more units at a wider range of price points to keep up with the demand going forward,” according to a Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission report. Mallory has a lot of ideas on how to move the region forward to create more affordable housing. “The first thing we need is more resources,” Mallory says. And by resources, she, of course, means more money. “The hope is [the Biden Administration’s] Build Back Better will be an example of how we can get more money,” Mallory says. It will take more than federal government funds. “It’s the commitment from the city and county and all the municipalities,” Mallory says. While there has been some positive movement in Columbus—the city recently set aside $50 million in bonds for affordable housing—there hasn’t been as much emphasis on affordable housing in the more affluent suburbs, Mallory says. “I’d like to see a comprehensive plan that would bring more people to the table and bring more creativity to solving the problem.” Steve Wartenberg is a freelance writer. February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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By CYNTHIA BENT FINDLAY

Making waves

Ghostwave, a Columbus radar system startup, is addressing a military and auto industry pain point.

Radar sensor

Ghostwave 4621 Lyman Drive, Hilliard, 43026 Ghostwaveinc.com BUSINESS: Next generation radar systems FOUNDED: 2017 CEO: Dean Zody EMPLOYEES: 2

Photo courtesy GHOSTWAVE

he story of Ghostwave, a Columbus-based high-tech radar system startup, offers a window into the reallife time and effort required to get innovation off the ground. Ghostwave launched in 2017 offering a groundbreaking interferenceresistant radar system and winning more than $2 million in contracts. Their path since then involves a combination of pivots—and also drones, bees, artificial intelligence and automotive industry potential. Ghostwave’s system prevents mutual radar interference, a problem that occurs when multiple radar users, whether they be in flight or on the ground, cross paths. It’s a problem both the military and the automotive industry have a keen interest in. 2022 may be the year for more promising progress—or for liftoff.

Ghostwave applies Ohio State University-licensed engineering technology to a growing variety of unique applications. The company won two Ohio Federal Research Network contracts, one for $1.3 million and one for $1.2 million, in 2018. The contracts focused on a drone UAV collision avoidance system in collaboration with OSU, Ohio University, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force. Along the way, Ghostwave also took part in a fascinating study with the Ohio Department of Agriculture looking at whether the wind speed produced by bees hovering around a hive could help monitor hive health. Ghostwave’s CEO and co-founder Dean Zody says interesting preliminary results from that study combined with the possible future addition of internet of things devices and some AI may advance that work even more. Zody says the company is also in weekly meetings with the military talking drone counterswarm technology, but it’s the automotive industry that’s tugging at Ghostwave’s attention currently. More and more radar sensors are being added to vehicles as selfparking, collision avoidance systems and other features are added to every make and model, so having a system that prevents cross interference on the road is going to be more and more critical. Zody says discussions with the industry were put on the back burner a couple of years ago as military work ramped up, but that started to change last summer. “The auto industry is a tough nut to crack,” Zody says. “It was hard explaining what Ghostwave can do. But recently they came back to us.” While Ghostwave is still working on two Federal Small Business Innovation Research contracts work-

Robotics industry ready to level up CIRCULAR WAVE DRIVE, a Columbusbased robotics components manufacturer, thinks it might have an industry disrupter on its hands. As a result, CWD plans a $6 million to $10 million fundraising round in the first quarter this year led by Ikove Capital. CWD creates speed reducers, a critical component of any robot that moves. Speed reducers can comprise some 40 percent of the lifetime cost of industrial robots. Right now, says Flavio Lobato, CEO Speed reducer Photo courtesy CIRCULAR WAVE DRIVE

TECH TALK

and founder of CWD, robotics users must choose between a high-torque, lowprecision, short-lived version of the part, or a lower torque and longer-lasting part. CWD’s new V6 speed reducer, he says, promises the best of both worlds—super high precision and industry-leading torque. Applications range from manufacturing robots to even automated wheelchairs. Lobato says CWD already has a manufacturing and distribution supply chain in place and relationships with leading robotics makers globally. “The speed reducer market is ripe for disruption. It’s a global duopoly with dated technology and high margins controls around $1 billion in annual revenues and close to $7 billion in market cap,” Lobato says in a recent press release. “CWD will have a very unique offering in an industry aching for innovation and significant unmet needs.” ing on higher frequency radars and adding functionality such as AI and other new features, Zody says he sees the company offering an off the shelf product within the next five years. Cynthia Bent Findlay is a freelance writer.

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New t s R e e B

a r nts u a t s

Columbus Monthly's Best New Restaurants experience will be in your home in March— think of it as an edible introduction to the city’s most exciting dining arrivals. For a second year, we're partnering with the team behind Columbus Food Adventures and its popular Trust Fall dinner series offering a two-week surprise at-home dining experience.

To sign up to receive details and be the first to know when tickets go live, visit: columbusmonthly.com/BNR

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SPOTLIGHT By JESS DEYO + Photo by ROB HARDIN

Small Business

Net positive Hilliard-based Sports Imports makes volleyball nets used around the country, including by the NCAA.

he 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball championships were held at Nationwide Arena Dec. 16 and 18, but the Columbus ties go farther than that. Hilliard-based Sports Imports supplied the nets for the tournament. The woman-owned family business’ volleyball net systems have been used around the country for decades. Sports Imports was co-founded in 1976 by the late Ken Dunlap, head coach for Ohio State University’s

“I started out just thinking, ‘OK, this has to be a great place to work, that’s first and foremost.’ And then I realized I could learn the other things.” CYNDIE DUNLAP, owner/CEO, Sports Imports

Sports Imports

4000 Parkway Lane, Hilliard 43026 sportsimports.com COMPANY: Volleyball equipment including net

systems, poles and more for both indoor and outdoor use.

OWNER/CEO: Cyndie Dunlap EMPLOYEES: 25 ANNUAL REVENUE: Would not disclose

Cyndie Dunlap men’s volleyball team, Mark Watson and Doug Beal, former USA Volleyball CEO. It bills itself as the first floor-plate sleeve system in the U.S., which utilizes a hole drilled into the court to hold the net’s poles instead of using a traditional wire system. The company started first as a volleyball equipment distributor for Japan-based Senoh, but since has expanded with its own products. Sports Imports prides itself on having 75 percent of its products manufactured in the U.S. Since its founding, Sports Imports has sold well over 61,000 net systems, and the product is used in over 90 percent of all D1 volleyball programs as well as at every Olympic indoor and sand/beach volleyball competition.

The famous net system developed trust quickly, with endorsements from the founders and OSU, says CEO and owner Cyndie Dunlap. Today, 1,192 Ohio institutions alone rely on Sports Imports. It also partners with USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association and more. In 2003, it partnered with the NCAA. To Linda Logan, executive director of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, having Sports Imports so close to home is invaluable. “Sports Imports is a pioneer in selling this equipment,” Logan says. “It’s known worldwide, and it’s so great to have them in our own backyard.” While business is continuously growing, it’s taken an unusual amount of grit to lead the company. It

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was 1993 when founder Ken Dunlap suffered suddenly from a stroke, and at age 23, his son Dave Dunlap took over the company. Dave, husband to Cyndie and father of their three daughters, led the company for a decade, helping formulate the partnership with the NCAA. But, the day before signing the paperwork, he passed away unexpectedly. In the handful of years that followed, Cyndie’s father, Ken MacKenzie, watched over Sports Imports while she helped her daughters recover. When she felt ready to run the business, she knew it was going to be hard—she’s a dietician by training. But she knew she could translate her ability to care for people to the business world. “I started out thinking, ‘OK, this has to be a great place to work, that’s first and foremost.’ And then I realized I could learn the other things,” she says. For Cyndie, having a great workplace is by having heart and passion, values her husband and father-in-law instilled. Then, it’s about motivating her team to wear it on their sleeves. All 25 employees care for the coaches they serve, oftentimes viewing them as friends, keeping up with career moves. Sports Imports also gives back to a variety of causes, namely to the Dream Center on Greenwood Avenue, where the team has helped serve meals and donate to help homeless people. On the future of Sports Imports, Cyndie says the focus is what it always has been—innovation. But her involvement looks a little different than it has in years past. A breast cancer survivor, she was most recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which has forced her to step away more often. Following her diagnosis, she’s appointed Danielle Calo president, and her team has continued to stay dedicated, nurturing a “yes, and” mentality, Cyndie says. She is certain her team will continue pushing for her and the company, because she’s watched them do it before. “I also believe things happen for a reason,” Cyndie says. “I think it’s given me a new appreciation, and I’ve grown personally—I appreciate things more. I think that’s helped me. As far as our team goes, we’re so resilient.” Jess Deyo is associate editor.

