Crain's Cleveland Business by Crain's Cleveland Business

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ate in the afternoon of Aug. 14, 2003, on a calm, warm summer day, a massive failure of the electric grid began in Northeast Ohio. The event that would become known simply as “The Blackout” would leave 50 million people in eight states and the province of Ontario without power, some for as long as the next four days. Ten years later, we ask the question:

COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN? By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com

ecause NASA scientists proved more than a decade ago that lightning can strike twice, a repeat of the Aug. 14, 2003, blackout that left 50 million people without power can’t be casually dismissed. However, the federal government and the electric industry have made great strides in protecting the grid that sends power to homes and businesses across the country. In the last decade, reliability standards that had been voluntary have been strengthened and

made mandatory, with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission charged with enforcing standards set by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., a federally chartered nonprofit that oversees the national grid. Those mandates have spurred hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in distribution system upgrades and increased maintenance. Trees are trimmed more aggressively, phasor measurement units — which monitor voltage levels on the grid — are in place, and grid interconnections have been analyzed and improved. See HAPPEN Page 27

A DARK DAY FOR MANY

POWERFUL CHANGE

Many local businesses and organizations were burned by the blackout. Ten years later, they discuss the lessons they’ve learned and the changes they’ve made. Still, some feel they’re always “at the mercy of the grid.” PAGE 26.

Bob Feiklowicz, left, of Avon Lake was shopping for a power generator for his home following the 2003 blackout when he had an idea. The result was starting his own business, PowerOn Generators LLC, and now he’s so busy he struggles to get a weekend off. PAGE 26.

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HR LEADERS The region’s human resources professionals are recognized for all they do ■ Pages 13-25 PLUS: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ■ LAST YEAR’S EVENT

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A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

COMING NEXT WEEK

Paid holidays, vacations and sick leave for workers are the norm, but they’re far from universal, according to federal government data. In March 2013, about three-quarters of all workers in private industry and state and local government received paid holidays and paid vacations (76% and 74%, respectively), while only 65% had access to paid sick leave. As you might expect, there’s a wide variation in access to those benefits based on workers’ industry sectors. Here’s a breakdown of the data:

Keeping up with the crowd Crain’s Small Business section will look at who is investing in crowdfunding businesses, along with how the owners keep track of all of those who gave money. Plus, tax tips, adviser and more.

Worker characteristic Management, professional and related

*Sick leave *Vacation *Holidays 85% 75% 79%

Sales and office

REGULAR FEATURES Classified ....................30 Editorial ......................10 From the Publisher ......10 Going Places ...............12

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

Personal View..............10 Reporters’ Notebook....31 The Week ....................31 What’s New..................31

67%

79%

80%

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82%

85%

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55%

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■ Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; www.bls.org ■ Note: *-All are paid

700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 Phone: (216) 522-1383 Fax: (216) 694-4264 www.crainscleveland.com Publisher/editorial director: Brian D. Tucker (btucker@crain.com) Editor: Mark Dodosh (mdodosh@crain.com) Managing editor: Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com) Sections editor: Amy Ann Stoessel (astoessel@crain.com) Assistant editor: Kevin Kleps (kkleps@crain.com) Sports Senior reporter: Stan Bullard (sbullard@crain.com) Real estate and construction Reporters: Jay Miller (jmiller@crain.com) Government Chuck Soder (csoder@crain.com) Technology Dan Shingler (dshingler@crain.com) Energy, steel and automotive Tim Magaw (tmagaw@crain.com) Health care and education Michelle Park (mpark@crain.com) Finance Rachel Abbey McCafferty (rmccafferty@crain.com) Manufacturing and energy Research editor: Deborah W. Hillyer (dhillyer@crain.com) Cartoonist/illustrator: Rich Williams Marketing director: Lori Yannucci Grim (lgrim@crain.com) Events Manager/Promotions & Sponsor Relations: Jessica Snyder (jdsnyder@crain.com) Advertising director: Nicole Mastrangelo (nmastrangelo@crain.com) Senior account executive: Adam Mandell (amandell@crain.com) Account executives: Dawn Donegan (ddonegan@crain.com) Andy Hollander (ahollander@crain.com) Lindsie Bowman (lbowman@crain.com) John Banks (jbanks@crain.com) Sales and marketing assistant: Michelle Sustar (msustar@crain.com) Office coordinator: Denise Donaldson (ddonaldson@crain.com) Digital strategy and development manager: Stephen Herron (sherron@crain.com) Web/Print production director: Craig L. Mackey (cmackey@crain.com) Production assistant/video editor: Steven Bennett (sbennett@crain.com) Graphic designer: Lauren M. Rafferty (lrafferty@crain.com) Billing: Susan Jaranowski, 313-446-6024 (sjaranowski@crain.com) Credit: Todd Masura, 313-446-6097 (tmasura@crain.com)

THEIR STORY INVOLVES INK, EMBROIDERY AND THE OCCASIONAL HEAVY METAL BAND. WHAT’S YOURS? Whether you’re a law ﬁrm, a heavy metal band or a local team, Cleveland’s Jakprints can print something that will make your organization look incredible. From adopting the very latest printing technology to owning one-of-a-kind machines to using eco-friendly and biodegradable products, Jakprints has remained at the forefront of their industry and never stopped being curious. At Fifth Third Bank, we’ve stayed curious right along with them, listening, understanding their business and helping them ﬁnd new ways to make their customers look good. Learn more about Jakprints’ curious business and share your own story at 53.com/curiosityatwork.

Crain Communications Inc. Keith E. Crain: Chairman Rance Crain: President Merrilee Crain: Secretary Mary Kay Crain: Treasurer William A. Morrow: Executive vice president/operations Chris Crain: Executive Vice President, Director of Strategic Operations Brian D. Tucker: Vice president Paul Dalpiaz: Chief Information Officer Dave Kamis: Vice president/production & manufacturing Mary Kramer: Group publisher G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996) Subscriptions: In Ohio: 1 year - $64, 2 year - $110. Outside Ohio: 1 year - $110, 2 year - $195. Single copy, $2.00. Allow 4 weeks for change of address. For subscription information and delivery concerns send correspondence to Audience Development Department, Crain’s Cleveland Business, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, 48207-9911, or email to customerservice@crainscleveland.com, or call 877-824-9373 (in the U.S. and Canada) or (313) 446-0450 (all other locations), or fax 313-446-6777. Reprints: Call 1-800-290-5460 Ext. 125 Audit Bureau of Circulation

Fifth Third Bank. Member FDIC.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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INSIGHT

Bishop wishes he had more input in Summa talks Lennon would have liked involvement before deal with Catholic Health Partners was set By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com

Summa Health System’s intention to sell a minority stake in its enterprise to Catholic Health Partners of Cincinnati must clear one last hurdle: Bishop Richard Lennon, who suggested through a spokesman that he would have liked to have been involved in the negotiations before the deal went public. According to the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, it’s customary when a Catholic health care organization is about to engage in a new venture with a non-Catholic entity — in this case, Summa — to consult with the local bishop and request his “Nihil Obstat,” or approval. “The Bishop of the Diocese must give his approval when a recognized Catholic health care system enters into

a relationship with a non-Catholic entity and serves the people of the Diocese,” diocese spokesman Robert Tayek said in an email to Crain’s. Mr. Tayek deflected questions about Lennon whether Bishop Lennon took issue with Summa remaining unaffiliated with the Catholic Church as part of the pending deal with Catholic Health Partner. He said the bishop was “discerning the matter as thoroughly and comprehensively as possible, taking into account information he has received from many sources regarding the proposed agreement.” “The Bishop would have preferred to be included earlier in the conversations so he could study all aspects of and be able to indicate a proper response to the agreement before conclusive announcements were made,” Mr. Tayek wrote. As proposed, Summa plans to sell a 30% stake in its enterprise for $250 million in cash, but would remain locally governed and would not become a Catholic health care organization. See BISHOP Page 30

Business is taking off at building giant Austin Co. JANET CENTURY

Bev Shaffer is the recipe development manager for Vitamix Corp.

FINDING THE RIGHT BLEND Vitamix’s Shaffer ‘plays,’ not works A periodic series of profiles of behind-the-scenes people who are key to the success of food-related businesses in Northeast Ohio.

By KATHY AMES CARR clbfreelancer@crain.com

he Vitamix is considered the world’s most versatile and durable blending

machine. It can do the work of 10 appliances and resides in the kitchens of professional and celebrity chefs throughout the world. See BLEND Page 8

Firm has added 30 employees this year, including 17 locally By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com

Thanks in part to contracts for aerospace work that includes designing and building the $600 million Airbus assembly plant for A320 superjumbo jets in Mobile, Ala., business prospects are looking up at The Austin Co. in Mayfield Heights. Creating the first U.S. plant for the European aircraft consortium plus other recent projects is triggering a round of hiring at Austin, which has been in business since 1878.

Michael Pierce, Austin president and CEO, said the company has hiked its staff 20% this year by adding 30 employees to what had been a 146-person work force, with most of the new jobs coming in Mayfield Heights and in its Irvine, Calif., office. The Mayfield Heights office, which serves as Austin’s corporate headquarters and base of its Midwest operations, has added 17 people to bring its local staff to 90. The company’s offices in Atlanta and Portage, Mich., also have added staff, Mr. Pierce said. Activity at Austin began picking up last fall with an assignment for a new bakery for Bimbo Bakeries USA in Lehigh, Pa., Mr. Pierce said, and assignments at several locations for defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. See BUSINESS Page 29

THE WEEK IN QUOTES “From an industry perspective, the evolution over the last 10 years has been pretty significant. (The blackout) has forced everyone to look harder at their practices and how you do what you do. It’s driven a lot more standardization across the industry.” — Carl Bridenbaugh, vice president of transmission, FirstEnergy Corp. Page One

“The theater district is an ideal anchor. We wanted to choose a location that will still be here 20, 30, 40 years from now.”

“I found my true passion. Seeing people develop to their highest potential is what was most rewarding to me.”

— Andis Udris, president and CEO of Cincinnati Restaurant Group Inc., which is developing a Hofbräuhaus in the PlayhouseSquare area. Page 4

— Debra Lyons, chief human resources officer (retired), Westfield Group. Page 13

“He is strategic, collaborative, trustworthy and accountable while at the same time having a positive outlook and just being an all around easy-to-dobusiness-with type of person.” — From the HR Leaders award nomination for Tom Maxwell, regional senior vice president and regional HR director, Fifth Third Bank. Page 22

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CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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and the Market District in Cleveland. The project was spearheaded by sections editor Amy Stoessel. Contributing to the project were managing editor Scott Suttell, reporters Stan Bullard, Michelle Park and Tim Magaw, video editor Steve Bennett, and graphic designer Lauren Rafferty. It is the third time this year that the West 25th Street project has been recognized. The project previously won first-place honors as best

cross-platform package in the Neal Awards, a national journalism competition conducted by American Business Media. It also won first place in the category of Planned Story in the statewide journalism competition conducted by the Press Club of Cleveland. In the competition among publications in the Azbee Awardsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Central/Southeast Region, editor Mark Dodosh won the gold award in the editorial writing category for two editorials he wrote in 2012. Mr. Dodosh earlier this year received first-place Best in Ohio honors for editorial writing in the Press Club competition.

Brewhouse has big appetite HofbrĂ¤uhaus will be impressive, but some in industry question location By KATHY AMES CARR clbfreelancer@crain.com

The scale of the planned, $8.3 million HofbrĂ¤uhaus at PlayhouseSquare is impressive, even if some observers wonder if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an ideal fit for Clevelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theater district. At 20,000 square feet and 1,700 seats â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including 1,000 seats in an outdoor beer garden â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the German-inspired franchise would be the largest dining and drinking establishment in downtown Cleveland upon its scheduled opening next summer. Most restaurant and brewery owners are looking forward to the downtown addition, though some express reservations about the project, including its location on the north end of the theater district. It would be located off Dodge Court, facing Chester Avenue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It seems a little removed from the rest of the theater district,â&#x20AC;? said Eric Anderson, brewmaster for Cleveland Brewing Co., which operates Tremont Taphouse and the planned Butcher & The Brewer on East Fourth Street. Sam McNulty, who owns four Ohio City beer-centric ventures and a Prohibition-era cocktail lounge, echoed Mr. Andersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love the concept, but I would think a venue of that size would better suited for a location on a river, like the ones in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati,â&#x20AC;? Mr. McNulty said. Andis â&#x20AC;&#x153;Andiâ&#x20AC;? Udris, president and CEO of Cincinnati Restaurant Group Inc., which is developing the project, said the PlayhouseSquare area is a logical fit for the HofbrĂ¤uhaus, which will wrap around the Hermit Club â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a century-old amateur performing arts club. The HofbrĂ¤uhaus itself will feature German musicians and other local performers, which augments the theater districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission of advancing performing arts, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The theater district is an ideal anchor,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Udris said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want-

RENDERING PROVIDED

An $8.3 million HofbrĂ¤uhaus is expected to open at PlayhouseSquare in 2014. ed to choose a location that will still be here 20, 30, 40 years from now.â&#x20AC;? Art Falco, president and CEO of PlayhouseSquare, views the project as an opportunity to cross-pollinate some of the German entertainment venueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s younger patrons with theater district programming. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The HofbrĂ¤uhaus really will activate the district,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Falco said.

An eye on the suburbs As downtownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s various pockets buzz with large-scale commercial investments, combined with record-low residential vacancy and an overall urban rejuvenation, the Cleveland market has the ability to sustain an eatery of the franchiseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s size, said Robert Simons, professor of real estate and urban planning at Cleveland State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. Dr. Simons references the residential population growth projected for the area around Cleveland State, which should add about 3,000 residents over the next five to 10 years as the university evolves from a commuter campus to one with a residential district. The challenge, however, will be drawing to the German establishment customers from Parma, Brecksville and other European-influenced suburbs, which also are a key demographic, said Boris Music, who is building a central Europeinspired Hansa Import Haus brewery in Ohio City. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The HofbrĂ¤uhaus canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just live on kids,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Music said.

The more, the merrier How the HofbrĂ¤uhaus impacts business at other locally owned, independent restaurants and brewpubs remains to be seen. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are two ways to look at it,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Simons said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It could hurt the bottom line of some local businesses, as it will attract a fair amount of beer dollars, or it will bring more people downtown, who subsequently may patronize other pockets of development, such as East Fourth or Ohio City.â&#x20AC;? Andy Tveekrem, brewmaster at Market Garden Brewery and Nano Brew, said â&#x20AC;&#x153;the question on everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mindâ&#x20AC;? is whether a 1,700-seat establishment â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which still will seat 660 during indoor weather â&#x20AC;&#x201D; regularly can remain at capacity. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The PlayhouseSquare crowd and the beer garden crowd are different,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Tveekrem said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get me wrong,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll go sit in their beer garden for hours. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of my specialties.â&#x20AC;? Restaurateur Scott Kuhn, who is opening two restaurants at PlayhouseSquare â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Cibreo Italian Kitchen and Rothschild Farms â&#x20AC;&#x201D; said he expects the HofbrĂ¤uhaus to drive more traffic to the theater district, which he believes will benefit his restaurants. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anytime anyone is willing to make an investment in Cleveland, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m for it,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Kuhn said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hope it does take people from Bainbridge, Medina and the other suburbs, and the hope is theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll enjoy all parts of downtown Cleveland.â&#x20AC;? â&#x2013;

Volume 34, Number 31 Crainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, except for combined issues on the fourth week of December and fifth week of December at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright ÂŠ 2013 by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: $2.00. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Crainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cleveland Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48207-2912. 1-877-824-9373. REPRINT INFORMATION: 800-290-5460 Ext. 136

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HI FIVES ! Pronounced [feev]

FIVES is proud to announce the acquisition of MAG Americas and its international brands Cincinnati, Giddings & Lewis and Liné Machines. FIVES is an industrial engineering group with over 200 years of history. FIVES manufactures machines, processing equipment, production lines and turnkey plants for the biggest global companies of the aluminium, steel, glass, cement, automotive, logistics, energy and sugar industries. The acquisition of the world-renowned brands Cincinnati, Giddings & Lewis and Liné Machines conﬁrms the growth strategy of FIVES in the sector of high-performance industrial equipment. Ever since their creation in 1859 for Giddings & Lewis and 1884 for Cincinnati, these brands have been icons of the American machine tool industry. 1000 professionals in 5 countries will join the 6500 employees of FIVES, bringing their expertise in high-precision machine tools and high performance composite processing machines. In addition to these skills, this acquisition will also contribute its 400 million dollars turnover to the Group, bringing FIVES total annual turnover to close to 2 billion euros by the end of the year. The personnel of MAG Americas are joining the industrial success story of FIVES, famous since 1812 for works such as the Alexandre III bridge or the lifts of the Eiffel tower in Paris.

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Designing today the plants of the future

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Prices are at premium for MLB ticket resellers Dynamic pricing is forcing many smaller firms to rely more on high-priced seats

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Mark Klang’s bread and butter is the sweet seat. Mr. Klang, owner of Amazing Tickets Inc., a Mayfield Village ticket broker, and Scott Merk, who operates Merk’s Tickets in Brook Park, know they can’t compete across the board with StubHub, which serves as Major League Baseball’s official reseller on the secondary ticket market. So, when peddling tickets for Cleveland Indians games, they concentrate on customers interested in the primo end of the spectator spectrum. “That’s basically how we survive — by selling the premium seats,” Mr. Klang said. As more pro sports teams, including the Indians, rely on dynamic pricing — where the price of a game varies depending on such factors as when the ticket is bought, the opponent, the day of the week and the month in which the game takes place — smaller resellers seem to be relying more heavily on seats that fetch triple-digit prices. For example, the Indians’ matchup this Thursday, Aug. 8, against the first-place Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field — the finale of what should be a crucial four-game series between American League Central Division rivals — had at least 225 tickets available on both Amazing Tickets’ and Merk’s websites as of last Tuesday, July 30. All the seats Merk’s was selling for the Aug. 8 game were listed for $80 or more. Amazing Tickets had 27 tickets available for $27 to $36

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“The economy’s different. It’s coming back, but they’re more concious (of pricing) than they used to be.” – Scott Merk, owner, Merk’s Tickets in Brook Park apiece. But of the 313 tickets on sale for the Aug. 8 game via Amazing Tickets, 36% — 113 seats — were listed at $104 and up last Tuesday, July 30. The story is the same for the Tribe’s Friday night game, Aug. 9, against the Los Angeles Angels — a date that includes fireworks, which, along with dollar hot dogs, is the Indians’ biggest draw, regardless of opponent. All 249 of Merk’s tickets for Aug. 9 were available for $85 or more on July 30. Amazing Tickets had four seats available for $45, but 37.5% of its 325-ticket inventory was listed at $98 and up. By contrast, StubHub last week had a wide variety of bleacher seats available for the Aug. 8 game against the Tigers, at prices that ranged from $20.65 to $31.15. The week before, on July 23, there were bleacher seats listed for the Aug. 8 contest for as cheap as $11.95, and 11 groups of tickets could have been had for $15 or less. StubHub had even better bargains for the more coveted Aug. 9 game. The San Francisco-based reseller had six sets of seats available for between $15.20 and $20, and five of them were for the left-field bleachers.

