Crain's Cleveland Business

LEGAL AFFAIRS: Akron School of Law’s new dean discusses her vision. PAGE 8

AKRON ‘Marriage counseling’ enabled area leaders to collaborate. PAGE 2

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I MAY 9, 2022

ABORTION QUESTIONS ABOUND

Abortion rights demonstrators during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, May 3. | AL DRAGO/BLOOMBERG

With Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion access supporters and providers look closely at next steps

BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v.

Wade, Ohio’s abortion access supporters and providers are looking at next steps and the many questions that lie ahead.

A draft opinion leaked to Politico in early May indicates the court plans to strike down the landmark 1973 decision that ruled the U.S. Constitution protects a pregnant woman’s right to an abortion. Though it is a draft opinion, the chances of the final decision being different is “unlikely,” said Jessie Hill, professor of law at Case Western Reserve University. If the court ultimately strikes down Roe, the legality of abortion would be left to the states, resulting in a patchwork of abortion access across the country.

See ABORTION on Page 16

Intel’s plan has promise for suppliers GOJO embraces hybrid $20B commitment predicted to boost existing relationships with Northeast Ohio companies

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

Intel Corp.’s $20 billion commitment to building a massive semiconductor production facility outside of Columbus has the potential to deepen the tech company’s relationships with existing Northeast Ohio suppliers — and to lure new businesses to the region.

The Columbus area clearly will see the greatest benefit from the project,

a multiyear investment on a sprawling site in New Albany. But site selectors and manufacturing executives predict broad reverberations from a deal that’s being described as the largest single private-sector investment in the state’s history.

Officials say there are 140 existing Intel suppliers in Ohio, though no one seems to have a list of those companies. The heaviest concentration of them — approximately 40% — is in

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Northeast Ohio, according to JobsOhio, the state’s private nonprofit economic development corporation, and Team NEO, its regional partner.

Intel did not respond to questions about its supply chain, beyond sharing a roster of top global vendors published in its annual corporate social responsibility report. The company is soliciting interest from would-be suppliers on its website, in areas ranging from computing to warehousing, hospitality and sales.

See INTEL on Page 17

THE

LAND SCAPE

return-to-work plan

BY DAN SHINGLER

Seems like everyone in corporate America is thinking about how to handle some sort of return to work in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the new expectations for employment flexibility it brought on.

Except for GOJO Industries down in Akron. It thought ahead.

The maker of Purell hand sanitizer started thinking about it in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, and by

2022, company leaders had a working system that had already been conceptualized, thought out and communicated to their employees.

Now, they’re only thinking about how to improve that system going forward.

“We did spend a lot of time on it, and it is a work in progress. … Over about 18 months, we did a combination of employee surveys and See GOJO on Page 16

A CRAIN’S CLEVELAND PODCAST

5/6/2022 1:50:29 PM

AKRONSTOCK

AKRON

‘Marriage counseling’ enabled leaders to collaborate

BY DAN SHINGLER

‘A clean-slate moment’

Several years ago, the Akron area went through a wholesale change in its civic and business leadership.

The city, Summit County, the Greater Akron Chamber and the University of Akron, among others, all saw their chief executives retire, pass away or step down, and a whole new crop of leaders took their place.

Many wondered how the city and the county would fare in the wake of such wholesale changes.

Pretty well, it turns out. In fact, they seem to have helped found a new spirit of collaboration.

“There have been big leadership changes over the past five or six years,” Mayor Dan Horrigan said.

“And a lot of us realized we’d have to do things differently.”

Doing things differently, in Akron’s case, meant Taylor not going it alone — as many say the city had attempted to do for decades, with mixed success.

Don Taylor, CEO of Welty Building Co. and chairman of the Greater Akron Chamber, says it’s not the fault of past leaders, who were known for taking a top-down approach to economic development.

It’s just that different times require different leadership styles, he said.

“It’s new styles, having the right leaders at the right time,” Taylor said. “If we had a world full of Gen. Pattons, it would be a miserable world. But if we didn’t have a Gen. Patton during World War II, we might all be speaking a different language in a different world. …

Leaders aren’t for all time, but you need the right leaders at the right times.”

Horrigan, Taylor and others credit collaboration for producing things like the Elevate Greater Akron economic development effort, formed jointly by the city, the county, the chamber and the GAR Foundation; a partnership between historical rivals Akron and Cuyahoga Falls to conduct better planning for development in the Merriman Valley that they share; and, most recently, an application for $75 million in federal Build Back Better grant funding for all of Northeast Ohio that was put together by the Akron Chamber, the manufacturing support agency MAGNET and others working on ways to support the region’s polymer industry.

That last effort isn’t a success yet, but Akron leaders are optimistic about the big grant, especially since the region’s application made the first cut as federal officials narrowed the field from 529 applications to just 60 — and also say they intend to award up to 30 grants.

But this coming together, leaders say, took a lot of effort and a fresh approach promoted by people such as Taylor and GAR president Christine Amer Mayer.

“It seemed like a clean-slate moment,” Mayer said. “There was change sweeping through a bunch of anchor groups at the same time, which made a lot of people nervous, for good reason … but it also presented an opportunity for a lot of new relationships and to reset the frame for collaborations.”

It also took the help of Cleveland-area collaboration consultant Chris Thompson, previously director of regional engagement for the Fund for Our Economic Future and a for-

mer Crain’s reporter.

Thompson is described by Mayer, Taylor and others as the “marriage counselor” who helped the various parties figure out how to work together. It’s not a description he minds one bit.

“I compare the work to marriage counseling. But it’s not just a husband and wife, it’s often several husbands and wives … it’s a polygamist’s dream,” Thompson said.

First, the various parties had to decide if they really wanted to be married, which would require sharing resources, communicating openly and agreeing on common goals. Thompson helped the various parties answer those questions and arrive on the same page, say Mayer and others.

But even Thompson sounds almost surprised that his clients have managed their marriage so well — not because he didn’t have faith in their abilities, but because collaboration is rare, hard to achieve and usually fails.

“This work is rarely possible and, when possible, nearly impossible to achieve,” said Thompson.

Thompson said he had an exceptional group of clients in this case.

“It’s very rare to see a city, a county, a chamber of commerce and philanthropy jointly sitting and doing economic development together,” he said.

He especially gives credit to Taylor.

“He was the galvanizing leader that held them together,” Thompson said.

Taylor, who’s long done business with Akron and surrounding local governments as a developer and seen them through the eyes of a leader at the chamber and a board member of the regional economic development organization Team NEO, said it was obviously time for a new approach when he started discussing collaboration about five years ago.

“It was like the Hatfields and the

McCoys on some things — you get to where you can’t even remember why you don’t like each other,” Taylor said.

“But we can’t do things the way we’ve always done them from an economic development standpoint and expect different results.”

Common language, common goal He decided to take a different tack: not trying to dictate terms the way a CEO might, but working in ways he says he learned from Thompson and Mayer, like a counselor.

“My approach in working with the city, the county and the chamber was to get a common language and a common goal, and let’s work from there,” Taylor said. “Who’s in the best position to get the result we’re looking for and who has the best approach? We had to set the egos and the history aside so we could work on trust, and then, based on that trust, we could hear each other. … I had a lot of coaching from Christine Mayer.”

But then, no one wanted to disappoint Mayer, including him.

“A Knight Foundation member and the GAR exec director (Mayer is both) were part of the process, so there was an incentive for everyone to get along,” Taylor said. “No one wants to make the Knight Foundation mad or upset GAR.” Mayer — part of a chorus of a constant credit-passing that might be more indicative than anything of real collaboration — says Taylor took the right approach from the start, when he started talking about collaboration.

“It grew from that conversation, which was great, into something I think is even more powerful, which is to question if, as a community, we’re doing the right thing with economic

development,” Mayer said. “And that’s the direction we took with Elevate Greater Akron.”

Now, the process has become infectious, some participants say.

“That thinking and collaboration, I can feel it’s taking hold — we have a lot more partners,” said Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro. “And the relationships we have with Team NEO, JobsOhio and some of the other economic development agencies have gotten much, much closer in the last couple of years.”

Team NEO, JobsOhio and MAGNET all worked with Akron, Summit County and other surrounding communities on the recent Build Back Better grant application, along with other economic development efforts, Shapiro and others noted.

Area corporations have been tapped and gotten involved, too.

Goodyear and Bridgestone Americas both put up money to support the grant application, said the chamber’s senior director of research, Brian Anderson. What’s more, he said, Avient Corp., a polymer manufacturer in Avon Lake, also joined in, committing $900,000 in matching funds toward the grant.

Now it’s a matter of whether the spirit of collaboration can continue.

Those involved say they intend to keep up the commitment on their end.

Thompson is hopeful, but as usual he says it can’t be counted on without more hard work.

“There’s never anything that forces anyone to stay at the table; they can just walk away whenever they want,” Thompson said. “But it’s been five years now that these partners have chosen to stay together at the table — that’s unusual.”

Dan Shingler: dshingler@crain.com, (216) 771-5290

2 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

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MANUFACTURING

Rebrand positions DayGlo for the future

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

DayGlo Color Corp.’s products are hard not to notice.

And it wants to help its customers’ products stand out, too.

DayGlo in Cleveland makes fluorescent pigments and resins — work it started all the way back in 1946. In recent years, the company has been working to transform itself, investing in updates and creating a cohesive brand.

DayGlo currently operates in four main markets: coatings, graphic arts, cosmetics and plastics. That’s fairly comprehensive when it comes to a company based on color.

But where vice president of global sales and marketing Will Wooten said the company sees a chance to grow is by thinking of fluorescent color in a different way. Instead of using it in its “purest form,” the company can use it to instead highlight more conventional color, Wooten said.

Fluorescent color “emits more light than it absorbs,” Wooten said.

Mixing fluorescent color with conventional would help a color “pop” more, he said. He sees opportunity in helping small companies in spaces like apparel or cosmetics stand out on the shelf.

Ultimately, the company and its products were already strong, Wooten said, but recent changes have been about taking DayGlo to its foundation and “systemically rebuilding it.”

DayGlo has about 200 employees globally; it does not share annual revenue. Cathie McKinley was brought on as president in 2019 to help lead some of these changes.

A news release noted that DayGlo has expanded manufacturing capacity, grown its workforce by 7% and offered more training and development opportunities. It’s also introduced new product lines that offer more sustainable products. Overall, the comprehensive changes have included everything from updates in manufacturing and procurement to research and development to a recent rebranding.

