Crain's Cleveland Business, November 4, 2024

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Second phase of renovations at Progressive Field are underway

Projects include Terrace Hub, Carnegie Club and administrative of ce upgrades

Jim Folk is tasked with overseeing the Progressive Field renovation project, yet late last month he was rooting for construction delays.

“I really wish we were either celebrating winning Game 6 or getting ready to play Game 7,”

Folk, the Cleveland Guardians’ vice president of ballpark improvements, said on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

Instead, some members of Folk’s maintenance crew arrived at the ballpark as early as 5 a.m. the previous Sunday, just a few hours after the Guardians were eliminated from the ALCS

via a 5-2 extra-innings loss to the New York Yankees at Progressive Field.

“We were able to get started in earnest on some of the demolition activities,” he said.

The Guardians’ postseason run delayed Phase 2 of the Progressive Field renovations by about three weeks, but

Folk and Co. are confident they’ll be ready in time for the Guardians’ home opener against the Chicago White Sox on April 8, 2025. (It helps that the team is starting the season on a nine-game road trip.)

See FIELD on Page 28

Cavs ‘double down’ on city

Barlage reaf rms the team’s dedication to downtown Cleveland

Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group, went from talking about his e orts to improve company culture and working to retain talent to commenting on Cleveland retaining a certain professional sports team at a packed Team NEO event ursday, Oct. 24, at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Asked what a possible move by the Browns from Cleveland to Brook Park might mean for the two remaining downtown sports teams, Barlage, who leads the company that owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, said professional sports franchises are important “pillars” in their cities.

“I will tell you, our thesis on this (has) been borne out in Detroit, and it will be borne out in Cleveland. We feel that, in the urban core of these mid-American

See CAVS on Page 29

Cushman & Wake eld Cresco names next managing director

Cushman & Wake eld Cresco, the Independence commercial realty brokerage, has named Bryce Sylvester its next managing director e ective this month. He joins the brokerage from Team NEO, where he was managing director of site strategies.

Like Nathan Kelly, whom he will replace as Kelly is joining the Playhouse Square Foundation, Sylvester’s experience is in economic development and government rather than the rough-and-tumble brokerage eld where compensation is based on commission earnings.

“ e ownership likes the model,” Kelly said in a phone inter-

view after issuing a news release announcing the decision by the brokerage’s principals.

“Bryce’s expertise in economic development and community leadership makes him the perfect t,” Kelly said. “His appointment underscores the success of our nontraditional approach of placing a nonbroker in this role. is strategy has fueled our

ENVIRONMENT

With a recent acquisition, Kent’s Davey Tree gets into the shoreline restoration biz.

PAGE 3

growth, doubling our size and delivering record-breaking performance year after year. With Bryce leading our talented team, we’re con dent our clients will continue to bene t from this innovative leadership.”

Sylvester certainly has a vast network of contacts, a key part of commercial realty brokerage and related service operations. Not only would that include realty agents, developers and real estate owners, but the region’s

property owners, developers and government officials have been regular contacts in his work at Team NEO since late 2021.

Although Kelly joined Cresco from county government, he previously served as director of planning and development in Lakewood, Cuyahoga County’s third-largest suburb in terms of population.

See SYLVESTER on Page 29

Bryce Sylvester joins the brokerage from Team NEO
Bryce Sylvester
A rendering shows a renovated Progressive Field. MANICA

Ernst & Young’s Northeast Ohio presence shrank in the past year

While global Big Four out t Ernst & Young remains the largest accounting rm in the Northeast Ohio marketplace, its presence here — and that of many of the region’s other large accounting businesses — has been decreasing in recent years. EY, which was founded in Cleveland in 1903, counts 262 CPAs and 1,126 total sta in the region as of Sept. 1, according to Crain’s exclusive data.

ose gures represent annual decreases in CPAs and sta of nearly 22% and 10%, respectively.

In 2019, EY’s Northeast Ohio presence comprised 350 CPAs and 1,447 sta . Over the past ve years, then, EY’s CPA headcount has decreased by 25%, while sta has scaled back by 22%.

e big decrease since last year follows EY relocating its Cleveland operations from the o ce tower at 950 Main St. — which had been branded as the EY Tower since it opened in 2013 until being renamed as the Oswald Tower following the move there by insurance brokerage Oswald Cos. — to the nearby North Point Tower, where law rm Jones Day’s local ofces are located.

EY declined to discuss details about its reduced presence and the motivations to relocate, but it did share the following statement from its Cleveland managing partner, Monte Repasky: “EY has deep roots in Cleveland — our rm was founded here more than 100 years ago, and we have helped businesses of all sizes and across all industries thrive in our vibrant business community. We are continuing to invest in our people and facilities in Cleveland and remain committed to serving our people, clients and communities in Northeast Ohio.”

EY, which had been an anchor tenant for Oswald Tower, previously leased about 150,000 square feet of space at the building. e area the rm now occupies at North Point Tower is nearly twothirds less than that.

In addition to the trend of professional services rms reducing o ce footprints in a post-COVID world to trim costs, accounting rms — like many sectors — are evolving along with a shifting industry that is being shaped by technology and remote work.

“On one hand, you have a lot of technology coming in and AI replacing a lot of the work that hu-

mans used to do primarily in the early years of their careers, the more entry-level work,” said Allan Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, which serves the accounting industry. And as rms diversify, they’ve also increasingly hired non-CPAs to tackle certain jobs.

Another factor at play with the accounting industry’s largest rms is o shoring. at, coupled with the technology aspect, could lead to reduced sta s or, at the very least, di erent jobs that may not be housed in traditional o ces.

" e reason the Big Four accounting rms have 50,000 people sitting in India or other countries is because they can get work done at rates of $35 an hour versus $125 an hour here,” Koltin said.

ere’s also the element of a talent shortage in the accounting eld.

e industry faces headwinds in recruiting and retaining talent, largely due to fewer students and graduates entering the profession, plus those who leave the eld because of burnout or low pay, according to the CPA Journal.

e number of students who earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in the 2021-2022 school year fell 7.8% from the previous

year, according to the American Institute of CPAs. e number of students who earned a master’s degree in accounting fell 6.4%.

ese factors might partly explain why the net headcount among Northeast Ohio’s accounting rms has continued to slowly trend down the last few years.

ere are always some exceptions. Just as there are many cases of rms in the local market shrinking, there are also many instances where rm workforces held steady or grew.

Sikich, for example, recorded one of the largest overall increases in CPAs in Crain’s list of the largest accounting rms in Northeast Ohio.

e Chicago-based company has 40 CPAs in the market and 107 sta . at CPA bench is up 38% compared to 2023, while its total sta is down 7%.

Jason Tuma, Sikich’s market leader for Northeast Ohio, described the region as a growth market for the business. at perspective inspired the rm’s acquisition of ornhill Financial of Strongsville, which added to its local workforce.

Sikich is getting a boost from Bain Capital, which made a $250 million minority equity investment in the company this spring. is could lead to more M&A deals in the future — though whether it spurs anything in this region is to be seen.

In the local area, Sikich may also be bene ting from a new o ce in Rich eld that opened earlier this year. at location is “providing a convenient space for employees and clients throughout the metro area to meet,” Tuma said, “and this opened up our recruiting base to the Greater Cleveland area.”

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The former EY building, since renamed Oswald Tower as EY relocated its of ces to the nearby North Point Tower CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Davey Tree turns its attention to reef restoration

Davey Tree Expert Co. of Kent is going o shore.

Just not very far o shore. anks to a recent acquisition, the company has gotten into a new business, shoreline restoration. It has formed a new group called Native Shorelines that it intends to expand via new hires, future acquisitions and organic growth.

To do that, it’s likely going to have to grow a lot of oysters, too.

“We bought a company in North Carolina called ReadyReef that builds shorelines on the coast,” said Ken Joehlin, Davey Tree's vice president for new ventures. “ ey build reefs. ey have products they put in the water that are articial reefs — then (the reefs) attract oysters to grow … and it reinforces the native shoreline.”

ese aren’t what many people think of when they hear the word “reefs.” ere’s no coral on these reefs, which are in the cooler waters of Virginia and the Carolinas rather than the warm seas of the tropics. ese are built with concrete, which includes oyster shells in the mix.

And, like coral reefs, these reefs also depend on animals to build them and become part of their structure, which is what new oysters do when they're attracted to and grow on the reefs developed by ReadyReef and now being built by Davey. ose oysters reinforce the concrete that serves as the reef’s foundation, tying everything together and creating a much stronger reef than the concrete could provide on its own, Joehlin said.

But what’s left is very natural in both appearance and function.

“It’s very much about establishing the shoreline,” Joehlin said. “Once you put this reef out there the sand accumulates behind the reef, then plants come in, and before you know it you

have a living shoreline.”

e growing reefs, and the buffers they create, protect the shoreline behind them from erosion the same way that organic shorelines defend themselves before they are developed, but without using manmade jetties or pylons, he said.

Right now, Native Shorelines is a tiny part of Davey’s operations. Fewer than 20 of the company’s more than 12,000 employees work in the unit, which Davey started with a 2022 acquisition of Restoration Systems of Raleigh, N.C.

“We’ve only been doing this for 20 months,” Joehlin said. “Obviously, we have expectations to grow this.”

It wasn’t even a business Davey was thinking about, but when ReadyReef owners Chris and Ed Davis contacted Davey Tree and asked if it was interested in acquiring the company, “we liked it and we wanted it,” Joehlin said.

Davey Tree, with more than $1.6 billion in annual revenue, certainly has the wherewithal to invest in and grow the business further —

something that apparently attracted the Davis brothers to Davey Tree in the rst place.

“We are eager to expand on ReadyReef’s industry knowledge and exceptional client service by joining the Davey family,” said Chris Davis, who joined Davey Tree as a senior project manager following the Oct. 9 acquisition. “(Davey Tree’s) team of experts and resources will help us continue to expand our services to best serve the needs of current and future clients.”

Joehlin said Davey Tree believes shoreline restoration is becoming more important. More people keep moving to the coasts, including to areas often impacted by severe weath-

er; ocean levels are rising, and warmer seawater is creating bigger and more violent storms.

All of that means there’s more need than ever for innovative methods to protect shorelines, Joehlin said.

“It’s a new area that’s gaining a lot of interest. ere’s a lot of funding being pushed and a lot of government agencies are moving toward coastal resiliency,” Joehlin said. “ at’s why state governments are putting money towards it and sometimes they’re putting up cost-sharing programs for people on the beach.”

It also ts with Davey Tree’s larger push into environmental work, as did the company’s acquisition of

Restoration Systems, a North Carolina wetlands development company that Davey Tree bought at the end of 2022.

at company builds wetlands, often for developers that use them for credits to o set the impact of their projects, including on other wetlands.

Davey Tree will continue that work but also use Restoration Systems to expand the reef restoration down the East Coast and particularly along the Intracoastal Waterway where ReadyReef has done much of its work.

Davey Tree is looking for additional acquisitions to grow the business, but what it might need most going forward is people. e company plans to hire biologists and others to work on reef restoration.

“We got some with the acquisitions, but we’re going to continue to hire and we’ll put in whatever resources make sense,” Joehlin said.

Growing now could enable Davey to establish critical market share and name recognition in the eld, which is so far not crowded, according to Joehlin.

“It’s a new thing. ere are a few other people out there who, quite honestly, are pretty small players compared to Davey,” he said. “So, we don’t see a lot of competition.”

Not that Davey Trees’s getting out of the tree business. It’s still buying up other tree-care companies, including its purchase of Vermont’s Wise Oak company last month and its August acquisition of VanCuren Services and Midwest Land Clearing in Newbury.

A recent reef restoration project done by ReadyReef, which is now part of Davey Tree Expert Co. DAVEY TREE EXPERT CO.

SMOOTH COASTING

Deb Yandala to step down as CEO of Conservancy for CVNP

Deb Yandala, the longtime president and CEO of the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, is stepping down next year.

Yandala, who has worked as the nonpro t’s CEO for 22 years, informed the CVNP board of directors she will be leaving her role in the rst half of 2025, the organization announced Tuesday, Oct. 22.

She plans to stay on as CEO until the board appoints her successor. CVNP’s board says it plans to start the search for its next CEO immediately, aiming to have the organization’s new leader in place in the next six to eight months.

CVNP, the philanthropic partner of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, provides educational programming and leads preservation e orts in support of the park. During Yandala’s tenure, the organization grew from a sta of 24 to 100 and increased its budget from $1.2 million to $8 million, board chair Karyn Sullivan said in a statement.

Yandala told Crain's that the

organization is in a healthy place and in the midst of planning for the future. She felt it was a good time to step back and allow CVNP’s next CEO to be a part of that planning process.

In 1992, Yandala was hired to write curriculum for the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center. She served as its director until 2002 when she

was asked to become CEO of CVNP following the merger of the education center and the thenCuyahoga Valley Association.

Yandala said she’s proud of her work at the education center, which does a lot of environmental education programming with Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Akron Public Schools.

Under Yandala’s leadership, CVNP opened the Boston Mill Visitor Center for visitors of Cuyahoga Valley National Park and purchased the former Brandywine Golf Course to convert into parkland.

Yandala said she has agreed to work part time for the National Park Foundation. She looks forward to sharing the work of CVNP on a broader scale, she said, as well as having more time for biking, hiking and spending time with family.

She said she’ll miss the sta at CVNP and connecting the community with the park. She described Cuyahoga Valley National Park as a great asset to Northeast Ohio and said she is excited to see what’s next for the park.

CWRU lands $2.6M grant to study blood pressure meds

With a four-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Case Western Reserve University researchers plan to study whether high blood pressure medications increase the risk of kidney and cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Ming Wang, an associate professor of biostatistics in the School of Medicine’s Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, will use data from two large studies on high blood pressure intervention and the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) to assess how these medications a ect patients.

“Cardiovascular disease actually is one of the leading causes of mortality in chronic kidney disease patients,” Wang told Crain’s. “In this proposal, we want to assess and also compare the e ects of di erent antihypertensive therapies in reducing the cardiovascular disease risk for CKD patients.”

CKD is a condition that occurs when a patient’s kidneys can no longer lter waste out of their blood properly. e disease affects an estimated 35.5 million U.S. adults and can lead to heart disease, anemia and kidney failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Patients with CKD are often prescribed antihypertensive therapies that can help prevent complications from high blood pressure. While there is a variety of therapies available, it is unclear which of these drugs is optimal for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in CKD patients, Wang said.

Wang and collaborator Mahboob Rahman, a professor at the university’s School of Medicine and division chief of nephrology and hypertension at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, will apply a new statistical method of cause-and-e ect known as dynamic propensity trajectory matching to the data to evaluate the e ects of high blood

pressure medications on CKD patients.

Wang said they hope their research will help clinicians better control blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in CKD patients. Using their dynamic propensity trajectory matching method, they will be able to study real-world data, factoring in issues like adherence to medication and other changes to treatment over time.

Wang said this methodology can be applied to other types of data analysis.

Once they complete their work, the researchers intend to create a website or virtual toolbox for other researchers or clinicians to access their ndings, she said.

Deb Yandala is stepping down next year. CONSERVANCY FOR CUYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

Ovatient offering virtual services for behavioral health

While many national retailers are pulling back their virtual care operations, a virtual- rst provider co-founded by MetroHealth is expanding into the behavioral health space.

Ovatient, the virtual- rst health care services provider built “by health systems for health systems,” late last month introduced virtual behavioral health services for MetroHealth patients.

e company, formed in 2022 through a partnership between MetroHealth and the Medical University of South Carolina health system, added a slew of virtual behavioral health o erings, including brief individual therapy, single-session interventions and skills groups.

e new services are built on Epic and MyChart, similar to Ovatient’s existing virtual primary care and urgent care options, which were rolled out at MetroHealth last spring. Ovatient CEO Michael Dalton told Crain’s he expected the company to surpass 11,000 visits by the end of October.

