Crain's Cleveland Business

VOL. 39, NO. 23

JUNE 4 - 10, 2018

Source Lunch

Akron Little Tikes, Step2 and Simplay3 will feel Toys R Us’ closing. Page 20

Tori Nook, principal, Anchor Cleveland Page 23

The List

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Highest-paid CEOs in Northeast Ohio Page 18

AT THE TABLE

ELK ARE UNLIKELY KEY TO FARM’S FAMILY BUSINESS Chance, a 19-year-old elk bull, runs to greet visitors and get an apple treat at Bonnie Brae Farms, a 500-acre farm with 85 Rocky Mountain elk in Wellington. (Peggy Turbett for Crain’s)

By JOE CREA clbfreelancer@crain.com

A

s the weathered golf cart rattles up a rutted lane on a stretch of farmland in Lorain County, there’s a bit of commotion in the distance. Suddenly, an ungainly creature is lumbering, determinedly, toward us.

“That’s our 950-pound dog with antlers,” said Ken Manoni, a guide at Bonnie Brae Farms, as Chance, a 19-year-old bull elk ambles toward a group of visitors.

Within moments, Chance is at the fence line, nuzzling Manoni’s hand as he thrusts a palm filled with corn through the enclosure. Fists full of grain are accompanied by big chunks of apple, which the critter gnaws with gusto.

Higher Education Interview with outgoing CSU president Ron Berkman Page 11

>>

“Chance may be the oldest bull elk in the country,” Manoni said. “He was bottle-fed as a baby, after his mother basically abandoned him ... so he’s grown up with humans and he’s really friendly. They don’t usually live that long in the wild.”

Mention elk and the imagination wanders to the vast plains of Big Sky Country, where the massive crea-

SEE ELK, PAGE 4

Farm tours and more JJBonnie

Brae Farms will host its next farm tours on Saturday and Sunday, July 28-29. Find more information on Facebook, under Bonnie Brae Farm Tours.

JJFor

information about elk meat, go to theelkfarm.net or call 440-647-3232.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Region has leadership ‘vacuum’ Business, civic reps wonder if longtime execs should step aside

By JAY MILLER

Entire contents © 2018 by Crain Communications Inc.

tures wander free. Elk are common in places like Wyoming and Montana, but not so much in Northeast Ohio.

But here in Wellington, a farming community just outside of Oberlin, elk not only thrive, they helped to save a 100-year-old family farm and spawned an unlikely industry in a region better known for soybeans and corn.

jmiller@crain.com @millerjh

It came up often, usually after anonymity was guaranteed, in conversations about the struggling local economy and the failed efforts — through strategic plan after strategic plan by civic leaders — to meet even modest goals.

Sometimes it was asked. Some-

times it was a question raised as part of an answer.

Often it was, “Where is the next generation of Greater Cleveland leaders?”

Other times it was some version of, “We’ve had the same people leading civic organizations for more than a decade. When will they step aside?”

Or a couple times it was, “Who’s grooming the next generation of leaders?”

Interest in this subject has been

fanned by Jon Pinney, managing partner of the Korhman, Jackson & Krantz law firm. Earlier this year, Pinney wrote several columns for Smart Business, a business monthly, on the region’s economic woes. One appeared under the headline, “It’s time for an economic development summit in Cleveland.”

Pinney will be expanding on his subject this Friday, June 8, in a program at the City Club of Cleveland.

SEE LEADERS, PAGE 21

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Primes is CMBA’s first black president

By JEREMY NOBILE jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s sights remain closely fixed on the homogeneity of the Northeast Ohio legal market, and the group’s next president is carrying the mantle of improving diversity in the field through its 2018-2019 year.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marlon Primes officially stepped up as CMBA president last Friday, June 1, taking over for outgoing president and Walter | Haverfield litigator Darrell Clay.

Primes is an Akron native and veteran federal trial attorney whose nearly 26-year career largely has focused on medical malpractice in ad-

dition to torts, contracts and financial litigation.

He’s not just a noteworthy leader of the organization because of his legal background and various affiliations with myriad other bar associations. Primes is also the CMBA’s first black president since its current incarnation formed about 11 years ago, when bar associations in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County merged.

The original Cleveland bar dates back to 1873, predating the formation of the national American Bar Association by five years. With that legacy in mind, Primes is still just the third black president of the group in the organization’s 145-year history (the county bar never had a black leader, according to CMBA officials).

“It’s important to have a milestone,”

said Primes, acknowledging his place among past bar leaders.

“But the way I want to work and live my life is to make sure there’s a road for other folks who are going to Primes follow behind me,” he added. “That’s why it’s really important now that we move as a bar association to promote our diversity efforts and ensure there are people of color in our committees and in our sections and things of that sort, because that’s what will lead to you becoming president.”

How the group will continue to shape diversity efforts in the Northeast Ohio legal market is a work in

progress. After all, the CMBA knows firsthand how difficult creating a more diverse legal market can be, as it has been trying to move the needle in that area for years.

The group revealed a diversity study in 2016 confirming that the Northeast Ohio legal market remains overwhelming dominated by white men, particularly in leadership and partner positions. The data were gleaned from just a portion of law firms in the region, as only 20% of the institutions surveyed responded to questions about their diversity numbers, even though specific firms’ responses were not made public. Among various findings, the survey found that fewer than 4% of local equity and non-equity partners were non-white.

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reasons for why diversity issues persist in the legal field, figures like that tend to indicate that law firms like to talk a bigger game in the diversity arena than they actually play.

But Primes, saying he plans to lean heavily on the diversity committee, plans to convene other bars — particularly those centered on minorities — to work with the CMBA on the overall diversity mission and specific programs.

And while the CMBA’s efforts to create a director of legal inclusion — who would go on a roadshow promoting the Cleveland market across the country and encouraging lawyers to live and work here in part of a landmark diversity initiative — fizzled because of lack of financial support from stakeholders, CMBA executive director Rebecca Ruppert McMahon said CMBA diversity leaders are regrouping and preparing to share new plans later this summer.

Besides a personal commitment to diversity, Primes is a stalwart advocate of the benefits of attorney groups.

He has been a vice president of the National Bar Association (the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges), president of the Norman S. Minor Bar Association (which was founded in 1980 as Cleveland’s first full-fledged African American bar association) and the first African-American president of the William K. Thomas Chapter of the American Inns of Court in Cleveland.

“Across all disciplines, we have this Perry Mason idea that people memorize cases,” Primes said. “But the law changes so rapidly and you need a bar association to keep you updated on how the law changes. It’s not anything you can memorize because it changes so quickly.”

It’s also special that Primes comes from the government sector, a somewhat underrepresented group at the CMBA. About 75% of the bar’s roughly 5,200 members today belong to traditional law firms, with the remainder split between the corporate and government sectors.

“Coming from the U.S. attorney’s office makes Marlon incredibly unique,” McMahon said. “We have to continue our efforts in trying to grow our presence and engagement in the government lawyers section. And Marlon is a terrific example of somebody who has really maximized the opportunity to use bar association engagement for his professional and personal development.”

The CMBA’s overall membership has stayed relatively flat in recent years. That’s something “we’re really concerned about,” Primes said. Part of the group’s mission will be to ensure it’s providing events and resources of use and interest to the Northeast Ohio attorney base to keep its ranks strong.

McMahon said the silver lining of that flat figure is it stays level despite the legal industry itself sharply constricting following the last economic downturn, which strained law firm budgets and shrank the business and the field of lawyers from prosperous, pre-recession days, when legal bills were rarely scrutinized like they are in today’s landscape.

But besides more learning opportunities for members and fresh events — like the upcoming media law summit on June 14 — and an ongoing focus on keeping the group’s ranks strong, the top priorities for CMBA and Primes center on improving diversity in the field.

“We have to have other attorneys and bars and groups of diversity working with us,” Primes said. “If we’re ever going to reach our goal in terms of being a more diverse profession, we’re going to have to do it together.”

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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Ahuja acquires two Sand Ridge courses

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter

Monte Ahuja, a high-profile philanthropist and chairman and CEO of Walton Hills-based Transtar Industries Inc., said he “loves the game of golf.” He has a putter and putt returner in the corner of his executive office, which is large enough to make good use of it. A prized photo of Ahuja and golf legend Jack Nicklaus, taken after a game, adorns one wall.

The passion for the game led Ahuja recently to acquire the Mayfield Sand Ridge Club, a private country club that has two courses: Mayfield in South Euclid and Lyndhurst, and Sand Ridge in Chardon. The latest deal deepens a different sort of commitment to golf for Ahuja that began in 2011, when Ahuja bought Barrington Golf Club in Aurora.

Terms of the Mayfield Sand Ridge purchase were not disclosed, but it’s clearly a multimillion-dollar transaction. Through Areco Golf LLC, Ahuja on May 23 paid $3.6 million for the Mayfield Country Club property alone, according to Cuyahoga County land records. The two courses and clubhouses are appraised for more than $10 million. Moreover, Ahuja said he plans to make “significant investments” in both courses.

However, a key provision for buying the struggling private club was that Ahuja agreed to retain the properties for golf for 10 years.

“It’s not that I have a plan for after that,” Ahuja said. “I’m looking at building up the golf courses so they

Monte Ahuja’s office in Walton Hills has a putter and putt returner.

(Stan Bullard)

will be the talk of the town. I’m not a real estate developer. I have no interest in real estate. I’m not in golf to make money. No one would be in golf to make money; I have ample other opportunities for that. At the same time, I want to manage the courses like a business using the best of products in the most efficient way. But it’s more a passion than a business.”

Ryan Marrie, president of the just-disbanded board of Mayfield Sand Ridge, said the 10-year commitment to retain play at both courses was not difficult to obtain.

“Initially, he said five years. We said 10,” Marrie recalled in an interview.

“And he answered, ‘No problem.’ ” Familiar factors pushed the nonprofit club to seek a buyer. Marrie said

the club has been losing members, dropping to about 475 now from a peak of more than 600 in 2010. It operated on a break-even basis, Marrie said.

“The only way to increase retention and attract new members is to invest in the property,” Marrie said. “Like every private club, we have a debt. We did not think an assessment to fund improvements would go over well.”

The club had talked to two private club operators and was close to a deal with an investor in 2017 when the talks broke down. “That was known around town and led to (Ahuja) reaching out to us,” Marrie said.

Marrie said the oversaturation of golf courses on Cleveland’s East Side and declining golf participation created the club’s woes. He said its board sought to

avoid going through a long-term, acrimonious process to resolve the issues that have stricken other golf clubs.

Apart from the monetary issues, Marrie said Ahuja “was the ideal buyer. He’s part of the community. He’s committed to his legacy. He loves golf and likes to provide opportunities to play. I saw it as a win-win for the club, the members, the staff (about 200 in the summer) and the long-term outlook for the club.”

Members also agreed. Marrie said the club’s membership held two webinars to discuss the potential sale with members in February and March because many were wintering in Florida, two meetings with members, and Ahuja spoke to the club at an April 24 meeting at Mayfield Country Club. At a meeting for a vote, with many members voting by proxy, April 27 at Mayfield, the sale was approved 266 to six. Marrie said 98% of the members approved the deal.

In terms of improvements, neither Ahuja nor Marrie would discuss the budget for the work. Ahuja said the plan is to continue to improve the courses, spend “millions” on updates to the clubhouses, including provisions to attract more banquet and wedding business.

“It’s not a technically complicated business,” Ahuja said. “It’s a simple business if you do the right things.”

Mayfield Sand Ridge already has a membership drive on that will continue through June, Marrie said. It includes, for a full membership, waiving the $5,000 initiation fee and a 20% discount on $900 monthly dues.

After that, Ahuja said he hopes the attraction of the product will provide

growth. The club will remain private, he said. Ahuja said he is looking at forming a central management platform for all three clubs incorporating his staff from Barrington. Members at Mayfield Sand Ridge can play at both courses. Ahuja said he is looking at offering a chance for members to play at all three courses as an incentive for members.

For Ahuja’s part, the courses are the attraction.

He considers Mayfield, which dates from 1910, a beautiful course because it has rolling hills scarce in the region. And Sand Ridge, designed

by Tom Fazio, is known as a challenging course. Mayfield has traditionally designed club properties. Sand Ridge is contemporary, dating from 1998.