“The transformation at DayGlo began by looking at our customers, their markets and how we can support their businesses,” McKinley said in the release. “Ultimately, we strive to be a company that’s easy to work with, making us an ideal partner for future collaborations. This rebranding, much like our pigments, is dynamic and captures how our color is a catalyst to inspire and create new

One of DayGlo’s products is fluorescent cosmetic pigments. | DAVIN JACOBS/COURTESY PHOTOS

A lab tech holds a sample of a fluorescent dispersion.

possibilities for ourselves and our customers.”

DayGlo, which is part of the RPM International Inc. family of companies, has four brands in its portfolio: DayGlo, Radiant, Sterling and Swada.

Until recently, each of those

brands, which Wooten said had come under the DayGlo umbrella through acquisitions, had its own identity. The rebranding visually brings those four together.

The company’s new logo is a color burst, representing the flash of light and color that happens when pho-

tons are activated, creating fluorescence.

“And it’s about the science behind the color,” said Alissa Kolarik, global marketing manager.

That rebranding conversation began near the end of 2020, Kolarik said, as the company looked to redo its marketing literature. But it quickly became apparent that the company’s brands needed a more “cohesive” look, Wooten said. The brands’ products are similar in quality and position in the market. The company saw an opportunity to reposition DayGlo as what Wooten called the “master brand,” and use the others as subbrands going forward.

The new branding was launched in March.

But the changes go beyond putting a new package on an existing company. The rebranding offered opportunity to become more intentional and transparent in communicating regular updates with DayGlo’s team. The company also refreshed its internal “vision, mission and values,” Kolarik said.

And the rebranding has given the company a chance to bring its international operations onto the same page. DayGlo’s U.S. and European commercial teams previously had been operating fairly independently, Wooten said; now the two teams are manufacturing product for one another and otherwise jointly working on opportunities.

Rachel Abbey McCafferty: (216) 771-5379, rmccafferty@crain.com

NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN

This is a special editorial feature within Crain’s Aug. 29 print issue and online that will recognize immigrant business professionals and civic leaders who have impacted Northeast Ohio in major ways.

NOMINATION

DEADLINE:

MAY 23

Honorees of this Notable recognition will be invited to an exclusive, private event hosted by Crain’s.

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MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 3

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Cavaliers pleased with Charge’s first season in Cleveland

BY JOE SCALZO

If you went to a Cleveland Charge game this season, chances are you saw an end-of-the-bench Cavalier such as Dylan Windler, Brandon Goodwin, R.J. Nembhard or Tacko Fall on the Wolstein Center floor.

You may have also seen Cavs players Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen or Lamar Stevens in the crowd.

That’s one of the main benefits of being one mile — instead of one hour — away from your NBA G League affiliate.

“I think pretty much every game that the Cavs were not on the road, there was a Cavs player at the Charge game,” said Mike Ostrowski, the chief operating officer for the Cavs’ franchise operations, which includes the Cleveland Monsters and Cleveland Charge. “It was really, really cool to see that connectivity, not just from a basketball ops end, but from a Cavs player standpoint, too.

“That pumped a lot of life and confidence into the team and the brand.”

The Charge recently finished their 11th season as the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate, but their first in Cleveland, having moved the franchise from Canton about four months before the start of the 202122 season. (Due to COVID-19, the Charge played the 2020-21 season in a bubble setting in Orlando.)

The Charge are now one of 10 G League franchises located either in the same city as the parent franchise, or in a nearby suburb. Of the league’s 28 U.S.-based teams, 23 are located within two hours of their parent team.

“A big trend in the G League is having your team and your core center of operations much closer to your NBA team,” Ostrowski said. “It certainly is not ideal to try and move a team in four months or so — especially coming off of a pandemic where we didn’t even play in-market — but we made the move and we were really pleased with the first year.”

While the team wasn’t successful in the standings — the Charge finished a league-worst 6-26 — there were several positives, Ostrowski said. Here are a few key ones: • Despite the short lead-in time, the Charge reached their overall revenue and new-business goals for 2021-22. They also retained a majority of their partners from the previous season.

• The Charge finished in the top 10 in G League attendance, averaging 2,066 fans over 17 home dates. That figure trails the Canton Charge’s average of 2,535 fans over 21 games in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, but it was seen as a success considering the Charge’s previous season-ticket base was centered in Canton and 2021-22 ticket sales were still hampered by the pandemic, particularly when it came to group outings.

• The Charge’s Twitter impressions increased 72.8% over the previous season and its engagements were up 15.6%. While Twitter was their main social media platform, the Charge also saw big

Cleveland Charge guard Brandon Goodwin goes up for a shot against the Westchester Knicks during an NBA G League game at the Wolstein Center. | CLEVELAND CHARGE

growth on Instagram (49% increase in impressions, 23% in engagements) and Facebook (113% increase in impressions and 49.5% in engagements). The team’s overall audience is up nearly 10% compared with 2019-20, with a total growth of 70,200 followers.

“It was a really good move for us,” Ostrowski said. “We’re a newer team and brand in Cleveland. We’re really excited about the G League and its growth and its connectivity to the NBA, and we believe that’s going to help us. Now it’s our job to go out and create a really fun experience.

“The Cavs are certainly on the rise and that’s expected to continue, so it’s a really nice complement to the Cavs.”

The move did put the Canton Civic Center in a bit of a bind, particularly since it happened so quickly, but the vacancy gives management more flexibility in the winter, Civic Center GM Blake Schilling said. The Civic Center typically supplied the Charge with 50 possible dates, and the team would select about 25 from that list.

Without the Charge, the Civic Center was able to host a pair of cheerleading events, a rap concert (Playboi Carti) and a Harlem Globetrotters game this winter. The Civic Center also will hold a WWE event in May, but Schilling said it could host a future wrestling event in February or March ahead of Wrestlemania.

“We’re going to be hard-pressed to fill 25 dates — which is roughly 23 home games and one or two playoff games — but it (the move) does give us more dates to play with,” he said.

“And, obviously, our expenses have gone down. There’s not the utility

usage and all the overhead.

“From a financial standpoint, it’s not been negative. I don’t want to say it’s been positive either. It’s hard to give a real accurate snapshot because we’re still recovering from the pandemic.”

Although the Charge spent a decade in Canton, they never made the same connection with the city as, say, the Double-A Canton-Akron Indians, who moved to Akron’s Canal Park in 1997. Some of that is because the NBA minor league system is different — you don’t see the NBA equivalent of Albert Belle, Jim Thome or Manny Ramirez coming up through Canton on their way to Cleveland, like the Canton-Akron Indians did in the 1990s — and some of that is because the Charge were competing in-season with Canton’s first love: high school sports.

“To be honest, we don’t hear a lot of chatter about it,” Schilling said of the move. “That said, we always valued our relationship with the Charge, and it was certainly a legitimate minor league franchise, which is something that Canton lacked. It was an entertaining product from a basketball standpoint and an entertainment standpoint.”

That feeling was mutual, Ostrowski said.

“The city of Canton and Stark County really allowed us to get where we were,” he said. “It was a great decade of basketball for the Canton Charge and the city of Canton and the leadership and the mayor and the business community — we loved it. They were really, really great to us.”

Joe Scalzo: joe.scalzo@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @JoeScalzo01

4 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

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2/28/22 2:56 PM

Ryan

PERSONAL VIEW

Vance

Better site for new jail is available on Opportunity Corridor

BLOOMBERG PHOTOS

BY JAMES M. TRUTKO

EDITORIAL

Before the fall

I

f you follow politics in Ohio closely, congratulations! You just made it through “the dumbest Senate primary ever,” as Politico described the Republican race, and myriad other indignities.

Chief among those: The state still couldn’t get its act together on legislative maps, to the point that last week’s elections didn’t include state House and Senate because the districts were unsettled. And then after the primaries, on Thursday, May 5, the Ohio Redistricting Commission approved statehouse maps that already had been struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court as the Republican-dominated group, essentially, wait out the clock on a federal court decision.

Given the confusion the commission wrought, it’s not shocking that, according to the Ohio Secretary of State, the unofficial voter turnout for last Tuesday’s primary was 20.64% — the third-lowest figure since 1986.

Could the quality and seriousness of the debate get better for the fall? It’s hard to imagine things can get much worse, but given the incentives now built into the political system, we wouldn’t bet on much DeWine improvement, either. J.R. Majewski, the Republican who won the U.S. House primary in the Toledo-area district represented by longtime incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur, has a “Let’s Go Brandon” music video on his website and has voiced sympathy for QAnon believers. How do you imagine that race is going to go?

We don’t expect politics in 2022 to be especially edifying. Differences of opinion, forcefully argued, are fine. But it shouldn’t be too much to ask every candidate on the ballot this fall to approach the campaign Whaley with some basic principles. Talk with voters honestly and intelligently. Stick to topics that are relevant to the daily lives of Ohio citizens. Don’t lie and mislead. Do better.

It didn’t help that the marquee contest of this primary season — the highly competitive, ultra-expensive race to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate to succeed the retiring Rob Portman — was the worst offender on the “not edifying” scale.

Five major candidates spent a total of more than $66 million — a lot of it their own money, but a good chunk of it from libertarian billionaire Peter Thiel — and we learned almost nothing about them that we didn’t already know going into

the race. The most memorable moment was when two of the candidates almost got into a fight on stage during a debate.

(Silver lining: They both lost.) The primary winner, author and venture capitalist JD Vance, the beneficiary of the Thiel money, is a political novice, but he has learned some old lessons. One of them is that voters typically have short memories, and you can change your tune on virtually every principle you’ve ever asserted and it won’t make much difference.

Also, for Republicans, groveling works when it’s done in the direction of former President Donald Trump, whose sway over the party in Ohio seems as strong as ever, even if he didn’t always seem to remember it was Vance he had endorsed.

Vance’s Democratic opponent in the Senate race, Rep. Tim Ryan of Youngstown, didn’t have a competitive primary and spent a lot of his campaign resources on ads criticizing China. There’s a legitimate and important debate to be had about the economic and security threat posed by China. Count us as skeptical that Vance and Ryan are up for that. Both are smart, accomplished people in their fields.

They’re capable of talking about job creation, health care, immigration, crime and numerous other issues with seriousness of purpose. If they don’t, it’s on them, and they’ll be doing Ohio voters a disservice.

Regardless of your politics, one of the brighter results from last week was that a major party in Ohio finally has nominated a woman for governor. (The no-women streak continues for the Senate.) It’s amazing that it has taken this long, but former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat, won her race easily and now will face Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in November.

