Crain's Cleveland Business, April 22, 2024

Cleveland leads nation in of ce conversions

CBRE report: 11% of city’s total inventory is undergoing renovations to become residential

By Stan Bullard

As o ce building owners in cities across the nation continue to embrace converting underused o ces to new uses such as apartments or hotels, Cleveland’s pioneering role continues to reap dividends.

A just-completed study by CBRE reports 120 such projects in the works nationwide. In terms of the percentage of its o ce market undergoing such renovations, Cleveland ranks top in the nation with 11%.

e study reported that 3.5 million square feet of such projects are underway or planned, followed by Cincinnati with 2.8 million feet and 8% of its o ce

market undergoing conversion. e San Francisco peninsula has 2.1 million feet of such projects, or about 5.25% of its o ce inventory.

Nationally, CBRE reported a total of 69 million square feet of such conversions are being built or proposed as of March 29, representing about 1.7% of the nation’s o ce supply. at gure is up from 60 million square feet, or 1.4% of the nation’s total o ce supply, as of the end of the second quarter of 2023.

CBRE reports that, nationally, it expects o ce-conversion completions will more than double this year.

See CBRE on Page 18

Associated Materials to invest $100M in operations, growth

Manufacturer gears up for anticipated increase in demand for products used in home remodeling

By Dan Shingler

Fresh o the heels of announcing signi cant layo s, Associated Materials of Cuyahoga Falls has announced it’s investing $100 million in its manufacturing operations and future growth.

e integrated buildings products company announced Tuesday, April 16, that it “has committed over $100 million to investments in equipment, digital technologies, and new work methods as part of its ongoing transformation strategy.”

e company makes an array of products, many of them designed for residential construction such as vinyl windows, siding, doors and composite cladding. e company said it will invest the $100 million “to further enhance the company’s portfolio, strengthening the customer experience, optimizing operations and increasing capacity across all major product categories.”

Many of the planned investments seem aimed at improving

See MATERIALS on Page 17

Surging cocoa prices leave bitter aftertaste

Northeast Ohio chocolatiers feel affects of rising costs

By Paige Bennett

Bad news, chocolate lovers. Your favorite sweet treat is probably going to cost more for a while.

Global cocoa prices are surging this year thanks to extreme weather conditions in West Africa, the largest producer of cocoa in the world, resulting in poor harvests. In March, cocoa prices hit record

heights, crossing $10,000 per metric ton for the rst time. As of Friday, April 12, cocoa cost about $11,179 per metric ton, according to Markets Insider.  e price hikes are a ecting large and small chocolate makers globally, leading some to increase prices or reduce the amount of chocolate in their products. Northeast Ohio chocolatiers are being forced to confront the surging costs, too.

e mounting cocoa prices have not been a concern for Malley’s Chocolates as far as this year. Mike Malley said the Cleveland candy company typically contracts with its suppliers for about a year’s worth of chocolate, meaning Malley’s has enough supply for the upcoming Sweetest Day, Halloween and Christmas holidays.

See COCOA on Page 17

Fourth-generation steelworker optimistic about state of industry, organized labor

By Dan Shingler

James Evano is feeling pretty good about the family business.

In Evano ’s case, that would be organized labor — specically, the sort of labor that turns iron ore into steel.

He’s nancial secretary of Local 979 of the United Steelworkers and one of more than 1,800 steelworkers running the mills at Cleveland-Cli s’ Cleveland Works complex in the Flats.

He also represents the fourth generation of his family to hold a union card and work at the complex, though it’s been owned by various companies through the family’s working history there.

Evano ’s been at the mill since 2012. Back then, the breakfast special at the Red Chimney restaurant near the mill, where we met him, was $2.79, he recalled. It’s $5.99 today, but the place is still full of other people who do real work for a living, including steelworkers and their family members.

It’s far from his rst experience with a union job.

“I’ve held ve union cards,” he said with a grin.

His family’s history with the Steelworkers Union dates back to before there even was a steelworkers union, or at least before there was a modern, united union for the industry like there is today.

“My great-grandfather was part of the committee that formed the union,” Evano said, with no small amount of pride in his voice.

at great-grandfather, Jack Ferline, was an organizer for the union in the 1930s and helped form the current union via the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, along with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, in Cleveland in 1942.

“I knew Grandpa Jack,” Evano said. “We’d be at his house and there were many times when someone would come to the door and he’d go, ‘Mary — take the bambinos downstairs.’ ”  Evano now realizes that those men showing up at his grandfather’s home were there to discuss union business.

Ferline headed the Cleveland Industrial Union Council as president and then served on the United Steelworkers district sta here from 1943 until he retired in 1976.

Evanoff’s family would continue to be steeped in union labor and activity.

very dedicated labor background,” Evano said.

Little wonder Evano was attracted to jobs that were unionized. His rst gig didn’t go smoothly though. It was the early 2000s and Evano , now 41, was in his 20s when he got a job at an Albertson’s grocery store in California. He was there for about a month when the union got locked out by the company during a labor dispute.

“I just barely got in, like a month into working,” he recalls. “It was ‘nice to meet you’ … and we were out on a picket line.” at lockout lasted ve months and when it was over, Evano believed in the union cause more than ever and was willing to ght for it.

His father was not very active in union politics, he said, but he held cards from the Steelworkers and also the United Food and Commercial Workers International. His stepfather, an electrician at the local mills, also was a USW member.

Both of his grandfathers were union members: the Steelworkers on his father’s side of the family and the Teamsters on his mother’s side. He has a stepgrandfather whose father was a maintenance mechanic and USW member, too.

“As you can see, I come from a

“Being on a picket line for that long helped shape why I believe unions are important for workers,” he said.

It’s one reason he’s been willing to not only help run Local 979 in Cleveland, but to serve on the union’s Rapid Response Committee, working on lobbying and advocacy e orts; and to help other locations that are trying to organize for the rst time. He was given the USW’s Spirit of the Fight award at the USW International Convention in 2017 because of his work.

So how does someone so steeped in the union and the operations of the local steel mill see the union and the industry currently?

Pretty good. Evano said he thinks labor is gaining support, from union members and nonunion members alike, both locally and nationally. And at the same time, domestic steel is gaining support as well.

e recent United Autoworkers strike, by which autoworkers won big wage increases and other concessions from the Big ree domestic car companies, has helped the union cause generally, he said.

“ at was de nitely a big moment for labor. It got a lot of people’s attention,” Evano said. “I think it’s changed a lot of people’s minds about labor.”

Unions are also making inroads into new places, as evidenced by labor successfully organizing REI stores, Starbucks locations and other employers not usually associated with organized labor.

“You’re seeing more union victories now,” Evano said.

Meanwhile, the nation as a whole seems to be valuing its heavy industry again — more than it has in recent years and enough, seemingly, to stop unfair competition from China and other places.

at’s good news for domestic steel and in turn for mills like the one in Cleveland, and for employers such as Cleveland-Cli s, the company Evano works for.

Cli s has been his employer since it took over ArcelorMittal’s U.S. operations in 2020.

dom misses a chance to say how much he loves his union workforce.

Crain’s met Evano for the rst time at a March 27 event held at Cli s’ Cleveland Works Mill, which included Goncalves standing side-by-side with Steelworkers District 1 director Donnie Blatt and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. e three were together to present a united front against Nippon Steel’s pending takeover of U.S. Steel, a deal the union wants to see killed by the government so Cli s can buy U.S. Steel instead.

Evano doesn’t want to judge a marriage by the honeymoon alone, but he did say that it’s encouraging to see management and union working cooperatively. And he didn’t mind helping shuttle reporters around for Goncalves’s recent press event where the CEO was surrounded by steelworkers who support him.

“Is he going to give us everything we want? No,” Evano said. “But he’s better than the CEOs we’ve dealt with in the past, I’ll just leave it at that for now.”

Toward the end of our conversation with Evano , a woman comes to the table. She couldn’t help overhearing the conversation, she said, and she just wanted to let us know that she credits the good life she’s enjoyed in Cleveland to her own husband’s union job.

Along with a new company the union got a new boss in the form of Cli ’s outspoken CEO Lourenco Goncalves, who sel-

at brought a smile to Evano ’s face.

“We still have the same goals,” he said. “To make life better for people.”

Evanoff

By Tyler Kendall, Bloomberg

Two steel-state Democrats in tough reelection ghts are urging President Joe Biden to do more to stop the proposed acquisition of United States Steel Corp. by Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp.

“We’re pushing the White House on national security grounds and on trade enforcement,” Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio told Bloomberg Television. “And fundamentally what this means for American workers and American jobs.”

Biden has publicly opposed the takeover and said the company should be American-owned.

e Biden administration is putting the deal through a secretive national security review process, one that is typically reserved for businesses involving adversarial nations rather than allies like Japan. e decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States could be contested in court.

have preferred the Clevelandbased Cleveland-Cli s Inc. mining company to make the acquisition.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, facing a competitive reelection in next-door Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is headquartered in Pittsburgh, also is championing the cause.

“My principal concern are those steelworker jobs and this deal gives me great concern about the threat to those jobs,” Casey told Bloomberg Television. He says he’s inquiring with the White House about how con ict over the acquisition was handled in Biden’s discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his state visit this month.

“I’m going to be asking the administration a lot of questions about what was raised in those bilateral meetings,” he said. “I want to know at what level and to what extent these issues were raised.”

e U.S. Justice Department also opened an extended antitrust investigation into the takeover, creating additional hurdles to closing the deal. As a result, the companies are now considering delaying the expected deal timeline.

