Crain's Cleveland Business

VOL. 39, NO. 24

JUNE 11 - 17, 2018

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

S 20

TWENTY IN THEIR Z AC H A DA M S

SA R A H A L SA D E N

CA L A L - D H U B A I B

NIVETHA SREE BALASUBRAMANIAN

LO R E DA N N A B A R R E TO

DAV I D B O RO C Z - J O H N S O N

K AT E S H AU G H N E S SY B I G G A R

HALEY COLEMAN

K AT I E V E A S E Y G I L L E T T E

B RO O K E H R A D I S K Y

NINA HOLZER

BRIANNA INGHRAM

GABRIELLA KREUZ

Y U LU L I

T R I C I A R E D DY Entire contents © 2018 by Crain Communications Inc.

SA M DA N KO F F

L A’ VA R H O W E L L

K E N K A LY N C H U K

B R E N DA N M C H U G H

C O BY S O C H E R

C

reative. Driven. Passionate. Those are just a few of the words that can be used to describe the individuals in this year’s Twenty in their 20s class. Selected by a panel of Crain’s editors, these impressive young professionals represent the future of business leadership in Northeast Ohio.

In many cases, they haven’t made their first million yet, but the impacts they’ve had on their workplaces and the broader community are undeniable.

Their stories, Pages 12-21

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

N.J. firm set to acquire AECOM Centre for $38M

The 20-story AECOM Centre building at 1300 East Ninth St. is almost 36% vacant. Rugby Realty is preparing to purchase the property from Optima 1300 LLC for about $38 million.

(Stan Bullard)

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter

Rugby Realty, a Secaucus, N.J.based real estate company with a track record for buying high-vacancy office buildings and turning them around, is preparing to purchase the 20-story AECOM Centre building in downtown Cleveland.

Sources familiar with the acquisition say a Rugby affiliate will pay about $38 million for the building at 1300 East Ninth St. The building is owned by Optima 1300 LLC, an affili-

ate of Miami Beach, Fla.-based Optima International that paid $46.5 million for it in 2010, according to Cuyahoga County land records.

Although Optima landed one of the largest downtown office deals of the last decade, wooing the Cleveland offices of big architecture/engineering firm AECOM to consolidate its operations from three offices to one at the tower, more tenants have been leaving than moving in the past few years.

AECOM is almost 36% vacant, with 209,132 square feet empty out of 588,320 square feet in the building.

Such high vacancy could make the

2018 CLEVELAND HERITAGE MEDAL Bestowed upon individuals whose significant contributions through leadership, collaboration and service have left an indelible mark on all spheres of the Cleveland community.

TOBY COSGROVE, MD ROBERT D. GRIES STEVEN A. MINTER JERRY SUE THORNTON, PHD THE CLEVELAND HERITAGE MEDAL PRESENTATION LUNCHEON WILL BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 15, 2018 AT CLEVELAND CITY HALL GRAND HALL ROTUNDA To join us in the celebration, please call 216-778-7509.

Cleveland Heritage Medal Committee Chairs: The Honorable Frank G. Jackson Mayor, City of Cleveland

Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE The MetroHealth System

Carole F. Hoover HooverMilstein

building a candidate for at least partial conversion to apartments. However, the building dates from 1972 and is years from being eligible for state and federal tax credits that have been crucial to most such projects in downtown Cleveland.

The other reason insiders downplay an apartment conversion is that Rugby already has had representatives talking to prospective tenants about moving to the building — even before the company owns it.

Optima was a serial buyer in downtown Cleveland during the long real estate downturn that accompanied the 2008 financial crisis. It snapped up One Cleveland Center at 55 Public Square and the Union Trust building at 925 Euclid Ave. at a time when typical buyers were sidelined because banks and other lenders vital to such deals had no appetite for such loans.

Now Optima also has agreed to sell the 55 Public Square building to K&D Group of Willoughby, and in 2015 sold 925 Euclid to Delray Beach, Fla.based Hudson Holdings. Optima also

Real estate loans are plentiful and on agreeable terms for buyers, investors have started looking in the Midwest for deals, and downtown Cleveland has basked in a hardfought rebound the last few years. partnered with Denver-based Sage Hospitality in acquiring and repositioning the Crowne Plaza, 777 St. Clair Ave., in a multimillion-dollar project.

Optima is gradually exiting Cleveland as the city and region’s position is quite different from the time the company bought in. Real estate loans are plentiful and on agreeable terms for buyers, investors have started looking in the Midwest for deals, and downtown Cleveland has basked in a hard-fought rebound the last few years.

However, Optima is not speaking about why it is voting with its feet.

Chaim Schochet, the investment executive who manages its investments here, did not return three calls about the proposed sale.

Robert Ades, a Rugby principal who handles its acquisitions in new markets, declined comment on whether the company is looking to buy AECOM or on reports the transaction will close by mid-month.

Ades is identified as the party with the authority to form 1300 East Ninth Street Associates LLC, the Ohio corporation recently formed that has a name matching AECOM’s street address.

The incorporation paper at the Ohio Secretary of State’s office also directs that communications with respect to 1300 East Ninth Street Associates go to Joel Cohn, the chief financial officer of Rugby and its related companies.

Rugby and sister company Rexxhall Realty LLC own more than 30 downtown and suburban office buildings, as well as industrial and retail properties.

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 3

Potrepreneurs are facing many obstacles

By JEREMY NOBILE

quadruple,” Hopkins-Greene said.

While costs will vary between the space and operator, Hopkins-Greene said she was expecting to pay about $350,000 to $400,000 for a buildout in Columbus. That’s part of about $1 million in cash the business has had set aside for various startup costs and to act as a safety net to keep the business operating for at least 18 months in the event sales come up short.

Meanwhile, an application costs $5,000. And applicants had to show they had liquid costs to cover their first year of operation, which could not be less than $250,000.

jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

With provisional licenses finally awarded to aspiring medical marijuana dispensaries, potrepreneurs like Dave Neundorfer are quickly turning to getting their shops up and running.

But no matter how fast they move, it’s unlikely much, if any, medical cannabis will be available for patients to buy come the mandated start of Ohio’s medical marijuana control program Sept. 8 — something the Ohio Department of Commerce recently acknowledged.

“We’re hopeful (some product will be available),” Neundorfer said. “But the chances are slim.”

Neundorfer is president and CEO of Cleveland-based software company LineStream Technologies. But he’s also CEO of Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC, a Waite Hill firm that received five of the 56 provisional dispensary licenses the Ohio Board of Pharmacy awarded on June 4. Dispensaries are spread out throughout the state in different districts, clustering around areas with denser population, with Northeast and Central Ohio having the most. There were 370 applicants seeking dispensary licenses, and more than 40% of those wanted to do business in Northeast Ohio.

Five is the maximum number of licenses one entity can hold, which equates to nearly 9% of the initial retail market. Greenleaf didn’t apply for any others. Its dispensaries, clustered mostly around Northeast Ohio, are expected to go in Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Wickliffe and Columbus.

Neundorfer said he has no plans to leave LineStream, noting he was motivated to get involved in the state’s legalized cannabis industry because to “be on the forefront of a new industry in Ohio was very exciting.”

He sees that there’s a lot of money to be made while helping a population seeking marijuana as medicine.

“To be able to do something tangible to help people in my community was a great double-bottom-line opportunity,” he said.

Neundorfer hopes Greenleaf can be a vertically integrated enterprise, which in the cannabis sector means having a business that can grow, process and sell marijuana all on its own, which is a business model good for margins.

His firm has not yet received a cultivator license (like other firms denied licenses, it’s trying to fight that in court, but it’s unclear what might come of those efforts). And the state’s 40 processors have not yet been awarded provisional licenses, although that’s expected to happen later this month.

While Greenleaf was successful with all of its bids on the dispensary front, Neundorfer said the licensing process has been extremely competitive and a “challenging process.”

He declined to talk finances, including how much of an investment each dispensary — which in Greenleaf’s network range in size from about 3,000 to 5,0000 square feet each — is taking, or what spends related to securing a cultivation or processing license look like for the firm.

However, securing real estate has been a battle of its own, just as it has been for aspiring cultivators. The firm secured properties in five cities last August and has been paying to have those properties delisted while either awaiting to receive a provisional license or be denied.

Those who were turned down are simply eating those costs.

Preparing for September

Marijuana is displayed through a magnifying glass inside a dispensary in Colorado. (Matthew Staver/Bloomberg)

Northeast Ohio dispensaries Here’s a list of the 18 dispensaries that received provisional licenses to operate in Northeast Ohio. The licenses were awarded on June 4.

1. GTI Ohio LLC

1920 Cooper Foster Park Road, Lorain

2. NMG Ohio LLC

709 Sugar Lane, Elyria

3. AFS Cultivation LLC

603 Cleveland St., Elyria

4. Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC

3865 Lakeside Ave. E., Cleveland

5. GTI Ohio LLC

11818 Madison Ave., Lakewood

6. GTI Ohio LLC

1222-1224 Prospect Ave. E., Cleveland

7. GTI Ohio LLC

Approximately 18607-18609 Detroit Ave. Extension, Lakewood

8. Cannamed Therapeutics LLC

10500 Antenucci Blvd., Suite 200, Garfield Heights

9. Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC

46 South Summit St., Akron

10. 127 OH LLC

737 East North St., Akron

11. KDJOH LLC

1220 Buchholzer Blvd., Units C/DC, Cuyahoga Falls

12. Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC

3840 Greentree Southwest, Canton

13. FarmaceuticalRX LLC

1865 Dresden Ave., East Liverpool

14. Mother Knows Best LLC

Parcel #400887, Lot #5 within the Stein Industrial Park, Canton

15. Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC

30133 Euclid Ave., Wickliffe

16. 127 OH LLC

382 Blackbrook Road, Painesville Township

17. Green Leaf Medical of Ohio II LLC 2932 Youngstown Road, Warren 18. Quest Wellness Ohio II LLC

4323 Market Street, Youngstown

Source: Ohio Board of Pharmacy

Competition equals cost Some firms have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to do the same thing. And property owners have been raising rates in light of the demand for real estate by potrepreneurs.

“It’s something we’ve had to deal with and work around,” said Catherine Ols, director of community engagement and patient services for Greenleaf. “Keeping all those properties locked down has definitely been costly.”

Shawnta Hopkins-Greene, founder and CEO of MyCannX — a firm currently based in Maryland that offers consulting, marketing and physician referral services to medical marijuana businesses — was denied a dispensary license in Columbus (which was applied for under Healing III LLC). She said MyCannX is working with Green Leaf Medical of Ohio II LLC, which was awarded a license to run a dispensary in Warren.

And, being an Ohio native, Hopkins-Greene plans to move MyCannX to Columbus’ German Village,

where she hopes to be working sometime in August.

She said property owners have “played hardball” in light of the demand for space because “they know you’re between a rock and a hard place.”

According to filings with the state, Healing III LLC was attempting to lease 374 E. Long St. in Columbus for a dispensary, which is owned by 360 Long LLC. Hopkins-Greene said she was paying about $1,800 a month since November to have the property taken off the market while awaiting licensing results, which were expected to come in late May. When the release of those licenses was delayed, that rate jumped to $5,000.

Hopkins-Greene said she’s figuring out what to do with the property

While dispensary operators are diving into buildouts now, they may not have anything to sell come September — which is what the public has been expecting.

Licenses were awarded to cultivators large and small in November, giving about nine months before the September deadline.

Kevin Patrick Murphy, an attorney with Walter | Haverfield working with various medical marijuana businesses, noted that many growers are building facilities from the ground up, though.

And with winter weather dragging into April this year, many simply couldn’t start construction. That’s one key element in why the industry has been slow to metamorphize.

Between that and other issues like lawsuits surrounding the state’s licensing process for cultivators, many stakeholders have been expecting delays for many months.

And while the state has long been committed to the September deadline, state officials have recently acknowledged that the program won’t be fully operational by then.

Of the 25 cultivators the state has licensed, three were claiming they’d be ready for May inspections, said Stephanie Gostomski, spokesperson with the Ohio Department of Commerce. That would give them time to produce cannabis, which takes roughly between two to four months to grow.

But no one has had or passed their first inspections yet, which are neces-

“To be able to do something tangible to help people in my community was a great double-bottom-line opportunity.”

— Dave Neundorfer, CEO of Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC

now, including whether she will hold it in hopes of possibly securing a dispensary license in the future, or doing something else with the space.

But she was told that her rate for that property alone would increase to $10,000 a month in July.

Declining to name her landlord, she acknowledged that property owners are taking a series of risks as it relates to hosting a marijuana business.

Debbie Richards, CEO of 360 Long LLC, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Hopkins-Green said that in other states, sites hosting some kind of marijuana-related enterprise — dispensaries, in particular — have rates that can instantly increase as much as 25% and grow more with time. She mentioned a client of hers in Cincinnati who’s been paying $7,000 a month since the fall for a piece of property.

“In this industry, when people know this is your intended purpose, rents

sary before a grower is awarded an official license allowing it to grow plants.

“In the beginning, we always thought of this as an aggressive timeline,” Gostomski said. “But there are circumstances out of our control, such as construction delays or local licensing issues. And that’s kind of what came into play here.”

Delays shouldn’t have too great of an impact on involved growers, processors and retailers, who are required to have those liquid assets to keep their businesses solvent for more than a year.

But for patients, the more frustrating concern will surely be when they will have access to medicine in the Buckeye State many will be expecting in September.

“We are going to do everything in our power to open as soon as possible,” Greenleaf’s Ols said. “But that all hinges on what product is available from the processors.”

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The exterior and interior of 145 Marvin Ave. in Akron will have Knez Homes’ “Metro Classic” look.

(Contributed renderings)

Knez Homes is making mark in Akron market

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter

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Knez Homes, a Lake County builder with urban projects in Cleveland and a ubiquitous lower West Side presence, is tiptoeing into the Akron new-home market.

A self-described boutique home builder, Concord Township-based Knez is close to selling its first house in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood. That to-be-built home is at 141 Marvin Ave., one of three vacant lots it bought from the city’s land bank program. The other two are at 145 Marvin Ave. and 321 Grand Ave. However, at least one larger project of scale is also in the formative stages.

Knez is marketing colonials designed to fit the streetcar-era context of the neighborhood that’s home to a Mustard Seed Market, Highland Theatre, restaurants, nightclubs, lots of singles and a short commute to downtown. With a median home price of $122,000 this spring, according to the Trulia website, listing prices for existing houses range from $260,000 to as little as $20,000, and there are oodles of vacant lots.

Bill Sanderson, vice president for development at Knez, said in an interview that the housing-friendly policies of Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan’s administration attracted the builder.

Most would say that’s because of the Rubber City’s new 15-year property tax abatement on home construction, but not the Knez team.

“That’s not only tax abatement, but flexibility on design and planning and a walkable neighborhood where people want to live,” Sanderson said.

“We also design for buyers attracted by the energy efficiency of a new home.”

Several years have gone into this step, as Knez Homes owner and founder Bo Knez spoke with Jason Segedy, Akron director of planning and urban development, as he studied tax abatement programs in multiple cities to create Akron’s strategy. Knez also plunged into Cleveland urban homebuilding as housing recovered after 2010 by buying lots in West Side neighborhoods and the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood before the current strong market became a reality.

“Bo (Knez) has had the vision and perseverance to make this work,” Sanderson said. “He and the company have spent a lot of time working on designs and strategy to make infill housing work, such as the logistics of building.”

It was a natural for Knez, a native of Cleveland’s St. Clair-Superior

neighborhood, to test the urban market, although he had built the company providing suburban homes in Lake County and evolved to additional markets.

Sanderson As a result, Knez’s website has a button for an “urban series,” almost 20 designs that work on tiny city lots. Architecture ranges from gables that suit some neighborhoods to boxy modernist designs where buyers have an aggressive taste for something new.

The initial Akron homes are twoand three-bedroom homes in the 1,700- to 2,200-square-foot size range, with open floor plans and attached garages.

For the city’s part, Segedy is encouraged by the Knez foray.

“We’re very excited to have Knez’s interest in building in Akron,” Segedy said in a phone interview. “One of Mayor Horrigan’s big goals for the city with the 15-year-residential property tax abatement in 2016 was attracting builders into the city. It’s one of our first examples of the tax abatement program spurring interest in new-home construction.”