Whaley ran an impressive, disciplined campaign on her way to winning more than 65% of her party’s votes. DeWine, who is not popular with the most conservative elements of his own party, won with only 48% of the vote. He’ll be a heavy favorite in the fall, but it would be good for Ohio, now totally dominated by Republicans, to get a vigorous challenge from Whaley.

A lot can happen in the six months until Nov. 8. Candidates’ reactions to development, and their rhetoric, matters. We hope they take their jobs seriously.

Executive Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com) Managing Editor: Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com) Contact Crain’s: 216-522-1383 Read Crain’s online: crainscleveland.com

The Justice Center Steering Committee recently announced its initial site selection for the new jail in an effort to reassert its control and demonstrate its competence in the face of public criticism. As usual, the committee was not completely open about the specific reasons for its selection of three parcels at 2700 Transport Road and why additional sites weren’t worthy of further con- Trutko is an sideration. They picked a poor site with economist and several obvious problems, but a better market research site is available on Opportunity Corri- professional. The dor. lifelong In November 2020, the committee Cuyahoga identified several criteria for the site County resident location — proximity to the courts lives in Rocky and emergency services, easy high- River and can be way access, access to public transit reached at and parking for attorneys and visitors. jmtrutko@ The site should be of adequate size gmail.com. and configuration with some potential for expansion, be able to be acquired quickly at reasonable cost, and compatible with the surrounding community. From the standpoint of site development, it should have access to all utilities, proper soil conditions and be free of environmental or hazardous conditions. Finally, the committee had FROM A LOCATION wanted a site that “provides more safe and hu- STANDPOINT, THE mane living conditions for OPPORTUNITY inmates and working conCORRIDOR SITE HAS ditions for staff.”

The committee faces sev- GREAT HIGHWAY eral additional constraints — some self-imposed and ACCESS FROM ALL OF some political. The com- CUYAHOGA COUNTY mittee wants a low-rise facility that requires a fairly AND IS VERY large tract of land. Accessi- ACCESSIBLE BY bility by highway and public transit is important. The PUBLIC TRANSIT. city of Cleveland wants the jail in the city to generate tax revenue. No residential neighborhood wants a jail, so many are not considered even if they meet other criteria. Many older industrial tracts have environmental problems or other incompatible uses.

Many court and judicial employees like working downtown and are lobbying for rehabilitating the existing Justice Center. On the other hand, people concerned about downtown development and the Convention Center would prefer to see the jail moved from the Ontario Street location and out of downtown altogether. If the Justice Center were modernized, the disruption from reconstruction of the complex would make marketing the Convention Center and downtown as a tourist destination much more difficult for several years.

The site now being actively evaluated is 2700 Transport Road, but a better site would be the south side of Opportunity Corridor between East 73rd and East 79th streets.

It’s not only in the city of Cleveland — it’s right across from the new Cleveland Police Headquarters now being constructed.

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited. Send letters to Crain’s Cleveland Business, 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113, or by emailing ClevEdit@crain.com. Please include your complete name and city from which you are writing, and a telephone number for fact-checking purposes.

See JAIL SITE, on Page 7

Sound off: Send a Personal View for the opinion page to emcintyre@crain.com. Please include a telephone number for verification purposes.

6 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

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OPINION

AVAILABLE FOR LEASE DOWNTOWN AKRON

JAIL SITE

From Page 6

Having the new police headquarters across the street is a major site advantage, because the location would minimize costs and downtime for the Cleveland police force, which handles nearly two-thirds of the violent crime in Cuyahoga County. In addition, having 1,000 deputies converge on the area from all directions should improve public safety and encourage residential and commercial development in the area.

The combined site has over 1 million square feet with about 700,000 square feet on the primary site from East 75th to East 79th. It appears to be about 800 feet deep and 1,200 feet long and is a flat site with expansion possible to the east and west to handle parking or other related facilities. Environmental concerns are likely to be fewer, because it was formerly a residential area.

The acquisition cost and time would be minimal since there are currently very few homes or buildings on the site, and the city or county land bank owns much of the land. Opportunity Corridor and industrial development to the north and the rail line to the south provide natural buffers that diminish the immediate impact on the community and reduce the likelihood of political opposition.

From a location standpoint, the Opportunity Corridor site has great highway access from all of Cuyahoga County. Like Transport Road, it is also only 14 minutes from the Justice Center. Moreover, it is very accessible by public transit for all of Cuyahoga County; it’s only one-tenth of a mile to the 79th Street RTA station, so it’s effectively connected to almost all RTA bus lines. It’s only two miles (seven minutes) to Cleveland Clinic’s emergency room, and it’s close to University Hospital, as well. A variety of relevant supportive social services for the criminal justice system are in the area.

While there are not numerous restaurants and stores nearby, there is potential for new business development as restaurants, retailers and justice suppliers move in to be close to the facility and the police station. The development impact would increase if

social service agencies and the hospitals decided to set up specialized rehabilitation and drug-treatment facilities to handle justice contract work. Obviously, the area’s development potential as a “safety corridor” would be significantly improved if the courts were also relocated to the area.

In contrast, the main benefits of the 2700 Transport Road site seem to be that it’s in the city of Cleveland, close to downtown and big enough for the facility.

The site consists of three irregular-shaped parcels on a hillside below a railroad track and Broadway Avenue. While located near downtown, only 14 minutes from the Justice Center, it’s on a potholed, dead-end street, off another dead-end street, which is off a minor street. The site is surrounded by companies that supply stone, concrete and other building materials.

As a longtime industrial site, it has a past heritage of environmental hazards that creates uncertainty about full remediation. Because it is owned by an operating company and needs an environmental clearance, the acquisition time and cost are also uncertain.

The committee probably valued the likely absence of political opposition; most potential critics could not find the site without a GPS and there are no neighbors with political influence. There are also no nearby restaurants, gas stations or retail stores. There are no nearby supporting social services, and emergency services are at some distance. The link to public transit is poor: There is a 20-minute walk up a steep hill to bus services and a half-hour walk to the nearest RTA station. The site’s location and poor access make it unlikely to generate any additional development.

Based on the criteria the Justice Center Steering Committee identified and the many constraints it faces in locating a new jail, the Opportunity Corridor between East 73rd and East 79th streets seems like a good location to seriously evaluate. With the new Cleveland police station across the street and the county’s Juvenile Justice Center only 1.5 miles away, county residents might start talking about the “safety corridor” if the Opportunity Corridor-East 73rd-East 79th location for the new jail works out and some specialized justice-related services move into the Opportunity Corridor area.

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The Cuyahoga County Justice Center Steering Committee selected this site at 2700 Transport Road for the location and design of a new $500 million jail and a $1 billion justice center. | GOOGLE MAPS MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 7

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LAWSUIT TARGETS STREAMING SERVICES

LEGAL AFFAIRS

A federal suit brought by Maple Heights against Netflix and Hulu questions if Ohio law requires them to pay fees based on a 15-year-old statute.

PAGE 10

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THE NEXT

100 YEARS Emily Janoski-Haehlen, top, is the new dean of the University of Akron School of Law. | GUS CHAN PHOTOS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

University of Akron School of Law's new dean discusses her vision for the college While Emily Janoski-Haehlen didn’t necessarily have her sights fixed on the dean’s seat at the University of Akron School of Law, it didn’t really take her long to see herself in that post.

Only six months passed between Janoski-Haehlen joining the law school in 2017 as director of its law library and her taking a position as associate dean of academic affairs at the request of then-UA law dean C.J. Peters. She has taught classes since then in technology in law, social media law, legal drafting and legal research.

After working so closely with Peters on law school matters for more than four years, she jumped at the opportunity to succeed him as dean. She officially stepped into that role this past February.

With the law school marking its centennial anniversary in 2021, Janoski-Haehlen is thinking about ways to position UA’s legal academy for another 100 years of viability.

Crain’s sat down with the recently installed dean to talk with her about trends in the legal field and legal education as well as some of the goals she has for the college under her leadership.

— Jeremy Nobile

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(This Q&A has been edited and condensed for length.) ` Q: You’ve been in this new post for a couple of months now. Are you used to people calling you Dean Janoski-Haehlen yet?

A: Since I was the associate dean before, I was kind of used to it. The students call me Dean JH, though, because they don’t want to say Janoski-Haehlen.

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` Q: How about a little state of the union with respect to University of Akron School of Law? A: I’d say we are positioned very well to move forward into the next 100 years. We are doing some critical hiring as we do need to grow our faculty and staff. We are the second-largest law school in Ohio right now, and we need to be able to provide the services and resources students expect. So, we are growing our academic success programs, our legal writing program. We will be growing our doctrinal faculty to support the students throughout their legal careers. The university is in a great position with Dr. (Gary) Miller at the helm, and I’m very encouraged with how supportive he’s been of the law school.

I also think we are in great position right now for some other strategic initiatives with other colleges on campus. With the College of Business dean being an Akron law grad, I’m really excited to partner with him on some programming we have been discussing. That’s in its infancy stages. But I think we are positioned to be one of the best law schools in Ohio and one of the best law schools in the nation. ` Q: Are there any big differences or similarities between you and your predecessor, Dean Peters, or your leadership styles?

A: I think C.J. was a good leader. I did learn a lot with him about how to work with upper administration, which is not something I had much experience with. He’s been a great mentor in that aspect of how you work with university administration and alumni or the advancement council. And it’s great he’s back on the faculty, because I can just walk upstairs and ask him for advice. But I do think we have different leadership styles. Perhaps mine is more of an open-leadership style. But I think we ran the law school well together, which is one of the reasons I wanted to continue this even with him stepping aside. ` Q: What’s a trend you’re seeing unfolding in the legal industry broadly that is important to you?

A: In the legal world post-pandemic, we’re seeing a lot more reliance on legal technology. That’s my area of research. So, I’m very interested in integrating more legal technology skills training into the curriculum.

We were just ranked 29th recently in PreLaw Magazine for practical training. We have amazing clinics and externships. I do think that a lot more skills training, experiential training, will be important. I mean, we’re even seeing that now with the next-generation bar exams that involve not the multiple-choice questions anymore but questions about negotiations and legal writing and legal research and client counseling. Those are all things we’ve focused on for years with the law school, but I also think that’s the future in terms of making graduates practice-ready. ` Q: What else do you think about in terms of the legal industry and legal education?

A: I think that legal education is scalable. We need to be adaptive to that, now that we know that we can move to online delivery of courses on a dime. I think we continue to offer online legal education, but also still continue to offer traditional in-person experiences so we can continue to focus on that practice training. I do think the future of legal education means more of that hands-on interaction in the community.