Dynamics of doing business Indians president Mark Shapiro attributes the higher cost of tickets on the secondary market to dynamic pricing. As companies such as Qcue— which provides software to teams such as the Indians to help them set their ticket prices and adjust to the shifting demands of the market — help organizations better value their tickets, fewer pricing mistakes are made by the original sellers, according to Mr. Shapiro. “The secondary market exists because some teams are ineffective in their pricing,” Mr. Shapiro said. “The more effective the tickets are priced, the fewer gaps there are” between the price of tickets on the secondary markets and tickets sold by the teams, he said. Barry Khan, founder and CEO of Texas-based Qcue, offers a slightly different take. He says the sports ticket resale market depends heavily on the number of season-ticket owners who are selling single-game tickets. “Dynamic pricing doesn’t impact that,” Mr. Khan said. “For teams, at the end of the day, as long as that (season-ticket) inventory is still there for sale, there will be a secondary market.”

Hello, Ticket Oak Thanks in part to StubHub’s Ticket Oak — a bug-eyed, talking

NUMBERS GAME A look at the median sale price for each Major League Baseball team’s home games on the resale market, according to Austin, Texas-based reseller TicketCity: Rank, team Price 1. Boston Red Sox $64 2. San Diego Padres $57 3. Toronto Blue Jays $55 4. Houston Astros $53 5. San Francisco Giants $52 6. St. Louis Cardinals $49 7. New York Yankees $47 8. Philadelphia Phillies $47 9. Oakland Athletics $47 10. Seattle Mariners $46 11. New York Mets $43 12. Baltimore Orioles $41 13. Texas Rangers $39 14. Tampa Bay Rays $39 15. Colorado Rockies $38 16. Arizona Diamondbacks $38 17. Minnesota Twins $36 18. Chicago White Sox $35 19. Chicago Cubs $34 20. Atlanta Braves $33 21. Cleveland Indians $32 22. Detroit Tigers $32 23. Miami Marlins $31 24. Kansas City Royals $29 25. Milwaukee Brewers $28 26. Washington Nationals $27 27. Cincinnati Reds $27 28. Pittsburgh Pirates $26 29. Los Angeles Dodgers $23 30. Los Angeles Angels $19 ■ NOTE: Based on upcoming games. Numbers are through July 23. tree that sells tickets to almost any event and is featured on commercials that air during live sporting events and on such networks as E!, Comedy Central and VH1 — the company’s name has become synonymous with buying tickets. “A lot of it is marketing,” said Mr. Khan, who notes that big ticket resale sites “are able to invest in (promotional) resources that individual teams can’t.” “If you ask someone who is looking for a ticket to an individual game where to go, a lot of times StubHub will be their answer,” Mr. Khan said. “Price obviously plays a role in their decision, but a lot of it is this creation of a destination site.” All of which is why smaller resellers try to position themselves as the go-to places for higher-priced seats. Amazing Tickets and Merk’s Tickets both had tickets behind home plate available for the Aug. 8 game against the Tigers at prices of $500 (Amazing Tickets) and $560 (Merk’s) apiece last week. Diamond box seats in a nearby section were offered by StubHub for $554.20. “You have to quote different prices at all times,” Mr. Merk said of the impact of dynamic pricing on his business. “Pricing costs you more because if you buy a block of tickets, for one game it might be $70, and for the next game it might be $110. Plus, Mr. Merk said, “the economy’s different,” and it impacts the willingness of fans to shell out for games. “It’s coming back, but they’re more conscious (of pricing) than they used to be,” he said. ■

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Blend: Shaffer is always thinking of next products for cookbook continued from PAGE 3

Bev Shaffer helps harness the Vitamix’s power by crafting for commercial and household users alike hundreds of blender recipes — from smoothies to soups, wholefruit margaritas, fondues, pizza, frozen desserts and even meatbased dishes. “There isn’t anything I can think of that I can’t do with the machine,” she said. As recipe development manager for Vitamix Corp. in Olmsted Township, Ms. Shaffer is at the center of culinary activity, creating recipes with input from staff — including an onsite nutritionist — and chefs from around the globe. In the two years since she joined Vitamix, Ms. Shaffer has collaborated on about a dozen Vitamix cookbooks and constantly is dispatching new recipes using seasonal ingredients for the family-owned company’s website. “My biggest goal is to help the company … improve the vitality of people’s lives and liberate them from conventional food preparation boundaries by showing the Vitamix’s diversity through healthy recipes,” she said. More than 20 years in the food

ON THE WEB Watch a video interview with Bev Shaffer at: www.crainscleveland.com

JANET CENTURY

Vitamix recipe development manager Bev Shaffer blends one of her fruit and vegetable drinks. business as a chef, cooking school instructor and cookbook author precedes Ms. Shaffer’s experience at Vitamix. She has developed more than 10,000 recipes and five cookbooks. Her sixth, “Chocolate Desserts to Die For,” is scheduled for a fall release.

All play, no work With all that talent at Ms. Shaf-

fer’s fingertips, it would seem unnecessary to qualify her workspace at Vitamix as a test kitchen, but indeed, experimentation is the fruit of invention. Perhaps a new fruit smoothie may turn out brown if it has too many blueberries, so she will sub out the berries with another antioxidant-rich ingredient so it packs the same nutritional punch.

“We eat with our eyes first, so I adjust the proportions so you don’t have that brown color,” she said. “It’s playing, playing, playing. I play; I don’t work.” Her role also integrates recipe demonstrations for the media, trade show appearances and travel both locally and abroad for cookbook collaborations. Ms. Shaffer recently returned from the United Kingdom, where she was working with a local chef to develop for Vitamix international cookbook recipes with ingredients central to that region. “We have to modify and substitute ingredients” for certain recipes, such as salsa and a garnish for soup, she said. “They might not have tomatillos, but do they have green tomatoes instead?” She’s also updating the Vitamix “Simply Fresh” cookbook, with more vegan and vegetarian entries. “I’m seeing more of ‘the occasional vegetarian’ trend,” Ms. Shaffer said. “People want to eat healthier.”

Love at first bite She also draws inspiration through regular excursions throughout the United States, Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe and beyond. “I love food. I’ll sit at a restaurant, look around and see what people are eating. What are they saying about it?” Ms. Shaffer says.

A dining experience in Rothenburg, Germany, for example, will influence a future project. “I was eating outside in the middle of a garden,” she said. “I had an amuse bouche, or ‘hello from the kitchen.’ It was shrimp and had a balsamic glaze with a mango blend and curry. It was heavenly. “It’s on the docket for my next Vitamix cookbook,” Ms. Shaffer said. With new blender product launches — including several last year — Ms. Shaffer has been a key part of Vitamix’s growth because of her ability to elevate ingredients into delicious, nutritional recipes, said Holly Hacker, director of direct sales and customer experience. “What Bev does in the test kitchen looks like magic, but she knows what she’s doing,” Ms. Hacker said. Ms. Shaffer is the former director of Mustard Seed Market & Café’s cooking school in Akron and Solon and has taught cooking classes in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Botanical Garden, Akron General Wellness Center and Summa Health System. She is a board member for the University of Akron Nutrition and Dietetics program; a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Chefs Collaborative and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs; and president and founding member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Cleveland, a group for women in the food and beverage fields. The Seville resident frequently collaborates with her husband, John, a food stylist and photographer. ■

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CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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Out-of-state casinos still bet on Clevelanders Horseshoeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t deter other gambling destinations from trying to lure Northeast Ohioans with discounted deals By LAURA STRAUB clbintern@crain.com

Clevelanders who like to gamble arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only ones who have taken an interest in the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland and the other casinos and racinos that have opened in Ohio over the last 16 months. So has Chris Kern, general manager of Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in New Cumberland, W. Va. Mr. Kern and executives at other out-of-state casinos that traditionally have drawn customers from the Cleveland market are noticing the effects of the newfound competition in Ohio. But none are ready to throw in their hands in the highstakes game among casino operators for the money of Northeast Ohio gamblers. If anything, some are upping the ante by investing in their properties and by increasing their marketing efforts in the Cleveland area. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Obviously weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen some impact since the casinos opened,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Kern said. But his employer even before the Horseshoe Cleveland arrived on the scene in May 2012 had been engaging in a pre-emptive strike. With the new competition coming on board and its property being older â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it opened in 1951 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Mountaineer spent more than $6 million in the last two years on heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, slot chairs, carpeting, restaurant upgrades and remodeling to improve general aesthetics. The $6 million does not include slot machine updates or the renovations scheduled to take place in Mountaineerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hotel this coming year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know the importance of being able to offer a hotel for overnight visitors,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Kern said of his property, which is 46 miles from Pittsburgh. Greektown Casino in Detroit uses its hotel to cash in with Clevelanders, too. Over the last year Clevelanders have been flocking to Detroit for baseball games, and Greektown Casino has been eager to provide them with a place to stay. By running banner ads on fox8.com and newsnet5.com, Greektown has made its presence known to Indians fans. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We just caught on that we have a lot of people coming up for games,â&#x20AC;? said Pam Doute, advertising manager at Greektown Casino.

Come fly with me The classification of an overnight resort destination is what an Atlantic City casino, Borgata, uses to set itself apart. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We offer a different type of experience, a megaresortâ&#x20AC;? said Joe Lupo, vice president of operations at the Borgata. It houses two spas, headline entertainment, gourmet restaurants and a 2,800-room hotel that recently has undergone $50 million in renovations. In its newest marketing venture, Borgata created Fly Borgata, a charter plane service designed to shuttle customers within a four- to eight-hour drive to the casino. The program has been up and

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a consistent television, radio and digital advertising program to communicate with our guests.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Jim Wise, senior vice president of marketing, Seneca Gaming Corp.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do some things differently for that area. But I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give you too much of the secret sauce.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chris Kern, general manager, Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort, on luring Northeast Ohio residents running since March and now is shuttling Borgata customers from 15 cities nationwide. The first flights in Northeast Ohio took off May 24 from a private terminal at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. When the aircraft land at Atlantic City International Airport, customers are transported to the Borgata on a charter bus. Service from Cleveland Hopkins is scheduled to run monthly through December. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all very seamless,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Lupo said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We wanted to make it easy and upscale.â&#x20AC;? The packages include roundtrip airfare, transportation to and from the Atlantic City airport and a twonight stay in a remodeled Borgata room. The starting price for a package is $699, though Mr. Lupo said many past guests receive a discount of at least 50% of the price through the My Borgata Rewards program. Other casinosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tactics are not as grandiose as a charter plane service; however, they are just as carefully calculated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are much more knowledgeable about where we advertise,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Kern said. Mountaineer continues to track its successful promotions and most beneficial marketing techniques so they can be repeated, he said.

The secret sauce Consistent seems to be the key word in these casinosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; promotions and advertising. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a consistent television, radio and digital advertising program to communicate with our guests,â&#x20AC;? said Jim Wise, senior vice president of marketing for Seneca Gaming Corp., operator of Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel in Salamanca, N.Y., which is about a three-hour drive from Cleveland. Mr. Wise uses its television, radio and digital presence to tell Ohioans that the dining, entertainment and Seneca Casinos rewards program make a visit to Salamanca worth the drive. Mountaineer follows suit with its own marketing strategy. One-onone phone calls and emails inviting guests back for a weekend at Mountaineer are a staple, though the marketing strategy differs for specific regions, including Cleveland. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do some things differently for that area,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Kern said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give you too much of the secret sauce.â&#x20AC;? Ryan Nather, advertising coordi-

nator at Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie, Pa., said his establishment has a special concentration on the Cleveland market as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are doing a lot of advertising in the Cleveland area,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Nather said. With the drive time from Cleveland to Presque Isle coming in at just under two hours, busing is another feature crucial to bringing in guests, Mr. Nather said. The Presque Isle website links to nine charter bus lines, specifically serving customers going from Cleveland to Presque Isle. Although Ohio casinos hold the upper hand in proximity, one advantage out-of-state casinos have over the Ohio casinos â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which are still in their infancy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is age. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been here quite some time,â&#x20AC;? Mountaineerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mr. Kern said. He said Mountaineer has built strong customer relationships that management trusts to take the casino into the future. â&#x2013;

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Chris Kern, general manager of Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort, says his employer spent more than $6 million on renovations in the last two years.

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PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR:

Brian D. Tucker (btucker@crain.com) EDITOR:

Mark Dodosh (mdodosh@crain.com) MANAGING EDITOR:

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

OPINION

Sad story

rain’s Cleveland Business and The Plain Dealer are competitors. We love to beat its staff to a good story. However, we took no pleasure in the daily newspaper laying off dozens of newsroom employees last week as it looks to bring down its costs while focusing more of its energies on the digital side of its business. The people of Cleveland and the communities surrounding it need a healthy, aggressive daily newspaper to serve its watchdog, Fourth Estate role. They need knowledgeable reporters who can separate fact from fabrication when politicians and public servants speak. They need a newsroom experienced and robust enough to root out corruption and shine a light on the bad actors. Our newspaper, with its 12-member newsroom, lacks the firepower to be that ever-present watchdog. The same is true of the suburban daily and weekly newspapers in Greater Cleveland. Only The Plain Dealer has had the size and strength to serve consistently as an effective broker of information in Greater Cleveland about public bodies and the people who run them. And now, we fear, even it won’t be able to do its job as well as it has in the past. We know many first-rate reporters will continue to work at Cleveland’s daily newspaper even after the layoffs. We know them well because we have gone head-to-head with them for years, and they are skilled at their craft. They will produce quality work, and readers will be well-served by them. However, the newsroom staff in place this week is down about one-third from the 160 or so journalists who had been working at The Plain Dealer in the months leading up to the job cuts. Those diminished numbers give us cause for concern about how thoroughly the city’s biggest media voice can do its job relative to how vigorously it has covered the market in recent years. While we don’t like to see fellow journalists lose their jobs, our big, broader worry is about the impact on American society of depleted editorial ranks at newspapers across the country. We believe a direct relationship exists between how well governments work and how well the public is informed. Voters are the ones who select their leaders, from their city council member to the president of the United States. The more unbiased information they have about the candidates who run for offices small and great, the better choices they can make about who should fill those leadership roles. Once those leaders are chosen, it’s important for voters to know in as much detail as possible what they are doing in their jobs. Are they serving the public interest, special interests, or self-interest? At the local and state levels, radio and TV stations traditionally haven’t provided the public with this type of information. They’ve relied on newspapers for their leads. So do most bloggers. Will the weakening of journalistic institutions such as The Plain Dealer weaken our system of democracy? We suspect it will, and that’s the sad story unfolding before us, with no happy ending imaginable.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Detroit can find hope in Cleveland standing, is still the biggest force in ear Detroiters: Few could unWayne County. Why not start afresh with derstand your problems better an entirely new type of goverthan a Clevelander, nance? especially one who BRIAN I watched and read the news has lived and worked in your TUCKER reports last week, and everytown and whose company calls where there were the same, it home. tired images of empty residenWe haven’t had the decades tial neighborhoods and graffitiof problems in the mayor’s ofsplattered buildings. It wouldfice, thank goodness, and in fact n’t have helped pump up the we’re fortunate to have a mayor story if there had been a reawho’s so unlikely to beat his sonable amount of balance. own drum that he respectfully And it’s not like there isn’t a declined to be interviewed for lot of good things happening in Detroit, our July 29, Page One story about Deespecially with the repurposing of all troit’s problems and what they might sorts of once-vacant office buildings by mean here. Dan Gilbert. You’ll soon have a streetcar But that’s not to say we haven’t been system along Woodward Avenue. Ford scarred by political corruption. Ours was Field and Comerica Park draw tens of world-class — sad to say — and resided thousands of fans, and the perennially at the county level. Scores got indicted, powerful Red Wings are planning a new many are in prison and the entire system office/residential/retail development of county government has been overaround a new arena for your beloved turned and reformed, with promising hockey team. early results. Image, unfortunately, drives so many Once you fight your way through this perceptions, and boy do we understand mess of municipal bankruptcy, you that here in Cleveland. We still — might want to consider something as decades later — must deal with the story equally radical and transformative. After of the river burning, our municipal bond all, your city, all its problems notwith-

default, our mayor burning his hair with a “ribbon-cutting” welder’s torch. That stuff dies hard, especially when a Clevelander is the lead writer on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” Cleveland jokes, indeed. Today, we have a health care and bioscience industry that’s the envy of much of the country. We can’t convert downtown buildings to residential uses fast enough to satisfy demand. We were fortunate to build our pro baseball, basketball and football facilities downtown years before it was fashionable, and recently opened a new downtown convention center and casino. We plan to remake our Public Square into a grand public park that connects to the convention center area and a new hotel to be built. There is hope for a walkway to the nearby lakefront and the area of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Great Lakes Science Center. Much of this can be attributed to the political changes at the county level and the political choices in City Hall. It can be done in Detroit as well; it will just take hard work and determination, things that have always been abundant in the Motor City. ■

PERSONAL VIEW

‘Sustainability’ is infringing on rights By BEVERLY A. GOLDSTEIN

n international program is being implemented in the United States to deprive American citizens of their property rights in the name of “sustainability.” This movement, funded by the federal government with tax dollars of our citizens, is being cooperatively executed by unelected federal agencies (the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Transportation) which have defined “sustainability” as so: “Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, econom-

Beverly Goldstein is chairwoman of the Youth Outreach Committee of the Cuyahoga Valley Republicans. ic and environmental requirements of present and future generations.” The EPA claims that structuring and planning for “…sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.” In pursuit of this “sustainability,” these agencies have begun a program which, when implemented, will mandate where Americans may live; what type of housing we would be allowed to live in; whether or not we would be permitted to drive cars to work and recreation, or whether we would instead be

required to bike, walk, or take public transportation to live our lives. In part, they intend to do this by convincing our local and county governments to zone our property rights out of existence, depriving Americans of their property rights without the due process of law and the just compensation the Constitution requires. Americans may continue to “own” property, but the government will have deprived them of their right to use it in any meaningful way. Those opposed to this government initiative believe that to sustain America, we must retain the precious values upon which our founders wrote our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. See VIEW Page 11