Ahuja also brings the eye of a member at multiple country clubs to the operation. He said he belongs to Pepper Pike Club and the Country Club, also in Pepper Pike, plus two clubs in Naples, Fla., another in Columbus, and Laurel Valley in Ligonier, Pa. He’s regularly on the links and has a handicap of 11. Ahuja said he spends five months a year in Florida, where he plays four or five times a week. During the summer, he’s out three or four times weekly.

Ahuja’s business career was well established before he took up the clubs. He is a self-taught golfer and said he has never had a lesson. He started playing at 45. He’s now 72.

That’s part of the reason he had no problem committing to keeping golf in place 10 years at Mayfield Sand Ridge Club.

“It’s not that I have a plan for something after that,” Ahuja said.

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ELK

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Maribelle Donaldson, who owns Bonnie Brae with her sister, Melinda Huszti, tells the story.

During the late 1890s, their grandfather, William Murray, was one of eight children. To help make ends meet, he quit school at a young age to run his own milk route. When he stumbled into an opportunity to leave home to make his fortune, he made a big leap, all the way to czarist Russia.

Eventually, Murray made that fortune and returned to Northeast Ohio, where around 1890 he bought land to farm, which has been family owned and operated since 1902. Murray’s son, (the sisters’ father) William Benjamin Murray, began to raise standardbred horses and helped build Bonnie Brae into a successful stud farm. But strides in animal husbandry sent the business into decline.

“Horses require a lot of individual attention, and it takes a lot of people to make a horse farm work — and the industry is changing,” said Donaldson, who like her sister, relocated to Orange County, Calif., for their husbands’ jobs and left the daily operation of the farm in the hands of managers. Adam Mourton, who lives in one of the houses on the farm with his wife and children, manages Bonnie Brae.

“So we had to choose an alternative. We wanted to get it right, and, frankly, we didn’t want to be the ones to screw it up!” Donaldson said.

The sisters began to research. They looked into raising ostriches, musk ox and alpaca, but none of those species seemed right.

“But elk were the best match for our past experience with horses — hoofed livestock — and they had more ready markets than any of those other animals,” Donaldson said.

So the sisters introduced elk in 1991.

Meat, of course, is the first thing most people think of when their thoughts turn to elk end products.

And though it may seem an obscure food source — and statistically, use is barely a blip on USDA meat consumption charts — there’s big demand for elk meat.

Novelty and nutrition are two key reasons. Game meats like wild boar, venison, ostrich and elk appeal to diners who crave something different, and particularly those seeking healthier animal protein alternatives.

While a 100-gram portion of beef (about 3¼ ounces) provides 24 grams of total fat and about 10 grams of saturated fat, an equal serving of elk provides 1.45 grams of total fat and 0.53 grams of saturated fat. Even skinless chicken breast, generally considered one of the healthiest common protein sources, contains nearly twice the total fat of elk.

Economics and Mother Nature limit the farm’s profitability. While beef cattle can be brought to market at roughly 18 months, elk cows reach maturity (and slaughter weight) at three years. That limits the amount of meat Bonnie Brae can produce.

The farm used to sell at the North Union Farmers Market locations at Shaker Square and Crocker Park, said Georgia Klipstein, who handles sales for Bonnie Brae.

“A lot of heart patients come out and buy it,” Klipstein said. “But the demand at the farm markets was so great, it was depleting the herd at an alarming rate.”

The meat is now primarily sold from the farm, usually by advance order. Prices range from $10 per pound for burger patties or bratwurst, around $15 per pound for braising cuts, and $17 to $19 for loin steaks.

That is why local restaurateurs like

Rocky Mountain elk cows graze on one of the 500 acres of pasture at Bonnie Brae Farms in Wellington. (Photographs by Peggy Turbett for Crain’s)

Two racks from the elk bull Rochester are among the molted antlers on display in the barn to educate visitors.

Dog chews from antlers and cat toys from elk fur are sold in the shed at Bonnie Brae Farms.

Brandt Evans, chef-partner of Western-themed Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern in Twinsburg, find themselves turning to imports.

“Right now, we’re running an elk rib chop special — grilled to medium-rare, because there’s almost no

fat — then finish it with a black pepper-soy-veal stock glaze, and it’s selling out,” Evans said.

Priced at $38, the dish entails a roughly 40% to 45% food cost, heresy in most kitchens.

“But it’s farm-raised in New Zealand and coming in our back door at $25 per pound raw,” Evans said. “The sheer numbers we do at Blue Canyon, we can deplete a local farm’s stock. I could go through 250 to 300 servings per week. After all, there’s only one tenderloin per animal, and in one week I could take down 300.”

“That is a challenge we’re trying to meet,” Donaldson admitted, acknowledging that her family’s 500acre farm is currently home to roughly 85 head of elk, with the birth of another 20 to 30 more calves expected in early June. (This summer, the sisters and their husbands are moving back to their Wellington homestead.)

“There are restaurants that want [our product], but the problem is, they want the top cuts. And we’ve had people who’ve been loyal to us, buying directly from us, for years. We can’t turn our back on those customers.”

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 5

“Elk were the best match for our past experience with horses — hoofed livestock — and they had more ready markets than any of those other animals.� — Maribelle Donaldson, Bonnie Brae Farms co-owner

Chance, a 900-pound elk bull, basks in a muzzle rub from farm manager Adam Mourton. At 19 years, Chance has outlived the 12-year average lifespan of an elk in the wild.

byproduct of elk production, though anyone who owns a dog and has dropped $20 on a smallish elk horn chew in a pet store already has moved beyond sticker shock.

“We can’t keep up with that segment,� Donaldson said.

Unlike the horns sold at national pet supply chains, the elk horns sold at Bonnie Brae aren’t bleached or

coated with preservatives.

To further secure the farm’s future, the family is also planting grain crops and plans to introduce a herd of beef cattle to the land.

Eco-tourism is another way the farm is strengthening its financial sustainability. Bonnie Brae hosts a limited number of tour dates through the year, welcoming paying guests to climb up onto wagons drawn by tractors and see the elk at a safe distance.

They witness the livestock in a natural habitat, attitude and all. On the day the press came to visit, a herd of 10 or 15 elk cows almost simultaneously turned their backs on a gaggle of visitors. It’s an impressive site, this collective gathering of backsides: The

females are 5- to 6-feet tall at the shoulders, and despite their apparent indifference, there’s a hint of curiosity on both sides of the fence.

It’s those personalities — charming Chance, and the diffident ladies of the meadow — that are so intriguing. So much so that Manoni admitted that he rarely partakes of an elk steak. Mostly when his partner, Kim, is out of town. “Every animal is tagged and cared for,� he said, “and she just doesn’t want to see me eating someone she knows by name.�

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Roth’s abstract paintings use colto lead the staff of SMG, the operator of tion and the Hilton hotel. It’s the first the Huntington Convention Center of wave of objects that will comprise the ors that emerge from as many as 40 layers of paint to evoke emotions Cleveland and the Global Center for Cleveland Convention Gallery.

The gallery will feature for-sale from viewers.

Health Innovation, the new general “My artwork is about the process manager stayed at the adjacent Hilton work by sculptor David Deming, forCleveland Downtown while house mer president of the Cleveland Insti- and the freedom to express the story tute of Art, and painter Sam Roth. one sees through feelings,” he wrote. hunting.

The gallery was assembled and is Every day, though, he would notice They are works that the gallery broan abrupt change of tone when he chure says “make the connection of being curated by Eileen Roth, Sam walked through the hotel lobby, filled Cleveland’s industrial beginnings Roth’s wife and owner of Art Source Cleveland, a consultancy that helps with art and a subdued but noticeable and growth as a major culture force.”

While he’s sculpted portraits of corporations acquire art. soundtrack, to the connected convenIn addition to the gallery artwork, tion center. It was the center’s bare sports stars and business leaders, inwalls and deadening silence. He want- cluding the statue of Cleveland the convention center and the Rock ed to change that. Soon after, the mu- Browns great Jim Brown that stands Hall are collaborating on a display sic of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame artists outside FirstEnergy Stadium, Dem- that will line the wall of what’s called was piped throughout the mammoth ing’s work at the convention center is the Lakeside landing, the beabstract. The untitled works were cre- low-ground space to the west of the complex. And now, there will be art. ated by welding together oldPM metal Later this week, on Thursday, June(6x6).qxp_Layout NAV8-blue Alson_CrainsCleveland 1 5/14/18 10:47 Page 1center’s Lakeside entrance.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Opinion Personal View

‘Hard Knocks’ to offer a lesson in public relations

Editorial

In it together When U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Cincinnati, stopped in Crain’s offices last week, he had just come from an opioid roundtable discussion in Lorain County.

The event, in part, called attention to federal funding that Portman had helped secure to combat the epidemic: $500,000 from the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act for the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Lorain County, and $588,000 through the 21st Century CURES Act for the county to fight opioid abuse.

Those were successes. But there was heartbreak, too, as one participant who had hoped to tell the story of a family member’s recovery from addiction instead shared details of a relapse.

Portman, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, and other members of Congress from states hit hard by the opioid crisis deserve credit, in a challenging time in Washington, D.C., for working to find the money needed to fund programs to prevent and address addiction. But it’s going to take more than just the well-intentioned efforts of government. Private-sector employers have, as Portman put it in a recent Washington Post op-ed piece, “a powerful incentive to treat opioid addiction.”

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland last week published a report, “The Opioid Epidemic and Its Effects: A Perspective on What We Know,” that lays out some bracing details about the nature of the problem.

Drug overdoses, the Cleveland Fed noted, “are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50.” In the states served by the Cleveland Fed — Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — “opioid overdose deaths are occurring at rates that exceed the 2016 national average of 13.2 deaths per 100,000 people.” In Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, deaths “are at least 1.5 times more frequent than the national average.”

That staggering human toll has a cost in the workplace.

The Cleveland Fed surveyed members of its eight Business Advisory Councils (BACs) to gauge the impact of the opioid crisis. Among the findings: “Approximately half of the mem-

bers of our BACs noted that the opioid epidemic was negatively impacting their businesses directly or indirectly. Several members reported having encountered hiring difficulties due to failed drug tests. ... In terms of production, members in the construction and homebuilding industry stated that hiring difficulties for specific skilled trades have effectively slowed the building process. Other BAC members stated that while their employees may not have problems with opioids, employees’ family members were having troubles with opioid abuse.”

Portman, in his Post op-ed and during our interview, pointed to a Brookings Institution report showing about half of men between the ages of 25 and 54 who are not in the labor force take pain medication daily, and nearly two-thirds of them take prescription pain medication. He also cited a Labor Department survey that found 44% of 25-54 men who were out of the labor force acknowledged taking pain medication the previous day.

“I know the business community cares about this issue,” Portman said, since addiction makes it harder for companies to find workers at a time when the economy needs them badly.

But he acknowledged that some companies “don’t always want to engage with the issue,” as it’s complicated and potentially expensive.

Portman said he sees “a huge opportunity for education” in the workplace, as forward-looking employers seek to preserve a strong current and future workforce. And on top of federal efforts, Portman said employers should find ways “to put resources into treatment” for employees.

It’s expensive, the senator said, but companies can see a strong return on that investment in healthier employers motivated to return to productive work.

In the Cleveland Fed report, BAC members “also suggested that it is challenging for them to know if the opioid epidemic is impacting their business until there is an actual problem.”

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Publisher and Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com)

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Tell the truth. Tell it all. Tell it first. Tell it fast. Tell it on “Hard Knocks.”

OK, that last one about HBO’s Emmy Award-winning inside look at a National Football League team’s training camp is not one of our fundamental principles at Hennes Communications when we’re working with clients facing a crisis.

But the first four are. And they speak to why the Cleveland Browns should embrace being this season’s featured team on “Hard Knocks.”

A few weeks ago, the anticipated news was made official: the Browns would be this season’s “Hard Knocks” team, starting Aug. 7 for five weekly one-hour episodes of a show that has taken football fans behind the scenes, to see players getting cut, players suffering season-ending injuries, players trash-talking and Thom lots of coaches using lots of swear words.

Fladung The selection of the Browns immediately kicked off the debate about whether this was a wise decision for a team that’s gone 1-31 in the past two seasons and prompted one national sports talk show to do a parody of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” — as in “the Browns are a dumpster fire.”

The announcement prompted the expected jokes — and plenty of sportswriters basically arguing, why not do it? As cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot wrote, “I think it will be good for the Browns. I think it will go a long way toward flipping the script for the legions of fans who have jumped ship and provide a glimpse of the new talent on the team.”