Brown’s Senate race is considered one of the most competitive contests this November, and appealing to industrial workers is key to his reelection hopes. U.S. Steel went against the request of the steelworkers union, which would

When asked about the takeover at a joint press conference with Kishida, Biden reiterated his promise to back the United Steelworkers Union in its opposition to the deal.

“I stand by my commitment to American workers,” said Biden, who was endorsed by the union last month.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also has said he would try to block the deal if elected.

Nippon Steel says the deal will make the American steel industry more competitive. Direct employment in steel manufacturing is actually dropping in the U.S., down 49% in the last three decades according to the Congressional Research Service.

e Japanese company’s promise of new investment is a selling point for Republican Sen. Todd Young, whose home state of Indiana produces more steel than any other.

“Based on my reading of it, the Nippon Corporation desires to invest heavily in the workforce, in the plant, in research and development, all things that have not been occurring to a su cient degree,”  Young told Bloomberg Television. “So I think it could be bene cial to the community.”

Above: The United States Steel Corp. Irvin Plant along the banks of the Monongahela River in West Mif in, Pennsylvania.

Left: President Joe Biden speaks during an April 11 meeting with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Philippines’ president, and Fumio Kishida, Japan’s prime minister, at the White House.

BLOOMBERG PHOTOS

e key to improving Cleveland’s

reputation

lies with its residents

Have you ever been in the room when a negative comment leaves someone else’s lips sounding like, “Cleveland is the mistake on the Lake,” or “ ere is really nothing special about Cleveland”?  Hurts your heart a bit, right? Some Clevelanders may know that we are ranked in the top 10 U.S. cities where you can nd a ordable housing, home of the second largest theater district outside of New York City, and have access to three major sports teams all within walking distance of each other, but the average individual may gloss right over these outstanding details.

According to the 2023 State of the Young Professional Community Report (SYPCR), a survey Engage! Cleveland conducts bi-annually to get a nger on the pulse of the early to mid-career professional community in Cleveland, a whopping 91% of respondents had a positive view of Cleveland, but only 27% of those respondents said they were “cheerleaders’’ of Cleveland, with the remaining respondents being passive, or negative.  erein lies the question, how can we change that? What are the opportunities for Clevelanders to strategically grow our reputation to be the leading destination for people to work and live?

In the recent study conducted by the Cleveland Talent Alliance (CTA), a consortium of the region’s civic organizations and government entities working towards the goal of growing Greater Cleveland’s population by increasing and retaining working-age adults, 42 percent of respondents indicated a willingness to move to Cleveland if o ered a job that met their salary and skill requirements. Another 27 percent were unsure — indicating that we have work to do to improve what outside talent knows and believes about Cleveland’s quality of life and its potential as a place to build a rewarding career.

According to the SYPCR, these factors are crucial to talent considering relocation, and the city’s per-

ceived shortcomings in these areas can deter potential newcomers.  Clevelanders can play a signi cant role in reshaping these perceptions. e June 2023 Talent Wars report from Development Counsellors International (DCI) found that talent learns about and forms impressions of locations through a range of information sources. Internet research, rst-hand experience and word-of-mouth were found to be most in uential in forming perceptions. is means that you — as a resident — are a primary source of recommendation and can o er rst-hand experiences to visiting family and friends to positively impact perceptions of the city. is begins with leveraging personal testimonials and success stories. By highlighting individuals who have found ful lling careers and a high quality of life in Cleveland, we can provide tangible evidence of its appeal to external talent.

e next time you are met with a negative comment about Cleveland, share your personal experiences shamelessly as outside talent relies heavily on word-of-mouth. And, by showcasing how our healthcare and manufacturing industries are marrying traditional approaches with innovation, Cleveland can leverage its longtime strengths to build its future. Testimonials and success stories can help shape Cleveland’s image as an emerging, creative, and diverse place to build and grow a career.

Cleveland’s reputation as an a ordable, culturally rich and diverse community isn’t as well-known as we need it to be. By leveraging our strengths, addressing and implementing change to improve areas where we struggle and involving our residents in the process, we can enhance our image and attract the talent we need to thrive. Clevelanders have a crucial role to play in this process, and your involvement can make a signi cant di erence in the city’s future.

Ashley Basile Oeken is president of the nonpro t Engage! Cleveland.

Cleveland Ballet takes ‘interim’ tag off its CEO

Larry Goodman

sees big progress at the organization

By Scott Suttell

e interim leader of Cleveland Ballet, installed in December 2023 to stabilize the organization in a time of turmoil, now has the job on a permanent basis.

e ballet announced that its leadership transition is “formalized and secured” following the board of directors’ appointment of Larry Goodman as president and CEO.

Since taking over as interim CEO, Goodman “has been instrumental in securing a future for ballet in Cleveland and the region with a lot of hard work and support from his sta , dancers, the community, the board of directors and donors,” said Dr. Michael Frank, chair of the ballet’s board, in a statement.

He said Goodman “has focused on creating a roadmap for scal responsibility and artistic beauty that is the foundation for a thriving organization and along the way recommitted his passion for the organization with a desire to continue beyond his interim role.”

Goodman’s tenure as interim CEO started in the most di cult of circumstances.

In November 2023, thenpresident and CEO Michael Krasnyansky and then-artistic director Gladisa Guadalupe, who are married and co-founded this iteration of the ballet, were temporarily suspended in the wake of what the organization at the time termed “serious workplace allegations.”

A later investigation by the board focused on three main categories: “systemic intimidation, nepotism and retaliation;” “alleged sexual misconduct by Krasnyansky” by at least “16 current and former company dancers and sta ” who said Krasnyansky “improperly touched them or sexually harassed them;” and “ nancial irregularities” that included commingling of funds of the ballet and a separate dance school run by Guadalupe, and ballet funds “used for personal expenses of Mr. Krasnyansky or Ms. Guadalupe, including personal car insurance, travel, meals, and lodging.”

Beauty,” running April 25–27. In a phone interview on Wednesday morning, April 17, Goodman said he began in the interim role with “a pretty steep learning curve.” By spring, when working on the budget for scal 2025 (which begins Aug. 1) which was to include $50,000 for a CEO search, he came to this realization: “I was energized and engaged by this job and ... helping ballet succeed in Cleveland, which is a pretty great goal.”

Goodman said he approached board leadership and indicated he was willing to stay in the CEO role full-time if he was meeting expectations. He was. As Frank, the board chair, put it, “Larry’s leadership has been essential to aligning Cleveland Ballet with strategic and sustainable business goals and practices.”

Goodman said that he sees “four signicant areas” of progress for the ballet:

◗ Artistic: Goodman said Bourtasenkov, the artistic director, “has just upped everybody’s game” and has “set high standards and expectations for excellence.” e December production of “ e Nutcracker,” which Bourtasenkov oversaw, was a critical hit and “our most successful ‘Nutcracker’ ever,” Goodman said, generating about $1.35 million in ticket sales. An exciting 2024-25 season will feature  “Dracula,” “ e Nutcracker” and “Romeo and Juliet.”

Krasnyansky resigned on Nov. 21, 2023. Guadalupe was removed from her role on Jan. 10.

Timour Bourtasenkov, who was interim artistic director overseeing the ballet’s most important production of the season, “ e Nutcracker,” in December, now is in that role on a permanent basis. Up next for him: preparing the ballet for its nal production this season at Playhouse Square, “Sleeping

◗ Cultural: “Fixing the culture was as important, or more important, than xing the operating model,” Goodman said. He said changes in communicating to sta and artists that their input is valued has helped, as has the implementation of a monthly happy hour aimed at building camaraderie.

◗ Financial/commercial: Ticket sales for the upcoming “Sleeping

Beauty” production already are around $170,000, nearly double the level of the fall 2023 production, “Carmen.” He said the organization is seeking savings in all aspects of its operations — one example: changing to a phone system that cut monthly costs for that service by more than half — and is “rightsizing” itself with a shorter season (32 weeks from 40 weeks) and a smaller company of dancers (26 for fall 2024 from 33 in fall 2023). He said the ballet’s scal 2025 budget, $2.8 million, will be in balance. e organization does plan to hire a development director, Goodman said.

◗ Community: It’s important, Goodman said, for the ballet to do more to engage both the dedicated fan and the more casual ballet-goer. e ballet is setting up a young professionals group to drive more engagement in the latter category. A recent event at the restaurant Amba, Goodman noted, drew 65 guests.

When he joined the organization as interim CEO, “It was my responsibility to assess and implement changes to make the company as strong as possible moving forward,” Goodman said. “I feel con dent in the outstanding artistic and admin-

istrative team in place, and excited to see us grow together.”

Goodman has a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Bucknell University, a master’s and Ph.D. in English language and literature from the University of Chicago, and a certi cate in strategic management from Georgetown University. He has chaired the Ohio Association of Independent Schools and has been on the board of several independent schools. Goodman lives in Cleveland with his wife, Anne, who runs a consultancy focused on fundraising and capacity-building for nonpro ts.

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The Cleveland Ballet performing “Sleeping Beauty” | AMES PHOTOGRAPHY

Goodman

FirstEnergy will deploy smart meters statewide

Part of a settlement on grid modernization plan

By Dan Shingler

FirstEnergy Corp.’s Ohio electric companies — Ohio Edison, e Illuminating Co. and Toledo Edison — will expand the deployment of smart meters to an additional 1.4 million Ohio customers.

e deployment is part of a multi-party agreement on FirstEnergy’s proposed Grid Modernization Plan, also known as Grid Mod II.

