Crain's Cleveland Business

www.mcpc.com/womenintech VOL. 39, NO. 28

JULY 9 - 15, 2018

Source Lunch

Akron Lehman’s in Kidron is a tourism destination.

Page 28

Darrell McNair, MVP Plastics Corp. president and CEO Page 31

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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LeBron’s exit lessens the team’s bargaining power, poses long-term business challenge

By KEVIN KLEPS kkleps@crain.com @KevinKleps

Nike’s removal of a 10-story banner on the side of Sherwin-Williams’ global headquarters got the play-byplay treatment on social media on Tuesday, July 3.

As strips of LeBron James’ outstretched pose came down — a process that was streamed live — there were calls for replacements (Francisco Lindor, anyone?) and questions about why it had to happen so soon (just two days after James announced he was leaving the Cavs for the Los Angeles Lakers).

Across the street, a more extensive project has started — a $140 million renovation that is shutting down

Quicken Loans Arena for each of the next two summers. In the fall of 2019, The Q — with its glass facade, new spaces and neighborhood concepts — should look better than it has in decades.

Yet history tells us its primary attraction might be in the depths of a painful rebuild that could be a heck of a lot more unappealing than torn-up walkways and plastic-covered walls.

The Cavs played 81 postseason games in the four seasons that followed James’ triumphant return in 2014. That total is four ahead of the franchise’s 77 playoff games in 37 non-LeBron seasons, and it’s just 16 shy of the 97 victories the Cavs managed in four regular seasons while James was in Miami.

SEE CAVS, PAGE 30

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Workers disassemble the iconic LeBron James Nike banner at the corner of Ontario St. and Huron Road near Quicken Loans Arena on July 3.

(David Kordalski)

The List Largest women-owned businesses Page 26

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PA G E 3

Manufacturers still can’t fill open jobs

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY

Share your story

rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

Are you a manufacturer taking a unique approach to closing the talent gap at your company? Help us share your story. Email reporter Rachel Abbey McCafferty at rmccafferty@crain.com to get the conversation started.

It’s not a new challenge for manufacturers, but it is one that seems to be getting tougher: finding enough people to fill all the open jobs.

Low unemployment and a surplus of work shouldn’t be cause for concern, but together, they’re adding up to a problem for manufacturers, who have already been struggling to find qualified workers.

There were close to 6.7 million job openings in April, the most recent month for which Bureau of Labor Statistics data is available. Overall, that’s a small increase over March.

But manufacturing was a segment that saw notable growth. For April, the sector had 451,000 openings, about 30,000 more than it had in March and about 78,000 more year over year.

Custom Rubber Corp. in Cleveland has about 85 employees, but president Charlie Braun wishes employment was closer to 100. The company has consistently had 12 to 15 open positions for at least the last six months, and it’s been constantly hiring people. But they don’t stay, Braun said, either because their performance falls short or because they

struggle with the company’s attendance policy. Last year, the company saw net employment increase by about 10 — but it hired more than 100 people throughout the year, Braun said.

Braun sometimes worries about taking on new work at the molded rubber products company, and he’s thinking about investing in more automation. He’d rather invest that money in people — the employees are the company’s “best asset,” he said.

“But I keep thinking, if I can’t hire them anyway, I guess I have to make the investment in robotics,” Braun said.

Finding, training and keeping employees have remained concerns for members of the National Tooling and Manufacturing Association in Cleveland, said Stacey Schroeder, director of workforce development. The trade association counts about 1,300 companies across the country as members.

Solving the skills gap problem is going to take a “holistic” approach, she

said. And that seems to be happening.

Companies are partnering with community colleges and manufacturing consortia and working to get students engaged early through activities like robotics competitions and Manufacturing Day events. They run apprenticeship programs and other training.

“Our members understand that it’s not a simple problem that happened overnight, so it’s not going to have a simple solution either,” Schroeder said. “You know, and I think they’re beginning to understand that to attract and retain especially younger people, it’s going to take some change to the culture of the companies, a little bit more analysis of what wages are in the region and really educating local community members by opening the doors and saying come see our shop.”

Right now is a “great time to be in manufacturing, if you can find people,” said Miles Free, director of industry research and technology at the Precision Machined Products Association in Brecksville. The association represents about 425 companies, of which nearly 260 are job shops.

The shops are “overwhelmed” with work, Free said, and they’re looking for employees.

For a long time, manufacturers wanted to hire people who were al-

ready trained; they didn’t want to run the training themselves. But in recent years, owners and CEOs have realized trained people won’t be “dropping from the sky,” Free said.

“And so, I’ve seen a real resurgence in my members about taking this training thing serious,” Free said.

But training is a serious investment for a company. Last year, BioThane Coated Webbing Corp. in North Ridgeville tried an approach that helped take some of the pressure off, working with temp agencies to hire for entry-level jobs. Stacey Kuehner, director of human resources, said agencies found the workers, and BioThane got them started with a basic packing job.

That let the company get a sense of fit with potential employees before they invested in training, Kuehner said. Ultimately, BioThane hired about five employees that way.

BioThane coats webbing with plastic, which its customers use in products ranging from horse harnesses to helmet chin straps. The company has about 60 employees.

Right now, BioThane has too much work to spare any time for training, but Kuehner said it will likely revisit the idea of working with temp agencies to find more employees in the fall.

Talan Products Inc. is always growing, but it hasn’t had a tough time

finding employees, said CEO Steve Peplin. The Cleveland company has put a focus on training its own in positions where it employs a lot of people, like press operators. Peplin said the company has a formal training program for that position, in addition to apprenticeship programs and community outreach with local high schools to keep its talent pipeline full.

Currently, Talan has about 75 employees. Peplin said the company pays competitively, and it works to provide a good culture for its employees.

“I think we reap what we sow,” Peplin said.

Culture could be key to the future of manufacturing employment.

As manufacturing becomes more high tech, it becomes a more attractive industry to work in. It’s not “dark” and “dangerous” anymore, said Roy W. Hardy, president of the Precision Metalforming Association in Independence. He thinks the perception of the industry is changing for students and parents. And going forward, the high rate of college debt and the lack of guarantee that a degree will lead to a job could encourage young adults to reconsider skilled trades like manufacturing.

“As I visit members now, the workforce is getting younger, which is very encouraging,” Hardy said.

LIST ANALYSIS

400 women-owned firms join directory

By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com @ChuckSoder

Rosie the Riveter would be proud.

Construction, manufacturing and computer technology aren’t typically considered female-dominated industries, but they each made a fairly strong showing in our Women-Owned Business Directory.

Crain’s recently updated the free online directory, which includes roughly 400 local companies that are majority-owned by women — up from 300 last year. You can search through the directory by industry, county and company name by visiting CrainsCleveland.com/section/ WOB (the Excel version is available to Crain’s Data Members).

If you look at the entire directory, the most popular industry category is “advertising - marketing - public relations” with 41 companies (which goes up to 53 companies if you throw in the 12 firms in the “graphic design” category). The No. 2 category was “management consultants,” with 36 businesses.

But none of those companies made it onto our list ranking the top 27 employers in the directory, which appears on Page 26.

On the other hand, construction, manufacturing and computer technology firms account for eight of the companies on the list. They also account for 17, or 29%, of the 59 companies that have at least 20 local fulltime employees.

The largest company in those traditionally male dominated industries is Frank Novak & Sons, a commercial contractor and manufacturing company in Bedford Heights. The company, which is run by several members of the Pinchot family, has 140 full-

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time local employees, putting it at No. 6 on the list. It’s tied with Hudson-based Millennium Capital and Recovery Corp., which helps lenders recover collateral and conduct repossessions.

But the top company on the list, by far, is InfoCision Management Corp.

The Akron-based contact center company has about 1,200 full-time local employees. Its majority shareholder is Karen Taylor, wife of InfoCision founder Gary Taylor, who died in 2013. Their son, Craig, is CEO. The companies in the directory are fairly young. The median company was founded in 2004. The larger companies, however, tend to be older. For instance, the median company among the top 27 firms on the list was founded in 1988.

Of course, the directory isn’t close to being comprehensive. For instance, it’s heavily weighted toward Cuyahoga County, which accounts for 276 of the 400 firms in the directory. It includes only a handful of firms on the outer edges of Northeast Ohio.

Help us make it more comprehensive: If you work for a woman-owned business in the 15-county Northeast Ohio area that would like to be included, visit CrainsCleveland.com/ section/WOB and fill out the form.

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As the plan to build a $168 million electric-power-generating wind farm in Lake Erie inches forward, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is making plans for its docks to be the site of an active staging area for construction materials for the pilot wind project.

The hope is to give Northeast Ohio the opportunity to be a Great Lakes hub for the assembly of materials — some manufactured nearby, hopefully — needed to build, operate and maintain what could be a sizable offshore wind industry, as well as a growing onshore wind market.

On Tuesday, July 3, the staff of the Ohio Power Siting Board recommended that the state allow construction to move forward for Icebreaker Wind, a string of six wind turbines eight miles north of Cleveland in Lake Erie that would be the first freshwater wind farm in North America. That’s a key step along the road to governmental approval that could be completed by December, said David Karpinski, vice president of operations of the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo), the nonprofit project developer that has partnered with a Norwegian firm, Fred. Olsen Renewables in Icebreaker Windpower Inc. If all of the remaining approvals can be wrapped up by year’s end, the turbines could be operational by 2020.

“This is an important project, not only because it will be staged here at the port and launched here,” said William Friedman, president and CEO of the Port Authority. “I’m just a believer in the potential of generating renewable energy and then, maybe more important in the long run, in the supply chain — manufacturing component parts and servicing the windmills. I just think that’s a great fit for us.”

Friedman, Karpinski and others believe this 20.7 megawatt (MW) pilot project could jump-start interest in Great Lakes wind the way a similar, 30 MW pilot wind farm off Rhode Island, operational since late 2016, has spurred interest on the East Coast.

That created 300 construction jobs and has prompted at least 1.8 gigwatts (GW) of interest in offshore

“I’m just a believer in the potential of generating renewable energy and then, maybe more important in the long run, in the supply chain — manufacturing component parts and servicing the windmills.

I just think that’s a great fit for us.”

— William Friedman, president and CEO of the Port Authority

projects in four Atlantic Coast states, according to Recharge, a business intelligence provider for the renewable energy industries.

For now, most wind turbines are built with imported European parts, since Europe’s wind industry is further along than the United States.

“We have a vision of a robust industry of multiple projects happening over a 10- to 20-year period,” Karpinski said. “We don’t know how it will play out, but there’s room for thousands of megawatts, for several thousand megawatts of wind (on the lake).

We don’t know how it’s going to play out until we build this first one.”

A 2017 U.S. Department of Energy study estimated the potential for Great Lakes wind power generation at 135 GW. FirstEnergy Corp.’s Perry Nuclear Generating Station is rated at nearly 3.8 GW. “The thing about offshore wind that’s exciting from a job creation standpoint is it has so many opportunities besides just manufacturing the turbines,” Karpinski said. “There’s the logistics of moving parts in and out of the port, getting them to the job site, renting cranes, hiring construction workers and hiring people to take care of the turbines when they go down.”

A wind industry that generates 5 GW of power, and its supply chain, could create 8,000 jobs in Ohio by 2030, according to a 2010 economic report LEEDCo commissioned. The small, pilot Icebreaker Wind project is expected create nearly 600 jobs for construction and beyond.

The report identified a number of Ohio companies with relevant capa-

bilities, including Cleveland’s Parker Hannifin Corp., which makes hydraulic systems and power cables; Timken Co. of Canton, a maker of bearings; and Molded FiberGlass Cos. of Ashtabula, which makes blades and turbine parts.

In addition, Friedman said a firm like the Great Lakes Group, which builds tug boats at its shipyard facility in Cleveland, could build the specialized vehicles needed to install wind turbines and foundations.

John Colm, executive director and president of Wire-Net, a manufacturing advocacy group, said the key will be getting past this single pilot project to a point where there is demand for several hundred turbines a year.

Offshore wind is still in the pilot stage in the United States, since it isn’t economically competitive. Still, installation of offshore wind capacity grew by 87% worldwide in 2017 over 2016, according to a report by the Global World Energy Council, an international trade association.

While an offshore wind industry is years off, onshore wind is already a robust industry. The U.S. has more than 54,000 operating wind turbines generating 89 GW of power across the U.S., creating a market for manufacturers. And generating capacity is growing at 8% annually, according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s 2017 market update.

“When you’ve got that kind of demand, then potentially a (company) could justify making blades at that kind of volume,” Colm said. “There’s a long way to go between a pilot and several hundred turbines a year.”

Friedman said the Port Authority has identified a dock at its east end, north of FirstEnergy Stadium, as the likely staging area, and its board of directors has approved hiring a consultant to evaluate the need for improvements. He expects it will need some beefing up to handle the key pieces of the wind structures. The foundation, for example, is a 390-ton “mono bucket” that would be assembled on the dock and ferried out and planted in the 60-foot-deep lake bed.

“Ports in Europe have benefited and are key elements in their offshore wind energy,” Friedman said.

“We would like to be in an advantaged position if we had the kind of heavy-capacity dock structure because the foundations are massive.”

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The massive former Walton Hills stamping plant has been put up for sale by Ford Motor Co. The asking price is $9 million, according to CBRE Group’s listing for the 111-acre site. (Contributed photo)

Walton Hills hopeful as Ford puts former plant on market

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter

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Almost four years after workers produced the last parts at the Walton Hills Ford stamping plant, the automaker has launched efforts to sell it by listing it with CBRE Group.

Katie Iaconis, fiscal officer at the Village of Walton Hills, said in an interview that village officials are more than encouraged that the property has hit the market. The loss of the plant, which had been operating since 1954, harmed the village’s financial health.

“We’re thrilled,” Iaconis said. “It seems like a long time since the property was closed, but this is actually quick for Ford to put it on the market. The mayor (Kevin Hurst) has been proactive about meeting with Ford and conducting quarterly conference calls about the property.”

Howard Lichtig, a CBRE vice president who is handling the listing, said in an interview Thursday, July 5, that several prospects he declined to identify have been through the property within the first week after marketing efforts began June 28 for the property.

“This will be a very competitive process,” Lichtig predicted, because

of the amount of interest already expressed in it and the lack of supply of industrial space in the region.

Ford wants to sell the property to a single buyer, Lichtig said.

Only a handful of buyers will have the financial strength to undertake such a massive project.

The building contains 2.1 million square feet of manufacturing space.

It sits on a 111 acres. The site even includes 28 tree-covered acres that have never been developed.

Historically, former auto plants in Northeast Oho have been turned into multitenant industrial parks by slicing them up for multiple tenants. However, the former Twinsburg Chrysler stamping plant broke that mold. It was razed and it now serves as home to multiple huge distribution centers occupied by Amazon and others in the Cornerstone Business Park.

Terry Coyne, a Newmark Knight Frank vice chairman, sized the Walton Hills property up as a “good piece of ground,” though not as easily reached from area highways as the Twinsburg property, which he now represents, was. He said he knows several bidders are already in the hunt for the property, but he declined to identify them.

The village rezoned the stamping plant property, which abuts the Hard

Rock Rocksino Northfield Park, to mixed use in 2015, Iaconis said.

“We don’t want a huge warehouse that employs three people,” she said, referring to potential municipal income tax proceeds that are a mainstay for village finances.

The mixed-use zoning continues to allow industrial use of the site, but also opens the door to entertainment and big-box retail uses. Only destination-oriented retail will be allowed under the zoning, she said.

Lichtig said he does not believe the absence of industrial zoning will hamper the automaker’s sale efforts.

The closing of the auto plant and the relocation of the Arhaus headquarters and warehouse to Boston Heights have brought tough times to the village of about 2,300 people, according to 2016 federal data.

The Ford plant alone generated more than $1 million annually in municipal income tax for the village at its peak in the 1990s. Since the village got punched by two big employers exiting, it has had layoffs and recently passed a hike in the portion of property taxes collected for city services.

“We’re hanging on,” Iaconis said, and looking forward to what’s next.

She noted large sections of the building contain overhead cranes that are expensive to install.

LaunchHouse, Aviatra partner to help more female entrepreneurs

By JEREMY NOBILE jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

A new partnership between LaunchHouse and Aviatra Accelerators, the nonprofit women-focused business accelerator, will provide Aviatra classroom space at LaunchHouse locations in Highland Heights and Lakewood.

The new collaboration — which itself is an effort to address ongoing challenges by women and minority business owners to access funding and advice — is the first of what is expected to be other similar partnerships in the future. The effort spawned from a discussion between Cindy Earl, Aviatra’s director of business development in Northeast Ohio, and Michael DeAloia, the leader of

LaunchHouse Lakewood and entrepreneur in residence for the city of Lakewood.

While LaunchHouse is a business and Aviatra is a nonprofit, both groups share the same goal of supporting entrepreneurs. And Aviatra, which is based in the Greater Cincinnati market with headquarters in Covington, Ky., has been looking for more opportunities to add programming to this market.

“We are thrilled to partner with LaunchHouse so that we can bring our programs to the west side of Cleveland,” said Earl in a statement.

“We’ve had so many requests from female entrepreneurs to bring our programming to the west side.”

Aviatra, formerly known as Bad Girl Ventures Inc., will offer its next trio of classes beginning in the fall.

According to the organization,

those comprise: EXPLORE, which helps entrepreneurs explore the feasibility of their idea; LAUNCH, where business owners build an SBA-certified business plan, receive a mentor, and have the opportunity to compete for funding; and GROW, which is for established entrepreneurs and business owners who are planning for growth, expansion and financing.