MEET EMILY. A Licensed Social Worker at Catholic Social Services.

Today, Emily: Helped an 83-year-old man who was being financially exploited by his nephew. Advocated, in court, to keep a senior woman from being evicted. Provided Money Management to an isolated 65-year-old who is in cognitive decline.

Just one day of what we do.

Learn more at colscss.org.

IT’S TIME FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH TO TAKE CENTER STAGE

Join us for the 2022 Go Red for Women® Luncheon Thursday, Feb. 17 | Noon - 1 p.m. For more information: ColumbusGoRed.heart.org Sponsored nationally by

Local Life is Why Sponsors

Locally sponsored by

Local Media Sponsors

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SPOTLIGHT By STEVE WARTENBERG + Photos by ROB HARDIN

Nonprofit

The power of sports Adaptive Sports Connection empowers those with physical and cognitive challenges.

hen he moved to Columbus in the fall of 1992, Steve Ricker brought along a very specialized skill: teaching people with disabilities to ski. Born in Canada, where he learned to ski, Ricker moved to Ithaca, New York, in the 1980s, “where I volunteered with an adaptive ski program,” he says. “At the first clinic, where I learned how to teach, the

“I’ve learned so much from our adaptive athletes. That we are all adaptive and resilient and can overcome obstacles.” SHARON SCHREIBER, executive director, Adaptive Sports Connection

Adaptive Sports Connection 6000 Harriot Drive, Powell, 43065 adaptivesportsconnection.org MISSION: To empower children, adults

and veterans with physical and cognitive challenges through sports and therapeutic outdoor recreation.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Sharon Schreiber EMPLOYEES: 6 FUNDING: Individuals and clubs, 17%;

corporate donations and events, 35%; grants, 23%; program fees, social enterprise, 20%; program fees, 5%.

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Sharon Schreiber teacher was a blind man in his 60s, and I was hooked.” Soon after moving to Columbus, Ricker, who works in sales and marketing in the medical equipment industry, founded the Adaptive Adventure Sports Coalition, now called Adaptive Sports Connection. In addition to skiing, Adaptive Sports Connection volunteers work with, teach and provide specialized equipment for several outdoor activities, including road cycling and mountain biking, kayaking, waterskiing and sailing. While Adaptive Sports Connection is well-known by hundreds of children, adults and veterans with physical and cognitive challenges, the organization is a bit under the radar for many in the region. “We’ve always been one of the best-kept secrets,” says David Holzer, an Adaptive Sports Connection board member and a kayak instructor. Sharon Schreiber, who joined the organization in December 2016 as its first full-time executive director, is working to increase the organization’s

local profile. Schreiber has expanded the board, connected with local companies, such as Cardinal Health and AEP, applied for and received grants, and is about to undertake a game-changing, $6.6 million capital campaign to build an “adventure lodge” at the nonprofit’s headquarters on the banks of the Scioto River in Shawnee Hills. “Sharon’s contacts have opened a lot of doors and her leadership has allowed us to draw higher-level board members,” Holzer says. Schreiber, an Ohio State University graduate, worked in Florida in the marketing and communications field, specializing in health care. She moved back to Columbus in 2015, attended an Adaptive Sports Connection skiing event, where “they put me in one of the sit skis [that disabled skiers use] to see what it was like, and, it was so fascinating to watch and learn,” Schreiber says. There were a few reasons Schreiber took on this new challenge. “I was at a point where I wanted

to work with and focus in on one organization. My mission had always been health and wellness, so I was really drawn to this opportunity.” The second reason was the people she’d met: The board members, volunteers and community of people with disabilities who participate in the organization’s programs. “I’ve learned so much from our adaptive athletes,” Schreiber says. “That we are all adaptive and resilient and can overcome obstacles.” Maddison Mattey learned to ski at an Adaptive Sports Connection clinic when she was 13, and she later volunteered while attending Ohio University. “The joke is that they taught me how to ski and now they can’t get rid of me,” says Mattey, who was born without a left leg. She is the organization’s director of operations. Schreiber and her team launched Get Out and Kayak in 2020. It was open to the disabled community and anyone who wanted a fun day out on the river learning how to kayak. It was successful, with 800 people participating the first year and 1,400 in 2021. The fees are used to fund Adaptive Sports Connection programs and purchase adaptive equipment. Several participants have become volunteers. The success of Get Out and Kayak led to Get Out Adventures and more outdoor activities, including skiing, paddle boarding, and hiking. “The social enterprise is designed to support and sustain the work of Adaptive Sports Connection,” Schreiber says. Adaptive Sports Connection leases the land on the west bank of the Scioto River from Columbus Recreation and Parks. This will be the site of the $8 million adventure lodge. “We want to create a community and programming facility,” Schreiber says, adding she envisions other nonprofits groups utilizing the lodge. “We’re really excited about bringing more people here, other groups, inner-city kids, to use the facility and get them out and into nature.” Ricker remains a member of the Adaptive Sports Connection board and continues to run ski clinics. “Volunteerism is addictive and now, so many of the disabled folks I’ve met are like family,” he says. Steve Wartenberg is a freelance writer.

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SPOTLIGHT By CYNTHIA BENT FINDLAY + Photo by ROB HARDIN

Innovation

Big Kitty Labs The neighborhood software consultancy is challenging the way we do business.

hen talking tech innovation and central Ohio, Big Kitty Labs comes up every time. The software foundry has been around for well over a decade but continues to innovate not only what it does but how it does it. The two founders, Dan Rockwell and Tushar Kulkarni, say that moving “at warp” is what helps their clients and has pushed them from a two-person side project to a 55-person boutique-style lab applying tech to new frontiers for ventures large and small. Rockwell was working at Ohio State University’s Tech Commercial-

“People started saying ‘Hey guys, can we write you a check, can you help us bring creativity, rapid designs and development?’” TUSHAR KULKARNI, co-founder, Big Kitty Labs

Big Kitty Labs 670 Meridian Way, Suite 248 Westerville, OH 43082 Bigkittylabs.com FOUNDERS: Dan Rockwell, CEO and Tushar