Being on Epic, a popular electronic health record software used by many U.S. hospitals and health systems, has allowed the company to nd success while other virtual care providers have struggled, Dalton said. Over the past year, Walmart has shuttered its health clinics and telehealth services, and Walgreens closed 160 of its VillageMD clinics after recording huge losses.

Dalton, who previously worked for MetroHealth, said Ovatient operates using a “virtual- rst” model that enables it to work seamlessly with its partner health systems to schedule in-person care when needed.

Adding behavioral health services is part of Ovatient’s goal of providing whole-person care, Dalton said. Nearly 19% of patients who have been seen through Ovatient’s virtual primary care services have been identi ed as in need of behavioral health services, according to the company.

Dalton said the behavioral health services are meant to address low- to moderate-acuity patients.

Patients can access these services via a referral from their MetroHealth or Ovatient primary care provider. Working with their primary care and behavioral health team, they will develop a care plan that may feature Ovatient’s services, including:

◗ Brief individual therapy: Up to eight short-term sessions using evidence-based practices like cognitive behavioral or solution-focused therapy.

◗ Single session intervention: A stand-alone intervention or supplemental support to help patients make progress on one speci c goal.

◗ Skills groups: Education and peer-to-peer support provided to patients with shared goals, focusing on areas like sleep, mindfulness and coping skills.

Patients who need additional support may be connected to in-person services at Cuyahoga County’s safety-net hospital. e virtual appointments are in-network for health insurance companies contracted with MetroHealth, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Ovatient dubs itself as a virtual care solution designed “by health systems for health systems.” e idea behind the company came to life as MetroHealth o cials were working on the system’s virtual care strategy following the pandemic. Recognizing the growing demand for virtual care, they wanted to create a venture that could provide coordinated care for patients and be deployed at other health systems throughout the country.

MetroHealth is the rst health system in which Ovatient has introduced services. Dalton said the company plans to start o ering services at the Medical University of South Carolina in January and is looking for additional health systems to partner with.

Ovatient has 25 employees, Dalton said, and expects to add another 15 by the beginning of next year.

Each

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UNSPLASH

For Marathon Health CEO, merger paves way for growth

Marathon Health CEO Dr. Jeff Wells said the company could double or triple its footprint in the Greater Cleveland market over the next three years following its merger earlier this year with Everside Health.

The advanced primary care providers announced they would be joining forces in February, creating a singular entity that serves more than 3 million patients and has contracts with roughly 640 employers and union organizations nationally.

Through the deal, eight former Everside Health clinics scattered throughout Northeast Ohio now operate as open-access locations under the Marathon Health umbrella. In total, the company runs 49 primary care health centers in Ohio, serving just shy of 200,000 patients.

Fifteen of Marathon Health’s Ohio clinics are based in Northeast Ohio, but only eight fall under the open-access model, meaning they aren’t dedicated to

a single employer.

Marathon Health functions as a complement to an employer’s existing benefits, Wells said. The company takes “an independent, patient-first approach” to health care that provides “more convenient access to in-person and virtual care, leading to better patient health outcomes and meaningful cost-of-care savings.”

Wells, who is a primary care physician by training, co-founded the company a handful of years ago. He said he was inspired to create a solution outside of the traditional health care model after seeing the frustrations of patients and providers related to issues like access, cost and burnout.

Marathon has partnered with large employers such as Lenovo and Tyson Foods. Its clinics are situated throughout the country, and the company has about 3,000 employees, including primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, mental health counselors and therapists, physical therapists and medical assistants.

“At the end of the day, health

University Hospitals reports $522M in community benefit

University Hospitals provided $522 million in community benefit to the region last year, according to its latest Community Health Investment Report.

The report, released Tuesday, Oct. 29, stated that the benefits came largely through the health system’s investments in maternal and child health, tackling food insecurity, creating jobs for under-resourced individuals and providing charity care to uninsured patients.

Nonprofit hospitals are required to submit an annual community benefit report to the IRS to maintain their tax-exempt status. A community benefit is defined as a program or initiative a health system undertakes to improve health in its communities.

The report breaks the health system’s community benefit into several categories, the largest being Medicaid shortfall, or the difference between the cost of a Medicaid patient’s care and the reimbursement received by the hospital. UH reported a Medicaid shortfall of $268 million in 2023.

Other areas outlined in the report include $100 million in clinical education and training for health care professionals, $58 million in medical research, $58 million in charity care and $38 million in community health improvement programs and services.

Along with the $522 million in community benefit, UH reported $185 million in unreimbursed Medicare costs. While the IRS does

care is local,” Wells said. “It's great that we have national scale and that presence, and the ability to help organizations that might be national or regional, but I think it's even more important that we can go really deep and really focus on building out more access and having a deeper bench and a stronger team and really understanding the local health care ecosystem.”

U.S. health care costs are skyrocketing. Spending on health care grew 4.1% in 2022, hitting $4.5 million or $13,493 per person, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Marathon Health says its model helps patients see providers faster for primary care and acute care needs, diverting them from unnecessary visits to urgent cares or emergency rooms.

On-site or near-site health clinics have been rising in popularity among employers. Nonprofit Business Group on Health found in a 2023 survey of large employers that 36% of respondents were offering primary care through these centers, with another 13%

considering them for 2024 or 2025.

Wells said Marathon Health, an Indianapolis-based company, sees Northeast Ohio as an area ripe for expansion because of its competitive health care market. The region is home to major health systems like Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth and Summa Health. Wells said Marathon Health adds value by not being connected to a single health system.

“We've taken a bit of a different approach where we're not gonna partner or align with any one health system in a given market, and the rationale being that we are entirely focused on serving the patient and the payer of health care, so the employer in this case,” he said.

“When a patient may need more advanced care, think about a specialist or advanced diagnostic testing or a surgical procedure, we're not tied to refer them to only one system. It's more about, ‘Hey, based on your specific need, where would be the best spot to go

when you think about quality of care and outcomes?’”

Through the Everside merger, Wells said the company has been able to expand its scope. Along with its Northeast Ohio clinics, Marathon Health has four locations in the Columbus and Cincinnati areas.

“For organizations that might be in Cleveland but also have a presence more broadly in the state or the region, we have more access and the ability to drive better outcomes, and ultimately stronger ROI for those client partners,” Wells said.

The merged company has been upgrading clinical technology, he said. As a merged organization, he believes Marathon Health has a stronger offering in care navigation, or referrals when complex care is required.

Wells said the company is bullish on growth potential in the state, particularly Northeast Ohio. He said Marathon Health sees an opportunity to expand with employers and unions, along with commercial health plans in Ohio.

not consider Medicare losses to be a community benefit, the health system felt “very strongly” about including them in the report as it sees them as a community investment, said Heidi Gartland, chief government and community relations officer at UH, in a phone interview.

Gartland said the health system sustains losses on care provided to patients insured by Medicare because the payer reimburses at a set rate that’s less than the cost of providing care. U.S. hospitals have been advocating for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to increase reimbursement rates.

UH’s community benefit strategy centers around maternal and child health, well-being and economic opportunity. Per federal law, nonprofit hospitals must conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years to identify significant health needs in their communities. From there, they are required to devise an implementation strategy based on their findings and measure the impact of their programs.

Gartland said UH is gearing up for its next Community Health Needs Assessment in 2025. The health system is actively engaged with health departments in each of the counties with UH hospitals, she said.

“Addressing the root causes of inequities can significantly improve a community’s quality of life,” UH CEO Dr. Cliff Megerian said in a statement. “As Northeast Ohio’s hometown healthcare team and the third-largest healthcare employer in the state, University

Hospitals is dedicated to enhancing economic conditions for all.

“We focus on health equity and aim to have a meaningful impact in areas that need us most. We are committed to educating future caregivers, funding medical research that offers hope to those with limited options, and launching research studies and programs to alleviate healthcare disparities.”

In 2023, UH “doubled down” on its community health investments, Gartland said, which increased 26% over the previous year. These investments included new community wellness centers in Bedford, Richmond Heights and Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, which offer preventive health care services and other services aimed at addressing social determinants of health like cooking demonstrations, telehealth services, financial literacy and workforce training.

Other community investments have included launching a mobile obstetrics unit and a pediatric

dental clinic designed for children with developmental and behavioral conditions, traumatic facial injuries, cancer or congenital conditions and facial-skeletal deformities.

UH saw a 6% reduction in Medicaid shortfall over the previous year, thanks to the Hospital Care Assurance Program, which helped offset some losses, Gartland said.

The health system invested $531 million in community benefit in the region in 2022.

The Lown Institute, a health care think tank based in Massachusetts, releases an annual report on how much nonprofit hospitals spend on community benefit investments compared to the tax breaks they receive. Eighty percent of the 2,425 hospitals evaluated in this year’s report spent less on community investment than the estimated value of their tax breaks. Northeast Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals were listed as having “fair share deficits” in the latest

rendition.

The American Hospital Association has pushed back on the report, arguing that it “cherry-picks” community benefit categories and ignores underpayments from Medicaid and Medicare that hospitals must absorb.

In a statement regarding the Lown Institute’s report, UH said it was proud of the investments it has made in Northeast Ohio, but that “we strive to do more, which is why we made investing in our community a key aspect of our strategic plan to make a more meaningful impact where needs are greatest.”

The health system said it “has pledged to do its part to change the narrative from being providers of healthcare to being promoters and agents of health equity.”

A spokesperson also noted that UH Cleveland Medical Center was the only Ohio hospital included on U.S. News & World Report’s inaugural list of Best Regional Hospitals for Equitable Access.

University Hospitals’ main campus | UNIVERSITY HoSPITALS

AI-enabled surveillance camera the latest safety tool for Public Square

Making Public Square a welcoming place for Cleveland residents, workers and visitors has been a priority for Downtown Cleveland Inc. since the group ofcially took charge of oversight in August.

Almost immediately after the management handover, signs enforcing a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew were posted and a 24-hour police presence stationed on or near the square was added.

“Safety and security matters in downtown, and we are putting a tremendous amount of work and focus into making sure that people downtown feel safe,” explains Michael Deemer, Downtown Cleveland Inc.’s president and CEO.

e latest security addition, installed by Downtown Cleveland in early October, is a real-time, AI-enabled, 360-degree camera and security system sitting on the edge of the square outside of Terminal Tower's front entrance.

While crime has been less of an issue in 2024, the move follows a spike in downtown crime in 2023 that prompted temporary assistance from the Cuyahoga County Sheri and included a November shooting in Public Square after the annual holiday season kicko celebration, a high-pro le event.

Cleveland Inc.

e camera uses custom analytics that, for example, prompt the system to monitor a location for human activity between midnight and 5 a.m. and send a notication if someone remains in the same place for more than 10 minutes.

e RAD security system, using other AI prompts, will then use the speakers and the digital screen to automatically warn someone “loitering” that the area is now closed, adding a pleasant, “Please come back tomorrow.”

e system is then programmed to send escalating autonomous responses in which the audio warnings get more serious, and arguably aggressive, in tone.

e system also can deploy ashing lights and a real-time call, possibly from Eckart.

“With this system, you just keep elevating until you get the response you're looking for. We also have the ability to do what they call ‘a talk down feature.’ With that we can tap into a speaker on that camera, and I can say, ‘Sir in the red jacket and blue ball cap, you are trespassing. e area is now closed. Please leave the area,’” he added.

If the messaging does not work, the monitor — in this case the Downtown Cleveland operations center — will be able to send a

“Safety and security matters in downtown, and we are putting a tremendous amount of work and focus into making sure that people downtown feel safe.”
Michael Deemer, Downtown Cleveland Inc.’s president and CEO

Deemer said that a pilot program using the solar-powered, RAD RIO 360-degree camera from Robotic Assistance Devices out tted with a 15-foot telescopic arm; two LED displays; speakers for visual and audio messaging; and bright lights that can ash on and o as a warning is a critical part of making the square a welcoming place.

e safety pilot project is part of a “multifaceted” approach in “resetting expectations for behavior,” Deemer said, that includes new lighting, year-round programming and music at the square.

e AI platform powering the camera and security system allows for real-time monitoring and automatic noti cations, enabling Downtown Cleveland to deal with potential safety situations before they escalate.

“ ere are thousands of public and private cameras in downtown right now, but the vast majority of them are historical in nature, which means they are only recording what's going on. Only a few allow you to monitor what is happening in real time,” explains Ed Eckart Jr., senior vice president of operations for Downtown

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into the lot and three people get out, the analytics would identify that and within 10 seconds send a noti cation to warn that a possible car break-in could happen,” Eckart said.

Downtown Cleveland is working on an agreement with Cleveland regarding sharing the camera feed as part of the city’s network of more than 2,800 integrated cameras.

e pilot has been successful and there are plans to slowly add more cameras, which are leased from Michigan-based Robotic Assistance Devices, for other areas of the city in partnership with local businesses.

“We recognize there's a lot of people who have concerns around this type of technology,” Deemer said. “ ese cameras do not collect biometric information, and they never will. e technology does not rely on skin color, gender, and none of those types of things go into these analytics.”

Neighborhood Safety Specialist to the area.

“Instead of having that safety specialist walk around downtown, hopefully running into something going on, now there is a more strategic, surgical, impactful way we can work without having to increase our budget by constantly adding more security and more hours,” Eckart said.

Having eyes on one of the busiest and most central parts of the city is part of Downtown Cleveland’s strategy to head o potential criminal activity before it happens and without having to escalate it to a call for armed law enforcement.

“ at's what we think the game changer is with this kind of technology because we can actually intervene as something is happening,” Eckart said.

e AI-enabled monitoring also has some predictive functions. e cameras can identify times and situations where there were problems previously and notify monitors when those situations are happening.

“If a business had a camera in a surface parking lot, and at 2 o'clock in the morning a car pulls

A solar-powered, AI-enabled, 360-degree camera and security system was installed by Downtown Cleveland Inc. in Public Square. | KIM PALMER

Avon Lake Towne Center is set for purchase

With the expiration of a longterm lease that held its grocery store anchor space off the market for 17 years, Avon Lake Towne Center is about to change hands to a joint venture formed by DeHoff Development and Lemmon Development of North Canton.

The sale price for the community center was not disclosed as the venture announced the planned purchase, which was set to close on Oct. 31. The seller is Kopf Properties, the commercial arm of Kopf Builders of Avon Lake. Herman R. “Bucky” Kopf, founder of Kopf Properties, died last year.

The first task will be replacing the former Tops store that has been empty since the chain exited Northeast Ohio, said Beth Borda, DeHoff vice president, in a phone interview.

“Our ideal tenant would be a grocery store, which is what the community has said it wants there. We have talked to several, but there are a lot of challenges to putting in a grocery store,” Borda said. The challenge would be finding a grocer that is not already represented in the market, she said.

The next step would be to find an anchor that may take a substantial amount of the empty space, which would determine how the space might be subdivided.

The acquisition also includes 6 acres next door that can be developed as apartments. Borda said the joint venture plans to develop the property, though the timing is not set.

“We will be able to dig into answering questions about what to do at the property after we close

and after working with the city of Avon Lake," she said.

Dan DeHoff, president of DeHoff Development, said in the news release announcing the transaction that it plans to refresh the 199-vintage shopping center’s exterior and parking lot. The prospective new owners have already had tentative talks with the city of Avon about their goals for the property. DeHoff said the companies have a history of working with local governments and have shown some city officials their projects in Stark and Summit counties.

Brian Edelstein, executive vice president of Kopf Properties, said in the release, “It was always Herman R. 'Bucky' Kopf’s vision to redevelop the shopping center,” but

he died before the lease expired at the end of 2023.

Edelstein also said in the release the company has met with multiple potential buyers before settling on the DeHoff/Lemmon group.

“Picking them gives both Kopf and the City of Avon Lake the comfort that the job will be done with excellence,” Edelstein wrote. Edelstein declined further comment when reached by Crain's via phone.