Although Knez builds in urban areas, the company also has land development skills it hopes to put to use in Akron. Land development covers large, empty parcels, usually empty greenfield sites, designing home sites and winning city approvals for subdivisions and getting the streets and utilities installed.

Knez and the city are negotiating terms for the builder to buy an 8-acre parcel for developing near the Akron Zoo a neo-urban 50-unit urban development on a site at Diagonal Road and Aultfarm Road. Segedy said the city years ago got control of the parcels, once home to several mansions that fell into disrepair and were razed, but he’s not certain of the site’s history.

“They were older homes with large lots that went in when the area was considered far from the city,” Segedy said.

Knez was selected after responding to a city request for proposals.

Segedy said the only other proposal for the site from an out-of-town developer, whose name he does not recall, was not as responsive as that of Knez. Primarily, that developer sought apartment zoning for part of the parcel. Instead, the city wants dense for-sale development that would provide new homes but fit into the 1950s-era fabric of the Kenmore neighborhood.

Segedy said legislation to sell Knez the parcel and rezone the site from single-family to cluster zoning will go to the Akron Planning Commission this month. If approved, it may go to Akron City Council for consideration in July.

Neither Segedy nor Sanderson would disclose proposed terms for the sale of the land where Knez is planning what it calls “Ault Farms.”

However, Segedy said the developer will have to foot the cost for installing infrastructure to develop the subdivision, and it would, of course, have property tax abatement.

Sanderson said that when it comes to such land development, Knez may spin the sites off to a national builder.

While national builders have an appetite for such sites, they may not have the patience or structure for such risky land development on government-owned properties.

As for the Highland Square sites, Sanderson would not say how much Knez paid for them.

Segedy said the city generally charges 50 cents a square foot for land-bank parcels suitable for construction of a new home, and the Highland Square lots cost about $2,500 apiece.

That’s not as much as a bargain as the $1 land bank lots the city of Cleveland has sold for years. But enticing and offering affordable new homes as land prices range from $40,000 to $180,000 a lot in suburbs in the region.

The type of dense single-family homes that Knez is talking about on the zoo-area site reflect the evolution that city housing has gone through in Cleveland. In the early 1990s, developers and builders were putting together large parcels to build suburban-style homes. That evolved over time, thanks to changes in planning and development patterns, to current practices that are more dense and retain the best features of city neighborhoods.

“If it all comes together, the city’s plan, the builder and developer,” Sanderson said, “we’ll get to go out and see what the market says about it. There’s always an element of waiting to see if they (buyers) will come.”

Other current projects that Knez has under way range from suburbs such as Concord and Perry townships and Willoughby in Lake County to seven Cleveland neighborhoods.

Recent offerings include a townhouse project called “Nina” on Columbus Road that is sold out on Duck Island to Breakwater Bluffs on Breakwater Avenue at West 58th Street in Detroit-Shoreway, where units are commanding almost $500,000 apiece.

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The intense 6th City Syndicate is lending its support to Cleveland SC. (Joshua Harf)

New Cleveland semipro team is off to a hot start

By KEVIN KLEPS

About the NPSL

kkleps@crain.com @KevinKleps

The 98-team National Premier Soccer League has four regions — the Midwest, Northeast, South and West.

Cleveland SC is part of the 22-team Midwest Region Conference.

Samuel Seibert is enlisting all the help he can get.

The founder and president of Cleveland SC — a semipro soccer team that launched this year — has a core group of volunteers who are assisting him with such big-league matters as sales, marketing, communications, social media, event planning and website management.

It’s similar to what Seibert was doing as an all-hands-on-deck volunteer for AFC Cleveland, a National Premier Soccer League club that folded after the 2017 season — a year after winning its first championship.

Only now, Seibert is in charge, and he’s the one with the most at stake.

After AFC Cleveland shut down, Seibert — by day, the president of the 216 chapter of Business Network International — put together the financing to start his own NPSL team.

The constantly expanding league, which is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation and run by the individual teams, has 98 clubs in four regions. Players aren’t paid, which allows collegiate athletes to participate, though Seibert was responsible for an entry fee and must pay annual NPSL dues.

“No one’s really getting paid,” he said of his small operation. “We want to make sure that Cleveland Soccer Club makes it where it wants to be.”

That, he says, is to be a widely known entity in Cleveland’s rabid sports scene, which will require the club to gain the admiration of Northeast Ohio’s soccer diehards.

One, 6th City Syndicate, already is on board. Seibert said the group of local soccer supporters had at least 30 of its members at Cleveland SC’s first two home matches, which are played at John Carroll University.

“They are committed and they are wonderful,” Seibert said. “They support us at community functions, after the games, any kind of function that’s extracurricular, they’re there. They paint signs, they create songs, they do it all — they bring the smoke (literally, via smoke bombs).”

Heading into the club’s third home match on Sunday, June 10, Seibert said the crowds have been between 200 and 300 per game, though the opener on May 19 was marred by poor weather.

Ticket sales — seats are available for $6, $8 and $10 — indicate stronger crowds are on the way, the club president said.

Schedule: Cleveland SC will play 12 matches in the regular season, which concludes July 7.

Division setup: The Midwest Region has three divisions — the North, East and Great Lakes. Cleveland is part of the seven-club East Conference Division.

Playoff structure: The top two teams in the three Midwest Region divisions advance to the postseason, with the top two seeds earning a first-round bye. The four regional champs advance to the league semifinals, which will be held July 28.

The championship match is Aug. 4.

“It’s hard to say because of the volatility of the market and the demand for soccer, but everything as far as metrics go shows that things are going to continue to grow from a revenue standpoint, interest level and the engagement of the Cleveland community,” Seibert said. “So I think this is going to be one of those top four, top five sports entities in town, and I think it’s going to be soon.”

That might seem overly optimistic for a semipro club that competes in a league that is considered to be in the fourth tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid.

But Cleveland SC already has struck a couple of notable business deals that give its pitch an added kick.

They have the beer “I just always had a place in my heart for soccer,” said Justin Carson, co-owner of Platform Beer Co. Carson has been playing since he was 4, and still competes in a weekly men’s league at the Michael Zone Recreation Center on Lorain Avenue.

When he learned about Cleveland SC, he saw a business opportunity that could also serve as a promotional vehicle for the sport.

Platform and Cleveland SC are collaborating on a beer that Carson said will be available in cans in late August. Platform is going to stream the club’s games at its brewery in Ohio City, and Carson said the company “will be doing some outreach with local youth soccer teams.”

“The city of Cleveland needs some sort of opportunity to latch on to soccer

again,” he said. “We’ve kind of had a hole for a few years. That’s what I saw.

I’m happy to support something when you know there’s a need in the city.”

... and cool shirts A rainy home opener wasn’t the ideal setting for Cleveland Clothing Co. to introduce its Cleveland SC merchandise at the club’s first match last month.

But owner Mike Kubinski said much of the gear sold out, and the response has been so encouraging that CLE Clothing is going to expand its soccer product line in the next few weeks.

The most popular Cleveland SC items will also be available at CLE Clothing’s downtown, University Circle and Crocker Park stores.

Cleveland SC’s logo, which gives a nod to the guardians of the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, and brand was designed by CLE Clothing.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to see their growth and make Cleveland a soccer destination,” Kubinski said.

It helps that the team — which was put together by Seibert and the Cleveland SC coaching staff, which is led by Notre Dame College men’s soccer assistant Ryan Osborne — looks pretty darn good.

Cleveland SC outscored its first three opponents by a combined 12-0, impressing former Cleveland Crunch and Force star Hector Marinaro, whose son, Jesse, plays for the club.

“Cleveland has a very strong team,” said Marinaro, who has compiled a .643 winning percentage in 12 seasons as the head coach of John Carroll’s men’s soccer program. “They’re extremely talented. It’s not a surprise. There’s a lot of talent in Northeast Ohio.”

Seibert concurs, which adds to his belief that Cleveland SC can gain a strong following in the region.

And on the business end, the club was able to secure a title sponsor (Planet Fitness), an official brewing partner (Platform), a physical training partner (NovaCare Rehabilitation) and a deal with CLE Clothing prior to its launch.

The club doesn’t have an office yet, though Seibert hopes that will change prior to the 2019 season. It’s one of many things on his to-do list, which will keep growing if one of his primary goals is met.

“When people are talking — ‘I love my Cavs, I love my Browns, I love my Indians’ — I want them to say I love my Cleveland SC as well,” Seibert said. “I want that to happen, and I think we can get there quite quickly.”

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 7

STEPS’ third spot will bring more educational services

By LYDIA COUTRÉ

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lcoutre@crain.com @LydiaCoutre

In the past decade, STEPS has grown from six children in a classroom to more than 100 in a school and on a local vocational training farm.

STEPS — a for-profit private school — is now adding a third location to eventually more than double its capacity to serve and educate students diagnosed on the autism spectrum and with related developmental differences.

STEPS is the umbrella organization over STEPS Academy in Parma, Willow Farms in Olmsted Falls and, beginning in August, Insightful Minds Community of Learning in Broadview Heights, where STEPS has leased two buildings with the option to lease two additional facilities on the city hall campus. STEPS also includes STEPS Consulting, which offers consulting to local school districts, and STEPS 2 Learning, which offers educational materials to assist teachers in teaching communication to nonverbal children.

Traditionally, STEPS Academy has largely served students with a diagnosis of autism who have intensive needs or need specialized services.

But in recent years, the organization has been getting growing referrals for students with Asperger’s or ADHD, said Jennifer Might, founder and CEO of STEPS. The new location in Broadview Heights will open services up to students across the autism spectrum as well as to students who need nontraditional approaches in their education, such as students with ADHD. “We keep getting calls for this group of students, and we feel like we’ve really found a way to teach these kids that don’t learn traditionally,� Might said. “They don’t learn the traditional ways, so we don’t teach in traditional ways. We’ve found that this really works, and we’re seeing these huge gains from our students. So what we wanted to do was just open it up to be able to service more students.�

Might established STEPS in 2006. At first, it was a home-based therapy program for children diagnosed with au-

STEPS has locations in Parma (pictured) and Olmsted Falls, and has at least two buildings on the way in Broadview Heights. (Contributed photo)

tism and related differences. The program grew as parents looked to move their children from in-home therapy to a school setting, prompting STEPS to open a small program in Berea for six students. The school quickly outgrew its home and moved to a building in Strongsville, where enrollment continued to increase. By 2015, STEPS bought a larger school building in Parma, now known as STEPS Academy.

Last year, STEPS purchased a farm in Olmsted Township to teach vocational training skills and provide a nature-based therapeutic setting for students. Willows Farms sits on 22 acres, where students engage in daily activities, such as gardening, caring for horses and chickens, creating crafts and selling vegetables in the summer and Christmas trees in the winter. “We definitely have seen such growth in the kids as far as their level of independence, their mental wellness, just their overall happiness,�

Might said. “And it’s really awesome for kids, too, because they get to explore their interests. Things that we would never have anticipated that the kids are interested in, they’re developing an interest in. And so it really gives them that sense of purpose that we really wanted to give them.

So that’s been really beneficial.�

This August, the Insightful Minds Community of Learning will open in two of the four 6,000-square-foot

buildings in Broadview Heights.

STEPS plans eventually to occupy all four, at which point it will have the capacity to serve roughly 150 more students.

Might said she doesn’t have a specific timeline to ramp up to that many students. “I feel like the way that I’ve always operated with STEPS is when we move into something new, we can afford it where we are currently,� she said. “So I’ve tried to use that business model so we’re not under this overwhelming pressure to gain students’ enrollment, you know, because then that takes away from where our focus needs to be, which is innovation in education.�

Insightful Minds will be based on a foundation of mental wellness and offer a therapeutic framework to help students get to a place where they’re able to effectively learn, she said. The curriculum will focus on social and emotional programming to build life skills, collaboration and perseverance. For instance, through a culinary program, STEPS will be teaching students about entrepreneurship. “We’re just gonna keep on creating programs that are innovative and meeting the needs of our population and the changing needs of students in general,� Might said. “We’re going to be opening the school also to just any type of learners, not just kids who have a diagnosis.�

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Apex Dermatology adding two more locations, 15 employees

By LYDIA COUTRÉ lcoutre@crain.com @LydiaCoutre

In just its seventh year of business, Apex Dermatology is adding its sixth and seventh locations to its network of providers offering medical, surgical and aesthetic dermatology.

Dr. Jorge Garcia-Zuazaga, Apex’s founder and CEO, said the practice has seen organic growth since it launched in Concord in 2011, steadily placing new offices in markets where there’s a need for dermatology services.

The two locations, set to open this fall in Medina and Westlake, have been on Apex’s radar for about a year and a half. So when the opportunity came to lease the spaces, Apex was ready, said Garcia-Zuazaga, whom Crain’s profiled as a Who To Watch in Health Care honoree in 2012.

“It’s kind of cool to be able to have a vision and a strategic plan and deliver on that, and be true to what you feel in your heart is the right thing to do and be successful about it,� he said. “And I think it makes us very proud.�

The new Medina location, at 4975 Foote Road, Suite 400, is slated to open in September. The new Westlake location, at 4350 Crocker Road, Suite 300, is scheduled for October.

In 2011, Garcia-Zuazaga had just four employees in Apex’s Concord office. After adding more locations — Solon in 2013; Mayfield in 2014; Hudson and Parma in 2016 — the practice today has more than 60 employees, 10 of whom are doctors.

With the two new offices, it is poised to add roughly 15 employees and three providers.

Garcia-Zuazaga said that he and Apex have never been opportunistic in their growth strategy.

“We have a strategy to grow this through acquisitions in the future, or through organic growth like we’ve been doing,â€? he said. “Right now our focus is in maximizing our current offices ‌ and really looking forward to growing these new offices, which are completely new markets for us.â€?

Medina made sense as that county is growing and, from Garcia-Zuazaga’s perspective, could use more dermatology coverage. Westlake represents the practice’s first west suburban location and a chance to snatch up some of that market.

Across its current locations, Apex doctors see close to 4,000 patients a month. In an ever-consolidated market and an environment that is increasingly challenging for independent doctors to remain that way, Garcia-Zuazaga has carved out a space for himself and the other Apex providers.

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Hanlon Composites has ‘new blood’ in Fulton

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

Larry Fulton has been a business owner for the past 15 years, but what he really wants is to run a portfolio of small companies in the Cleveland area.

This January, Fulton took a step toward that goal, buying custom fiberglass product maker Hanlon Industries in Euclid and renaming it Hanlon Composites LLC. Fulton has been looking for an acquisition for a while. At first, he was searching Fulton for an add-on acquisition to his existing business, custom crate maker Lefco Worthington LLC in Cleveland, but he broadened his search after coming up short in that space.

He wanted a company with a repeat customer base, consistent financials and ownership without a firm succession plan. In addition, he wanted the product to be low-tech but not easily duplicated, like the one he makes at Lefco. “And this particular business, excluding the turnaround aspect, checked off all those boxes,� Fulton said of Hanlon, where he’s now president.

Hanlon Industries had been around for about 60 years, Fulton said. The company serves a variety of industries including industrial transportation and utilities. Fulton declined to share annual revenue, but said it was less than $5 million.

Richard Senn, president of RNJ & Associates Inc. in Mentor, represented the Hanlons in the sale. The prior owners were older, Senn said, and the business needed some “new blood.� The business had been for sale for about six months and had gone through two other potential buyers before Fulton started the acquisition process.

Whenever the city has a company with a long-term owner looking to sell, this is the type of transaction it hopes for, said Jonathan Holody, director of planning and development for the city of Euclid. In his first few months, Fulton has already made improvements to the property and is looking to grow employment.

APEX

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

Knowing that doctors aren’t necessarily inherently business oriented, he said he has hired business people to help run the practice “smartly.�

Apex focuses on the patient experience, and providing support for its doctors to be able to spend time with patients, rather than paperwork, Garcia-Zuazaga said. “You don’t have to be in a big group to be successful,� he said. “If you’re passionate and dedicated to what you do and you have a good staff that understands and supports your mission, I think that that’s the recipe to be successful.�

Garcia-Zuazaga is eager to share the practice’s mission line: transforming people’s lives through healthy skin. From nurses to doctors to employees behind the scenes and

Hanlon Composites’ customized hand lay-up parts go to the recreational vehicle market. (Contributed photos)

Fulton is “breathing some fresh life into the business,� Holody said.