That’s one reason I’m really excited about our location in Akron. The law school is just blocks away from the city building, the courthouses. I would like to get the law school more involved in the city of Akron and offer more clinical opportunities with attorneys, more pro-bono opportunities for our students and really give back to the community of Akron and Northeast Ohio.

But I definitely have more in my strategic plan than just practical training. ` Q: Let’s talk about that. What are some other goals you have for the school based on your strategic planning?

A: We do have a short-term strategic plan that we’ve gotten accomplished in the last couple months, and I’m really excited about it. It focuses on intellectual property, which I think is our strength. We polled faculty, students and alumni and asked them what makes Akron Law distinctive. Overwhelmingly everyone said intellectual property. I think our ranking in U.S. News being such a good placement this year and our recent hires of our Goodyear chair and Brennan chair, our relationship with Judge Holt on the federal court of claims, all help with that.

Our IP program is strong and our Goodyear chair has devised a new IP program that is for patent-bar-eligible students — they’re calling it the “IP Pro J.D. Program.”

It is going to be a great tool for us to give students access to the patent bar review course before they start law school, so they will be registered patent agents when they start law school.

Then we will pair them with our IP advisory council members to be mentors to them. That is No. 1.

We are also looking at a trademark institute and expanding our trademark clinic opportunities with other departments on campus, like helping art students trademark their art, which is a great interaction between the two colleges. ` Q: And advocacy is a part of that strategic plan as well?

A: Advocacy is the second prong of our strategic plan. We just hired a new small business and entrepreneurship clinic director. I’m really excited about her. She has been with Cleveland Legal Aid for quite a bit. She is really interested in promoting small businesses and minority-owned businesses in the Northeast Ohio area, and we’re looking at partnering with the city of Akron to help bring in small businesses and help minority business owners in the area. And that’s part of all this.

The last part of our strategic plan is on diversity, inclusion and understanding, which is what we’re calling it. I really want to focus on keeping our local talent, creating pipelines from our local universities to our local high schools.

See DEAN on Page 11

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FOCUS | LEGAL AFFAIRS

Should streaming services be treated more like cable TV? Suit against Netflix and Hulu wants providers to pay more in fees

A technician checks fiber optic cables in an internet splitter box. | GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK

BY KIM PALMER

The Ohio Supreme Court is set to rule on the matter of whether cities involved in a federal class-action suit can collect the same franchise fees from video streaming companies, like Netflix and Hulu, that cable companies have paid for years.

That question stems from a federal lawsuit filed by the city of Maple Heights, centered on the subject of treating streaming services, which use broadband infrastructure, like cable TV, which uses wires to reach customers, when it comes to payments to the state.

It is an issue of “fairness,” said Frank Consolo, Maple Heights’ law director. The issue came to light in the summer of 2020, when a resident reached out to Mayor Annette Blackwell, questioning why Netflix and Hulu were not charged for doing business in the city like other companies.

“He basically asked why Netflix and Hulu get to do all of their streaming, as a business model, into the city but then don’t have to pay the fee other types of services do,” Consolo said.

Blackwell eventually gave her law director the go-ahead, with the help of outside private attorneys, to file a lawsuit in 2020 addressing the issue in Northern Ohio’s U.S. District Court.

The Ohio case joins similar ones in Nevada and Missouri addressing the massive loss of revenue cities face in franchise fees, a consequence of the “cut the cord” transition from traditional cable TV to internet-based streaming programming.

Parsing a 2007 Ohio law Consolo contends on behalf of Maple Heights that, per language in the 2007 Fair Competition in Cable

Operations Act, both Netflix and Hulu, and possibly other online entertainment providers, are obligated to register with the state and pay a 5% franchise fee to local communities.

The fees are payments from any “broadcast, cable, satellite and video service providers,” for the costs associated in using the public rights-ofway necessary for the wires, cables and equipment that bring that type of service to local customers, according to the law’s language.

Netflix and Hulu have been classified as “over-the-top” users and have not traditionally been required to pay these franchise fees — and that, according to Consolo and other supporters of the fee payments, is an oversight.

“We're not advocating for any change in the law. We just want the

existing law interpreted correctly and enforced,” Consolo said.

Attorneys for both Netflix and Hulu counter that it is the internet service providers, like Spectrum and WOW, that are responsible for that broadband infrastructure and are therefore “video service providers,” while their clients only collect subscription fees from consumers and have no physical presence in cities like Maple Heights.

Consolo and supporters are unmoved, in turn countering that massive increases in demand for streaming video have effectively pushed providers to build out more infrastructure, which the city has to accommodate, making those companies responsible for fees.

“They call it over-the-top programming, and they say, ‘We don't construct the boxes or place the wires,’ but they take advantage of the infrastructure and use it. And because they're using it more and more, that infrastructure becomes bigger and bigger, and they are creating that appetite,” Consolo said.

Previously, cities like Maple Heights were able to negotiate individual franchise agreements based on increased use with the cable TV and internet providers wanting access to the city’s customers. The 2007 law transferred that power to the state’s Commerce Department, with the reasoning that it allowed a “uniform regulatory framework” and avoided the inordinate delays stemming from separate negotiations with every municipality and expeditiously providing video service to all state residents.

Consolo has no argument with the state collecting a 5% franchise fee cap from Netflix and Hulu, adding that the Ohio statute actually protects the companies that fall under the definition of “video service providers.”

“I think this statute protects these companies more than it hurts, because if they are not a video service provider and don't fall under the statute, then towns like mine are going to look and say we can regulate you like

in the old days with a franchise agreement,” Consolo said.

While Consolo is firm that this lawsuit is not a money grab and that the 5% fees would only amount to a fraction of the tens of billions of dollars these companies made over the last few years, Netflix, which paid $60 million in statewide taxes over the last three years, argued that additional franchise fees could mean significantly higher prices for Ohio consumers.

“Because the franchise fees can ultimately be passed on to the individual subscribers, applying (this) law to the large number of content producers that make their video content available to everyone in Ohio with an internet connection would have an adverse financial impact on the millions of people that stream video content over the internet in Ohio,” according to court filings.

Legal standing at issue The hearings in the federal case were stalled in July, when presiding District Judge James Gwin asked the Ohio Supreme Court to rule on whether Netflix and Hulu are actually video service providers under the law and if Maple Heights, rather than the state’s Commerce Department, has standing to even bring a case for the franchise fees.

It is that ambiguity in this law and many other tech laws that poses the problem, according to John Bergmayer, legal director at Public Knowledge, a technology and digital marketplace public interest group.

The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the state Supreme Court, arguing against using obsolete language in laws that are often decades old and written in response to one particular technology.

Bergmayer explains the process of accessing Netflix and Hulu over a broadband connection is not like using a phone to call a pizza place, that the two actions are different and should not be conflated.

“If you look at the structure and purpose of these original laws, they're about infrastructure,” Bergmayer said. As it is written, the Ohio law applies only to the video service providers that control the physical infrastructure that delivers programming to customers, and the confusing “wording” of the law is immaterial, he said.

“They can read the text of the law and try to apply it to Netflix, but it is pretty apparent that is not the intent,” Bergmayer said.

The question of whether companies like Hulu and Netflix should pay more to do business in the cities that use their services is still a valid one, he said, but the law should be clear and appropriately applied.

“I think these are just legal attempts to charge fees against the providers, and that is troubling for a lot of reasons. Fundamentally, it's distracting from what we should be doing, which is updating communications law to reflect technology — and probably in the first place writing them to be a little bit more technology-neutral,” Bergmayer said.

For now, courts are set to hear similar cases in Tennessee and Missouri in the next few months. Netflix and Hulu have prevailed in cases brought in Arkansas, California, Nevada and Texas, but lost in Indiana, where those services are now treated like cable companies and required to pay similar fees.

Dave Yost, the state attorney general, Dish Network and DIRECTV have filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of Netflix and Hulu, while the Ohio Municipal League has taken the side of the municipalities in the matter.

Any action by Judge Gwin in deciding on the fees hinges on the decision by the state’s Supreme Court, which heard arguments from the plaintiffs and defendants in April.

A decision in the matter is not expected for months.

Kim Palmer: kpalmer@crain.com, (216) 771-5384, @kimfouroffive

10 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

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FOCUS | LEGAL AFFAIRS

DEAN

ago, because under C.J. Peters, our students’ credentials and enrollment went up. I’d say we are in a stronger position than when we started the merger talks, but we weren’t in a bad position then either.

From Page 9

` Q: And that gets into encouraging younger people to think about legal careers when that might not be top of mind, right?

A: You know, I went to career day once.

I said I was a lawyer and a law school professor. I followed a police officer and a beekeeper. None of the kids stood up and said, “Wow, when I grow up I want to be a lawyer.” And I’m like, “Well, why not?

Why don’t you want to be a lawyer or a judge? You can name all three judges on 'American Idol,' but you can’t name one Supreme Court justice.” So, I just want to make that a goal.

It’s all part of this plan for diversity at the law school, retaining local talent and keeping our alumni in the area so that they can give back to the community. ` Q: Any other goals for the school?

A: In the future, I would like to see us branch into the legal technology realm under the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology. I would like to see us be No. 1 in the state for bar passage. I would like to climb in the rankings in U.S. News for our specialty programs, including our legal writing program, which did well this year. But we are hiring a director of legal writing to sort of push more resources toward legal writing, since that’s part of the next generation of the bar exam. ` Q: Speaking of those bar passage rates, one might suggest that grads from Akron Law struggled a little bit in the last couple of exams. Grads had a 70% passage rate on the summer/ fall exams the last couple of years, which was middle of the road for our state in 2021 and next to last in 2020.

How important are those stats to you, and what do you think of as possible keys to improving that metric?

A: When I interviewed for this job, I said that I think the bar passage is No. 1 next to student placement in terms of student success. That is why, from day one, we started looking at our bar-pass program and investing resources there. I appointed the faculty member who used to run our academic success department as the associate dean of academic excellence, and she has taken over our bar prep program.

Our faculty just voted in March that all students have to take the bar prep classes. We have four required hours of bar prep classes now for the first time.

We’re going back to the model of 2008 and 2009, when we were No. 1 in the state. I think we have lost sight of that.

But we have a lot of initiatives on that front including hiring two assistant directors of academic success. I also intend to teach one of the bar prep classes next spring. ` Q: Interesting. Is it common for someone in your position as dean to be teaching those kinds of bar prep classes?