Signatories to the agreement, announced Monday, April 15, are FirstEnergy; Citizens Utility Board of Ohio; Environmental Law & Policy Center; Interstate Gas Supply; e Kroger Co.; Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council; Ohio Energy Group; Ohio Energy Leadership Council; Ohio Environmental Council; e Ohio Manufacturers’ Association Energy Group; Retail Energy Supply Association; and Walmart.

e settlement could clear the way for the big electricity provider to continue grid investments from 2019. Some of its subsequent plans came under re from consumer and environmental groups, including for the costs that would be passed on to ratepayers.

FirstEnergy said in announcing the settlement that it hopes to build upon its previous work without signi cantly increasing costs for customers, while modernizing its metering system. “If approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), the four-year, $421 million (Grid Mod II) plan will build upon sys-

tem upgrades completed as part of the companies’ Grid Mod I plan approved in 2019, including installation of approximately 706,000 smart meters across Ohio along with the necessary supporting communications infrastructure and data management system,” the company said in a statement.

e typical FirstEnergy residential customer using 750 kilowatt-hours of power per month would see an increase of about $1.50 a month on their bill during the implantation of Grid Mod II, the company stated. However, customers would get savings on things such as smart thermostats as part of the plan. FirstEnergy said its plan includes $3 million per year for a smart-thermostat rebate program that would give most customers $100 per quali ed thermostat. Low-income customers would get larger rebates, the company said.

As for the smart meters, FirstEnergy said it will give consumers more control over their energy and, in the future, will help detect and locate outages.  e new meters will enable homeowners with solar panels or other renewable power sources to sell excess electricity back to the grid, said FirstEnergy Supervisor for State & Regulatory Communications Lauren Siburkis via email. “Our smart meters can be con gured for net metering, which is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid,” Siburkis wrote.

CSU: Budget cuts to come from all areas, including athletics

Joe Scalzo

Cleveland State University said every area of the school will participate in closing a projected $40 million budget shortfall — including athletics.

e Vikings’ Division I athletics program “has been assessed for required budget savings,” a university spokesperson said in an email to Crain’s Cleveland Business.

Cleveland State spends about $15.5 million annually on sports, with the bulk of those expenses covered by student fees. Two members of CSU’s faculty union recently said the school should consider cuts to its athletic budget or eliminating sports altogether.

CSU already has said it will o er voluntary buyouts to faculty and sta members, and its board of trustees recently approved a onetime reserve payment of up to $9 million to cover the cost of the program.

e university also said it is studying potential changes to NCAA Division I requirements and rules, which may have a signi cant impact on the rules governing participation in intercollegiate athletes.

“As one of the 14 public universities in Ohio, 13 of which have intercollegiate athletic programs (the sole exception is NEOMED), we rmly believe it is imperative that CSU remains part of those discussions and comes away with the best outcome for this university and its students and studentathletes,” the school said.

Cleveland State’s athletic programs date back to when it was

known as Fenn College. e university has o ered Division I athletics since 1972.

Cleveland State spends about $15.5 million each year on sports, which lags behind Northeast Ohio’s three other Division I schools (Akron, Kent State and Youngstown State) but ranks third among the Horizon League’s nine public universities. ose three schools o er football, while CSU does not.

Only Youngstown State ($20.28 million) and Oakland ($17.65 million) have bigger athletic budgets among Horizon League schools, although two others have similar budgets to CSU: Northern Kentucky ($15.08 million) and Milwaukee ($15.07 million).

“Our D-I student-athletes continue to nd success on the courts and elds, and our athletes perform with excellence in the classroom as well, with an overall cumulative GPA of 3.46 and an 88% graduation rate as of spring 2023,” the school said.

In a faculty senate meeting on April 3, CSU president Laura Bloomberg said the university faces a $40 million budget shortfall within the next ve years if it

maintains a status quo approach, with no attempts to increase revenue or cut costs. at gure represents about 14% of the school’s operating budget.

“We are addressing that through cost savings and restructuring to support areas of academic strength and revenue generation,” CSU said.

CSU had just over 14,000 students this year, which was nearly 15% lower than 2018. e CSU 2.0 plan unveiled in March 2021 set a goal of enrolling 20,000 students by 2025. CSU welcomed nearly 4,000 new students across all its programs last fall, which also fell short of the school’s goals.

“Colleges and universities in Ohio and across the nation are facing unprecedented enrollment and nancial challenges,” the university said. “Cleveland State University has prioritized addressing these issues to ensure the education of its current and future students. At the same time, the university is continuing the process of transforming its curriculum as Cleveland’s only public, researchfocused institution that creates excellent learning opportunities for all students.”

Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center | CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Cleveland State University said every area of the school will participate in closing a projected $40 million budget shortfall. GUS CHAN

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TransDigm boosted CEO’s pay

Potomac Law Group expands to Cleveland

Recruits four attorneys from Walter Haver eld

By Jeremy Nobile

27% in ’23 Potomac Law Group, a Washington D.C.-based legal practice, has planted a ag in Cleveland in its latest market expansion.

Company saw a 21% increase in total revenue

By Jeremy Nobile

TransDigm Group Inc. CEO Kevin Stein was paid approximately $23.85 million in total compensation in the company’s 2023 scal year, which ended Sept. 30, according to its 2024 proxy ling.

Compared with scal 2022, Stein’s total pay for the prior year increased by 27%.

e rm’s local cohort features four attorneys recruited from Walter Haver eld who are being led by Ted Motheral, Potomac’s Cleveland partner-in-charge.

Motheral’s work tends to focus on mergers and acquisitions, as well as debt and equity nancing. He also is described as a national leader in the nancial services and wealth management industries.

Stein’s compensation package for the year includes a base salary of $1,372,500 plus about $20.2 million in stock/ option awards, about $2.3 million in incentives and $18,300 in “other” compensation, a 401(k) contribution.

e company did not report an annual bonus for Stein that year.

In scal 2022, Stein received total compensation of about $18.7 million on a base salary of $1,273,750. He also received an annual bonus that year of $376,375.

e median annual total compensation of all TransDigm employees in scal 2023 was $58,034 compared with $52,856 in 2022. at gives the company a CEOto-employee pay ratio of 411:1 compared to a ratio of 354:1 the year prior.

TransDigm is a Cleveland-based designer and producer of highly engineered aircraft components. e company reported about $6.56 billion in total revenue for scal 2023, a 21% increase over 2022, and $1.3 billion in net income, a 50% improvement over 2022.

TransDigm’s other top executives are paid similarly as Stein with compensation packages featuring a mix of salary, stock awards and other nancial incentives.

Here’s a look at total compensation TransDigm’s other named executive o cers received in scal 2023:

◗ Sarah Wynne, chief nancial ocer: $3.1 million ($4.98 million in 2022)

◗ Jorge Valladares III, former chief operating o cer: $11.96 million ($8.94 million in 2022)

◗ Michael Lisman, co-chief operating o cer: $13 million ($5.39 million in 2022)

◗ Joel Reiss, co-chief operating ofcer: $4.47 million ($4.55 million in 2022)

◗ Jessica Warren, general counsel, chief compliance o cer and secretary: $11 million (nothing reported for 2022)

“(Potomac) provides a nationwide footprint and a great amount of full-service bench strength. e level of sophistication and expertise of the lawyers at PLG will provide an excellent foundation for our growing national corporate and M&A practice,” Motheral said in a statement. “In addition, the legal expertise in the nancial advisory services and wealth management industries at PLG will help to continue to be a national leader in this market.”

Joining Motheral are attorneys Gregory Watkins, Ayden Ergun and Bryan Fisher.

“The addition of this Cleveland-based team expands our presence in the Midwest, deepens our offering to the financial advisory industry in particular, and brings a collective 50 years of corporate experience to our firm and clients generally,” said Potomac managing partner Ben Lieber in a statement.

Potomac describes itself as a national, distributed law rm with approximately 150 attorneys operating in 24 states.

e company’s Cleveland team has taken up residence at the Fifth ird Building downtown (600

rm’s Cleveland location as a “ exible” space used on an “as-needed” basis. e company said it has an annual lease in place there that was e ective in March.

“As a distributed ‘cloud-based’ law rm, PLG’s approach has been to grow around great lawyers as we meet them,” said Laro regarding how the Cleveland expansion came to be. “ e Cleveland team presented a terri c opportunity for the rm to enter a new geographic area and expand our corporate practice in an area we had been looking to build out: the nancial advisory services/ wealth management industry.”

Laro further notes that while the rm has no speci c headcount in mind to grow to in Cleveland, growing its attorney bench

Cleveland Humanities Collaborative gets $3M grant

By Joe Scalzo

e Cleveland Humanities Collaborative will be able to help community college students earlier in their academic careers thanks to a nearly $3 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

e collaborative provides support services and learning opportunities to high-performing humanities students at Cuyahoga Community College, Lakeland Community College and Lorain Community College as they transition into bachelor’s degree programs at Case Western Reserve University.

e latest round of funding, which will be split between CWRU and Tri-C, will allow the collaborative to o er enhanced advising support and on-campus summer programming for transfer students. e foundation has

donated more than $6.5 million to the collaborative since the program began in 2015.

“

rough this additional support from the Mellon Foundation, we’re reaching community college students potentially even

earlier in their careers and bringing them to Case Western Reserve for a summer experience where they get a sense of what it’s like to be a residential student,” said Lee ompson, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at

CWRU. “ e collaborative’s focus this summer will emphasize the way humanities skills can lead to meaningful postgraduate opportunities for them.”