At the time of the purchase, Hanlon had five employees. Fulton has already grown that to 15. Much of his focus so far has been on making sure current customers’ needs are met and training new and existing employees. The company had two main lines of business — a more standardized press operation and a more customizable, manual operation. Hanlon had developed deep capabilities over the years, but employees needed to be retrained to offer more, Fulton said. The company now also offers a spray line, similar to its hand-laid products, and it’s looking

to develop more capabilities. “We’re really trying to redevelop our capacity and capability as a business,� Fulton said.

He has purchased new assets, including a tow motor, updated the lighting and ventilation in the factory and redeveloped the press equipment in the plant. The molds and dies have been cleaned, and a space was built to better organize tools. The office has also been redesigned. In total, the Euclid facility — Hanlon’s sole space — is about 12,000 square feet. Fulton declined to share the price of the acquisition or his total renovation investment, but said combined, the cost is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

About four months after the acquisition, Fulton said the turnaround portion of the business plan is reaching its end, and he’s now focused on growth.

He needs to make sure that growth is sustainable, particularly with a largely new staff, but he is looking for new opportunities as the company has a lot of open capacity. And he’d like to see employment at Hanlon grow to 25 to 30 in the next two to three years.

He’s still running Lefco Worthington as a separate entity, but most of his time is spent at Hanlon Composites.

Ideally, he’d like to develop a strong management team at Hanlon, like he has at Lefco, and turn his attention to a new acquisition to continue building his portfolio. His goal is to build up a portfolio of 10 to 15 manufacturing and service companies in the region.

at the front desk, everyone is focused on that mission, he said.

He’s proud of the culture he’s developed that focuses on the patient, whether Garcia-Zuazaga it’s an older patient with cancer or a younger patient with acne or someone else with psoriasis “So our job is really to turn that around and say hey we’re going to have a treatment plan for you that we’re going to individualize,� he said. “We’re going to get you back into the game, whether it’s cancer-free, whether it’s acne-free or you’re clear with your skin disorder.�

Garcia-Zuazaga, who’s originally from Puerto Rico, obtained a Harvard fellowship in skin cancer surgery and an MBA from Case Western

Reserve University. He did his dermatology training at University Hospitals, where he worked for three and a half years as director of the Mohs Surgery program in Westlake before starting Apex.

In addition to seeing patients at Apex, which offers same- or next-day appointments, Garcia-Zuazaga also does community education on skin checks and prevention.

Though Apex has averaged opening a new office every year it’s been in business, he said that’s not necessarily the goal. He’s looking forward to intentional growth to serve territories with a need for dermatology in the region. “Our goal is not to have an Apex Dermatology in California,� Garcia-Zuazaga said. “Our goal is to serve really our need within Northeast Ohio, and look at those communities that have a lot of people, but no access to dermatologists.�

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At the Table

Luca West adds European flare to outdoor dining An endless procession of patios beckon Clevelanders to come “set a spell” and linger on our too-brief balmy days. A few are those rare oases Joe where the space Crea is inviting, drinks are well-mixed, meals are generally excellent and hospitality abound.

If that’s your vision of summertime Valhalla, add Luca West to your list of local getaways.

Though a few final touches await installation, Luca’s refurbished courtyard terrace at 24600 Detroit Road in Westlake recently opened to guests. Thousands of dollars worth of statuary direct from Italy have cleared customs, and a new terra cotta tile roof will soon be in place covering the restaurant’s outdoor bar area. But any guest yearning for a lovely spot to unwind should find the update a welcome respite from the harried life beyond its gate.

Roughly 200 rose bushes have been added to owners Lola and Luca Sema’s bit of paradise. That fragrant greenery, coupled with an array of potted plants, low-key lighting, decorative metalwork and maturing trees draw the eye away from nearby driveways and parking.

Lola Sema — who runs the front of the house while husband Luca acts as the restaurant’s culinary maestro — said she wanted a totally modern European feel to the patio — “without that old ‘heaviness,’” she said — in keeping with the design she created within the warren of dining rooms within.

“I wanted the dining room to have a light feeling,” she said, glancing around the sun-washed main room before taking a guest on a tour. Done in shades of white and cream, the spaces indoor resonate with a kind of fresh energy.

“We think it’s important for our guests to feel they’re getting away from their everyday life, for a while,” she said.

“Our family lives in the area, but it’s nice to forget where you are feel like you’re on vacation for a couple of hours.”

Veterans of the dining scene remember the place under a variety of other names. Most recently it went by Ambrosia, but in previous years it operated under marquees such as Viva Fernando and Viva Barcelona.

The Semas are natives of Albania.

Their early years took them to jobs in Italy before coming to the United States. Luca cooked at several Cleveland area restaurants, including the property he and his wife now own, while Lola (“I came here for what I thought would be two weeks, with $600 in my pocket”) worked downtown as a hostess at Mortons The Steakhouse in Tower City.

In 2013 they cast their financial fortune into opening their first namesake restaurant, Luca Cleveland, at 2100 Superior Viaduct, on the edge of Ohio City.

Critical applause quickly followed.

Over the course of more than a half-dozen visits over the years, most of them anonymously as a restaurant critic, my experiences at Lola have been generally excellent. Although the Semas' well-rounded, Italian-inspired menu covers all the anticipated bases (including an array of excellent pastas), the chef is especially adroit in his preparation of seafood.

Fresh fish and shellfish is Sema’s forte, whether it’s calamari stewed with garlic, wine and tomato sauce to melting tenderness, or a definitive

Lola Sema, left, runs the front of the house of the new Luca West establishment while her husband, Luca, is the culinary maestro behind the operation. A steamed lobster tail over a creamy risotto is a particularly alluring option. (Joe Crea for Crain’s)

saffron-scented risotto topped with a sumptuous steamed lobster tail.

Luca West’s menu extends to the patio, as does the restaurant’s happy hour.

Stepping out to the patio reinforces that lively vibe. The space bridges the gap between intimacy and party-friendliness. There are corners where a couple can have a tete-a-tete, and others where groups can laugh aloud. A raised deck in one corner, seating about 40 guests, is designed to accommodate cigar smokers.

“We probably invested about $100,000 out here,” Lola said. “The patio was here — we lease the space from the building management — and the bar was in place. I used to love sitting out here when it was Viva Barcelona. I wanted a fresh feeling, but I like places with some history, and I would hate to have to start with four blank walls.”

Live entertainment will soon be introduced, probably on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday nights, she said. Not surprisingly, the sound will blend a mix new-again traditional sounds.

“It’ll be a lot of Rat Pack, mostly, because we have both a mature and trendy crowd,” she said. “We’ll mix in some different music, too.”

Will that kind of investment pay off? Lola smiles and shrugs.

“It’s still the first year, so it’s hard to go off of that,” she admitted. “But it’s a great part of the restaurant.

“And you know what? It’ll pay back when it pays back. What’s important is to have a place people enjoy, and like coming back to.”

Chain, chain, chain Over the next few months, three new chains will be merging into Northeast Ohio’s dynamic restaurant scene.

Balance Pan Asian Grille, which bills itself as Asian Fusion eatery specializing in bowls, tacos, sides and snacks (and bubble teas), will open its first Northeast Ohio spot at 515 Euclid Ave. in downtown Cleveland, in August. Based in Toledo, the chain was started by a couple of college buddies who have grown Balance into a group of four locations — including one in downtown Toledo that features an 8,000-square-foot urban farm. The menu is an eclectic mash-up of dishes that draw from Chinese, Korean and Indian flavors.

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, a Louisiana-based chain, just broke ground for a spot at 14356 Pearl Road (south of Royalton Road) in Strongsville. It will be the chain’s first Cleveland-area operation, the 27th in Ohio, and the one of nearly 400 nationwide.

Target opening date is sometime in

August; over the next several weeks the Baton Rouge, La.-based group will also open a store in Kent.

BurgerIM will be the latest fast-casual chain to have a go at the Northeast Ohio market, with two spots planned for 7597 Mentor Ave., Mentor and 19815 Center Ridge Road, Rocky River (formerly the site of

Mooyah Burgers). Theme here is small burgers (2.8-ounce patties) sold as singles or in packs, designed to let the diner mix/match the kind of patties they want as well as toppings, buns and sauces. Springing from Encino, Calif., the chain is gradually blanketing the Golden State as well as Texas and Florida and getting a foot-

hold in a slew of other states. Stores in the Columbus, Cincinnati and Lewis Center areas are also planned.

Joe Crea has been covering the Cleveland dining scene for more than 20 years. Email him at cbfreelancer@ crain.com (Put “At the Table” in the subject line.)

Crain Content Studio-Cleveland will highlight accomplished women within Northeast Ohio’s health care sector in a special custom section August 20.

Submit your nomination today: CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM/NOMINATIONS Deadline to nominate is June 29.

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

For questions, contact Amy Ann Stoessel, managing editor of custom and special projects, at astoessel@crain.com or at 216-771-5155.

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Opinion From the Editor

Mom as mentor for work, life perspective

Editorial

Trade up By virtually every measure, the economy is humming along quite nicely. We’re even at a point where there are more job openings than unemployed Americans who could fill them.

But the Trump administration is taking a real risk with its approach to trade, and we encourage both of Ohio’s U.S. senators — Democrat and trade skeptic Sherrod Brown, and Republican Rob Portman, the former U.S. Trade Representative — to explore ways to mitigate the damage that could come from imposing tariffs on key U.S. allies.

The administration on June 1 expanded tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum to include imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union, using national security as a justification. That action, predictably, stoked fears of a trade war. Sure enough, Mexico imposed a series of tariffs against U.S. exports valued at $3 billion, and Canada announced plans to retaliate with tariffs of up to 25% on nearly $13 billion of American goods, set to take effect on July 1. The EU is imposing a series of retaliatory tariffs of 25% on about 200 U.S. products.

The Canada piece of this should be particularly concerning to Ohioans.

Using U.S. Census Bureau data on exports and the list of goods subject to the tariffs, Business Insider produced an analysis that identifies which states stand to be hurt the most by the Canadian crackdown.

“The biggest losers,” as the website put it, “are industrial states in the Midwest,” and Ohio would be the hardest hit of all.

In 2017, according to the analysis, Ohio sent $1.75 billion worth of goods to Canada that could fall under the tariffs — potentially putting some of that business in jeopardy.

Tariffs can have negative consequences on all variety of businesses. Jim Heimerl, a pork producer from Johnstown, Ohio, who is president of the National Pork Producers Council, told CNN that Mexico is the largest market for U.S. pork exports, and that a planned 20% retaliatory tariff “eliminates our ability to compete effectively in Mexico.”

Last week on CNBC, Portman noted that Canada is Ohio’s “largest trading partner by far,” and “Mexico is number two,” so the stakes are high for the state. Jobs related to that trade, he said, “pay on average 18% more,” with better benefits, than the average Ohio worker receives. Even so, Portman said, the “politics of trade are complicated” because “most people believe that we’re not getting a fair shake.”

That may be the case with some products in some countries — China in particular — where the U.S. government contends with egregious violations of trade deals and has a legitimate need to act to create a level playing field.

But the new tariffs targeting our closest allies are a blunt and inappropriate instrument to resolve routine trade disagreements. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates 2.6 million jobs are threatened by the administration’s hardline stance on trade.

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker from Tennessee last week rolled out a bill — co-sponsored by five Republicans and four Democrats, though not by Portman or Brown — that would require congressional approval for tariffs levied for national security reasons.

It’s certainly a longshot, but it makes eminent sense to us, both as a matter of economics and as an opportunity for Congress to assert its rightful authority if security indeed is at risk. Assuming, though, that the Corker measure falls short or never makes it to a vote, we expect all of Ohio’s congressional delegation to defend trade with our allies and make sure that the tit-for-tat trade war now unleashed doesn’t escalate.

As The Economist put it last week, echoing Portman’s point about the politics of trade, “Even in good times, politicians usually forget that the main benefits of trade are higher productivity and cheap imports.” Erecting more trade barriers threatens to unravel decades of progress toward freer trade and undermine the economic progress the president rightly points to over the past year-and-a-half.

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

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I’ve had several mentors in my career. Men and women who’ve guided me with great advice and taught me by their example and experience how to reach my full potential.

The greatest of these mentors, the one who showed me how to be a working, loving parent, is my mother, Mary Rose Kimes.

When I was growing up in the 1970s, not many of my friends had moms who worked. Mine did. She worked because our large family — six kids fewer than eight years apart — needed the income. And she did it because she wanted to work.

Many of you have reached out so kindly these past few weeks after I wrote a column about my dad’s passing. I want to thank you for that and share some further news. I noted in that column that dad had cared for Elizabeth mom in the last three years. A month after McIntyre he died, she did, too. Not surprising considering their devotion to each other.

My mom had a choice, and she decided to work as a nurse.

We have the same choice today. Some choose to stay home with children — much more often women than men. Some take extended time off and then re-enter the workforce. My choice was to be a working mom like my mother, and it’s guided by her example.

My mom was tireless. She gave her all to her job as a nurse while she was on duty, and even more to us when she was not.

She was always nurturing. Always running.

My mom slept four hours each night. She’d work the 3-11 shift in the newborn nursery at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Youngstown. My dad would leave at 11 p.m. to pick her up, with the stern warning that the house had better be picked up when she got home. The six of us would scatter like field mice for the next 30 minutes and I promise you, that house was Spic and Span when she got home.

She’d sit at the table and snack on a few crackers (always buttered) and then head for her happy place: the tub for a long soak and to read. Usually it was Readers’ Digest Condensed Books. She didn’t have time for those full volumes. But she loved to read and would soak up every word as she’d soak.

She’d stay up until 2 a.m., enjoying some alone time away from the six of us, and then would get up at 6 a.m. to prepare the most amazing breakfasts for us: eggs and bacon, scrumptious pancakes and French toast, and, my favorite, fried mush. She’d time our breakfasts perfectly like a short order cook. Then, when we were off to school, she’d hang laundry on the clothesline and prep dinner for us to finish and head off to work at 2:30, just before we got home from school.

When my dad got off work, he’d take over the parenting duties in the evening, making sure we cleaned up after ourselves and did our homework. Having two working parents taught my siblings and me how to be responsible and self-reliant, and we learned a tremendous amount about work ethic from our parents. There was always something to get done, so you’d better get busy getting it done.

My mom is the standard, but I have to admit, my kids didn’t get cooked-to-order breakfasts. Four hours of sleep would transform me into an office zombie. And six kids? That’s triple the number I have. Like I said, she’s the standard.

But what she taught me by her example, and what I see in so many of the working mothers I admire, is that you can balance family and work, that each can get the best you have to offer without compromise, and that there isn’t a problem at home or at the office that a few buttered crackers can’t make better.

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.

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Web Talk Re: Region’s leadership ‘vacuum’ One thing that helps expand leadership is media seeking new and different voices in the business community. However, too often the majority of the outlets in Cleveland stick to the same (often non-diverse) list of the same 12 to 15 people. When people are recognized for their business expertise, they are considered to be business leaders.

— Richik Sarkar

Re: Update on lakefront development plans There are a lot of surface parking lots downtown. Any new office construction should be built on those lots. Let’s keep the lakefront open for recreational and entertainment purposes.

— skiwest There are lots and lots of apartments and commercial space being built in downtown Cleveland.

This land should not be developed, but instead should be a public park. Apartment dwellers in cities love parks. But, the idea is too smart and too sophisticated and “too much like work” for our public officials and those who elect them. — StopBackRoomDeals

Re: Kasich’s WSJ op-ed on entitlement reform Sorry, but Medicare and Social Security are not entitlements, as we and the company we worked for paid into them for our use as seniors. The only entitlement is that we are entitled to the money we put into them. I calculated how much I would have in an account if I earned 6% on all of my contributions, and if it earned 4% now it would pay for my monthly check without ever taking away the principal. If anything, Social Security payments should be increased based on a different COLA (cost of living adjustment) that takes drugs and medical care into account. — Rick Jesionowski

Re: Peak LeBron in 2018 playoffs The only greater joy I’ve experienced following sports in Cleveland was watching the Cavaliers win the title in 2016.

Watching this historical level of all-time greatness wearing a Cleveland uniform has been everything a sports fan could wish for. Three wins at the buzzer this year? Two of them in the playoffs?

Every game, sports fans from around the world come to Cleveland just to see the greatest player on the planet. That should tell you how special this is, regardless of how the 2017-18 season ends!

