Crain's Cleveland Business by Crain's Cleveland Business

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$1.50/NOVEMBER 22 - 28, 2010

Vol. 31, No. 46

With costs down, cash stacks up Despite sales growth, companies cling to big balances amid economic concerns By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com

anton’s Timken Co., admits spokeswoman Lorrie Paul Crum, “has a lot of cash.” That’s an understatement. As of Sept. 30, Timken held nearly $900 million in cash or what accountants call “cash equivalents,” such as Treasury bills that are quickly convertible to cash. That’s almost 30 times the $30.1 million in cash the maker of steel and bearings held at the end of 2007, before the recession began.

Timken is among an expanding roster of companies in Northeast Ohio that have seen their cash stack up by keeping costs in check even as their sales rebounded after the worst of the economic slump. Just what they’ll do with all that cash remains to be seen. The accumulation eventually may benefit stockholders and employees, because it suggests cash-rich companies may be poised to accelerate their growth. But some economists call this strategy “cash hoarding” and argue that corporate decisions to cling to cash rather than spend it

on hiring or capital investments are holding back the economic recovery. A look at the levels of cash and cash equivalents held by various Northeast Ohio companies at the end of their 2007 fiscal years and as of their most recent quarters shows huge increases in their stashes of cash. Consider these striking numbers: ■ Specialty chemical maker OM Group Inc. saw its cash over this period soar 346%, to $446.8 million from $100.2 million. ■ Iron ore producer Cliffs Natural

For small retailers, it’s Black Six Weeks Friday’s fun, but they focus on whole season By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com

For small, independent retailers in Northeast Ohio, there are shades of gray when it comes to rallying for Black Friday, the kickoff of the holiday selling season that begins the day after Thanksgiving. Few engage in the door-buster sales and 4 a.m. openings that have become the hallmark of big-box retailers. Some even ignore Black Friday altogether, figuring they can’t beat the promotion-crazed giants at that game. But others try in their own modest ways to capitalize from the get-go on a six-week period that can make or break their year. Steve Presser, owner of Big Fun Toy Store, which sells gifts and vintage collectible toys in Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, estimates his store does 30% to 35% of its annual sales from now until year-end. “If you came in my store yesterday, you would have seen probably 50 boxes on the floor,” Mr. Presser said last week. “Every Black Friday, we kind of one-up ourselves from the previous year. We have to.” This year, Mr. Presser said he has widened his spectrum of offerings to include more than 100 unusual book titles and 30 or 40 new items, including turn-of-the-century Cleveland greeting cards. This is the fourth year Akron

See CASH Page 6

See FRIDAY Page 30

Construction slump claims another casualty Concrete supplier Collinwood Shale latest to succumb By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com

Collinwood Shale, Brick & Supply Co., a Cleveland-based concrete supplier dating from the late 19th century, is the latest casualty claimed by the now 5-year-old

construction downturn. The company originally made bricks; its “Collinwood Brick” pavers form the base of many Cleveland streets. Collinwood Shale left brick-making behind decades ago to focus on producing ready-mix concrete and related materials. Over the

years, it gained locations throughout the region under a variety of names, including Horning Builders Supply Co. in Kent and Smith & Cowan Supply in Akron. The end came Nov. 10 when multiple assets of Collinwood Shale were bought by an affiliate of Osborne Inc., the concrete supply company led by Jerome T.

INSIDE Clinic spinoff sees wild growth Growth at Cleveland HeartLab, which through blood tests allows physicians to see if patients are at risk of a heart attack or other cardiac problems, has reached new heights: The 200 tests it ran in January are mild when compared with the 18,000 it ran in October. Read Chuck Soder’s story on Page 3.

See CONCRETE Page 7

NEWSPAPER

71486 01032

SPECIAL SECTION

Crain’s again honors 40 of Northeast Ohio’s brightest leaders ■ Page F-1

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

A LONG WAY TO GO

CORRECTIONS ■ A picture of Betty Goodman, the new chief financial officer and treasurer at Vocational Guidance Services, was incorrectly identified in the Goodman Nov. 1, Page 17 Going Places feature. The correct picture is seen here.

■ A Nov. 15 profile in the “Who’s Who: 150 Names to Know” section incorrectly listed the age of U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton. She is 47 years old. Mark E. Michael L. The section Coticchia Coticchia also included an incorrect picture of Mark E. Coticchia, vice president for Economic ■ A Nov. 15, Page One story on Development, research and technology the economic development plans of management at Case Western Reserve Cuyahoga County executive-elect and University. The correct picture is seen current Lakewood mayor Ed FitzGerald here. misstated the number of people who Michael L. Coticchia, whose picture will serve on a new county economic mistakenly was included, is the vice development commission. It will have president and chief administrative officer nine members. at Applied Industrial Technologies.

The National Federation of Independent Business Index of Small Business Optimism gained slightly in October and now stands at 91.7, its highest mark since September 2008. The small business advocacy group says the improvement in the monthly index could reflect that its members anticipate improvement in economic activity. However, the index remains in recession territory. Here’s what the 1,910 respondents identified as their single most important problem:

Problem

Oct. 2010 survey

Oct. 2009 survey

Poor sales

30%

33%

Taxes

Government regulations

Insurance cost/availability

Large competitors

Other

Inflation

Cost of labor

Financing/interest rates

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

INSIGHT

GrafTech sets its sights beyond steel Developing graphite materials for fuel cells, electronics part of push to broaden its reach By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com

For now, the foundation of its business remains steel, but GrafTech International Ltd. in Parma hopes much of its growth will

come from a flimsier-looking substance — graphite composite material that can be pressed into sheets so thin they resemble Japanese nori. Except, instead of wrapping sushi, the stuff is used in products such as cell phones, flat-screen tele-

visions and hydrogen fuel cells as it keeps electronic devices cooler and helps fuel cells with internal chemical reactions, said Lionel Batty, GrafTech’s director of research and development. The new graphite materials Shular are the province of GrafTech’s Engineered Solutions division. Its base business remains

providing graphite electrodes to steel producers, who use them around the world to fire up their electric arc furnaces. However, the Engineered Solutions division is providing GrafTech with new markets and opportunities for growth, spokesman Kelly Taylor said. The Engineered Solutions busi-

“It could be that they believe they are in an uncertain environment, they don’t know what (investments) will be profitable, so they are waiting.”

Cleveland HeartLab, a 1-year-old Clinic offshoot, quickly expands as product demand rises exponentially

— Filippo Occhino, senior research economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Page One

“The market is saturated with suppliers. We have seen other smaller contractors close their doors. With the small amount of work out there … it is no surprise concrete contractors are falling by the wayside.”

By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com

See HEART Page 29

— George Palko, president, Great Lakes Construction Co. Page One

MARC GOLUB

Jake Orville, CEO of Cleveland HeartLab, says the Cleveland Clinic spinoff just landed its biggest contract and has begun shipping boxes of the test kits, shown in the background, to the new customer, a “leading health care provider.” Cleveland HeartLab tests blood samples to determine whether a patient is at risk for a heart attack.

Akron IT firm’s software helps banks tailor ads to customers Fledgling Segmint’s investor commitments continue to increase By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com

On average, Rob Heiser sets foot inside a bank branch less than once a year. So it’s no wonder the branch manager Mr. Heiser spoke with

See GRAFTECH Page 4

THE WEEK IN QUOTES

SPINOFF TESTS POSITIVE FOR GROWTH

s if 2010 hadn’t been kind enough to Cleveland HeartLab LLC, the Cleveland Clinic spinoff just won its biggest contract, which should help the 1-year-old startup make sure its rapid growth continues into 2011. Rapid might be an understatement. The company, which tests blood samples and other specimens to help doctors determine whether a patient is at risk of a heart attack or other cardiac problems, ran 200 tests in January. It ran 18,000 tests in October. Cleveland HeartLab, founded a year ago this month, is preparing for an even bigger 2011. CEO Jake Orville said he expects the company to conduct millions of tests next year, as opposed to hundreds of thousands, and it should become profitable early in the year.

ness made up about 20% of GrafTech’s third-quarter revenue of $255 million. However, if GrafTech CEO Craig Shular has his way, the company’s high-margin engineered products will play a larger role in its overall revenues, said Ms. Kelly, who noted Mr. Shular has been pushing to grow the business since taking over as CEO in 2003. “He’d like to see it be 30%, 40% or

during his last visit to the bank had no clue that his customer has owned parts of multiple small businesses over the years. “The branch manager said to me, ‘If you don’t come into a branch, I don’t know who you are,’” Mr. Heiser said. One of Mr. Heiser’s businesses, Segmint Inc., is aimed at solving that problem. The Akron company sells software that analyzes customers’ spending habits, letting banks target their online customers with advertisements on both their

own web sites and across the Internet. Three weeks ago Segmint signed its first customer, credit union software provider Sharetec Systems Inc. of Lino Lakes, Minn., which aims to sell Segmint’s product to its own customers. That’s just the company’s latest success. Segmint has raised $2.5 million from investors since it was founded three years ago. That number rises to about $4 million when you include the services Segmint has paid for with equity in the business, a tactic championed

by veteran entrepreneur Tom Tyrrell, who is Segmint’s chairman and chief operating officer. Those investments have helped the company double the size of its staff to 14 since the start of the year. Other financial institutions are testing the Akron company’s software. Dozens more have expressed interest in the product, which can tell banks whether a given customer is starting a home improvement project, loves animals or exercises regularly, all without revealing See SEGMINT Page 29

“I feel that I’ve been very fortunate in my life, and it’s just me wanting to give back. I know it’s cheesy, but it’s that burning thing in me that I want to go out and help. Especially in Cleveland, there are a lot of things we need help with.” — Vi Huynh, operations manager for clinical innovations, Cleveland Clinic’s heart and vascular institute. Page F-6

“My dad learned how to power nap in the Army, and he passed that trait on to me.” — Sam McNulty, owner, Bier Markt, Bar Cento and Speakeasy. Page F-10

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

GrafTech: Power plant use possible continued from PAGE 3

50% of sales,” Ms. Taylor said. That’s fine with Mr. Batty, who said in the years before Mr. Shular’s arrival the company probably focused too much on its steel industry business, often selling off new, unrelated technologies that it developed. For instance, it developed materials that enable Energizer batteries to work, but sold the technology behind those materials off and let others commercialize them, Mr. Batty said. This time, the company is keeping its intellectual property for its own use. “Differentiate and protect is the motto today,” Mr. Batty said.

A horse race Graphite is light and inert. It also

conducts electricity well and heat even better — all properties GrafTech wants to exploit. On a lab tour at Graftech’s headquarters, Mr. Batty showed off samples of the company’s graphite materials that keep mobile phones and laptop computers from overheating, remove the heat from flatscreen televisions and LED lights and form some of the layers in a stacked hydrogen fuel cell. It’s also used in the production of solar panels and in lithium-ion batteries, Mr. Batty said. All the new uses have potential, but it is the area of alternative energy that might provide GrafTech with one of its best sources of growth. In addition to solar panels and fuel

Delivering results. Raising over $12 billion in equity capital markets transactions. August 2010

August 2010

May 2010

March 2010

“That company is a gem we have in Cleveland that not enough people know about.” – Dave Karpinski, director of the Advanced Energy Initiative, NorTech cells, graphite also is likely to be used in the next generation of nuclear power plants that will be built beginning in 2020. GrafTech already is working with several U.S. national labs on ways to make the internal parts of a nuclear reactor out of graphite because of its ability to withstand high temperatures. “In terms of advanced energy, we’re riding every horse in that race,” Mr. Batty said. Much of what GrafTech is doing in regards to energy is early stage stuff, he said, but it’s already showing potential. For instance, GrafTech has been able to convince some fuel cell makers to use graphite rather than sheets of stainless steel in their battery stacks. According to Mr. Batty, about half the market is using steel and the other half is using graphite. It’s a VHS vs. Beta situation, and if graphite wins, so will GrafTech, Mr. Batty said.

Fueled by technology

$372.6 Million

$79 Million

$317.4 Million

$91.7 Million

Common Stock Follow-On Offering

Joint Bookrunner

Left Bookrunner

February 2010

January 2010

$182.3 Million

$269.1 Million

$54.1 Million

$84.5 Million

Common Stock Initial Public Offering

Common Stock Follow-On Offering

Co-Manager

Left Bookrunner

Sole Bookrunner

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So far, fuel cells with GrafTech graphite are performing as well as those with steel, said Gary Lunz, head of government and fleet sales for New Bremen, Ohio-based Crown Equipment Corp., the largest maker of lift trucks in North America. Crown has researched both kinds of fuel cells, because large customers were looking for ways to convert their fleets over to hydrogen. “They both appear to be good products,” Mr. Batty said of the two fuel cell designs, adding that it was too soon to say which technology will win out, or whether each will be used in different ways. If the fuel cell technology isn’t a home run for GrafTech, it’s likely advanced energy still will be a new source of revenue in one shape or form, Mr. Batty said. Dave Karpinski, director of the Advanced Energy Initiative for the Cleveland-based economic development group NorTech, agrees. He said one reason his group touts GrafTech as an up-and-coming player in alternative energy is that it has so many ways to sell into the sector. “That company is a gem we have in Cleveland that not enough people know about,” Mr. Karpinski said. “What’s exciting about GrafTech is the transformation. You’ve got this company that was servicing the primary steel industry and now they’re in the highest-tech industries that there are,” he said. “What’s exciting is that they are in so many sectors — so they’re not going to just succeed or fail based on the success of one thing, like fuel cells.” ■

Volume 31, Number 46 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, except for combined issues on the fourth week of May and fifth week of May, the fourth week of June and first week of July, the third week of December and fourth week of December at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2010 by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: $1.50. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Crain’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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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

NE Ohio firms lead hybrid trucks movement By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is set to enact sweeping regulations that would force the makers of heavy-duty trucks to increase dramatically their vehicles’ fuel efficiency — and that’s just fine with Eaton Corp. and Parker Hannifin Corp. Both Northeast Ohio companies have been working for years to perfect hybrid technologies for trucks, which executives at Eaton and Parker say truck makers need if they are to achieve the 10% to 20% fuel efficiency gains the EPA is mandating. “The regulations are a reflection of global trends and a strategic approach that countries are taking around the world, and I think they’re going to have a marked impact on the industry,” said Dimitri Kazarinoff, vice president and general manager of Eaton’s hybrid business in Michigan. The companies are bringing their technology to market just in time for the new EPA regulations to give their efforts a boost, said Joe Kovach, vice president of technology and innovation at Parker’s Hydraulics Division in Cleveland. “This will affect a lot of vehicles. We’re talking all heavy trucks, including trash trucks, which is our forte,” Dr. Kovach said. “We’re excited by this pending legislation to mandate 20% savings.” The EPA rules, which were released for a 60-day comment period on Oct. 25, call for semi-tractors to achieve 20% fuel efficiency gains over their 2010 levels by 2014. For other so-called “vocational vehicles,” which include such diverse products as refuse haulers and school buses, the requirement is for a 10% increase in fuel efficiency. No sweat, say Parker and Eaton. “In trials, we’ve demonstrated anywhere from a 40% to 50% reduction in fuel use,” Dr. Kovach said.

Thinking big Parker uses a different hybrid system than is found on most consumer hybrid vehicles. With most hybrid systems, electricity from a battery is used to start a vehicle moving and to power it at low speeds. The brakes, and sometimes the engine, charge those batteries when the vehicle slows or stops, or when the engine is powering the vehicle using fuel at higher speeds. Parker’s system uses the vehicle’s internal combustion engine as a power plant, and the electricity the engine creates then powers the vehicle, regardless of its speed. That way, Dr. Kovach said, the vehicle’s engine always is in its most efficient “sweet spot” when it’s running, leading to greater efficiency. The results are dramatic, with fuel consumption cut by as much as 50% in some uses, he said. “That’s big,” Dr. Kovach said. “A 50% increase in mpg is not at all like a 50% reduction in fuel use. … We’re talking about a 200% increase in mpg, almost.” That’s because Parker is dealing with trucks, such as garbage and delivery vehicles, that aren’t moving for much of the time that they’re in use, and that also might use power to run compactors and loading arms. These are the sort of trucks the government wants to see achieve 10% fuel efficiency gains, and Mr. Kovach said that number can be surpassed. Parker has begun by producing refuse trucks, in conjunction with

Autocar Co. of Israel, for local governments in Florida. So far, Miami-Dade County, Miami and the city of Hialeah all are using the trucks as part of their trash-hauling fleets. Parker has delivered 11 waste haulers to those Florida entities so far. They’ve been well-received. “We are pleased with the results so far,” said Gayle Love, spokeswoman for the solid-waste division at Miami-Dade. “We like the performance and we think the trucks have a lot of potential going forward.”

Made in America Eaton, which makes a broader line of hybrid technologies than Parker, has been selling its technol-

ogy to truck makers since 2007. It’s still an early-stage business for the company, but Eaton has 3,600 trucks worldwide using one of its hybrid technologies, which include a hydraulic system similar to Parker’s, as well as more traditional electrichybrid systems. It might not hurt Parker’s cause, though, that the EPA itself has been involved with the company, partnering with Parker to test the trucks at its National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor. “This series of hybrid hydraulic technology represents Americanmade technology, and it’s the lowestcost, highest-efficiency powertrain that exists,” said the lab’s director,

Charles Gray, when the first trucks were delivered to Miami in September. About 80% of the components in Parker’s systems are made by Parker in the United States. Eaton so far makes all its hybrid vehicle systems in America, Mr. Kazarinoff said. That situation may change as volumes increase, but the company still will make its systems for North America in the United States. Eaton probably has the ability to gain sales from its hybrid technologies the fastest, because of its broader product offering, said Eli Lustgarten, a securities analyst who follows both companies for Longbow Research in Independence. However, while Mr. Lustgarten

thinks the technologies are important, he questions how much they’ll contribute to either company’s total revenues, in part because the technologies are specifically for working trucks, not passenger cars. “Eaton and Parker are both a lot more industrial-oriented than they are consumer-oriented and the big money is with electric cars, where there are hundreds of thousands of units,” Mr. Lustgarten said. Neither Eaton nor Parker yet divulge how much revenue they derive from their hybrid technologies. Eaton’s Mr. Kazarinoff, however, said they eventually will be a significant portion of Eaton’s sales. “In the big scheme of Eaton’s $13 billion in revenues, it’s quite small right now,” he said. “But our vision over the next five years is that it’s going to become quite material.” ■

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Cash: Questions emerge globally continued from PAGE 1

Resources Inc.’s cash pile climbed 517%, to $969.4 million from $157.1 million. ■ Diversified manufacturer Parker Hannifin Corp. posted a 435% hike in its cash levels, to $923.8 million from $172.7 million. And the cash hording isn’t unique

to companies in this area. At the end of October, Moody’s Investors Service reported that the nation’s nonfinancial public companies were holding nearly $1 trillion in cash in case the economy falters. In its report, Moody’s contended that “Corporate America could use these cash holdings to

cover a year’s worth of capital spending and dividends and still have $121 billion left over,” pushing the recession farther in the rearview mirror more quickly and putting more people back to work. Filippo Occhino, senior research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said it isn’t

NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

CASH TO SPARE A look at the rise in cash on some Northeast Ohio companies’ balance sheets:

Fiscal year-end Cash most 2007 cash recent quarter

Company

Omnova Solutions Inc.

