Crain's Cleveland Business

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20130513-NEWS--21-NAT-CCI-CL_--

5/10/2013

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MCKINLEY WILEY

Bob Dyer, who had high-profile jobs with several builders, now runs his own real estate consultancy in Hudson.

REBUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP Former homebuilders take divergent paths after recession exacts its toll By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com

After a fire strikes or a tree falls on a Northeast Ohio home covered by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Daniel Brennan arrives to size up the claim for the insurer. He estimates what it will take to repair the damage, using skills he learned as a manager for Kimball Hill Homes. In that job, he sometimes managed subcontractors building as many as 20 homes at a time for Kimball, which exited Northeast Ohio in 2006 and shut down in 2008. Mr. Brennan and others have stories of friends who went to Las Vegas, Florida and Texas to keep working after the homebuilding business weakened here in 2005; most found they only delayed the inevitable. But Mr. Brennan, who grew up in Hudson and lives in Avon Lake, stayed here. He went through a job selling windows and an effort to build homes on his own before going into the insurance business, which is more recession-proof.

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JANET CENTURY

Rob King, who previously operated Tyler Finishing Co., recently started R.B. King Properties Ltd.

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SPECIAL SECTION

SMALL BUSINESS Yoga, one of the nation’s fastest-growing enterprises, is heating up here. ■ Pages 15-18 PLUS: ADVISER ■ DRIVER’S EDUCATION ■ TAX TIPS ■ & MORE

Entire contents © 2013 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 34, No. 19


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