EXPLORE is held twice a year, in the spring and fall. LAUNCH is held once a year in the summer. GROW workshops are not on a specific schedule, but held throughout the year.

“It is crucial for StartUp Lakewood to build an entrepreneurial incubator that includes all forms of entrepreneur,” added DeAloia. “I am excited that we are building that now with Aviatra, LaunchHouse and StartUp Lakewood.”

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PA G E 7

At the Table

808 Shave Ice brings tropical confection to NEO My teeth are still freezing. But I’m still grinning.

I just left 808 Shave Ice on Lorain Road in Fairview Park, one of my happiest discoveries of the year. The little shop is perfectly suited to its mission: a squat, square stand with a gaggle of Joe customers wrapped around Crea the corner, waiting their turn to dig into a true Hawaiian treat.

“808,” for the uninitiated, is the area code for our Pacific island state.

As for “shave ice” — never “shaved” — it is Hawaiian parlance for a unique antidote to the relentlessly steamy spell Northeast Ohio has plunged into in recent days.

If you’re any kind of Clevelander, you’ve had one of its cousins: snow cones, slushees, Italian ice or granita, cane syrup-drenched New Orleans snowballs. But accept no imitators.

With its almost fluffy, snowlike consistency, shave ice is its own thing.

That is what drew 808 owners Kayla and Nick Kudej to bring one of their favorite vacation treats from the ocean shores to Lake Erie’s north coast.

“Growing up, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but you never necessarily know what’s the ‘correct’ career path you’ll take,” said Nick Kudej, 26.

He recognized the importance of higher education, so Kudej attended Lorain County Community College before continuing his studies at Baldwin Wallace University, where he eventually earned an MBA. “Then I got a job at KeyBank, where I still work,” he said. “But that entrepreneur thing kept alive.”

When he was a kid, his family vacationed in Hawaii. Kudej said he loves the people, the culture, “everything about the way of life there.”

“Then a couple of months before

one of our trips, I met Kayla, and she ended up joining us,” he said. “And she fell in love with Hawaii, too.”

As they sought options for a startup, another mutual passion came to mind.

“Shave ice is so refreshing, and it’s different than the usual options here,” Nick Kudej said. “Obviously ice cream is predominant, and there are custard stands all over, but we had this crazy idea: What if we opened a shave ice place in Northeast Ohio?”

Sitting in their living room, they came up with the name and created a logo.

“And decided, ‘Let’s take a jump, and let it happen,’ ” he added.

In 2016, the pair took over a former veterinary clinic at 21280 Lorain Road. Earlier last month, the couple opened a second location, at 12457 Pearl Road in Strongsville.

“Between the two shops combined, we’ve probably invested between $400,000 and $500,000,” Nick Kudej said, adding there was no infusion of family cash.

Funding came from a procession of personal loans, he explained. In today’s financial climate that is no mean feat, let alone for so young a couple.

“Knowing how important college is for someone like me, my dream was to get out of debt as early as possible,” he said. “And my parents always harped on credit scores, to pay off your cards every month, the importance of positive cash flow and not being crushed under that debt burden.

“So right out of college, I got a job at KeyBank and lived at home, socked away every cent I earned, and took every penny to pay off my loans. And at 23 or 24 years old, I had a credit score

Guests can choose three or more bright-colored toppings, from a menu of three dozen options, to flavor their cones at 808 Shave Ice. (Joe Crea)

of 800. And Kayla had a high score as well. It’s definitely a good partnership, both in marriage and in business.”

That show of uncommon fiscal discipline, especially among a couple of young business people, persuaded lenders to take a chance, Kudej said.

“If you want someone to give you a bunch of money, you have to prove you’re going to pay it back, or they won’t touch you. It took multiple attempts, but we were able to obtain various loans — $10,000 and $20,000 and $15,000. A little bit from lots of different places. Almost a grassroots kind of thing,” he said.

They’re not the only show in town, shave ice-wise. Hokulia, a Utah-based chain, recently opened a shop at 7894 Broadview Road in Parma, where ice cream and other frozen confections are also on the menu. And Maui Shaved Ice food truck makes the rounds at popular outdoor venues.

Back at 808, seeing that line out the door, even on a soggy Saturday after-

noon, is enough to convince an observer that the Kudejs’ concept is working. Teens, families, young couples and a couple of seniors crowding the snug dining room is further evidence of 808’s successful equation.

Patrons place their orders at an outside window for cones in three sizes. Prices are structured simply: $4, $5 or $6, with tax included. Even that four-buck “baby” cone is a big pile of fluffy goodness.

Guests choose three or more toppings, from a menu of three dozen options, from banana, black cherry or blue Hawaii, to sour cherry, “tiger’s blood” and watermelon. Although the Technicolor syrups cling neatly to those sheer shavings of ice, patrons are welcome to return to the counter for another splash.

About those colors: Kudej said he’s gotten a few comments from customers demanding all dye-free options, but the vast majority go the other way.

“I’d says 99.9% sold are a colored

variety. People come in and say, ‘I want the most colorful thing you have. I want a rainbow. My daughter loves purple.’

“Last year we put six dye-free flavors on the menu and sold none. We don’t use any preservatives, so we were throwing out our most expensive products.”

Today, the shops keep a small selection of sugar-free and natural, dye-free syrups available. And pet owners are treated to a free cup of shave ice topped with pup-friendly coconut or peanut butter syrup, and a dog biscuit on the side.

Kudej shrugs off jabs by those who get sticker shock over the price of ice.

“Our product is very labor-intensive, especially when you compare us with snow cones, where someone takes a bag of ice and crushes it into a cone in literally two seconds,” he said. “They can run an entire shop with one or two people.”

Specialized, Japanese-made snow-shaving machines require 7-pound blocks of ice.

“And since we’re kind of pioneers in the area, and none of the suppliers freeze blocks to fit into our machines, we freeze our own purified water,” he said. “We spend three hours a day in each shop, just to produce ice. And the super-fine texture is our goal, so the slower we shave our ice, the finer the quality. Sometimes we’ll have a line, but we’ll never speed it up.”

Shave ice isn’t a prepackaged product you scoop from a drum, he added. It’s hand-crafted.

“We didn’t invent shave ice; we brought shave ice to Northeast Ohio.

We started the brand. (We’re just like) Mitchell’s Homemade. They didn’t invent ice cream: (We’re both) a family owned take on something that everyone loves — and made it better.”

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Astrup Awning building poised for redo

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter

Efforts to redevelop the Astrup Awning Co. building, 2937 W. 25th St., have surfaced as its owner is seeking to have the former home of the canvas sail-maker turned awning company listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Securing such a designation for the building, which incorporates a structure dating from 1911, is essential to nailing federal historic tax credits and applying for highly competitive Ohio State Historic Preservation Tax Credits.

Both programs help real estate owners secure capital to help reuse old buildings if they meet federal guidelines for adaptive reuse of historic properties.

The Astrup building cleared the first step of the process June 22, when the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board approved forwarding an application for listing to the U.S. Department of the Interior for final consideration. Tom Wolf, communi-

LAN

cations manager for Ohio History Connection, said if the “keeper” of the register agrees the property is significant, the historic designation may be approved by late fall.

The Astrup building incorporates a three-story building — festooned with green awnings displaying wares of its longtime former owner — and a one-story building in a complex on a site that once housed prior Astrup properties as much as 150 years ago.

Real estate developer Rick Foran, a principal in the $28 million West 25th Street Lofts, 2599 Church Ave., is a member of 2957 W. 25th LLC, which, through a prior name, has owned the Astrup property since 2016, according to Cuyahoga County land records.

Foran acknowledged redevelopment of the building is in the planning stages.

“We’ve got a bunch of ideas,” Foran said. “Nothing is firmed up enough to discuss.”

However, Foran puts the potential project in the larger context of redevelopment action in the area.

“I see the momentum heading south from the West Side Market

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The owner of the former Astrup Awning Co. building on West 25th Street is taking steps that may help his investor group rejuvenate it. (Stan Bullard)

area,” Foran said. He believes that, among other block-by-block developments, it will eventually connect to renovation efforts further south led

by La Villa Hispana to establish a Hispanic identity for the area, which is home to almost 14% of Cleveland’s Hispanic residents, a Hispanic small

business development center called El Mercado at 3140 W. 25th St., and efforts undertaken by MetroHealth to update its campus and foster neighborhood redevelopment.

“To buy real estate right, you have to see what direction development and energy is going,” Foran said.

“That is the philosophy we followed when we bought the West 25th Lofts buildings a decade ago. At that time, it was a wilderness.”

By that he means the redevelopment action had not spilled north from the Market Square District to what’s now Hingetown and The Quarter, a $60 million mixed-use development on the west side of the intersection of West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue.

In the case of the Astrup building, the company it housed was more storied than the property.

The company was launched in 1876 by Danish immigrant William Astrup as a sail-maker for ships on the Great Lakes. The advent of steam and diesel-powered ships forced the company to diversify into other products, and it became an awning-maker with an awesome five patents for hardware associated with awnings.

The Astrup family sold the company in 2007. It’s now part of Glen Raven, N.C.-based Trivantage, a provider of awnings as well as other fabric-related products in multiple markets, including a Middleburg Heights location.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Opinion From Crain’s Staff

Finding balance in discussions on work and life

Editorial

A King’s farewell Upon LeBron James’ emotional declaration in 2014 that he was returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tom Waltermire — then CEO of the Team NEO business attraction nonprofit — told Crain’s it would be “crazy to try to base an economy on an athlete or team.”

Waltermire, of course, is right — and any observer of Cleveland’s economy would be naive to believe that James’ return was the life jacket that kept the region from sinking into economic abyss. Recent commentary on these pages and elsewhere about the state of our economy demonstrates that our issues run much deeper than the Cavaliers’ roster.

Still, James’ departure for Los Angeles will certainly sting — not just for Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers but downtown businesses that thrived on the perimeter of the King’s court.

More importantly, LeBron’s departure is so difficult to stomach because many Northeast Ohioans see so much of themselves in his story — “just a kid from Akron” who, against all odds, became one of the most powerful cultural figures in the world.

LeBron likely won’t bring Northeast Ohio another NBA championship, but we can still look to James’ story as inspiration. LeBron didn’t make Northeast Ohio great. But for many of us, he demonstrated what is possible with hard work, dedication and, yes, even a little drama.

After all, nothing is given. Everything is earned.

So, let’s get to work.

Summer school

Ah, summer.

For the business community, this time of the year means many things: long stretches of time off for coworkers, less-bustling commutes and, of course, hordes of interns flooding many of our workspaces.

And, according to new research from ERC and the Northeast

Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE), these interns aren’t just fetching Starbucks. They’re a valued resource in building a strong and competitive workforce in Northeast Ohio.

Here are few interesting nuggets: J 59% of those surveyed report having a structured/formal internship program. Of those who don’t, the highest percentage — 34% — suggest that it’s because of resource challenges. It’s worth noting that NOCHE offers a bevy of resources to help employers launch and maintain internship programs.

J Interns do a pretty darned good job. According to the survey, only 12% of those surveyed said they didn’t offer interns a permanent job because of poor performance. Largely, it was because no positions were open.

J Very few interns go unpaid. Sure, they’re hardly getting rich and typically paid on an hourly basis. That said, paying your intern acknowledges their contributions to the company. Oh, and in many cases, it’s the law.

So much of the discussion around the state of Northeast Ohio’s economy has revolved around the so-called “skills gap.”

It’s been studied to death and the phrase, of course, has become so ingrained in the vernacular of doing business that our eyes glaze even typing it.

Still, internships can be a vital incubator in harvesting those skills many businesses — particularly tech companies — so desperately crave.

And as the labor market tightens, quality internships can be the best way to identify promising talent.

Internships are also good for business.

Take Banyan Technology, a transportation management software company in Elyria. In NOCHE’s 2017 Expy’s award program, Banyan’s internship was named the best among small companies. The company credits its rapid growth — year-overyear growth targets, for example, exceed 50% — to the product ideas spurred by its interns.

Last year was Banyan’s best year yet and, perhaps not coincidentally, when it employed the most interns.

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

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Managing Editor:

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

Sections Editor:

Timothy Magaw (tmagaw@crain.com)

Contact Crain’s:

216-522-1383

The question is so common as to be a cliché: How do you find work-life balance?

At least, it’s a clichéd question for women.

People tend not to ask this question of men as often. Or, if work-life balance does come up in a conversation with a powerful, successful man, it’s notable. Men are praised when they take on the cooking or the bulk of the child care in a household. Women are still just expected to do it.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks how people spend their days, and, as of 2016, women were spending almost an hour more on “household activities” every day.

And women were more likely to be doing the types of chores that take place daily, like cooking or laundry. Men were more Rachel Abbey likely to be in charge of the yard work, a sigMcCafferty nificant chore, sure, but one that happens far less often than three times a day.

Maybe that’s why women get asked more often about how they balance everything. We’re just expected to balance more.

I’m lucky. Some combination of nature and nurture made it so I never felt less than because of my gender. When I catch the hint of a glass ceiling, my instinct is to swing and shatter it.

But that pride in my toughness, the inherent belief that I could just steamroll my way to equality, sometimes makes me miss the bigger picture.

When I was younger, I resented the idea of asking women about work-life balance. It felt condescending.

Men don’t often get asked whether they feel they can have it all, whether becoming a parent is going to hinder their job prospects or put their career on hold. For a long time, the unspoken assumption was that the women in their lives would take care of those domestic duties for them.

I wanted to do my part toward equality by focusing only on the professional work being done by women. But that devalues everything else that women do, and it renders invisible the challenges women still face in their careers. And honestly, it demeans men, too, to shrink their lives to the workplace.

As I’ve gotten older, my opinion on the work-life balance question has changed. I’ve started to view it as vital, just not only for women. It’s something we should be asking men, too, and people who otherwise identify. People’s work doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There are tradeoffs and compromises and sacrifices, and we lose that when we don’t ask about what that balance looks like for them. We create unreasonable expectations and reduce people to their output.

I’m not saying I succeed at this standard of reporting all the time. Habits are hard to break; societal expectations are even harder.

But I want to. I want to talk to people about their jobs, yes (I work at a business paper, after all), but also the stuff outside of work. I want to know why they do what they do, what drives and inspires them. I want to know what trade-offs they had to make, and what success looks like to them.

Talking about all this will make it easier for future generations to carve their own career paths, to set reasonable expectations for themselves and their partners and their employers. It will help break down that unspoken assumption that women will do most of the domestic work at home, because, well, it won’t be unspoken anymore.

Maybe when people say millennials are more concerned with work-life balance, it’s because a generation of women like me have been taught we shouldn’t have to have it all — but we should be able to find a piece of it that works for us.

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

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

Please include a telephone number for verification purposes.

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PA G E 11

Personal View

Nonprofits show benefits of the power of purpose

By KEVIN SHAW

For some, the corporate and nonprofit arenas might seem neatly divided into separate worlds. Yes, corporate leaders often mingle on the fringes of the nonprofit realm, serving on boards and attending fundraisers. But the two spheres still remain separated by a yawning gap in sensibilities.

But that gap is narrowing, as venture philanthropy models and solid management principles increasingly converge, applying to both. And I think each sphere has important lessons to learn from the other.

For years, I was one of those corporate strivers who rarely looked up from his day job to focus attention on other crucial needs in the community, the kind addressed by nonprofits. I was privileged to be the CEO of Cleveland-based NCS Healthcare during its growth years. We sold the company in 2003. I later got involved in another company, but it required less of a daily commitment, which allowed me to broaden my horizons.

So I got involved in Social Venture Partners — an idea first hatched in Seattle that later spread to more than 40 locations around the globe. SVP is a not-forprofit aimed at providing unrestricted funds to worthy local nonprofits. SVP embraces their missions and couples grants with hands-on work from its partners.

All resources are aimed at building effective, additional capacity. This combination of dollars and personal commitment of time is the deepest and most satisfying philanthropy I have experienced.

Through SVP, I had the opportunity to serve a three-year effort as an executive coach to the charismatic founder of the Near West Theatre, Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek. Our work together led to a subsequent 10-year board role. And I quickly found out that the learning from our partnership would go in both directions.

In my for-profit career, I have worked with many company founders, and Morrison-Hrbek was also a founder. She began the theater in the 1980s, and for 35 years she did heroic double duty, overseeing the business side of the enterprise during the day before running the theater at night.

Once I got involved as a coach, I began seeing so many similarities between for-profits and nonprofits,

with one exception — running a nonprofit organization is harder. We both have to raise capital, hire and retain talented people, and grow the pie. But as you succeed in business, you generate greater resources in the way of profits, which can be plowed back into the company to support operations. Success in the nonprofit arena, however, only prompts more demand for your services, though not necessarily with any additional funding to provide those services.

When I got involved as a coach, through Socratic dialogue, we collaboratively uncovered some choke points to growing the operation. At the time, shortly after 9/11, when arts funding had largely dried up, everyone in the organization worked from home, and, for the first 37 years, it didn’t even have its own theater.

A decade later, Near West Theatre had raised enough money to open a sparkling new $7.3 million facility, which now serves as a distinctive civic space for the entire Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood.

This project became a linchpin in the resurrection of the Gordon Square neighborhood, which is a nationally admired success story of community redevelopment. And it might well have never happened without Morrison-Hrbek’s decades-long commitment as a cultural/educational warrior. In that regard, she helped lift the neighborhood as well as its business community. Everyone benefited.

Morrison-Hrbek recently stepped down, and, at her retirement party, young people who had taken part in the theater came back to tell touching stories about how she had changed their lives. As I watched that unfold, I thought about how making such a mark on people’s lives in this way is an incredible legacy for anyone.