% increase

$12.6M

$59.7M

373.8%

OM Group Inc.

100.2

446.8

345.9

PolyOne Corp.

79.4

307.9

287.8

Sherwin-Williams Co.

27.3

65.0

137.7

Lubrizol Corp.

502.3

918.2

82.8

SOURCE: COMPANY FINANCIAL REPORTS

surprising to see companies boost their cash balances after a recession. “It could be that they believe they are in an uncertain environment, they don’t know what (investments) will be profitable, so they are waiting,” Mr. Occhino said. “Or it could be they (are holding cash) because they anticipate capital expenditures or expansion projects in the future.”

Not entirely tight-fisted

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Lubrizol Corp.’s cash balance over the last three years is up 83%, to $415.9 million, but the Wickliffe company’s chief financial officer, Charles Cooley, insists the producer of lubricant additives and specialty chemicals hasn’t been clutching its cash too tightly. It has repurchased $325 million of its stock, made significant capital investments and boosted its working capital over the first quarters of 2010. Lubrizol also is on the lookout for acquisitions, Mr. Cooley said. “We’re certainly not hoarding,” he said. “We’ve been deploying cash in a number of different areas.” But Mr. Cooley conceded that Lubrizol is putting a greater emphasis on liquidity, which a large cash balance ensures, and that, as the economy continues to struggle, it is operating with “a slightly greater degree of conservatism.” OM Group’s cash balance has grown because the company is moving to diversify away from its reliance on cobalt and other raw materials that make up most of its current mix of metals-based chemicals, said director of investor relations Troy Dewar. “The way to do that is to grow and diversify through mergers and acquisitions,” Mr. Dewar said, and the cash will be used to fund that growth. “It’s really nothing more than that,” he said. But Mr. Dewar, too, admitted that there is a measure of concern about the economy in the size of the cash balance. “There’s probably some of that,” too, he said.

Cushions against change Chenchu Bathala, a finance professor at Cleveland State University, said he believes the uncertain environment these large companies are seeing is not just domestic but global, a significant change since the Great Depression of the last century before the rise of a global economy. Dr. Bathala cited the near collapse of the banking system in Ireland,

rising interest rates in South Korea and Chinese efforts to curb inflation as rapidly moving predicaments these companies — with manufacturing and sales efforts worldwide — must take into account as they manage their money. “Conditions evolve so rapidly, so suddenly, that you may not have time to look around and cope with those things” if cash balances are too low, he said. At Timken, Ms. Crum said, management made a decision to accumulate cash to make sure it holds on to its hard-won financial strength. The company has gone through a wrenching reorganization in the last half decade, shifting workers from bearings to steel making, closing bearings plants and trimming more than 4,000 jobs around the world. In 2009 the company reported a loss of $134 million. Holding on to cash, Ms. Crum said, “was a conscious decision to retain the financial strength we enjoy.”

Targeted spending But the company hasn’t locked the vault. In August, Timken announced plans for a $50 million investment in two Canton-area steel plants and then, in September, the company paid an undisclosed amount of cash for QM Bearings and Power Transmission Inc., a bearings maker in Ferndale, Wash. Timken also has bought back stock, which makes shareholders happy by reducing dilution and increasing earnings per share, and it even made discretionary payments to its pension funds, above and beyond minimum required levels. “If you were to list all the potential things a company could do with cash, Timken has been doing them,” Ms. Crum said. Cliffs Natural Resources also hasn’t been hesitant about spending its cash where it believes it is needed, according to Steve Baisden, its senior director of investor relations and communications. “We’ve made no secret of our intention to grow both organically (by expanding existing operations) and through acquisitions,” Mr. Baisden said. “We did $1 billion in deals in the last year (and) we’ll continue to pursue that strategy.” Biggest among the acquisitions was the $757 million purchase of West Virginia’s INR Energy LLC, made largely with cash. ■

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

Concrete: Assets’ geography attractive to buyer continued from PAGE 1

Osborne, patriarch of the Osborne family of builders and developers in Lake County. Osborne paid $2.6 million for six Collinwood Shale assets, according to Cuyahoga County court documents. That’s about 30 cents on the dollar for the bulk of the assets. The purchased operations range from Middlefield to Ravenna. Thomas Von Lehman, a receiver appointed by Cuyahoga County Judge John P. O’Donnell, said Osborne was the only concrete supplier contacted by Mr. Von Lehman’s Meridian Asset Group that showed genuine interest in buying the business. However, Osborne was unwilling to serve as a stalking horse bidder in a public auction. As a result, the court approved without public auction the sale of most Collinwood Shale assets to Osborne to satisfy a claim PNC Bank filed last March to collect on a $3 million loan. Three other secured creditors — aggregate supplier Ontario Stone Corp. of Cleveland, Great Lakes Energy Co. of Cleveland and Cemex Inc., a concrete supplier in Monterrey, Mexico — also share in the proceeds. Collinwood Shale had shut its doors, and about 100 employees lost their jobs, last March, Mr. Von Lehman said. “We quickly realized they did not have the cash flow to operate the business,” he said. “We finished some ongoing jobs to collect receiv-

“The market is bleak.” – Thomas Von Lehman, Collinwood Shale, Brick & Supply Co. receiver ables and shut it down.” “The market is bleak,” Mr. Von Lehman said. “The residential construction market in most of Ohio is semi-dormant. The commercial construction market is weaker than in the past. With the federal stimulus, we thought there might be some road work, but there was not much of that.”

Geography is destiny Osborne acquired the Collinwood Shale properties under the name of another defunct construction supplier in the region, Cleveland Builders Supply Co. Osborne staked its claim to the name last September, according to state records, and its acquisition through that name of Collinwood Shale’s concrete plants, warehouses and yards throughout the region hit public records Nov. 10. In a prepared statement, Mr. Osborne, the namesake company’s president and chairman, said his company will reopen none of the Collinwood Shale locations until the economy recovers. Mr. Osborne said the purchase was attractive because, when the industry recovers, Osborne will gain geographic locations for growth in the Portage, Summit and Geauga county areas. Geographic diversity is a requisite in the concrete supply business, as job sites must be within an hour’s drive of

plants formulating the building material to get it poured before it sets. Former Collinwood Shale properties that went to the new owner include its original location, 16200 Saranac Road and 4015 W. 150th St., both in Cleveland, and 12400 Broadway Ave., in Garfield Heights. Also going to Cleveland Builders Supply are two locations in Akron, as well as operations in Middlefield, Kent and Ravenna. Collinwood Shale’s president, Scott Terhune, and lawyer, James Feibel, didn’t return two calls each.

Sign of the times George Palko, president of Hinckley-based highway and heavy construction contractor Great Lakes Construction Co., said Collinwood was the second locally owned concrete supplier that his company lost this year to consolidation. However, Mr. Palko said Great Lakes Construction does not worry about too few concrete suppliers; it currently has contracts with seven in Northeast Ohio. “In terms of the market we have, the market is saturated with suppliers,” Mr. Palko said. “We have seen other smaller contractors close their doors. With the small amount of work out there … it is no surprise concrete contractors are falling by the wayside.”

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Smaller concrete suppliers who catered to developers of residential subdivisions also are suffering because so little new home work is under way. “That’s a dying industry that was booming three years ago,” Mr. Palko said. “Thankfully, the state of Ohio is spending money.” Cleveland Councilman Mike Polensek, whose Ward 11 includes Collinwood Shale’s original plant, said it was a sad day when he noticed, for the first time, its concrete trucks parked at its Saranac site on a work day. “I remember watching as a kid as trucks lined up on the street waiting for a load,” Mr. Polensek said, but the shutdown was different. “I’d never seen that in my lifetime.” As is typical for the construction business, most of Collinwood Shale’s trucks were leased and are no longer on site. ■

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR:

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

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

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

OPINION

Easy? No way

e have a patriotic duty to come together on a plan that will make America better off tomorrow than it is today. So begins the deficit-reduction blueprint presented this month by Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, co-chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. It is the body President Barack Obama created last February to come up with recommendations for bringing the federal budget into balance by 2015 and for improving the nation’s long-term fiscal outlook. It will be interesting to see whether the commission itself can come together on such a plan, much less the president and Congress. We’ll know the answer to that question by Dec. 1, the date by which the commission must vote on a final report by that body. Issuance of the report requires the approval of at least 14 of the commission’s 18 members. Regardless of whether the commission approves a plan, Messrs. Bowles and Simpson in their thoughtful proposal make an indisputable statement the president and Congress shouldn’t ignore for the sake of the country. In laying out their guiding principles, the two men wrote: “The Problem is Real — the Solution is Painful — There’s NO Easy Way Out — Everything Must Be On The Table — and Washington Must Lead.” Mr. Bowles, a chief of staff under President Clinton, emphasized that inaction isn’t an option in remarks made to The Wall Street Journal after he and Mr. Simpson, a former U.S. senator, issued their proposal. “We just cannot afford to stay on autopilot,” he said, “and I guarantee if they don’t do it now, five years from now when we look back and the crisis is upon us, people will think, ‘How could we have been so foolish?’” Strong medicine is in abundant supply in the co-chairs’ proposal. Cut $100 billion in defense spending by 2015, in part by freezing Defense Department compensation and noncombat military pay for three years. Lop $100 billion in domestic spending not only by freezing salaries but also by reducing the federal work force by 10% and eliminating 250,000 nondefense contractors. Broaden the base of taxpayers, consolidate the tax code into three individual rates and one corporate rate and ditch various itemized deductions, such as for state and local taxes. Expand cost sharing in Medicare and create a cap on catastrophic costs. In typical knee-jerk fashion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi deemed the proposal “simply unacceptable.” But Ms. Pelosi and other elected officials must wake up to a harsh reality: Unlike the Staples commercials, there is no “Easy” button to hit to make the nation’s fiscal problems go away. Messrs. Bowles and Simpson have provided a framework for extricating the United States from its budgetary morass. The president and Congress now should heed the words of the duo when they say, “A sensible, real plan requires shared sacrifice — and Washington should lead the way and tighten its belt.”

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Pros, cons to federal earmark process

’m conflicted about earmarks. How It seems so clear-cut, doesn’t it? But about you? wait, there’s more. Along comes a story OK, so I know that probably by The Plain Dealer’s Washington bureau seems a bit silly, but bear with me that explains that an end to the earmark for a moment. process could make it harder to get One part of me wants to scream out, federal funds to hospitals, universities “Yes! Finally, there are politicians in and other nonprofits and civic organizaWashington who want to stop this tions. It also could weaken the power bloody process that creates held by Northeast Ohio congressbridges to nowhere (or in Gov. BRIAN men such as Steve LaTourette Strickland’s case, a bypass to TUCKER and Tim Ryan. nowhere, outside Athens).” It’s So, do we really want to lose easy to dislike a legislative the possibility of getting federal process that allows budgetdollars back here to do imporbusting “add-ons” that become tant infrastructure work, or law because no one wants to help save threatened theaters, stop the important piece of or restore museums for generalegislation to which they are tions to come? Aha, now the attached. debate gets tricky. Who decides Many of the Republicans — which projects are important, especially those affiliated with the Tea and which are lame-brained like the Party movement — recently elected to now-infamous bridge to nowhere? Congress made the cause of ending I hope our elected representatives earmarks their battle cry; now, even consider such things with care, rather Mitch McConnell, a veteran GOP lawthan as a something to be crowed about maker who’s brought home plenty of when the TV cameras are around them. federal pork to Kentucky, has sniffed the **** political winds and changed his tune. SO, A BUNCH OF FOLKS who have

successfully battled traffic-enforcement cameras in a few Ohio cities now has targeted East Cleveland. And Art McCoy, maybe America’s best-known barberactivist, is at the forefront. This guy never seems to miss an opportunity to attach himself and a group of chanting, picketing protesters to the current “cause.” What I’d like to know is: If you’re not breaking any laws, why worry about cameras designed to stop those who are? **** AND SPEAKING OF THAT, what’s the big deal about the full-body scanners being installed at the airports? Good Lord, people. Do you want to be safe or not? I’m in the camp of a government air safety official I heard doing a recent broadcast interview. He said he believed that air travelers — given the choice to travel to the same location on a plane filled with passsengers who had been scanned and one whose passengers had not — would choose the former. The sooner we accept these intrusions in the name of safety, the more secure our lives become. ■

THE BIG ISSUE What is the one way our elected officials or business leaders could make Cleveland a better place to live?

JENNIFER HUSCROFT

CHRIS DEVITO

JOE CIMPERMAN

KELLY HEBB

Lakewood

Rocky River

Cleveland

I think they could promote and develop the downtown area, West Sixth (Street), West 25th (Street) where there’s lots of young people and business places.

I think they should be working (to build) the new technologies such as power generation. Also, we have a great base here with the medical professions; we should be expanding on those possibilities.

(Cleveland City councilman) Cleveland The one most important thing is we have to believe in ourselves (and) do so with utter and complete confidence because everything else follows.

➤➤ Let us know what you think. Vote in our online poll at www.CrainsCleveland.com.

Develop the Flats East Bank like it was in the ’80s with things like the Riverfest.

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

Praise, don’t pan, teachers’ efforts Port study the first step in ■ I write in response to the editorial of Nov. 15, “Get it?” The underfunding of the State Teachers Retirement System is a direct result of the manipulation, by the very same under-regulated, “free market” forces that are so often championed on your pages. Free market forces led by economic scourges like Lehman Bros., Goldman Sachs and their ilk eroded these funds’ value while simultaneously taking their vig off the top, and, in spite of enormous losses, then reached back for public handouts to ensure their own survival. These pension funds, like the companion PERS funds, were play toys for the Wall Street managers who saw an overfunded opportunity to be seized upon while regulators, and self-appointed watchdogs like Crain’s, stood by as bubbles grew, fund balances shrank and beneficiaries’ futures, earned through years of hard work and dedication, melted away like so many losing betting slips at a dog track. The notion that somehow educators, so many of whom are women who spent 25, 30 or even 35 years in classrooms around the state, struggling against monumental odds to educate hundreds of thousands of children who are shipped off to classrooms with little or no parental guidance, influence or involvement, should now be penalized by the very same populous who benefitted from their commitment is laughable. The people who taught in Ohio for decades could have pursued any number of jobs in the private sector, for more pay, and, sadly, greater recognition from the chattering class of cultural observers like your editorial board, but they chose not to. They chose the most important profession of all. Your paper and every other cultural commentator should be leading precisely the opposite charge to the one you’ve currently put forth. You should be championing these public servants, not burying them. Don’t equate “strapped school districts” to private companies seeking Chapter 11 protection. That’s like saying the widget-making company down the street from the hospital has as much societal value as the Level 1 trauma center inside Metro General. The common good has to

LETTERS be everyone’s responsibility, all the time. Don’t begrudge educators, who earned their level of retirement funding by fulfilling their end of contracts signed decades ago (and which they demand be honored) the right to enforce those contracts. Just because society has sadly allowed unscrupulous private owners and/or shareholders to violate the sanctity of their legal and ethical word doesn’t mean it’s a business model that should be replicated. It’s a strategy you, and objective bystanders like you, should recognize as egregious and obscene, not a viable exit option. Don’t focus on the petty demand that teachers’ unions reduce their memberships’ contribution to medical coverage by 1 or 2 piddling percent. The income gleaned, while important symbolically, would amount to a trifle against school district funding shortfalls. Instead, if you and your editorial board are serious about a campaign for Ohio’s children education and the reform of our educational process, try this. Start a crusade for enforcement of the Ohio Supreme Court rulings on the constitutionality of our current funding models. Be relentless. Challenge business leaders, other media outlets, politicians, school board leaders, and, yes, of course, teachers’ unions, to rally around a single, common cause: revamping our disastrous funding model. None of these groups has anything to lose, beyond what they’re currently losing, and much to gain from a more fair, sane funding process. And a true coalition of these disparate groups, organized by you and your media peers, could drive such a sea change. I cite Cuyahoga County’s recent political overhaul as empirical evidence that such a plan could work. But in the meantime, STOP blaming teachers for educational shortfalls. Schools should be palaces. Teachers should all be overpaid. It should be the hardest job to get and the most valued of all positions. We should elevate education, especially public education, to the level of merit it deserves as the best vehicle for

creating success, regardless of economic station or class, the world has ever seen. You know that’s how you think when your own kids are the focus. Do it now, because someone else’s kids are just as important. Thomas E. Harkness Jr. Bay Village

Rail project is wasteful ■ Thank you to Brian Tucker for the honest approach in his Nov. 15 “From The Publisher” column, “Rail system fight is a road to nowhere.” Mr. Tucker is right on target with his words related to the proposed “high speed train” project in Ohio. I also applaud our incoming governor for nipping this in the bud. Who would ride a train from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati with a 79 mph top speed, and where would you go when you got there? And, other than initial construction, what jobs would be created? The answer is very few jobs and just a handful of passengers who might choose not to drive there more efficiently in a car on I-71. What a perfect example of government waste that would have been, and would have continued to be, as we subsidized this boondoggle year after year.

developing new strategy By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com

Maritime businesses on the Lake Erie-Cuyahoga River waterfront employ 2,000 people directly and more than 10,000 jobs indirectly are related to shipping activities within the Cleveland harbor, according to an economic impact study commissioned by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority. John Martin of Martin Associates, a maritime industry consultant in Lancaster, Pa., a maritime industry consultant, discussed the economic impact of the Port of Cleveland on the region at a Port Authority board meeting last week. It was the first of what is expected to be several sessions over the next few months that will shape a new strategic plan for the Port Authority, which aims to expand Great Lakes and international shipping through the Port of Cleveland. “We want to understand where we’ve been as a port, where we are today and where we should be

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headed,” said Will Friedman, the Port Authority’s CEO. “We want to make smart business decisions, be more self-sufficient and be an even stronger catalyst for jobs and business attraction.” The Port Authority is regrouping after years of neglecting its role as a promoter of shipping. Instead, it focused on expanding its development finance role and on plans for moving its dock facilities, an initiative abandoned earlier this year. The agency recently hired David S. Gutheil, previously director of strategic accounts for NYK Logistics (Americas) Inc., to be its vice president, maritime and logistics. He will be responsible for managing the docks and marketing the Port of Cleveland to international shipping firms and cargo shippers. Shipping through the docks along the lake and river now is comprised chiefly of bulk commodities, Mr. Martin said. About half the movement of those commodities onto the docks is iron ore destined for the ArcelorMittal steel mill. ■

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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GOING PLACES

TAX LIENS

JOB CHANGES

MARKETING

FINANCE

HOME TEAM MARKETING: Cheryl Roche to account supervisor; Bryan Simmerly to sales assistant; Eamon Fitzpatrick to associate account supervisor.