There’s no clear connection between “Hard Knocks” appearances and team performance. As si.com reported, “Five of the 12 teams documented improved their record in the season immediately following the show, five finished with a worse record and the last two had exactly the same record. In addition, five of the 12 teams made the playoffs in that next season — but four of those five teams already had winning records the season before HBO showed up. What all that means is there’s no, well, hard evidence that having Hard Knocks around helps or hurts — but it certainly can’t hurt the Browns, who have one total win over the last two seasons and are fresh off the fifth winless season in NFL history.”

From a pure public relations standpoint, it’s a slam dunk (mixing sports clichés) if attention is your goal. Out of curiosity, I typed “Should the Browns do Hard Knocks” into Google — and got more than 7 million hits. (For context’s sake, I also tried “Should the U.S. have stricter gun laws?” — and got almost 1.7 million hits. Clearly, our national priorities are in order.)

And to be sure, the Browns didn’t really have a choice.

The show, which HBO does in conjunction with NFL Films, has three criteria that make a team eligible for selection: No teams with a first-year head coach. No teams that have made the playoffs in the last two years. And no teams that have been on the show in the last 10 years. Six teams were eligible. The Browns were selected.

Not everyone with the Browns is thrilled at the prospect.

First-year General Manager John Dorsey told ESPN Cleveland, “I don’t think there’s anything good that comes out of ‘Hard Knocks,’ but we’ll see.”

We’ll leave the football to Dorsey, head coach Hue Jackson and the Browns players, but we’d tell them that from a crisis communications and reputation management standpoint, dive in.

Here’s another of our fundamental principles: If you know that news is going to break about you, tell the news yourself.

Take as much control of your own narrative as possible.

SEE FLADUNG, PAGE 10

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

Sound off: Send a Personal View for the opinion page to emcintyre@crain.com.

Please include a telephone number for verification purposes.

Personal View

Clean energy is vital to the health and economic well-being of Ohio

By ALLI GOLD ROBERTS and LAUREN KOCH

The health of our community, environment and economy are directly linked. Clean energy is essential to all three, with benefits that ensure a thriving business community and a robust health care system here in Ohio. That is why Ohio businesses and health care institutions are increasingly embracing clean energy and calling on lawmakers to do the same.

As the Ohio General Assembly considers policies that would undercut the state’s clean energy economy, lawmakers must take into account the economic and health benefits clean energy brings to the Buckeye State. Lawmakers should oppose proposed legislation that would weaken Ohio’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards and allow commercial and industrial customers to opt out of energy savings programs. Since 2015, dozens of major Ohio businesses, institutions, employers and investors — including the Cleveland Clinic, Mercy Health, Gap, Nestle and many others — have expressed public support for the state’s clean energy standards.

Lawmakers should also adopt language to overturn the stringent wind-siting setback standards. Restricting investment in wind energy and rolling back the renewable energy and energy efficiency standards would deprive Ohio businesses and individuals of valuable cost savings.

Ohio’s clean energy standards help both businesses and health care institutions reduce their operating costs. Because health care facilities are extremely energy intensive, access to affordable and reliable renewable energy and energy efficiency is all the more

important. Furthermore, the savings captured as a result of energy efficiency projects can be devoted to patient care.

For example, Cleveland Clinic recently replaced old, energy-intensive lighting with more than 400,000 high-efficient LED lights, a switch that saves more than $3 million each year. Thanks to clean energy investments like these, the hospital system saved an estimated $50 million in energy costs over the last 10 years. As another added benefit to Ohio, the Clinic purchased nearly two-thirds of those LED lights from a company in Solon, and an Ohio company handled the installation.

Cincinnati-based health systems Mercy Health and TriHealth have also invested in energy efficiency for the win-win benefits of cost savings and improved air quality. Mercy Health locations in Tiffin and Williard, as well as TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital, have all achieved Energy Star certification — joining a small group of 12 total Ohio hospitals boasting Energy Star certification. Energy Star hospitals save an average of $3,000 per bed, per year, on energy costs.

Ohio’s renewable energy standards have also paved the way for businesses to invest in locally produced renewable energy. General Motors recently announced it would power its Ohio manufacturing plants in Toledo, Parma, Lordstown and Defiance entirely with wind energy. Unfortunately, Ohio’s wind energy setback restrictions make it difficult for businesses to further invest in wind energy here in the Buckeye State.

SEE ENERGY, PAGE 10

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FLADUNG CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

That won’t be complete control for the Browns. As Pat McManamon of ESPN wrote, “The Browns do not have any editorial control over storylines or how they are presented.

However, Jackson and Dorsey will be able to watch the show in advance to ensure nothing of a competitive nature is revealed.�

But the “competitive nature� clause gives them wide latitude — and, in the end, this is an NFL Films production. NFL Films is not exactly in business to hurt NFL teams.

To be sure, there are rewards and risks. “Hard Knocks� makes stars.

And in rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield the Browns may finally have a star — and definitely have a media and marketing savvy young man, as Crain’s Cleveland Business reporter Kevin Kleps explored extensively.

ENERGY

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

Development of new wind energy projects has stalled since the setback requirements were enacted in 2014.

Lawmakers are considering language that would fix the setback requirements — making it easier for companies to power their operations with cost-effective wind energy and for Ohio to attract companies that recognize the significant economic opportunity presented by wind energy.

This is increasingly important as a growing number of companies set goals to reduce emissions and invest in renewable energy.

Policies that support energy efficiency projects and renewable energy development will also help Ohio capture new high-paying jobs. Clean energy already boasts over 100,000 jobs in Ohio. As the clean energy industry continues to grow, maintain-

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Here’s one more fundamental reputation management concept: You can’t communicate your way out of a problem.

You have to act your way out. “Hard Knocks� also can have not-so-positive lasting effects on one’s reputation. Witness Antonio Cromartie’s infamous attempt to recite his children’s names.

As well, the Browns are not exactly foreign to the concept of reality television. Co-owner Dee Haslam was a co-founder and until 2017 CEO of RIVR Media, which produced more than 3,000 episodes of shows for 21 TV

Clean energy already boasts over 100,000 jobs in Ohio. As the clean energy industry continues to grow, maintaining a healthy and productive workforce is critical. ing a healthy and productive workforce is critical. In addition, increased investments in renewable energy bolster grid reliability — keeping energy costs low, making Ohio’s energy systems more resilient and ensuring that health care systems are able to keep their doors open during times of extreme weather.

Across the board, Ohio businesses and health care institutions recognize the significant economic opportunity that clean energy standards present to

networks, including the likes of “Trading Spaces� and “Almost Home.� One could argue that, with Dee Haslam, the Browns are ideally positioned to take advantage of “Hard Knocks.�

Here’s one more fundamental reputation management concept: You can’t communicate your way out of a problem. You have to act your way out. And then you have to communicate those actions. To make fans happy, the Browns must take action to get out of their 1-31 hole. But if they’re convinced that this time they’ve gotten it right and that we’ll all be able to see the beginnings of that evolution, they should welcome in the “Hard Knocks� cameras. “Show me, don’t tell me� is one of journalism’s oldest sayings. The Browns can start showing everyone on Aug. 7.

Thom Fladung is managing partner at Hennes Communications, a Cleveland firm that offers media training and crisis management and communications services. their bottom lines and to the state they call home. Just last week, businesses, investors, health care providers and trade associations representing nearly 120,000 employees shared their support for clean energy with lawmakers — urging them to protect Ohio’s clean energy standards.

It is clear that renewable energy and energy efficiency are an important part of Ohio’s economy, as well as the health and well-being of its residents. Ohio must correct the wind setback restrictions and maintain the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards.

Alli Gold Roberts is senior manager of state policy at Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit organization working with the most influential investors and companies to build leadership and drive solutions throughout the economy. Lauren Koch is associate director of climate and health at Health Care Without Harm.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Focus HIGHER EDUCATION

Tackling Berkman’s legacy CSU’s new president, Harlan M. Sands JJSands

joined Cleveland State from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as vice dean and CFO. JJPrior

to his time at the University of Pennsylvania, Sands held administrative roles at the Sands University of Louisville and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

JJHis

career in education began at Florida International University. He started out as a faculty member in the university’s department of criminal justice and moved up to hold the roles of assistant dean and then associate dean of the College of Health and Urban Affairs. He also served as the associate vice president for research before leaving Florida International University.

JJBefore

joining higher education, Sands spent 11 years in the U.S. Navy and four serving as an assistant public defender.

JJSands

has a bachelor of science in economics from the Wharton School, an MBA from George Washington University and a J.D. from George Mason University.

It’s no secret Cleveland State bulked up during his tenure

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

When Ronald Berkman talks about his legacy as Cleveland State University’s president, he doesn’t dwell on new programs, buildings or fundraising milestones.

Instead, he talks about the progress the university has made in terms of measures like its increasingly large graduating classes. The classes have grown almost every year since the 2009-2010 academic year, from about 3,400 to more than 4,000 in the 2016-2017 academic year.

“I’ve said to the incoming president that, for me, whatever decisions we were making and I’ve made over these nine years, the first lens, the first prism is how will this decision impact the students,” Berkman said.

Berkman, who held various leadership posts at Florida International University in Miami, describes himself as a “terrible” high school student who fell in love with education taking night classes at William Paterson College in New Jersey. Berkman took on the role of president at Cleveland State following the retirement of Michael Schwartz in 2009, relinquishing it on May 31 of this year. Harlan M. Sands joined the university as its president from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as vice dean and CFO. Prior to Berkman stepping down, he had been the longest-tenured public university president in Northeast Ohio following a slate of other leadership transitions at other universities, including the University of Akron, Youngstown State and Kent State.

Sands arrives a university that’s quite a bit different from the one Berkman joined in 2009.

Cleveland State has added new programs, including the new School of Film & Media Arts, and completed a $100 million fundraising campaign. It revamped its engineering building and introduced a system that allowed students to schedule classes for an entire year. It partnered with the Northeast Ohio Medical University to form the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health, which encourages medical graduates to work in underserved communities.

SEE BERKMAN, PAGE 13

Illustration by Robert Carter for Crain’s

Berkman’s tenure by the numbers 60%: Increase in graduation rates 1,000: Students now living on campus $100 million: The goal of Cleveland State’s first capital campaign, which was reached two years ahead of schedule $20 million: The combined total gift — the largest in the university’s history — from former Parker Hannifin CEO Don Washkewicz and the company’s foundation $10 million: Gift from Monte Ahuja, a Cleveland State alumnus whose name now adorns the College of Business SOURCE: Cleveland State University

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

HIGHER EDUCATION

VMCAD to boost offerings, change name

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

Virginia Marti College of Arts and Design will soon be known as the North Coast College, and its offerings are expected to be as broad as its new name.

The for-profit college in Lakewood has gone through a number of changes in recent years since the school’s founder and namesake stepped aside, adding bachelor’s degrees and putting a stronger focus on combining career and academic education, and it expects more changes in the future. The college added business administration

programs in areas like art and design management, and there are plans to add a culinary program — all of which call for a more inclusive name.

“The name gives us an option to grow in any direction that we want,” said Milan Milasinovic, who took over as college’s president in 2015 and acquired the school’s assets from its founder, Virginia Marti Veith.

The name change was approved by all the necessary accrediting parties in the past six months, said Patrick Melnick, the college’s dean of academic affairs. It will officially announce its new name at an event at the end of June, Milasinovic said, during which it will also highlight its renovated stu-

dent lounge. Melnick said the college will continue to honor its founder by establishing the Virginia Marti School of Fashion, a first for the college.

It likely won’t Milasinovic stay as the only school for long. VMCAD, as the college has been calling itself in recent years, acquired the educational assets of the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vt., last June, and has worked toward combining the business side of both schools since then,

with many leaders overseeing operations at both schools. VMCAD is moving from a quarter system to a semester system, Milasinovic said, which will allow students to more easily enroll in one another’s online courses.

This shift should be complete by fall 2019. And VMCAD is moving forward with plans for a culinary school in Lakewood, which Milasinovic said he hopes to launch in fall 2019.

Milasinovic, who has experience in both academia and the fashion industry, joined the college in early 2015 and put in motion a shift of the school from a two-year career college to a four-year academic institution.