Today, I’m still awed by Morrison-Hrbek’s resilience and focus over so many years — qualities that are just as crucial in business. Her commitment to her mission sustained her and her organization through the inevitable rough waters that any organization faces. Clarity of purpose was the secret ingredient to her high-energy efforts. And it is clarity of purpose that is the great lesson for all organizations, regardless of their tax status.

Shaw is the co-founder and chairman of Fathom, an online marketing firm in Valley View.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WOMEN of NOTE

PAGE 13

Magda Gomez PAGE 16

PAGE 13

Allison Clarke PAGE 16

PAGE 14

Grace Gallucci PAGE 18

PAGE 14

Allison Grealis PAGE 18

PAGE 15

Heidi Friedman PAGE 19

E

ach year, Crain’s Cleveland Business honors a group of exceptional women who have demonstrated commitment to Northeast

Ohio and its people. In many cases, they’ve risen above adversity and, most importantly, the so-called glass ceiling. A panel of Crain’s editors selected this year’s class from a deep pool of nominations. In addition, our partner, The Cleveland Foundation, select-

Cathy Belk PAGE 20

Karen Giffen PAGE 22

Marcia Ballinger PAGE 22

Marianne Crosley PAGE 23

Susan Fuehrer PAGE 24

ed WCPN’s Dee Perry as the recipient of this year’s Women of Note Legacy Award. This year’s class will be honored Thursday, July 26, during a luncheon at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

Dee Haslam

Lee Ann Howard

Monique Winston

Simrit Sandhu

Elaine Russell Reolfi

Portraits by Jason Miller for Crain’s

CLEVELAND FOUNDATION WOMEN OF NOTE LEGACY AWARD WINNER

Dee Perry

Retired broadcaster, WCPN

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FIVE THINGS Book it: Perry as a kid would go to the library “and bring home an armful of books,” read all of them, then go back “and get another armful.”

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Examples at home: Her father was a fireman who retired as a battalion chief. Her mom stayed at home until the kids were grown and then became a nurse.

Cheap, but not cheap enough: In New York in the early 1970s, her apartment was $150 a month, but “even at that, I had a hard time making my salary last.” She would walk to jobs when she ran out of money for bus tokens.

Favorite interviews: Actor Ossie Davis, author Toni Morrison and actress Cloris Leachman, who livened things up during a promotional interview for “Show Boat” by pressing up against a glass wall ... and lifting her shirt. “It taught me to come back from the unexpected” during an interview.

Big number: She estimates she’s done at least 10,000 interviews.

D

ee Perry’s 40-year career on the Cleveland airwaves — marked by a devotion to the arts, a probing interview style and a memorable voice — is a testament to the power of saying yes.

The Cleveland native and graduate of John F. Kennedy High School left for New York City in 1968 to study English at Barnard College. “I thought of myself as someone who was going to write The Great American ... whatever. Novel.

Play,” she said.

It didn’t work out that way. Perry dropped out of school and took a series of “low-pay, low-skill” jobs in New York, though she managed to scrape together enough money to take advantage of the city’s cultural scene and check out plays, con-

certs and museums. A radio ad for the New York School of Announcing and Speech caught her ear, though, and she spent six months there before deciding to return to Cleveland and pursue a life in broadcasting.

She got a job at a tiny AM jazz station, and her recalibrated career had begun. Perry said her career progressed because she was open to new challenges.

“Say yes as much as possible,” she said, in response to questions about her advice for young people and the key to her success.

“That’s what I ended up learning at my first job. ... I learned a bit about everything. ... Be curious all the time. Be willing to say yes to things, even if you’re scared to death to do

them, or you think you have no skills for them.”

Perry is best known for the 20 years she spent hosting the arts and culture interview show “The Sound of Applause” (originally called “Around Noon”) with producer Dave DeOreo on public radio station WCPN, until she signed off on a permanent basis in August 2016. (She describes herself as being in “semi-retirement.”) It took a while to figure out how best to use the interview format, she said, but the mission and tone of public broadcasting was an ideal fit for her interests.

Public broadcasting “celebrated everything I loved: good writing, literature, art, history, science, news,” she said. Of her 40 years in broadcasting, 28 were in public broadcasting, and Perry called them “the best years of my work life.”

“The Sound of Applause” enabled Perry to dig deep into the arts and culture community she loved in Cleveland, which she said “has a really open-arms kind of approach. It’s easy to find your tribe here, whether it’s poetry, or painting, or dance, or theater.”

Interviews were focused on “telling universal stories” through the lens of the arts, Perry said.

Her experience interviewing people taught her many lessons as a broadcaster, among them that “silence is OK. ... I learned to wait for the answer” rather than talking to fill a space. And when conversations went in unusual directions, she said, “I’d throw away the piece of paper” with prepared questions “and roll with it.”

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 13

WOMEN of NOTE

Magda Gomez

Director, diversity and inclusion, Cuyahoga Community College

M

agda Gomez believes people possess an inherent desire to have their voices heard, to feel they’re understood and know their perspective matters.

She had that yearning herself years ago as a Hispanic, first-generation college student attending Cuyahoga Community College, though she didn’t embark upon that journey alone. She earned an associate’s degree with guidance from an academic counselor, who connected her to scholarship opportunities and drove her to John Carroll University for her first college tour.

In her current role at Tri-C, Gomez acknowledges the storybook circuitry of helping students of color and other underrepresented populations seeking to fulfill their academic aspirations.

“Working here was an opportunity to come full circle and give back to folks like me,” Gomez said. “Kids coming here are going through the same experiences that I did.”

As diversity director, Gomez prepares initiatives related to inclusivity, awareness and diversity-related issues, ideally fostering an atmosphere where a person’s unique attributes — be it age, gender, race or sexual orientation — are understood and respected.

While diversity training is aimed at Tri-C’s 3,500 staff and faculty members, Gomez’s department also supports resource groups and initiatives that benefit LGBTQ students, veterans and people of color. This fall, Tri-C will host events for National Coming Out month in partnership with the Sexuality and Gender Equality Council. The school also plans to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a free showcase of art, music, dance and film.

Inclusivity is baked into Tri-C’s overall strategic plan as well, bolstered by a taskforce working to embed principles of diversity in the classroom and close achievement gaps for learners of color. Tri-C is constantly reviewing its hiring procedures to diversify recruitment, consider-

Allison Clarke

embedded throughout,” Gomez said. “Each person will have a different experience, but the ultimate goal is student access, success, and completion, and we cannot have all of these things without working together to create a welcoming and inclusive environment.”

Community partnerships further fuel the school’s diversity efforts: Gomez links Latino students to Esperanza, an education advocacy nonprofit, and connects with the Cleveland Police Commission to discuss bias-free community policing.

Additionally, Gomez helped initiate the creation of Bienvenidos, a project supporting Puerto Rican immigrants relocating to Cleveland in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, providing them employment assistance and other resources to ease their transition.

Gomez served as co-lead on the project, facilitating a collaboration of two dozen partner agencies.

Diana Del Rosario, Tri-C’s associate vice president of college accreditation and health care initiatives and Gomez’s fellow co-lead on Bienvenidos, said the community-wide effort is emblematic of her colleague’s contributions to the school and Northeast Ohio at large.

“Magda is aware of the importance of engaging multiple perspectives of the people we serve,” Del Rosario said. “If we welcome people from all backgrounds and open our doors to meeting them where they are, we can help them, their families and the community.”

Promoting diversity and community organization was instilled in Gomez by her father, Gerardo, who moved to Cleveland from Puerto Rico in the 1960s. Via neighborhood meetings at the family home, Gerardo Gomez cultivated a widespread Latino support network, culminating in the formation of the Spanish American Committee of which he served as a founding board member.

“I thought helping each other was part of life; I didn’t know any different,” Gomez said of her upbringing. “As a culture, Latinos are very united. We come together around food and music, but we support and take care of each other, too.”

In a divisive political climate, public conversations about race, orientation and ethnicity must continue to take precedence, said Gomez.

Community colleges have always been a welcoming space for higher learning, and the Tri-C official is happy to pay forward the encouragement she received in her younger years.

“I always say that the support you get in life makes you who you are today,” Gomez said.

“I’m motivated by seeing the commitment and dedication of our faculty and staff, who go above and beyond to help students succeed from enrollment to graduation and beyond.” — Douglas J. Guth

sakes for kids as well, considering 83% of children and adolescents with cancer will live five years or more after treatment ends, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Flashes of Hope also helms several fundraising efforts. Kick-It, a community-wide kickball game launched in 2009, has raised $5 million for improved pediatric cancer treatments. The nonprofit also partners with the Cleveland Cavaliers on the Big Shots & Little Stars benefit fashion show, where players and children walk a runway set up on the Quicken Loans Arena floor.

The community kickball game idea came from Quinn Clarke during his second stint with

cancer at age 9, a malady his mother said can be traced to the toxic cancer drugs he was given as a toddler. Research dollars generated by Flashes of Hope events go to what Clarke calls “more hopeful cures,” particularly those that carry fewer devastating side effects.

People hearing the nonprofit’s wide-ranging mission statement are usually eager to join the cause, said Flashes of Hope board president Robert MacKinlay. While the organization has a small staff — Clarke herself does not take a salary — its ability to put on world-class events is unparalleled.

“I’ve worked with a lot of nonprofits, and (Flashes of Hope’s) business acumen, professionalism and talent is remarkable,” MacKinlay said. “It’s a true privilege to be a part of.”

Leading the way is Clarke, who was able to convince MacKinlay of the organization’s potential within minutes of their initial meeting.

“Allison is always asking how we can continue to scale this; to drive more partnerships and raise more money,” MacKinlay said. “She is relentless about growing Flashes so there won’t be a need to take pictures of kids with cancer anymore.”

Clarke took a circuitous journey to the nonprofit realm, starting off as a model and moving into stints in TV news and advertising. Although she has no nonprofit training, her varied work experience taught her how to market Flashes of Hope to would-be volunteers.

It’s not too hard of a sell, as it turns out.

“You spend any amount of time in a room full of these kids, you’re going to learn so much,” Clarke said. “When they feel well and act like kids, it’s a great lesson to all of us about enjoying every day. After so many years it can be discouraging to lose some of them, but that’s what keeps us motivated to keep going at the same time.” — Douglas J. Guth

FIVE THINGS Working with purpose: She has two children working in public service jobs — one’s a special education teacher in a public school and the other is a social worker.

Favorite vacation spot: Negril, Jamaica Favorite authors: Isabel Allende, Esmeralda Santiago and Loung Ung What she does for fun: She and her husband enjoy RV camping, hiking and biking.

Favorite local restaurants: El Carnicero, Rincon Criollo and Samosky’s Pizza

ing that white people comprise the majority of the college’s teaching population.

“As we build our strategic plan for everyone to follow, equity and inclusion is going to be

Founder, Flashes of Hope

F

lashes of Hope came to be when Allison Clarke’s son, Quinn, was diagnosed with cancer at 20 months. After one of Quinn’s friends on the pediatric cancer floor died of the disease, Clarke thought how nice it would have been for the boy’s family to have a photograph of their loved one. Three weeks later, Clarke brought in volunteer photographers to capture images of children in the ward, bringing a little joy to lives often filled with pain and discomfort.

“Their families were so happy,” Clarke said.

“When I saw how much fun the kids had during the first shoot, I knew the idea would work.”

Since its 2001 inception, Flashes of Hope has taken 70,000 portraits of children battling life-threatening illnesses, expanding from its Chagrin Falls headquarters to 45 chapters in 100 locations nationwide. Locally, the nonprofit partners with the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and Akron Children’s Hospital.

Clarke runs the nonprofit like a business, distributing informational tool kits to chapter directors who coordinate photo sessions — aka “the fun stuff” — then send the images to HQ for archiving.

Shoots are held each month at children’s hospitals and summer camps, spearheaded by a small army of volunteer photographers and stylists. Sessions have a party atmosphere, where boys and girls pose for yearbook-like glamour shots either by themselves or with a family member. For their young subjects, the portraits are uplifting and empowering, and a tangible way to feel better about themselves, Clarke said.

“Watching teenage girls transform in front of a camera is wonderful,” Clarke said. “We’ve had kids take off their wigs. The (shoots) gave them confidence to say, just because I’m bald doesn’t mean I’m not beautiful.”

FIVE THINGS Motto (courtesy of Ferris Bueller): “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”

Favorite author: Lisa See Last movie watched: “Deadpool 2” Favorite holiday: Christmas Bucket-list item: She’d like to go on an African safari.

Photographs are a precious gift for parents, capturing their children’s’ spirit and beauty in an environment where happiness is hard to come by, said Clarke. The photos are potential keep-

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WOMEN of NOTE

Grace Gallucci

Executive director, Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency

G

race Gallucci thinks regionally and collaboratively. As executive director of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), she has to.

The federal government has made quasi-public organizations like NOACA, which is called a metropolitan planning organization, responsible for guiding the spending of federal transportation dollars for highways, bikeways and public transportation in their regions. In the case of NOACA, that’s five counties — Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina — and long-range transportation spending that is budgeted at $15.8 billion dollars.

She has to be collaborative because she reports to a board of 45 members. Some are elected officials, Republicans and Democrats from cities and rural communities across the five counties. Others are top administers from those counties. Although much of the money NOACA oversees is federal money, Gallucci would like to move decision-making down.

“I would like to see the regional local government have more control over (transportation) funding because local needs vary,” she said. “In Northeast Ohio, public transit is an important form of transportation; in the rest of Ohio it’s not so critical. (Local government) should be given more discretion to spend their state and federal funding. They should be able to decide if they want to spend more money on roads and bridges or on public transit or other forms of transportation.”

Although many of her board members are politicians, Gallucci tries to keep politics out of NOACA planning.

“One thing I never do is be partisan,” she said. “One thing I like about true public service is it’s not partisan at all, it’s truly about people and what’s best for the communities, regardless of what party is in charge.”

Allison Grealis

FIVE THINGS First job: Delivering The Cleveland Press as a 10-year-old Hobby: Collecting religious art, including paintings, lithographs and sculptures Favorite travel spot: The ancient city of Machu Picchu in Peru First hero: Wonder Woman Alternate career choice: Writer

She likes that lack of partisanship — like a business, it’s logical and data-driven. She said she has rarely had to implement a policy with which she totally disagreed, though she has implemented some she has had not fully supported. “It’s my job to implement the policies

and if I disagree too often I should find a different line of work,” she said.

Gallucci didn’t plan on being a transportation administrator when she left her hometown of Cleveland for the University of Dayton in the 1980s. After graduation, she went to work for NCR Corp, which then was headquartered in Dayton. She worked on the team developing and marketing automated teller machines. But she decided she would prefer to use her business skills in the public arena, so she got a degree in public administration.

After getting her master’s, she took a job in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., as a management analyst.

She thought she was going to work in leisure services — “parks and recreation, the beach,”

President and founder, Women in Manufacturing

A

llison Grealis has never been a person who waited for someone to tell her what to do.

“I always loved to start things,” Grealis said.

But she wasn’t a solo entrepreneur. She’s passionate about organizing people to help them reach common goals. It’s something she’s been doing since she was young — from elementary school through college and ultimately through her career. First it was at the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group and then at the Precision Metalforming Association in Independence.

“I think I like being able to see people collaborate and use their unique talents and kind of pitch in and apply those certain talents to achieve something great and to have an impact,” Grealis said.

When Grealis joined the association in 2001, she was working with its different districts across the country, helping them develop leaders and organize events.

Grealis said she has enjoyed the chance to serve as the advocate for the “underdog,” the small and midsize manufacturers the association represents. So many people recognize the importance of manufacturing, but don’t realize the challenges small companies face to stay competitive.

“Most of these companies need some level of support, and I think our population often takes it for granted what a different and difficult challenge and journey they have,” Grealis said. “And so, to me, that’s why I enjoy my 40-minute drive each day for 17 years and why I still do it, because I care about these companies. And I care about the impact they have on our region.”

Today, she’s the vice president of association services for the association and president of the trade association she started, Women in Manufacturing.

she said — but once in Florida, she was detailed to work on transportation.

She describes the job as infrastructure finance, looking how to finance the port system, the widening of a freeway and what became the Tri-Rail, a commuter rail line being developed to connect Ft. Lauderdale with Palm Beach and Miami.

She returned to Cleveland in the early 1990s to work at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, working her way up to become executive director of the office of management and budget before leaving in 2007 for the Chicago Transit Authority.

When she left CTA to take the NOACA job in 2012, she was senior deputy executive director of finance and performance management.

“Grace did a great job at RTA and she’s certainly doing the same at NOACA,” said Joseph Calabrese, CEO and general manager of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and her former boss and now a NOACA board member. “She’s certainly one of the brightest, most ambitious and insightful people I’ve ever met.”

Through the various jobs, Gallucci also spent some time in classrooms, lecturing on transportation and public policy at Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She said she could see herself capping off her career in academia.

For now, though, she’s focused on roads, bridges, buses and the like.

“But occasionally, on a really nice sunny day when I’m here pulling my hair out over politics and people who are fighting over roads versus business, I think, ‘Gee I wonder what I’d be doing now on, in Florida, maybe I’d be working on a beach erosion assignment.’ But then I realize they have all the same problems.” —Jay Miller

FIVE THINGS Early involvement: She ran for class officer in elementary school.

Growing up, she wanted to be: A fashion designer or a criminal defense attorney Top travel spots: Kiawah Island in South Carolina and Traverse City in Michigan What she watches on the plane: Lately, it’s been “Riverdale.” She grew up loving the Archie comics.