HUNTINGTON BANK: Patrick Paoletta and Steve Gareau to vice presidents, senior commercial relationship managers.

FINANCIAL SERVICE 212 CAPITAL GROUP: Kharrine Shinaul to financial adviser.

HEALTH CARE SOUTHWEST GENERAL: Brad Rauh to executive director of physician strategies. SOUTHWEST GENERAL MEDICAL GROUP INC.: Dr. William K. Hahn Jr. to Women’s Health practice.

WYSE: Jody Dana to associate creative director; Derek Hannah to interactive producer; Krista Beyer to media buyer and online specialist; Jeff Nomina to media planner; Sandi Hensel to account assistant.

REAL ESTATE

ROBERT J. FEDOR ESQ LLC: Michael T. Arnold to associate.

MANUFACTURING

SERVICE

LIBRA INDUSTRIES: David Allen to director of engineering; Greg Garwood to director of supply chain.

TODAY’S BUSINESS PRODUCTS: Patricia Kilbane to sales manager.

OURPET’S CO.: Rochelle Hartigan to director of marketing; Christie Bobosik to inside sales support. WALLOVER OIL CO.: Eric Kielts to president.

Hartigan

Bobosik

Kielts

OPTIEM LLC: Olivia Szilagyi and Andrew LaMar to assistant account executives; Jennifer Huscroft to account executive.

BLACKROCK PARTNERS: Jon Mavrakis and Nick Petrakis to co-founders; Nicholas A. Zarnas to officer.

LEGAL

NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

BOARDS BIGGESTDONATIONEVER LLC: Justin Boggs to president; Dan Cadesky to secretary; Bill Mann to treasurer.

The Internal Revenue Service filed tax liens against the following businesses in the Cuyahoga County Recorder’s Office. The IRS files a tax lien — a public notice to creditors that the government has a claim against a company’s property — to protect the interests of the federal government. Liens reported here are $5,000 and higher. Dates listed are the dates the documents were filed in the Recorder’s Office.

LIENS FILED Roche

Simmerly

Fitzpatrick

AWARDS DIABETES ASSOCIATION OF GREATER CLEVELAND: Dr. Patrick Catalano (Case Western Reserve University/MetroHealth Medical Center) received the Honorary Director of the Year Award; Dr. Douglas Rogers (Cleveland Clinic) received the Director of the Year Award; Dr. Karen Horowitz Kahn (University Hospital Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine) received the Board Leadership Development Award.

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

Menber Corp. Pizza Pan 15240 Trails Landing, Strongsville ID: 20-3870400 Date filed: Sept. 23, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $8,500 Jay-Bridge Foods Inc. 1822 W. 25th St., Cleveland ID: 34-1772419 Date filed: Sept. 13, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $8,071 Town Fryer Inc. 3859 Superior Ave. E., Cleveland ID: 03-0542983 Date filed: Sept. 23, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding, unemployment Amount: $6,999 Five Star Landscaping 31854 Sedgefield Oval, Solon ID: 34-1654786 Date filed: Sept. 23, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $6,957 Tavern Concepts Inc. 9387 W. Sprague Road, North Royalton ID: 34-1896521 Date filed: Sept. 2, 2010 Type: Unemployment

Amount: $6,840 Dr. Jerome N. Golub Pearlview Family Dental Inc. 4194 Pearl Road, Cleveland ID: 34-1845830 Date filed: Sept. 2, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $6,762 KNM Enterprises Corp. 6996 Donna Rae Drive, Seven Hills ID: 20-0774448 Date filed: Sept. 23, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $6,689 Word Childcare Center 18909 S. Miles Road, Suite 1, Warrensville Heights ID: 56-2423107 Date filed: Sept. 8, 2010 Type: Return of organization exempt from income tax Amount: $6,474 Debt Advocacy Center LLC 2344 Canal Road, Cleveland ID: 61-1545503 Date filed: Sept. 23, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding, unemployment Amount: $6,241 Kids Corner Inc. 3749 E. 142nd St., Cleveland ID: 26-0385951 Date filed: Sept. 23, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $5,867 Borowski Enterprises Inc. 5731 Turney Road, Garfield Heights ID: 26-3319420 Date filed: Sept. 28, 2010 Type: Employer’s withholding, unemployment Amount: $5,634

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

NICK B E RT R A M r e g i o n a l g e n e ra l manager Wal-Mart

- 31 -

N B

en Bebenroth grew up in Strongsville relishing the experiences of a neighbor’s farm, whether it was foraging in the fields or throwing apples at swarms of unwanted insects. The bounty of the outdoors has inspired Mr. Bebenroth’s journey to his current position as founder and chef of Spice of Life Catering Co. The company sources 95% of its ingredients from small family farms practicing sustainable forms of agriculture within a 100-mile radius of Cleveland and serves parties that range from a few to 500. “Not that long ago, I had to convince people why they should be eating this way,” Mr. Bebenroth said. “Now, I’m turning away business if I can’t meet the standards they require,” such as catering two weddings in one day, which would stress local farmers, he said. The chef founded Spice of Life as a side business in 2003 and officially launched the business in 2006, when the company earned $90,000 in sales. In 2007, Mr. Bebenroth partnered with Cleveland-based

BEN BEBENROTH fo u n d e r a n d c h e f Spice of Life Catering Co.

- 33 Marigold Catering Co. to share resources, though Marigold still operates as a separate entity. Spice of Life is on pace to do $450,000 in sales this year. And since its inception, Spice of Life has peppered the surrounding farming community with more than $215,000 in local food purchases, with about $115,000 of that in 2010. “We have opportunities we haven’t even investigated,” he said. Mr. Bebenroth also has become an advocate for consuming locally sourced foods and practicing sustainable farming practices. He has translated this passion into his Plated

Landscapes — a traveling dining concept that incorporates onsite urban garden or Northeast Ohio farm ingredients into its dishes. “I think the future of the company is exciting as more people care about the farm-to-table movement,” said Jess Andjeski, Spice of Life Catering event planner. Mr. Bebenroth’s résumé includes Charleston Chops in South Carolina and Parker’s American Bistro, which was in Ohio City but has closed. “I caught fire at Chops and was able to experiment with all sorts of ingredients,” he said. “But I perfected the fundamentals and learned about restraint and discipline at Parker’s.” Mr. Bebenroth also has served on a number of panels that include the city of Cleveland’s Local Foods Coalition, Old Trail School Local Foods Advisory Panel and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association’s Event Steering Committee. Mr. Bebenroth lives in Broadview Heights with his wife, Jackie, and their two children: Burke, 2, and Sydney, 4. — Kathy Ames Carr

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ick Bertram remembers the moment when his perception of Wal-Mart was changed. He had taken a part-time job with the retailer while working his way through Eastern Kentucky University, and found himself in the less-than-glamorous position of spending his Friday nights stocking toilet paper. Of one particularly busy shift, Mr. Bertram recalled: “I’m working really hard and fast, and the second-in-command of the store,

Mark, came over and started stocking with me. I found that to be foreign; I didn’t think bosses did that.” Seeing a higher-up willing to pitch in on the floor made an impression on Mr. Bertram, who, at just 31 years old, became one of Wal-Mart’s 47 regional general

TO R R E Y B L AC K BU R N

ot that long ago, Torrey Blackburn ran into a former classmate who asked what he was doing these days. When Mr. Blackburn replied that he was selling wheels and hubcaps, the classmate responded incredulously, “You’ve been doing that forever!” Well, not forever; but you’d still be hard-pressed to find many 35-year-olds with a quarter-century’s experience in their business. Torrey and his older brother Jim got their start as kids when their father, Jim Blackburn Sr., began collecting wheel covers from the sides of the roads he traveled as an Archway cookie salesman. The boys would scrub the covers clean, then join Dad on the weekends, selling them at local flea markets. Eventually, the Blackburns

opened a 1,200square-foot retail store near Interstate 271 and state Route 82 in Macedonia. This summer, Torrey and his brother — equal partners in the business after buying it a decade ago from their father — moved Blackburn’s Hubcap & Wheel into its new, 95,000-squarefoot headquarters. Blackburn’s sold 136,000 wheels in 2009, and the company has seen double-digit growth for the past 10 years. “It’s evolved into this because he has the knowledge that he’s gained by 20 years in the business and knowing the product and growing up with it,” Jim Blackburn Sr. said. Torrey graduated from Nordonia High School in 1994, and as Blackburn’s business began moving toward a commercial focus, serving local auto service centers and repair shops, he and his brother

par tner Blackburn's Hubcap & Wheel

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managers earlier this year. Mr. Bertram’s territory covers every Ohio Wal-Mart north of Columbus: a $4 billion-per-year, 57-store region encompassing 17,000 employees. “That (manager’s help) caused me to research the company a lot more,” recalled Mr. Bertram, who wound up interning with the company during his senior year at Eastern Kentucky. Eventually, he made what some might consider a surprising decision: “I had three job offers at the end of college — vice president at a bank, an assistant to a university dean and an assistant manager at Wal-Mart. I went with the one that paid the least and had the least impressive title.” And so Mr. Bertram found himself back at that store where he’d once stocked toilet paper on Friday nights, taking the first major step on a path that would lead him to store management, jobs in human

resources and operations support. His experience also included a stint at the Wal-Mart home offices in Bentonville, Ark., and a position in Cincinnati that led to his February 2010 promotion to regional general manager. As for Mark Hunsucker, the man whose help that night in the paper goods section gave Mr. Bertram cause to reconsider the retailer as a long-term career, he’s not surprised at the quick success of his former employee. “I knew from the first time I met him that he was a natural-born leader, and that he was going to do great things with Wal-Mart or whatever company he chose to go with,” recalled Mr. Hunsucker, a 29-year Wal-Mart veteran who’s now the general manager of Wal-Mart in Lexington, Ky. “He cares, he wants to lead, and he wants to listen.” Mr. Bertram and his wife Jennifer have a 6-month-old son, Donovan. — John Booth

could see a seismic shift ahead. “We told my dad, ‘The future’s in wheels,’” Torrey recalled. “Dad said, ‘Well, help me figure out how to take it to the next level.’” They did, adding regional and then national chain customers to their roster and offering national and international delivery. Now, less than 5% of Blackburn’s business comes through retail sales, and since 2008, the company has added to its growth through the purchase of seven competitors. Torrey still says he and his brother

are “ground-level guys,” and walking through the building, he points to storage units they installed and walls they put in themselves. And, he noted, when employees cleaning wheels talk about how hard the work is, Torrey is quick to recall the years he spent doing the same thing: “I tell them, ‘You could start scrubbing from now until forever, and you’d never catch up with me.’” Mr. Blackburn and his wife Aubrey have been married 11 years and have twin daughters. — John Booth

AMY CASEY project coordinator ow n e r Reinberger Amy Casey Galleries at Painting the Cleveland - 34 Institute of Art

my Casey jokes that her middle school guidance counselor was in a hurry the day he suggested she take art, that he seemed like he wanted to get to lunch. If Miss Casey’s eventual accomplishments are any indication of how that gentleman worked best, hopefully he gave all subsequent advice on such a whim. The Cleveland Institute of Art project coordinator and accom-

plished painter’s work, honed first at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts in Erie, Pa., then at CIA, has been featured at prestigious galleries across the country. “Art was a clear path for me to follow, eventually,” said Miss Casey, a 1999 CIA graduate who now supplements her painting career by assisting with show design and execution in CIA’s Reinberger Galleries. Miss Casey has a studio in Tremont,

F-3

but she nearly settled in Chicago. She moved there after graduating from CIA, but fell prey to a friend’s pleas for help in running a business here. When she moved back, her friend abruptly sold the business. “I needed a job,” she said with a chuckle, so she called CIA and has worked there in some capacity since. Grafton Nunes is glad she made the call. Mr. Nunes, who nominated Miss Casey for this honor, was selected as CIA president in March. “One thing I noticed was voltage,” Mr. Nunes said. “You develop an instinct, and she’s present and engaged. There’s no substitute for that. She’s had terrific exposure, been reviewed by major publications, and we are very proud of her.” Miss Casey describes her art as “landscapes without land,” with depictions of houses on stilts or hanging over cities the norm. She’s been featured in solo exhibitions at the Michael Rosenthal Gallery in San Francisco (this summer), the POV Evolving Gallery in Los Angeles (2008 and last month), Zg Gallery in Chicago (2007 and 2009) and in Cleveland and Lakewood. In addition, she was sponsored this summer by the Ohio Arts Council for a residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass.; the council sponsors one artist and one writer per year. Last year, she won the Cleveland Arts Prize for Emerging Artist, which includes a $5,000 award. “That’s a really distinguished honor,” Mr. Nunes said, “And there are a lot of people who want to be in those shows.” — Joel Hammond

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M AT T H E W C OX counsel Tucker Ellis & West LLP

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T FIONA CHAMBERS p a r t n e r, t a x Deloitte & Touche LLP

ypically, lawyers who are as savvy as attorney Matthew Cox have worked nearly as many years as he’s been alive, according to a leader at his law firm. “Matt is one of those people with the unbelievable ability to get things done,” said Joe Morford, managing partner of Tucker, Ellis & West LLP. “He knows how to put people together to get things accomplished.” Mr. Cox, 37, joined the firm’s Cleveland office in 2005 and has helped build a public law and finance practice group that didn’t exist five years ago. The practice,

which does corporate lobbying, now has 15 clients and does work for more than 10 state agencies, Mr. Cox said. Mr. Cox’s first love was politics, and his experience in that arena, including managing campaigns at the county and state levels, has afforded him connections and a working knowl-

KEN DAW S O N

- 38 -

ome people climb a ladder to success, but Fiona Chambers walked a balance beam to get there. At 38, she’s near the top of her profession as partner in charge of the tax department for Deloitte. She also has managed to get the heavy lifting done at home, raising three kids and actually having a life along the way. None of the work is done yet. Her children — Liam, 6; Ailish, 8; and Clare, 9 — all are in school but are far from leaving the nest. But Ms. Chambers seems to have a found a balance that allows her to work hard and still devote herself to her family. “I don’t know what people did before e-mail and BlackBerrys,” she jokes. “They allow me to get a lot of work done without being stuck at the office.” Ms. Chambers runs a 60-person office that, though smaller than Deloitte’s audit department, still represents the core of the firm’s business. She’s the first female partner to run the department, an achievement she credits to good mentors, her own drive not to disappoint others and a coachable personality that knows how to listen as well as lead. “I’ve had great mentors here, like (managing partner) Pat Mullin and (her predecessor in charge of tax) Chris Chizmar,” Ms. Chambers said. “I think throughout my career they’ve had more confidence in me than I had in myself. … And I’m motivated by not disappointing people.” Count Mr. Mullin among those she has not disappointed. “I always thought Fiona would be a star performer even before she knew it, because she not only had great technical skills but an ability to make others around her feel trusted and valued,” he said. “She has always exceeded my expectations in all the years that I have worked with her.” When she’s not at work, she’s usually at home with her kids and her husband, Brian Chambers, whose family owns Chambers Funeral Homes in Cleveland. Ms. Chambers and her husband also enjoy entertaining friends. “They call us ‘Death and Taxes,’” she jokes. “Any time you want a good time, just give us a call.” — Dan Shingler

edge of the system, he said. While attending Cleveland-Marshall College of Law — where he earned his law degree in 2000 — Mr. Cox was involved with politics for the Republican Party. In 2001, he worked for the state auditor’s office, and in 2003, he worked as senior deputy attorney general in the office

level account representative, reaching account executive status in 18 months. Within three years of joining the company, Mr. Dawson was running the volunteer recruitment division. His climb through the InfoCision ranks landed him in the CMO spot in November 2006. “Ken has done an outstanding job leading the marketing efforts of all 10 InfoCision divisions,” InfoCision president and CEO Carl Albright said. “He has been a driving force in our transition from a teleservices company in the nonprofit and political sectors to a full-service

direct marketing company serving a wide array of businesses.” Mr. Dawson, though, also has looked beyond his marketing duties and tried to maintain a corporate culture of encouragement and development even as the company has grown to roughly 4,000 employees. He teaches internal college-style courses on being a better account representative, for example, and about six years ago started a development program he calls “The Marketer.” The Marketer involves monthly meetings and team problemsolving competitions — Mr. Dawson likens it to television’s “The Apprentice” — giving employees a chance to see how their co-workers approach ideas. Four years ago, Mr. Dawson also developed a mentoring program matching up every entry-level marketing employee with a seniorlevel marketer. Mr. Dawson and his wife, Stephanie, have been married 14 years and have two daughters: 6year-old Marissa and 4-year-old Courtney. — John Booth