The apartment-eligible empty land is prized in the western suburbs, including Lorain County, a Cuyahoga collar county, because rezoning scarce available land to multifamily use has been historically difficult for realty developers. At the same time, several apart-

ICP buys Lodi Station Outlets for industrial park remake

The outlet center train is losing momentum nationally, and it's coming to a hard stop at the long-ailing Lodi Station Outlets in Medina County.

Industrial Commercial Properties of Mayfield Heights has purchased the outlet center for $2.9 million and plans to convert it into a multitenant industrial park.

"We've had our eyes on this property for a long time," said Austin Semarjian, ICP executive vice president, in a phone interview. "We love this location. It's largely vacant, but if the retailers want to stay, we will be happy to consolidate them into fewer buildings."

"We like the location because it is on an I-71 interchange and near the intersection of I-71 and I-76 in Lodi," Semarjian said. ICP drew on that to give the property its new name: Interstate Business Park.

Steps already are underway to upgrade the property, he said.

Overhangs that shelter shoppers from rain are being removed, along with other retail elements, to give the place a more industrial look. Some buildings will be painted or re-sided to create what Semarjian called a "contemporary, highend industrial look." That new look already is reflected in an image on ICP's website.

The six buildings, each 50,000 square feet in size, can be offered to tenants who need all of a building or part of one, as ICP will subdivide each into spaces for about four tenants.

The strategy is a finely honed one for ICP. It converted the former big-box center in Garfield Heights to Highland Business Park, and it turned the enclosed mall that was Chapel Hill into Chapel Hill Business Park. ICP has implemented the strategy repeatedly since buying the former Super Kmart in Euclid in 2004 to convert it to industrial use.

ICP has done business before with the seller — an affiliate of Namdar Realty Group and Nassim Realty Group, both of Long Island, New York — including in efforts to redo Midway Mall before the Lorain County Port Authority bought it.

Medina County land records show the dramatic drop in the Lodi outlet center's market value — and the original investment in construction materials to build the outlet center — over the years.

The property, originally opened as Buckeye Factory Shops in 1999, sold in 2002 for $25 million. Fast-forward to 2017 and the Namdar/Nassim team bought it for $3.5 million. That set the table for ICP to pay just $2.9 million for the 300,000-squarefoot complex, which is on about 40 acres. One of the other owners, as part of a renewal drive in 2009, emphasized the railroad theme and added a train ride for children.

shopping center lacks direct highway access. The plaza also is a few miles north of the massive shopping district in Avon that includes the Avon Commons big-box shopping center and retailers like Menards, Meijer and Walmart.

The late Bucky Kopf operated a family-owned building company that often is credited with having put Avon Lake on the map as a site for new home development since the 1970s when suburban sprawl crossed the western boundary of Cuyahoga County.

Ted Esborn, Avon Lake community development director, said in a phone interview that the impact of the long lease on the empty space has been widely discussed in the suburb.

"It feels like we're finally ready to move on there after the Tops lease ended and a new owner is ready to come in," Esborn said. "We're excited to work with them."

ment developments in Rocky River and Westlake have been developed over the past two decades, partially through huge mixed-use projects such as Crocker Park or the low-interest-rate era reviving action on isolated parcels fallow for decades.

What the shopping center — 47% vacant — and prized apartment land will fetch will be worth following. Although empty retail space is a drag on values, the low vacancy rate of 4.6% for retail in the region diminishes that concern.

The Lorain County Auditor’s office assigns the plaza and land a market value for tax purposes of $5.2 million.

Despite being in an intensely developed residential area, the

Although the Tops exit and long lease thwarted recent redevelopment efforts, Kopf’s vision for the property overall was realized in several respects as adjoining sites include medical offices, apartments, an office park and free-standing retail and senior housing. The concern also developed substantial apartments in various parts of Avon Lake.

DeHoff and Lemmon have partnered on many projects for the past 50 years. The business partners command a portfolio that includes seven shopping centers and 1,500 units of apartments. The newest multifamily development is the just-completed 300-suite ParkView at Spring Hill in Green, a joint venture with Metropolitan Holdings of Columbus.

The rise of online shopping is undercutting the outlet center concept, according to Tony Visconsi, a managing director in the retail unit of Hanna Commercial's Cleveland office.

"Outlet shopping has been in decline for several years because customers can buy discounted products online," Visconsi said. "It works best in tourist areas where visitors may be there to visit for another reason." That's why outlet malls still operate in Orlando but are closing elsewhere.

Visconsi characterized Aurora Farms Premium Outlets in Aurora as a stable property.

"But remember, the reason it was built there was because it

could provide another option for families going to Geauga Lake or Sea World ... especially if it rained," he said.

Moreover, Aurora Farms benefits from being owned by Simon Property Group of Indianapolis rather than a group of investors known for buying troubled enclosed malls and distressed shopping centers.

Namdar and Nassim also are shifting focus to downtown office buildings. Earlier this year, they acquired 200 Public Square.

Asked what ICP's buying next, Semarjian said, "We're staying busy." Earlier this year, ICP bought an empty office building in Hudson.

Avon Lake Towne Center, named for the Lorain County suburb where it sits, has been without its grocery store anchor for 17 years. | CoSTAR
Lodi Station Outlets, which overlooks I-71 near I-76, has been acquired by Industrial Commercial Properties of Mayfield Heights. CoSTAR

JCU Gateway North project garners excitement, opposition

A new mixed-use project in University Heights is creating excitement for many, but its design has caused a stir among others.

Located at Fairmount Circle — the roundabout at the intersection of Warrensville Center Road and Fairmount Boulevard — the John Carroll University Gateway North project will feature tens of thousands of square feet of residences for students and retail intended to bene t both John Carroll students and the surrounding community.

e mixed-use project is planned for a portion of land o the northeast section of the roundabout, wedged between Warrensville Center Road, John Carroll Boulevard and Milford Road. Buildings to be torn down for the project include a former BP gas station, Mr. Tire (soon leaving) and about a dozen homes owned by the school, according to University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan.

One home will remain, as the owner declined to accept an o er from the university, but the project will work around it.

A development 'for the entire community'

“We are excited about creating a mixed-use development that establishes a gateway to our campus on a site that was once a gas station, service center, and parking lot,” a JCU spokesperson wrote to Crain’s. “While much renement will take place as we move forward, we are excited to advance a vision for the building that has a contemporary disposition, but is responsive to the various architectural in uences surrounding the site.”

According to a presentation of the project, the ve-level building will consist of nearly 157,000 gross square feet, with 27,940 gross square footage of retail space on the rst oor, including 13,500 square feet for a “specialty grocer.” While Brennan could not

disclose the name of the “boutique grocery store,” as he described it, he said the store will be an anchor and “will be exciting to the community.”

“ is grocery store is not only for the university community,” Brennan said. “It is for the entire community.”

e rest of the space, about 129,000 gross square feet, will be dedicated to student residences.

While some residential space will be located alongside retail on the rst oor, the second through fth levels will be exclusively housing.

e building will have 99 units: three one-bedroom units, eight two-bedroom units, 16 three-bedroom units and 72 four-bedroom units. ese “apartment-type suites” will all be owned by the university.

e project also will have two parking lots with spaces split between residents and visitors. For those living in the complex, there will be 301 parking spaces, while there will be 186 spaces for visitors or shoppers

e developer for the project is DiGeronimo Companies, and the architect is Vocon.

“ e idea here is John Carroll wants to require its undergrads — all four years — to live in university-owned housing,” Brennan said. “And in order to do that, they want to have more, and better, housing to o er, which leads then to the redevelopment of Warrensville Center Road.”

Brennan mentioned that most

of Warrensville Center Road is already rental homes used by students. With those students now being shifted to the new project, Brennan notes that it “a ords an opportunity for us to re-envision Warrensville Center Road."

e University Heights Planning Commission on Oct. 10 recommended approval with contingencies of the site plan for the project.

An 'out of character' project

However, the project recently ran into some opposition over its design and its e ect on the community.

On Oct. 16, the Cleveland Architecture Foundation sent a letter calling the project “unacceptable."

e letter, signed by foundation president William T. Eberhard, discusses how “completely out of character and not compatible” the project is with the architecture of University Heights and highlights issues the foundation has with the materiality, massing/size/scale, architectural features/fenestration, horizontal banding and site planning.

“We all saw this project and we’re appalled,” Eberhard told Crain's.

However, Eberhard noted he has a “bigger degree of concern” as he lives about “200 meters” from the project site and would have to see it every day.

While the development is outside the John Carroll North Quad

Historic District, which was established in 2012, “the entire JCU campus has an architectural quality and integrity in its collegiate gothic character that establishes a cohesive design,” the letter reads.

“ ere’s a point where whatever you see at John Carroll seems to t with the whole and it's cohesive,” Eberhard added in his conversation with Crain's.

Eberhard wanted to reiterate that the foundation — made up of Eberhard, David Ellison and John Roush — is “not expecting this developer to build a collegiate gothic dormitory” but pointed out that the rest of the city “is a series of brick houses which have stone trim above and below the window, and with windows that are paired or are in three or fours.”

“ is design features hardly any brick at all, features little vertical windows individually ... with no stone articulation at all, but instead a dark brown horizontal band that none of those elements exist anywhere in University Heights at all,” he added. “ is building doesn’t t anywhere.”

e foundation's letter adds that the replacement of homes with a parking lot facing Warrensville Circle Road “shatters the residential rhythm of the housing,” which “is made clear” with the one existing home.

It also says that “planting six trees along the front line of the remaining residences does not diminish or mask the fragmentation.” ey suggest a brick wall that is 9 to 10 feet in height would be an “improvement and screen the parking from the street and vice versa.”

Brennan mentioned that this project will make the area more “walkable,” but the letter stated

that there “appears to be no pedestrian walkways” connecting the “northern parking lots to the gateway project to the south or to public sidewalks on WCR (Warrensville Center Road) or John Carroll Boulevard,” which they called “unfriendly.”

“ e design of this project can and must be made much better,” the letter reads. “ is site, JCU and the community deserve better.”

While JCU did not comment on this letter speci cally, a spokesperson from the university stated ocials are “excited to comment on the development.”

“John Carroll University has worked closely with our design and development team over the past year,” a spokesperson wrote to Crain’s. “We continue to collaborate with the University Heights Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission as we re ne the project.”

However, Brennan mentioned that this is a “step into the future” as the project represents a full mile in the center of the city. He noted that with this project on one end of the city and the Bell Tower Center project on another, “we’re going to be in a position where we can hopefully rebuild everything in between for years.”

e project was originally expected to go before the City Council on Oct. 21 before being delayed.  e project will go before the Board of Zoning Appeals on Nov. 13 and the Architectural Review Board on Nov. 14.

e earliest it would go before the council is the following meeting on Nov. 18, with or without changes that dissipate the frustration expressed by Eberhard and his colleagues.

Renderings show the John Carroll University Gateway North project. CONTRIBUTED

The return-to-office push feels real this time. The numbers, however, tell a different story.

It may feel like corporate America is on the verge of yet another remote work inflection point. The country's two largest employers just told desk workers to return to the office full time, and some big-name business leaders are now predicting an end to WFH practices altogether.

A closer look, however, challenges that narrative. There is no evidence of offices suddenly filling. Many employers are actively standing by their current work models. And companies bringing down the hammer on remote work are increasingly facing defiant employee pushback.

How can we know now is not the beginning of the end for remote work?

First, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks it. The government's latest employment report showed telecommuting increased over the last year. In September 2023, 10% of workers were fully remote. That figure is now 11.1%. Hybrid work also went up, with the number of folks working in person part of the time increasing from 9.8% last year to 12.6% now.

Another lens into whether people are actually changing their work habits is to look at office foot traffic. If employers were all of a sudden forcing workers back to their desks, we would expect to see at least some change reflected in the various trackers of post-pandemic office occupancy.

That is not happening.

Years of data from property management firm Kastle Systems, which tracks badge swipes at its buildings in 10 major U.S. cities, shows in-office activity has remained relatively consistent since November 2022. Similarly, an August report from Placer.AI, which uses cellphone data to track foot traffic, measured just a 1% yearover-year rise in office activity nationwide.

No metric for tracking office data is perfect, and critics, particularly those incentivized to see office occupancy go up, have called out certain datasets for underestimating activity. But while these datasets tell different stories about how often people work in person — Kastle says it's about 50% of pre-pandemic levels, Placer.AI more like 70% — neither suggests there has been any seismic shift in the number of folks going into offices recently.

Could this just be because the latest round of changes to remote work is still in its infancy and therefore not yet playing

out in the data? Maybe. Amazon, for example, is one of the major employers calling workers back to the office. The company announced its new in-person policy in September but said enforcement would not start until January.

Even then, it is unclear if the policy will play out with workers actually back in the office five days a week. Similar mandates have fallen short at other firms.

In fact, 1 in 5 U.S. workers who have been called back to their desks are now outright ignoring their employer's RTO policy, according to a Resume Builder survey of over 1,000 full-time employees.

Garman's suggestion, however, highlights one of the reasons remote work is not going away. There are other companies around, and plenty are welcoming remote workers with open arms.

Take Ocient, a Chicago-based data analytics firm. Founder Chris Gladwin, who is all-in on remote work, said his firm has capitalized on big tech companies calling staff back.

"I have literally recruited thousands of in-demand, expert tech workers over the decades. I have almost never been able to recruit people out of places like an Apple or Microsoft or an Amazon," he said.

“Because we’ve learned how to do remote work, we can recruit people that live in Boston or Chicago or Germany or wherever. It just doesn’t matter. And that means we get better people.”
Chris Gladwin, Ocient founder

Already, Amazon employees are pushing back against the mandate. An employee survey from Blind found that some 90% of the Seattle-based company's workers oppose the new policy. More than 30,000 Amazon employees have joined a “remote advocacy” Slack channel.

In response, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman suggested workers who wish not to return in person should find other jobs. "There are other companies around," he said.

"But the one time we have been able to do it is when those companies shift back to policies where employees have to go back to the office. We've been able to recruit people out of them because they don't want to go back."

Gladwin does not anticipate giving up that employee perk anytime soon. "We are able to recruit the world," he said, noting how he no longer has to convince top talent to relocate. "Because we've learned how to do remote work, we can re -

son schedules.

It's also important to note the vast majority of American workers do not have the ability to telecommute. There are the inherently hands-on jobs that require workers to be on-site, but also certain fields that theoretically could be remote but have embraced office work.

Think Wall Street, which is almost entirely in-person.

On the other hand, some industries that traditionally require workers to be physically present are now getting creative to embrace remote work. One example is the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio's largest employer, continuing to expand its remote caregiving team. The medical center now employs more than 10,000 remote employees, or about 10% of its total caregivers.

There is conflicting research on the effects remote work has on employees and employers. Some, like Gladwin, say flexibility increases productivity.

cruit people that live in Boston or Chicago or Germany or wherever. It just doesn't matter. And that means we get better people."

Amazon is an extreme example of an employer trying to bring workers back to the office. Other companies that have made headlines recently for changing their WFH policies are doing so in a milder way. Many remain adamant they are not getting rid of remote work altogether.

Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Dodge vehicles, is one example. Company leadership said last month they now want workers in their offices three days a week, rather than the previous 1.5 average. Is that a sign Michigan's fourth-largest private employer is throwing in the towel on flexible work? "No, that's not what is happening," a Stellantis representative said bluntly. "It's still a hybrid work environment. The whole vibe, the whole foundation, is just to be flexible."

Asked about reports that characterized Stellantis' new policy as "a major change," the representative responded, "I think someone got a little excited with their adjectives."

Americans largely support the status quo, which is a mix of remote, hybrid and in-person options for corporate workers. A poll commissioned by the American Staffing Association earlier this year found roughly 40% of folks prefer a hybrid schedule, while the remaining 60% are split evenly between wanting fully remote or in-per-

"We think we are more productive now — much more productive," Gladwin said. "One reason is that the average halfhour to one-hour commutes are gone. The time formerly spent commuting is now devoted to work. And people no longer have their energy drained in commuting."