A: It is not very common. But it’s a way of saying, look, the dean is teaching the bar prep classes. This is extremely important, and you need to take this seriously. The dean at (Belmont University College of Law) in Tennessee teaches their bar prep class, and I’ve been reading a lot about him. They have an outstanding bar passage rate, and he’s been teaching that class since they started it. So I kind of got the idea from him. ` Q: Talking about these new hires and new programming in the works, it sounds like a lot of the wants for the school have been met. Is there

` Q: Is it disappointing to you that a merger didn’t play out?

A: I don’t think it was disappointing the merger didn’t play out. It just didn’t receive the support from faculty, students and alumni we thought it would. And we found Akron Law and Cleveland-Marshall are two very distinct law schools. It was a great exploration, and I think we learned a lot about ourselves and our differences.

While we are similarly situated, we provide two very different products and different students, which I think was important for us to learn.

Emily Janoski-Haehlen pops her head into a classroom to say hi to an instructor. | GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

anything on your wish list that you haven’t received yet?

A: I’d love to have more scholarships, but that obviously deals more with fundraising. I’d love to have more faculty, of course. And I’d love to have a diversity office, which was something on my wish list I don’t have right now. I’d love to have that resource for students. And I’d love to have a mental health counselor dedicated to the law school, though we do have that resource on campus, so I wouldn’t say that’s something that students just don’t have. ` Q: I recognize yours is one of the larger law schools in Ohio today.

Nonetheless, in terms of the student body, how do you think about ways of bolstering enrollment today?

A: I think our enrollment looks great right now. We are enrolling classes of 150 to 165 students each first year, and that’s a good size for us, especially if we have no additional resources. We used to be enrolling smaller classes of 120, 130, 140, but we have increased our size. I think part of that can be attributed to our part-time program and the new structure of our online hybrid J.D. program that allows people more flexibility. That has increased enrollment in our part-time program.

The credentials of our students have only increased under Dean Peters, and I hope to continue to increase the credentials of our students.

I also hope that the law school can be a good partner with the university in our 3+3 programs. We have a new one with Kent State University. But internally, we have quite a few students in our pre-law society at undergrad level interested in 3+3, which I think is a good recruiting tool for our undergrads for the University of Akron. I’m talking with the business college (about) a 3+3 that could also include an MBA, which could be another great recruiting tool. ` Q: We’re talking about the Akron law school being in good shape today. But when it came out that Akron and Cleveland-Marshall were exploring a merger, there was this sense that maybe one or both schools were struggling in some fashion. We know those talks have ended. But was it fair to view things that way in your opinion, why or why not? And is the school any better off today than it was a couple of years ago when these talks first popped up?

A: I think you’re right that is the impression people get when you talk about mergers that one or both might be in trouble, right? I was involved in this day one with C.J. Peters and Lee

Fisher, and I think they were just looking forward to the future and building a powerhouse law school. Both schools were in a good position, and they saw it as this opportunity to create this incredible law school in Northeast Ohio that could rival Ohio State. That was the idea. Both schools had a similar

place in the market. We both had similar credentials, faculty, visions, and we are so close to each other. I think the university presidents were behind exploration of the concept.

Ultimately, Dr. Miller and I think Akron is in an incredible position and maybe even a better position than five years

` Q: Did anything useful come out of the merger talks?

A: I’d say that we learned we can still explore collaborations with other schools like Cleveland-Marshall.

We still talked about online classes, collaborations with study abroad, things like that. So I think there is a future collaborating with other law schools.

But I don’t think there will be any future merger talks.

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FOCUS | LEGAL AFFAIRS

Legal education could take a hit from critical race theory controversy

BY JEREMY NOBILE

As political controversy swirls around the concept of critical race theory (CRT), some faculty at the University of Akron School of Law briefly grappled with whether to scrub it and the term itself from the college’s curriculum and syllabi.

The discussion was short-lived, said Brant Lee, assistant dean for diversity and social justice initiatives at the UA law school. A national expert on CRT, Lee has taught courses on the subject as well as classes tangential to it, including a seminar on feminist and race theory.

Declining to say by whom or where that conversation was spurred within the university, Lee said he pushed back on the idea of intentionally culling anything related to CRT at the school.

“To me, it is just about the truth. If you do not include CRT, you are not presenting an accurate depiction of how the law works,” Lee said. “And we should be teaching how the law works.”

The discussion was dropped as school officials shared Lee's point of view.

But the fact that the question even

came up may point to the chilling effect several academics worry that broader vitriol with CRT could have, especially in the realm of legal education, where the theory was first incubated decades ago.

As CRT comes under fire across the country — taking shape in part through state bills seeking to ban instruction in CRT in various class-

ley School of Law and president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

The country’s largest organization of legal educators, the AALS took a public stance in denouncing “attacks” on CRT last summer.

“Efforts to remove Critical Race Theory from our educational system, just like any other attempt to ban or censor ideas based on ideology, are deeply problem“TO ME, IT IS JUST ABOUT THE atic,” the AALS wrote. “BanTRUTH. IF YOU DO NOT INCLUDE ning Critical Race Theory or CRT, YOU ARE NOT PRESENTING AN censoring those who write or teach it risks inACCURATE DEPICTION OF HOW THE about fringing on the right of facLAW WORKS. AND WE SHOULD BE ulty and students to engage in the free exchange of TEACHING HOW THE LAW WORKS.” ideas; it also sets a dangerous precedent that the gov— Brant Lee, assistant dean for diversity and social justice initiatives at the UA law school ernment gets to decide what ideas or theories are rooms, as well as other so-called “di- good or bad.”

Chemerinsky drove that point visive concepts,” as Ohio’s H.B. 327 frames it — many legal scholars say home, postulating that “once there is they are fretting about the down- an attack on free speech, it puts other stream impact that could have on law speech in jeopardy.”

“I think there is a real concern that schools in particular and academic attacks on CRT will spread not just freedoms more broadly.

“There is absolutely enormous from (K-12 classrooms) but through concern for the future,” said Erwin colleges and universities,” he said.

Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berke- “We only have to think back to the

TRANSPORTATION AND THE QUEST FOR TALENT: Putting lessons of The Paradox Prize to work

JUNE 16

4:30 - 7:30 P.M. AGORA THEATRE REGISTER: crainscleveland.com/paradoxprize PRESENTED BY

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CRAIN’S CONTENT STUDIO CLEVELAND

12 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

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FOCUS | LEGAL AFFAIRS

The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. | CONTRIBUTED

Students linger after class at the David and Ann Amer Brennan Courtroom at the University of Akron School of Law. At one time, the school briefly considered scrubbing critical race theory from the curriculum following rising controversy with the subject, but ultimately decided against doing so. | GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

McCarthy era, when there was this tremendous attack on academic freedom. That’s why I think it is naive to believe attacks on CRT will be limited. If this is a useful political issue, they will continue to ride it.”

What is critical race theory?

As Matthew Ahn, a visiting professor with Cleveland-Marshall College of Law — who teaches a CRT course — puts it, “ask five different practitioners about CRT, and you’ll get 10 different opinions.”

“CRT is a series of approaches that share the assumption that the folks who have the power to make policy or implement the law have, and have always had, racial biases, whether explicit or implicit,” Ahn explained.

“CRT is an analytical framework to examine facts and events and examine the law's role in constructing race and reproducing racial inequality,” said Bryan Adamson, associate dean for diversity and inclusion at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, who helped develop a CRT course offered at the college for the first time this past spring.

The AALS notes that the roots of CRT as a school of thought trace back to roughly the 1970s, when a group of legal scholars — including the father of CRT, Derrick Bell — created frameworks for understanding how “race and racial subordination have shaped and continue to shape law and society.” The term CRT itself seems to have started popping up around the 1980s or early 1990s “CRT originated in law schools, and its central thesis is racism is systemic,” Chemerinsky said. “It is about looking at the existence and effects of racism in society.”

Lee emphasizes that CRT “doesn’t say white people are all racists or responsible for slavery.”

Why the controversy?

So how did a philosophy like CRT that’s been around for decades become so controversial?

That goes back to September 2020 and then-President Donald Trump’s criticisms of diversity training, CRT and the 1619 Project, which culminated in an executive order designed to keep federal contractors from providing racial-sensitivity training.

The order was never put in place.

But it still had an effect.

One of those effects, Chemerinsky said, was the mischaracterization of CRT as something taught in K-12 classrooms, which law professors say is fundamentally inaccurate.

“Nothing happening in those schools is CRT,” Chemerinsky said.

As a result, Republican lawmakers across the country have introduced, and in some cases passed, legislation banning CRT among a mishmash of other concepts in K-12 schools, even though that isn't where CRT itself is actually taught.

Texas, Arizona and Florida are among states that have taken actions like these.

Ohio Reps. Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland) and Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) are the primary sponsors of the aforementioned H.B. 327, which would make it so K-12 teachers found to have taught CRT (or another so-called “divisive concept”) could be stripped of their teaching licenses.

That bill doesn’t seem to explicitly target universities. Whether that is an oversight, considering where CRT is and isn’t taught, is unclear. Neither

The Case Western Reserve University School of Law. | CONTRIBUTED

representative responded to Crain’s requests for comment about the bill and their views on CRT. But in states where comparable anti-CRT laws have been passed, like Florida, there’s still that concern of a broader impact on law schools, up to and including the outright banning of CRT in higher education.

That's something Charlton Copeland, a professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law, who also taught the first CRT course at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law several years ago, would describe as “anti-intellectual and anti-historical.”

Other effects could materialize in different ways, including how an institution considers hiring faculty.

“How would these bans work? And what would such bans look like for people like me? To be sure, some of these bans are attempts to chill broadly university hiring committees,” Copeland said. “That is one of the scariest things. This just looks like it could be the sort of beachhead of a more committed witch hunt in higher education.

And we’ve been through those.”

These are some of the reasons why law schools and other stakeholders in the legal profession say they are concerned with the anti-CRT movement.

“Many of the proposals to ban CRT or the teaching of divisive concepts have been overly broad and could negatively impact the breadth and

quality of legal education by discouraging law professors from talking about and working through difficult societal issues with students, including our nation’s complicated history regarding race discrimination and its impact on the law,” said Mary Amos Augsburger, CEO of the Ohio State Bar Association.

“In our highly charged political environment, future lawyers should leave law school with a thorough and complete understanding of legal theories as well as the practical skills to civilly discuss and debate their application.”

An 'uphill battle' In February, the American Bar Association adopted changes to accreditation standards that require law schools to provide bias training, which could seemingly come through required courses in the areas of race and the law.

It’s the sort of course that could incorporate elements of the CRT philosophy without the class itself being overtly labeled as such.

This follows a wider anti-racism movement in legal education.

However, the ABA's action has been derided by some as “forcing wokeness” on law schools and as its own politically motivated move.