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View: Group says ‘Vibrant NEO2040’ participants are being used as pawns continued from PAGE 10

Alexis de Tocqueville described our country as “Exceptional” in 1831. “American Exceptionalism” is the proposition that we are “qualitatively different” from other countries because we possess great quantities of natural resources, have huge industrial capacities, and freed ourselves from strict class distinctions. Our uniquely American ideology is founded on liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, and populism via a laissez-faire framework. And it is all dependent upon every citizen being secure in his or her property rights under the law. Throughout our country, our exceptionalism and laissez-faire visions are being thwarted by the implementation of regional planning at the expense of local elected governments. Through efforts of the United Nations, the international definition of “sustainability” has been introduced into the United States via the 1993 publication of “Earth Summit Agenda-21: The UN Programme of Action from Rio.” The program was initially advanced through two presidential executive orders (12852; 23238) and by the 1999 publication “Towards a Sustainable America: Advancing Prosperity, Opportunity, and a Healthy Environment for the 21st Century” (authored by the President’s Council on Sustainable Development). These published reports, and their affiliated unelected bureaucracies, focus on creating and requiring regionalism planned by unelected government bureaucrats. They are based on global visions and controversial data-acquisition methods, rather than on voluntary community collaboration achieved by rigorous data collection by and for government officials elected by and accountable to the public, who decide to tackle areawide problems in a joint fashion. In contrast to the creeping regionalism mandated by faulty planning assumptions, economist Friedrich Hayek wrote that “… freely moving market economies create a spontaneous order, a more efficient allocation of societal resources than any intentional design or planning could achieve, and . . . they are superior to any order the human mind can design, due to the specifics of continually changing information requirements.” Federal legislation in 1962 mandated and created “Metropolitan Planning Organizations” (MPOs), which are federally funded U.S. transportation planning agencies that distribute federal transportation funds. In addition, they assumed responsibility for air quality policymaking as it relates to transportation. MPOs are comprised of representatives from local/regional gov-

ernments, and over time have assumed additional authority over regulating and managing water quality. This year, our MPO posted a Request for Proposals to review additional aspects of our lives, including “finances, people, health, education, business and job opportunities, housing, art and culture, leisure, recreation and entertainment, and geography.” This is an intrusion in our lives beyond the purview of unelected — or even elected — government agencies. Beachwood/Cuyahoga is located in the five-county MPO NOACA (Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency), headquartered in downtown Cleveland. In 2012, along with three other Northeast Ohio contiguous MPOs, NOACA was awarded a $4.25 million federal regionalism grant to create a 12county bureaucratic collaboration, the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC), headquartered in downtown Akron. Although NEOSCC claims at public forums that its work’s conclusions, which are “sustainability” mandates, will be optional, they present strategies at their board of directors’ monthly meetings to execute their implementation. NEOSCC is currently engaged in two massive projects: 1) Regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, and 2) “VibrantNEO 2040” Scenario Planning. The conclusions and action plans of these programs will be initiated beginning in 2014 (phased in) to control our personal land use and water rights, housing, transportation, food production, consumption patterns, drinking water, energy, education, health care, and the role of industry. NEOSCC intends to subject citizens of Northeast Ohio to 1) the elimination of individual rights, private property and local sovereignty through the blurring of political boundaries in order to redistribute local resources and revenues for the general use of the region as a whole, and 2) the systematic transitioning of land use, housing, transportation, water rights and energy programs from the citizens and elected governments of the cities, villages and townships in the region, and from the elected officials of 12 individual Northeast Ohio counties, to the control of a regionalized unelected governance system overseen by non-elected agencies, with no meaningful opportunity for comprehensive citizen input or oversight. What minimal public input does exist in their process is rigidly controlled by NEOSCC. Millions of our tax dollars have been spent to hire consultants to conduct research activities. Of the greater than 4 million residents

Colliers International in Cleveland Welcomes Katie Hurtuk Watts

who live in this 12-county region, only 589 (.015%) self-selected individuals participated to date, a statistically insignificant number, who are not an empirical representation of this huge region. And many of the attendees were employees of agencies (and their families) whose members make up the NEOSCC board. The ensuing controlled results of NEOSCC’s “scenario planning” processes are being advanced at “Vibrant NEO2040” workshops to steer the opinions of participants, in order to manipulate them into believing they are actively taking part in the planning process. In actuality, they are serving as pawns to establish the appearance of public collaborative support for the consultants’ and NEOSCC’s pre-determined “regionalism” recommendations. ■

The Cleveland office of Colliers International is pleased to have Katie Hurtuk Watts join their team as Senior Associate for the Office Services Group.

Katie Hurtuk Watts Senior Associate Office Services Group Main +1 216 239 5060 Dir +1 216 239 5061 katie.watts@colliers.com

Katie comes to Colliers with over eight years in the industry and is recognized for providing exceptional representation to her clients in support of their business goals and operating strategies. She has assisted numerous notable owners and tenants in market analysis, site selection and lease and purchase negotiations. Katie is active in the NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Agency.

Coming September 16: Health Care Innovators

The World Awaits Cleveland Clinic’s renowned conference set to open America’s Global Center for Health Innovation

Crain’s exclusive magazine supplement previewing the Medical Innovation Summit and brand new Global Center for Health Innovation. Reach over 100,000 executive professionals through our distribution partners:

IIssue ssue d date: atte: September Septtemb ber 116th 6th Ad Close: August 5th

ADVERTISE TODAY Contact Ad Sales Director Nicole Mastrangelo at nmastrangelo@crain.com or 216-771-5158

Join this prestigious group of advertisers in the pages of Health Care Innovators: STAY CONNECTED ■ Crain’s on Twitter: @CrainsCleveland ■ Crain’s on Facebook: Facebook.com/CrainsCleveland ■ Crain’s daily e-newsletters: CrainsCleveland.com/register Newsletter schedule ■ Weekdays: Morning Roundup and daily headlines; Mondays: Real Estate Report; Tuesdays: Work Force Report; Wednesdays: Dealmaker Alert; Thursdays: Small Business Report; Fridays: Shale and Energy Report

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

GOING PLACES JOB CHANGES CONSTRUCTION CLEVELAND CONSTRUCTION INC.: Robert Weeks to senior director, business development; Anthony Fracci to accounts receivable; Greg Dalpiaz and Will Rawdon to assistant project engineers and assistant project managers; Sam Micali to assistant project manager.

Salman

Schreiber

Kourcklas

Petersen-Fitts

Essenmacher

Glasser

Keller

Szerpicki

Taylor

DiMassa Jr.

Kraus

Mascali

Davala

Rex

Hogan

Gaynes

DISTRIBUTION CLEVELAND COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO.: Ken Salman to operations manager; Angela Schreiber to quality assurance lab technician, operations; Chris Kourcklas to brand development manager, cold drink.

COOK & BATISTA CO.: Arthur W. Brumett II to associate.

regional vice president, property manager, East region; Scott Villani to vice president, marketing.

data center manager.

EDUCATION

MANUFACTURING

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: Jordan Petersen-Fitts to dance team coach.

AMRESCO LLC: Michael J. Mascali to president.

TRANSACTION REALTY: Fabian Candelario to sales associate.

FINANCIAL SERVICE

CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC.: James Kirsch to non-executive chairman.

CLEVELAND SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: Lauren Rudman (Erico International Corp.) to president; Steve Ligus to president elect and vice president, membership; Beth Warholy, Paula Calmer, Shirley Hunter, Michael Hoffman, Tamara Hagerty and Todd Costello to vice presidents.

BARNES WENDLING CPAS INC.: Michael S. Essenmacher to director; Linda Glasser to senior analyst. BCG & CO.: Lesley Keller to senior manager, tax services. PEASE & ASSOCIATES INC.: Amy Kinkaid to senior manager; Jim Emond to senior staff, CFO services department; Beth Reimer and Joe Rokas to managers; Lindsay Welch to senior staff, audit; Kathleen Moran, Kelly Mocarski and Sherri Blackwelder to managers, tax; Carrie Damico and Chris Scalisi to staff accountants, tax; Dan Black to staff accountant, audit. THORNHILL FINANCIAL INC.: Tara E. Szerpicki to audit manager.

Deutsch

Styrt

HEALTH CARE

MARKETING

BRAVO WELLNESS: Bobby Dyke to vice president, business development.

EVOLVE CREATIVE GROUP: Lisa Davala to online marketing specialist.

ST. AUGUSTINE HEALTH MINISTRIES: James J. Taylor to president, CEO.

WHITESPACE CREATIVE: Robert Zajac to executive vice president.

NONPROFIT

LEGAL

BEECH BROOK: Debra Rex to president, CEO; Mario Tonti to executive adviser.

DREYFUSS WILLIAMS AND ASSOCIATES LPA: Pasquale DiMassa Jr. to associate.

RETAIL STERLING JEWELERS INC.: David Gaynes to vice president, corporate product development.

SERVICE EVENT SOURCE INC.: Lisa Mucha and Autumn White to customer service representatives. HMC GROUP: Matt Sheldon to director, patient financial services.

STAFFING NESCO RESOURCE: Andrew Deutsch to executive vice president, Central Division and Risk.

MCDONALD HOPKINS: Edward H. Kraus to of counsel.

UNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: Mark Hogan to vice president, information technology.

MEYERS ROMAN: Janice A. Isakoff to senior counsel.

REAL ESTATE

TECHNOLOGY

WICKENS, HERZER, PANZA,

NRP GROUP: Erick Waller to

BLUEBRIDGE: Nathan Scollon to

TORCH GROUP: Vitaliy Styrt to project coordinator.

BOARDS

ST. AUGUSTINE HEALTH MINISTRIES: Karen McCarthy (Meaden & Moore Ltd.) to chair; Edward Hack to vice chair; Linda Sheehan to secretary; Charles Slone to treasurer. ST. AUGUSTINE SERVICES CORP.: Carmen Naso (Case Western Reserve University) to chair; F. Barry Keefe to vice chair; Nancy Bouhall to secretary; J. Thomas Hannon to treasurer.

Send information for Going Places to dhillyer@crain.com.

Roscoe Medical changes hands in private equity deal

Expertise Pays Off For more than 80 years, we have helped middle THYRL[ JVTWHUPLZ HJOPL]L ÄUHUJPHS Z\JJLZZ -PUHUJPHS [H_ 0; HUK VYNHUPaH[PVUHS K\L KPSPNLUJL 7\YJOHZL HJJV\U[PUN JVUZ\S[H[PVU ;H_ Z[Y\J[\YPUN + Risk assessment/risk mitigation (\KP[ [H_ HUK HK]PZVY` ZLY]PJLZ 3L[ V\Y RUV^SLKNL L_WLYPLUJL HUK L_WLY[PZL IL HU HZZL[ [V `V\Y JVTWHU`»Z VWLYH[PVUZ THUHNLTLU[ HUK ZOHYLOVSKLYZ

Roscoe Medical of ON THE WEB Story from and services, Mr. Strongsville, a manuwww.crainscleveland.com Guth said. Roscoe Medical had about facturer and distribu40 employees at the time of the tor of home medical sale to River Associates, and Mr. equipment, has been acquired by Guth said it has grown since then Tenex Capital Management, a via its existing operations and private equity investment group through acquisition. based in New York City. Roscoe Medical makes pain Terms of the transaction were management, respiratory therapy, not disclosed. Roscoe Medical has home medical equipment, sleep been owned since 2005 by River therapy, and health and beauty Associates Investments LLC of products and accessories. Mr. Guth Chattanooga, Tenn. said it has about 3,100 customers Roscoe Medical’s current management team, led by president and that include chiropractors, physical CEO Paul Guth, will remain in place therapists, pain management physiunder Tenex’s ownership. The cians, Internet retailers and home company has about 90 full-time care dealers. staff members and operates from In a health care environment four locations nationwide — in marked by declining rates of govStrongsville; Austin, Texas; ernment reimbursement, Roscoe Burlingame, Calif.; and St. Louis. Medical has a strong growth opporThe sale to Tenex Capital will tunity in “giving our customers prodallow Roscoe Medical to grow even ucts to sell to patients that are outmore quickly by adding products side reimbursement,” Mr. Guth said.

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RECIPIENT: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

DEBRA LYONS Chief human resources officer, retired Westfield Group

rain’s Cleveland Business again this year is honoring the region’s human resources professionals for all they do in guiding Northeast Ohio’s companies and organizations. In all, 19 honorees were selected for this year’s HR Leaders Awards, with judges taking into consideration a variety of qualities, including leadership, best practices, achievements and community involvement. All entries were judged by an independent panel of human resources professionals representing various industries. This year’s judges were Dennis Armstrong, chief human resources officer, Vitamix; Melanie Bingam, director of human resources, Lubrizol Advanced Materials; Debbie Connelly, vice president of human resources, Hyland Software; and Chris Mauer, executive vice president, human resources, FirstMerit. Finalists and recipients will be recognized at an awards gala from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, at the InterContinental Hotel, Cleveland. Also at the event, a Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Debra Lyons, who is the retired chief human resources officer of the Westfield Group. (See story, top right.) This year, for the first time, there will be a pre-event panel discussion from 4 to 5:15 p.m. The topic of the panel will be “Recruiting in the age of Social Media,” and it is free to all ticket-holders. The discussion will be moderated by Lee Ann Howard, CEO of Howard & O’Brien Executive Search. Panelists are Tracey Racette, business transformation practice leader, Oracle; Rosanna Miguel, assistant professor of management, Department of Management, Marketing and Logistics, John Carroll University, Boler School of Business; Jay Floersch,

hen Debra Lyons joined the Westfield Group human resources department in 1985, its main focus was hiring, administration and signing employees up for payroll and benefits. In fact when Ms. Lyons began her tenure with Westfield, the human resources department still went by the name of personnel and benefits administration. “She allowed human resources to become a key strategic partner at Westfield,” said Christopher Paterakis, Group HR leader at Westfield and Ms. Lyons’ successor. “That I think was her biggest legacy.” Ms. Lyons entered the human resources field in 1980 with Huntington Bank. She began in a clerical position, however, when a position opened in human resources, Ms. Lyons’ boss decided she would be a perfect fit for the job. “I found my true passion,” said Ms. Lyons. She loved the fulfillment she felt from helping employees achieve their true potential and helping employers find top talent. “Seeing people develop to their highest potential is what was most rewarding to me,” she said. Under Ms. Lyons, Westfield’s top class technical training program transformed into one of relationship management, with a con-

THE JUDGES

centration on the specific needs of each individual department. The deciding factor to get management on board with the new outlook was the large number of employees getting ready to retire in a short time, said Ms. Lyons. “They realized we needed to start looking at successors,” she said. As a means to develop the best talent to serve as successors, Ms. Lyons developed a succession training and leadership development program. She began by identifying the critical positions within Westfield that needed successors, starting at the top with the CEO. Ms. Lyons and her team used assessment tools to identify high potential candidates and invited an external organization specializing in leadership development, MBAs, mentoring and executive coaching to assist in the process. Westfield partnered with Scitrain, a leadership development company with offices in Canton, to evaluate employees’ readiness for upwards promotions. Ms. Lyons also put instruments in place to measure feedback and progress of individuals. One of the things that made the program most successful, however, was getting the human resources professionals into areas of business. Knowing the industry in which an organization operates is the key to finding the right people, programs and retention strategies, Ms. Lyons said. See LYONS Page 25

INSIDE Armstrong

Connelly

Bingam

Mauer

THE EVENT For more information about the event and to purchase tickets, go to www.crainscleveland.com/HRLeaders or contact Denise Donaldson at 216-771-5159 or ddonaldson@crain.com. Deadline to purchase tickets is noon on Thursday, Aug. 8. RPO solutions architect, Aon Hewitt; and Ron Bower, director of talent management, PRADCO. The program has been approved for 1.25 (general) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute. Discussion topics will include: ■ What ways can social media be used to build an organization’s work force? ■ What role should social media play in vetting potential employees? ■ Are there are downfalls to using social media as a recruiting method? ■ Is there a right way and a wrong way to use social media as a staffing tool?

Susie Barragate Human resources director, Vocational Guidance Services Recipient: Innovation PAGE 14

Kate Lawrence Associate director, employee health and wellness, MetroHealth System Recipient: Innovation PAGE 20

Cyndi Beattie Human resources manager, University Hospitals Finalist PAGE 14

Sam Maniar Manager, leadership development, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores Recipient: Rising Star PAGE 16

Judy Collister Vice president of human resources, Park Place Technologies Finalist PAGE 15

Tom Maxwell Regional SVP, Regional HR Director, Fifth Third Bank Recipient: HR Executive of the Year PAGE 22

Carla Fitzpatrick HR and administrative manager, The Pattie Group Recipient: Rising Star PAGE 15

Judi McMullen VP, chief human resources officer, Cuyahoga Community College Finalist PAGE 19

Sherman Gandee Director, human resources, Steere Enterprises Finalist PAGE 17

Michelle Pearson-Casey Director of human resources, Olympic Steel Finalist PAGE 22

Diane Giorgi Director of human resources, Reminger Co. LPA Recipient: Innovation PAGE 16

Jeanette Saunders Chief, administration and performance management, Cleveland Airport System Recipient: HR Executive of the Year PAGE 24

Tom Greene Vice president of human resources, Medical Mutual of Ohio Finalist PAGE 18

LaToya Smith AVP, talent acquisition consultant team lead, Fifth Third Bank Finalist PAGE 21

Harold Harrison Chief human resources officer, Cleveland Metroparks Finalist PAGE 18

Joseph Vitale Jr. Director, talent management, Kent State University Finalist PAGE 24

Nicolette Kynkor Organization Development Specialist, FedEx Custom Critical Recipient: Rising Star PAGE 20

Shana Zollar Vice president, human resources, Dwellworks Recipient: HR Executive of the Year PAGE 23

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14 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

HR LEADERS

RECIPIENT: INNOVATION

SUSIE BARRAGATE Human resources director Vocational Guidance Services FROM THE NOMINATION:

or Susie Barragate, human resources “isn’t just about forms, administration and rules,” it’s about finding ways to make Vocational Guidance Services a stronger organization, according to the nomination. And she has found quite a few ways to do that. Vocational Guidance Services’ HR department focused mainly on providing payroll services when Ms. Barragate was hired 17 years ago. Since then, she has helped transform the department into one that is much more important to Vocational Guidance Services, which provides work opportunities and rehabilitation services to people with disabilities, former prisoners and others with barriers to employment. For instance, Ms. Barragate created a program in which top-level managers mentor middle managers, often from other departments.