Kulkarni

BUSINESS: Software consultancy EMPLOYEES: 55+

Dan Rockwell and Tushar Kulkarni ization Office when he met Kulkarni at Startup Weekend in 2008. Kulkarni had a background in software and ecommerce both in India and at Chase, and an entrepreneurial streak. The two worked together on the team that won that event and started a company which Rockwell says “crashed and burned,” but they forged a partnership that hasn’t stopped churning out entrepreneurial projects and products since. They formed Big Kitty Labs in 2009 as a part-time venture named after Rockwell’s wife’s cat, and turned out their own apps like CueThat, a utility Calvin Cooper that would let users add movies to their Netflix queue from many mobile apps, kind of like pinning to Pinterest. BKL was then able to mine user patterns to see what was popular, data that Netflix wasn’t releasing. BKL got attention from industry publications like Tech Crunch and Hacker News, and around 2010, started attracting outside companies. “People started saying ‘Hey guys, can we write you a check, can you help us bring creativity, rapid designs and development?’” Kulkarni says. By 2015 both Kulkarni and Rockwell took the jump to full-time Big Kitty. By 2021, the company had grown beyond 55 employees, but the desire to give momentum to ideas still informs Big Kitty’s methods. Rockwell says a couple of strategies have been key to BKL’s success. One, he calls “protobaking,” which hearkens back to the

company’s Startup Weekend roots. Big Kitty is big on brainstorming and then rapid-fire building, cranking out working prototypes in fast fashion—say, days to weeks. Further design then happens based on actual user experience and experimentation. “Whiteboarding, designing, branding, that’s essential, let’s not discount that,” Kulkarni says. “But you go through $20K in two months. Why not give you a functional product by leveraging working stuff? And then you are already using the product within two months, versus a six-month journey where you don’t even know if you have product that users want.” Big Kitty also provides more than code for clients. Rockwell says to work rapidly, he spends a lot of time and effort with clients helping them hone not just their software but the very core ideas of their businesses. “They are also really dialed in with connections based on where you are, who could really help with different aspects of starting the business,” says Darren Jackson, founder and CEO of Surgicloud, a Columbus startup Big Kitty recently helped launch. Jackson originally wanted help building an app to help his surgical instruments and implant device distributorship schedule operating room clinical consults. That kind of scheduling, he says, often took place on paper and was a huge pain point. BKL designed his app and then helped him see its use could be

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extended beyond his distributorship, and be of use to manufacturers, hospitals and others. Now his in-house app is a new business. Both Kulkarni and Rockwell say they’re happy with BKL’s current mix of about 60 percent startup and the rest corporate innovation projects. “There are a couple of investment firms which have said to us, ‘If you feel confident in them, send them to us.’ We have become a first round of filtrations for VCs,” says Kulkarni. It’s rarer now that BKL gets to do its own projects, although the company did enter a new era by acquiring a startup, Redbud Software, that it helped get off the ground. Toward the end of 2021, BKL acquired Redbud, a greenhouse management platform that it had helped originally launch in 2018 and now has potential for huge growth in the cannabis industry. Rockwell, who says he’s coming out of the pandemic doldrums having lost both of his parents in the past couple of years, says focusing on startup energy is what has rejuvenated his love for the business. “That’s part of the thrill—you know, every quarter something weird is going to come in. Today you work on storing cattle better in a barn, yesterday it was sickle cell anemia, tomorrow it’s a sentient vape connected to your phone.”

Subscribe or renew your annual subscription to Columbus Monthly for $18. Go to columbusmonthly.com or call (760) 237-8505.

Cynthia Bent Findlay is a freelance writer. February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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TRASH TO TREASURE ENTREPRENEURS

A community of sustainability-minded entrepreneurs is helping SWACO strive toward one of its most ambitious goals to date. By JESS DEYO + Photos by ROB HARDIN

he future of business in Franklin County could be in your trash can. What should you do? Move it to the recycling bin. That’s the message Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) has been working for years to spread— currently, Franklin County recycles 51 percent of its waste, higher than the national average and up from just 34 percent in recent years. But there’s still a long way to go. In 2016, SWACO set a goal for Franklin County to recycle 75 percent of its waste by 2032. The goal may be its most ambitious to date, but for executive director Ty Marsh, achieving it is more important than ever to control the waste generated from a rapidly growing population. Franklin County’s population is 1.32 million people, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, up 160,000 from 2010. And by 2050, SWACO estimates that our residents will produce an additional 600,000 tons of waste each year. Currently, there are 2.1 million tons of waste generated each year, Marsh says. And while the increase of trash may seem daunting, it’s also opened doors for opportunity. “There are exciting possibilities for our community in recycling and environmental sustainability—very exciting possibilities because of the strength of our community, our organizations, our community and our commitment to sustainability.” SWACO is a government-owned entity created from the Ohio Revised Code with headquarters in Grove City. In December, it had 125 employees. SWACO has spearheaded several efforts through city partnerships and programming to reach its goal including the Recycle Right program, which

equips participants with the tools and knowledge to recycle with neighborhood ambassadors, new recycling bins and more. The program is underway through a partnership with the city of Columbus to help increase recycling efforts in the Hilltop, which has a recycling rate at least 10 percent less than the city’s average of 75 percent, according to the Columbus Department of Public Service. Hanna Greer-Brown, SWACO’s communications manager who helps facilitate the Recycle Right program, says these efforts are what establishes a Ty Marsh

foundation for future success. “It’s knowing how to recycle right so that you can do it at home,” GreerBrown says. “It’s no longer enough to just recycle—you need to be recycling the right things to have the biggest impact.” For Marsh, who is retiring in March, one of the most exciting efforts yet is a newly proposed materials recovery facility, which will replace the existing, century-old, privately owned facility currently being used. The facility, which is still in its approval phase, will be a public-private partnership to allow SWACO to have a better idea of Columbus’ recycling efforts and see what goes in. Having a local facility is crucial to keep the cost of recycling down, Marsh says. Kyle O’Keefe, director of innovation and programs at SWACO, says they are also working on an organic composting facility to take food and other compostable material. Currently, 27 percent of the waste stream is organics, he says, and 15 percent of that alone is food waste. SWACO also owns the county landfill, located in Grove City, which offers more insight to what’s being tossed and has been a baseline for multiple initiatives. “We’ve done some of the arithmetic and have shown that we can feed everybody in Franklin County just by reducing the amount of food that we’re putting into the landfill,” O’Keefe says. Other efforts include SWACO’s partnership with the Columbus and AEP Energy Partners for the Columbus Solar Park, a 175-acre property that will power over 5,000 homes. All of SWACO’s facilities are also powered by renewable energy, and its wasteto-energy facility provides energy to 13,000 homes. But even bigger is what may one day become Green Economy Busi-

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Aaron Westbrook ness Park—350 acres of land owned by SWACO in Grove City that could one day house sustainable companies that rely on and supply recyclables and help reduce various forms of waste. “We know increasingly as recycling has picked up that there’s a growing demand for recycled materials,” Marsh says. “We know that companies are investing in plants to take those materials and convert them into products of higher value.” Not only will the business park help build Columbus’ reputation as a sustainable city, but it’s projected to foster thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in capital investment, Marsh says. It’s still in its zoning approval phase, but with the help of Rev1 Ventures, SWACO already has businesses in mind that would pair well. While the business park will pull new companies to the area, Marsh and the team at SWACO already have several existing partnerships with local businesses that have gone green. Here are five Columbus region companies making a difference.