— Donald Templeman

Personal View

Taking a smart approach to our vast pool of info

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By SUZANNE M. RIVERA and NICHOLAS C. ZINGALE

How often do we hear the word “smart” about technology?

There are smartphones, televisions, cars, energy, transportation systems — even hospital beds.

This rhetoric of “smartness” is provocative because it implies that we can use information to create knowledge necessary to understand and shape judgment — what we often think of as intelligence.

It is not surprising that objects like smartphones, connected sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT) have begun to serve almost as an extension of human intelligence. These systems are powerful. Our intuition is challenged, for example, when Google Maps insists on “redirecting” our routes. The information available through these shared devices can bring extraordinary benefits, including solving critical health and social challenges.

With support from a grant from the Cleveland Foundation, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University, we have partnered to accelerate our region’s ability to realize the many possibilities of this growing information ecosystem. We are focusing on advancing this technology’s impact on some of Northeast Ohio’s greatest strengths: manufacturing, energy and health care. Imagine the savings when factory sensors can give warnings well in advance of the failure of a key machine part. Or the ability to manage energy use more effectively by integrating different power grids to provide more real-time information — especially in the case of weather-related challenges. As for health care, consider the amount of data fitness trackers alone collect, and how, if aggregated, the information could be used to benefit entire communities.

And yet, whenever personal data goes online, privacy concerns exist. And, after recent revelations involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, people have more reason than ever to fear how our information may be accessed and used.

The social media giant has shared that the now-defunct political consulting company accessed the information of as many as 87 million Facebook users. News reports detailed that the firm had claimed it not only could predict individuals’ behavior based on their online activity, but also influence potential voters. Facebook has enacted multiple privacy improvements, Cambridge Analytica announced its closure this month, and the U.S. Justice Department and FBI recently announced an investigation of the now-defunct firm.

As unnerving as this publicity has been, it is important to recognize that such misuse of information does not diminish its potential for good — nor our universities’ shared commitment to realizing some of its promise. Our faculty are designing research interventions that will use data to improve water quality, protect natural resources, improve public transportation, create jobs and even reduce infant mortality rates.

Our enthusiasm about the benefits of the Internet of Things does not mitigate concerns about data security. It is healthy that people are taking a more active interest in learning about the extent to which the information they share online may be monetized or otherwise used for purposes other than those they originally intended. We all should be asking ourselves important questions about the way we use social media and other online applications.

For example, we should read the privacy policies of organizations that hold our data. With whom do they share our information? How quickly will they notify users of breaches or instances of abuse? And what recompense will they provide those whose data have been compromised?

Growing awareness of the need for personal vigilance is healthy, but we cannot let fear foreclose opportunities to better or even save lives. Sensors in sewers can help avert toxic waste overflows. Data from wearable fitness trackers can provide physicians real-time updates of vital signs. Internet searches about aches and pains can help predict the timing and location of flu outbreaks — the list goes on.

Our collaborative is committed to identifying ways to use data responsibly to achieve positive outcomes. To realize such goals, we must develop a collective sense of constructive, yet cautious, altruism. As with donating money or giving blood, contributing information itself can help others — and ourselves.

It’s an approach that is not just smart, but wise.

Rivera is CWRU’s vice president for research and technology management. Zingale is CSU’s IoT Collaborative public sector liaison, and director of the master of public administration program.

John Funderburg VP, Commercial Real Estate jfunderburg243@dollarbank.com

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TWENTY IN THEIR

Zach Adams, 27

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Attorney, Tucker Ellis

Zachary Adams is logging hours — and miles. About 100,000 miles in the past year, he said, pulling up his frequent flyer account on his laptop.

One February, he found himself driving the two hours south from Bangor to Portland, Maine, to catch an early morning flight. “I got to see the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean on my drive,” he said. “Then I took a flight to Seattle, and I got to watch the sunset on the pier over the Pacific Ocean.”

Business trips aren’t always that picturesque. Adams admitted the travel can, at times, be brutal, but the results for clients are worth it.

He represents midsize to global companies in complex civil litigation lawsuits. Adams said he was drawn to study law in college because he saw attorneys help “clients through complex situations that are almost always different from the ones before.”

He travels to clients and to where his clients need boots-on-theground representation. Since he started with the firm in 2015, he estimated he’s traveled to about 35 states and represented clients in 19 different states.

Joseph Morford, managing partner of Tucker Ellis, said from Day 1, Adams fit into the Tucker Ellis family.

He’s quickly fitting in with clients, too.

“He’s a really nice young man who has really good relationships with his family, co-workers and clients,” Morford said. “That’s why he’s had such great success early on in his career. In a very short period of time, three years, he’s already got the confidence of clients to give him important matters to work on throughout the country.”

In addition to representing clients, he’s focused on appealing a murder conviction before the 8th District Court of Appeals of Ohio. He’s also closely following the legal issues that companies and consumers will face as self-driving automobiles hit the pavement. This spring, he co-authored an article on autonomous vehicle litigation in Westlaw Journal Automotive.

When he’s not traveling, Adams is likely biking around Cleveland Metroparks, remodeling his house and checking out the newest restaurants.

If it’s Sunday afternoon, he’s at his maternal grandma’s house for dinner.

He’s been going to his grandma’s for those dinners ever since he can remember. Sitting at the same table he did as a child and awkward teen grounds him. “Being in that house is a good reminder of where I came from and also the love and support I have from the people behind me,” he said. — Nicole Stempak

Five things Favorite sports team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Pages 12-13

Drink of choice: Gin and tonic

Cal Al-Dhubaib

Interior design style: Traditional Favorite book: “The Great Gatsby”

by F. Scott Fitzgerald Preferred vacation spots: New England and Washington, D.C.

Zach Adams

Sarah Alsaden Nivetha Sree Balasubramanian Pages 14-15 Loredanna Barreto Kate Shaughnessy Biggar David Borocz-Johnson Haley Coleman Pages 16-17 Sam Dankoff Katie Veasey Gillette Nina Holzer Pages 18-19 La’Var Howell

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Brooke Hradisky Brianna Inghram Ken Kalynchuk Pages 20-21 Gabriella Kreuz Yulu Li Brendan McHugh Tricia Reddy Coby Socher

CONGRATULATIONS TO COX COMMUNICATIONS’ LA’VAR HOWELL . . . .

and the entire “Twenty in their 20s” class.

Ideas don’t change the world. People do!

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TWENTY IN THEIR 20S

Cal Al-Dhubaib,

Chief data scientist, partner, Pandata Cal Al-Dhubaib is a numbers guy by profession, but recently he decided to focus on something much softer and squishier.

The problem: His company, a data science consulting firm called Pandata, did have a list of core values — but only because companies are supposed to have them.

They were, for the most part, ignored.

So, a few months ago, Al-Dhubaib rewrote Pandata’s core values.

Now he’s working to infuse them into everything he and his colleagues do at the Lakewood company. The new list of values — embrace learning, be approachable, give back to the community and go the extra mile — is already having a major impact on the how the business operates, according to Al-Dhubaib.

“We design interview questions to see how people demonstrate these

Five things

characteristics in real life,” he said. “Our performance evaluations are based on these things. And we have a once a month State of the Union-type meeting for our team. I actually call people out on exemplifying these core values.”

Al-Dhubaib also demonstrates those values in his own life, judging from what Bill Trainor has to say about him.

Trainor has served as his mentor since 2014, when Al-Dhubaib’s previous company — a health data startup called Triple Analytics — graduated from the LaunchHouse Accelerator program. Trainor, co-founder of a local venture capital firm called Mutual Capital Partners, didn’t invest in the company, but they still talk at least every other week after four years.

Why? Few entrepreneurs are so willing to learn — and so quick to put advice into action, Trainor said.

“He just did a really good job

Vacation plans: He’s taking a trip through Beirut, Prague and Berlin in late June.

Art fan: He loves Third Fridays at 78th Street Studios.

Data advice: “Your challenges or business pain points come first. Data comes second.”

He’s from Saudi Arabia: But his mom is from Maple Heights.

Half marathon: A year ago, he told Crain’s he plans to run one.

“It’s still on my bucket list.”

of always following through,” he said.

Al-Dhubaib shut down Triple Analytics in late-2015, but he has achieved a few big goals since then.

In August 2016, he became the first person to graduate with a data science degree from Case Western Reserve University. Plus, Pandata is growing and now has five employees.

If the company keeps growing, he’s not sure whether he’ll focus on management or the data side of the business. Whatever he chooses, he said his decision will be based around whether he loves what he’s doing and whether he’s learning what he wants to be learning.

He encourages other young professionals to ask themselves those same questions.

“Pursue a career that you can be passionate about. It gives you the best fighting chance to be the best at what you do,” he said. — Chuck Soder

Sarah Alsaden, 27 Associate, Jones Day

For Sarah Alsaden, helping people is personal.

Refugees in the first Iraq War, Alsaden lived with her family in Iran, Syria and Lebanon before resettling in Canada in the mid-1990s. She’d receive U.S. citizenship some 18 years after first fleeing Iraq.

Her family tried many times to get permanent residency cards. Even displaced people with permanent residency enjoyed perks other refugees didn’t, like nicer tents.

And while several physicians and other health care workers in the family, infusing Alsaden with an early appreciation for helping others, it was the work of lawyers who helped her family navigate their lives as refugees that ultimately set her up to be a lawyer.

“Education was an important value to my parents and they pushed me toward the profession,” Alsaden said.

“But it was also based on my experiences being assisted by lawyers in the U.N. that made me want to enter a career where I could assist others in the same way.”

With penchants for reading, writing and social justice, it ended up being a perfect fit. This soft-spoken lawyer was most interested in navigating and simplifying the legal system for those with backgrounds like her own.

Alsaden joined Jones Day right out of law school in October 2016. Being relatively new to the firm, she’s still trying out different sectors of law, but has been doing more in the space of complex business litigation.

“She does excellent research and hones in on things quickly,” said Heather Lennox, partner-in-charge of Jones Day’s Cleveland office. Lennox said that Alsaden’s skills are “perhaps beyond her years,” adding

that she serves as a veritable cultural ambassador for the firm.

“Going through those experiences has given her an incredible amount of maturity for a young lawyer her age,” Lennox said.

Nearly half of Alsaden’s time is spent on pro-bono cases. One of her first involved getting asylum for a Cuban woman and political refugee.

“I enjoy learning and complicated issues. But this is a matter dear to my heart because of my family story,” she said.

Besides working to help others on a legal basis, Alsaden, a Muslim, also works hard simply to counteract perceptions of people in her religion.

“There’s a lot of negative press of immigrants and Muslims in general,” she said. “I’ll take any chance I get to show people immigrants are hard workers, that they have a lot to add to the U.S.” — Jeremy Nobile

Five things Languages she speaks: English, Arabic and a little French Hobbies: Photography and graphic design If not a lawyer, she would be: Something in medicine or other aid work Favorite TV show: Brooklyn Nine-Nine Top of her reading list: “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann

Nivetha Sree Balasubramanian, 28 Senior consultant, Deloitte Here’s the scenario: A company is seeking answers to financial challenges, but doesn’t know what questions to ask that will lead it down a more prosperous path. To whom does the company turn?

While Nivetha Sree Balasubramanian doesn’t have all the answers, her work in data analytics at Deloitte provides predictive models ideally leading to informed decisions for client organizations. For example, the study of data is often applied to market research, giving a company critical insight into how their product or service would perform within a particular region.

“An organization may not know the problem, but they do know they’re not making enough money or reaching customers,” Balasubramanian said. “Once we pinpoint the problem, we can develop solutions for it.”

Balasubramanian, a native of India, Portraits by Tim Harrison for Crain’s

Five things Favorite class in high school: Geography Favorite book: The Harry Potter series When she grew up, she wanted to be: An archaeologist or a news reporter Favorite vacation spot: The Maldives in the Indian Ocean islands Favorite Cleveland hot spots: Barrio and Edgewater Park

moved to Cleveland from Deloitte’s Detroit office two years ago. Although the Bowling Green State University graduate’s background includes engineering, business and accounting, a focus on analytics allows her to creatively interpret data among an eclectic group of colleagues.

“I’m working with different types of people professionally and culturally, from data architects to decision-makers,” Balasubramanian said. “I have to be able to communicate the same information to each person according to their background.”

Libby Kanhouse Roop, a senior manager at Deloitte, had Balasubramanian on her team in Detroit, harnessing her young charge’s strong technical skills to help clients meet strict quality and safety regulations. Organizations use this analy-

sis for internal auditing and making advanced business process decisions.

“Nivetha’s personality is one that shines in a group,” Roop said. “She’s a bright light of positivity on all of her teams, always looking for ways to further her team’s collective success.”

Roop served as Balasubramanian’s mentor, motivating the self-admittedly shy analyst to become a team leader who recently facilitated a training course for 90 colleagues. Balasubramanian has doubled down on her teachings from Roop in joining the RightStep virtual mentoring program, which builds the college readiness of students needing a confidence boost.

“I’ve had very strong female mentors who taught me technical skills and leadership,” said Balasubramanian.

“When you hear from different people about their experiences, you get a new perspective on life.” — Douglas J. Guth

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TWENTY IN THEIR 20S

Loredanna Barreto, 24

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Business sales executive, AT&T Loredanna Barreto’s first lesson in determination came at age 6, sitting in a classroom in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., as a fire drill bell blared overhead.

The first-grader, a daughter of recently arrived Venezuelan immigrants, knew almost no English, requiring her teacher to draw a picture of fire to communicate the situation.

The confusing, slightly unnerving incident sparked a realization in the little girl’s still-developing mind.

“I understood how steep my learning curve was — I had so much to learn about (the U.S.), including the language,” Barreto said. “That’s when the determination kicked in.”

An attitude of hard-charging resolve has been a thread running through Barreto’s career as well, leading her to graduating at the top of AT&T’s Business Sales Leadership Program, then quickly becoming a top regional seller for the communications giant.

Barreto manages 20,000 client accounts, among her other duties assisting companies in enhancing their in-house technical infrastructure or improving their connections to overseas locations.

While Barreto is not a technician, she learned the language to better understand the needs of both clients and colleagues. Her perseverance has earned her two excellence in service awards, a distinction given to only 1% of employees.

As an onboarding ambassador for AT&T’s corporate training program, Barreto appears in a series of videos aimed at her peers entering the tech

sector. She advises young recruits to find their methodology in terms of workflow and discovering what aspects of business they most enjoy.

AT&T regional sales manager Joan Sexton said the Cleveland office is

Pr Five things Last vacation: A European tour with her family Favorite holiday: Christmas Go-to dish to cook: Venezuelanstyle arepas, a cornmeal flatbread Last book read: “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness” In the car, she listens to: Podcasts such as “This American Life” and “Radio Lab”

lucky to have someone with such a high level of work ethic, considering Barreto’s impressive leadership program performance could have landed her in any number of metros. In her two-plus years with the company, Barreto has taken ownership of most every project and peer-to-peer mentoring opportunity offered by AT&T brass.

“Look up the word firebrand,” Sexton said. “Loredanna is the top revenue producer in the market, and a role model that people try to emulate.”

While Barreto enjoys meeting each work day head on, what she most appreciates is spearheading initiatives as part of a team.

She’s already thinking ahead to a regional general manger post, where she can harness her people skills to tackle even bigger projects.

“I’m a very curious person at heart — getting to know people is just interesting,” Barreto said. “I love to see success in others.” — Douglas J. Guth

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Kate Shaughnessy Biggar, 28

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The higher education clients Kate Shaughnessy Biggar serves at KeyBanc Capital Markets do work that helps improve students’ lives.

“I’m merely a conduit to help them achieve their goals,” Biggar said.

At KeyBanc, Biggar is an associate in the public sector investment banking group, serving the higher education and not-for-profit sectors through measures like bond issuances.

Tim Kelly, a director at KeyBanc Capital Markets, has worked with Biggar for a little more than four years, as she reports to him in the higher education group. Biggar is “proactive,” he said, always looking for ways to improve and to stay a step ahead.

“She’s always looking to learn,” Kelly said.

Biggar returned to the Cleveland area after studying economics at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

She did the rotational program at KeyBank and said she “fell in love” with the public sector work she got to try. She compared the missions and goals of the institutions she works with to one she knows well, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy.

In college, Biggar interned for the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, supporting the chief development officer. She was inspired by the employees and their belief in the organization’s mission.