He said four-year degrees, particular-

ly in the way the college is offering them, set students up for more success than the two-year programs can.

The college officially began offering bachelor’s degrees in January 2017 in areas such as fashion merchandising and graphic design, with some offered as online options. This year, about 77% of its about 140 students were working toward bachelor’s degrees, said dean of enrollment Matthew Miller.

One of the big changes at VMCAD since Milasinovic’s takeover has been the pool of students it looks to attract.

While the focus for many years was on nontraditional students — students who entered the workforce before enrolling, or those who attended another school before VMCAD — the addition of bachelor’s degrees means the college is now putting a stronger focus on recent high school graduates, Miller said.

Miller said the current goal, after a few years of decline, was to stabilize enrollment and then to look toward growth. Miller said some additional online bachelor’s degree programs the college is looking into should support those efforts.

VMCAD’s goal through its new academic programming has been to combine career and academic education, which school leaders call convergence.

“The reason behind this is we feel like the career colleges and career education failed to provide students with enough general education to prepare them for this new society, new technology, new economy. And on other side, on the flip side, the strict and pure academic education failed to provide skills to graduates to navigate this new economy,” Milasinovic said.

Melnick said this concept of convergence — bringing together knowledge from what used to be thought of as disparate areas — can be seen in a variety of industries, from neuroscience to retail. For example, companies like Amazon use algorithms that draw on knowledge from a variety of departments, like coding and audience.

“And that’s how we’re treating our education,” Melnick said.

For example, when students learn about the history of art now, they also learn about business, because the two are naturally tied. The great artists students are learning about were making products to be sold, Melnick said. Physics is also tied into art at the college, with Renaissance art and the theory of perspective being taught hand-in-hand.

Or take the way the college teaches math, incorporating real-life examples like mortgages. Milasinovic said the goal was to make general education more “relevant” and “connected” to daily life for students.

A hundred or fifty years ago, well-rounded students were those who understood math, history and English, Melnick said. Today, well-rounded students are those who understand how those subjects are interconnected.

And real-world experiences are also valued at the college, which works to maintain strong relationships with employers in the region.

Nate Stansberry oversees human resources for University Tees, OnPoint Promos and 717 Ink, three related brands in Lakewood. The companies have about 180 employees in total, and currently, about 15 team members — either interns or part-time or full-time employees — have come from nearby VMCAD, Stansberry said.

“It’s been a natural fit,” he said.

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HIGHER EDUCATION

BERKMAN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

And it’s been attracting more firstyear students. In fall 2017, the university highlighted a milestone: nearly 2,000 first-year students had enrolled, a record for the university. In fall of 2009, that figure was closer to 1,100 students.

That increase shows that Cleveland State has become a “destination,� Berkman said, rather than a “port of last resort.� And it’s more likely that students who spend a full four years on a campus will have a greater affinity for an institution once they graduate, which can help with fundraising in the future.

Berkman instilled a culture of philanthropy at the university that hadn’t really been there before, said Bernie Moreno, the local car dealership magnate whose term on the board and as its chair ended May 1. “Engage: the Campaign for Cleveland State University� launched publicly in May 2015, and by September 2017, the university announced it had surpassed its $100 million goal.

Overall, Berkman had the “full respect and admiration� of the board, Moreno said. Berkman was the perfect person for Cleveland State at that time, as the university needed some of the bold initiatives Berkman brought, Moreno said, like the university’s partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District that led to the Campus International School and the Campus International High School.

Instead of bemoaning the education that does or doesn’t take place at the K-12 level before students go to college, the Campus International schools let Cleveland State use its resources to directly benefit local schools, Berkman said.

Plus, Berkman had a loftier societal goal for the partnership. “The other piece of it was for lots of first generation kids, and particularly for a lot of inner-city kids, they’ve never seen a college campus — they never will see a college campus for many of them,� Berkman said. “So getting them on a college campus and letting them have the experience of being on a college campus and also being able to see kids who look like them walking around with backpacks in college, again, I thought was really important aspirationally.�

The partnership also allows Cleveland State students in programs like nursing and education another setting in which to learn, giving them the opportunity to teach or run clinicals.

Those kinds of collaborations are important to the university, and Cleveland State has forged a number of strategic partnerships with companies and institutions in the region to offer students more real world experiences — one being a partnership with Playhouse Square that allows students to work with professionals in the field. Berkman said the university’s identity as an urban school and, subsequently, its access to those kind of partnerships is more valued today than it was when he first came to Cleveland State, in part because employers are placing more emphasis on those kinds of experiences. “You know, people come in here and they look out the window and they say, ‘Where’s the campus end?’ and I say, ‘Really, as far as your eye can see,’� Berkman said. “Because it gives us the opportunity to give kids this incredibly important real-world experience.�

For all his work toward improving the institution for students, Berkman faced challenges in his relationship with the faculty.

Most notably, the Cleveland State chapter of the American Association of University Professors — the faculty union — in 2013 passed a no confidence vote at a time of curriculum changes. Berkman said he was able to overcome that challenge with the support of the board.

Jim Marino, vice president for the union and an associate professor in English, confirmed that there was a history of conflict between the union and the president and said his sense was that the faculty didn’t feel particularly valued. “It’s been a difficult relationship,�

Marino said.

Bob Krebs, union president and

professor in the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, had stronger words. He thought the relationship between the president and the union had improved after the no confidence vote, but that it drastically declined in recent months. He was concerned about unresolved grievances being left for the next president — there were more active grievances in the spring than the faculty has had in the past seven years, he said — that had occurred after what he described as a contentious contract negotiation.

After a long history of working with the administration to solve problems, Krebs said he was “disappointed.�

The contract was signed in January, and Krebs said he hadn’t spoken to Berkman since. “CSU negotiates contracts with

multiple bargaining units on campus and works to ensure that the needs of all groups are taken into account as these efforts are conducted,� Berkman said in an emailed statement. “I would like to note that the contract referred to was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of approximately 100 faculty in favor to 10 opposed.�

Berkman also attracted some negative headlines over the years as he switched university-provided housing, from a house in Shaker Heights to an apartment downtown back to a house in Cleveland Heights. Berkman said he thought it was important to be downtown as the president of Cleveland State, but he soon learned an apartment wasn’t the best fit for the level of entertaining a university president is expected to do.

Many of the other challenges Berk-

man said he faced as president would be familiar to other college administrators, namely, the emotional and financial challenges facing today’s students and the financial challenges facing the university itself.

But ultimately, he’s positive about the experience. Berkman plans to stay involved in education by teaching after a year-long sabbatical. “I’ve said, and I say again, I think it’s been, for me, the privilege of my career to have the opportunity to do this,� Berkman said. “And I feel that we’ve laid a solid foundation. I think that President Schwartz started laying that foundation, and I’ve had the opportunity to build on that foundation. And when you have a foundation, I think that you have a platform to build upon. So, I feel the future for Cleveland State is really bright.�

ALL GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES

Three French Hens

Three Wise Men

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

HIGHER EDUCATION

Local colleges serving up pints of boozy knowledge

By NICOLE STEMPAK clbfreelancer@crain.com

A group of Case Western Reserve students meet after class with Fat Head’s founder Matt Cole, left, at the Jolly Scholar. (Contributed photo)

Mike Zagorski started brewing beer at the Brew Kettle back in 1998.

Well, he’d follow the recipe. He’d grind up the oats or the rye, put them in a bag and boil them at one of the kettles set up for fellow beer enthusiasts. Sometimes, he would modify the recipe — to mixed results. He likes imperial stouts, so once he added more dark syrup. That tasted horrible. An employee suggested adding double the amount of oats, and that tasted great. Zagorski was always curious about the chemical process.

That experience has been brewing in the back of his mind for years. Zagorski, who holds a Ph.D. and is a professor of chemistry at Case Western

Reserve University. He just finished teaching a new summer course he developed: Chemistry of Fermentation and Brewing.

“Twenty, 30 years ago, colleges didn’t have courses like this,” said Zagorski, who has been teaching for about 25 years. “The electives that are doing well in our department have something popular about them. The microbrewery business is booming, so it’s doing something at the right time.”

Case Western Reserve joins the growing number of universities that offer classes or programs on the science of alcohol. The trend seems to be largely driven by market trends and consumer interest. People enjoy drinking beer and wine, and they want to learn more about the process, too.

More than 10 million people toured small and independent craft breweries in 2014, according to the Brewers Association, a national industry association for small and craft brewers. Julia Herz, craft beer program director of the Brewers Association, says she’s encouraged by that statistic because it shows interest and speaks to the desire for education.

“What it says to me is that people care about beer,” Herz said. “When you enjoy something that you consume, either food or beverage, enough to want to take a class, that in itself shows an interest and demand for more knowledge behind beer.”

Herz is also the publisher of CraftBeer.com, the Brewers Association’s consumer-facing website. She said the site’s page on beer schools gets several million unique visitors a year.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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J U N E 4 - 10 , 2 018

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PA G E 15

HIGHER EDUCATION

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Market Garden Brewery’s Andy Tveekrem dishes out brewing intel to a group of Case Western Reserve students. (Contributed photo)

New schools are added regularly both for traditional in person and online education, and Herz said the classes are becoming more accessible.

Educational offerings can range from chemical fermentation to water quality to food pairings to business management. These can be individual courses, certificate programs, associate degrees, baccalaureate degrees and MBA programs. There are also enthusiast classes both at breweries and universities.

Cleveland State University previously offered a Science of Brewing course. The course was popular, but the professor who taught the course retired and it has not been offered since, spokesman William Dube said.

Similarly, Cuyahoga Community College offered a Brewing Craft Beer course.

“The college offered it seven times — a six-pack plus one, one could say — between fall 2014 and fall 2016 at a few host breweries,” spokesman John Horton said. “The class halted at that point because of difficulties in securing a host site. The college is looking to begin it again (and) the hope is to have something going by this October. It’s a good beer month, after all.”

But the science of alcohol isn’t all fun, and it isn’t all about drinking, either. There’s a lot of mathematics, biochemistry, chemistry and physics involved in the process. The scope of training is expanding into the hard sciences, hospitality management and even business school.

The business and hospitality aspect of beer is an emerging area because professional opportunities aren’t limited to brewing, Herz said.

In 2011, Kent State University’s Ashtabula Campus began offering associate of applied science degrees in viticulture and enology, Ohio’s only wine degree programs.

“There was definitely the feeling that the industry was about to grow — and grow exponentially,” said Lori Lee, senior special assistant, academic affairs at Kent State Ashtabula.

“We were able to utilize the trend to prove that there is a need (for the program) because if you have that much growth, you need workers.”

The number of Ohio wineries has steadily grown: 109 in 2004, 124 in 2008, 175 in 2012 and 265 in 2016, according to the Ohio Grape Industries Committee report, “The Economic Impact of Ohio Wine and Wine Grapes — 2016.” According to the report, Ohio’s grape and wine industry in 2016 had an impact of $1.31 billion to the state’s economy. The industry provides 8,067 full-time

equivalent jobs, with more than 2,700 added since 2012.

“It’s a much more well respected and stronger industry than I think people’s perception may be,” Lee said. “The fact that we’re offering this program here is a demonstration of how just much we anticipate it will grow.”

Ohio is the sixth-largest wine producer in the country, producing 1.23 million gallons or more than 500,000 cases of wine, up one spot from 2012.

In addition to the industry growing, it’s also maturing and turning hands. Edward Trebets, wine degree program director and award-winning winemaker, said family farmers started many of the state’s original wineries. Now, he’s seeing entrepreneurs and professionals who like to drink wine but might not know much about winemaking get into an industry.

“What we’re finding is they need good skilled winemakers, assistant winemakers and viticulturists to continue the business and be successful,” he said. “We have been very successful at getting our students employed in the industry, which is exciting.”

Kent State’s program currently has 26 students. They have awarded 11 viticulture and 15 enology degrees and graduated 19 students. Seventeen of those graduates are employed in the grape and wine or supporting industries. (The remaining two graduates are retirees and talented home winemakers.) They’re working as winery owners, winemakers, assistant winemakers, cellar workers, vineyard owners, vineyard managers, wine packaging designers, wine buyers and greenhouse owners, to name a few.

“It has been a great example of how industry and education can work together,” Lee said. “We’re providing good employment opportunities for people who are looking for employment in the industry. We’re also providing good skilled trained workers to an industry that wouldn’t have had that opportunity before.”

