Crain's Cleveland Business

READY, SET, BET

Answers to 10 questions about sports gambling

BY JOE SCALZO

My rst full-time job in journalism was at e Vindicator in Youngstown, a city where I once saw a man at the grocery store buying just two things: a ball of mozzarella cheese and a package of “Just For Men” gel.

e Vindicator was an afternoon newspaper when I rst started and I would occasionally get phone calls at 5:30 a.m. from a guy who wanted to know the halftime scores of Canadian Football League (CFL) games.

Back then, this behavior was called “problem gambling.”

Now? It’s just a fun prop bet, no di erent than betting how many 3-pointers Steph Curry might make in a quarter. Or what color Gatorade they’ll use in dunking the Super Bowl-winning coach. Or which of your legs your loan shark will break rst after discovering you can’t repay the $10,000 loan you

took out to wager on CFL halftime scores.

“Joe, does this story have a point?”

Yes! e point is, sports gambling is arriving in Ohio on Jan 1., which means you’ll no longer need to place bets with an o shore account run by the Russian ma a or someone named “Vinnie” who buys discount hair dye and BelGioioso in equal measure. But before you empty your child’s 529 account to bet on a Cleveland Cavaliers championship (current odds: +1800, meaning a $100 bet will win you $1,800), you may have some questions about what sports gambling in Ohio is going to look like.

at’s where this story comes in. I’ll tackle 10 common questions, throw in some jokes and — voilà! — you’ll soon be losing money like a seasoned professional.

Odeon sale doesn’t mean it’s curtains for Flats concert venue

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

e recent sale of the Odeon doesn’t mean it’s curtains for the scrappy concert club on the east bank of the Flats.

New owner GBX Group expects to maintain the space as a venue, though the Cleveland-based company isn’t ready to discuss its plans.

Property records show that a GBX afliate bought the Odeon and two neighboring buildings on Dec. 1.

By email, a company representative con rmed that GBX acquired the Odeon as part of a broader e ort to revitalize Old River Road. “More details will be coming on the future of the venue, which is an important anchor building in this historic district,” wrote Phil Winton, GBX’s vice president of strategic messaging.

Real estate records don’t reveal what GBX paid for the Odeon, at 1295 Old River Road; the sometime Odeon Lounge next door; and a low-slung building occupied by the Frozen Daiquiri Bar & Restaurant. at’s because GBX acquired the limited liability company that owns the properties, rather than purchasing the buildings outright.

Seller Mike Tricarichi, who also operated the venue, wouldn’t divulge the price.

“I sold it for a lot more than I paid — how about that?” said Tricarichi, president of Telecom Acquisition Corp. and an investor in real estate and entertainment in Cleveland and Las Vegas.

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK

Supply chain disruptions ease, but still exist

RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

e roller coaster that has been the supply chain in recent years seems to be smoothing out a bit, but bumps remain.

“People have acclimated to supply chain turmoil, and it has gotten marginally better,” said Ethan Karp, president and CEO of MAGNET in Cleveland.

Companies have paid higher prices and built up inventory, said Karp, who oversees the nonpro t MAGNET: e Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, which o ers consulting for manufacturers. Manufacturers also sought out alternate sources, he said, or found ways to bring products and services in-house. e problems in the supply chain haven’t disappeared, but companies have adapted.

But those solutions led to companies’ current challenge: in ation, Karp said. Increased prices for manufacturers — and the costs of building up inventory — have led to increased prices for everyone. And Karp said he thinks people are now largely focused on that in ation and on the possibility of a recession, though the challenges of managing a disrupted supply chain continue at companies.

Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington, D.C., made similar observations: challenges remain, but things are getting better. ere have been improvements in areas like the ports, which had previously created bottlenecks, and manufacturers have strengthened their procurement processes.

“With that said, they might be moving in the right direction for the wrong reason,” Moutray said.

And that’s because the global economy is starting to slow down, a ecting trade, he said. And, Moutray said, the chances of a recession in 2023 are pretty high because of that.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Moutray said companies are preparing for a “relatively typical” recession of six to nine months, as opposed to the less traditional ones seen during COVID or the Great Recession. Additionally, the labor market is still tight and companies are still struggling to nd workers. at’s not typical before a recession, and Moutray said that could mitigate the impact of one.

Supply chain challenges and ination have been a “battle” for members of the Precision Metalforming Association in Independence, said president David Klotz. Going into 2023, the struggles in the supply chain seem to be easing, he said, and there are indications that the automotive industry will be picking up steam as the semiconductor shortage improves, though not likely to previous highs just yet.

Klotz is cautious, though, as the recent infrastructure bill could put more demand on certain products. For example, building bridges may mean using metals that the association’s members need for other products, creating a shortage or further increasing prices.

Karp, however, pointed to the infrastructure spending as a potential positive, one that could keep the

economy a oat during a recession. It wouldn’t bene t all companies, but could o er “bu ering e ects,” he said, for those in relevant industries like pipe manufacturing.

Scott Jensen, director of issue communications for the American Chemistry Council, pointed to transportation issues as a source of the major “breakdown” in the supply chain. e organization started regularly surveying its members on transportation challenges and found that just about every respondent said they were having problems that were hindering or changing their operations. And the challenges were spread across all modes of transportation: the ports, rail and trucking.

e American Chemistry Council in D.C. is made up of chemical manufacturers serving just about every industry. at means when its members see delays, it has a broad impact across sectors.

To adapt to supply chain challenges, companies in the council started restricting operations or orders, Jensen said. Je Sloan, senior director of regulatory a airs for the council, said companies started putting more employee resources toward managing and tracking shipments, though it wasn’t clear if that took resources away from other areas of business.

And members that relied on rail, in particular, started looking for other modes of transportation or adding rail cars to their eets, because cars weren’t coming back quickly. Sloan noted that latter solution can actually cause more congestion in the rail system long-term.

Jensen said as demand has eased, so has pressure on the supply chain. But the council is trying to raise the point that the systemic issues that led to the slowdowns remain. e organization is advocating for measures like improvements in the rail industry and increased recruitment of truck drivers. ere’s a “capacity problem,” Sloan said, saying that in rail, in particular, the association wants to see more emphasis on incentives to build up “resilience.” at might look like keeping on more employees during downturns, so that companies don’t face a workforce shortage when business picks back up.

Increased demand or another “shock to one of the systems” could easily cause supply chain challenges to return, Jensen said.

“Until we x those things, we will have a vulnerable supply chain,” he said.

Rachel Abbey McCa erty: (216) 7715379, rmcca erty@crain.com

Relationships are critical to easing supply chain challenges

Working closely with suppliers and customers has been critical for Talan Products Inc. when it comes to surviving recent supply chain challenges.

“ at’s how we were able to be successful, because we had such partnerships with our suppliers, our customers,” said CEO Steve Peplin. “Because we collaborated. Everybody worked together.”

Cleveland-based Talan makes products for a range of industries, including building, solar energy and electric vehicles. e company has seen growth in recent years, despite supply chain challenges. Peplin said Talan currently has about 80 employees and will reach about $75 million in annual revenue this year.

Talan’s supply chain manager, Brad Partee, said there were supply chain issues in 2020, but they really set in for Talan in early 2021, when demand started to signi cantly outpace supply in the steel sector. Collaboration is one of Talan’s core values, Partee said, so working with suppliers was key to riding those waves.

e company found new and alternate suppliers, where needed, and worked to get customers in the conversation, too. Meetings with suppliers and customers became far more frequent, Partee said, from monthly to weekly. And in an unusual step, he added, there were even times when suppliers and customers were on the same call, so everyone was kept upto-date as e ciently as possible.

ose stronger relationships meant that, not only was everyone on the same page, but they were often working together. Partee said there were times when a customer’s customer would reach out with a lead on available raw material, to see if Talan or Talan’s suppliers needed it.

“It’s a win-win across the board for all of our customers,” he said.

Universal Metal Products in

Wickli e also pointed

e company started to see issues in the supply chain as soon as the COVID pandemic started in the U.S. in early 2020, as steel mills and the automotive sector shut down, said purchasing manager Dennis Moore. And when the mills started back up, it wasn’t at full capacity. at segment of the supply chain was constrained for quite a while.

Universal Metal Products, which employs about 300, serves markets ranging from automotive to appliance. CEO Scott Seaholm said annual revenue is close to $80 million.

It became critical to identify which service centers were handling those challenges the best, nding alternate sources and more, Moore said.

“Who got creative?” he asked. “Who was able to help us and think di erently?”

Moore also learned that he could reach out to some steel mills and work with them directly, as a number of them have their own divisions to do the processing and work that service centers often do. Buying products direct from the mills when possible helped Universal Metal Products save money and get product quicker, he said.

In general, strengthening relationships throughout the supply chain proved bene cial, Moore said. If a mill didn’t o er direct purchases, he found out which centers they preferred to work with and when they were planning to ship product.

“I want to get as close to the top of the source as possible and then gure out what’s the fastest channel of supply through them,” Moore said.

Seaholm said that, overall, the company has strengthened relationships up and down the supply chain during these tumultuous years, helping to manage it at all levels.

to the importance of working with both customers and suppliers in managing supply chain challenges.

RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

Workers at Talan Products in Cleveland package fabricated aluminum extrusions for the building industry. | PHOTOS COURTESY OF TALAN PRODUCTS

A nity Whole Health expands services, adds Indiana location

LYDIA COUTRÉ

A nity Whole Health, a Cleveland-based hormone replacement therapy company, capped its 10th year in business by opening a new location in an Indianapolis suburb and adding a new service line that’s quickly gaining popularity among patients.

e new A nity o ce in Carmel, Indiana, opened on Nov. 1. It joins the original location in Beachwood and the second it opened in 2017 outside of Columbus, which has grown into a very busy o ce and a “resounding success,” said Matthew Jones, chief operating ocer of A nity.

right up near the top, that list would be weight gain and di culty losing weight. And so, you know, that demand sort of prompted us to always be looking for an answer.”

is year, A nity began o ering Semaglutide treatment (brand names Ozempic and WeGovy) as a weight-loss management option, which in just four months has grown to be about 10% of its business, said Brian Zeid, A nity owner and co-founder.

“2021 was the best year we’ve ever had — we grew about 20% — and 2022 is on pace to blow that out of the water,” he said, adding that by the end of the third quarter of this year, A nity had already outperformed its record-setting 2021 revenues.

Having achieved organic growth in recent years, A nity’s leadership expects the addition of the weight-loss service line to accelerate top-line revenue growth even further, Zeid said.

been the 2021 addition of medical director Dr. Michael Koehler.

“And then with the addition nally of another brick-and-mortar, I think we could be, you know, in more of the 25% to 50% growth range here for the next few years,” he said.

Zeid

Since 2012, A nity has o ered hormone replacement therapy and age management medicine to address symptoms associated with aging, such as lack of energy, poor focus or di culty sleeping.

“If you were to list the symptoms and the challenges that people come to us with, it’s energy, it’s recovery, it’s brain fog, which sounds like an inexact term, but you know it when you’re feeling it,” Jones said. “But

While the traditional hormone replacement therapy drew about 90% male patients, he said Afnity has seen more of a 50/50 split of men and women seeking the new weight management treatment.

“ e popularity and effectiveness of the solutions we’re using for the weight loss is really starting to spread,” Zeid said.

He expects this service line, along with the new Indianapolis location, to accelerate growth for the company.

Although COVID-19 slowed growth a bit in 2020, it was still a good year for A nity, said Jones, and things have “picked up signi cantly since.”

Since the 2017 opening of A nity’s second location, in Columbus, the company has more than doubled its sta to around 20 people, including employees and contractors.

A nity has ve medical providers (either an MD, physician assistant or nurse practitioner) who see hundreds of patients each month, Jones said. e company’s three full-time phlebotomists, and one part-timer, conduct hundreds of blood draws per month.

e company has about 1,400 patients on a program, up from roughly 1,100 in early 2021, he said.

Also helping with the growth has

“He’s helped us implement protocols that have sort of allowed us to con dently expand and improve, I think, our o ering to patients,” Jones said. “So one of those one of those things has been revising our blood panels for labs.”

With its tests, A nity checks hormones among other things — a total of about 30 blood markers — which Jones said is a more comprehensive approach than competitors.

e new location in the Indianapolis area is A nity’s rst solo location outside Ohio. A few years back, the company expanded to Pittsburgh through joint venture partnership with a medical group that ultimately shut down during COVID-19, Zeid said.