In her spare time, Biggar is on the Sunbeam board, a fundraising arm at Vocational Guidance Services, which serves people with barriers to

1801 East 9th Street, Suite 1425 Cleveland, OH 44114 | 216.523.1962 | www.carletonmckenna.com

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employment like disabilities. And she’s stayed involved with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy as a volunteer, most recently as co-chair of the EverGreen EverBlue gala. Big-

Five things Horse’s name: Ciro Favorite place to ride: Winter Equestrian Festival in Palm Beach, Fla. How she shows off Cleveland: By taking guests to the West Side Market and an Indians game Must-see movies: “Wedding Crashers” and “Men in Black” are family favorites.

Motto to live by: “I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason.”

gar’s connection to the Western Reserve Land Conservancy began when she was in high school and the place in Hunting Valley where she rode horses was in danger of being turned into subdivisions. Parents at the facility banded together with the conservancy to save the property.

Biggar no longer rides there, but she does still ride competitively. She currently competes in jumpers, races on a set course that horses and riders are expected to complete as fast as possible. Biggar said she probably completes at least 12 competitions a year, and she tries to get out to Michigan, where her horse is housed, to ride twice a week. The teamwork involved in riding, knowing the horse is working with the rider, is a “special feeling,” she said.

“It’s truly a partner and a partnership that you develop,” Biggar said. —Rachel Abbey McCafferty

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TWENTY IN THEIR 20S

David Borocz-Johnson, 27

REDEFINING CORPORATE HOSPITALITY

Program associate, Community Foundation of Lorain County In his work at the Community Foundation of Lorain County, David Borocz-Johnson noticed the lack of a voice for LGBTQ folks in the community.

So in his free time, he decided to do something about it.

He held a series of listening sessions to get a pulse of what it’s like to live and grow up in Lorain County as a member of the LGBTQ community.

He gathered professionals, directors and volunteers of different social services agencies in the community and more to form a group that last year turned into its own nonprofit: The Lorain County LGBTQ+ and Allies Task Force.

“It needed to be started decades ago,” Borocz-Johnson said. “It wasn’t my goal to start a nonprofit, but I kind of felt like well, if I don’t do it, I’m not sure it’s going to get done any time soon. And the community really wanted it.”

In the nonprofit’s first year, it has helped organize social events for the community and has participated in Pride in the CLE. Borocz-Johnson has stepped off the board but continues to advise and coach the task force as it establishes itself as a resource for the community.

Cynthia Andrews, president and CEO of the foundation, said Borocz-Johnson has embraced the work of ensuring that the organization is inclusive of all members of the community.

“David has been fabulous to make sure that when we do a board retreat, that we have folks from the task force with us, that we have folks

Five things Favorite spot in Northeast Ohio: Beaches along Lake Erie Hobbies: Running, exploring new places, video games Dream job as a child: Marine biologist Secret skill: Scrabble Travel bucket list: Japan; Angkor Wat; Sao Paulo, Brazil

from the Hispanic community with us, so that our planning is really a thoughtful way that is not just us doing the planning, but us in partnership with the community,” she said.

Borocz-Johnson was also instrumental in moving the grant application process online last year, which has received positive feedback from the community.

“I’m happy to contribute my skillsets where they’re most needed in the foundation,” he said.

Borocz-Johnson is “deeply grateful” for the work he does.

“I get to do a deep dive into every sector and nonprofit industry and learn about all the incredible work that various nonprofits are doing on the front lines to help the residents of Lorain County,” he said.

Borocz-Johnson added, “And I just want to be able to have the greatest positive impact for the most people as possible during my tenure.” — Lydia Coutré

Haley Coleman, 23

Clinic executive officer, m3 chair, SOAR Student Run Free Clinic, NEOMED The first day Northeast Ohio Medical University’s student-run free clinic was open to the public, just two patients arrived for care.

Less than two years later, the clinic that Haley Coleman helped champion has blossomed from one Saturday a month to twice a month, serving an average of 20 patients each day it’s open.

“It’s a way for the community to have a resources for health care that is accessible to people that don’t have insurance or are underinsured and then a way for students to get hands-on experience with patients and be able to work with attendings before they hit their clinical work,” said Coleman, a founder of the Student Outreach to Area Residents (SOAR) student-run free clinic at NEOMED. In her first year of medical school, Coleman began the work to launch a clinic at NEOMED. Between her second and third year, she took a year off to work as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, acting as the community liaison for SOAR, coordinating volunteers, designing work plans, policies and procedures for the clinic.

“She was instrumental” in opening the clinic, said Dr. John Boltri, a NEOMED professor, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine and medical director for the free clinic. “If she wasn’t here, we would have probably launched it anyway. But it certainly would have taken longer and probably wouldn’t

have been quite as excellent as it has wound up being.”

The first two years of med school are full of lectures and studying and limited patient interaction, Coleman

Five things Hobbies: Yoga, running, exploring and traveling

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said. SOAR offers students a chance to gain clinical experience and remind them why they got into medicine in the first place: to help people.

Coleman never passes up a chance to do just that.

She volunteers at three other clinics — Migrant Status Inc., Hartville Migrant Ministries and Open M Clinic.

She’s taken several trips to Mexico, bringing supplies and learning about the health of the migrant population that travels through a network of shelters across the country.

Coleman is “just a truly genuine, good person who wants to make life better for other people,” Boltri said.

“I want to help people I want to make a difference in the community, and I think medicine’s a good way to do that,” Coleman said. “I really like family medicine because I think that specialty’s geared most toward serving communities and treating people and their whole families.” — Lydia Coutré

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TWENTY IN THEIR 20S

Sam Dankoff, 28

Director of premium experience, Akron RubberDucks Sam Dankoff remembers going to Canal Park not long after it opened in 1997.

For the last five-plus years, the Akron ballpark has been the 28-yearold’s home away from home. Dankoff wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s my hometown, so being able to be part of the revitalization of the property, the fan base and all of the rebranding is quite sentimental to me,” he said.

Quite a bit has happened since Dankoff was part of the team that assisted Ken Babby after the latter purchased the Class AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians in October 2012.

The Aeros were rebranded as the RubberDucks, Babby has invested more than $7 million in the ballpark, and Dankoff has been promoted a few times.

Dankoff, who began his minor league baseball career as the Aeros’ assistant director of food and beverage, was elevated to the RubberDucks’ director of premium experience after the 2017 season.

Since rebranding as the RubberDucks in 2014, Babby said the franchise’s revenue has grown more than 610%. Attendance at Canal Park has increased 38% since his purchase became

Five things Rubber City ties: The RubberDucks staffer is a graduate of Archbishop Hoban High School and the University of Akron.

Hitting the links: He loves to golf and travel. ... and the road: He’s told his girlfriend of three years that “it’s perfectly OK to go somewhere just for one day.”

Had him at hello: He is a big Kenny Chesney fan — as is RubberDucks owner Ken Babby.

Favorite RubberDucks promotion: He particularly enjoys the team’s series of bobbleheads that pay homage to “Major League.”

official following the 2012 campaign.

In 2017, the RubberDucks had a gate average of 5,202 per contest, which was their best in 10 years.

“Sam’s contributions to our organization have been invaluable,” Babby said.

The RubberDucks owner called Dankoff “a natural leader” who “is driven, passionate and cares deeply about the Akron community.”

In addition to overseeing the premium suites and event spaces on game day, Dankoff manages the organization’s private catering events. The Duck Club hosts 150 to 160 events per year, Dankoff said, and it’s a wide-ranging group that includes weddings, fraternity and sorority formals, first birthdays and nonprofit functions.

“I make it a focus to get to know new people every day and drive revenue to our facility,” Dankoff said. “It’s one of those things — you walk in and fall in love with this place because it’s gorgeous.”

When Dankoff discusses the pull of the park, it’s evident the message is something that hit home to him at an early age. And it’s why a question about his future makes it seem as if he has no big-league aspirations.

“I can’t ever see myself coming up to the Cavs or Browns,” Dankoff said.

“What we do is not sports. People say, ‘Did you win last night?,’ and I don’t know. That’s not what we do.” — Kevin Kleps

Katie Veasey Gillette, 29

Architect, City Architecture Katie Veasey Gillette can pass by several of her projects on her commute to work. It’s part of the appeal — and reward — of working as a community architect.

“The projects are mostly in the area, which is important to me,” she said. “We have an extra level of investment because we’re experiencing and using our work. It’s really about the impact on the greater community. It’s about creating something that complements its surroundings but makes them better.”

Veasey Gillette said there were many paths she could’ve pursued, but this was the one

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Nina Holzer, 29

Manager of CDC advancement, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress that felt right for her. It’s also a path she was nervous to initially follow.

As Veasey Gillette was picking her college classes, she realized architecture would be a good fit for her interests. Only, her older brother, Joe, happened to be studying architecture at another university. “I was a bit nervous to tell him because I thought that, as a big brother, he would think that I was just copying what he was doing, but he was so supportive and thought it was the best thing ever,� she said.

His blessing is something Veasey Gillette holds close, as her brother was diagnosed with leukemia. Joe passed away almost 10 years ago during her freshman year of college. She said he still inspires her, and she tries to emulate his desire to make an impact through architecture and his positive outlook, especially when she’s having a difficult day.

In the nearly six years she’s worked at City Architecture, she’s contributed to a range of projects, including The Bluestone Community in Cleveland Heights, Spry Primary Care concierge medical office in Cleveland and the recently finished Normandy Senior Living campus expansion in Rocky River.

Five things Favorite Cleveland building: The Arcade (also the site of her wedding reception) Preferred travel destination: Peru, to visit her large extended family Favorite college sports team: Notre Dame — “Go Irish!�

Favorite beer: Market Garden’s Prosperity Wheat Favorite sport: Soccer, but she had to “retire� because she tore her ACL. Twice.

Veasey Gillette is also making an impact just by showing up. There are currently 6,362 architect registered in the state of Ohio, of which only 818 are female. Of that number, 170 were born in the 1980s. At this time, there are 17 female architects under 30, according to the Ohio Architects Board, the state licensing agency for architects. City Architecture president Alex Pesta said a young licensed female architect makes Veasey Gillette a trailblazer whether she recognizes it or not. “I think her story, her approach to things, needs to be understood because it’s bigger than the walls of this company,� he said. “She’s making a difference and changing the perception of what it is to be an architect in Cleveland and beyond.� — Nicole Stempak

Somewhere beneath the data nerd that Nina Holzer confesses to be there is, not a social worker, but someone who wants to help people improve their lives. “I have great respect for teachers and social workers and I’m really passionate about kids, but I don’t want to be a direct-service provider, so what could I do to have an impact on low-income families and communities that are more vulnerable?� she said she asked herself as she searched for a career after college at Ohio University and a stint in Chicago as a corps member with City Year City Year is one of the volunteer AmeriCorps programs that works to support students at schools in high-poverty communities beyond the classroom. Though she didn’t see herself on the front lines, City Year did get her involved in data collection. So, now she finds herself at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP), a nonprofit that supports efforts to improve the quality of life of Clevelanders and their neighborhoods.

It’s kind of an intermediary between foundations, corporations and individuals who want to financially support Cleveland neighborhoods and the community development organizations that work in the neighborhoods.

Hired in July 2016, Holzer manages grantmaking to those neighborhoods.

In addition, though, she has shepherded a

new, online data program, the Progress Index, which is designed to help people in Cleveland’s neighborhoods — and their community development and other service organizations — better understand their neighborhoods and better gear programs and investments to have the greatest impact. It covers population trends, safety, community perceptions and well-being, health, educational attainment, the workforce and the local and neighborhood economies. “This is the project that I love,� she said. “I’m definitely a behind-thescenes person, a data nerd.�

When Colleen Gilson, CNP’s vice

president of CDC advancement, was looking to fill a manager position, she thought immediately of Holzer, who had done a graduate school placement at CNP. “I went right after her,� Gilson said. “I know of (few people) who knows data the way she does and can explain it to others. She has been a game-changer for me.�

As for what’s next, Holzer sees herself at a foundation. “I would like to stay in philanthropy,� she said. “There is certainly a different perspective at a foundation. As an intermediary we’re working at the whim of the foundations.� — Jay Miller

Five things Hobby she’s passionate about: “My mom is a pastry chef, and I love to bake because of her.�

Book she’s reading: “The Warmth of Other Suns� by Isabel Wilkerson Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: The Plum As a child, she wanted to be: “An astrophysicist — I think I just liked the name of it!�

Travel destination on her bucket list: She’s always wanted to go to the island of Curaçao to visit MikvÊ Israel-Emanuel Synagogue.

Portraits by Tim Harrison for Crain’s

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La’Var Howell, 27

Communications specialist, PR/government relations, Cox Communications La’Var Howell checks a lot of boxes, according to Cox Communications public relations manager Jeffrey Lavery. Howell is a military veteran, a former NCAA Division I football player and a single dad. He also has a master’s degree and is a social media guru.

But it’s Howell’s community work “that sets him apart,” Lavery said.

Howell is passionate about digital literacy and a fierce proponent of Cox’s Connect2Compete (C2C) program, which provides low-cost, highspeed internet service to students on food stamps or other government assistance programs.

“From attending registration days at kindergartens in Parma to joining backpack stuffers in Lakewood, La’Var is a familiar face at school functions, where he pitches in as much he pitches the benefits of C2C,” Lavery said.

Howell joined Cox Communications in 2016, after six years of service in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, where in the final three years he also worked for Verizon Wireless.

It’s not the first time the Pennsylvania native has called Northeast Ohio home. He was a linebacker for the Kent State Golden Flashes during the 20082009 football season.

Howell said it was Cox’s community reputation that brought him back.

“Before the interview, I was talking with people in the gas station and wanted to get their temperature.

They said nothing but good things,” he said. “They said Cox was really in community, making a difference, and that was what attracted me to the company.”

Howell wears a number of hats at Cox. He oversees the marketing, social media activities and FCC compliance for the company’s Northeast Region, which includes Ohio, Con-

Five things Home life: Single dad has a 3-year-old son Got-to lunch spot: Subway Bucket-list activity: Driving a racecar Guilty pleasure: Online shopping Job as a teen: Cutting grass for city of Farrell, Pa.

necticut and Rhode Island. In Ohio, he is responsible for its community engagement, charities programs and government relations.

He said the company’s willingness to embrace and leverage new communications platforms, such as Snapchat filters and Facebook ads, to engage target audiences is one of his favorite aspects of working for Cox. Howell created a custom C2C Snap filter recently that reached 50,000 viewers, 40% of whom used it.

Although he lives in Northeast Ohio now, Howell still has a strong connection to his Keystone State roots. Not long ago, he launched a nonprofit in his hometown of Farrell, Pa., aimed at better preparing high school football players for the academic rigors of college and coaching them on financial aid and college athletics.

“I want to make sure they are better prepared than I was,” he said. — Judy Stringer

Brianna Inghram, 27 Partner, Clearsulting

Brianna Inghram did what she believes many of her peers would have done. Two years ago, when former Ernst & Young colleague Marc Ursick approached her about moving from the Big 4 firm to his startup, Clearsulting, she “jumped at opportunity.”

“Most people my age hear the word ‘startup,’ and their ears sort of perk up,” Inghram said. “I think it’s just that chance to be a part of something bigger, feel like you are building something that is more extraordinary, that is the attraction.”

Brooke Hradisky, 26

C

Vice president, Carleton McKenna & Co. Brooke Hradisky was well on her way to Ohio State University for a social sciences Ph.D. and a career in sociology when a different opportunity came knocking during her final year at Baldwin Wallace.

A runner for the Yellow Jackets, Hradisky’s coach recommended her for a selective student athlete leadership seminar operated by Baldwin Wallace’s Center for Innovation & Growth (CIG). After going through the program, Hradisky became an intern in the CIG’s consulting practice.

“It is a really neat program that puts students in real-world experiences,” according Hradisky, who said consulting work with area companies like Parker Hannifin, Westfield Insurance and GOJO Industries while at CIG led her to question the Ph.D. path and begin exploring other career options.

“I never would have chose finance eight years ago, but I can see myself playing around in this world for a long time,” she said.

Today, Hradisky is vice president at Carleton McKenna & Co. She

Portraits by Tim Harrison for Crain’s

joined the boutique investment banking firm as an analyst fresh from Baldwin Wallace, having made a positive impression on Managing Partner Paul Carleton during a CIG presentation to the college’s board of trustees, which he chaired at the time. She was promoted to associate in 2016 and early this year became the youngest vice president in Carleton McKenna’s history.