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

FINALIST She also created an agency-wide customer service training program called VGS P.R.I.D.E., which stands for Personal Responsibility in Delivering Excellence. The program “has become an integral part” of the organization’s effort to deliver quality service, the nomination said. Plus, just this past April, she organized an “Innovation Day,” a day-long event during which employees offered up ideas to improve Vocational Guidance Services. “No area of the business was off limits, and employees came with all kinds of ideas,” the nomination said. Among them was an idea from Ms. Barragate. Inspired by a speech given by author Simon Sinek, who wrote a book called “Start With Why,” Ms. Barragate at Innovation Day began an effort to encourage employees to learn more about why Vocational Guidance Services exists. The goal of the effort is to inspire employees and make them feel more committed to the organization, based on Mr. Sinek’s notion that “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Ms. Barragate joined Vocational Guidance Services in 1996 as HR coordinator and became HR director in 1999. In addition to those

duties, last year she took over responsibility for services provided at the organization’s Elyria facility. She oversees four people in HR and four more in Elyria. Ms. Barragate graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor of arts with a concentration in personnel and industrial relations. She lives in Cleveland Heights with her husband, Phil, and their two young children. The Northeast Ohio native has been active in the local philanthropic community. In 2010, she served as interim executive director of Dress for Success Cleveland/Columbus, which aims to help low-income women develop successful careers. She also helped that nonprofit find a permanent leader. Last year, she was asked to join the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Bridge Builders Class of 2013. The 10-month program assembles local civic leaders who participate in an interactive curriculum focused on civic issues, according to the group’s website. “Susie has always had a passion for the Greater Cleveland community and feels that the collective stewardship of the community, its cultural institutions and its notfor-profit organizations are what keeps the fabric of our community intact,” the nomination said.

CYNDI BEATTIE Human resources manager University Hospitals FROM THE NOMINATION:

yndi Beattie is a human resources professional, but she might as well be a communications professional. During her seven years at University Hospitals, Ms. Beattie developed a reputation as “an exceptional communicator,” according to the nomination. Like others in the HR world, Ms. Beattie — who this month starts a new job as people consultant/assistant director at EY, which until recently went by Ernst & Young — worked with managers and employees from a variety of backgrounds, so she had to deal with her share of conflicts. Luckily, she has a knack for setting boundaries and handling sticky situations “with respect and compassion,” the nomination said. She also is good at explaining herself and making sure that whoever she’s talking to understands from where she is coming. “She consistently demonstrates this exceptional skill and professionalism as a human resources professional,” the nomination said. Her communication skills aren’t just for managing conflict. They also come in handy during meetings that involve topics that aren’t so easily explained. “Both in presentations and in one-on-one meetings, Cyndi is a dynamic and powerful communicator who possesses the gift of being able to make complex issues or topics understandable,” the nomination said. Ms. Beattie served as regional HR manager for FedEx Supply Chain Services in Hudson before arriving at University Hospitals in March 2006 as senior HR generalist. She was promoted to HR manager after two years, and reported to the director of human resources at UH Case Medical Center. Ms. Beattie helped UH tackle a big challenge two years ago, when the hospital system opened the Seidman Cancer Center at UH’s

“Both in presentations and in one-on-one meetings, Cyndi is a dynamic and powerful communicator who possesses the gift of being able to make complex issues or topics understandable.” – The nomination for Cyndi Beattie main campus. Before the freestanding hospital opened, cancer patients needing a bed were treated at UH Case Medical Center, while those visiting on an outpatient basis were treated at the Ireland Cancer Center. That presented a challenge, Ms. Beattie said in a conversation with Crain’s. “They were really different cultures, and we had to integrate them into one,” she said. To do that, Ms. Beattie proposed that employees go through “The Seidman Experience,” an orientation program designed to ensure that all staff members understood what it takes to deliver high-touch, personal care when treating cancer patients. About 2,000 employees went through the program. It also was her idea to expand a leadership training program for UH managers. Whereas they previously just took an eight-hour course on leadership, now some of the same concepts — which range from self awareness to emotional intelligence — are reinforced in shorter monthly sessions as well, Ms. Beattie said. The Sustainability Leadership Development Plan is designed to make sure people who go through the course remember the lessons learned and implement them. “We kept it top of mind, month after month,” she said. Overall, Ms. Beattie is a “conscientious and motivating leader,” according to the nomination. She understands UH as a business, and she understands the role HR can play in helping organizations succeed, the nomination said. “Cyndi Beattie provides a global and strategic approach to human resources management,” the nomination said. “Her unique blend of employee relations and leadership with a focus on organization development distinguishes her from the industry.”

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HR LEADERS

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

FINALIST

JUDY COLLISTER Vice president of human resources Park Place Technologies FROM THE NOMINATION:

udy Collister has 25 years of experience in human resources and has made a significant difference since being hired in 2010 by Park Place Technologies, a data center hardware maintenance firm headquartered in Cleveland. Ms. Collister has been honored with a Business Leadership Award by Intuit the last two years and has received a Department of Defense Certificate for Appreciation for outstanding service to the National Guard and Reserve. “Judy treats her staff like peers — a great sign of leadership,” the nomination said. “She considers her colleagues at Park Place Technologies business partners. As far as Judy is concerned, everyone has buy-in, everyone is important and everyone’s opinions are considered. Employees know that she is fair, receptive and honest. “Both employees and prospective employees value her judgment,” the nomination continued. “Even when she has to deliver news they may not want to hear (i.e., they didn’t get a job), they leave knowing they are respected and given candid feedback they can use to grow.” Ms. Collister’s philosophy is to ensure equity and promote retention at Park Place Technologies. Managers must make their decisions based on performance and fact, and employees are encouraged to seek promotions and different jobs within the company. Managers also are expected to talk to employees about job opportunities. The recruitment team at Park Place Technologies is asked to find the best candidates quickly as the company continues to grow. HR sees hiring managers as partners, and weekly meetings are held to ensure the hiring managers know where the recruiter is at in the

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 15

RECIPIENT: RISING STAR process. Employees are encouraged to maintain healthy lifestyles, and various wellness events are held throughout the year, including an annual health fair in February. The company saved $25,000 on its most recent UnitedHealthcare renewal, according to the nomination. The company’s employee opinion survey received 90% participation, a 14% increase over the previous year. “Under her careful leadership, what HR does at Park Place Technologies is make it the best organization it can be,” the nomination said. Ms. Collister and her staff use Twitter to educate and attract candidates, and Monster.com is used to find quality candidates. Park Place has an electronic applicant tracking system that makes candidates and resumes easy to find. “I have had the pleasure of working with Judy for over three years now and watched as she took a near nonexistent organization and built a best-in-class HR department that has been able to keep up with our tremendous growth,” said Park Place Technologies CEO Ed Kenty in the nomination. “One of Judy’s many strengths is her ability to recruit and retain top talent. She has built a recruiting group as good as any other I have worked with in this industry. “To be able to put highly qualified people in roles without the assistance of outsourced recruiting has been a big win for us,” Mr. Kenty continued. “What is important to me is low employee turnover.” Ms. Collister is a professor of HR at the University of Phoenix. Her influence has proven to be instrumental in Park Place Technologies’ employees committing to serve charities in Ohio and Massachusetts, where the company has a service operations center. The company also has been recognized as one of the top places to work in Northeast Ohio. “As an effective executive, I’ve never seen better,” said Dan Gleeson, Park Place’s corporate recruiter, as part of the nomination.

CARLA FITZPATRICK HR and administrative manager The Pattie Group FROM THE NOMINATION:

arla Pattie Fitzpatrick is the owner’s daughter. To The Pattie Group and its sister company, LandsKeepers, she is much more. Mrs. Fitzpatrick was named the HR and administrative manager of the landscape development firm in 2012. She has worked in some capacity in every department of the company, but in HR, “her empathy and understanding of employees’ daily tasks is best utilized,” the nomination said. Mrs. Fitzpatrick has developed an HR department that had been nonexistent and made it a pivotal part of the company’s success. She works at job fairs, manages The Pattie Group’s hiring and marketing efforts and processes hundreds of applications each year for seasonal and full-time staff. “Carla has unique challenges of part-time, seasonal and H-2B program (a U.S. visa program for temporary, nonagricultural work by foreign nationals) workers’ needs in both English and Spanish,” the nomination said. “Getting all of the aforementioned efforts done

every week would be tough for a department, but Carla does it currently with little additional administrative or management assistance, and always with a smile on her face.” Mrs. Fitzpatrick handles the hiring for the company of more than 80 employees, oversees the administrative department and stays trained in other roles in case she needs to fill in for departments that are short-staffed. “She’s The Pattie Group’s go-to employee,” the nomination said. The company has offices in Novelty and Westlake. Mrs. Fitzpatrick has started an online application program at both The Pattie Group and LandsKeepers in which many managers are involved in the hiring process. Mrs. Fitzpatrick also went to Texas to learn how to set up and train employees in the company’s personality assessment program. The program helps to identify potential employees’ talents and preferences, and it helps The Pattie Group’s leaders “manage and coach employees better and put them in the right positions in the

company,” the nomination said. Mrs. Fitzpatrick also created a popular, biweekly “Admin’s Admired Admiral Award.” The honoree is designated as the most admired person to work with, gets to keep a trophy for two weeks and “wear an admiral hat to signify their rank if they so wish,” the nomination said. “As with all HR departments, there are as many challenges as successes,” the nomination said. “In the landscaping industry, workers’ compensation is a daily reality, as are layoffs and rehires, and general employee personnel issues. Carla must stay on top of the latest industry laws and regulations for dozens of HR challenges.” The Pattie Group requires a minimum of 45 hours of continued education per year for every employee. About 50% of the education is provided in-house and developed by Mrs. Fitzpatrick. The married mother of two volunteers as a mock interviewer at the Auburn Career Center, and she organizes The Pattie Group’s volunteer and charity efforts. She has received national and state-level recognition from such industry organizations as the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) and the HR directors of the Ohio Landscaping Association.

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16 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

HR LEADERS

RECIPIENT: RISING STAR

RECIPIENT: INNOVATION

SAM MANIAR Manager, leadership development Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores FROM THE NOMINATION:

am Maniar doesn’t have what most would consider traditional human resources roots. “His client list contains fewer people who are leading businesses and more who are leading teams on the football fields, basketball courts, and other playing fields across several major universities,” according to one of two nominations on his behalf. That’s because formerly, he worked as a sports psychologist. But different as it might be, that background, according to those who nominated him, is translating well in his work for Hudson-based craft retailer, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. “He has keen insight into the factors leading to maximum performance,” one nomination stated. “As a management psychologist and consultant, he applied what he had learned about sports

performance to enhance the skills and potential of business professionals.” That’s clear in Mr. Maniar’s implementation — within his first year with Jo-Ann — of both a Leadership Academy, which seeks to train and develop team members who are expected to become officers of the company at some point, and a Women in Leadership Program, which brings in women speakers and provides a forum for women to discuss and coach each other through the challenges they face in the workplace today. “Both of these initiatives demanded buy-in and support from senior management and have received high accolades from participants and the company leadership,” the nomination said. Additionally, Mr. Maniar designed and implemented a new performance and compensation system that utilizes SuccessFactors, a cloud-based system, and ties financial rewards to business requirements. He leads a team that this year alone automated 2,000 performance reviews, with a goal of having 4,000 to 5,000 employees reviewed with the system next year. “While Sam may not be directly involved in talent acquisition, the

Leadership Development Programs that he has either developed or implemented serve as strong recruiting and retention tools,” a nomination said. “When employees realize they are being valued as important contributors and that their development is paramount in the minds of the organization, they are more likely to stay with the company longer term.” Mr. Maniar doesn’t work to improve only employees at Jo-Ann. He also volunteers with the Hudson Job Search, serving as an adviser for people looking to continue their career in Northeast Ohio. “Sam mentors others to help them prepare their resume, role play(s) on interviews, provides guidance on continuing education, and helps open doors for those who need help,” one nomination said. He also has done volunteer speaking engagements for the Society for Human Resource Management and is a member of the American Psychological Association. And, he continues his connection with the sports world as a father of young athletes as well as a mentor to other children who play soccer, the nomination said.

We’re proud to celebrate a career that’s flying high. Congratulations to HR Executive of the Year, Jeanette Saunders.

We congratulate Jeanette Saunders for this high honor. Her leadership, practices, and contributions to the Cleveland Airport System help our organization reach new heights every day. CAS. Great Opportunities. Great Organization. www.clevelandairport.com Jeanette Saunders

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

DIANE GIORGI Director of human resources Reminger Co. LPA FROM THE NOMINATION:

iane Giorgi is considered an unsung hero by co-workers at the Reminger law firm. She is personable, hands-on and innovative, which is quite a challenge for an outfit with a total of 300 team members working in 10 different offices — and one HR executive. She is a member of the firm’s executive team and is responsible for recruitment and retention of support staff such as legal secretaries, paralegals, accounting professionals, information technology and other administrative positions that are part of making today’s law firm tick. However, she does much more than that. According to the nomination, she was responsible for helping craft the firm’s culture and maintain a family atmosphere as the firm grew dramatically. To help her do so, she formed a committee with six people to help foster the firm’s culture of communication. The effort even went to the level of helping people on the committee communicate better, such as by making eye contact and doing more listening than talking. Like many firms, Reminger has an employee assistance plan, but the firm’s is extensive. Ms. Giorgi recognized that a standard benefits package would not fit diverse needs of employees who need help from everything ranging from addiction to financial hardships. She communicates to associates what their responsibilities are in the employee assistance system, then helps to create an action plan that will range from helping them organize their finances and pay bills to getting into a treatment program. She also follows up with those working with the associates to help keep everyone on track. Additionally, the firm’s community relations efforts also fall within Ms. Giorgi’s responsibilities.

“It is a program that has been wildly successful.” – The nomination for Diane Giorgi, on the popular employee of the year award she instituted In one program, the firm operates the nonprofit Reminger Foundation to support charitable causes in communities in which Reminger employees live and work. Funding comes primarily from the firm, its attorneys and staff. Ms. Giorgi suggested a major form of support for the program by making donations for participating in the firm’s “dress-down day.” Reminger also participates in the Corporate Work Study Program at Saint Martin de Porres High School in Cleveland. The firm serves as an employer for four to six students during the school year to help them gain job experience and encourage them to aspire to attend college and pursue meaningful careers. The firm also participates in Habitat for Humanity and staffers tutor innercity students through the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s “3Rs” program. Law firms are known for having long hours and work that needs to be done on the weekends to meet client needs. To balance that and recognize that summer Fridays often are times when staffers expand their weekends, she organized a program that formally sets up a skeleton crew to be on hand to ensure things get done. Her most popular idea is the firm’s “employee of the year” award. Open to anyone at the firm — even staffers with it for just a year — the standout employee does not simply get recognition: the winner can win an all-expense paid trip for two to a destination of their choice. “It is a program that has been wildly successful,” and it is one that helps the firm highlight standout employees who deserve to be acknowledged, according to the nomination. Ms. Giorgi’s efforts to create a rewarding workplace at the firm also have been validated by members of the firm, who report on surveys that employees at the firm “feel rewarded and appreciated,” according to the nomination.

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SHERMAN GANDEE Director, human resources Steere Enterprises FROM THE NOMINATION:

herman “Sherm” Gandee serves as director of human resources at Steere Enterprises, a Tallmadge-based manufacturer with about 300 employees. The company produces advanced polymer products as an auto supplier, does plastic blow molding and creates its own tooling to make specialized components. With 36 years of experience in human resources, Mr. Gandee takes a business approach to his area and runs his office as a profit center for the company. Under that focus, he has helped the firm gain more than $300,000 in state and federal grants and recently saved the company $100,000 by implementing a system for target pricing for employing temporary workers. Moreover, Mr. Gandee has a record of accomplishment in workers’ compensation, an area that challenges many manufacturers. First, steps were taken to reduce accidents to one annually from a high of 120 annually in 1992. In the same period, 29 workers’ compensation claims were denied or dismissed; none were appealed. Steere’s workers’ compensation rating in the same time dramati-

cally changed direction, going from a -55% rating to an 87% discount, which saves the company $500,000 annually. Those results also led to Steere for the first time winning an Ohio Governor’s Award for Workers’ Compensation Excellence. The firm also has dramatically improved perfect attendance on the factory floor: at one time, fewer than 5% of Steere’s factory employees had perfect attendance annually; now, 50% do. Part of the credit for that goes to human resources initiatives such as providing training in “Why it’s critical to be a good employee” and in the psychology of supervision. The other imprint of the human resources department is on the company’s personnel. Currently, 90% of Steere’s team was recruited on Mr. Gandee’s watch. Hiring outstanding personnel has yielded “huge performance improvements in all areas,” according to the nomination. With his deep experience and training, Mr. Gandee has acrossthe-board expertise in all areas of human resources, from leadership skills to union avoidance, union negotiations and lean manufacturing, according to the nomination. Outside the office, he also is active with an Akron/Canton HR leadership group and the United Way. Mark Stahl, Steere director of operations and a colleague of Mr. Gandee, described him in the nomination as professional and so dynamic that he could “write a book about what he has done for Steere Enterprises.”

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Inspiration Aon congratulates the Honorees of the Crain’s 2013 HR Leaders Awards. As a ﬁrm that has a passion for delivering winning performances, we are inspired by those who never falter in their commitment to “can do.” And, we applaud those who provide support along the way. Empowering organizations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative talent, retirement and health solutions. Aon.