FORM5 PROSTHETICS

ot only did Aaron Westbrook create his own 3D printed prosthetics company while he was a full-time student, but he did it with one hand. Form5 Prosthetics is a medical device company launched by Westbrook in 2017, months after graduating from New Albany High School. The company specializes in creating prosthetics for amputees and the limbdifferent community with 3D printers and recycled materials. Westbrook’s inspiration for his company came from his own experience. While he was born with one hand, he

wasn’t fitted for his first prosthesis until he was a freshman, and even then he struggled to find a comfortable fit. So when his high school received a grant for 3D printers, he began learning the technology and even crafted a prosthesis for his senior project, which was for a seven-year-old girl, Maddie, and was the catalyst for what would become Form5. “We really create devices that allow [limb-different people] to do new activities, or things that they once were able to do that they can’t do now,” Westbrook says. “It’s understanding where people are today to give them the confidence and the support to do the things that they want to do in their tomorrows.” Since its launch, Form5 has served over a dozen individuals. While it has

“We really create devices that allow [limb-different people] to do new activities, or things that they once were able to do that they can’t do now.” AARON WESTBROOK, founder and CEO, Form5 Prosthetics

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Courtesy The Sustainery

no paid employees yet, it has around 50 volunteers and offers internships. Westbrook is currently a senior at Ohio State University studying business administration and is set to graduate this May. And while his top priority is empowering the limb-different community, Westbrook also prioritizes having a green company by relying on recycled materials. Form5 partners with SWACO to continue finding businesses and other outlets to gather materials. In the future, Westbrook hopes to continue diverting more waste to create opportunity. One day, he plans to scale his company into a nationally, and maybe even globally recognized company. “Everything comes back at Form5 to one word and its capability. Every single person that we provide a device for, they leave with a new sense of capability,” Westbrook says. “Because of that, they come back to us for more … they’re a part of our family.”

Donna Sikyta

THE SUSTAINERY

Materials that soon will become a prosthetic

orking in the fashion industry for over 20 years, Donna Sikyta heard her fair share of horror stories about getting rid of unused fabric. Some would burn it, many would send it to the landfill and others were told to simply “get rid of it.” Ready to make a change, Sikyta launched her sustainable textile marketplace, The Sustainery. The online company connects factories, manufacturers and those with extra fabric to designers in need. “What we wanted to do was give small companies that are looking for fabric and looking for resources to build their businesses an outlet to pur-

chase unused, perfectly good fabrics,” says Sikyta, CEO. In 2018 alone, landfills received 11.3 million tons of textiles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But the number largely accounts for already finished pieces of clothing—there are little to no statistics on waste generated from totally unused fabric, which is what Sikyta hopes to bring light to. Suppliers can post their unused fabric on The Sustainery’s website and designers can buy and receive fabric directly from them, with Sikyta making a commission from the sale. This not only answers the question of what to do with the fabric, she says, but saves startups and new designers from hefty costs. The startup was launched in July 2021, and some details are still being ironed out, including blogs and other

“What we wanted to do was give small companies that are looking for fabric and looking for resources to build their businesses an outlet to purchase unused, perfectly good fabrics.” DONNA SIKYTA, founder and CEO, The Sustainery

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educational resources to shed light on the textile industry. Currently there are two employees including Sikyta. In the next few years, Sikyta hopes to see The Sustainery go global, but for now, Columbus is an ideal starting place. “Columbus is the third largest fashion hub for retail brands in the country,” Sikyta says. “There’s a lot of opportunity here, from people that know people, people willing to help us, people wanting to jump on board and get rid of their leftovers. We’re even getting really positive reactions from other companies that have never heard of such a thing.”

GREEN SCOPE CONSULTING

“A lot of businesses can tell you they’re wasting X amount of dollars a month, but they can’t always speak to how that’s happening, what’s really going out the door.” DOMINIQUE HADAD, founder, Green Scope Consulting

sustainable practices. But for the food waste bound to be generated, Hadad strategizes with businesses on places that could benefit from what would traditionally be tossed, for example, stale bread or other bakery items. Key in helping Hadad with the launch of her company is SWACO, which provided her with information from its Save More Than Food program, that takes a similar model to Hadad’s.

“SWACO was really great about sharing information with me and helping me understand what they have learned,” Hadad says. “It only proves further that this is a need in the community.” In December, Green Scope Consulting was in its pro-bono phase and worked with 10 companies to finalize a business model. Hadad hopes to officially launch in early 2022.

Dominique Hadad

Courtesy Green Scope Consulting

ver wondered how much food is wasted from grocery stores and restaurants? One 2020 college grad was curious, and now she’s not only working to help companies decrease waste but redirect it to those in need. Dominique Hadad is a graduate of Ohio State University and recipient of its 2021 President’s Prize, a grant of $100,000 given to support a startup in its first year. She received the grant for pitching her business idea on a food waste consultancy that has since evolved into Green Scope Consulting. The need for a company like Hadad’s was obvious. In a 2019 report, SWACO estimated the economic burden of food waste in Franklin County at $106 million per year. For many businesses, the fault simply comes from missed opportunities, Hadad says. Green Scope Consulting has three key words to address that issue: reduce, rescue and redirect. She starts first by providing a waste audit to not only identify opportunities to save money, but the items that lead to excess waste in the first place. “A lot of businesses can tell you they’re wasting X amount of dollars a month, but they can’t always speak to how that’s happening, what’s really going out the door,” Hadad says. Next steps include looking for innovative ways to decrease the amount of waste generated and identifying February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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Adria Hall

KOKO

ustainable living can be intimidating—choose any given daily activity and there’s likely a way to lessen its impact on the planet. So where do you start? Adria Hall says it’s at her sustainable living store, Koko. Hall founded Koko in 2020 after noticing a lack of convenient resources to reduce everyday waste. Customers in her Hilltop and Clintonville locations are greeted with colorful walls, sustainability mantras and tons of finds meant to prove that sustainability can be affordable and

approachable, she says. Key is finding products that bring out the fun of going green, she says. Her shelves are stocked with products with quirky patterns, how-to’s and energetic personalities that make items like wool dryer balls, deodorant and even sustainable makeup brands more appealing. “[Living sustainability] can seem boring,” Hall says, “I just felt like it doesn’t have to be that way. Sustainability shouldn’t be boring; you shouldn’t have to sacrifice personality to make better choices.” A shop like Hall’s comes at a critical time—in 2018, landfills received 27 million tons of plastic, according to the EPA.

“Sustainability shouldn’t be boring; you shouldn’t have to sacrifice personality to make better choices.” ADRIA HALL, founder, CEO, Koko

To fight against the use of single-use plastics, Koko stores are equipped with a refillery that allows customers to bring in their own bottles or purchase one from the store that they can refill with all the must-haves, from dish soap to detergent to shampoo. At the heart of Koko is educational efforts, Hall says. A large factor of the business is its social platforms that educate followers, from the everyday consumer to the eco-warrior, on easyto-achieve ways of living sustainably. In the next few years, Hall hopes to partner with local businesses to inspire more green choices. The universal message? Even the smallest change makes a big difference. “Just like any other sort of habit change, the idea of doing it all at once is overwhelming. You’re never gonna do it if you feel like you can’t from the start—tiny changes build confidence and allow you to see that if you can do this one thing, you can tackle another.”

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FRESH BLOOM BINS

hen was the last time you cleaned your trash can? Like, really cleaned it? If you can’t remember, you’re probably in the majority. Tia Johnson remembers the day she took her trash to the garbage can and was greeted by the horrible smell of what was brewing at the bottom. She, like many, was faced with a decision—clean it, or let it get worse, potentially attracting rodents and increasing the odds of waste escaping. Johnson knew the dilemma was relatable, so she set out to change it. Today, she’s the founder of Fresh Bloom Bins, a trash bin cleaning company for residential and commercial clients. “The biggest thing is seeing what is going on in the community,” Johnson says. “That gave me a big aha moment to say, ‘OK, what’s the problem, and how can I solve it?’” The company consists of four cleaning trucks—one equipped for residential cans, two for commercial dumpsters and one for 300-gallon bins that were specially crafted for a partnership with Columbus. It also partners with Rumpke. To clean the bins, a truck holds the cans in the air and blasts the inside with 220-degree water. Meanwhile, technicians pressure wash the outside of the can. After that, the can is sprayed with a nontoxic, biodegradable sanitizer and misted with peppermint spray, meant to repel rodents. As the bins are cleaned, the wastewater is collected and disposed of following EPA guidelines. It takes less than a minute to clean each can, John-

“The biggest thing is seeing what’s going on in the community. That gave me a big aha moment to say ‘OK what’s the problem, and how can I solve it?’’’ TIA JOHNSON, founder, Fresh Bloom Bins

Fresh Bloom Bins founder Tia Johnson (middle) stands with team. son says, and when they work with waste haulers, they clean anywhere from 150 to 500 bins. Fresh Bloom Bins has four employees, each of whom were formerly incarcerated. As someone who has loved ones who have been incarcerated, it’s become a goal of Johnson’s to have a team of people looking for a second chance.