Others argue the opposite. They say remote work limits creativity and collaboration, which in turn diminishes workers' yield. And there is some evidence to that effect. A 2023 study from Stanford University's Institute for Economic Policy Research estimates fully remote work leads to a 10% productivity loss. (The same researchers found hybrid work benefits both companies and employees.)

Among those making the argument for a return to the office is Michael Gibbs, a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business who has done extensive research on remote work and how it affects productivity.

If companies do not bring workers back to the office, "the intangibles are going to suffer over the long run," Gibbs said. "You're losing corporate culture. You're losing people's attachment to their work and their colleagues. These kinds of things matter."

But even he admits the status quo is probably not going to change anytime soon. "I don't think working from home is going to go away," he said. "At least not right now, because everyone has gotten so used to and comfortable with working from home."

Amazon workers in Seattle staged a walkout in May 2023 to protest the company’s policy requiring workers to be in the office three days a week. This September, CEO Andy Jassy announced a five-day-a-week mandate starting in January. | BLoomBERG

K&D Group adds sports bar to $40M Prospect Avenue project

K&D Group will capitalize on proximity to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and Progressive Field for its next $40 million office-to-apartment conversion with Tom’s Watch Bar, a national sports bar chain new to town, on its first floor.

The 12-location national chain will occupy all the first-floor commercial space of the structure, about 4,000 square feet, on the street level of the “Electric Building,” the Willoughby-based apartment and development concern’s long-planned 700 Prospect Ave. project, when it opens in 2026.

K&D announced it had closed the financial package for converting the nine-story building to 120 apartments and signed the lease with the chain. Rising construction costs and more favorable residential tax abatements prior to the end of 2023 and other factors prompted the move, K&D CEO Doug Price told Crain's.

Plus, according to Price, it's likely the firm's last project for some time.

“We’re pumping the brakes” on new projects, he said.

Even so, getting the conversion of the building, which housed the national offices of the United Church of Christ until it relocated to another downtown building and dates from 1899, is the main event for K&D.

“(Tom's Watch Bar was) attracted by how close the space is to the sports venues,” Price said. “We’ve been working with them for more than a year.” That was due to balancing the requirements for the sports bar chain’s entry to the space, he said.

Tom’s Watch Bar, founded in Bloomfield, Colorado, in 2014, offers what K&D’s press release called a huge “stadium-style” screen combined with hundreds of other screens to provide a 360-degree viewing experience for every seat.

Price said K&D will invest more than $1 million in converting the empty space into the restaurant and bar while Tom’s Watch Bar will spend several million more on it.

The chain, according to the release issued by K&D, is said to provide “all sports all the time” with a mix of sports from collegiate to professional to international, big events and prize fights, even emerging obscure and outrageous sports.

All told, the project is financed by a $17 million construction loan from TriState Capital Bank of Pittsburgh, $7 million in federal historic tax credits and $4 million in Ohio State Historic Preservation Tax Credits, along with equity from K&D principals Price and President Karen Fanger.

Thanks to a $4.8 million brownfield grant from the state of Ohio, the

interior of the building is already gutted so that construction workers retained by Cleveland Construction Inc. of Mentor can immediately set to work on the project.

The project will restore the structure’s original name, the Electric Building, rather than putting it in the “Residences at” format that K&D has used for most of its office-to-apartments projects the past few years as it built the largest downtown apartment portfolio under single ownership.

The portfolio includes six office-to-multifamily projects in the city, from Residences at 668 of that address on Euclid Avenue to Resi-

dences at Terminal Tower and Residences at 55 Public Square.

K&D also owns Reserve Square downtown, Stonebridge apartments and condominiums, the Post Office Plaza and the Keith Building, which have remained offices.

When it opens its doors for its first residential tenants in December 2025 and completes the project in 2026, K&D will offer studio, oneand two-bedroom suites at The Electric Building.

K&D's plans to slow its pace follow the longest holding period the company has gone through since venturing into downtown proper from its suburban and Flats base in

2008. K&D acquired The Electric Building in 2022; it took two years and four rounds of state awards for the concern to win the state allocation in the highly competitive statewide program.

“We could have done this for 20% less in building costs alone if we had been able to proceed when we bought the building,” Price said. K&D bought the building during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, building costs soared in that period and, by the time it reached last month’s financial closing, interest rates had climbed to 6% from 4%.

He said the current project is proceeding only because it was grandfathered before the city of Cleveland changed its 15-year, 100% tax credit, as of the end of 2023, to a more restricted and graduated one.

“These projects don’t pencil in these conditions,” Price said. The other factor is that downtown multifamily vacancy has hit 10% thanks to all the new projects. And another 2,100 units will be added to the market in the next few years.

“We have three to five years ahead of us to absorb this amount of product downtown,” Price said.

Tom’s Watch Bar’s website says its founder, Tom Ryan, was a co-founder of the Smashburger chain. Some of the sports bar's other locations include Denver, Orlando, Las Vegas and Minneapolis

CRAIN’S PARTNER

K&D Group plans to open the Electric Building apartments in the former United Church of Christ headquarters with the first Cleveland location for Tom’s Watch Bar in 2026. NeWmArK

Cohen & Co. receives investment from Lovell Minnick Partners

Cohen & Co. is receiving a strategic equity investment from Pennsylvania-based private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners in a deal expected to greatly accelerate the regional accounting firm’s growth in the years ahead.

The companies declined to discuss the financial terms of the transaction, including details about the size of the investment or the stake that LMP is acquiring, which seems to be a minority position.

The deal, slated to close on Dec. 31, marks the first institutional capital investment for Cohen since it was founded in Cleveland in 1977.

“It was important to think about the business over the long-term period of time,” said Cohen CEO Chris Bellamy. “We believe that attracting outside capital is paramount to continuing being the platform firm or destination firm for talent now and into the future.”

Capital infusion

LMP’s capital infusion is expected to support Cohen’s growth by fueling investments in people, service areas, technology and acquisitions.

To make this deal possible, Cohen will be transitioning to an alternative practice structure — a business model in the accounting space similar to what CBIZ Inc. had long had in place with CPA firm Mayer Hoffman McCann.

itations as Cohen receives an outside investment.

The attest business, Cohen & Co. Ltd., will be led by Vince Curttright, the firm’s partner in charge of assurance. And the non-attest side, Cohen & Co Advisory LLC, will be led by Bellamy. Curttright and Bellamy will serve as CEOs of their respective business segments, both of which will operate under the Cohen & Co. brand name.

Some LMP officials are expected to join the board of Cohen’s advisory business. But the firm emphasizes that Cohen & Co. “individual partners and employees will collectively remain the largest equity holders in the companies.”

When the investment is completed, Bellamy said Cohen “at a minimum” expects to about double its number of employee-owners, which equals more than 80 today out of a companywide staff of more than 800 across 12 offices.

forward.

“Bellamy, with PE muscle behind him ... I do think they’re going to go out and do M&A deals,” Koltin said. “They can now compete with the top 25 firms (for deals) and hopefully acquire some of the optimal performing firms in the country.”

It’s not surprising that Cohen was a prime target for a private equity deal as the industry has been increasingly partnering with institutional investors since 2021.

Cohen ranks as the 46th-largest accounting firm in the U.S., according to Accounting Today, with approximately $150.5 million in annual revenue in its 2024 fiscal year ending in May — an increase of 18% over the prior year.

Allan Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, a firm that specializes in advising the accounting sector, said the significance of this investment for Cohen can’t be understated. He suspects the firm will rocket up the list of largest accounting firms in the years ahead.

“We believe that attracting outside capital is paramount to continuing being the platform firm or destination firm for talent now and into the future.”
Chris Bellamy, Cohen & Co. CEO

As such, Cohen will separate its attest (i.e. auditing) practice from its non-attest business, which includes consulting and advisory services.

While there will be some common ownership, the two entities will be separately owned and governed. This separation is designed to avoid potential regulatory lim-

“It’s not just a bold step, it’s also the right step for Cohen & Co. to have a strategic capital partner,” Koltin said. “They should be able to two- or three-times the firm over the next five years and move from the category of a regional firm to a truly national firm.”

Partnering with LMP, he said, puts Cohen in a “whole other league,” particularly in terms of how it positions the business to absorb other companies moving

One of the first deals between a PE firm and accounting business that year involved an investment by TowerBrook Capital Partners, which is co-headquartered in New York and London, into New York’s EisnerAmper. That transaction seemed to inspire others.

Several other deals have played out since then in the accounting space, such as Bain Capital of Boston investing in Chicago-based Sikich (valued at $250 million) and New York’s New Mountain Capital investing in Chicago’s Grant Thornton. Both of those occurred this year.

A ‘value-add’ partner

LMP makes both control and non-control investments and generally invests between $40 million to $150 million per deal, according to its website.

The firm states that it has raised more than $5 billion in committed capital since its founding in 1999 and has completed more than 50 portfolio company investments and some 200 add-on deals, largely in financial and business services companies. That includes an array of businesses that provide related technology and services to companies like Cohen.

“We spend all our time in these segments,” said LMP partner Jason Barg.

That specialty focus made LMP an attractive partner to Cohen, Bellamy said.

“We have a lot of history of backing great companies and great management teams that have sim-

ilar services to CPA firms and have similar end markets to some of the end markets that Cohen caters to,” Barg said.

“We had a view that we would like to find a CPA firm where our capabilities and our experience would be real and additive to them beyond just our capital,” he added.

“And Cohen hit the mark in a lot of those ways. It is a firm we knew of in the industry as someone that collaborated with our portfolio companies over the years.”

Bellamy said Cohen went into this process of exploring investment opportunities “unsure of if we could find a value-add partner, and it became clear through the process that LMP was very much that.”

Cohen has been an active acquirer of other firms as part of its growth strategy. Its latest M&A deal involved the roll-up of Szymkowiak & Associates CPAs of New York and its sister company Pear Consultants, which expanded its footprint to the Buffalo area.

More deals should be expected in the wake of LMP investment.

But the business will continue to expand as it waits for the dust to settle on this new partnership.

Bellamy said Cohen will be soon announcing an expansion to Denver. That will be achieved by compiling a group of lateral hires, which he said are not coming from any one particular firm.

This comes as the accounting industry grapples with an ongoing talent shortage that has led many large firms to send work to staff overseas. Besides crafting a firm that can draw young talent, acquiring other firms is a top strategy to grow headcount in this industry’s competitive labor market.

Having a war chest for completing additional M&A deals and lateral hires in new markets will be key for Cohen as it pursues growth and the crafting of a business that continues to be a draw for available talent.

The deal with LMP marks the “next chapter” in Cohen’s story, Bellamy said.

“And we are honored to be part of this next part of their journey,” Barg said.

Cleveland Fed president: There’s more work to do on inflation

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said that while progress on lowering inflation had resumed in recent months, officials aren’t yet ready to declare their mission accomplished.

“We have made good progress, but inflation is still running above the FOMC’s 2% objective,” Hammack said Oct. 24, referring to the rate-setting Federal Open Market

Committee. “The pandemic and its aftermath have been a reminder that differing movements across the components of inflation can have important implications for the path of aggregate inflation.”

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Cleveland Fed’s Center for Inflation Research, Hammack delivered her first extended public remarks on

the economy since becoming a policymaker in August.

She pointed to several factors that could continue to put upward pressure on prices. Geopolitical events could cause energy prices, which had recently declined, to “rapidly reverse course,” she said. Hammack also said that while housing services inflation had come

down, research from the Cleveland Fed suggests it could remain elevated as existing tenants face gradual rent increases.

The Cleveland Fed president said that while the central bank’s progress on inflation had not moved in a “straight line,” officials have been able to cool price growth while maintaining notable strength in the labor market and the economy overall.

Hammack didn’t comment on how quickly or how far the Fed

should lower interest rates.

Policymakers cut interest rates by a larger-than-usual half percentage point at their meeting in September, lowering rates for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, as the labor market showed signs of weakness and inflation approached the Fed’s 2% goal.

Several policymakers have recently indicated they favor slower, or more gradual rate cuts in the coming months.

Chris Bellamy
Jason Barg
Beth Hammack

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Strategies to further your financial and philanthropic goals

Whether you are at the early stages of investing in your future or managing a more well-developed wealth portfolio, reaching your financial and charitable giving goals requires ongoing strategic review. This year’s Wealth Management Guide features timely information and relevant insight from experts to help guide your wealth building plans, so you can ensure your investments pay off — and pay it forward.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Three life insurance strategies you may have not considered. S2

Don’t overlook annual exclusion gifting benefits for receivers and givers. S3

Best practices for financial advisers facing a regulatory investigation. S4

Assisted reproductive technology challenges in estate planning. S6

Charitable gift planning strategies for wealth management advisers. S7

Make your money work for you and the causes you love. S8

Philanthropic estate planning: Increase legacy impact. S8

Incorporating charitable giving into a comprehensive estate plan. S9

A practical guide for wealth adviser succession planning. S10

Tax-smart investing: Maximize wealth with thoughtful strategies. S11

Sunset of the TCJA and its implications on estate planning. S12

Consider tax efficiencies during business succession planning. S12

Three life insurance strategies you may not have considered

Life insurance is commonly purchased to protect against the loss of future earnings if someone unexpectedly passes away. e most familiar type of policy for this purpose is term life insurance, which provides coverage for a set number of years. In contrast, permanent life insurance provides coverage for an individual’s entire lifetime.

Permanent insurance is o en seen as complex or unnecessary, sometimes even expensive. While these concerns can be valid in certain situations, permanent life insurance can also be a powerful tool to help reach nancial planning goals e ciently.

Below, we explore three innovative ways to use permanent life insurance as part of a nancial plan, particularly for wealth replacement and protection for the next generation. Depending on speci c needs, families may nd one or more of these strategies bene cial.

1. For high-net-worth individuals and families

Federal estate taxes are applied to amounts exceeding the lifetime exemption set by the government, which is currently at an all-time high

Permanent life insurance can also be a powerful tool to help reach nancial planning goals e ciently.

of about $13.6 million per individual or $27.2 million per couple. is exemption may be reduced by half in January 2026 if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) sunsets as expected.

For example, currently, a couple with a $40 million taxable estate would exceed the combined exemption by $12.8 million, resulting in a potential federal estate tax of 40% on that excess, or $5.12 million. Many clients with a net worth of $40 million do not have $5.12 million in liquid cash available. Selling privately held stock, real estate or other investments to cover the tax could lead to additional taxes, penalties or unfavorable selling conditions. Under the reduced exemption levels expected in 2026, more households may nd themselves exposed to an estate tax, and those who are currently exposed will likely nd their estate tax burden even higher.

Strategy: Life insurance can provide a more e cient solution. A policy

owned by an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) allows the insured to pay premiums into the trust, which then funds the policy. Since the ILIT is an independent entity, its assets, including the life insurance policy, are not considered part of the taxable estate. Upon the insured’s death, the trust distributes the death bene t to the bene ciaries income tax-free. is infusion of cash enables heirs to pay estate taxes without liquidating valuable assets or disrupting their long-term nancial plans.

2. For individuals with signi cant retirement savings

e SECURE Act changed the rules for non-spousal bene ciaries inheriting traditional retirement accounts. Previously, heirs could stretch distributions over their lifetimes. Now, they must fully withdraw the account within 10 years of the original owner’s death. is accelerated timeline can create a signi cant tax burden, especially if the bene ciaries are in their peak earning years and face higher income tax rates.

Strategy: To alleviate this burden, the account owner can purchase life insurance to provide a death bene t for the heirs. is death bene t can cover the taxes due on the inherited

retirement account, e ectively converting taxable dollars into income tax-free dollars. is approach ensures a more tax-e cient transfer of assets to the next generation, preserving the estate’s value and reducing the overall tax impact on bene ciaries. In other instances, some may choose to leave the life insurance death bene t to their heirs and leave the entire retirement account balance to their charity of choice, which eliminates the tax due.

