Crain's Cleveland Business

NOTABLES IN MANUFACTURING: Honorees highlight innovation, inspiration. PAGE 10

CRAIN’S LIST The wealthiest suburbs in Northeast Ohio. PAGE 22

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JULY 18, 2022

Cleveland Whiskey expansion slowed

Project grapples with supply chain, inflation challenges

BY JEREMY NOBILE

It’s been two years since Cleveland Whiskey founder and CEO Tom Lix unveiled plans for a new distillery and restaurant going in a historic building at what’s been dubbed the Flats South Innovation District, but supply chain hiccups have slowed down the project.

And that’s not the only challenge facing the small business in today’s increasingly expensive market.

The craft distillery incorporated in 2009 but has been operating out of a small MAGNET space since 2013 that it long outgrew.

The new facility in the works not only will allow Cleveland Whiskey to scale up See WHISKEY on Page 24 A conceptual rendering shows a potential redevelopment of the lakefront portion of the Avon Lake power plant site. The plant closed in the spring and is being decommissioned by Charah Solutions, which plans to reposition the property for new uses like public waterfront access. | AVON LAKE ENVIRONMENTAL REDEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC

Remake on the lake

New owner of Avon Lake power plant has big waterfront vision

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

The new owner of the Avon Lake power plant has a bold vision for the 131-acre site, a lakefront property set to be transformed from an environmental burden to an economic asset.

Charah Solutions Inc., a Kentucky-based company that acquired the property this year, is decommissioning the plant and preparing to clear much of the land. Early renderings drawn up by Gensler, a global design firm, show expansive public space along the shoreline, with

mid-rise residential buildings, offices and other development to the south.

New images will be unveiled Tuesday, July 19, during an evening meeting at Avon Lake High School’s performing arts center. The presentation will mark the start of a public process to reimagine a site that has been industrial for almost a century.

“This is a pivotal moment for the future of the city. … We aim to revitalize the lakefront, connect

NEWSPAPER

— Greg Zilka, Avon Lake’s mayor

See AVON LAKE on Page 23

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“WE AIM TO REVITALIZE THE LAKEFRONT, CONNECT THE CITY TO LAKE ERIE AND CREATE THE LARGEST OPEN SPACE AND PUBLIC LAKEFRONT PROJECT THAT OUR REGION HAS SEEN IN DECADES ...”

THE

LAND SCAPE

Drone zone

Spire’s monthly meetups help drone racers hone skills

BY JOE SCALZO

Unless you’re a fighter pilot — or Tom Cruise pretending to be a fighter pilot — you’ll never know what it feels like to buckle yourself inside a cockpit and man the world’s fastest aircraft.

But, once a month, a group of drone pilots gather at Spire Institute & Academy to do the next-best thing: strap on a pair of goggles and see firsthand what it’s like to race against other talented pilots.

It’s very cool.

But, as they’ll tell you, it’s also very uncool.

See DRONE on Page 25

A CRAIN’S CLEVELAND PODCAST

7/15/2022 2:59:11 PM

Pierre’s Ice Cream Co. was recently acquired, but products will continue to be made in Cleveland. Insert: An unidentified man stands near a Royal Ice Cream truck, now part of Pierre’s, in the 1960s.

| PIERRE’S ICE CREAM CO. PHOTOS

MANUFACTURING

Pierre’s Ice Cream keeps making sweet treats under new ownership

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

tinue to make products at its Cleveland location at East 65th Street and In the 1970s, fathers weren’t nec- Euclid Avenue. And its new owneressarily inviting their daughters to ship hopes to see production grow.

The acquisition, Ohio Processors’ help run the family business, said first, expands its geographic footShelley Roth.

But that’s just what her dad, Sol print and adds a new product to its portfolio. While the company has Roth, did at Pierre’s Ice Cream Co. “He had a lot of courage to invite a previously made a mix for soft ice daughter to come into the business cream machines, it had not offered back in 1979. Dads weren’t doing that hard ice cream like that made by Pierre’s. back then,” she said.

Ohio Processors president Sol Roth had returned from serving in World War II and got a job de- Douglas Smith said he sees oplivering dairy products. He saw that portunity for growth in that prodone of his customers, Royal Ice uct. Pierre’s currently serves a Cream, was selling their shop and primarily retail market, selling to convinced the owner to let him make grocery stores and consumers, but a down payment toward buying it. he thinks there’s room to grow a commercial business, selling more of a bulk product “HE HAD A LOT OF COURAGE TO restaurants, as well. That INVITE A DAUGHTER TO COME INTO to could lead to growth, but THE BUSINESS BACK IN 1979. DADS for the time being, Smith Ohio Processors is WEREN’T DOING THAT BACK THEN.” said taking time to learn about the business and its opera— Shelley Roth tions, rather than impleAfter a while, Royal partnered with menting changes.

“We didn’t come in thinking we Pierre’s, also an ice cream shop at the time, on a manufacturing facility. The were going to expand immediately,” two focused on forming a wholesale he said.

Pierre’s was a “well-run organizabusiness. In 1960, Shelley Roth’s father bought out Pierre’s owners, and tion,” Smith said, one that the Ohio that brand is the one he developed Processors’ team realized could run smoothly after the purchase. The going forward.

Shelley Roth worked at the Cleve- employees are knowledgeable, he land-based ice cream maker during said, and all planned to continue the summers in high school, joining post-transition. Pierre’s has about 85 the company full-time in 1979. She employees, and Ohio Processors has worked alongside her father through- about 28. And prior to the acquisiout the ’80s, and eventually became tion, each company had just one lopresident. This past May, after more cation. Terms of the acquisition are than four decades with the company, not being disclosed.

Roth said she wanted to make sure Roth sold Pierre’s to fellow Ohio family business, Ohio Processors Inc. that any succession plan would “enPierre’s will keep its brand and con- sure the future of the operations here

Above: A Pierre’s Ice Cream advertisement from the 1960s. Right: Shelley Roth and her father Sol Roth pose for a photo inside a Pierre’s freezer.

in Northeast Ohio.” And she wanted to work with a company that would respect Pierre’s existing team, and the company’s history and culture.

She found all of that in Ohio Processors.

“They’re a great organization. They understand food distribution and dairy production,” she said.

Roth said she knew that when she left the family business, the decision of who would take over would be more than a financial one. Business philosophies and company culture were important considerations, as was past performance.

“There’s a lot of conditions that affect the success of a business.

There are a lot of features that impact the success. And wherever I stepped off, I wanted to be sure I teed it up for continued success,” she said.

Ohio Processors in London, Ohio,

dates back to 1934, Smith said. The company makes dairy products like aerosol whipped cream cans and coffee creamers. Smith is part of the third generation for the family business, and his son is involved in the company, as well.

Roth has been serving as an adviser to Pierre’s during the transition, but she ultimately plans to retire.

Roth said she’s enjoyed working

with the team at Pierre’s over the years, and she’s liked getting to make a product that “delights people and makes people happy.” (She’s a fan, too, though she said she couldn’t pick a favorite flavor.)

“I had a two-fold rewarding career,” she said.

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

2 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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MANUFACTURING

Inflation, supply chain challenges lead MakerGear to look for a buyer

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

Rick Pollack knew running a business, particularly a business making products in the U.S., would be challenging.

But he didn’t — couldn’t — anticipate all the different factors that would disrupt the supply chain and drive up prices in the past few years.

“I thought we would be able to just focus on being competitive. And that right there is a full-time job,” said Pollack, founder and CEO of MakerGear in Beachwood. “Building a product here and being competitive is tough enough. The tariffs and what happened after that were just crippling.”

MakerGear, which got its start in Pollack’s garage in 2009, manufactures 3D printers and sells related accessories. The small company does machining in-house, as well as operations like engineering and technical support. It hasn’t relied on venture capital or investors in the past, Pollack said, instead operating in a self-funded fashion.

That has become more of a challenge in the recent economic environment. So now, Pollack is looking to sell the business he started 13 years ago.

Pollack points to 2018 as a turning point for the business, when things really started to get tough. That’s when tariffs on parts from China and on steel and aluminum went into place. Costs ended up increasing for those parts and materials, regardless of whether they were imported or made domestically, Pollack said.

Pollack said it wasn’t easy to build a 3D printer domestically prior to

MakerGear in recent years introduced a larger format 3D printer called the Ultra One, seen here next to the company’s the desktop machine. | CONTRIBUTED

2018 — it’s a competitive market, after all — but the business was doing well. MakerGear even looked to expand its product offerings in late 2017, developing a larger-format machine called the Ultra One. Costs for that product went up dramatically after the tariffs went in place.

“The tariffs very, very badly hurt our ability to innovate,” he said.

MakerGear was beginning to recover when COVID arrived in 2020.

In addition to the challenges everyone faced at the start of the pandemic, MakerGear’s business was hurt by a lack of in-person schooling, as the education sector is a significant customer base for them.

And most recently, Pollack’s challenges have been due to supply chain interruptions and inflation. He gave

an example of one longtime supplier that, in January, raised prices 17% and increased lead times from one month to five.

“And that’s one part,” Pollack said.

“And we’re seeing that in the supply chain. We’re seeing significant increase in our rent. We’re seeing higher costs for personnel. So we’re just getting hit by so many higher costs across the board that we kind of sat down and looked at this, and it’s just unsustainable.”

Inflation is the top issue for small businesses today, followed by worker shortages, said Chris Ferruso, Ohio legislative director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Members of the federation typically employ fewer than 15 people. And though MakerGear isn’t a member, the challenges the company has been facing are familiar. Small businesses don’t usually have “large capital reserves” to draw on when costs increase, Ferruso said.

At MakerGear, the company opted to stop building 3D printers and just sell out its inventory in the short term.

And it communicated that message online and to its customer base. Pollack didn’t want customers to spend a lot of money with them and then find MakerGear couldn’t get spare parts in stock months down the line.

Today, MakerGear has scaled back its operations and cut its overhead.

The company currently employs about six, a drop from 12 before operations changed. And Pollack is looking for a buyer.

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More than 400,000 people in Northeast Ohio quit a job in the past year, and more than 330,000 said that in the next 12 months they plan to look for a new job, according to a survey that found the pandemic has driven many to reconsider what they want when it comes to work.

The “Where Are the Workers?” report from the Fund for Our Economic Future surveyed both employers and nearly 5,000 working-age adults across 11 counties and then extrapolated that data to highlight the trends affecting about 2.9 million Northeast Ohio workers. (Available data on the report’s website focuses on employee responses.)

One of the main takeaways from this comprehensive dive into emerging workforce trends — including how people feel about work and what is important to them — is that the pandemic had a broad effect on life and work priorities, said Fund president Bethia Burke.

“What we’re seeing in the results is that there is a sizable number of people who have shifted their perspective about what matters, and it is showing up in the choices they are making,” she said.

The region’s Great Resignation meant there were an estimated 95,000 fewer people employed in Northeast Ohio in 2021 than in 2019. There are roughly 340,000 working-age adults not working and not looking for work, and therefore not included in unemployment numbers.

About one-third of those adults, Burke said, could be encouraged to return, if the pay was good, if they could work from home or if they could find a good fit for their life.

She said more than half of those surveyed quit their job because of a negative work environment, low pay, transitional issues (such as the need for parental leave) or scheduling conflicts. About half did not have another job lined up when they quit.

Of the workers looking to leave their job, 60% want a different position, and slightly more than half (51.6%) said they plan to look in a different industry. A full 84% of those looking to make some sort of job change were very to somewhat confident they could find a job with commensurate income and benefits.

“These last two years are such a shock to the system that it helps us to just stop for a second and reflect on that shock in a way that might highlight and emphasize those trends,” Burke said. “The implications that are emerging about what is ahead in the immediate future for employers (show that) workers are concerned with compensation, culture and connection.”

Compensation Not surprisingly, 81% of Northeast Ohioans surveyed said a good wage is very important when considering where to work.

Compensation increases could be

the answer for some employers looking to retain current employees, as about half of the number of people thinking about quitting in the next year indicated “there was something their company could do to make them stay,” Burke said.

“We heard from companies that the number-one thing they have done to keep or attract people is to increase pay,” she said of one of the employer roundtable discussions the Fund conducted in conjunction with the surveys. “And we then heard (from the survey) that generally the majority of people reported making the same amount or less than they were making two years ago.”

The response demonstrates a disconnect between workers’ perceptions and employers’ efforts to retain current employees, Burke said.

Culture and connection Another significant finding was that 56% of workers said they have felt more stress at work in the past two years, and one in five said they took sick days due to burnout in the previous year.

“It used to be when you come to into the office, you leave your problems at the door, but that is not how things work in real life. It has never been how real life works. Everybody has life happening all around them all the time,” said Deborah Matese, executive vice president of administration at the YWCA of Greater Cleveland.

Matese oversaw immense growth of the agency, which provides social and safety services for women, and has gone from 35 employees and a budget of $2.8 million to more than 115 employees and a budget in excess of $8 million in less than four years. During that time, she also embarked on a review to establish equitable compensation practices throughout the organization.

In addition to pay increases for salaried and hourly employees, the YWCA adopted a policy of offering unlimited paid time off (PTO) after several members of her staff suffered a series of significant, traumatic life events.

“We made the decisions that we were going to not charge people for

the PTO, because when you have a traumatized group of employees who are dealing with this ... it’s a recipe for burnout,” Matese said.

The policy change, Matese said, acknowledges how difficult the work is and allows each employee flexibility to deal with life priorities, including raising children and caring for family members.

“We have someone who works a shift from 3 a.m. until 7 a.m., then she goes home to get her son off to school and comes back to work,” she said. “It is essentially a split shift, which works because people have lives and kids.”

There are processes in place, including measures to guard against abuse of the system. Matese said the attrition rate for the YWCA has plummeted from 26% to less than half of the 19% nonprofit national average.

With more than 35% of Northeast Ohio workers from the Fund survey saying that the demands of their job interfered with life responsibilities, and 37% saying that work is less important now than before the pandemic, creating a more appreciative and flexible culture for employees could go a long way toward keeping workers in their positions.

“Perspective is an interesting thing, and what we’re seeing is that people are questioning what they thought was important,” Matese said.

“Inflexible employers are going to struggle much more than some of us who are a little more willing to treat people like individuals.”

Burke said the results should help employers understand the real wants of the region’s workforce. Over the course of the next few months, the results of the survey will continue to be updated, and tools will be added to help filter and drill down into specific data.

“This information is required to understand the shifting perspective about what makes work, work for a variety of different kinds of people,” Burke said. “There is an opportunity with this information for employers to make things better, either for the people there currently or for people they might want to attract.”

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

4 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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NONPROFITS

United Way, partners to tackle ‘social determinants of work’

BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

In collaboration with community partners, United Way of Greater Cleveland is working to better understand and address factors that affect a person’s ability to prepare for and enter the workforce, accept a job and grow in their role.

United Way and Towards Employment, a workforce development nonprofit, have identified eight “social determinants of work:” five that have been previously defined (job flexibility, transportation, childcare, health care and sustained education), along with three they’re adding (home and community health, broadband access and access to justice).

“The social determinants of work help us understand that people are complex, and that the reasons that they make their decisions are not simply a lack of desire to work,” said Renée Timberlake, director of economic mobility for United Way of Greater Cleveland. “They’re often really influenced by a whole set of barriers and challenges and decision points that they have to make that a lot of people who are running com-

panies or managing people have nev- a culminating forum featuring Angeer really had to face, because they’ve la Jackson, managing partner at the had a certain level of financial stabil- venture philanthropy organization New Profit, who coined the term soity.” cial determinants of work The Social Determinants and defined the initial five of Work (SDoW) Initiative barriers. Over the next sevbegan with a mid-July sumeral months, United Way mit covering “benefit cliffs,” and Towards Employment which occur when individare writing a report on uals receiving public beneSDoW in the area that will fits get a raise that disqualibe released at the forum in fies them from at least one October, along with a compublic benefit, resulting in munity action plan that will a net income loss. be created through the United Way and Team Timberlake working sessions.

