Crain's Cleveland Business

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HEALTH CARE: University Hospitals reports $104.5M 2021 operating income. PAGE 2

CEOs at local public companies got particularly large raises in 2021. PAGE 26

Farming is still a billion-dollar piece of state economy Impact of region’s oldest industry is far reaching

BY JAY MILLER

Decades of urbanization and improvements in transportation have reduced the role of farming in the Northeast Ohio economy. But farming is the region’s oldest industry, and it continues to touch everyone in the region — not just at the dinner table.

The early settlers of the Western Reserve raised corn and wheat, with Ohio becoming a leading producer of those crops. The early farmers also raised hogs and cattle, and the region soon became a leader in the production of butter and cheese.

The 14-county region that surrounds Cleveland is now home to more than 13,000 farms, which hire more than 15,000 workers and pro-

duce nearly $1.3 billion in farm products, according to the 2017 National Agricultural Statistical Survey (NASS) census of agriculture, the latest data available.

The farms range in size from 2,000-acre spreads that grow corn and soybeans for markets around the world to small operations that grow products such as herbs or mushrooms in a barn. In between are farms that raise significant amounts of dairy and beef cattle, chickens, fruits and vegetables, maple syrup and wine grapes, according to the NASS census. Many of the smaller farms produce products that are sold to restaurants, farmers markets or Community Supported

These young professionals are hardworking, engaged, innovative, forward-thinking, altruistic and proactive. They care about their work and their communities. PAGE 10

PHOTOS BY JASON MILLER/ PIXELATE PHOTOGRAPHY

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JUNE 6, 2022

See FARMING on Page 28

No office blues in Westlake Developers set newest multitenant project

BY STAN BULLARD

Co. co-founder Rich Desich said he and his investor group are planTo write an obituary for the office ning another, bigger building market, it would require ignoring a nearby.

Although the next building, recent round of office leasing and four new office buildings in the which has a three-story design but planning stages in Westlake, on the can be altered to suit tenants who commit to it early, will not rise until western fringe of Cuyahoga County. tenants commit to it, Desich and other inves“IT’S FOR FORWARD-LOOKING tors in Dreamland II COMPANIES THAT WANT TO LLC have made a big inINVEST IN THEIR COMPANIES AND vestment in the plan.

The investor group acTHEIR TALENT.” quired the wooded, 10acre site for the structure — Rich Desich, Equity Trust Co. co-founder for $850,000. JTEKT On the heels of landing leasing Corp. of Nagoya, Japan, which had commitments to declare Conver- held it since the 1980s for an expangent — a high-end office complex sion it never made, shed the site afthat opened in 2020 near the ter shutting its adjoining building, northwest corner of the I-90 and which faces Clemens Road.

Crocker Road interchange — fully leased, developer and Equity Trust See WESTLAKE on Page 28

NEWSPAPER

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HEALTH CARE

UH reports $104.5 million 2021 operating income UH financial performance

BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

In recent years, UH’s revenues have shown continued, steady growth. The system’s net operating income fell significantly in the past couple of years, but in 2021 nearly doubled from the year prior.

University Hospitals continued its trend of revenue growth last year and nearly doubled its operating income from the year prior.

UH ended 2021 with a net operating income of $104.5 million, compared with $54.7 million in 2020, on about $5.3 billion in revenue, which is up from $4.5 billion the year before.

“Our operating performance in 2021 was really strong,” said Mike Szubski, UH chief financial officer, “and that made for, really, a pretty good year.”

Part of the revenue growth can be attributed to the addition of Lake Health, a $389 million annual revenue acute care hospiSzubski tal system that formally became part of the UH system in April 2021. In the remaining nine months of the year, the operations of the Lake County provider accounted for $361 million of the system’s revenue total and about $3.1 million in operating income.

“In 2021 what we saw was very strong volume recovery, post the Delta variant” of COVID-19, Szubski said.

“Through April, May, through the beginning of December, we really recovered very well.”

This was made possible by revenue oversight, expense management and, to some extent, federal funds for costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our costs far outweighed the amount of federal funds we received,” Szubski said. “The federal funds probably covered 25% or so of the cost increases we saw in 2021.”

In 2021, UH recognized $101 million of CARES Act funding in 2021, about half of which was for 2021 costs and half was related to 2020 costs. The system calculates its total pandemic-associated costs for 2021 at around $192 million, which includes direct COVID-related costs, increased labor costs to cover staffing shortages and unfavorable experience in the employee health plan.

Staffing shortages are an ongoing and pressing issue for health systems.

“I continue to be very positive that UH is going to move its way through these challenges and, you know, end up in a really good place,” Szubski said.

“We’ll see how the world behaves here relative to staffing and these labor issues. But I’m very confident (and) feel that we’re on the right path.”

Lake Health impact

Lake Health added to UH multiple hospitals and ambulatory centers and 3,000 caregivers and 600 physicians into the Cleveland-based health system, according to figures in April 2021.

Lake Health joined UH through a member substitution model where UH gained control of the Lake County provider by entering an agreement with a series of commitments, which aren’t made public but can include things like capital investments, workforce agreements, community benefit and more, said Bradley Bond, vice president of treasury for UH. The member substitution resulted in a non-operating income of $218 million for UH. “We made ourselves a lot stronger

Net operating income $5B

$100M

$4.6B

$50M

$4.2B

$0

$3.8B 2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2019

2020

2021

2016

Total unrestricted revenues $5B

$100M

$4.6B

$50M

$4.2B

$0

$3.8B 2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2016

2017

2018

UH had a non-recurring expense in its 2019 operating budget of $93 million. This was an insurance payout following a 2018 problem in its fertility clinic that rendered thousands of eggs and embryos unviable and brought a flurry of lawsuits seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The 2021 figures include the April addition of Lake Health. Over the nine month period it was part of UH in 2021, Lake Health accounted for $361 million in revenue and about $3.1 million in operating income of the system’s total.

SOURCE: UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS GRAPHIC

University Hospitals has medical centers in, from top, Beachwood, Painesville and Willoughby. | UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS PHOTOS

and bigger, and that’s reflected in that member substitution” figure, Bond said.

The value of Lake Health joining UH isn’t reflected in the nine months of revenue or operating income for 2021, or even in the $218 million in assets it added when it became part of the system, he said.

“It’s the physicians and the market and the patients and all the things you don’t see in a financial statement that they added value to us,” Bond said.

The integration of Lake Health into UH is going “quite well,” and it has been a great fit culturally, said Szubski, who’s part of the team meeting routinely between Lake and UH leader-

ship.

UH committed and spent $38 million in 2021 toward the Lake enterprise, focusing on things like IT infrastructure, Seidman Cancer services in Lake County and “some significant investment” in radiation oncology, he said.

“We’re looking to Lake Health to be somewhat our eastern hub of our radiation oncology services,” Szubski said.

“We made a commitment for Rainbow pediatric services in Lake County.”

The progress has been “fairly rapid” and “very positive,” he said.

Looking ahead

UH continues to face a number of

financial and operational challenges ahead — pressures that not only other health systems, but many other industries, are grappling with as well.

The staffing shortage is a significant issue for UH, which has thousands of open positions and is turning to the higher-cost workforce of third-party staffing agencies, Szubski said.

UH and others delayed some outpatient procedures earlier this year as COVID-19 cases rose, which tends to bring down revenue performance.

And patient volumes overall — discharges, surgical and procedural volumes, emergency department visits — were down in the first quarter, he

said.

Add in the supply chain disruption and inflationary pressures that virtually everyone is dealing with and you’ve got “a little bit of a perfect storm going on right now,” Szubski said.

Given these challenges, it’s difficult to forecast the system’s financial performance, but he said, “I suspect that 2022 is not going to come in as strong as 2021. I am willing to say that. And I think most of my colleagues around the country would say something very, very similar.”

He expects UH’s revenue to continue to grow year over year, but the expense growth likely will outpace it, putting pressure on the operating bottom line.

The financial picture is especially challenging without ongoing federal funding or support to recognize the burden, particularly for health systems, Szubski said, “but I know we’re not alone.”

Many employers and industries are suffering under these challenges and wondering how much longer inflation, staffing shortages, supply chain strains and other pressures will continue. UH is building action plans around expected opportunities to help meet these financial challenges, Szubski said.

“But I think my personal opinion is that the challenges are going to continue for at least some extended period of time, I would say definitely into 2023,” he said. “And, you know, we’ve just got to keep doing our best just to try to stay ahead of it as best we can.”

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

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2017

2

SPORTS BUSINESS

What’s next for OHSAA after voting down name, image and likeness?

BY JOE SCALZO

Earlier in May, members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association overwhelmingly voted against a proposal that would allow prep athletes to cash in on their name, imagine and likeness (NIL).

But the message behind the 538254 vote was more “Not now” than “Not ever,” according to OHSAA commissioner Doug Ute. “I think the No. 1 reason is it’s just too early,” Ute recently said on the Baskins and Phelps podcast on 92.3 The Fan. “Not only on the college level, but there are nine other states that have adopted an NIL policy.

They want to see what happens in those states.”

So, what’s next? At a recent media advisory board meeting, Ute said the OHSAA has not heard of any threats to sue the organization. He also hasn’t heard any complaints from member schools about the resolution’s language, which allows athletes to sign endorsement deals so long as their teams, schools and/ or the OHSAA logo are not used and provided there are no endorsements with companies that “do not support the mission of education-based athletics” (casinos, gambling, alcohol, drugs, tobacco).

Ute expects the issue to be back on Ohio’s ballot, although he’s not sure if that will be next year or the year after. Regardless, Ute said, NIL is coming at some point and Ohio needs to be ready.

“Do I think it’s going to happen tomorrow? No,” Ute said. “But at some point, it’s coming to high school athletics, and we certainly want to be the ones shaping the language and protecting the amateurism of high school sports as much as we can.”

NCAA suspended its NIL policies after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that those policies violated antitrust law.

“Court cases take a really long time,” Volante said. “Yes, it will probably end up in court, but I would not expect any sort of immediate decision or clarification (on NIL).”

The Ohio General Assembly isn’t likely to move quickly either.

A year before the National Labor Relations Board rejected Northwestern University football players’ attempt to unionize, Ohio legislators added an amendment to a state budget bill that said students at state universities “are not public employees based upon participating in athletics for the state university.” The only other state to do that?

Michigan, Volante said.

Ohio also moved deliberately to legalize sports betting, which is set to begin on Jan. 1.

“They usually only act quickly when they’re basically helping the management side of things, not the worker side of things,” Volante said.

Ohio athletes could leave the state to pursue NIL opportunities.

While most NIL opportunities were expected to be small — say, a local car dealership or ice cream shop paying an athlete $100 to say nice things about the business on social media — there are a handful each year that could earn significant endorsement money.

Some athletes, like former Ohio State quarterback Quinn Ewers, have bypassed their senior seasons to sign lucrative endorsement deals, and it seems highly unlikely that LeBron James would now stay in

“I THINK THE NO. 1 REASON IS IT’S JUST TOO EARLY. NOT ONLY ON THE COLLEGE LEVEL, BUT THERE ARE NINE OTHER STATES THAT HAVE ADOPTED AN NIL POLICY. THEY WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THOSE STATES.” — Doug Ute, OHSAA commissioner

It may be too late for that, according to Ricky Volante, an NIL supporter who founded the Professional Collegiate League to do what the NCAA wouldn’t — pay college athletes. Volante, an attorney at the Volante Law Firm in Cleveland, said the OHSAA no longer controls its own destiny.

“Whether it’s a court or the Ohio legislature, this (NIL) is going to happen,” Volante said. “They lost the opportunity to control the parameters when it does happen.”

Here’s a look at the fallout of the OHSAA vote, as well as some of the ways NIL could change high school sports based on interviews with Volante and Mark Porter, the founder of the Ohio high school football recruiting website ScoutingOhio.com.

If the OHSAA loses in court, it will take time to happen.

The NCAA lost its NIL battle in a courtroom and Ohio would almost certainly suffer the same fate if it got that point, but the legal process takes time. Former UCLA standout Ed O’Bannon first sued the NCAA in 2009, but the matter wasn’t fully decided until June of 2021, when the

Ohio for all four years of high school.

Sites like IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, were already poaching top Ohio recruits, something Porter expects to escalate after the NIL vote.

“It would be naive to say that some of this money isn’t life-changing for some of these families,” he said. “IMG was already getting kids to leave their home state to play football down in Florida for their senior year, supposedly for greener pastures and more exposure. That trumped their family and friends and high schools.”

NIL may not have a great ROI. Paying an athlete to sign autographs at a car dealership or post on social media is a clear win for the athlete, but what about the business? Porter isn’t convinced it’s worth it.

“Let’s say you give an Ohio State (football recruit) a brand-new (Dodge) Viper,” Porter said “In return, he comes to the lot for five or six Saturdays to sign autographs.

How many cars did you sell because of that?

“Subway has Tom Brady, and

Ten-X: June 7-9

those types of athletes always sell, but these kids aren’t famous yet.

They’re just projected to be famous.

They’re only a household name in town.”

NIL may not boost your business, but it could boost your football team.

It’s illegal to recruit high school athletes in Ohio, which is why it never happens now and certainly wouldn’t happen if NIL were legal.

Also, unicorn steaks are delicious.

For some wealthy fans, boosting their business is secondary. The real value would be in convincing a star tailback or point guard to attend their favorite high school.

“Most high schools don’t have money for that; they can barely buy basketballs and jerseys,” Porter said.

“It’s the booster clubs making these things run. But somebody might say, ‘I want that Hoban kid,’ and that’s probably what it’s going to turn into.”

That’s already happening in Florida, Porter said.

“Ohio is super clean and the football association wants to keep it that way,” he said. “They don’t have summer football or spring football and they’ve taken heat over that, but they’ve stood strong. They’re not turning into Florida, where you have 7-on-7 teams sponsored by 2 Live Crew or Snoop Dogg.”

For some, the downside of paying athletes is higher than not paying them.

Volante is firmly in this court. If actors in the “Harry Potter” movies can make millions while practicing their craft as teenagers, why shouldn’t Ohio high school football players? That analogy isn’t perfect — Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson weren’t competing for their high school theater program against rival schools — but Volante thinks the market should dictate what athletes make, not an athletic association.

“It isn’t like money isn’t exchanging hands,” Volante said. “But I’m always in favor of bringing this above the table.

“Look at it from a legal lens. If competitive parity can only be accomplished by exploiting and taking away the rights of other high schoolers, then it’s not worth it.”

And if paying players kills the golden goose, lowering interest in high school sports to the point where only family members attend games? Well, Volante isn’t bothered by that.

“The comfort level of fans is irrelevant to me,” he said. “But that was the argument often used in college sports. People said they would stop watching the minute guys got paid.

Well, viewership for men’s and women’s sports went up this past year.

“I would assume the same thing is true for high school football. I don’t think people will care if the running back is paid or unpaid.

They’re going to say, ‘I went here, I love my school and I’m going to support my school regardless.’” joe.scalzo@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @JoeScalzo01

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READY TO SERVE

Skilled veteran workforce is out there, if companies help with transition

BY KIM PALMER

A career military veteran leaves the service both highly skilled and trained to both follow and lead — characteristics that businesses clamor for in an employee.

Many of those potential workers, though, have little experience writing a resume or doing a traditional job interview.

“About 200,000 veterans annually separate from active duty, and around 9,000 move to Ohio. That provides this pool of potentially unemployed folks with huge capabilities and awesome leadership experience,” said Joel Martin, manager of commercial training and services with Solon-based Swagelok, a global fluid system products, assemblies and services company Martin, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and active reservist, chairs the company’s veterans and military resource group. He has made it a personal and professional mission to help former soldiers get their footing after leaving the service.

Swagelok recently adopted the U.S. Department of Defense’s SkillBridge program, which is aimed at helping transition military veterans to the civilian workforce via personal and professional development classes, networking and mentoring, along with practical work experience fellowship opportunities.

“We call them fellows because I wouldn’t call somebody who has 20 years of experience an intern,” Martin said. “We have definitely transitioned to actively recruiting veterans and offering them assistance with interviewing skills, the job-seeking process and career-building.”

The veteran workforce

With more than 250,000 veterans living in Northeast Ohio and an expanding pool sending prime, working-age employees into a tight labor market, the opportunity for the region to tap into the former military community could go a long way toward closing the employment gap.

A recent Team NEO Aligning Opportunities report analyzed the region’s potential to leverage this workforce and spelled out opportunities for businesses in the region.

Of veterans in Northeast Ohio, more than half are 65 or older, but 44% are considered working age: 17% are in the 55-64 age range, and 27% are 54 years old or younger, according to the report.