Additionally, technicians are equipped with educational resources to speak with community members about the importance of sustainability. In 2022, Johnson hopes to tap further into the residential market, specifically in Westerville, Dublin and Marysville among others.

Jess Deyo is associate editor. February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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Special Awards

Annual program honors two Columbus companies for efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion By VIRGINIA BROWN • Photos by ROB HARDIN

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iversity and inclusion efforts have become big business. A 2020 report by McKinsey & Co., which examined more than 1,000 large companies across 15 countries, shows that the emphasis on a diverse workforce remains robust, and for good reason: The most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform their less-diverse peers when it comes to profitability. Each spring, Pennsylvania-based employment research company Energage crafts and executes the Top Workplaces awards program for Columbus CEO. In 2021, the company offered a new set of questions to the area’s highest-ranking companies, all surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The questions sought to look more closely at what companies are doing to encourage policies that support workplace DEI. Kinsey Smith, a senior data analyst with Energage, spearheaded much of the new survey, collaborating with a consulting group and the company’s product

The S-S Bendure Hartwig team

and technology divisions. “We’ve been overdue for a broader conversation on this topic for quite a while. And certainly there are going to be leadership teams or leaders who assemble a task force or someone to research the issue, do a couple of small actions, and call it a day,” Smith says. “But organizations that are going to succeed in the long term are the ones who prioritize [diversity, equity, and inclusion],” she says.

Action over appearance The survey went beyond employees’ opinions of whether they felt their workplaces supported diversity and, instead, directly looked at what companies are doing in practice. “Some customers were adding diversity demographics—things like race and ethnicity or gender, and not necessarily doing much with it,” Smith says. “We realized that we were doing them a disservice by not suggesting or recommending that they dig deeper into those results, to better understand and experience some of their underrepresented population.” The detailed questionnaire gave companies an opportunity to share what they are doing around DEI, from recruiting and hiring efforts to compensation and benefits, plus professional development, employee involvement, among other actions. In all, 10 Top Workplaces companies with operations in the Columbus area chose to respond to the questionnaire. Energage then scored each company based on the questionnaire responses. Two companies stood out. S-S Bendure Hartwig, a Columbus-area insurance agency, part of Texas-based parent company Globe Life Insurance, reported concerted efforts to recruit and retain employees from racially diverse backgrounds, plus women, LGBTQ+, veterans and those with disabilities. According to the survey results, at SSBH, all positions require the consideration of at least one candidate from an underrepresented background; the makeup of the hiring teams must be diverse, too, and include at least one woman. Applications also exclude questions about criminal background, giving them a chance to review an applicant’s experience and qualifications without the stigma of an arrest record.

“From the senior levels of leadership … to the person who got hired yesterday, we try to always put our feet in the shoes of where we started and never forget what it’s like to be at different levels.” PAT BENDURE, co-owner, S-S Bendure Hartwig

S-S Bendure Hartwig 100 E Campus View Blvd., Ste. 180, Columbus 43235 ssbendurehartwig.com

Business: Independent firm

representing and distributing American Income Life products

Owners: Patrick Bendure,

Dan Hartwig, Jim Surace and Marcus Smith

Employees: 120 Revenue: $7 million February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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Start your

COMPLIMENTARY SUBSCRIPTION TODAY at columbusceo.com.

“[We believe in] the concept of celebrating the individual, empowering the individual to make a difference in the company. If we do that successfully, then we’re going to have a successful company.” DOUG DEKEN, vice president, Manifest Solutions

Manifest Solutions Corp. 2035 Riverside Drive, Columbus 43221 manifestcorp.com

Business: Curates and cultivates IT talent

CEO: Nancy Matijasich Employees: 120 Revenue: $13 million 26 ColumbusCEO l February 2022

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The Manifest Solutions team

Receiving high marks in DEI comes as little surprise to agency co-owner Pat Bendure. “We’ve always tried to be extremely diverse in everything that we do, and very inclusive with our teammates,” he says. “From the senior levels of leadership … to the person who got hired yesterday, we try to always put our feet in the shoes of where we started and never forget what it’s like to be at different levels.” Technology has provided access to many, and has been a major factor in increasing diversity, according to Bendure. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the majority of the business went online, Bendure says, “The female production alone has increased 50 percent. … A lot of moms that stay home can do what we do now, and single [parents] that maybe have trouble with childcare or other challenges.” Analysis from a 2019 McKinsey report found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity, specifically on executive teams, were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than the companies in the fourth quartile. To better foster a team-like environment, leadership also encourages social time—at least one day per month—away from the office. “Whenever we have a

serious discussion or it involves culture, we try to do it away from the office,” Bendure says. They gather at area restaurants, Top Golf, or meet at each other’s homes. “[Being out of the office] is maybe not as rigid or as formal. It really opens the doors to different ways that we can communicate with each other and how open and honest we can be.” Open, honest communication from the top down is highly valued, he added. “Transparency Is very important to us.”

Opening opportunities Similarly, IT consulting firm Manifest Solutions earns high ratings for its diversity efforts. Vice President Doug Deken says it started at the beginning, and from the top, when founder and CEO Nancy Matijasich created the company in 1994. Today, the company employs roughly 120 and places high emphasis on changing the barriers to access in the tech field through its Agility Bootcamp. Created in 2011, the bootcamp educates and provides potential tech-field employees with the tools they need to work in technol-

ogy–things many colleges don’t address. The company teams up with Columbus State Community College and Central State University to recruit its candidates, who each receive payment, coaching, and get assigned real-world projects. Many of their current employees came out of the program and have gone on to other advanced roles in major tech companies from Google to Amazon. Leadership also places strong emphasis on continuing education in the fastpaced, ever-changing field of technology. “We’re in a business where there’s such an emphasis on continued learning,” says Deken. “If you’re not moving forward in technology, you’re left behind.” The company has its own self-taught programs and also keeps an open policy when employees feel they need supplemental learning or other educational opportunities, according to Deken. Overall, they honor the unique individual. “[We believe in] the concept of celebrating the individual, empowering the individual to make a difference in the company,” says Deken. “If we do that successfully, then we’re going to have a successful company.”

Virginia Brown is a freelance writer. February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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Diverse Leaders in Law

Big ideas to help women reach parity Panel of attorneys talks about what needs to change, from paternity leave to work-life boundaries. By LAURA NEWPOFF

or years the legal industry has struggled to attract and retain female lawyers. Reports show that stress, burnout and mental health issues disproportionately impact women in the profession and many of them don’t believe they can be a lawyer and a mother at the same time. A recent report from the American Bar Association found less than 25 percent of firm partners are women, and just 3 percent are racially or ethnically diverse women. For the women who do reach equity partner, the pay gap is widening. According to legal recruiting firm Major Lindsey & Africa, in 2010, women partners at larger law firms earned an average of 24 percent less than their male counterparts. By 2018, women partners reported making 35 percent less than partners who were men. At Columbus CEO magazine’s quarterly Diverse Leaders in Law

Photo Gettyimages.com

Forum, three women attorneys who have built successful careers at central Ohio law firms shared their thoughts on ways to help women advance in the profession. The Jan. 6 discussion was sponsored by Barnes & Thornburg and Frost Brown Todd. The panelists were: • Jane Higgins Marx, managing partner at Carlile Patchen & Murphy • Katrina Thompson, partner at Barnes & Thornburg • Ashley Oliker, member at Frost Brown Todd The following are excerpts from the conversation, which have been condensed and edited for clarity.