Caffeine of choice: Coffee

Women in Manufacturing got its start as a small networking group in the Precision

Metalforming Association about 10 years ago.

When Grealis saw their meetings, she knew the community could be larger and looked for a national resource to connect them to. When she couldn’t find one, she started one.

Women make up less than one-third of employees in manufacturing, but recent numbers show women entering the field in record numbers, Grealis said.

By 2015, Women in Manufacturing grew from a networking group to its own independent trade association. Grealis said Women in Manufacturing lets its members network and connect with one another and offer support.

Grealis said hearing people’s diverse stories and their excitement in learning about the or-

ganization “speaks to me that we’re doing something right.”

“It’s so very rewarding for me to go across the country and even globally now to talk to companies about strategies for attracting and retaining and advancing women, but to me, even more importantly, to talk to individual women in manufacturing about how we can help them in their career,” Grealis said. “And then, how they can pay it forward and share their story and hopefully inspire new generations of women to go into manufacturing, because there are so many opportunities here.”

Grealis always showed “lots of initiative in many, many areas,” said William Gaskin, former president of the Precision Metalforming Association. The prime example of that initiative is the Women in Manufacturing group.

“And they’ve become a really visible force for the development and networking and relationship-building of women in manufacturing and the metal-forming industry,” Gaskin said.

And now, Women in Manufacturing is leveraging its impact by bringing together groups for the Coalition for Women in Industry. The group first met in May, with attendees from groups like the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the Society of Women Engineers. Going forward, members will be collaborating on common goals, such as improving access to education for all women in industry and growing the numbers of women on their boards.

Grealis’ work keeps her on the road a lot.

When she’s at home, she spends a lot of time with her family: her husband, Brendan; daughter, Amelia; and son, John.

“Nothing makes me more happy than being at home with family, when I’m not at an airport or a hotel,” Grealis said with a laugh. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 15

WOMEN of NOTE

Heidi Friedman

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Partner, Thompson Hine

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o courts and companies, Thompson Hine’s Heidi Friedman is possibly best known for her work in her environmental law practice.

But within the Cleveland-based firm itself — which has earned accolades for its diversity and inclusion initiatives — Friedman is known by her efforts to support and advance the careers of fellow women as the creator of its firmwide women’s program a decade ago.

“From the environment perspective, it’s all about finding a business solution to a complex environmental problem where clients and agencies are all happy,” she said. “That’s very rewarding. But I also have a drive to promote women in the legal profession.”

“That is probably the main focus of what makes me tick,” she added. “That’s the most rewarding thing I can possibly do.”

Friedman’s practice centers on helping defendants facing environmental health, safety and compliance issues, often large manufacturers. When she mentions her work to nonlawyers, they usually assume she’s on the plaintiff’s side. There’s rarely a conversation along those lines where Erin Brockovich isn’t brought up.

“When I say I’m a defense lawyer, it usually changes the tone of the conversation,” Friedman said, noting that some people tend to think of her working with the “bad guys.”

“But really, most of the cases involve contamination issues, legacy liability issues sustainable companies inherited well before laws were in place,” she said. “I have great clients who want to be in compliance and take good advice to get there.”

She has clearly done meaningful work there.

A pinnacle of her career came just recently as she was selected among just 20 national law-

FIVE THINGS If not a lawyer, she’d be: Yoga teacher Other hobbies: Drinking wine and traveling Go-to wines: Reds, either cabernet or pinot noir Currently binging: “The Crown” Currently reading: “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng (of Shaker Heights)

yers named as fellows by the prestigious American College of Environmental Lawyers.

But more personally, Friedman is invested in the advancement of her peers, particularly

women, who are still widely underrepresented in the overall legal sector.

Friedman was acutely aware of those issues with women and minorities in the profession 10 years ago when she strove to align resources geared toward efforts like supporting mentorship programs and women with children in a more effective way.

“People were doing these things ad hoc.

Maybe one office would run a program. What we did was create a firmwide initiative with a chair in each office so we were able to provide a unified approach,” Friedman said. “Every mar-

ket is different. And before this, somebody was creating something from scratch every time.”

That’s the work, she said, which “energizes her.”

Thompson Hine partner Sarah Flannery, who recently took over as firmwide chair of the women’s initiative for Friedman — branded as the Spotlight on Women — credits Friedman with bringing the firm to where it is today with its support for female and diverse lawyers.

“She built up a fabulous practice that takes up a lot of her time,” Flannery said. “And yet she still continues to make herself available for ways in which we can help advance women in both the legal profession and more broadly in business.”

She added that Friedman has “tireless energy” to be able to juggle all those various responsibilities.

She also points out that Friedman was an innovative thinker in the women’s programs. It’s fair to say the firm’s women’s initiative, in its size, scope and focus, was among but a few similar programs at its time.

A collaborative lawyer wholly invested in the growth of her peers, it’s perhaps only natural Friedman was compelled to spearhead the programs she did.

But she’s also faced sexism of her own, which surely drives some of those efforts as well.

“I once had a federal court judge call me little missy and ask if I was in law school,” she said.

While not a partner at the time, the 5-foottall attorney was still seven or eight years out of school at the time. She was going to argue a motion, when the male judge dismissively turned to the male partner with his comments.

“But it’s situations like that in court,” she said, “that make you want to work even harder to make sure women are the ones up in court, bringing arguments, winning cases.” — Jeremy Nobile

BROWNS GIVE BACK The Browns Give Back to Northeast Ohio with a commitment to: EDUCATION The Browns are dedicated to a solution-based, holistic approach to ensure Northeast Ohio youth receive the education they need as a foundation for independence and success by helping identify opportunities, remove barriers and provide support to students to keep them in school, every day.

YOUTH FOOTBALL The Browns are committed to youth and high school football throughout Northeast Ohio with year-round programming for players, coaches, officials and parents to promote healthy, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of youth by enhancing opportunities for participation and education.

FIRST AND TEN The First and Ten campaign, established to inspire fans to volunteer at least 10 hours each year, unifies the team and its entire fan base through local community efforts. To date, nearly 2 million hours of volunteering have been pledged through First and Ten #give10.

clevelandbrowns.com/brownsgiveback @BrownsGiveBack

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WOMEN of NOT

Proud to Recognize 2018 Women of Note Honorees

Cathy Belk

C

athy Belk grew up on a steady diet of biographies about successful women — books her mom, a teacher, made her read in elementary school.

She remembers reading one called “Girls Can Do Anything.” She thought it was an odd title, given all the other books she’d read. “I was like, ‘Of course girls can do anything!’”

But two decades later, Belk started to realize that many women in the business world did not feel so free.

Belk was a commercial lender working on the East Coast for Bank of America in the mid 1990s when a female coworker asked what at first seemed like a trivial question: She wanted to know whether Belk would support her decision to wear a pantsuit to work.

Belk’s first thought was right in line with her response to the “Girls Can Do Anything” book: Why wouldn’t you wear it? Afterward, however, she started thinking about what would cause a woman to ask that question.

At the time, none of the women in the office wore pantsuits. And all of their bosses were men.

“That’s crazy that somebody has to come up and ask for my permission ... but it was out of the norm,” she said.

Today, Belk works to make sure women in the business world feel as empowered as those books made her feel as a kid.

Since January 2016, Belk has served as president of JumpStart Inc., a Cleveland-based nonprofit tasked with creating jobs by assisting local entrepreneurs and investing in startups.

Helping minority and female entrepreneurs has been part of JumpStart’s mission since it was founded

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FINANCE

By JEREMY NOBILE jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

VOL. 39, NO. 21

MAY 21 - 27, 2018

The largest money manager in NortheastFINANCE Ohio, which has been quietly amassing Byrather JEREMY NOBILE size for well over a century, has achieved explosive growth sincejnobile@crain.com a management-led and private equity supported separation from Key@JeremyNobile Corp a few years ago.

Now, following a recent IPO, Brooklyn, Ohiobased Victory CapitalThe Management’s parent largest money manager in Northeast company, Victory Capital Holdings, is setting Ohio, which has been rather quietly amassing NOBILE the stage for its next size era of driven by itsBy JEREMY forgrowth well over a century, has achieved exmulti-boutique model and agrowth consistent acquiplosive since a management-led jnobile@crain.com and sitions strategy. private equity supported separation from Key@JeremyNobile CEO David Brown: “We eventually evolved to the point where it just didn’t make sense for Key “We saw an opportunity the market Corp a in few years ago.to do to be the owners of Victory Capital.” (Ken Blaze for Crain’s) something different than what was happening, following a recent IPO, Brooklyn, OhioNow, which was our integrated, multi-boutique no animosity there.

The relationThat was nearly five years ago. And while The There largestwas money manager in Northeast based Victory Capital Management’s parent model that we havecompany, today,” said Victory CEOOhio, ship between Keyrather and Victory is still strong, in Crestview is still a majority owner of the busiwhich hassetting been quietly amassing Victory Capital Holdings, is David Brown, who joined the firm in next 2004 era while — the headquarters off exTiedeman ness — of which employees own a 35% stake fact for well overlatter’s century, has achieved the stage for its ofsize growth driven bya its plosive growth since a complex management-led and staff it — it’s given Brown and Victory’s board freeit was still a part of Key. Road sits within for KeyCorp multi-boutique model and a consistent acquiequity supported separationThe from Key- simply dom to operate how it likes.

That model, whichsitions truly started to develop atprivate subleases from the company. timing strategy. a few years ago.said, CEO separate from Key,where Victory on an Victory following a management-led buyoutCorp Brown for Victory step out oneventually its Once David to Brown: “We evolved to the point it set justout didn’t make sense for Key “We saw an opportunity in felt theright, market to do following a recent Brooklyn, OhioNow, to be the owners of Victory (Kenstreak Blaze for acquisition toCrain’s) give it more scale. It’s from Key in 2013, is largely what Brown feels po-what own continue theIPO, work it had been doing for Capital.” something different than wasand happening, based long Victory Capital Management’s parent sitions the firm to flourish as its industry bought companies as Key refocused on other which was our evolves. integrated,somulti-boutique There wasstrategies. no animosity there.

The three relationThatsince was then: nearlyMunder five years ago. And while company, Victory Capital Holdings, is setting management business Key’s investmentmodel 2014); Efficient Model Port- owner of the busi“We eventually evolvedbetween to the point it Capital that we have today, ” said CEO Keyitswhere and Victory is still (in strong, inCompass Crestview is still a majority the stageVictory for its next era ofship growth driven by that eventually became Victory was more thanthe firm folios (in 2015), which became known as CEMP; just didn’t for—Key be the owners thetolatter’s David Brown, who joined in 2004make whilesense multi-boutique model andfact a consistent acqui- headquarters off Tiedeman ness — of which employees own a 35% stake a century old as theitcompany to shedsitions RS Investments 2016).

It also took and a mi-Victory’s board freeof Victory Capital,” Brown said.

Road sits within a complex forand KeyCorp staff it (in — it’s given Brown was still alooked part of Key. strategy. the division several years ago.

CEO David eventually to the point where it just didn’t make sense for Key fromtothe TheBrown: timing“We simply domevolved to operate how it likes.

That model, which truly started to develop at subleases “We saw an opportunity in the market docompany. to be the owners of Victory Capital.” (Ken Blaze for Crain’s) Many banking conglomerates were making felt right, Brown for Victory to step out on its Once separate from Key, Victory set out on an Victory following a management-led buyout something different than what was happening, Victory Capital at a said, glance similar moves around thatKey time, shedding theirwhich There wasbeen no animosity The relationwas our multi-boutique years acquisition streak toThat givewasit nearly more five scale.

It’sago. And while continue the work it had doing for there. from in 2013, is largely what Brown feels integrated, po- own and J JVictory Capital spun out KeyCorp a management-led, private equity-supportmoney managers to cut costs focus on coreas ship Key and Victory bought is still strong, incompanies model that weevolves. have today, ” long said Victory CEO following Crestview is stillthen: a majority owner of the busisitions theand firm to flourish its industry three since Munder so asof Key refocused onbetween other strategies. ed buyout at firm $246 million in 2013. the point latter’swhere headquarters off Tiedeman ness — of which employees fact — who valued joined the 2004 while banking services in those following management theDavid Brown, investment business Key’syears (in 2014); Compass Efficient Model Port-own a 35% stake “We in eventually evolved to the it Capital JJSince Road sits within a complex forfolios KeyCorp staff — it’s given known Brown as and Victory’s board freeit was still amore part that ofthan Key. deal,just thedidn’t firm has gone from $18 billion assets to $60.9 billion, 148it which last recession. Key eventually sold the business that eventually became Victory was (in 2015), became CEMP; make sense for Key to bein the owners employees totruly 300,started 18 investment to 72 andthe five franchises to nine, plus a dom to operate how it likes. from company.

The timing simply model, which to developstrategies at subleases to Victory employeesa—century there were at Thatlooked old about as the148 company to shed of Victory Capital,” Brown said. and RS Investments (in 2016). It also took a misolutions VictoryShares.

Once separate from Key, Victory set out on an followingplatform, a management-led buyout felt right, Brown said, for Victory to step out on its the time — and New York private equity firmVictory the division several years ago. acquisition streak to give it more scale. It’s and continue the work it hadThat beencapital doing for from Key in 2013, is raised largely what Brown po- in aown JJ The firm about $140feels million recent IPO (NASDAQ: VCTR). will help Crestview Partners for Many $246 million. bankingProceeds conglomerates were making Capital glance sitions the firm toits flourish as itsVictory industry evolves. bought three companies since then: Munder so long asat Keyarefocused on other support eventual separation from Crestview Partners, the New Yorkstrategies. private equity firm of Key’s sale were used to buy back stock, benesimilar moves around that time, shedding their investment business Key’sthat “We eventually evolved to the point where it Capital (in 2014); Compass Efficient Model Portstill holdsmanagement a majority stake in the business. fiting shareholders. money managers to cut costs and focus on core JJVictory Capital spun out of KeyCorp following a management-led, private equity-support-

SUCCESS IS IN VICTORY’S SIGHT

that eventually became Victory was more than

just didn’t make sense for Key to be the owners

folios (in 2015), which became known as CEMP;

ed buyout valued at $246 million in 2013. banking services in thosea years following the century old as the company looked to shed of Victory Capital,” Brown said. and RS Investments (in 2016). It also took a milast recession. Key eventually sold theseveral business the division years ago.JJSince that deal, the firm has gone from $18 billion in assets to $60.9 billion, 148 employees to 300, 18 investment strategies to 72 and five franchises to nine, plus a to Victory employees — thereMany werebanking about 148 at conglomerates were making Victory Capital at a glance solutions platform, moves around shedding their VictoryShares. the time — and New Yorksimilar private equity firmthat time, JJ Victory Capitalinspun out ofIPO KeyCorp following a management-led, JThe money managers to cut costs J and focus onraised core about firm $140 million a recent (NASDAQ: VCTR).

That capital willprivate help equity-supportCrestview Partners for $246 million.

Proceeds ed buyout valued at $246 million in 2013. support its eventual separation from Crestview Partners, the New York private equity firm banking in those years following the of Key’s sale were used to buy backservices stock, beneholds a majority stake in the JJ Since that deal,business. the firm has gone from $18 billion in assets to $60.9 billion, 148 last recession. Key eventuallythat sold still the business fiting shareholders.

to Victory employees — there were about 148 at the time — and New York private equity firm Crestview Partners for $246 million. Proceeds of Key’s sale were used to buy back stock, benefiting shareholders.

employees to 300, 18 investment strategies to 72 and five franchises to nine, plus a solutions platform, VictoryShares.

JJ The firm raised about $140 million in a recent IPO (NASDAQ: VCTR). That capital will help support its eventual separation from Crestview Partners, the New York private equity firm that still holds a majority stake in the business.

President, JumpStart In c. in 2004; thus, the nonprofit has given her plenty of ways to follow her passion.

Her formal job description involves building relationships with other local organizations that could advance JumpStart’s mission as well as overseeing fundraising, marketing and other initiatives. But she also spends time mentoring other women and connecting them to others who can assist them. And lately she's been connecting women interested in making investments to one of her former JumpStart colleagues, Lynn-Ann Gries, who is building a network of female investors.

In addition, she’s been “a critical public champion” for JumpStart’s Focus Fund, which invests in startups led by minorities and women, according to the nomination form.

“I think our region can be the most inclusive city in the Midwest. We can be the destination for people of color and women growing their businesses. I think we can totally own that,” she said.

Belk is also passionate about entrepreneurship and loves working with big thinkers on big ideas. That’s a big reason why she’s remained at JumpStart for 10 years following stints with the Coca-Cola Co. and American Greetings.

“I get to work with the most interesting people. Entrepreneurs are awesome,” she said. “And the people I get to work with in the community, they’re all thinking about how we can do better. I love to be around strivers who want to make massive change for the better. I get to be around those people all day, every day. It’s incredible.”

Barb Paynter enjoys Belk’s compa-

Karen Giffen

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K

aren Giffen is a name and founding partner at Giffen & Kaminski, which was launched as a women-owned law firm. Her soft-spoken, careful choice of words and friendly manner belies her reputation as a fierce litigator at a firm that often defends clients from the Fortune 500 and a handful of large local privately held companies.

"It's the stuff I liked best," she said of opting for trial work. "I liked the research, the court appearances and the writing part of it. I loved — and still do — that for several months I will focus on learning this client's business as we prepare for a trial.” That has meant she’s taken deep dives into areas as different as aviation, even taking a few classes in flying when involved in crash litigation, and engineering for cases that dealt with bridge design.