3. For families concerned about long-term care costs

Healthcare costs have historically risen faster than overall in ation, and recent trends have increased concerns about potentially burdening loved ones or depleting personal savings to cover long-term care expenses. Traditional long-term care policies are o en costly, with premiums that rise annually, and they typically operate on a “use it or lose it” basis — meaning if long-term care is not needed, the premiums paid provide no bene t.

Strategy: Consider insurance products that combine life insurance with long-term care bene ts. Hybrid policies o er a monthly bene t for long-term care and may include a return of premium if long-term care is not needed. Alternatively, a standard life

insurance policy with a long-term care rider allows the policy owner to access the death bene t at a rate of 1% to 4% per month for long-term care expenses. Any unused portion of the death bene t transfers to the bene ciaries income tax-free, preserving the remaining value of the policy.

Conclusion

Each of these strategies provides a way to use life insurance to hedge against future expenses that could diminish the value of an estate. It is crucial to consider the complete nancial picture and individual circumstances to determine whether these options are suitable. We typically conduct a thorough analysis, evaluating both the inclusion and exclusion of these strategies in a client’s nancial plan, and proceed only if it aligns with their primary planning goals.

Contact Vanessa at vking@ancora.net.

Vanessa Mavec King, CFP®, is director of nancial planning at Ancora.

Don’t overlook annual exclusion gifting benefits for receivers and givers

Each year, a person may gift thousands of dollars to as many different persons as that person desires, without triggering U.S. gift tax or using one’s lifetime exemption. In 2024, the annual gift tax exclusion amount is $18,000.

This simple gifting strategy offers enormous benefits for receivers and transfer tax savings for high-net-worth givers. Leveraging this basic annual exclusion tax strategy should not be overlooked when considering complex planning techniques.

Annual exclusion gifts can be made directly … or paired with more sophisticated tax planning strategies.

Basics

Gifts can include various types of property transfers, but gifts other than cash and marketable securities may require appraisals. Certain direct payments for medical expenses and tuition are not considered taxable gifts. Spouses can “split” gifts to the same recipient, effectively doubling their annual gifting amount per recipient ($36,000 in 2024). If gifts exceed the annual exclusion, or in certain other cases, a U.S. gift tax return must be filed.

Good for the receiver

Consider a mother who gifts the maximum inflation-adjusted annual exclusion amount to custodial accounts for her newborn twins, with each twin controlling the funds at adulthood. After 20 years of gifting,

and assuming a 5% growth rate, the combined value of both custodial accounts would be about $1.5 million (and $3 million if the father also gifted).

Good for the giver

For givers with estates that will be subject to estate tax at death, consistent annual exclusion gifting now can potentially reduce future transfer taxes. In 2024, the lifetime gift/estate tax exemption is $13.61 million per person (but is set to decrease to about $7 million in 2026) with a 40% tax rate on amounts over that threshold.

Consider grandparents with combined estates of $30 million who decide to jointly gift the maximum annual exclusion amount to their three children, children’s spouses, and six grandchildren (12 recipients). After just 10 years at 5% growth, the total cumulative value of about $4.8 million in contributed gifts would grow to more than $6 million. This approach could save the grandparents $2.4 million of estate tax under current law. If the grandparents gifted for 20 years instead of just 10, the cumulative value of the gifts would be a staggering $18 million with an estate tax savings of $7.2 million.

Annual exclusion gifting can be made directly to adult recipients, into custodial accounts for minors, 529 college savings accounts, contributed to special irrevocable gifting trusts and paired with more sophisticated tax planning strategies.

Kyle Gee, Esq., is a partner at Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell LLP. Contact him at 216-535-1022 or kgee@sssb-law.com.

Create a legacy of learning at Case Western Reserve University

Savvy estate planning can be a simple and impactful way to support the university while also benefiting you and your family. Two popular options are:

• Qualified Charitable Distributions: If you are 70½ years or older, you can donate up to $105,000 annually from your IRA directly to the university. It’s a great way to make a tax-free gift to CWRU and help meet your Required Minimum Distribution.

• Estate gifts: By designating CWRU as a beneficiary of your retirement plan, life insurance policy or investment account, your planned gift can be an investment in the future of CWRU.

Learn more at plannedgiving.case.edu or call 216.368.4460.

GEE

Best practices for financial advisers facing a regulatory investigation

Each year, my firm defends between 10 to 20 financial advisers under investigation by FINRA, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and/ or state securities regulators; this article will focus specifically on the FINRA investigation process.

Investigations are triggered several different ways. A disgruntled former customer might file a regulatory complaint alleging misconduct. A firm might terminate an adviser and accuse them of misconduct (accurately or not) on the Form U5’s Termination Explanation, triggering a FINRA inquiry. A client could file an arbitration action alleging sales practice violations, such as selling away or unauthorized discretionary trading. Or, another adviser could drop an anonymous regulatory tip to try to take out a competitor and steal their book. Whatever the circumstances, there are steps financial advisers should take to minimize the risk to their career these investigations pose.

FINRA’s investigation process

FINRA investigations start with the regulator sending a “Rule 8210 Notice” notifying the adviser that it is examining their conduct and ordering the adviser to answer a list of questions and produce a wide range of documents, both business and personal. If you receive a Rule 8210 Notice from FINRA, don’t panic. This is not the end of your career — far from it. This is merely an informal inquiry that is not reportable on your Form U4. At this stage, FINRA is trying to determine whether the adviser has violated any

Whatever the circumstances, there are steps financial advisers should take to minimize the risk to their career these investigations pose.

securities laws or industry rules. The key is trying to avoid FINRA escalating the inquiry to a formal investigation that will have to be put on your Form U4.

Responding to a Rule 8210 Notice is not optional if an adviser wants to continue working as a registered representative. Failure to cooperate will lead to FINRA first suspending the adviser from the industry and then barring them permanently if they do not start cooperating. Advisers who have committed serious misconduct may think they are better off ignoring the notice and moving their practice to a Registered Investment Adviser, since FINRA doesn’t have regulatory authority over RIAs. This is a bad strategy. RIAs typically won’t hire financial advisers barred by FINRA, and even if the adviser gets a job, the SEC and/or state regulators are likely to pick up where FINRA left off. It is a much better choice to face the FINRA inquiry head-on from the start and attempt to persuade the regulators that your hands are clean.

A FINRA inquiry can often last a year or more, during which it may send multiple Rule 8210 Notices. Once the fact gathering process is complete, FINRA typically does one of three things. The regulator could close its file and take no action. It could issue the

adviser a “Cautionary Action Letter” which is simply a written reprimand for a minor rule violation that is not reportable on your Form U4. Or, FINRA could escalate the inquiry by ordering the adviser to appear for an On The Record interview— an “OTR”.

The FINRA “On the Record” interview

About one-third of our clients investigated by FINRA are ordered to appear for an OTR, an investigatory deposition conducted under oath. A FINRA-issued OTR notice is never a good sign. It means the investigation team strongly believes the adviser has committed some type of serious misconduct and wants to question them about it.

OTRs typically take an entire day. Advisers will be questioned extensively about their conduct and the documents they produced during the 8210 Notice process. They will also be confronted with documents and information they’ve never seen before — material that FINRA has gathered from the adviser’s former firm, former clients and other third parties.

The No. 1 rule in getting through an OTR is: tell the truth. Whatever leniency FINRA might have been inclined to give an adviser for their misconduct evaporates if investigators catch them lying during their deposition. And, if an adviser hasn’t disclosed a skeleton in the closet, there’s little defense to try to spin and downplay it in advance.

Immediately after the OTR, I typically request a private meeting with the lead

lawyer on the enforcement team. I summarize what I feel were the best moments of my client’s testimony during the day and argue why the adviser should face little or no punishment. These candid exchanges can make a real difference in how FINRA ultimately views the situation.

The FINRA “plea bargain” process

The OTR is usually the final step of FINRA’s investigation. Once the investigation team has assessed all the evidence and reviewed the adviser’s testimony, the process shifts to negotiating what sort of sanction the adviser should face.

The FINRA enforcement lawyer usually starts off by demanding the adviser serve an outrageously long suspension and pay an enormous fine, both of which are unreasonable given the facts of the situation. I then extensively research the FINRA Sanction Guidelines — a written summary detailing what kinds of punishments should be imposed for different types of conduct and perform a comprehensive review of FINRA’s disciplinary decision database to see what level of sanctions were imposed on advisers who previously engaged in similar types of misconduct. This information informs a detailed brief demonstrating that FINRA’s sanction proposal is unreasonable, and a counter-offer is proposed.

The process of negotiating the suspension length and financial penalty usually concludes with the parties agreeing to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (an

“AWC”) that spells out the adviser’s misconduct and corresponding sanctions. Before the effective date of the suspension, we work with clients to arrange having a trusted colleague manage their book because they cannot talk to their clients about investment-related matters at all while suspended. We also help advisers work out what to say to clients about why they’re being suspended — something truthful but which hopefully doesn’t destroy their trust.

In most cases, once the suspension is over and the fine paid, advisers can resume working. If their firm takes them back, it’s business as usual. If not, we can assist clients with setting up interviews with broker/dealers willing to take a chance on an adviser who has learned from their mistake.

FINRA investigations can be long, stressful and pose real risk if not handled properly. But when advisers provide investigators with facts and perspective they are missing; show themselves to be truthful and willing to own their mistakes if they have them; and are able to credibly minimize the severity of their misconduct, they have a real chance of avoiding permanent damage to their careers.

FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS AND FIRMS

FINRA DOESN’T HAVE TO BE AN F-WORD

Over the course of a career, the odds are that even the best financial advisors and firms will face an investigation from FINRA or another regulator. Whether it’s an informal inquiry letter or a more serious proceeding, your reputation and career could be in danger if it’s not handled properly.

The Securities Regulatory defense team at Matasar Jacobs possesses substantial experience covering the full spectrum of securities enforcement activity. Our lawyers are frequently retained to defend advisors and firms facing disciplinary action from FINRA, the SEC, and state financial regulators all around the country.

Assisted reproductive technology challenges in estate planning

This article features some important estate planning considerations for individuals who are contemplating the use of or have used Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Does ART affect my estate plan?

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) includes all fertility treatments that involve eggs or embryos — such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), surrogacy or the freezing of eggs or embryos for future use. The use of ART is becoming a more common family planning concept. In 2021, more than 91,000 infants were born through ART, and over 167,000 embryos were frozen and stored.

One or both parents may or may not share genetic material with a child born utilizing ART. The lack of a genetic linkage between an intended parent with an intended child can complicate the definition of “descendant” under estate planning instruments. Generally speaking, a child with no genetic linkage to his or her parent may not be considered a descendant for estate planning purposes. Under Ohio law, future heirs

born utilizing ART can be included as intended beneficiaries under an estate planning instrument if the written document explicitly provides for such beneficiaries.

An inheritance may be further complicated when the estate planning instrument includes gifts to a group, such as leaving gifts to “my children” or “my lineal descendants.” In your estate planning instruments, consider specifically including future ART heirs or excluding future ART heirs.

• If you do nothing and do not have written estate planning instruments, any heir must be born within 300 days from your date of death in order to inherit from you.

• However, if you have a will, you may specifically expand the time period for an heir to be born in order to inherit from you. The maximum period your executor could wait to see if an heir is born is within one year and 300 days from your date of death.

• If you have a trust, Ohio law allows for an even longer time period for an heir to be born in order to inherit from you. The maximum period your trustee could wait to see if an heir is born is within five years from your date of death.

Estate planning considerations

Consistent documents. Individuals using ART have likely signed agreements with a fertility clinic or storage facility that provide for the ultimate disposition of ART material in the event of death. These agreements will most commonly include options such as distributing the genetic material to a spouse, partner or other individual; destroying the genetic material; donating the genetic material; or allowing estate planning documents to control the disposition. It is important for the estate plan to be consistent with any agreements in place as, historically, courts have permitted such agreements to control in the event of conflicting terms.

Expanding definitions under wills and trusts. If you wish to include children and future descendants born through ART, your estate planning instruments should define such future ART individuals as descendants. Additionally, you may want to consider detailed definitions of “health and support” for the executor/trustee to provide distributions for surrogate medical care, other associated expenses/fees related to owning and storing frozen genetic material, and requirements under any contractual

obligations with fertility and/or surrogacy facilities.

Nonfiduciary provisions in trusts. Executors and trustees administering estates and trusts that provide for future-born ART individuals may have apprehension about fulfilling their fiduciary duties. Generally, fiduciaries must rely on the decedent’s intent and must act consistently with that in mind. A trustee’s duty of loyalty and impartiality must be balanced between living beneficiaries and those who may be posthumously born. This apparent conflict inhibiting independent decision-making authority may deter a corporate trustee from accepting trusteeship.

To provide an element of comfort to a trustee, individuals may consider the appointment of a nonfiduciary trust protector or family adviser. Such an appointee should be someone familiar with the nature of the estate and its beneficiaries. Trust protectors and family advisers can provide guidance to the trustee on matters concerning a beneficiary, such as adding an individual trust beneficiary from a class of individuals identified in a trust (such as an after-born heir born through ART, provided the trust allows for ART beneficiaries to be considered heirs). Those appointed in

these roles do not have fiduciary duties and are generally indemnified against the trust beneficiaries absent an improper motive or dishonest acts.

Update accordingly

Estate planning around ART is a novel concept, and as science continues to advance expeditiously, the law and the administration of estates and trusts with ART provisions will need to catch up. Individuals who have ART material or will likely have future heirs born through ART should review their current estate plan to ensure the provisions will adequately meet their intentions involving the unique circumstances posed by ART.

T. Pavicic is an associate in Calfee’s Estate and Succession Planning and Administration group. Contact Maureen at 216-622-8485 or mpavicic@calfee. com.

Helping Clients Solve Complex Estate and Succession Planning Needs

The attorneys with Calfee, Halter & Griswold’s Estate and Succession Planning and Administration group can help you make some of the most important decisions of your life. With deep knowledge and experience in finance and the law, our professionals provide exceptional value to clients seeking:

• Sophisticated estate, gift and generation-skipping planning

• Comprehensive estate and trust administration

• Business succession planning

• Asset protection planning

• Complex probate and trust litigation

Calfee’s Estate and Succession Planning and Administration Attorneys

Joseph M. Mentrek, Practice Group Chair

Amy K. Friedmann

Stephanie M. Glavinos

Maureen T. Pavicic

Zachary J. Stackhouse

Jaclyn M. Vary

Maureen
PAVICIC

Charitable gift planning strategies for wealth management advisers

As wealth management advisers, you play a pivotal role in helping your clients achieve not only their financial goals but also their philanthropic aspirations. For clients who want to leave a meaningful legacy, charitable giving offers powerful strategies to maximize impact, particularly in support of organizations that align with their values. Health care philanthropy presents a unique opportunity to make a transformative difference in the lives of countless individuals.

Directing charitable giving toward nonprofit organizations can support vital medical research and patient care while also providing substantial tax benefits to your clients. With the right planning, you can help them structure gifts that align with their financial objectives while making a long-term impact on health care and other worthy causes.

Charitable giving strategies to consider:

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs): DAFs offer your clients the flexibility to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants to health care and

Health care philanthropy presents a unique opportunity to make a transformative difference in the lives of countless individuals.

other nonprofits over time. This allows them to remain actively involved in their giving while supporting critical initiatives.

Gifts of appreciated assets: Donating appreciated securities or real estate is an excellent way for your clients to avoid capital gains taxes while making a substantial impact. Giving these assets to a health care institution enables your client to support lifesaving care and research without incurring additional tax burdens.