“If you step back, your competitors are always doing something,” Mr. Felice added. “You’ve either done something to make yourself better, or your competitors have done something to pass you up.” A former college football player, Mr. Felice admits he’s “very competitive.” Aggressive as he can be, however, he speaks humbly. “Any success I’ve had professionally has been directly attributable to the

individuals around me,” he said. “I just sincerely appreciate the talent and time that has been taken with me by other partners (and) managers.” Now he pays it forward, mentoring others and leading in-house training programs. Mr. Felice, a graduate of John Carroll University, lives in Aurora with his wife, Danielle, and their four children. — Michelle Park

c h i e f m a r ke t i n g officer InfoCision

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en Dawson, 38-year-old chief marketing officer of call center company InfoCision, still puts his past missteps to good use. As a key part of the entry-level internal development classes he teaches, Mr. Dawson shares his own new-employee difficulties firsthand. “I sit there for three or four hours and give them examples of mistakes I made,” he said. “I’ve been afforded

the opportunity to grow at this company — and they will as well.” Self-described as “local, through and through,” Mr. Dawson was born and raised in Springfield Township in southern Summit County, and he worked at a local grocery store from age 16 until a year after earning his business degree from Kent State University. In May 1997, he joined InfoCision, which is based in Bath, as an entry-

of then-attorney general Jim Petro. “I think all of the experiences taught me that if you can follow through on your commitments and you’re able to manage a process to achieve a result, that you can be successful,” Mr. Cox said. Today, Mr. Cox remains involved in politics in certain ways, most recently managing the State Issue 1 campaign for the Ohio Third Frontier program, the focus of which is creating new technology-based companies, products and jobs. Voters approved the program’s renewal by a margin of 60% last May, something Mr. Cox called “pretty rewarding.” Mr. Cox lives in Avon with his wife, Diane, and their 3-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. He is vice chairman of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cleveland, for which he has organized teams that have raised tens of thousands of dollars. His involvement with the organization is personal: His son, who has disabilities, receives therapy there. — Michelle Park

C H R I S TO P H E R FELICE

said he has been impressed with Mr. Felice’s maturity, notably during stressful times. One prominent example of such a moment is a period from late 2007 to early 2008 when Maloney + Novotny split from another company. “He’s aggressive when he needs to be,” Mr. Chudyk said. “He zealously represents and handles clients. “I think he really cares,” Mr. Chudyk added. “He really cares about his clients, about his profession, about his partners and about his colleagues and the staff, and that comes through in all of his performance.” In his seventh year as chair of Maloney + Novotny’s commercial and industrial group, Mr. Felice shoulders administrative duties in addition to serving clients. The greatest challenge, Mr. Felice said, is working to find ways the firm can benefit its clients every day. “You either get better or worse,” he said. “You never stay the same.

shareholder Maloney + Novotny LLC

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hris Felice chose to study accounting because his father recommended it. Now 36, Mr. Felice says he has stuck with the profession — and enjoys going to work every day — because it challenges him to help others achieve their goals. Right after he graduated college in 1996, Mr. Felice began his career with Hausser + Taylor, which in 2007 changed its name to Maloney + Novotny LLC. He became a shareholder at the accounting firm in 2009. Pete Chudyk cast one of the votes that promoted Mr. Felice. Mr. Chudyk, a shareholder since 1985,

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S H AU L F L A N K vice president o f o p e ra t i o n s Progressive Quality Care

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BETSY FIGGIE CEO Your CFO Resource

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t’s not that Betsy Figgie didn’t like banking and finance. Indeed, she says, “My best skills were banking.” But her career at National City Bank didn’t tap into her creative, entrepreneurial and philanthropic sides. “I figured out what made me happy at 33,” she said. “I decided I wanted to work with nonprofits.” So she created Your CFO Resource, her consulting practice that helps nonprofit organizations put together financing. “(Nonprofit organizations) want someone who can talk the talk with banks,” she said. Natalie Friedl needed that kind of person several years ago when she was development director for Community Assessment

and Treatment Services in Cleveland. She said she had made several attempts to put together financing for a women’s residential treatment facility but was rejected by banks. That’s when Ms. Friedl, now development director of Recovery Resources, an outpatient substance abuse treatment service, found Ms. Figgie, who put together a financing plan that won the bank’s OK. Ms. Figgie, a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, spent 12 years with National City Bank before starting her firm. In the five years she’s been on her own, Ms. Figgie has put together capital financing packages for organizations such as Cleveland Public Theatre, the Gordon Square Arts District and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Ms. Figgie is beginning to take her practice national but she wants more than that. “I still want to start my own nonprofit,” she said. “A program that would help students (who can’t afford them) get school supplies.” Ms. Figgie lives in Geauga County with her husband and daughter. — Jay Miller

s Shaul Flank strolls through The Avenue, the latest addition to his family-owned chain of nursing homes, he proudly points out the features he says set apart from the competition the homes of Progressive Quality Care Companies. A hotel-like atmosphere and approach to service. Private rooms with touches of home — like window seats, mini-fridges and flat-screen TVs. A library, business center and Wi-Fi, all prized by short-term rehab patients who often are still working. But Mr. Flank’s most effective strategy for keeping residents of Progressive’s nursing homes happy? It’s through their taste buds. “I think if people are happy with their food, they end up being pretty happy people,” laughed Mr. Flank, chief operating officer and co-owner of Progressive, with his brother and brother-in-law. “They get a menu just like a restaurant. They have a server who comes to them. We want people to feel this is like a hotel with health care.” That pampering approach is modeled after the work of two previous Flank generations. Progressive Quality Care was founded in the 1970s by Mr. Flank’s grandparents. Mr. Flank, who spent part of his childhood in Israel, studied electrical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, then began his career as an officer and engineer in the Israeli Air Force.

“I decided I wasn’t necessarily thrilled with engineering,” he said. He returned to the United States, got his MBA and joined the family business in 2000. Under Mr. Flank’s watch, the company has grown from two homes to eight in Massillon, Wooster, Louisville, Brunswick, New Philadelphia, Parma, Akron and — with the recent opening of The Avenue — Warrensville Heights. He oversees more than 1,000 full-time and part-time employees in six counties, as well as total annual revenues of $60 million to $70 million. Mr. Flank and his wife, Tamar, live in Beachwood and have four children, ages 8 to 1. “If you’ve seen him with his family, he’s almost the same with the residents,” said Alicia Ponyicki, executive director at Progressiveowned Parma Care Center. “He’s very nurturing, almost paternal.” — Jennifer Keirn

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W I L L I A M G A L L AG H E R ow n e r Suntan Supply and commercial real estate investments

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illiam Gallagher grew up as one of 13 kids, hustling to make extra money â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from selling candy to schoolmates to manning the family ice cream stand â&#x20AC;&#x201D;so he could buy what he wanted as a child. Also important to his current career path was the time and guidance of older brother Martin Gallagher, who gave him early jobs and brought him in as a partner when Martin Gallagher in 1994 launched Suntan Supply using their shared background selling lamps and tanning booths. Today, Suntan Supply, a seasonal business, employs an average of 100 people in Avon and St. Cloud,

Minn. Annual sales are about $20 million for tanning equipment and associated lotions. However, that is only part of the story. Another venture that Bill Gallagher manages trains new tanning operators. Two other firms â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Commercial Interior Construction Services and Sunwalls â&#x20AC;&#x201D; employ two crews with a total of 20 people, one that builds retail displays in Avon and the other that remodels stores for new tanning operators and other retailers. Bill Gallagher describes his life as one of plunging into an area and finding a way to make it go â&#x20AC;&#x201D; something aided by an extended family with 90 cousins and built-in

NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

expertise. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My wife, (Joy), will tell you my work is my fun,â&#x20AC;? Bill Gallagher said. Then there are the brothersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; realty ventures. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We started with my brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kitchen table as storage space. Then his garage. Then we built a pole barn,â&#x20AC;? Bill Gallagher recalled of the growth that eventually led to a 45,000-square-foot building in Avon. First, though, there was a big detour. Needing more space for Suntan Supply in 1999, Bill Gallagher went alone to a federal marshalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sale to buy for $75,000 a foreclosed, dilapidated building at 3800 Lakeside Ave. in Cleveland. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was surprised we went out on the courthouse steps for the sale,â&#x20AC;? Bill Gallagher said. Ownership of two more structures for investments followed nearby in Clevelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s St. Clair-Superior area. Cory Riordan, executive director of the St. Clair Superior Development Corp., said Bill Gallagher is â&#x20AC;&#x153;passionate about what he does, smart, and able to find value where others do not.â&#x20AC;? Mr. Riordan said the Gallaghers â&#x20AC;&#x153;improved their corner of the world for us. Bringing tenants into their buildings has tremendous upside for us.â&#x20AC;? Mr. Riordan does not begrudge Suntan Supply its move to Avon, saying the business decision was outweighed by their continuing area role. The father of three children under 9, Bill Gallagher is on the board at Avon Montessori School and coaches football and other sports in Avon Lake. Leisure time now goes to his children, the family pool and enjoying time on Kelleys Island. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want to help my kids enjoy their childhood, and not be like me when I was 12 and my aspirations were to make money.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Stan Bullard

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JOSEPH GREULICH managing par tner Crescendo Commercial Realty LLC and Crescendo Commercial Properties LLC

- 37 -

oseph Greulich manages day-today operations of Crescendo, a real estate consulting company and brokerage that has grown to nine employees â&#x20AC;&#x201D; six are producers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; despite its founding as the real estate downturn hit in 2008. He also provides oversight to a property ownership affiliate that owns a portfolio valued at about $50 million. He and longtime business partner Ted Barr have assembled the portfolio since 2001. Mr. Greulich is a beneficiary of grasping a new trend in the property business early on. The Sagamore Hills native graduated from the University of Akron and was recruited by Quadres Corp., one of the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s early promoters of providing outsourced

LEIGH HELLNER par tner Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

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i Huynh only has been a Clevelander since 2001, but over the nine years heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been here, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s managed to devote more of his heart to rejuvenating the city than some people who have been here their entire lives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I feel that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been very fortunate in my life, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just me wanting to give back,â&#x20AC;? said Mr. Huynh, who moved to Northeast Ohio from North Carolina. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheesy, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that burning thing in me that I want to go out and help. Especially in Cleveland, there are a lot of things we need help with.â&#x20AC;? Mr. Huynhâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day job is as an operations manager for clinical innovations at the Cleveland Clinicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart and vascular institute, but outside of work, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got his nose in several volunteer organizations .

real estate services and consulting for corporations on a fee basis instead of commissions. He pursued that area of practice through subsequent jobs before co-founding Crescendo with Mr. Barr. In those jobs, he worked on real estate matters for Progressive Corp., FirstEnergy Corp. and the Cleveland Clinic, among others. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What a great experience for a kid just out of college,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Greulich said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I got to work directly with executives at major corporations. I fell in love with the consulting side of the business and helping corporations make good business decisions.â&#x20AC;? Eric Friedman, a principal at Deloitte Consultingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cleveland

hen Leigh Hellner returned home to Cleveland in 2006, she was intensely recruited by local law firms before choosing to join a boutique with a huge real estate practice, Kahn Kleinman, now part of Taft Stettinius. She brought with her experience at a major New York law firm, Latham & Watkins, as well as a Chicago firm plus the pedigree of a University of

VI HUYNH o p e ra t i o n s manager Cleveland Clinic

- 33 A lot of his drive, he said, can be attributed to the Cleveland Bridge Builders Program, which is designed to help young professionals hone their leadership skills and become community leaders. It helped him build a network and show him that he could make a difference in the community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cleveland is the land of opportunity,â&#x20AC;? said Mr. Huynh, whose family

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MELISSA K A DA R

from the ground up how research worked,” and eventually worked there as a research administrator overseeing the Clinic’s research infrastructure. In June, Ms. Kadar joined Clinical Research Management Inc., a contract research organization in Hinckley with about $40 million in annual revenue, as director of clinical solutions — a job in which she oversees personnel and operations. “Learning more — that’s the

director of clinical solutions Clinical Research Management Inc.

thing that’s interesting about research. I can get bored very easily, but I think research is just so interesting,” Ms. Kadar said. Staci Langford, a business development associate at Clinical Research Management, said she’s impressed with the jovial atmosphere Ms. Kadar brings the office, particularly after seemingly endless staff meetings. For example, Ms. Langford said, Ms. Kadar will ask the staff to answer some sort of

question like “What’s your most embarrassing moment?” Ms. Kadar lives in Strongsville with her husband, Adam, and two children, Kira and Mia. When she’s not working or spending time with her daughters, Ms. Kadar takes Latin and ballroom dancing classes, where she occasionally drags her husband along. “He’s not too happy about that,” she joked. — Timothy Magaw

- 34 -

hen Melissa Kadar finished college in 1999, she knew she wanted to work in the health care industry, but she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly she wanted to do. She had dabbled in nursing, but eventually graduated with a general health studies degree with a minor

in marketing from Youngstown State University. She found her calling in clinical research. She started as an entrylevel data coordinator at the Cleveland Clinic, where she “got to see

office, where Mr. Greulich managed multiple accounts, said Mr. Greulich’s “analytical skills were unusually acute.” “When Joe did the numbers, I knew I could trust them,” he said. For Mr. Greulich, leaving a prized job at Deloitte to go into business with Mr. Barr in 2001 was difficult. At the time, the first of his two boys was a newborn. He told his wife, Jennifer, that if he did not try to start a

firm then, he never would. Outside his office at Crescendo’s Jefferson Office Park in Middleburg Heights, Mr. Greulich’s vehicle is not the real estate standardissue BMW but a diesel-equipped Dodge truck. That helps him pursue his love of boating with his family and carry equipment for Cub Scouts and coaching his boys’ baseball teams in Bath Township. — Stan Bullard

Pennsylvania law degree and a Northwestern University undergraduate degree. Real estate is the only area she has worked in, she said, because she fell in love with it as a Chicago summer associate. “I love contract law and transactional work,” Ms. Hellner said. “I like the tangible effect of seeing things built. Greenfield development is great, but I particularly like urban redevelopment. To take a blighted area and turn it into an asset for a city is something special.” Ms. Hellner works with a “who’s who” of local developers, such as Weston of Warrensville Heights and MRN of Cleveland. She was on the legal team for First Interstate Properties Inc. as it redeveloped the site of an old steel mill into the Steelyard Commons shopping center. She also represented Case Western Reserve University in MRN’s Uptown Development, a mixed-use complex under construction at University Circle. Adapting to Cleveland real estate developers as clients was a switch from her lender-oriented work in

New York City for clients such as Lehman Bros. A mentor here, Bruce Gaynor, a Taft Stettinius partner who recruited Ms. Hellner when he headed Kahn Kleinman’s real estate practice, describes Ms. Hellner as “poised and commanding respect.” “She more than holds her own in a room full of gray hairs,” he said. Hers is a proverbial Northeast Ohio story. Ms. Hellner and her lawyer husband, Dan, decided to leave New York City to return to this area in order to raise a family here and make more time for themselves and their children than New York white-shoe practices afforded. “My mother smelled blood in the water and said she would help with our children, and she picks them up from school to this day,” Ms. Hellner said of her two young children. Ms. Hellner grew up on a dairy farm in Wellington, which she saw as a difficult lifestyle she sought to escape. Now, as a lawyer with a home in Shaker Heights, her practice connects her once more with the land in a very different way. — Stan Bullard

moved to the United States from Vietnam when he was 3 years old. “In North Carolina, maybe the weather’s better, but they don’t have the re-

sources and the network to get involved as good as the ones in Cleveland. If you want to do something, you can do it here in Cleveland.” For example, Mr. Huynh is president of MotivAsians, Cleveland’s Asian professional organization, and was one of the organizers of the city’s first Asian festival, which he said attracted more than 10,000 people. He also has worked with the United Way, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and HandsOn Northeast Ohio, a group that helps route volunteers to projects in which they’re interested. Molly Hahn, director of managed projects and AmericaCorps VISTA at HandsOn, said Mr. Huynh is “pretty prolific” in terms of what he does. “He wants to be a part of everything,” Ms. Hahn said. “He’s a great leader.” — Timothy Magaw

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N AT H A N K E L LY planning director City of Lakewood

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I M AT T H E W K A L L a s s i s t a n t U. S. a t t o r n ey, major and cyber crimes unit U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio

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atthew Kall always knew this is where he wanted to be. A self-described “ham,” the Syracuse, N.Y., native feeds off the adrenaline rush of the courtroom, a place where competition and performance go hand in hand. So when the opportunity arose to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio, Mr. Kall jumped at it. It’s been a decade since Mr. Kall, now 39, became an assistant U.S. attorney. The first — and “biggest” — case to which he was assigned was the prosecution of former U.S. Rep. James Traficant. Though not the

lead attorney, Mr. Kall worked fulltime for three years investigating the case, meeting dozens of witnesses, poring over boxes of records. Mr. Traficant was convicted of corruption in 2002 and served seven years. Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach called Mr. Kall an “up-and-coming star” prosecutor and an unsung hero of the community. Mr. Kall scratches far more than just the surface of crime, Mr. Dettelbach said. In investigating a recent theft ring case, he said, Mr. Kall pushed on, ultimately discovering through court-approved wire taps and other investigatory tools that what appeared to be a small theft ring was a

multistate crime operation allegedly run by an inmate in a New Jersey prison. The case is pending. “To see things the way Matt Kall sees them at this point in his career is something that’s rare and something that’s important for the community,” Mr. Dettelbach said. The greatest challenge of the job, Mr. Kall said, is never knowing when he has done enough. Anything can happen at trial, he said, noting, “I’ve seen cases I thought were slam-dunk return with not guilty.” The greatest reward is feeling like he’s making a difference in Cleveland — protecting taxpayer money, getting drug dealers off the street. Mr. Kall received his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1996. He lives in Solon with his wife, Naomi, and their two daughters. Most who know him realize he’s a huge Cleveland Indians fan, he said, but a lesser-known fact is that he does recreational woodworking in his basement. Among the things he has built is a desk at his home. — Michelle Park