She’s in court every week or two, a vastly different pace than earlier in her career when she was in court at least twice a week. Several local judges require that senior counsel appear at all court proceedings, which draws her to the courthouse more often than now. “Early in your career, you have a larger caseload with smaller matters, but later you have fewer but larger cases,” she said.

Considered caring, brilliant, meticulous and broad-minded by her colleagues, Giffen said she loves working with her business clients, but also thrives on being an active member — and this year the president — of the Legal Aid Society of

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Cleveland. She has been active with the society for more than a dozen years.

She prizes the way the society helps those lacking representation.

“If you rent an apartment, you have a right to have it heated properly,” she pointed out, and if a tenant takes a landlord to court, not to be retaliated against. “If you’re poor and don’t have representation, you may have to move because you’ve complained. Imagine the impact that has on a child in the family.”

She said she’s found meeting attorneys in the Legal Services Corp., the national group of which Legal Aid is a part, a satisfying part of her legal career.

Giffen did not take the typical path into law practice. She worked a decade as a field examiner for the National Labor Relations Board. That ignited an interest in the law for the urban studies graduate of Cleveland State University. She went to Cleveland-Marshall College of Law nights while working for the NLRB. However, she is grateful that she has been able to litigate in matters beyond labor relations over the years. It’s another sign of her driving thirst for knowledge.

One of her favorite pastimes is traveling. She has been to Europe six times and is thankful her parents chose to retire in Charleston, S.C., because she enjoys the town.

Giffen has a wide repertoire of unexpected skills. She knows how to herd sheep because she likes collies, and they need to be kept busy and

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WOMEN of NOTE

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FIVE THINGS Musical instruments: She played flute in college and also plays piano.

Startups to watch: Augment Therapy, Drive My Way, Komae and PearlFlower Catering — four women-led firms Family matters: She lived in Atlanta while working for Coca-Cola but moved home to be near family.

Coke product of choice: Diet Coke Key to a better local economy: “It’s going to take every business owner having a growth mindset. Startups can’t do it themselves.�

ny as well. Paynter, president of Paynter Communications, has spent a few years on JumpStart’s board. She has worked with Belk on several projects over the years and still periodically gets together with her for breakfast at Hotspot Cafe on Carnegie Avenue.

“She’s just a lot of fun. So we hit it off immediately,� Paynter said. “She makes very genuine connections with people. When you talk to her it’s more than just ‘Let’s get this work done and move on.’ It’s a very genuine caring.�

That caring is evident in the way she works with others, Paynter said.

She said Belk is quick to ask others what she can do to help them and is good at giving other people chances to lead when appropriate. “She has a real way with her team of bringing people along. ... It’s not all about Cathy,� she said.

An Akron native, Belk now lives in Shaker Heights with her husband, Jim, and two sons, Carter, 17, and Davis, 15.

She enjoys running, hiking, biking, skiing and “pretty much anything I can do outside to be active,� she said. She also loves a good story, be it in print or on a screen. — Chuck Soder

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FIVE THINGS Hobbies: Photography and camping Guilty pleasures: Going overboard on consuming news and information about photography gear Her thoughts on the legal drama “Bull:� “I have a rule not to watch TV shows or movies dealing with the law or the courts, so I don’t have an opinion. I end up yelling at the TV if I do, that this or that would not really happen in a courtroom.�

Reading for fun: “The Vikings: A New History� by Neil Oliver Her ride: A 2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid — “I hate buying cars and I don’t lease.

I decide if I like a car after it’s paid off.

I’m tending toward not liking it.�

active. Her border collie shares her place with three cats.

Her knowledge of digital photography is also extensive, a hobby she picked up just a decade ago. She especially enjoys landscape photography. When she started out, she realized that she would set up a camera to capture a landscape and spend hours at a time on the project. “I was so engrossed I thought of nothing else,� Giffen said. The hobby clicked with her so much she recently spent a week at a photography class in Glacier National Park in Montana.

That meant being up at dawn to shoot, readying pictures for critique by midday and trooping back out to catch the sunset. — Stan Bullard

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PA G E 18

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WOMEN of NOTE

Marcia Ballinger

President, Lorain County Community College

M

arcia Ballinger had no idea she’d become president of Lorain County Community College when she started there 27 years ago in marketing.

“I’ve discovered myself here,” Ballinger said.

Ballinger’s path to the presidency was a less than traditional one. And it’s one that in some ways reflects that of many of Lorain County Community College’s students. She said she grew up in a “blue-collar family” near Pittsburgh, the daughter of a high school teacher and an elementary school library aide. The first person to go to college on her mother’s side, Ballinger studied journalism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and entered the public relations field.

She landed at Lorain County Community College in 1991 to work on a successful tax levy campaign.

Ballinger later earned her MBA through Lorain County Community College’s University Partnership program, while working at the college and raising two daughters. And after that experience, she went on to earn her Ph.D. while serving as a vice president for the college.

“So being that lifelong learner has really been part of who I am,” Ballinger said.

Ballinger held a variety of roles with Lorain County Community College, from marketing to vice president for strategic and institutional development to provost and vice president for academic and learner services. In 2016, she was named president.

Throughout her career, Ballinger wanted her daughters, Jessica and Katie, to see her working and studying because it’s part of who she is.

Ballinger said they were often on campus and served as her “cheerleaders” when she was earning her master’s degree.

“They grew up here,” Ballinger said.

It’s been gratifying for her to see them pursue careers in law and education that they themselves are passionate about.

As president, Ballinger encourages faculty

FIVE THINGS Hobbies: She collects wine and vintage barware and glasses. And, of course, she loves spending time with her granddaughter, Harper.

Lorain County spots: The college’s Stocker Arts Center and Sage & Seed restaurant Favorite travel spots: Napa, Nashville, New Orleans and Cape Cod Growing up, she wanted to be: A public relations director Secret skill: Gardening. Her yard won a prize for curb appeal in North Ridgeville a couple years ago.

Marianne Crosley

and staff to not leave their personal lives at the door.

“Because we all have bandwidth, right? Our values are our values are our values. And we can’t separate out.” Ballinger said. “So it’s embracing all of that, I believe.”

Roy A. Church, president emeritus of Lorain County Community College, worked with Ballinger for 25 years. She’s “creative,” “energetic” and “hard working,” taking on and excelling at challenges, Church said. And, importantly, Ballinger “really understands the role and contribution” a community college can make, from education to economic development, Church said.

President and CEO, Cleveland Leadership Center

A

sk Marianne Crosley about her accomplishments as president and CEO of the Cleveland Leadership Center and she’ll tell you about the accomplishments of others.

She’ll tell you about initiatives in which her organization collaborated with Teach for America to provide senior mentors to encourage young teachers to become the best educators possible.

She’ll tell you about a partnership with the Sisters of Charity Foundation on The Innovation Mission, designed to help create ways to reduce poverty in the community. And she’ll very happily talk about the Accelerate pitch competition, which annually since 2015 has invited the community to submit ideas for how to improve Cleveland. Winners get modest seed money to bring their idea to life, but they also get to make even-more-valuable connections.

Crosley stresses that at the Cleveland Leadership Center, she inherited an amazing organization that has tremendous support within the community. People who have gone through the many programs the center offers come away inspired to help each other and transform the community, she said.

“I can’t take credit for any of it,” she said.

She describes her job as a “unique perch” that puts her in touch with hundreds of people each year, and sees her role as connecting people who have shared visions and passions, and letting them take the dream from there.

“People in Cleveland are so caring about the community, and desperately want to make a difference. I find that if we can just help to forge those bonds and build those relationships, good things happen,” she said.

Marc Byrnes, chairman of Oswald Cos. and emeritus board member at Cleveland Leadership Center who initially hired Crosley at the center, called her humility the cornerstone to her success.

“And the college is called upon to play a vital role in each of those,” Church said. “So she’s got a very clear focus on why we exist, what is the role we hope to play. And she really helps inspire folks to dream of a better future.”

Ballinger said becoming president wasn’t about the title — it was about leading Lorain County Community College and making a difference there. The people and the community had worked their way into her heart.

Ballinger said community colleges are “all about opportunity.” They offer an affordable option to students and help businesses get started.

“We’re the game-changer in the community,” Ballinger said.

And that’s especially the case for communities like Lorain, where about a quarter of the population lives in poverty. Changing that fact takes long-term investment.

One way Lorain County Community College has been working toward that change is by partnering with the local K-12 schools, and co-enrolling students in high school and college at the same time, so they graduate with college credit. That kind of systemic change could help Lorain’s residents grow out of poverty over time, she said.

And the opportunity to make change is what’s kept her at community colleges. She’s inspired by the chance to offer students education and a better future, and that’s been the case throughout her career.

When she was provost, Ballinger oversaw student appeals for cases where students had left or been dismissed and wanted to re-enroll. And she said she made it a point to sit down with every student who sent in an appeal.

“It’s great to have numbers and statistics, and we’re all driven by our indicators and all of those things,” Ballinger said. “But, for me, if you can change one life, you’ve made a difference, right?” — Rachel Abbey McCafferty

FIVE THINGS Favorite movie: “It’s a Wonderful Life” Favorite vacation: Sailing trips with her four kids. “Those peaceful vacations where they were forced to talk to us for hours on end are still my favorite.”

Dream vacation: Alaska, “before it all melts” Favorite places to eat: Bruno’s Ristorante and Merwin’s Wharf Fun fact: She played ice hockey at Colgate University, “back in the day when that was so not a cool thing for women to do.”

“She submerges her ego into the organization and helping others,” he said. “She empowers others to do their best work and then gets out of their way. It’s what makes her a great leader.”

Crosley creates followership by being an exceptional listener as well as being a highly organized person who works at all hours, he added.

“It is not uncommon for me to get emails from her at 4:30 in the morning as well as 10 at night,” he said.

For Crosley, getting this job was not something she would have expected early in her ca-

reer. She grew up in Bay Village but left the area to attend Colgate University in New York. She got her first job in Washington, DC, after college and then decided to go to law school at Ohio State University, where she met her husband, who was also from the Cleveland area.

After law school, the two of them moved to New York City for seven years, where she worked as a homicide prosecutor.

“We had two children in a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. We were expecting our third, and (my husband) looked at me and said, ‘This is not going to work. We are going to have to start stacking them,’ ” she said.

They made the decision to return to their roots in more-affordable Northeast Ohio, and grew their family to four children. Crosley stayed home with them for 11 years before getting involved in a startup nonprofit that was originally called Bulldogs on the Cuyahoga but that was rebranded as Summer on the Cuyahoga. This initiative was designed to attract young people to the area by matching talented students with internship opportunities and giving them an immersive, live-in-Cleveland experience, with the goal of luring them to settle here permanently.

Crosley worked there for seven years before deciding it was time for someone else to put their fingerprints on the organization, she said.

She then learned there was a position open at the Cleveland Leadership Center and decided to pursue it.

“It was all serendipitous. I don’t think anything was intentional or deliberate, other than the move from law school to New York. But for everything else, the opportunity presented itself, and from my perspective, it was keeping an open mind and being willing to follow a new path,” she said. — Beth Thomas Hertz

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WOMEN of NOTE

Susan Fuehrer

CEO, VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System

S

usan Fuehrer said the Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System began seeing the effects of the opioid epidemic much earlier than the rest of the community.

For the past decade, the local VA has worked to rein in narcotic prescriptions, having seen the devastating effects on veterans returning from oversees. The Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System, which includes the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and 13 outpatient clinics, has now achieved the lowest opioid prescribing rates in the network of Veterans Affairs hospitals, she said.

Fuehrer championed this work, having served as a convener and leader to make it possible. She hired people, made funds available and supported best practices.

“I was the point person to say we’re gonna take this risk, and we’re going to try something different, and we’re not going to do it the same way everybody else is doing it in the country,” she said. “And we’re going to stop prescribing narcotics, and we’re going to look at these alternate therapies, and we’re going to do what we think is in the very best interest of the veterans.”

Fuehrer started in the VA in the mid-1980s as an unpaid intern in Boston’s VA — the first internship that facility offered. Shortly thereafter she moved to Cleveland, started at the bottom rungs of the VA here and attended night classes at Case Western Reserve University for her MBA. “The mission of the VA is second to none,” Fuehrer said. “And so every day, I come here and I see the price of freedom. And the mission just gets under your skin. And it’s like, you know, we owe a lot. I’m very privileged in my life, and it is because of veterans that give us the opportunity to live in this great country.”

Dr. Murray Altose, who recently retired as

FIVE THINGS Hobbies: Boating, gardening Dream job as a kid: Doctor Best piece of advice: Be honest, have integrity and be yourself.

Currently reading: Books by two local attorneys turned authors — John Keyse-Walker’s “Sun, Sand and Murder” and Michael Jordan’s “The Company of Demons.”

Top of travel bucket list: Greece

chief of staff, has known Fuehrer for most of his three decades working at the VA. “What was impressive, even at the outset, was her strong commitment to, really, the institution and a clear emphasis on doing the right thing,” he said.

Fuehrer spent time working in quality management, medical records and information technology. She did a detail in Washington, D.C., for a year and went through leadership training so that when her predecessor retired, “they real-

ly couldn’t say no but to bring me on” as CEO. Fuehrer was one of 25 local women leaders interviewed for a 2016 book titled “Uplifting Leaders* (*Who Happen To Be Women)” by Barbara O. Brown and Margaret P. Flynn.

Through that, she was connected to various speaking opportunities centered around raising the next generation of women leaders and celebrating women in leadership positions.

She has helped lead seminars about the challenges women leaders face and has been involved with women leadership development classes.

“I think I had such great mentors and I just want to be a mentor for somebody else. I’m very blessed to be where I’m at, and I also learn every day from young people,” Fuehrer said.

She also mentors other new VA hospital directors, including four right now.

“Whether its cost or quality or innovation or employee engagement or patient satisfaction, we are a leader,” Fuehrer said. “And so they look toward people who have good outcomes to mentor other people, hoping that the other VAs will have some good outcomes, too.”

Altose, meanwhile, described Fuehrer as an extraordinary leader, innovator and risk-taker — all of which are directed toward providing the best care to veterans “and making the Cleveland VA the very best health care facility anywhere.”

The biggest lesson she hopes to pass along to the next generation of leaders is the ability to listen. As an overachiever, it’s easy to quickly give an answer, but there’s so much benefit to sitting back and listening to a team.

“When everybody’s able to contribute and everybody feels part of the team, that’s when the sky is the limit for innovation or improvement within an organization,” she said. — Lydia Coutré

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WOMEN of NOT

Dee Haslam

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ee and Jimmy Haslam, each with plenty of experience in running a business, believed the good times would keep rolling when they purchased the Cleveland Browns in 2012. “We bought this team because we thought it would be fun to have an NFL team,� Dee said. “I don’t know why we thought that, but we thought this will be a really fun, great chapter in our life.�

You probably don’t need us to tell you how difficult it’s been for the Haslams, but just in case ...

The Browns were winless in 2017, they’ve lost 34 of their last 35 games and they’re 19-71 since the NFL’s owners unanimously approved Randy Lerner’s sale of the team to the couple on Oct. 16, 2012.

Dee admits now that the Haslams “didn’t have a clue what we were doing� at the time.

The franchise’s latest reboot, led by new general manager John Dorsey, has been well-received, however, and the upcoming Browns training camp will get the documentary treatment when the team becomes the focus of HBO’s popular “Hard Knocks� series. Haslam is excited about the newest iteration of the franchise, but is cautious because the “story’s not written yet.�

And while HBO’s cameras will be focused on the likes of rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield and flashy wide receiver Jarvis Landry later this month, one of the franchise’s 64-yearold owners is as knowledgeable about that process as anyone in Berea.

Dee’s father, Ross Bagwell Sr., is a cable television industry pioneer. Bagwell created Cinetel Productions, which he sold to Scripps Howard Broadcasting in 1994. That year, Bagwell and his son,

Owner, Cleveland Browns Ross Jr., formed several production companies, one of which Haslam and business partner Rob Lundgren later turned into RIVR Media.

The Knoxville, Tenn., media company has produced more than 3,000 episodes for 21 TV networks. Its credits include cable hits “Trading Spaces� and “World Series of Poker.�

In April, Haslam stepped down as RIVR’s CEO, though she remains a partner and executive producer. The move was years in the making, she said, and it was necessitated by all of the weeks and months she was spending in Northeast Ohio. “I realized at some point it wasn’t fair to the company for me to be this long-distance CEO,� Haslam said.

Haslam said she remains an active part of RIVR’s financial and creative arms, and she isn’t shy about making a long-distance pitch for a show. “I’m sure they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, here comes an idea from Dee,’� she said of partners Lundgren and Lori Golden-Stryer.

Something the Haslams have been “hyperfocused� on, Dee said, is aiding the Cleveland Metropolitan School District — efforts that were sparked by a request from CMSD CEO Eric Gordon to help the district’s flagging attendance. “The more we dug, we started asking questions,� Haslam said. “What are the barriers for them not to go to school?

Yes, we can do the messaging — tell parents how important it is — but why aren’t the kids going to school?�

Some of the solutions “are pretty easy,� she said.

The Browns, CMSD and Shoes and Clothes for Kids partnered on a program, funded by Browns Give Back, that provides shoes, clothes and other

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PA G E 21

WOMEN of NOTE

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FIVE THINGS No place like home: The Haslams own a house in Bratenahl.

The cold truth about Cleveland: "I even like it in the winter, and people can't understand that. You get used to it. I think there's so much to offer here."

Tribe time: One of the Haslams' five grandchildren, 6-year-old Ross, was a Yankees fan — until he attended a recent Indians game.