Lee said a majority of the students are post-baccalaureate and second and third generation job hunters, meaning they are looking for a career change. Trebets said students are usually juggling classes with work and a family. It can be easy to overlook how much work, the people involved and the economic impact in the final product. There are clear advantages and opportunities to universities, students and business in offering these courses. It transcends just drinking.

“But,” Lee acknowledged, “that is the best part of it all.”

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

HIGHER EDUCATION

Tri-C gets some breathing room on the West Side

PROUD TODAY.

By BETH THOMAS HERTZ

INSPIRED. EVERY DAY.

clbfreelancer@crain.com

Porter Wright is proud to congratulate Mark Fazio for being named a partner of our firm.

Mark’s passion is to serve clients with the trusted business and legal advice they deserve. For 15 years, he has delivered thoughtful counsel and strong experience in corporate and business law, including mergers & acquisitions, business formation, growth strategies and transactional matters.

Through unyielding dedication to client service and support of local organizations, Mark inspires excellence and purpose in the greater Cleveland community.

Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Dayton Naples Pittsburgh Washington, D.C.

PROMOTE. Why not?

35th Anniversary

35th Anniversary

CLEVELAND BUSINESS VOL. 36, NO. 47

35th Anniversary

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

VOL. 36, NO. 47

NOVEMBER 23 - NOVEMBER 29, 2015 Allyson O’Keefe started her legal career at Porter Wright in 2004 after completing a summer internship there as a Case Western Reserve University law student. Since then, she has worked on many significant deals across Cleveland, including Flats East Bank, The Metropolitan at the 9, Uptown in University Circle and Steelyard Commons, and has been promoted to real estateALLYSON partner.

O’KEEFE, 37 “Young professionals who live downtown are so excited about the city,” said O’Keefe, a Partner; Porter Columbus native who lived downtown forWright 10 years before moving to Rocky River. “The ones who aren’t from here are often more excited about it. When you move here from somewhere else, you don’t for granted.”

VOL. 36, NO. take 47 it Allyson NOVEMBER 23 - NOVEMBER NOVE EMBER 29, 29, 2015 201 O’Keefe started her legal career at Porter Wright in 2004 after completing a sumWhen O’Keefe is not working or spending time with her husband and two children, she can mer internship there as a Case Western Reserve University law student. Since then, she has be found volunteering on the boards of nonprofit organizations and watching college football. worked on many significant deals across Cleveland, including Flats East Bank, The Metropolitan at the 9, Uptown in University Circle and Steelyard Commons, and has been proWHAT INSPIRES YOU ABOUT YOUR WORK? moted to real estateALLYSON partner.

O’KEEFE, Just seeing what Cleveland has gone through in the time that I’ve 37 been here, there’s obvious“Young professionals who live downtown are so excited about the city,” said O’Keefe, a ly a lot of excitement around real estatePartner; development.

I started in 2004 when we were crazy Porter Columbus native who lived downtown for Wright 10 years before moving to Rocky River. “The ones busy with development. That was sort of the boom from ’04 through ’08. I saw it go through who aren’t from here are often more excited about it. When you move here from somewhere the downturn, then I saw it rise again, even stronger than before locally. else, you don’t take it for granted.”

Allyson O’Keefe started her legal career eer at Porter Wright in 2004 after completing comple etin ng a sumsumWhen O’Keefe is not working or spending time with her husband and two children, she can mer internship as a Case Western Reserve University law student. Since tthen, hen, she sh he has has WORKED ON there ARE MIXED-USE URBANnPROJECTS. IS MANY OF THE PROJECTS YOU be found volunteering on the boards of nonprofit organizations and watching college football. worked on many significant deals across ss Cleveland, including Flats East Bank, The The THAT AN AREA OF EXPERTISE? Metropolitan at the 9, Uptown in every University and Steelyard Commons, and rsity d has has ha s been be een proproro Yes, definitely. Real estate is extremely interesting because deal Circle is differWHAT INSPIRES YOU ABOUT YOUR WORK? moted to real estate ent. You can never get bored because there’s so partner. much variety there, from tax Just seeing what Cleveland has gone through in the time that I’ve been here, there’s obviousown are O’Keefe e, a “Young who live downtown so excited about the city,” said O’Keefe, credits to historic renovations, from professionals ground-up development to rehab, from ly a lot of excitement around real estate development. I started in 2004 when we were crazy Rive er. “The “T “The ones ones mixed-use to residential. Columbus native who lived downtown for 10 years before moving to Rocky River. busy with development. That was sort of the boom from ’04 through ’08. I saw it go through who aren’t from here are often more excited xcited about it. When you move here from m somewhere som somew ewhere ere the downturn, then I saw it rise again, even stronger than before locally. else, you LEADERSHIP don’t take it for granted.”

YOUR STYLE? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE

CLEVELAND BUSINESS USINESS

Let the Custom Reprint Department help you leverage this great press.

For more information contact Laura Picariello, Reprints Sales Manager Tel (732) 723-0569 • Fax (888) 299-2205 • lpicariello@crain.com

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NOVEMBER 23 - NOVEMBER 29, 2015

ALLYSON O’KEEFE, 37 Partner; Porter Wright

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O’KeefeI expect is not working or spending timeI work, children, she can with her husband and two child dre en, sh he c he an I definitely believe in leadingWhen by example. the people withding whom MANY OF THE PROJECTS YOU WORKED ON ARE MIXED-USE URBAN PROJECTS. IS be found volunteering on the very boards off nonprofit and watching college collle eg ge football. foo fo ottball. my associates, to work hard, and they see me working hard.

For me, it’sorganizations all THAT AN AREA OF EXPERTISE? about working hard and doing good work.

Yes, definitely. Real estate is extremely interesting because every deal is differWHAT INSPIRES YOU ABOUT YOUR WORK? RK? ent. You can never get bored because there’s so much variety there, from tax hrough th here e’s obviousobviousus Just WHAT seeingWAS whatITCleveland has gone the time that I’ve been here, there’s LIKE TO WORK WITHthrough O’KEEFEinON WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: credits to historic renovations, from ground-up development to rehab, from ly a lot of excitement around real estate te development. I started in 2004 when we we were were e crazy crazy THE FLATS EAST BANK PROJECT? mixed-use to residential. busy with development. of the boom from ’04 through ’08. I saw itt go go through th hrough “Allyson is extremely bright and quick witted, butThat whatwas trulysort distinguishes her the downturn, then I saw itpeople rise again, even from most successful attorneys is her exceptional skills.

Shestronger has an than before locally.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE? uncanny ability to encourage the ‘adversaries’ in her negotiations to work in I definitely believe in leading by example. I expect the people with whom I work, OF THE PROJECTS YOU YOU WORKED Wsaid ORKED ON ON ARE ARE MIXED-USE MIXED-USE URBAN URBAN PROJECTS. PROJECTS. IS IS concert with her to achieve win/win MANY solutions to difficult problems,” my associates, to work hard, and they see me working very hard. For me, it’s all THAT AN AREA EXPERTISE? TISE?of the Scott Wolstein, CEO of Starwood Retail Partners andOF co-developer about working hard and doing good work. e is extremely interesting because every deal deal is differdifferrYes, definitely. Real estate Flats East Bank project. ent. You can never get bored there, red because there’s so much variety the ere, ffrom rom m ttax ax — Lee Chilcote WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH O’KEEFE ON credits to historic renovations, tions, from ground-up development to rehab, re ehab, from fro om THE FLATS EAST BANK PROJECT? mixed-use to residential.

“Allyson is extremely bright and quick witted, but what truly distinguishes her

successfulInc. attorneys is reserved. her exceptional people skills. She has an Reprinted with permission from the Crain's Cleveland Business. © 2015from Crainmost Communications All Rights YOU DESCRIBE RIBE YOUR YOUR LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP STYLE? STYLE? HOW WOULD ability to encourage the ‘adversaries’ in her negotiations to work in Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visituncanny www.crainscleveland.com. #CC15040

I definitely believe in leading ding by example. I expect the people with h whom whom m I work, rk concert with her to achieve win/win solutions to difficult problems,” said my associates, to work hard, and they see me working very hard hard. d. For For me, me e, it’s all a Scott Wolstein, CEO of Starwood Retail Partners and co-developer of the about working hard and doing good work.

Flats East Bank project.

— Lee Chilcote YING: WHAT WHAT WAS WAS IT IT LIKE LIKE TO TO WORK WORK WITH WITH O’KEEFE O’KEEFE ON ON WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: THE FLATS EAST BANK PROJECT? PROJECT? “Allyson is extremely bright right and quick witted, but what truly distinguishes dis stin nguish hes her hes

skills s. She She has has an ha successfulInc. attorneys her exceptional people skills.

Reprinted with permission from the Crain's Cleveland Business. © 2015from Crainmost Communications All Rightsisreserved. ourage negotiatio ons to to work w wo orrk k in n ability to encourage the ‘adversaries’ in her negotiations Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visituncanny www.crainscleveland.com. #CC15040

hieve win/win solutions to difficult probl bllem ms,” s,” said concert with her to achieve problems,” co-deve evel velo ve elo el ope pe er off the the e Scott Wolstein, CEO off Starwood Retail Partners and co-developer ct.

Flats East Bank project.

— Lee Le Ch Chilcote C

Reprinted with permission from the Crain's Cleveland Business. © 2015 Crain rain Communications nss IInc Inc. nc. nccc. All n Al Rights Rig rese reserved. rved d.

Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visit www.crainscleveland.com. ww.crainscleveland. and.c nd d.ccom. o om. m #CC15040

A new building being constructed on Cuyahoga Community College’s Westshore Campus in Westlake will unite all the students at the college’s fastest-growing campus at one location after years of classes being held at two locations nearly six miles apart.

Ground was broken in March on the $40 million, 89,000-square-foot Westshore Campus Center, which will be attached to the existing building, now known as the Medical Mutual Health Careers and Sciences facility, at 31001 Clemens Road. When it is finished in time for the fall semester in 2019, the new structure will house most of the Westlake for-credit classes, many of which have been held at Tri-C’s Corporate College West site at 25425 Center Ridge Road in recent years to accommodate student demand.

“We started offering a few credit classes (at the Corporate College site) as an outpost from the Western campus (in Parma) and the demand just rose.

We started out in the garden level, just using the basement basically, and before long, between 2004 and 2010, we literally filled the building with credit classes,” said Terri Pope, president of the Westshore Campus since 2014.

When the current Westshore building opened in 2011, the labs for nursing and sciences were moved

there with the expectation that another building would be added shortly thereafter, she said. However, that didn’t happen because of a lack of funding at the time and the Corporate College West building continued to be squeezed.

“There are about 42 classrooms there and we have been using over 35 of them.

I am sure they are anxious to get some of their building back,” she said.

The new building is possible due to the passage in November of Issue 61 — a 0.5-mill, 25-year bond issue that will generate $227 million for Tri-C to expand and upgrade buildings throughout its system.

“It will allow us to bring both sides of our campus together. Instead of students having a 5.8 mile commute to their English class from their science class, they will be at one site,” Pope said.

The new building also will enable Tri-C to expand its Westshore offerings and focus more closely on providing students the classes they need to complete the first two years of a bachelor’s degree there, she said. In addition to bringing 38 new classrooms, it will have a multi-purpose “movement studio” that will house more classes in areas such as yoga, Pilates and physical education. It will have an arts studio that will accommodate an expanded drawing and painting curriculum as well as an engineering lab and several computer labs to grow the offerings in those fields.

There will be an open flexible

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 17

HIGHER EDUCATION

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anded ever, lack rpoued

Terri Pope, president of the Westhore Campus, at the groundbreaking in March. (The DarkRoom Company)

here hem. me of

space that can be configured to accommodate large events of up to 200 people in chairs or about 150 people at tables. The new building also will have amenities designed to make the campus a more appealing place for students to linger between classes and connect with their peers, such as a cafeteria and lounges.

Pope said the college plans to update the existing building to add a physics lab and upgrade biology and chemistry labs, and is looking to host workforce programs at the expanded campus, adding more content on artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

Ann Proudfit, dean of student affairs for the Westshore Campus, said the added space is going to greatly improve how her department is able to meet student needs. Right now, whenever they offer programming at one site, they miss half or more of the students. Since the two locations

house different disciplines — sciences are at the Westshore building and liberal arts are at the Corporate College site — offering programming that cuts across disciplines is especially challenging.

