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An old meat plant is now home to a tight-knit community of entrepreneurs and artists — P. 3 Slack, the ‘fastest-growing business app ever,’ replaces internal email at local tech companies — P. 6
Call it a comeback Mortgage businesses hitting highest peak since Great Recession By JEREMY NOBILE jnobile@crain.com
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AND SO IT BEGINS... Debate gives city taste of what to expect when convention comes to town By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
“I’m just so impressed with the city, especially with the police, really impressed,” said the man in the dark suit and tie, wearing a badge around his neck that identified him as a Republican National Committee “Guest.” It was 11:45 p.m. last Thursday, Aug. 6, and he was talking to a pair of police officers in front of the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland on Public Square. “We’re always here; there’s just a few more of us because of the debate,” said one of the officers. “Well, I’m just so impressed,” the man said as he and his companion continued walking toward the Renaissance Hotel. Earlier that day, on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” broadcast, Chuck Todd, the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” pointed out that most of the
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who attended Thursday’s main event. An under-construction downtown and whispered, off-the-record comments that convention planning may be a little, but not seriously, behind schedule make that clear. The city, for example, is still waiting for Congressional approval of a security grant. But, for now, those are minor concerns.
‘Buckle up’ for the ride The pats on the city’s back last week were bipartisan. As Democratic Party leaders were assembling for a news conference last Thursday afternoon at the Radisson Hotel ClevelandGateway, just across the street from the Quicken Loans Arena debate site, Rep. Marcy Kaptur told Crain’s that she was hearing good things about the city from outside the political arena. “We were just with some people from the British Embassy,” she said. “They’re here for the See DEBATE, page 22
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presidential candidates had until the debate, never been “face-to-face” with a large national audience before, and so it was important that they make a good first impression. He could have added that Cleveland was getting the same chance to make a first impression. “It’s going to bring tremendous interest in the city,” said former state Rep. Ed Jerse, a Democrat and veteran of four of his party’s national conventions, as he walked downtown streets early Thursday. “It’s a dry run for the convention.” The early returns suggest it was a landslide win for Cleveland, and certainly for the restaurateurs and hoteliers who catered to packed houses while the Republican National Committee, its 17 presidential hopefuls and their entourages and a media horde did their business. Of course, the city is not quite ready for next summer’s Republican presidential nominating convention, when the number of people who come to town will grow to 10 times the 4,500
The housing market is truly recovering, and that’s translating into surging business for banks. Residential lending is a common cornerstone of business for community banks like Orrville’s legacy First National Bank, which merged in June with Canfield’s Farmers National Banc Corp. And it remains a main focus for Mark Witmer, former First National president and CEO turned chief banking officer and senior executive vice president for Farmers. Witmer said mortgage closings are up 70% over this point last year. Income from that business is growing at the same clip. Considering deals already in the pipeline, Witmer said he expects to exceed 2014’s total number of sales by the end of the month. It’s far and away the strongest activity they’ve seen since the economic downturn, Witmer said. And for Farmers, now with $1.6 billion in total assets, the mortgage business absorbed through First National marks the bank’s secondlargest bucket of non-interest income behind the trust and wealth management business. Westfield Bank president and CEO Jon Park said the housing market is “sizzling” right now — and it’s not just a flash in the pan. The $1 billion asset community bank logged 60% growth at mid-year 2015 in its mortgage business compared with the like period last year. About 30% of that business is for new residential construction alone. And houses appear to be selling faster. For Westfield, homes sold last year were on the market between
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