NEO will co-host two emThe concept of social deployer engagement opporterminants of work captures tunities (one virtual from the various elements that noon to 1:30 p.m. on July 26 may create an opportunity and an in-person event from gap, from practical barriers 9 to 11 a.m. on July 27), for to structural challenges like the business community to systemic racism that run better understand barriers through each of them, said to work. Cuyahoga County Jill Rizika, president and business leaders who regisCEO of Towards Employter for either roundtable dis- Rizika ment. The challenge for the cussion can gather to learn and share ways to better support community is to better understand those barriers and collectively do a betworkers with elements of the SDoW. United Way will also host commu- ter job of addressing them, she said, nity action plan working sessions and pointing to the community leadership,

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conversations and investments around addressing the social determinants of health. Workforce could leverage a similar approach to think more holistically and create alignment among workers, their supports, employers and job opportunities, she said.

At the start of this year, 93.6% of Northeast Ohio businesses said the pool of qualified applicants for open positions was not sufficient for their needs, according to a mid-December 2021 to January 2022 survey conducted by the Fund for our Economic Future as part of its Where Are the Workers research initiative.

The unemployment rate for the Cleveland area is 5.5%, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics for May 2022, which puts it at the highest rate among large metro areas with populations greater than 1 million.

Perkul With a disconnect between employers hiring and people looking for jobs, this is “the perfect time” to discuss barriers to work and to figure out why people aren’t coming into the open jobs, Timberlake said.

Eli Stacy, regional outreach manager for the central and northern Ohio re- Stacy gions at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, is on the advisory committee for the SDoW initiative, along with representatives from area nonprofits, including The Center for Community Solutions, the Northeast Ohio Workforce Coalition, Towards Employment, The Centers, Esperanza, the Lit- Campbell eracy Cooperative and Sisters of Charity.

“Cleveland, unlike most metros, had high unemployment, regardless of job access rate, which is the share of jobs in a region that can be reached within a typical commute distance, or time,” Stacy said, citing “Missed Connections in Cleveland,” a report published by a colleague. “That highlights that there are deeper problems beyond just the physical job location accessibility, that Clevelanders are facing. So part of the conversation is really digging into what are the drivers of that?”

four programs most often examined when thinking about benefits cliffs are: child care, housing assistance, Medicaid and SNAP. “It’s impacting people who are making decisions about whether to work more hours or take a raise or get a better job,” she said. “There are places on that path, as you move up in income, where in the short term, it does not make economic sense for your family, because you’re gonna lose a benefit that’s worth hundreds of dollars a month for a very small raise or increase, and so it causes workers to get stuck.”

Plus, it “really frustrates employers,” if people turn down opportunities for advancement, Campbell said, which is why it’s important to find tools to help employees and employers navigate the cliffs.

“The solutions to the social determinants of work are things that don’t just help people who are living in poverty; they can help everyone,” Campbell said.

“I think by focusing on those people that are facing benefit cliffs, or those people that are living in poverty, you get the right solutions that can work for the broadest group of people.”

Further education and awareness of social determinants of work could present opportunities to increase job quality, said Debbi Perkul, who was executive director of workforce partnerships at MAGNET until transitioning out of her role at the end of June.

A strategy under the Workforce Connect Manufacturing sector partnership was creating on-ramps for populations underrepresented in manufacturing, including women, Black people and other people of color, women and young adults between 18 and 24 years of age. ACCESS to Manufacturing Careers, a four-week work-readiness program, was created to help address this. Towards Employment serves as the training provider.

Through the ACCESS program, about 30 participating employers and some other manufacturing companies learned about benefit cliffs. In a presentation, “THE SOLUTIONS TO THE SOCIAL Campbell taught them DETERMINANTS OF WORK ARE about how the issue could be impacting THINGS THAT DON’T JUST HELP their employees and PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN what possible solutions be implemented.

POVERTY; THEY CAN HELP EVERYONE.” could It was eye-opening to — Emily Campbell, chief operating officer many, said Perkul, who at the Center for Community Solutions notes that outside of the worlds of government Beyond impeding job access, and nonprofit or social service organiSDoW also can hinder an individual’s zations, there’s not a broad underability to obtain the skills needed to standing of how public benefits work. take advantage of jobs and, among a “I’m just really, really happy that certain population, be a barrier to ca- United Way is hosting these employer reer advancement. sessions, because I think it makes a big In its efforts, the SDoW Initiative is difference,” Perkul said. Employers emphasizing the effect of benefit “want to have good working conditions cliffs and raising awareness about the for their employees; they want to have challenges they create for those re- good culture, because it makes people ceiving public benefits. stick around and they have good retenThese cliffs face people who are on tion. And so awareness is really the first the path from poverty to economic self step to that.” sufficiency and prosperity, said Emily Campbell, chief operating officer at the Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, Center for Community Solutions. The (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre

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

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HEALTH CARE

Summa tackles staffing challenges with Smart Start program

BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

Faced with ongoing staffing challenges, Summa Health is taking a new approach to investing in the education of future health care workers.

The system partnered with Aultman College of Nursing and Health Sciences this spring to pay for 100% of tuition, as well as fees, for students participating in its new Summa Smart Start Program. But instead of through a traditional reimbursement model, Summa paid tuition upfront, removing what is, for some, a substantial barrier.

“This program is different because it meets the student where they are,” said Tony Colly, Summa’s senior vice president and chief human resource officer.

For those already pursuing a degree and able to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement program, that’s a good benefit that supports a lot of people, he said.

“But this is just looking at it from a different lens and approaching it from what are your needs. You know, what are your barriers?” Colly said. “And how can Summa be a partner with you, get you introduced to the health care careers, and then help you get employed and stay employed?”

A cohort entered each of the two Aultman program tracks (medical assistant and phlebotomy) in the spring.

In June, Summa partnered with Stark

State College to expand Smart Start, launching five more programs: associate RN, licensed practical nurse (LPN), respiratory therapist, surgical technician and another medical assistant program.

Through the Stark State partnership, Summa subsidizes full-time students by paying for half of their school tuition or providing $2,000 toward living expenses, such as childcare.

After graduation, program participants are connected with a job in their field to fulfill a two-year work commitment at Summa Health.

Kelly Reinsel, dean of health and public services at Stark State, said the college and Summa will work together to ensure students Colly have everything they need to be supported through their education, whether that’s tutoring or extra lab time.

“We’re going to work together to make sure that that happens,” Reinsel said. “I think the ability to have your education paid for, and then also a job guaranteed, is really a benefit.”

During the program, students also work a few hours a month at Summa in support jobs to get them acquainted with and connected to the system.

In that sense, the education almost doubles as an orientation, said The-

resa Benzel, dean of foundational education and health professions at Aultman College.

Once students have learned the system, the atmosphere of the workplace and who the employer is, “if it’s a good fit, nine times out of 10, that employer says, ‘Hey, I want you because you already understand the process, you understand who we are,’” Benzel said. That makes onboarding and orientation easier, and it helps employees know the organization they’re joining and ideally, makes them more likely to stay, she said.

Summa had around 400 job openings in 2019, but that has more than doubled, with nursing being one of the hardest hit areas, Colly said.

“For a fairly consistent amount of time for the past couple of years, we’ve ran around 1,000 openings, give or take,” he said.

Health care staffing challenges long predated COVID-19, with regional and national forecasts projecting shortages over the years in different fields, nursing in particular.

“My opinion is it was kind of exasperated by COVID,” Colly said.

Nearly every industry is feeling staffing challenges, he said, but some industries “have been hit a little harder” than others, including hospitals and the service industry, which also

makes up part of the workforce in a health system.

In addition to Stark State and Aultman, Summa Smart Start has partnered with the Akron Urban League, which will work to refer potential candidates to the program. The goal is to build the program in a way that is flexible and responsive to needs, Colly said, noting that the system is open to other partners.

For the year, Summa has budgeted between $400,000 and $500,000 for Summa Smart Start — funds that are in addition to its tuition reimbursement dollars.

While it is an important tool for many, tuition reimbursement may not be a realistic option for others, Benzel said.

For some of the entry-level positions that health care systems need filled, it can even be a barrier for students to pay for a registration fee or testing fee to see if they can even get into a program, she said.

“Summa kind of realized that I think, and with removing that barrier completely, they’re now pulling in students and potential employees that are going to be lifelong employees for them,” she said. “But they just needed that help in the beginning to get them in and to get come through the door to get the education. So, it’s just removing one of the biggest barriers that we all see — it’s the financial barrier.”

Aarion Decatur first learned about the program from her supervisor when she was working as an environmental aide at Summa Health System-St. Thomas Campus.

She’d always been interested in working in the lab, so she enrolled in the phlebotomy program. Having it fully funded was key. She wouldn’t have been able to pay for the program out-of-pocket and then wait to get reimbursed later.

As a single mom of three kids, Decatur said it was hard to find somewhere where she could work full-time to support her family and still go to school.

“There was no other program that offered me that,” she said.

In June, Summa hosted a combined graduation ceremony and employee orientation for the first cohort of phlebotomy students, including Decatur, who started the very next day.

She likes her new job even more than she thought she would, and the night shift is proving beneficial for childcare.

To anyone considering applying to the program, Decatur says “go for it.”

“Why wouldn’t your employer want to work with you to continue your education and then give you a job afterwards?” she said. “It’s like a win-win situation.”

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

2022

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PERSONAL VIEW

Ohio is poised for decades of job growth

BY BILL PAOLILLO AND MYLES MURRAY

Demonstrators during the ‘Fight Starbucks Union Busting’ rally in Seattle, Washington, on April 23, 2022. | DAVID RYDER/BLOOMBERG

EDITORIAL

State of the unions I

t has been a rocky year for the economy, underscored most recently by federal data for June showing that the consumer price index was up 9.1% from a year ago.

Inflation’s burden on consumers and employers is immediate and well-understood, even if answers for now remain elusive. Federal Reserve tightening has yet to slay the inflation beast; Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president Loretta Mester called the June numbers “uniformly bad,” adding, “There was no good news in that report at all.” Gas prices have started to fall, offering a little relief, but higher costs for virtually everything continue to ripple through and reshape the economy.

Here’s another statistic that’s eye-catching and, though distinct from inflation, tells us something about the tumultuous state of business and employment: During the first six months of the federal govfiscal 2022 (Oct. IN AUGUST 2021, 68% OF ernment’s 1, 2021, through March 31 AMERICANS APPROVED this year), union representation petitions filed at the OF LABOR UNIONS, National Labor Relations GALLUP POLLING FOUND Board have increased 57% — to 1,174 from 748 during the like period of fiscal 2021. Unfair labor practice charges, meanwhile, increased 14%, to 8,254 from 7,255.

A lot of that union organizing is taking place at big national companies, most notably Starbucks — workers at the coffee chain’s store on West Sixth Street in downtown Cleveland in May became the second in the state to formally unionize — and Amazon. Growing numbers of companies in many industries, from airlines to retail to tech, are seeing employees pursue unionization. And as the National Law Review noted, the increase comes as the Gallup polling organization found that Americans’ approval of labor unions had risen to 68% in August 2021 from just 48% in 2009. The last year this many Americans viewed unions positively? 1965.

The Starbucks union victories, in particular, bear watching, given the company’s high profile and its strong, vocal push against the organizing efforts. Such wins, experts say, could spur more unionization across the country. “Sometimes strikes

and union organizing victories can be very contagious,” Johnnie Kallas, a doctoral candidate at Cornell’s Industrial and Labor Relations school, told Vox in December after a company-owned Starbucks in Buffalo became the first in the U.S. to unionize.

As with so many things, the pandemic appears to be the chief catalyst for higher levels of unionization efforts. It “was the wakeup call ... that has prompted two perspectives: ‘is there another way to work and live?’ and the relationship between employers with workers,” former NLRB chairman and current Georgetown Law professor Mark Pearce told CNBC in May. “The vulnerable workers — they were not only scared, they were pissed.”

The political atmosphere has changed, too. President Joe Biden has been staunchly pro-union, and the National Labor Relations Board under this administration likely will make labor law changes that will make it easier for unions to organize workforces. A more populist, less corporate Republican Party, meanwhile, gives some of its members more space to support unions. And workers, when they believe there are a lot of other jobs out there, are more willing to take the risk of forming a union knowing they have options if their employer retaliates. (That might change quickly if high inflation or other factors send the economy into a recession.)

Labor’s recent resurgence, though, comes against the backdrop of long-term declines in the share of U.S. workers who are unionized. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, for instance, reports that in 2021, the number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions declined by 241,000 to about 14 million, and the percentage who were members of unions fell to 10.3% from 10.8% in 2020. (Ohio’s figure is higher, at 13%.)

As recently as 1983, the national figure was above 20%.

Seen through that lens, unions may be down, but they certainly aren’t out.

Non-union employers should understand that organizing is a real possibility as workers seek help in amplifying their voices on issues such as wages, hours and working conditions. Smart employers will look at whether their current efforts to communicate with workers are effective — assuming they exist at all. If not, they should work quickly to create more open channels for dialogue.

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

Ohio gross domestic product was $736,450,000,000 in 2021, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis data. Ohio ranked seventh between Pennsylvania (No. 6) and New Jersey (No. 8). Advanced manufacturing has the potential to grow Ohio’s economy by one-third in the next 10 years in the Ohio River Valley and surrounding region.

It is expected that the construction of Intel’s new $20 billion integrated circuit chip fabrication facility outside of Columbus will require 7,000 construction workers and 3,000 additional permanent employees. It is estimated that the regional investment at the new Intel campus will exceed $100 Paolillo (top) and billion over the next 10 years.

Murray Ford’s announcement of a $1.5 billion electric vehicle assembly plant in Avon Lake similarly will require thousands of temporary construction jobs and create hundreds of permanent ones.

General Motors’ $5 billion battery innovation center in Warren, Michigan, eventually will house hundreds of engineers, prototyping and manufacturing the cutting-edge battery systems for electric vehicles being manufactured in Lordstown.

These developments are evidence that a business ecosystem we call the Voltage Valley exists where conditions are primed for a rapid expansion of high-value manufacturing. The Voltage Valley rests at the edge of the Appalachian region, where energy-intensive manufacturing operations can thrive.

Epicenter of advanced manufacturing As energy intensive manufacturing returns to the United States for strategic, logistic and economic reasons, Ohio is at the epicenter of a new era of advanced manufacturing. We expect that the Voltage Valley will lead to 25% year-over-year construction spending for the next 10 years, with the creation of over 50,000 jobs in the region. These jobs will span multiple sectors that are able to take advantage of the burgeoning clean energy infrastructure, allowing a new and distinct development model.

A Voltage Valley is a geographic business cluster where electric vehicle battery plants, data centers, microchip plants, crypto mining facilities, recycling plants or other large power users affiliated with digital transformation or electrification are located. An example of electrification is powering a car with electricity versus a carbon-based fuel like gasoline. Silicon Valley and electrification are the driving forces behind the concept of Voltage Valleys.

Voltage Valleys need reliable, resilient and sustainable power to drive advancements in artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning, faster computer chips,

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 GROWTH, 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 | JULY 18, 2022

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OPINION

LEE & ASSOCIATES

GROWTH

C O M M E R C I A L R E A L ESTATE S E R V I C E S

LEE CLEVELAND

From Page 8

manufacturing robots, recycling, and for product manufacturing that supports electrification. Advanced manufacturing also requires access to trains, ports, feedstocks and water. These needs are precisely why the Ohio River Valley has historically been a manufacturing powerhouse.

Ohio has historically been a primary manufacturing hub for the creation of steel, uranium, aluminum, polymers and glass. The development of these industries led to secondary manufacturing in motor vehicles, aerospace products, electrical equipment and appliances.

The Voltage Valley ecosystem that drew prosperous industries to Ohio from the 1950s through the 1980s still exists. Ohio’s plentiful access to water and inexpensive electricity, combined with inexpensive, available land and a high-quality labor force drive businesses to this region.

Ohio GDP moves toward $1 trillion Currently announced ventures from Intel, Ford, GM, First Solar and others are only the beginning of the construction and manufacturing revitalization that will send Ohio’s gross domestic product over $1 trillion for the first time before 2027.

If Ohio is going to realize the goal of a $1 trillion GDP, we will need to be strategic and partner with surrounding states. We would suggest reshoring advanced industry to the Voltage Valley that includes the Appalachian triangle (Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky) and Pennsylvania. The combined GDP of these four states is already $1.876 trillion, the equivalent of a top 10 country between Brazil (11) and Italy (9). Taking a region-specific focus gives the U.S. true reshoring strategic advantage. The U.S. can not only lower its economic dependency on foreign markets, but simultaneously take on the challenge of clean energy development.