It took several years for the Columbus market to grow to its current size, doing about half as much business as the Cleveland o ce. Jones said he is

hopeful that Indianapolis will be up to speed much faster as the Ohio locations also continue to grow.

Hormone replacement therapy has gained a lot of traction since Afnity started a decade ago, when the treatment was much more wellknown on the coasts than the Midwest, but that’s been changing.

“ e landscape is completely different than it was 10 years ago in terms of the acceptance of it, the educational piece of it, and I would actually say the supply of it and the number of other competitors and you know, clinics that are trying to get into this space over the last ve and 10 years is dramatically di erent than it was,” Zeid said.

Once Indianapolis is up and running, “we’ll look to open the next one,” Jones said.

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

A look forward at the economic landscape in 2023

By Brooke Bilyj Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

Investors, brace yourselves for 2023. The rollercoaster volatility that stormed the market in 2022 will likely continue into the New Year.

“Obviously, the story of 2022 has been in ation,” said John D. Stewart, CFA, chief investment of cer with Farmers Trust Co. “The rise in the cost of money—that is, interest rates—has produced signi cant volatility in all asset markets. This is likely going to persist throughout at least the rst half of 2023.”

Although inflation seemed to cool slightly toward the end of the year — with October’s Consumer Price Index showing the smallest 12-month increase since January — high prices continue to squeeze the economy. In attempts to mitigate inflation, the Federal Reserve hiked rates last month to the highest levels since 2008, with more increases expected into 2023.

“Everybody’s hoping that the Fed becomes less restrictive and loosens its monetary policy, but the Fed has been pretty consistent in their message that they’re not going to back off until they get inflation under control and make more progress toward their 2% target,” Stewart said. “The Fed will likely slow the pace of their hikes and hold rates in that 4.5% range. Going forward, the trend in inflation will be moderation.”

This massive spike in interest rates will continue to pinch the housing market, too, as the fixed mortgage rate has

doubled over the last year. With more people deciding to stay put until the economy improves, Stewart expects elevated prices and tight housing supply to continue into next year. “I don’t know that home prices are going to come down as much as people think,” he said, “unless we hit a deep recession, in which case all bets are off.”

While it’s still too early to tell how deep or long the recession will be, Stewart’s 2023 economic outlook is bleak. “With inflation causing cost pressures throughout the economy, and the increase in interest rates causing a pullback in capital investment, and the fact that the global economy is slowing rapidly, the stage is set for a mild

recession, at minimum, for the first half of 2023,” he said, with roughly 1-in-3 odds of a more intense economic slump.

To weather this ongoing economic storm, after one of the worst years for stock and bond performance ever, Stewart recommends increased asset differentiation.

“The best way to approach these uncertainties is to employ a strategy of very broad diversification,” he said, particularly as moderation in the strength of the dollar creates tailwinds for foreign assets. “Don’t have all your money invested in U.S. equities, in just a handful of stocks, or a couple of sectors. You’re going to want global diversification, broad sector diversification, and a mix between equities and fixed income assets.”

Despite this grim forecast for the coming months, Stewart urges investors to maintain a long-term outlook — noting that the best stock and bond returns tend to follow the worst drawdowns.

“As an investor, you can’t be thinking about this quarter, next quarter, or even the next 12 months,” he said. “You really have to be looking ahead three to five years and trying to take advantage of opportunities when assets go on sale, which requires being more tactical.”

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

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John D. Stewart, chief investment o cer, Farmers Trust Co.

White Pond project to begin in spring if legal hurdles cleared

BY DAN SHINGLER

e city of Akron’s White Pond site — a former unused o ce park that’s now proposed for a largely residential mixed-use development — might still be a legal ght away from moving forward.

If the sale of the land goes through after being approved by Akron City Council in a tight 7-6 vote on Dec. 12, developer Alan Ga ney said he hopes to begin construction in the spring of 2023. at would put him on track to have the rst units available to tenants sometime in late 2024, he said.

“We’re estimating 24 to 32 months” for the development to be completed, Ga ney said.

But rst the city, not Ga ney, must clear a hurdle: ose opposed to the project, who say they were not allowed to speak at the Dec. 12 council meeting, now claim the land sale has not been legally approved. at, they say, will require approval by a three- fths majority of council and cannot be approved by a simple majority.

It’s the latest punch thrown in a ght that started when the city and Ga ney’s Triton Property Ventures announced the approximately $60 million development in August.

After council approved the sale of the property Dec. 12 — a meeting at which police removed protesters — those opposed to the project, including members of the Save White Pond citizen action group, were quick to cry foul and declare the vote invalid.

ey cite a 1990 city ordinance that they say states such a sale requires a super majority of threefths of council, which would mean that the sale was one vote short of approval at the recent meeting.

If the matter goes to court that could mean the courts may have to decide what the law really means.

e 1990 ordinance’s language states: “On a nding by Council that real estate is not needed for public use, the property shall be advertised for sale once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the city, and shall be conveyed to the highest bidder upon approval of the Board of Control. However, advertising maybe dispensed with and the sale made to a named grantee at a xed price when Council speci cally so authorizes by a two-thirds vote of its members.”

e city has not contested the matter on the grounds that it advertised the property sale in a newspaper, which presumably would be the Akron Beacon Journal.

Opponents, along with at least two council members, reportedly have asked the city’s law department to weigh in on the issue. But Mayor Dan Horrigan’s administration defended its procedures and decision. It doesn’t appear to be looking further into the issue.

“ e city has no concerns over the legitimacy of Monday’s vote and the results of that vote. e legislation passed, and we’ll proceed accordingly,” the administration said in response to questions.

“Our law department can’t pro-

vide legal analysis or legal opinion to press or the public which is why we won’t be speaking further on it,” Stephanie Marsh, the administration’s spokeswoman, added in an email.

Jodie Grasgreen, an Akronite who has been opposed to the project and complained that it will unnecessarily reduce the city’s tree canopy at a time when the city has said it should preserve its trees, said those opposed don’t have money to hire a lawyer. But they’re still hoping to pressure the city into reconsidering its plans

“Since there’s no one who can afford a lawyer for interpretation or to le an injunction, maybe publicity will guide council to do the right thing,” Grasgreen said in email correspondence.

Ga ney, meanwhile, is waiting for the dust to settle and hoping the deal still goes through, preferably soon so he can start planning for site preparation and construction.

He’s not involved in that, but said he’s been assured by the city that his purchase of the 68-acre site for $725,000 will go through. at gure represents a price of $25,000 for the 29 acres of the site Ga ney said he plans to build on, leaving ponds and wetlands on the property in place, along with some trees.

unrealistic. e city owns a little more than 30 acres on the site, which is in the middle of the city’s center and near other developments, such as the Bowery District.

Like nearly all real estate developments, the proposed White Pond project was designed for a speci c site and wouldn’t work at the downtown site, Ga ney said.

“Unfortunately, developments aren’t portable, and every project is unique,” Ga ney said. “It would have been a completely di erent development.”

And that’s only if Ga ney had determined that he could do an economically viable project at that site, which he had not, he said.

Akron Planning and Urban Development director Jason Segedy — who has been called out by some White Pond opponents for supporting the project because he has opposed urban sprawl in the past — said the city is probably two or more years from seeing construction on the Innerbelt site and needs to study the site further, prepare it, and nd a private developer willing to build on it.

In the meantime, at White Pond, Ga ney said he’s planning as much as he can and hopes to break ground in spring 2023. He’s currently recon guring the site design for the site, including reducing the retail space from 60,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. at could result in more residential units, he said, with the total now planned to a mix of between 180 and 250 townhomes, ranch houses and apartments.

“I reached out to the city, and they said everything is ne and it’s a normal sale,” Ga ney said on Dec. 15.

He said he’s been surprised by the opposition to the project, as well as being called to answer questions at contentious council meetings.

“I never wanted to be in politics and want to stay far away from it,” Ga ney said.

But he said he thinks the project has been carefully thought out and is a better alternative than the city’s previous plan of putting an o ce park on the land, something he says would likely have been far less palatable to those opposed to his project.

“To be honest, we thought we were bringing a much better solution than the current plan,” Ga ney said. “ ey would have e ectively cleared all the trees and put o ces in with 1,500 to 2,000 people (for an o ce park) … so there would have been a lot more tra c, fewer trees and no water areas.”

Ga ney said that calls from the opposition for Akron to simply move the project to the city-owned former Innerbelt site downtown are

“We’re looking forward to throwing ourselves into it next year and getting it well underway,” Ga ney said.

In total, he estimates the project would likely be nished in 2025, if the sale of the land is completed soon.

e rst tenants would hopefully move in before construction is complete, he said, with some units likely available in 2024.

“We would be hoping to have stu online in 18 months” after construction begins, Ga ney said.

at’s if, of course, the current ght over the use of the property ends in favor of a sale. Ga ney said he’ll leave that to the city administration, council and others, but is con dent the project will go forward.

If it does, he said he’s con dent he can get nancing for the project.

“A lot of the nancing is coming from ourselves anyway, so it’s not going to be a highly leveraged development,” Ga ney said. “Our con dence is very high. We’ve already talked to a couple of banks, they’re putting proposals together for us and are very interested in the site.”

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

The site near White Pond Drive is slated for a mixed-use development to be built starting next year. CITY OF AKRON

SBA lending increases in Cleveland district

BY JEREMY NOBILE

While nationwide activity in the Small Business Administration’s core 7(a) and 504 lending programs dipped in scal year 2022, total loans and dollars provided to borrowers in the SBA’s Cleveland district continued to grow.

Across Ohio, combined 7(a) and 504 loans grew by almost 7%, while dollars lent out decreased by nearly 9%. So while more SBA loans were provided in the state, they were at lower values.

e SBA scal year runs between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30.

SBA loans are largely designed for young businesses that don’t have established credit histories or that otherwise struggle to access conventional nancing.

ey can be used for a variety of purposes, including nancing startup costs, purchasing equipment and inventory, acquiring or expanding existing businesses and even renancing conventional loans.

ey are guaranteed by the government, meaning a lender will be reimbursed for somewhere between 50% and 90% of a loan — which can be as much as $5 million under the 7(a) program — if a borrower defaults. e idea of the program is to take some risk o of lenders’ plates to encourage them to support small businesses.

With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the small-business ecosystem largely hunkered down into survival mode.

Lenders’ priorities shifted accordingly with attention turned to providing access to the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury and Disaster Loans, which contributed to a drop in lending through traditional SBA programs.

Lending in those programs rebounded in 2021 as the economy healed, more new businesses formed and existing rms looked to grow or improve their operations.

SBA lending is continuously robust, but the drivers can shift year to year.

Overall SBA lending in 2022 may have dropped nationally — a combined 56,932 7(a) and 504 loans were provided across the U.S. in the past scal year totaling nearly $35 billion, re ecting an 8% decrease in loans and 22% decrease in dollars — but remained at heightened levels compared with 2020.

“We are coming o the concentration of COVID impacts and stimulus packages and things like the PPP, which created a di erent channel to support small businesses that might imply a decrease in demand (for traditional SBA products),” said Maggie Ferrence, SBA director for Huntington Bank, the largest SBA lender by volume in the country and third-largest in total dollars provided. “Yet, we are seeing steady demand from existing small businesses as well as a continued increase in new small businesses.”

In the 2023 lending cycle, Ferrence anticipates a lot of demand in SBA products being driven by e orts to re nance prior debts at better rates. Others will continue seeking out the loans for more traditional purposes, like moving ahead on deferred maintenance or procuring new equipment.

“As we head into 2023, it is going to be an interesting time with in ation combined with potential recession winds, which means businesses may nd the SBA for very di erent purposes,” Ferrence said.

“We expect to see things like consolidation of debt and re nance to help small businesses stabilize after some opportunity they took advantage of the last couple years. ey may not have had the best terms in a rising interest rate environment and can use the SBA to recapitalize, extend some terms and get more comfortable.”

She notes that Huntington is adding even more people to its SBA infrastructure ahead of what it expects to be another busy year.

“We are absolutely preparing for increased demand, albeit a little different demand, especially if we start to see true signs of a recession,” Ferrence said.

Jim Donato, deputy director for the SBA’s Northern Ohio district o ce, expects a similar result for SBA products in a tumultuous economy.

“I think if we did enter into a recessionary period,” he said, “the banks may lean more on SBA programs, because with someone deemed to be a riskier borrower, who maybe would traditionally not have to go into the SBA product line, a lender might say, ‘We will help you, but we need that SBA insurance.’”