“Women tend to wait until we know we’ve met every criteria before we raise our hand, before we push for the value that we think we should get ... ” KATRINA THOMPSON, partner, Barnes & Thornburg

Photo courtesy Barnes & Thornburg

Encouraging paternity leave and flex time ONE WAY LAW firms can help ease the childcare responsibilities of women is to adopt paternity leave policies. However, there’s still hesitation among men to take advantage of that, Oliker says. Law firm leaders can encourage men to take that leave and share the responsibility as part of their firm culture. That’s one way to level the playing field, which leads to “inclusion and equity for all,” she says. At many firms there are baked-in biases tied to child care. For example, Thompson says if someone sees a woman lawyer leave at 3 p.m., it’s assumed she’s on her way to pick up her child from school. It’s assumed a man leaving at the same time is headed for an off-site meeting. Because most families have two working parents, the internal dialogue at firms needs to shift around leave policies so responsibilities can be shared, she says.

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The issue can go beyond leave policies by encouraging workplace flexibility for all employees so they can feel supported when they need to leave the office to attend events or volunteer at their child’s school, Higgins Marx says. The silver lining of the pandemic is that it has created a new paradigm around remote work that allows for more flexibility. “Clients don’t care where I’m getting back to them from, they just want me to be available when they need me,” she says. “And when we all appreciate that, it gives everyone the opportunity to be viewed equally.”

Challenges and opportunities ONE PARTICULAR challenge for women is the billable hour, which is tied to how much a person works and can affect work-life boundaries. Also, when women get involved in mentoring or leadership programs or do good work in the community, while those activities are valuable to the profession, they don’t count toward February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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the billable hour. “I think in a lot of firms, women take on a large amount of training, mentoring and that nonbillable work that is important to how firms run,” Thompson says. “So, when we’re talking about how many hours people are devoting to the firm, it’s not always captured in the amount of pay being received.” Thompson says one idea is for firms to get creative with alternative fee structures and move away from a billable-hour model that doesn’t value efficiency. Another issue affecting women at firms is their inherent nature of being less confident than men. Formal guidelines and transparency around pay, bonuses and promotions can give women assurances they are being treated fairly in the workplace. “Women tend to wait until we know we’ve met every criteria before we raise our hand, before we push for the value that we think we should get from an organization,” Thompson says. “Being really clear and transparent helps females raise their hand when the time is right versus waiting for somebody to say, ‘Hey, we think you should have raised your hand, here’s your bonus,’ or, ‘Hey, you should be up for a promotion.’” Promoting a culture of teamwork is another opportunity for firms that benefits women lawyers and clients, Oliker says. That’s because women enjoy working in teams and helping others. The result is a more balanced work load because different attorneys are called on at different times to handle areas of expertise, like intellectual property, a business transaction or litigation. The teamwork approach also means a client gets to establish relationships with several people, which can help keep them on board for the long haul. A teamwork approach also fosters hands-on learning, especially for younger lawyers, Higgins Marx says. “My best training experiences were sitting in on a client meeting and listening to the questions that the clients asked and hearing the answers that my colleagues gave and kind of understanding how that dynamic truly works,” she says. “It’s one thing to know the law. And it’s another thing to understand how to convey that law in the form of advice to a client. And so that collaborative exercise will get a new or attorney there faster in my

Photo courtesy Carlile Patchen & Murphy

“Clients don’t care where I’m getting back to them, they just want me to be available when they need me ... When we all appreciate that, it gives everyone the opportunity to be viewed equally.” JANE HIGGINS MARX, managing partner, Carlile Patchen & Murphy

experience, and the client is getting the level of service they need.” The panelists’ advice for women attorneys: “Be your own advocate,” and “invest in yourself.” The advice to firm leaders: “Create a positive culture that supports everybody,” and have formal guidelines in place to be transparent about pay and how the firm assigns mentors, work and bonuses. “And be intentional about all those activities,” Higgins Marx says.

Laura Newpoff is a freelance writer.

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Family-owned business

Kyle Reitter and Dustin Wilshire

Partnering to lead Reitter Stucco transitioning business to fifth generation with co-CEO model.

Reitter Stucco & Supply 1100 King Ave., Columbus reitterstucco.com BUSINESS: Stucco, stone veneer, exterior

insultation finish systems FOUNDED: 1915

TOP OFFICERS: Kyle Reitter, Dustin Wilshire EMPLOYEES: 45 ANNUAL REVENUE: $7 million OHIO CLIENTS: Messer Construction, Corna

Kokosing Construction, Danis Construction, Turner Construction, Schottenstein Real Estate Group, Elford, Market Construction, Valley Interior Systems

By LAURA NEWPOFF + Photo by ROB HARDIN

s the child of a fourthgeneration business owner, Kyle Reitter grew up with the opportunity to experience all the customary rites of passage a family firm could offer him. As a toddler, he watched Reitter Stucco and Supply employees work on his family’s home. As a teenager, he earned money doing clerical work over summer break. And after high school, he had a job waiting for him as a full-time laborer. And then he got fired. A week before Reitter was canned, he took his mom and sister out to a job site where he had installed cultured stone. He loved the work and was proud of it, but his father, Fritz, let his superintendent know that his son’s attendance record wasn’t cutting it. The younger Reitter called his dismissal “heartbreaking.” He would go on to work at a cable company for about year and a half before being welcomed back to Reitter at age 21 for a warehouse position. He ascended to leading the materials sales division and companywide business development efforts. His stick-to-itiveness is about to pay off, because the man who once had him

fired has created a succession plan that will elevate his son to co-CEO. “Succession planning started years ago, but when that began my dad told me I was not entitled. There were several options on the table in addition to passing it on to the next generation,” says Reitter, 35. “I had to work to get to where I wanted to be. I told him my goal was to keep the business in the family, even if I did not get the (top) title. I wanted to make sure the business continued to be successful so I would do what was best for the company.” The other CEO will be Reitter’s brother-in-law, Dustin Wilshire, 37. He’s responsible for the contracting division and operations.