“You feel like you always have to do things twice, but the staffing is such that it just makes it difficult,” she said.

The expansion will allow the creation of a one-stop experience for student services, with the enrollment center, counseling center, veterans services, testing center, transfer and career services and more being consolidated in the existing building. The new building will house Student Life offices, which have been designed to be open and inviting to encourage students to get involved in activities, she added.

The Westshore campus is small, but it has seen the largest growth in the Tri-C system since its founding in 2011, posting record enrollment numbers

this past fall with nearly 2,200 students.

This represented an 11% increase from the previous fall. The majority of students come from communities such as North Olmsted, Westlake, Rocky River, Bay Village and Lakewood.

“We are ideally located to serve the western suburbs. Our Western Campus in Parma is not easily accessible from the western lakeshore suburbs,”

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Cuyahoga Community College’s $40 million, 89,000-square-foot Westshore Campus Center is expected to be completed by the 2019 fall semester. (Contributed rendering)

go toward upgrading existing buildings and 39% will go for new construction.

In addition to her campus’ new building, Tri-C is beginning work on the Advanced Technology Training Center in Cleveland, the Public Safety Training Center in Parma Heights and the Automotive Technology Center at Western Campus in Parma.

As delighted as Pope is to see the new building under way in Westlake, though, she sees even bigger things for her campus down the road.

“I hope we grow out of this building too,” she said with a laugh.

win

ve

ue to e 61 that C to ings

she said.

She said that one of the fastest-growing segments at Westshore has been high school students in the College Credit Plus program. More than 450 participated in this spring, with some attending classes taught

by Tri-C at local high schools, such as Westlake, Rocky River and Bay Village, but with others coming to the campus for classes in the program, which allows high school students to earn college credit at no cost.

Pope noted that of the money generated for Tri-C from Issue 61, 61% will

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

THE LIST

Highest-Paid CEOs

Ranked by 2017 Total Compensation TOTAL COMPENSATION THIS EXECUTIVE YEAR TENURE AS CEO

2017 2016

COMPANY NET INCOME

% CHANGE

SALARY

BONUS

STOCK AWARDS

OPTION AWARDS

NONEQUITY CHANGE IN INCENTIVE PENSION PLAN VALUE (1) OTHER

2017 % CHANGE (MILLIONS) FROM 2016

1

W. Nicholas Howley/TransDigm Group Inc. December 2001 - April 30, 2018

$61,023,102 $18,650,700

227.2%

$7,000

$0

$0

$9,772,881

$0

$0

$51,243,220

$596.9

2

Lourenco Goncalves/Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. August 2014 - present

$23,561,505 $9,536,481

147.1%

$1,300,000

$4,650,000

$11,858,417

$0

$4,565,940

$650,202

$536,946

$367.0

3

Thomas L. Williams/Parker Hannifin Corp.

February 2015 - present

$15,328,101 $10,786,328

42.1%

$1,125,000

$0

$5,303,474

$2,935,010

$2,418,118

$3,372,639

$173,860

$983.4

4

Charles E. Jones Jr./FirstEnergy Corp.

January 2012 - present

$15,281,885 $14,117,391

8.2%

$1,136,113

$0

$6,208,144

$0

$1,383,655

$6,530,282

$23,691

($1,724.0)

5

Craig Arnold/Eaton June 2016 - present

$15,178,141 $13,037,109

16.4%

$943,752

$0

$5,956,210

$1,948,435

$2,293,117

$3,815,514

$39,863

$2,985.0

6

John G. Morikis/Sherwin-Williams Co. January 2016 - present

$13,513,194 $9,647,808

40.1%

$1,142,313

$0

$5,042,504

$4,109,591

$2,730,000

$0

$488,786

$1,772.3

7

Andreas W. Mattes/Diebold Nixdorf June 2013 - December 2017

$12,243,836 $5,966,752

105.2%

$963,382

$0

$4,217,980

$908,000

$249,555

$0

$5,904,919

($233.1)

8

Richard J. Kramer/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. April 2010 - present

$10,845,759 $19,798,104

(45.2)%

$1,300,000

$0

$2,221,806

$3,194,991

$1,305,598

$2,678,203

$145,161

$346.0

9

Susan Patricia Griffith/Progressive Corp.

July 2016 - present

$9,274,439 $6,864,146

35.1%

$721,154

$0

$6,525,051

$0

$1,936,298

$0

$91,936

$1,592.2

10

Richard G. Kyle/The Timken Co. May 2014 - present

$8,603,973 $6,644,743

29.5%

$900,000

$0

$2,912,604

$1,248,150

$1,477,656

$1,706,000

$359,563

$203.4

11

Matthew E. Monaghan/Invacare Corp.

April 2015 - present

$8,190,175 $4,091,621

100.2%

$780,778

$0

$4,532,327

$2,151,724

$710,508

NA

$14,838

($76.5)

12

Beth E. Mooney/KeyCorp May 2011 - present

$8,146,470 $8,167,203

(0.3)%

$1,000,000

$0

$3,959,986

$439,999

$2,675,000

$3,932

$67,553

$1,296.0

13

David C. Brown/Victory Capital Holdings Inc. August 2013 - present

$7,858,881 NA

NA%

$600,000

$3,684,135

$3,000,000

$113,970

$0

$0

$460,776

$25.8

14

Christopher L. Mapes/Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. December 2012 - present

$7,692,463 $6,696,609

14.9%

$935,000

$0

$2,408,020

$1,199,989

$2,928,906

$33,446

$187,102

$247.5

15

David R. Lukes/DDR Corp.

March 2017 - present

$7,541,235 NA

NA%

$705,064

$1,154,195

$5,624,143

$0

$0

$0

$57,833

($241.7)

16

Mark T. Smucker/The J.M. Smucker Co. May 2016 - present

$6,949,627 NA

NA%

$900,000

$18,000

$3,600,000

$0

$1,089,000

$1,295,376

$47,251

$592.3

17

Edward F. Crawford/Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.

1992 - May 2018

$6,807,526 $5,051,904

34.8%

$750,000

$0

$3,143,250

$0

$2,823,600

$0

$90,676

$28.6

18

Michael F. Hilton/Nordson Corp.

January 2010 - present

$6,748,315 $6,428,849

5.0%

$875,000

$0

$2,347,868

$1,829,045

$1,103,375

$505,485

$87,542

$295.8

19

Joseph M. Gingo/A. Schulman Inc. August 2016 - present; January 2008 - December 2014

$6,604,281 $526,574

1,154.2%

$909,835

$0

$5,205,896

$455,438

$0

$0

$33,562

$33.0

20

Ward J. "Tim" Timken Jr./TimkenSteel Corp.

June 2014 - present

$6,107,905 $4,467,849

36.7%

$865,200

$0

$1,882,824

$1,455,360

$358,395

$1,441,000

$105,126

($43.8)

21

Robert M. Patterson/PolyOne Corp.

May 2014 - present

$5,686,905 $3,805,171

49.5%

$959,231

$0

$1,331,605

$1,419,188

$1,862,317

$0

$114,564

($57.7)

22

Alfred M. Rankin Jr./Nacco Industries Inc. May 1991 - September 2017

$5,654,763 $6,388,646

(11.5)%

$474,627

$0

$1,651,936

$0

$1,196,884

$1,824,567

$440,837

$30.3

23

Peter T. Thomas/Ferro Corp.

April 2013 - present

$5,472,401 $5,393,938

1.5%

$913,200

$0

$2,067,723

$895,158

$1,298,600

$18,796

$278,924

$57.1

24

David J. LaRue/Forest City Realty Trust Inc. June 2011 - present

$5,354,489 $3,681,296

45.5%

$750,000

$0

$1,906,599

$0

$2,631,096

$10,718

$56,076

$206.0

25

Richard J. Hipple/Materion Corp.

May 2006 - March 2017

$4,917,783 $4,010,629

22.6%

$867,096

$0

$1,080,836

$361,267

$1,861,196

$741,776

$5,612

$11.5

26

Frank C. Sullivan/RPM International Inc. October 2002 - present

$4,657,891 $12,537,773

(62.8)%

$970,000

$0

$214,158

$2,580,000

$730,000

$17,248

$146,485

$181.8

27

Neil A. Schrimsher/Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. October 2011 - present

$4,468,809 $3,354,939

33.2%

$845,000

NA

$1,597,463

$619,894

$1,240,376

$0

$166,076

$133.9

28

Matthew A. Ouimet/Cedar Fair LP January 2012 - January 2018

$4,439,657 $5,856,993

(24.2)%

$1,063,462

$0

$1,999,979

$0

$1,303,667

$0

$72,549

$215.5

29

Alfred M. Rankin Jr./Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc. September 2012 - present

$4,366,594 $2,808,832

55.5%

$902,674

$0

$1,746,675

$0

$1,400,875

$34,473

$281,897

$48.6

30

Marc A. Stefanski/TFS Financial Corp.

1998 - present

$4,298,601 $4,464,105

(3.7)%

$1,386,923

$0

$569,645

$0

$2,062,500

$24,748

$254,785

$88.9

31

Walter M. Rosebrough Jr./Steris October 2007 - present

$4,220,360 $9,056,964

(53.4)%

$840,000

$0

$1,305,437

$1,477,664

$464,005

NA

$133,254

$110.0

32

Robert G. Ruhlman/Preformed Line Products Co. July 2000 - present

$4,143,450 $3,185,852

30.1%

$810,000

NA

$2,074,855

NA

$810,000

NA

$451,596

$12.7

33

Thomas F. August/DDR Corp.

July 2016 - March 2017

$3,841,369 $4,132,296

(7.0)%

$130,289

$0

$0

$0

$0

$0

$3,711,080

($241.7)

1.79% 110.8% 21.88% NM 55.79% 56.46% NM -72.63% 54.43% 44.46% NM 63.84% NM 24.75% NM -14% -9.78% 8.81% NM NM NM 2.47% NM NM -55.51% -48.74% 352.75 21.27% 13.55% 10.33% -0.72 -17.05% NM

RESEARCHED BY CHUCK SODER (CSODER@CRAIN.COM)

Want the full Excel version of this list Ñ and every Crain's list? Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data Data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence (Marketintelligence.spglobal.com). The full digital list includes 58 executives. NM = not meaningful. Send all feedback to Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com.

(1) Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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LIST ANALYSIS

Execs on Highest-Paid CEOs list got big raises in 2017

By CHUCK SODER ccoder@crain.com @ChuckSoder

CEOs at local public companies got much bigger raises in 2017 than they did the previous year.

The 40 CEOs who held the position through both 2016 and 2017 received a median total compensation increase of 21.36% in 2017.

That’s up from 3.55% the previous year, according to data from the full digital version of our Highest-Paid CEOs list, which uses data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

CEOs at the biggest companies got the biggest raises in 2017 — which was also the case in 2016. But this year CEOs at smaller public companies got solid pay increases, too.

The median total compensation increase for the top 20 CEOs was 31.3% in 2017, compared to 6.6% in 2016. The median for the bottom 20 was 13.2% in 2017, compared to a measly 0.8% last year.

Granted, their salaries didn’t go up much. Most of the increase came in the form of restricted stock awards and/or options. That helps explain why the compensation increase was so big in 2017: Many companies locally and nationally have seen their stock prices rise since late 2016, which makes their stock-related

awards more valuable (and can help CEOs earn performance-related awards as well).

Of course, individual CEOs see their compensation rise and fall for all sorts of reasons — and often by huge percentages.

Consider the executive at the top of the list: Former TransDigm Group CEO Nicholas Howley, who raked in $61 million in 2017 — more than three times what he made last year.

How could his compensation rise so much in a single year?

Howley, who stepped down on April 30, received a paltry $7,000 salary in 2017. Most of his compensation is listed in the “other” category.

That’s because the Cleveland-based aerospace supplier makes so-called “dividend equivalent payments” to stock option holders whenever it makes a dividend payment. And the company, according its 2018 proxy statement, has a tendency to issue “dividends that are unusually large and hard to predict.” Likewise, Howley’s compensation has sometimes been unusually large and hard to predict.

The “other” category is also where you’ll find severance payments — which can be sizable.

For instance, former Diebold Nixdorf CEO Andreas Mattes jumped from No. 21 on last year’s list to No. 7 this year because of a $4.5 million

severance payment he received after being forced out in December 2017.