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t’s not surprising that Nathan Kelly takes the long view about Lakewood. He grew up there, and he and his wife Katie now are raising their three children in the western suburb. His parents and grandparents also called the lakefront community home. And, since January 2008, he has been Lakewood’s director of planning and development. Mr. Kelly’s face lights up as he talks about the challenges of keeping the 99-year-old city young. Redevelopment of existing buildings and residential neighborhoods is the goal, he said, rather than tearing down and starting fresh. Though concerned about filling vacant storefronts, he talks up the $50 million of private development under way on Detroit Avenue. And Mr. Kelly singles out as a highlight the restoration of the Bailey Building at Detroit and Warren roads, a

1920s-era former department store building that has had a 1960s façade stripped off. “We’re not going to be a destination if we look like everything else,” Mr. Kelly said. He expressed concern about the 200 homes a year that are in foreclosure. “Maintaining housing is key for the next 100 years for Lakewood,” he said. He may be proudest of his efforts to encourage collaboration among more than a dozen communities on a program that will allow Lakewood property owners to get low-cost financing for energy-saving upgrades. As chairman of the First Suburbs Development Council, a nonprofit development effort of the inner-ring suburbs, Mr. Kelly played a leading role in creating a special improvement district for the initiative. Dick Clough, a Lakewood resident and marketing professional, said Mr. Kelly “represents a new generation of economic development leaders.” “I was impressed with what he’s done with the city,” Mr. Clough said. Mr. Kelly is a graduate of DePaul University in Chicago. He also is vice chair of the HELP Foundation, a Cleveland nonprofit that provides housing for adults with mental disabilities. The foundation was founded by a group that included his grandmother, who was looking to provide a safe place for an uncle of Mr. Kelly. — Jay Miller

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PAT KILKENNEY vice president of p r o gra m a c q u i s i t i o n a n d exe c u t i ve p r o d u c e r SportsTime Ohio

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espite his travels, Pat Kilkenney always has remembered what it’s like to be an Ohioan. That memory has proven valuable now that he’s back home. Mr. Kilkenney is vice president of programming acquisition and executive producer at SportsTime Ohio, the flagship station of the Cleveland Indians. He left Florida-based Sunshine Network to join

STO, a startup network launched in 2006 and owned by the same Dolan family that owns the Indians. Armed at the outset with only Indians programming, STO now features the Browns, Mid-American Conference, Ohio High School Athletic Association football and basketball championships, outdoors shows and wellknown personalities Bruce Drennan and Chuck Galeti, each of whom has his own talk show. STO president Jim Liberatore, who previously worked at Sunshine Network and knew Mr. Kilkenney through a former colleague there, pitched the STO opportunity as a family business, a grassroots regional sports network. “He’s from here, and that’s important,” Mr. Liberatore said. “We try to address the passion for Ohio sports fans; we wanted someone who understood that.” That appealed to Mr. Kilkenney, a Euclid native and graduate of St. Joseph’s High School and Ashland College. “The mantra was that this was going to be an Ohio network,” Mr. Kilkenney said. Joining STO wasn’t the first time Mr. Kilkenney had returned to the region after leaving. He started his career as an intern at WKYC-TV, Channel 3, in 1992, and a year later became a production assistant. In 1995, he moved to an NBC affiliate in Atlanta, then to Jacksonville, Fla., to work at a film company. He returned in 1999 to work at WKYC when the Browns came back, but in 2003 went to Sunshine Network in Orlando. He said to move up the ladder in TV, being nimble is a way of life; that’s something his wife, Youngstown native Kathleen, has accommodated. “She’s loved the changes of scenery,” he said. Mr. Kilkenney and his wife have two children, Ryan, 9, and Bridget, 7, and live in Concord Township. — Joel Hammond

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R AC H E L L E KING ow n e r a n d s t y l i s t The Studio

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he woman was terminally ill, bedridden and weighed less than 100 pounds when Rachelle King arrived at Malachi House, a hospice home in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, to cut her hair. After a wash, cut and style, the woman’s husband told her she looked beautiful, and she broke into a radiant smile. “The caregiver told me that was the first time she’d smiled all day,” said Ms. King, whose nearby salon The Studio sends weekly volunteers to Malachi House for free haircuts, manicures and companionship. “Everyone feels better when they have nice hair.” When she opened The Studio in March 2007 after co-owning another salon for 10 years in her hometown of Garrettsville, Ms. King also made caring for her employees a hallmark of her business model by offering benefits rarely found in hair salons. “I see hairdressers work for 30 or 40 years and have no retirement and no health benefits. They get to an age where their legs hurt, their hands hurt, and they have no way to take care of themselves,” said Ms. King. “My goal is to empower hairdressers.” To that end, Ms. King picks up 25% of the cost of health insurance for her nine employees and is starting a 401(k) program. She pays for her staff to attend annual out-of-town hair shows and other educational sessions. As a national educator for salon products manufacturer Paul Mitchell, Ms. King also

travels weekly to other area salons to provide training in business management, employee relations and other salon best practices. The Studio also has landed on Elle magazine’s Top 100 Salons list two years in a row. The Studio is on track to see 25% revenue growth this year, and she would like to increase her staff at that location to 15. Ms. King also is eyeing a second Cleveland location which she hopes to open next year. Back at Malachi House, executive director Mary Kay Stahley sees the benefits of Ms. King’s caring way in the faces of her residents every week. “They get a great deal of pleasure out of it. It’s a self-esteem thing,” Ms. Stahley said. “Rachelle is kind and gentle. … I think she’d do anything for anyone.” — Jennifer Keirn

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BRENT LESLIE chief financial officer ClevelandCuyahoga County Port Authority

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t’s no wonder Brent Leslie hasn’t been able to find much time for reading or golf. Not only is he the chief financial officer of the ClevelandCuyahoga County Port Authority — a job that requires him to oversee both the port’s finances and the issuance of bonds for economic

BRIAN M A R I TA managing par tner Ciuni & Panichi Inc.

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rian Marita’s strongest advice to businessmen and businesswomen: Read. The youngest of eight partners with the accounting firm Ciuni & Panichi, Mr. Marita, 38, says he typically reads a couple business-related books a month. He gleans from their pages, he said, good ideas and lessons from other people’s mistakes. Mr. Marita was elected managing partner in January 2009. He oversees a staff of about 60 and the firm’s budget. He serves clients, too, and specializes in the areas of manufacturing, construction and mining. Mr. Marita leads by example, both in the way he works and the way he volunteers in the community, said Jacquelyn Bell, the firm’s human resources coordinator. “He works to communicate with our employees face-to-face,” she said. “You’ll see him walking around the office, talking to anybody — from the bottom level to

development projects — but his duties have grown lately because the port has had to replace several senior officials. Among them was former CEO Adam Wasserman. His very public resignation in November 2009 was the beginning of “a very stressful time” for the port, Mr. Leslie said. And to a large degree it was up to him to help the port get through it. Mr. Leslie spent the next few weeks as the port’s CEO until Peter Raskind was brought on to fill the interim role, and afterward the 33year-old CFO spent seven months helping National City Corp.’s former CEO run the port while searching for a permanent leader. On top of that, Mr. Leslie also has helped fill other roles over the past few years, such working with port tenants who use the agency’s docks, talking to the press and developing relationships with government officials.

the partner level. He does the right thing, and he’s thoughtful about his actions.” Mr. Marita also steps out to talk to young recruits, which is unique for a managing partner to do, Ms. Bell said. Mr. Marita started his career with Ciuni & Panichi 16 years ago as a part-time intern while still a senior at John Carroll University, from which he graduated in 1994. Early on, he thought he’d work in public accounting for some time before moving into management in another field. But, he found he could achieve leadership within accounting. “It’s one of the few careers that, from day one, you’re sitting with business leaders,” he said. Asked about his career goal, Mr. Marita noted the only other people who’ve held the managing partner role were the firm’s founders, Vincent Panichi and Chuck Ciuni. So, he said, he’s less concentrated on getting to the “next level” because “I’m at that level now. “It’s great to be in that role at 38 and looking down that road and saying there’s bigger and better things to do within the same position,” he said. “It’s a challenge.” Mr. Marita, his wife, Mary, and their 5-year-old daughter live in Westlake. He said he enjoys traveling to see how others live. He also volunteers as a member of John Carroll University’s Accounting Advisory Board. — Michelle Park

NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

Mr. Leslie, who joined the port as a project accountant in 2003, said it’s a good thing his wife, Kate, is understanding. She gave birth to their first daughter, Julia, three years ago, just as he was promoted to chief financial officer from controller. Their second daughter, Brynne, was born just after Mr. Wasserman resigned. The Dayton native was hired as a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Washington, D.C., just after graduating with a degree in accounting from Bowling Green State University. While in Washington, he decided to seek out a leadership role in the public sector. It was partly because of Mr. Leslie that the Summit County Port Authority has continued to work with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County port on economic development projects since Mr. Wasserman left, said Chris Burnham, CEO of the Summit County port. Mr. Burn-

SANDRA MADDOCK president and owner Imarc Research

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ham described Mr. Leslie as “reliable” and “quietly effective.” “He was definitely a stabilizing force in the background,” Mr. Burnham said. — Chuck Soder

tedly he began his exploration into the field at a “slightly young age.” Rather, he reached this path through years of hard work and fiscal conservatism, traits that are

steeped in childhood, when the second-oldest of seven siblings needed to take on various side jobs to help out his parents. “My dad learned how to power nap in the Army, and he passed that trait on to me,” Mr. McNulty said. Mr. McNulty is owner of Bier Markt, Bar Cento and Speakeasy, all in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The Market Garden Brewery & Distillery, his fourth venture, is scheduled to open in spring 2011, across the street from the three businesses. His career began at age 11 when he delivered The Plain Dealer every morning for 365 days a year until age 21. During that time, he also tackled various odd jobs after school into the late night, including contracting work and handling produce for the Cleveland Food Co-Op. In 1995, he opened his first restaurant — Café 101 — at Cleveland State University, from which he graduated in 1997. He worked at the restaurant for eight years, describing himself as a gypsy of education while he also pursued his unfinished master’s degree until 2002. During that time, he dabbled in entrepreneurship, interior design, architecture, international business

Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit promoting Hispanic businesses in Cleveland and across Ohio. Her challenge at the chamber: Making sure Hispanic businesses are “ready, capable and qualified” to land work on projects such as Eaton Corp.’s move to Chagrin Highlands and the coming medical merchandise mart, while making sure the chamber’s members are heard when it comes to minority inclusion efforts. Her charge, she

said, is “wealth creation within our membership.” Attempts to reach that goal came amid a major shakeup within the organization, according to board chairman Carlos Fuentes, also director of minority business attraction at Team NEO. The former executive director was relieved, the organization was split into two parts — a 501(c)3 and 501(c)6, serving distinct purposes — and Ms. Mercado used her legal acumen to “uncomplicate” some unfavorable

S A M M C N U LT Y ow n e r Bier Markt, Bar Cento and Speakeasy

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am McNulty did not happen into his position as the owner of a beer bar, cocktail lounge and restaurant solely through “research,” though admit-

nurse by training, Sandra Maddock admittedly didn’t have the most refined business acumen when she started her own clinical research organization in 1999 from the basement of her home. At one point, she remembers breaking down in tears while stuck on the phone for hours trying to figure out a tax issue. “It was a heartache,” she said. “There’s just stuff in the business world I wasn’t prepared for.” But since then, she must have

STEPHANIE MERCADO exe c u t i ve d i r e c t o r Northeast Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

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tephanie Mercado doesn’t shy away from a challenge. In December, she completed a home renovation in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood — that she started by tearing down walls to the studs — in a house that she now shares with infant daughter, Ava. “It’s a great neighborhood, but (home renovation) looks a lot easier on HGTV,” Ms. Mercado said. And since October 2008, she has served as executive director — first on an interim basis for four months — of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic

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done something right because Ms. Maddock has managed to transform Imarc Research from a small, mom-and-pop operation into a company with 17 employees and more than 30 clients. “You’ve got to build people within your organization that can go out there and perform in an exceptional way,” said Ms. Maddock, whose company has worked on more than 100 clinical studies since its inception. “You don’t get that by doing all of the work yourself.” As a nurse, Ms. Maddock said the physical toll of the night shift ultimately pushed her to look at other career paths. She stumbled on an opening for a cardiac research position not knowing much about it, and soon realized she could be just as effective in a research role as she was as a nurse. She eventually became an independent research consultant and ultimately turned that enterprise

into Imarc. Although she’s not always holding a patient’s hand, she’s gratified knowing her work is benefiting future patients. “I still get a lot of satisfaction out of that,” Ms. Maddock noted. John Lehmann, Imarc’s director of business development, said he was struck by Ms. Maddock’s enterprising nature when he joined the organization about a year ago. “I’m just blown away by her overall business savvy and her view of where this company needs to go,” Mr. Lehmann said. “It’s been quite impressive, and I think

that she has a vision of where she wants to go with the entire organization.” Ms. Maddock lives on a farm in Columbia Station with her husband, Harold, and two sons, Luke and John. A farmer, a CEO, a mother, a wife — Ms. Maddock somehow manages to balance it all. One morning, for example, she was in New York City for work and by 4 p.m. she was at home hauling in beans on a tractor. “It’s the greatest way in the world to raise a couple boys,” Ms. Maddock said about farm life. — Timothy Magaw

and finance in Poland and Ireland. Mr. McNulty took a couple years off to travel and contemplate his next steps, financed by his newspaper delivery and real estate portfolio savings. For a while he was a vagabond, drinking his way through various countries that included India, Thailand and Lebanon. “My friends and I were in Beirut and one night we saw what looked like all these camera flashes,” he said. “It turned out we were being bombed by the Israelis. That happened a lot there, so we drank.” He returned to Cleveland and in 2004 opened Bier Markt, followed by Bar Cento in 2007 and Speakeasy in 2009. The Market Garden Brewery & Distillery will seat 700. Eric Wobser, executive director of the Ohio City Near West Development Corp., said Mr. McNulty’s “success has been a huge catalyst for creating the Market District” in Ohio City. “His energy has caused others to want to be a part of this neighborhood,” Mr. Wobser said. Mr. McNulty walks to work from his nearby Ohio City residence. His hobbies include bicycling, traveling and reading “anything I can get my hands on.” — Kathy Ames Carr

positions the chamber was in. The result is a significant increase in member companies, a greater return for those members due to a more structured organization and foundations now looking more favorably upon the chamber. “Previously, we were structured as a social services organization, proving paperwork assistance and accounting basics,” Mr. Fuentes said. “We still do that, but that didn’t help the six-person company looking to grow to $5 million from $2 million. Now we can do that.” Ms. Mercado has drawn on experience gained prior to joining the chamber: While at Fauver, KeyseWalker and Donovan in Elyria, she worked with manufacturing companies in Lorain and Cuyahoga counties on transactional and corporate tax issues. What her privatepractice work didn’t prepare her for is the need to speak up at least more than usual, especially with a constituency clawing for inclusion. Ms. Mercado earned her undergraduate degree at John Carroll and her law degree from ClevelandMarshall College of Law. — Joel Hammond

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PAT R I C K M U L L OY

PAT R I C K MURPHY

exe c u t i ve v i c e president and CFO MDG Medical Inc.

ow n e r a n d p a r t n e r Global Technical Recruiters

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atrick Mulloy always has been quick —with his mind, on a football field and now, quick to rise in the business world. At 38, Mr. Mulloy is chief financial officer for MDG Medical in Aurora, which develops automation products for hospitals and others that work with pharmaceutical drugs. But the oldest son of a West Side plumber didn’t grow up keeping his hands soft and clean. His dad showed him the grittier side of the working world at a young age, he says. “My first job was working for my dad cleaning sewers,” Mr. Mulloy recalled with a little humor. Was that his father’s way of convincing his bright young son to go out and making an easier, better living for himself? “Oh, for sure,” Mr. Mulloy said. “My dad would’ve been the first to tell you there are easier ways to make a living.” It worked. When the St. Edward High School defensive back started thinking about what he was going to do with his life, he always planned to do something a little easier, a little cleaner and a little more profitable than cleaning sewers. He took an aptitude test in high school. “It said you are predestined to be — and I’ll never forget it — either an accountant, a court reporter or a forest ranger,” Mr. Mulloy said. Too fast to spend his life chasing

trees, Mr. Mulloy checked out accounting. He visited a big local firm with his high school classmates, took what accounting classes he could in high school, and it quickly became obvious that it was a good match for him. “It just made sense to me,” he said of the way accounting balances numbers and produces concrete results. Out of college, Mr. Mulloy landed a job at Cleveland-based accounting firm Ernst & Young, where he worked for seven years in the audit department. After that, he figured he had a choice of staying and trying to make partner, or do something else. Although he liked the work and the firm, he decided he wanted to be part of something where he would have a larger role at a single organization. That landed him at MDG, where CEO Mark Saffran called him the “master of reformation” for his role in helping the startup to become an up-and-coming player in the world of pharmaceutical automation. — Dan Shingler

ome may consider Patrick Murphy to be in an enviable position. As president and co-owner of staffing firm Global Technical Recruiters, he’s delivering a high-demand product that’s in short supply — jobs. He’s shepherded his 8-year-old firm through one of the most tumultuous hiring markets ever, and it’s not over yet. Mr. Murphy, driven by a lifelong desire to be an entrepreneur, started the business with his brother, Rob, in 2002 after working at another recruiting firm. “I always wanted to own my own business,” he said. “I like the fast pace of it, how quick the turnaround is from a person coming in to placing them in a job.” In its early years, Global Technical Recruiters’ growth was fueled by a strong economy and a reputation

for providing reliable employees who fit well in their clients’ hourly positions, which range from those in manufacturing and distribution to sales and office administration. By 2007, it had made the Weatherhead 100 list of Northeast Ohio’s fastest-growing companies with five-year growth of 1,700%. Then the recession began. Job seekers were flooding through Mr. Murphy’s door, but his clients’ hiring slowed so significantly that he was forced to lay off some staff. “It forced us to restructure things and make sure we were doing the right things going into 2010,” Mr. Murphy said. “Our employees kept a positive attitude despite that challenge and kept focusing on the things that made them successful.” Keeping employee morale up during difficult times was due in large part to Mr. Murphy’s management style, according to company sales manager Stephanie Baker. “He was very realistic (about the situation.) It is what it is, so what can we do to stay strong?” said Ms. Baker, hired in 2002 as the company’s first employee. “He doesn’t give up. He’s always going after it.” As a result, Global Technical Recruiters bounced back and is experiencing its strongest year yet, on track to reach $10 million in