How’s it going to work? Reitter Stucco was founded in 1915 in Columbus by Gabriel Reitter, an Austrian immigrant. He left his family in their homeland and ended up not seeing them for years because of World War 1. After the war, his son Gabe moved to Columbus and started working for his father when he was 18, and later served as the company’s president from 1939 to 1957. His son Richard “Dick” Reitter began working for the company in 1947 and served as president from

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1957 to 1980. Dick’s five sons, including Fritz, all had long careers working in the company, though Fritz is the only brother still active. He’ll retire and redeem his stock at the end of 2021. Kyle Reitter and Wilshire, who have both worked at the company since 2007, will have 50-50 ownership at the start of 2022. Wilshire also started as an entry-level laborer. “Kyle and I have different personalities that have resulted in the formation of different leadership styles that have each proven effective over the years,” Wilshire says. “With us both being family members, we each knew we wanted to be leaders of the company. Rather than putting one of us over the other in terms of the senior leadership position, we agreed that if we each acknowledged our own and the other person’s strengths and agreed to work together, we could have a very powerful team approach.” Wilshire’s strengths are running numbers and operational efficiency while Reitter thrives in a relationship-building role and customer satisfaction. The duo has come up with specific rules for decision making, which have been put into an operating agreement to avoid stalemates over key business decisions. If there’s an impasse, there are rules about how to

“With us both being family members, we each knew we wanted to be leaders of the company. Rather than putting one of us over the other in terms of the senior leadership position, we agreed that if we each acknowledged our own and the other person’s strengths and agreed to work together, we could have a very powerful team approach.” DUSTIN WILSHIRE, co-CEO, Reitter Stucco

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get the board of advisers involved. Mark Corna, the retired CEO of Corna Kokosing Construction, has been on Reitter Stucco’s board of advisers for four years and refers to the company as “a great American success story.” His familiarity with the company dates to his high school days in the 1960s, when he worked weekends prepping sites for stucco appliers. The co-CEO model can work because of those different skill sets and the benefits they’ll bring as young leaders. “This business is constantly changing and you need to bring young blood along,” Corna says. “These guys are open-minded about change and willing to adapt and also listen to advice and guidance from outside sources.” Perry Maughmer is the founder at Relentless Leadership in Columbus and has a Vistage Chair practice that counsels CEOs. He’s worked with Reitter and Wilshire for a year to help them with the transition. In addition to being able to complement each other in the way they work, they also have the humility to make the co-CEO dynamic a success, he says. “Together they make a great team,” Maughmer says. “Both are aware of where the gaps are, and they are OK with each other. Neither is striving to position himself over the other, and you don’t find that too often.” Fritz’s advice: “Do not ever give up quality.” Reitter Stucco’s contracting division accounts for about 75 percent of company revenue with the material supply division generating the bal-

ance. Serving the residential and commercial markets, the company works with homeowners as well as contractors and provides installation services for new construction, remodeling and restoration projects. Reitter and Wilshire will take the reins of the company while the effects of COVID-19 – like supply chain problems and labor shortages – persist. “Luckily, we have remained healthy as a company, and 2020 was a great year for us in terms of sales and profitability,” Wilshire says. “2021 has been more of an average year. The outlook is very unpredictable in 2022.” Fritz Reitter has told his son and Wilshire that he’ll stay on as a member of the board of advisers and always is just a phone call away. His advice for the new leaders: “Do not ever give up quality and keep all the things in place to maintain our differentiation from other companies that are similar to us. Do not ever let your guard down or get complacent. It takes only one bad job to ruin your reputation.” He also counseled to maintain generous profit sharing with employees, some of whom have been there nearly 40 years. “And, don’t forget your guys, keep in touch with them and don’t run the business from your desk. Even though you can do everything from a phone these days, you still need face-to-face interaction. You have to be out and about with your folks and your customers.” Laura Newpoff is a freelance writer.

36 ColumbusCEO l February 2022

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Health Watch

Another COVID winter is testing the health care workforce’s resilience. By LAURA NEWPOFF

t the beginning of COVID-19, employees at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center had a gung-ho attitude about being on the front-line of the health crisis. They banded together to bring new units online, increase bed capacity and adopt new treatments. They were running on adrenaline and, even amid the grimmest of outcomes they’d see each day, there was a sense of excitement because they had the chance to save people’s lives. Nearly two years later, doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and even the people who clean the hospital rooms, “are over it,” says Beth Steinberg, staff training and development, health and well-being. The adrenaline that fueled these health care workers in early 2020 has been replaced with exhaustion from working 16-hour shifts, dealing with

File/Columbus Dispatch/ADAM CAIRNS

The long, long haul

Buckeye Paws therapy dog Shiloh stands with fellow therapy dogs.

people who refuse to wear masks or think COVID isn’t real and having to assume the dual role of caregiver and chaplain too often. Add in the political tension and racial unrest that occurred alongside the pandemic in 2020 and the situation became combustible. Many staff members reached a breaking point and some even quit. Steinberg, who has worked as a bedside nurse while raising kids and going to graduate school, knew these caregivers needed support. She was part of a multi-disciplinary senior leadership team that came together to create an employee well-being working group that launched a variety of programs, from chair massages and spiritual care to the deploy-

“We’ve used the dogs for rounds to go and give staff the opportunity to connect with a nonjudgmental, highly trained therapy dog. They can talk, pet or cry with the dog, which often happens.” “Our young physicians and staff saw an inordinate number of patients die without their families. The stress of this pandemic will take many years to remedy.” DR. BILL WULF, CEO, Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians

Photo courtesy COPC

BETH STEINBERG, staff training and development, health and well-being, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

ment of small live string orchestras. The start of the pandemic also created an opportunity for Steinberg and her colleague Mary Justice to roll out the Buckeye Paws program, which had been in progress since the middle of 2019. The program brings in therapy dogs to provide comfort and emotional support to patient care staff, faculty and students. Steinberg’s yellow Labrador retriever Brienne, in fact, is one of the original team members. “This program offers people brief periods of relief from the reality they are facing,” Steinberg says. “We’ve used the dogs for rounds to go and give staff the opportunity to connect with a non-judgmental, highly trained therapy dog. They can talk, pet or cry with the dog, which often happens.” Buckeye Paws resides within the medical center’s Stress, Trauma And Resilience (STAR) Program. That program has facilitated small groups of employees gathering with counselors to talk about their experiences during COVID, and a dog can be there as a calming presence. The dogs of Buckeye Paws are certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, and the program follows its guidelines as well as strict medical center policy. Employees also have been able to benefit from Director of Integrative Medicine Maryanna Klatt’s Mindfulness in Motion program, which has been integrated into the hospital. In response to the pandemic, Klatt and

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Photo courtesy Wendy Pramik

ties that have been exacerbated by the disease,” he says. “When it looks like the ICU numbers are declining, the hospital often is still dealing with these patients who have other problems that have been made worse by COVID. It’s an extra stressor for front-line colleagues.”

COPC’s approach

File/Columbus Dispatch/ADAM CAIRNS

Buckeye Paws dogs and team members

Steinberg worked together to create 30 short videos with mindfulness techniques for hospital employees. To date, they’ve received 32,000 views. Buckeye Paws and the various programs tied to employee well-being are examples of how health systems across central Ohio have made it a priority to take care of their caregivers during COVID-19. “Employee well-being was well-planned, wellorchestrated and it was strategic,” Klatt says.

Mount Carmel’s approach Mount Carmel Health System has a four-pronged approach to employee well-being, which has been adjusted to accommodate needs specific to the pandemic. “Live Your Whole Life” is a whole-person-centered program that provides tools and resources related to mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. It includes a collaboration with CareBridge for year-round,

around-the-clock counseling. The “colleague care” multidisciplinary program brings two peers together who become part of a resilience rounding program. For example, Brian Pierson, the system’s vice president of community health and well-being, is a critical care nurse who is paired with Christie SantaEmma, a licensed social worker. They developed a relationship with the intensive care unit at Mount Carmel East where they participate in rounding cadences to gather information about the challenges employees are facing and to provide information about health and wellness topics. On the first night’s round, Pierson and Santa-Emma came into contact with 76 employees, only one of whom was getting enough sleep each night. That led to classes being developed around sleep hygiene. A “healthy living” program offers short retreats virtually or in person with licensed psychotherapists to help employees manage the stress and trauma they face each day. And a “critical incident stress management” program deploys facilitators to help employees who have experienced a trauma at work, such as the death of a patient or colleague. Pierson says while there have been periods where the number of COVID hospitalizations have declined, health care workers still experience an enormous amount of stress related to the pandemic. “So many people who have suffered from severe COVID have a number of comorbidi-