Two other former CEOs, Thomas August of DDR Corp. (No. 33) and Joel Hawthorne of GrafTech International (No. 38), also received multimillion-dollar severance payments.

This year, we included each executive’s tenure as CEO, which shows just how much turnover there has been over the past few years at local public companies.

For instance, 11 of the companies in the top 20 have swapped CEOs since January 2015. And one of them, DDR, has changed CEOs three times since then.

Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves jumped from No. 10 on last year’s list to No. 2 this year. His compensation rose 147%, mainly because of performance-related awards (the iron ore and mining company has been doing well lately).

But even if you’re the CEO of a company that’s doing well, your pay can still drop. Take Steris CEO Walter Rosebrough. The medical equipment company’s stock is way up over the past 12 months. Regardless, he fell from No. 11 on last year’s list to No. 31 this year. Why? He received a large tax reimbursement in fiscal year 2016. This year, Rosebrough’s total pay dropped back to 2015 levels.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

AKRON

Blossom expects big crowds this summer

By JUDY STRINGER clbfreelancer@crain.com

Grab the picnic blanket and dust off the lawn chairs. The concert season at Blossom Music Center is about to be in full swing, and this summer — Blossom’s 50th — the swing is expected to be swingier than usual.

The Cleveland Orchestra will perform 19 concerts at its “summer home” in Cuyahoga Falls. While that is not a spike in the number of shows from recent years, chief brand officer Ross Binnie expects the 2018 lineup to attract larger than normal crowds.

Early ticket sales for Yo-Yo Ma’s Aug. 12 concert, where the famed cellist will play all six of Bach’s suites, are selling “incredibly well,” Binnie said, and the orchestra already has sold more than 9,000 tickets for a 50th anniversary special concert on July 8, when Roger Daltrey will take the stage to perform The Who’s “Tommy” with members of The Who Band and the Cleveland Orchestra. “Tommy” will be the orchestra’s top-grossing show of all time, he said.

“We open with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto on July 7, and that should be a big one, too,” Binnie added. “And we’ve got three movies this summer: ‘Singing in Rain,’ ‘Star Wars’ and ‘The Little Mermaid.’ Our movies typically do very well.”

Meanwhile, the number of Live Nation events at Blossom is “flying past” previous seasons, according to Barry Gabel, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Live Nation Network. Live Nation’s 29-show lineup began May 27 with Jimmy Buffett.

Typically, the company’s summer season includes about 23 shows at the Summit County stage, he said.

“The way the calendar falls, a lot of bands were available during the time the orchestra wasn’t performing (at Blossom),” Gabel said. “It all sort of fits from where they are coming from and where they are going to, and it just so happens there are a lot of bands out there this summer that want to play as

Roger Daltrey will perform The Who’s “Tommy” with members of The Who Band and the Cleveland Orchestra on July 8. (Contributed photos)

John Mayer, and “will draw huge crowds” on June 20, he said.

All of this activity comes amid a handful of upgrades for the 50-yearold outdoor music venue. Two permanent 26-feet-wide high-definition screens are being affixed to the pavilion, which also recently got updates to its heating and air conditioning system. New features include LED house lighting, Wi-Fi and a large main-gate plaza bar, according to Gabel.

Earlier this year, the state kicked in $1.5 million to help with increasing accessibility at Blossom, particularly by extending paved pathways down to the pavilion, and improvements to better manage stormwater that currently flows from elevated parking lots down into the pavilion below.

“People think that we just open up the doors and let people in,” Gabel said. “We work year-round on capital improvements.”

Musical partnership

The Cleveland Orchestra will perform to three movies this summer, including “Star Wars: Epside IV — A New Hope” on Aug. 31.

part of the 50th as well.”

Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band crooned to a sold-out crowd of nearly 20,000 Parrottheads, and Gabel said ticket sales to date indicate more Live Nation shows at Blossom will approach capacity. He expects perennial Blossom headliner Dave Matthews Band, who was scheduled to take the stage June 2, to come close to selling out. Foo Fighters, a band that rarely performs in Northeast Ohio, is already a near sellout for its July 25 show.

Other potential sellouts include the farewell tours of Lynyrd Skynyrd on

July 27 and Ozzy Osbourne on Sept. 16 — Blossom’s last act of the summer — as well as the July 18 Vans Warped Tour festival, which is making its final stops this year.

“We are tacking right now way ahead of where we usually are” for the two-decade-old festival, Gabel said.

“People know it’s their last chance to see some of these bands.”

Blossom is also the only Ohio appearance for Dead & Co., which consists of former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir and singer-songwriter

In any given summer, more than 400,000 patrons pass through Blossom’s gates to enjoy live music. The facility’s operations, however, are a harmony of its own.

While the Cleveland Orchestra’s parent company, the Musical Arts Association, owns Blossom, Live Nation acts more like its manager. Each party is responsible for booking, marketing and selling tickets to their own events, but it is Live Nation — under contract with the MAA — who operates Blossom. Live Nation pays a management fee for use of the facility and provides MAA with a cut of the concessions, according to Binnie.

The two organizations also contribute to a pool of money used for maintenance or improvements, such as the new pavilion screens and recent HVAC work.

Binnie said keeping Blossom in working order is key not only because the venue accounts for a quarter of the orchestra’s $11 million annual ticket sales but, perhaps more importantly, the stage will host the first live classical music experience for many visi-

tors. Blossom ticket prices “are much more accessible than Severance Hall,” he said, especially for families. Those younger than 18 get in free to most orchestra events at Blossom.

The facility accounts for roughly half of the orchestra’s overall attendance each year.

“It is, for many, the first step on the journey to becoming lovers of the Cleveland Orchestra and classical music,” Binnie said.

Neighborly perks Local restaurants say a bustling summer concert schedule is good for them, too. Fred Kobzowicz, a partner in the Cleveland-based Winking Lizard chain, said the Peninsula location sees a rush from Blossom events, especially concerts that appeal to baby boomers and Generation Xers “who come in for a drink and maybe something to eat beforehand.”

“It’s not much different than the Thomas the Train events or Polar Express (on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad). Events that bring people into the valley are good for us merchants in the valley,” Kobzowicz said.

Sue Favazzo, general manager at the Panini’s Bar and Grill on Steels Corner Road, said Blossom crowds fill the restaurant before and often after events, when it’s one of the few local eateries still serving food and drinks.

Nearest neighbor Sarah Altieri of Sarah’s Vineyard also sees more good than bad, despite the traffic headache caused by cars flooding the rural roads around Blossom. Orchestra crowds, in particular, will stop by the vineyard for a drink, especially if they arrive before the gates open and have time to kill.

“We were very busy last week before Jimmy Buffett and typically we get a big rush for Dave Matthews and country concerts, too,” Altieri said.

“Just depends on the show. Some demographics tend to drink more wine than others.”

“Our regulars just know to stay away until about 7 (p.m.), when the traffic dies down,” she said.

Local toymakers facing an uncertain future

By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com @DanShingler

In case you haven’t heard, there’s big trouble in Toyland, and a chunk of Northeast Ohio lies within its mythical borders.

Hundreds of workers make big plastic toys and kids play equipment at Little Tikes in Hudson and at Step2 and Simplay3 in Streetsboro — and they all just lost a major sales channel.

It’s too soon to say what the effect will be on the ground here, but those companies are all dealing with the loss of Toys R Us and its $11 billion in annual overall toy sales. The iconic retailer announced in March it is closing all 800 of its stores around the country this year.

It was such a blow to the plastic toymakers that Isaac Larian, the founder of and CEO of Little Tikes’ parent, MGA Entertainment, attempted to save at least part of the chain by purchasing several hundred of the stores. Unable to reach a deal

with Toys R Us’ creditors, the California businessman abandoned that effort on May 18.

“We have officially withdrawn our bid to save Toys R Us, as we Murdough were unable to reach a fair agreement with the current lenders, who I believe did not provide a fair valuation of the remaining U.S. assets,” Larian said in an email to Crain’s. “Saving the retailer was always going to be a challenge but one that I was up for — both personally and professionally. As the maker of the No. 1 selling toy in the country, L.O.L. Surprise, Toys R Us has played a large part in growing our business and their absence will be felt by the toy industry at large. Moreover, I am most disheartened that the legacy of the retailer will be lost for future generations.”

But that was all MGA Entertainment, maker of the popular L.O.L. Surprise dolls, would say, and ques-

tions about its future and its plans for Northeast Ohio went unanswered.

There’s little doubt that Little Tikes, along with the other toymakers, will feel the effect, though. Just ask the man who put Northeast Ohio on the Toyland map — Tom Murdough, who founded all three of the big plastic toymakers here and who still runs Simplay3 after starting it in 2016.

“There is no denying that the loss of Toys R Us is devastating to the entire industry,” Murdough said in email correspondence. “There is and will continue to be a definite slowdown in the pipeline without a mass merchant like TRU. Without them, all toy retailers are now challenged to find alternative channels.”

Simplay3 might be the least affected of the three local companies, he said, in part because it’s so young and because it launched as a direct-to-consumer seller.

“Therefore, with minimal shipments to TRU, the negative impact to Simplay3 has probably been much less than most other toy companies,” Murdough said.

Simplay3, also because of its youth,

likely would have the least effect on Northeast Ohio’s economy, since it employs fewer people in the area, around 40, the company reported.

Little Tikes didn’t respond to questions about its local employment levels. Step2 responded to an email, but was unable able to reply to questions before press time. But previous Crain’s research shows that Little Tikes employed about 350 people locally in 2015 and Step2 had just fewer than 700 employees in Ohio as of mid-2016.

So far, neither company has announced layoffs, and economic development officials in Hudson and Streetsboro said they had not been informed of any layoffs. They referred questions to the companies themselves when asked about any potential impact locally.

Any such impact could go beyond direct employees, too. The companies have local supply chains that also rely on their sales, Murdough pointed out.

“The ripple effect to all suppliers to Northeast Ohio roto-molders can be significant, as well,” Murdough said.

“It’s impossible to hide the magnitude of the trickle-down impact to our suppliers. Resin consumption, for example, which is closely tied to sales volume, is just one of many areas that will be impacted. Hopefully, that will be a short-term effect as the industry responds to the challenge.”

As for what the companies can do to replace business lost to the Toys R Us closing, there are a number of options, some of which Murdough said he already was pursuing. His company was not caught off-guard the way some others might have been and relied far less on Toys R Us to begin with.

“In addition, Simplay3 has been diversified from the very beginning.

Simplay3 has an extensive line of home and garden products and mailboxes, and continues to develop and bring innovation to these categories.

As an example of our commitment to this market, we are exhibiting ... at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.

“Lastly, Simplay3 continues to grow with online retailers and in both international and regional markets,” Murdough said.

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

LEADERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

In all, a dozen people from the business and civic sectors were asked about the state of the local economy and the efforts to grow it. None was optimistic. Those with whom Crain’s spoke were granted anonymity so they could speak more freely on the subject.

One looked beyond the improved image of Cleveland generated by the successful Republican National Convention and the championship runs of the Cleveland Cavaliers and said, “We’re getting great accolades and great press, but true economic growth has stalled.�

None are expecting the regional economy to start booming like Silicon Valley or even Austin, Texas. But they see peer cities like Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh doing better and point to unchanging civic leadership as a key part of the problem.

Those interviewed understand why fewer younger business leaders and entrepreneurs are pressing their elders to step aside to allow them to be more active on the boards of major local civic organizations. Chief among those reasons, they understand, is that those young leaders believe they need to stay closely focused on nurturing the businesses they run.

Not everyone interviewed was as critical. Several pointed out that many of the top executives of the region’s major corporations, who in the past played major roles in boosting economic development, have had to

jettison civic involvement as their businesses grew internationally. “They can’t focus on the hometown like they used to,� said one longtime civic activist. Also, this person added, “The economy is now global, and it’s harder for us as human beings to get our arms around it.