All Ohio

Between the 7(a) and 504 programs, there were 3,744 (6.9% increase) SBA loans provided to Ohio businesses totaling approximately $1.2 billion (8.7% decrease) in scal year 2022, according to SBA gures.

Columbus-based Huntington, far and away the top lender in the state, provided about 64% of SBA loans is-

sued in Ohio and 28% of all dollars lent out. It made 2,383 SBA loans totaling $338.5 million.

e second-largest SBA lender in the state is Cleveland’s KeyBank,

Top SBA lenders in Ohio

Bank Total loans Dollar amount

Huntington Bank 2,396$338,540,350

KeyBank 152$77,732,588

U.S. Bank 109$9,740,700

Telhio Credit Union 55$18,887,400

PNC Bank 53$10,049,800

Top SBA lenders in Cleveland

Bank Total loans Dollar amount

Huntington Bank 1,448$186,192,872

KeyBank 101$51,101,100

U.S. Bank 39$3,506,694

Premier Bank 27$22,476,756

PNC Bank 25$6,787,670

SOURCE: SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

which provided 152 loans totaling $77.7 million.

e average 7(a) loan in the state was $293,781, according to the SBA, while the average 504 loan was $792,406.

Cleveland district

In the Cleveland district, there were 1,989 (18% increase) SBA loans issued to businesses totaling $559 million (8.3% increase).

Huntington is the SBA leader in the local market, as well. e bank provided about 73% of loans issued in the district and approximately 33% of all dollars lent out. In total, it made 1,448 loans valued at a combined $186.2 million.

e second-largest SBA lender in the district was Key, which provided 101 loans totaling $51.1 million.

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

Key things to consider when thinking about an SBA loan, outlined by Huntington Bank

Have a business plan.

This is your chance to communicate the story about your business. Your business plan should outline how your operations and nancial position align with goals and objectives.

Understand your personal nancial “health.”

Complete a personal nancial statement, including credit score, to assist in understanding your personal nancial position.

Understand the role of the 5 C’s of credit: character, capital, capacity, collateral, conditions.

Understand and be able to articulate your company’s nancial standing, current nancing needs and potential future needs. A bank will typically require the following with a loan application:

 Most recent three years of nancial statements

 Projections with detailed assumptions

 Personal tax returns

Be able to demonstrate the ability to repay debt (adequate cash ow coverage).

Know what collateral, and/or equity, you will be o ering.

Prepare to be interviewed by the banker, who may want to: Ask questions that were not answered in the application or clarify information, as well as assess your ability to execute the plan you provided.

Congratulations Ron Lang

on your retirement

You have been a wonderful colleague and we will miss not only your dedication and leadership, but your daily presence in our work lives.

President and

Co-founder

of North Point Portfolio Managers

Carasai Ihentuge, owner of Afro-Caribbean restaurant YumVillage Cleveland, serves up grub during the fourth Taste of Black Cleveland event on Aug. 18 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Ihentuge received a Small Business Administration loan from Huntington Bank this past year. | JIMMY LONGO/CAVS.COM

Federal grant gives a boost to tourism in Trumbull County

Trumbull County’s visitor rates have rebounded from the pandemic’s devastating hit on the industry quicker than the rest of the state and more substantially than many larger Ohio destinations cities.

e Northeast Ohio county, which is about an hour away from both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, in 2021 saw an impressive $850 million in tourism-related business sales, supporting an estimated 7,500 jobs in the industry.

Armed with the encouraging data and the belief that the travel industry is poised to have an outsize economic impact on the county, Beth Kotwis Carmichael, executive director of Trumbull County Tourism, applied for and won an Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant, part of a $750 million fund to aid tourism recovery plans across the country.

e $100,000 EDA grant, Carmichael said, will help identify the industry’s contribution on GDP and employment in the county. It’s the rst step in creating a tourism strategy to improve livability in the county, which includes the cities of Niles and Warren.

Coming home and business travel

The county in 2021 saw a 20% increase in visits from pre-pandemic

tourism numbers, more than double the 9% rate for Ohio as a whole, Carmichael said.

“We credit it to a couple of things,” she said. “Some people still wanted to travel during the pandemic, and our location is an opportunity to stay close to home but still have a travel experience. There has also been a lot of business travel with the expansion of facilities around Lordstown.”

Another significant segment of the Trumbull’s travel industry is the high proportion of visits by family and friends returning to their hometown for weddings, showers and holidays.

Research from Tourism Ohio shows that 49% of all visitors come to the state to see friends and family.

“When you hear that data and think about it as someone who lives here in Ohio, it is so obvious that is a big percentage of the people visiting,” said Carmichael, who rebounded back to her hometown in 2018. “I moved to Missouri and would visit my parents, stay a week and spend money grocery shopping, going out to dinner and checking out the community where I spent my childhood. All of that contributed directly to tourism.”

In 2021, Trumbull County’s hotels, resorts and inns reported host-

ing more than 150 weddings, with an average of 200 guests per event. That aspect of the business got a boost with the 2018 restoration and reopening of the Grand Resort, a luxury resort and spa in Howland, Ohio.

Then there is the latest influx of business travelers, coming into the region for extended stays with the rise of semiconductor and electric vehicle production developments at Foxconn, Ultium, Vallourec and Lordstown Motors.

With an eye to this increase of international business travelers com -

ing to the region, Carmichael, along with a committee of business and community leaders, chose two firms based in Ireland — Eutopia Strategy and OCO Global — to guide and consult on the tourism recovery plan.

“Both of the firms have worked with Team NEO and JobsOhio on foreign investment contracts for the last eight years, and as we wanted to think about tourism as economic development, we wanted experts not just embedded in the tourism industry, but ones that had a wider view,” she said.

Judith O’Doherty, the founder of Eutopia, is digging in on the data side to help Trumbull County develop a place-based strategy looking at how to connect tourism with the broader economic ecosystem, including foreign investment.

“We are looking at tourism trends primarily, but we were selected because (of) this broader perspective to look at tourism and connect the dots and some of the other things that are happening in the region,” O’Doherty said.

O’Doherty and Mark O’Connell — founder and executive chairman of the Belfast-based OCO, an economic development consulting firm that specializing in international trade — are reviewing visitor trends, looking at how they have changed since the pandemic. They’re also reviewing the county’s assets and doing a benchmark review against 50 other Ohio counties and similar counties in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

“We are looking at the rankings of investment, livability, places where people want to study and visit,” O’Doherty said. “We will be looking at the region’s strengths and weaknesses, including workforce development, then we will identify best practices from neighboring counties and from an international perspective.”

Workers driving decisions

One of the most pressing issues, O’Connell said, is that the recent uptick in business travel is creating a shortage of hotel availability and lon-

ger-term lodging options.

“We see that there is not enough modern-type housing, that apartment-type stock and so on within the area,” O’Connell said.

He noted, though, that the region’s success with foreign manufacturing investment provides an opportunity to bring in more workers who might stay permanently.

“Workers are driving commercial decisions now,” O’Connell said. “ ere is a big shift, and it’s been spurred by the pandemic and the tightness in the labor market. Workers are dictating terms about where they’re going to work, how they’re going to work, when they’re going to work. If you’re in business and you’re trying to attract talent, that’s the new battle eld.”

What once might have been considered aesthetic considerations — like outdoor parks and recreation, breweries, museums, golf courses, all of which Trumbull County has in abundance — now make a huge difference to workers who want those amenities, and investors who want to attract workers.

Tourism and economic development work hand in glove, O’Connell said, because a nice place to visit is also nice place to invest.

Carmichael agrees with the sentiment, adding, “Tourism is economic development; economic development is tourism. You cannot have that growth in economic development without that rst visit.”

Trumbull’s tourism recovery and resiliency report and plan, set to be completed in the spring, is an initial step toward looking toward other funding sources, including the $500 million Appalachian Community Grant initiative.

It could provide a boost for Trumbull County Tourism, an organization with an annual budget of $400,000 in a region that just a saw a parks levy fail in November.

“ is is an opportunity for us to really take a look at our industry and see some transformational projects that might mean more people coming and staying here,” Carmichael said.

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

KIM PALMER

Visitors paddle board on Mosquito Lake in Trumbull County. | TRUMBULL COUNTY TOURISM

Economic forecast: 2023

Forecasting economic conditions in 2023

Forecasters anticipate a subdued economic outlook in 2023 due to several factors, including a sharp slowdown, rising in ation, tightening nancial conditions, geopolitical uncertainties and the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Global growth is anticipated to slow from 6% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund. In the U.S., declining business and consumer con dence, as well as a drop in consumption and investment, will likely shift the economy into a recession early in 2023. By 2024, forecasters anticipate the U.S. economy will regain momentum and return to a slow growth, according to The Conference Board, a global nonpro t thinktank and business membership organization. Below are some additional economic forecast insights:

IN 2023 AND BEYOND

The U.S. recession is expected to be short and mild, thanks to a robust labor market and fairly healthy consumer and business balance sheets. Risks associated with a longer-term U.S. outlook are tied to geopolitical strife, environmental challenges, labor markets and in ation, according to The Conference Board.

MEANWHILE, LOCALLY

Economic activity slowed in the Fourth District, which comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Business activity ebbed in recent weeks, even among previously strong sectors, such as manufacturing and professional services. Lending has also declined in the Fourth District, as higher interest rates contributed to an ease in commercial lending. Fourth District rms were more pessimistic about the outlook in the near term, according to a Nov. 30 Federal Reserve Bank Beige Book national summary.

GOOD NEWS

Firms in the Fourth District have continued adding to their payrolls, and a tight labor market has prompted upward pressure on wages to attract and retain workers.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY INDICATOR

The Fed’s short-term rate target should be at 3.52% in the nal quarter of 2022. The Fed is expected to raise its target rate in mid-December and then again in 2023. Some Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland of cials surmise that the target may even hit close to 5% in 2023.

SMALL BUSINESS OWNER OPTIMISM

Despite near-term economic uncertainties, small business owners are optimistic about the future. In fact, two-thirds of small businesses expect revenue increases in 2023, and more than half plan to expand their business, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. E-commerce is also expected to boom. The global e-commerce industry is expected to grow to $8.1 trillion by 2026.

Despite likely recession in 2023, U.S. economy will emerge on top

Advice to business leaders: stay the course

Business owners and consumers trying to make sense of the state of the economy and plan for the future can attest to the considerable amount of uncertainty felt in 2022. On the one hand, we have consistently low unemployment and a growing GDP. On the other hand, we’re experiencing record-high in ation and dealing with a volatile stock market.

I recently sat down with Brian Toma, a managing partner and registered investment advisor at Freeman Heyne Toma Financial Advisors, to discuss the economic uncertainty, what business leaders and consumers can expect in 2023, and to provide strategic guidance and advice. You can watch or listen to the full discussion at westfield-bank.com/sks21.

Expect a mild and persistent recession

We can only grasp where we are today and predict the direction we’re headed by recognizing the signi cant government stimulus and low interest rates seen in recent years. This created a honeymoon phase in the American economy that was bound to end sooner or later. How soon and how abruptly this phase came to an end are questions up for debate.

“The Federal Reserve failed us,” Brian told me, noting that as the country came out of the pandemic in 2021, interest rates should have been increased at a more incremental rate to slow in ation. Instead, despite the warning signs, the Federal Reserve waited and forced rates to rise at a more aggressive pace throughout 2022. This is the recipe for a recession likely beginning in early 2023. Given the positive aspects of the economy, I predict it won’t be too painful, but it could persist for a couple of years.

Perspective is important. Brian reminds us that for far too long, we’ve been accustomed to low interest rates, and because they have increased to historically normal ranges so quickly, it feels like a knee-jerk reaction. However, we’re not in a bad place in the grand scheme of things.

JON PARK Executive chairman West eld Bank

Jon Park founded West eld Bank in 2001 as “employee number one” and spent more than two decades building a nancial institution with over $2 billion in assets. Park retired as CEO in 2021 and remains as executive chairman of West eld Bank.

Focus on what you can control

How impactful the likely recession will be is out of the hands of business owners. With this in mind, double down on utilizing the available tools to navigate the economic challenges ahead.

Unwavering in his advice to all his clients, Brian emphasizes pulling together and building a dream team of experts (an accountant, attorney, insurance agent, nancial adviser and banking partner) around you who have your best interests in mind and understand your goals.