Central Ohio Primary Care leaders also mobilized to support employees during the health crisis. It rolled out a free subscription to DoorDash’s DashPass because of COVID and is keeping that in place in 2022. Initiatives that were started that continue today include: a free subscription to Care.com and a resources page to help with childcare options, education, physical activity and nutrition ideas and work-from-home and mental health resources for kids and parents. Free identity theft protection services, an employee share program among practices and discounted and free resources for things like gas, health classes and emotional well-being services also continue to be offered. COPC also provides employees a variety of mental health resources, including apps that help reduce stress and track physical activity along with educational sessions on self-care. A new employee recognition program was launched alongside a campaign to recognize colleagues for acts of kindness. Hiring COVID screeners and creating an upskill training program also have helped the practices operate more efficiently. Employees got a $1,000 bonus in 2020 and those who have been vaccinated this year also have received $1,000. Dr. Bill Wulf, COPC’s CEO, says health care workers have faced a unique circumstance since the pandemic began. The health crisis has made the home environment more stressful and employees in many other professions can find some peace and quiet when they go to work. That’s not the case in health care. “Our young physicians and staff saw an inordinate number of patients die without their families,” Wulf says. “The stress of this pandemic will take many years to remedy.” Laura Newpoff is a freelance writer. February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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(Samir “Mr. Magazine” ™ Husani Monitor 2020)

PRINT READERS REMEMBER MORE.

Comscore Multi-Platform Audience Duplication November 2020; MRI-Simmons (11-20/S20)

• PRINT STIMULATES EMOTIONS AND DESIRES • PRINT IS PREFERRED BY THE MAJORITY (Even Millennials) • PRINT READERS EXPERIENCE MORE FOCUSED ATTENTION AND LESS DISTRACTION, WHICH DRIVES SENSORY INVOLVEMENT CONTRIBUTING TO GREATER READER IMPACT, COMPREHENSION AND RECALL. (MPA, Scott McDonald, Ph.D. Nomas Research)

For advertising information call Columbus CEO at 614-888-4567 or email advertise@columbusmonthly.com. To subscribe visit ColumbusCEO.com.

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GENERAL CONTRACTORS Ranked by 2021 Columbus region contract value

COMPANY 1 Elford

1220 Dublin Road, Columbus 43215 614-488-4000 elford.com

2 Turner Construction 262 Hanover St., Columbus 43215 614-984-3000 turnerconstruction.com

3 Messer Construction 3705 Business Park Drive Columbus 43204 • 614-275-0141 messer.com

4 Ruscilli Construction 5815 Wall St., Dublin 43017 614-876-9484 ruscilli.com

5 Pepper Construction 5185 Blazer Parkway, Suite 101 Dublin 43017 • 614-793-4477 pepperconstruction.com

6 Danis Building Construction

777 Goodale Blvd., Suite 100 Columbus 43212 • 614-761-8385 danis.com

7 Kokosing Group

6235 Westerville Road Westerville 43081 • 614-212-5700 kokosing.biz

8 Continental Building Co. 150 E. Broad St., Columbus 43215 614-221-1818 builtbycontinental.com

9 Marker

2011 Riverside Drive, Columbus 43221 614-754-8349 buildwithmarker.com

10 Daimler Group

1533 Lake Shore Drive, Columbus 43204 614-488-4424 daimlergroup.com

PROJECT VALUE General contracting Construction management

TOP PROJECTS IN 2021

$1.04 billion

$170.7 m $873.3 m

Tri-W development in Grandview, Parallel apartment project near Ohio State, Rickenbacker Global Logistics intermodal site (Duke).

328 348

$541.9 million

$540.2 m $1.7 m

380 10,000

Brian Mooney

Pharmaceutical company manufacturing and packaging

$412 million

$44 m $368 m

Nationwide Children’s Hospital Livingston Orthopedic Surgery Center, OhioHealth Pickerington Medical Campus expansion, Ohio Living Heritage Pointe

114 1,337

Erin Thompson

$384 million

$70 m $312 m

Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools, Westfall Local Schools, Ohio State University Advanced Materials Corridor Phase 2, High Bank Distillery – Gahanna

125 155

$267.5 million

$33 m $234.5 m

Westerville City Schools Minerva Park Middle School, Rohr Road Development Phase I, West Jefferson speculative warehouse

113 1,112

$239.1 million

na $239.1 m

Mount Carmel Dublin Hospital, Adena Fayette County Replacement Hospital, Bath & Body Works DC3 Restack

75 600

$234.7 million

$126.1 m $108.6 m

OSU/ENGIE DHC BP3 utilities and bridge, Hap Cremean rehab, ODOT 210165 FRA US-40, Kaufman-Eco Housing, Franklin County ADAMH

946 3,335

$190.4 million

na $190.4 m

Kingsdale Senior Living, Red Cedar hotel (AC & Hyatt House), Red Cedar market rate apartments, Ronald McDonald House expansion, SW at Hamilton, Elmhurst Innovation Center

67 95

$188.2 million

$165.8 m $22.4 m

COTA McKinley Avenue renovation, Peak Industrial Park, Hempstead Landing Apartments, Heidelberg University Miller Hall

51 130

$180 million

na $180 m

Peninsula Hotel, Vera Apartments, OrthoOne HQ

50 50

2021 COLUMBUS REGION CONTRACT VALUE

EMPLOYEES Local Companywide

COLUMBUS REGION TOP OFFICERS

Jim Smith CEO

vice president and general manager

vice president

Lou Ruscilli (CEO) and Tony Ruscilli (principal)

Paul Francois president

Dustin Rohrbach

vice president, operations

Brett and Bryce Burgett, CEOs, Lori Gillett, CEO of Corna Kokosing

Josh Corna CEO

Alison Marker president

Robert C. White chairman

PROJECT TYPES Design-build, office, education, health care, industrial, warehouse, multifamily, retail Office, education, health care, design-build Design-build, office, education, health care, industrial, warehouse, sci/ tech Office, education, industrial, warehouse, residential, athletics, government Warehouse, industrial, health care, education, office, design-build Design-build, office, education, health care, industrial, warehouse, life science, food/ beverage Transportation, design-build, office, education, health care, industrial, warehouse Design-build, office, education, health care, industrial, warehouse, senior living Design-build, office, education, health care, industrial, warehouse Office, education, health care, industrial, warehouse

m=million na=not applicable Source: Survey of general contractors

The CEO Leaderboard features selected topics each month. The May Leaderboard will feature Columbus region data centers.The deadline for inclusion in that survey is March 21. If you want your company to be considered for an upcoming CEO Leaderboard, email Linda Deitch at ldeitch@ columbusCEO.com.

Information compiled by LINDA DEITCH

Information included in this survey was provided by companies and not independently verified.

February 2022 l ColumbusCEO

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1/19/22 2:53 PM

Breakdown

Compiled by KATY SMITH + Infographic by YOGESH CHAUDHARY

THEY’RE COMING — SO WE’D BETTER BUILD IT

The Columbus region population is projected to grow from 2.1 million in 2020 to 3 million by 2030, and all those people will need places to live. The region saw 11,864 new housing units built in 2020, the most of any in the past 15 years. But it wasn’t enough. Regional planners estimate we need to build 14,000-21,000 units a year—numbers similar cities are meeting easily.

Austin

Nashville

Charlotte

Raleigh

Columbus

Indianapolis

40,627

25,059

23,691

16,679

11,864

10,540

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, United Way of Central Ohio

Illustration GettyImages.com

Housing units built in 2020

48 ColumbusCEO l February 2022

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