Bequests and legacy giving: Including health care organizations in estate plans through bequests is one of the simplest and most impactful ways for clients to leave a legacy. Bequests can be tailored to support specific departments, programs or research initiatives to align a client’s charitable giving with their personal interests and passions. Here are a few

common ways to include charitable organizations in an estate plan:

1. Bequests in a will or living trust: A bequest is the most traditional form of legacy giving. A bequest allows clients to designate a specific dollar amount, a percentage of their estate or a particular asset to a charitable organization. There are three types of bequests:

• Specific bequest: A designated sum of money, property or asset is left to the charity.

• Residual bequest: The charity receives the remainder of the estate after all other bequests and obligations have been fulfilled.

• Contingent bequest: The charity receives the bequest only if a specific condition is met (e.g., if another beneficiary predeceases the donor).

A bequest provides flexibility and enables clients to retain control of their assets, while ensuring that their philanthropic goals are met after their lifetime.

2. Beneficiary designations:

Clients can name a charitable organization as a beneficiary of various financial accounts. This is an attractive option as it avoids the probate process and allows for a direct transfer to the

charity. These are some common assets that can be used for beneficiary designations:

• Retirement accounts (IRA, 401(k), 403(b)): Naming a charitable organization as a beneficiary of a retirement account can offer significant tax benefits, as these accounts are often heavily taxed when passed to non-spousal heirs.

Designating a health care organization can ensure that 100% of the assets go toward advancing medical research and patient care.

• Life insurance policies: Clients can name a charitable organization as a primary or secondary beneficiary of a life insurance policy, allowing them to make a substantial future gift at little cost during their lifetime.

• Bank and investment accounts: Transfer-on-death (TOD) or payableon-death (POD) designations allow clients to direct bank or brokerage account assets to a charity upon their passing.

Charitable Gift Annuities (CGAs):

A CGA is an excellent way for clients to support health care organizations while securing a reliable income stream for themselves or a loved one.

A CGA allows your client to make a significant gift to charity and, in

return, receive fixed payments for life. After their lifetime, the remaining balance of the annuity supports the designated health care organization, contributing to lifesaving research, patient care and medical education.

Partnering with gift planning professionals

If your client is considering making a legacy gift to Cleveland Clinic, the Gift Planning Team can guide you and your clients through the complexities of charitable giving, offering solutions that will benefit both the donor and the health care institution. Whether you are an estate planner, attorney or financial adviser, you can help your clients craft their legacy and improve the lives of the patients and communities.

Amanda M. Steyer is executive director of gift planning at Cleveland Clinic. Contact her at 216-444-1245 or giftplanning@ ccf.org

Gift Planning Creates A Legacy

Gift planning is a powerful way to make a lasting impact on the world. Whether you’re an estate planner, attorney or financial advisor, there are many ways to include Cleveland Clinic in your client’s personal philanthropic plans. Working together, we can integrate their charitable, family and financial goals with the mission of Cleveland Clinic to transform healthcare for our patients and shape the future of medicine around the world.

“I can see my grandkids grow up. My wife and I were able to celebrate 50 years of being married. All those things wouldn’t have happened without Cleveland Clinic. I’m so grateful for the care that I received and I’m glad to be able to support the work of the people who provided that care.”

Together, we can help achieve your client’s financial and charitable goals. Call our Gift Planning experts at 216.444.1245 or email giftplanning@ccf.org.

STEYER

Make your money work for you and the causes you love

Picture this: you’ve worked diligently and e ectively throughout your career and have been rewarded with a comfortable nest egg as you consider retirement. As you look to the years ahead, the experiences and causes that mean the most to you can now be further explored with the luxury of time and a depth that was previously unavailable. You’ve earned your good fortune. Still, a niggling doubt lodges in your mind: how will it look and feel to not have a paycheck coming in on a regular basis? How can I ensure that my lifestyle can still be enjoyed?

Here are some strategies that combine wealth management with meaningful opportunities for substantive engagement:

1. Live your values

Now is the time for deeper interactions with the causes that mean the most to you and your family. What a great opportunity to re ect on your family and personal guiding principles and values. Regardless of whether it’s arts and culture, your alma mater or a notable health care company, you now have the time to get involved at a level perhaps not possible during your active working years.

Organizations value nancial support, of course, but most also welcome volunteer e orts that provide a level of substantive mission impact not available solely by sta . Volunteering at the zoo, hospital or food bank, ushering at your favorite cultural organization, and working with adults and students on literacy can be deeply rewarding. Continue to push your intellectual limits by learning a new language, taking up (or polishing up) a musical instrument, or use your communication skills to help a nonpro t of your choice. In other words, use your voice and challenge yourself. is promotes mental acuity and keeps you engaged and interesting.

2. Get your estate in order

Now is the time to either establish an initial plan or ensure that your papers are in order. at could include a will or trust, advance medical directives, insurance policies or working with your nancial adviser to determine what you can expect from your retirement vehicles during this next phase of life.

Ideally, this will take the form of a physical clean up, meaning that your heirs will be able to access all the information needed. Don’t forget to document usernames and passwords,

which are o en overlooked but vital in our electronic age. It’s a good idea to add a trusted family member to a bank account as an authorized user, should you become incapacitated, so that expenses can continue to be paid as needed.

3. Find tax advantaged strategies

Your nancial adviser, in concert with the professionals in the philanthropy department of your favorite cause or institution, can suggest ways in which you can get the double satisfaction of tax-free income while bene ting a charity, or lowering your taxes through strategic donations. Speci cally, gi annuities and charitable lead or remainder trusts can provide periods of tax-free income to yourself, the charity or designated bene ciary. Or consider donating your required minimum distributions (o en referred to as RMDs), if you don’t need them for income.

4. Create your own legacy

Too o en, the word “legacy” is equated to a death bene t. While that may be a traditional interpretation, you have the opportunity to undertake this concept while you’re very much alive. Blended giving (that is, combining a gi or gi s made during ones’ life together with a

testamentary component) can o er you the opportunity to feel the joy and recognition that comes with any giving experience. Working, again, in concert with your nancial professional and those in your given charity will mean that you can more fully engage to receive the bene ts that come with a gi that doesn’t need to be fully satis ed during your lifetime. Don’t deny yourself this pleasure!

In conclusion, your own imagination and resourcefulness can pay you big bene ts during this exciting and unscripted period of life. You are in the driver’s seat to design your new reality.

Notwithstanding the lack of a regular paycheck, retirement can be the richest part of life.

Katie Shames, JD, is senior planned giving / major gi o cer at e Cleveland Orchestra. Contact her at 216-4568400 or legacy@ clevelandorchestra. com.

Philanthropic estate planning trends: Increase legacy impact

It is remarkable to see the impact that individual philanthropy can have on the needs of our community and how it can o en change the educational landscape for so many. ankfully, there are a multitude of creative estate planning vehicles at our disposal that can bene t individuals and impact nonpro ts in a meaningful and tax-savvy way. At Case Western Reserve University, we are seeing a substantial increase in the number of individuals, and their estate planning teams, looking for ways that both help accomplish their client’s nancial goals and use their assets in an impactful, yet e ective, manner. For example:

Will bequests and bene ciary designations continue to represent the vast majority of estate gifts. While a simple will bequest is the easiest and most popular method to

PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

leave a charitable legacy, when the Secure Act became e ective on Jan. 1, 2020, its mandate — that the entire balance of an inherited IRA be withdrawn within 10 years of the account owner’s passing — prompted an increasing number of people to name the university as the bene ciary of some or all of their IRA, 401(k), 403(b) or other Quali ed Retirement Plan. Also being used with increasing regularity and in concert with their bene ciary designation, our alumni

While there are many options to donate a home, vacation property or other real estate, retained life estates have become an increasingly popular option.

and friends are now funding the same purpose of the eventual estate gi using their annual Quali ed Charitable Distribution (QCD). is method allows individuals to avoid using their RMDs as taxable income, and also to see the impact of their estate gi during their lifetime while still preserving the corpus of that retirement plan should it be needed for retirement expenses.

Retained life estates are on the rise.

O en our homes are one of the most valuable assets in our portfolios. While there are many options to donate a home, vacation property or other real estate, retained life estates have become an increasingly popular option. Realizing that they do not plan to pass on their homes to family or other heirs, a retained life estate can allow individuals to stay in their homes, and then easily have the property pass to a nonpro t upon their passing. Proceeds from the eventual sale can then be used to fund professorships, create scholarship endowments or support groundbreaking research.

Regardless of the asset or vehicle, Case Western Reserve University is committed to working with donors and their estate planning teams to help ensure their legacy can serve generations to come.

Amanda E. Pinney, JD, is an assistant vice president at Case Western Reserve University. Contact her at 216-368-6958 or amanda.pinney@ case.edu.

Incorporating charitable giving into a comprehensive estate plan

Comprehensive estate plans do more than simply distribute assets. ey integrate all aspects of an individual’s nancial life, family and personal values, and long-term goals. For many, charitable giving is an important part of this planning, as it aligns a person’s nancial goals with their personal values, providing bene t to individuals and their families and making an impact on the causes close to their heart.

E ectively incorporating charitable giving into a comprehensive estate and nancial plan requires collaboration among professional advisers and representatives from the charitable bene ciary. is collaboration maximizes the gi ’s bene t to both the donor and the charitable organization.

ere are several ways to structure and fund a charitable gi to provide a range of bene ts, from avoiding capital gains taxes by gi ing appreciated assets to providing life income streams for the donor and/or a loved one in retirement through charitable remainder trusts or charitable gi annuities.

Additionally, making a gi to charity or a donor-advised fund in a will or trust reduces one’s taxable estate, leading to substantial savings and allowing more wealth to be passed to heirs while supporting meaningful causes.

With the current estate tax exemption set to decrease signi cantly in 2026, absent an act of Congress, this type of

charitable gi planning may become increasingly important to high-networth individuals. Consulting with professional advisers to determine which gi arrangements to utilize and which assets to use to fund those arrangements can help maximize the personal bene ts of these gi s.

It is also important to involve representatives from the charitable bene ciary in these conversations as well. e University of Akron uses information obtained through detailed conversations with donors and our knowledge of the university to help align donors’ goals with areas of opportunity on campus. We focus on helping donors plan and communicate the legacy they want to build. is helps the donor and the institution to better understand the impact that the gi will have on the university.

Regardless of the donor’s goals, utilizing a network of advisers helps develop a comprehensive estate and nancial plan that re ects the individual’s values, supports important causes and maximizes bene ts for loved ones.

Kimberly M. Zebedis, Esq., is executive director at the Center for Gi & Estate Planning at e University of Akron. Contact Kimberly at 330-972-2819 or kzebedis@uakron. edu.

Giving that Endures.

Our elite Trusts & Estates practice, with 7 ACTEC fellows, is among the largest and most accomplished in Ohio.

ZEBEDIS
PINNEY

A practical guide for wealth adviser succession planning

For seasoned wealth advisers, contemplating retirement o en brings a mix of anticipation and apprehension. A er years of cultivating a successful practice and nurturing client relationships, the succession planning process can seem daunting. However, a well-cra ed succession plan is vital for preserving your legacy and ensuring your clients continue to receive exemplary service. At EmVision Capital Advisors, we’ve navigated many successful transitions and o er insights to help you manage this complex process e ectively.

1. Select the right successor

Choosing a successor is one of the most critical decisions in the succession planning process. is isn’t just about nding someone to take over your client base — it’s about making sure the values and standards you’ve established continue.

Start by evaluating internal candidates such as junior advisers or partners who have demonstrated the necessary skills and commitment. Alternatively, consider external options where a strategic t with another rm might o er enhanced expertise and resources. Integrating your client base into a rm with similar values and expertise can

enhance the practice and provide clients with a broader range of services and bene ts.

2. Create a comprehensive transition plan

A well-structured transition plan is essential for a smooth handover. Given the complexity, it’s important to address several key elements:

• Client communication: Develop a clear strategy for communicating with your clients about the transition. Inform them well in advance and introduce them to their new adviser.

E ective client communication can reinforce trust and ensure continuity. e goal is to reassure clients that their needs will continue to be met with the same level of dedication and expertise.

• Operational continuity: Document all operational procedures and policies meticulously. is includes client onboarding, portfolio management and administrative tasks. A comprehensive, well-documented approach ensures that your successor can quickly adapt and maintain business stability.

• Legal and nancial framework: Work closely with legal and nancial advisers to address all relevant aspects of the transition, including tax implications, legal structures and nancial arrangements. Updating contracts and clarifying the nancial terms of the

transition are crucial for avoiding potential issues.

3. Maintain client trust

Preserving the trust you’ve built with your clients is crucial during the transition. Aligning with a rm that shares your commitment to client care helps clients remain con dent and satis ed.

Facilitate introductions between your successor and clients, allowing them to discuss ongoing needs and address any concerns. is personal engagement helps clients feel comfortable with the change and reassures them their nancial well-being remains in good hands.

4. Explore strategic partnerships

Partnering with a rm that aligns with your succession goals can o er signi cant advantages. At EmVision, we have successfully integrated six advisers through strategic acquisitions. ese partnerships not only ensure a smooth transition but also expand the range of services available to clients and also provide advisers with exibility to retire on their own terms. When considering potential partners, evaluate how their values, culture and client service philosophy align with yours. A strategic partnership can provide additional resources and

support, making the transition process more seamless and maintaining client satisfaction.

Case study summary: A seamless succession plan

As Dennis Spontarelli approached retirement a er nearly 30 years as a wealth adviser, he faced the challenge of securing a smooth transition for his clients while preserving the legacy he had worked hard to build. Recognizing the importance of nding the right partner for succession planning, Dennis sought a rm that could provide both seamless operational support and a high level of client care throughout the process.

By collaborating with a rm experienced in succession planning, Dennis was able to design a exible transition plan that allowed him to reduce his workload while continuing to oversee his clients’ well-being. is approach gave him the peace of mind to step back slowly, ensuring his clients remained well cared for and his practice continued to thrive.

Today, Dennis enjoys more personal time with his wife, children and grandchildren, all while staying involved in the business he spent decades building. is gradual retirement has allowed him to embrace

the best of both worlds — spending time with family while ensuring his clients are in capable hands.

Secure your legacy and ensure a seamless transition

Navigating the succession planning process can be challenging, but it is essential for securing your legacy and ensuring the continued success of your practice. By selecting the right successor, creating a detailed transition plan, maintaining client trust, exploring strategic partnerships and leveraging expert support, you can manage this transition with con dence.

Start the succession planning process with a clear strategy and the right support to ensure a seamless transition and continued excellence for your clients.

Michael Embrescia is a wealth adviser and the president and CEO at EmVision Capital Advisors. Contact him at 330-3887798 or membrescia@ emvisioncapital. com.

EMBRESCIA

Tax-smart investing: Maximize wealth with thoughtful strategies

As a wealth management group

embedded in an accounting firm, we’re often asked about tax-efficient strategies to maximize wealth. It’s a natural synergy — taxes significantly impact financial outcomes. However, many investors overlook tax considerations, focusing solely on returns. Here are some tax-focused strategies to improve your portfolio’s long-term performance.

1. Tax-loss harvesting: More than just a year-end tactic

Tax-loss harvesting is often seen as a year-end task, but savvy investors use it year-round. By selling underperforming investments, you can offset gains from more successful ones, reducing your tax liability. The proceeds are reinvested, maintaining your portfolio’s allocation. Regularly reviewing your portfolio for tax-loss harvesting opportunities throughout the year can offer cumulative benefits, particularly for high-income investors.

2. Asset location: Placing investments where they can thrive

While asset allocation gets attention, asset location is equally important. This strategy involves placing investments in accounts where they’ll be most

tax-efficient, such as taxable, taxdeferred (IRAs), or tax-exempt (Roth IRAs).

For example, bonds generate interest income taxed at higher rates, so they’re better suited for tax-deferred accounts. Stocks benefiting from long-term capital gains may perform better in taxable accounts than interest bearing investments would. Optimizing asset location reduces tax drag and increases after-tax returns.

