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JobsOhio altering its vision
City Club is getting younger in Year 101 Organization’s new strategic plan puts emphasis on appeal to wider audience
Gov. Kasich de-emphasizes the role financial incentives will play in nonprofit’s economic development work
By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
The 100th year of The City Club of Cleveland was a time of celebration and reflection. The 101st year — if all goes according to plan — should be one of change. Drawing on feedback from a local consultant and more than 100 people, including 20 community leaders, the City Club’s strategic planning committee has delivered the first comprehensive strategic plan the organization has had in eight years. The full board approved the plan last month. The City Club that emerges in coming months, guided by that plan, will be one that seeks to extend conversations beyond its live forums and to further engage audiences, particularly the younger crowd, via social media and different events, said Paul Harris and Barbara Danforth, co-chairs of the strategic planning committee and board directors. “It will look different,” said Ms. Danforth, a senior vice president of Ratliff & Taylor, a human resources consulting firm in Independence. See CLUB Page 23
INSIDE They’re on the go
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Brecksville startup Movable is drawing the interest of Northeast Ohio businesses with its MOVbands, which help individuals track their fitness.
By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
MARC GOLUB
Paul Harris, left, is co-chair of the City Club’s strategic planning committee. Hugh McKay, right, is a past president of the club.
As a gubernatorial candidate in 2010, John Kasich vowed to restructure the state’s economic development efforts by creating a nonprofit called JobsOhio that would help Ohio operate at “the speed of business.” Gov. Kasich got his way in forming JobsOhio, but it has “There are taken nearly two years for the CEOs that call nonprofit to get its financing in me. I say, order. And the Kasich team ‘Look, if you only now is figuring out how it will operate — due in part to a want to leave, I change of heart by the governor hope you have about financial incentives to a nice trip.’ ” business (he no longer favors them) and brownfield remedi– Gov. John Kasich, ation (it will be a big factor after in a year-end Statehouse news all). conference JobsOhio to date essentially has administered programs once run by the Ohio Department of Development, which is being dismantled. But the agency now has a full tank of gas for the first time and a new leader mapping out the road ahead. The key to moving ahead is a complicated transaction See JOBSOHIO Page 8
TOA makes giant leaps in its software niche Beachwood company that helps firms manage mobile work forces doubles its sales in one year By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
Five years ago, the CEO of TOA Technologies told Crain’s that his goal was to dominate the business of managing
mobile work forces. Seems he wasn’t kidding. Since then, the Beachwood software company’s sales have exploded, and it has become one of the leaders in its sector, according to business research firm
Gartner Inc. Last year was particularly big for TOA: The company’s sales hit $41 million in 2012, more than double the $20 million TOA brought in during 2011. The company, which makes software designed to help businesses efficiently manage and route mobile workers, is accustomed to seeing its top line grow by big percentages. See TOA Page 25
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SPECIAL SECTION
HIGHER EDUCATION Many universities are placing more of an emphasis on advising students ■ Pages 13-20 PLUS: THE STEM MOVEMENT ■ BUSINESS SCHOLARS ■ & MORE
Entire contents © 2013 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 34, No. 8