As Intel, Ford and General Motors have announced they will be carbon neutral by 2050, they will be required to switch to clean and lower emission production systems. The clustering of advanced manufacturing in the Voltage Valley allows companies to access sustainable power and clean industrial inputs. In contrast to the Chinese development of semiconductor manufacturing, battery manufacturing and energy technologies, our “Voltage Valley” presents a low carbon ecosystem for clean development. We can power these critical and strategic manufacturing capacities by clean energy technologies. Clean technology eliminates or reduces the creation of pollutants or wastes at the source. An example of a clean technology is an LED light bulb, which uses about 10% of the electricity of an incandescent bulb and lasts five to 10 years.

Newpoint’s proposed clean hydrogen project in Piketon and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s new clean steel production in Toledo are two examples of clean development that will drive U.S. competitive advantage around electrification and silicon chip manufacturing.

Rewriting the manufacturing playbook We expect that market demands will entice other high-value, energy intensive manufacturers to make significant investments in the Voltage Valley. These new facilities will be required to produce the silicon, polymer and glass inputs required for the region’s growing electric vehicle, semiconductor and photovoltaic industries. The Ohio River Valley has the history of doing large, energy intensive projects, and we have assets that are unique for this development.

When the Piketon Gaseous Diffusion plant was turned on in 1952, it consumed fully 5% of all of the electricity used in the United States. At peak operation, the unit could use more than 40 million gallons of water per day for cooling.

In 2011, it was closed and decommissioned by the Department of Energy after a 10-year period of standby.

In the first phase of recommissioning, 248 acres of the site will be developed by Newpoint Gas. Phase 1 of the $1.5 billion plant will include up to 300 megawatts of power generation capacity and provide 500 metric tons per day of clean hydrogen for use in advanced primary production of low-carbon cement, sustainable fuel feedstock, and green ammonia. In addition to produc-

Lordstown Motors Corp. headquarters in Lordstown is part of a “Voltage Valley,” or geographic business cluster where large power users affiliated with digital transformation or electrification are located. | DUSTIN FRANZ/BLOOMBERG

ing hydrogen that can be used in manufacturing clean steel and cement, the facility may also be used to create feedstock silica for the solar panel and semiconductor industries.

At the edge of the Voltage Valley, in the hills of Kentucky, is one of the most valuable fossil fuel deposits in the world. Kentucky’s Blue Gem Coal seam produces ultra-low-sulfur coking coal that is coveted by semiconductor manufacturers. This feedstock goes into arc furnaces with raw silica to produce the 99.9% pure silicon required for semiconductor manufacturing.

Ferro Global’s recent deal to supply silicon from its Beverly, Ohio, foundry to the Renewable Energy Corp.

(REC) processing plant in Montana shows just how far companies will go to get these best-in-class feedstocks.

We expect these kinds of investments to be mirrored at Hemlock Semiconductor’s silicon refinery in central Michigan. Currently, American production of silicon stands at around 60,000 metric tons per year, evenly split between REC and Hemlock. We expect that due to the onshoring efforts in semiconductor and solar manufacturing, U.S. silicon demand will double in coming years.

The Appalachian triangle and Pennsylvania provide the right clean manufacturing ecosystem to produce the additional 60,000 metric tons of silicon.

On the shores of Lake Erie, Cleveland-Cliffs, the largest producer of flat stock steel and iron ore in North America, has a new steel manufacturing plant in Toledo which produces 25% less carbon dioxide per ton of steel fabrication.

This facility uses direct reduction of iron oxide using clean hydrogen instead of coal in the furnace. With nearly 30,000 acres of solar power plants currently being developed or under review in Ohio, we foresee deep decarbonization across the steel manufacturing supply chain throughout the Voltage Valley.

Ohio’s Voltage Valley offers access to all the inputs required for 21st century advanced manufacturing. During the next 10 years, regional policy makers, regulators and businesses can rewrite the playbook on advanced manufacturing.

Onshoring these jobs from places with terrible track records on environmental, human rights and climate issues into the clean manufacturing ecosystem of the Voltage Valley will serve as an example to the world of what manufacturing should look like in the 21st century and beyond.

It is imperative government regulators and legislatures provide incentives for clean power, distributed energy resources, permitting and strategic coordination. Ohio will benefit from thousands of new high paying jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in new investment.

Meanwhile, clean technology will pave the way for companies that locate their operations here to achieve their carbon reduction goals. If we remain at the forefront of this clean energy technology trend, maintaining and improving the business ecosystem will provide decades of job growth in Ohio.

Paolillo is vice president of strategic alliances and advanced technologies at J.W. Didado Electric. He is also a visiting lecturer on leadership and lean building science at the University of Akron. Murray is an entrepreneur in the solar industry with over 10 years of experience around research, development, manufacturing and implementation of PV products and systems.

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IN MANUFACTURING

T

he 2022 Crain’s Notables in Manufacturing honorees highlight ingenuity, innovation and inspiration. The list includes companies that are longtime businesses and new thinkers — from rolled steel to packaging for medical cannabis; from promoting manufacturing in local communities to a life sciences entity that keeps us healthy; from a business run by the son of Cuban immigrants to family-owned and -operated businesses that have been in Cleveland for years. These 25 individuals are a diverse representation of hard work and commitment. In their various efforts in manufacturing, they provide jobs, drive the economy and point to the future — while standing on the shoulders of those who did the work in the past.

METHODOLOGY: The honorees do not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from the nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by editors. To qualify for the list, nominees must be based in Northeast Ohio. They must be currently employed full time in a senior-level role and stand out in the field of manufacturing. They also should have shown the ability or power to affect change by navigating new ways of recruiting talent; improving efficiency; and/or enhancing company culture. They must be active in the community and/or philanthropic activities, mentoring programs and/or diversity and inclusion initiatives.

JENNIFER AKE-MARRIOTT

JEAN ANGUS

BARBARA BENNETT

JESSICA BORZA

Industrial repair company Redmond Waltz Electric was in “terrible distress” when owner Lorry Wagner asked Jennifer Ake-Marriott to take on the role of president in 2013.

“Over the next five years, the company nearly tripled revenues while paying off $1 million in debt, rebuilding customer and vendor relationships, increasing wages and benefits, and adding more women to the small staff, while also creating a culture of accountability and efficient communication, focused on growth and changing for the better,” the nomination said.

Today, Ake-Marriott serves as president and CEO of the Cleveland company, while still serving in a leadership role at her family business, Ake Environmental Inc. At Redmond Waltz, she’s worked to create a culture of fun at work, hosting events like “Free Lunch Fridays” with showings of “The Office.” And the company offers a variety of benefits for its employees, from the more traditional insurance and retirement offerings to paid professional development and paid time off for voting. The nomination noted that she is also introducing paid time off for volunteer activities. “(Ake-Marriott) fosters happiness, emphasizing that happy people are productive, creative, and engaged,” the nomination said.

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

Jean Angus believes in sustainable results, a leadership quality the Saint-Gobain official has put into practice during her time with the company. Under Angus’ guidance, SaintGobain has experienced double-digit growth each year over the last five years. The company also has enjoyed measurable safety improvements across 30-plus global manufacturing sites, as well as continuous improvement on its annual employee engagement survey.

Saint-Gobain develops materials and solutions for the construction, mobility, health care and industrial application markets. Angus has built a robust workplace environment where open communication and inclusivity are keys to ongoing success.

She shares her love for high-tech learning through a regional STEM education initiative co-sponsored by the Great Lakes Science Center. Involvement with a global mentorship program at Saint-Gobain supports early-career employees, while sponsorship of an in-house women’s group brings educational resources to a population historically underserved in STEM. “Jean and her team are building a customer-focused culture where strong material expertise complements unparalleled co-development capabilities,” the nomination said.

“She strives to connect all employees to the customers’ experience.”

— Douglas J. Guth

Barbara Bennett’s work with the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce is geared toward helping young men and women find jobs and careers in local manufacturing, which in turn supports the growth and well-being of Stark County businesses.

Bennett grew up being taught basic principles of engineering by her father, R. James Hammontree, who would take the family on Sunday drives to construction sites he was involved with and explain basic principles of drainage and catch basins. That led her to pursue civil engineering, which meant she opened doors for other women to follow.

Bennett attended the University of Notre Dame and worked with her father at Hammontree & Associates for 28 years before joining the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District as manager of special projects. She joined the chamber in 2019.

Bennett was part of the third class of Leadership Canton, and is a winner of the 2018 Inspiring Women of Power Award and a member of the YWCA Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2019, she was recognized by the Canton Repository with the Clayton G. Horn Award of Excellence. She serves on several boards — including the Stark Education Partnership and the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition.

— Pat McManamon

Jessica Borza wants to see people working in manufacturing.

As executive director of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, Borza has spent more than a decade working to help manufacturers “recruit, prepare and retain” a skilled workforce, according to her nomination.

“Jessica’s passion is connecting young people and those who are unand under-employed to in-demand jobs,” the nomination said.

Borza has led the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition since its formation in 2011. The coalition serves Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties. Within 10 years, it already had grown to about 100 members and had brought in more than $24 million from member dues, sponsorships and grants.

“Jessica facilitated dialogue between industry and education to create and redesign more responsive education and training programs and provide seamless career pathways,” the nomination said.

The nomination noted that the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association views the coalition as a model for manufacturing industry sector partnerships in the state. Borza in recent years has worked with the association to help those types of partnerships grow across Ohio, and funding for them has been included in state budgets.

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

President and CEO Saint-Gobain Life Sciences

Vice president of education Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce

Executive director Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK

President and CEO Redmond Waltz Electric

10 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE INAUGURAL

NETWORKING W I T H N O TA B L E S

C L AS S Thank you for your commitment to northeast Ohio communities.

Together, we are building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all.

Delta Dental of Ohio Proud sponsor of Crain’s Cleveland’s Networking with Notables series

ARIC CAMPBELL

MI

Aric Campbell runs the nation’s largest fire sprinkler fabrication operation under one roof as plant manager for Barberton-based S.A. Comunale.

The shop consumes 9 miles of pipes daily, shipping over 1 million pounds of sprinkler components around the country weekly.

Since joining S.A. Comunale in 2017, Campbell's leadership has helped the company to more than double its revenue. He is credited specifically with increasing annual output 3.5 times, to 1.1 million units; boosting labor efficiency by 60%; overseeing a building and weld line expansion; instituting a second shift; and optimizing technology and workflows to reduce consumables, power consumption and defects by 75%.

Campbell also created display boards to enable visualization of shop performance and foster competition. He realized all of this, the nomination said, as he created a culture of safety — reflected by four-plus years without a lost-time incident — and openness.

“Team members can ask for help for personal, financial or other problems and know they will be helped/supported during tough times,” according to the nomination.

Campbell led by example during COVID, implementing changes that prevented outbreaks or mass spreading events while continuing improvements.

— Judy Stringer

M turin C the

MICHAEL CANTY

NIC

Michael Canty has grown Alloy Precision Technologies into an innovation-driven manufacturing enterprise far from its humble beginnings as a low-tech bellows manufacturer.

Canty purchased the former Alloy Bellows in 2006, a time when the small firm had $5 million in sales and 25 employees.

Expanding company systems, revenues and manufacturing capabilities helped Canty meet modern marketplace needs and boost annual sales to $23 million. In 2021, he repositioned the burgeoning business as APT while continuing his pursuit of custom processes and integrated technologies.

“All this was possible because Michael invested aggressively in sophisticated machine tools, automated welding and production systems, robotics, 3-D printing, and performance metrics reporting,” the nomination said. “APT's quality certifications, laser and CMM testing equipment, and in-house inspection processes assure the highest quality.”

Almost everything manufactured by APT derives from domestic raw materials. Canty’s community focus carries into the nonprofit realm as well, particularly around workforce and economic development. Canty sits on the boards of Notre Dame College, MAGNET and the COSE Health and Wellness Trust.

Canty’s public service extended to eight years as Bentleyville mayor, where he emphasized business development and job creation.

— Douglas J. Guth

H cole pinn Tech

Plant manager S.A. Comunale

............... ...............

Redmond Waltz Congratulates

Jennifer Ake-Marriott as a recipient of Notables in Manufacturing.

For over 75 years, Redmond Waltz is an expert provider of Industrial Repairs specializing in the repair of AC/DC electric motors, gearboxes, pumps, blowers, and fans, and is the service provider of choice for many critical industries that value quality and responsiveness in their vendor partners.

President and CEO Alloy Precision Technologies

4126 ST. CLAIR AVENUE • CLEVELAND, OHIO 44103 • REDMONDWALTZ.COM

2022

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Guth

Congratulations to Senior Vice President, Operations Ward Dumm

Director of industrial development Manufacturing Works Millie Caraballo has made quite an impact on the Cleveland manufacturing industry.

Caraballo has spent more than two decades in leadership positions with the Cleveland Industrial Retention Initiative, a city program that links manufacturing businesses to community resources.

She was promoted to director of industrial development for Manufacturing Works, a Cleveland nonprofit, in 2021. That same year, CIRI, which is managed by Manufacturing Works, supported 500-plus manufacturing companies.

With CIRI, she leverages “her reputation, relationships and deep-rooted knowledge of the industry to guide it into the future,” the nomination said.

The nomination describes Caraballo as “a proud Latina” who is “very connected to her heritage” and participates in community groups that promote social justice. She’s a member, and former head, of Manufacturing Works’ equity committee. At La Sagrada Familia, she serves on the parish council, is part of the fundraising committee and is very involved with the Cleveland church’s youth programming.

Additionally, Caraballo was part of Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s transition team. The Manufacturing Works director was a member of the thenmayor-elect’s economic development committee.

Caraballo, the nomination said, “has become a trusted adviser for many” in the local manufacturing industry.

— Kevin Kleps

Leading a team that has made Swagelok a growing manufacturer in Northeast Ohio and around the world.

Congratulations to Ward Dumm Senior Vice President, Operations Your leadership has made Swagelok a leading manufacturer in Northeast Ohio and around the world.

NICOLE CONTI

General operations manager Kyocera Hardcoating Technologies

Swagelok Company | Solon, OH, USA | swagelok.com

Humble and hardworking — that’s how colleagues characterize Nicole Conti in her nomination. In fact, it’s those qualities that underpinned her 24 years of professional growth at Kyocera Hardcoating Technologies.

Conti started at the company as a machine operator and has steadily risen through the ranks to her current role as general operations manager.

“Companywide people are comfortable to go to her when they have a suggestion or an issue that needs addressed,” the nomination said. “Her teamwork mentality to problem solve keeps morale high.”

For example, in 2018, while serving as director of associate involvement — which included facilitating kaizen (team brainstorming) events, planning the firm’s annual service award banquet and overseeing continuous improvement needs — she was asked to assist the hardcoating division.

She juggled both positions for more than a year before permanently taking on the role overseeing the hardcoating division.

“She remains humble and exceeds all expectations no matter what is thrown at her,” the nomination said. “Nicole is truly respected and has paved a way for women in our industry.”

One colleague put it this way in the nomination: “She’s literally the best boss I’ve ever worked for.”

— Timothy Magaw

© 2022 Swagelok Company ®

A CUSTOM PUBLISHING SECTION CONTACT Mara Broderick at mara.broderick@crain.com Participation Deadline: September 12

Congratulations, Jen Rhone!

Crain’s Notables in Manufacturing for 2022 Regional Plant Manager, Performance Tapes, North America

CHRISTOPHER BURNS/UNSPLASH

eranale. lion

MILLIE CARABALLO

JULY 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 13

WARD DUMM

MARK FEDOR

EDUARDO GONZALEZ

JERRY GOOTEE

Ward Dumm is responsible for Swagelok’s global manufacturing strategy and the processes that support the company’s commitment to quality.

Dumm started on the production line at Swagelok in 1991, operating a screw machine while finishing his engineering degree at Cleveland State University. He then worked in a number of management roles as he ascended, including engineering and quality assurance manager, planning manager, engineering manager and plant manager. He was vice president for continuous improvement and quality in 2015, and vice president for operations in 2018. Employee health and safety has been an emphasis in his present job, his nomination said.

Dumm has served on the board of MAGNET for several years, was a Big Brothers Big Sisters match for 10 years, and has been a member of College Now, which helps middle school, high school and adult learners continue through school.