Checks and balances: Haslam has served on the NFL's conduct committee since 2014.

etty

Never bored: Her board ties include roles with the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the United Way of Greater Cleveland, University Hospitals and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

and proack, ther

supplies to students. The effort, which is entering its third year, has shown that, in some cases, attendance for students who receive the donations

has increased by as much as 25% to 30%, Shoes and Clothes for Kids executive director Terry Uhl said.

And this isn’t a case of the team writing a check and hoping everything turns out OK, Uhl said.

“She asks us questions regularly.

She takes an active role in making sure the impact is paying off at the end with the kids,” Uhl said.

Another factor in attendance problems — the students’ engagement level — led to the Browns donating synthetic athletic fields at five CMSD schools in a two-year span. In 2018, they extended the field project to high schools in Lorain and Toledo.

The owner is proud of the franchise’s extensive community efforts.

She’s also well aware that something that has been noticeably lacking would provide a heck of a lift.

“The best way we can give back to Northeast Ohio, however, is to win games,” Haslam said. — Kevin Kleps

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WOMEN of NOTE

Monique Winston

M

onique Winston is an admitted night owl. She never goes to bed before 2 a.m.

“It’s not unusual for me to put in a load of laundry at 1 a.m. That is my time,” she said, emphasizing the word my.

The late nights are when this dynamo catches her breath and does things for herself after a long day of activities running Optima Services, a 25-person firm where she’s the CEO, and volunteering on multiple civic and trade group boards as well as at her church.

She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a sorority where she serves on a finance committee. She’s proud of that public service sorority: She wears its Greek letter symbols on a necklace.

Winston, a lawyer who has spent 20 years in the title business, was recruited to Cleveland from Houston in 2011.

Even though she came here with a big job to do — starting Optima from the ground up to create a minority-owned company that provides title insurance services for clients, particularly lenders, in multiple states — she made time to get to know people around town. She also volunteers for a long list of civic and trade groups, ranging from serving on the board of Big Brothers and Big Sisters to becoming a board member of the Cleveland neighborhood development-focused New Village Corp., where she’s recording secretary.

Chris Smythe, a principal of Optima, said he’s been surprised by how Winston’s reach has developed since helping recruit her here to launch Optima from a job with Stewart Title & Guaranty Co. in Houston.

“She’s only been here a few years, and it’s amazing who she knows,” Smythe said. “I’m sure she knows more Clevelanders than many business people who grew up in Cleveland.

She is an incredible networker.”

Beyond serving on the civic boards and be-

FIVE THINGS How she relaxes: She loves walking.

She walks four miles a day.

Her ride: A Mercedes S 550 Keystone State roots: She grew up in Erie, Pa., and worked in Pittsburgh. She’s a huge Steelers fan.

Hobbies: She likes to exercise and is a certified aerobics instructor.

Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere with a beach and a spa. She spends a day at a spa on every vacation.

Lee Ann Howard

ing active in business development for the company, she takes on tasks a title company CEO might not ordinarily undertake. She regularly speaks at seminars for prospective new home buyers at local churches and other organizations to help first-time buyers understand why title insurance is important.

Winston admits she did not grow up yearning to be in the real estate title business. Indeed, she said she found the basics of real estate law uninteresting when she attended the Duquesne University School of Law. However, it grew on her and she climbed the corporate

ranks, content to be part of a corporation, until she was recruited to move to Cleveland from Houston to launch Optima.

“I always say that people stumble into the title business and like it so much they do not stumble out,” she said.

“I take a partnership approach to everything I do,” Winston said, so she benefited from her reputation in the title industry nationally when starting to do business development for Optima as she had a lot of contacts. The same went for hiring services such as a graphic designer to design the company’s logo.

“There was nothing here,” she recalled looking around Optima’s office in Warrensville Heights. “No office, no chairs, no employees.”

By taking the job, she took a lot of risk, giving up the corporate track and moving her family to Cleveland, including prompting her husband, Kenny Winston, to rebuild his own fitness business here as the Training Club in Independence. She liked corporate life and had never considered starting a business.

“I pray about everything I do. Prayer helps you stay in the moment,” Winston said. “But it really became taking advantage of an opportunity. How many times does an African-American woman get the chance to be a CEO in the title industry?”

Talking to groups, in a business or public setting, came naturally to her. She said she has always loved to read. When she had to speak to a group, even as a child, it was no problem: she talked all the time.

Winston said her children and stepchild always criticize her style when they needed help on school projects. “I’m always thinking about how to do more, how to make it better. They say ‘Mom, we just have to do this much.’ But it’s my style to do more.”

She sums up her style in two words: consummate professional. — Stan Bullard

Founder, Howard & O’Brien Executive Search

I

f you’ve ever been standing in line behind Lee Ann Howard at the grocery store or sitting next to her on an airplane, chances are you’ve met the founder of Howard & O’Brien Executive Search.

“Most people have a work life, and they have a personal life. For Lee Ann, there is no such distinction,” said Howard & O’Brien partner Tina Hauptner Darcy, a longtime colleague.

“She is very rarely ‘off.’”

Howard’s work-life interplay is as much as a result of an underlying philosophy as her outgoing personality, according to Darcy. Howard is astutely aware, Darcy said, that “no matter where you go there is someone you can meet, someone you can build relationships with, because you never know if that is somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody else.

“After 10-plus years working with Lee Ann, now I am like that too,” Darcy said. “Everywhere I go, I am looking for opportunities to connect, to build relationships.”

Howard formed Howard & O’Brien in 2002 after her employer at the time — a global executive recruiting firm — shuttered its Cleveland office. Having worked in a half-dozen cities before being assigned to Cleveland, the Missourian was drawn to the quality of life offered by Northeast Ohio and didn’t want to move again.

And, Howard said, she was confident she could improve upon the recruiting process on her own.

“For anyone who has gone through the executive search process, there are times where as a candidate you are hot, you’re hot, you’re hot and the search person is all over you, but as soon as their client is not interested, they kind of drop you,” Howard said. “I have always believed you should really treat people not only how you would want to be treated, but how they would want to be treated.”

S

CEO, Optima Lender Services

FIVE THINGS Midwest roots: She grew up St. Charles County, northwest of St. Louis.

Bad breaks: She broke her leg skateboarding and her jaw skiing.

Namaste: 30 years of practice as a yogi Globetrotter: Her recent travels include Greece, Cuba and Croatia.

Favorite thing to do in CLE: Salsa dancing at Viva Dance Studio

Howard & O’Brien specializes in the placement of C-level senior executives — CEO, CFO,

CIO, etc. — and other company leaders. Howard believes the firm differentiates itself in the crowded executive search market by keeping clients and candidates informed throughout the search process and by taking the time to get to know both parties well enough to optimize the fit. Finding a good executive match is not unlike the relationship between dating and marriage, she said.

“You both need to make sure you get to know that other person so you know that you are compatible, that your values are aligned,” Howard said. “There are a lot of layers of complexity that go into that, which are beyond the job itself.”

She credits an intense focus on culture and chemistry as being a major reason why 95% of Howard & O’Brien placements are still in the position one year later. Most stay much longer, Howard said. One of her first placements, a CIO, is still at his company.

High-profile recruits have included the CFO for one of the largest ports on the Great Lakes and CEO for a 150-year-old family company. In addition, Howard has expertise in finding key members for boards of directors for public and privately held companies and serves on a number of boards herself.

She is on the board of the MetroHealth Foundation and the John Carroll University Entrepreneur Association and is the former board chair of the American Heart Association.

In 2000, Howard was ahead of her time when she created “Conversations with the Board.”

The small group sessions connect executive-level women with board chairs, CEOs and board members so the female leaders can learn more about board opportunities.

Howard’s energy, however, extends beyond her professional and community roles. Around the house she gardens, cans, pickles, makes jellies and knits — much of which she gives away.

A collegiate runner, Howard also practices yoga, rows, bikes and walks.

She’s been known to invite clients and candidates for walking meetings, a practice inspired by the untimely death of her mother from undiagnosed heart disease and her years of board service with the American Heart Association.

“I pack a lot in a day,” said Howard, who also stays connected with her two children, both in college. “A lot of people talk about work-life balance. There is no such thing. It is all life. How you choose to spend each moment really defines who you are.” — Judy Stringer

S

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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J U LY 9 - 15 , 2 018

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PA G E 2 3

WOMEN of NOTE

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S

imrit Sandhu was pregnant with twins when she was approached five years ago with the opportunity to become executive director of supply chain for Cleveland Clinic — the region’s largest health system.

Not for one second did she consider not taking the job because she was pregnant.

“I had met too many women in my life who would think that way,” Sandhu said. “To me, it wasn’t a question. It was this idea of how was I going to do this.”

And as if becoming a first-time mom while taking over management of the Clinic’s roughly $2 billion non-salary spend portfolio wasn’t enough, she simultaneously launched Excelerate, the Clinic’s joint venture group purchasing organization.

Sandhu grew up in India and, in high school, specialized in premed. She ultimately realized that wasn’t for her and decided to explore the education system in the United States, pursuing her undergrad at Michigan State University and her graduate degree at Boston University with a focus on information technology. She then spent several years working on the industry side of the supply chain in device companies and group purchasing.

In 2006, in what she calls “the best decision I ever made,” Sandhu joined the Cleveland Clinic, combining her interest in medicine, informatics and genomics, with her background in contracting, logistics and warehousing.

At that time, she thought she’d stay with the Clinic for two or three years, gain a providers/ hospitals perspective and take that skillset back to the industry side, but then she “found purpose in the hospital environment.”

“I’m not a person who can get up and leave until I believe that the void I came in to fill has somewhat progressed,” she said. “And I think

FIVE THINGS Hobbies: Zumba and gardening Favorite place she’s traveled: Saint Petersburg, Russia Favorite reads: Books by P. G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie Secret skill: Speed reading Favorite spot in Northeast Ohio: University Circle for the food and museums

that’s what’s kept me here.”

She helped lead the charge in aligning physi-

cians and clinicians around utilization management and standardization of clinical supplies to not only get better pricing, but also to reduce variation and, in turn, improve quality.

For instance, the Clinic once had at least a dozen spine vendors. But by researching the best option for patients, her team has greatly reduced the number of vendors not simply to cut costs but to ensure they’re buying the right products for patients, she said.

“Her business acumen and her foresight and her knowledge of the industry are just top notch,” said Bill Peacock, the Clinic’s chief of operations and

Sandhu’s supervisor. “She’s incredibly respected.”

The Clinic scaled its supply chain operations to form Excelerate, a joint venture group purchasing organization with Vizient — a health care performance improvement company — that provides a sourcing model focused on evidence-based clinical outcomes. It has more than 70 hospital members and saved the Clinic $370 million in roughly five years.

“One thing that resonates the most with me personally is this idea of let’s make care affordable and this idea that we all come here putting patients first,” Sandhu said. “The performance of this industry is so key. It matters in terms of your life and my life and the lives of everyone around us ... That’s probably why I stayed in the hospital environment — this idea that everything you did made a fundamental difference that mattered.”

With the support of her husband and family, Sandhu said she’s never for a moment thought she was not doing what she was supposed to do or that she hasn’t been there for her sons.

She recognizes that she comes from the perspective of someone with an executive-director income, and she said she worries about younger women who can’t afford extra help. But that’s why building a network of family and friends for support is so important.

“I think women are torn with this idea of the fact that raising the kids is a very important responsibility for them. I’m not saying it’s not there for a man, but I think to me, it was both a social norm but also a cultural norm, being of Indian origin,” she said. “And it took a very strong husband and extended family like my parents and my in-laws (to) tell me that I absolutely did not need to feel that way; that it was as much his responsibility and theirs as it was mine.” —Lydia Coutré

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Congratulations to

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On behalf of the LCCC Board of Trustees, faculty, staff and students, thank you for your leadership and commitment to Lorain County Community College!

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Marcia J. Ballinger, Ph.D., President of Lorain County Community College

PA G E 2 4

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J U LY 9 - 15 , 2 018 |

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WOMEN of NOT

Congratulations, Simrit Sandhu

Elaine M. Russell Reolfi

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2018 Crain’s Women of Note Award Honoree

laine Russell Reolfi knows it sounds clichÊ to say her success is a product of The American Dream. But in her case, it’s fitting.

Reolfi’s parents migrated from England with her two older sisters before the TimkenSteel vice president was born. The couple started an embroidery shop inside their Canton home and later opened Russell’s Garment Lettering in a downtown storefront on 12th Street. “My dad really believed in the opportunity that America offered and that if you worked really hard you could achieve great things beyond where you started,� she said. “And, that is what happened. They came here with nothing in their pockets and built something that offered us a better life.�

Simrit Sandhu The early business lessons learned Executive Director, Supply Chain Management growing up in the shop rubbed off on Reolfi, who has strived “to think like a business person� throughout her career in human resources and communications. It was, however, the creative side of the business — designing logos and lettering for custom imprints and silk screens — that awoke a passion for “making someappointments thing from scratch.� “I went in kind of a different direc216.444.CARE tion with communications and writclevelandclinic.org ing, but I saw that as related in terms of pursuing a creative field,� she said.

Reolfi’s early professional work was in the automotive and health care in12385_02_CCCOMS_Crains_Women_of_Note_6x6.indd 1 7/2/18 5:13 PM dustries. She said her first employer, Ford Motor Co., hired her into a huFacebook.com/CrainsCleveland Initials Date Approval Prepared by: CREATIVE DEPARTMENT AEs JOB NUMBER & COMPONENT man resources job because of her comDELIVERABLES: Client: CLEVELAND CLINIC Twitter.com/CrainsCleveland munications degree. The automaker Copywriter 12385_02_CCCOMS_Crains_Women_of_Note_6x6 Division: CCCOMS Laser closing down its Canton plant. In 1370 W 6th St, 3rd floor Project: CRAINS WOMEN OF NOTE CD Copy Instagram.com/CrainsClevelandComp was PUBLICATION or MEDIUM Cleveland, OH 44113 addition to her HR duties, Ford charged Flat Size: 0� x 0�

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spent their last days and/or weeks of employment earning paychecks while doing community service jobs, such as building playgrounds and working in soup kitchens.

In 1995, Reolfi joined The Timken Co. to handle communications for the manufacturer’s Asia Pacific and Latin American operations. She went on to lead various aspects of Timken’s communications, brand management and employee engagement activities for nearly two decades before taking a leadership role in a public company spinoff, TimkenSteel. “The CEO (Tim Timken) came to me and asked me to lead communications and community relations for the new company,� she said. “I jumped at the offer. It was quite a unique opportunity to start building something new that was really rooted in 100 years of history. “We did everything from naming the company and figuring out our value proposition and our brand position to building the corporate infrastructure that would support the new company.�

During TimkenSteel’s four years in business, Reolfi has taken on greater responsibility. Today, the mother of three is the only woman on the company’s eight-person senior leadership team and oversees human resources and compensation and benefits in addition to communications and community relations. CEO Tim Timken said Reolfi’s rise in the steel producer’s leadership ranks is a reflection of her “enthusiasm, energy and positive outlook� paired with her “professional expertise.�

Reolfi latest project is rethinking the employee experience for the 2,800 people who work at Timken-

Flash

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FIVE THINGS Family history: Her mother is Irish.

Many firsts: First-generation American, first-generation college student and first woman to head HR in Timken’s 100-year history Latest vacation: Lodged in a tree house in Thailand Pond hopping: Cherishes visits with her family in Longford, Ireland.

Puppy love: Has two shelties

Steel. “That includes understanding the best of this culture but also the pieces that need to be tuned up a little bit,� she said.

Formalizing flexible working arrangements (for job functions where that is practical) was one of the first initiatives Reolfi spearheaded after assuming the human resources role two years ago. Her team also rolled out additional holidays and vacation days and paid parental leave as well

as leadership training and professional support for management-level employees.

Timken points to the creation of Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs, as another example of Reolfi’s success in driving employee engagement. “Today, just a few years after their founding, we have five robust ERGs that are not only helping employees connect with colleagues who have similar interests or backgrounds, they are leading to healthier lifestyles as well as involvement with others at TimkenSteel and in our local community,� he said. “Although it is a 100 years old in a sense, this is a new company,� Reolfi said, “and it is sort of liberating to start again. We can do anything that we want to do or be anything that we want to be. My passion right now is building toward the future for this company.� — Judy Stringer

PERRY

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PA G E 2 5

132 N. HOWARD ST Akron, Ohio 44308

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

As technology changed and digital culture came to dominate the media, Perry said she continued to "focus on the content. People are still going to want things that make them think, that scare them, that encourage them. No matter how technical we get, we're still in the business of telling people stories."

Kit Jensen, the president and general manager of Cleveland Public Radio and WCPN and, later, chief operating officer of ideastream, said Perry has been "iconic" in shaping the coverage of arts and culture in Cleveland and that she "exemplifies public media's commitment" to covering that world in a way commercial outlets can't. Perry benefited from having "that sumptuous voice," said Jensen, who retired last spring. "She has a great sense of humor. She's a careful and deft writer. (She's) sympathetic and empathetic" in interviews and, as a result, "asks people things they've never been asked before."

Ronn Richard, president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation, said Perry's interviews "really brought art to life" and led people to sample work they otherwise would not have been aware of. He also said she's "a great role model.

She's contributed so much to Cleveland. ... she's such a wonderful person beyond being a great journalist."

Perry said her much-noted voice "is actually my mother's voice. I don't know where she came by it."

But she said this is how she has sounded since age 10: "I love the gift that I was given." — Scott Suttell

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PA G E 2 6

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

THE LIST

Women-Owned Businesses

Ranked by full-time local employees as of May 15, 2018 THIS YEAR COMPANY

FULL-TIME LOCAL YEAR PRIMARY EMPLOYEES 5-15-2018 FOUNDED INDUSTRY

DESCRIPTION

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE

1

InfoCision Management Corp.