About 38% of former Martin military in Northeast Ohio are Gulf War veterans, and those currently making the transition from service to civilian life have both a higher labor force participation rate and higher education attainment than average workers in the region. For instance, the Team NEO report found 77% of the region’s Gulf War population has at least some college and an associate’s degree — well above the 58% regional average.

Jacob Duritsky, vice president of strategy and research at Team NEO points out that the high rate of post

Northeast Ohio veteran population by age The range of service represented in Northeast Ohio spans many years, with more than half of veterans over 65 years old. Seventeen percent of veterans are between 55 and 64, and 27 percent are 54 years old and younger.

35 to 54 years 21% 55 to 64 years 17% 65 to 74 years 29% 75 years and over 27% World War II Korean War 5% 10%

Gulf War (September

2001 or later)

17%

20% 47% Vietnam Era

Gulf War

(September 1990 to August 2001)

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 2016-2020 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS GRAPHIC

secondary degrees held by veterans is significantly higher than that of non veterans in the region.

“If you look at labor force participation (for Gulf War veterans), it’s almost 80%,” Duritsky said. “Compare that to the overall population in Northeast Ohio, where labor force participation rates hover around 60%, and that’s about 20 percentage points higher in terms of the number of veterans who want a job.”

He added, “Vets are highly relevant to our region’s workforce needs. They are coming home and taking on jobs in accounting, legal and IT and technical support, business management, service occupations, transportation, material movement. You can see a large cross-section which represents Northeast Ohio’s employment base, including manufacturing, professional services, education and health construction.”

Military to civilian transition

The biggest challenge for veterans making the transition is translating everything they’ve learned in the military to civilian-speak, Martin said.

Many vets also do not realize how their very specific skill set applies to industries in need of workers, and employers do not always know how to evaluate the skills of someone coming out of the military.

“It’s really a two-way street. A lot of vets, myself included when I came out in 2014, have a bit of impostor syndrome and don’t know if they can do the job,” Martin said. “I know how to fix an F-16 (fighter jet), but I did not necessarily know anything else.”

The fast-paced rate of hiring in times of need makes veterans’ job searches even more difficult, in part because of a nine-character code used in the Army and Marine Corps to identify a specific military job.

The military occupational specialty (MOS) code is complicated and

nearly untranslatable for anyone outside of military service.

“When our HR team gets a vet candidate, they will almost always send us that resume and ask ‘What the heck does this mean? What type of role should I be looking for or this person?’” Martin said.

MOS codes, even when translated into a job title, do not tell the whole story, Martin said, because there are not always parallel or similar positions to military jobs. That can make things difficult for businesses looking for a standard way of evaluating talent.

Paige Sanchez, who now works at Huntington Bank as a program manager, was one of those transitioning military members who could not find a good fit even though she came out of the service with a master’s degree in biomedical engineering.

“I found it very hard to transition.

We moved (to Columbus) because of my husband’s duty assignment. I didn’t have a network, and it was very hard for me to translate my experience to employers and get connected,” Sanchez said at a Team NEO event in late May to discuss the report’s findings. “I spent a few months actually unemployed as a veteran while I tried to navigate the Columbus-area corporate world.”

After about a year of unemployment and underemployment, Sanchez, a 2012 West Point graduate, joined Huntington, which had rolled out a military veteran development program. The goal was to take veterans who were struggling and prove that banking is a safe spot, with lots of job flexibility for military vets with transferable skills.

The Huntington program is just one of a number of programs to help veterans leaving service. Programs that connect employers and employees include MilitaryHire.com; a Veteran Educational Access program offered by Cuyahoga Community College; registered apprenticeships eligible under the GI Bill; and a pending U.S. military program that would support veterans’ wages during training.

With the right guidance and softskill development, veterans can successfully move to civilian life, Martin said.

“Veterans know how to influence, how to share a message, how to communicate appropriately, how to problem-solve,” he said. “All those things are core functions of leadership.”

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

4 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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EDUCATION

Northeast Ohio’s private colleges navigate rising costs

BY AMY MORONA

Ursuline College has made it through its first 150 years, according to president Christine De Vinne, thanks to two things: planning and prayer.

Officials there will continue to do more of the same, she said. But rising costs and a stretched-thin supply chain are impacting that planning at small, private colleges such as Ursuline. The unadjusted inflation rate over the past 12 months clocked in at 8.3% in April, per the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Coupled with the ongoing pandemic and amplified enrollment struggles over the past few years, it’s one of the latest hurdles higher education is facing, especially those at more tuition-reliant institutions.

“One of the difficulties of this season of COVID is that planning has been more erratic,” De Vinne said.

“We can write the plan, but we don’t know what the vendors are going to come back with, we don’t know what the supply chain is going to come back with.”

Ursuline, a college with a full-time enrollment of about 900 students, recently named Timothy Clymer as vice president for finance and administration at its Pepper Pike campus.

Clymer doesn’t think this bout of

Private colleges, like Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, are adjusting in an environment with rising costs and a competitive labor market. | ROBERT MULLER/URSULINE COLLEGE

inflation is as big of a challenge as, say, the beginning of the pandemic or the Great Recession. He pointed out private institutions are facing the same kinds of struggles as businesses and individuals.

Longer lead times from vendors are extending the college’s timelines.

It might take a year to replace a rooftop HVAC unit at Ursuline’s library.

Updating a boiler in a dorm won’t happen until mid-September.

There’s the bustling labor market, too. De Vinne said the campus is implementing measures including

shortened Friday workdays in the summer in an effort to help attract and retain employees.

And rising talent prices can get passed along to the college as a consumer. Campus officials try to build contingency planning into their budget to absorb hits when and where possible, but Clymer acknowledges it can be a challenge.

“A lot of these can be a bit of a surprise,” he said. “You don’t really know what your janitorial increase will be like until the contract expires.”

Baldwin Wallace University in

Berea credits its long-term contracts for helping the college with about 3,000 full-time students to “manage the recent higher-than-usual inflation.”

“However, if inflation continues to go unchecked, additional efforts may need to be implemented down the road,” William Reniff, BW’s vice president for finance and administration, told Crain’s Cleveland Business in an emailed statement last month.

Travel costs are up for Malone University, impacting opportunities for both athletics and professional development, according to officials at the North Canton campus of about 1,200 full-time students. Hiring qualified candidates at “reasonable” pay rates continues to be challenging.

Plus, leaders said inflationary measures are impacting investment returns on its endowment, though it currently clocks in at $25 million, up from a reported $22 million as of the end of June 2021.

Lake Erie College and leaders at its campus of about 1,000 students are feeling the crunch, as well. Business insurance prices went up. Costs associated with horse care for its equestrian studies programs was another area of increased expenses.

“As an institution that relies so heavily on revenue from tuition, room, and board, the increased costs place a greater burden on fundraising,” officials at the Painesville insti-

tution told Crain’s via email last month.

And that tuition is increasing locally. New and transfer students at Hiram College will see tuition increase by 2% for the 2022-23 academic year to an estimated list price of $25,000. Undergraduates at Ursuline will see a list price of $36,390 for a full-time course load of up 12-18 credits. That’s 3% higher compared with the previous academic year. Tuition at Malone University also is going up 3%, to an advertised price of $33,400 per year for a full-time schedule.

Price tags already were trending up at private nonprofits. The average published price for tuition and fees at those four-year institutions across the country came in at $38,070 for the most recent academic year, about $800 higher than in 2020-21.

Yet some experts caution those upticks still might not be enough.

“Rarely do tuition increases cover all the costs that are expected, which will mean reductions in other areas to do what institutions feel are the basic essentials that they need to get done,” Jim Hundrieser, vice president of consulting services for the National Association of College and University Business Officers, told Inside Higher Ed in May. Amy Morona: amy.morona@crain. com, (216) 771-5229, @AmyMorona

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Nicole Liatos

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Obi’s statement was echoed by other panelists.

“Create social capital,” said Samuel Wright, a program manager for Huntington’s Lift Local Business Program. “Who’s out there who can help you? The beautiful thing about the United States is that there’s always specialization. If I wanted to start a business and I’m not an expert in marketing, who can I go to in my early stages to help me? Develop that network early before you launch. It’s hugely important.”

Wright said starting a small business and

making it succeed is one of the most difficult things to do in the United States. But even as a sole proprietor, you don’t have to go it alone.

There are dozens of organizations out there to assist in getting small businesses off the ground.

Lisa Hutson is director of one of them: the Small Business Development Center at Lorain County Community College in Elyria. “None of us are going to be offended if you ask us questions,” she said. “If we’re not the right

Michael Obi

Samuel Wright

place, we’ll direct you to it. There are so many resources, but you have to find your team.”

And that team needs to include a “five-star roster,” said Nicole Liatos, the director of the Women’s Business Center of Northern Ohio.

According to Liatos, there should be five key members on your team: an accountant, a lawyer, an insurance broker, a banker and a business adviser. And the WBC can help. “We have a network that sees the value of what we do, so they donate time pro bono,” she said.

“Numbers people” like accountants are particularly important for businesses in the funding stage. This accounting assistance is especially important for those small business owners who get intimidated by the balance sheets and other paperwork they’ll need to get approved for funding.

Obi, who also serves as executive vice president for development of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, noted that the pandemic has led to a wide variety of grant opportunities through the American Rescue Plan. He recommends staying tuned in with local media and connecting with organizations like the Urban League or the Women’s Business Center, which are usually the most informed about when grant money is available.

But Obi noted that the grants resulting from pandemic aid are likely one-off, and won’t be duplicated.

“It’s once in a lifetime,” he said. “Don’t get used to grants being available. The reality is that capital costs money, and you have to pay for it.”

This advertising-supported section/feature is produced by Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business. The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain’s Content Studio content.

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Q&A | FINANCE

Incoming Fifth Third CEO: ‘Every market should be a growth market’ Fifth Third Bancorp announced this spring that bank president Tim Spence would succeed Greg Carmichael as the company’s CEO following the latter’s retirement July 5.

During a recent visit to the Cleveland market, Crain’s caught up with Spence — and Joe DiRocco, Fifth Third’s northern Ohio president — to talk about some of Spence's plans for the bank as he looks to taking the CEO reins this summer and some of his thoughts on the Northeast Ohio region, where the Cincinnati-based institution remains one of the larger players in a fragmented market.

Carmichael is the first large bank CEO to have previously served as a chief technology officer. Spence has a somewhat comparable background, having worked at two tech startups in his past, so he embraces many similar views in his approach to the company.

Here is some of what he and DiRocco had to say.

— Jeremy Nobile (The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.) ` How about a quick state of the union on Fifth Third Bank?

Spence: It’s a tremendous honor to be the next CEO of Fifth Third and in particular to inherit that responsibility at a point in time where the company is in as good shape as it is. If you look at the past couple years at the bank, it’s been a pretty exceptional run. The bank was No. 1 in its investor peer group in terms of shareholder return. We were thankful to be named one of only five banks in the world among Ethisphere’s most ethical companies. The community side of the business is in really good shape. We were one of the first banks to

go to $15 per hour, then $18 per hour in 2019, and we are first among our regional peers, including I think all the banks in this region, to get to $20 per hour.

When you step back and look at it, if anything, it’s a little bit daunting to try and fill those shoes in terms of the impact Greg Carmichael, our current CEO and chairman, has had on the company. ` Those moves with pay are relatively progressive for the industry. With abortion rights possibly in danger, executives at a few large financial institutions have said they are look-

ing at ways to extend support and access to abortion care to employees.

Is Fifth Third considering taking any progressive steps like this?

Spence: I think we make it a matter of policy not to comment on political matters, so I don’t have an update to share on that matter at this time. ` What are some of your goals or priorities as you look to officially step up as CEO? Spence: I’ve had the benefit of working inside the bank for many years now and working with Greg to develop our strategies in the market today. The byproduct of that is my areas of strategic focus are going to be very consistent.

Priority No. 1 is to make sure we don’t break anything that’s working and retain the focus of balancing the needs of all our stakeholder groups. And priority No. 2 is to lean in on the organic growth strategy that is working well with a really heavy emphasis on driving more product and service innovation with the investment in digital capabilities and through acquisitions like the one we did last year with the fintech company Provide, which is now the largest in dental practice finance and one of the four largest overall across

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Spence

DiRocco

different medical practice types. And then more recently the acquisition of Dividend Finance, which is one of the largest national residential solar lenders.

The focus is on making sure we have the right portfolio markets, that we achieve the right level of share in those and that we are continuously investing in improving the quality of products and services while leveraging technology where we can. ` Old-school bankers sometimes lament the growing role of technology in today’s banking business. Considering your tech background, it’s safe to say that you’re on the opposite side of that frame of thought, yes?

Spence: I’m fond of the old adage that if you’re not interested in the future, then the future is not interested in you. There is no question, technology, whether it’s hyper-scaled cloud computing or mobile devices or sorts of software that have made their way into our lives, changes every aspect of how we live and work and how we buy and do business. So I don’t think you have a choice but to embrace it. The question is how. ` And how does that apply at your company?

Spence: I would tell you that in our industry, the focus has been most heavily on the way that digital and digital channels could change the way we service and sell our products. But if you look at other sectors where technology has had a transformational impact, the more fundamental disruptions of technology have more to do with the way you think of the products and services you sell.

If you look at the investments we’ve been making, including our own organic product development, two things jump out. One is Momentum Banking, which is at a building block level we launched a year ago. Momentum is focused on the way we use technology and analytics to help you manage everyday finances better.

We will continue to push the needle on that one. On the commercial side of the business, four or five years ago we got really focused on how we could migrate legacy commercial payments business away from being a pure processing business and into a business that provided automation or managed services. ` Does this focus on tech displace workers?

Spence: We’re a big believer in the value of having real people involved in the process.

So it is not technology in lieu of people, it is technology as the product with people as the mechanism for providing advice and higher-quality service. Our focus in the core relationship business is on ways we can leverage technology to complement our in-person delivery channels. ` Joe, as regional president, what are some of the trends that you are seeing in the market today?

DiRocco: I think we are at a period of time when our customers and clients, whether it’s a commercial client or wealth client, they’re all looking for a better understanding of the market.

There’s definitely uncertainty. You’ve got supply chain disruptions, inflation. We are

there to offer strategic advice and counsel.

That might be in ways like helping them automate the payables process to save time and labor and give them the right payments streams they should have. On the capital markets and M&A side, we’re having discussions with investment bankers talking about the future of the company and what it will look like. That leads into opportunities to plan for the family. We have business owners getting into second and third generations of business ownership, and we’re having a lot of deep dialogues about that in terms of what’s next, where they’re going and the opportunities around that.

We look at where the economy is today, and we see there are some headwinds here and there. Other places, companies are doing extremely well. But we do know with inflation right now, there are a lot of concerns out there and people want to know that we will be there when they need us. So we’ve been having a lot of those discussions and dialogues. ` When you think about the Northeast Ohio market, Tim, what comes to mind?

Spence: We have a great market position here. We are home state bank. We are third through fifth in every business line in the Northeast Ohio market. This, though, is a market that is really rich with talent. It’s already a hub for us in terms of employment for national capabilities.

It’s one of our three major markets in our capital markets business, which has been a fast-growing business. It’s a hub for us in commercial real estate, through our ownership interest in Bellwether (Enterprise) and some hiring we’ve done in recent periods. It is an area for us for adding people in this market. At least from my point of view, we’d like to continue to find opportunities to source talent that not only supports this market but adds to our national capabilities as well. ` So where are some of the opportunities for growth, and where are you working to add more people?

DiRocco: Our capital markets group continues to expand. The reality is we’ve kind of run out of office space for them, and we’re working on some expansion plans for them right now. While we work to bring national capabilities to our regional clients here, at the same time, we’re kind of, call it exporting, some of this talent in Cleveland to help people in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, California. And it’s good for our region to be part of that. ` When you think about your footprint broadly and the opportunities you have, is the fragmented Northeast Ohio region considered a growth market for Fifth Third?

Spence: Absolutely. I’m of the belief that every market should be a growth market for Fifth Third. I don’t just say that because it’s convenient in a season when we’re doing operations reviews in each of our markets. Our industry in general is less consolidated than most of the major sectors in the U.S. With a good business, you should always be able to gain market share on a regular basis. Over the course of the last four or five years, this has been a growth market for Fifth Third.

Household growth rate is well in excess of the population growth in the markets where we compete. We’re adding new quality relationships in the commercial business. And we’ve had high singledigit growth on an annual basis in terms of assets under management. So it’s been a growth market, and we are continuing to add talent and resources in all of the major business lines.