He points out in his Swagelok bio that manufacturing is in his DNA — he started a lawnmower repair business at 14, five of his six siblings are engineers, and his father spent 46 years as a tool-and-die maker at Ford’s engine plant on Brookpark Road in Cleveland.

— Pat McManamon

Mark Fedor’s family has a history with Morgan Industries that extends to his great-grandfather, who joined the Alliance manufacturer at the beginning of the 20th century.

Fedor joined the business after graduating from the University of Akron.

Eleven years later, in 2005, he became CEO, and he bought the business in 2010.

Morgan has since expanded to five companies: Morgan Engineering, Morgan Site Services, Heppenstall/ Blaw-Knox, Morgan Kinetic Structures and Morgan Automation.

Morgan specializes in the design and production of large industrial cranes and steel equipment. Under Fedor, Morgan has become “a pioneer in industrial automation and other Industry 4.0 technologies,” the nomination said.

In 2019, Morgan announced a $5 million investment in its Alliance headquarters. The project included a new office building and a 15,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing space. Fedor, according to the nomination, helps Morgan’s clients “harness the power of big data and analytics to improve the safety and efficiency of their operations.”

Fedor serves on several boards and is active in the Alliance community. He promotes the importance of safety and STEM education at Alliance City Schools and regularly supports the Alliance Area Domestic Violence Shelter.

— Kevin Kleps

Eduardo Gonzalez’s life journey started in Cuba. His father was a successful attorney who had to flee the country when Fidel Castro came to power. The Gonzalez family flew to Miami, then moved to Cincinnati before settling in Cleveland, where Eduardo’s parents started over as Spanish literature professors.

Their son grew up to found Ferragon, a Cleveland-based metal processing business that, among other things, treats and delivers rolled steel to automakers (think the Ford F-150) and other companies.

The business that he founded after buying a bankrupt company 39 years ago now thrives. He started with five employees and enough cash to last three months. He grew to have divisions in Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio (Cleveland) and Michigan (Detroit).

“His continued expansion is a credit to Ed's steady hand in managing growth and investing in the latest technologies in the industry,” his nomination said.

Gonzalez attended the University of Michigan and played football, rooming with Les Miles, who would go on to be a head coach at several colleges. His son Anthony played at Ohio State University and for the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL before becoming a U.S. congressman.

— Pat McManamon

Since Jerry Gootee arrived in Northeast Ohio in 1997 as an industry analyst with EY, he’s set his sights on serving more than just his clients.

He’s committed himself to the region.

Today, Gootee leads the global advanced manufacturing sector at EY — a $3.2 billion business for the firm, according to the nomination. During his tenure, he’s also led key global accounts and taken on many leadership roles, including managing partner for EY’s Akron office and global innovations, markets and communications leader.

In 2020, he fulfilled a personal dream when he co-founded the EY-Nottingham Spirk Innovation Hub in Cleveland. Working with the local innovation firm Nottingham Spirk and EY’s partners, “The Hub,” as it’s known, is backed by the likes of Team NEO, JobsOhio and other economic development entities.

Just since October, according to the nomination, more than 500 senior global executives have come through The Hub for exclusive, cutting-edge experiences around the future of manufacturing. “(The Hub) is also benefiting the community, bringing new jobs, knowledge and global prestige to Cleveland, and helping to burnish its long-standing reputation as a global center for manufacturing and innovation,” the nomination said.

— Timothy Magaw

Senior vice president Swagelok Co.

CEO and owner Morgan Industries

President and CEO Ferragon Corp.

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14 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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Joining 'a revolution in a new industry' Jack Grover was moved to enter the cannabis industry when he saw the relief medical marijuana gave his brother, who has cerebral palsy. After seeing the benefits cannabis provided, Grover decided to be part of what he called “a revolution in a new industry” by co-founding Grove Bags and engineering and manufacturing state-of-the-art cannabis packaging with TerpLoc technology.

— Pat McManamon ` Q. How much did medical cannabis help your brother?

A. A huge amount. Just in terms of how he feels, his clarity and his ability to sleep and function as a person. I really can’t imagine going back to his quality of life before he had access to it. Anybody who grows up with a sibling with a disability understands that that gives us a deeper sense of empathy. A large part of our success is because of my brother. ` Q. Where was the packaging industry before Grove Bags and TerpLoc? A. We can add value anywhere there’s a legal market. Before, people were repurposing and using packaging from other industries. Cannabis is a very sensitive and very volatile product, so having proper packaging allows us to deliver a much higher grade of medicine. Cannabis needs a very specific environment and gas mixture, and optimum humidity. ` Q. What is your market share in the industry?

A. It’s tough to say. Thankfully, we’ve enjoyed a lot of growth every year. I’d guess that maybe we’re doing 1% of total global, maybe 2%. There’s so much product out there and so much more runway to go to and grow. We have about 3,500 active customers across 50 countries — including Israel, Uganda, Japan. It’s also a booming industry. Not only are we a unique product with a unique value, we are a newer product in a rapidly expanding space. All modern agricultural industries are using tailored, manufactured, modified atmospheric films unique to the physiology to whatever they are packaging. ` Q. Your path is interesting. What did you take in college?

A. Finance. But we live in an incredible age. You can buy a book or watch a video on YouTube or connect on LinkedIn. You have to be diligent, but it takes time.

I wouldn’t call myself a scientist, but I think I’m a subject-matter expert. The process was difficult. It took a lot of time and patience. Most of the time, if you want to make anything that really adds value, you’re going to fail a few times and re-engineer and scratch your head and reach out for advice and input. That’s no different with an app or a packaging product.

JACK GROVER

MARK GRYSKIEWICZ

Co-founder and CEO Kinzie Advanced Polymers/DBA Grove Bags Jack Grover has brought innovation and ingenuity to the cannabis supply chain.

Grover started his career in finance and technology, but six years ago co-founded Grove Bags, which now is a recognized expert in packaging specifically designed for the curing and storage of medical marijuana.

Grover and his business partner, Jiazhou Yang, founded Grove Bags in 2017 in a WeWork space in Chicago. It has now grown to 25 employees and been recognized with a Dow Innovation Award and a Red Dot Design Award.

Grover’s idea took hold because prior medical cannabis was being stored in products repurposed from the food industry. That led him to research polymer packaging science, which in turn led him to engineer Modified Atmospheric Packaging, or TerpLoc, which is now used in every state and 60 countries.

The company website says the packaging combines humidity control with antimicrobial properties to maintain proper oxygen levels for the “perfect cannabis climate.”

One of Grover’s efforts that grew from the business is the Last Prisoner Project, which allows those incarcerated because of cannabis-related offenses to rebuild their lives in the legal cannabis industry.

It is part of Grover’s effort to highlight and spur efforts “within his industry for social good,” the nomination said.

— Pat McManamon

Plant manager 3M

“MOST OF THE TIME IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ANYTHING THAT REALLY ADDS VALUE, YOU’RE GOING TO FAIL A FEW TIMES AND RE-ENGINEER AND SCRATCH YOUR HEAD AND REACH OUT FOR ADVICE AND INPUT. THAT’S NO DIFFERENT WITH AN APP OR A PACKAGING PRODUCT.” — Jack Grover

The 3M plant in Medina strives to lead with its core values of trust, humility, courage, integrity and respect. As plant manager, Mark Gryskiewicz exemplifies all five in the way he encourages and supports his teams.

Gryskiewicz came to the Medina plant in 2017 after stints at 3M plants in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota over the past 20 years. At each, his aim has been to focus on safety, quality, service and cost improvements while maintaining an engaged workforce.

He’s done that in Medina by providing his teams with the tools and support they need to do their jobs well, according to his nomination.

And he creates buy-in among staff with consistent and transparent communication.

Last year, he worked to improve upon those skills by participating in the 2021-22 Leadership Medina County LEAD Institute program, a professional development program designed to help participants to lead their organizations through complex challenges more effectively.

In 2017, the Medina plant earned the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute's Environmental Leadership Award for its recycling practices under Gryskiewicz’s leadership.

And he got his teammates involved in the community by opening the plant to teachers at Wadsworth City Schools to help improve their students’ STEM curriculum.

Outside of 3M, Mark volunteers on the Medina County Board of Developmental Disabilities, which is responsible for connecting, coordinating and funding services for individuals of all ages with developmental disabilities.

— Kristine Gill

` Q. Do you deal with lingering negativity about the product?

A. It’s something I’ve become used to. It’s remarkable how quickly attitudes have changed. Society is evolving and developing. I started this six years ago. Those who would choose to shame me are fewer. Entrepreneurs in cannabis need to be like batteries and be fueled by positive and negative charges. To have the challenge out there is still energizing.

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JULY 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 15

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RON HAMMOND

Chief supply chain officer GOJO Industries When millions of Americans panicked at the start of the pandemic, eager to get their hands on sanitizer and PPE, Ron Hammond got serious.

The chief supply chain officer at GOJO Industries, a company perhaps best known for its production of Purell, led a shift to 24/7 production to deliver more than 140 billion doses of Purell products.

That’s more than three times the company’s historical maximum.

And when the time came to reinvest $400 million to expand GOJO’s production, Hammond again led the charge in developing a new manufacturing and distribution strategy, doubling the number of manufacturing facilities here in Northeast Ohio. That expansion included partnering with an Ohio refinery so GOJO could make all products in-house, avoiding many of the supply chain issues that cropped up amid the pandemic.

Hammond’s work exemplifies GOJO’s purpose to “Save Lives and Make Life Better.”

He has been with GOJO for the past three years but has 35 years of experience working in the global supply chain.

Hammond also serves on the board of directors for MAGNET. — Kristine Gill

DAVID HORVAT President and CEO Real Time Intel

CLAYTON CARDINALLI/UNSPLASH

David Horvat and his company, Real Time Intel (RTI) of Independence, developed an award-winning, sensor-based supply chain visibility platform that currently tracks the movement of more than 250 million assets across North America and Europe. By leveraging passive data collection, RTI clients have shaved tens of millions of dollars in costs out of their supply chains, according to the nomination.

The Case Western Reserve University graduate began his 30-plus-year technology career as a systems engineer for Cap Gemini America and has launched three successful startups, including RTI in 2004. He is the holder of three U.S. patents utilizing RFID to manage packaging flow and has another pending for load sequencing.

At RTI, Horvat leads by example, the nomination said, “working with customers hand-in-hand to understand the needs of their business and striving to reduce operational waste together.”

His focus on company culture has resulted in the creation of a thoughtful employee experience, from new-hire onboarding and performance reviews to team building initiatives and communication and planning strategies. His goals for 2022 include enhancing diversity and inclusion training, company-wide benefits and service opportunities. Outside the office, Horvat has been an active member of The Entrepreneurs’ Organization, both mentoring and learning from peers.

— Judy Stringer

BRANDY JOHNSON

Chief technology and engineering officer Babcock & Wilcox Brandy Johnson has advanced from the field to the board room at Babcock & Wilcox.

She joined the Akron-based energy and environmental engineering company as a field service engineer in 1995 and has served in various roles, such as team champion for the company’s global competitiveness initiative and supply management director.

In April 2020, Johnson was named vice president of global engineering, where she oversaw service and OEM proposal and project engineering activities. Before that, as vice president of global projects, she executed and delivered new build and aftermarket projects for boiler and environmental equipment customers around the world.

In her current position, Johnson is responsible for developing and executing B&W’s technology strategy, including its ClimateBright suite of products and services. She also leads B&W’s Global Engineering function and is responsible for its licensing strategy.

Johnson holds a chemical engineering degree from Texas A&M University, an MBA from Kent State University and an Advanced Master Certificate in Integrated Supply Management from Michigan State University’s Executive Development Program. She is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Ohio, a PMI Certified Project Management Professional, and has participated in several leadership development opportunities, including an executive program led by Korn Ferry.

— Judy Stringer 16 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Partnering to build Ohio’s ‘Voltage Valley’ Taiwan’s stronger ties with Ohio, Midwest aim to make a case for US-Taiwan bilateral trade agreement

By Conner Howard, Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland After facing years of uncertainty and turbulence, the automotive industry in Ohio is getting a jolt of energy — in part due to an investment in Trumbull County and interest from Taiwan, an island nation and high-tech powerhouse in the Indo-Pacific.

Taiwan-based Foxconn, an electronics contract manufacturer known for producing a variety of products, including the iPhone, earlier this year purchased the Lordstown Motors facility, positioning the company to play a key role in leading Ohio’s fledgling electric-vehicle manufacturing industry.

Foxconn recently hosted a tour of the plant, which up until 2019 housed General Motors’ operations, welcoming representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Chicago and an electric vehicle (EV) delegation from Taiwan, as well as local dignitaries, elected officials, partner organizations and other stakeholders. The visit was part of a larger, national effort to foster working relationships and business connections between Taiwan-based investors and economic development organizations in the United States.

During the June 22 visit to the Foxconn plant in Lordstown, tour groups were guided through the main production space, where electric vehicle battery modules and other components are assembled. Several key figures gave statements praising the growing partnership between manufacturers in Ohio and Taiwan.

“Ohio has a long history of automotive production. So, we’re excited to see this facility come back into prominence,” said Dana Saucier, vice president of economic development with JobsOhio.

“It’s exciting to see new investment coming in.”

Johnson S. Chiang, director general of TECO in Chicago, echoed that sentiment.

“Today is about celebrating the partnership between Foxconn and Lordstown,” said Chiang, adding that the collaboration between Foxconn and Lordstown Motors has the goal, among others, of contributing to a “robust” industry in Ohio. “We have a pretty good team here. I look forward to working together (with community partners).”

The Endurance, a battery-powered pickup truck and one of the Foxconn plant’s flagship products, is slated to launch later this year. Edward Hightower, president and CEO of Lordstown Motors, said the core design of the Endurance will continue to be improved upon after its launch, thanks to the “common vehicle architecture” and optimized prototyping processes that Foxconn has helped bring to the table.

“It’s a very exciting time for us,” Hightower said. “A vehicle launch is very complex. That’s why it takes time, effort and diligence. We think our customers are really going to enjoy driving it.”

Jerry Hsiao, chief product officer of Foxconn, described the manufacturer’s goal as centralizing supply lines and creating products that eventually will dominate the electric vehicle market. He added that Foxconn’s purchase of Lordstown Motors primarily was motivated by the many experienced and skilled vehicle assembly technicians that call the Mahoning and Trumbull valleys home.

“We are looking for a new product to dominate the EV sector not only in the U.S., but the global market,” Hsiao said. “Our people are super important. The location was good, but the workforce was the main attraction.”

CELEBRATING COLLABORATION Following the visit to the Lordstown plant, members of the Taiwan EV delegation – which represented roughly 20 companies – gathered at The Grand Resort in Warren for a reception to mark the occasion and foster friendships between investors, suppliers, partners and other stakeholders. At a tandem forum, elected officials and economic development experts gave statements on what they saw as a revitalization of the Mahoning Valley’s manufacturing roots and the dawn of a “Voltage Valley” to rival California’s Silicon Valley.

The Foxconn plant in Lordstown, Ohio, recently hosted a group of local officials as well as visiting representatives from Taiwan-based electric vehicle manufacturers and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago.

The EV forum was moderated by Sean O’Brien, a former state senator. Other guests included Hsiao; state Sens. Nickie Antonio and Michael Rulli; state Rep. Michael O’Brien; Mayor William “Doug” Franklin of Warren; Mayor Jamael Tito Brown of Youngstown; William Ayres, dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State University at Trumbull; Dr. Nathan Myers, associate provost of Youngstown State University; top representatives from JobsOhio; and William Koehler and Mindy McLaughlin of Team NEO. Forum panelists shared their insights into the burgeoning electric vehicle industry and the impact investment from Taiwan and beyond could mean for Ohio’s economic development.

“Our message to (Taiwan), ultimately, is that if you’re looking for an investment location in the United States, this area – the Youngstown area – is a high speed-to-market place to be,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a soft-landing spot in the United States, and we are here to help you in everything from financial incentives, to site selection, to utilities and workforce.”

“I come from a long line of people who know how to make things, and that’s one of the strengths of the state of Ohio. It is just full of people who know how to make things and who love to make things. And we would love to make things with you,” said Antonio, who serves as co-chair of Ohio’s bipartisan, bicameral Taiwan Friendship Caucus. “All business, all success starts with relationships and friendship. So, one of the things that’s really important as we continue to work and get to know each other and encourage folks to bring their business to Ohio, is that we want to be able to do it as friends.”

