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2/13/2015
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$2.00/FEBRUARY 16 - 22, 2015
Cavaliers are taking beacon technology to creative levels with help of their new mobile app — P. 5 As Winking Lizards knows, Medical Mutual gives its employees incentives to support clients — P. 7
Activist investors are staking their claim By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com
To the public, shareholder activism in recent years may best be represented by unseasoned pasta water. Starboard Value LP last year made headlines when it waged a public proxy campaign against Darden Restaurants Inc., the owner of restaurant chains including Olive Garden. Starboard succeeded in replacing Darden’s board after pointing out problems at Olive Garden, like a lack of salt in the water it uses to boil pasta. Such a detailed focus may still be rare, but shareholder activism, or when an investor tries to take a bigger role in how a company is run, is becoming increasingly common. A report from London-based Activist Insight found that 344 companies across the globe — with the vast majority located in the United States — faced public activist demands in 2014. That compares to 291 companies that faced such demands in 2013 and 136 companies in 2010. Driving the activity, experts say, is an increase in the amount of money funds have to spend, as well as a greater amount of influence activists hold over other investors. In recent years, a number of Northeast Ohio companies, including Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and GrafTech International Ltd., have come under pressure from shareholders, some of which have lead to full-fledged proxy fights. Shareholder activism has increased every year throughout the past decade, said Derek
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See INVESTORS, page 6
FLATS’ MOMENTUM BUILDS The Foundry, a $9 million project, will be a year-round home for rowers By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com
Columbus Road in the Flats is about to gain another Cuyahoga River-oriented feature with “The Foundry,” a $9 million plan to recast a dozen old buildings as a collegiate and youth boathouse, fitness center and park. The project by MCPc Family Charities and Mike Trebilcock — the CEO of Clevelandbased MCPc, a seller of computer equipment and provider of tech services — and his wife, Gina, will provide additional facilities for young rowers and green space in the Flats. It’s near the new Rivergate Park and the existing home of the Cleveland Rowing Association. The plan is the latest form of support that MCPc Family Charities and the Trebilcocks have offered to the Cleveland Youth Rowing Association and the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association in the Flats. The Foundry is scheduled to open this fall. It will convert a group of buildings at 1831 Columbus Road to a year-round training center for rowers with an indoor rowing tank, a fitness center, boathouse and banquet center. The plan calls for using about 500 feet of riverfront for docks for launching boats and See FOUNDRY, page 8
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ALSO INSIDE: NEWSPAPER
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SANDVICK ARCHITECTS
When The Foundry opens this fall, it is expected to be a popular gathering place for the Northeast Ohio rowing community.
MCPe FAMILY CHARITIES
Shareholders are playing an increasingly strong role in company actions
WHO TO WATCH We take a look at some of Northeast Ohio’s many standouts in the nonprofit sector ■ Pages 17-22 PLUS: HONOREE PROFILES ■ LEADERS IN NEW ROLES
Entire contents © 2015 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 36, No. 7