Hradisky’s focus at Carleton McKenna is mostly on sell-side merger and acquisition advisory, although the Aurora native also advises clients on capital-raising activities. More recently, Hradisky has taken on a larger role within Carleton McKenna’s deal sourcing and business development.

Carleton said one of the key attributes that makes Hradisky “an exceptionally productive investment banker” is her ability to relate to its “entrepreneurial clients who are in most cases older than her parents.”

“She has a knack of gaining the respect of clients and is often the go-to person in the deal process,” he said.

And, despite the long invest-

In star her 2016 she flag ghra of th tion York well firm “F lea H

Five things Favorite holiday: Halloween Coffee or tea: “Coffee, for sure!”

Go-to dish: Some variation of tacos Last binge: “The Handmaid’s Tale” Bucket-list triathlon: Ironman 70.3 St. George in St. George, Utah

ment banker hours, Hradisky finds time for outside endeavors. She helped establish the Women in Finance Cleveland networking group and sits on the Baldwin Wallace University Brown and Gold Club board while also maintaining a grueling training schedule. With more than a dozen triathlons and two half Ironmans under her belt, Hradisky is currently training to qualify for the USA Triathlon Age-Group National Championships, which will be held in Cleveland this August.

“The Cleveland communities of triathletes are an amazing group to be a part of,” she said.

— Judy Stringer

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Ken Kalynchuk, 26

Senior financial analyst, Project Management Consultants Inghram’s contribution since she started at Clearsulting, however, is all her own. Joining the company in 2016 as client engagement manager, she was the fourth employee in its flagship Ohio City office. Today, Inghram leads the technology practice of the 40-person company with locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Dallas and Columbus as well as Cleveland. She is also the firm’s youngest partner.

“From Day 1, Bree came in as a leader for us,” according to Ursick.

He said Inghram has ranked among Clearsulting’s top three sales leaders every quarter since joining the firm, is the main partner on multiple accounts, is the go-to person for CFOs and other C-suite executives across a range of industries and has led global projects taking her to locations such as Prague and Decin, both in the Czech Republic.

“The clients just love working with her,” Ursick said.

Inghram specializes in process improvement and systems implementation at Clearsulting. Encouraged by one of her Miami University professors, the accounting major recognized the need for IT expertise in business environments and added a

Five things Born and raised: East Side of Cleveland Sea eats: She is a pescetarian.

Frequent flyer: She travels 75% to 80% of the year.

Perfect getaway: Staying home Doesn’t get any better than: Brunch at Le Petit Triangle Café in Ohio City

management information systems (MIS) minor during her Miami tenure.

It was a smart move, she said.

“Now everything I do is more focused on MIS and information systems and IT, and my accounting training helps supplement my IT expertise,” she said.

While Inghram appreciates the informality of Clearsulting’s approach — casual attire and flexible hours, for example — her favorite part of an entrepreneurial setting is how quickly she can respond to her clients’ and employees’ needs.

“If somebody brings up an issue, I am able to talk about it with the leadership team and determine what needs to be done internally to make that change happen within days or weeks,” she said. “With a bigger firm, that could take a year or even longer or the change might never be made.”

— Judy Stringer

Congratulations to Nina Holzer!

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Ken Kalynchuk thought he would go to business school after he graduated from Saint Ignatius High School, but a trip to Portland, Ore., changed his mind.

“I’d gone to Portland for a visit to see family, and I saw what was happening there,” he recalled recently.

“And I thought, ‘Cleveland has better bones than Portland. Why can’t we do the same thing here?’”

So he got a degree in urban and regional studies at Cornell University and then a master’s of urban planning and development at Cleveland State University. After those experiences, he landed a job as a financial analyst at Project Management Consultants (PMC), a consulting arm of the Thompson Hine law firm.

PMC has built a solid reputation as a consultant to public agencies. It was the owner’s representative to Cuyahoga County, overseeing the construction of the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland and the Global Center for Health Innovation.

Kalynchuk has helped structure over a dozen historic development projects and secured more than $25 million in public financing, according to Tracey Nichols, director of financial services at PMC and a former director of economic development for the city of Cleveland.

Nichols first met Kalynchuk when he

arranged to shadow her when she was Cleveland’s economic development director and he was a student at Cornell.

These projects rely on public financing tools to make them financial viable, financial tools such as tax abatement and New Market Tax Credits. He is particularly proud of his work with the Ohio Water Development Authority to improve a loan fund that

Five things Vacation spot: Canyonlands National Park, Needles District, Utah Currently reading: “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” by Matthew Desmond Favorite restaurant in Cleveland: Batuqui Cleveland in the Larchmere neighborhood Favorite spot in Cleveland: The Flats, an area uniquely Cleveland Best advice he’s gotten: “Work hard to achieve the lifestyle quality you want, and use your resources and free time to pursue your community-building passions and projects.”

supports cleanup of hazardous sites.

Kalynchuk also served as a mentor for a student competition of the Urban Land Institute nonprofit.

“He took the time to make sure that all of the young people knew and understood what (real estate finance) was all about, how to make it work and had a good opportunity to see what it’s like to do economic development projects,” Nichols said.

A resident of downtown, Kalynchuk walks to work, past projects he’s worked on.

“I can help make development happen,” he said. “I feel very proud when I walk down Euclid (Avenue) and see the different projects I helped touch.” — Jay Miller

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Gabriella Kreuz, 26

Brendan McHugh, 28

Founder, Love Doesn’t Shove

their first World Series title in 68 years.

“I love the fact that they’ve embraced my personality,” Kreuz said of the Tribe. “They’ve never asked me to tone it down, I’ve showed up to work in a pizza skirt, I’ve been completely quirky and cheesy, and they are like, ‘Do you.’ ” The off-the-wall efforts helped her land work for Fox Sports Ohio and STO, for which she serves as an on-air personality. Kreuz has

You might recognize Gabriella Kreuz as the quirky in-game host for Cleveland Indians games at Progressive Field.

Or maybe it’s from the times she’s hosted “Beer Money” on SportsTime Ohio. Perhaps you’ve watched her sing on Twitter.

One of the things about which Kreuz is most passionate, though, is Love Doesn’t Shove — a nonprofit she founded in 2014, during her senior year at John Carroll University. The organization, Kreuz said, “is all about starting an interactive dialogue in schools around healthy relationships.”

Kreuz has spoken at a variety of schools and organizations about her experiences in an abusive relationship, and said some of the best talks have been at all-boys schools.

“I by no means want it to be a hero story about me,” she said. “It’s about giving and preventing violence through the means of education for future generations. So even though I’m willing to share my experiences, a lot of what we do is focus on the kids.”

It’s a one-person operation, but Kreuz eventually wants to add speakers and address the impact that drug and alcohol addiction can have on a relationship.

She says she’s very much a Type B personality, which helps her remain relaxed while balancing her nonprofit work and a hectic freelance schedule.

Kreuz auditioned for the Tribe job after earning a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism at Syracuse University’s highly regarded S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her first season appearing in bits on the largest scoreboard in Major League Baseball was 2016, when the Indians finished a win shy of

also done some feature segments for Channel 19, does sideline reporting for high school and college games on Spectrum Sports, and has appeared in and been the creative force behind an array of commercials.

“She’s just so unique, so fearless and so comfortable in her own skin,” said John Carroll assistant athletic director for communications Christopher Wenzler, whom Kreuz said has been one of her mentors. “She doesn’t take herself too seriously, but she’s serious about the craft.” — Kevin Kleps

Five things Personal view: Kreuz released her first song, “My World,” on iTunes last year. She has two more in the works.

Learning on the fly: Believe it or not, Kreuz said she has “no musical background.” Her first voice lesson was in 2017.

The fast track: She was a cross country All-American who also competed in track and field at John Carroll. She ran track during her one year at Syracuse, too.

Fitness enthusiast: Kreuz recently started boxing and says she plans to participate in a triathlon in July.

NEO ties: She’s a 2010 Saint Joseph Academy graduate who competed in basketball, cross country and track.

Manager of corporate partnerships, Cleveland Metroparks If you’re ever looking for something fun to do, call Brendan McHugh.

As manager of corporate partnerships for the Cleveland Metroparks, McHugh not only knows about every event going on in the vast parks system, he’s attended most of them.

“I’m at almost all the Cleveland Metroparks events throughout the year that involve a sponsor — just going out there and making sure they’re taken care of,” McHugh said.

It’s a lot of hours on the weekends and during the evenings. But it hardly seems like work, McHugh said.

“It’s an absolute blast.

You’re putting in long hours, but when you’re putting in long hours at the beach and there’s a sunset or you’re at the zoo and there are giraffes and elephants, you can’t complain about that too much,” he said.

There are between 25 to 40 sponsored events per year, he said, on top of hundreds of other events.

Before coming to the Metroparks, the Bay High School and Ohio University sports management graduate worked with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Monsters.

“I learned that the sponsorship side of sales was something I was really interested in because of the ability to form relationships,” McHugh said.

C

Yulu Li, 29

Assistant vice president, Hanna Commercial Real Estate Co. Yulu Li works in the corporate services unit of Hanna Commercial, where the Shanghai native’s Mandarin comes in handy working on real estate services for client companies with operations or offices in China.

Mac Biggar, president of Hanna Commercial, said he often hears her on the phone speaking Mandarin when he passes her work station. He said she is skilled at unearthing data about real estate markets around the world where the firm’s clients may need to do property deals. She also maintains a database of the firm’s corporate service clients properties so Hanna knows when a lease is expiring and needs to be renewed.

Among her clients at Hanna are firms such as RPM International and Myers Industries. Colleagues describe Li as the corporate services unit’s foundation. She has earned two promotions in three years with the company’s Cleveland office.

Portraits by Tim Harrison for Crain’s

Li came to Cleveland alone to earn a master’s in public administration at Cleveland State University, but she has created a vast social, civic and trade network in addition to her professional life. Her internship and later job at Hanna broadened her horizon to opportunities in the business world, which accounted for her prior plan to work in government. She co-founded Friends of Global Cleveland, an organization that connects and supports young professionals in Cleveland with networking events, career development and volunteer opportunities.

Li became interested in helping the organization create a young professional unit due to her own experiences here, both the isolation she felt as a newcomer to the city from another country as well as frustration with the silos between the different Asian organizations in the region.

“I found I had no phone numbers in my address book for someone to

Five things Mentors: Diana Whisenant, a Hanna Commercial executive director, who helped her adapt to the maledominated commercial real estate world. And real estate developer Fred Geis, who helped her meet people around town.

Smart reads: The Economist is her main source of information.

Favorite place in Cleveland: Playhouse Square How she kicks back: “I like to people watch, especially at the plaza at Playhouse Square.”

Drive-time listen: “I don't have one. I walk to work from my apartment downtown.”

Re call to go to dinner,” she said, and the group has helped her build such acquaintances and the group works to help other international newcomers have a better initial experience when they land here.

Li is also a board member and director of membership for the Commercial Real Estate Women trade group and is involved in planning its 30-year anniversary event and a national summit of the club’s directors.

She is also a past president of the Mid-Day Toastmasters Club. She joined the club while she was a student to improve her basic knowledge of English. She also keeps up her connections with Cleveland State and serves as a mentor in its annual student real estate marketing competition. — Stan Bullard

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Five things Favorite travel destination: Zion National Park, Utah (so far) Venue: Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica Restaurant: Barroco Grill in Lakewood Non-work effort: Volunteering with the nonprofit Empower Sports

ks

Leisure activity: Hiking — in the Metroparks, of course

medan

His boss, Metroparks chief marketing officer Kelly Manderfield, said McHugh’s skillset, along with his personality, have amped up the organization’s work with sponsors.

“He’s really transformed how those are handled at Cleveland Metroparks,” said Manderfield, noting that under McHugh, the parks system has been able to build larger, long-term commitments with more sponsors than before.

As the two talk to a reporter, it’s obvious their relationship is a good one — as one might expect at an entity centered around building welcoming environments, like a parks system.

“He’s getting married!” Manderfield chimed in with a laugh, when a reporter asked McHugh whether he has any major life developments coming up.

Yes, McHugh added, he’s looking forward to marrying his fiancé, Emma Cassell, this August.

McHugh’s father, Sean McHugh, runs the Metroparks’ golf courses — and introduced Brendan to the parks at an early age. As a result, Brendan says some of his fondest memories are of hanging out at Rocky River Reservation when he was a kid, which was a short ride from his home. Now, he’s helping to create similar memories for the next generation of park visitors in the region. — Dan Shingler

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J U N E 11 - 17, 2 018

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PA G E 21

TWENTY IN THEIR 20S

e

the acs to mers nce

|

Tricia Reddy, 26

Partner manager, MCPc; Founder, Coastline Bowls Ever since she was little, Tricia Reddy had a goal to start a company before she turned 30. She would study a different industry each week and try to come up with a new idea or solve a problem with the hopes of becoming an entrepreneur.

“I just always thought that it would be cool to start a company at a young age because that could be a nice differentiator,” she said.

When she was a junior in college, she picked up a beginner’s book on starting a business but shelved it to graduate from John Carroll University.

Reddy completed a rotational program at Parker Hannifin that took her to, among other places, California. One day, she tried her first pitaya bowl. It was a game changer in more ways than one. Reddy soon added the hot pink super fruit, also known as dragon fruit, to her daily routine.

After Reddy returned to Cleveland, she wanted to find a way to bring California back with her.

She also missed eating pitaya.

So, she started her own super fruit café. So, at the ripe age of 24, she picked up her business book and started Coastline Bowls in addition to her fulltime job.

Reddy said working as a manager of partner relations for MCPc has forced her to get creative

Coby Socher, 26

Five things Favorite pastime: Sporting events and everything about sports Fun thing to do: Brunching with friends at Townhall Favorite animal: Dolphins Favorite activity: Traveling and new experiences Her happy place: The beach

Realtor and CEO, The Socher Team; Partner, Keller Williams Greater Cleveland Coby Socher is a powerhouse at the Socher Team, where his mother, Soshana Socher, is head honcho. He joined the team at 18 after getting a high school diploma instead of going to college and colleagues say he has deep experience in real estate brokerage despite his age.

Socher is driven. Once he managed to drop his phone behind his desk at the Keller Williams Pepper Pike office. He was engaged in a negotiation to buy a home. To ensure he could be heard, he dropped to the floor to ensure to complete the deal.

He’s been on national television shows, both HGTV’s “House Hunters” and “The Price is Right.”

Socher is credited with the firm’s growth to five agents and three inside staffers during his tenure and he is consistently among the office’s top agents by volume, and will be a million-dollar seller this year, up from $580,000 in 2017, according to the

nomination.

Socher’s personality is credited with his rise in residential brokerage, along with the social networking skills of a digital native. In an interview with Crain’s Cleveland Business in 2013, he said his Facebook page was a key source of business, especially in helping him reconnect with friends who went away to college and came home to launch their careers and families, and buy houses. The Facebook page features stories about recent deals he’s closed and oodles of well-produced videos, often as much about Jewish life in Cleveland as real estate.

That doesn’t mean he has not had struggles. His mother, Soshana Socher, said he’s so social that people are sometimes surprised he was home schooled for most of his life.

He also wrestled with dyslexia, she said. That could be a big chal-

lenge in a world where contracts are crucial, his mother said, but he overcame it because people’s money is involved.

Scott Phillips Jr., CEO of Keller Williams Greater Cleveland, said Coby Socher regularly

on how to scale Coastline Bowls because she has no intention of quitting either. Coastline has been a way for Reddy to apply what she had been taught in the classroom and what she has learned on the job. At MCPc, she is responsible for managing strategic relationships between the company and its partners, including Apple, HP, Lenovo and Dell.

Peter Anagnostos — vice president of marketing, communications and community outreach at MCPc — sees a lot of symmetry to what Reddy does at MCPc and Coastline.

“She’s gaining experience out in the other side of the business world and bringing what she learns back to MCPc, and I’m sure she brings to her personal project skills she’s learned at MCPc,” Anagnostos said.

It hasn’t always been easy, but Reddy has always thrived on being busy. A high school and college basketball athlete, she says her parents would tease that her grades were better in season when she had less time.