CHAD ONEY d i r e c t o r o f o p e ra t i o n s Wellman Products Group, a Hawk Corp. company

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hen Chad Oney was growing up, he had one manufacturing boss — his dad, who was an

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autoworker when Chad grew up in the family home in Kettering. Today, Mr. Oney has more than 500 manufacturing workers to deal with, but this time he’s the boss. The Medina plant where Mr. Oney works makes friction products that go into the brakes of large trucks, aircraft and passenger vehicles. In Akron, another 40 workers operate a plant that makes the steel blanks and cores used in Medina and at the other U.S. operations of Wellman Products Group. It’s a familiar environment for Mr. Oney. “That’s kind of the history of my family — everyone was in automo-

revenue this year. From its lowest point placing 10 to 20 workers a week last summer, the company now places 50 to 80 weekly from its offices in Cleveland, Elyria and Mayfield Heights. Mr. Murphy employs 20, including wife Kendra, the company’s marketing director. — Jennifer Keirn

tive,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of college degrees flying around, but my Dad worked in automotive for 30 years.” After spending much of his childhood taking apart the family’s possessions — and sometimes successfully reassembling them — Mr. Oney got a degree in engineering and joined Wellman in 1998 as an engineer. “I started out as a manufacturing engineer, worked into some process engineering and then started getting into operations. Then I became engineering manager for all of the plant,” he said. “I’ve worn plenty of hats, but it’s not that big of a company.” Perhaps not, but it’s a bigger company today than when Mr. Oney took over the local operations. And those operations have grown largely because of him, said Christopher DiSantis, president of Wellman’s parent, Hawk Corp. “Chad has been with Hawk about the same amount of time as me, 10

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DON PADGETT III exe c u t i ve d i r e c t o r World Golf ChampionshipsBridgestone Invitational

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on Padgett III has enjoyed a pretty distinguished career on the golf course: He ranks 12th on the career scoring average list at Indiana University, and he went toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods at the 1991 U.S. Junior Amateur, the first of Mr. Woods’ three U.S. Junior Amateur titles. Lucky for Northeast Ohio charities, his career off the course has been even more productive. Mr. Padgett for the last four years has been executive director of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, played at Firestone Country Club in Akron late each summer. All net proceeds from the tournament are given to Northern Ohio Golf Charities, a

years or so, and has held a variety of positions in sourcing, engineering and overall plant leadership,” Mr. DiSantis said. “Medina is the flagship friction facility for Hawk globally. This facility has been the most stressed globally as it has gone through an amazing growth phase. When I joined Hawk, the Medina plant did about $40 million of sales; this year we will be over $130 million — this has created hundreds of jobs under Chad’s leadership.” You might not know any of that from talking to Mr. Oney personally; he’s not one to glamorize himself or his accomplishments. He walks the factory floor on a daily basis, eschews suits and ties unless he has to wear them for a meeting, and communicates with his employees directly and one-to-one. “I’m pretty boring,” he said. Even his wife had to take a leap of faith based on her own insight. “I told my wife you’ve got your work cut out for you, because I’m not that interesting,” he said. Mr. DiSantis disagrees: “Chad’s an awesome guy.” — Dan Shingler

nonprofit that then distributes the funds to organizations throughout Northeast Ohio. Since Mr. Padgett took over, that total amounts to about $2.75 million. The tournament employs an army of 1,000 volunteers that keep it running, and officials point to broadening it from an Akronspecific event to one pitched to Northeast Ohio as a whole as responsible for sustained success. Attendance at the 2010 event jumped 18% over 2009, while revenue, Mr. Padgett said, was up “double digits.” “He’s very closely developed a strong host committee of local business people, the people very interested in developing the region economically,” said Peter Kent, the PGA Tour’s vice president of championship management business affairs, based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“He’s kept that group synced, and that’s very critical to us,” Mr. Kent said. “Our proceeds go back to charity; we must be very

connected to our communities, and I think other (tournament cities) may have taken that for granted.” Mr. Padgett also helped keep

Bridgestone in the fold for five more years, as the tiremaker — now also an emerging golf equipment manufacturer — signed a five-year agreement, through 2014, to remain the tournament’s title sponsor. His father, also Don, worked at Firestone Country Club for 24 years, providing his son an early start on the course and in getting to know PGA Tour representatives. The elder Mr. Padgett is president at the famed Pinehurst Country Club in Pinehurst, N.C., the course the younger Mr. Padgett lists as his favorite. Don Padgett III — who works civically with the Summit County Visitors Bureau, Greater Akron Chamber, First Tee branches in Akron, Canton and Cleveland, and Bluecoats Inc. — and his wife, Kellie, live in Green. They have three children, ages 5, 3 and 1. — Joel Hammond

MY BENESCH “We’re opportunity-focused and so is our law ﬁrm.” Richard & Steven Soclof Soclof Enterprises

M Y

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Cleveland • Columbus • Indianapolis • Philadelphia • Shanghai • White Plains • Wilmington

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

JA M E S REGINELLI

BRADLEY REYNOLDS

engineering m a n a g e r, L E D Replacement Lamps GE Lighting

CEO Mongoose Metrics LLC

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ames Reginelli has spent almost a decade at General Electricâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nela Park campus, but his hands-on experience in lighting goes back much further. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Growing up, my parents had probably the best-lit house at Christmas,â&#x20AC;? the 31-year-old engineering manager for GEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lightemitting diode replacement lamps recalled with a grin, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and I was always up there on the roof helping my dad.â&#x20AC;? A graduate of St. Ignatius High School with a lifelong interest in math and science, Mr. Reginelli earned his bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in physics from John Carroll University and his masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in engineering from Case Western Reserve University. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anybody who enjoys engineering or science, you can quickly fall in love with lighting,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There really are very few applications you could find more interesting.â&#x20AC;? In college, for instance, he worked on projects involving lighting in the medical field. And after graduation, when he was accepted into GEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Edison Engineering Program, Mr. Reginelli worked on projects ranging from stadium lighting to automotive lamps. It was those tiny, powerful LEDs,

though, that grabbed Mr. Reginelliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest, and he has spent eight of his years at GE working in its LED Technology Group. During that time, he has helped lead the launch of several commercial lighting systems and currently is working on the first big push toward an LED replacement for standard incandescent light bulbs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two years ago, nobody thought youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be lighting your roads with LED,â&#x20AC;? he said during a walk between Nela Park buildings while pointing to the Noble Road stretch of the property that now is illuminated in just that manner. Along the way, he also points out various outdoor lighting setups, explaining how theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re designed to spread light in certain ways and directions, how they were designed, and how theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re meant to be deployed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As one of our brightest young leaders, Jim is helping to secure

GEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future as a lighting industry innovator,â&#x20AC;? said Jaime Irick, president and CEO of GE Lighting Solutions, GE Lightingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s LED business unit. â&#x20AC;&#x153;His work ethic and great effectiveness collaborating across functions, time zones and cultures sets an example for other emerging GE leaders here at our world headquarters in East Cleveland and around the world.â&#x20AC;? Because heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s almost literally always surrounded by inspiration, Mr. Reginelli admits thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s practically a constant bulb burning in his mind. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I go to the store, and I look at lights,â&#x20AC;? he confesses. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I see a parking lot that looks like itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lit by LED, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll drive in. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re continually learning every day. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re constantly developing new solutions.â&#x20AC;? Mr. Reginelli and his wife, Jacqueline, have been married for five years and have a daughter, Gabriella. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; John Booth

tephen Abbey admits it was a â&#x20AC;&#x153;scary thingâ&#x20AC;? to make a 19year-old his chief technology officer. Bradley Reynolds, however, was the man for the job, said Mr. Abbey, who in the late 1990s owned Cleveland-based Internet Access Group. Not only did the kid know the technology, he had the intelligence and the intangibles to lead a group of more than 30 people who provided Internet service to some huge clients, such as Ohio State University. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He had the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;can doâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and the ability to get things done,â&#x20AC;? Mr. Abbey said. Now Mr. Reynolds, 31, is CEO of Mongoose Metrics LLC, which helps businesses collect information about people who call them. Founded in 2007 by Mr. Reynolds and Jeff Tirey, the Independencebased company already has about 20 employees, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profitable. Mr. Reynolds said sales should hit $2.5 million this year and keep growing next year.

BRIAN RICE g e n e ra l m a n a g e r Sierra Lobo Inc., NASA Glenn Research Center

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B Congratulations

rian Rice admits that, when he plays Legos with his 6-year-old son, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trying to build more than castles made of blocks. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the type to push a particular career on his kids. But if helping his son develop a mechanical mind leads him to follow his dad into engineering, then so be it. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a

The rest of his rĂŠsumĂŠ is pretty impressive, too. After Mr. Abbey sold Internet Access Group for more than $15 million in 1998 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a deal that gave Mr. Reynolds a nice payday â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the 1996 Mentor High School graduate worked for information technology companies in Denmark, Boston and Silicon Valley, where he did a stint helping Apple Inc. build the foundation for what would become iTunes and other online services. In 2001, however, he and Mr. Abbey got back together to form Expedient Holdings LLC. They sold the Internet access provider in 2005 for about $30 million to a Pittsburgh

great profession â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one that provides more job opportunities than the NFL or the music industry, Mr. Rice said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are a lot of great things to do in life that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t glamorized on television,â&#x20AC;? he said. Of course, as a general manager for Sierra Lobo Inc., Mr. Rice happens to work on behalf of one of the most glamorized names in engineering: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Mr. Rice manages Sierra Loboâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s $309 million contract to operate and maintain hundreds of testing facilities at NASA Glenn Research Center. Among those facilities are wind tunnels, machines that test jet engines and drop towers where NASA conducts microgravity experiments. In other words, cool stuff. â&#x20AC;&#x153;NASA is such a great place to work,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s such a treasure for Cleveland.â&#x20AC;?

to InfoCision Chief Marketing Officer

Ken Dawson

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and all the Crainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Forty under 40 honorees!

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InfoCision Management Corporation applauds the young professionals in Northeast Ohio who share our commitment to innovation, strategic vision and leadership. At InfoCision, we believe todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s challenges are tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opportunities. A proud member of the Northeast Ohio community since 1982, InfoCision provides customized multichannel marketing solutions to Fortune 100 companies and small businesses delivering the highest possible ROI.

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

JEREMY SAMIDE c o - fo u n d e r a n d CEO E-merging Technologies Group Inc.

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eremy Samide and a few of his friends from Westlake High School used to joke about the business they were going to start one day.

firm, which still owns an Expedient data center in Garfield Heights. Mr. Reynolds, who attended Case Western Reserve University, is just as active in his personal life. He enjoys golf, biking, skiing and is even training to go mountain climbing. He still likes technology, too, noting that he’s reading “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” on his Kindle. He picked up his technical expertise on his own, starting by learning to program video games on his Tandy computer after his parents refused to buy him a Nintendo. — Chuck Soder

Mr. Rice spends most of his time in the office overseeing administrative issues and serving as a liaison between Sierra Lobo and NASA Glenn staff. He’s done a great job since assuming the position in 2006, said George Satornino, president and CEO of Milan, Ohio-based Sierra Lobo. Mr. Satornino noted that the company has maintained its “excellent” rating on the contract the entire time. He also said Mr. Rice receives respect from the hundreds of engineers and technicians who report to him and is quick to consider new ideas. “He just seemed to me to be open to new things … new ways of doing business,” Mr. Satornino said. Before becoming general manager, Mr. Rice spent five years leading a group of about 30 engineers at NASA Glenn. Before that he spent four years running test facilities. He still gets a chance to do hands-on work at home: He just finished remodeling his basement, doing the plumbing, electrical wiring, framing, tile and cabinets himself. He and his wife, Kate, have four children. — Chuck Soder

It didn’t look anything like Emerging Technologies Group Inc., the information technology security firm in Fairview Park that Mr. Samide helped start in 1999. He joked that it more closely resembled “Prestige Worldwide,” the vague, dubious conglomerate that comedians Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly try to start in the movie “Step Brothers.” But even then, Mr. Samide knew he wanted to start something. Today he is CEO of the company, which employs about 125 people, most of them based in northern Virginia. He wasn’t born ready for the role, however. He and two colleagues from his days as a network engineer for technology consulting firm Realogic Inc. founded E-merging

Technologies in 1999. He started as the company’s chief technology officer, while Don Heestand served as CEO and Ann Katigbak oversaw the firm’s administrative functions. As a founder, he always had input on how the company was run. He started speaking up more, however, after E-merging Technologies won its first contract to provide IT security services to the Central Intelligence Agency in 2005. Mr. Samide suggested that the company pursue more federal contracts, given that they tend to last longer and also fluctuate less with the economy. That strategy has paid off for the company, which is approaching $25 million in sales, up from $1.5 million in 2006. Mr. Heestand mentored Mr.

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Samide along the way, which prepared him to become CEO when Mr. Heestand died of CreutzfeldtJakob disease in 2008. Mr. Samide described Mr. Heestand as a fair and generous man with great business sense. “I learned from that and weaved that into my own fabric,” he said. Mr. Samide is a great leader as well, Ms. Katigbak said. He’s also a fun guy, but he’s fairly reserved, so a lot of people don’t see that side of him, she said. Mr. Samide and his wife, Summer, have four children, ages 1, 3, 6 and 7. He enjoys muscle cars and owns a 2008 Shelby Super Snake, a highperformance version of the Ford Mustang. — Chuck Soder

GALEN SCHUERLEIN vice president Burges & Burges Strategists

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alen Schuerlein considers herself a problem solver. Most of the problems she solves have to do either with raising money or getting people elected. Ms. Schuerlein is vice president of Burges & Burges Strategies, a political strategy and government relations consulting firm in Euclid, known for its support of Democrats. “I like a new challenge all the time,” she said. “Helping people achieve their goals is very attractive to me.” At Burges, Ms. Schuerlein has immersed herself in issues and elections that have had an impact on Northeast Ohio. She helped pass the Cuyahoga County Public Library levy in 2008 and in 2009 helped pass Issue 6, the county reform initiative that led the election of Ed Fitzgerald as county executive — not a Burges client. “Galen is just a person who is outstandingly talented,” said Sari Feldman, executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. “Working with Galen, we passed a levy in November 2008, when the economy was in trouble. Galen was able to help us focus our levy issue directly on a message the public could understand.” Ms. Schuerlein is the offspring of a family with Cleveland roots going back generations. But she grew up in Bellevue, Wash., after her parents, Baldwin-Wallace College grads, had moved to the Pacific Northwest. She graduated from Seattle University and chose to attend Case Western Reserve University’s law school in 1994. When she got to Cleveland, she moved in with cousins in their late grandmother’s house on Lake Avenue on Cleveland’s West Side, the fifth generation of her family in the house. She graduated from law school in 1997 and practiced briefly before joining the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office. She caught the political bug and worked to elect Jane Campbell as Cleveland mayor in 2001, joining her administration as an executive assistant to the mayor and later serving as chief counsel in the law department. She joined Burges after Frank Jackson beat Ms. Campbell in 2005. “I’m glad I went to law school,” she said. “But working where I work, I have the opportunity to touch so many things.”

And she’s still in that house on Lake Avenue, though now she owns it and shares it with her 5-year-old daughter and her collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia. — Jay Miller

John Carroll University proudly recognizes our Forty under 40 alumni: Matthew Cox ’95 Christopher Felice ’96 Brian Marita ’94 Stephanie Mercado ’02 James Reginelli ’01 Lisa Zone ’98 Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees.

www.jcu.edu

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NEIL SETHI D i s t r i bu t i o n G r o u p president Transtar Industries

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ow that Neil Sethi has that doctor thing out of the way, he’s focusing on his real career — managing the growth and health of entire enterprises, rather than single bodies. Mr. Sethi is the son of Indian immigrants whose parents moved to Boardman in the 1960s. Both were not only doctors, but 11 consecutive generations of Mr. Sethi’s father’s family had been doctors and nine generations of his mother’s family had been as well. No pressure. So, he did what his parents asked

of him, and then some. Mr. Sethi got good grades (the best in his class) at Boardman High School, entered the pre-med program at the University of Pennsylvania, graduated magna cum laude and went on to get his M.D. But, before he went into practice, he changed careers. “I wanted to affect change in organizations,” Mr. Sethi said. In spite of being within a stone’s throw of Penn’s Wharton School — one of the most prestigious business schools in the nation — Mr. Sethi never took a single business class there. Instead, it was off to Georgetown for an MBA. That might sound like more schooling than most people could take — 10 straight years after high school. But for Mr. Sethi, learning has always been, and still is, a pleasure. “I loved school,” he said. “My parents created this foundation, and bored it into my brain, that education was important. And, secondly, to have a hard work ethic.” He took both to school, and also with him to PricewaterhouseCoopers,

NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

where he was a consultant on technology projects around the world. He traveled, worked with interesting people — including the Emir of Qatar — but ultimately decided he rather would run a single organization. He jumped off the partner track and changed directions again. This time, though, something might have stuck. Mr. Sethi in 2004 joined Transtar Industries, a distributor of transmission parts that was owned at the time by his father-in-law, Monte Ahuja. “At first, I thought it was crazy — what’s a guy like me going to do in automotive?” he said. The answer was, plenty. Mr. Sethi helped guide the company through growth, the acquisition of its largest competitor and, ultimately, through its 2005 sale to Linsalata Capital Partners. Linsalata Capital’s chairman, Frank Linsalata said Mr. Sethi is “responsible for some $400 million of sales across the country and was instrumental in the integration of a major acquisition over the past few years.” —Dan Shingler

MICHAEL S H A FA R E N KO m a n a g e r o f f i n a n c e a n d o p e ra t i o n s Fund for Our Economic Future

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o hear his boss tell it, Michael Shafarenko is the critical cog in the operation of the Fund for Our Economic Future, the coalition of philanthropic groups that is working to focus the region’s counties, municipalities and other public and private economic development organizations on collaborative efforts to strengthen Northeast Ohio’s economy.