Ayres championed the educational, research and workforce development resources of Northeast Ohio, telling visiting delegates that they’d find the skilled labor they need by investing in Ohio.

“We are specialized in engineering – mechanical, electrical and civil engineering – but also computer science and we are really invested in producing what is going to be tomorrow’s workforce,” added Myers of Youngstown State.

Rulli said he’s eager to continue deepening partnerships between Ohio and Taiwan from the Statehouse, while encouraging the growth of the domestic EV market.

“If you’re going to spend the time to come here and think about investing in Northeast Ohio – bringing your people here and becoming part of our family – I’m going to work day and night making sure the legislation is properly in place for you,” Rulli said. “I plan on writing a lot more EV bills so that we can develop Ohio so it becomes the No. 1 EV state in the entire country.”

Hsiao expressed his gratitude for the strong showing of support and encouragement from throughout Northeast Ohio, adding

that Foxconn has bold plans beyond the manufacturing of electric vehicles. Autonomous driving software, “smart” factories and even “smart cities” are among the goals he hopes to accomplish through the new partnership.

“For Foxconn, our mission is to bring our manufacturing expertise, as well as our knowledge, to help create a better product and not only to make money, but save a lot of lives and better society,” Hsiao said. “We will keep investing and we need more people to help us fulfill this dream.”

BUILDING CONNECTIONS The Foxconn plant visit and reception and forum on June 22 were the latest in a series of collaborative meetings between economic development entities in Ohio and visiting investors from Taiwan.

TECO in Chicago had previously joined with JobsOhio and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce on April 20 to co-host the seventh “TaiwanU.S. Business Roundtable Forum in the Midwest.” The roundtable in Columbus had centered on innovation and the joint development of high-tech supply chains between Taiwan and Ohio.

The roundtable’s guests of honor included Taiwan’s top envoy to the United States, Ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao; Chiang of TECO in Chicago; Congressman Steve Chabot; Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted; Deputy Assistant Secretary Rick Waters of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Steve Stivers, president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce; and JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef, among others.

Speakers and panelists emphasized the importance and benefits of collaboration on the next wave of electric vehicles, cuttingedge software and microchips, and the global supply chains that sustain them. Highlighting Taiwan’s critical role in this economic partnership and shared democratic values and interests, several speakers also expressed support for Taiwan’s participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and endorsed the signing of a bilateral trade agreement between Taiwan and the United States.

During both the April 20 roundtable and June 22 forum, TECO representatives and Taiwan EV delegates applauded the cooperative spirit of Ohio’s state government and private sector, expressing optimism for more opportunities for Taiwan-Ohio business cooperation in the future.

STORY SPONSORED BY:

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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THOM KIRBY

ANDY MARSH

JOHN ANTHONY ORLANDO

BRIAN POTASIEWICZ

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As a 30-year veteran at Prince & Izant, chief operating officer Thom Kirby has done it all — and as such, he has a deep understanding of his company. He was promoted to COO in September 2020, amid a period of intense change for manufacturing companies the world over.

His three decades with the company marks a substantial period of time for the privately held corporation, which was founded in 1927.

The company manufactures metal joining products and medical-grade materials for a global market.

Kirby brings his experience as an Air Force veteran with international deployment to the role.

He began at Prince & Izant on the shop floor and worked his way up to the top of the organization steadily over the years. He’s now known as an expert in products and a world-renowned applications specialist in the industry, his nomination said. Kirby has helped the company win many Supplier of the Year Awards across many end markets for the organization over the decades. His background with hands-on manufacturing has enabled him to become an excellent leader and executive unique in the industry, according to the nomination.

Outside of the company, Kirby and his family take part in the Make-A-Wish organization.

— Kristine Gill

Andy Marsh plays a big role in local manufacturing sales — without hiring a sales professional or selling a single thing.

That’s because Marsh, according to the nomination, has “helped companies all over the world grow their sales teams” by connecting them with top industry pros.

As a managing director at Solon-based GRS Recruiting, Marsh heads up the firm’s power transmission, material handling and packaging teams. In the role, he helps manufacturing companies fill key sales positions.

Marsh, the nomination said, “has a true knack for understanding the problems manufacturers are running into in their hiring process.” In turn, he also lends a hand to industrial sales pros who are looking to enhance their careers.

The Ashtabula native has spent more than a decade at GRS. The 43-year-old firm, according to its website, focuses on forging relationships “within specific industry niches,” which helps it gain “a deep understanding of the specific skills and traits required” to help clients grow their business.

Marsh aids those efforts with a “humble demeanor and blue-collar Northeast Ohio upbringing” that sets him apart “from the fast-talking headhunters of today,” the nomination said.

— Kevin Kleps

Orlando Baking Co.’s wide variety of fresh and frozen breads, rolls and specialty items were in especially high demand during the pandemic.

Combine that with a host of safety protocols and needing to train personnel “on the fly,” and it was far from business as usual for Orlando and plenty of others. John Anthony Orlando, the company’s fifth-generation CEO, “showed great leadership” as Orlando operated “around the clock,” the nomination said.

Orlando also had to assure the company’s customers that they would get the products they needed to keep their store shelves full.

The company’s president and CEO did all this “by being in the office and on the floor day and night,” coaching and motivating Orlando’s 300 staffers, the nomination said.

Orlando’s latest notable achievement is a 156,000-square-foot cold storage facility that is expected to debut on Cleveland’s Opportunity Corridor in 2023.

Cleveland Cold Storage, an Orlando Baking Co. brainchild, broke ground in June. Weston Inc. is the developer of the massive project, and Orlando will lease out whatever space it doesn’t use (an estimated 75% to 80%) to other businesses.

— Kevin Kleps

Brian Potasiewicz joined Great Lakes Fasteners in Twinsburg at an “exciting and terrifying” time about four years ago, according to the nomination. Revenue was skyrocketing, but the rest of the enterprise “needed supercharging to keep up with the growth.”

So supercharge he did.

As chief operating officer, he tweaked operations by redesigning jobs, limiting unnecessary associate movement and introducing an employee staffing model, among other measures. Those changes led to a more than 140% increase in manufacturing productivity, according to the nomination.

“Since he assumed his role, GLF's compounded revenue growth is 35% and continues to grow organically and through M&A, operating costs are declining as a percent to sales and targeted financial targets are being achieved,” the nomination said.

Beyond the workplace, Potasiewicz is a fierce advocate for historical preservation. He’s worked with the Cleveland Land Bank as well as the Hamilton County Land Bank on projects that preserve history and attract private investment as part of neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Previously, he led operations at SecureView, a Northeast Ohio firm that specialized in creating clear materials to board up vacant properties. That clearboard was used to improve blighted properties in Slavic Village and other neighborhoods in Greater Cleveland.

— Timothy Magaw

R with text catio

Chief operating officer Prince & Izant Co.

Managing director GRS Recruiting

President and CEO Orlando Baking Co.

Vice president and COO Great Lakes Fasteners

MANUFACTURERS IN OHIO ACCOUNT FOR 16.12% OF THE TOTAL OUTPUT IN THE STATE, EMPLOYING 12.74% OF THE WORKFORCE. TOTAL OUTPUT FROM MANUFACTURING WAS $112.11 BILLION IN 2019. IN ADDITION, THERE WERE AN AVERAGE OF 668,000 MANUFACTURING EMPLOYEES IN OHIO IN 2020.

— National Association of Manufacturers

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18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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Ramya Ramadurai has long had a fascination with technology. In college in India, she built a text message notification system at a communications company.

She now is a leader for a multimillion-dollar business, focusing her work on using technology to improve manufacturing processes.

As lead of the projects arm at Rockwell, Ramadurai participated in increasing year-over-year profits by more than 5%, grew recruitment for delivery teams by 61% and increased diversity by 6% across four different teams, according to her nomination.

Diversity matters to Ramadurai, who has been the only woman, Asian Indian and Asian Indian woman in many of her professional settings.

Ramadurai earned her undergraduate degree in engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University in Pune, India. She came to the United States and completed her MBA at Case Western Reserve University.

Her community work includes serving on the board of Ursuline College and being active in STEM education for women and minorities. She is a member of both the Professional Women’s Council as well as the Society of Women Engineers at Rockwell.

In her free time, Ramadurai enjoys hiking with her kids in the Cleveland Metroparks, gardening, yoga, cooking, Indian classical music and art/ home decor projects.

— Pat McManamon

Since 1916, Oatey Co. has provided reliable, high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries. That tradition continues under the leadership of Neal Restivo, who supports established company values alongside fresh philosophies around diversity, inclusion and close consumer relationships.

According to the nomination, Restivo has integrated a service-leadership mentality into daily operations, typified by a culture of transparency where decisions are made quickly and associates are empowered to express their views.

Progressive concepts are another key to organizational success, the nomination said. Not only is Restivo a vocal proponent of Oatey’s award-winning DEI efforts, he also sponsors robust time-off policies as well as new hybrid work arrangements. Multiple awards reflect an organization-wide commitment to building an inclusive culture, the nomination said.

Prior to joining Oatey, Restivo served as a partner at Tatum, a management consulting company. On the nonprofit side, the hard-working CEO is a board member for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Cleveland Leadership Center, the American Red Cross and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“Neal has remained true to the purpose and values that have driven the company’s success over the past century,” the nomination said.

— Douglas J. Guth

Jennifer Rhone’s engaged leadership approach is credited with transforming Avery Dennison’s longstanding Painesville manufacturing facility by improving site capabilities, driving workplace innovation and enhancing employee development while staying focused on safety.

“Jen’s open communication style, transparent leadership and unwavering focus on safety have allowed her to create an authentic and positive connection with her team, radically shifting the culture of the plant,” the nomination said.

“You need only look at our operational employee survey scores, which have improved hundreds of basis points under her leadership,” it added.

Fueled by this re-energized culture, Rhone and team delivered one of the strongest operational performances in the business unit’s history in 2021 and earned a coveted Avery Dennison Leadership Excellence Award.

Rhone, who holds a chemical engineering degree from Cleveland State University, has used her leadership skills in the service of several community organizations as well.

She currently serves as a board member for the Alliance for Working Together, a consortium of area manufacturers that promotes rewarding careers in manufacturing.

She is also a regular volunteer at the Madison Food Center.

— Judy Stringer

Sara Spence took over her family business in 2018 after working as the accounting, human resources and accounts manager the previous eight years.

She guides a company that provides businesses with precision CNC machined parts in a 10,000-square-foot building.

Spence earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Toledo and her MBA from Cleveland State University in Operations and Supply Chain management.

She initially did not believe the industry was a fit for her, but as she pursued her MBA, she worked at Spence Technologies and found a calling.

“The industry itself is constantly growing,” she said in a YouTube interview with Hard Hatted Women Ohio. “It’s not going anywhere.

And I really realized that there are places for females in the manufacturing industry. I realized that I found a passion for manufacturing.”

Seeing other women succeed in various levels of manufacturing inspired her.

Spence has been involved in several community-based efforts. She has been a board member of the Willoughby Western Lake County Chamber of Commerce (including as chair in 2018-19), the Alliance for Working Together and LakeTran. She also is an avid and unabashed supporter of Cleveland sports teams.

— Pat McManamon

Program Management Office manager Rockwell Automation

CEO Oatey Co.

Regional plant manager Avery Dennison

President Spence Technologies

gaw

SPONSORED CONTENT

How to grow your business: supply chain considerations Experts share strategies for meeting logistics challenges, navigating the global market

By Vince Guerrieri, Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland Companies continue to struggle with staffing challenges. War is still raging in Ukraine, with a ripple effect on the global economy.

There are fears of a looming recession as the Federal Reserve raises rates to try to combat a 40-year high in inflation.

“There’s a tunnel vision on profit and on sales,” she said. “Look at the whole balance sheet. There may be things that need to be stricken or written off until things pick back up.”

MEET THE PANELISTS

Manning-Grant also said businesses should start treating suppliers as partners, forging a deeper relationship with them — a sentiment echoed by Bob Scaccia, president and CEO of USA Firmware.

All of these factors are compounded by the issues that businesses are still facing when it comes to getting their inventory and necessary components — not to mention paying for them.

“We are not in the clear on facing supply chain issues,” said Brandon Cornuke, vice president of strategy and innovation of MAGNET.

Brandon Cornuke

Tanya Manning-Grant

Bob Scaccia

UPCOMING WEBINARS:

Cornuke was one of the panelists in the second in a series of “How to Grow Your Business” webinars presented by Huntington.

He noted that supply chain issues have been decades in the making, fed by factors such as the offshoring of manufacturing and businesses emphasizing just-in-time delivery.

“It’s almost become dogma that it’s better not to have inventory,” he said.

However, COVID-19 led to business shutdowns worldwide, depleting inventory while making it harder to acquire components necessary for manufacturing, including computer chips and other specialized electronics. Businesses have to adapt — especially those attempting to start out or scale up.

“You have to learn how to pivot and make sure you have a very strong supplier ecosystem,” said Tanya Manning-Grant, owner of TMG Professional Services Consulting Firm and a retailer herself, owning DRESSCODE and Ashton’s Corner, boutiques selling women’s and children’s clothing, respectively.

Cybersecurity for Small Businesses Aug. 25 Hiring, Talent Retention and Leadership Sept. 29 Marketing for Small Businesses Nov. 10 Register for free at crainscleveland.com/grow-your-business

Manning-Grant said the effects of supply chain issues are particularly pronounced for small business owners, who might not have the purchasing power of a major retailer like Target or Walmart — and even they’re feeling the pinch. She said small business owners need to think bigger, be it by forming purchasing cooperatives with other small retailers, offering trade rather than payment or branching out into offering business-adjacent services that might not require as much inventory. Manning-Grant also noted that the pandemic led to the availability of a lot of grant funding that businesses should explore.

“You have an array of supplier choices,” Scaccia said. “Find the one you can trust, even if it costs you more. It’s better to have trusted partners than partners that don’t work out.”

Already, changes are being made in supply chain operations.

Manufacturing is now being brought back to North America — aided by smart manufacturing and automation. “Changes are afoot,” Scaccia said. “It’s going to take a while, but those changes will take things that really have impacted the nation and bring some of those capabilities back home. We’ve seen the ramifications of depending on a global supply chain.”

Those changes represent opportunities, said Cornuke, who urged business owners not to waste the moment. Market volatility will continue, and business owners should embrace it.

“Be the trusted partner,” he said. “Yes, it’s important to understand your own challenges and find your own solutions, but realize that others in the ecosystem are having problems too and figure out solutions to those problems.”

Manning-Grant added that — at least for the time being — companies may need to get leaner.

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.

JULY 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 19

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ECONOMY

An evolving inflation playbook

BY CARA EISENPRESS CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS

A small liquor producer in Brooklyn stockpiled bottles, paying more upfront to be sure it could produce enough to meet demand. An all-terrain-vehicle maker outside Cleveland raised prices as the cost of batteries and international shipping soared, and its waiting list grew anyway. Mondelez International in Chicago bet that international consumers would buy Ritz and Cadbury products even if the checkout price rose 20% in two years. General Motors and Ford navigated chip shortages that slowed manufacturing against insatiable demand. And airlines held firm on pricing seats for summer travel.

“We saved the seats, and we’re now selling them at much higher yields, so we’re pretty happy about that,” said Andrew Nocella, chief commercial officer at United Airlines.

For two years, American business owners have adjusted to deal with higher costs and supply disruptions but have mostly counted on consumers coming along for the ride, paying top dollar for whiskey, ATVs, travel and more. As a result — as firms sought out alternative vendors, adapted to monthslong shipping delays and revamped processes to account for labor shortages — many were doing OK. As their own costs rose, they could pass on the increases to customers.

They also understood the bigger picture: This is inflation on a scale no one has seen in years.

“We spotted it with small-business owners before it was spotted and accepted by the mainstream,” said Joe Wall, national director of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses Voices program, which provides training to companies and surveys about market conditions.

Now American business owners are sizing up the next obstacle, fueled in part by the government’s fight against inflation. Companies’ inflation-busting moves might be obsolete soon, as falling customer demand and rising interest rates make 2021-era labor models, pricing structures and inventory management moot sooner than they imagined.