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HAROLD HARRISON Chief human resources officer Cleveland Metroparks FROM THE NOMINATION:

arold Harrison could be considered a breath of fresh air for the Cleveland Metroparks. After all, with the support of the parks’ staff and chief executive, Mr. Harrison revitalized what many considered weathered programs, processes and policies. No longer is human resources regarded as a reactive function of the enterprise but instead a proactive, integrative and participative department ingrained in the everyday operations of the Metroparks. “During Harold’s leadership at Cleveland Metroparks, he has implemented significant enhancements, with the expectation that more will continue,” Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian M. Zimmerman wrote in a letter of support for Mr. Harrison. Mr. Harrison joined the Cleveland Metroparks in 2010, and at that time already had a distin-

FINALIST guished track record in human resources. In the past, he had worked for a county developmental disabilities agency, the county executive and county commissioners. As such, his experience isn’t restricted to just one type of organization. “He has always felt it important to be on the cutting edge of human resources, and he is bringing best practices that have never been utilized in the state of Ohio into a governmental entity,” the nomination said. In addition to overseeing the HR functions for the professional staff at the parks, Mr. Harrison also oversees the HR functions for the nearly 2,500 people who volunteer with the Cleveland Metroparks. Since 2010, volunteerism also has increased 81%, which translated to about 800 additional individuals. Although he has only been with the parks for a few years, Mr. Harrison has established a respectable track record. He, for instance, initiated an employee satisfaction survey, which obtained 71% participation — a type of survey that, on average, receives about a 20% to 40% response rate in the first year implemented. Mr. Harrison’s leadership also has led to significant cost savings for the Metroparks. For instance, he guided the parks through a

strategic position management initiative in 2011 and 2012 that produced $4 million in salary savings for the parks. Also, over a two-year period, Mr. Harrison reduced overtime by $1 million. Mr. Harrison has contributed a handful of formal and informal initiatives to manage employee performance. On the informal side, he launched so-called “spot awards” where managers can give immediate awards, such as gift cards, to employees who go above and beyond the call of duty. On the formal side, Mr. Harrison automated the performance management system to ensure yearly reviews and other performance management functions were handled better. Also, the Cleveland Metroparks is an incredibly complex organization, and Mr. Harrison took it upon himself to reorganize the titles within the enterprise to create a better understanding of its organizational structure. “Harold has met and embraced Cleveland Metroparks culture and is effectively leading the organization forward,” Mr. Zimmerman wrote in his letter of support. Beyond the workplace, Mr. Zimmerman is involved with a slate of community organizations and coaches youth football and lacrosse teams.

Our Rising Star FedEx Custom Critical® congratulates Nicolette Kynkor, as a recipient of the HR Rising Star award. Way to go, Nicolette!

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

TOM GREENE Vice president of human resources Medical Mutual of Ohio FROM THE NOMINATION:

he health care and insurance industries both are undergoing a dramatic transformation, and as such, Tom Greene’s job as the top human resources professional at Medical Mutual of Ohio hasn’t been an easy task. Not only is he charged with recruiting the right people for today’s roles but ensuring those same people are potentially prepared for key roles in tomorrow’s rapidly evolving health care landscape. “For nearly three decades, I have found Tom’s expertise and counsel instrumental in identifying key management candidates, which I feel are providing Medical Mutual with the strongest management team in its near 80-year history,” Medical Mutual CEO Rick Chiricosta wrote in a letter supporting Mr. Greene’s nomination. Mr. Greene in 1985 joined the former Blue Cross of Northwest Ohio in Toledo as manager of compensation and benefits. When the company merged with Cleveland Blue Cross a year later, he took on responsibility for corporate compensation and benefits for the company that now is Medical Mutual of Ohio. He advanced steadily in the organization and in 1997 was named vice president of human resources. According to the nomination, Mr. Greene has focused on attracting the best people in the industry to Medical Mutual and keeping them intellectually satisfied and professionally fulfilled. “Leadership for Tom, and for his company, is predicated on mutual respect and successful performance,” the nomination said. “To drive home the importance of respect as a foundational value at Medical Mutual, Tom models behaviors reflecting trust and respect and creates a work environment that encourages others to get to know themselves and others well enough to understand their personal hot buttons and drivers.” For instance, Mr. Greene redefined the process by which candidates for leadership positions are chosen. The program ensures that

the company’s leaders are selected based on readiness and performance. The company’s emerging leaders are defined as performers who will be ready for leadership roles within two years. Each potential leader chosen for the program has an individual development plan, which is reviewed periodically. With the support of Mr. Chiricosta, Mr. Greene also launched a development program for recent college graduates. Mr. Greene’s efforts to boost employee retention and satisfaction have shown positive results. Employee engagement surveys conducted during 2010 and 2011, for instance, achieved a response rate between 60% and 70%. Positive impressions of the work environment exceeded four out of a possible five. In addition, overall employee satisfaction was rated as “excellent,” with more than 75% of all ratings being favorable. “Our employees serve a critical role in the success of the company and are enabled, trained, compensated and recognized for excellence in service, quality, continuous improvement and financial discipline,” Mr. Chiricosta said in the letter. “This is where, under Tom’s leadership, the company has excelled.” “Employee and management development programs, emerging leader recognition, along with mentoring and coaching programs are just a few of Tom’s key strengths and have strongly positioned the company for a bright future,” Mr. Chiricosta added in the nomination. Mr. Greene, meanwhile, has also helped Medical Mutual achieve significant cost savings. He, for example, managed the transition from a defined benefit pension plan to a defined contribution plan. “Although this is not the kind of initiative that wins popularity contests, the new plan looked enough like a defined benefit plan to avoid ruffling too many feathers,” the nomination said. “This change had a significant impact on Medical Mutual’s balance sheet.”

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JUDI MCMULLEN Vice president, chief human resources officer Cuyahoga Community College FROM THE NOMINATION:

or more than 20 years, Judi McMullen has helped employers find and keep the workers they need, working as an HR professional at manufacturers such as Dow Chemical, Kraft Foods and Invacare Corp., as well as with the accounting firm Ernst & Young. These days, however, she just might be helping more companies than ever before when it comes to finding well-educated employees ready to hit the ground running in a variety of careers. That’s because she’s now helping one of the organizations that trains many area workers, Cuyahoga Community College, to become better at fulfilling its mission. “Judi has worked closely with me over the past three years, and has quickly established herself as a leader among the college’s executives,” said Tri-C executive vice president of administration and finance Craig Foltin, as part of Ms. McMullen’s nomination. “Judi’s ability to engage staff, faculty and others in the college community allowed her to restructure the human resources department, making it more efficient, effective and a vital resource for the college.”

But while a lot of human resources professionals, perhaps even some good ones, are primarily backoffice administrators, that’s not the case for Ms. McMullen. “Judi has shifted the College’s perception of HR from a department of last resort into that of a trusted consultant and adviser,” Dr. Foltin said. “Judi collaborates with individuals across the college and creates valuable relationships among the college’s diverse departments and divisions. She was instrumental in improving communication between faculty and administrators, as well as leading the institution through very successful labor negotiations.” Thanks to the work of Ms. McMullen, “The human resources department is now a visible, accessible, accurate and efficient resource for everyone at the college, including faculty, staff, administration, students and external constituents.” Ms. McMullen is successful, at least in part, because she sees her role in her organization’s greater mission, rather than just as a spoke in the wheel of an HR department. “While others may believe that human resources is far removed from the business of educating students, Judi keeps student success a priority for her team, and understands how her department directly contributes to our students’ achievement of their educational goals,” Dr. Foltin wrote. “She has expanded her role beyond the traditional definition of Human Resources to directly work with student programs,” the nominating letter said.

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KATE LAWRENCE Associate director, employee health and wellness MetroHealth System FROM THE NOMINATION:

ate Lawrence spends her time making sure the employees at MetroHealth System take their own health care needs into consideration. Ms. Lawrence oversees the MetroHealthy initiative, a wellness program for employees of the Cleveland-based health care system. Employees can earn incentives for taking part in a health screening or participating in healthy activities. The program began in 2011, but official support from the board of trustees has led to a formal wellness program for the health system and increased incentives. As of July, the program already had surpassed participation levels for all of 2012. “It’s a really exciting time, and it’s wonderful to have the board’s support,” Ms. Lawrence said. Ms. Lawrence became the associate director of employee health and wellness for MetroHealth this past spring, but her interest in employee wellness goes back much further than that. She began as an intern in 2002 — she had gotten

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

RECIPIENT: RISING STAR her feet wet in human resources at Ohio University — and immediately got involved in everything she could at MetroHealth. “I was an assertive 21-year-old getting my nose into everything,” she said. MetroHealth hired her as a project coordinator, which gave her the chance to learn about many different areas of human resources. She began setting the groundwork for her current initiatives in 2003 by starting yoga classes. In 2009, she was promoted to a supervisory position as the manager of human resources and began working on the company wellness program. It was officially launched in 2011 with a health fair. That year, employees could earn $50 incentives for taking part in the screening and another $50 for participating in healthy activities. About 15% of MetroHealth’s employee population took part in at least one part of the program. Last year, she stayed the course with the program, getting about 22% of people to participate. After being asked to present the program to a subcommittee of the board of trustees in 2012, the board

took up the cause and passed a resolution creating a formal wellness policy, a move that excited Ms. Lawrence. It helped “solidify” support for the program from the hospital system’s leadership no matter who is in charge, she said. This year, the system started offering a $600 insurance discount for the next year for participation, rather than the $50 incentives. The department was also able to launch an online portal for the program in April and held a health fair in May. In just that short amount of time, more than 23% of employees are already participating in at least one part of the program. And Ms. Lawrence has no intentions of slowing down now. She earned her certified corporate wellness specialist designation in June and she’s working on a master’s in health administration and a teacher training certification for yoga. “Kate’s passion for healthy living has framed her human resources career — particularly her role as manager,” the nomination read. Ms. Lawrence said she was drawn to human resources because she likes seeing the influence that she can have on the organization. She enjoys getting to meet people and to make an impact on the company. “I think of myself as a relater type,” she said.

CONGRATULATIONS Reminger, Co., LPA is honored to celebrate our 2013 Crain’s HR Leader in Innovation Recipient:

DIANE GIORGI We greatly value all of your accomplishments and contributions to our firm, our clients and our community. Thank you so much for your hard work, Diane. -Your friends at Reminger

NICOLETTE KYNKOR Organization development specialist FedEx Custom Critical FROM THE NOMINATION:

icolette Kynkor wanted a career where she could help people be their best, where she could blend her interest in human behavior with her interest in business. Today, Ms. Kynkor is an organization development specialist at FedEx Custom Critical in Uniontown. She said she values the opportunities to learn from her team members and likes that her job is ever-changing. “There’s always room to think differently,” she said. After a little more than a year and a half in her current role, Ms. Kynkor already is making an impression at FedEx. According to the nomination, she has “asked the right questions, challenged the status quo and brought new perspectives.” “Nicolette sees things from a holistic point of view,” the nomination said. “Speaking from a FedEx perspective, she understands the power of our brand is as important for employees as it is for customers. She is careful to design programs to be easily accessible to the internal customer. For example, she designed the on-boarding program to be a one-page document that is embedded with links to support documents. Rather than handing a new hire a thick binder, the one-page document feels much more manageable and is technology-friendly. Nicolette’s experience is exceptional for someone new in a career.” Ms. Kynkor interned with FedEx three times in 2007 and 2008, while she was a student at Marietta College. After graduation, she went on to work at human resources at NCR Corp. and Hertz Corp. before returning to FedEx. She said she enjoys the culture there, which has a focus on the employees and on taking care of team members. The nomination noted that Ms. Kynkor already has led “multiple complex projects,” including the company’s employee engagement program, its employee attraction strategy and the on-boarding program. At the moment, she is in charge of creating an organization design program, which is a holistic way of looking at an organization

before making changes to its structure, processes and more. She also is active outside FedEx, speaking at the collegiate level on human resources and leadership and taking part in professional organizations. Last year, Ms. Kynkor even helped the marketing and communications team lead focus groups that ultimately led to changes in the way messages are sent to employees. The company wanted to use the focus groups to get the “voice of the employee,” Ms. Kynkor said. “Nicolette was a natural choice because of her collaborative style and ability to help others feel safe in expressing their opinions, thoughts and ideas,” the nomination read. “ … Her research led to some significant changes in the way we now communicate to our team members, including a new company newsletter and a new approach to internal videos. Had we paid an outside agency to conduct this research, it would have come at a significant cost, so Nicolette’s expertise saved us money and proved to be extremely useful.” Ms. Kynkor has also been skilled at helping the company refine existing processes, like the on-boarding program for its subsidiary, FedEx Truckload Brokerage. The program was redefined to begin as soon as the employee accepts the job through his or her first 90 days. Initially, new employees receive a welcome pack. They’re also matched up with other team members in a peer program, and they have the opportunity to shadow a current employee so there is consistency throughout the company, she said. “We had found that this group often felt overwhelmed at the start of their job here,” according to the nomination. “Nicolette revamped the on-boarding process, which now starts at the pre-hiring stage and continues through the team member’s first 90 days of their employment. The goal of the revamped on-boarding program was to create a seamless process for new hires to get connected to the knowledge, work tools and network they need to be successful during their on-boarding experience and beyond.”

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LATOYA SMITH AVP, talent acquisition consultant team lead Fifth Third Bank FROM THE NOMINATION:

aToya Smith is always looking to improve the talent pool at Fifth Third Bank, said William Holdipp Jr., a consultant and manager at the Clevelandbased Consortium of African American Organizations, in nominating Ms. Smith. In addition to Ms. Smith’s recruitment efforts, she assists employees with their professional development plans and by grooming outstanding minority talent she helps to identify future leaders of the banking organization. She helps them highlight their core competencies and helps them create a plan for their growth within the company. “LaToya lives the Fifth Third brand and consistently upholds our value system,” said Emmanuel Glover, Fifth Third senior vice president and regional director of community development banking, as part of Ms. Smith’s nomination. “She is viewed as a trusted adviser by her peers and new hires she has engaged through the interview process. “She has exceeded my expecta-

tions as a business partner,” he wrote. Through mentoring programs at Cleveland State University, she has hired at least 10 university students and has increased diversity at the bank by working with the Black Professionals Association, the National Black MBA Association, the National Society of Hispanic MBAs and the Urban League of Cleveland. A Cleveland State alumna, Ms. Smith has taken a leadership role with the CSU Link program, a collaboration between the college and the corporate community to recruit and retain minority students at the university. She created several classes and workshops, including mock interviewing sessions, for LINK students. “We’re so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a premier HR professional,” said Charlene Jones, LINK program coordinator at Cleveland State, as part of the nomination. Outside the office, Ms. Smith has been board chair of Sankofa Fine Arts, a program that develops and advocates for aspiring minority artists and has volunteered for the Friend to Friend prison mentoring program. “I’ve worked with many HR professional and LaToya is best in class because of her timely followup and customer service delivered through the interview process,” Mr. Glover said.

Congratulations to Judy Collister! On behalf of our President and CEO Ed Kenty, his executive management team, the HR department and all of our employees at Park Place Technologies, we would like to congratulate our Vice President of Human Resources 1\K` *VSSPZ[LY MVY ILPUN UHTLK HZ H ÄUHSPZ[ MVY Crain’s HR Excellence Award. We are so thankful for all of the work that she does to make Park Place Technologies an excellent place to work.

8401 Chagrin Rd., Cleveland, OH 44023 | 877-778-8707 inquiry@parkplacetech.com | parkplacetechnologies.com

Calfee congratulates Our firm’s Labor & Employment attorneys are proud to serve these organizations and their distinguished HR professionals.

Tom Greene

Kate Lawrence

Sam Maniar

Vice President, Human Resources Medical Mutual of Ohio

Employee Health & Wellness The MetroHealth System

Manager, Leadership Development, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores

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TOM MAXWELL Regional SVP, Regional HR director Fifth Third Bank FROM THE NOMINATION:

uring the time that Thomas Maxwell has supported human resources functions across more than five markets for Fifth Third Bank, employee engagement scores have increased by 28 basis points — a marked improvement to the scores’ “much slower pace” prior to his tenure. Mr. Maxwell achieved that through initiating engagement teams and more robust development plans, including a program called Leadership Experience that he spearheaded, the nomination said. A full-scale, accelerated training and development program for the bank’s high potential employees, Leadership Experience offers emotional intelligence training and coaching in a curriculum developed by Mr. Maxwell himself. The program had more than 50 participants and netted several positive results, including retention and career advancement. As an example, one regional manager from the Cincinnati-based bank’s Northeastern Ohio affiliate gained

additional experience and exposure to senior leaders, which helped her get promoted to leader of a line of business for the eastern Michigan market — one of the top 300 positions in the company. “The employee engagement scores of the individuals who graduated from the program significantly increased as well as their anecdotal acknowledgement of feeling more accepted and thus willing to be retained at the bank,” the nomination said. Mr. Maxwell works with senior leadership teams of eight to 10 people in each market he supports, contributes to the operating committee for the entire bank and helps set overall human resources strategy. “He is strategic, collaborative, trustworthy and accountable while at the same time having a positive outlook and just being an all around easy-to-do-business-with type of person,” the nomination said. “He has taken on projects to impact development, retention and engagement of the bank’s 22,000 employees with solid results while still making individuals

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FINALIST “He has taken on projects to impact development, retention and engagement of the bank’s 22,000 employees with solid results while still making individuals feel important.” – The nomination for Tom Maxwell feel important.” In addition to spearheading a program aimed at elevating the development of the bank’s top leaders, Mr. Maxwell also led the design, development and administration of a new program to better align all of the compensation benefits into a total rewards package. “This was a huge undertaking that impacted 22,000 employees,” the nomination said. In the past, the areas of compensation and benefits were handled in different groups and weren’t reviewed or analyzed as an umbrella or full package of rewards. As a result of Mr. Maxwell’s analysis, a new online program was implemented and more robust communications were delivered to help employees better understand their benefits packages. Mr. Maxwell stays active with his three children.

C ONGRAT ULAT I O NS

DEB R A L Y ONS for being recognized with the HR Leaders Lifetime Achievement Award Thank you for your y 25 years y of service with Westfield.