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MANUFACTURING

Stronger finances, safety part of retiring CEO’s legacy at GrafTech

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

After almost 40 years in the steel industry, Dave Rintoul had long been a customer of GrafTech International Ltd. GrafTech in Brooklyn Heights is a maker of graphite electrode products used in steelmaking. So when the opportunity to help rebuild the company — and take it public — arose, it intrigued him. It seemed like it could be a good way to end a successful career.

Rintoul took on the role of president and CEO for GrafTech on March 1 of 2018. Later that month, the company officially filed the paperwork to go public. (Again, that is. GrafTech previously had been a public company before it was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in 2015.)

Rintoul had been part of private companies and public ones throughout his career, but he had never been part of taking a company public. It was a “phenomenal” learning experience, he said, and “exciting.” It’s an experience most people, even those in the business community, don’t get to have, he said.

For Rintoul, that whirlwind start — the company was on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “EAF” by the end of that April — was just the beginning of his time with GrafTech. In the past four years, he has helped the company strengthen its balance sheet and improve its safety measures. Now, he’s looking forward to retirement, where he plans to golf and pick up old hobbies like tennis and piano.

A February news release noted that Rintoul planned to retire as the company’s president and CEO, as well as from the board, by the end of June, or later, based on when a successor was named. Rintoul’s successor has not yet been named, and he said he couldn’t share any updates to that previously announced timeline.

But Rintoul said the company is positioned so its next leader may be able to help it to grow. It’s a “good company with good people,” he said.

The year before Rintoul came on board, GrafTech’s finances were just about breaking even. In the past four years, the company has generated about $2.5 billion in free cash flow, Rintoul said.

That’s significant, but Rintoul said he’s most proud of the improvements he has overseen in safety at GrafTech.

“Because of my years in manufacturing, I have a fundamental belief that companies that are sustainable over the long haul can only be that way if, particularly in the manufacturing world, if they can get safety and the environment right,” Rintoul said.

When he arrived at GrafTech, the company’s recordable incident rate, an OSHA measurement for on-the-job injuries or illness, was about 1.6. The lower that number, the better. And last year, GrafTech’s was 0.49, Rintoul said.

“Everybody that comes to work each day expects to go home the exact same way they came in. Maybe a bit more tired,” he said, “but outside of that, they go home the exact way they came in.”

The company has to do the work to meet those expectations. GrafTech put a focus on the basics, such as lockout-tagout procedures. And it communicated those to employees and reminded them that they have a responsibility to one another, Rintoul said.

Rintoul said it has been the people

that have made his job at GrafTech enjoyable, both the company’s approximately 1,300 employees and its customers across the globe. And he spoke to the importance of listening to both groups.

Companies can’t just be a provider of products; they need to provide solutions. Rintoul That’s what customers are looking for, he said.

“I think that’s true of most of things in life,” Rintoul added.

Rintoul grew up in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario where Algoma Steel Inc. was the biggest employer in town. He got a

scholarship from the steelmaker that included a job each summer. After he got his associate’s degree in mechanical engineering technology from Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, that summer job turned into a career.

“I graduated on a Friday and started work in the flatroll mill on a Monday,” Rintoul said.

He recalls that his first post-college job was learning how to roll steel. As a young engineer, he wanted to learn everything he could about the business and the science behind it. And he had

ty, as well as, later, an MBA at the University of Notre Dame.

And as he reflected on his career, it’s clear he still enjoys the work GrafTech helps make possible.

“Being a former steelmaker — I guess I still consider myself one — it’s always a thrill for me to walk into a melt shop when the arc is being struck in an electric arc furnace,” Rintoul said. “It’s a thrill that never goes away for an old steelmaker.”

“ ... IT’S ALWAYS A THRILL FOR ME TO WALK INTO A MELT SHOP WHEN THE ARC IS BEING STRUCK IN AN ELECTRIC ARC FURNACE.” — Dave Rintoul

ambitions of moving into a management role.

He was doing shift work, trading all of his day shifts so he could work at night and attend school during the day.

Rintoul ultimately earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lake Superior State Universi-

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

From extraordinary service to exceptional innovation.

Tomislav Mihaljevic, MD, CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic, and Norma Lerner, 1921 Society Chair, present Serpil Erzurum, MD, Chief Research & Academic Officer at Cleveland Clinic, with the Lerner Humanitarian Award at the 1921 Society induction ceremony hosted on May 21

Having dedicated nearly three decades of service to Cleveland Clinic, Serpil Erzurum, MD, excels as a researcher, clinician and educator.

Her compassion for patients, tremendous support for students at the Lerner School of Medicine, and vision to bring research to the next level with the launch of the Cleveland Innovation District profoundly enhance our community locally and globally.

Thank you, Dr. Erzurum, for your deep commitment to our organization’s mission, and congratulations for being named the 2022 recipient of the Alfred and Norma Lerner Humanitarian Award, Cleveland Clinic’s most prestigious physician honor.

ClevelandClinic.org

JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 7

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PERSONAL VIEW

NASA Glenn leadership and growth is vital for region and country

RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

BY BAIJU R. SHAH, BILL KOEHLER AND J.P. NAUSEEF

EDITORIAL

C’mon, Jon W

e haven’t traditionally spent much time in this space on lieutenant governors, past or present. No offense to the holders of the office, but the job doesn’t typically draw that much attention.

But a new side gig for current Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted should make everyone take notice. At the end of May, Cleveland.com reported that Heartland Bank, a community bank in the Columbus area with about $1.5 billion in assets, appointed Husted as a paid member of its board. The appointment came in March, but Heartland didn’t announce it until issuing a news release in May, after its annual meeting. Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration said nothing about Husted’s new board appointment.

The company and Husted aren’t saying how much the lieutenant governor, who makes $176,000 annually in his main job, will make as a board member at Heartland. He’ll have to disclose it, eventually, but the timing of the state’s annual financial disclosures means we won’t know the figure until after November’s election.

There are a couple obvious problems here.

Husted’s now a board member of an Ohio bank that is regulated by the administration of which Husted is a part. Husted spokeswoman Hayley Carducci told Ohio Capital Journal that the lieutenant governor “doesn’t have oversight over the Ohio Department of Commerce or their banking regulators,” and that, “He doesn’t expect any conflicts, but would certainly recuse himself and act in any way that the law requires should any conflicts arise.” But there’s an appearance problem that undermines the public’s expectation of fairness and transparency.

Husted seems to have done a capable job as the lead for InnovateOhio, the state’s business and technological innovation initiative. As Cleveland.com pointed out, he “has been the point person for the DeWine administration’s business and economic development-related initiatives, including having influence at JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development arm.”

Why muddy the waters with potential conflicts of interest by assuming a paid role for a single company? Ohioans deserve to know that Husted is not considering his personal interests, and his obligations to Heartland Bank, when helping make economic-development decisions.

The other problem is structural.

Paul Nick, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, told Cleveland.com that state ethics law doesn’t address whether a state official like the lieutenant governor can hold outside jobs. There’s room for gray areas at lower levels of the government, we suppose, but it’s self-evident that the state’s No. 2 official shouldn’t be pursuing paid opportunities with a company based in the state, and regulated by the state.

Husted should give up the board seat, and the state should clarify ethics rules so we don’t run into such a situation again.

Give a little “T

his is not a perfect outcome. I think that everybody got a little of what they wanted, and I think a lot of people did not get what they wanted.”

That succinct summary from Blaine Griffin, president of Cleveland City Council, came after council at the end of May approved legislation that will change the city’s residential tax abatement program in some important ways while still keeping in place tax breaks for new and renovated housing that are important for continuing housing-market momentum.

As Crain’s reporter Michelle Jarboe noted, the legislation maintains 100%, 15-year abatement on projects across the city through Dec. 31, 2023, and then, starting in 2024, reduces tax breaks for most new construction to 85% in hot areas, including parts of downtown, Ohio City, Tremont and University Circle.

There are intricacies in the legislation that reflect compromises from all interested parties: nonprofit housing organizations, apartment developers, homebuilders and community groups.

The goal — creating a more equitable, affordable city housing environment — is worthy. Getting the policy right is hard.

Council worked on a tight deadline to approve the revised tax abatement policy before the sunsetting of existing policy.

We’re encouraged that council and the Bibb administration listened to critiques, made adjustments and came up with what looks like a reasonable compromise.

“Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Griffin said of the process that led to the compromise. That’s a good sign for the city’s ability to tackle tough problems.

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

NASA Glenn is an innovation and economic powerhouse that can drive even greater growth for our region and state.

Working together, we have developed a strategy to advocate for increased funding and program roles for the center to expand its impact. Through the leadership of our senators and congressional delegation, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and others, it has resulted in significant recent successes. As the agency selects a new director, we ask the NASA administrator to consider that a committed leader and partner is crucial to the center, the agency and the region.

Space fascinates, captivates and inspires. While we eagerly await further discoveries in space, we often do not see how NASA’s inventions help on Earth.

NASA Glenn is engaged in research that has broad potential to transform how we live, from communications technology to power distribution, aircraft propulsion, health care and more.

For example, experiments regarding astronaut health have led to innovations in heart pumps and smaller fiber-optic Shah is scopes for joint surgery. Promising re- president and search being done today could lead to CEO of the needle-less glucose testing and remote Greater cardiac-monitoring systems.

Cleveland It is work that lives up to the campus Partnership; greeting sign for visitors: “Research and Koehler is CEO technology for the benefit of all.” of Team NEO; NASA Glenn in not only an innovation and Nauseef is powerhouse. It is a job creator that at- president and tracts highly skilled workers — including CEO of rocket scientists — to our area. More JobsOhio. than 3,300 researchers, engineers, technicians and support personnel work at the center, which generates more than $2 billion in annual economic impact for Ohio.

In alignment with our “All-In” vision and values, our civic community has recognized and rallied around NASA Glenn’s potential. Learning from other communities, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Team NEO, JobsOhio and Ohio Aerospace Institute have developed a joint strategy to advocate for increased funding and program leadership roles for NASA Glenn in our country’s space and defense missions.

With the support of Ohio’s federal delegation, NASA Glenn in March secured up to $80 million in defense funding for its hypersonic testing facilities and runway construction. The delegation is now working to ensure the center receives more NASA and defense support and program leadership responsibilities in those areas, as well as electric aircraft propulsion, communications services and microgravity research.

The center’s annual budget has grown from $600 million to $900 million in recent years, and we are advocating for more. More money leads to more research, growth and jobs.

In addition, funding and leadership on programs results in greater business attraction around the center and economic impact to the region and state.

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 NASA GLENN, on Page 9

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

8 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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OPINION

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NASA GLENN

From Page 8

Federal centers such as NASA Glenn are catalysts in innovation ecosystems. Opportunities exist for business partners that are both suppliers to and spin-outs from the core areas of expertise, and for technology partnerships with universities and health systems. NASA Glenn’s expertise connects to our industry strengths in aerospace, materials, smart manufacturing and health.

The momentum behind the strategy is growing. At the recent Ohio Space Forum, elected and civic leaders were joined by key NASA and military leaders in highlighting the center’s importance and support for its growth and impact.

NASA Glenn also plays a critical role in a strategy to leverage federal assets across Ohio, including Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Air National Guard Cybersecurity Wing. The center’s success within a robust Ohio strategy attracts business investment and generates more public-private partnerships for our region.

We are at a pivotal moment. Successful public-private partnerships need leadership commitment and continuity. The current director of NASA Glenn Research Center, Marla E. Pérez-Davis, is retiring after serving two years in that role. A search is underway for her successor.

Together, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, Team NEO and JobsOhio are asking NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to appoint a new leader who strengthens and ex-

pands NASA Glenn and its reach in the region. We are asking for a leader to have a long-term commitment to the area and the center, enhancing NASA Glenn’s position in national discussions.

One of only 10 major NASA research centers, NASA Glenn has been a source of pride, inspiration and innovation since its inception in 1942.

Currently, NASA Glenn is playing a critical role in the Artemis program to return to the moon, as are 62 Ohio companies that are participating directly and numerous others in the supply chains. The research to establish a sustainable presence on the moon in areas such as power sources, water recycling, food production, travel, health and communications technologies will have significant applications on earth.

It is critical to continue NASA Glenn’s momentum as the agency chooses a new leader to blaze a path into a strong future. Under Pérez-Davis, the community has had a robust partnership with NASA Glenn. As the administrator selects her successor, we ask for a committed leader who will work with the community on a broad civic impact strategy, and who is interested in a longer duration of leadership to facilitate growth for the center and the region.

We are calling upon administrator Nelson to keep these considerations in mind and are working with our senators, federal delegation, and other leaders to support that perspective. Together we are “all in,” committed to working as a community with NASA Glenn to expand innovation and jobs from here to the moon, and beyond.

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Remembering visionary developer Wolstein I had the honor of working with Scott Wolstein for the last 20 years on his vision to remake the Flats East Bank.

(May 26: “Cleveland developer Scott Wolstein dies at 69”) He inherited this vision from his mother, Iris, and his late father, Bertram, and it was always clear that the East Bank was very personal to him. It had to be because it’s hard to imagine how anyone would relentlessly pursue something this bold and not give up given the obstacles he faced, particularly in the form of the global financial meltdown that was in full force when the first phase of the project broke ground.

Over a decade later, as Clevelanders fill the bars and restaurants, rent the apartments or go to work in the E&Y Tower, it should be remembered that not many gave the East Bank much of a chance when Scott first announced his plans in 2005. The area was seedy and nearly vacant, and when the financial crisis hit, it really looked out of the question that his plans to create the first mixed-use district on downtown Cleveland’s waterfront could be achieved.

While many players, public and private, played a role in the East Bank’s rebirth, there was one person who kept all parties focused and simply refused to give up.

Scott’s tenacity and creativity in many ways “willed” this development into existence. He would not let obstacles defeat him and, of the many things I learned from working with Scott, probably the greatest was “you don’t need to solve all problems at once.” I would sometimes jump ahead in discussing all project’s challenges, and he would most often respond with “let’s just deal with

today’s issues and the others will be addressed in due course.” This single-minded, methodical approach proved to be key to the new Flats East Bank becoming a reality.

Anyone who dealt with Scott knew he would speak his mind. His approach can be summarized by the well-known phrase that to make a good omelette you have to crack a few eggs. This was a part of his personality that attracted me the most. (I also believe it’s an approach that is all too often in short supply when tough problems face our local leadership.) Scott was still working on building on the East Bank’s success when he passed. He never seemed to pause but was always on to the next big idea, and most of those involved Cleveland.

I often found it interesting that many people wanted to compare him to his father, who left his own tremendous legacy. Were they two peas in a pod in terms of their brashness and unflinching tendency to speak their mind or was Scott a more polished version of his father, given his Ivy League credentials and undeniable brilliance when it came to finance?

I think the more important comparison is that they both loved Cleveland and held big dreams as to what was possible and should be pursued. As we now view them both in retrospect, I believe they stand side by side as perhaps two of the greatest builders who have shaped the face of our city.

Stephen Strnisha CEO Cleveland International Fund JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 9

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H

IN THEIR

TWENTIES IN THEIR

PHOTOS BY JASON MILLER/ PIXELATE PHOTOGRAPHY

A

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10 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

Hannah Caldwell | 28 PHOTOS BY JASON MILLER/ PIXELATE PHOTOGRAPHY

Associate, Thompson Hine Hannah Caldwell is a lawyer, yes, but not the awkward, bookish type who gives an air of business over pleasure.

A better description is one she gives to her front yard in Ohio City, which looks more like a flower garden than a patch of turf.

Passersby stop to snap pictures of her blooms, and before they can venture too far, Hannah has them spilling their plans for the night while she offers suggestions for cocktails at their bar of choice.

“So yes, I’m an extrovert, but more like a Venus flytrap,” she said. “Instead of fishing for compliments, I’m fishing for that connection.”

She was doing the same when she started a book club in her neighborhood last year, meeting throughout the summer to discuss “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo. It’s that curiosity about others that has earned her high praise from colleagues who are quick to point out how rare her people skills are for someone her age.

“She is so mature and professionally polished. It's almost startling to me,” said Nancy Barnes, Caldwell’s supervisor, who oversees Thompson Hine’s Labor & Employment practice group.

Caldwell is as comfortable talking to the general counsel for a major corporation as she is with the blue-collar witness. It’s a skill

Barnes said you can’t teach, and Caldwell has used it in her day job and in her pro bono work.

Last year she earned the distinction of “Pro Bono Hero” from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association for more than doubling the recommended 50 annual hours of pro bono work in Cleveland. Caldwell tackled 130 hours.

“In my case, it has helped me gain competence and critical practical skills as an attorney, but it's a privilege to practice law,” she said. “And it's a greater privilege to help address the public needs that pro bono work has helped satisfy in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.”