Companies are shifting strategies again. Macy’s and other retailers found themselves overstocked with casual clothes as many consumers turned to occasion wear. Stores are discounting the casual items and adjusting future ordering.

Some food manufacturers are hedging nearly all commodity costs in key areas. Others, including Domino’s, are keeping prices the same — $7.99 for an order of chicken wings — but shrinking the volume of the serving. You now get eight wings for those $8, instead of 10.

A number of companies are laying off workers, but others including New York’s Arlo Hotel, are finding that they can increasingly find willing employees at a suitable wage.

The numbers bear out operators’ instincts about the toll of rising prices on the economy. In June, prices for consumers rose by 9.1% from a year earlier, the largest annual jump since 1981.

Prices have risen for more than a year around the country, led by the energy sector. But even core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, was high last month, at 5.9%, compared with the same period last year.

What goes up must come down, says the Federal Reserve, which has a mandate to pursue price stability and make sure that inflation does not erode the purchasing power of businesses and consumers.

After watching for a year, the Fed has begun to act, and the ramifications of its interventions complicate the picture.

The Fed’s main lever for slowing inflation is to raise the benchmark federal funds rate — the price banks pay to borrow from the central bank—which, in turn, increases the cost of credit throughout the economy. Rates went up by 75 basis points last month and are expected to rise by about that much again late this month before reaching above 3% by the end of the year.

When borrowing capital gets more expensive, growth slows and prices eventually stop climbing. If all goes well, the Fed engineers a so-called “soft landing,” whereby prices fall enough to stop inflation but not so much that we end up in a recession.

Inflation, and the response to it, is a high-stakes game of chess for American businesses.

By late June, as Goldman’s Wall was out talking to business owners for the sentiment survey it released Wednesday, July 13, the tenor was already pessimistic: 97% of small-business owners said inflationary pressures on their enterprise increased or stayed the same compared with three months ago, and 38% reported already seeing a decline in customer demand as a result of price increases.

“It’s all gotten much worse,” Wall said. “There’s no sign of it getting better.”

Effects on consumer demand after pandemic lockdown After COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in spring 2020, Americans were ready to spend money. Their wallets were full, thanks to canceled travel and dining plans and to $931 billion in total direct relief payments. At first, people bought home goods and cars. By last year, they

Pedestrians carry shopping bags on Geary street in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. | DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG

The Consumer Price Index has climbed in key categories 12-month percentage change, Consumer Price Index, selected categories, not seasonally adjusted All items

Food

Energy

All items less food and energy

40%

30

20

10

0

−10

2019

2019

2019

2019

2020

2020

2020

2020

2021

2021

SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

were looking to eat out, stay at a hotel and enjoy similar pleasures.

Partly because of unexpected demand and partly because of pandemic policies — and a megaship stuck in the Suez Canal — supply chains became chaotic amid the increased demand. The ability to turn customer demand into revenue became a prized skill set, and companies that figured it out were able to charge consumers for the privilege of accessing the goods and services they wanted.

For two years, companies in a variety of industries found that there were plenty of customers.

“We’ve been raising prices,” Ed Rosefeld, chief executive of Queensbased shoe firm Steve Madden, said on an earnings call in late April. “And for the most part we feel very good about customers’ acceptance of those prices … anything new, we’re

2021

2021

2022

2022

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS GRAPHIC

seeing the customer willing to pay.”

Another coping mechanism was trying to lower demand. Brooklyn-based spirits company St. Agrestis pulled back on out-of-state sales when its 200-milliliter bottles were taking seven months to arrive instead of three, co-owner Matt Catizone said. To make sure that demand did not outpace the limited supply, St. Agrestis slowed its expansion outside New York City.

Restoration Hardware, the Marin County, Calif., home goods company also known as RH, did not mail out its infamously thick catalog in the past two year to ensure it could keep up with the influx of orders, even as some furniture was on back order. Apparently, the strategy worked. Revenue increased to $3.8 billion last year, up 42% from 2019, as high-income customers outfitted their homes.

Labor market strength adds costs for companies Just as materials became harder to get and pricier, so too did labor, altering how businesses thought about production, fulfillment and service operations.

“Inflation and workforce are tethered,” Wall said. Especially for small companies, hiring became formidable, and small businesses struggled to compete on wages. And they can’t compete on benefits, Wall noted.

Some companies have laid out new methods for recruiting and training staff, while others have figured out how to deliver their goods or services with fewer hands.

In Brunswick, DRR USA, a manufacturer of electric and gas-powered ATVs, a full-time staff of eight manages a larger group of contractors and interns, president Louis DeCuzzi

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month. Additional supply in the labor market did seem to level off wage growth, especially in lowerand middle-wage industries since late in the fall — a natural correction to inflation, some economists say.

Just because wage growth has steadied doesn’t mean wages themselves will drop, however, making operators’ labor adaptations relevant for the long term.

Growing inflation, meet shrinking demand

said. Temporary warehouse workers used to earn $12 to $15 per hour; now, it’s at least $20, he said.

“No one wants to work in a warehouse,” DeCuzzi said. Competing with Amazon has become tougher, since the behemoth now advertises flexible schedules to job seekers.

But DRR USA can’t do that, DeCuzzi said, because teams have to be on site at the same time.

“We are definitely paying a premium,” he said. He works closely with trade schools, he added, but sometimes they can’t even get enough students for their programs.

In Lower Manhattan, the Arlo’s three hospitality operations have focused on recruiting for enthusiasm and potential, rather than experience, said Gary Wallach, the hotel’s food and beverage director.

“We stopped trying to look for the diamond-in-the-rough server,” Wallach said, “and now find young, hungry people willing to learn.”

At the Walgreens Boots Alliance in Deerfield, Illinois, director and CEO Rosalind Gates Brewer laid out how a focus on hiring this summer and fall would allow about 3,000 stores to return to normal operating hours; abbreviated hours have been keeping prescription volume down, according to the firm. At the same time, Walgreens has invested in automation to improve productivity without additional staff. It opened its fourth automated micro-fulfillment center, she said, which “remove routine tasks and excess inventory” from pharmacies.

Between those adjustments and increasing employment, there are signs that climbing wages have leveled out at Walgreens.

Turnover among Walgreens employees slowed in the quarter that ended June 30, according to chief financial officer James Kehoe.

Labor force participation climbed all year before dipping last

There are signs that the pricing power that kept inflation manageable — even profitable — for a wide swath of firms is weakening, and that they will no longer be able to pass off price increases.

“Once inflation moderates, it attacks their margins,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group in Minneapolis.

RH had noted the economic headwinds when it sent investors its muted expectation for the rest of the year with its second-quarter earnings report June 2. Fiscal 2022 would see net revenue growth only in the range of 0% to 2%, the company predicted.

Then June 29 it revised that guidance downward to negative 2% to negative 5%, with chairman and CEO Gary Friedman citing “the deteriorating macroeconomic environment.”

Luxury home sales were down 18% in the first quarter, Friedman noted, as mortgage rates soared to double what they were last year — bad signs for a high-end furniture operation.

“Our expectation is that demand will continue to slow throughout the year,” he said.

For consumers, gas and energy bills are cutting into discretionary spending, as interest rates go up, 401(k) gains vanish and recession fears rise. Last month the Consumer Confidence Index hit its lowest point in a decade, according to survey data from The Conference Board, following a slower-than-expected rise — 0.2% — in consumer spending in May and only a 0.6% increase in April. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy.

Further evidence comes from retailer Target, which said in May it had to discount its stock because it had more inventory than consumers would buy.

It was not the only one.

“I’m seeing promotions tick up, and that worries me,” said Dana Telsey, chief research officer at Telsey Advisory Group, a research firm that focuses on the consumer sector. Telsey was speaking at an event held by IDB Bank late last month.

Still, many firms are retaining pricing power for now.

DRR USA has a waiting list of 800 preorders. Silent, gas-free electric ATVs turn out to have a vast array of uses. Agriculture and viticulture companies want them to keep exhaust out of greenhouses and off vines. Railroads can repair tracks in residential neighborhoods at offhours because the vehicles don’t make a ruckus. Hotels load them with beach chairs to set up at dawn.

DRR has dealt with its share of pandemic-era problems, though.

Lithium-ion batteries for the ATVs take their time to arrive from South Korea, DeCuzzi said. Getting a container of batteries to the U.S. also

costs five times what it did before the pandemic, he said. Because it takes about six months to fulfill an order for an ATV, which costs around $8,500, high inflation between the time of sale and the moment of delivery can cut into margins.

But orders have stayed robust even as DRR increased prices on the ATVs, DeCuzzi said, and declined to discount even for fleets.

And customers have been willing to pick up the shipping costs, which the vehicle-maker used to absorb.

“Before, we could send it to Florida for $400,” DeCuzzi said. “Now it’s $900 to $1,200.”

Still, there are warning bells.

Some individual end users have stopped buying, though increased business-to-business demand keeps the preorder list long. Even there, however, DeCuzzi spies softening. Sales of a fleet were lined up for a Mexican company in the tourism industry, but it was not able to complete the transaction as its own outlook fell.

“The tourism industry immediately gets impacted with inflation,” DeCuzzi said.

More expensive capital could slow growth The coping mechanism of buying more supplies as a hedge against faulty supply chains might be in doubt.

New York contractor Midhat Press of Press Builders said some developer clients want to buy all air-conditioning units, refrigerators and other appliances a year in advance.

But someone has to spend that money in advance of the project plan, and then spend more to store it.

“They pay out of pocket to warehouse it,” Press said. “Logistically it’s more of a mess, but it gives you a lot more control of your project.”

Richard Raffetto, president of City National Bank, which has $90 billion in assets and branches along the East Coast and in Nashville and Los Angeles, said he, too, had noticed that “manufacturing clients are holding more inventory.”

“That is causing a need for more working capital banking loans to finance more inventory and raw materials,” Raffetto said. For now, the mentality is that “they’d rather run a little less efficiently than lose the sale.” If the cost of capital goes up, they’ll feel the impact, he said.

The bigger trade-off of expensive capital, of course, is that growth slows. If it costs double to borrow money, expansion plans could be off the table for firms in real estate, finance, hospitality, manufacturing and retail. Already, economists who track overall economic output at economic forecasting firm IHS Markit, owned by S&P Global, have predicted that GDP will contract in the second quarter of the year. Six in 10 CEOs served in mid-June by The Conference Board said a recession is coming within the next 18 months.

That pessimism takes its own toll, leading economists to surmise that fewer rate hikes could keep the economy more secure, even if inflation stays above the Fed’s desired 2% target.

Workers like getting paid more, even if they also have to spend more, Paulsen said, and companies thrive when demand is high and predictable.

“The attitudes just might be better,” he said.

REAL ESTATE

Cleveland Foundation, master developer part ways in Midtown

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

Wexford Science & Technology, the developer tapped in 2020 to transform a stretch of Cleveland’s Midtown into an innovation district, is no longer shepherding the project.

The Baltimore-based company has quietly parted ways with civic backers of the effort, a long-term revitalization plan meant to create economic opportunities, and a sense of place, in the heart of the Health-Tech Corridor. Last week, the Cleveland Foundation announced it is bankrolling a 95,000-square-foot “collaboration center” on the site where Wexford once aimed to develop its first building.

In an emailed statement, the foundation confirmed that its arrangement with Wexford — a master-development contract that included nonprofit neighborhood group MidTown Cleveland Inc. — is off.

The local partners benefited greatly from partnering with Wexford during due diligence and initial planning, the foundation said. And that process highlighted the importance of building on Cleveland’s strengths in art and design, technology, health and research in a central location.

But, “after taking into account the unique dynamics of the Cleveland market and the authentic approach and vision for the MidTown Collaboration Center, we mutually agreed that the project was no longer a fit for Wexford and was better suited for a different development model,” the foundation wrote. “Despite not renewing the contract after the initial phase due to the new direction, Wexford was an insightful and valuable startup partner.”

A Wexford executive did not respond to requests for comment. The foundation declined to discuss the end of the relationship in detail.

Wexford, a privately held company, is a leading developer of innovation districts, places where anchor institutions and established companies collide with startups, business incubators and researchers. There are more than 100 such districts taking shape worldwide, according to the Global Institute on Innovation Districts, a nonprofit organization that tracks projects and trends.

A space to collaborate The Cleveland Foundation and MidTown announced their relationship with Wexford nearly two years ago, after conducting a formal search for a developer who could help realize their vision for a multi-building, mixed-use project with a 10-year horizon. The 200-acre Cortex Innovation District in St. Louis, where Wexford has completed three buildings and a public green space, is an example that local economic-development leaders often cite.

The collaboration center diverges from Wexford’s template, though, which often involves lining up a key institution — Washington University in St. Louis, for example, at Cortex —

to provide lease guarantees for a significant amount of space to jumpstart speculative projects. Wexford finances its developments through a partnership with Ventas Inc., a Chicago-based real estate investment trust.

The collaboration center, which will rise at the northwest corner of East 66th Street and Euclid Avenue, is a different animal. There’s no dominant tenant. Instead, the space will house nearly a dozen nonprofit, institutional and for-profit uses, along with a ground-floor community space designed to serve as a nexus for the neighborhood.

“That program on the first floor of this building will serve the entire district,” said Lillian Kuri, the foundation’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, during an interview. “It will be the heart and soul.”

The three-story building will sit across the street from the Cleveland Foundation’s new headquarters, which is scheduled to open late this year. In 2019, the foundation announced its plans to move from leased space downtown to a newly constructed home at the southern edge of Hough, a predominantly Black, low-income neighborhood.

The foundation did not set out to develop multiple buildings.

But an unusual group of partners coalesced around the second project — on a tight timeline that did not leave room for another developer to step in when Wexford bowed out.

Varied tenants on board JumpStart, a nonprofit that will move its headquarters to the collaboration center’s second floor and help manage the 9,000-square-foot community space and conference area downstairs, is approaching the end of its lease at the nearby MidTown Tech Park in 2024.

“I think this was just the most efficient way to make this happen. That’s my sense of it,” said Ray Leach, JumpStart’s CEO. “I was involved in a handful of meetings with Wexford, and they were all positive.”

In addition to JumpStart, the tenant roster includes the Cleveland Institute of Art, which will use part of its space for an interactive media lab; University Hospitals, which plans to open a diabetes research and wellness center in the building; Case Western Reserve University’s new center for population health research; the nonprofit Assembly for the Arts; the M7 Foundation; the Economic Community Development Institute, a small business microlender; and Westlake-based Hyland Software, which will establish a tech-training hub on the first floor.

The ground-floor plan also shows a minority-owned restaurant and tap room and a music venue.