MICHELLE PEARSON-CASEY Director of human resources Olympic Steel FROM THE NOMINATION:

ichelle Pearson-Casey really doesn’t need to look beyond her own career to see how hard work, a good attitude and proper support from a company can help an employee develop a career — now she’s making sure others have the same path she’s been able to walk. For 13 years, Ms. Pearson-Casey has been rising through the ranks at Olympic, where her skills and attitude first landed her a job and have since helped her get a string of promotions. She was working at the Fairfield Inn in Chambersburg, Pa., when an Olympic general manager in charge of a local construction project, and resident of the hotel, spotted her potential. He was so impressed with her attitude and work ethic, in fact, that he offered her a job at the company’s new facility, and Ms. Pearson-Casey became a receptionist and accounting clerk there in late 1999. That job didn’t last, though. Not because Ms. Pearson-Casey couldn’t handle it, but because her employer quickly realized her full potential was not being realized or used. She soon was promoted to work in the company’s computer-aideddesign estimating department and from there she took advantage of Olympic’s tuition reimbursement program to take college courses at nights and on weekends at nearby Wilson College. When the opportunity to work in the company’s communications department came up, Ms. Pearson-Casey jumped on it, and was soon writing and creating both promotional materials and the company’s internal newsletters. Though she was still working in Pennsylvania, the communications department was Ms. Pearson-Casey’s route to connections at the company’s corporate headquarters in Bedford Heights, said

Olympic vice president and treasurer, Richard Manson, as part of the nomination. “In 2004, Michelle was formally promoted to corporate communications specialist. Although she continued to reside in Chambersburg, she reported directly to Olympic Steel’s vice president of human resources, Maureen Mason,” he wrote. “Michelle regularly visited the corporate offices in Bedford Heights working on a variety of projects.” By 2009, Ms. Pearson-Casey had graduated from Wilson — summa cum laude, no less — with a degree in technical writing. A year later, she was promoted to corporate communications manager and making a bigger impact at the company than ever. She produced videos that helped land a large customer, redesigned the company’s website, established Olympic’s presence in social media and was made a member of the company’s steering committee. Little wonder that when Mr. Manson was charged with selecting and grooming a new head of human resources in 2010, Ms. Pearson-Casey made his short list and, ultimately, the final cut. “Although I had not previously worked extensively with Michelle, I found her to be bright, energetic and full of ideas. In her role as corporate communications manager, I witnessed Michelle deliver presentations at our annual sales conferences that have more than 100 attendees. She was very polished and was able to keep the attention of a room full of steel sales personnel, which is not an easy task!” he wrote. In 2011, Ms, Pearson-Casey was one of 15 Olympic Steel employees designated as a “high potential employee,” which is a designation viewed by the company’s executive management as being “someone who could be promoted to senior management within the next five to ten years.” So, that same year, Ms. PearsonCasey moved to Cleveland to take over Olympic’s HR department. And, it’s a role she’s thriving in, attests Mr. Manson. “I am confident that Michelle will be a strong leader for Olympic and the Cleveland business community in the years to come,” he wrote as part of the nomination.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 23

RECIPIENT: HR EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

SHANA ZOLLAR Vice president, human resources Dwellworks FROM THE NOMINATION:

he successful growth of Dwellworks LLC has been in large part due to Shana Zollar, according to her nomination. In Ms. Zollar’s five years with Dwellworks, the company has experienced a 10fold growth in employees, a 100% increase in revenue, global expansion and most impressively 100% client retention, said the nomination. Ms. Zollar excels at the intricate human resources maze that is international acquisitions. She successfully acclimated three companies based outside of the U.S. into the Dwellworks family in just a five-month time span. Not only did Ms. Zollar practice extreme care in the confidentiality and alignment of the incoming companies, but she became en expert in each country’s respective employment related policies, laws and programs. Her efforts earned her almost instant rapport with each new office, enabling her to understand each company’s culture, policies and organizational structure, said the nomination. Ms. Zollar worked to integrate these companies effectively by consolidating functions and procedures to save money

while at the same time realigning roles and maximizing talent. In addition to integrating talent, Ms. Zollar dedicates her time to keeping employees engaged. She worked closely with management to determine associate pain points, interests and opportunities for growth and enrichment. She encouraged the success of associates by formalizing study groups to promote successful industry accreditations and certification tests. To further benefit employee growth, Ms. Zollar developed four self-sufficient committees: Green, Philanthropy, Fun and Wellness. Employee management of each committee’s bylaws, goals and budgets provides valuable in-house leadership, organizational, teamwork and communication training for associates. Additional measures taken by Ms. Zollar to ensure employee success include both periodic and impromptu feedback sessions, annual reviews, developmental plans, goal setting, succession planning and value scoring. Ms. Zollar does not only concentrate on associate training and success. She created a mentorship program, in which mid-level managers hone their leadership skills by assisting in growth and guidance activities, such as monthly reviews, counseling difficult associates and completing year-end reviews, said the nomination. For the senior leadership team, Ms. Zollar piloted individual and group sessions with a life coach to improve team cohesion.

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24 CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

RECIPIENT: HR EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

JEANETTE SAUNDERS Chief, administration and performance management Cleveland Airport System FROM THE NOMINATION:

n 2008, with less than two years on the job, Jeanette Saunders realized that significant members of the leadership team at the Cleveland Airport System were within five years of retirement. In an effort to build the skills of existing members of the 400-plus staff at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Burke Lakefront Airport, Ms. Saunders created a succession curriculum called Leadership Education & Accelerated Development to prepare motivated internal workers for leadership positions at every level of the 460-person organization. The LEAD program and other training programs draw on 12 providers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including public sector management courses at Cleveland State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs and Cuyahoga Community College â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to provide training opportunities for all airport system employees on all shifts of the 24/7 operation. Since the program, called the Cleveland Airport System University, began in 2010, one partici-

FINALIST

pant was promoted to a supervisory position, two were made senior managers and one earned an executive level job after a national recruiting effort. In addition, participation in training programs grew from 30% to 100%. As a consequence, the internal promotion rate has risen to 27%. Airports director Ricky Smith believes Ms. Saundersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; efforts have led to improved employee morale and the recruitment of top industry managers and executives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These accomplishments can be attributed largely to a human resources management model, developed by Jeanette, that aligns the strategic priorities of the Cleveland Airport System to the day-to-day tasks of each employee,â&#x20AC;? he wrote in the nomination. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Her knowledge and insight on matters of human resources management, including organizational and staff development, performance management, recruitment and employer/employee relations, has propelled her to an expert model in the aviation industry.â&#x20AC;? The nomination also stated that Ms. Saunders has transformed the airport system from a transaction-

al organization that processed payroll, benefits and hiring paperwork to a strategy-driven organization that provides work force planning, job profiles, recruitment plans, performance appraisals and training curriculums. Ms. Saunders joined the airport system in 2007 as the manager of organizational development and in January 2010 became acting chief of administration and performance management. That appointment was made permanent in October 2010. She has a bachelor of arts degree in sociology with a minor in business management and marketing from Lourdes College in Sylvania and a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in business administration from Bowling Green State University. TrainingIndustry.com profiled Ms. Saunders and the Cleveland airport human resources unit in 2010 and highlighted her effort to bring scattered training operations into a single training center that opened in May 2013 and to bring new technology into her department, including new training software. On a day-to-day level, Ms. Saunders launched a program to reduce lost productivity from workplace injuries, resulting in a 32% reduction in workplace injuries and a 68% reduction in lost work days.

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JOSEPH VITALE JR. Director, talent management, Kent State University FROM THE NOMINATION:

oseph Vitale transformed Kent State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach to attract, retain and develop a community of talented and diverse individuals for employment at the college. Through changes in recruiting, the application process and faculty and staff education, Mr. Vitale aspires to create an atmosphere that is â&#x20AC;&#x153;warm and welcomingâ&#x20AC;? to all, said the nomination. Under Mr. Vitaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership, Kent State transitioned to an online employment application system for university faculty and staff. The system enabled Kent State to process more than 35,000 applications, resumes and curriculum vitaes annually, a significant increase, said the nomination. In addition, he was a key leader in standardizing Kent Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hiring process through â&#x20AC;&#x153;SAFE Hiring.â&#x20AC;? This process and training maximizes middle management knowledge of employment practices and policies and encourages proper screening and vetting of candidates. This reduces hiring-related risk and ensures institutional compliance. According to the nomination, Mr. Vitale also played a crucial role in the reform of the Institute for Excellence, Kent Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership development program for faculty and staff. The 10-month program, designed to develop leaders at all levels of the institution, was reorganized with an increased concentration on proven methodologies, results and sound metrics. Under the new organization, the Institute for Excellence contains a rubric for every element used throughout the duration of the project. With the rubric, participants can track their success, application of the knowledge and understanding of skills. This construction not only produces program graduates who are taking on more leadership and advancing faster, but also a more enjoyable

â&#x20AC;&#x153;(He has) a passion to collectively engage with the world beyond our campuses.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The nomination for Joseph Vitale Jr. program, said the nomination. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He exemplifies true leadership qualities by engaging with internal and external groups, service delivery of targeted programs to support and engage affinity groups, as well as a passion to collectively engage with the world beyond our campuses,â&#x20AC;? the nomination said. In 2008, Mr. Vitale extended his reach from Kent State to the entire Northeast Ohio community by founding the College and University Recruitment Enterprise. According to the nomination, CURE provides a resource network for candidates and their spouses when applying for jobs at one of the nine public and private, twoyear and four-year, member institutions in Northeast Ohio. The CURE network serves as a platform for member institutions to share strategies for recruiting and retaining employees, sharing candidates and ultimately increasing the attractiveness of the member universities as employers. Also in the Northeast Ohio community, Mr. Vitale extended the reach of the Kent State human resources department to nonprofit, municipal and governmental clientele, most notably the City of Tallmadge. The leveraging of Kent Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s human resources expertise has helped the involved clientele restructure employee training programs and helped in building a comprehensive labor pool, more effective performance appraisals and updated job descriptions, the nomination stated. Mr. Vitaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s numerous initiatives and accomplishments have garnered respect for the entire Kent State human resources department. Administration values Mr. Vitale and the rest of the departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expertise of human capital, and the Human Resource department is now a crucial factor in early planning and execution of new initiatives, according to the nomination.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 25

LAST YEAR’S EVENT

Excellence in Action

Recognized!

Congratulations to Joseph Vitale Jr. for being named a ﬁnalist for Crain’s 2013 HR Executive of The Year Award

Joseph Vitale Jr. STEPHEN HERRON PHOTOS

Interim Vice President, Division of Human Resources Kent State University

This 2012 honorees gather on stage after the Archer Awards event, which was held last August at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cleveland.

Kent State University, Kent State and KSU are registered trademarks and may not be used without permission. Kent State University, an equal opportunity, afﬁrmative action employer, is committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. 13-1632

ABOVE: Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald honors 2012 Archer Award winner Elise Hara. BELOW: The event drew a capacity crowd at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Lyons continued from PAGE 13

Her efforts as chief human resources officer were recognized by many, including a ranking as one of the top three leadership and development programs in North America by Fortune magazine. Ms. Lyons’ corporate wellness program was saluted by Gov. Bob Taft and his Healthy Ohioans Program. The wellness program was one of Ms. Lyons’ first projects and still gives her a great amount of pride. The addition of a fitness facility and staff trained in measuring blood pressure and glucose as well as physical therapy made it easy and less time consuming for employees to take care of themselves. She also involved Westfield with the Cleveland Clinic Lifestyle 180 program, made cancer screenings and mammograms available and organized “lunch and learn,” educational lunches about health related topics. These measures reduced employee absenteeism and health

claims. “It wasn’t just the employee that benefitted, it was the family that benefitted as well,” said Ms. Lyons. One of Westfield Group’s goals is to track, develop, empower and retain quality people, said Mr. Paterakis. And he said everything Ms. Lyons did in her years at Westfield related to that group goal. Ms. Lyons’ programs have survived long past her retirement in 2009. Although she has been using her new found free time to pursue other passions, companies have not stopped requesting her human resources expertise. She still does some independent consulting, although she did not plan to. Ms. Lyons is selective with her clientele. “I’m not a business, I do not market myself,” she said. However, if the company is sincere and truly appreciates the value of human resources, she is willing to share her knowledge. — Laura Straub

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26 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

THE BLACKOUT: 10 YEARS LATER

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

Blackout generated some benefits for businesses Avon Lake resident started generator company after he was told of long wait By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com

The Blackout of 2003 helped turn Bob Feiklowicz into an entrepreneur. The Avon Lake man had been thinking about buying a generator for his home for a while, because his basement sump pump had a habit of failing whenever he’d leave town. Mr. Feiklowicz decided to buy that generator after he and 50 million other people lost power on Aug. 14, 2003, and would be left without electricity for as long as the next four days. When he called the manufacturer to see when the generator would ship, he quickly learned the market for backup power was on the way up. “He said, ‘You’ll be lucky if you can see one next spring,’” Mr. Feiklowicz said with a laugh. The following year, he started PowerOn Generators LLC, which sells and repairs residential and light commercial generators. Business was slow at first, but now he has more than he wants. “I have to struggle to get a weekend off,” Mr. Feiklowicz said.

Though the blackout did far more economic harm than good, it did create opportunities for some local businesses. Eaton Corp. of Cleveland saw sales of its residential generators increase after the blackout, which typically happens after any large power outage, said spokesman Scott Schroeder. The company also saw an uptick in sales of its switchgear equipment, which is used in larger backup power generation systems, he said. Operators of local data centers mention the 2003 blackout when marketing their services — a lot, according to Bryan Smith, who until recently was regional vice president for the Northeast Ohio operations of Expedient Communications Inc. Data centers often have multiple power feeds and backup generators, so if the power goes down, a client company’s computer systems and website shouldn’t go with it. Back in 2003, the growth of data centers was constrained by the speed of customers’ Internet connections, so Expedient didn’t immediately see a big boost in business after the blackout, said Mr.

Smith, who now covers the Columbus area and serves as vice president of sales and marketing for the Pittsburgh-based company. But the event did make customers more concerned about preparing for disasters, especially in Cleveland, where people don’t worry about hurricanes and earthquakes. “It’s the only really significant thing that directly impacted Cleveland,” Mr. Smith said. Anyone who worked in disaster recovery or risk management noticed the growing awareness, said Kevin Goodman, managing director at BlueBridge Networks, a Cleveland-based data center company founded shortly after the blackout. For instance, the Contingency Planners of Ohio, a business continuity and disaster recovery group, and the local chapter of what is now called the Business Emergency Planning Institute both attracted new members because of the blackout, said Mr. Goodman, who joined both groups shortly after joining BlueBridge in February 2005. Many companies affected by the blackout “could feel the loss of revenue, the brand damage,” he said. “It hit home.”

Mar-Bal makes hay At least a few local companies

MARC GOLUB

Bob Feiklowiz, right, started PowerOn Generators LLC after the 2003 blackout. He is shown with his son, Damien, a company VP, at an Avon Lake home in which they installed a new generator. benefited by providing services to utilities after the blackout. In 2006, Preformed Line Products of Mayfield Village told Crain’s that demand for the hardware it sells to utilities increased after the blackout, an event that put pressure on utilities to upgrade the electric grid. A year prior, Eastlakebased Professional Electric Products Co., also known as Pepco, told Crain’s the blackout helped the distributor sell more products to FirstEnergy Corp. Neither company responded to requests for updates. Mar-Bal Inc. benefited, too. Some of the molded plastic parts the Chagrin Falls company makes go into circuit breakers and other

electrical equipment used to manage the flow of power into buildings. After the blackout, manufacturers wanted products that could withstand higher temperatures, provide better electrical insulation and otherwise keep the power flowing, said Kevin Casey, Mar-Bal vice president of sales and marketing. That demand pushed Mar-Bal to develop new materials, some of which found uses in the company’s other products. For instance, MarBal now uses one material designed to manage high temperatures to make the vent trim found under oven handles. “The blackout led to awareness that the entire infrastructure was insufficient,” he said. ■

‘Unforgettable’ lessons have been learned By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com

On Aug. 14, 2003, Alex Margevicius felt helpless. Ten years ago, when the biggest blackout in U.S. history knocked out power throughout Greater Cleveland and well beyond, the Cleveland Division of Water had just enough electricity to monitor the area’s water supply as it dried up. That night, faucets throughout most of the region just stopped working. “You knew what was going to happen,” said Mr. Margevicius, interim commissioner of the regional water utility. “You knew we were going to start running out of water.” It was “an unforgettable incident” — one the utility could not let happen again, Mr. Margevicius said. The blackout burned local businesses and organizations that rely heavily on power, including some that had generators. Food spoiled. Toilets stopped flushing. Molten metal turned solid and caused all sorts of chaos. Many big energy users learned some hard lessons from the 2003 blackout. But they did learn. Back in 2003, the Cleveland Division of Water thought it was well prepared for a disaster: Though none of its four water treatment plants had backup generators, they each received electricity from two different substations. Plus, the overall system, which provides water to 1.5 million people in Greater Cleveland, was built to keep working even if pieces of it failed. But the Division of Water never

expected to lose power at all four plants at once, said Mr. Margevicius, who spent 40 straight hours on duty after the blackout, back when he was head of the division’s engineering department. In the years after the blackout, the utility spent $25 million to fortify all four plants with diesel generators built to run for 24 hours straight. Should they run low on fuel, the Division of Water has contracts with companies that would deliver more. The utility also has installed backup power at some of its booster pumps — enough to make sure it can deliver water anywhere within its footprint. “We said, ‘Not again.’ We would not rely on the entire (electric) grid always being up,” Mr. Margevicius said. Without power or running water on that fateful day, University Hospitals had to get creative. For instance, water from a fountain that used to be in the main atrium of its University Circle campus was put into buckets and poured into toilets, which forces them to flush, said chief operating officer Ronald Dziedzicki. Generators allowed UH to keep treating patients, but the hospital system didn’t have backup power for food storage. So, UH sent out for two refrigerated trucks, a trick Mr. Dziedzicki learned during his 28 years in the U.S. Army Reserves. Now UH has a contract in place to make sure it can find refrigerated trucks fast if power goes out again. The hospital system also ordered “pallets and pallets and pallets” of bottled water during the blackout, Mr. Dziedzicki said; afterward, UH

established delivery contracts with those vendors, too. But it may not need to rely on them: At its main campus, UH now stores enough bottled water to last 72 hours, which is roughly how long it went without working faucets, he said. The hospital system also stocked up on supplies. In the basement of its main campus, UH keeps about 45 plastic “go-to-war” boxes packed with batteries, flashlights, extension cords and other emergency gear, as well as several dozen fans UH employees put together during a blackout “assembly party,” he said. “That was a direct result of the power outage,” he said.

Hot-button issue The blackout forced what is now the ArcelorMittal Cleveland steel mill to shut down for three days, but it emerged relatively unscathed. The same can’t be said for Republic Steel’s mill in Lorain. Without power, the plant couldn’t cool molten iron inside a furnace, which caused an explosion and a fire. No one was hurt, except for the company itself, which at the time was called Republic Engineered Products. The business ended up filing for bankruptcy in October 2003. It cited the blackout as one of the reasons, because the company stopped making steel at the plant for seven weeks, according to news reports published at the time. Officials from Republic Steel didn’t return several phone messages left by Crain’s.