3. Roth conversions: A strategy for all markets

Roth IRAs offer tax-free growth and withdrawals, but income limits prevent many high earners from contributing. A Roth conversion allows individuals to move assets from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, paying taxes now for tax-free growth later. Roth conversions are especially beneficial during market downturns when account values are lower, minimizing the tax bill. Proper planning is essential, considering factors like current and future tax rates, but it can provide substantial long-term benefits.

4. 1031 and 1035 exchanges: Deferring taxes on real estate and annuities

Real estate investors and annuity holders can leverage tax-deferral strategies to grow wealth without immediate tax bills.

A 1031 exchange allows real estate investors to defer capital gains taxes by reinvesting in a “like-kind” property. If the property is held until death, heirs may benefit from a step-up in basis, eliminating capital gains taxes.

A 1035 exchange allows policyholders to switch to better annuity or life insurance policies without paying taxes on gains, allowing investments to grow tax-deferred.

5. Estate tax strategies: Preparing for the sunset of the 2017 tax cuts

With the 2017 tax cuts set to expire in 2026, estate tax planning is crucial. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) raised the estate and gift tax exemption to $13.61 million ($27.22 million for married couples) in 2024. However, after 2026, this exemption may drop to pre-2017 levels (inflation adjusted).

Taking advantage of the annual gift tax exclusion, which allows up to $18,000 per recipient, is a simple way to transfer wealth tax-free. We also encourage the use of generation-skipping trusts (GSTs) and irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs). GSTs pass wealth to grandchildren, avoiding estate taxes over generations, while ILITs remove life insurance proceeds from your taxable estate, providing liquidity for taxes and preserving assets.

6. Tax-efficient withdrawal strategies

Planning withdrawals in retirement is just as important as building your portfolio. A tax-efficient withdrawal strategy extends the life of your savings by minimizing taxes. A common approach is to withdraw from taxable accounts first, followed by tax-deferred IRAs, and lastly, tax-free Roth IRAs. Strategic Roth conversions before required minimum distributions (RMDs) can also lower your overall tax burden.

Conclusion: A holistic approach to tax-smart investing

Tax-smart investing isn’t about trends; it’s about applying strategies aligned with long-term goals. Whether optimizing asset location, leveraging Roth conversions, or using 1031 or 1035 exchanges, the goal is to maximize wealth compounding and minimize taxes.

For many, the ultimate goal is to pass on wealth efficiently. Strategies like the 1031 exchange help defer capital gains, and with proper estate planning, assets can achieve a step-up in basis at death, eliminating capital gains for heirs. A holistic approach to tax planning ensures long-term financial success and a lasting legacy for future generations.

Saul Stephens is a wealth management advisor and director of wealth management at Meaden & Moore. Mike Nuzzo and Bo Pettegrew are wealth management advisors at Meaden & Moore. For more information, visit meadenmoore.com.

Meaden & Moore
Lois Gregory, A. Michael Nuzzo, John Nicklas, Saul A. Stephens, Mary Balazy, Brent Silver, E. Bo Pettegrew
STEPHENS NUZZO

For

TCJA and its implications on estate planning

Passed in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changed deductions, depreciation and other tax items that impact individuals and businesses, including an increase of the lifetime gi tax exemption from $5.5 million in 2017 to $13.6 million in 2024.

What does this mean?

In essence, individuals can give away $13.6 million of their wealth with no gi tax impact, thus reducing their taxable estate as well as shi ing future appreciation on those assets out of their estate.

THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON

330-972-2819 or kzebedis@uakron.edu.

Scan the QR code to give today.

e TCJA is set to lapse at the end of 2025, which means it may be time to make appropriate adjustments in your estate plans well in advance of the potential sunset. Starting early is preferred because many planning strategies can take months to execute, and attorneys will be busy throughout the year. We recommend acting sooner rather than later.

Next steps

Individuals who are impacted by the TCJA should explore a variety of options to maximize what their families and loved ones retain from their estates a er their deaths. One example is leveraging the annual gi exclusion that allows you to gi up to $18,000 per year to a recipient. Individuals who have children or grandchildren can use ve years of the annual gi exclusion to superfund a 529 plan, allowing those

assets to appreciate in a tax-advantaged account. Another option is to make payments on behalf of loved ones directly to medical or educational institutions, which can reduce the overall taxable estate.

For those with slightly larger estates, advanced planning options, such as a family limited partnership or liability company, a spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT), or an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) are available. For example, establishing a SLAT and utilizing one spouse’s lifetime gi tax exemption moves the assets out of the overall taxable estate while the couple retains access to those assets as long as they are both living and remain married.

Prepare for the long term ese tools and others can be leveraged to manage your nances and nd ways to bene t your family, loved ones, and your legacy — the things you hold most dear.

MAI Capital Management. Contact her at llippert@mai. capital.

Disclosure: MAI Capital Management is an SEC registered investment adviser and does not provide legal advice.

Consider tax ef ciencies during business succession planning

Business succession planning is critical for ensuring the continuity and success of a company upon ownership changes. For business owners, understanding how to navigate the tax implications of a succession plan is paramount. e following tips are key to ensuring tax e ciency.

Start early Planning well in advance allows business owners to explore various tax-e cient strategies. Early planning helps mitigate potential tax liabilities and provides ample time to implement changes.

Utilize family gifting

Transferring ownership through gi ing can be an e ective way to reduce estate taxes. e IRS allows annual tax-free gi s up to a certain limit per recipient, which can be used to gradually transfer ownership to family members.

Establish a trust

Trusts, like Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts and Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts, can be utilized to transfer business assets during life while minimizing gi /estate taxes. ese trusts allow appreciating assets to pass to bene ciaries with reduced tax consequences.

Employee stock ownership plan

An employee stock ownership plan

allows business owners to sell their shares to employees, providing tax bene ts such as deferral of capital gains tax and no entity-level tax. ESOPs can also enhance employee motivation and retention, ensuring the company’s legacy continues.

Plan for capital gains tax

When selling a business, understanding the capital gains tax is crucial. Structuring the sale as an installment sale can spread the tax burden over several years, potentially lowering the overall tax rate.

Engage professional advisers

Consulting with a team of tax advisers, estate planners and legal professionals ensures that business owners are aware of the latest tax laws. is helps to tailor advice and maximize tax e ciency.

E ective business succession planning requires a proactive approach to managing tax implications. By utilizing these strategies, business owners can ensure a seamless transition while preserving the nancial health of their enterprise.

Carianne S. Staudt is a taxation, business, & estate planning principal at

Lauren Lippert, CPA, CFP®, is a senior wealth advisor and managing director at
LIPPERT

Thoughts on the Browns’ stadium issue from Columbus

Alex R. Fischer is the former president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership.

He is currently partner in The New Albany Company and a partner in White Oak Partners.

Some years ago, former Cleveland Mayor and Ohio Gov. George Voinovich challenged leaders in Columbus to get organized and aligned around regional priorities. He was blunt with our mayor and blunt with our business community.

Ironically, it was Cleveland's iconic mayor who told Columbus to get its act together. But his call to action was the catalyst that inspired and shamed leaders from the grasstops to the grassroots in central Ohio to stack hands.

It wasn't simply about Columbus; it was about the central Ohio region as a whole. Over the years, I have often said that downtown's success is vital to our suburbs, and our suburbs’ success is essential to the core. We learned to think and act regionally, and with a unified voice to advance our shared priorities. We practiced the “Columbus Way” and took an 11-county region to the international stage as "Columbus," knowing it was our most important brand.

The results have been stunning, if I do say so myself. We have nearly doubled our population, becoming one of the fastest-growing cities in the country with an explosion of development, job creation, and economic growth.

Perhaps the crowning achievement was the announcement of the transformative Intel project in neighboring Licking County, which doesn't happen without the full and unwavering support of the mayor of Columbus; yes, the mayor is essential to our region's growth, including the surrounding suburbs. And Columbus, downtown, inside and outside our official city limits, and throughout our region is just getting started.

And in a similar vein, I have repeatedly said Cleveland's success is Columbus and Ohio's success.

There has admittedly been some envy of

Columbus in Northeast Ohio. Still, I've consistently and genuinely praised the transformation of downtown Cleveland, the vision to create a fantastic lakefront, your world-class orchestra and Playhouse Square, the impact of your health care at the Clinic and UH, and Case Western Reserve, among so many other assets.

Over the years, my wife and I have always enjoyed regular weekends in your city, boating and watching football, baseball, and basketball. Our son graduated from college in Virginia and moved to Cleveland, not Columbus, and loved living downtown.

A few years ago, together with a grassroots movement of passionate fans, I led the effort to unite Columbus in saving the Columbus Crew. I turned to Cleveland, not

Columbus, for help. Business leaders Dee and Jimmy Haslam stepped up in a major way, and with their commitment, investment, and understanding of what a sports team can do for a community, city, and region, we made what some thought was impossible a reality.

The Crew has become a model franchise, and Columbus continues to grow. Lower.com Field is the best MLS stadium in our country and has created a vibrant energy both inside and in the surrounding development. We’ve won two MLS cups and will be competing this fall for a third. The new stadium has far exceeded any economist projections and the Haslams have overdelivered both for the team and in our community.

Analysis: Big Cleveland companies are outperforming the S&P 500

If you invested in the first nine months of 2024 exclusively in the largest public companies headquartered in Greater Cleveland, your returns would have topped those of the S&P 500 by nearly 7%, according to an analysis by Cerity Partners.

And in just the third quarter, Cerity’s Cleveland Index — a portfolio comprising the 33 largest public companies within the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area — performed 15% better than the S&P 500, the analysis shows.

Baiju Shah, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, which, earlier this year, introduced the Cleveland Index at

GCP's annual meeting, points out, “The national market has moved a lot in the last two quarters, but Cleveland has moved more. We've outperformed dramatically this year.”

Not every Northeast Ohio-based company has had a great year, of course. But the companies with strong revenue growth, such as Progressive Corp., Sherwin-Williams Co., Eaton Corp. and Parker Hannifin Corp., represent a diverse range of industries.

“We are hitting all of the important trends as the country pushes to re-shore our supply chains, especially in critical sectors: semiconductors, energy and logistics — it is a massive growth opportunity for us,” Shah said.

This is the second look at the

Cleveland Index, created by Bob Smith of Cerity Partners. The results from May 2024 demonstrated that from 2010 to the first quarter of this year, Cleveland’s public companies consistently outperformed the county’s 500 largest public companies.

Going forward, Cerity’s Andrew Burger, a principal and client adviser at the firm, will continue on a quarterly basis to look at the performance of Cleveland companies compared with those in other indexes.

Burger said the index is market-cap weighted, which means the larger companies make up a bigger share of the index. As a result, the strong revenue performance of Progressive, the Mayfield Village-based insurance

So it pains me on multiple fronts to see your mayor (Justin Bibb) blatantly practicing divisive politics with the Cleveland Browns and the Haslams. No one puts the community as a higher priority than the Haslam family. Publicly and privately, they have always emphasized and practiced the importance of the Browns to Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, and our state.

The Modell law?

They are planning to invest in Cleveland, which again includes the broader Northeast Ohio region, to the tune of more than $2 billion. They have not suggested moving the Browns to Columbus (in jest, perhaps that’s not a bad idea) or some other market.

Last time I checked, Brook Park is in Cuyahoga County, and the potential site is 1,000 feet from the city of Cleveland. When I drive to Cleveland, the underdeveloped area by Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is the front door, and how much better would that door look with a beautiful domed stadium and adjacent mixed-use development?

Several state government leaders recently asked for my thoughts on the impact of a new domed stadium. My answer is that Ohio deserves one. It's the future, along with transformative sports-anchored development, and we should all feel lucky that an ownership group can and wants to make it happen in Cleveland. There is no opportunity like this anywhere else in Ohio. Super Bowls, Final Fours, Big Ten championships, concerts … a billion-plus dollar mixed-use development … a new front door to Cleveland … opening up the downtown lakefront.

Strengthening Cleveland and Ohio. That is what this citizen and leader in Columbus told our state leaders.

But I can only imagine what George Voinovich would say. He shamed Columbus into getting organized and aligned. To think regionally. To be bold and take big swings for our future.  For Columbus’ sake and for Ohio.

It's too bad he's not here to deliver the same message to Cleveland leaders. Let's stack hands as Ohio, let's think regionally and accomplish big things together. The time for bold action for Ohio's future is now, and this urgency should drive us forward.

giant, brings the whole index up.

“Progressive specifically performed well,” Burger said. “The company’s revenue is up 20% year over year as of the end of the last quarter.”

Other Cleveland Index companies are using new technologies to increase productivity, including Eaton, which just announced a partnership with Palantir, an AI software company.

“Eaton now has a runway with this new AI deployment for its supply chain and power transfer technology, which is really going to only increase in demand,” Burger added.

Burger points out that some of the older corporate giants in Cleveland have been able to transition from strictly industrial-focused to more advanced manufacturers by reinvesting and making investments in new technology.

“Sherwin is a great example of that," Burger said. "They’ve (generated) a lot of revenue and con-

stantly plow it right back into either research and development or finding businesses and bringing them under their umbrella."

The Cleveland metro area’s latest unemployment numbers, released in late September, are the lowest in the state at 3.9%. That number is lower than the unemployment rate in Columbus, which is at around 4% and lower than the state, which sits at 4.2%, Shah said.

Calling it the single biggest challenge to growth, Shah worries that a lack of skilled workers could have a negative effect on the success local companies are experiencing.

“We are not challenged by businesses not innovating or leveraging technology," he said. "They clearly are doing it. It's demonstrated in the stock market returns and the business growth. It's now all about — can we find enough people to move to our region to fuel the region's continued growth."

Lower.com Field in downtown Columbus is home to the Crew. | CoLUmbUS CreW
A rendering shows the inside of the Browns’ proposed domed stadium in Brook Park. | CLeveLAND broWNS

LARGEST FOUNDATIONS IN NORTHEAST OHIO CRAIN’S LIST

LARGEST NONPROFITS IN NORTHEAST OHIO CRAIN’S LIST

Trust is the heart of our business. Maloney + Novotny helps clients achieve financial success by providing tax and advisory services through a long-term relationship built on trust.

maloneynovotny.com

ResearchbyDavidNusbaum(david.nusbaum@crain.com).|Thislistincludes501(c)3nonprofits.Colleges,foundationsandhospitalswereexcluded.Informationissuppliedbytheorganizationsunless otherwise noted. Numbers that appear tied have been rounded. 1. Secretariat of Catholic Charities. Get much more at CrainsCleveland.com/data

“Looking at the schedule, and understanding that Opening Day is Opening Day and it’s not moving to the right at all, they’ve come up with a lot of contingency plans on how to make up as much time as we can,” Folk said. “We’ll be working virtually around the clock for the next couple of weeks.

“When I left here last night — a lot later than my wife wished I had — we still had folks working down in the clubhouse.”

Phase 1 of the $202.5 million “Progressive Field Reimagined” project was unveiled in the spring and included an open-air Terrace Garden space in left field, the Paul Davis Pennant District in right field and a new building on East Ninth Street.

Phase 2 projects include the Terrace Hub (replacing the Terrace Club); the Carnegie Club; clubhouses and service level renovations; and administrative office renovations. Minneapolis-based Mortenson is the Construction Manager at Risk.

Here’s a closer look at what’s ahead:

Terrace Hub and administrative offices

The old Terrace Club — the windowed restaurant once located on the third base line that was covered by a large "Guardians" tarp this season — is being turned into the two-level Terrace Hub. The first level is the open-air "North Coast Social," which is limited to season ticket holders and will offer terraced ticketed seating on the 200 and 300 levels. The second level will include a Cleveland beer hall food and beverage experience on the 400 level that will be open to all fans.

The team’s administrative offices will also be fully renovated for the first time since 1994. The Guardians will add a fifth floor to the current four-level structure on Ontario Street.