“For years now, there have been people in tech outreach with Hyland who have said they wish we had a physical space closer to the students,” See INNOVATION on Page 26 JULY 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 21

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CRAIN'S LIST | WEALTHIEST SUBURBS Ranked by estimated median household income MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME RANK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

COMMUNITY 1

POPULATION MEDIAN OWNEROCCUPIED HOUSING 2020 CENSUS 2010 CENSUS VALUE

HIGHEST DEGREE

HOUSING

BACHELOR'S %

POST-GRAD %

OCCUPIED UNITS

OWNER %

RENTER %

AVERAGE COMMUTE (MINUTES)

COUNTY

5-YEAR ESTIMATE

MARGIN OF ERROR

BENTLEYVILLE

$187,083

+/-$48,545

$588,100

897

864

39.4%

46.7%

281

99.6%

0.4%

24.3

Cuyahoga

PEPPER PIKE

$182,743

+/-$34,021

$443,000

6,796

5,979

30.9%

46.0%

2,283

98.9%

1.1%

22

Cuyahoga

MORELAND HILLS

$170,391

+/-$21,239

$445,300

3,466

3,320

32.8%

43.0%

1,424

93.2%

6.8%

23.5

Cuyahoga

HUNTING VALLEY

$167,813

+/-$113,566 2

$1,390,600

763

705

39.6%

37.3%

313

96.8%

3.2%

27

Cuyahoga, Geauga

GATES MILLS

$167,250

+/-$43,941

$565,000

2,264

2,270

25.5%

47.1%

766

92.2%

7.8%

22.4

Cuyahoga

SUGAR BUSH KNOLLS

$140,870

+/-$35,237

$321,300

217

177

18.5%

46.3%

100

100.0%

0.0%

21

Portage

SOUTH RUSSELL

$133,750

+/-$17,060

$353,600

3,972

3,810

46.8%

24.8%

1,381

96.6%

3.4%

28.2

Geauga

HUDSON

$133,418

+/-$4,539

$359,500

23,110

22,262

38.0%

33.2%

7,957

88.7%

11.3%

24.9

Summit

WAITE HILL

$130,750

+/-$39,516

$656,300

543

471

25.8%

33.3%

227

89.9%

10.1%

23.5

Lake

ORANGE

$124,271

+/-$19,161

$351,200

3,421

3,323

27.5%

46.7%

1,284

90.0%

10.0%

21.3

Cuyahoga

SILVER LAKE

$114,688

+/-$14,836

$234,200

2,516

2,519

35.4%

23.9%

958

93.8%

6.2%

30.3

Summit

SOLON

$114,214

+/-$7,376

$308,000

24,262

23,348

31.7%

29.7%

8,323

85.4%

14.6%

25.8

Cuyahoga

BRATENAHL

$113,750

+/-$20,614

$278,800

1,430

1,197

24.0%

38.4%

766

77.7%

22.3%

24.5

Cuyahoga

AURORA

$113,438

+/-$11,382

$290,100

17,239

15,548

34.3%

22.6%

6,014

81.6%

18.4%

28.9

Portage

KIRTLAND HILLS

$111,458

+/-$41,044

$480,900

692

646

24.5%

37.0%

237

95.8%

4.2%

27.2

Lake

AVON

$109,539

+/-$7,799

$309,300

24,847

21,193

34.5%

23.4%

8,496

86.7%

13.3%

25

Lorain

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS

$108,652

+/-$13,929

$294,400

8,719

8,345

29.4%

27.1%

3,387

92.9%

7.1%

22.5

Cuyahoga

PENINSULA

$105,625

+/-$12,632

$336,600

536

565

36.9%

26.6%

262

85.1%

14.9%

31

Summit

BRECKSVILLE

$105,527

+/-$9,938

$292,000

13,635

13,656

32.6%

23.7%

5,545

82.4%

17.6%

25.1

Cuyahoga

INDEPENDENCE

$105,107

+/-$12,568

$234,400

7,584

7,133

25.7%

19.3%

2,813

94.1%

5.9%

23.5

Cuyahoga

BAY VILLAGE

$102,938

+/-$8,506

$257,000

16,163

15,651

40.9%

25.0%

5,860

92.4%

7.6%

23.6

Cuyahoga

BOSTON HEIGHTS

$101,875

+/-$23,722

$366,200

1,402

1,300

33.1%

22.5%

483

88.2%

11.8%

23.5

Summit

WESTFIELD CENTER

$96,146

+/-$18,438

$229,900

1,184

1,115

19.0%

10.7%

499

90.4%

9.6%

24.3

Medina

MACEDONIA

$96,029

+/-$4,837

$230,200

12,168

11,188

26.4%

14.9%

4,671

93.1%

6.9%

25.2

Summit

WESTLAKE

$92,917

+/-$4,543

$263,500

34,228

32,729

33.3%

21.8%

13,779

71.8%

28.2%

24.7

Cuyahoga

REMINDERVILLE

$91,591

+/-$11,463

$224,600

5,412

3,404

29.5%

19.9%

1,844

88.7%

11.3%

29.4

Summit

KIRTLAND

$91,108

+/-$16,130

$292,300

6,937

6,866

27.2%

16.1%

2,578

87.7%

12.3%

25.3

Lake

MAYFIELD VILLAGE

$90,739

+/-$30,357

$240,200

3,356

3,460

30.5%

19.3%

1,459

78.3%

21.7%

19.5

Cuyahoga

STRONGSVILLE

$90,377

+/-$6,195

$215,900

46,491

44,750

30.7%

17.8%

18,491

81.5%

18.5%

28

Cuyahoga

BEACHWOOD

$88,709

+/-$7,925

$300,000

14,040

11,953

26.6%

36.2%

4,785

57.6%

42.4%

21.1

Cuyahoga

SHAKER HEIGHTS

$88,635

+/-$7,203

$241,900

29,439

28,448

27.8%

42.1%

11,505

60.3%

39.7%

24.1

Cuyahoga

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS

$87,815

+/-$11,428

$232,400

19,936

19,400

32.7%

16.4%

7,905

83.5%

16.5%

27

Cuyahoga

NORTH PERRY

$86,364

+/-$12,529

$207,300

915

893

16.0%

13.9%

298

90.3%

9.7%

25.4

Lake

WALTON HILLS

$86,071

+/-$22,373

$226,100

2,033

2,281

15.6%

18.7%

964

93.9%

6.1%

24.8

Cuyahoga

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS

$84,185

+/-$8,758

$172,400

1,519

1,543

18.6%

11.2%

609

92.6%

7.4%

21

Cuyahoga

Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 American Community Survey; NOTE: Estimates on this year’s list are less reliable than usual due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. Census Bureau’s ability to gather information during 2020. | The list includes communities in Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Summit, Portage, Geauga, Lake and Stark counties. NOTES: 1. All figures (other than population figures) are estimates based on surveys

conducted between 2016 and 2020. Estimates for smaller communities tend to be less reliable. Additional margin of error information can be accessed through data.census.gov. 2. This is a particularly high margin of error. Rely on this 5-year estimate with caution.

Get 136 communities and historical income data in Excel format. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data 22 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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DATA SCOOP

Wealthiest Suburbs list led by East Side — until you take out tiny towns west of Interstate 77 makes the top 20: Avon, No. 16. But the wealthiest towns are much more spread out if you only include the 69 towns with at least 10,000 people.

If we re-ranked the list that way, the top three cities would still be along I-271, but they’re further south. The city in the No. 1 spot would be Hudson (No. 8 on the actual list), followed by Solon (No. 12) and then Aurora (No. 14). But Avon would come in just behind them, and four cities in this reranked top 10 would be west of I-77 — or five if you count Brecksville, which crosses the highway.

Crain’s previously reported that incomes did grow faster for many I-271 corridor communities on this list during the second half of the last decade (and not just for the richest communities). On this year’s list, however, west side cities had a stronger showing, especially if you limit the analysis to cities with at least 10,000 people.

For instance, Aurora would have posted the fastest-growing income in that group, up 15.9% compared with last year’s list, but right behind it would be North Olmsted with a 13.1% increase.

While we’re on the topic of larger cities: Though the list is called Wealthiest Suburbs, the full digital version does include Cleveland, Akron and Canton.

How did they fare? Cleveland ranked 134th with a median household income estimate of $31,838. That’s third from the bottom, just above Highland Hills and East Cleveland. Canton was just

The Crain’s Wealthiest Suburbs list is typically dominated by tiny east side villages along Interstate 271 that in some cases house just a few hundred homes — some of them with gatehouses, tennis courts and grandiose nicknames.

But what about the bigger suburbs? You know, the ones where so many more people actually live?

Turns out, the east side’s dominance weakens if you exclude towns with less than 10,000 people.

That would eliminate nine of the top 10 communities on this year’s list. That includes Hunting Valley, which has been No. 1 on this list by estimated median household income since we started producing it in 2016. It dropped to No. 4 this year, but note that Hunting Valley’s estimate is particularly shaky this year. The estimates come from surveys conducted from 2016 through 2020 as part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. But 2020 was a tough year for the American Community Survey.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit that spring, the bureau had to scale back much of its efforts over the following months and thus only got two-thirds of the responses it typically receives.

That didn’t have a huge impact on data for larger towns, as those estimates are built from larger samples. But it really hurt data quality for small villages — especially Hunting Valley.

So while the latest data TURNS OUT, THE EAST SIDE’S says Hunting Valley’s median household in- DOMINANCE WEAKENS IF YOU come is $167,813, note EXCLUDE TOWNS WITH LESS THAN that the margin of error is a whopping $113,566. 10,000 PEOPLE. That’s the bureau’s way of saying there’s a 90% chance the above it at $32,735. Akron’s estiactual median is somewhere in the mate was $40,281, putting it at No. range of $54,247 (waaaaaay lower 127.

The full digital list includes 136 than previous estimates) to $281,379. Thus, for now at least, communities in Cuyahoga Countiny Bentleyville is No. 1 with an es- ty, the six surrounding counties timated median household income and Stark County and is available of $187,083 (and a still sizable to Crain’s Data Members. To learn more visit CrainsCleveland.com/ $48,545 margin of error).

On the full list only one town data.

MAKERGEAR

From Page 3

In a message on the company’s website titled “The Future of MakerGear,” Pollack described the goal for a potential sale, either an outright acquisition or a “transition plan.” The latter means that Pollack is willing to work with someone who has the necessary “experience and skills,” the post says, but who lacks the necessary capital.

He said his goal is to find the best buyer or buyers that can give MakerGear the chance to get back to “innovating.” And he’d be inter-

ested in a deal that leads to a more straightforward, vertically integrated supply chain for the company.

Pollack currently owns MakerGear with a partner, and he’s looking to sell a majority position. He said he’d like to stay involved, depending on the buyer’s wants, but he’s not planning to continue running the business.

Pollack said he’s already received inquiries after posting the message, and he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects of a purchase.

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

A conceptual rendering shows steps cascading down to a beach at the edge of the Avon Lake power plant site. Public access is a major component of redevelopment plans for the 131-acre property. | AVON LAKE ENVIRONMENTAL REDEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC

AVON LAKE

From Page 1

the city to Lake Erie and create the largest open space and public lakefront project that our region has seen in decades, while serving as a catalyst for economic growth,” Mayor Greg Zilka said in a written statement.

The coal-fired power plant, built by the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. in 1926, shut down on April 1.

Charah took control of the property through an indirect subsidiary, Avon Lake Environmental Redevelopment Group LLC, or ALERG. The publicly traded company is not a real estate developer. Charah specializes in selling and handling byproducts from power plants, such as fly ash, and tackling remediation projects for utilities. A few years ago, the company launched a division that is focused on acquiring and cleaning up aging coal-fired plants as electricity producers shift to cleaner, cheaper fuel sources.

“What drew us to Avon Lake is just the size of the power plant,” said Scott Reschly, a Charah executive and vice president of operations for ALERG. “There’s a lot of history there, a lot of material that can be recycled, which is a good driver for projects that we like to pursue. The other big component of what drew us to Avon Lake is just the location. You can’t beat that view.” Charah expects to pay for the demolition and remediation by selling steel, copper and other scraps from the plant, then parceling off the land for redevelopment.

Neither Charah nor GenOn Holdings Inc., the plant’s former operator, disclosed terms of their deal, which was announced in mid-2021 after a competitive bidding process. Reschly would not divulge the anticipated cost of the teardown and cleanup effort, which will take 24 to 30 months.

“There’s 140 million pounds of steel. There’s 4 million pounds of copper,” said Richard Shields of Avison Young, a real estate company that is advising Charah on the project and that will market the property to developers. “The recycling of those materials pays part of the expense of this project. And the land pays part. … So it’s a big number.”

The plant sits on 44 acres along Lake Road, at the northwestern end of the city. But Charah’s project footprint is three times that size. As part of the deal with GenOn, Charah acquired property stretching south to the Avon border.

That land, which runs along Norfolk-Southern railroad tracks, is ear-

marked for industrial development.

It’s not far from Ford Motor Co.’s Avon Lake plant, where the automaker recently announced a $1.5 billion investment to support electric-vehicle assembly and 1,800 new jobs.

The industrial land is likely to hit the market within six months, said Shields, a Chicago-based development executive, and Chris Livingston, managing director of the Avison Young office in Cleveland.

The lakefront land will require heavier lifting — and is the centerpiece of Gensler’s planning work.

Renderings show that the firm is exploring the idea of shifting Lake Road, a U.S. highway, north toward the lake. That move would separate a new lakefront park from development on the balance of the site.

Keeping Lake Road in place and building a new, curving boulevard along the lakeshore is another option, said Ted Esborn, the city’s community development director. Either way, conceptual plans set aside about 17 acres of waterfront land for greenery, a beach, walking paths and shoreline restoration.

“We’ve been working with the idea of that 17 acres being public, and that would mean the city and possibly other public entities coming together to control it and provide the future for it,” said Esborn, who also is the treasurer of the Avon Lake Community Improvement Corp., a nonprofit entity anointed to serve as the city’s agent for economic development and lakefront redevelopment.

When Avison Young and Charah first reached out to the city in 2020 to ask questions about the plant, officials found the prospect of acquiring large portions of the site daunting.

Gensler’s approach makes the public-sector side of the project feel less unwieldy, Esborn said.

“If it is greenspace, a park-like area, then we don’t have to think about dividing it and selling it to other parties,” he said. “That was something else that caused us heartburn early on.”

Renderings show that Charah hopes to preserve part of the plant — the massive turbine hall, which might be reconfigured with a glassy northern façade. The smokestacks, visible for miles, also could stay.

Those plans aren’t set in stone.

They’re a starting point for conversations with residents, city officials and developers. The designs also lay the groundwork for rezoning the waterfront property during the next two years.

“As a land developer, all we do is set the table,” Shields said. “Some-

Development footprint Charah Solutions Inc. is planning for the future of 131 acres in Avon Lake, including a lakefront power plant site.

6

Power plant site

83

Walker Road Moore Road

BY CHUCK SODER

SOURCE: AVON LAKE; LORAIN COUNTY AUDITOR

body else is going to decide what they’re going to eat.”

In April, the Ohio Department of Development announced a $300,000 grant to the city for environmental testing at the power plant site. That award is flowing from a state program focused on brownfields, previously developed land that can be tough to repurpose because of contamination or obsolete buildings.

Now Charah, with the city’s cooperation, is pursuing a $10 million remediation grant from that same state program, Reschly said.

“The intent is to return the lakefront to its natural ecosystem,” said Livingston, the local Avison Young principal assisting with the project.

“This will take some time, and this will be a major investment by Charah. But it’s well under way. … There’s a profound environmental event occurring here.”

Esborn sees the redevelopment effort as a chance to right century-old wrongs that cut off Avon Lake’s historic downtown from the water and spurred a gradual shift of development to the south and to the east.

The proposal is ambitious. To be a success, it will need support from residents and buy-in from local investors and developers, he said. But the plan has the potential to strengthen Avon Lake’s relationship with its greatest natural resource — and to reposition the Lorain County city of 24,000 as a more regional destination.

“There is going to be a lot more traffic coming into the city to enjoy whatever it becomes,” Esborn said. “I think it will probably surpass anything else in the city that draws people there now.”

Michelle Jarboe: michelle.jarboe@ crain.com, (216) 771-5437, @mjarboe JULY 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 23

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WHISKEY

From Page 1

production, but its planned restaurant and tasting room will give the business a new revenue stream, plus a bar to sell its award-winning spirits directly to the public.

Crain’s caught up with Lix to talk about the state of Cleveland Whiskey, the status of his Flats South project and how factors such as inflation, rising interest rates and supply chain issues are affecting the business.

Here’s what he had to say.

(The following Q&A has been edited.) ` So how are things in general?

We’re doing good. I just wish there were more hours in the day at this point. Like a lot of businesses, we’re still struggling with money, you know? There are supply chain issues, inflation and interest rates are increasing. All that just makes things a little more challenging. ` We’ll come back to those things.

But first, I’m curious about your overseas business. We’ve talked in the past about how retaliatory tariffs on American whiskey and European Union regulations were impacting you. How are you doing with international sales?

The tariffs have all been lifted in both the E.U. and Britain, which is good news — although I heard the U.K. was already talking about steel tariffs again, so who knows where that goes. But we’re going to be careful about entering the European market again. Right now, we’re selling pretty much all we can make domestically, so I’m in no rush to get back to Europe. In the meantime, though, we are selling in South Korea, which started last year, and Indonesia. ` There was this sense that folks were imbibing a bit more amid the pandemic. Did COVID-19 help or hurt you in terms of sales?

Domestic sales have actually been quite good during COVID. There was obviously a drop with on-premise sales with bars and restaurants closed, but that is coming back. Our focus has always been on retail stores, though. We did fairly well there. This is actually our sixth year of double-digit revenue growth and our fourth consecutive year of profitability. ` So what are some of the difficulties you’re facing right now?