Even if you had a superior being at the top (guiding the region’s economic development), would things be different? I don’t know.�

Another added that the utility companies in years past were locally focused businesses that had economic development departments that played major roles in helping businesses to expand or attract new businesses to the region. “When I was coming up, CEI (Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co.) and East Ohio Gas, they were running economic development,� he said. “Now, one (FirstEnergy Corp., Akron based but with operating companies stretching from Ohio to the Atlantic Coast) is nearly bankrupt and the other (Dominion Energy) is in Richmond, Va.�

But a big part of the problem for a solid majority of the people interviewed for this story is the belief that the staff people who are leading the efforts to rejuvenate the regional economy have stayed around too long — and have too little to show for their leadership. “There is a structure in place that has been around for about 15 years, and it hasn’t reinvented itself and you haven’t had a flash of new energy,� said one executive who has been active since before the turn of the century. “I just think we’re calcified.�

The business owners and execu-

tives and nonprofit leaders interviewed consistently focused their concerns about leadership on Greater Cleveland. Akron, several noted, is beginning to see leadership change since the retirement in 2015 of longtime mayor Don Plusquellic, the death of Summit County Executive Russ Pry in 2016 and the resignation of Greater Akron Chamber president Don Colantone in 2017.

More than a few ticked off the names, consistently the same names,

“There’s a vacuum.

We’re not grooming the next generation of leaders,� said one early 50s business executive who has made a commitment to civic engagement. “The model needs to change for our city to move forward.� of people who have been in jobs leading organizations whose mission includes working to improve the regional economy for a dozen years or more: David Abbott, executive director of the Gund Foundation; Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson; Ray Leach, CEO of JumpStart Inc., the

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entrepreneur support nonprofit; get the disparate communities in the Ronn Richard, president and CEO of region to work better together and the Cleveland Foundation; Joe Ro- “get serious� about talent and workman, CEO of the Greater Cleveland force development. The report made Partnership, the regional chamber of several recommendations, a number commerce; Barbara Snyder, presi- of which have been implemented, dent of Case Western Reserve Uni- such as a restructuring of Team NEO, versity; and Brad Whitehead, presi- the regional economic nonprofit, dent of the Fund for Our Economic and making it the private-sector driver of economic and workforce develFuture, a coalition of philanthropies. “There’s a vacuum. We’re not opment.

They set the modest goal for their grooming the next generation of leaders,� said one early 50s business effort of a 0.5% increase in jobs annuexecutive who has made a commit- ally, about 10,000 jobs, in Northeast ment to civic engagement. “The Ohio between 2015 and 2019.

A few years earlier, Columbus model needs to change for our city to 2020, the economic development move forward.�

Those who see the region as un- nonprofit that works to boost the derperforming pointed to a few basic 11-county Central Ohio region — a yardsticks, including the poverty rate region that has half the population of and the lack of population growth. the 18-county Northeast Ohio region But most focused on the slow job — set a goal in 2010 of adding 150,000 growth that is underperforming jobs by 2020, or 15,000 a year.

Central Ohio reached that goal this modest goals set in 2014.

That year, the Regional Competi- year, almost two years early, Columtiveness Council, an ad hoc group of bus 2020 announced May 30.

As for the RECS goals, U.S. Census leaders of businesses and philanthropy in Northeast Ohio, produced Bureau employment data compiled an economic blueprint for to rejuve- by the state of Ohio’s Labor Market nate the stagnant 18-county regional Information center shows that the reeconomy. Among the council’s lead- gion actually lost 200 jobs between ership were corporate executives 2015 and 2017. A slightly longer look, such as Ward J. “Tim� Timken Jr., the from 2013 to 2017, shows a gain of chairman and CEO of Canton’s Tim- 17,100 jobs, a little better than 0.2% a kenSteel Corp.; Anthony Alexander, year, well short of the RECS goal. “We have underperformed in ecothen president and CEO of FirstEnergy; and Paul Clark, regional president nomic development for more than a of PNC Bank. The council also in- decade,� said a 40-something entrecluded Abbott, Richard and Deborah preneur looking at the names of the Hoover, president and CEO of the longtime leaders even before knowing about the specific lack of job Burton D. Morgan Foundation.

With the assistance of consultants growth. “My job is on the line every like McKinsey and Co., they laid out a quarter, when I report to my board. plan, called the Regional Economic Who (among the civic leadership) CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS JUNE forcedÎź out of4,a2018 job?â€?Îź PAGE 21 Competitiveness Strategy (RECS), to has been

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Orange is expanding site options

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www.crainscleveland.com/onthemove

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter

More real estate development is getting underway on Harvard Road in Orange Village, this time as land excavation begins on the latest part of the Chagrin Highlands Corporate Park.

The site is on the south side of Hard, across the street from Pinecrest, a mixed-use development led by Cleveland-based Fairmount Properties where retailers are beginning to open their stores.

Chagrin Highlands Ltd., an affiliate of the Westlake-based Richard E. Jacobs Group Ltd., has sold for $2.18 million a site to Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, a Countryside, Ill., operator of a wine bar, wine tasting room and upscale restaurants.

The 300-seat establishment is scheduled to open by year’s end and employ about 180 people, according to Ami Vanderhoof, Cooper’s Hawk marketing manager. She said the Orange Village location will have both a covered and open patio. While there is an upscale menu of contemporary food, the heart of this outfit is the wine, as each location has a private barrel room, a gift shop devoted to wine and operates a wine club.

Orange Village Mayor Kathy Mulcahy said the village has also approved plans for an eight-story Drury Plaza Hotel for the site as well as a site for another restaurant. While nothing has been formally submitted, she said she has met with representatives of Chuy’s, a chain offering Tex-Mex food, about the other site.

Chuy’s is based in Austin, Texas.

Current plans call for the road providing access to the hotel and restaurants to end at a culvert, while the remainder of the 78-acre site could accommodate as much as 400,000 square feet of office space.

“It’s waiting for a corporate user,” Mulcahy said of the remaining land.

Chagrin Highlands has been unfolding since the late 1980s and now houses multiple operations, from Eaton Corp.’s Americas campus and University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood to the Harvard Shopping Center in Warrensville Heights. The joint venture by Jacobs and Scott Technologies Inc. consists of 630 acres bought or purchased from the city of Cleveland and subject to an income tax-sharing agreement with Cleveland.

The latest parcel under development in Orange is dubbed “Orange South” and is receiving the utility lines, sewers and streets necessary to use the land.

“There is available land remaining in Chagrin Highlands,” Mulcahy said, “but this is the last major undeveloped parcel.”

Mulcahy said that she is glad that Jacobs looks to be bringing in restaurants new to the market rather than relocating existing tenants within the market.

“It’s everything we expected,” Mulcahy said. “If it’s everything we would have wanted, that’s a whole other conversation.”

A Chuy’s representative confirmed the chain is looking for a debut site in Northeast Ohio, but did not provide details in an email. Chuy’s is publicly traded and has 95 full-service restaurants in 19 states.

Doug Miller, president of Jacobs Group, did not return three calls from Crain’s Cleveland Business.

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Westfield Bank Joseph P. McNeill was named Senior Vice President, Commercial Lending Team Leader at Westfield Bank’s Medina office. He has a B.S. in accounting from the University of Akron and serves as a board member of Leadership Medina County and the Wadsworth Chamber of Commerce. With $1.5 billion in assets, Westfield Bank serves business and consumer clients from eight locations throughout Northeast Ohio.

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Van Ausdale has an MBA from Ashland University and serves on the board of JD Breast Cancer Foundation as President. With $1.5 billion in assets, Westfield Bank serves business and consumer clients from eight locations throughout Northeast Ohio.

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J U N E 4 - 10 , 2 018

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PA G E 2 3

Tori Nook

Principal, Anchor Cleveland Tori Nook is not only one of the few women in commercial real estate brokerage, she’s one of even fewer female business owners in the retail real estate space. She estimates she closed transactions with total consideration of almost $60 million last year. In 18 years in the business, her roster of tenant rep assignments is as stellar in its way as achievements by LeBron James: Dollar Tree, Covelli Enterprises, the multiple location Panera Bread franchisee, Petsmart, Wahlburgers (though not the downtown Cleveland location) in Ohio, Bath & Body Works and Moe’s Southwest Grill. She speaks in overdrive about things in the business, such as changes in formats by clients to where new retail projects are going up through the region.

Don’t ask her about vacations; she and her husband are too busy for that. Instead they take long weekends and she sometimes accompanies him on overseas business trips. Even there, she advances her firm. She met with a client while visiting Israel last year. A drive to the Kentucky Derby this year included two stops to check out sites. — Stan Bullard

Five things Favorite place in Cleveland?

The Cleveland Museum of Art. When I give people tours, they can’t believe how much Cleveland seems like part of the East Coast.

Drive time listen?

BBC World. I like to hear how they cover the U.S. and find out what’s happening in more detail than the U.S. media covers the rest of the world. I also listen to audiobooks on long drives.

What are you reading now?

“The Complete Works of Florence Shinn”

What’s your ride?

A Mercedes-Benz SUV

Favorite part of the real estate brokerage business?

I love making deals. It’s fun to point out to the kids the stores that are on Mayfield Road because of a deal I did.

Lunch spot Marble Room 623 Euclid Ave., Cleveland www.marbleroomcle.com 216-523-7000

The meal Both had chopped salads and coffee.

One had sushi, the other the chicken sandwich with potato chips.

The vibe Call it crowded in the evenings but power lunch central for the midday meal. A repurposed Beaux Arts-style former banking room with a row of ornate columns defining the restaurant, it’s a place to see and be seen as well as dine.

The bill $ 82.12 with tip

How is starting a commercial real estate brokerage business different from being a real estate agent focused on retail space?

I say it takes a village to start a business. I got a lot of help from my husband, Jonathan Nook, president of The NOCO Co.; and attorney, Jon Pinney, managing partner of KJK; my partner in Anchor Cleveland, Charlie Townsend, who has decades of experience in the industry; and my colleagues. There’s everything from managing the office, constantly updating our marketing, systems and programs we use, and now we are redesigning our website, which will be launched this summer. I believe in surrounding myself with the best and most successful people. I subscribe to the philosophy that you surround yourself with people you can trust, share the same values, ethics and goals. You also have to get along. Life’s too short to work with people you don’t like.

Did you always want to be in business for yourself?

I come from a long line of entrepreneurs and business owners. I grew up in Canfield. My dad was in the international wholesale music business. My mom was involved in managing my family’s finances and real estate holdings, too. The Rendano family line of business people goes back to my great-grandparents, who owned private hospitals in Italy, and my grandparents, who had a jewelry business after they came here. My sister is a residential Realtor in Florida. I always knew I wanted to be in business. That’s why I majored in marketing at John Carroll University and interned with various real estate companies here in Cleveland during my college years.

Many, especially in the media, argue that bricks and mortar retail is dying. Yet you are pursuing a brokerage career and even formed a company focused on serving the industry. Why are you in it?

First of all, it’s not dying, and there is a lot of money being made in the shopping center world. Business and people are always changing. Pull out the site plans of any older shopping center and I’ll bet you probably won’t find the name of one retailer that is still in business. Some stores are closing, but other retailers are expanding their footprints or changing

their business model or merging. The market is as tight now as I’ve seen it in my career. It is not just in Northeastern Ohio; I work on deals for clients across the country and it is the same situation. Where there’s vacancy, it’s because the demographics have changed. A lot of retail is following the movement of population in housing and disposable income. I think the retailer shakeout is near its end.

Did you like to shop when you were growing up?

Absolutely! When I was a kid, we used to go to New York or Pittsburgh or Cleveland to shop since that is what my parents liked to do. I’m also a bit of a foodie. I enjoy seeing the expansion of chef-driven restaurants throughout the region. Not a lot of people cook anymore, thus driving restaurant expansion, and national sales are up here and across the country.

Is it hard to make your way in retail real estate as a woman?

When I was a rookie, some people gave me a hard time. I’ve never felt uncomfortable. It changes once people know you can produce deals and enjoy working with you. I’ve also benefited from several mentors, including my first internship in college for an agent at Realty One and the second internship with an agent at the Samuel Schaul Co. Working at Schaul, I learned how to research property owners, assemble properties, who to call and what might go into a given center. It’s like a big puzzle. It takes a lot of creativity and persistence. The market is also so tight you have to know what (shopping center) owners and retailers are doing before it’s generally known publicly.

You need to keep on top of it so you know where there will be openings for the retailers or restaurants you represent.

What is striking about the region’s retail scene?

In some respects, we’re catching up to lifestyle centers and tenants that other cities have had for a long time.

REI, Vineyard Vines and Pinstripes are coming into the market, but many other cities already have them. I can’t get over how many retailers are expanding their existing footprints in shopping centers they are already in.

Look at Arhaus at Legacy Village and H+M at Crocker Park, for example. A lot of retailers are doing very well.

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