It’s important to be realistic as we head into 2023, but my faith remains high that the American economy will prevail stronger than before. My best advice is to stay the course. Business owners and consumers alike have reasons to remain con dent and optimistic about reaching their goals.

You can partner with West eld Bank today to secure your nancial freedom. Learn more at west eld-bank.com/ nancial-freedom.

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

SOURCES: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Federal Reserve System, The Conference Board, International Monetary Fund, U.S. Small Business Administration Compiled by Kathy Ames Carr, Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

EDITORIAL

Farewell, 2022

In ation. Rising interest rates. International turmoil. A contentious, dispiriting election season. Turmoil in MetroHealth’s CEO transition. An underachieving Browns team. Looked at a certain way, 2022 was pretty rough. (In fairness, the Browns underachieving happens most every year.) But we’re deep into the holidays, and we’re feeling in a generous mood. Here are some encouraging things that give us hope for a brighter 2023 and beyond:

 New mayor brings new energy: Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb, has tackled a lot (maybe too much?) in his rst year — on issues from police reform to installing parking meters to take credit cards and reinvigorating the West Side Market — to try to create a “modern and responsive City Hall.” He’s getting serious about a strategy for lakefront development. He learned that seemingly mundane issues like leaf-collection policy, when bungled, are a big deal. Cleveland’s challenges aren’t xed in a year, though, and we nd the mayor’s approach to change to be both thoughtful and urgent. A big decision comes in 2023, as the Cleveland Board of Education and Bibb look for a replacement for Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon. e choice has to be an A+.

 Looking ahead to fresh leadership: e region’s political system gets even more change, as Chris Ronanye takes over as Cuyahoga County Executive, and the remade congressional map brings new members of the House of Representatives in Max Miller and Emilia Sykes. New U.S. Sen. JD Vance is a political novice with big expectations. Ronanye and Sykes are Democrats. Miller and Vance are Republicans. Even if they weren’t your choices, they’re about to get to work. Put principle above partisanship and give them all a chance to succeed.

 State of innovation: Smart manufacturing is all the rage in Ohio. Intel, with its plans for a huge chip-making operation outside Columbus that will drive growth in other parts of the state, got a lot of attention. But companies involved in exciting next-gen manufacturing projects include Goodyear (advanced tire and mobility systems) and Alterra Energy (it recycles plastics back into a uid that is used in the manufacture of plastics). ere are many more. MAGNET, the manufactur-

ing advocacy nonpro t, has a new home that’s designed to help companies problem-solve and innovate. Keep the momentum going and jobs owing.

 Going up: It’s a pleasure to watch daily progress on the new Sherwin-Williams headquarters project. Dense urban development. e retention and expansion of jobs in the center city. Fewer parking lots. What’s not to love?

 Ride on: e U.S. Department of Transportation just awarded the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority $8 million through the All Stations Accessibility Program, a competitive grant program created by the bipartisan infrastructure bill that’s designed to bolster the oldest transit systems. It’s one welcome example of the bill’s potentially transformative long-term e ects.

 On the waterfront: Bedrock, the Detroit-based real estate rm, laid out a $3.5 billion vision for Tower City Center and riverfront land behind it that would make the area more vibrant for workers, residents and visitors. It’s a massive plan, encompassing 3.5 million square feet of development. Cynics aren’t wrong to point out that we’ve seen such big visions before, with little or nothing to show for them, and that they inevitably require levels of public investment that might not be feasible. But let’s give new leadership some runway to see if this project provides Cleveland the lively riverfront it needs and deserves.

 Job well done: e Greater Cleveland Food Bank opened a nearly 200,000-square-foot distribution hub. e facility improves the ability of the food bank’s community partners, donors and volunteers to serve the nearly 350,000 people who receive help from the organization each year. ey do awesome work. It would be even better if society could gure out how to make this work less necessary.

 Sports teams are (mostly) fun again: Rooting for a pro sports team should be a diversion from the serious things in life. We won’t belabor the fact that the Browns have fallen far short of that standard, on the eld and o . But the Guardians were terri c and entertaining, and the Cavaliers look playo -bound and built for the long haul. Enjoy the relatively rare moment in Cleveland when multiple teams reward our attention.

Executive Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com)

Managing Editor: Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

Contact Crain’s: 216-522-1383

Read Crain’s online: crainscleveland.com

PERSONAL VIEW

Luddites 2.0 must stop the internet manipulators

When did our own choices, thoughts, individual creativity and social commitments get kicked to the curb by self-appointed thought leaders, innovators and cultural influencers?

When they discovered the internet’s efficient manipulative power.

Thought leaders, innovators and cultural influencers manipulate our thoughts and lives with “old school” salesmanship clothed in digitized charm campaigns. They manage our minds with their lying and tweets and blogs, “Oh my!”

Firem is a retired school psychologist who resides with his family in Chardon.

These internet interlopers are digitally monopolizing our perception of reality, virtually controlling our behavior with frustratingly forced choices.

Their propagandistic mission statements compel us to order, scroll and click.

We order; therefore, we feel. We scroll; therefore, we act. We click; therefore, we are.

Why are we merely streaming with our screens and not screaming at our screens?

Using and abusing the digital world, these internet interlopers have positioned themselves as gatekeepers, redefining sitting mesmerized before a screen as living, googling for answers as growing, and scrolling as socializing.

Who are these thought leaders, innovators and cultural influencers? The mutations follow.

Authoritarian leaders appreciate a good dictatorial state. If the citizen is comfortable giving up various freedoms involving speech, religion, assembly, free elections and an independent press, the authoritarian leader will gleefully replace these freedoms with his narcissism, over-weaning lust for power, oppressive institutional bureaucracy, state-controlled press and intrusive state police. Think Jair Bolsonaro or Viktor Orban. Think about our incubating American, authoritarian wannabes.

The internet is their strongman.

Political parties and their ultra-loyalists love to paint a good, fact-insecure tale. Spinning a fact-insecure tale requires spinning the truth about needed infrastructure projects, political opponents, their views before the primaries, their views after the primaries and before the general election, which dark money they accepted, and which alleged personal scandal they vehemently deny. Think Republican loyalists denying the 2020 presidential election; think Democratic loyalists minimizing Hunter Biden’s problems.

The internet is their spokesman of soft-core spin and LED lies.

Innovators selling innovation and online grifters love a good digital snake oil. In the digital snake oil bottle, they pour a mixture of unverified claims, compensated spokesmen testimonies, promises of miraculous pain relief, hot tips when investing, unproven research, and “scientific” charts that not even a discredited televangelist would promote. Think Elizabeth Holmes’ disproven blood chip-reading technology.

The internet is their advance man.

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SHELDON FIREM

Homebuilders buy time with huge backlogs

BY CONOR SEN/BLOOMBERG OPINION

e housing market has fallen o a cli , but for now, homebuilders are biding their time. As bad as things look, odds are they will want to ramp up their production at least somewhat in a few more months.

e key to the outlook in 2023 is the huge order backlogs that builders accumulated when mortgage rates were still at rock bottom and sales surged during the pandemic. When the housing market slowed earlier this year, that backlog bought homebuilders time to wait out the slump. ough sales have been weak for months, a large chunk of the new homes and earnings builders will deliver in 2023 are based on orders banked in the rst half of 2022.

As we get into the new year, those order backlogs will shrink and it will be time to think about building a new book of orders for 2024. So while housing starts have slowed for a while, it won’t take much for them to pick up before midyear, even if it means homebuilders need to get more aggressive on price cuts and incentives than they have had to be so far.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc., in its early-December earnings report and call with analysts, perfectly encapsulated the current moment in the housing market. Its new orders have plunged, but earnings per share came in at a record high, and guidance for both earnings and pro t margins remains strong — at least for the next few quarters.

e builder noted that it’s got a little more than 8,000 homes in its backlog. It’s planning to deliver 8,000 to 9,000 homes in 2023, so that backlog represents about a year’s worth of production cemented by customer deposits. At the same point in 2019, its backlog was 6,200 homes, so in e ect it has an extra quarter’s worth of units under contract compared with prior to the pandemic — a useful cushion at a time of uncertainty. Industrywide, 52% more single-family homes are under construction than at this point three years ago, so Toll isn’t the only builder in this situation.

On the cost side, builders now believe time is their friend.

MANIPULATORS

From Page 8

Citizens who are true believers in their uncompromising religious/political brand and are non-believers in science and rational thought, idolize “alternative facts” and conspiracy theories. ey loudly and vehemently proclaim their declarations regarding religion, science, politics and the Constitution. ey ardently believe their alternative facts are blessed by our founding fathers and the deity; consequently, they suspect that anyone not holding these same beliefs are un-American and ungodly, therefore dangerous. ink Christian Nationalism’s assertion that the U.S. Constitution is a Christian document.

e internet is their denial platform and potentially their Inquisition platform.

Corporations (“corporate citizens”) covet a good monopoly. Monopolies streamline competition and generously compensate investors and CEOs. A corporation’s multitude of ads, politician/lobbyist connections, support for relatively inexpensive community projects, and celebrity endorsements paint a faux customer friendly

e impact of the decline in lumber prices has begun owing through as supply contracts reset. Toll noted that in the current quarter lower lumber prices resulted in savings of $12,000 to $14,000 per house, with more relief coming in 2023. And as the level of housing starts has declined, “front-end trades” — the materials and labor that go into the early stages of building a home — are loosening up. Builders will take advantage of that slack to negotiate better deals with their suppliers. In this evolving cost environment, every month that builders wait to start a home saves them money.

On the demand side, sales have been soft since interest rates surged. We have now entered the slowest month of the year for homebuying. While mortgage rates have fallen sharply over the past few weeks, potential buyers might not be responding to week-by-week shifts in mortgage rates as they would at other times of the year. e Fed is now expected to step down the pace of its interest rate increases, so mortgage rates could look much more favorable when the 2023 homebuying season gets underway in the second quarter. Toll believes mortgage rates under 6% would be enough to kick-start demand.

at’s the situation homebuilders nd themselves in as they think about what they’re going to do in 2023. ey’re holding back for now, which is what is keeping housing starts weak. Backlogs will give them cover for a few more months, but that will create a gaping hole for sales and deliveries in 2024 that they are going to have to start lling with new orders. Once builders have clarity on costs and buyer demand, they will need to crank up activity, at least somewhat, even if it means pro t margins aren’t quite what that the industry has enjoyed over the past two years.

So the current slump in housing starts is partly due to weak market conditions, but it’s also a relic of pandemic and supply chain-related factors that are still working their way through the industry. Builders are hoping that the gamble they’re taking — focusing on completing existing orders rather than accepting new ones at unattractive profit margins — works out for them. But either way, you can expect housing starts to pick up by the middle of next year.

brand. ink drug manufacturers, agribusiness or baby formula manufacturers.

e internet is their 1960s ad man.

Unscrupulous thought leaders, innovators and cultural in uencers are the digitally savvy and morally bankrupt authoritarian leaders, political party members, innovators, online grifters, ideologically intolerant citizens, and corporate monopolies who present their “pitch” on the internet as a soothing, addictive pablum to an already unquestioning public, trans xed by scintillating pixels and cocaine-like, computer-generated music.

ey o er pewter for silver, zirconium for diamonds, and pyrite for gold.

Why do we allow them to lead us away from our independent beliefs into intellectual torpor and existential stupor?

A contemporary de nition of a Luddite is a person resistant and opposed to new technology, but now there is Luddite 2.0.

Luddites 2.0 unite! Not to resist or oppose the internet, but to intervene and arrest the truth-insecure manipulations of the unscrupulous thought leaders, innovators and cultural in uencers.

Contractors build the framing of a roof on a house under construction at a subdivision in Louisville, Kentucky. | BLOOMBERG

Crain’s 23 Notable Executives in Technology for 2022 represent almost every aspect of the tech work world. For them, technology comprises everything from ingenuity to workplace safety, from developing better paths for employees to do their work to ensuring the digital safety of those employees — and the company.

As one of the honorees stresses, the work is about putting people in a position to succeed while at the same time removing barriers to success. As a group, they are successful even though their, shall we say, data points are unique. One notable refers to IT/tech work as simple, intuitive and mobile. Another stresses proper use management, data management and device management. Yet another refers to scale, standards and processes. And one more focuses on the entire workplace — in and out of the o ce — on people, process and tech. ese honorees work in our hospitals and communications. ey deal in work as varied as banking and pet insurance. ey run their own companies, create clouds for local businesses and generate winning work processes by creating the most secure, productive and successful environment possible.