That’s a major perk for Caldwell, who is first and foremost a passionate Clevelander. She describes her three years at Case Western Reserve University School of Law as the best of her life.

“That was the first time I had lived downtown in the belly of the city, and I started to understand the immense privileges of being a rising professional in Cleveland,” she said. “There’s a Midwestern pride and politeness and willingness to incubate people who are willing to pour themselves back into the community, and it’s really unmatched anywhere else I've ever lived.”

— Kristine Gill

Time To Blossom

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JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 11

Palak Gupta | 28 Graduate research assistant, Case Western Reserve University Palak Gupta believes in “good science,” where researchers contribute to existing knowledge with something new. Gupta is doing just that through vital research that aims to improve the lives of individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s affects about 10 million people worldwide, leading to problems with balance and body movements. Approximately onethird of Parkinson’s patients encounter vision impairments as well, which is where Gupta’s research becomes critical.

Utilizing technology called deep brain stimulation, the India-born scientist studies the impact of Parkinson’s on visual function, casting ahead to a day when those problems may be cured. Ideally, physicians will be empowered to

offer patients the best possible quality of life.

“Case has an amazing neurological engineering center,” said Gupta, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering who arrived in Cleveland five years ago. “The faculty, staff and students here are such brilliant people. It’s been such a great learning experience.”

Gupta operates from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, working with patients of Dr. Aasef Shaikh, associate professor in the Case neurology department and a longtime mentor. Interacting with military veterans requires invaluable soft skills not learned in a lab, she noted.

“Dr. Shaikh told me how to break down in layman’s terms why and how we are doing this,” Gupta said.

“You have to be cognizant of a pa-

tient’s energy and abilities. The most important thing here is helping these people either now or in the future.”

Shaikh, also a staff neurologist at University Hospitals, lauded Gupta’s strong computational skill set and willingness to tackle any project. Alongside her day-to-day work, Gupta has published a dozen peer-reviewed research papers and is set to speak about deep brain stimulation before an international research body.

“Palak is always there to help my patients — she’s very good with them,” said Shaikh. “She’s also there to help anyone in the lab, whether it’s for her project or otherwise. She never says no, which is very valuable for successful teamwork.”

— Douglas J. Guth

strategy, such as what media partners they might want to pursue like Facebook or LinkedIn or Credit Karma,” she said.

It’s a new role for Latt, who came to the U.S. in 2011 from Myanmar to study physics at Hiram College, earned a master’s degree in business analytics at Case Western Reserve University in 2018 and worked at the Cleveland Clinic until early this year.

Latt said she started as a junior research scientist at the Clinic — preparing market data and so on — but was quickly promoted to senior data scientist, a position that landed her in “decision-making meetings” about the hospital’s regional expansion.

“My job was to help it identify possible hubs outside of Ohio, based on brand awareness,” she said.

Data science was not Latt’s early career choice. As a high schooler in Myanmar, she prepared to study

medicine and even landed a hotly contested spot in a medical school there, but her heart was not in it.

Latt then came to the U.S., initially with plans to study electrical engineering, and discovered data analytics at Hiram via a National Science Foundation research project.

Outside her day job, Latt remains active at Case, where she is currently a mentor, panel speaker and host at events for current and prospective business analytics students and an Advisory Alumni Council member at the Weatherhead School.

She’s also volunteered locally at the Ronald McDonald House, MedWish International and the United Way. While her international travel has been sidelined by COVID, Latt relishes travel. She’s been to 16 countries, 25 U.S. states and 12 out of 14 states and regions in Myanmar.

— Judy Stringer

Michael Hurst | 28 Staff attorney, Geauga County Probate and Juvenile Court What happens in probate and juvenile court does not grab the headlines like criminal court, but those daily proceedings have real-life consequences for those involved — and Michael Hurst has a passion for helping those people.

In his role as staff attorney at Geauga County Probate and Juvenile Court, he helps walk people through major and traumatic life events every day. “You are dealing with people who are grieving or confused or dealing with family situations. It's probably a little more intense than people realized,” Hurst said.

Following in the footsteps of his older brother, who also graduated from Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Hurst chose public service rather than private practice.

“Seeing first-hand how the law works in the courtroom, and being a part of it, is something that is truly

fascinating,” Hurst said.

After graduating and taking the bar in 2019, he was just settling down in his new job when the pandemic hit, throwing even the most routine court proceedings into turmoil. Hurst was not only deemed an essential worker, but he was thrust into the position of updating and adapting many of the court’s systems and procedures just so that he could do his job.

“Our whole staff was deemed essential. We took emergency custody filings, emergency guardianships.

We still had to go on. It was a really busy six months,” Hurst said.

The Geauga court was able to function, and Hurst went above and beyond in his work with the Court Appointed Special Advocates or CASA program, which supports court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. It was work that won him an Attorney Advocate of the Year award in 2020.

Hurst and his colleagues were also able to restart the county’s Teen Court, which exposes high school students to the law. On the other end of the age spectrum, he works with seniors on avoiding probate court with the Good Deeds program.

Hurst’s passion for public service and his dogged work ethic come as no surprise to his former law professor and mentor, John Plecnik.

“What you're seeing in Michael is his commitment to public service and his desire to pay it forward as a mentor,” Plecnik said. “In some of these cases, a mentorship or a correction at that critical point can save a life.”

In his free time, Hurst deals with another type of adjudication as a certified umpire for high school baseball teams. But when he really wants to “de-stress,” he spends time playing the piano or guitar. “I enjoy music, it's just fun,” he said.

— Kim Palmer

Su Latt | 29 Analytics manager, Merkle Yes, being good at math and quantitative thinking is one key to success as a data scientist, according to Gary Cao, vice president of enterprise data and analytics at Akron Children's Hospital. But those who really excel, he said, also have the kind of interpersonal skills required to effectively communicate the results and the context of their findings.

Su Latt, Cao added, has both.

“She has the ability to really connect with people, and that’s a complementary characteristic that makes someone in our field much more valuable,” he explained.

Latt currently puts that communication prowess to work for global marketing agency Merkle, leading a team of three analysts who advise financial services companies on how best to spend their advertising dollar.

“And, also in terms of digital 12 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

Mindful of what’s important At Bank of America, our employees’ emotional wellness is very important to us. We drive open and ongoing conversations to help break through the stigma around mental health. Whether it’s one-to-one professional counseling during critical life events or simple education and tips to manage daily stress, our goal is to ensure our teammates get the resources they need.

After all, when our employees are at their best, they’re able to give their best to our clients and communities.

My teammates and I are proud to work for a company that creates a supportive and emotionally healthy environment for all of us.

Jeneen Marziani President, Bank of America Cleveland

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Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Credit Opportunity Lender © 2022 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

Claire Levin | 28 Senior executive specialist, Youth Opportunities Unlimited If you glance at her resume, Claire Levin can seem like a high school student who joins 50 clubs to boost her college application … and then keeps doing it.

But that’s not quite right, she said.

“I feel like I paused that in college,” she said, laughing. “I took college to recover, and I’m getting back into that.”

Levin, 28, is the senior executive specialist at Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), a Cleveland-based workforce development organization that primarily serves young people of color from low-income communities. Levin has been at Y.O.U. in some capacity since 2018, and Y.O.U. president and CEO Craig Dorn jokes that she’s simultaneously the youngest and most mature person on the senior staff.

“I’m always a big fan of people who are competent and nice,” Dorn said. “Sometimes people are really nice but they’re incompetent, and sometimes effective people can be jerks.

“She’s just fabulous at everything she does — and she does everything with joy and passion and a sense of humor.”

Levin’s resume includes a sec-

Moriah Cheatham Williams

inherent customer service, but it’s also having a lot of fun while I work.

“And when things go wrong, I just think, ‘We’ll do better next time.’ It’s not personal; it’s not thinking people have ill will; it’s just owning that things are going to be better next time.”

That approach is what leads people outside of Y.O.U. to walk up to Dorn and whisper, “Man, that Claire is going places.”

“I just tell them she’s already there,” he said.

“AND WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, I “She’s going to be an JUST THINK, ‘WE’LL DO BETTER NEXT important person in TIME.’ IT’S NOT PERSONAL; IT’S NOT Cleveland as the years evolve. She’s someone THINKING PEOPLE HAVE ILL WILL; who gets stuff done.”

Levin isn’t sure IT’S JUST OWNING THAT THINGS ARE where she'll end up, GOING TO BE BETTER NEXT TIME.” but it’s a safe bet her choice will be based on nonprofits, her most important ex- the impact it has on the community perience was the five years she rather than her checkbook. Levin spent working as a waiter’s assis- once applied at a for-profit compatant at Balaton, a Hungarian ny, and when they asked her why restaurant that was in Shaker she wanted to work there, “I couldn’t give an answer that made Square.

“The things I learned in that job sense to me.”

“That was a big lightbulb moare still applicable today,” she said.

“I’m still trying to find the answer ment, where I’m like, ‘I think I'm to someone’s question. If it’s me, where I’m supposed to be,’” she great, I can answer that. But I never said. like to leave a loop open. So it’s that — Joe Scalzo ond page filled just with her community involvement and volunteer activities, and she peppers her sentences with such phrases as “when I made the pivot” and “knocking down silos.” But for all of her education — she holds a bachelor’s degree in public affairs from Ohio State University and a master’s degree in nonprofit organizations from Case Western Reserve University — and for all of her work with

Lauren Zidones

CONGRATULATIONS

to Moriah Cheatham Williams and Lauren Zidones on being named to Crain’s Cleveland Business “20 in their Twenties”.

Roetzel honors you for this special achievement. We thank you for your leadership, your contributions to our firm, the legal field and the communities you serve.

14 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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Isaac Mann | 29 Rail application engineer, Timken Co. Isaac Mann wants to make an impact with his career. And he wants to make one at Timken Co., the North Canton-based maker of products like bearings that hired him in high school.

“Timken means a lot to me and my hometown,” Mann said.

Mann started at Timken in his junior year of high school at the Buckeye Career Center. He continued working with the company as he went on to college, completing an associate’s degree in mechanical engineering technology at Stark State College, a bachelor’s degree in the same at the University of Akron and a master of science degree in engineering management at Pennsylvania State University.

Since first joining Timken, Mann has had the chance to move into different areas of the company, from prototype technician to materials analyst to seals application engineer.

In January of this year, he started a new role as a rail application

engineer. The segment is giving Mann more experience in the company’s specialty of bearings, an area he felt was lacking before.

He had worked with the team when he was a seals application engineer, so it made sense as a next step within Timken. And, he said, it’s a lot of fun.

“Honestly, I feel like a big kid working with trains now,” he said.

“It’s awesome.”

Outside of work, Mann enjoys spending time outdoors, particularly kayaking or fishing. And he’s involved in programming at Timken, too.

“Since joining Timken, Ike has been a leader,” the nomination read, highlighting his work on the company’s Young Professionals Network board, its Toastmasters Club and more.

Mann is driven, said seal engineering group leader Jen Hypes.

She saw him working full time on her team, as well as going to school and volunteering with different groups. And he takes initia-

tive, she said, describing a time when he helped train someone new.

“He likes to give back,” Hypes said.

Mann said he’d eventually want to become a program or a product manager, something that would give him ownership of a large project, so he wants to gain as many relevant and different skills as he can. Mann said he appreciates the “challenge” and “variety” in his work, and he likes getting to start from scratch and learn something new.

“I really love the company. I really love the area,” Mann said. “I feel like they’ve really given me the skill sets and the opportunity to grow and thrive in a high-performance environment.”

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

“HONESTLY, I FEEL LIKE A BIG KID WORKING WITH TRAINS NOW. IT’S AWESOME.”

lzo

Littler congratulates associate Lysette Roman, named to the 20 in their 20’s. We are proud to call her one of our own.

Key Tower 127 Public Square | Suite 1600 Cleveland, OH 44114

JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 15

Dani Neumann | 29 Product marketing manager, the Sherwin-Williams Co. Raised on a farm in Huron County, Dani Neumann had a hands-on childhood — and discovered an early interest in crafting.

She brings that passion to the corporate world at the Sherwin-Williams Co., where she’s launched new products including metallic aerosol paint and, her favorite, new colors of Krylon Glitter Blast.

Neumann is a product marketing manager in Sherwin-Williams’ consumer brands group, where she’s responsible for exterior wood-care products including Thompson’s WaterSeal. She’s worked at the coatings company since 2013, when she was a college intern tasked with promoting caulks and sealants.

“It’s very gratifying,” she says of developing strategies for established products and bringing new ones to market. She gets a particular thrill when social media influencers take note of items she’s packaged.

Her boss, Mike Vetrick, describes Neumann as a rising star.

“It is only a matter of time before she holds a vice president position,” he wrote in nominating her for recognition. “To say that she is a future leader within the company would be inaccurate, as she is clearly a leader now that is driving growth and positive change.”

He lauded Neumann’s collaborative style and contagious enthusiasm.

“She inspires me to be my very best,” Vetrick wrote.

Neumann hails from New London, a village an hour’s drive southwest of Cleveland. As a child, she participated in 4-H and helped to

Larisse Mondok | 28

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Annual fund communications coordinator, Cuyahoga

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County Public Library

care for her family’s dairy cows and other animals, including a pig she dubbed Anastasia.

While roaming outdoors, she also fell in love with sports, including running. During college, she managed the wrestling team at Baldwin Wallace University. And in 2015, she met her future husband, Brad, while playing indoor soccer.

The couple, married in 2018, is expecting their first child. Neumann hopes to serve as a strong role model for her daughter — and to pass along her fondness for glitter. “She can be anything, do anything,” says the mother-to-be.

In 2021, Neumann served as president of Sherwin-Williams’ longstanding women’s club. Over the last decade, the group has grown beyond its philanthropic roots to fo-

cus on professional development.

The club, which puts on events including 5Ks and an annual summit, appeals to both Neumann’s desire to help others and her drive to achieve. She describes herself as a bubbly, open personality with a zest for learning.

A year ago, she obtained her master’s in business administration, also from Baldwin Wallace. She credits her work ethic, and achievements so far, to a strong support network, the people she affectionately calls her “board of directors.”

Those early morning farm chores probably helped, too.

“I’ve been really blessed in my life,” she says, “to have an amazing family, co-workers and friends. ...

They’re who have gotten me here.”

— Michelle Jarboe

Larisse Mondok is leaning into “everything that’s interesting right now.”

That’s manifested in a full agenda of activities: improv classes, volunteering, writing fiction, biking, catching sunsets at Lakewood Park.

Mondok, 28, also has a robust day job as annual fund communications coordinator at the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

She often says libraries are her favorite part of the United States.

Her first encounter with one came after arriving from the Philippines in 2014. She was studying for the TOEFL exam, which assesses English proficiency, to apply to Cleveland State University. The library offered a practice exam book, which “usually costs a lot of money,” to borrow for free.

“And I thought it was just so amazing,” she said.

The love affair deepened over time. She’d visit local outposts to study while earning her master of fine arts degree at CSU, and eventually, she got a job as a library assistant at Cleveland Public Library’s Mount Pleasant branch.

She’s now at CCPL, and one of the tasks within her current role includes fundraising to support the library’s programming. The foundation recently granted $10,000, for example, to its adult education services to create new offerings after seeing an uptick of Afghan women coming into the branches who needed “a whole different set of literacy teachings.”

The library is a good steward of taxpayers’ money, she said. That

means fundraising to help establish those types of offerings is essential.

“I work with donors, and I really explain to them that this is what happens to their money when they give to the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation,” she said.

What sets Mondok apart professionally is the drive she has for the library’s mission, according to her mentor Georgine Welo, mayor of South Euclid.

“What not only it can do in the way of (being) a brick-and-mortar and having computers and books, but really, what can it do beyond that, what can it do to change a life, what can it do to make sure that the next generation is literate in all forms of literacy,” she said.

“She has such a passion for it.”

Her personal and professional passions intersect, too. She tutors first and second graders through CCPL’s 123 READ program and volunteers at Cleveland Public Library’s Best Buy Teen Tech Center.

She’s also active with the library’s multicultural affinity group as well as Global Cleveland’s “Global Rising,” a nearly yearlong leadership and professional development program. It’s offered to help new international residents to the region network and feel more welcome.

“I do want to keep making sure people like me who come to Cleveland know the resources available to them,” Mondok said.

“That’s what I want to keep working toward.”

— Amy Morona

Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University warmly congratulates

Palak Gupta

PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering

Crain’s 20 in their 20s

UMC_4549-01_2022

16 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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Gino Musarra | 29 Banker, J.P. Morgan Private Bank Gino Musarra admits he was “weirdly obsessed” with building blocks as a youngster. His parents would buy him those Lego sets — the ones that come with photos and instructions for constructing the Starship Enterprise, for example, or a Lamborghini — but Musarra would dump the new pieces into his existing lot and go about erecting his own vision.