On the bright side, the damage could have been a lot worse for the steel mill in Cleveland, said Mark Granakis, president of United Steelworkers Local 979, which represents workers at the plant. For instance, if the plant had been pouring molten iron out of its blast furnaces when the blackout hit, there would have been no way to stop the process, Mr. Granakis said. The hot iron would have filled up the train car that hauls it to the plant’s steelmaking operation — and then it would have poured all over the place. International Steel Group, which owned the plant at the time, had to replace only a few pieces of equipment, and it was able to recover more than 1,000 tons of molten iron it had to dump. However, the blackout did push the plant to upgrade its backup systems, according to Eric Hauge, vice president and general manager for ArcelorMittal Cleveland. For instance, it installed a two-megawatt generator designed to make sure the plant’s East Caster can clear itself of molten metal before shutting down, he wrote in an email. Ohio manufacturers that lost power shut down for an average of 36 hours, losing an estimated $88,000 each, according to a survey the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association conducted shortly after the blackout. Though some big companies have generators, many small manufacturers still don’t, said Eric Burkland, president of the association. Even small manufacturers can use a lot of electricity, so the powerful generators they need often are

too expensive, he said. “You’re at the mercy of the grid,” Mr. Burkland said.

Smart moves Retailers and white-collar businesses took a hit during the blackout, too. Though she didn’t need to worry about dealing with molten iron, Laura McPhee estimates Parts Pro Automotive Warehouse lost more than $50,000 in sales each day before the Wickliffe company’s power came back a few days later. That’s when the distributor of aftermarket car parts started preparing for the worst. Since then, the company has installed two $30,000 generators, each “the size of a Smart car,” at its largest offices, in Wickliffe and Brooklyn, said Ms. McPhee, vice president of the company. Parts Pro also upgraded its phone system so it could switch to another carrier if one is down. And it opened a second call center, in Brooklyn, which should help the company cope if the Wickliffe office loses power — which happened a lot until Parts Pro moved its headquarters just last summer. Why take such drastic steps? Ms. McPhee said she isn’t just worried about losing individual sales when the power is out; she’s worried about losing customers for good. And the effort is paying off, she said, describing how the company’s Wickliffe headquarters kept operating despite a neighborhood power outage caused by a storm in early July. “The whole street didn’t have power, but we did,” she said. ■

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THE BLACKOUT: 10 YEARS LATER

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Happen: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;No one really understandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; every aspect of the grid continued from PAGE 1

Specifically in Northeast Ohio â&#x20AC;&#x201D; where the 2003 blackout originated â&#x20AC;&#x201D; FirstEnergy Corp. has invested tons of money in new equipment and training. Later this year, the electric company will open a $45 million transmission control center in Akron, its headquarters city. The center will give FirstEnergy, which owns power companies that serve Northern Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, an advanced computer system and a 70-foot screen to visualize the monitoring of its share of the power grid. Some of the money also is going into phasor measurement units, or PMUs. They are attached to power lines and are connected to operations centers by global positioning satellites. They monitor voltage passing through them and warn of any fluctuations in voltage or total loss of power. FirstEnergy even has bolstered its â&#x20AC;&#x153;vegetation managementâ&#x20AC;? program â&#x20AC;&#x201D; tree trimming â&#x20AC;&#x201D; along its 13,000 miles of transmission lines. An insufficient FirstEnergy tree trimming program was blamed a decade ago for triggering transmission line failures that led to the cascading outages. (See â&#x20AC;&#x153;The blackoutâ&#x20AC;? sidebar at right.) The company said it has spent $320 million on this program since the blackout and is spending $45 million a year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From an industry perspective, the evolution over the last 10 years has been pretty significant,â&#x20AC;? said Carl Bridenbaugh, vice president of transmission for FirstEnergy. He said the blackout â&#x20AC;&#x153;has forced everyone to look harder at their practices and how you do what you do.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s driven a lot more standardization across the industry,â&#x20AC;? he said.

A complex â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;machineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Even one of the gridâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loudest critics is optimistic that a massive blackout isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t likely to reoccur, particularly in the short term. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The good news is the new reliability standards enforce a lot of provisions, so that kind of phenomenon has less probability of occurring,â&#x20AC;? said Massoud Amin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Minnesota, as well as an electric industry analyst and consultant who has studied power outages. Still, the power grid and some of the forces affecting it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be easily controlled. The electric grid that interconnects power plants across the country has been called the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century. Because electricity canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be stored, the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power generators and their transmission partners have built an interconnected system of high-voltage power lines â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the grid â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to send the right amount of power to where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s required to run computers, manufacturing assembly lines and refrigerators. However, those interconnections also make it easier for an outage in one area to spread to others. Jacob Black, who leads the electric grid research team at Columbus-based Battelle Memorial Institute, a private research organization, said there has been significant investment in equipment and in developing better digital equipment to monitor and man-

THE SURVEY SAID: FINANCES TOOK A BIG HIT The Northeast blackout of 2003 was no joke, according to executives who responded to a survey conducted later that year by Mirifex Systems, a technology services firm in Sharon Center, Ohio, Case Western Reserve Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Weatherhead School of Management and Crainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cleveland Business. Afterward, they became a lot more concerned about protecting their businesses and organizations from blackouts and other disasters, according to responses from 129 executives in the areas affected by the blackout, which knocked out power in eight states and much of southeastern Canada. â&#x2013; 66% of respondents said they lost at least a full day of business because of the blackout. â&#x2013; 24% lost more than $50,000 per hour of downtime, mainly due to lost productivity; 4% lost more than $1 million per hour. â&#x2013; 46% said they would invest more to ensure their organizations could handle unforeseen events in the future. â&#x2013; 34% had no risk management or disaster recovery plans in place.

The blackout: A look back at the events of Aug. 14, 2003 Between 12:05:44 p.m. and 1:31:34 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2003, three electric power generators in Ohio and Michigan, including a unit of FirstEnergy Corp.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eastlake Plant, were taken offline. These normally inconsequential shutdowns altered the flow of electric power across transmission lines in the Midwest, raising the load â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the temperature â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of connected transmission lines, according to a September 2003 report from the North American Electric Reliability Council. At 3:05:41 p.m., an overheated 345-kilovolt transmission line in Walton Hills sagged into tree branches and snapped, diverting power automatically to parallel lines. Soon, more ASSOCIATED PRESS lines began to overload. This image shows the Cleveland skyline on Aug. 14, 2003. Because of a technical glitch, the lines and plants begin to switch off automatically. proper alarms didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sound in a FirstEnergy control By 4:13:00 p.m., according to NERC, more than 100 room. As a result, FirstEnergy was unable to react or power plants in Ontario and the northeastern United warn anyone else until it was too late, according to the report from NERC, the electric energy industry organiza- States had shut down. A blackout stretching from eastern Michigan and southeast Canada to New York City, tion that then set voluntary standards for power plant New Jersey and parts of New England was complete, and power line reliability. affecting 50 million people. A cascading effect ensued, and overtaxed power

age the grid to prevent cascading outages. Mr. Black conceded, though, that no one knows whether the grid is sufficiently monitored and backstopped to prevent a major blackout. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the largest machine ever made,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Black said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No one really understands every aspect of it.â&#x20AC;?

A question of capacity By several measures, power outages have increased since the 2003 blackout. They just havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been as dramatic. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has found there were 156 outages of 100 megawatts or more during the period from 2000 to 2004. That figure increased 69% to 264 such outages during the 2005-2009 span, the most recent period for which data are available. The number of U.S. power outages affecting 50,000 or more consumers more than doubled, to 349 during the 2005-2009 period from 149 during 2000-2004, according to the government. Those numbers give the University of Minnesotaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dr. Amin pause, and his long-term outlook for the reliability of the grid is mixed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have an aging infrastructure and a lack of investment,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The amount charged by the industry for depreciation and amortization (of investment in the grid) exceeded utility construction expenditures starting in 1995.â&#x20AC;? He likens that situation to a farmer harvesting faster than he plants seeds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whether the carrying capacity (of the grid) or the safety margin will exist to support anticipated demand is in question,â&#x20AC;? he said. Ultimately, though, Dr. Amin remains somewhat optimistic. During a telephone conversation while away from his office, he directed a reporter to a recent paper he published. There, Dr. Amin wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We absolutely can meet the needs of a pervasively digital society that relies on microprocessor-based devices in vehicles, homes, offices and industrial facilities. We must â&#x20AC;&#x201D; if the United States is to continue to be an economic power. However, it will not be easy or cheap.â&#x20AC;? â&#x2013;

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

LARGEST LAW FIRMS

RANKED BY NUMBER OF LOCAL ATTORNEYS(1)

Firm Local address Rank Phone/Website

Local attorneys

Partners

Female partners

Minority partners

Associates Of counsel

Staff

Worldwide attorneys

Salary for associate hired from law school

Offices

Top local executive Title

Jones Day North Point, 901 Lakeside Ave., Cleveland 44114-1190 (216) 586-3939/www.jonesday.com

211

108

638

2,400

$145,000

Christopher M. Kelly Cleveland partner-in-charge

Baker & Hostetler LLP 1900 E. Ninth St., Suite 3200, Cleveland 44114 (216) 621-0200/www.bakerlaw.com

179

103

415

794

$135,000

R. Steven Kestner, national executive ptnr.; Hewitt B. Shaw, Cleveland office managing ptnr.

Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP The Calfee Building, 1405 E. Sixth St., Cleveland 44114 (216) 622-8200/www.calfee.com

133

276

154

Brent D. Ballard, managing partner; Thomas F. McKee, chairman

Thompson Hine LLP 127 Public Square, Suite 3900, Cleveland 44114 (216) 566-5500/www.thompsonhine.com

132

319

372

$120,000

Deborah Z. Read, managing partner; James B. Aronoff, partner-in-charge

Squire Sanders (US) LLP(2) 127 Public Square, Suite 4900, Cleveland 44114 (216) 479-8500/www.squiresanders.com

120

340

1,311

$130,000

Frederick R. Nance, regional managing ptnr.; David S. Goodman, Cleveland managing ptnr.

Tucker Ellis LLP 950 Main Ave., Suite 1100, Cleveland 44113 (216) 592-5000/tuckerellis.com

116

265

167

Joe Morford, firm managing partner; Jeff Healy, partner-incharge, Ohio

Ulmer & Berne LLP 1660 W. Second St., Suite 1100, Cleveland 44113 (216) 583-7000/www.ulmer.com

216

185

Kip Reader managing partner

Benesch 200 Public Square, Suite 2300, Cleveland 44114 (216) 363-4500/www.beneschlaw.com

223

179

$105,000

Ira C. Kaplan managing partner

Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP 200 Public Square, Suite 2800, Cleveland 44114 (216) 621-0150/www.hahnlaw.com

185

128

$110,000

Lawrence E. Oscar, managing partner, CEO; Allan S. Kopit, partner-in-charge, Cleveland

McDonald Hopkins LLC 600 Superior Ave., E., Suite 2100, Cleveland 44114 (216) 348-5400/www.mcdonaldhopkins.com

173

134

Carl J. Grassi, president; Shawn M. Riley, managing partner, Cleveland

Reminger Co. LPA 101 Prospect Ave. W., Suite 1400, Cleveland 44115 (216) 687-1311/www.reminger.com

190

120

Stephen E. Walters CEO, president

Brouse McDowell LPA 388 S. Main St., Suite 500, Akron 44311 (330) 535-5711/www.brouse.com

129

$90,000

Marc B. Merklin, managing partner; Joseph T. Dattilo, partner-in-charge, Cleveland

Roetzel & Andress 1375 E. Ninth St., One Cleveland Center, 9th Floor, Cleveland 44114 (216) 623-0150/www.ralaw.com

192

199

Bradley A. Wright, Akron ptnr.-incharge; Robert B. Casarona, Cleveland ptnr.-in-charge

Choices

There are thousands of law ﬁrms. But many accomplished attorneys have chosen McDonald Hopkins.

600 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114 • 216.348.5400 • mcdonaldhopkins.com

Richard Blake Edward Kraus

Richik Sarkar

Jennifer Blaga, Director of Legal Recruiting

Frantz Ward LLP 2500 Key Center, Cleveland 44114 (216) 515-1660/www.frantzward.com

112

$115,000

Partnership

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs LLP 1375 E. Ninth St., Suite 1700, Cleveland 44114 (216) 621-5300/www.bdblaw.com

158

John P. Slagter managing partner, president

Walter | Haverfield LLP 1301 E. Ninth St., Suite 3500, Cleveland 44114-1821 (216) 781-1212/www.walterhav.com

113

Ralph E. Cascarilla managing partner

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 200 Public Square, Suite 3500, Cleveland 44114 (216) 241-2838/www.taftlaw.com

330

$110,000

Kevin D. Barnes partner-in-charge, Cleveland

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP 1375 E. Ninth St., Suite 2100, Cleveland 44114 (216) 479-6100/www.vorys.com

351

$120,000

F. Daniel Balmert, managing ptnr., Akron; Anthony J. O'Malley, managing ptnr., Cleveland

Weston Hurd LLP 1301 E. Ninth St., Suite 1900, Cleveland 44114 (216) 241-6602/www.westonhurd.com

Carolyn M. Cappel managing partner

Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co. LPA 4775 Munson St. N.W., Canton 44718 (330) 497-0700/www.kwgd.com

Terry A. Moore managing director

Gallagher Sharp 1501 Euclid Ave., 6th floor, Cleveland 44115 (216) 241-5310/www.gallaghersharp.com

Thomas E. Dover managing partner

Critchfield, Critchfield & Johnston Ltd. 225 N. Market St., Wooster 44691 (330) 264-4444/www.ccj.com

102

$70,000

Robert C. Gorman managing member

Fay Sharpe LLP 1228 Euclid Ave., 5th floor, Cleveland 44115 (216) 363-9000/www.faysharpe.com

$90,000

Management Committee

Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co. LPA 323 W. Lakeside Ave., Suite 200, Cleveland 44113 (216) 685-1000/www.weltman.com

572

107

Scott S. Weltman managing partner

Day Ketterer Ltd., Attorneys at Law 200 Market Ave., Suite 300, Canton 44702 (330) 455-0173/www.day-ketterer.com

Robert E. Roland managing attorney

Brennan, Manna & Diamond 75 E. Market St., Akron 44308 (330) 253-5060/www.bmdllc.com

Tony S. Manna, chmn.; Jack T. Diamond, president; Lee S. Walko, Matthew A. Heinle, comanaging partners, Akron

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz PLL 1375 E. Ninth St., 20th floor, Cleveland 44114 (216) 696-8700/www.kjk.com

$87,500

Marc C. Krantz managing partner

Source: Information is supplied by the companies unless footnoted. Crain's Cleveland Business does not independently verify the information and there is no guarantee these listings are complete or accurate. We welcome all responses to our lists and will include omitted information or clarifications in coming issues. Individual lists and The Book of Lists are available to purchase at www.crainscleveland.com. (1) Numbers as of June 1, 2013. (2) $130,000 starting salary plus $9,000 stipend.

RESEARCHED BY Deborah W. Hillyer

20130805-NEWS--29-NAT-CCI-CL_--

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4:01 PM

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AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

Business: Large projects that extended several years helped during downturn continued from PAGE 3

Although the Airbus and Northrop work is so huge it overwhelms the statistics, the company is seeing signs of renewed activity in several markets, including food, pharmaceuticals and general manufacturing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are starting to see growing confidence in the marketplace,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Pierce said. The builder follows a practice of pursuing specialized projects wherever they may be as opposed to the typical practice of performing localized projects, so it has been anticipating a thaw in corporate spending for some time. Austin is reaping rewards from the first shoots of revived construction spending nationwide. Kenneth Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America trade group in Arlington, Va., said manufacturing spending this year is up less than 5% through June from the like period a year ago, although U.S. Census data show spending on such projects rose 18% in 2012 from 2011. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So far 2013 is more or less a dud,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Simonson said, but he expects to see continued improvement, if only because of demand associated with the increase in oil and gas drilling and processing. Although Austin is catching the leading edge of such jobs, Mr. Pierce said it weathered the long construction downturn because of several large projects lasting several years. Austin coped with the industry slowdown by reducing working hours for staffers by 20% rather than letting go of 20% of its work force, Mr. Pierce said. It also borrowed staffers from other professional firms, particularly engineering firms, in the region. As the general market picks up, those firms need their folks back, Mr. Pierce said, so Austin has renewed its own hiring.

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Story from www.crainscleveland.com

Akron-based J.W. Didado Electric sold J.W. Didado Electric Inc., an Akron-based electrical contractor founded in 1958, is selling itself to Quanta Services Inc. out of Houston. Terms of the acquisition by Quanta, an S&P 500 company, were not disclosed. The publicly traded Quanta (NYSE: PWR) is a provider of specialized contracting services for the electric power, natural gas and pipeline sectors. News of the deal came from BellMark Partners LLC, a Cleveland investment banking firm that advised J.W. Didado in its sale. A phone message left with a woman answering the phone at J.W. Didado was not returned last Friday, Aug. 2.

CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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Share, and share alike Austinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other moves in the downturn were internal. The company sharpened its focus to areas of expertise that include aviation, broadcasting, education and renewable energy, Mr. Pierce said, and worked to create a unified mindset within Austinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offices to share expertise and personnel with different offices as one company rather than different offices. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s better to use someone from another office to get a job than not to get the work,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Pierce said. As the offices shared more resources, they became more willing to tap one another for varied forms of expertise. Since 2005, Austin has been part of the U.S. unit of Tokyo-based Kajima Corp., a publicly traded architecture, engineering and construction firm. The large corporate

owner, Mr. Pierce said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;has been a blessing.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;They understand our business explicitly,â&#x20AC;? he said. For a company as old as Austin, business in some industry sectors has bloomed, then withered. For example, Austin for generations did a lot of business as a designer and builder of newspaper printing plants. However, that business has soured due to the growth of Internet advertising and diminished home delivery of newspapers. However, Austin has one printing plant job under way. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a 70,000square-foot property for Newsweb Corp., a Chicago-based commercial printer with a stable of ethnic newspapers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about the only one weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve smelled for five or six years,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Pierce said. â&#x2013;

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20130805-NEWS--30-NAT-CCI-CL_--

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AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

Bishop: Summa has its own ‘identity’ continued from PAGE 3

As such, Summa wouldn’t be required to adhere to the directives that govern Catholic health care organizations. Instead, the relationship would be governed by what Summa and Catholic Health Partners have characterized as a “statement of common values.” For instance, the value statement, which Summa officials have stressed is congruent with how the health system delivers

Contact: Phone: Fax: E-mail:

care today, states the health system would not perform “direct abortions.” Also, it says the health system wouldn’t withhold hydration or nutrition to hasten death. Catholic Health Partners president and CEO Michael Connelly wouldn’t comment on the bishop’s claim that he should have been brought to the table sooner. He instead issued a statement through his spokeswoman that said, “One of the wonderful things about the

Denise Donaldson (216) 522-1383 (216) 694-4264 DDonaldson@crain.com

Summa officials reiterated how the cash infusion from Catholic Health Partners would strengthen the Akronbased health system’s balance sheet over the coming years. “We recognized health care is a relatively low-margin business with huge capital requirements,” Summa board chairman Norman Wells said in a recent interview. “We faced a long list of our own capital requirements and the same uncertainty everybody talks about with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.” Summa president and CEO Thomas Strauss said representatives from both Catholic Health

Catholic Church is that it’s reflective. We have tremendous respect for the Bishop and are grateful for his introspection and thoughtful work on this matter.”