“I guess it was just a mere coincidence that I happened to pick up that book, but it’s all about the little things,” she said. “If you notice and pay attention to them, they could drastically impact your life.” —Nicole Stempak

Five things Favorite place in CLE: Downtown Chagrin Falls Style home he lives in: Edge-cut ’60s modern Drive-time listen: Tropical house on Pandora — “Don’t hate it until you take a listen!”

His wheels: Mercedes Benz Mentor: “My mom. She taught me from day one not to focus on money and commissions, but rather customer service and referrals. That is our secret sauce for creating explosive growth.”

mentors younger agents and volunteers to lead education sessions.

“He carries himself like someone much older,” Phillips said. “Here he has this baby face so he looks younger than he is. Yet he’s the person at the table at the front of the room talking about how to succeed as a Realtor.” —Stan Bullard

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

THE LIST

Wineries

Ranked by gallons produced in 2017 THIS YEAR WINERY

GALLONS PRODUCED IN 2017

STAFF FULL TIME PART TIME (1)

YEAR FOUNDED PRIMARY WINE TYPES MADE

TASTING ROOM RESTAURANT VINEYARD TOP EXECUTIVE

1

Ferrante Winery & Ristorante 5585 Ohio Route 307, Geneva 44041 (440) 622-3957/www.ferrantewinery.com

95,000

20 30

1937

Chardonnay, riesling, pinot grigio, gewŸrztraminer, gruner, dolcetto, pinot noir, cabernet franc, vidal ice wine

¥

2

Debonne Vineyards 7840 Doty Road, Madison 44057 (440) 466-3485/www.debonne.com

70,000

20 20

1971

European and native varieties

¥

3

L'uva Bella Winery 6597 Center Road, Lowellville 44436 (330) 536-6450/www.luvabella.com

55,000

8 25

2006

Passion, Purple Rain, RedHead, Reserves; California, Italian and local grapes; wine making juices and supplies

¥

¥

4

Gervasi Vineyard 1700 55th St. N.E., Canton 44721 (330) 497-1000/www.gervasivineyard.com

25,000

50 300

2009

Twenty-eight varietals from sweet white to dry red including three estate wines made from Gervasi Vineyard vines

¥

¥

5

Crafted Artisan Meadery 1189 Ohio Route 43, Mogadore 44260 (330) 628-4444/craftedmead.com

25,000

2 6

2012

Mead

¥

6

Deer's Leap Winery & Restaurant 1520 Harpersfield Road, Geneva 44041 (440) 466-1248/www.deersleapwinery.com

24,000

5 15

2011

Sweet fruit and speciaity wines as well as a full line of dry red and white wines

¥

7

Klingshirn Winery 33050 Webber Road, Avon Lake 44012 (440) 933-6666/www.klingshirnwine.com

24,000

3 10

1935

American labruscas, hybrid and vinifera

¥

8

Laurentia Vineyard and Winery 4599 S. Madison Road, Madison 44057 (440) 296-9175/www.laurentiawinery.com

15,000

11 30

2010

Dry wines including chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, rose, pinot gris, riesling, merlot, cabernet franc, gewŸrztraminer

¥

¥

¥

Leonard Blackie, vice president

9

The Vineyards at Pine Lake 14101 Market St., Columbiana 44408 (330) 549-0195

11,000

7 58

2016

Cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, merlot, syrah, Pine Lake Red, Cire, Lindale, Avily, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc

¥

¥

¥

Joseph S. Glista, CEO

10

Laurello Vineyards 4573 Ohio Route 307 E., Geneva 44041 (440) 415-0661/www.laurellovineyards.com

11,000

1 18

2002

Dry and off-dry white and red vinifera wines

¥

¥

¥

Kimberly A. Laurello, owner, winemaker

11

Grand River Wine Cellars 5750 Madison Road, Madison 44057 (440) 298-9838/www.grandrivercellars.com

10,000

10 30

2005

Riesling, chardonnay, cabernet franc, ice wine

¥

¥

¥

Cindy Lindberg, president

12

Vino Veritas Cellars 4103 Memphis Ave., Cleveland 44109 (216) 650-9877/Vinoveritascellarscle.com

10,000

4 2

2011

California red and white blends, cabernet, chardonnay, zinfandel

¥

¥

¥

Anthony Nunes Insana, owner, vitner

13

Bent Ladder 13550 Mt. Eaton Road, Doylestown 44230 (330) 485-1089/bentladder.com

10,000

2 6

2016

Estate grown French-American hybrids and hard ciders

¥

¥

Matt Vodraska, proprietor

14

The Winery at Spring Hill 6062 S. Ridge Road W., Geneva 44041 (440) 466-0626/thewineryatspringhill.com

7,500

3 20

2008

Vinifera, French hybrid, labrusca, dessert/ice wines, hard cider

¥

¥

Tom Swank, vice president of operations, winemaker

15

CLE Urban Winery 2180B Lee Road, Cleveland Heights 44118 (216) 600-8466/www.cleurbanwinery.com

7,500

2 7

2015

Red, white and fruit-infused varietals

¥

16

South River Vineyard 6062 S. River Road, Geneva 44041 (440) 466-6676/www.southrivervineyard.com

7,500

2 5

2002

Red blends and cool climate whites

¥

¥

Gene P. Sigel, president

17

Mastropietro Winery Inc. 14558 Ellsworth Road, Berlin Center 44401 (330) 547-2151/www.mastropietrowinery.com

7,000

2 12

2005

Traditional red and white grape wines, dry to sweet

¥

¥

Daniel E. Mastropietro, winemaker, owner

18

D & D Smith Winery 401 W. Main St., Norwalk 44857 (419) 577-0242/www.ddsmithwinery.com

5,000

0 3

2008

Lake Erie

¥

¥

Danielle Smith Denny Smith, members

19

McAlpine Meadery 10035 Johnsford Road, Beach City 44608 (330) 756-5019/www.mcalpinemead.com

4,000

4 2

2014

Mead

¥

20

Hundley Cellars 6451 N. River Road, Geneva 44041 (440) 361-4573/www.hundleycellars.com

4,000

3 1

2014

Full selection from oaked chardonnay to sweet and fruit forward

¥

21

It's Your Winery 1484 Medina Road, Suite 113, Medina 44256 (330) 784-9463/www.itsyourwinery.com

3,200

1 0

2003

Semi-sweet fruit wines, dry wines

¥

22

Nauti Vine Winery 3950 S. Main St., Akron 44319 (330) 644-5444/nautivinewine.com

3,086

4 24

2013

West Coast grapes from cabernet sauvignon to riesling

¥

¥

23

The Lakehouse Inn Winery 5653 Lake Road, Geneva-on-the-Lake 44041 (440) 361-9018/www.thelakehouseinn.com

3,000

31 26

2001

Riesling, pinot grigio, chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc

¥

¥

24

Harpersfield Vineyard 6387 Ohio Route 307 W., Geneva 44041 (440) 466-4739/www.harpersfield.com

3,000

3 2

1979

Pinot noir, chardonnay, pinot gris, cabernet franc, gruner veltliner

25

Silver Run Vineyard & Winery 376 Eastern Road, Doylestown 44230 (330) 671-1115/silverrunwinery.com

3,000

2 2

2010

26

Maple Ridge Vineyard 6326 Dewey Road, Madison 44057 (440) 829-8783

2,300

0 3

27

Feisty Brood Meadery 145 W. Aurora Road, Northfield 44067 (440) 590-6909/http://feistymead.com

2,000

2 0

¥

¥

Nicholas Ferrante, winemaker, general manager

¥

Tony S. Debevc, vice president

Ruth A. Sergi Frank R. Sergi, owners ¥

Scott A. Swaldo, general manager, co-owner Kent Waldeck, owner

¥

Robert C. Bostwick, winemaker, CEO Lee Klingshirn, president

¥

Destiny R. Burns, owner, CEO

¥

Jeremiah Geisinger, owner

¥

¥

Tracey Pringle, CFO

Dave Foltz, president

Joseph A. Wathey Erica L. Wathey, co-owners ¥

Karen M. Fagnilli, CEO, cofounder

¥

¥

Patty A. Ribic, president, owner

French-hybrid dry reds, dry/semi-dry vidal and riesling and sweet American and fruit varieties

¥

¥

Ed Sunkin, winemaker

2001

Chardonnay, pinot noir, riesling, cabernet franc, pinot gris, red meritage, gewŸrztraminer, traminette, sŽmillon

¥

¥

Patricia Iubelt, president Jim Iubelt, principal; Ron and Nina Harvey, owners, investors

2014

Mead

Brian McMillin

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 The digital list includes 44 wineries. Information is supplied by the wineries. Wineries reporting the same number of gallons produced are then ranked by full-time employment. Send feedback to Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com.

(1) As of May 1; some wineries may not have included people employed by affiliated restaurants.

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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LIST ANALYSIS

Wineries list dominated by young establishments

By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com @ChuckSoder

People have been making wine for thousands of years — but not at wineries in Northeast Ohio.

Most wineries in the region are fairly new: Well over half of the 44 wineries on the full digital version of our Wineries list were founded in 2010 or later. All but seven were founded since 2000.

In fact, new wineries are cropping up all over the state: There were 265 in Ohio in 2016, up from 109 in 2004, according to a 2016 report by the Ohio Grape Industries Committee.

Not only does Northeast Ohio have lots of new wineries, but a handful of them told Crain’s last fall that established wineries are growing as well.

Demand for locally produced wine has been rising, they said, citing increased interest in locally produced food and drink — a trend that also has helped the craft beer industry.

Improved efforts to market the region’s wineries as destinations have helped, too, Edward Trebets said at the time. He’s director of the wine degree program at Kent State University’s Ashtabula campus and the owner of Urban Vintner in Willoughby, a 2-year-old winery at No. 40 on the full digital list.

Granted, the top two wineries on the list have been around for years: The largest winery, Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, which produced 95,000

Grapes used to make ice wine sit on the vine, freezing and waiting for harvest at Ferrante Winery & Ristorante in Geneva.

(Contributed photo)

The 55-acre Gervasi Vineyard in Canton includes multiple restaurants and bars, including The Crush House, where wine is made. The site also includes a working vineyard, six villas and a 5-acre lake. The decor and furnishings at Gervasi are reminiscent of Tuscany. (Contributed photo)

gallons of wine in 2017, was founded in 1937. The No. 2 winery, Debonne Vineyards, which produced 70,000 gallons, was founded in 1971.

Debonne would’ve been the largest winery if we had ranked the list by

vineyard size: It has a 160-acre vineyard, easily the largest in the area.

Both Ferrante, in Geneva, and Debonne, in Madison, are located in the heart of Northeast Ohio wine country: 11 of the 44 wineries on the

list are crammed into a 12-mile stretch near those two towns, including 10 of the 22 wineries that have vineyards.

The largest employer on the list is Gervasi Vineyard in Canton, which

SAVE THE DATE

had 50 full-time and 300 part-time employees as of May 1. Gervasi Vineyards’ Tuscany-inspired campus includes three restaurants, large event spaces and upscale lodging. It’s also adding a distillery and a new hotel.

The 44 wineries on the list produced a grand total of 461,649 gallons of wine in 2017. They reported having 220 full-time and 706 parttime employees as of May 1, but some wineries may not have included restaurant employees in their numbers.

Those totals also would’ve been higher if we had captured all 120-plus licensed wine manufacturers in the 15-county Northeast Ohio region.

Crain’s reached out to every winery that provided a website or an email address to the Ohio Division of Liquor Control; some wineries didn’t respond.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

AKRON

7th Floor gets assists from eBay, LeBron

By BETH THOMAS HERTZ clbfreelancer@crain.com

The two entrepreneurs who started Akron’s 7th Floor Clothing Co. in 2016 are scoring big from participating in eBay’s Retail Revival program, but their hometown’s favorite son, LeBron James, has also given them a powerful assist.

Among the early products offered by the duo, Frank Miller III and Preston Clark, was a “Kiss the Trophy” hat that showed a frog wearing a Cavs jersey and a crown while smooching the championship trophy. When James posted a photo of himself wearing the hat — a take on the Kermit the Frog sipping tea meme — on his Instagram account in August 2016, sales blew up.

The new company posted revenues of $356,000 that year.

“When LeBron wore the hat, it took on legs of its own and helped grow the business to where we are at now,” Miller said.

This success came on the heels of a risk the duo took in the early days of their venture, printing Cleveland Cavaliers championship T-shirts before the team played in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. They took their optimistic offering to a watch party in the gymnasium at James’ alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, and held their breath for a Cavs victory. The team’s win that night was a big win for them, too — all 100 shirts sold out within about 10 minutes of the final buzzer.

“It was either going to make us or break us, that risk right there. I am so grateful that they won because it could have really gone the opposite way for us,” Miller said.

7th Floor has since gone on to create other Cavs items, including a “Stay Home 23” shirt — urging James not to leave the Cavs — that sold well, and are offering a design featuring James and a goat (short for “Greatest Of All Time”) just in time for this year’s Finals.

That product is only available on the company’s eBay page, which is

7th Floor Clothing Co. founders Preston Clark, left, and Frank Miller III are enjoying success as part of eBay’s Retail Revival program. (Contributed photo)

“They have put the city first throughout the entire thing.”

— Heather Rosczyk, Akron’s liaison to eBay’s Retail Revival program

part of the Retail Revival program that began several months ago. The program is partnering with merchants in the Akron area and helping them through the process of growing a business online — marketing, pricing, maximizing search results and more.

The program is focused on bringing traditional bricks-and-mortar businesses online and to new customers around the world, according to Chris Librie, eBay’s senior director, global impact and giving. eBay is partnering with Akron as its first United States pilot city (with participation from Warren, Ohio) in a 12-month program.

Miller and Clark said they feel lucky to be part of the program, and believe their James-assisted hat suc-

cess is part of the reason they were admitted. They were even among a few participants who were recently invited to eBay headquarters in California to meet company leaders.

Heather Rosczyk, who is the city of Akron’s liaison to the program, went on the trip, too, along with Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan, and has seen that the program has benefited the city as well as the retailers, as eBay has been very conscious about making decisions that are best for Akron.

“They have put the city first throughout the entire thing,” she said.

EBay even seeks to help local businesses that aren’t in the program by hiring them when possible, such as for services like videography and catering, she said.

Rosczyk said 120 companies are in the Retail Revival, significantly more than the initial target of 20 to 40.

“There were so many viable businesses that wanted to participate that they ended up letting a lot more in,” she said.

Although some have dropped out,

most are engaged and happy with how it’s going, she said. The individualized support they are getting on how to use eBay to increase sales for their own business are already yielding results. While eBay isn’t ready to release overall sales yet, Rosczyk was able to say that participants, whose ventures span a wide range of fields, have had more than 12,000 individual listings and have made more than 3,700 sales to 49 countries so far.

For 7th Floor, the partners have shifted from selling their products on their own site to selling exclusively on eBay. Although eBay takes a percentage of their profit, the increased volume that they are seeing is worth it to them.

“The difference between selling it ourselves and having a machine behind it such as eBay is that they have already laid all the ground work. Where we are trying to make a way, and we keep hitting walls because we don’t understand the next part, they have already figured it out,” Miller said.

While 7th Floor has made its biggest splash with Cavs items, the com-

pany, located on Highbrook Street in South Akron, actually offers a wide range of products and services. In addition to Cavs and non-Cavs clothing, they offer tax preparation services the first four months of each year. They sell a line of all-natural skin care products, sold under the name All 7ven Days, and they plan to start offering a line of premium book bags and messenger bags this fall.

The longtime friends also are musicians, performing as Frank Righteous and Freeze Clark. They describe their genre as motivational hip hop — “for dreamers and people who really want to do something with their life. It’s not gangster at all,” Miller said.

They also are proud of work they have done to mentor local youth, including helping some of them create their own clothing lines.

“We are building a brand that has legs,” Miller said.

That brand’s name stems from seven being the number of completion, he explained.

“We try to do everything in complete order. It’s a number that we both resonate with, and it helps us remember where we are starting at,” he said.

“And I was born on the seventh of October,” Clark added.

Looking ahead, they plan to continue to court the occasional brush with greatness (James wore the hat again earlier this season, as did several other Cavs players) while growing the company. Although their sales haven’t returned to the same heights as the hat-fueled success of 2016, they were a still-strong $250,000 in 2017 and are at about $100,000 so far this year.

They see eBay as a key partner in their future, and are looking forward to telling their story at an eBay event in Las Vegas in July.