Today, the Hudson native works with financial tools like wealth planning, investments, banking and lending to help his clients assemble the future they’ve envisioned.

“I am the primary point of contact for my clients,” he explained, “and I use the resources of J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank across the globe to deliver solutions or answers and make sure our clients are reaching their goals.”

Musarra graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and business economics in 2016 and was selected to join J.P. Morgan’s highly sought-after analyst program soon after. Following an initial six weeks of training in New York City, he joined the firm’s Cleveland office and successfully passed the Series 7 and 63 licensing examinations.

He then progressed through the role of investment specialist associate to banker, where he now provides financial advice to some of region’s wealthiest individuals, families and organizations.

Musarra said his current role is a “great marriage” between two things he loves — “problem-solving” and “financial markets.”

“I’m able to use the resources of J.P. Morgan and my own unique and personal interest and passion for markets to deliver for my clients,” he said. “There’s so much information out there right now that you truly need someone that understands what’s going on and what those things mean to you.”

John Arrowsmith, managing director for the bank’s investment practice in Ohio, said Musarra distinguishes himself by “listening to his clients” and “really understanding what they are trying to accomplish.”

“It’s an advice-driven approach for Gino as opposed to a salestype process,” Arrowsmith said.

“We don’t see that in everyone.”

He also noted that Musarra has become “a valuable mentor” to new J.P. Morgan hires coming up through similar channels.

Musarra is a chartered financial analyst and current member of the CFA Society of Cleveland. He also serves as a committee member for the membership arm of the Cleveland Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and has taught financial literacy courses to Akron students as part of the Junior Achievement program.

“Unfortunately, based on today’s curriculum, most kids don’t learn about even basic financial information, such as the difference between a debit card and credit card,” he said. “It was awesome just to be able to go in there and start what is hopefully a lifelong journey of financial well-being for those students.”

— Judy Stringer

CONGR ATULATIONS to Anastasia Rokisky of The Riverside Company and all those being recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business Twenty in their 20s

riversidecompany.com

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Congratulations, Hannah!

We are proud to recognize

Hannah E. Caldwell and her fellow honorees in the Twenty in Their 20s Class of 2022.

When she’s not mentoring, teaching students through the CMBA’s 3Rs Program, volunteering for Legal Aid, and serving on councils and boards for The Arc and Benjamin Rose Institute, Hannah counsels employers on a broad range of labor and employment issues and litigates to protect her clients’ interests.

Hannah E. Caldwell Associate 216.566.5908 Hannah.Caldwell@ ThompsonHine.com

ThompsonHine.com

JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 17

Brandon Patton | 27 Senior consultant, health solutions, Aon Brandon Patton attended college planning to take an economics degree to Wall Street for a career as an investment consultant. Then came an internship with Cleveland insurance firm Aon, where the course of Patton’s life would change dramatically.

“I knew nothing about insurance, but the culture of Aon was different from anything I’d ever heard or seen,” said Patton. “The way people interacted, it was very laid-back and relaxed, and collaborative at the same time.”

Although Patton never intended to get into the insurance game, he’s grown into the field quickly, consulting with large businesses regionwide to develop their medical insurance strategies. A graduate of Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, Patton has built a strong rapport with Aon’s clients in the

health care, professional services, private equity and manufacturing marketplace.

“Over time, you just learn about insurance and become comfortable with the concepts,” Patton said. “In my role, it’s about interpersonal skills, and being able to command a room with pretty important people like CEOs and CFOs. You have to speak with confidence and let them know you understand what you’re talking about.”

Brian Slife, market leader for Aon’s offices in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, has acted as Patton’s advocate and mentor since his young charge interned with the firm in summer 2015. Slife and his team were immediately drawn to the New Jersey native’s work ethic and charisma, tasking Patton with a variety of complex proj-

ects.

Today, Patton is leading the company’s “Aon Local Advantage” efforts, which package Aon’s data-driven expertise for organizations with 500 or fewer benefit-eligible employees.

“Brandon has successfully onboarded several new clients over the past year with great success,” Slife said in an email. “He is driven and dedicated, both personally and professionally.

He’s smart, humble and very willing to learn and grow.”

For Patton’s part, he’s never hesitant to solicit colleagues when a client has a question he can’t immediately resolve.

“I don’t pretend to know all the answers,” he said. “Clients want a thoughtful response that will help them in the long run.”

— Douglas J. Guth

Matthew Polefko | 26 Program manager in regional hospital administration, Cleveland Clinic At 18 years old, Matthew Polefko was working in the Cleveland Clinic’s Department of General Surgery with plans to be an orthopedic surgeon when an encounter with an out-ofstate patient he was transporting inspired a new career path.

Scared, in pain and without friends or family nearby, the patient broke down upon learning the wait for the operation was going to be even longer than expected. Polefko was supposed to let the patient wait alone, but ultimately stayed for more than an hour to offer what support he could.

“This is kind of what sparked my interest in moving away from clinical service and towards more administrative,” said Polefko, program manager in regional hospital administration for the Clinic. “I remember sitting there going, who makes up, like, efficiency guidelines?

Who directs policies? Who is responsible for creating patient workflows?”

Polefko first joined the Clinic as a high school intern and then was of-

fered a job that he couldn’t accept until a few months later — after he’d turned 18 and graduated. The Clinic helped him finance three degrees: a bachelor’s in psychology and an MBA in health care administration from Cleveland State University and a master of science in Positive Organizational Development from Case Western Reserve University.

After clinical work, Polefko transitioned into administrative roles, including as a research coordinator and in human resources, where he helped develop programs, some focused on diversity and inclusion. In 2020, he led the development of a seminar for more than 800 health care leaders, including more than 50 CEOs, on how organizations can better integrate gender-affirming care into care delivery and caregiver experience.

Currently, he’s part of a team that provides project management support for the system’s regional hospitals. In particular, Polefko is focused

on supporting the integration of Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital — the hospital in Canton that became a full member of the health system in 2021 following a deal with Sisters of Charity Health System. He’s also working on activating clinical operations for Cleveland Clinic Mentor Hospital, set to open in 2023.

One day, he hopes to be an operations director in one of the Clinic’s regional hospitals and, eventually, hold a chief operating officer role.

Bridget Gorman, executive director of hospital operations, has a list of people she keeps in mind to call for position openings. Polefko, “one of the most intentional people” she’s met in her 19 years at the Clinic, is on that list.

She hopes he becomes an administrative director at a hospital, because she could see him serving as a chief operating officer. “And I don’t think it needs to be something that’s 20 years down the road,” Gorman said.

— Lydia Coutré

Anastasia Rokisky | 29 Project manager, The Riverside Co. Bottomless intellectual curiosity has guided Anastasia Rokisky throughout her life and career.

Those who know Rokisky say it’s one of her greatest strengths, and one at the center of an uncanny ability to connect so deeply and effortlessly with other people.

“I don’t have any one passion. But I do like paying attention to patterns. I pay a lot of attention to things, and I pay a lot of attention to how things connect, and that is what I like doing,” she said.

“When I dive into myself, I find that the more curious and open I am to new things, new patterns of things, the quicker I can grow as a human. And isn’t that what we’re all trying to

do?”

An avid reader who ultimately majored in neuroscience and who now works in project management for private equity firm The Riverside Co., Rokisky is also fascinated with English and linguistics; culture and the environment; psychology and technology. Expect her to recommend a book or author on some niche subject once she learns where your common interests lie.

Take David Nash, an environmental lawyer with McMahon DeGulis LLP who has become a mentor of Rokisky’s and who serves together with her on the board for a local chapter of Conscious Capitalism.

The two met a few years ago at an educational event that combined the topics of ecological thinking and living systems and how both can be applied to organizational development.

Nash recalls that Rokisky recommended a book to him (“Quantum Questions”) that is based on the writings of celebrated physicists and explores a bridge between physics and religion.

“Anastasia is just so brilliant. She connects the dots like nobody’s business. I would call her a polymath,” Nash said. “Now she works at Riverside. Frankly, she could run that place someday, as far as I’m concerned, if she wished. She is that talented.”

Named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper in 2018, Rokisky is particularly engaged today with the intersection of business and the environment.

“Do we want to be ahead of the ball or doing the bare minimum?” she said. “I would love to see Cleveland not doing the bare minimum.”

— Jeremy Nobile

18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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The World’s Best Private Bank* is here for you in Cleveland Congratulations to Banker Gino Musarra on being named to Crain’s Cleveland Business’s 2022 “20 in their Twenties” list.

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INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE “J.P. Morgan Private Bank” is a brand name for private banking business conducted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its subsidaries wordwide. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and its affiliates (collectively “JPMCB”) offer investment products, which may include bank-managed investment accounts and custody, as part of its trust and fiduciary services. Other investment products and services, such as brokerage and advisory accounts, are offered through J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (“JPMS”), a member of FINRA and SIPC. JPMCB, JPMS and CIA are affiliated companies under the common control of JPMorgan Chase & Co. © 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved.

Join us for the 12th Annual Austin Carr Celebrity Golf Invitational!

Meet Y.O.U. youth and golf with Cleveland Celebrities August 15, 2022 Quail Hollow Country Club

Associate, Littler Mendelson

Learn more at youthopportunities.org TRANSPORTATION AND THE QUEST FOR TALENT: Putting lessons of The Paradox Prize to work

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ISAAC MANN CRAIN’S TWENTY IN THEIR 20’S HONOREE

Your leadership on the job and in the community makes us stronger!

20 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

JUNE 16 4:30 7:30 P.M. AGORA THEATRE

Lysette Roman | 27

REGISTER TODAY AT CRAINSCLEVELAND.COMMPARADOXPRIZE PRESENTED BY

POWERED BY

If you had asked a 22-year-old Lysette Roman where she would be in five years, she would have said New York City working as a human rights activist.

Roman was first drawn to social justice issues as a political science and writing and rhetoric double major at Colgate University in upstate New York. The Olmsted Falls native imagined that after law school at Case Western Reserve University, she’d follow her peers to the Big Apple and land at an NGO. But an NYC internship as a law student changed her mind.

“The hustle and the bustle was not for me,” she said. “I had also come to realize that I can do a lot of the human rights and civil rights work through employment law right here in Cleveland, that issues of discrimination, bias, equity and inclusion can exist in the workplace.”

Roman cut her legal teeth at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, which she joined straight out of law school and where she was mentored by partner-in-charge and chief diversity officer Adrian Thompson. Littler Mendelson P.C. recruited the young attorney to its employment practice in February.

At Littler, much of Roman’s work revolves around defending both public and private entities against discrimination and harassment claims. She’s also beginning to advise firm clients on matters relating to “inclusivity in the workplace,” she said.

“As a Puerto Rican woman, I

have a very special interest in inclusion, equity and diversity compliance,” Roman explained. “So that’s something that I’m starting to learn more about, getting more exposure to.”

Roman was co-president of the Hispanic Law Student Association at Case and has stayed active in the local Latinx community as a volunteer for Esperanza and a member of AmMore Consulting’s 2021 class of “100+ Latinos Cleveland Must Know.” Most recently, she became a board member for the LatinUs Theater Company, which highlights works by Latino playwrights and celebrates Hispanic culture.

“I’m not an actor, but I do really value its mission of showing the importance of our art and culture and our history,” she said.

Thompson, who was “very sorry to see” Roman leave Taft, said in addition to being a gifted writer and hard worker, she has an innate ability to solve problems with integrity.

“We are employment lawyers.

We represent management. But Lysette always focuses on the fairness of the situation and solutions,” Thompson said.

“I like to think that one of my superpowers is being able to make people feel really good about themselves and feel very comfortable,” Roman said. “So if at the end of the day, I can say that I made someone feel included or empowered — that is a good day.”

— Judy Stringer

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Matthew Sokol | 29 Vice president of sales and marketing, Advanced Polymer Coatings Matthew Sokol loves the water.

But it’s more than a hobby for him.

He worked in a boatyard as a young adult and started his own business, paint company Hammerhead Marine LLC, with some friends while still attending John Carroll University. Sokol said he didn’t start his own business for the money; he had always wanted to see a product he created “come to light,” he said.

But when the opportunity arose to join Advanced Polymer Coatings, an Avon-based maker of coatings for industries like maritime, Sokol said he thought it would be a good opportunity to expand his skill sets.

“When you go to work for somebody else, it gives you that next level of acumen, and that’s what I was looking for at the time,” he said.

Sokol is “always learning,” whether that’s the industry or the customers he’s serving, said Advanced Polymer Coatings president David Keehan, and that’s helped him to be successful. And he doesn’t back away from a challenge.

“So when he steps up, he’s 100% in,” Keehan said.

After Sokol joined Advanced Polymer Coatings, he’s used his “drive and creativity” to move up through the company, the nomination said,

achieving multiple promotions since he began as a regional sales manager in 2018.

“Along the way, he’s had a proven track record to substantially increase sales (each year by almost 20%) and added a significant number of new clients,” the nomination said.

Sokol noted that he feels most driven by the people side of the business, getting to bring “the best” out of his team. He enjoys the chance to coach others and help them succeed.

“That’s what I love to do,” he said.

And his family is a driving force for him outside of work. His father was an entrepreneur, too, and has long served as a role model, alongside his mother. And Sokol said his wife and 1-year-old son are driving forces in his life, too, pushing him to do better. Becoming a father gave him “a whole new motivation in life,” he said.

Eventually, Sokol said he would like to again be in a top leadership role, such as a president or CEO. He wants to help Advanced Polymer Coatings grow, but said he could also see himself starting another business down the line.

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

y o d y f t r ” r

“WHEN YOU GO TO WORK FOR SOMEBODY ELSE, IT GIVES YOU THAT NEXT LEVEL OF ACUMEN, AND THAT’S WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR AT THE TIME.”

CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE EPI TEAM

PAIGE WYSOCKI 20 IN THEIR TWENTIES

A leader who inspires people not only within our region but across the country.

Learn more at www.earnCEPA.com JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 21

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Dwight Thompson | 27 Community outreach director, Advanced Recovery Systems Dwight Thompson saw firsthand how important resources are for those with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Thompson grew up in a single-parent household in Ashtabula and spent a lot of time with family in East Cleveland. Seeing people close to him struggling was a way of life.

“You can be aware of it all you want, but if you don’t have the resources, it’s tough to fix,” he said. “I’ve seen that just break people.”

Thompson started his career at PsychBC, which was acquired by LifeStance Health in 2017. At LifeStance, a national provider of mental health services, he rose to director of market engagement and integrations — leading the organization’s marketing efforts in four states.

Along the way, he got to know PsychBC owner Donald Sykes, whom Thompson describes as “a phenomenal mentor.”

Sykes said Thompson “truly embodied our goal to put customers first and help solve issues. From clients, to peers, to supervisors, I was routinely flooded with positive reviews about Dwight.”

Last November, Thompson moved on to Advanced Recovery Systems, a Florida-based integrated behavioral health care management company.

As the community outreach director for the organization’s treatment facility outside Columbus, Thompson helps clients and families find quality treatment options. He also manages an outreach team that is responsible for the company’s growth and development in the Midwest.

“It’s a matter of what can we do to connect the dots, because we know the need is there and there’s also people that want to help,” Thompson said. “That’s kind of where we come in.”

Thompson works most closely with

hospitals as he tries to “bridge that gap” between patients and resources.

He’s on the road a lot, which seems fitting for someone who runs long distances for fun.

The Cleveland sports fanatic and his wife, Brianna, have a baby son, Ellis, who already has a “Running partner” shirt to match his father’s. “I figured I’d loop him right into my hobby,” Thompson said.

The Mentor resident has been in leadership positions since he was in his early 20s, and he looks for teachable moments in everything he does.

“I see a lot of people who have examples in front of them, but maybe don’t always do everything they can to capitalize on it and truly make the most of it,” Thompson said. “If I see something, I’m going to ask questions. If I see something done in a way that clearly works, I want to know how.”

— Kevin Kleps

Tyler Wynne | 25 Supervising associate, Executive and Board Network, Ernst & Young Tyler Wynne grew up with a speech impediment, but to talk to the 25-yearold today, you’d have no idea. He’s charming, quick-witted and loquacious, able to spin a story about his life’s trajectory and relate it to whomever he’s speaking with.

That’s a skill rare in 20-somethings, but one he absolutely needs as a supervising associate at Ernst & Young, where he often finds himself chatting with board members many decades his senior.

Wynne didn’t think he’d be in this role. He figured he’d become a teacher. His entire undergrad history prepared him for that track. But a roommate at Morehouse College in Atlanta

convinced him to go to a career fair on a whim, and it was there he found a gig at executive search and consulting firm Heidrick & Struggles.