“He is the guy who makes it happen,” said Brad Whitehead, the fund’s president, about the organization’s manager of finance and operations. “Shafarenko is just an amazing fellow.” Mr. Shafarenko joined the Fund in 2007 as coordinator and quickly took the reins of several key programs. The first was the EfficientGovNow program, which

RYA N T E R RY d i v i s i o n c h i e f i n fo r m a t i o n o f f i c e r, i n t e r i m c h i e f i n fo r m a t i o n security officer University Hospitals

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aised a Chicago White Sox fan, Ryan Terry said his family told him that becoming a Cleveland Indians fan when he moved in 2003 to Northeast Ohio from the Windy City was not an option. Although the former University of Illinois baseball player wasn’t taking his talents to the Tribe’s lineup, he’s managed to infuse the information technology team at University Hospitals with a little more power. “He demonstrates an air of very sincere confidence and a desire to help make change happen,” said Mary Alice Annecharico, University Hospitals’ chief information officer. “After all, that’s what the technology aspects of any major organization are all about.”

Mr. Terry joined University Hospitals as the health system’s division chief information officer in February 2008. Since then, he has steered more than 150 technology projects as well as several aspects of University Hospitals’ $1.2 billion Vision 2010 renovation and construction initiative. He’s also the system’s interim chief security information officer. Of note, Mr. Terry designed the technology for University Hospitals’ new neonatal intensive care unit, which allowed the unit to expand by 23,000 square feet while simultaneously improving efficiency without adding staff. Mr. Terry earned his undergraduate degree in history from Illinois, but he said he’s always been interested in computer science. Although he

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makes grants to communities that propose the best collaborative government programs. “It was dead inside the fund” before Mr. Shafarenko came along, Mr. Whitehead said. “Mike just kept moving the thing along.” The program has awarded more than $550,000 over the last two years to seven government collaboration plans. Mr. Whitehead also gives the St. Louis native credit for spearheading the effort to win a $3 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for the Civic Commons, a program designed to engage people in their community through civic journalism, social media and other forms of public engagement. “It was Mike who saw that grant all the way through,” Mr. Whitehead said. Mr. Shafarenko came to Cleveland to attend Case Western Reserve University, studying psychology and entrepreneurship. He worked for the Ingenuity Festival and Entrepreneur’s Edge, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurial efforts, before coming to the fund. “I’ve been very passionate about entrepreneurship — things like innovations that are exciting and that have a positive effect on the community,” Mr. Shafarenko said, crediting his immigrant parents with his entrepreneurial spirit. And what’s next? “In five years I’d like to be running an organization that adds value to the community,” he said. — Jay Miller

didn’t receive academic credit, he took a few courses in computer science and eventually knew he wanted to pursue a career in the IT arena. “It was time of the dot-com boom,” Mr. Terry said. “There was a lot of change and innovation, and innovation was very interesting to me.” After college, Mr. Terry worked as a business analyst for Wizdom Systems, a Chicago-based technology consulting firm, where he largely served as a technical writer. While at Wizdom, Mr. Terry said, he was able to hone his IT skills. He eventually enhanced his business chops in 2008 when he earned his MBA from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to joining University Hospitals, Mr. Terry served as vice president for technology at One-Community, a nonprofit fiber optic provider. Mr. Terry lives in Shaker Heights with his wife, Colleen, and two children, Lauren and Nathan. — Timothy Magaw

S C OT T VURA vice president Osborn Engineering

- 38 -

o matter how much dirt players kiss at the Horseshoe at Ohio State University or at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Scott Vura knows things about the innards of the fields that the players never learn. He served as lead civil engineer in the 1990s for Ohio State’s $195 million renovation of the field at the ’Shoe, which included measures that allowed the lowering of the field 14 feet below the water table. He also ran drainage improvement projects and other engineering jobs at

Wrigley Field for the past decade. However, those pale compared with his current job: Mr. Vura is the principal overseeing the Osborn Engineering team that is doing the civil and some structural engineering on the $445 million Medical Merchandise Mart and Convention Center project in Cleveland. The schedule calls for that job to start this fall a block west of Osborn’s Penton Media Center office. “I’ve been fortunate to work on a lot of projects,” Mr. Vura said. “The surprise has been the people side — meeting new clients and keeping them up to date on the project and working with my peers.” Mr. Vura’s office reflects that; it’s filled with pictures of projects, nine souvenir mugs from cities where he’s been engaged heavily in jobs, photos of his wife, Becky, their two children and a getaway cottage in New York State they afford by renting it out. Co-workers credit Mr. Vura’s people skills as much as his intelli-

gence and engineering expertise for his rapid rise at the firm since 1997. He has served as project manager, department manager and director of the firm’s civil, structural and transportation services group. Kurt Rim, Osborn chairman and a nearly 50-year employee of the firm, described Mr. Vura as “the future of the firm” when he first met him. That literally proved so. Mr. Vura helped reorganize Osborn and became the youngest member of its board of directors in 2004. In the years since, he helped set a new brand for the venerable firm, which dates to 1892, and was instrumental in a new profit-sharing plan at Osborn. Gene Baxendale, Osborn CEO, said Mr. Vura manages his team well but does not “over-manage them.” The Chesterland resident and native set his path as an Ohio State student, majoring in civil engineering with a minor in water resources. An internship overseeing a sewer project in Worthington, Ohio, left an imprint. An older gentleman visited

the job site regularly and one day asked if the contractor had hit shale yet. Within three hours, crews hit the shale. — Stan Bullard

and the communications committee for the Northern Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council.

Through Ms. Watson’s leadership, the firm in November 2009 received the Northern Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council’s Supplier of the Year Award for its consistency in delivering quality services while giving back to the business community. She also recently was awarded a German Marshall Fellowship grant, which will enable her to travel to Europe in summer 2011 to explore policies, institutions and culture, as well as learn how a government’s messages are interpreted and communicated to the masses. The graduate of Pratt Institute in New York lives in Cleveland with her husband, Royden, and children Arden and Soren, twins, 5; and Nolan, 2. — Kathy Ames Carr

ARLENE WAT S O N president and ow n e r Möbius Grey

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ince Arlene Watson founded Möbius Grey LLC in 1998, she has built a client portfolio that includes Fortune 1000 companies and has delivered powerful social messages through the firm’s marketing materials. Ms. Watson, principal and creative director of the graphic design and marketing communications agency in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, said she expects her business to grow, particularly in social marketing, despite a challenging year in sales. “There are so many underlying social issues, with unemployment, health care and education, and so many stories to tell,” she said. Möbius Grey provides a range of services for clients that include web site development, communications materials and environmental graphics. The firm’s portfolio includes the Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority’s Euclid Corridor Project, Eaton Corp., the Cleveland Institute of Art and Cuyahoga County. Ms. Watson, who grew up in Trinidad, moved in 1994 to Cleveland from New York City, where she worked at various design agencies and at Meredith Corp., publisher of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. She then worked for four years in Cleveland as a freelance graphic designer before starting her own firm. “Arlene is probably the hardestworking business professional in Cleveland,” said Ron Scirocco, account manager. “She’s always meeting with current and prospective clients.” Until recently, Möbius Grey’s business was based on referrals, but sales are down this year compared with 2009, so Ms. Watson said she is making a more concerted effort to get the message out about her own agency. “We’re doing a lot more networking,” she said. Ms. Watson serves on the Euclid

Corridor Design Review Committee, the marketing and public relations committee for Providence House

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The Shareholders & staff at

Maloney + Novotny congratulate our own Chris Felice, Shareholder for being selected as one of Crain’s 40 Under 40 in 2010. Congratulations to all honorees for your outstanding accomplishments.

+ Business Advisors and Certified Public Accountants

+ Cleveland 216.363.0100 Canton 330.966.9400 Elyria 440.323.3200 maloneynovotny.com

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

M AT T H E W WENHAM m a n a g e r, G r e a t L a ke s r e g i o n C&S Companies

- 35 -

atthew Wenham was 8 years old when he got his first chance to fly on a commercial airline, and he’s been hooked on aviation ever since. He spent his childhood dreaming of a career as a pilot, only to have poor eyesight derail his plans. Instead, Mr. Wenham took his air-travel interest behind the

LISA ZONE senior vice president Dix & Eaton

- 34 -

scenes, pursuing studies in civil engineering with a specialization in transportation. He landed his

s senior vice president for Dix & Eaton’s customer communications practice, Lisa Zone manages a 10person staff in that division and is playing a key role in helping clients redefine their branding strategies as they emerge from a limping economy. “We’ve had to be creative and understand our clients’ limitations,” Ms. Zone said. “We’re making sure they understand that making

first job out of college with C&S Companies, an engineering firm with a well-respected airport prac-

marketing investments will help them come out ahead when the economy rebounds.” To advance those efforts, Ms. Zone has helped conduct workshops that educate clients about incorporating into their overall marketing efforts social media, which not only affects their messaging but also impacts legal, human resources and IT departments. She also is working with some

tice headquartered in Mr. Wenham’s hometown of Syracuse, N.Y. When a new contract from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport prompted C&S management to consider a regional office in Cleveland in 2001, the youthful Mr. Wenham stepped up. “They were looking for somebody with 10 to 12 years of experience to help build the (airport) practice here, so I asked, ‘Is this something I could do in five or six years?’” recalled Mr. Wenham. Ron Peckham, C&S CEO and a mentor to Mr. Wenham, encouraged him to apply despite his age, and he got the job. At only 26, Mr. Wenham opened the firm’s Cleveland office and launched its Great Lakes airport practice. “It was unusual,” said Mr. Peckham of the responsibilities given Mr. Wenham at such an age. “But we

saw that talent in him. We believe that when people are ready, you have to provide opportunities to accelerate their growth. The individual and the organization get to benefit from that.” Today, Mr. Wenham manages 10 employees in Cleveland and 20 throughout C&S’s Great Lakes region, which is responsible for $3.5 million of the firm’s $70 million in annual revenues. He also has national responsibilities as a member of a three-person team leading the firm’s $30 million airport practice. Outside the office, Mr. Wenham and his wife, Lola, are die-hard environmentalists, composting their kitchen waste, using cloth diapers for 1-year-old daughter Claire and remodeling their 40-year-old Westlake home using eco-friendly building materials. — Jennifer Keirn

clients to determine how bloggers can interact and influence consumer behavior. Meanwhile, as president of the American Advertising Federation’s Cleveland chapter, Ms. Zone is working to extend the social and networking purposes of that organization into more of an advocate for Cleveland-area communications practices. “We’re looking at how we can remain relevant to our members. The name is a bit of a misnomer,” she said. “AAF members also work in digital, public relations, marketing and social media.” Social media interests Ms. Zone on a personal level as well, and she is heavily integrated into the social networking community — she even was named this year one of Cleveland’s “Most Interesting Tweeps” by Metromix. “She’s a positive influence on every organization she touches,” said Mark

Szczepanik, director of brand voice at Cleveland branding firm Liggett Stashower and an AAF board member. Ms. Zone serves as an advisory board member of John Carroll University’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization, a campus-based community outreach program. She was named in 2009 a member of the Cleveland Bridge Builders class, which fosters networking among the area’s emerging leaders. She also earned in 2007 “Volunteer of the Year” by the AAF-Cleveland. The Westlake resident in 1998 earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from John Carroll University. She worked for about two years at Bozell Kamstra, a now-defunct Cleveland advertising firm, before joining Dix & Eaton in 1999. — Kathy Ames Carr

Comprehensive Forty Under 40 coverage For complete coverage of Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40, visit http://www.crainscleveland .com/marketing/forty.html. There you’ll find: ■ a slideshow recap of the 2010 Forty Under 40 reception that is being held Monday, Nov. 22, at

Executive Caterers at Landerhaven ■ links to past Forty Under 40 classes, complete with photos, stories and event coverage ■ a quick way to nominate people from the Northeast Ohio business community you feel are worthy of being included in Crain’s next class of Forty Under 40

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Heart: Test more comprehensive Segmint: Ads reveal spending habits continued from PAGE 3

The company is getting a head start on that projected growth now, as it prepares for the new contract, which starts in January. Last week, a 7-foot-high wall consisting of about 3,000 plastic foam boxes stood in a room at the company’s headquarters on the Clinic’s campus. Employees were preparing to start shipping the boxes to the new customer, which Mr. Orville only would identify as a “leading health care provider.” The customer then will ship them back with samples inside. Driving the growth is a proprietary test the Clinic developed to detect the level of the enzyme myeloperoxidase in a patient’s blood. Several studies have shown that patients with high MPO levels are at greater risk of a heart attack, even if they don’t have high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Mr. Orville said he thinks the test is the best way to judge whether a patient is at risk of a heart attack. And Cleveland HeartLab has it patented. The company today employs 26 people, up from eight at the start of the year. Mr. Orville said Cleveland HeartLab aims to hire 10 more “as soon as possible.” Its footprint is growing, too: The company last month signed a lease to take another 4,000 square feet inside the Cleveland Clinic Innovation Center, upping its square footage to 7,000. The company expects to find a bigger headquarters a year from now. “We’re drinking through a fire hose to scale it (the business),” Mr. Orrville said.

So long, Wisconsin A few of the company’s original employees worked for the now-defunct Prognostix Inc.,

Contact: Phone: Fax: E-mail:

Genny Donley (216) 771-5172 (216) 694-4264 gdonley@crain.com

the first company to license the Clinic technology. Cleveland HeartLab bought the technology from Prognostix, but it used a different strategy: Prognostix focused entirely on MPO, while Cleveland HeartLab conducts various tests that can help determine a patient’s cardiovascular risk, Mr. Orville said. Mr. Orville previously helped the Clinic start drug maker Telera Therapeutics Inc., now based in Kalamazoo, Mich., but all the while he commuted each week from Wisconsin. When he joined Cleveland HeartLab, however, he moved his family to Northeast Ohio. “To do a heart disease prevention laboratory with the Cleveland Clinic is a once-in-alifetime opportunity,” said Mr. Orville, who has previous experience in the industry, as he served as head of commercial operations for medical testing firm Third Wave Technologies Inc. of Madison, Wisc.

Remarkable remark The MPO test is an “incredible product,” said Dr. Carlos Jorge, who runs a practice near Charlotte, N.C., that specializes in preventing and managing heart and vascular disease. For instance, Dr. Jorge said, the test indicated a patient who visited him this past spring had an extremely high level of the enzyme in her blood, even though other tests came back normal. He recommended treatment and lifestyle changes. “This is a pretty remarkable test,” he said. Baiju Shah, president of BioEnterprise Corp., described Cleveland HeartLab as one of the region’s most promising ventures. “They’ve turned the corner from a technology company to a revenue-stage company,” Mr. Shah said. ■

continued from PAGE 3

the person’s name.

Customization is key Knowing those characteristics — or Key Lifestyle Indicators — lets banks customize their ads: A bride-to-be might see ads for mortgage products, while a business owner might see ads for a business line of credit. The software also can tell what financial products customers already use, which, for instance, would give a bank the chance to convince a customer with a checking account to open an interest-bearing account. “You change your web site, which is just generic, into a branch,” Mr. Heiser said. Customers would see those ads on other web sites also: The software lets banks place a tracking “cookie” on customers’ computers when they log into online banking. The cookie identifies customers only by number, allowing them to remain anonymous. But why would a bank care if a customer is a wine drinker or a basketball fan? For one, banks can use the information to study the habits of their best customers, which could help them design future marketing campaigns. The information also should help Segmint recruit a base of companies that would buy additional ads offering deals to customers based on their spending habits, Mr. Heiser said. Both the bank and Segmint would receive revenue from those ads. Segmint’s software was “the most advanced solution” that Sharetec could find, said Dan Miller, vice president and chief technology officer for North Canton-based GBS Corp., a business services company that owns part of Sharetec.

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Other companies believe in Segmint, too. Among those that have agreed to trade services for equity in Segmint are employment services provider EIS Inc., law firms Fay Sharpe LLP and Thompson Hine LLP, accounting firm Cohen & Co. and marketer Marcus Thomas LLC. Segmint gave the University of Akron Research Foundation equity for office space. Those deals help Segmint save cash while giving a service provider a chance to make money on its stock and develop a relationship with a growing company, Mr. Tyrrell said. “At the end of the day they would not only make a lot of money, but they would have a large customer,” he said. Personal connections helped Segmint strike deals with many service providers, and it would be hard for startups without many business contacts to follow Segmint’s lead, said John Myers, executive-in-residence with the University of Akron Research Foundation, which assists young companies. It also helps to have on board an established entrepreneur such as Mr. Tyrrell, who in 1986 founded American Steel & Wire Co. and has helped launch other startups. Still, the foundation tells companies that such deals can help them save money. “This is a legitimate way to avoid having to burn through your cash,” Mr. Myers said. ■

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NOVEMBER 22-28, 2010

Friday: Small companies struggle against major big-box discounts continued from PAGE 1

retailer Rubber City Clothing has opened a kiosk in Summit Mall, but it’s the first time it opened one in time for Black Friday, said Nicholas Saddleton, general manager. The store sells area-themed apparel, including T-shirts — something Mr. Saddleton believes will be popular among “suburban mothers doing a lot of shopping” and college students home for the holiday. Marcell, a retailer of jewelry, clothing and gift items located at Westlake’s Crocker Park, is introducing a “glove tree.” Beginning on Black Friday and continuing while supplies last, customers can pick off of an in-store Christmas tree pairs of knit gloves, inside of which will be discount coupons of varying percentages and dollar amounts they can use in the store, said owner Ali Marcell-Austin. Ms. Marcell-Austin doesn’t necessarily try to compete with the big discounts offered by larger retailers nearby. “I need to pay my rent here, which is astronomical,” Ms. MarcellAustin said. “So I can’t be 40% off like the store across the way. “Some people make all their money from that Friday ’til Christmas,” she said. “I can’t say that’s the case for us. Don’t get me wrong — we appreciate and need the business. But it isn’t everything for us.”