Although they hope to add people to their roster in the near future, for now they are the company’s only employees, meaning they are “all in,” working lots of hours — “Whatever it takes,” they both said.

Their favorite basketball team couldn’t have said it better.

EPA requirement drives Wastebits’ rapid growth “E-Manifest is taking over the entire industry, and all the waste companies across the country are scrambling and trying to figure out what to do.”

By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com @DanShingler

Regulations aren’t always bad for everyone’s business — just ask Akron-based Wastebits.

The company provides an online platform that helps waste generators, haulers and disposal sites handle many of the logistical challenges of matching waste generators with haulers and getting waste to the most cost effective and appropriate disposal sites. Perhaps more importantly at the moment, it also provides users with an easy way to electronically manage data and document how waste is handled — and new federal regulations are creating big demand for that service.

“We’re experiencing like 600% growth this year — it’s amazing,” said Wastebits founder and CEO Dan Collins.

He attributes much of the surge in business to a new federal requirement known in the industry as “e-Manifest.”

It’s a bit like the electronic medical records requirement that not long ago

— Dan Collins, Wastebits founder and CEO

Wastebits founder and CEO Dan Collins said the Akron company has experienced 600% growth this year. (Dan Shingler)

sent hospitals and other health care providers scrambling to make sure their systems can be compliant with new demands that records be digital and easily transferred from one computer or system to another — except, in this case, it’s the handling of hazardous waste that the government wants to better monitor.

“E-Manifest is taking over the entire industry, and all the waste companies across the country are scrambling and trying to figure out what to do,” Collins said.

If you’re not in the hazardous

waste business, you’ve probably never heard of e-Manifest. If you are, it’s been a hot topic of conversation as of late.

“This pertains to all hazardous waste that is regulated . ... It impacts everybody in a big way from coast to coast,” said Mike Guenther, head of business development for Avonbased Chemtron, an environmental services company that takes in and disposes of hazardous waste.

Guenther said facilities like his will be affected because they are the entities required to record the handling of hazardous waste in the new system.

Of course, in any industry, some or all of the costs added to a product or service generally make their way to the end user, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will charge fees that are higher for paper filings than for electronic ones. It has not unveiled what those final fees will be, but the EPA on its website estimates it will charge $4 for electronic manifests to be filed, $13 for paper manifests to be scanned and uploaded, and $20 for paper manifests submitted by mail.

SEE WASTEBITS, PAGE 25

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 2 5

AKRON

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E 25

Magnet strengthens its Rubber City ties

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY

ent” in order to serve better manufacturers in the Akron area. Ideally, the new office will help Magnet raise awareness of its services in the Akron area, as that region is one where its services aren’t as well known as they could be.

“And we need to do more there,” Karp said.

McDermott had worked out of the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, but the organization decided a physical office was needed. And, ultimately, Magnet needed to put

more people and money behind its work in the Akron area, McDermott said. The organization is trying to bring “familiarity” with Magnet to the southern portion of the reMcDermott gion it serves.

The timing is also right, as new groups such as workforce development organization ConxusNEO and entrepreneurial support center and incubator Bounce Innovation Hub are getting underway, Karp said.

The new Magnet office at 9 North Main is near partners including the chamber and ConxusNEO, McDermott said. The organization has been in the office since May and will hold an official ribbon cutting later this year, ideally at the start of August.

Right now, the Akron office of Magnet has two full-time employees, including McDermott, and other growth advisers from the organization to use when needed. Magnet is leasing approximately 1,100 square feet in Akron, McDermott said in an email, and is maintaining space at the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce.

million to $90 million per year.”

So, a lot of companies dealing with hazardous waste are scrambling to be able to use the system, avoid higher fees and reduce their own costs — and that’s driving Wastebits’ growth, Collins said.

Wastebits had plenty of time to prepare, and used it, he said. The actual law requiring e-Manifest was passed in 2012, and it has taken this long for the EPA to implement it, giving Wastebits ample time to prepare.

It has been designing its system so it would work with the new system all along, Collins said, and now it’s reaping the rewards as e-Manifest is set to

take effect June 30.

“We have the product in a position where the market fit and product offerings align,” Collins said. “We have been working on the e-Manifest solution for some time, with the recent mandate of an implementation date of June 30 for e-Manifest, we knew there would be a need for our offering.”

Privately held Wastebits does not disclose its revenues or financials, but Collins said his business has been steadily growing and just turned the corner to become profitable.

It already employs 31 people in downtown Akron, and Collins said

he’ll need to hire at least three more full-time employees and probably more part-time help this year to keep up with his increased business.

“We’re currently servicing over 60,000 manufacturers across the U.S. and hundreds of waste companies, including two of the top three,” said Collins, who said one of the nation’s largest trash haulers recently began subscribing to his service.

Civic leaders and economic developers have praised Wastebits because it’s creating the kind of modern, high-tech jobs that the city wants — and the type that helps attract young professionals to live down-

rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

Magnet, the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, may be based in Cleveland, but the organization is charged with supporting manufacturers throughout Northeast Ohio. In the past year, the group has taken steps to strengthen its services in the Summit County area, and it now has officially opened an office in Akron.

Magnet is a Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, which means it’s part of a national network focused on serving small and midsize manufacturers.

At current, Magnet serves manufacturers in 18 counties in Northeast Ohio. Darlyn McDermott came to Magnet from Oswald Cos. about a year ago to start working as the market leader for what she calls Magnet South, which focuses on manufacturers in Summit, Stark, Wayne, Medina and Portage counties. Magnet South also serves companies in Mahoning and Columbiana counties.

Ethan Karp, CEO and president of Magnet, said the organization realized it needed to be physically “pres-

WASTEBITS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24

Ultimately, the EPA predicts the new system not only will enable state and federal officials to better monitor hazardous waste, but also will save waste generators and handlers money.

On top of providing better and more accessible data on how hazardous waste is handled, the EPA predicts e-Manifest will ultimately “reduce the burden associated with preparing shipping manifests by between 300,000 and 700,000 hours, saving state and industry users $75

Magnet, a Manufacturing Extension Partnership center serving small and mid-sized manufacturers, has opened an office in Akron. (Contributed photo)

REAL ESTATE

town or elsewhere in the city.

Collins said he’ll be able to continue to find the personnel and other resources he needs to continue growing locally. So, at least for now, he plans to keep the business entirely in the Rubber City.

“We certainly hope so,” he said.

“Akron has the talent and infrastructure to support our growth for the time being. The city has been working hard to attract new businesses and entrepreneurial talent to the area. Our ability to be 100% located in Akron will depend on our ability to attract and retain talent, as well as access to the right kind of capital.”

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Karp said the Akron office will be where Magnet works with established companies in the area, but it will also have space at Bounce, where it will work with startups.

McDermott works as both the market leader for the region, spending most of her time in the community, meeting with company leaders and furthering the organization’s brand. However, she also serves as a growth adviser, delivering Magnet’s services in areas like lean and innovation to companies.

Sue Lacy, president of ConxusNEO, which supports strengthening the region’s talent pipeline, said ConxusNEO and Magnet have a “shared goal” of helping manufacturers innovate and grow. Summit County needs a strong MEP, and ConxusNEO wants to support Magnet’s efforts to build a stronger presence in the region. Magnet has expertise in areas like engineering and marketing that help companies grow, Lacy said.

As Magnet increases the promotion of its services in the region, it’s important that it aligns its work with existing resources, Lacy said. She said she meets with Karp regularly to coordinate the groups’ efforts, and those conversations have been beneficial.

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Crain’s takes home 16 Press Club awards Crain’s Cleveland Business was named the best business publication in Ohio in the annual Excellence in Journalism Awards sponsored by the Press Club of Cleveland.

Crain’s won 16 awards in all, including two “Best in Ohio” first-place awards and seven first places in other categories in the statewide contest.

Judging this year was done by Press Club chapters in New Orleans, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, Idaho, Milwaukee, San Diego, Syracuse and Texas.

In the competition among business publications, Crain’s reporters took two first-place awards. In “general news,” assistant editor Kevin Kleps won for his sports business coverage. Manufacturing and higher education reporter Rachel McCafferty received top honors in “features/general” for her report on the Mahoning Valley’s slow rebound. Senior reporter Stan Bullard took second place for “features/personality profile” for his piece on real estate developer Frank Sinito, and finance/ legal reporter Jeremy Nobile was awarded third place in “features/ trends” for coverage of the beer and wine industry.

Kleps also won first place for his daily Sports Business blog in the digital media competition, with the judges remarking: “Well-written stories that even someone who’s not a sports enthusiast can find informative and entertaining.”

Publisher and editor Elizabeth McIntyre received first place for business column and data editor Chuck

Kleps

McCafferty

McIntyre

Kordalski

Soder took second place for technology writing.

Freelance writer Joe Crea was awarded second place for lifestyle column for Williams his regular feature “At the Table.” Sections editor Timothy Magaw earned second place for an editorial on the Quicken Loans Arena renovations.

In the visuals categories, creative director David Kordalski won five awards, including a “Best in Ohio” first-place award for illustrations for all publications. Kordalski also earned two other top honors: for

The winning entry in the “Multiple illustrations for one story” category included this Robert Carter painting of LeBron tweeting.

Daniel Zackroczemski’s front-page illustration of the Metroparks at 100 was part of the “Best in Ohio” art direction portfolio award.

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multiple illustrations for one story among all publications, with the judges crediting the “great attention to detail, eye-catching design,” and for single-page design among tabloids. He took second place for a single illustration and third place for news front page design.

Cartoonist Rich Williams took first place in the best single cartoon category for a “clever, hilarious and welldrawn” cartoon showing the #MeToo movement’s impact on workplace interactions and morale.

The awards were presented on June 1 in a ceremony at the House of Blues in Cleveland.

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HBM Architects is proud to recognize the professional accomplishments of Stephanie Shook, who has been promoted to Associate. Stephanie joined HBM in 2006 and has over 23 years of professional experience. She has lead the firm’s Interior Design studio on many successful projects across the country. She recently contributed to the success of projects such as the PSU Hershey Medical Library, multiple projects for the Cuyahoga County Public Library and Cleveland Public Library, locally.

Kristi Petrecca has been promoted to Ohio Director of Client Services. In this role, she will lead the clientfocused service oriented teams by training, managing, and developing the teams in line with corporate strategy and company and branch dominant priorities. Kristi, a graduate of Ursuline College, joined Gallagher in 2007 and brings more than 20 years of client service experience to the role both on the carrier side and consultant side.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Source Lunch Todd Federman

Managing director, North Coast Angel Fund When Todd Federman sat down with Crain’s on May 21, he said that a public company (he didn’t name names) would probably acquire a startup that previously received investments from North Coast Angel Fund. Then, on June 1, it happened: Quotient Technology announced it would buy a Cincinnati-based marketing software firm called Ahalogy, for $20 million upfront and up to another $30 million in performance-related payments. That deal will return “several million dollars” to local investors who do deals through the angel fund and North Coast Venture Fund, a sister entity that also invested in Ahalogy — money that is “highly likely to be reinvested in other high potential companies,” Federman said. He’s fairly confident that another startup backed by North Coast Angel Fund will be acquired this summer. Federman rarely makes such predictions: The angel fund makes lots of investments because it’s so hard to tell which ones will pay off. “It’s a little like scouting in sports. You’re investing in a company that has that potential. Then real life unfolds.” — Chuck Soder

Five things Lacrosse He was a midfielder for Shaker Heights High School and started a summer lacrosse camp as a teen.

Guilty pleasure "Cupcakes, clearly," Federman said.

He ordered a salted caramel chocolate cupcake.

Skydiving phase During a six month-period in his 20s, he jumped about 20 times.

Favorite roller coaster The Gemini at Cedar Point

Family fun He’s excited to take his kids to Adrenaline Monkey, which will offer family friendly obstacle courses with an “American Ninja Warrior” feel. It’s slated to open in Cleveland on June 30.

Lunch spot Luna Bakery and Café 2482 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Heights www.lunabakerycafe.com 216-231-8585

The meal Portobello panini with quinoa and cupcake; pork panini with chips; soft drinks

The vibe Luna Bakery and Café bills itself online as a “European-style pastry shop & café with local influences.” In addition to cupcakes, cookies and brownies, it serves breakfast food, paninis, crépes, soups and salads.

The bill $28.35, plus tip

You guys have been investing in startups for more than 10 years.

How has your investment process changed over the years?

We now have a 30-day diligence process. In the past, it wasn’t unusual for diligence efforts to go 60 or even 90 days. That’s a lot of time from an entrepreneur’s life. The sooner we can say yes or no, the better it is for our team and the better it is for the entrepreneur.

How do you condense that?

It’s partly establishing a process from Day 1 where we have an initial, standard set of questions finely tuned to the specific type of opportunity. On Day 1, we set our four meetings, so they all have times and places. ... By getting everyone on the same page up front, it’s easier to stick to that 30-day period.

You were at the event where an executive from the Techstars business accelerator gave an assessment of the local tech community. He said the amount of capital in the region is fine for where the tech scene is today.

What do you think about that?

I thought it was a great event. ... I would not have expected their assessment to be as positive around capital as it was. ... When we see companies growing at 100% a year and go from a million to $2 million in sales, it takes them longer to raise capital than it should. There are very few sources of late stage or Series A capital here. Northeast Ohio companies typically have to make more progress than average to attract capital from the coasts.

Just because it’s hard to get investors on the coasts to fly to Ohio? I could see an entrepreneur saying “I will fly out to visit you every month if you need me to.”

They (investors) don’t have close proximity to the companies, so they’re not seeing them over a longer period of time. For companies that aren’t on the coasts, it’s more transactional.

They’re not able to establish relationships as early as other companies.

You also were co-founder of a company called One With Nature.

It’s actually in 4,000 stores now. It’s a line of all-natural bar soaps, lotions, body washes, bath salts. It continues to grow. ... It’s always helpful to have entrepreneurial experience as an investor.

You went to Puerto Rico in late April. What was that like?

I had to carry my bags down nine flights of stairs at the hotel — the power was out. The island is still recovering. As you fly in, you can still see a fair number of blue tarps signifying roof damage. The major metropolitan areas are largely back to normal, but the people of Puerto Rico still need a lot of help.

Did you see anything that really opened your eyes?

I went to a place called the P18, which stands for the 18th parallel, which is their incubator/accelerator.

The same energy, interest, enthusiasm for entrepreneurship that’s all over the world is readily on display. That building was filled with young, confident people with big ideas willing to take a risk.

Have you learned anything interesting lately?

At the Angel Capital Association meeting last month (April), there was a speaker talking about the biases of angel investors. Her area of study was how angel investors ask different questions to men vs. women. ... They captured the nature of the interactions between investors and the companies pitching them. They divided the types of questions into protective questions (concerns) and upside questions (opportunities). ...

Protective questions are disproportionately asked of female entrepreneurs and high potential questions are asked of male entrepreneurs. ...

When they controlled for certain variables, the people who were asked those protective questions were less successful raising money. ... The icing on that cupcake is that the people asked protective questions who were able to spin that question into a high potential answer did just as well.

Have you started thinking that you need to ask each entrepreneur a certain number of upside questions?

I’ve seen plenty of cases where I’ve asked a question that’s downside in nature — which is appropriate a lot of the time — and you notice whether someone spins it up or not.

You want someone who can do that appropriately. If they can do that with you as an investor, they can do that with someone they’re trying to sell something to. It’s salesmanship.

Salespersonship.

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sider intel

MARKETING, ADVERTISING & EVENTS INSIGHTS.

Today’s Tip: It’s never too early to begin promotions.

If you have a new product or service coming to the market, it’s never too early to begin teasing the idea to your audience.

Marketing efforts can, and should, begin before a product launch in order to build anticipation. Not to mention, viewing the product over a period of time will build brand recognition.

Michelle Sustar

Integrated Marketing Manager Crain’s Cleveland Business

How Crain’s can work for you: CRAIN’S ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES Crain’s Cleveland Business offers a variety of advertising opportunities. Whether you are interested in getting in front of our audience in print or online, there are a plethora of options. You could even utilize Crain Content Studio - Cleveland to promote sponsored content surrounding your products and services.

For more information on how you can showcase your accomplishments and brag a little, contact your account executive today.

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Volume 39, Number 24 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 441131230. Copyright © 2018 by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: $2.00.

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