— Pat McManamon

The honorees do not pay to be included. Their pro les were drawn from the nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by editors. To qualify for the list, nominees must be based in Northeast Ohio. They must be currently employed full time in a senior-level role and should have demonstrated that they made an impact in advancing DEI at their companies and in the workplace. They must be active in the community and/or philanthropic activities, mentoring programs and/or diversity and inclusion initiatives.

CAL AL-DHUBAIB

DANIEL ANSTANDIG Co-founder and CEO Futuri Media

Cal Al-Dhubaib is a pioneer in the burgeoning eld of arti cial intelligence. e Saudi Arabia native founded Pandata LLC in 2016, just before graduating from Case Western Reserve University as the school’s rst data science graduate.

His goals at the time were to bring ethical practices to machine learning (ML) and AI projects, and to scale the region’s analytics talent base. Pandata, started with just $10,000 in debt, has emerged as an AI consulting leader.

e company closed $1 million in new business in the rst half 2022 alone and has overseen more than 80 AI and ML projects with global brands including Progressive, FirstEnergy, Hyland Software, Parker Hanni n, University Hospitals and Penn State University.

“Cal built Pandata on core values of approachability and ethics, navigating clients through challenging questions on equity, fairness and inclusion in a eld otherwise laser-focused on engineering,” according to the nomination.

Meanwhile, Al-Dhubaib’s commitment to on-the-job and educational training has helped Northeast Ohio triple its pipeline of data scientists over the last six years.

He also gives back to the professional community by speaking on data topics, launching an ethical AI course with the Marketing AI Institute and serving on local boards, such as the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s technology board.

— Judy Stringer

Daniel Anstandig’s tech passion focuses on its convergence with media. More than 2,000 broadcasters and digital producers use Futuri Media, which Anstandig founded. As he has grown his client list worldwide, Futuri has been named to the Inc. 500 list of the country’s fastest-growing private companies in each of the last eight years.

In the past year, Futuri’s new o erings include a version of the company’s POST podcasting system. is interface helps TV broadcasters take newscast audio and automatically turn it into a podcast, which helps ll a void in daily news content.

“Anstandig believes in the power of innovation and conscious capitalism to connect, inspire, and elevate humanity through business,” the nomination stated.

Anstandig also is CEO and co-founder of 721 Investment Systems, which develops actively managed, AI/ML-powered, rulesbased investment strategies. And he is a music professional.

He plays the drums for the soul-popfunk-jazz band Rhythm & Truth, and produces albums for the band and other musicians. Among those Rhythm & Truth have collaborated with are MaKenzie omas, a contestant on season 15 of “ e Voice,” and well-known Brazilian singer Gabriel Henrique.

— Pat McManamon

ROBERT BRILL Market vice president Cox Communications

From installation technician to support services manager, Robert Brill has held a variety of positions in 22 years with Cox Communications.

In 2016, Brill was promoted to market vice president for the cable TV and telecommunications provider. His focus on the employee experience “is a cornerstone of his success,” which has helped increase retention rates, the nomination stated.

Prior to his promotion, Brill made a big impact on Cox’s Customer Care division. He’s recognized as a driving force in Cox’s push to move all customer service technicians in-house.

“Rob nds ways to make everyone feel like a priority, all while driving major operational improvements across the enterprise,” the nomination stated.

Brill is a vice chair of the West Creek Conservancy’s board of directors. e position with the Parma-based nonpro t combines his love of parks and support for Cox Conserves, the company’s national sustainability program. He’s also the chairman of the Parma Area Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and a board member of the Ohio Cable Telecommunications Association.

e North Ridgeville resident is an avid golfer, an aspiring “culinary master” and a car a cionado, the nomination stated.

— Kevin Kleps

MICHAEL CANTOR

Chief information o cer Park Place Technologies

Michael Cantor is helping build Cleveland’s IT ecosystem as chief information ocer of Park Place Technologies. During Cantor’s time with Park Place, the company has expanded its IT team from 55 to 125, growth now centered on new-product introduction and investment.

“ e leading-edge methodologies enabled by Michael’s leadership, as well as his approach to mentoring and leadership generation, has enabled (Park Place) to retain IT employees at a higher rate than industry average and greatly contribute to the Cleveland IT community,” the nomination stated.

Cantor has revamped the company’s software and hardware infrastructure, leading to triple revenue growth over the last four years. Innovations under Cantor’s guidance include a revamp of the company’s ERP system, along with replacement of back-o ce applications.

According to the nomination, Cantor’s impact has also been felt in the local and even global community. Refurbished Park Place technology is being deployed to underserved populations in Ireland, while the company has coached area high school students through various technology-related projects.

“All of these educational opportunities ensure the entry of diverse candidates and future IT professionals into local STEM and college IT programs,” the nomination stated.

— Douglas J. Guth

METHODOLOGY:

CEO Pandata

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ROBERT EARDLEY Chief information o cer

University Hospitals

Robert Eardley leads more than 700 IT professionals in providing technology, strategy and solutions for University Hospitals’ 30,000plus caregivers, 23 hospitals and 50-plus outpatient, urgent care and surgery centers.

His emphasis in a complex job: IT should be simple, intuitive and mobile — for patients and caregivers alike. Eardley guided the complex e ort to create a new electronic health record at UH, an e ort that combines clinical, scheduling and nancial data into one patient record.

Other signi cant initiatives in his four years include deploying UH core systems to ve acquired hospitals, establishing an analytics program for executive decision-making, and launching a dual center and cloud system to enhance system reliability.

Eardley joined UH after working as senior vice president, chief information o cer and chief information security o cer for Houston Methodist Hospital. He has an MBA with a Health Services Management concentration from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in nance from the University of Florida.

He is on the advisory board of e Scottsdale Institute and is a member of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

— Pat McManamon

PAUL ELLIOTT

CEO

Tiger Pistol

At Tiger Pistol, CEO Paul Elliott is known for his marketing prowess. He came to the position in 2019 after serving as president and chief digital o cer at BrandMuscle, but has served in senior leadership positions at several digital agencies.

His time with Tiger Pistol coincided with the company’s rst venture outside of its Texas headquarters, when it chose Cleveland as its rst satellite operation after it was acquired by Next Sparc.

Elliott brought with him a history of success as an honoree in Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 program and in the Smart Business Smart 50. And in 2019, he made Crain’s 40 Under Forty list. Just this year, Tiger Pistol won the 2022 Digiday Technology Award for Best Social Marketing Platform.

But Elliott also is known for his leadership in other areas. He o ers Tiger Pistol employees paid personal volunteer days and has also held company-wide charitable outings where employees have helped with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Fostering Hope and the Footpath Foundation.

He also fosters fellow Cleveland leaders as a founder of the Cleveland Web Association and as a past board member of Minds Matter Cleveland. Outside of work and volunteering, he’s a husband and father to two children.

— Kristine Gill

DAVID FISER

Vice president and chief information o cer MetroHealth System

David Fiser is at the forefront of MetroHealth’s information technology division, building innovations to help the hospital system deliver the best care to hundreds of thousands of patients annually.

Fiser and his team of nearly 200 IT professionals maintain the system’s high-tech infrastructure, a task of special importance during the recent opening of a new main campus hospital as well as a new behavioral health facility in Cleveland Heights.

Beyond maintaining hospital IT, Fiser is a key leader in supporting the system’s continued growth, according to the nomination. is work includes cybersecurity enhancements, complex data center migrations and upgrades to an electronic medical records system.

Fiser joined MetroHealth in 2018, bringing 35 years of experience in the health care information technology eld. Prior to joining the organization, Fiser served in numerous leadership roles at Akron General Health System.

Fiser’s work has been recognized by industry onlookers. Among his other accolades, Fiser was named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s top CIO list every year from 2017 to 2021. He also is a member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.

— Douglas J. Guth

KEVIN GOODMAN

Managing director, partner BlueBridge Networks

In a recent podcast, Kevin Goodman summed up his work with BlueBridge Networks by saying that he and they are in the business of keeping businesses in business through data center services.

Given that Cleveland has the most proli c intensity of data between Chicago and New York, BlueBridge developed its own “Ohio cloud” for clients. By keeping it local, BlueBridge allows clients to “shop local” for their cloud computing.

BlueBridge supports the growth of regional technology and economic development while also being able to serve national and global communities.

BlueBridge with Goodman has seen double-digit revenue growth for the past 18 years, or since it was founded. Goodman also has been involved in the RITE Board/Get IT Here program since 2009, which has helped introduce high school and higher education students to the availability and growing number of IT jobs locally.

Goodman, who grew up in Chagrin Falls, is a leukemia survivor. In 2003, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma at age 38.

During treatment, he promised himself he would personally raise $100,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation. He has followed through on that pledge — and more.

— Pat McManamon

CONGRATULATIONS MARK on your well desereved recognition

Macioce Vice President of IT, Kichler Lighting

From the team at Kichler

Mark

The MetroHealth System congratulates our own Notables in Technology

Dave Fiser, MBA, FABC Chief Information O cer MetroHealth

David Fiser and David Kaelber are vital members of the MetroHealth team, empowering MetroHealth providers with technology to help patients have the healthiest possible outcome.

Through their leadership, MetroHealth is able to leverage technology and electronic medical records to deliver state-of-the-art care that focuses on every person’s needs. The impact of their work transcends technology: it allows the people we serve to experience hope.

We are proud to recognize David Fiser and David Kaelber not just for their technological excellence, but for their devotion to hope, health, and humanity.

To learn more about MetroHealth, visit metrohealth.org.

David Kaelber, MD, PhD, MPH, FAAP, FACP, FACMI, FAMIA Chief Medical Informatics O cer MetroHealth

Together, we are more than medicine.

DALLAS HOGENSEN Co-founder and CEO Felux

Dallas Hogensen has spent most of his career building and scaling companies.

A former top sales executive at Lyft, Hogensen co-founded Liveli and Signal HQ, which were acquired in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

at set the stage for Hogensen to join Felux. e Cleveland company has grown sales on its supply chain platform for the steel and metals industry to $600 million under Hogensen’s leadership.

Felux has raised $24 million in funding from investors that include the co-founders of Uber and Groupon, and its logistics business crossed $1 million in revenue less than a year after launching.

Hogensen “is incredibly hard-working and puts a large emphasis on culture at Felux,” the nomination stated.

e Oregon native believes Cleveland, with its deep roots in the steel industry, is an ideal place to “build a world-class company and host an ecosystem of talent for future startups,” according to the nomination.

He and his employees are focused on giving back. Felux has worked with PCs for People, a nonpro t that provides low-cost technology to those who need it most, and Us in Technology, which aims to diversify the tech industry.

— Kevin Kleps

ANTHONY HUGHES Co-founder and CEO Tech Elevator

Anthony Hughes co-founded Tech Elevator and has built a scalable technology talent engine that has seven physical campuses, remote options and industry-leading outcomes.

Started in July 2015 with just six students in Cleveland, the reskilling platform today has graduated more than 2,900 students nationally, with a 93% graduation rate, a 90% job-placement rate and a life-altering impact. After just 14 weeks of training, the nomination stated, the average salary increase for a Tech Elevator graduate is $24,000, resulting in increased lifetime earnings of $1.3 million.

Locally, recent e orts to elevate underrepresented groups have resulted in a 12% increase in diverse students at the Cleveland campus and the expectation to place 180 diverse future leaders into tech roles by the end of 2025, fueling a $100 million lifetime earnings lift.

Prior to Tech Elevator, Hughes — a U.K. transplant — worked for JumpStart Inc., where he created the Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program in partnership with MIT. His experience also spans traditional and digital media, working in sales and business development roles.

He has traveled to over 40 countries and lived, worked and studied in Australia, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. As a successful entrepreneur, Hughes supports other entrepreneurs as a mentor and angel investor.

— Judy Stringer

DR. DAVID KAELBER

Chief medical informatics o cer, vice president of health informatics

MetroHealth System

Electronic health records are the preeminent means of keeping track of today’s patients. Dr. David Kaelber has kept MetroHealth at the forefront of a vital technology providing patients better care and more e cient service.

MetroHealth is an advanced user of the Epic health records system, ranking among the top 1% of systems utilizing the innovation, according to the nomination.

“Dr. Kaelber’s work has empowered hundreds of thousands of patients to take control of their health,” the nomination stated. “To date, more than 325,000 MetroHealth patients have signed up for MyChart, MetroHealth’s electronic personal health record. With MyChart, patients can communicate with their providers, self-schedule appointments, re ll medications, view their test results and more.”