‘We will not be Catholic’ Despite the holdup with the bishop, Summa and Catholic Health Partners officials hope the deal, which first was announced in late February, will be finalized in the coming weeks. During a recent interview with Crain’s,

REAL ESTATE

Partners and Summa were working together to improve Summa’s operating performance in four areas: billing, supply costs, productivity and length of stay. Mr. Strauss said improvements in those four areas could boost Summa’s bottom line by at least $60 million annually. While Summa’s books might get a boost, Mr. Strauss was adamant in saying the face of Summa would not change. Its signage, for instance, will not reflect Catholic Health Partners’ branding. “Local autonomy, local control, local identity,” Mr. Strauss said. “We will not be Catholic.” ■

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AUCTIONS

CHARTWELL AUCTIONS | AUG 22 COMMERCIAL / INDUSTRIAL / OFFICE / LAND / RESIDENTIAL

ALL PROPERTIES OFFERED ABSOLUTE OR WITH BELOW MARKET PUBLISHED RESERVE PRICES! 1 Former Goodwill Headquarters

2 Auctions, 1 Day

Absolute Auction

ABSOLUTE AUCTION

Attention Investors – Owner Occupy

**Each at its own location** 1 Ac. Lot on Mentor Ave. PP#16B052C000070

Omni Fitness Club

Between Dr. Lawrence, DDS (8837) & Terriaco Suits & Tailors.(8857)

OFFERED ABSOLUTE, REGARDLESS OF PRICE!

Suggested Opening Bid: $50,000 3-Stories on 2+ acres, new HVAC, 9’12’ ceilings, 7 docks, 2 elevators, fully sprinklered, cafeteria w/kitchen equipment, cameras/security system. Tons of parking. 1 Mile North of I-77 & E 55th interchange. On-Site Inspections: Tues., July 30, Aug. 6 & 13, 10:00 am - 12:00 Noon.

Across from Heinens. Abuts Mentor Way Care Center Thurs. Aug. 8 - 3PM

6600 W. 130th St., Middleburg Hts., OH 44130 60,000 SF Operating Fitness Center

OFFERED ABSOLUTE, REGARDLESS OF PRICE!

Suggested Opening Bid: $100,000 3-Story fitness center on 5.35 acres. All equipment & memberships could be available. Unlimited possibilities for the building and site. Zoned: General Business. High traffic area near corner of Pearl Rd. & 130th. On-Site Inspections: Thurs., Aug. 1, 8, 15, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.

Former KFC Restaurant

Currently zoned agriculture, CAUV Tax recoupment Willoughby/Eastlake schools, Beautiful land!! Thurs. Aug. 8th - 6PM EAGLE MILLS ROAD

Visit our website for terms & conditions. www.BIDROSEN.com Call us! 1-877-BID-Rosen • 216-990-1831

563 Bronson St., Medina, OH 44256

135,000 SF Ind./Warehouse/Distribution

OFFERED ABSOLUTE, REGARDLESS OF PRICE!

Suggested Opening Bid: $20,000 Metal & masonry construction with 132,000 SF fully sprinklered industrial space, 3,000 SF office & 13,600 SF lower level storage. 7.24 acre site w/100+ car prkg. 18’-26’ ceilings, 11 docks & 3 drive-ins, rail siding w/2 doors. Minutes from I-71, SR-18, I-76, I-271 & I-80. On-Site Inspections: Wed., July 31, Aug. 7 & 14, 10:00 am - 12:00 Noon.

Receiver Ordered Sale!

20950 Center Ridge Rd., Rocky River, OH 44116

40,212 SF Office / Retail

OFFERED WITH A PUBLISHED RESERVE OF ONLY: $97,350 3-Story plus full walk-out lower level on 2/3 acres. Perfect opportunity for general/med, offices or retail use. Directly across street from a 474,000 SF power retail center. Highly desirable retail/office/location. Minutes from I-90 & I-271. On-Site Inspections: Thurs., Aug. 1, 8 & 15, 10:00 am - 12:00 Noon.

Former Rose Lounge

3219 Copley Rd., Copley, OH 44321

OFFERED ABSOLUTE, REGARDLESS OF PRICE!

Suggested Opening Bid: $22,500 4,300 SF multi-purpose bldg. on 0.50 acres. Contents removed & bldg. is ready for renovation. 40+ parking spaces, zoned I-1, industrial. SELLER FINANCING BEING OFFERED! On-Site Inspections: Wed., Aug 7, 14 & 21, 2:30 - 4:00 pm.

1900 WEST MARKET ST. AKRON, OHIO 44313 THURS. - AUGUST 15th, 2013 - 12:30PM AUCTIONEER/REALTOR: Richard T. Kiko Jr. 330.806.5877 dkiko@kikocompany.com or Brooks E. Ames 330.703.2732 brooks@kikocompany.com AUCTION BY ORDER OF: Cooper Real Estate Mang. Co. LTD.

(3) 5+ Ac. Building lots in Waite Hill Village SMITH ROAD

2295 E. 55th St. Cleveland, OH 44103 59,000 SF Office/Warehouse/Storefront

Premier Mixed Use Retail/Office Building 26,770 Sq Ft Quality Commercial Building and Location with Income/Tenants Summit Co – Akron City – West Akron Absolute auction, property sells to highest bidder on location:

KIKO Auctioneers

2722 Fulton Dr. NW, Canton, OH. 44718 (330) 455-9357 www.kikoauctions.com

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY BRECKSVILLE

Use color and get your ad noticed!

22301 Rockside Rd., Bedford, OH 44146

OFFERED WITH A PUBLISHED RESERVE OF ONLY: $85,000 Lender directed sale, 3,066 SF, partially equipped w/drive-thru, seating for 40+ & parking for 22+. high traffic area next to Walmart & zoned B-3. On-Site Inspections: Tues., Aug 6 & 13, 2:30 - 4:00 pm.

4415 Lee Road, Cleveland, OH 44128 (NE Corner of Lee & S. Miles Rd.)

OFFERED ABSOLUTE, REGARDLESS OF PRICE!

Suggested Opening Bid: $46,500 12,895 SF on 2.72 acres. Corporate seller directs sale w/built-in financing! Zoned for car salvage, repair & storage. 36,000 SF additional land usage of railroad rite-of-way. On-Site Inspections: Thurs., Aug 8 & 15 & Tues., Aug. 20 from 2:30 - 4:00 pm.

Put some “punch” in your classified ad...

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For Sale or Lease List your Auction, Industrial, Commercial, Luxury Property or Retail Space Here! Crain’s Cleveland Business’ classifieds will help you fill that space.

Contact Denise Donaldson at 216.522-1383

Industrial/Manufacturing 32000 sf - 20% Office Just off I 77 on Miller Rd. Sperry Van Ness vic@vicvoinovich.com 888-236-1435

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT 2,200 Sq. Ft. Showroom/Office Dedicated Entry $10.00 PSF N. Zarnas

216-496-6300

Engle Road, Middleburg Hts., OH 44130

CLASSIFIED

OFFERED WITH A PUBLISHED RESERVE OF ONLY: $100,000

BUSINESS SERVICES

2.85 Acre Development Site with Mixed-Use Zoning

High traffic area near Bagley/Engle Road intersection & great visibility from I-71. Prime location for office, hotel & more.

9 10 Acres Adjacent to Eastland Mall, Columbus, OH 43232

OFFERED ABSOLUTE, REGARDLESS OF PRICE!

Suggested Opening Bid: $10,000 Prime commercial location near wellestablished mall. Tenants include: Macy’s, Sears, JC Pennys, Champs, Vitamin World. High traffic area with great demos. Minutes from I-270.

ATTENTION INVESTORS & HOME BUYERS:

Also included in this sale are 6 houses in Shaker Hts./Brunswick/Medina, 12 Houses in Youngstown / Campbell and 3 Home Sites

For Brochure & Terms of Sale, Call:

www.ChartwellAuctions.com 216-360-0009 Chartwell Group, LLC / Chartwell Auctions, LLC OH Auctioneers - Michael E. Berland, Gordon J. Greene & Mac Biggar Mark S. Abood, OH Real Estate Salesperson

Seeking companies with 500K to 5 mil – 10 mil.

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BUSINESS SERVICE OWNERS!

Acquisition searches: food mfg, commercial printing, commercial food preparation, merchant wholesalers, CNC machine shops, fabricating. We have buyers. Due diligence, confidential agreements.

Former Cle native and Sales Pro wants to work with Cle-\Based Co. w/territories for new or existing business in FL, Carolinas.

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8/2/2013

3:32 PM

AUGUST 5 - 11, 2013

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

THEINSIDER

THEWEEK JULY 29 - AUGUST 4 The big story: A shrunken editorial staff reported to The Plain Dealer office on Superior Avenue as the newspaper prepared to cut its print distribution starting today, Aug. 5, in the hope readers will migrate to its companion website, Cleveland.com. Nearly 50 union workers, members of The Newspaper Guild, lost their jobs. In recent weeks, a handful of employees have left or agreed to voluntary layoffs and a severance package. See editorial, Page 10.

Under new management soon: CBiz Inc. agreed to sell its Medical Management Professionals business for $200 million to Zotec Partners LLC, an Indiana-based company that develops billing and practice management software for the health care field. CBiz, headquartered in Independence, said the deal is expected to close Aug. 31. The company expects net proceeds to be about $145 million.

Big in China: Chart Industries Inc. reported its second large order from PetroChina this year and said it received a contract of undisclosed size from Noble Energy Inc. The maker of equipment for producing and storing liquefied natural gas and industrial gases said the latest order from PetroChina is in excess of $50 million and is in addition to a $45 million order from PetroChina in April. Meanwhile, Houston-based Noble Energy awarded to Chart Energy & Chemicals a contract to provide a processing facility to produce 100,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas per day. The new facility will be integrated with a new gas processing plant to be located in northern Colorado. Meeting of the minds: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers union reached a tentative agreement on a new master contract covering 8,000 employees at six U.S. plants. The tire maker said it will not discuss details of the proposed agreement until union members at the plants have an opportunity to review it. Akron-based Goodyear said ratification votes will be scheduled at the plants soon.

Prepping for takeoff: Constant Aviation LLC, a Cleveland company that repairs and maintains jets, is in line to receive a state tax credit for a big expansion project. The company “expects to create 300 full-time positions, generating $13.8 million in additional annual payroll and retaining $8.7 million in existing payroll as a result of (an) expansion,” according to a state of Ohio news release. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a seven-year, 60% Job Creation Tax Credit for Constant Aviation. The proposed project “involves building a new, state-of-the-art facility to house all of the company’s functions and employees,” according to the state. Tackling a new venue: Veritix, a Clevelandbased provider of digital ticketing services, was selected by the National Football League’s Detroit Lions to become the team’s exclusive primary ticketing provider under a multiyear agreement. Veritix did not estimate a value of the agreement with the Lions, the first NFL team on the Veritix platform. The company will provide primary ticketing services for all Lions events, as well as secondary ticketing services for non-football events at Detroit’s Ford Field through Flash Seats, the patented Veritix digital ticketing system. Time to learn: Case Western Reserve University secured a $2.5 million federal grant designed to encourage students pursuing advanced degrees to become nurse educators. The Nurse Faculty Loan Program grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration will support loans for up to five years that cover roughly $35,500 a year for tuition and other costs.

REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOK BEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS

SS&G’s latest frontier: downtown Cleveland ■ For the first time since its founding in 1968, Solon-based SS&G Inc. will have digs in downtown Cleveland. The accounting and business advisory firm has signed a five-year lease for 5,600 square feet on the 15th floor of the Hanna Building and will move roughly 15 employees there, CEO Bob Littman said. It will retain its Solon headquarters and its Bath office, and will have a total of 12 offices as of the downtown opening, which is slated for Nov. 1. The new lease was driven by the desire of Littman some SS&G employees to work in the city and the firm’s desire to “support the revitalization of downtown” and to grow, Mr. Littman said. He estimated SS&G is investing $400,000 into office build-out, computers and furniture. “We think the ROI (return on investment) will be significant,” he said. “We’ve got clients downtown. There’s referral sources downtown.” Besides the employees who will fill the downtown space initially, Mr. Littman said there is room to grow and he expects the firm’s other Northeast Ohio personnel to “hotel,” or use the downtown office as needed. That’s part of the reason SS&G chose the Hanna Building, as it’s close to the interstate highways. SS&G’s other offices are in central and

WHAT’S NEW

southern Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and North Carolina. — Michelle Park

Lawyer does swimmingly in National Senior Games ■ Though some cardiac issues this year derailed his training a few times, local bankruptcy attorney Harry W. Greenfield left the National Senior Games in Cleveland with four gold and two silver medals. Mr. Greenfield, a shareholder with Buckley King in Cleveland, last month set a record in the 65- to 69-year-old age group in the men’s 50-yard butterfly, a race for which he still holds the record in the 60- to 64year-old age group. He also won the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard freestyle and the 500yard freestyle, and placed second in the 100yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle races. “When I got out of the water after the last event, it was as tired as I’ve ever been,” he said. Mr. Greenfield, 68, has swum competitively for 48 years and has practiced law for 43. For the last 36 years, “the longest I’ve been out of the water is three weeks,” he said. Mr. Greenfield participated once before in the National Senior Games, six years ago in Louisville, Ky.; there, he says, he competed in “only” four events, placed first three times and second once and set the aforementioned butterfly record. He swam competitively throughout high school and college, and is a member of national, state and regional swim clubs. He sees his cardiac challenges — which include his heart attack seven years ago and the stress tests, heart stent and medication

Innovation, NE Ohio-style

This is a product that truly lives up to its name. Benko, which makes material handling and safety products, says its Sahara Hot Room Model S24 “quickly melts material in drums or totes.” It heats 24 drums on pallets, or six totes with saturated steam up to 200 psig (pounds per square inch gauge). Hot oil or hot water also can be used as the heating medium, according to the company. The heating capability of each Hot Room is designed based on the customers’ needs, Benko says, and the Model S24 “is ideal for quickly and safely heating hard-to-melt materials.” For instance, an oven full of cold honey or solid paraffin wax can be melted in less than 24 hours without the material degrading. The hot room is fully insulated and features rugged steel construction, built-in spill containment and is portable, the company says; it can be picked up with a forklift. This oven is shipped completely assembled and tested for easy installation. Options include air circulation, exhaust capabilities, precise stateof-the-art digital temperature control with “overtemp” protection and an outdoor use package. For information, visit: www.BenkoProducts.com.

Cleveland makes, the world takes ■ Cleveland-area manufacturers continued to be big exporters in 2012, shipping a little more than $11 billion of goods out of the country. According to a July report from the U.S. International Trade Administration, the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor area was 29th out of the 50 largest metropolitan area exporters last year. The region saw a slight decline — less than 2% — from total exports in 2011. From 2011 to 2012, machinery, transportation equipment and fabricated metal products saw the biggest increases in exports. Susan Whitney, office director for the U.S. Commercial Service in Cleveland, said statistics show all the region’s major industry sectors have come back gradually since the recession. There has been more promotion of exporting at the national and state level, Ms. Whitney said, especially with President Barack Obama’s National Export Initiative. The initiative set a goal of doubling exports by 2015. —Rachel Abbey McCafferty

BEST OF THE BLOGS Excerpts from recent blog entries on CrainsCleveland.com.

COMPANY: Benko Products Inc., Sheffield Village PRODUCT: Sahara Hot Room Model S24

adjustments this year — as proof that “just because you have a diagnosis doesn’t mean you’re confined to bed and can’t do stuff.” “I always view it as a bump in the road,” Mr. Greenfield said. “The purpose of this (the games) is for people to recognize, regardless of your age, you can train and you can perform at a very acceptable level.” Indeed. Some of Mr. Greenfield’s times in these most recent Senior Games were faster than those he clocked as a high school sophomore. — Michelle Park

■ Bruce Katz, vice president of the Brookings Institution and a sharp observer of the state of U.S. cities, talked about the rebirth of industry in Ohio in an interview with “Fresh Air.” Mr. Katz and Brookings fellow Jennifer Bradley have written a new book, “The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy,” that argues metro leaders are more likely to take on the nation’s big challenges than politicians in Washington. In the “Fresh Air” interview, Mr. Katz said the “major innovation” in Northeast Ohio “was that philanthropy and business came together and said, ‘We have unbelievable assets here, small manufacturing firms that are really good at what they do in the manufacturing of quality products. We need to help them in this global environment, sharpen their business plans, attract private capital, retool their facilities, retrain their workers so that they can produce new products for new markets.” And that, he said, is “exactly what has happened in the last 10 years. In less than 10 years, we’ve seen the growth of about 10,500 jobs, over $300 million in payroll, $2 billion in private capital. This is the kind of smart post-recession economic development that we need to participate in.”

Maybe our ship will come in ■ Cleveland sure must have a lot of friends on Facebook. USA Today reported that Carnival’s senior cruise director/blogger John Heald recently asked his Facebook followers where the line’s new ship, Carnival Vista, should home port when it debuts in 2016. Nearly 1,500 fans responded, mostly with

predictable suggestions for California or Florida. But the story noted that a sizable Midwest contingent “chimed in that maybe it’s time the Great Lakes were home to a Carnival ship — with several recommendations of Cleveland as a home port.”

We might just take that ■ The American Conservative offered up a fanciful proposal called “The Cleveland Plan” to jump-start ailing economies. The magazine built off a recent New York Times story indicating that the industrial Midwest and South “are home to metro areas with the least income mobility — economic geography matters.” One thing that could unite Democrats and Republicans and begin to address the problem? “Let’s move strategically unimportant federal departments and agencies to economically impoverished cities and towns across America,” the magazine said. “Republicans would support it because, well, they hate DC and favor “real” America. Democrats would support it because their cities and states would benefit disproportionately.” Call it The Cleveland Plan, the Times said, “after the city that exemplifies America’s decline. Not only does Cleveland routinely rank as one of America’s fastest-dying cities, but Clevelanders also had the indignity of watching the man who spurned them turn around and win the 2012 (and 2013) NBA Finals (not to mention they still claim Dennis Kucinich as a favorite son). Plop the Department of Energy HQ in Public Square and you suddenly have thousands of jobs that aren’t going anywhere.”

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