He spent nearly an hour chatting with the folks at the booth before accepting an invitation to apply. He ended up being the only student out of 50 invited to land an internship there, which later turned into a fulltime job in Atlanta.

But when the pandemic started, Wynne found himself driving home to Cleveland every other weekend, working from his parents’ house.

“I love Atlanta to the core, but actually coming back and forth from Cleveland, I saw what was missing in

terms of opportunities and that I could make it here on a greater scale compared to a major metropolis like Atlanta,” he said.

Wynne credits his parents with instilling that community-mindedness in him. He grew up volunteering and getting to know people in his hometown. He made it to Morehouse through a community service scholarship, which had him out in the community making connections at public schools and homeless shelters, even getting the chance to meet then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Back home, he’s using those skills to immerse himself in Cleveland again.

“We’ve seen a willingness to take on stretch assignments and a real proactive ability to build relationships,” said Sarah Francis, who oversees strategic relationships at Ernst & Young. “That ability is nice to see in someone in their 20s.”

Wynne credits his background in education with his current success, and for as much as he likes to talk, he knows when to let someone else take the floor.

“I learned how to listen to people’s issues and offer solutions,” he said.

“Sometimes people don’t feel like they’re being heard, and I can say, ‘I’m just here to listen to you.’”

— Kristine Gill

Moriah Cheatham Williams | 28 Associate, Roetzel & Andress A passion for community drives Moriah Cheatham Williams in all that she does.

The humble Barberton native has an affinity for criminal law and considered work as a public defender before ultimately opting to lend her talents to Roetzel & Andress in Akron, where her practice today centers primarily on defense of insurance carriers.

She likes the idea of being a part of someone’s “second chance” and still thinks about working as a public defender. She flirts with the idea of becoming a judge one day.

But in the meantime, her work with the law firm affords opportunities to be involved in civic endeavors. The Barberton Community Foundation, Barberton Kiwanis Club, Bounce Innovation Hub and Barberton schools are just some of the places she volunteers.

Both her community involvement and interest in law were inspired at a young age by her father, Kenneth Cheatham, who recently retired from the Barberton Police Department .

She interned at the Manhattan dis-

trict attorney's office her last year in law school but decided to come back to Northeast Ohio to make an impact closer to her hometown.

“I really am passionate about my home and seeing improvement here,” Williams said, “and hopefully seeing more progress in Northeast Ohio as it continues to grow and develop.”

Brad Wright, shareholder-in-charge of Roetzel’s litigation practice, said the firm sought Williams out after glowing recommendations. All law school grads he encounters tend to be pretty sharp, he said, but Williams was exceptionally easy to talk to. Her interpersonal skills helped her stand out from other candidates.

“She has an exuberant personality.

Vibrant,” Wright said. “She is obviously very intelligent, but she also has that ability to engage and talk with someone like me who is almost 30 years older than her.”

She’s one of the youngest attorneys Wright said he’s ever sent out into the community and simply said, “Go.” And that’s a testament to her general

wherewithal.

“It’s really the maturity level put together with her personality that make her kind of a magnet for people to trust,” he said. “That, coupled with her inner desire to do what’s right and use her passion, makes her unique at that level.”

Besides support from family and mentors, Williams credits part of her success thus far to an openness to finding what fuels her passions.

“I think my biggest piece of advice is to always be open-minded, especially to opportunities,” she said. “It’s OK to change your mind. You don’t have to be nailed down to one thing forever.

Just don’t be afraid to explore new things and not pigeonhole yourself into one area.”

— Jeremy Nobile

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CONNECT WITH

Kate Walker | 29

@CrainsCleveland

CrainsCleveland.com

Associate, Bialosky Cleveland As an interior designer, Kate Walker said she enjoys that her work helps create a place that will help people improve their lives.

“You can really feel how people are benefiting from your work,” she said, and has enjoyed visiting completed jobs, such as work she’s done for the City Mission; the Hope Lodge, which gives people being treated for cancer in Cleveland a place to stay; and Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights.

Similarly, Walker found she wanted to pursue a place-making career while she was attending Kent State University, where she received a bachelor's degree in interior design from the College of Architecture & Design, with a minor in construction management.

She gravitated to design because she spent time at the design studio where many of her friends were working on projects. She decided architecture provided the creative outlet she sought, along with a structured pursuit. She opted for interior work because she feels it has the most direct impact on occupants of the buildings (again, people).

Walker landed at the high-profile Bialosky firm straight out of KSU. She said she found it to be a place with mentors and the ability to bring your personal interests to your job.

Jack Bialosky Jr., the senior principal at Bialosky, said Walker has a natural ability to provide leadership.

“She has shown, among other things, that you can be a leader without necessarily having a lot of experience,” Bialosky said. “She’s been interested in wellness and sustainability and has brought a lot of initiatives to the office, such as blood drives and wellness activities. Staff members love this stuff.”

Stuff, indeed. Visit Bialosky’s Midtown office, and you’ll find terrariums at many workstations. The terrariums were put together as part of a month of firm wellness activity the day before Earth Day. Tracy Vajskop, an associate principal at Bialosky and fellow interior designer, said Walker is empathetic, which helps Walker in her work.

“She understands people very well,” Vajskop said. “She thinks about how everyone is going through something different, whether it is a client or a co-worker. She does a lot of work for our nonprofit clients, where there is a need for a sense of delicacy in terms of the people they work with, and she’s very good at it.”

Walker lives in North Collinwood with her fiance. She enjoys morning walks on the lakefront. The Zanesville native remembers fondly the times her family spent the entire summer camping, even with the adults driving daily to work. No surprise, then, that when she travels, her top priority is to see a national park she’s not visited in the past.

— Stan Bullard

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Congratulations!

Sherwin-Williams is proud to celebrate Dani Neumann, for being recognized as one of Crain’s Cleveland Business 20 in their 20s.

SW 6318 e Resounding Ros

©2022 The Sherwin-Williams Company

JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 23

Paige Wysocki | 24 Marketing manager, Exit Planning Institute which, through the Certified Exit Planning Advisor credential, provides advisers training and tools to gain more access to business owners — has a “Shark Tank”-style competition at its annual employee retreat. Wysocki has won each of the last two contests, and one of her ideas has produced almost $1 million in revenue in the last year.

EPI Academy, a virtual education platform devised by Wysocki, has revamped how the company delivers “SOMEONE TOLD ME ONCE, ‘YOU’RE IN its courses. EPI THE ROOM FOR A REASON.’ YOU’RE Academy attempts to replicate INVITED THERE, SO YOU’RE DOING MORE the interactive nature of in-person OF A DISSERVICE BY BEING QUIET AND classes while NOT GIVING YOUR OPINION.” meeting participants where The EPI marketing manager they’re at and drastically increasing credits mentors who have encour- the number of courses the company can offer. aged her to provide input.

EPI president Scott Snider said “Someone told me once, ‘You’re in the room for a reason,’” Wysocki Wysocki “is one of the most talentsaid. “You’re invited there, so ed people I have worked with in my you’re doing more of a disservice 20 years of being an entrepreneur.”

The marketing manager, he addby being quiet and not giving your ed, “is successful doing things opinion.”

That advice has proven to be within her career and within our community that people twice her valuable to Wysocki — and EPI. The Westlake-based company — age are just learning to do.”

At 24, Paige Wysocki leads a five-person marketing department, manages a group of 15 external partners and is part of Exit Planning Institute’s executive leadership team.

Not bad for a self-described introvert.

“It is definitely not something that comes naturally for me,” Wysocki said of making her opinion known.

Wysocki started at EPI as an intern, was hired full time after graduating from Miami University and has since been promoted three times — including to her current role last December. She’s credited with playing a pivotal role in EPI tripling its customer base in the last two years and increasing its revenue 240% in the last three years. EPI Academy has served 3,000 customers in the last 12 months, and Wysocki implemented a new marketing strategy that generated a 189% jump in leads.

She said she loves how “creative and innovative” the company allows her to be. A recent EPI leadership training session encouraged participants to discover their purpose. Wysocki’s was “uncovering potential.”

The Brunswick native does that by trying to find new ways to do things — and being inquisitive.

“I recently read this book, ‘Think Again’ (by Adam Grant), and it encourages you as a leader instead of giving someone the solution, you ask a question to help them solve it themselves,” Wysocki said. “It’s also something that people in my life have done.”

— Kevin Kleps

Winning companies are categorized as one of the following:

WEATHERHEAD 100

A P P L I C AT I O N N O W O P E N

Recognizing the fastest growing companies QUALIFICATIONS • • • • •

12-month period of net sales from 2017–2021 2017 net sales must be at least $100,000 Headquartered in Ashland, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull or Wayne County Not a franchise or subsidiary of another company between 2017–2021 Must be a for-profit organization

NOMINATION FORM NOW OPEN

Nominate your firm or another organization that has shown strong growth over the last five years. To learn more about our 2022 Weatherhead 100 Awards and to apply, visit weatherhead100.org. Application closes Friday, July 29, 2022

Companies whose net sales were at least $100,000 in year one of five years required for application and over $1 million in year five. Winning companies must have employed a minimum of 16 people full time in the last year.

UPSTARTS

Companies whose percentage of sales growth qualifies for the Weatherhead 100 and who employed 15 or fewer employees, and/or had less than $5 million in net sales in the last year.

CENTURIONS

Companies whose percentage of sales growth qualifies for the Weatherhead 100 in the past five years and net sales of $100 million or more in the last year.

Questions about application criteria? Interested in sponsorship opportunities?

Contact Susan Garcia at 216.368.3247 or weatherhead100@case.edu

24 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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LIST ANALYSIS

Lauren Zidones | 29 Associate, Roetzel & Andress Lauren Zidones went to college mostly because she wanted to play sports, not even sure what she was going to pursue for a career. But her talent and a different sort of coaching made her a star on a team in a league at a higher level.

“At the time, I really wanted to play softball in college,” the 2011 graduate of Aurora High School said. “I wasn’t really thinking too much about picking a major.”

She soon decided she’d better focus more on her studies, though.

“I thought I was going to be a police officer at first,” she said.

But while working as a paralegal at Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group in Akron, someone put another idea into her head.

That someone was her boss, lawyer Chris Sachs, and the idea was to keep going, become a lawyer.

“He said, ‘I think you need to take the LSAT.’ I said, ‘No way, I’m not going to law school,’” Zidones recalled.

But Sachs persisted, and prevailed.

Today, she says that’s the best advice she’s ever gotten. And Sachs, now retired, remains a mentor, she said.

“He was right,” Zidones said. “I was published in the Akron Law Review Journal. In my dedication, I thanked Chris Sachs.”

For his part, Sachs said he was just trusting one of his strengths.

“I’m not nearly as smart as Lau-

ren, or my wife (also a lawyer), but I can recognize talent,” Sachs said.

“But I was just the right person nudging at the right time.”

The real winner, though, might be the Akron law firm Roetzel & Andress, where Zidones started as an associate in February. They got a Law Review-published associate editor and a magna cum laude graduate — who was not only president of the Student Bar Association, but class president generally.

Zidones said she loves her new job, where she gets involved in important local deals and developments working in commercial real estate.

She’s joined the Akron and Cleveland chapters of CREW — the Commercial Real Estate Women’s network — and also several area boards for organizations such as the Highland Square Neighborhood Association.

She seems to have learned more than about becoming just a lawyer from Sachs and others, too.

“I ask every day, ‘Who can I help mentor?,’ because it can really help someone and influence their career,” she said.

There is, of course, still that elephant in the room. How’s her softball game?

“It’s not bad!” Zidones said. “I play co-ed. My wife and I and her brother play, and we’re so competitive!”

— Dan Shingler

CEO pay bounced right back in 2021

BY CHUCK SODER

CEOs at local public companies got particularly large raises in 2021, bouncing back quickly from a fairly muted 2020.

The median CEO on the Crain’s Highest-Paid CEOs list saw their total compensation rise 22.8% in 2021, which by a thin margin is the highest figure Crain’s has recorded since we started tracking that stat in 2016.

By comparison, in 2020 the median increase was 3.2%, the lowest figure since at least 2016. Likewise, combined compensation for that same group rose 9.5% after falling 1.9% in 2020.

The full digital list, built from data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, includes 53 CEOs. The statistics above, however, were calculated from 40 CEOs who held the position through both 2020 and 2021 — and also exclude the guy at No. 1 on the list: former Diebold Nixdorf CEO Gerrard Schmid.

We excluded him from our calculations for a simple reason: The company’s annual proxy statement lists his total 2021 compensation as $26.2 million, but he won’t actually receive most of that money. Schmid had been in line to received a total of $22.1 million in Diebold stock — an award designed to incentivize a few top executives to achieve goals related to a Diebold transformation plan.

That award was supposed to vest over the course of four years. However, Diebold named a new CEO in March, so Schmid will only receive $1.3 million in stock. (He will receive a $4 million “separation and transition payment,” but that will go

toward his 2022 compensation.)

Even without Schmid, there were plenty of local CEOs who saw big increases in 2022.

So what’s going on? For one thing, many local public companies saw big increases in revenue, profits and, naturally, their stock prices during 2021 as the economy rebounded from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. So performance-based awards tied to those metrics would’ve increased in size, too.

ly reached pre-pandemic levels and per capita in-park spending hit a new record, helping Zimmerman and other Cedar Fair executives handily beat goals tied to compensation.

Despite that increase, he didn’t crack the top 10.

The names in the top 10 are mostly similar to last year’s top 10, save for Schmid rocketing to No. 1 and Michael Petras of Sotera Health falling from No. 5 last year (a position he briefly held due to one-time awards reTHE MEDIAN CEO ON THE CRAIN’S ceived in 2020) to No. this year. Were it not HIGHEST-PAID CEOS LIST SAW THEIR 39 for the stock award TOTAL COMPENSATION RISE 22.8% Schmid didn’t end up in full, the IN 2021, WHICH BY A THIN MARGIN receiving No. 1 CEO on the list would’ve been CleveIS THE HIGHEST FIGURE CRAIN’S s CEO LouHAS RECORDED SINCE WE STARTED land-Cliff renco Goncalves, who leads a company that TRACKING THAT STAT IN 2016. has grown tremenPlus, 2020 was a down year. dously through acquisitions in reThough median compensation for cent years and had the “best finanCEOs on the list increased slightly in cial year in its 174-year history” in 2020, total compensation fell, often 2021, according to its proxy statefor reasons related to the coronavi- ment. rus pandemic.

The top 10 also includes the only Consider the case of Cedar Fair female CEO of a local public comCEO Richard Zimmerman, No. 13 pany: Tricia Griffith of Progressive on the list. His total compensation Corp. at No. 8. increased by 595% in 2021, more The full Excel version of the list than any other CEO on the list. also includes a breakdown of 2020 Why? For one thing, his compensa- compensation as well as historical tion was particularly low in 2020. compensation figures for many exCedar Fair significantly curtailed ecutives. It’s available exclusively to stock and cash incentives for all ex- Crain’s Data Members. To learn ecutives listed on its proxy state- more, visit CrainsCleveland.com/ ment in 2020 due to the pandemic, Data. which caused attendance at its amusement parks to drop 91% that Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com, year. Then in 2021, attendance near- (216) 771-5374, @ChuckSoder

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JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 25

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CRAIN'S LIST | HIGHEST-PAID CEOS Ranked by 2021 total compensation EXECUTIVE TENURE AS CEO

2021 TOTAL COMPENSATION/ 1-YEAR CHANGE

SALARY/ BONUS

STOCK AWARDS/ OPTION AWARDS

NON-EQUITY INCENTIVES/ PENSION VALUE CHANGE

1

GERRARD B. SCHMID Diebold Nixdorf Inc. February 2018 - March 2022

$26,169,529 1 392.6%

$950,000 —

$22,104,207 2 —

$3,063,679 —

$51,643

$43,006 609:1

($78.8) —

2

C. LOURENCO GONCALVES Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. August 2014 - present

$24,494,731 32.3%

$1,938,000 $3,876,000

$7,060,185 —

$10,760,320 $420,893

$439,333

$125,396 195:1

$2,988.0 —

3

KEVIN M. STEIN TransDigm Group Inc. April 2018 - present

$21,484,504 -2.6%

$1,200,000 $173,812

— $12,798,804

$1,626,188 —

$5,685,700

$58,837 365:1

$680.0 -2.72%

4

RICHARD J. KRAMER Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. April 2010 - present

$21,415,578 33.8%

$1,300,000 $0

$10,688,026 $0

$9,068,900 $199,123

$159,529

$43,746 490:1

$764.0 —

5

CRAIG ARNOLD Eaton June 2016 - present

$19,367,607 10.8%

$1,391,667 —

$9,172,627 $2,677,140

$2,800,000 $3,163,742

$162,431

$56,287 344:1

$2,144.0 52.06%

6

THOMAS L. WILLIAMS Parker Hannifin Corp.