“If you pull that (Guardians) curtain back, you’ll see they have just been making hay up there and in the office buildings all summer,” Folk said. “I can’t say enough about Cleveland labor. The trades have been in here, and the work they’re doing is just fantastic and it’s already shown in the projects that have been completed. There’s a lot of pride in this whole thing.”

Clubhouses and service level

Both clubhouses, as well as the ballpark service level, will be updated for the first time since 1994. Construction crews have emptied out both clubhouses. The new home clubhouse will be rebuilt with a focus on player amenities in performance, training and recovery.

“When we opened in 1994, it was first-class and state-of-theart,” Folk said. “We had the best in baseball at the time. … After about 30 years, we were acceptable, but certainly behind the times as far as what the current Major League facilities look like. Now we’ll be right back to being fully compliant (with MLB stan-

dards) and have a place where our players will be comfortable, so they’ll be able to focus on team performance.”

Carnegie Club and Lounge

The Dugout Suites behind home plate will be turned into the members-only Carnegie Club, which the club is touting as “the most premium area that Progressive Field has to offer.” The club will include six private lounges that can each host groups of 12.

This part of the project necessitated rebuilding the “Hickory Highway,” a series of 30-foot-wide railroad ties along the left field line that allows the crew to park a crane at home plate.

“It’s interesting to see that,” Folk said, chuckling. “You’re not expecting to see a crane sitting at home plate.”

Team store

The Guardians closed their main team shop in mid-December 2023 and built a 3,800-squarefoot temporary team shop in Gateway Plaza, outside the left field gate. That will close in the upcoming days.

The Guardians will open their new team shop on the ballpark’s first floor in time for 2025’s home opener on April 8.

Seat replacement and capital improvements

The city and county passed a $435 million renovation package at the end of 2021, with $202.5 million going toward the renovations and the other $232.5 million going toward capital improvements like concrete work, seating and new boilers.

The Guardians installed blue seating in the stadium’s lower bowl before the 2024 season, and the second of three phases of seat replacement will continue this offseason. Phase 2 includes the rest of the lower bowl, the bleachers, the mezzanine level and the upper deck seats behind home plate. The balance of the upper deck seats (about 15%-20% of the ballpark’s seats) will be replaced ahead of the 2026 season, Folk said.

“There’s a lot of rehabilitation; it’s not just seat-out and seat-in,” Folk said. “We’re taking the seats and the railings out and rehabilitating the concrete that’s been sitting there for 30 years. We’ll make sure that cracks and missing joints and that sort of thing are all fixed and leveled out. Then we’ll put a new traffic coating that will help keep water from getting to the space underneath.”

Because the stadium was built well in 1994, and because it’s been well-maintained since, Folk said they’re replacing mechanical equipment (like air conditioners) that would have been replaced 15 years ago under normal circumstances.

“Our owners have always given us the resources we’ve needed to take care of it (the ballpark) and make sure it’s in good shape,” said Folk, who joined the organization in June 1992 as director of ballpark operations. “It’s been a thrill to have been a part of this since the beginning and it’s a thrill to be a part of it now.”

The Terrace Hub beer hall will be open to all fans on the 400 level.
The Terrace Hub will replace the Terrace Club in left field, with terraced ticketed seating and a Cleveland beer hall. moNICA RENDERINGS
The members-only Carnegie Club will replace the Dugout Suites, offering upscale dining and views of the game from behind home plate.

Guardians’ primary TV announcers likely to return for broadcasts in ’25

The Cleveland Guardians will have a new television home next year, but all signs point to their broadcast booth remaining the same in 2025.

Longtime play-by-play announcer Matt Underwood, color analyst Rick Manning and field reporter Andre Knott are likely to return to those roles in 2025, when Major League Baseball takes over the Guardians’ broadcasts from FanDuel Sports Network Great Lakes (formerly Bally Sports Great Lakes), according to sources familiar with the situation.

However, none of the three are under contract — they were employees of Bally Sports, not the Guardians — so all parties will need to negotiate new terms this offseason. Under the new arrangement, Cleveland’s on-air talent will be employed by MLB, not the Guardians.

Manning just finished his 35th season as an Indians/Guardians broadcaster — he’s tied with radio play-by-play man Tom Hamilton (1989-present) for longest stint in team history — while Underwood has been the primary play-byplay man since 2009 and Knott has been the team’s on-air reporter since 2015.

The Guardians declined to comment for this story. Underwood, Manning and Knott were not available for comment.

If those three return in 2025, it would follow the same blueprint used by MLB when it took over broadcasts for the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres in the middle of the 2023 season and the Colorado Rockies beginning in 2024. In all three cases, the play-by-play announcer, analyst and reporter stayed the same after the teams switched from Bally Sports to MLB, with one exception: Jenny Cavnar left the Rockies’ broadcast team to become the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics.

The individual clubs made the

SYLVESTER

From Page 1

Christine Nelson, Team NEO vice president of project management and site strategies, was Sylvester’s manager and said in a phone interview that he exits Team NEO on good terms. However, she counts him among alumni of the economic development organizations in other key jobs in the region continuing to support Team NEO’s job growth goals.

“Bryce’s dedication, expertise, and passion have inspired us all,” Nelson wrote in an email. “While we will greatly miss his daily presence, we are thrilled that he will continue to work in a field that complements our important work. Bryce’s new role at Cushman & Wakefield positions him

decision to keep their primary broadcasters, a source said.

The fate of the Guardians’ preand postgame hosts is less certain, since “Guardians Live” was broadcast from Bally Sports’ studio. The Guardians are not planning to build their own television studio, and it’s possible MLB could opt to have the primary broadcasters handle pre- and postgame duties, even if it’s just for road games.

Al Pawlowski has been the team’s studio host since 2007, and former Tribe pitcher Jensen Lewis became the primary studio analyst in 2015. In a text to Crain’s Cleveland Business, Pawlowski said he hasn’t heard anything about his future yet, while Lewis did not respond to a text seeking comment.

MLB announced on Oct. 8 that it will produce and distribute local games for the Guardians as well as the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins in a deal that will also lift MLB’s local blackout rule. A fourth team, the Texas Rangers, will no longer partner with Bally Sports’ owner, Diamond Sports Group, and is considering its local media options for 2025, MLB said.

While the timing of the announcement wasn’t ideal — the

to further influence positive change, and we look forward to potential collaborations in the future.”

Sylvester is a Northeast Ohio native. He grew up in Rocky River and now lives in Lakewood. He worked in business after getting a bachelor’s in business marketing at what’s now Baldwin Wallace University.

Sylvester said he had considered joining the brokerage ranks while earning his master’s but did not give it another thought after he started his career. At this point, he said he is excited to work in leadership in brokerage with his goal of helping the producers and other staffers thrive.

Current heads of commercial brokerages in the region, both national and local, are all from the brokerage ranks. Many also continue their brokerage practices

CAVS

cities, our best days are in front of us,” Barlage said.

“Every company has an independent choice that they can make, and we respect the independent choices of the companies, but our choice is to double down (in the city),” he added.

The question about the Browns, from Tony Gallo, president of the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, came during an event Team NEO used to highlight the release of its Aligning Opportunities 2024 report.

The annual report provides data about employment, education and workforce in the region and highlights future trends.

employees after pandemic disruptions.

“We were seeing a lot of growth in the business, but we pushed pause and said the DNA of our culture at the time was not sustainable,” he said.

Barlage and his team conducted a four-month listening tour with staff, looking at everything from compensation to culture.

“Our research led us to a couple of things. We found out that 68% of our workforce is under the age of 35,” he said. “We started to study that demographic of team members that were coming out of college, early entry, and looked at what was important to them. It wasn’t as much compensation anymore. It was, do they work for a purpose-driven organization?”

Guardians were in the middle of the ALDS on Oct. 8 — it’s better than what the team faced last offseason. The club spent most of last winter as a broadcasting orphan before reaching a one-year deal in February with Diamond Sports. The Guardians now have a full offseason to adjust to their new television life with MLB.

One other team to watch? The Cavaliers, whose contract with FanDuel Sports Network Ohio expires at the end of the 2024-25 season. There’s no guarantee Diamond Sports will still be a viable entity at this point next season, which is one reason why the Cavaliers recently partnered with Gray Media on the Rock Entertainment Sports Network (RESN), a free, over-the-air channel that will air a variety of games, from the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters to the NBA G League’s Cleveland Charge to the Frontier League’s Lake Erie Crushers to local high school and college events.

If the Cavaliers decide to break free from Diamond Sports next year — or if they’re simply forced to — they could be looking to beef up their own network with some live summer programming.

Stay tuned.

while running the office. However, while brokers will move into management, it is not a prized position, as brokerage may yield more financially than management in the commission-driven business. In the 1980s, most brokerage managers felt they ran the firm because they “lost the wrestling match” to remain devoted to their practices.

A nonbroker executive at a local firm, who may divvy out assignments to staffers as well as be the firm’s public face, will not compete with agents where they live for prime assignments and plum commissions.

“As a native of the area,” Sylvester said, “I get up every day and want to see this place thrive. I have always wanted to help advance Northeast Ohio forward. And this job is going to put me in a position to do that every day.”

Last month, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb announced that the Haslam Sports Group plans to leave the city’s lakefront to build a $2.4 billion domed stadium in Brook Park. That news came just days after the groundbreaking for the 210,000-square-foot Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, a Cavs training facility and the first development of the $3.5 billion Bedrock riverfront development plan.

Barlage said the billions of dollars Rock Entertainment plans to invest in the riverfront is all about building on the massive changes he sees happening in Cleveland.

“From our perspective, we’re all in on downtown. We’re all in on the urban core. We think a strong region starts at the heart of the region, which is in the urban core,” Barlage said. “That thesis may not work for everybody, but I want to be very clear: Ours is that if the heart is strong, the body will be strong, and the heart, when it comes to real estate development in a region, is in the downtown.”

Barlage also talked about rebuilding corporate culture for the company’s 553 full-time employees (or team members, as he calls them) and about 1,700 part-time

From there, the traditionally male-dominated company focused on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, including programs aiming for a hiring goal of 60% women and people of color. There was a concerted effort to expand the team member research groups (TMRG), affinity groups that bring diverse employees together.

“We have almost half of the organization that participates in our TMRGs in some form or fashion now,” Barlage said.

Listening tours now take place monthly or quarterly, and new training verticals were added to help younger employees move up in the organization.

One thing Barlage said could help with recruitment is if potential out-of-town workers knew the benefits of living in Cleveland, which he describes as “a worldclass city without the world-class ego.”

“We’ve hosted some of the biggest events in the world here over the last three to four years,” he said. “No other city’s been on that run, not L.A., not New York, not Chicago, not Miami. None of them have been on the run Cleveland, Ohio, has been on.”

Nic Barlage
Matt Underwood, from left, Andre Knott and Rick Manning are expected to return in 2025 when MLB takes over the Guardians’ broadcasts. FoX SPorTS oHIo

Formtek plans to move in early 2025 to this Twinsburg building from Warrensville Heights. The new location will double the footprint for the maker of metal forming and handling equipment’s operations.

ACCOUNTING

BDO USA

CONSULTING

MarshBerry

ENGINEERING / CONSULTING

TRC Environmental Corporation

INSURANCE / FINANCIAL

OneDigital

Formtek to move from Warrensville Heights

Formtek, a manufacturer of automated metal forming capital equipment, plans to exit its home in Warrensville Heights and head to a larger factory in Twinsburg by the end of March 2025.

The move will accommodate the company's quest for additional growth.

That’s the word from Darren Muchnicki, president of Formtek. In an email, he said the move will double the company’s current footprint, allow it to add more products and, though he did not provide figures, hire additional machinists, machine builders and engineering staff.

BDO USA has named Todd Rosenberg a Principal in the firm’s Tax practice. Rosenberg focuses his practice on corporate taxation and ASC 740. With 24 years of experience, he has served clients across a variety of industries, including manufacturing and distribution, retail and restaurant.

Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., L.P.A.

Nicholas R. Brown, Attorney, provides counsel in public sector, civil rights and governmental liability law, advising and defending governmental entities and their employees. He serves as the Assistant Law Director for the City of Mentor and was previously Solicitor for the Village of Genevaon-the-Lake and Assistant Prosecutor for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.

MarshBerry, a leading investment banking and consulting firm serving the insurance distribution and wealth management industries, is pleased to announce that J. Matthew Linehan has joined the firm as Chief Corporate Counsel. In his role, Matthew is responsible for providing a wide range of legal support across MarshBerry’s business in the U.S. and Europe. He brings over 10 years of experience in representing financial services firms.

Catherine Palko Kliorys joins TRC’s Cleveland office as a Senior Project Manager and Business Development Lead with a focus on environmental solutions for brownfield redevelopment. Catherine enhances TRC’s existing environmental services team with 20+ years’ of experience in environmental and engineering consulting and economic development. She has procured more than $35 million in federal and state grants and will continue to develop funding strategies for redevelopment projects.

Frantz Ward LLP

Natalie K. Hart, Attorney, advocates for clients on legal matters related to liability defense. With a background in insurance and transportation, she represents clients in auto and commercial trucking, construction litigation, general liability and professional liability. She also practices with the firm’s appellate litigation group.

NONPROFIT FINANCING

IFF

Frantz Ward welcomes Michael P. O’Donnell, who joins the firm as a partner. Michael works on behalf of sophisticated corporate clients and practices in a wide variety of complex litigation matters, including trade secrets, product liability, premises liability, contract disputes, employment, and real estate. Michael earned his J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where he graduated summa cum laude, and his B.S.B.A. from John Carroll University.

IFF welcomes Scott Hackenberg as its newest Managing Director of Lending for the Eastern Region. Based in Cleveland, Scott comes to IFF with decades of lending and finance experience, including mission driven roles at RSF Social Finance and Nonprofit Finance Fund in the Bay Area, and most recently at Cornerstone Fund in Cleveland. Scott is a board member for several nonprofits focused on housing for persons with disabilities, K-12 education, and the arts, and is a former U.S. Army Reservist.

OneDigital, a leading insurance brokerage, financial services and HR consulting firm, announces Mike Powers has been promoted to National Vice President Executive Benefits. Previously the team’s Managing Director, Powers now leads the strategic growth and daily operations of the company’s nationwide executive benefits team, which includes nearly $10.8B in executive benefits assets under care. With 25+ years in the financial and insurance industries, Powers is a proven leader in helping teams accomplish strategic goals. Powers holds Nonqualified Plan Consultant Certification, a State of Ohio Life, Accident and Health Insurance License, a BA in Business Administration and a BS in Political Science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

“This is a major development for us,” Muchnicki wrote in a news release on Formtek's website.

The move will accommodate the company’s quest for additional growth.

The company has leased 117,000 square feet at 9820 Dutton Drive in Twinsburg, which will become a multitenant property in Heritage Industrial Park. The new leased building dates from 1999. The structure is owned by a Chagrin Falls investor group called Formflex Inc., although it is listed for sale by CBRE's Cleveland office with an $8.2 million asking price, according to CoStar, the online realty data site.

Formtek’s current headquarters and shop in Warrensville Heights is at 4899 Commerce Parkway, which has 58,000 square feet of industrial and office space. It dates from 1969. Although Formtek won’t exit until next year, efforts to sell the building it owns in Warrensville Heights are underway. A listing on CoStar said NAI Pleasant Valley realty brokerage of Independence has a listing to sell the property, which Formtek owns. CoStar said the asking price for the current building is $3.95 million.

Formtek produces equipment for metal forming and metal processing industries in categories such as roll forming, tube and pipe production, tooling and related products. It serves a variety of industries, among them aerospace, automobile, construction, window makers and metal building products.

Formtek is part of Mestek Inc. (OTC: MCCK), which is headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts.

Steve

Chris Adams PRESIDENT & CEO

Park Place

Technologies

Jerome P. Grisko CEO CBIZ Inc

Susan Helper PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS Case Western Reserve University

Ohio Chamber of Commerce

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