Since the collaborative began accepting applicants in 2016, 55 students have been accepted, with 47 enrolling at CWRU. at accounts for nearly 10% of the university’s transfer students and 63% of all humanities transfers.

“

e Mellon Foundation’s investments have made four-year humanities degrees attainable for students with limited means, competing priorities and an urgency to earn a family sustaining wage,” said Megan O’Bryan, president of the Tri-C Foundation. “Tri-C provides a rich humanities-learning environment unique in the community college landscape, and we are committed to strengthening this pathway that leads to our students’ success.”

Superior Ave.), marking the eighth physical location in its footprint.

Potomac Chief Operating Ocer Marlene Laro describes the

here and in Chicago is a “focus for us in the near term.”

Stein

The Fifth Third Building in downtown Cleveland, where Potomac Law Group has added an of ce. | COSTAR

Clockwise from top left: Ted Motheral, Greg Watkins, Ayden Ergun and Bryan Fisher | POTOMAC LAW GROUP

Local stores join forces for Independent Bookstore Day

By Alexandra Golden

To celebrate Independent Bookstore Day 2024, 16 Northeast Ohio bookstores have partnered to create a special punch card shoppers can use on April 27 for special discounts.

“It’s a way for readers and community people to celebrate independent businesses in their communities, in this case, particularly, independent bookstores,” said Suzanne DeGaetano, owner of Mac’s Backs in Cleveland Heights.

Patrons have from April 27 to May 31 to visit 10 out of 16 bookstores to receive a one-time 10% o coupon to use on a purchase at the 10th store visited, or patrons that visit 10 in one week will receive a 20% o discount, according to a news release. No purchase is necessary to receive a punch.

“We just want people to visit the stores and see stores that they might have never been in before,” DeGaetano said. “We wanted there to be the greatest amount of exposure possible.”

e punch card and bookstores partnering up is not a new idea, but it has not been in place since 2019, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, DeGaetano said. Previously, it was a passport or a booklet that allowed people to get a stamp and turn it in to be eligible for a prize, DeGaetano said, but this year, the punch card is more like a bookmark.

e idea to bring the collaboration of the independent bookstores and punch card was created by Elisabeth Plumlee-Watson, communications and events manager for Loganberry Books, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Rosa Ransom, an employee at Mac’s Backs.

e two conjured the idea while conversing at a conference where they learned that this style of collaboration is a “tried and true tradition” outside of Northeast Ohio, and “what better time than now” to join in the tradition, Plumlee-Watson said.

“ is is a very common thing. Some kind of bingo or punch card or passport or social media challenge is a very common thing that regional groups of Indie bookstores around the county do and have been doing for a long time,” Plumlee-Watson said.

e number of participating bookstores has almost doubled from the last promotion. Part of this is thanks to stores that have opened since the pandemic. e stores go as far south as Akron and as far west as Medina, DeGaetano said.

When the conversation turned to which bookstores would be included, Plumlee-Watson said she thought about how patrons come into Loganberry Books and mention they are from areas outside of Cleveland, including Medina and Akron, PlumleeWatson said.

“If we receive visitors from

there, there’s just as good reason for us to send our regular customers a little bit further a eld than they would normally go to discover these unique treasures that are further south or further west or what have you,” Plumlee-Watson said.

Each of the participating bookstores are di erent from the others, re ecting each one’s speci c community or neighborhood, sta and owners, DeGaetano said. e stores are not a “one size ts all” and some inhabit small or larger spaces, she said.

“ e thing about an Indie bookstore is you have not seen them all once you’ve seen one,” Plumlee-Watson said. “It is not that predictability of a chain experience; it is a surprise every time.”

As a whole, DeGaetano said, independent bookstores are “thriving” for the most part because they have “best practices” and “understand their communities very intimately.”

She said that independent bookstores curate the book selection for the neighborhood along with the customer service, so they know what the customers are looking for, not just bookwise but also merchandise-wise, including puzzles, journals or bookmarks.

According to the American Booksellers Association (ABA) 2022 annual report, there were 2,178 bookstore companies in 2023, which is an increase from 2,010 in 2022 and 1,910 in 2021.

Online sales have become a route that independent bookstores took up during the pandemic. DeGaetano said that Mac’s Backs had people ordering “like crazy” when their location was closed, and although they have long since reopened, they are doing “a lot more online sales” than they did pre-pandemic. She said the business is “very steady.”

According to a May 2023 ABA release, since 2020, independent bookstores on IndieCommerce platform saw a 580% in-

crease in sales with over $200 million in online revenue for those bookstores.

For Loganberry Books, the foot tra c has “increased enormously” from pre-COVID rates. PlumleeWatson attributed this to the use of social media that led many customers to discover the store.

“If you make a beautiful place in the age of social media and you welcome people using your space as a place to create content, then that can really come back to unfold and I think that’s a lot of what we had been seeing,” Plumlee-Watson said.

Punch card participants:

◗ Appletree Books: 12419 Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights

◗ Black Cat Books & Oddities: 420 S. Court St. in Medina

◗ The Browsing Room

Bookstore & Cafe: 1301 E. 9th St., rst oor of the Galleria at Erieview Tower in Cleveland

◗ Clevo Books: 530 Euclid Ave. #45a in Cleveland

◗ Corner of the Sky Books & Beyond: 2151 Broadview Road in Cleveland

◗ Elizabeth’s Bookshop & Writing Centre: 647 E. Market St. in Akron

◗ Fireside Book Shop: 29 N. Franklin St. in Chagrin Falls

◗ Index Coffee & Books: 1921 W. 25th St. in Cleveland

◗ Loganberry Books: 13015 Larchmere Blvd. in Shaker Heights

◗ Mac’s Backs: 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights

◗ The Learned Owl: 204 N. Main St. in Hudson

◗ The Thrifty Owl: 152 E. Aurora Road in North eld

◗ ThirdSpace Reading Room: 1464 E. 105th St. in Cleveland

◗ Trust Books: 1884 Front St. in Cuyahoga Falls

◗ Visible Voice Books: 2258 Professor Ave. in Cleveland

◗ Wall of Books: 7783 W. Ridgewood Drive in Parma

The Right Firm for Your Small Business

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We’re the right law rm for most Cleveland businesses because of what we have in common. We understand the value of a dollar. We proudly call Cleveland home. And we continue to lead through tenacity, resourcefulness, and innovation – just like you.

Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights is participating in a promotion to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day. | CRAIN’S FILE PHOTO

Park Place Technologies buys Progressive complex

By Stan Bullard

Park Place Technologies has acquired its new headquarters from Progressive Corp. for $17 million. e complex is on Alpha Drive in Highland Heights, just 3.6 miles from its current Landerbrook Corporate Center building in May eld Heights.

The move capped an 18-month search by the growing data center and networking optimization company that included soliciting interest from 100 communities.

Progressive was marketing the four-building complex on Alpha, according to tax records, as part of its massive o ce consolidation plan following the pandemic and continuing attraction of working from home for employees.

Chris Adams, Park Place president and CEO, said in a statement, “We wanted to remain close to our current May eld Heights HQ location to reduce disruptions for our employees. We also wanted to consolidate our Cleveland locations, including a warehouse in Solon, and have con dence we can accommodate the needs of our growing employee family in the new Highland Heights facility.”

Park Place said it will move about 500 employees to its new campus by late 2024. e new campus will include o ce, warehouse and lab space.

The company’s new headquarters also will include elements to improve the employee experience. Features it may add include an expanded fitness center, an on-site daycare space, a larger café with recreational space, and future outdoor amenities including basketball and pickleball courts, exercise spaces

and team-building activity spaces. e private company in an email declined to disclose the budget for the improvements.

Asked if the closing of the

property deal was aided by a Bloomberg-reported $2 billion re nancing of the company led by Blackstone, Park Place said it has not commented on that renancing.

Record Rendezvous renovation plan includes weed dispensary

By Stan Bullard

e song “I Love You, Alice B. Toklas,” a 1968 love letter to marijuana-laced brownies, may come to mind with the proposed renovation of the one-time Record Rendezvous store in downtown Cleveland.

Klutch Cannabis, the medical dispensary based in Akron, is identi ed as the rst- oor tenant of the landmark at 300 Prospect Ave., according to plans led with the city of Cleveland.

Plans led for the ursday, April 18, meeting of the Downtown/Flats Design Review Meeting show the proposed marijuana dispensary and a sign with the Klutch Cannabis logo on the property.

e designs were led by MPG Architects of Fairlawn for what it described as the rst of two phases for the proposed project. e dispensary would be on the rst oor, with o ces for the operation on the building’s second oor. A future phase would include a total of

four apartments on the third and fourth oors of the 1908 vintage structure.

Readying the long-empty storefront for the dispensary also will require renovating the structure’s storefront.

Pete Nischt, vice president for compliance and communications for Akron-based Klutch, declined comment.

e dispensary likely has control of the space for the plan to be led. However, such locations must be authorized by the state of Ohio for a medical dispensary to become operational. Klutch currently operates dispensaries in Canton and Lorain. e application for design approval said about 25 employees would work at the dispensary.

e building at 300 Prospect was the second location of Record Rendezvous from 1945 until 1976, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Owner Leo Mintz coined the term “rock ‘n roll” to break the taboo of white people listening to rhythm and

blues music, the encyclopedia states. e term was later popularized by radio disc jockey Alan Freed.

Architect Ian L. Jones of MPG wrote in a letter accompanying the application that the storefront renovation will include maintaining the existing display window and repairing windows that have lost their glazing, and tuckpointing the brick exterior. Plans also envision adding a historic marker in front of the property.