Not sold on Black Friday Small businesses face unique challenges in competing for Black

Friday business, including staffing constraints and incredible price competition, said Molly Brogan, spokeswoman for the National Small Business Association. For those reasons and others, Black Friday is not circled on everyone’s calendar. In recent years, Cleveland electronics retailer Audio Craft discontinued its Black Friday direct mailers and promotions because it couldn’t compete with big-box stores and because its business model shifted to involve more custom installation, said Frank Marsh, director of operations. “We just aren’t in a position where we can compete with (the) $299 42-inch, flat-screen TVs that they’re selling through Target and other big-box stores,” Mr. Marsh said. Audio Craft isn’t the only one disinterested in Black Friday. Though he estimates he does 30% of his yearly business in December, Gary Kleinhenz said he places “absolutely zero” emphasis on Black Friday. His Kleinhenz Jewelers, with one store in Westlake, does not extend its hours or offer discounts for the day. “Most people looking for fine jewelry shop later in the season,” Mr. Kleinhenz said, noting that a large segment of his customers are men, who tend to shop late. “People tend to go to the big-box stores at midnight or 2 o’clock in the morning. I don’t think they’d come for jewelry at 2 o’clock in the morning. Besides, he said, “I’m not geared to handle hundreds of people in my

store. I wouldn’t be able to treat my customers the way I want to treat them.” Instead, Mr. Kleinhenz will begin extended hours Nov. 21 this year and offer holiday promotions in December.

Support system Small businesses increasingly have formed strategic alliances to offer collective discounts or to market their communities as holiday shopping destinations, said Ms. Brogan of the National Small Business Association. A local example: While members of LakewoodAlive, the city’s economic revitalization group, decided not to do something specific for Black Friday, they enlisted about 30 local stores and 20 local restaurants to stay open until 8 every Thursday night in December as part of the first Shop Local, Shop Late, Shop Lakewood! initiative, said Mary Anne Crampton, executive director. “The holiday season is what makes or breaks the retailers,” Ms. Crampton said. “Driving local shopping during this time is important.” Likewise, neighborhoods such as Cleveland’s Little Italy are hosting events that draw shoppers. Barbara Strom, owner of La Bella Vita, which sells Italian dinnerware and fine gifts in Little Italy, is anticipating more business from the district’s December Art Walk than she is from Black Friday, confident shoppers will have “gotten the malls out of their system.”

Improvement expected this week Black Friday has been the top sales day of the year every year since at least 2006, according to ShopperTrak, which measures retail traffic. Retail and holiday sales data compiled by the government do not differentiate the size of retailers, so it’s not clear how much of the billion-dollar Black Friday business is commanded by small retailers. But government data do reveal that holiday sales account for 20% to 40% of sales for retailers, including department and electronics stores, said Kathy Grannis, National Retail Federation spokeswoman. The National Retail Federation’s chief economist Jack Kleinhenz — who also is CEO of the Cleveland Heights economic consulting and wealth management firm, Kleinhenz & Associates Ltd. — has forecast a 2.3% increase this year in holiday sales, to $447 billion. That would be a marked improvement from last

To aid local merchants, American Express is offering a $25 credit to the first 100,000 American Express card members who pre-register their cards and spend at least $25 at locally owned businesses this weekend on “Small Business Saturday” — a national effort conceived by its small business arm, American Express OPEN. In a similar fashion, LaBella Cupcakes in Lakewood will give

year’s uptick of 0.4% and a dismal 3.9% sales decline in 2008. Across the retail industry, the National Retail Federation reported, the 2009 holiday shopping season accounted for more than 19% of industry sales, making November and December the year’s busiest months for all retailers. For certain sectors, holiday sales make up a bigger piece of the pie; for example, sales during those months represented nearly 30% of annual sales for jewelers. New this year, American Express OPEN, the small business arm of American Express, has dubbed this Saturday “Small Business Saturday” in a movement to drive customers to local, independently owned businesses. The effort’s Facebook page has been “liked” by more than 309,000 people, according to Rosa Sabater, senior vice president for American Express OPEN.

discounts of 10% during Black Friday to customers who present receipts that prove they’ve shopped in Lakewood. When told of the “Small Business Saturday” event, owner Laura Williams decided she’d offer the same 10% discount on Saturday, too. “I’m just trying to get people to support local businesses in Lakewood,” she said. ■

Correction from the National Committee for Quality Assurance Medical Mutual’s Commercial PPO Plan in Ohio holds “Excellent” Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). In fact, it was the first PPO organization in Ohio to achieve NCQA’s highest rating for providing quality healthcare to its members. NCQA is the gold standard for evaluating health plans for quality and consumer protections; both HMOs and PPOs obtain NCQA Accreditation to demonstrate their high value to purchasers and consumers.

An advertisement in Crain’s Cleveland Business ran October 19, 2010 stating that another PPO was the only plan to hold “Excellent” accreditation in Ohio. NCQA would like to note that, at the time it approved the advertisement, Medical Mutual’s PPO also had “Excellent” NCQA Accreditation.

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THEINSIDER

THEWEEK NOVEMBER 15 - 21 The big story: Northeast Ohio might need to get a farewell card ready for American Greetings Corp. The Brooklyn-based greeting card giant said it’s considering seven sites — including two in the Chicago area — for its corporate headquarters. American Greetings expects to make a decision by next February, which marks the end of its fiscal year. The company has not ruled out remaining at its current home in Brooklyn. The other Northeast Ohio sites under consideration are at the Chagrin Highlands development in Beachwood, where Eaton Corp. is building a new headquarters; a Brecksville site near the Interstate 77 interchange; a site at Crocker Road and Detroit Avenue near Crocker Park in Westlake; and property along Rockside Road near Oak Tree Boulevard in Independence. She’s the boss: A changing of the guard is in store for Cleveland-based KeyCorp, and it will break a glass ceiling in the process. Key chairman and CEO Henry L. Meyer III will retire effective next May 1 and will be succeeded by Beth E. Mooney, currently vice chair of KeyCorp and leader of Key’s Community Banking business. With her Meyer ascension, Ms. Mooney would become the first female CEO of a publicly traded company in Northeast Ohio. In the interim, the Key board elected Ms. Mooney as president and chief operating officer and a member of the company’s board of directors. The 60year-old Mr. Meyer has spent Mooney nearly four decades with Key and has been its CEO since February 2001.

Ready, set …: With the help of large amounts of equity from members of the Wolstein family, the financing for the $275 million Flats East Bank development is set to close by the end of the year. A multilayered package of debt was approved by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, which will be the conduit for much of the debt. It will allow construction to begin in December on an 18-story office tower, a hotel, parking garage and retail space on a former parking lot on the east bank of the Cuyahoga River. Construction is expected to be completed by spring 2013. In the money: Radisphere National Radiology Group raised $27.5 million that the Beachwood company will use to improve its “technology platform and support infrastructure,” according to CEO Scott Seidelmann. Maverick Capital Ltd. of New York led the Series C financing round, which also included existing investor Oak Investment Partners, which has offices in Westport, Conn., Minneapolis, and Palo Alto, Calif. Radisphere provides both on-site and remote radiology services to community hospitals, which often do not have enough specialized radiologists on staff to meet all their needs. Radisphere was formed in April by Franklin & Seidelmann Subspecialty Radiology Services, also of Beachwood.

Up in smoke: Citing reduced prices for electricity, FirstEnergy Corp. canceled plans to repower two units at its R.E. Burger Plant in Shadyside, Ohio, by generating electricity principally with biomass and instead permanently will shut down the units by Dec. 31. FirstEnergy said since the Burger biomass repowering project was announced, market prices for electricity have fallen and expected market prices no longer support a repowered Burger Plant. Burger’s 79 employees either will continue at the plant during the shutdown process or will be reassigned temporarily to other FirstEnergy facilities.

REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOK BEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS

Chancellor University solicits your thoughts

Clinic, Med Mutual plan collaborative effort

On a high from a high court appearance

■ The body that accredits Chancellor University is fielding public comments about the for-profit institution in Cleveland. Through Dec. 11, members of the public can submit comments that “address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs,” according to a public notice posted on the university’s web site. Chancellor is in the midst a battle to maintain its accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, which issued the university a show-cause order in February. Without accreditation, Chancellor’s students would not be eligible for federal student aid. Chancellor must prove it deserves to remain accredited and must submit a show-cause report to the commission by Dec. 1. The university will undergo an on-site evaluation by members of the commission on Jan. 11-13, and the commission’s board of trustees is expected to make a final decision in February. Those interested in commenting on the university must submit a signed letter with an address and phone number. Comments can be addressed to: Public Comment on Chancellor University, The Higher Learning Commission, 230 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604. — Timothy Magaw

■ The Cleveland Clinic and Medical Mutual of Ohio have signed a letter of intent to explore ways to better coordinate care to keep health care costs low. Over the next two months, the Clinic and Medical Mutual will hammer out the details of payment methodologies aimed at rewarding independent physicians aligned with the Clinic for better quality care. “Working with the Clinic to keep people healthy is going to save costs in the long run,” said Don Pirc, director of network management at Medical Mutual. “By sharing data that is in our claims system with the Clinic system, it’ll help them better manage the population.” In addition, the arrangement will work as an incentive to get more independent doctors to align with the Clinic’s Community Physician Partnership, which currently has about 1,000 members, according to Dr. Tarek Elsawy, medical director for the Clinic’s Quality Alliance. Aligning with the Clinic will give independent physicians the tools to measure quality outcomes, Dr. Elsawy noted. The partnership with Medical Mutual will enable the physicians to be rewarded with better reimbursement rates for providing care based on quality rather than volume. “If you’re in a small office and you have to try to demonstrate your outcomes, it’s really, really difficult,” Dr. Elsawy said. “It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult.”— Timothy Magaw

■ Arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time, David Mills, an appellate attorney and adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, spoke a single sentence before he said he was interrupted by Chief Justice John Roberts. Then, he recalled, it was “literally nonstop questions.” “I’m not sure there’s anything like it,” Mr. Mills, 33, said of arguing before the court. “It’s certainly different from arguing in other courts. Of course, all eyes are on you. When you approach the podium and you’re staring at essentially nine incredible legal minds who want to challenge you for the next half hour. … It’s certainly daunting.” Mr. Mills argued before the high court Nov. 1 in the case of Michelle Ortiz, an Elyria woman who sued state prison officials for failing to protect her from a prison guard’s sexual abuse. To prepare, Mr. Mills practiced arguments at three law schools where professors acted as the Supreme Court justices and offered constructive criticism. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Ms. Ortiz’s case after Mr. Mills filed a petition in the matter. Previously, the case — Ortiz v. Jordan — had gone to trial, where a jury ruled that Ms. Ortiz’s rights were violated. The case then was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where a 2-1 decision reversed an earlier order, effectively overturning the verdict in favor of Ms. Ortiz. — Michelle Park

WHAT’S NEW

BEST OF THE BLOGS ulate what the future holds “for some of 2010’s most prominent losers.” Among those, The Post said, is Gov. Strickland, but the paper sees little chance he’ll run again. “The soon-to-be-former governor of Ohio may well have run his last race,” according ■ It’s probably not a huge surprise to to the newspaper. “Before people who pay attention being elected in 2006, to environmental issues, Strickland had spent 30 but Oberlin College made years in Ohio politics, a the new Forbes.com list of roller-coaster ride of wins America’s greenest schools. and losses that culminated The list is a blend of in five terms in the House results from the Sustainrepresenting the southern able Endowments Insti6th District. At 69, Stricktute’s College Sustainability land may decide that after Report Card and Forbes being defeated by former .com’s review of other congressman John Kasich factors, including instituSCOTT WARGO tional purchasing of green Robert Kahn Hall at Oberlin College on Nov. 2, this was his last campaign.” power, advancements in sustainability efforts and whether environmentalism is a theme of a school’s academics. Oberlin was one of seven schools to earn ■ Ford Motor Co. is coming up with a new an “A” grade from SEI. test for its Cleveland-built EcoBoost six“The college has committed to being cylinder engine. carbon-neutral by 2025,” Forbes.com said. A Wall Street Journal blog reported that “It has several sustainability-themed resiFord is using the engine as it enters the Baja dence halls; 22% of the food in its dining 1000, “a long-running desert race in Mexico facilities is obtained locally; and it has famous for turning racing vehicles into junk.” mandatory green building standards for Ford already has been “torture-testing” the new buildings. Oberlin has also signed on to EcoBoost, the Journal blog reported, “using the Presidents’ Climate Commitment.” it to drag logs through the forest and tow heavy trailers at high speed on a Nascar track.” The Baja 1000 move “is part of Ford’s broad push to promote its line of EcoBoost ■ Recent history suggests losers of highengines that use turbocharging and other profile political races come back to run technology to increase their performance to again, The Washington Post reported. But levels typically expected from larger power when it comes to outgoing Gov. Ted Strickplants while producing relatively high fuel land, that pattern isn’t likely to hold true. economy.” The tests “are also meant to The Post said that this year, five Republican convince longtime truck buyers that fullformer members of Congress ran for their size pickups don’t necessarily need big, old seats and won. It then goes on to specfuel-thirsty V8 engines to do hard work.”

Excerpts from blog entries on CrainsCleveland.com.

How green are their values? At Oberlin, really green

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If EcoBoost can make it there, it’ll make it anywhere

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For full details on BMW Ultimate Service™ visit bmwusa.com/ultimateservice. 2011 BMW 328i xDrive based on MSRP of $40,050, 2011 BMW 128i Convertible based on MSRP of $39,000, 2011 BMW 535i xDrive based on MSRP of $54,575, 2011BMW X5 xDrive 35i Premium based on MSRP of $53,475, all including destination and handling, excluding license, registration, taxes, title and options through 11/30/10. **36-month lease on well-equipped 2011 BMW 328i xDrive at $459 per month with nothing due at signing except your first payment. 36-month lease on well-equipped 2011 BMW 128 i Convertible at $449 per month with nothing due at signing except your first payment. 36-month lease on well-equipped 2011 BMW 535i xDrive at $779 per month with nothing due at signing except your first payment. 36-month lease on well-equipped 2011 BMW X5 xDrive 35i Premium at $689 per month with nothing due at signing except your first payment. Taxes and license fees are extra. 10,000 miles per year. Rates along with the $0down payment and $0 security deposit program are for Super Elite/Elite/Standard credit tier level only. As low as 0.9% APR for up to 36 month term on all new 2011 BMW 328i xDrive, 2011 BMW 128i Convertible, 2011 BMW 535i xDrive,and2011BMW X5 xDrive 35i Premium models, $28.16 per $1,000 borrowed. Through BMW Cleveland and BMW Financial Services for qualified clients. For full leasing terms contact BMW Cleveland. Holiday Finance Credit offer is being made by BMW of North America, LLC and only applies to specific new 2011 BMW Models leased or financed through BMW Financial Services. Available new 2011 models receiving the credit are: 1Series, 3Series, 5Series, 7Series (except 760 and Alpina’s), X5 ,X6, M3, X5M, X6M, and Z4 .Holiday Finance Credit amounts of either $1,500 or $2,500 are based on model. Holiday Credit must be applied to a Lease, Owners Choice or Retail Finance contract through BMW Financial Services by January 3, 2011. The BMW name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

1/14/09 2:21:56 PM

The All-New 2011 XJ Standard Wheel Base WINTER SNOW TIRES The stunning INCLUDED!*

result of taking a very different road. 3.9% APR up to 60 months WITH AN AEROSPACE-INSPIRED ALUMINUM BODY SHELL THAT IS LIGHT, STRONG, AND STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL.

LEASES STARTING AT $ 699* 36 MOS. MSRP $54,250

MORE POWERFUL AND EFFICIENT ENGINE. AN INNOVATIVE INTERIOR THAT EXCEEDS EVEN THE PROMISE OF THE STREAMLINED EXTERIOR.

Finance Rates as low as 2.9% for 36 Months.

INTUITIVE TECHNOLOGY, GLOVE-SOFT LEATHER, A PANORAMIC GLASS ROOF, AND A BOWERS & WILKINS® SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM FOUND IN NO OTHER CAR ON EARTH.

Leases Starting at $999 mo.*, 39 mos. $72,850 MSRP JAGUAR CLEVELAND 6137 KRUSE DR., SOLON • (440) 542-0601 www.jaguarcleveland.com JAGUAR CLEVELAND

LAND ROVER SOLON

6137 KRUSE DR.• SOLON • 1-866-210-6707

www.landroversolon.com * With approved credit. 36 month lease. Total due at signing $2,995. Includes down payment, acquisition fee plus tax, title and registration fees extra. Customer responsible for excess wear and tear. 10,000 miles per year. 30¢ per mile over. Other LR4’s available at similar savings. Expires 11/30/10.

6137 KRUSE DR., SOLON • (440) 542-0601

Early lease termination assistance up to $2,000 for lease or purchase. * Includes mounting, balancing and storage for two years. 3.9% APR Offer excludes XFR model. Jaguar Platinum Coverage includes all factory recommended scheduled maintenance for five years of 50,000miles, whichever occurs first. Expires 9/30/2010. Wear and tear items are limited to brake pads, brake dics, brake fluid changes and wiper blade inserts based on factory specified wear limits or intervals. All work must be performed by an authorized *Jaguar With approved 39 month TotalPlatinum due at signing $1,995. Includes down acquisition feeand plusexclusions, tax, title and registration extra. Customer dealer. Forcredit. complete details lease. on Jaguar Coverage, including warranty andpayment, maintenance coverage please visit yourfees local Jaguar dealer or responsible for excess and tear. per AMERICA year. 18¢ LLC per mile over. Other XJ’s at similar savings. Expires 11/30/10. JaguarUSA.com. ©2010wear JAGUAR LAND12,000 ROVERmiles NORTH

www.jaguarcleveland.com

davis automotive group inc. 6135 Kruse Dr. • Solon • (440) 542-0600 • www.DavisAutomotive.com