20130128-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_--
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$2.00/JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 3, 2013
Vol. 34, No. 4
Employers look LOOKING BEYOND to escape health THE DOORS care mandate LOCAL APPROVAL RATINGS How employees see some of the largest companies and institutions to work for in Northeast Ohio, according to Glassdoor.com: TOP FIVE ■ 1. Lubrizol Corp. — 3.9 stars, 26 votes ■ 2. University Hospitals Health System — 3.8, 32 votes ■ 3. Tie: University of Akron — 3.7, 34 votes; ■ Swagelok Co. — 3.7, 21 votes ■ 5. Tie: Eaton Corp. — 3.6, 219 votes; ■ Cleveland Clinic — 3.6, 145 votes; ■ Case Western Reserve University — 3.6, 37 votes
BOTTOM FIVE ■ 18. FirstEnergy Corp. — 3.0 stars, 49 votes ■ 19. Sterling Jewelers Inc. — 2.9, 126 votes ■ 20. American Greetings Corp. — 2.8, 97 votes ■ 21. Jo-Ann Stores Inc. — 2.5, 122 votes ■ 22. InfoCision Management Corp. — 2.2, 52 votes ■ Average rating for all companies on Glassdoor.com — 3.2 — Chuck Soder
INSIDE: A breakdown of the approval ratings of local CEOs. Page 43
Popular website can be a valuable resource for job seekers, companies and employees, but experts say ‘it’s just a piece of the puzzle’ By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
See DOORS Page 10
By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
Seeking to limit their costs under Obamacare, small and midsize companies are considering cutting jobs, slashing employee hours and using more temporary workers, and Northeast Ohio staffing firms are hiring more people to meet the anticipated demand. The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as of Jan. 1, 2014, requires businesses with 50 or more fulltime-equivalent (FTE) employees to offer health insurance that meets certain requirements or to pay to the government a penalty of $2,000 or $3,000 per employee.
INSIDE
Meeting of minds on shale We get you ready for the Feb. 5 event at Executive Caterers of Landerhaven by looking at where the oil and gas industry stands, how communities stand to benefit from increased drilling and preview the day’s panels. PAGES 13-16 That mandate has companies — particularly those flirting with the 50 FTE employee mark — strategizing how they can avoid being big enough to comply, local attorneys say. See TEMPORARY Page 6
Geis Cos. emerges as key downtown player with Ameritrust win Company known for big industrial developments has come a long way from humble beginnings By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
When the late Erwin Geis in 1967 built his first Northeast Ohio industrial building in Warrensville Heights, his family spent a Saturday doing the landscaping. A
grade-schooler at the time, Erwin’s son Greg Geis once talked about how he got hungry and tried the green fertilizer as a would-be lunch — one he quickly lost. However, Greg and older brother Fred Geis developed an appetite for construction and property development that has propelled the now Streetsboro-based Geis Cos. far from its humble beginnings. Today, its website says, it has active projects in 16 locations in 10 cities and has developed more than 9,000 acres and 600 projects. When Cuyahoga County Council last week unanimously declared Geis Cos. the winning bidder for the old Ameritrust
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Lubrizol Corp. is the best place to work in Northeast Ohio, if you believe current and former employees who rated the company on Glassdoor.com. Not that the maker of specialty chemicals and lubricant additives — or any other business — is immune from criticism
on the increasingly popular website, which promotes itself as a place where outsiders can gain insiders’ views of their employers. For instance, one reviewer who gave Wickliffe-based Lubrizol a perfect five-star rating in December 2008 still found the need to call its marketing group “clueless and not too bright.”
Staffing firms staff up, lawyers field calls as clients try to avoid key employment threshold
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NEWSPAPER
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Just added! Frank Tsuru,
Tuesday, Feb. 5
President and CEO, Momentum Purchase your tickets today. See page 13
See GEIS Page 42