Jones said in the application the apartments may be installed on the upper oors at the same time as the rst is rehabilitated or later, so it is described as a two-phase project.

e property is owned by a joint venture that incorporates Weston, the Warrensville Heights real estate with a vast industrial portfolio in Northeast Ohio as well as other states.

e Record Rendezvous project received an allocation of Ohio State Historic Preservation Tax Credits last December.

e properties that Park Place just acquired were previously assigned a market value of $22.5 million by the county for property tax purposes. e planned purchase was rst

reported last November.

Park Place currently occupies about 100,000 square feet of o ces in May eld Heights. e just-purchased properties occupy 18 acres and include two o ce buildings, totaling 275,000 square feet, and more than 1,500 parking spaces. e campus already features a cafeteria, conference rooms and wellness rooms for meditation and yoga.

Above: Park Place Technologies has closed the purchase of a cluster of Progressive Corp. buildings along Alpha Drive in Highland Heights for a new global headquarters. Left: A rendering shows planned updates to the complex. The company expects to move about 500 staffers to it by year-end.

Ace Pickleball Club now eyes fall opening in Solon

By Joe Scalzo

Ace Pickleball Club is “making progress” on its planned indoor facility at the former Bed, Bath and Beyond in the Uptown Solon shopping center, but the opening has been delayed until fall, cofounder and president Joe Sexton wrote in an email to Crain’s Cleveland Business.

e facility was originally expected to open in late winter or early spring of this year. Franchise owner TK Herman and his business partners signed a lease last fall for the 40,000-square-foot facility in the Uptown Solon shopping center located at 6025 Kruse Drive, just o U.S. 422 and SOM Center Road.

Atlanta-based Ace Pickleball Club was developed by longtime Sky Zone franchisees. The company opened its first location last summer in Roswell, Georgia. A second location opened in February in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a third is expected to open this spring in Voorhees, New Jersey.

In February, Ace’s executives told Chain Store Age that the company has sold 100 licenses for its pickleball centers across the country. Since April 2, the company’s Facebook page has announced plans for eight locations to open in 2024, including the Solon location.

Ace isn’t the only company looking to open an indoor pickleball facility this year in Greater Cleveland. The Cleveland Pickleball Club is expected to open in September on Pin Oak Parkway in Avon Lake.

Herman told Crain’s in October that the Solon facility would fea-

e Solon location has its own page on Ace Pickleball Club’s website, but is listed as “coming soon.” e website said the club will o er “unlimited open play, court reservations, social mixers and events, clinics, micro tournaments, discounts at the pro shop, entry into the APC Member championship series with cash prizes and unlimited paddle demos.”

Cleveland-based Picklehigh begins selling pickleball gear

By Joe Scalzo

Two years ago, David Randall found a new sport — and a new racket.

Randall, the founder and CEO of Chagrin Falls/Bainbridge Township-based High Brands, was introduced to pickleball for the rst time in 2022, playing with a group of beginners who walked o the court raving out how addicting the sport was.

“ at’s when it occurred to me that pickleball needs to become the new focus of our consumer brands business,” he said on his website.

Randall recently launched Picklehigh, a lifestyle brand that sells professional-grade paddles, performance wear and pickleball-related gifts and accessories.

with nature-inspired lifestyle brands, new opportunities illuminated the path to pickleball over the past year,” Randall said in a news release for the brand. “It’s been an exciting journey, and we’re thrilled to be part of this thriving community.”

Picklehigh is planning to release new paddles every two months, with forthcoming editions to include “ e Cincy,” Park City, Colorado and Texas. e company is also planning a lighter, highperformance paddle for ages 7-12, and is currently pursuing collegiate licenses while working with university pickleball clubs.

“This is more than just a trend; it’s a generational shift.”

David Randall, CEO of High Brands

Picklehigh began with a gradual rollout in 2023 before launching rst editions of its $145 Elevation Pro5 paddles last December, including the CLE “ e Land” edition, as well as models that feature Arizona, South Carolina and Coastal Florida.

e company has been raising capital over the last six months, mainly from local angel investors, Randall said. e company is looking to capitalize on the nation’s fastest-growing sport, whose popularity has exploded in Greater Cleveland in recent years. ree indoor facilities are scheduled to open in 2024 in Avon Lake, Solon and Mentor.

“Drawing from my experience

“ e perception that pickleball is just for old folks is no longer,” said Picklehigh president Mark Ianni, a Cleveland native turned Arizona pickleball enthusiast. “ e fastest growing segment is 2135 year olds. It’s becoming their goto tness, social and dating thing. And now there is the emergence of elementary and high school pickleball programs nationally. Parents and grandparents want the kids to join them and learn the sport properly.”

Picklehigh o ers an expanding apparel line, including graphic tees, caps, performance tops and leggings. e company recently introduced a social community dubbed “ e Summer of Picklelove ’24.”

“With the conversion of 75% of America’s outdoor tennis courts to pickleball and the rise of 25 to 30 national indoor ‘sportstainment’ franchises, the future of pickleball looks incredibly bright,” Randall said. “ is is more than just a trend; it’s a generational shift.”

ture 13 indoor courts with monthly memberships as well as nonmember access. Pricing had not been nalized at that point. Re-

cent attempts to reach Herman have been unsuccessful and Sexton did not respond to follow-up questions about the project.

Design work was recently completed on that project, according to owner Chris Haas, the president and CEO of All Pro Freight Systems Inc. of Westlake.

An Ace Pickleball Club location in Roswell, Georgia. The company is planning to open a facility in Solon in the fall. | ACE PICKLEBALL CLUB

WRLC snags grant to grow small carbon credit market

By Kim Palmer

At its peak in 2021, the voluntary carbon credit market was valued at a high of $2 billion globally, as companies and organizations were highly motivated to make big strides toward long-term environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

e market, which facilitates the purchase of shares of large forest preservation and planting projects to o set carbon-intensive manufacturing or farming, has been a popular way for large multinational companies to mitigate greenhouse gas emission totals.

Historically, the carbon credits market applied only to areas of thousands of acres or more, while smaller forested areas, particularly those near cities, had no mechanism to access those markets and resulting revenue.

“ e traditional carbon credit market is focused on 5,000-acre minimums, which are huge swaths of land that don’t really exist in Ohio, don’t really exist in the Midwest or even a lot of the eastern United States,” said Alex Czayka, Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s chief conservation o cer.

e Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC) is big — it’s the largest land trust in Ohio, with more than 72,000 acres on 900 properties of permanently preserved land — but the parcels it owns tend to be 20 acres or smaller.

“We’ve always run into a barrier as an organization when we went to explore carbon credit opportunities because we are focused on peri-urban conservation, the urban-rural gradient, which is land that is most at risk for development and deforestation,” Czayka said.

at changed in 2017, he said, when WRLC began working with City Forest Credits, a nonpro t carbon registry that teams with smaller landowners to provide market veri cation for parcels 15

acres and less, in and around urban centers with at least 80% tree coverage.

A WRLC property is eligible for carbon credit because once acquired, the land is conserved and the tree canopy is protected in perpetuity, he said. City Forest

$200,000 in the last ve years. Czayka said there are about 30,000 more available for sale.

“It is a very unique funding source that allows us to put what we make back into stewardship and management of that property,” he said. “ ere is also a cultur-

“We think we have cracked the nut of carbon credits, and we want to provide guidance to other land trusts, land banks municipalities or park districts.”

Alex Czayka, chief conservation of cer of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy

Credits has an inventory that keeps track of the credits, and Czayka and his sta then can hire a broker to help sell the credits or sell them on their own.

To date, WRLC has sold credits from anywhere from $30 to $50 each to buyers, bringing in about

al component and appeal for potential carbon buyers because they can check o the carbon box, and they’re buying into important conservation in a community.”

e trees and forests in and around cities are extraordinarily valuable, Czayka said, because

United Way of Summit and Medina, Heart to Heart Leadership to merge

Paige Bennett

In an e ort to develop engaged leaders and o er complementary programs in corporate leadership and diversity, equity and inclusion, United Way of Summit and Medina and Heart to Heart Leadership plan to merge.

e organizations are working closely as part of a due diligence process after their boards signed a memorandum of understanding with an intent to merge June 1, according to a joint news release.

e move will “combine United Way of Summit and Medina’s current development and training programs, and its ability to convene stakeholders to advance and improve local conditions with Heart to Heart’s leadership development expertise

and proven record of developing individuals and organizations who are more purpose-driven, values-based, and communityminded,” the release states.

Combining the organizations will create a more sustainablenancial model through the crossmarketing programs and services, the organizations say.

After the merger, United Way of Summit and Medina plans to launch a new initiative led by Jeremy Lile, Heart to Heart Leadership’s current executive director, that will build on the organizations’ work to provide leadership development and workplace training in Summit and Medina counties.

It will have an advisory committee consisting of some current Heart to Heart board members and current United Way board

members. e new initiative will also have up to ve seats on the United Way board and one on the executive committee.

“One of the greatest investments we can make in the long-term health of our community is to cultivate purposeful, inspiring and service-minded leaders,” said Brad Wright, chair of the board of directors of United Way of Summit and Medina, in a provided statement. “We are proud to deepen our collaboration with our longtime partners in Heart to Heart Leadership to expand our impact across Summit and Medina counties.”

e organizations chose June 1 as the merger date to help simplify the process as Heart to Heart’s scal year runs from June to May.