February 2015 - present

$17,034,500 -9.7%

$1,159,375 —

$4,845,449 $4,224,085

$3,326,023 $3,344,243

$135,325

$56,274 303:1

$1,746.1 45.27%

7

JOHN G. MORIKIS The Sherwin-Williams Co. January 2018 - present

$15,843,760 3.4%

$1,368,231 —

$5,895,615 $4,496,806

$3,284,000 —

$799,108

$43,321 366:1

$1,864.4 -8.18%

8

S. TRICIA GRIFFITH Progressive Corp.

July 2016 - present

$14,462,961 -5.0%

$950,000 —

$9,500,212 —

$3,847,502 —

$165,247

$65,874 220:1

$3,350.9 -41.26%

9

MARK T. SMUCKER The J.M. Smucker Co. May 2016 - present

$12,450,437 16.0%

$1,042,500 $44,000

$3,598,208 $1,199,375

$2,859,500 $3,626,179

$80,675

$87,098 143:1

$876.3 12.42%

10

FRANK C. SULLIVAN RPM International Inc. October 2002 - present

$11,924,334 29.8%

$920,375 $0

$5,771,861 $3,344,000

$1,580,000 $103,753

$204,345

$54,622 218:1

$502.6 65.13%

11

STEVEN E. STRAH FirstEnergy Corp.

October 2020 - present 3

$10,714,062 85.0%

$1,076,236 —

$5,755,252 —

$1,977,256 $1,876,204

$29,114

$124,120 86:1

$1,283.0 18.91%

12

SUNDARAM NAGARAJAN Nordson Corp.

August 2019 - present

$10,308,750 92.7%

$870,000 —

$5,439,290 $1,970,346

$1,740,000 $239,445

$49,669

$65,527 157:1

$454.4 82.08%

13

RICHARD A. ZIMMERMAN Cedar Fair LP January 2018 - present

$9,991,165 4 594.9%

$850,000 —

$6,716,340 —

$2,416,125 —

$8,700

$10,122 987:1

($48.5) —

14

RICHARD G. KYLE The Timken Co. May 2014 - present

$9,665,330 -14.2%

$1,037,145 —

$4,422,240 —

$958,338 $2,674,337

$573,270

$59,720 162:1

$369.1 29.74%

15

ROBERT M. PATTERSON Avient Corp.

May 2014 - present

$9,382,531 33.9%

$1,117,308 —

$1,870,448 $1,870,333

$4,377,187 —

$147,255

$52,371 179:1

$230.8 75.38%

16

CHRISTOPHER L. MAPES Lincoln Electric Holdings December 2012 - present

$9,213,820 30.2%

$1,030,000 —

$3,483,636 $1,766,662

$2,569,567 $157,838

$206,117

$48,154 191:1

$276.5 34.13%

17

CHRISTOPHER M. GORMAN KeyCorp May 2020 - present 5

$8,653,484 46.9%

$1,000,000 —

$3,869,989 $429,997

$3,300,000 $15,862

$37,636

$73,571 118:1

$2,625.0 95.46%

18

JONATHAN M. PERTCHIK TravelCenters of America Inc. December 2019 - present

$7,278,620 94.6%

$300,000 $2,100,000

$4,878,620 —

— —

—

— —

$58.5 —

19

MICHAEL S. WILLIAMS TimkenSteel Corp.

January 2021 - present

$7,161,838 —

$800,000 —

$4,593,890 $0

$1,672,000 $0

$95,948

$96,044 75:1

$171.0 —

20

DAVID R. LUKES Site Centers Corp.

March 2017 - present

$6,910,219 -19.2%

$900,000 —

$3,717,683 —

$2,250,000 —

$42,536

$97,969 71:1

$124.9 249.75%

21

WALTER M. ROSEBROUGH JR. Steris October 2007 - August 2021

$6,847,109 5.6%

$925,000 —

$1,468,984 $2,729,173

$1,690,530 —

$33,422

$51,996 131.69:1

$397.4 -2.52%

22

MATTHEW V. CRAWFORD Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.

May 2018 - present

$6,177,464 19.8%

$750,000 $2,400,000

$2,970,008 —

— $5,939

$51,517

$42,571 146:1

($24.8) —

23

NEIL A. SCHRIMSHER Applied Industrial Technologies October 2011 - present

$6,084,592 29.2%

$808,276 —

$2,617,925 $733,176

$1,748,250 $0

$176,965

$74,293 82:1

$144.8 502.1%

24

MATTHEW E. MONAGHAN Invacare Corp.

April 2015 - present

$5,993,236 -7.2%

$955,000 —

$4,998,751 —

— —

$39,485

$44,747 134:1

($45.6) —

25

SCOTT W. DRAKE ViewRay Inc. July 2018 - present

$5,948,995 -16.7%

$746,750 —

$4,029,848 —

$1,172,397 —

—

— —

($110.0) —

RANK

OTHER

MEDIAN EMPLOYEE PAY 2021/ COMPANY NET INCOME (MILLIONS)/ CEO-TO-EMPLOYEE PAY RATIO 1-YEAR CHANGE

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence (spglobal/marketintelligence); additional research by Chuck Soder (csoder@crain.com) | Net income is income attributable to ordinary shareholders. Pension value change figures

include nonqualified deferred compensation. To appear on this list an executive must have served as CEO of a local public company at some point during 2021. Pay ratio figures are calculated using CEO compensation figures that are slightly different from figures used to rank this list. NOTES: 1. Schmid only received $1.3 million of the $22.1 million stock award included in his 2021 compensation. The remainder of the award, which was tied to a four-year company transformation plan, did not vest because Schmid's tenure as CEO ended in March 2022. His 2021 compensation does not include a $4 million "separation and transition payment” he's scheduled to receive in 2022. 2. Schmid only received $1.3 million of the $22.1 million stock award included in his 2021 compensation. The remainder of the award, which was tied to a four-year company transformation plan, did not vest because Schmid's tenure as CEO ended in March. His 2021 compensation does not include a $4 million "separation and transition payment” he's scheduled to receive in 2022. 3. Strah served as acting CEO from October 2020 to March 2021. He previously served as president. 4. Executives listed on Cedar Fair's proxy statement received large compensation increases in 2021 due to incentives tied to the company’s recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which caused Cedar Fair to significantly reduce executive compensation in 2020. 5. Gorman previously served as president and chief operating officer as well as chairman and CEO of KeyBank, the company's banking subsidiary.

Get all 53 CEOs and historical compensation data in Excel. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data 26 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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LIST ANALYSIS

Gap between CEO and worker compensation expanded in 2021

BY JEREMY NOBILE

The pay gap between CEOs and their employees at the largest public companies in Northeast Ohio expanded overall last year.

In the region, companies with the widest gaps between CEO and employee pay in 2021 include Cedar Fair (987:1); Diebold Nixdorf Inc. (609:1); The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (490:1), The Sherwin-Williams Co. (366:1); and TransDigm Group Inc. (365:1).

The median CEO-to-employee pay ratio among the 35 public companies examined by Crain’s was 134:1 in 2021 versus 105:1 in 2020 for the same group.

The average pay ratio among those 35 companies was 187:1 in 2021 compared with 137:1 in 2020.

This widening gap in compensation between worker and chief executive is due in part to many industries rebounding from a pandemic-induced economic downturn.

As improving companies saw gains in stock price, to which CEO compensation is closely tied, pay rose significantly for many top executives. This is something further illustrated by the 2022 Crain’s Highest-Paid CEOs list, which is built with data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

As a result, the prevailing trend was exponential pay growth for many local CEOs in 2021 compared to smaller increases for their workers.

In some cases, despite a competitive job market, CEOs earned more yearover-year in 2021 while their median worker compensation decreased.

This was the case for Goodyear, Sherwin-Williams, Eaton, Progressive Corp., RPM International Inc., Steris and FirstEnergy Corp.

A decrease in median employee compensation could be due to a variety of reasons beyond a company actively reducing existing wages, of course, including a company hiring a slew of new workers at lower rates or acquiring another firm with a different business model. This latter scenario could apply to Goodyear, which rolled up Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in 2021.

Among 53 public companies on the full digital version of Crain’s Highest-Paid CEOs list, 35 reported pay ratios. Smaller companies are exempt from the disclosure.

Of those 35, 12 (34%) reported a decrease in median employee salaries in 2021 while seven (20%) reported a reduction in CEO compensation.

Ultimately, pay ratios shrank somewhat for nine (26%) of the 35 companies examined in Northeast Ohio but grew for all the rest.

At a national level, according to the most recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio across the country was estimated at 21:1 in 1965. It peaked at 366:1 in 2000 and came down some before growing again, coming in at 351:1 in 2020.

“From 1978 to 2020, CEO pay based on realized compensation grew by 1,322%, far outstripping S&P stock market growth (817%) and top 0.1% earnings growth (which was 341% between 1978 and 2019, the latest data available),” according to EPI. “In contrast, compensation of the typical worker grew by just 18% from 1978 to 2020.”

Per a mandate by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, public companies have

been required since 2017 to disclose the ratio of the compensation of their CEO to the median compensation of their employees.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has said this was done to help inform shareholders when voting on “say on pay.”

Critics tend to say the ratio figure is rather pointless for a few reasons.

For one, it doesn’t reflect the nuance or intricacies of a business model, said Bernard Bailey, an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, who teaches a CEO course. Bailey also is a serial CEO and board member who, among other roles, serves as chairman and CEO for the private equity-backed Dallas company Authentix Corp.

To Bailey’s point, when coming up with the figure for median employee compensation, companies can exclude staff working overseas or those classified as independent contractors, for example.

To be sure, the information can be imperfect.

Diebold may rank second in this market for the largest pay ratio, but its former CEO, Gerrard Schmid, left the company in March. Because of this, he’ll only receive $1.3 million of a $22 million stock award factored into his 2021 compensation because only a portion of that was fully vested. (It’s common for around 80% of a CEO’s compensation package to be composed of long-term incentives that are tied to and include company stock.)

At the same time, the ratio reflects what he was expected to earn compared to employees had he not left the business.

The ratios also tend to be widest for companies that rely on part-time or seasonal labor — such as amusement park businesses like Cedar Point parent company Cedar Fair, which has the highest pay ratio in Northeast Ohio, at 987:1. Those jobs tend to carry lower wages.

For reasons like these, the picture that can be painted about a company based on its pay ratio is limited.

Despite the SEC’s intention with the disclosure, Bailey said the ratio is simply not important to financial investors.

“The question I’d have for anybody is, what difference does pay ratio make in terms of me as an investor being able to make a decision on whether I want to invest in a company or not?

Will investors make a decision on buying or selling or holding stock because of this? Of course not,” he said.

“These ratios can vary widely and even within the same industry. You might have a wide ratio depending on your labor model. It’s just a different workforce, and that doesn’t mean one is better than another,” said Shane Starkey, a lawyer with Thompson Hine who focuses on executive compensation matters. “The ratio is not meaningful, I think, for investors when assessing the long-term value of a company.”

Starkey contends that information related to how a business manages human capital — which companies have recently begun reporting in annual filings as well — is more insightful when evaluating a company and its longterm prospects.

As far as whether CEOs should be getting paid at such high multiples compared to workers in general, Bailey argues that compensation is dictated by the labor market. If an ineffective

More information ` Per a mandate by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, public companies have been required since 2017 to disclose the ratio of the compensation of their CEO to the median compensation of their employees. The Securities and Exchange Commission has said this was done to help inform shareholders when voting on “say on pay.” ` Crain’s looked at pay ratio disclosures among 53 public companies in Northeast Ohio, which are reported in annual filings. ` Of those 53, 35 companies reported pay ratios, and 18 did not. Smaller companies are exempted from the disclosure. ` Of those 35, 12 (34%) reported a decrease in median employee compensation in 2021 compared to 2020. Seven (20%) reported a reduction in CEO compensation in their ratio disclosures. ` The median of those median compensation figures was $56,287 (down 0.5% from the same figure list year). ` The median pay ratio among those 35 companies in 2021 was 134:1 compared to 105:1 in 2020. The average pay ratio among those 35 companies in 2021 was 187:1 compared to 137:1 in 2020. These figures point to the generally widening gap between CEO and worker compensation, which follows national trends.

CEO continues to draw a massive compensation package, that’s an issue the board of directors needs to deal with, he said. Beyond that, Bailey argues, these high rates are simply what is necessary to keep top talent.

“If you pay less for your CEO, you’re

going to have a hard time getting a good one. And if you pay more, you can attract a quality person,” he said.

“If you don’t want to pay what the market demands for CEOs, then you will get crappy CEOs running your company.”

While data on pay ratios have their limitations, others say these disclosures still offer some sense of what workers are earning compared to their highest-ranking bosses.

Some see a lot of value in that, particularly when it comes to considering public policy.

“We know this trend has grown and that CEOs are capturing much more in pay than they are producing in additional value for the company,” said Michael Shields, a researcher with progressive think tank Policy Matters Ohio who produces an annual report on CEO pay ratios for Ohio companies. “They are directing pay to themselves that should be going to other people, including the workforce that makes that wealth generation possible. And we should be doing something about that.”

Shields has not yet produced a pay ratio report for 2021.

But his research last year found that among public companies in Ohio, the median CEO was compensated at a rate of 322:1 in 2020.

Jeremy Nobile: jnobile@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @JeremyNobile

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by Dwellics VISIT WWW.SOLONOHIO.ORG JUNE 6, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 27

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FARMING

From Page 1

Agriculture (CSA) programs that provide consumers with fresh fruits and vegetables and herbs during the growing season.

While no longer a major industry, farming plays a significant role in the regional economy. Farmers buy health care, financial and professional services and information technology — farm operators use satellites to position self-guided tractors and planters. And about 16% of farm income is spent annually on equipment, including tractors, harvesting combines and post-hole diggers, according to the Farm Progress media website.

“We are actually pretty diverse in terms of agriculture in Northeastern, Ohio,” said Lee Beers, an agriculture and natural resources educator with the Ohio State University Extension, part of the university’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “I’m based in Trumbull County, where we have pretty large corn and soybeans acreage. We’ve (also) got barley, wheat, oats, even some food-grade (soybeans) that are being shipped to Japan for tofu.”

Beers added that as you head north from his office in Cortland, near Warren, into counties including Geauga and Portage, there are more produce farms and a lot of maple syrup production. Then, close to Lake Erie, there are vineyards and fruit production.

That crop distribution is similar

west of Cleveland, and throughout the region there are dairy farms and producers of chickens, beef cattle and hogs.

Predicting profitability As in so many industries, particularly of late, farmers are concerned about their profitability in the year ahead. Wheat farmers are seeing prices hitting 14-year highs, in part because the war in Ukraine has trimmed exports from that European country, according to the Ohio Country Journal website, citing Ohio State Extension Service data. Much of Ohio’s wheat is winter wheat, which is planted in autumn and harvested in late summer or early fall.

Andrew Holden, an OSU Extension educator in Ashtabula County, said the pandemic and world events have made predicting the season ahead difficult.

“It’s a strange time. The price of corn and (soy)beans has gone up quite a bit over the last couple years, which is a good thing,” he said, noting that war-torn Ukraine had been a leading exporter of wheat. “But this last year, we’ve seen fertilizer costs almost triple, and we’ve seen major, major delays on any sort of replacement parts for equipment. I think we’re in a spot where everyone’s going to be able to get everything they need, but those shortages increase costs significantly.”

Holden, who still helps out part time on his family’s 500-acre farm, said much of the corn crop goes east

and west for livestock. He said he believes that for many farms to succeed, they need to diversify.

“Something that I’ve seen is a trend across the state that you either have to grow to a large size, because of the economies of scale, or you have to diversify,” he said. “By diversify, I mean you produce a product that is either directly marketed to the consumer or is a value-added product, such as growing grapes and making wine.”

Holden said he knows of a local farm that has put up a soybean-crushing plant, so instead of selling beans into an always-fluctuating market, it is selling soy meal and soybean oil.

“That way, they are able to retain more of the margin on that product,” he said.

Shrinking farm footprints Ben Klick, a fifth-generation farmer at Windy Way Farms near Massillon, is optimistic and tries to lock in some long-term contracts, though he never knows when he plants how robust the markets for his crops will be at harvest time.