Kaelber also has made an impact on the eld of medical informatics, appearing in over 100 publications and securing $10 million in external grant funding related to data storage and retrieval. Additionally, he created the region’s rst clinical informatics training program, while helping develop informatics programming at Case Western Reserve University.

A pediatrician by training, Kaelber is committed to erasing local health disparities through Cosmos, a large-scale electronic health record currently consisting of more than 165 million patients. MetroHealth was the rst system to contribute data to the project, according to the nomination.

— Douglas J. Guth

WILL LAZZARO

Vice president of technology, chief information security o cer Embrace Pet Insurance

Will Lazzaro came to the pet insurance business via Dakota Software. And since joining the sta in March 2019, as VP of technology and chief information security o cer, he’s grown the tech department he oversees by 500%. Doing so allowed the company to cut down drastically on its response time when providing quotes to potential customers. His team engineered a solution that took Embrace’s quote engine from a response time of 5 to 20 seconds down to less than a single second.

Lazzaro values agility and creativity in his sta , which is why he held regular sprints or hackathons with previous teams he ran, encouraging his team to work on passion projects that improve their dexterity. He also fostered teamwork by having his sta volunteer recently at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

Lazzaro’s success began long before his time at Embrace. He was awarded Crain’s Cleveland Business’ 40 Under Forty distinction in 2013 as vice president of software development at Dakota Software. And in 2015, he was a nalist for Crain’s CIO of the Year at the same company.

e Cleveland native enjoys time on Lake Erie with his wife and their three children.

— Kristine Gill

MARK MACIOCE Vice president, chief information o cer Kichler Lighting

Mark Macioce has 20-plus years of experience in aligning technology with a large-scale business strategy, a skill set he now brings to Kichler Lighting, a leader in the decorative lighting and ceiling fan industry.

As part of the company’s executive leadership team, Macioce has developed a robust tech-centric road map to improve product commercialization and customer interaction. According to the nomination, the IT executive has driven increased visibility and alignment across 14 cross-functional teams working on 100-plus projects.

In addition, Macioce orchestrated a suc-

TRENT MILLIRON Founder and CEO Kloud9 IT

Trent Milliron o ers a practical approach to IT security: proper use management, data management and device management. While it sounds simple, it’s an approach honed from Milliron’s past experiences, rst from his days in San Francisco before and during the bursting of the tech bubble, and then in his experience with two major public school systems.

In a summer 2022 pro le in MSP Success Magazine, Milliron conceded his approach may seem basic, but that’s because complex security applications are almost useless if the

JENNIFER MORRISSEY Chief information o cer Oswald Cos.

Many of Jennifer Morrissey’s accomplishments can be appreciated through the lens of her gender. She’s the rst woman to hold the chief information o cer position at Oswald Cos. in its more than 128-year history and the rst to serve on the company’s executive team as a whole.

But to do so might ignore the impressiveness of her work at large — regardless of gender.

During the pandemic, she used SaaS (software-as-a-service) to convert her team to remote work. e company was then able to pri-

cessful remote workforce during the ongoing pandemic, supporting Kichler’s move to its new corporate headquarters as well as a fully remote/hybrid culture.

Macioce enjoys a number of leadership positions outside the o ce, including on the Greater Cleveland Partnership CIO forum and the Ohio Innovation & Technology Association. He also serves on OhioGuidestone’s board of directors, helping promote the organization’s behavioral and mental health services.

“ rough community outreach and advisory roles, Mark actively pursues opportunities to serve Northeast Ohio while also strengthening and growing the regional business-technology sector,” the nomination stated.

— Douglas J. Guth

basics are not applied. “ ere’s hype around selling cyber security, but that’s not real cyber security,” Milliron told MSP Success. “ ose tools are looking for holes that shouldn’t be there in the rst place.”

To Milliron, scale, standards and processes are the “holy grail to profitability in any industry.” Milliron wrote about his approach with other IT professionals in the book “Cyber Storm: How to Protect Your Business from a Data Breach and the Resulting Cyber Storm of Fines, Lawsuits & Customer Loss.”

Since its founding in 2007, Kloud9’s clients have not had a data breach, and most do not use high-end security tools.

— Pat McManamon

oritize and release some of its upgrades to its digital client experience, which allowed for self-service portals, automated calendar scheduling and digital marketing summaries.

Her e orts increased Oswald’s speed on back-o ce functions overall. Morrissey's work on these tech upgrades has helped the company to reach $93 million in annual revenue.

She’s no stranger to this side of the glass ceiling, having served on Fortune 500 executive teams for the last two decades, but she continues to make her mark in that sense. In 2021, she earned the Smart Women Award from Smart Business Northeast Ohio magazine.

— Kristine Gill

PAGANINI

John Paganini’s career in information technology and health information systems has spanned almost 45 years.

He has founded or co-founded numerous startups, including RIS Logic. e radiology information system software company launched in Cleveland and was sold for $12 million in 2003.

Paganini is the CEO of CrewTracker Software. e Cleveland company provides software for the snow and ice management, landscaping and maintenance, and custodial and janitorial industries. He’s also the president of Paguar Infor-

matics, a local health care IT consulting rm.

Paganini works closely with employees, customers and partners “to understand what their goals and ambitions are to determine what is needed for them to be successful,” the nomination stated.

e Kirtland resident is a founding board member of the Wisdom Collaborative of Lake County. e nonpro t aims to provide a ordable technology to individuals who need it most.

Paganini also is a member of the board of directors at Lake Erie College and the Northern Ohio chapter of HIMSS.

“John is very good at guiding people while at the same time allowing them to create and design their own path,” the nomination stated.

— Kevin Kleps

JOHN

TONY PIETROCOLA Co-founder and president

AgileBlue

Since taking on the role of president of Cleveland-based AgileBlue in 2019, Tony Pietrocola has raised more than $3 million in capital funds and, most recently, guided the cybersecurity company’s game-changing purchase of Crowe LLP’s Managed Detection and Response business. Crowe is a leading public accounting, consulting and technology rm with o ces around the world.

e acquisition enhanced AgileBlue’s product portfolio and expanded its client base, as AgileBlue now provides Crowe’s clients with a combined suite of cloud-based technologies and services to fortify their cybersecurity safeguards.

e nomination called the acquisition “a pivotal launch point for the company’s long-term success.” It also cited Pietrocola’s support for and con dence in the AgileBlue leadership team as a key to “tremendous growth.”

Pietrocola got his start as an Apple engineer in 1997 and has managed and grown companies in the SaaS (software-as-a-service), ntech and cybersecurity spaces.

In addition to his leadership at AgileBlue, Pietrocola is president and sits on board of the Northern Ohio InfraGard Members Alliance, a nonpro t that promotes communication and cooperation between private sector businesses and government agencies to prevent cybercrime and other illegal activities. e University of Toledo alum also serves on the board of EBO Group Inc. and Metisentry.

— Judy Stringer

HOWARD PINCHAM

Chief information o cer

Koinonia

Homes

Howard Pincham’s father, Howard Pincham Sr., was a well-known deacon at ird Baptist Church in Youngstown. But earlier in life, the elder Pincham owned a moving business.

“He let me start working with him,” the younger Pincham said, “and the thing I learned from him is, you work until the truck is empty.”

Pincham applies the same principle to his work at Koinonia, which provides homes and support for those with disabilities. He sees IT as an avenue to support those who do the day-to-day work with customers.

“All they need is decent tech and simpli ed business processes,” he said. “If my team and I can lift those items for them, they are free to provide service.”

Pincham started at Koinonia in 2019 after working in IT for e Centers for Families and Children, Hyland Software and AT&T. Pincham has a bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University. He has been married to his wife, Wendy, for 31 years and has a daughter, Corena Marielle, at Miami University. He calls himself an occasional golfer and volleyball player, an avid techie and “probably the biggest nerd you’ll meet.”

Among the books he lists as his favorite reads: “Team of Teams: O ce 365 for IT Pros.”

CHRISTOPHER PREWITT Chief technology o cer

Inversion6

Inversion6 is a Cleveland-based cybersecurity risk management company pairing tailored security solutions with innovative technologies. Leading this e ort is Christopher Prewitt, who is responsible for developing security-related products and services for customers.

A 20-year IT veteran, Prewitt has worked in a variety of industry verticals, while also holding executive roles in the Fortune 500 space. At Inversion6, the Cleveland-born executive navigates organizations as they migrate online, ensuring a safe transition into largescale enterprise security systems.

Prewitt is a Lorain County Community College graduate who went on to Cleveland State University for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Since then, he has shepherded others on the path to an IT career, providing individual mentorship as well as support to students at the Tech Elevator coding bootcamp.

Cuyahoga Community College has been another bene ciary of Prewitt’s tech-based pro ciency, speci cally development of its IT security curriculum. Prewitt was also named as a reservist for the Ohio Cyber Reserve, a volunteer force that assists municipalities with their cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

“Christopher is fortunate to have been given many growth opportunities throughout his career, and wants to support others on their IT journey,” the nomination said.

— Douglas J. Guth

— Pat McManamon

CONGRATULATIONS

Dental of Ohio

PAUL ROETZER Founder and CEO

Marketing

AI Institute

Paul Roetzer was trying to automate content creation for the marketing agency he founded, PR 20/20, when he launched an internal initiative in 2015 to solve the problem. He worked on building software and theorizing through how artificial intelligence could streamline work.

Then, in 2016, he founded the Marketing AI Institute to share what he had learned with other companies. Three years later, the institute launched MAICON, the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference. And in 2020, they created the AI Academy for Marketers, giving members access to an education library with courses to help improve their businesses.

All this is to say that Roetzer became a marketing industry champion of AI in his quest to better his own company, but he’s been generous in sharing that knowledge with others. His efforts have also spawned a book, a podcast, daily blog posts, an active social media presence, an annual state of the industry report and a growing Slack community.

Outside of work, Roetzer works with young adults as a board member with Junior Achievement. He also led a Youth, Technology and AI discussion with Lakewood Catholic Academy.

— Kristine Gill

KEITH SILVESTRI

Chief

technology o cer

KeyBank

In his 10 years of service at KeyBank, Keith Silvestri has been at the center of some of the institution’s largest strategic projects, including the transformation of the commercial online portal, the early adoption of DevOps for agship services, the integration of First Niagara Bank, the modernization of enterprise technologies and the strategic acceleration of cloud adoption.

“ rough all of this, Keith’s legacy is the people, teams and leaders he has in uenced,” the nomination said. “He is always available and strikes a healthy balance of challenging individuals to be their best, authentic self while providing support and encouragement to achieve a high bar of success.”

Silvestri has more than 27 years of experience in the nancial sector. Prior to joining KeyBank, he served as a senior technology executive at Bank of America. A passionate youth supporter, Silvestri has served on the board of City Year Cleveland for the last eight years, championing equitable learning opportunities for all students and advancing the development of the city’s future leaders.

Silvestri, who graduated from Babson College, also is a key ally in KeyBank’s United Way activities, including acting as chairman of the bank’s United Way campaign in 2017, and is an active and avid mentor and promoter of diverse talent.

— Judy Stringer

THOMAS STRAIN

Vice president, technology Surgere

omas Strain brings data-driven Internet of ings (IoT) hardware and software solutions to market at Surgere, where he leads the supply-chain business’ technology efforts. Strain has more than 21 years of tech leadership and product/ program management.

“Tom is well seasoned in developing scalable software solutions that provide tremendous value,” his nominator wrote.

Strain has a bachelor's degree in computer information systems from the Florida Institute of Technology and a master's in information technology from Saint Leo University, also in Florida. In addition to his work at Surgere, Strain is CEO and founder of Strain IT Consulting, a web design, e-commerce and IT consulting rm for small businesses.

Strain’s nominator praises him for his ability to connect with people regardless of position or title. He listens and promotes agreement, but stresses alignment when agreement is not possible.

Strain’s advice to all he works with: ey own their careers. He sees his responsibility as putting colleagues in the best position to succeed while breaking down barriers in the way of success.

Much of Strain’s free time is spent coaching the Little League baseball, soccer and basketball teams of his sons and daughters.

— Pat McManamon

JUSTIN WRAY Senior manager MorelandConnect

In the last year, Justin Wray has generated $48 million for clients of MorelandConnect.

Wray, according to the nomination, has been the primary architect and client lead on “more than 10 business-critical projects” for the Hudson-based custom software and mobile application development provider.