“By joining forces with United

beyond the greenhouse gas o set there are additional infrastructure and social bene ts to having a robust tree canopy on the outskirts of a city.

Urban and peri-urban tree canopy impacts stormwater reduction, air quality and energy savings. Nature and green space also bring social bene ts to communities.

e nascent urban-adjacent carbon credit market is gaining attention, speci cally from the United States Forest Service, which awarded a grant of nearly $2 million to help other land trusts, small-acreage forest owners and underserved landowners gain access to the carbon credit markets.

City Forest Credits and a grant team made up of WRLC, the Georgia-Alabama Land Trust and Davey Resource Group, a subsidiary of e Davey Tree Expert Co., will use the funds to hire sta who can devote 100% of their time over the next three years to build-

ing a national, scalable carbon credit program.

“We think we have cracked the nut of carbon credits, and we want to provide guidance to other land trusts, land banks municipalities or park districts,” Czayka said. e carbon credit market, which is still voluntary in the U.S. except in California, has seen a dip since the highs of 2021, but Czayka sees a higher value proposition for credits that bene t places like Northeast Ohio.

“We’ve tried really hard to push our market in a positive direction when negotiating the sale prices,” he said. “We believe we are really selling the value of the area. It is more than just buying ‘X’ amount of carbon credits. It is investing in a park that you can see and that you can walk through — not in a remote country or areas — and it has an old-growth forest, highquality streams, wetlands or even endangered species.”

Way of Summit and Medina, we can expand our services, amplify our impact, strengthen our resources and ultimately make an even more signi cant di erence in the greater Akron community and

beyond,” said Barb Whiddon, chair of the board of directors of Heart to Heart Leadership, in a statement. “We are thrilled to embark on this collaborative journey and to the possibilities that lie ahead.”

The Western Reserve Land Conservancy, the largest land trust in Ohio, has helped secure 72,000 acres of permanently preserved land. | KYLE LANZER

United Way of Summit and Medina and Heart to Heart Leadership are combining to develop engaged leaders and offer programs in corporate leadership and DEI. | CONTRIBUTED

The state of compliance and cyber-security

From merchants to DoD subcontractors, regulators and business owners are struggling to stay in front of increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks.

TRENT MILLIRON

CEO

Kloud9

1-844-KLOUD9IT info@kloud9it.com

Trent Milliron, CEO of Kloud9. Co-Author Amazon Best Selling book “Cyber Storm”. Trent has been featured on MSP Success magazine.

Regardless of the industry, companies are being targeted by more sophisticated and frequent cyber-attacks. Insurance companies and regulators are pushing security frameworks in a desperate attempt to alleviate these e orts.

Regulators and governments are getting frustrated with the near constant cyber-attacks and data breaches. Understandably, they are mandating at least basic IT Security practices are deployed and con gured correctly. Services such as multi-factor authentication, password recycling, log analysis, etc.

Supply & Demand

Kloud9 is a local Managed Services Provider (MSP) that has specialized in IT security for over a decade. Kloud9 has a dedicated IT security team, and on average they address 2-4 security incidents per week! ere is explosive growth in the IT security eld and Kloud9 is going to help meet that demand.

“We anticipate our security department growing larger than our service department,” said Trent Milliron, Owner of Kloud9. “We have been recommending these security services for years. Only now are we starting to see businesses implement them with any serious conviction.”

Kloud9 is doubling down on security compliance and framework tracking. “We have invested heavily in training, certi cations and security tools for our sta to handle everything from the title industry to DoD sub-contractors,” said Trent. “ ese attacks are becoming more and more accessible, easier to use and trivial to deploy.”

CMMC

Kloud9 has become the regional expert in CMMC compliance for DoD subcontractors. ey are a fully registered RPO (Registered Provider Organization) with multiple RP’s (Registered Practitioner’s) and CCP’s (Certi ed CMMC Professional’s) on sta . “We are committed to getting our clients compliant and pass their assessments,” said Trent. “We’ve made sure our sta are the best trained and most knowledgeable engineers in Ohio for many compliance frameworks. If there has ever been a time to focus on cyber-security, it is now!”

Sophisticated Attacks

Nefarious individuals and

organizations are increasing their knowledge, skills and methods to better circumvent legacy security controls in favor of more e ective and elaborate attacks. e days of brute-force guessing of passwords are gone. We now live in a world where you can no longer trust any USB drive you nd, phone calls may be attackers trying to gain information through social engineering and deep fakes may be delivering malicious messages. Businesses and their employees must rise above these tricks to prevent a compromise of customer data or business stability.

What now?

Although the best plan for cybersecurity is to be proactive, even the largest companies will experience a breach or cyber-security incident.

“We work intimately with clients to develop custom policies and plans that are tailored to their speci c compliance and operational needs,” said Dickon Newman, Kloud9’s ISSO.

“More o en than not, attackers will target low-hanging fruit. e best

method for a weak security plan is to get these basic best practices in place. at will deter most attackers while you hone-and-strop your security plans to be more robust.”

Companies must work closely with their MSP and/or internal IT departments to make sure these plans and frameworks are in place and being handled correctly. O en, companies who feel they are fully compliant and secure are shocked when they receive a 3rd party review or gap-analysis, only to learn the tools were incorrectly deployed or not maintained su ciently.

“When is the best time to plant a tree? 30 years ago. When is the secondbest time to plant a tree? Right now! Start your security planning now, the cybercriminals aren’t going to wait for you to be ready!” said Dickon.

Beyond a rewall: How to protect your organization from cyberattacks with better pen testing

Fortifying cybersecurity in the age of advanced arti cial intelligence

Brandyn Fisher is Centric Consulting’s Director of Security Services, leading penetration testing and in-depth security reviews to help companies of all industries and sizes with security strategy and risk reduction.

As large language models (LLMs) and other forms of arti cial intelligence continue to take the world by storm, cybersecurity has become even more critical for chief information

security o cers (CISOs) and the organizations they’re tasked with keeping secure.

Gone are the days of bad grammar, broken English and other telltale signs serving as red ags that a hacker is up to no good. Earlier this year, Microso detected hackers from Russia, China and Iran using LLMs to make their hacking programs more sophisticated, and in another concerning incident, researchers have found cybercrime forums with LLMs trained to produce malicious material.

With increasingly frequent and sophisticated cyberattacks, it’s no longer enough to rely on basic security measures like multifactor authentication, a rewall or the use of a virtual private network (VPN). Organizations must take proactive steps to safeguard their networks and data.

One of the most common ways companies assess network security is through penetration testing, in which a simulated cyberattack is

used to identify vulnerabilities within their system. Many organizations opt for reduced cost or scope options for this testing, whether because of budget constraints, to meet minimal compliance requirements or for another reason, leaving them vulnerable.

To e ectively manage network security risk today, organizations need more than a basic penetration test.

What to look for in your penetration test

Penetration tests must consider as many attack avenues as possible to fully understand and measure the organization’s risks.

When selecting a security penetration testing vendor, it is crucial to review the scope of work and methodology to ensure a comprehensive test. Many organizations hire a vendor to perform a penetration test, only to later nd they’ve overpaid for a vulnerability scan that didn’t reduce their risk of a cyberattack. reat actors look for the weakest point

to attack, which is rarely the network perimeter. Modern enterprise rewalls, if kept up to date, do an excellent job of protecting your network from outside threats. But that makes no di erence if your email gateway allows malicious emails into user inboxes, users are not trained on how to identify and report emails, or workstations are not patched and kept up to date.

When reviewing penetration test scope, consider commonly exploited targets and how your organization might be at an increased risk. For example, if your organization heavily relies on web applications for both internal and external operations, your penetration test should include comprehensive testing of these applications.

Raising the bar for your security penetration testing vendor

Your service provider’s security assessment shouldn’t depend on a single set of tools – they should have the ability to use an expansive, customized set of tools. Just as a

mechanic does not rely on a single socket wrench to repair a car, a penetration test should not rely on one tool to assess a company’s overall security.

Penetration tests need to be multifaceted and address all possible violations of the con dentiality, integrity and availability (CIA) triad of your data, such as unauthorized modi cations, tampering, data ex ltration attempts, potential weaknesses in encryption protocols and other identi ed vulnerabilities.

Many CISOs today live in constant fear that they’re not doing enough to protect their organization. While their fear is substantiated, knowing what to look for in a penetration testing vendor and taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity can help reduce the risk of a cyberattack should a hacker target your organization.

A high-tech history in Ohio Pioneering innovation and leading the charge

BRILL

In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities, he is also a board member of the West Creek Conservancy and an advocate for numerous community organizations across the Cleveland market. He has been with Cox for over 20 years and a resident of North Ridgeville.

Behind every great company are the people that make it come to life. And fortunately for those of us who call Cleveland home, we’ve seen some pretty incredible enterprises – large and small – get their start in northeast Ohio. Cox Communications may be one of the larger organizations in the area, but we trace our earliest days back to the Buckeye State.

Cox Enterprises was founded in 1898 by James M. Cox. At the age of 28, he purchased the Dayton Evening News (now the Dayton Daily News). He later served as Ohio’s governor and was the 1920 Democratic nominee for president with Franklin D. Roosevelt as his vice presidential running mate. After Governor Cox lost the election, he decided to focus on expanding his business across industries and locations. And today, that decision to invest in Ohio is one that continues to pay dividends for consumers and businesses alike.