As William Jacobson, a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law

School and president of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, and Johanna Markind, research editor and LIF counsel, write: “Whether or not ABA accreditation previously ensured quality, the ABA has become partisan, using its power to promote an ideological agenda.”

This is all happening as many law schools, like Case, continue to teach CRT “unapologetically,” Adamson said.

If anything, he said, the anti-CRT movement invites an opportunity for legal educators to try to set the record straight, as they see it, on what CRT is and what its role should be in higher education.

“It starts with debunking and then educating,” Adamson said. “That is maybe an uphill battle now, because the anti-CRT rhetoric has become so pervasive that it’s going to take a lot of heavy lifting to debunk it and dismantle what anti-CRT stuff has wrought in laws and legislation.

“But we have to continue looking at our laws and legal institutions and even our cases and our judges and how they decided what they decide,” he added. “We just wouldn’t be doing our jobs as legal instructors if we don’t teach students how to engage in that kind of analysis.”

Jeremy Nobile: jnobile@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @JeremyNobile MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 13

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5/4/22 1:12 PM

REAL ESTATE

Builder Bo Knez acquires parcel in another big Tremont deal

BY STAN BULLARD

Another potential project is in the mix for the future in the Lincoln Heights section of Tremont between West 25th Street and Scranton Avenue.

Triban Investment LLC, an affiliate of Concord Township-based builder Bo Knez, has acquired a 3-acre parcel on Brevier Avenue that sits on a ridge immediately south of its prior owner, the Cleveland Animal Protective League.

The grass-covered lot with views of the downtown skyline also sits between the Treo apartment building, rising to its west, and the proposed West 20th Street Apartments, and is a short distance from The Lincoln, an apartment building nearing completion at Willey Avenue and Scranton.

Knez said in a phone interview that he plans to pursue development of an apartment building and townhouses on the site, but the specifics are in flux until his team works with the Lincoln Heights block club, the Tremont West Development Corp. nonprofit, neighbors and other stakeholders.

There is no firm timeline for the project, because the company is juggling multiple major projects in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.

Knez said his team had queried the APL about the site several years ago, but it was not ready to sell then.

That changed last year when the APL listed the site with Conor Coakley, a first vice president with CBRE Group’s Cleveland office.

Coakley said in a phone interview that there were multiple suitors for the site. However, he said he believed Knez prevailed because he seemed to embrace the nonprofit’s vision for the site.

Busy urban and suburban builder Bo Knez has landed a more than 3-acre parcel in Tremont surrounded by recent development projects. The grassy field was previously owned by the Animal Protective League. | STAN BULLARD/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Sharon Harvey, APL president and CEO, said the group’s board decided it was unlikely to have any

“We’ve used the part of the property most beneficial to us and feel this has no future strategic use,”

“WHEN WE CREATE MORE VIBRANT COMMUNITIES LIKE THIS, IT’S BETTER FOR THE CITY AND FOR BUSINESS.” — Kerry McCormack, councilman for Ward 3

use for the additional acreage after completing its most recent expansion and renovation project.

Harvey said. “As a nonprofit, it costs us money to maintain the land. And given the appetite for land now, our

board felt it might be an advantageous time to sell.”

She added that the nonprofit liked Knez’s vision for the property and feels his firm may be a good long-term neighbor for the institution, along with being willing to work closely with neighborhood groups.

Although Knez said larger details are not yet clear, the site benefits from neighborhood planning that

has already been completed.

Indeed, the Cleveland City Planning Commission, with participation from neighborhood stakeholders, on March 6, 2020, completed “#Reaching Lincoln Heights: Land use and neighborhood plan.”

The plan shows a residential building of undisclosed size on the ridge overlooking the APL and Willey, and two rows of about 30 townhouses on the rest of the parcel.

The plan shows Brevier Avenue, which currently ends in a dead end on the east edge the parcel, being extended across it to where the current Moltke Court intersects West 20th Street. Some of the townhouses in the city plan might have an exit on Lamontier Avenue.

Councilman Kerry McCormack, whose Ward 3 includes that area, said in a phone interview that he’s glad the city plan for Lincoln Heights is in place, because it includes conclusions from neighborhood discussions and gives real estate developers a clear idea of expectations for the site.

“Some developers may call that cumbersome,” McCormack said. “I say, ‘Tough luck.’ There’s some apprehensiveness about change (from multiple multifamily Tremont projects). But our city has lost so much population that we need more people. Moreover, when I talk to building owners, their properties are full.

When we create more vibrant communities like this, it’s better for the city and for business.”

Knez’s Triban paid $550,000 for the parcel, according to Cuyahoga County land records.

The site for the so-far unnamed development behind the APL is also a little less than a quarter-mile from the Knez-built Nineteen West townhome project, where units fetch more than $700,000 each.

Taking care of the nitty gritty in nearly 50-yearold apartments

BY STAN BULLARD

The Clifton Plaza Apartments, a 10-story multifamily building for senior citizens who receive housing subsidies, is about to get a new $20 million lease on life.

Owned by an affiliate of Renewal Development Associates, the 107-suite apartment has received a new round of low-income housing tax credits that required the Portland, Maine-based specialist to repurchase the property and refinance it for $6 million.

Renewal Development has owned the structure since 2005, when it acquired the property from the late real estate developer and radio station owner Xenophon Zapis.

The structure, which has one and two-bedroom suites and views of Lake Erie and a site near neighborhood shopping, dates from 1974.

Rich Galicz, a Willoughby-based development associated of Renewal Development, said in a phone

interview that the newest project completes work that the company could not afford in a prior renovation. The work is essential but not cosmetic.

“We’re adding sprinklers throughout the building, which is a major item, along with new boilers,” Galicz said. “We’ll convert six suites to full (Americans Disability Act) compliance.”

A Ohio Housing Finance Authority presentation said the project also will include updating heating and ventilating equipment and elevators. The agency is the conduit for divvying out low-income tax credits in the Buckeye State.

The project’s capital stack includes $3 million in low-income tax credits and a $10 million construction loan, which was not filed for public record as of last Thursday, May 5.

Drake Construction of Cleveland will do the work, according to county records and the Ohio Housing Finance Authority.

The 10-story Clifton Plaza apartments building is set for a substantial infrastructure updating. | STAN BULLARD/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Tenants in the property are in the federal Section 8 program, which limits their rent to 25% of their income.

The federal government pays the remainder of what the landlord calculates is a market rent for the

building.

The project dates from an era when the federal government dramatically funded and underwrote loans to widen the availability for senior housing.

Now the properties show their age.

They also date from before the most

recent round of senior housing projects that have been embraced by private developers using market-rate loans.

Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 15

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5/6/2022 12:54:37 PM

ABORTION

From Page 1

“For anybody who’s been watching the developments in this area, and watching the Supreme Court, the fact that this was the decision, the lineup of the votes was not surprising,” said Hill, who has been involved in litigating several lawsuits in Ohio challenging abortion restrictions, including a number currently pending. “It was a bit of a shock to really see it in black and white, you know, but really, it just kind of brought the reality home a little bit more that we’ve all been assuming was coming.”

While this news may have come in an unexpected way, and sooner than anticipated, Kellie Copeland, executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio, said the organization has been preparing for the day and how to move forward.

Her first thoughts were for the people who had abortions scheduled the days following the draft leak and ensuring they knew they could keep their appointments.

“Abortion is still legal across the country,” Copeland said. “And in Ohio, the nine clinics remain open, and are there to care for patients.”

‘Dwindling access’ Since 2011, Ohio has passed more than 30 restrictions on reproductive health care, according to tracking by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, which works with Planned Parenthood’s two nonprofit organizations operating health centers in the state: Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio.

“So we have been dealing with a dwindling access for far too long,” said Aileen Day, director of communications at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio.

The more than 30 laws include restrictions on sex education, banning

GOJO

From Page 1

focus groups,” said Emily Esterly, GOJO’s head of work ecosystem and employee experience. “We really tried to get a lot of employee feedback along the way.”

The company conducted five surveys, each with responses from between 190 and 490 GOJO employees.

Hundreds of those employees also participated in more than a dozen pilot programs.

In the end, the company came up with a system for categorizing its employees and the work that they do, so it could offer flexibility when appropriate but also have people on-site for things that require collaboration or otherwise need to be done in person.

The resulting system specifies how the company’s roughly 2,500 employees — most of them in and around Akron — work, and where they work.

A sea change at workplaces Work was defined as being in one of four categories, Esterly said: individual focus time, site-specific work, daily teamwork and “milestone moments,” which are in-person meetings for such things as projects, reviews, strategy and problem-solving sessions.

Using those, GOJO defines each

Hill

Day

public hospitals from having transfer agreements with abortion providers, and requiring doctors to look for and advise patients to look for and hear a fetal heartbeat.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio also tally funding for abstinence-only sex ed and for “crisis pregnancy centers,” which abortion access advocates say provide misinformation while others hail them for supporting pregnant women and families in need and promoting alternatives to abortion.

A few of the restrictive laws are currently in litigation, including prohibiting the use of telemedicine for medication abortion; requiring clinics to cremate or bury fetal remains; and prohibiting abortion at six weeks into a pregnancy, which Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine addressed the day after the draft opinion was leaked.

DeWine said that if the Supreme Court ultimately does overturn Roe v.

Wade, he will ask the Ohio attorney general to ask a federal court to stop blocking the state law that bans abortion as early as six weeks.

Following the leaked opinion, Ohio Right to Life president Michael Gonidakis said in a statement that the organization is “cautiously optimist” the Supreme Court will overturn Roe. “Ohio Right to Life works passionately to adopt an abortion free culture in Ohio and we are at the brink of doing just that,” Gonidakis said in the statement. “We stand ready to help all women who find themselves in unintended pregnancies and to of-

employee as being “mostly virtual, mostly on-site, or blended on either a monthly or weekly basis.” Depending on where they fall, employees could spend less than 10% of their time in the office or more than 80%. Manufacturing workers are not able to work from home, but about half of the company’s employees fall within one of the four role types, said Esterly and Zach Wemple, GOJO’s vice president of human resources.

GOJO implemented the system in January, and, so far, the reaction has been generally positive, Esterly said.

The company continues to listen to its people, she added, and will tweak the system as it learns more about what works best and for whom.

Some sort of system was a must, though, said GOJO senior director of corporate communications Samantha Williams. The company wasn’t about to let go of the collaborative corporate culture that has made it successful, she said, but it also wasn’t blind to the sea change that was taking place in how workplaces are structured.

“We looked inward and said, ‘We don’t think things are going to go back to where they were before.’” Williams said.