“Commodities (including wheat) have kept up (in price) for the most part, but commodities can and will eventually drop a lot faster than our input prices,” he said, referring to his planting costs. “Equipment prices are up and fertilizers (are up), sometimes over 200% from 2021.”

Klick said his family farms on 1,800 acres it owns or leases, mostly in Stark County. Windy Way comprises 800 acres of corn, 800 of soybeans,

100 of wheat and 100 of hay. In addition, Klick said the farm is feeding 500 head of beef cattle.

Although he considers himself a full-time farmer, Klick’s family, like many farm families, have other sources of income. In his case, it’s a trucking company that his father and grandfather started in the 1980s during a farm industry crisis.

One of Klick’s big concerns is how development has intruded on his farmland.

“One of our biggest battles is land loss due to development,” he said.

“We’ve always farmed around 1,500 to 1,800 acres for probably the last 30 years. But we used to farm it all within about three miles of the home farm. Now we’re scattered out over 20 miles.”

He said younger generations have left their family farms and sold the land to developers, or they’ve kept the land and lease it to farmers.

More work, higher prices Like Holden and Klick, Jeff Dean grew up on a family farm and has been farming for nearly 40 years.

What’s different about Dean is that 27 years ago, he said, his 900-acre Timberlake Farm in Bellevue became an organic farm.

“Originally, I heard about the premium that organic crops were bringing and so I looked into it, did a lot of studying, and I thought it was a better way to go,” he said. “And I was hooked.”

But Dean doesn’t focus on selling organic vegetables or organically

WESTLAKE

From Page 1

“This is completely dependent on tenants wanting this quality of building,” Desich said in a phone interview. “It’s for forward-looking companies that want to invest in their companies and their talent. We also just love the interchange. We’ve put our own company (Equity Trust) and Convergent here.”

Two years is a typical lease-up period for a suburban office building in Northeast Ohio, but for Desich and partners to do it at Convergent during the pandemic, when employers sent workers home from the office in droves and have been hesitant to call them back, is an achievement.

Tenants that have committed to space at Convergent include Radachi & Co., an Elyria public accounting firm; a wealth advisory firm that the ownership declined to identify; Huntington Bank; and the previously reported U.S. headquarters of specialty chemicals firm IMCD N.V., which set up shop there from Lakewood in 2020.

“It probably wasn’t the best time to open an office building,” acknowledged J.R. Fairman, a JLL Inc. senior vice president who led the leasing effort for Convergent. “This complex offers more than Class A office space.

It provides a unique experience with employee needs and safety considerations in mind. It features modern architecture and high-value amenities, but it provides a sustainable, safe and comfortable environment for tenants with its state-of-the-art HVAC and air filtration systems.”

Moreover, as is the case with recent downtown leases, tenant demand for Convergent West was aided by the “flight to quality,” as tenants increasingly opt for newer offices with more amenities, but perhaps less square footage than in the past.

In such a vein, it’s no surprise that

With its Convergent office building in Westlake fully leased, Richard Desich, co-founder of Equity Trust Co. in the suburb, is readying plans for a nearby sequel. Parts of the design by the Vocon architecture firm pay homage to the Cleveland Museum of Art and a contemporary sculpture greets worker and visitors. | STAN BULLARD/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Desich has reassembled the team from Convergent for what’s temporarily termed the Dreamland project.

JLL will soon be promoting its listing for leasing the building, which Vocon, the Cleveland-founded architecture firm, will design and Infinity Construction Co. of Warrensville Heights will build.

However, the office market is also vibrant on the south side of I-90 in the western suburb.

Across the street from Crocker Park, the well-established mixed-use office, residential and retail project that opened its first phase in 2014, a new retail and office project named Crocker Commons is under construction. It will consist of 60,000 square feet of office space that will form a veritable U around two primarily retail buildings. It’s being developed by a group led by the Weiss family of American Greetings fame,

also a major investor in Crocker Park.

Rico Pietro, a principal of the Cushman & Wakefield Cresco brokerage who represents Crocker Commons, said the project stands to benefit from employers seeking ways to improve their office environments by offering new space with proximity to amenities, if not in their own offices.

Meantime, Rustom Khouri, CEO of Carnegie Management & Development of Westlake, said he’s pursuing the purchase of a different 12-acre site on Bassett Road, the north end of Crocker Road, for a potential 100,000-square-foot headquarters tenant he declined to identify.

That’s because, even with six office buildings in Westlake already in Carnegie’s portfolio, Khouri said that in today’s environment he won’t launch a new building on a speculative basis. Even so, he’s also working to ink leases with two prospects for another

building on Detroit Road near Sharon Drive that would have 26,000 square feet of office space.

“Large tenants today are vacillating,” Khouri said. “They believe they’ll need more office space. But they’re having a devil of a time getting employees back in the office after the lockdowns.”

That said, Carnegie just put the finishing touches on a new U.S. headquarters for Struers Inc., a global industrial equipment supplier, at 24766 Detroit Road, with 27,000 square feet of space that replaced a 16,000-square-foot building next door.

“The new building is more advanced technologically,” Khouri said, though he declined to be more specific.

In Westlake, the Tech West building, originally constructed as a separate building next to American Greet-

raised chickens. Rather, he is, in many ways, a conventional grain farmer.

“We grow mostly corn, (soy)beans, wheat and clover, but we’ve also grown alfalfa, sunflowers, rye, barley, buckwheat and a couple more that I’m not thinking of,” he said. “We mostly sell to feed mills, and the grain goes to feed for chickens, for eggs. We sell all over the country, but the East Coast is a big buyer.”

While much of his farm work looks like conventional farming, Dean said his organics and specialty crops require more work to produce the product, but that also means they can command a higher price. He said his soybeans may sell for as much as twice the price of traditional beans, and, because wheat prices have been soaring, the difference between traditionally grown wheat and his organic produce has been narrowing.

“It takes much more management and much more time, which sounds like a bad thing, but that’s actually a good thing, because it allows us to farm fewer acres and make a living,” he said. “If more people were farming organically, they could farm full time. My son and I are each making a decent living farming 900 acres between the two of us. It would be very, very difficult to do that farming (conventionally grown) grain. For two people on a conventional farm, we’d probably have to have three or four times that many acres.”

Jay Miller: jmiller@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @millerjh ings’ headquarters at Crocker Park’s south end, has been able to land tenants for long-term subleases, a topic during the pandemic that created more talk than deals.

Palmer Holland, a specialty chemical distributor, just set up shop Friday, May 27, at Tech West as it relocated about 100 staffers from North Olmsted.

Matt Brewer, Palmer Holland chief financial officer, said in a tour of Palmer Holland’s operations that the new offices include an assigned desk for every staffer, even if they aren’t in daily.

“We believe it’s part of the culture, and that people want to have a dedicated workspace to call their own,” Brewer said. The ESOP requires staffers to be in office Mondays and Thursdays, with a third day in the office at his or her discretion.

The decision to move to Westlake was simple, Brewer said.

“As a distribution company, we have many customers visit our office,” Brewer said. “At Crocker Park, the restaurants and hotel are steps away.”

Part of the attraction for surrounding office prospects is the proximity to Crocker Park itself. Crocker Park includes a total of 1 million square feet of office space, including the American Greetings space as well as multiple floors of offices above buildings with first-floor storefronts.

“Crocker Park has created a new ballgame for Westlake,” Cresco’s Pietro said. “Any tenant, whether it’s a professional firm or headquarters, looking anywhere in the suburbs for newer, more efficient space, will look at making a stretch deal in Westlake because of Crocker Park.”

Desich agrees.

“Crocker Park emanates value to people and businesses who want to be nearby,” Desich said.

Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter

28 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 6, 2022

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Jamie Arnold is owner at Repeat Glass. | CONTRIBUTED

New glass recycling business launches in Northeast Ohio

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

A new glass-only recycling service has launched in Northeast Ohio, as the company’s founder works to replicate a business he previously ran in Kansas City.

The company, Repeat Glass LLC in Cleveland Heights, is starting with free community drop-off sites and a subscription service for commercial customers, and owner Jamie Arnold hopes to expand that to residential curbside pick-up in the future.

Arnold has been in glass recycling for about eight years, having started his old business, GlassBandit in Missouri, in 2014. He primarily offered residential curbside services there, as well as commercial services.

In Northeast Ohio, he’s starting with a focus on commercial services and free public drop-off sites.

“Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly,” Arnold said.

But often, even if glass isn’t being sent to a landfill, it’s being co-mingled with other recyclables, Arnold said. That gives it a higher rate of contamination, making it harder to recover, process and turn into a new product. That might mean glass products get reused instead recycled or ultimately end up in a landfill after all. Glass-only recycling aims to change that.

“It’s continuing that glass life cycle. It’s closing the loop,” Arnold said.

Arnold grew up in the Cleveland area; during the pandemic, he and his wife decided to move back to the region. Arnold sold GlassBandit last summer and turned his attention to opening a similar business in Northeast Ohio. Repeat Glass officially launched on Earth Day this year, at the end of April.

Repeat Glass lists its drop-off locations online; as of May 27, there were 15 with another coming soon.

The company is primarily serving Cuyahoga County at this time, with some existing or planned locations in Lorain and Geauga counties, but Arnold said he’d go anywhere in the

area with adequate demand. The website has a form for individuals to sign up to host a free drop-off location.

A news release noted that glass will be collected at Repeat Glass’ Cuyahoga Heights facility and then processed by CAP Glass in Pennsylvania into what Arnold described as a “sand-like material.” That recycled material will then be used by O-I Glass Inc. to create new glass products.

Arnold doesn’t make money off the community drop sites; he gets paid some for the collected glass, but just enough to cover fuel costs, “if that,” he said. But it’s a “good will” effort, he said, and one that he hopes provides some free advertising for his other services, like the company’s commercial business.

Repeat Glass’ commercial services are subscription-based, like other waste and recycling services.

The company has less than 10 commercial customers currently, one of which is Doug Katz’s new restaurant Amba in Cleveland. The restaurant opened at the end of May. Though it’s another cost on the expense sheet for a new business, sustainability is an important part of the restaurant’s approach, said executive chef Cameron Pishnery.

And beyond working to buy local products like meat, recycling waste like glass is a simple way to further that goal.

“It’s a part of our mission, to try to have a business that makes money, but also to think about the future and to think about resources and contribute to the solution and not always complain about the problems,” he said.

Arnold said a residential pick-up service is part of his long-term goals for Repeat Glass, but that service has not yet been established.

When it is, he said he plans to have a “name-your-own-price” structure for the service, which he used in Kansas City, as well.

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Advertising Section 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

BANKING

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PNC Fairfax Connection

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Traci Mitchell has been named executive director of the PNC Fairfax Connection, a community resource center located in the Fairfax neighborhood that provides free services designed to empower local residents and businesses. In her role, Traci collaborates with her team to develop programs, courses and activities focused on enriching the lives of everyone in Fairfax and throughout the greater Cleveland area. Mitchell has been with PNC since 2008 and has more than 35 years’ financial experience.

Rodney Kilbury and Craig Reimers joined Tober Building Company in 2022 and serve as Project Executive and Sr. Estimator, respectively. Kilbury Rodney has managed projects including drywall, finish carpentry, ACT ceiling, and CFS load bearing projects in military barracks, student housing, hotels, apartments, condominiums, and assisted living. All CFS load bearing projects involved design build, Reimers prefab. of load bearing panels, installation, and exterior finishes.

Craig has over 34 years experience in construction as a skilled estimator and project manager, with vast experience in all project phases from preparing estimates, to on site management through completion. He looks to further business growth through his wealth of knowledge and leadership.

orthobrain® is pleased to announce the promotion of Wendy Malcuit to Vice President of Finance and Human Resources.

Malcuit will oversee all of the financial and HR operations within each department to ensure orthobrain meets its organizational and business goals, while putting a strong emphasis on maintaining company culture. She has been instrumental in implementing efficient systems that have transformed orthobrain from a regional player into a global leader.

Albrecht Incorporated is pleased to announce the promotion of Paula Hollender to the position of Accounting Manager.

Paula joined the Company in December of 2018. Paula’s role includes overseeing the daily activities in the accounting department and approving team members’ work. She is also responsible for the recording, tracking, analyzation, and auditing of financial information.

The Company thanks Paula for her dedication and congratulates her on her promotion.

CONSTRUCTION

Tober Building Company Al Bundy joined Tober Building Company in 2022 and serves as Controller. He has 35 years of experience in construction, real estate, construction supply, manufacturing, and retail. Having worked in accounting, financial planning, insurance, HR, and IT, he has a wealth of knowledge across many essential functions. Al excels in building relationships, and maintaining integrity, while improving, and streamlining company processes.

He is a CPA (inactive) with a degree in Accounting from Kent State.

LAW

Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP The law firm of Calfee, Halter & Griswold welcomes Ryan McCray, a registered patent agent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ryan has experience in all aspects of patent law, with an emphasis on the preparation and prosecution of electrical-related patent applications. Ryan’s patent application experience includes disclosure interviews, examiner interviews, foreign associate instruction letters, patent application drafting, responses to office actions, and preparation of appeal briefs.

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Albrecht Incorporated is pleased to announce the promotion of Michael Lauro to the position of Property Accountant II. Michael joined the Company in December of 2019 and has since excelled in property accounting.

Michael’s role includes overseeing property accountants, audit preparation, reconciling accounts, and general ledger maintenance. The Company would like to thank Michael for his efforts and congratulate him on his promotion.

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St. Clair Advisors

NEW GIG?

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INDUSTRY ACHIEVERS ADVANCING THEIR CAREERS

FINANCIAL SERVICES

St. Clair Advisors LLC is pleased to announce that Sean Kuenzig, CPA, AWMA® has joined the firm as a financial planning associate. Prior to joining St. Clair Advisors, Sean spent nine years in corporate tax with a variety of responsibilities in both direct and indirect tax compliance. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from John Carroll University and is an Accredited Wealth Management Advisor through the College for Financial Planning.

REAL ESTATE

LAW

Ulmer & Berne LLP Ulmer welcomes Matthew M. Stanley as an associate in the Business Law Practice Group. Matthew focuses his practice on the representation of private and publicly held companies in a variety of corporate law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions, business restructuring, corporate governance, and business succession planning. He earned his B.A. from Miami University, MBA from Indiana University, and J.D. from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

For listing opportunities, contact Debora Stein at dstein@crain.com or submit directly to CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM/PEOPLEMOVES

THE WEEK REVVING UP: Ford Motor Co. will add 1,800 union jobs at the Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake with the goal of assembling a new electric vehicle there, the automaker announced Thursday, June 2. The $1.5 billion investment is part of $3.7 billion in planned investments across the Midwest. In total, the company plans to add more than 6,200 new union manufacturing jobs in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. Ford also will invest $100 million and add 90 jobs between its Lima Engine and Sharonville Transmission plants, also in Ohio. Ford currently has about 7,000 employees in the state. In addition to the investments in Ohio, Thursday’s announcement included $2 billion being invested in Michigan and $95 million in Missouri.

CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF: Toronto-based VM Hotel Acquisition Corp. said “capital market volatility caused by current world events” prompted it to drop the proposed purchase of the Renaissance Cleveland and Hyatt Regency properties in downtown Cleveland. The two landmarks were the only remaining assets comprising VM’s formerly proposed initial portfolio, a group of five hotels it said in 2021 it would acquire with a Toronto IPO. The VM announcement on Monday, May 30, came after Skyline Investments, also of Toronto, previously announced that an extended due diligence period for the properties would expire on Tuesday, May 31. Skyline had the hotels for sale prior to the VM deal as well as the onset of the pandemic, which roiled the lodging business.

JAN. 1 KICKOFF: The Ohio Casino Control Commission announced that Jan. 1, 2023, is the universal start date for sports betting in the state. That was the last possible date to meet the deadline attached to House Bill 29, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed last December and will legalize sports betting in Ohio. Wagering can start online, and at brickand-mortar sportsbooks, kiosks and other venues, on Jan. 1. The Jan. 1 date likely is a disappointment to bettors in the state, as it comes after big events such as the start of the 2022 NFL regular season in September and the World Series in October.

DIGITAL FIRST: Cleveland-based Felux, an online business-to-business steel marketplace, announced that it has raised $19 million in a Series A round to advance its goal of digitizing commerce for the industrial supply chain. The round was led by EquipmentShare and joined by Signia Venture Partners, Suffolk Technologies, Expa, Lightbank, 8VC and JumpStart Ventures, among others, Felux said on Thursday, June 2. Felux, founded in 2019 in Cleveland by Dallas Hogensen, Chris Day and Todd Leebow, said it has raised a total of $24 million in the last 10 months. Felux plans to use the Series A funding to accelerate its growth and product offerings, as well as its employee headcount, which currently stands at around 40.

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