325 Springside Drive, Akron 44333 (330) 668-1400/www.infocision.com

1,200

1982

Telecommunications

Direct marketing company with inbound/outbound call center services

Craig Taylor, CEO Karen Taylor, board chair

2

K&D Group Inc. 4420 Sherwin Road, Willoughby 44094 (440) 946-3600/www.kandd.com

345

1984

Real estate

Owns and manages 12,000 apartments throughout Greater Cleveland, Akron and Canton

Karen M. Paganini, president, COO Douglas E. Price, CEO

3

Home Instead Senior Care - Mentor 7334 Center St., Mentor 44060 (440) 257-5800/www.homeinstead.com

250

2000

Health care

Provides individualized care to help seniors remain at home independently

Therese Zdesar president

4

Lakeside Facility Services Group 2122 St. Clair Ave. NE, Cleveland 44147 (216) 771-2400/www.lfs-group.com

195

1999

Service - general

Commercial facility maintenance services provider

Katiya Cassese president

5

Joshen Paper & Packaging Co. 5808 Grant Ave., Cuyahoga Heights 44105 (216) 441-5600/www.joshenpaper.com

175

1988

Distribution

Paper packaging wholesale distributor

Michelle F. Reiner CEO

6

Frank Novak & Sons Cos. 23940 Miles Road, Bedford Heights 44128 (216) 475-5440/www.franknovak.com

140

1912

Construction

Commercial finish contractor and manufacturer of custom lighting, acoustic panels and OEM parts

Gayle F. Pinchot, president Pamela Pinchot Bozsvai, vice president

6

Millennium Capital and Recovery Corp.

95 Executive Parkway, Hudson 44236 (877) 500-6272/nationwiderecoverymanagers.com

140

1999

Financial services

National recovery management firm providing skip tracing and impound services for consumer lenders

Jayne R. Bronchetti president

8

NAE/NWAN 8370 Dow Circle, Suite 100, Strongsville 44136 (877) 222-1645/www.naenwan.com

130

1996

Service - general

Administration company servicing automotive, RV and powersports dealerships nationwide

Kelly Price, CEO David Neuenschwander, president

9

Vocon 3142 Prospect Ave., Cleveland 44115 (216) 588-0800/www.vocon.com

110

1987

Architecture

Global architecture and interior design firm focused on creating distinctive and productive work environments

Deborah V. Donley principal

10

US Communications and Electric Inc. 4933 NEO Parkway, Garfield Heights 44128 (216) 478-0810 /www.uscande.com

105

1996

Telecommunications

Specializes in voice, data, video and security structured cabling

Patricia Connole CEO

11

Hanson Services In-Home Assisted Living Providers 17017 Madison Ave., Lakewood 44107 (216) 226-5425/www.hansonservices.com

100

1996

Senior health care

Assisting older adults in their activities of daily living in the privacy of their home

Mary Ann Hanson founder, CEO

12

Pierre's Ice Cream Co. 6200 Euclid Ave., Cleveland 44103 (216) 432-1144/www.pierres.com

85

1932

Retail - consumer goods

Pierre's Ice Cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet and novelties

Shelley Roth president

13

Onyx Creative 25001 Emery Road, Suite 400, Warrensville Heights 44128 (216) 223-3200/www.onyxcreative.com

83

1974

Architecture

Provides architecture, engineering, interior design and branding services

Mike Crislip, president, partner Carole Sanderson, CFO, partner

14

VMI Group Inc. 8854 Valley View Road, Macedonia 44056 (330) 405-4113/www.thevmigroup.com

77

2012

Construction

Commercial and industrial contractor specializing in foundations and structure

Neille Vitale president

15

Avantia Inc. 9655 Sweet Valley Drive, Suite 1, Valley View 44125 (216) 901-9366/www.avantia-inc.com

65

2000

Computers information technology

Custom software, web, mobile, Internet of Things development firm

Jennie Zamberlan president

15

North Coast Logistics Inc. 18901 Snow Road, Suite A, Brook Park 44142 (216) 362-7159/www.northcoastlogistics.com

65

1992

Transportation

Third party logistics provider specializing in warehousing, distribution and transportation services

Talour Avdek-Gazey, president, principal Mark Kabat, director, sales and marketing

17

Fit Technologies 1375 Euclid Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland 44115 (216) 583-5000/www.fittechnologies.com

60

1999

Computers information technology

Managed IT services firm specializing in onsite field support, help desk, network infrastructure, internet, wireless and cloud services

Micki Tubbs, CEO, cofounder Michelle Tomallo, president, cofounder

18

MidWest Materials Inc. 3687 Shepard Road, Perry 44081 (440) 259-5200/www.midwestmaterials.com

59

1952

Manufacturing

Steel service center specializing in hot rolled, hot rolled pickled and oiled, coated, cold rolled and high strength steel

Brian D. Robbins, CEO Noreen Koppelman-Goldstein, president

19

Litigation Management Inc. 6000 Parkland Blvd., Mayfield Heights 44124 (440) 484-2000/www.lmiweb.com

56

1984

Law firms - legal services

Provider of medical-legal discovery, litigation, regulatory and settlement support services

Elizabeth B. Juliano founder, CEO

20

Marigold Catering 3901 Lakeside Ave. E., Suite 100, Cleveland 44114 (216) 566-5400/www.marigoldcatering.com

55

1997

Hospitality

Event planning and catering services for both corporate events and social occasions

Joan E. Rosenthal president, owner

21

Flaming River Industries Inc. 800 Poertner Drive, Berea 44017 (440) 826-4488/www.flamingriver.com

52

1987

Manufacturing

Manufacturer of specialty automotive steering and electrical products with custom machining capabilities

Jeanette Ladina president, owner

22

AAA Advanced Plumbing & Drain 7277 Bessemer Ave., Cleveland 44127 (440) 331-5555/advancedplumber.com

50

1927

Construction

Plumbing and environmental services contractor

Carol Ann Fisco president, CEO

22

Margaret W. Wong & Associates LLC 3150 Chester Ave., Cleveland 44114 (216) 566-9908/www.imwong.com

50

1986

Law firms - legal services

Immigration and criminal law firm

Margaret W. Wong president, managing partner

22

The Parker Skin & Aesthetic Clinic 3737 Park East Drive, Suite 109, Beachwood 44122 (216) 464-7333/www.theparkerclinic.com

50

1992

Health care

Dermatology medical practice specializing in cosmetic treatments and services

Lydia Parker president

22

Richter Healthcare Consultants 8948 Canyon Falls Blvd., Suite 400, Twinsburg 44087 (216) 285-0806/https://richterhc.com

50

1999

Business services

Helps long-term and post-acute care providers address clinical, accounting, implementation and revenue cycle challenges

Jennifer Richter president, CEO

22

Ullman Oil Company LLC 98812 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls 44023 (440) 543-5195/www.ullmanoil.com

50

1967

Distribution

Petroleum products distributor

Jennifer W. Berlin president

27

SpaceBound Inc. 280 Opportunity Way, LaGrange 44050 (440) 355-8008/www.spacebound.com

47

1987

Computers information technology

Technology service provider and global distribution of technology products, including computers, software, electronics, peripherals and accessories

Patricia A. Miller CEO

RESEARCHED BY CHUCK SODER (CSODER@CRAIN.COM)

See nearly 400 companies in our Women-Owned Business Directory: CrainsCleveland.com/section/WOB Neither the list nor the directory is comprehensive. To submit your company, visit the above URL

The full directory can be viewed for free online; Crain's Data Members may download it in Excel format. Information is supplied by the companies unless footnoted. Send feedback to Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com.

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AKRON

Lehman’s transports shoppers back in time

T

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY

By B

rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

Lehman’s in Kidron, just southeast of Wooster, got its start as a small hardware store for the local Amish community, but today, it’s a tourism destination.

A major turning point for the store was the energy crisis and the oil embargo of the 1970s, said Glenda Lehman Ervin, vice president of marketing for Lehman’s and daughter of founder Jay Lehman. Her brother, Galen Lehman, is now CEO. During the oil embargo, people were concerned about traditional fossil fuels and wanted to return to the use of wood heating and cooking stoves, Ervin said. Enter Lehman’s.

“People were saying, you need to sell color TVs and electric furnaces and all of that, and (my father’s) goal was never to be, I don’t know, semi-famous or a very large company,” Ervin said. “But he just really wanted to help the people that live off the land, primarily the Amish, maintain their way of life.”

The energy crisis and, around the same time, the start of the company’s mail order, catalog-based business, helped Ervin’s father realize the store could be bigger. Today, Lehman’s employs more than 100, Ervin said.

The family owned company doesn’t share annual revenue.

As the business grew, Lehman reinvested a little at a time, Ervin said. In 2007, the company doubled the size of the main store, which Ervin said helps it better serve the “curious.”

The store is almost 40,000 square feet. The walls and shelves are filled with wooden spoons, cast iron pans, butter churns, candles and lanterns.

There’s a room for laundry-related

Lehman’s in Kidron offers products from days gone by, including wooden spoons, stoneware, cast iron pans, butter churns, candles and lanterns. (Contributed photo)

products and a garden. The vast majority of the products don’t run on electricity, though there are some retro-styled items, like stoves, that do. There are toys and locally made food. In fact, many of the products Lehman’s sells are locally made.

“I mean, we wouldn’t make the place look like it does if we didn’t want people to come in and take pictures and learn. And now today, there’s a huge educational component,” Ervin said. “The what is the product. And then the how, ‘OK, how do I do this?’ We do a lot of that. But why? Why would you make your own butter? Why would you make jams and jellies?”

The goal is to meet customers where they are. Some of Lehman’s customers want to live off the grid, but Ervin said others just want to make their own salsa from the tomatoes they grow on their deck. The store offers a lot of classes on topics from soap making to canning.

Lehman’s gives locally made products a “great outlet to the world,” said Shasta Mast, executive director of the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. But it also serves as an experience for tourists, allowing them to take classes and see products like gas-powered refrigerators and wood-burning stoves in person.

“So it’s a really great introduction to our culture,” Mast said.

Though Lehman’s is in Wayne County, the chamber considers it a part of Amish country. Mast said the group views Ohio’s Amish country as Holmes County and the surrounding region — tourists don’t know where the county line ends.

Ervin estimated that about 20% of Lehman’s customers would be categorized as curious tourists and 20% would be considered “serious, offgrid preppers.” The rest land somewhere in between.

Before Y2K, the store was overwhelmed with demand, and Ervin said the company actually stopped

sending out catalogs and discouraged some sales to keep potential returns low. But the concerns over what would happen to the world’s computers earned Lehman’s national attention.

Ervin said the store ended up serving as an “off-grid consultant” for many customers, talking them through what they would need to buy and do to live off the land. Those kinds of calls are still common today.

“We are often the first to hear of some apocalypse coming,” Ervin said.

That doesn’t mean Lehman’s is necessarily excited to hear about such predictions related to the blood moon or the Mayan calendar.

The company isn’t a fan of people buying its products out of fear, Ervin said. And instead of talking politics or religion, Lehman’s likes to keep the focus on its customers’ needs and how its products can serve those needs.

One of the more unexpected customer bases for the store is the movie business. But it makes sense: Films often need historically accurate props. Lehman’s products have been found in films such as “Cold Mountain,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the one that started it all, “Back to the Future III,” Ervin said.

Lehman’s also has a smaller hardware location in Mount Hope for the local community. It serves customers who never step foot in its stores through its catalog and its website.

“We use high-tech to sell lowtech,” Ervin said.

Using the internet to sell products that don’t use electricity may seem a little counterintuitive, but it’s the fastest, least expensive way to reach customers, Ervin said.

And today, online sales are the biggest part of its business.

Falls owner hopes to change concrete industry

By BRUCE MEYER

Dave Brassard, owner of Cuyahoga Falls-based Silicone Solutions Inc., thinks he has created a better way of making concrete for mass pours.

(Contributed photo)

bmeyer@crain.com

It’s appropriate that Dave Brassard included this quote from Arthur C. Clarke, author of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” as the tagline on one of his emails: “Any sufficiently advanced technology will always appear to be magic or impossible.”

That is what the silicone industry veteran and founder of Cuyahoga Falls-based Silicone Solutions Inc. appears to be running up against as one of his newest product developments — an additive mixture for use in the concrete industry — may appear to some to be too good to be true.

Brassard has been working on the project for about five years, using his background with silicone and silicon chemistry to develop CoolCure, a two-part admixture he says makes for a vastly improved concrete for use in mass pours. That is the type of product typically used in large, thick projects such as bridge supports, embankments, dams and foundries.

Marketed under New Technology Solutions LLC, a subsidiary of Silicone Solutions, CoolCure achieves something previously thought unthinkable for mass pour concrete, Brassard said. It yields a concrete that stays much cooler than traditional Portland cement but yields a

much stronger product.

Industry insiders said that you normally can have one or the other: a cement that doesn’t heat up but is weaker, or one that generates immense heat and is strong, but susceptible to cracking.

Along this journey, Brassard has tested CoolCure successfully on dozens of occasions, made believers out of at least two concrete industry veterans, and won an award for it earlier this year at the World of Concrete show.

But what he hasn’t figured out yet is the best way to bring the product to market. And while making a successful development is one thing, gaining acceptance, particularly when you’re not an industry insider, can prove tricky.

And the two concrete insiders he

has been working with both cautioned that if CoolCure is not successful in its early real-world uses, the innovation’s future could be over before it begins.

Brassard said it’s not unusual for an outsider to see things that those who have spent careers in the industry may easily overlook.

He became involved in studying concrete when someone approached him about making concrete fireproof.

As a chemist specializing in silicone, he noted that silicon and silica are key ingredients of concrete. He studied the chemical reaction and found it to be quite inefficient. He said the more efficient a process is, the fewer byproducts there are, and it’s the byproducts that can sometimes lead to

poor quality in concrete.

The bottom line, Brassard said, is that he was able to come up with a mixture, using nano silica and a catalyst that generated no calcium hydroxide, and, thus, no heat. And without heat, there was no cracking.

About 20% of mass pours, he said, are rejected because of excessive heat.

There are certain heat limits contractors must stay within, but they are not able to address heat properly using current technology. Thus, billions of dollars are spent annually to cool concrete, using such methods as inserting cooling coils in dams and bridge foundations, or pumping in coolant.

“What I’ve done is fix the chemistry so it doesn’t get hot,” Brassard said. “We break all the rules all the time. We customize things for people every day, so it isn’t too far-fetched for a little company like us to do something like this.”

The literature for the patent-pending CoolCure product has a laundry list of product features and applications. But Brassard said he knew he would need help moving the new technology forward.

Over the past five years, CoolCure has had at least 40 demonstrations, passing with flying colors, he said. The next step was to look for affirmation from within the concrete industry.

Tom Luby is manager of Northeast U.S. sales for Flir Systems Inc.’s Intel-

liRock software products line, which uses a chip that goes inside concrete to measure temperature and strength. When he heard the claims about CoolCure, he was skeptical.

But after testing, Luby was surprised. After each of his tests, the concrete was at a lower temperature with higher strength. Luby then conducted about 30 tests at different facilities, varying the manufacturers, the Portland cements and the aggregates.

“Always two things hold true,” he said. “It’s going to create much less heat and it’s going to yield higher strength.”

If the process can find acceptance, that would be remarkable, Luby said, because of the amount of effort and expense contractors spend trying to manage thermal activity.

Luby said Brassard had a different thought process because he looked at the problem from a polymer perspective.

“I don’t think the approach to get to this solution is in anybody’s wheelhouse because it just is so much different than the conventional wisdom of the mass concrete industry,” he said.

Jim Fichtelman of Shelly Ready Mix, with a site in Twinsburg among others in Ohio, has more than 40 years in the concrete industry, and he also didn’t expect Brassard’s technology to work.

SEE CONCRETE, PAGE 29

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 2 9

AKRON

Twinsburg biz park nears capacity

By BETH THOMAS HERTZ clbfreelancer@crain.com

The Cornerstone Business Park, built on the site of a former Chrysler manufacturing plant in Twinsburg, has two new buildings getting underway this summer — the park’s fifth and sixth structures — that are bringing the complex close to capacity.

The 1.8-million-square-foot auto plant closed its doors in July 2010 and was purchased at auction by an industrial salvage company that removed everything of value but did not have a long-term interest in the site. That company sold the site to Scannell Properties, an Indianapolis-based developer, and Independence’s DiGeronimo Cos. in 2011. The two companies invested about $14 million cleaning up the site, and the state provided about $5 million to help with preparing the site for development.

The first building to debut in the business park was Vistar, a division of Performance Food Group, a national distributor of snacks, candy and beverages to industries such as vending, theater concessions, offices and correctional facilities. It opened its 137,000-square-foot distribution facility in 2013.

After that came the Federal Express package sorting facility, at 303,000 square feet, in 2015 and a 248,000-square-foot Amazon distribution center in 2016.

The new buildings that are breaking ground this summer include a 400,000-square-foot structure that will house an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts dis-

An aerial view shows Cornerstone Business Park in Twinsburg, which has two new buildings breaking ground this summer. (Contributed photo)

tribution center. The $30 million project likely will be done by fall 2019.

Twinsburg City Council granted a 50%, 15-year tax abatement for the project.

The second project getting started is a 240,000-square-foot spec building that is expected to be done in about a year. Although there are no confirmed tenants signed for that building yet, the park already has one 200,000-square-foot building that was constructed on spec that is now fully leased with tenants such as a Dunkin’ Donuts distribution center. So, developers are confident it will fill up, said Terry Coyne, vice chairman of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Cleveland office and the commercial real estate agent for the property.