Communication and the clear definitions are important to more than just the company’s workforce.

New hires all want to know how their work will be structured and how often they’ll need to come into the office, as well, Wemple said.

“It’s a major question on every ap-

centers have been working with patient advocates who help people in need of care get services at the appropriate health center given current restrictions, Day said. They’ve expanded the program and are working with “friendly states” close to Ohio, including Illinois and New York, and building partnerships with health centers there to be able to navigate a post-Roe world. Though nearby, these aren’t neighboring states, which Day said will be a “huge obstacle” that will require a lot of resources to get people to this kind of health care, such as transportation and childcare for patients’ kids.

“While abortion should be available in every person’s zip code, we’re dealing with a world where that’s already not true here in Ohio, despite 80% of Americans believing that we should have the “WHILE ABORTION SHOULD BE AVAILABLE right to abortion,” Day said.

IN EVERY PERSON’S ZIP CODE, WE’RE “We know, and history has DEALING WITH A WORLD WHERE THAT’S shown, that ALREADY NOT TRUE HERE IN OHIO, DESPITE when these restrictions hap80% OF AMERICANS BELIEVING THAT WE pen, white, SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO ABORTION.” wealthy people are able to ac— Aileen Day, director of communications at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio cess abortion, while people already have living children, accord- with less resources struggle.” ing to 2020 data from the Ohio Department of Health: 24.3% have one Uncertainty ahead child and 38.4% have two or more children. In all, 87.1% of induced A lot of questions remain about abortions in 2020 were performed at how to navigate a post-Roe world.

12 weeks of gestation or earlier.

If the country becomes a spotty Having operated within the frame- patchwork of states where abortion is work of constantly changing restric- legal, there will be “huge” questions tions and regulations, clinics are like- around patients crossing state lines ly well-equipped to adapt going to access care, Hill said. If a patient forward, Hill said. crosses state lines for medication “This is just something they are abortion, how long must they stay in very good at ... figuring out, unfortu- that state before returning? She also nately, day to day what the legal con- noted concerns that people suffering straints are, and how to keep serving miscarriages may be criminalized for people the best they can,” she said. attempting to access abortions.

Planned Parenthood’s Ohio health Day notes that Ohio has one of the

worst maternal mortality rates in the country.

“And that number when it comes to black women, just increases and that disparity is huge,” Day said. “So forced birth — when the maternal mortality rate is that high — is absolutely cruel. Overturning Roe is a human rights crisis.”

In a post-Roe world, Copeland said that Pro-Choice Ohio’s focus will be re-establishing legal access to abortion, which will involve the ballot box, electing pro-choice candidates, and working with policymakers in the statehouse and potentially at the local level as some cities may move to try to ban abortion locally.

Post-Roe, there would be a few difficult paths to legalizing abortion in Ohio, Hill said. The Ohio General Assembly could legalize it or repeal all existing restrictions, but “it’s just not going to happen any time soon, clearly” with Republicans having a super-majority in the legislature, Hill said. Other ways would be a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution or the judicial option through the Ohio Supreme Court saying the Ohio constitution protects the right to abortion.

“None of those is just like a cakewalk, but those are possibilities,” Hill said.

Copeland said she and her team are preparing for the worst and, like others, believes it’s “unlikely” that Roe will remain. Until a final decision, it’s important that “we really make sure that people understand that abortion is legal,” she said.

“Frankly, after this decision, there probably will be a lot of confusion,” Copeland said, “because there will be, I think, back and forth potentially in the legislature in Ohio. There will likely be additional legal battles in state court. I think it’s unlikely that things will be cut and dry.”

GOJO’s plans. “One of the big struggles organizations are really dealing with is a perception of unfairness or people who look down the hall and wonder why a co-worker gets more flexibility than they do. I think the GOJO plan is very clear … and that clarity and transparency is very important.”

One thing Samuel questioned was the timing of when people must be in the office, since GOJO’s policy doesn’t specifically set the days that people need to come in.

“What’s the point of having someone come in to collaborate if there’s no one to collaborate with?” Samuel said. “Their model speaks to how much you come into the office as opposed to when.”

But Williams said the policy does address that. Milestone moments, for example, are meetings planned in advance, and those involved know when they’ll need to show up and have time to prepare. And, if there are cases where someone can’t join such a meeting in person, GOJO has invested in new digital platforms that will enable them to participate in such meetings virtually, Williams said.

Steve Millard, CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber, said others might be able to learn from GOJO’s new system, or possibly copy it — but they should definitely learn from GOJO’s proactive approach and at least be looking at what others in their industry are doing.

Nearly every employer needs to be

thinking about what their workplace will look like and how it will function going forward, Millard said, especially since the labor market has tightened.

“If folks aren’t listening or doing something that resonates with the workforce, people are either going to complain or possibly complain with their feet by leaving,” Millard said.

“About half of workers would like to work fully or mostly from home as they go … every company has to figure this out.”

The smartest thing GOJO might have done was to get its employees involved in the process long before a policy was rolled out.

“The biggest thing is talk to your people, listen to what they need, and understand the culture of your organization,” Millard said. It can’t be “my preference is that everyone come in every day and work from their office,” Millard said. “That’s not going to work for everyone. … Industry by industry, new standards are going to evolve over the next couple of years.”

In the meantime, GOJO will keep talking to its employees, continue to perfect its policies and is happy to show its system to other employers.

“If you go to our website, GOJO. com, it’s right there on our homepage,” Williams said. “We want to share what we’re learning with others.”

fer compassionate care for all. It is hard to articulate though just how momentous this could be.”

A couple “trigger” bills currently in the statehouse, if passed and signed, would be triggered by a court decision or constitutional amendment to ban abortion — such as the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade. The first, House Bill 598, introduced by State Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, would penalize doctors who perform abortions. The second proposal, Senate Bill 123, is similar and was introduced by Republican Sens. Kristina Roegner and Sandra O’Brien.

In 2020, the most recently available data, 20,605 induced abortions were recorded in Ohio — a slight increase from the year before (2.5%) and a 44% decrease from the mid-1990s.

Of those seeking abortions, most

Esterly

Wemple

plicant’s mind right now,” Wemple said. “It’s meant we’ve been able to attract a lot of talent in the Akron area. … It’s also caused us to learn a lot of new ways of working with how we recruit and how we onboard successfully.”

Getting employees involved So, did GOJO get it right? Its approach is getting high marks from at least some observers, who give the company credit for having the foresight to begin addressing the issue early in the pandemic.

“The plan and the vision that they’ve shared quite smartly addresses a number of the challenges I see in organization after organization,” said Alexandra Samuel, a technology and business researcher and co-author of the recent book “Remote Inc.: How to Thrive at Work Wherever You Are.” “What they’re doing right and what other organizations could potentially learn from is their focus on the job to be done. That’s very constructive,” Samuel said, after seeing

Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre

Dan Shingler: dshingler@crain.com, (216) 771-5290

16 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

P016_P017_CL_20220509.indd 16

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INTEL

From Page 1

“When we announced that Intel was coming to Ohio, we said at the time that Intel’s arrival would have a positive effect throughout the state of Ohio,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in April, during a visit to Lubrizol Corp.’s headquarters in Wickliffe. “The investment in Intel is really an investment in all of Ohio, in all of the companies throughout Ohio.”

A modern-day cold-call Lubrizol, a specialty chemicals producer, started collaborating with Intel in January 2021, almost a year before the microchip-maker committed to New Albany. The companies partnered to develop a liquid that can safely envelop, and cool, servers that rely on Intel’s technology.

That fluid, called CompuZol, is designed to regulate the temperature of increasingly powerful chips in data centers. It’s meant to be an efficient alternative to electricity-gobbling air conditioners and fans — and a more environmentally friendly option, based on non-toxic hydrocarbons.

With input from Intel fellows and engineers on the West Coast, “we actually stepped into a completely new marketplace,” said Matthew Joyce, Lubrizol’s vice president of corporate new business development.

That relationship started with a modern-day cold-call — a LinkedIn inquiry that made its way from Joyce to the right person at Intel. Now Lubrizol, a 94-year-old company that is part of Berkshire Hathaway, is in the late stages of product incubation and nearing commercialization. The first batches of CompuZol were produced in Painesville and Midland, Michigan.

“I can’t comment specifically on what’s going to transpire at New Albany,” Joyce said, “but what I can say is that we’re positioning ourselves very nicely to be an obvious supplier to that plant. … But what we are also doing, more importantly, is we are enabling that facility to manufacture chips that will be used across the world in the most effective way.”

Lubrizol also is talking with Intel about developing sustainable alternatives to other materials used in the company’s products and systems,

and maintenance for facilities where CompuZol is used. The company, which already is a preferred service provider for Intel-branded servers, is part of a growing network of local businesses mining for opportunities in the re-emerging U.S. semiconductor industry, which supplies the chips that power everything from cellphones to coffee makers to cars.

“So many companies are already supporting these ramp-ups in California and Arizona and Texas. We’re already here,” said Jack Schron, president and CEO of Jergens Inc., a Cleveland manufacturer that is making systems to hold parts in place during the chip-making process.

Two years ago, chip manufacturing wasn’t a topic of conversation at Jergens, an 80-year-old company that makes tooling components, vises and other positioning equipment.

Now, due to the coronavirus, supply-chain disruptions and national security concerns, the semiconductor business is Jergens’ fastest-growing customer.

With Intel’s ambitious plans in Ohio, Schron expects that demand — for indirect and direct suppliers — to grow. There’s been plenty of handwringing over the fact that Northeast Ohio, a heavily built-out region, did not have a readily available, 1,000acre site to offer Intel. But that doesn’t mean companies here won’t benefit from a mammoth project a two-hour drive south along Interstate 71.

Or, as Schron puts it, “I’m always looking for the pony in the manure pile, because if there’s manure, there’s gotta be a pony in there someplace. ... There are plenty of ponies up here.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Intel Corp. fellow Mohan Kumar, left, take part in a discussion about CompuZol, an immersion cooling fluid designed for the data-center industry, during a visit to Lubrizol Corp. in April. | LUBRIZOL CORP. PHOTOS

Incentives on offer

Last year, the Ohio General Assembly approved new megaproject incentives that promise trickle-down benefits for certain Intel suppliers. As part of the biennial state budget bill, legislators doubled the term of valuable tax breaks for oversized deals such as Intel’s — projects where operators invest at least $1 billion in tangible assets, such as buildings, land and equipment, or create and maintain at least $75 million in payroll. Megaprojects require large sites, hefty utilities and skilled workers.