A relentless commitment to innovation

With a robust ber network stretching across the Cleveland metro area and speeds as fast as 100 Gbps, Cox Business supports companies at all stages of digital transformation with our complete portfolio of enterprise technology solutions. And thanks to a commitment to constantly invest in our network, businesses ranging from small mom-and-pops to Fortune 500 enterprises and beyond can future-proof their network with Cox Business as its partner.

In the last 10 years, we’ve invested more than $11 billion into network upgrades to deliver some of the most powerful internet and networking solutions and will continue making multibillion-dollar annual infrastructure investments over the next several years to ensure Cleveland businesses have what they need to be successful today and in the future. From health care systems to higher education institutions, we’re helping

The Data Defender

companies in Ohio adopt technologies that deliver mobility, scalability and growth to meet their growing demands.

ose investments also lead to exciting developments in new services that bene t our business customers and help them compete in a global economy. Cloud services, networking solutions, cloud-based VoIP and business video are just a few ways our product suite has grown along with ongoing network improvements.

More than just products

Of course, if you’re a local business, you want to have a local partner. Cox Business and Cox Communications have long been champions of our community organizations, with Cox Charities steering hundreds of thousands of dollars into deserving nonpro ts and institutional organizations including GiGi’s Playhouse, Olmsted Community Outreach and Lakewood City Schools. e James M. Cox Foundation

recently awarded a $120,000 grant to the West Creek Foundation, and the company’s Cox Conserves arm continues to support environmental initiatives intended to preserve open space and protect our natural resources for future generations.

When you work with Cox Business, you’re getting access to not only the products and solutions you need, but also a team of professionals who live where you live and see the impact of community and network investments – and we look forward to sharing our future with you.

For more information on Cox Business, visit https://www.cox.com/business/ home.html.

ROB

Vice President and Market Leader Cox Communications

Rob Brill is the Vice President and Market Leader for Cox Communications, Cleveland.

Playhouse Square announces 7 shows in 2024-25 KeyBank Broadway Series lineup

Playhouse Square on Tuesday night, April 16, rolled out a 202425 KeyBank Broadway Series lineup that has a little bit for every taste — and a lot of shows that won Tony Awards.

e announcement came in front of a packed house at the KeyBank State eatre. It was the rst inperson reveal of the Broadway series schedule in four years (following COVID’s disruption of the theater world — and everything else.)

“We’ve been eager to have the opportunity to be shoulder-toshoulder and introduce the series with live entertainment,” said David Greene, senior vice president of programming at Playhouse Square, in an interview ahead of the event, which was available for streaming. “It just creates a buzz and excitement that you can’t get (from an event viewed) entirely online.”

Greene’s a fan of every season’s lineup, of course, but he called the 2024-25 slate “de nitely an exciting group” with a mix of contemporary musicals (including a jukebox musical), a splashy revival and a play. Five of the seven shows on the schedule are Tony winners.

is year’s lineup is as follows: “A Beautiful Noise” (Oct. 8–27, 2024); “Some Like it Hot” (Nov. 5–24, 2024); “Life of Pi” (Jan. 7-26, 2025); “Parade” (Feb. 4-23, 2025); “& Juliet” (March 4–23, 2025); “Shucked” (April 22–May 11, 2025); and “Kimberly Akimbo” (July 15–Aug. 3, 2025).

e play in this group is “Life of Pi,” based on a beloved novel that became an Academy Awardwinning movie. e revival, of course, is “Parade.” e ve in the group that won Tony Awards?

“Kimberly Akimbo” (its ve awards included Best Musical), “Parade” (Best Musical Revival and Best Direction of a Musical), “Life of Pi” (Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design), “Shucked” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical), and “Some Like it Hot” (Best Orchestrations, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design).

Greene said the goal each year is to target “a mix of opportunities” so there’s “a show for everyone.”

Here’s a quick look at the seven shows that make up the 2024-25 KeyBank Broadway Series, all of which will be at the Connor Palace:

‘A BEAUTIFUL NOISE’

Oct. 8–27, 2024

ABeautifulNoiseTheMusical.com is is the jukebox musical in the group, about the music of one of America’s most popular singers: Neil Diamond.

Diamond has sold about 120 million albums, thanks to hits such as “America,” “Forever in Blue Jeans” and “Sweet Caroline.”

Playhouse Square describes the show as “ an inspiring, exhilarating, energy- lled musical memoir, that tells the untold true story of how America’s greatest hitmaker became a star, set to the songs that de ned his career.”

For Greene, this choice is a little personal: Neil Diamond was the rst concert he attended as a kid. Fans “will go into it for the hits, but they’ll come out with a feeling for Neil Diamond, the man,” he said.

‘SOME LIKE IT HOT’

Nov. 5–24, 2024

SomeLikeItHotMusical.com

This winner of four Tony

Down to details

Playhouse Square has more than 44,000 season ticket holders for the Broadway series — the largest number for any touring Broadway venue in North America. The 44,000 represents about 70% of the house and is close to the pre-pandemic high of 48,000 season ticket holders in the 2019-20 season.

Season tickets for the 20242025 Broadway series are available by phone at 216-640-8800 or online at playhousesquare.org/broadway.

Season ticket plans range from $154 to $758 per seat, and monthly payment plans are available.

Awards is based on the classic movie about two musicians forced to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, Playhouse Square notes, “they catch a cross-country train for the life-chasing, life-changing trip of a lifetime.”

Greene said the production “feels like a big, old-fashioned musical comedy, but it’s a brand new show,” with a somewhat different story arc that “deepens the comedy.” e music, Greene notes, is a mix of traditional Broadway plus jazz and soul.

‘LIFE OF PI’

Jan. 7–26, 2025

LifeOfPiBway.com

is epic story of perseverance won three Tony Awards and the Olivier Award for Best Play in London.

e story is this: “After a shipwreck in the middle of the Paci c Ocean, a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi survives on a lifeboat with four companions—a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger.”

Greene said the play features “great storytelling” plus “aweinspiring visual e ects” and highly advanced puppetry (spoiler alert: the animals aren’t real) that enables audience members to “feel the power of the ocean.”

‘PARADE’

Feb. 4–23, 2025

ParadeBroadway.com

The 2023 Tony winner is about Leo and Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.

“When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion,” Playhouse Square says.

It’s “a beautiful production” of the show, Greene said, and another nostalgia piece for him; “Parade” appeared at Playhouse Square in 1999, the year he started at the organization.

The show is directed by Tony winner Michael Arden, with book by two-time Tony winner, Pulitzer Prize winner and Academy Award winner Alfred Uhry.

‘& JULIET’

March 4–23, 2025

AndJulietBroadway.com

e musical, created by an Emmy Award-winning writer from “Schitt’s Creek,” ips the script on Shakespeare’s love story and asks this: What if Juliet didn’t end it all over Romeo?

e show features several iconic pop anthems: “Since U Been Gone‚“ “Roar,” “Baby One More Time,” “Larger an Life‚“ “ at’s e Way It Is” and “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”

Greene describes “& Juliet” as “pure fun” and a show that everyone in the family can enjoy. (His kids, ages 14 and 9, saw it and loved it.

‘SHUCKED’

April 22–May 11, 2025

ShuckedMusical.com

“Every time I say ‘Shucked,’ I think it’s funny,” Greene says. And it is. Is the humor a little corny? Sure. e story is set in ctional Cobb County, whose residents search for a solution to the problem of their dying corn.

e country-driven score is by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, who have worked with country star Kacey Musgraves.

‘KIMBERLY AKIMBO’

July 15–Aug. 3, 2025

KimberlyAkimboTheMusical.com

e season concludes with “Kimberly Akimbo,” a musical about, as Playhouse Square puts it, “growing up and growing old (in no particular order).”

e lead character, Kimberly, is about to turn 16, recently moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey, and is forced to navigate family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her rst crush and more.

Its ve Tony Awards were wellearned, says Greene, who calls the show “heartfelt and hilarious.”

Scott Suttell

“& Juliet” will run March 4–23, 2025. MATTHEW MURPHY “A

COCOA

Where the cocoa prices start to become a challenge, Malley said, is looking ahead to the company’s 2025 contracts.

“I’m looking at seeing my prices almost double per pound,” Malley said. “And I go through easily a million pounds of milk chocolate in a calendar year.”

Interestingly, it would be more expensive per pound for Malley’s to buy chocolate for the third or fourth quarter of 2024 than 2025, he said. Still, prices for next year are much steeper than they were in December 2023.

“We’ve certainly noticed (the price increase),” said Carly Morgan, general manager at Sweet Designs Chocolatier. “For us, it’s pretty impactful because we use a high quality of chocolate in our chocolates, and it has a high cocoa butter content, meaning there’s actually more cacao beans in the chocolates that we’re making.”

Industrywide, Malley said consumers can expect to see more inclusions, or products that include peanuts, pretzels and other additions, as chocolate makers look to stretch their chocolate.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of interesting formulations, and even from Malley’s,” he said.

On a global level, some companies are reducing the size of their candies and promoting products with other ingredients, such as peanut butter, to combat the problem. For example, Mars Inc., the giant behind M&M’s and Dove, reduced the size of its Galaxy chocolate bar last year without lowering the price, Bloomberg reported. And chocolate makers Hershey’s and Cadbury said earlier this year they were planning for price increases to help manage costs, Reuters reported.

Both companies acknowledged that price increases will be necessary in light of the rising cost of cocoa. ey also said they are looking to be more e cient and make the most of their chocolate.

“I’m looking at seeing my prices almost double per pound.”