In his role, Wray “moves with ease between business strategy, team leadership, user-focused design” and “complex software development,” the nomination stated.

He’s played key roles in the development of software that supports electronics demanufacturing, prenatal critical care and insurance underwriting.

Wray has contributed time to FullyEquipped, an Akron nonpro t that partners with local schools to equip kids for school, sports and life. He also supports Believe in Dreams, a local charity that works with disadvantaged youth, and is pursuing a master’s degree in physics entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University.

Wray “has a unique ability to determine a viable solution to any problem thrown his way,” the nomination stated.

Wray was a standout football player and member of two national championship teams at the University of Mount Union. e former all-conference selection still holds the Purple Raiders’ career record with an average of 8.8 yards per rushing attempt.

— Kevin Kleps

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Tricarichi, who bought the Odeon in 2007, assembled that stretch of the block for $1.2 million, according to public records.

He once hoped to lure other businesses to Old River Road. But at 69, after watching investments in the Flats ebb and ow and weathering a pandemic that battered the live-music business, he was ready to hand o the 950-capacity club to someone new.

“ ey are going to remodel it and continue to operate it as a concert venue. … ere’s nothing in our purchase agreement that says that, but that’s what I was told,” he said of GBX.

e Odeon, located in a 1920s industrial building, opened in the early 1990s, when the onetime maritime neighborhood was an entertainment destination. e club hosted an eclectic lineup of performers, from punk headliners to big-band shows to indie up-and-comers and country acts.

In 1994, Nine Inch Nails played to a sold-out house at a last-minute charity gig.

Live Nation shuttered the Odeon in 2006, the same year that the concert promoter took over the recently opened House of Blues on East Fourth Street downtown. Tricarichi bought the Odeon from Live Nation, which put a deed restriction on the property that barred live music for seven years. e space temporarily became a nightclub.

e Odeon reopened for concerts in 2015, with a kicko show by Cleveland heavy metal band Mushroomhead. e pandemic forced the club o ine in early 2020, and state restrictions kept the Odeon and other venues dark for more than a year.

“After COVID, it just got to the point where it was too expensive to do,” Tricarichi said, adding that the openings of new restaurants and entertainment venues at the Flats East Bank project up the street also hurt existing businesses on Old River Road.

He’s still ghting with the state over liquor permit fees — money that he argues o cials should have refunded during the shutdown. In a lawsuit led in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, the Odeon Concert Club LLC and other plainti s are seeking class-action status. Lawyers for the state assert that the case is awed and should be dismissed.

Since the fall of 2021, the Odeon has opened its doors sporadically for concerts and events. ere are two more bookings on the calendar this

year, Tricarichi said.

GBX put a preservation easement on the strip of buildings, in a move that will permanently protect them from demolition or signi cant exterior changes. Such easements generate tax breaks for owners who give up the right to alter a building’s façade or build on top of, or in place of, a historic structure.

e Odeon is part of the Old River Road Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. at designation makes the property eligible for preservation incentives, including federal and state tax credits to o set the costs of restoring old buildings.

e district is a key link between Canal Basin Park, a growing green space to the south, and the Flats East Bank development near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, said Tom Yablonsky, a longtime preservationist and an adviser to the nonpro t Downtown Cleveland Alliance.

“ ere’s a whole plan for that street,” Yablonsky said, noting that GBX has worked closely with developer Bobby George to acquire most of the real estate south of the Main Avenue Bridge.

e Odeon is not part of GBX’s partnership with George. His proposal spans eight other buildings including the Samsel Supply Co. warehouse, which is earmarked for a “wellness hotel” that will include short-term rental apartments, a bathhouse and other amenities.

The partners recently failed to win $2.9 million in competitive state tax credits for catalytic, mixeduse developments. Separately, George and GBX are seeking almost $4.7 million in state historic tax credits for the Samsel complex. Those awards will be announced later this month.

Once a neighborhood pioneer, Tricarichi is skeptical about the future of Old River Road, despite a surge in investor activity on nearby Columbus Road Peninsula, apartment projects set to rise on Scranton Peninsula and a sweeping new master plan for Tower City Center and the riverfront land behind it.

“Maybe in 20 years somebody will do something down there that’s meaningful. But I won’t be around in 20 years,” he said.

“I’m a little sad to go,” Tricarichi added. “But my head is telling me I can maximize my pro t by getting out now. … It’s easy to have plans on the table. It’s not expensive. It’s much harder to realize them. And the Odeon is dependent on its neighborhood for survival.”

Former Macy’s in Lorain County to get fresh start with buyer

STAN BULLARD

e former Macy’s store and data center in She eld Township is starting its next transformation as Acorn Stairlifts begins to make the 1954-vintage building its own.

e direct-to-consumer producer of stair lifts has removed the escalators and main entrance of the old store as it converts the structure to a warehouse. It’s the rst step of a plan that may bring in assembly and call center e orts in the future.

Shawn Herbst, Acorn vice president of operations, was interviewed on the site at 219-300 She eld Center as he oversaw a dozen workers busily working on the property that he selected as Acorn’s next national warehouse.

“We’re going to a hub-and-spoke system,” Herbst said. e Lorain County location will serve current warehouses at the company’s Orlando, Florida-based U.S. headquarters and others throughout Acorn’s network.

Herbst ran the site search that landed the company the former Macy’s property.

“ ere are several reasons we’re here,” Herbst said. “It’s centrally located for serving the rest of the U.S. and Canada. ere is a good workforce. We also wanted to own rather than lease. Lots of companies want to lease you space now because rents are high. Fewer want to sell.”

for the department store.

Herbst lived near Toledo and in Solon before moving south.

“ e main question my boss had for me was about the workforce. I could speak to that from experience,” he said. “ ese are hard-working, salt-of-the-earth people who want good jobs to support their families.”

Although the land transfer does not yet appear in Lorain County public records, Herbst said a half-dozen workers from Orlando came up to join him and contractors the day the deal closed, Dec. 6.

Herbst personally found the location on the real estate data website Crexi.

center stations also remain in the building but have been pushed aside to make room on the data center’s second oor.

In a phone interview, Chad Parsons, a She eld Township trustee, said he is glad to see the old building put back to use.

“ ere will be more jobs there than if it became a self-storage center,” he said, which the township understood was the other nal bidder.

State incentives helped close the deal, Herbst said. Acorn on Dec. 7 received an eight-year, 1.297% job creation tax credit from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. e company estimated it will have a $5.4 million annual payroll at the site when it’s fully sta ed.

Acorn wants to grow the new location in the future. A data center building, originally a credit card operations center in a second building next to the department store, will be kept for future expansion.

“As we grow, we see this as a possible expansion space for our call center and hope to assemble product here as part of reshoring,” Herbst said,

Hiring is underway for about 125 people to work at the warehouse operation. Indeed, sta ers were moving piles of boxes with Acorn stair parts in them on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Herbst during the interview elded questions from sta ers and contractors about what to do next in rapid- re fashion. ey were items such as lowering the sprinkler heads in one part of the building or how to paint a wall, or deferring on others, such as perhaps painting the building a cranberry color, left for another day.

e layout of the place suited it to the company’s needs. e complex is on the north side of She eld Centre, a grocery-anchored shopping center with an Apples Market and a Marc’s store. e department store had an entrance — now hosting a sign directing Acorn deliveries to the other side of the center — attached to rows of stores. e main entrance is on the north side of the plaza next to a vast parking lot that once served as the main parking lot

“We found a lot of value here,” he said, pointing to the cavernous space and thick concrete oors of the department store.

Dyann Davison, a senior vice president at Hanna Commercial’s Cleveland o ce, said in a phone interview, “ is deal was a hard lift.”

So hard, in fact, that when Hanna began working on the listing a year ago, it put together a team with herself; David Wagner, a Hanna managing director and principal; and Tony Visconsi, managing director and head of Hanna’s retail unit.

“I thought it was going to wind up a data center,” Davison said. “It was an active listing. We talked to self-storage companies, trucking companies and even senior housing operators. Macy’s liked Acorn as a buyer because it would bring jobs to the community.”

ere is no surprise on what prospect was missing from the list.

“ ere was zero interest in it as a retail site,” Visconsi said. “I wasn’t surprised. Macy’s had decommissioned it as an operating store years ago (in 1993). It turned out that while it has power, it was not enough to meet a data center’s needs. It wasn’t like you could ip a switch and turn it on.”

e computer system was removed before the closing by Macy’s, according to Herbst. Dozens of work cubicles made out of wood remain in place at the property, relics of a di erent era in o ce design. Call

Team NEO CEO Bill Koehler said in an emailed statement that he is proud to see the company setting up shop here. “ is is a great example of how a company can be creative in repurposing an existing space to t their needs,” Koehler said.

e property’s department store days are moving into memory. Parsons said he recalls people talking about how the store was the main shopping district in Lorain County before Midway Mall opened in Elyria.

“I’m too young to remember it, but I’ve often heard about how there was a talking Christmas tree there,” Parsons said.

A blog called “Brady’s Bunch of Lorain County Nostalgia,” by Dan Brady, pointed out how the department store landed at the She eld Township site. Originally it was an O’Neil’s Department Store before it became part of Macy’s predecessor May Department Stores. He wrote that the Akron retailer opened in She eld Township in 1954 as a way to tap both the Lorain and Elyria markets of the time.

Going forward, its logistics role will be signi cant to Acorn.

Herbst said the company’s installers and technicians are Acorn sta ers who work out of their homes or mini-warehouse locations across the country. At some point, indirectly, the products they install will pass through She eld.

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

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

“THESE ARE HARD-WORKING, SALT-OF-THE-EARTH PEOPLE WHO WANT GOOD JOBS TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES.”

— Shawn Herbst, Acorn vice president of operations

The new owner of the Odeon concert club in the Flats plans to maintain the historic property as a venue. | MICHELLE JARBOE/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Shawn Herbst, Acorn Stairlifts vice president of operations, led the selection of the former She eld Township Macy’s store and data center as a new warehouse for the stair lift provider. | STAN BULLARD/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

So, if sports gambling arrives on Jan. 1, does that mean I’ll be able to place a bet at 12:01 a.m. on New Year’s Day?

You bet! Ohio will be the 32nd state to o er either online or in-person sports betting — and the 22nd to offer both — so the infrastructure already exists. It’s (obviously) more complicated than pulling a lever or pushing a button, but from a gambler’s perspective, it’ll be an immediate change. One minute it’s illegal, the next minute it’s not. (Provided you’re at least 21 years old.)

Once it’s legalized, you’ll be able to wager on just about any sport at the college or pro level, including the Olympics and esports.

ere are a few limitations — for instance, if you suddenly want to bet $1 million on a Kent State women’s lacrosse game, you’re going to raise some major red ags — but not many.

Where can I bet?

You name it. Ohioans will have hundreds of options, from mobile phone apps to Vegas-style brick-andmortar sportsbooks to lottery-style kiosks inside your local bar, restaurant or grocery store.

Ohio law allows for 25 Class A licenses (mobile and online operators like a Bally’s or a Caesars app on your phone), 40 Class B licenses (brickand-mortar sportsbooks that allow you to lose money in front of much bigger televisions than you have at home) and hundreds of Type C licenses (for when you want to bet on the Cavs game while picking up milk from Giant Eagle).

So far, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) has given conditional approval for mobile/online licenses to 22 proprietors, including nine in Northeast Ohio. Five of those are in Cuyahoga County: the JACK downtown casino, JACK istledown racino and the three pro sports teams. e other four are North eld Park (Summit), Hall of Fame Village (Stark), SPIRE Institute and Academy (Ashtabula) and Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley (Mahoning).

e OCCC has also approved 21 sportsbook licenses, including the same nine in Northeast Ohio. Of those, both JACK sportsbooks will be open on Jan. 1, as will the one at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and the one at North eld Park. Spire will open its sportsbook sometime in the rst quarter, while the Hall of Fame Village will open its book in the second quarter. e Browns and Guardians are still working out their plans.

As for Type C licenses? As of Nov. 18, 1,439 outlets in Ohio have been pre-authorized, and there are lists by city online. Basically, if your favorite bar or restaurant already has a lottery kiosk, there’s a good chance it’s planning to add a sports gaming kiosk, as well.

How much will Ohioans spend on sports gambling?

On the bullish side, PlayOhio.com and BetOhio.com both predict Ohio will generate $8 billion in sports gambling in 2023, which would put it as high as fourth nationally behind New York, Illinois and New Jersey.

e site also predicts that most Ohio bets will be on basketball (35%) and football (33%).