Those enhanced incentives, first proposed in 2018, extend to verified “THE INVESTMENT IN INTEL IS REALLY megaproject supAN INVESTMENT IN ALL OF OHIO, IN ALL pliers that make investments OF THE COMPANIES THROUGHOUT OHIO.” major in the state: a — Gov. Mike DeWine minimum of $100 million in faciliJoyce said. ties, generating at least $10 million “These are the seeds that really in annual payroll. grow big trees,” said Chris Adams, Christine Nelson, Team NEO’s president and CEO of Park Place vice president of project manageTechnologies, a Mayfield Heights- ment, site strategies and talent, sees based tech company that is signing those expanded tools as “a very on to Lubrizol’s immersion-fluid meaningful incentive.” project.

It’s too early to say how many businesses will be able to take advantage of the tax breaks. But NorthMining for opportunities east Ohio does have sites of 200 to The marriage of a manufacturer 400 acres that could accommodate a like Lubrizol and Park Place, which substantial expansion or attraction provides data-center services, might deal for an Intel supplier.

“Companies who want to be part seem odd. But it illustrates how oldand new-school industries are con- of this supply chain are going to verging, spurred in part by a pan- want to have a presence here. demic-driven shift toward There’s some opportunity related to that,” said Bill Koehler, Team NEO’s on-shoring.

“Matt and I now are having con- CEO. “Some will want to be really versations about the same stuff,” Ad- close to Intel, which puts them in ams said of Joyce, “which wouldn’t the Columbus area. But not all of them will be able to do that.” have happened three years ago.”

Now that Ohio is getting attention Park Place will provide support

C R A I N ’ S C L E V E L A N D B U S I N E S S | S E P T E M B E R 3 - 9 , 2 018 | PA G E 2 9 Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine shakes hands with Intel Corp. fellow Mohan Kumar at Lubrizol Corp.’s headquarters in Wickliffe in April.

as a potential “Silicon Heartland,” it will be critical to work with established employers, colleges and universities and other partners to build on that rebranding, said Mary Springowski, a Lorain councilwoman who still believes that Northeast Ohio could be a fertile hub for chip production.

In April 2021, Springowski sent an email pitch to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger during a break from her day job as a team leader at the Ford Motor Co. engine plant in Brook Park. That email, which characterized Lorain as the ideal site for an advanced fabrication plant, caught Intel’s eye — and sparked discussions that quickly escalated to JobsOhio and the state. Though the Intel plant didn’t land in Lorain, Springowski is undeterred. She’s working with economic-development leaders to court other chip manufacturers and suppliers.

Her experience, like Lubrizol’s, demonstrates the power of reaching out.

“It’s not going to be one person,” she said. “It’s going to be a team effort. It’s everybody working together. And that’s the only way that we’re ever going to get anything done.”

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CLASSIFIEDS To place your listing in Crain’s Cleveland Classifieds, contact Suzanne Janik at 313-446-0455 or email sjanik@crain.com

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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To place your listing, visit www.crainscleveland.com/people-on-the-move or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com ARCHITECTURE

BANKING

INVESTMENT FIRM

Hasenstab Architects

Premier Bank

Sequoia Financial Group

Hasenstab Architects is pleased to announce the recent hire of Jeanette Pastrana, AIA, NCARB. Jeanette joins our Cleveland office with more than 10 years of experience in architecture, including project management, planning, and design. She has designed a wide variety of higher education, residential and mixed-use projects for local and national clients. Jeanette is a welcome addition to the Hasenstab Architects team.

Premier Bank is pleased to announce the addition of Daniel O’Malia as Vice President, Commercial Lender serving the Cleveland market. O’Malia joins Premier Bank with over 10 years of experience in small business and business banking. In his new role, O’Malia will be responsible for generating business lending opportunities within the Cleveland market as well as developing banking relationships with local businesses.

Sequoia Financial Group is pleased to announce that John Wiler has joined as senior director, M&A project manager.

Before Sequoia, Wiler was marketing director at MAI Capital Management in Cleveland. He has more than 25 years of strategic planning, organizational development and marketing experience, having also worked for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and for IMG. He received a master of arts degree from Kent State University and a bachelor of arts degree from Allegheny College.

BANKING

Congratulations to the 2022 Women of Note Crain’s Cleveland Business is announcing the 15 leading professionals chosen as the 2022 Women of Note.

Since 2007, Crain’s has honored a group of outstanding women whose achievements, dedication and work enrich Northeast Ohio, its institutions and its people.

A panel of Crain’s editors chose this year’s class from a deep and wide pool of nominations. The 2022 Women of Note work in a vast array of fields: medicine, law, nonprofit work, fashion, manufacturing and more.

This year’s honorees are: ` April Miller Boise, executive vice president and chief legal officer, Eaton ` Bethia Burke, president, Fund for Our Economic Future ` Carol Cunningham, state medical director for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of EMS ` Marisa Darden, recently confirmed as U.S. Attorney for Ohio Northern District, former partner at Squire Patton Boggs ` Trina Evans, executive vice president, director of corporate center and chief of staff, KeyCorp

` Habeebah Grimes, president, Positive Education Program ` Yvette Ittu, president, Cleveland Development Advisors ` Carey Jaros, president and CEO, GOJO Industries ` Jeneen Marziani, president for Ohio Bank of America ` Valerie Mayen, founder, Yellowcake Shop ` Tania Menesse, CEO and president, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress ` Megan Lykins Reich, Kohl executive director, moCa ` Erika Rudin-Luria, president, Jewish Federation of Cleveland ` Marika Shioiri-Clark, principal and developer, SOSHL Studio ` Teleangé Thomas, chief operations and relationships officer, JumpStart Learn more about these inspiring leaders in the June 27 edition of Crain’s.

The 2022 Women of Note will be honored at a luncheon at the Tinkham Veale University Center at Case Western Reserve University on Tuesday, June 28. Visit crainscleveland.com/events to register.

Civista Bank

BANKING

Key Private Bank David Keller has joined Key Private Bank’s Northeast Ohio team as a senior portfolio strategist. He will be responsible for managing high net worth client portfolios for both individuals and institutions. David has nearly 30 years of experience in wealth management and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation, CIMA ®. He earned his MBA from Cleveland State University.

CONSULTING

The DiJulius Group Jess Pischel, MBA, has been named Senior Customer Experience Consultant.

In her five years with The DiJulius Group Pischel Jess has advised numerous Fortune 500 companies, helping them achieve world class status. Jess will continue her role as Dean of the CX Executive Academy and trainer for CX Coaching Global.

Dave Murray has been appointed VP of Consulting. Dave will continue to provide winning strategies for his clients; he will also support content creation Murray for The DiJulius Group, the CX Executive Academy and CX Coaching. Mr. Murray’s role will make use of his experience as a consultant and business leader, to train and guide a group of customer experience consultants who advise organizations concerned with improving the service they deliver.

INVESTMENT FIRM

THE WEEK

Sequoia Financial Group Sequoia Financial Group is pleased to announce that David Dellosa has joined as director of marketing.

A veteran business development leader, Dellosa leads a team of five marketers at Sequoia. Previously, Dellosa served as senior manager, marketing at MAI Capital Management. Earlier, he was director, business development for golf clients at global marketing agency IMG and owner of Dellosa Creative, a marketing firm. He received a bachelor of fine arts degree from The University of Akron.

FRESH START: Nela Park, the East Cleveland landmark often described as the nation’s first industrial park, has been sold to a Milwaukee-based real estate firm. An affiliate of Phoenix Investors closed Wednesday, May 4, on the purchase of the 92acre property, according to Colliers, the brokerage that handled the sale.

The transaction does not appear yet in Cuyahoga County land records.

Colliers did not disclose what Phoenix paid for the property, which the county values at close to $7.9 million. The deal was a complicated sale-leaseback, keeping longtime occupant GE Lighting, a Savant Company, in place. The changing of the guard at one of Northeast Ohio’s most storied properties raises the prospect of fresh investments in East Cleveland, a poverty-stricken inner-ring suburb that sorely needs a boost. Nela Park has been a critical anchor for the city since 1910.

NEW GIG?

NEW SCHOOL: Cuyahoga Community College soon will have a new president. Michael A. Baston will become Tri-C’s fifth president, the college announced Wednesday, May 4. He’ll succeed Alex Johnson, who is retiring at the end of June after nearly a decade at the institution. Baston heads to Cleveland from New York’s Rockland Community College. He has led the college for five years. He also serves as chair of the Black Male CEO Educators network and is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges board of directors.

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C O N TA C T

Nate Marshall has joined Civista Bank as a Vice President, Commercial Lender.

He is based out of Civista’s Akron, OH office, located at 529 N Cleveland Massillon Road.

Marshall brings over 19 years of banking experience to the Civista team. He graduated from Kent State University and currently serves as a board member for LaunchNET Kent State and Ohio DECA. He will provide customers with a personalized and responsive working relationship as he assists them in reaching their business goals.

Laura Picariello Reprints Sales Manager lpicariello@crain.com (732) 723-0569

TRANSITION PLAN: Doug Weintraub, who is credited for the success of Akron’s Bounce Innovation Hub, is retiring as CEO of the city’s downtown business incubator at the end of this year. He’ll be replaced by chief operating officer Jessica Sublett, who was the only other employee working at Bounce when Weintraub was hired by the

city to take the reins in 2018. Weintraub plans to remain involved with the organization, including as a board member.

TALK OF THE TOWN: The downtown apartment market is humming. Pedestrian traffic is picking up. But the outlook for offices remains murky, as employers wrestle with a tight labor market and weigh real estate needs. That’s the thrust of Downtown Cleveland Alliance’s annual report, a 2021 snapshot released Monday, May 2. The nonprofit group, which represents property owners, described a central business district that’s convalescing — but far from healed. “We need to give people reasons to come downtown, just as employers need to create the type of environment within the four walls of their offices to make people want to come in,” said alliance president and CEO Michael Deemer. The alliance is preparing for a marketing push. Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week, set to begin May 12, will kick off a slate of spring and summer activities.

BANK ON IT: Major regional banks in Northeast Ohio raised prime, base lending rates following the Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday, May 4, to lift its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year — and the second time since cutting rates to zero in March 2020 — to curb surging levels of inflation. The Fed’s action Wednesday, which marks the central bank’s largest rate hike since 2000, increases the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to a target range of 0.75% to 1%. KeyBank, Huntington National Bank, PNC Bank, Citizens Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Fifth Third Bank, U.S. Bank, Dollar Bank and Bank of America all announced they have raised base lending rates to 4% from 3.5% effective Thursday, May 5.

18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

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