Kevin See, vice president of project management with Scannell Properties, said his company is pleased with

the progress at the park.

“These two projects over the summer bring us a lot closer to our goal of full development,” he said.

He said his company has other multibuilding developments in the works in the area but wasn’t able to offer specifics at this time.

Larry Finch, Twinsburg’s director of planning and community development, said the city is also pleased with the park’s growth.

“It has certainly developed faster than we had contemplated,” he said.

However, the city was hoping for higher employment numbers, he said.

With several of the tenants being warehouses, that means fewer people are employed per square foot than might be seen in an office building.

Also, many of the jobs there now are part-time and do not come with benefits, a change from the composition of

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the auto plant’s workforces. There were more than 1,000 employees at the time of its closing.

“But we’re happy overall, and with O’Reilly’s coming in, we will see more (full-time jobs),” he said, adding that O’Reilly’s is expected to bring 350 employees to the park within three years, with 90% of those being full-time.

Overall, the 167-acre property has a number of factors that have attracted growth, Finch said. It is shovel-ready, allowing for quick turnaround on construction, and has a good location, near interchanges to I-480 and the Ohio Turnpike, with easy access to I-271, he said. It also has 4,000 feet of Norfolk Southern track in the park, according to park marketing materials.

“From a logistics perspective, it has full-on capability,” Finch said.

Coyne also said that he and his partners have been somewhat surprised at how fast the park has developed. He praised Twinsburg for being a great partner, but also attributed the growth to the healthy environment for manufacturing in this area.

“Employment is up, lease rates are up, sales prices are up,” he said. “Overall, our market is one of the best in the U.S. I see it every day, despite what others may think.”

After these two current sites are developed, the main parcel remaining comprises 17 highly visible acres at the front of the park, at Chamberlin and East Aurora (Route 82) roads.

Finch said it is hoped that spot will lure an attractive tenant, such as a higher-end office building. A 5-acre spot on the interior of the park is also still undeveloped, he added.

CONCRETE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

But after testing CoolCure several times, he became a believer. What impressed him most was that Brassard could adjust the chemical additive to hit whatever target temperature was desired.

Brassard thinks he’s gaining ground, pointing to the World of Concrete award.

“That means they’re starting to accept it and understand it,” he said.

His hope is that within a year the technology will begin to see use and within five years it will move toward being a standard within the industry.

For now, the team is continuing with mass pours and demonstrations. A couple of engineering firms are interested, along with a company back-integrated into silica. Brassard is open to either licensing the technology or selling it outright, and said he will even produce it himself if it comes to that.

Fichtelman said he understands contractors’ reluctance to be first with the product, because there is a huge liability with such large projects and CoolCure doesn’t have the track record yet.

The bottom line, Fichtelman said, is money.

The process doesn’t have much impact on the price of the concrete but can have a big impact on the amount of money contractors spend to control heat.

“I told Dave, ‘Don’t give up. We’re going to find it,’ ” Fichtelman said.

“Maybe it’s not this project, but maybe it’s going to be the next. … But we’ve got to find that first job and, when we do, it’s got to work.”

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PA G E 3 0

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

CAVS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

It’s way too soon to know what the latest iteration of the LeBron-less Cavs are going to look like, but annual NBA Finals appearances, entire seasons of sold-out crowds and a maxed-out slate of national-TV appearances could seem considerably more distant than Cleveland and L.A. “Everyone knows players move and they’re fragile, and even in the best of all possible worlds you’re only going to get 15 or 20 years out of LeBron James,” said Victor Matheson, a College of the Holy Cross professor who specializes in sports economics.

“The moment they signed LeBron, if they’re smart, their front office and business folks started deciding what a post-LeBron world would look like.”

The Cavs knew as well as anyone that James could bolt after the 201718 season, when he could opt out of the third contract he had signed with the team since July 2014. And in the short term, at least on the business side, some of the sting of his exit will be eased by lucrative multiyear contracts that are already in place.

One of the more notable is with Goodyear, which, beginning with the 2017-18 season, put its Wingfoot logo on the front of the Cavs’ jerseys. The complicated deal — which also includes Turner Sports and features a suite at The Q, season tickets, signage and a presence in the organization’s youth basketball initiatives — is worth as much as $10 million per year. At the time it was announced, Eric Smallwood, managing partner of Apex Marketing Group, a sports sponsorship and analytics firm in St. Clair, Mich., told Crain’s the exposure

value of the jersey patch was $22.4 million to $29.2 million per year.

Thirteen months later, with James in L.A. and Kyrie Irving long gone, Smallwood estimates the patch’s annual value is $14.7 million to $16.7 million.

That’s still well above the reported agreement, but 34% to 43% below the previous value ranges.

“I think the biggest effect is going to be the sponsors,” Smallwood said.

“Those initial deals (that were struck when James was with the team) were at a maximum (price).”

The Goodyear deal, according to Crain’s sources, had components that ranged in length from five to 10 years — meaning even the deals on the lower end have four seasons remaining.

And while 10 years might be a lot, the vast majority of the Cavs’ sponsorships — probably 85% to 90%, one source said — are for multiple years.

That provides some security for down seasons, or in the case of the Cavs, the best player of his generation leaving for the second time in eight years.

The same goes for another critical component of the Cavs’ team-controlled revenues — premium seating.

All of the team’s suite deals are multiyear contracts, a source said, as are those that cover floor seats and certain club-seat locations.

The current multiyear cycle, a club source said, was set up so fans in the premium seats would have their locations secured when the renovated Q opened for the 2019-20 season.

That means many fans are locked in for at least two non-LeBron, and possibly lottery-bound, seasons.

“That wasn’t a LeBron play,” a team source said.

Instead, it was based on the transformation of an arena that served as his home for 11 seasons, the team said.

LeBron’s drawing power

such attendance norms as the 15,926 and 16,192 that they recorded in James’ second and third years in Miami.

“One huge factor is the resale market,” Matheson, the Holy Cross professor, said. “Everyone is buying and selling tickets for LeBron James.

They’re probably not for whoever is left. That also translates to revenue for the team itself.”

Mark Klang, who owns Mayfield Village-based Amazing Tickets, concurs. He said he expects to “average 50 cents on the dollar” for Cavs games in 2018-19.

Fewer people in the door mean fewer concessions that are purchased and merchandise that is sold. The latter isn’t a huge part of the Cavs’ business (a club source told Crain’s in 2017 that merchandise accounted for a percentage of the overall revenue pie that was in the low single digits), but profits from in-arena sales, unlike jerseys that are purchased at retail stores, don’t have to be split with the league’s other 29 teams.

James ranked second in jersey sales in the last two regular seasons, and topped the NBA in 2014-15. The Cavs, meanwhile, were among the top four in team merchandise sales, including three runner-up finishes, in each of the last four seasons.

When it comes to Forbes’ annual franchise evaluations, the Cavs have risen to the middle of the pack since James returned to his native Northeast Ohio. In 2015, the Cavs’ value, according to Forbes’ estimates, jumped $400 million, to $915 million.

It’s increased another $400-plus million since, to a 2018 projection of $1.325 billion.

With NBA business, boosted by a nine-year, $24 billion national-TV

The Cavs, in addition to producing five consecutive full seasons of home sellouts with LeBron James on the roster, were the NBA's biggest road draw in three of the last four years. A look at the Cavs' average road attendance since 2013-14, dating back to James' last season in Miami: 2017-18: 19,071, No. 1 in NBA 2016-17: 19,021, No. 1 in NBA 2015-16: 18,910, No. 3 in NBA 2014-15: 18,915, No. 1 in NBA 2013-14: 17,388, No. 15 in NBA Note: The Cavs ranked 30th, 22nd and 25th, respectively, in road attendance in James' first three years in Miami.

No longer a hot ticket In 2010-11, James’ first season in Miami, the Cavs’ average attendance was 20,112 — a 97.8% capacity that was due in large part to season-ticket holders who were already locked in prior to The Decision. With James, the Cavs have capped their season-ticket base at 15,000 full-season equivalents in each of the last two seasons, and early commitments should mean their average gate again won’t take a huge hit in the season following LeBron’s latest exit.

But consistent sellouts — including the postseason, the Cavs have recorded 286 in a row with James on the roster, dating back to December 2008 — likely will be a thing of the past. And the success of the rebuild, or lack thereof, will determine if the Cavs can avoid

deal, booming, Forbes estimates that every franchise is now worth at least $1 billion. Matheson says he would be “skeptical” if the Cavs’ projected team value would suffer a hit similar to what Forbes estimated in 2011, when James leaving for Miami resulted in the Cavs’ value dropping from $476 million to $355 million.

A safer assumption seems to be that the team’s revenues — the Cavs, at $280 million, ranked sixth in Forbes’ 2018 projections — could suffer as multiyear agreements expire and the asking price for new deals don’t have James’ name attached. But even the bottom 10 NBA teams in Forbes’ 2018 rankings had estimated revenues of $179 million to $211 million.

And, barring the unlikely acquisition of a high-priced star, a revenue hit in the tens of millions would easily be offset by a 2018-19 payroll that, as it stands now, would be about $110 million. The 2017-18 Cavs, with a luxury-tax bill of $50.8 million, were the most expensive yet, at $186.7 million.

So, in a business sense, the sky isn’t falling. Far from it.

The Cavs’ bargaining power, however, hinges on the on-court product, and a repeat of 2010-14 would make those pitches more and more difficult.

“There’s a difference between a 4636 and 16-66 team without LeBron,” Matheson said. “It kind of depends on what they are.”

The Cavs insist they’re not going to tank — a method that would increase their odds of landing a high draft pick — without LeBron.

Soon, they’ll have a transformed arena to fill, and a superstar’s shadow to somehow escape.

LeBron’s exit won’t have ‘any effect’ on NEO GDP

By JEREMY NOBILE jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

Could losing a superstar athlete like LeBron James actually hurt the local economy?

A popular athlete gives fans all the more reason to pay attention to games and teams, which should translate to more demand for game tickets, busier bars and restaurants, and more merchandise sold at higher price tags.

Various studies support the idea that James is an economic force, including a popular 2017 analysis out of Harvard University showing how James’ presence in Cleveland and Miami at different periods drove the food and drink industries there. And a recent study from American Enter-

prise Institute economists that looks at how James’ presence creates jobs posits the number of restaurants and bars within 1 mile of whatever stadium James called home increased by 13%, while employment at those businesses increased more than 23%.

But according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, growth of GDP — the top metric in measuring a region’s economy — in the Cleveland-Elyria MSA has actually slowed down since James returned from Miami for his second term with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

GDP growth was just 0.6% between 2015-2016, according to the Fed, and 0.9% between 2014-2015.

Comparatively, GDP growth was 2.6% between 2013-2014; 1.8% between 2012-2013; 1.9% between 2011-2012; 2.1% between 2010-2011

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indeed, more people working in leisure and hospitality jobs today, giving credence to the notion that Cleveland bars and restaurants have been busier.

However, Mark Rosentraub — a former Cleveland State professor and dean, and current chair of the department of sports management at the University of Michigan — notes that the reasons for the economy growing or waning are certainly more complicated and nuanced than the sheer presence, or not, of someone particularly talented at playing basketball.

That’s why James’ effect on the Cleveland economy, while surely having some impact on things like ticket sales or traffic at local bars, wouldn’t translate to any measurable economic growth on the region itself, which is much more than the city’s downtown.

(James’ first season with the Miami Heat); and 0.9% between 2009-2010.

With the recession in full swing, GDP decreased 6.6% between 20082009 and a separate 2.3% between 2007-2008.

So the Cleveland economy most recently grew strongest in those initial years following the recession while James was playing in Florida.

Then, when he returned to the Cavs, growth here actually slowed down to its lowest levels since the last economic downturn.

How closely those trends correlate with each other is difficult to say.

Cleveland’s economy is stronger than it was a few years ago, to be sure.

Unemployment is at some of its lowest levels since before the last recession. And data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics show there are,

Clearly, James’ presence attracted more people to games and crowded more sports bars. The impact of his philanthropic endeavors to real people can’t be understated. And the positive attention the city garners as an NBA champion s hard to measure.

But what fans are paying to enjoy those games is discretionary spending. That and other intangible effects are unlikely to move the needle for any region’s GDP. “Bottom line, the business entity of the Cleveland Cavaliers could see a decline,” Rosentraub said. “At the regional level, there’s not going to be any effect.”

While we may be worse off, is the local economy doomed to struggle without LeBron James in town?

Probably not — at least, not that much more than it already has been.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Source Lunch Darrell McNair

President and CEO, MVP Plastics Corp.

As the owner of a custom injection molding business that supplies the auto industry but also makes parts for mailboxes, plumbing supplies and wheelchair parts, Darrell McNair is wrestling with how the impending tariffs on China and on the auto business might affect him and MVP Plastics’ 100 employees who work in Brownsville, Texas; Downers Grove, Ill.; Oxford, Mich.; and Dongguan in China’s Guangdong province, near the coastal city of Shkenzhen and Hong Kong, in addition to Middlefield in Geauga County. Wrestling is nothing new to McNair, though. He spent time on mats in high school in the Chicago area and in his college years at Kent State University. He’s also committed to a wide range of civic activities that reflect his concern about the future of the people of Northeast Ohio. He’s chair of the board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority and a board member of JumpStart Inc., the Ohio Minority Development Financing Advisory Board and the Presidents’ Council Business Chamber. — Jay Miller

Five things Best advice to a would-be entrepreneur Know that you cannot do it alone, be open-minded to trusted advisers.

Hobby you’re passionate about?

Golf. I love the serenity.

Which historical figure would you most like to meet?

Martin Luther King Jr.

Travel destination on your bucket list?

Africa What’s the best advice you’ve gotten?

Believe in yourself.

Lunch spot Slyman’s Tavern 4009 Orange Place, Orange slymanstavern.com

The meal One had a corned beef sandwich, the other a pastrami sandwich. Both were the deli’s “lighter” versions.

The vibe

You’ve got to be thinking about rising tariffs.

A lot of discussion in the manufacturing space is the tariffs. So some folks are looking to India or Taiwan for low-cost sourcing opportunities.

You import molds and tooling from China. Is that one of the tariff situations you’re concerned with?

We have a relationship with a tool shop over there. They make our tooling, we run our trial parts over there and some low-volume production at their facility. We’re about ready to embark on this discussion with our customers because of the 25% additional tariff on our tools coming in from China.

We can’t absorb it.

What about the trade situation with Mexico? Don’t you ship parts from Brownsville to auto plants in Mexico?

Mexico is interesting. We ship a lot in, and those costs continue to make us nervous. What’s going to happen to NAFTA at the end of the day? My personal belief is that there will be little change in tariffs because of the billions of dollars of U.S. investment.

You worked for IBM Corp. and Ford Motor Co. after college, but you always wanted to own your own business, didn’t you?

My father was a dentist, and so I thought I was going to be a dentist. I worked summers for him. But at some point I realized it was not what I wanted to do. The drive was entrepreneurship, business ownership.

I remember having a conversation with him. I said, “Dad, Darrell’s not moving in that direction. There’s no succession plan in that family tree.” I had the same experience with my kids. I never said, “I want you to come into the business.” I want them to experiment with many things and get exposed to as much as possible.

I said the door was always open to them, but they’ve got to do five years on the outside before they set foot on the inside.

Unlike its downtown ancestor, this Slyman’s, in the location of a former Red Robin restaurant, is more dark wood than Formica and linoleum.

So are they coming back?

My daughter is in her fourth year on the outside and my son is on his second year on the outside.

The bill

Will they come back?

I don’t know.

$28.46 with tip

What’s your sense of the economy?

I think we’re in for a slowdown.

Our customers — the auto companies — are going crazy right now. They are running multiple scenarios right now. “What if volumes does this? What if volume does that? What if this program is delayed?” It’s not just one of them.

It’s all of them. So something is going on there. I’m bracing myself and I’m paying down debt as quickly as I can.

That’s why I’m diversifying, too, in case there’s a slowdown in the auto industry.

You’re talking about the company you just bought earlier this year?

In February, I bought All-Foam Products Co. in Downers Grove, Ill. They fabricate cellular foam cushioning products, used principally in the bedding and furniture industries. But All-Foam expanded into the areas of toolbox foam liners, military specification cushioning, engineered protective foams and decorative and protective packaging. It’s a diversification play, but also a synergy play. Foam provides cushioning (used in cars), to dampen sound, squeaks and rattles.

That’s what we feel the synergy will be.

You’re involved in an awful lot of things outside of work.

As my business started growing, I realized that as a business owner you have the responsibility to give something back to your community.

If I don’t do it who else is going to do it?

What do you see in the community that concerns you?

I think this city needs to be shaken up. I don’t see Cleveland as an entrepreneurial city.

What is your biggest concern?

Our solutions are not easy. My opinion is our community will live and die by the success of our education system. Although graduation rates have improved at CMSD (the Cleveland Metropolitan School District), test scores are still low. ...

RTA (the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority) is on the brink of bankruptcy. I wish we had some better form of public transportation that connects the suburbs to our city.

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sider intel

MARKETING, ADVERTISING & EVENTS INSIGHTS.

Today’s Tip: Quantity is just as important as quality when it comes to marketing.

Marketers tend to focus on every detail of promotions, pumping money and effort into each campaign. While it is important to make sure your content is appealing, relevant and gramatically correct, it is equally important to make sure you are consistently getting in front of your audience, creating a sense of 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 intersted 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 brand.

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Volume 39, Number 28 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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