The difficult thing right now is, like a lot of craft distillers and brewers and everybody else, supply chains are crazy and commodity prices are going up considerably. Whenever we do get something, the timeline for delivery is often extended and just not reliable.

We have challenges with glass, bottles, corks, cost of grain, especially with the Russian-Ukraine war, which has really hurt us. Prices are skyrocketing, and they are moving up much faster than we can take to the marketplace. We really don’t want to raise prices, but we’ve raised a few selectively. We’re trying to be careful with that, but costs just keep going up dramatically.

It’s funny. At one point we were having trouble getting labels. Turns out there is this liner on the inside that was in short supply for a while — it’s what keeps labels from falling off on alcohol bottles.

That wasn’t available for a time, so we couldn’t complete stock being sent to printers. It’s little stuff like that you don’t expect. Then there’s transportation costs that have gone up significantly.

Whether trucking a couple pallets to a neighboring state or getting a container of glass bottles from South America or France, they all have surcharges on them now. We added someone for the first

A rendering of the Cleveland Whiskey distillery and restaurant planned in what’s been dubbed the Flats South Innovation District. | CONTRIBUTED

` Definitely sounds like a lot of potential with you controlling that additional space. Big picture, what is your timeline looking like today in terms of moving in and opening your barbecue restaurant?

The plan is to have operations moved over there before the end of this year. I think that will happen.

Then the challenge is next year and where interest rates go, which will have a big impact on the money we borrow. So I just can’t put a timeline on the restaurant and other things right now.

Cleveland Whiskey founder and CEO Tom Lix. | CONTRIBUTED

time in a logistics and purchasing role, because it’s been so tricky to manage multiple suppliers that we have to work with now, because at any given time any one supplier might not have what we need. Hopefully, these kinds of things will work themselves out over time. ` What do these things add up to in terms of actual costs?

So here are a few examples. The average cost of bottles went from $1.13 to $1.36, a 20% increase. That is an additional annual impact of $58,650 for what we are making this year. Corks are up from 37 cents to 42 cents. That’s an increased cost of $14,000, and that is just so far — we expect more increases there. Boxes we put things in went from an average cost of 63 cents to $1.58. That’s a 150% increase that equals $20,234. Average health care costs went from $698 a month to $958, which impacts us by $43,757. Raw materials for whiskey are up an extra $62,475.

Those are increases just for this year that we are basing budgets around. And that doesn’t even get into interest rates going up, which we’ve factored into things but costs us another $47,592 this year so far just in additional loan payments. There’s more besides that. But it all adds up, and it impacts our ability to hire more people.

` Are there any worries at this point of any of this becoming unsustainable with these exploding prices?

You have to deal with it. It’s not like we have much of a choice. It makes things difficult and slows things down.

It may eventually impact our product mix where we’d focus on where we have the higher margins as opposed to lower-margin products that people are interested in. But those changes, those decisions, we are making on a month-tomonth basis. ` And how does all this affect your expansion project at the Flats South Innovation District?

It impacts our building project and what we can put in there or how long that all takes. The cost of everything there from roofing material to conduit to insulation, windows, labor, all of that has gone up, which means it slows things down. ` It’s been two years since you started sharing news about that project, so let’s talk more about that. Construction was supposed to begin in January, right? Where do things stand with that?

Yes, construction was supposed to start in January. We are sort of finally starting some construction in the building, and we are starting to spend money on it.

Right now, the focus is on just getting the building operational, not necessarily pretty, so we can move our existing facility over there where we can increase production, which will also reduce costs. That is one way we are looking to mitigate these cost increases. That is our imperative. Some of the things we wanted to do to the building, rehab and refurbish it, we are putting those off a bit. They’ll be further down the horizon. ` Any other noteworthy updates on that project?

Well, one thing we have done is we signed a long-term lease at our building on 601 Stones Levee. It’s a 15-year base with three, 10-year options, so we have it for 45 years. I love to think I will be there at the end of that time period, but I’ll probably be long gone by then.

The big news is we are in the process of actually purchasing the building as well as the neighboring building at 501 Stones Levee. We are going through due diligence and underwriting for financing.

That just started recently, and I think it’s really good news because not only will we have 601 but also 501. If you recall, what separates those two buildings is a brick, decommissioned city street. So we will own that space as well, which we can use for events and concerts with lots of outdoor seating.

` I know that your 2021 Ohio Historic Tax Credit application showed an estimated project cost of approximately $8.17 million. Do you think that cost holds or is it going up?

I think we are still trying to manage that number. It just means we are maybe doing a little bit less right up front and more will be done down the line. This is a multiyear project ultimately, and right now we’re just in phase one.

In terms of financing, we do have to take those smaller bites over time. Cash flow only supports a certain amount, and if interest rates keep going up, that means you may be able to borrow a little less money. And for us, it just extends the time frame. Again, I’m very confident that increased production will increase our cash flow. We increase our volume of product, we have better cash flow, we can borrow more money, and we can make this work. ` Sounds like you are very optimistic despite all these challenges and headwinds that you’re dealing with.

Is that fair to say?

I’m definitely optimistic despite how tired I am right now. My optimism hasn’t failed. We have a solid business and a solid business plan. We have an awesome team of people working here. So none of that has changed. We’re just facing more and different obstacles. We got through COVID without laying off a single person, and not only that, we increased revenue and were profitable. Whether we are dealing with inflation, supply chain issues, or — I hate to say it — a recession, we will get through that as well.

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

24 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JULY 18, 2022

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

DRONE

From Page 1

“The goggles you use don’t make you seem dorky at all,” Angela Jacques said, laughing. “There is absolutely nothing dorky about this.”

Andy Stankiewicz and Jacques are instructors for Spire’s drone racing meetups, which typically take place on the first or second Saturday of each month inside Spire’s fields and courts building.

Each meetup draw between 15 and 30 people — Boomers to Zoomers and everything in between — who want to develop their skills, knowledge and experience for pro or amateur competitions.

But it’s not just practice.

Pilots engage in two- to three-minute races, complete with timed laps and judges who watch on computer monitors to make sure the pilots navigate their drones through the various obstacles.

That competition is essential, Stankiewicz said. To misquote Proverbs 27:17, “As carbon fiber sharpens carbon fiber, so one drone pilot sharpens another.”

“That’s the only way to get better,” Stankiewicz said of competing in real races. “You can fly around this course all day by yourself and get a little bit better, but the pressure of hearing someone else announcing lap times and having someone else next to you passing you, it ratchets up the intensity level.

“We run it like an actual race, so you know what to expect when you get to the higher levels.”

EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

CLASSIFIED SERVICES

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Growing sport

First-person view (FPV) drone racing began in Germany in 2011 and has steadily become a big deal, and big business. Its professional series, the Drone Racing League, recently inked a five-year deal with blockchain platform Algorand worth $100 million. Its championship race was broadcast on NBC and Twitter and doubled its global broadcast reach between 2021 and 2022, reaching more than 250 million households across 13 sports networks.

Few pilots compete professionally — or make much money doing it —

but the sport has blossomed thanks to its relatively low cost of entry (a standard quadcopter with five-inch propellers, a controller and a pair of goggles can cost less than $1,000) and its innate awesomeness. The quadcopters use low-latency cameras, which beam a wireless signal directly to the goggles.

The picture looks like what you’d see in a security camera, but it’s instantaneous, which is pretty important when you’re flying upwards of 80 to 100 miles per hour.

“The commercial drones, the ones you can buy anywhere, are also FPV, but the thing is they’re digital and they’re slower,” Jacques said. “These ones are generally analog. What it does is, you see the obstacle right away so you don’t crash into it.”

Added Stankiewicz, “If you have 40 milliseconds of delay, you’re already in a tree.”

And if you do crash into a tree? Well, because the quadcopters are made of durable plastic, crashes (usually) aren’t a big deal.

“With drones like this one, you can send it full speed into one of these walls and it’ll break a propeller,” Stankiewicz said. “That’s it. You just change the plastic propeller.”

That’s where Spire has an advantage over other venues. Its field and courts building is netted — both on the walls and in front of the computer monitors — so there’s no risk of losing your drone in the stands or flying it into someone’s ear.

“If you go to the park and set up a drone race, you’re going to hurt somebody eventually,” Jacques said.

“Or somebody is going to call the cops or the park rangers or say, ‘It’s our property,’” Stankiewicz added. “This is a safe where people can hone their skills racing.”

Getting hooked Like a lot of drone racers, Stankiewicz has a long background in remote control cars and planes. He built his first RC car when he was 8, got heavily into RC planes and spent years successfully competing as a 125cc shifter kart racer.

“But I got too old,” he said of kart racing. “I couldn’t risk breaking bones in that anymore.”

In 2013, Stankiewicz stumbled upon his first aerial photography quadcop-

|

S E P T E M B E R 3 - 9 , 2 018

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PA G E 2 9

“I’d say it’s about 30% natural talent, 30% how much you want to train and put into it, and then the rest is luck,” Stankiewicz said. “Like any form of racing, you have to be lucky and good. A lot of times, drones will crash into each other in the air. And the thing is, it happens so quick — like milliseconds — that you couldn’t do it on purpose if you tried.”

Competitive camaraderie

Drone racing instructors Andy Stankiewicz and Angela Jacques oversee the monthly meetups at Spire Institute and Academy. | JOE SCALZO/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

ter, a Blade 350 QX, and discovered it scratched two itches: his love for remote controlled vehicles and competitive racing.

“Lots of ex-motocross guys get into it because they still want that adrenaline rush from competing without the injury risk,” Stankiewicz, who is better known in the racing scene as “Drewracer,” said. “And it really is addicting.

The goggles put you in the cockpit, like Top Gun. “It’s an out-of-body thing. When you’re just starting to learn how to fly, you’ll be like, ‘Wait, why is that guy wearing my shirt? Oh, wait, that’s me.’”

Stankiewicz did his first FPV flight at one of the largest radio control events in the world, Flite Fest 2014, in Malvern. He has since flown in hundreds of competitions across the country, in places like Florida and Las Vegas.

Jacques, meanwhile, has competed

globally, including Korea and Brazil.

“There are relatively few people who actually make money, unless you’re producing parts or selling equipment,” Stankiewicz said. “But it’s a relatively young sport. It’s only been around since about 2014 or 2015, so it’s still growing in popularity.”

And, like any other sport, there are some pilots who are just naturally gifted.

Drone racing has one other thing going for it: a low jerk quotient. Competition can bring out the worst in people, but the sport doesn’t seem to draw the worst people. When drones crash, pilots respond by shrugging, not slugging. “Most people laugh it off,” Stankiewicz said. “There seems to be a different class of person who wants to get into tuning and soldering and improving drones. It’s not ultra-competitive, where if you crash into me, I’m going to punch you out. I’ve seen a few temper tantrums, but for the most part (people behave).”

Each meetup costs $20. Pilots can participate by joining Team Spire Racing’s MultiGP chapter. Meetups take place at noon on the following 2022 dates: Aug. 13, Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Oct. 22, Nov. 5 and Dec. 10.

Drone racing also is part of Spire’s esports curriculum and the institute will hold a drone racing bootcamp for ages 13-18 on Aug. 15-19. The cost is $775 until July 25. The next two meetups are at noon on Aug. 13 and noon on Sept. 10.

“Pretty much anyone can enjoy the thrill of racing, even if you’re in a wheelchair or you have a handicap,” Stankiewicz said. “If you can move your thumbs, you can be competitive.”

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

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CLASSIFIEDS To place your listing in Crain’s Cleveland Classifieds, contact Suzanne Janik at 313-446-0455

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ADVERTISE TODAY Spire Institute has netting along walls and in front of monitors, making it a safe place for first person view drone racing.

JULY 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 25

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INNOVATION

From Page 21

said Caitlin Nowlin, who oversees the company’s free educational programming for middle-schoolers and high-schoolers.

Hyland offers coding workshops, camps and other activities at its suburban headquarters and sends employees out to local schools. But transportation between Cleveland and Westlake is a challenge.

The Midtown classroom will accommodate about 30 students, Nowlin said, and the space will be flexible enough to accommodate both Hyland’s in-house programs and classes offered by other tenants or community groups.

“Our goal is to really build and inspire careers in technology. … We want to reach as many students as we can,” she said.

A master plan for the district, an 11- to 12-acre area bookended by a Dave’s Markets grocery store to the west and the Dunham Tavern Museum’s evolving green space to the east, shows eight new buildings, including the Cleveland Foundation’s offices and the collaboration center, which eventually will go by another name.

The foundation does not expect to self-finance and construct all of those buildings. The organization’s goal is to set the tone, and prove the market, in hopes that private developers will follow.

“The Health-Tech Corridor is

strong,” said Kuri, noting that there are hundreds of businesses and thousands of workers in Midtown already. “We hope to build the there-there that’s missing, to make it all visible.”

The foundation aims to take possession of the property, a longtime industrial site that is being remediated, soon. Site preparations could begin in the fall. Construction on the collaboration center is likely to start early next year, putting the project on track to open in autumn 2024.

Kuri described the project as a “mission-related investment,” where the foundation will recoup its money over 30 years through rent collections. On June 23, the foundation’s board of directors vot-

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

ed unanimously to move forward.

The timeline and scope of the remaining buildings, including a parking garage, isn’t clear yet.

The district could support more than 1 million square feet of construction, or roughly half of the potential development that the foundation and MidTown Cleveland hope to see between East 55th Street and the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus over the coming decade.

“The big draw of having all these institutional partners together is access,” said Richard Barga, MidTown’s managing director. “Access for the community. Access for private industry. Access for startups to capital. Access for scaling companies into new buildings. So I would

look at this first building as really being a launching point and a beacon to draw more private investment in that wants to align with our mission, vision and values.”

Wexford’s departure hasn’t dampened the partners’ ambitions, or their belief in the innovation district idea.

“It’s been a process to find the win-win,” Kuri said of launching a project that evolved during a global pandemic and economic turmoil.

“And I think we have. … I challenge you to find me another building in the country that has this kind of mixture of partners, this mixture of theme and community and access.”

Michelle Jarboe: michelle.jarboe@ crain.com, (216) 771-5437, @mjarboe

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

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Project Management Consultants LLC Project Management Consultants LLC announces the promotion of Ken Kalynchuk to Director and Principal. Ken secures and manages millions of dollars of public and private financing options for development projects and attracts incentives for corporate clients that are expanding or relocating in Ohio and across the country. Since 2016, Ken has assisted dozens of clients secure financing for their economic development and real estate projects. He was a 2018 Crain’s 20 in their Twenties recipient.

Project Management Consultants LLC welcomes John Sadosky as Project Director. John identifies, secures and manages public and private financing opportunities for real estate development and business expansion projects. His expertise includes incentives for industrial and distribution center projects, including speculative development and projects requiring significant public infrastructure investments. John will focus his efforts on the Columbus and Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky markets.

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KJK proudly welcomes two new Partners to the firm. Carly Boyd joins KJK’s Family Law practice group. Carly is a skilled domestic relations attorney with Boyd nearly a decade of experience, Carly’s ability to listen acutely and strategize accordingly has brought her clients welcomed success while assisting them through their divorces, separations, child custody and related matters. Nick Cavalaris joins KJK’s Real Estate practice group. His Cavalaris background emphasizes his work in zoning and land use, general litigation, municipal law and business law. Nick assists his clients through the complexities of the land entitlement process and provides innovative solutions to enable clients to realize their goals in various types of transactions.

Labor and employment law firm Ogletree Deakins’ Cleveland office has bolstered its capabilities with the addition of attorneys Barrow from Fisher Phillips.

Shareholders Jazmyn Barrow and Brittany Brantley represent employers in a range of labor and employment law matters, including discrimination and leaves of absence.

Their clients include employers in the manufacturing, healthcare, education, hospitality, real estate, Brantley retail, and service industries.

Jazmyn and Brittany are actively involved in legal and community organizations around Cleveland.

Tom Marry has been named President of Charter Steel, a leading provider of quality wire rod and special bar quality (SBQ) products with operations in Wisconsin and Ohio. In this role, he will be responsible for continuing Charter Steel’s growth. Marry brings a wealth of manufacturing and leadership experience including six years as COO of Modine Manufacturing Co. Marry earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University.

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1x5 INDUSTRY ACHIEVERS ADVANCING THEIR CAREERS

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

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