Mike Malley, owner of Malley’s Chocolates

e Lakewood-based chocolate maker typically receives a delivery every two weeks, Morgan said, with its largest deliveries coming around the Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter holidays. e company started feeling the e ects of the cocoa price surge this past Easter season. Morgan said Sweet Designs has seen the base prices for some of its chocolates rise by as much as 40%.

“ at’s a pretty steep increase for us,” she said. “It kind of outpaces all the increases that we’ve seen during COVID, the supply-chain issues that we’ve had.”

Quality is very important at Sweet Designs, Morgan said, so the chocolatier isn’t changing its recipes. She said the pricing changes will largely a ect the company’s solid chocolate o erings.

“We’ve kind of had to take a really close eye to our processes and just gure out how we can be more e cient when we’re producing because there’s only so much cost we can pass to our customers,”

Morgan said. “We actually end up eating the majority of the price increase.”

Malley’s Chocolates is planning to do everything it can to provide a

high-quality product at a fair value, Malley said. Even with prices increasing, he said the company will focus on improving e ciencies at the chocolate factory.

In the near term, Malley’s Chocolates and Sweet Designs both expect cocoa prices to continue to climb. Morgan said the market is volatile and that prices ebb and ow.

“We’re con dent that within a few years the prices will stabilize,” she said, noting that Sweet Designs is trying not to pass the costs onto customers in the hope that the surges will pass.

Malley said the company doesn’t see prices coming down any time in the next six to eight months, which can be a long time for a chocolate maker waiting for the market to change.

“ e longer I wait, I keep thinking the price will drop, and it hasn’t,” he said.

the company’s e ciency and manufacturing prowess. For instance, Associated Materials said in a news release that it will use the capital to install new laser, camera and welding equipment; to automate some of its assembly and manufacturing processes; and to accelerate the adoption of lean standards at its operations.

e company said it’s positioning itself for expected growth in its end markets.

“A con uence of trends in the current housing market leads us to believe that people will be more likely to remodel their homes in the coming years,”

Associated Materials CEO James Drexinger said in announcing the investments. “We believe these investments will provide our customers with a competitive advantage to meet increased consumer demand for our products across the U.S. and Canada.”

e company did not specify over what time period it will make the investments, but Drexinger indicated that they will be substantial and broad-based.

“We will be installing new

lines, upgrading existing ones, and adding automated technologies,” he said. “ ese investments are part of a long-term strategic move to meet the evolving demands of the market and the changing needs of our customers, assuring that they and us stay ahead of the curve and are ready for the future.”

Some of the money will also be invested in building up the company’s engineering team, data technology systems and experts, and training employees in lead manufacturing strategies, Associated Materials stated.

e company said the investments are part of its “ongoing transformation strategy” and they follow job cuts that Associ-

ated Materials announced in March, when it said it would be laying o 190 workers in Cuyahoga Falls on or around May 20.

In a required ling on the pending layo s with the state of Ohio, Associated Materials said it was aligning its production locations with demand.

“As part of the company’s longterm plan, it is concentrating windows production in the U.S. to locations strategically aligned to growth opportunities in the market and where it can continue to service existing customers,” the company told the state in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Noti cation (WARN) Act ling.

Associated Materials makes a variety of products found on homes, including windows, doors and exterior cladding. ASSOCIATED MATERIALS

The exterior of a Malley’s Chocolates location in Bay Village. | PAIGE BENNETT

Cocoa pods grow at a farm in Kwabeng, Ghana. Global cocoa prices are surging this year because of extreme weather conditions in West Africa, the largest producer of cocoa in the world. | BLOOMBERG

CBRE

CBRE noted that o ce markets with lots of old o ce buildings fare well in its ndings, as is the case with Cleveland. With the city facing high vacancies from old warehouses and o ce buildings, Cleveland began pursuing o ce and warehouse conversions nearly 40 years ago.

Tom Yablonsky, special adviser to Downtown Cleveland Inc. and a decades-long advocate for historic preservation and adapted reuse to cure downtown problems, said the rise of o ce conversions is now a national story, but getting them going was a step-by-step process.

“It took our main street, Euclid Avenue, being given up for dead before some civic and business leaders signed on,” Yablonsky recalled. “Many said apartments would never go into buildings on

Euclid Avenue. Today there are 29 such o ce buildings to apartment or hotel conversion projects on Euclid between Public Square and Cleveland State University.”

| STAN BULLARD

Keys to Cleveland’s status were the state of Ohio’s adoption of an alternative building code which allowed older buildings to use alternative methods for meeting current code requirements, the federal historic tax credits and the Ohio State Historic Preservation Tax Credits.

Other larger, newer o ce markets may have far more square footage devoted to such deals.

Houston leads the nation with the square footage undergoing conversion, CBRE said, with 6 million square feet of such projects.

2016. However, the e ort has been underway since the late 1980s. CBRE said conversions help rejuvenate downtowns troubled by diminishing numbers of o ce workers. However, it noted that the volume of such projects is too small to help alleviate the nation’s housing shortage.

Rising construction costs and high interest rates have made such projects more di cult to undertake.

ADVERTISING / MARKETING

thunder::tech

thunder::tech is proud to introduce Anthony Moeglin as our newest Account Manager. Leveraging a robust customer service background and a collaborative mindset, he’s poised to deliver innovative solutions that propel our clients toward their goals. With a commitment to establishing high-quality connections and lasting partnerships, we’re con dent Anthony will be a valuable addition to the team.

LAW

Hahn Loeser & Parks

The Firm welcomed Partner Molly Brown to its Business Practice. Brown focuses on public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, compliance matters and purchases and sales of venture capital and private equity rms. She’s completed over $11 billion in securities offerings and $7 billion in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Brown earned a J.D. from Case Western Reserve and a B.A. from John Carroll. She’s a member of the CMBA and Ohio Bankers League.

BANKING

J.P. Morgan Private Bank

David Reynolds has joined J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Cleveland as Managing Director and Banker. David works closely with individuals, families and business owners who have accumulated substantial wealth and seek a trusted advisor to transform their hard work into meaningful legacies. David joins the rm from Key Private Bank.

LEGAL

McDonald Hopkins

And it dates from the 1980s, he added, where some rehabs are in buildings dating to just after the Civil War.

“Just think how much we have going today,” Yablonsky said. “Playhouse Square Foundation is turning part of the Bulkley Building into apartments. And the apartments are about to open in e Bell in the former AT&T or Ohio Bell headquarters building on East Ninth Street.”

CONSTRUCTION

Ohio Cat

CBRE reported that eight of the 10 top o ce markets for conversions have vacancy reports of more than 18%. So, necessity is driving the strategy nationally.

Had Cleveland not embraced rehabs, it would have an o ce vacancy rate of 19.7% instead of the current 17.3%, CBRE estimated.

e global real estate concern estimates that 3.5 million square feet of obsolete o ce space have been converted to o ce uses since

Michael Deemer, president of Downtown Cleveland Inc., has said the city cannot rely solely on apartments to achieve its goals or conversions to counter downtown challenges.

“We can’t convert our way out of this,” he said in a recent interview, so the city and his organization must work to improve the downtown visitor, worker and resident experience with an enhanced environment. at would help conversions and land businesses for the o ce buildings.”

CONSTRUCTION

Ohio Cat

CONSTRUCTION

Ohio Cat

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Gene Crow to Director, Heavy Rents & Used. Previously operating as the Rental Asset Manager for the last 15 years, Gene will have overall responsibility for Heavy Rents and Used Equipment Sales including rental asset management and used rental equipment rollouts, as well as oversight for Ohio Cat’s Con/ Agg division. Gene’s move aligns with the company’s added emphasis in equipment rental, which warrants a dedicated focus and leadership team.

LEGAL

McDonald Hopkins

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Dorrie Fryman to Director, Rental Services. Dorrie has nearly two decades of experience in the construction equipment rental industry and joined Ohio Cat in 2010 as a Rental Coordinator. Most recently General Manager of Rental Operations where she oversaw all operations and dispatch, Dorrie’s added responsibility will now include all rental sales and overall leadership of the company’s Rental Services (CRS) business.

McDonald Hopkins proudly welcomes Sean Mellino as a Member in the rm’s Intellectual Property Department in Cleveland. A skilled patent and trademark attorney, Sean has over 20 years of experience providing business-focused solutions to intellectual property matters, with a focus on managing worldwide patent and international trademark portfolios for clients spanning a variety of industries and product categories.

McDonald Hopkins proudly welcomes Jamie Pingor as Counsel in the rm’s Intellectual Property Department in Cleveland. Jamie is an experienced attorney who counsels clients ranging from startups to mid-size organizations to Fortune 50 corporations on a wide range of intellectual property matters, including domestic and international patent preparation, prosecution, procurement, and litigation. He also has experience handling corporate matters and emerging business issues.

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Glen Olson, former General Rental Sales Manager, to Director of Major Accounts. This newly formed role will focus on two of Ohio Cat’s largest industry segments: Paving and Industrial & Waste. Glen brings more than 25 years of experience in the construction equipment industry and obtained his MBA from the University of Cincinnati in 2020. His latest appointment coincides with Ohio Cat’s continued focus on the growth of its rental business.

CHARTING PROGRESS: The Business Case for DEI

Join us May 29 for a Power Breakfast event exploring the economic and strategic imperatives driving DEI efforts within corporations and institutions. Discover the case for prioritizing DEI initiatives, the role of diverse and inclusive workplaces in fostering innovation and organizational success, methods for assessing initiative effectiveness and strategies for navigating backlash. Enjoy a hot breakfast buffet, exclusive networking opportunities and a fireside chat moderated by our newsroom, offering candid discussions on key DEI issues.