Eventually, PlayOhio expects sports gambling to generate between $9 billion and $12 billion in bets as

soon as the market’s third year, which would produce between $700 million and $900 million in gross revenue each year. More conservative estimates are closer to $500 million in gross revenues.

How many people will bet?

According to a BetOhio.com survey from earlier this year, 9% of Ohioans are already betting on sports, either o shore or out of state. Once sports gambling becomes legal, about 1 in 5 Ohioans (19%) said they are “somewhat to very likely” to bet on sports, with 57% of those bettors planning to bet weekly. e rest of us will bet weakly.

Where will most people bet?

About 80% to 90% of sports gambling bets will be made online, with the majority of those on mobile phones.

Case in point: In November 2021, close to 95% of all bets placed in Michigan were made online. In Pennsylvania, online bets make up more than 92% of the handle, while Indiana and New Jersey (both 91%) show similar numbers.

FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM control about 75% of the market, with those three companies referred to as the Big 3 in sports gambling.

FanDuel and DraftKings got a leg up by rst o ering fantasy sports gambling, while MGM and Caesars (the fourth-biggest brand) are wellknown due to their casinos. PlayOhio estimates there could eventually be as many as 50 betting apps available in Ohio.

As for the bets made inside sportsbooks, roughly 80% will be made at kiosks, although you’ll still be able to place a wager with a person at a betting counter if you want to brag about noticing the Browns have failed to cover their last ve outings in domed stadiums the week after missing two eld goals inside 40 yards in a non-conference game.

How much tax revenue will this generate?

Not as much as you might think. Ohio taxes net revenues at 10%, with 98% of the money going toward public and private schools and 2% for problem gambling programs. By contrast, Pennsylvania imposes a 36% tax on its sports betting revenue, the highest rate in the country.

e Ohio legislature’s researchers expect betting to deliver about $20 million in new tax revenues, and $10 million in licensing fees the rst year. Ohio’s budget for scal year 2022 is $23.4 billion.

Oh, and one more thing: the Ohio lottery netted $1.4 billion in pro ts over its last scal year, with that money going to the state’s Lottery Pro ts Education Fund. So keep buying those scratch-o s to support Ohio’s schools, or something.

How many jobs will this industry create?

PlayOhio estimates Ohio’s sports betting industry will create at least 705 jobs by the time betting begins, with about 500 of those at retail sportsbooks. Of course, some of those job gains will be o set by job

Which begs the question …

How much should I bet?

Zero! You should put that money in an index fund tied to the S&P 500, which has averaged a nearly 12% return since 1957. And isn’t earning a consistent, (mostly) predictable return over a period of years more exciting than dropping a wad of cash on the Super Bowl?

(Don’t answer that.)

In order to break even on sports gambling, you need to win at least 52.4% of the time. Professional gamblers win between 53% and 54% and rarely better than 55%. And remember — these are people who do it for a living. Most casual bettors lose money, especially if they bet on the Browns.

Most online sports bets are in the $10 to $25 range, but nearly 30% of online bettors regularly place wagers of $50 or more, according to Civic Science. And about 10% wager more

than $250 on an average bet and have almost certainly not spent more than two decades working in print journalism.

On average, bettors win about $92.75 per $100 bet at legal U.S. sportsbooks, according to Legal Sports Betting.

I’ve seen A LOT of sports gambling ads on TV. How much are these sites spending?

A LOT. From September 2021 through May 2022, U.S. sports betting operators spent an estimated $282 million on TV advertisements, according to an iSpot.TV report. at was a 281% increase over the previous year.

Many of those operators are trying to reach Ohioans with disposable income, which is why it’s worth remembering that Crain’s Cleveland Business reaches more than 217,000 readers weekly. And that Crain’s audience has an average net worth of $1.8 million per year. And that Crain can customize an advertising package for you!

What if my sports gambling gets out of hand?

Ohio devotes signi cant resources to problem gambling and has several programs that can help, including:

“Get Set Before You Bet,” which educates Ohioans on responsible gambling and how to prevent problem gambling.

“Change e Game,” which provides tools, education and resources about youth gaming and gambling for parents, educators, students and prevention specialists.

e Voluntary Exclusion Program, which allows adults to voluntarily ban themselves from entering and gambling at one of Ohio’s four casinos and seven racinos.

Ohio also has a problem gambling hotline (800-589-9966) and there’s a live chat option on the OCCC’s website.

One more thing: If you’re thinking about betting on the Browns to win the Super Bowl, you may or may not have a gambling problem. But you de nitely need help.

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

losses in other industries. If someone loses $100 inside a sportsbook, that’s money that might have been spent elsewhere, like a restaurant or a retail store.

Starting Jan. 1, 2023, Ohioans will be able to place sports wagers at lottery-style kiosks like these ones at the JACK Thistledown racino sportsbook. JACK ENTERTAINMENT

THE WEEK

ON THE GROW: e DiGeronimo Cos. will establish a foothold in the southeastern United States, a key growth market for the Independence-based contractor and developer. rough its Independence Construction arm, DiGeronimo is set to acquire Atlanta-based Winter Construction and Winter Environ-

mental, collectively called the Winter Cos. e privately held parties did not disclose terms of their deal, which is scheduled to close at the end of this year. Between construction, demolition and environmental work, the DiGeronimo Cos. generate roughly $750 million in annual revenues. at doesn’t include the group’s growing real estate development arm. e Winter Cos. acquisi-

tion will tip yearly revenues into the $1 billion range.

AIRING IT OUT: Fairmount Properties of Orange Village launched the demolition of the former Carnation City Mall in Alliance to recast the enclosed mall as a new open-air power center. A Meijer store will anchor the project at 2500 State St., which includes new retail and restaurant space

in what will be 300,000 square feet of retail space. e large-format Meijer will consist of 160,000 square feet. e nal open-air property will be 65% of the original mall’s size, according to Fairmount. e city of Alliance provided the plan tax-increment nancing and support for infrastructure.

BREATH OF FRESH AIR: e renovation of one of downtown Cleveland’s

CONSULTING

the telos institute

the telos institute– a leading global organizational development rm, announced the promotion of Mike Herzog to President. Herzog will bring his extensive tenure and experience as a change catalyst and executive coach to accelerate telos’ growth and success. A results-focused leader, with a proven track record of providing organizations with strategic direction, Herzog will oversee day-to-day operations. Mike has worked with individuals and organizations to facilitate profound transformation.

INSURANCE

Northern Title Agency

Northern Title Agency Inc. is pleased to announce that Susan Rennell has joined us as Director of Sales.

Susan brings a wealth of experience in title, sales and marketing experience. That passion translates into her work of serving her clients in the Northeastern Ohio region.

LAW

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC is proud to welcome Louis D. Maglione as Chief Financial Of cer/Chief Operating Of cer. Mr. Maglione brings more than 30 years of accounting and nancial management experience in both the public and private sectors, and has spent the last 10 years as a CFO. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Akron with a bachelor’s degree in business administration/ accounting and is a Certi ed Public Accountant.

Fisher Phillips’ Cleveland of ce is growing with the recent arrival of two new associates.

Gary D. Baker, Jr. joined the rm in October followed by Kirsten Mooney in November. Both earned their law degrees from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and will focus on defending employers in a wide variety of workplace disputes arising out of federal and state employment laws. Gary and Kirsten will also work with employers to prevent workplace disputes before they arise by providing valuable counseling and advice on state and federal regulatory compliance, hiring and ring practices, and the creation and implementation of critical workplace policies. Please join us in welcoming them to our Cleveland team!

Nicola Gudbranson and Cooper, LLC

Anne L. Grove

joined the Immigration Law Group at Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper, LLC as an associate attorney. She recently received her J.D. from Marquette University Law School where she was a Comment Editor with the Law Review. No stranger to the eld of immigration law, Anne worked previously as a paralegal and law clerk at NGC before and during law school. Anne will focus her practice on business and family-based immigration for companies and individuals across the region.

LAW

Nicola Gudbranson and Cooper LLC

Bryan C. Palmer recently joined Nicola, Gudbranson and Cooper, LLC as an associate attorney. Bryan assists clients in the full range of estate and special needs planning. In addition, he guides duciaries through probate and trust administration, helping them navigate a complex and unfamiliar process to ensure the smooth transfer of assets. Bryan also advises individuals and privately held businesses on real estate and corporate transactions.

LAW

Nicola Gudbranson and Cooper

LLC

Elizabeth Klucher Reynolds joined Nicola, Gudbranson and Cooper, LLC as an associate attorney and is part of the Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Administration group. Elizabeth focuses her practice on estate and trust administration, estate planning, and federal and state taxation issues. She has particular strength in counseling families and individuals on income, gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning.

STAFFING / SERVICES

Direct Recruiters, Inc.

Josh Olgin has been a part of the DRI team for over 12 years. Josh was promoted to Partner in 2020, and continued to grow and manage the Robotics practice, leading to his promotion to Managing Partner this month. Josh is known for his dedication, tenacity, and building strategic partnerships with both clients and candidates across the industry. He has laser-focus on nding the best possible talent to ful ll his clients’ speci c strategic needs. Congratulations Josh!

iconic hotels is getting a boost from the state of Ohio. e Ohio Air Quality Development Authority on Tuesday, Dec. 13, approved $18.5 million in bond nancing for the 491-room Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, which is undergoing a big makeover leading up to a rebranding as “ e Cleveland” or “Hotel Cleveland.” e authority said the property’s $80 million renovation “includes updating the hotel to modern standards while preserving its historic character with energy conservation measures that include the replacement of HVAC systems with rooftop air handling units for the ballroom and kitchen, as well as the addition of two new cooling towers.” Hot water and plumbing systems will be updated, and new insulated glass windows will be installed, replacing 1,108 exterior and atrium windows.

BY THE NUMBERS: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will start 2023 with a new chief nancial o cer. e Akron-based tiremaker announced it has appointed Christina Zamarro as its new CFO, reporting to CEO Richard J. Kramer. Zamarro will succeed Darren R. Wells, who will become Goodyear’s chief administrative o cer. Both appointments are e ective Jan. 1, the company said. Zamarro, who joined Goodyear in 2007, currently works as the company’s vice president, nance and treasurer. Jordan Coughlin, previously assistant treasurer, capital markets, will become vice president and treasurer, also on Jan. 1.

STAFFING / SERVICES

Direct Recruiters, Inc.

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Trevor Yasinow & Rachel Makoski to Partner!

Trevor Yasinow joined the DRI Digital Health team in 2020, focusing on recruiting top talent in the space that exceeds client expectations. His drive and dedication to providing customized search solutions to clients has been evident in his short time at DRI so far and will continue to be a vital asset in DRI’s growth.

Rachel Makoski joined the DRI team in 2016 and built the Food & Beverage Processing and Foodservice E&S practices and team of recruiters, all of which she currently leads. Rachel is a devoted learner with an insatiable appetite to gain new knowledge, pushing her to become a high-performing leader in the food recruiting industry.

CABINET WORK: As part of a series of position changes at Cleveland City Hall, Bradford Davy, who has served in Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s cabinet since Bibb was rst sworn into o ce earlier this year, will become chief of sta in early 2023. Davy, who previously worked with Bibb’s mayoral campaign and transition and then became the mayor’s chief strategy o cer, has been tapped to take over as his “second in command,” according to a statement from City Hall issued Wednesday, Dec. 14. e chief of sta title did not exist before in the Bibb administration. Chief government a airs o cer Ryan Puente will retain his current title and serve as deputy chief of sta . e administration also announced the resignation of chief administrative o cer Elise Hara Auvil, a former Cuyahoga County human resources manager.

GENERATING WEALTH: e Rocket Community Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) announced plans to create a wealth accelerator program that aims to help grow the nancial stability of underserved residents in four cities: Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee and Atlanta. e Rocket Wealth Accelerator is supported by a $2 million investment by the Rocket Community Fund, the philanthropic partner of Rocket Cos. LISC is a community development organization working with residents and partners to advance racial equity and close systemic gaps in health, wealth and opportunity. LISC will spend the next year establishing incentives programming, connecting with community members eager to build savings, and developing the infrastructure to launch and roll out the program in each of the four markets through local partners. LISC sta also will onboard and train coaches who will work with clients through the accelerator to help improve their ability to meet emergency needs, build their credit and grow generational wealth, according to the release.

LAW

LAW

Fisher Phillips

Mooney

Baker

Makoski

Yasinow

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