Weatherhead 100

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FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES WEATHERHEAD 100 Allegro Real Estate Brokers & Advisors Ancora Apex Dermatology and Skin Surgery Center AQUA DOC Lake & Pond Management Ashton Technology Solutions, Inc. AtNetPlus Banyan Technology Inc Calyx, LLC Carnegie Investment Counsel Carver Financial Services, Inc. Checkpoint Surgical CleanLife Colliers International I Cleveland Compass Self Storage Consolidus, LLC Corporate Technologies Group, Inc. Corrigan Krause Crawford United Corporation Crescendo Commercial Realty, LLC Crimcheck Technologies Digital Print Solutions Direct Recruiters, Inc. Etactics Inc. Fire-Dex FIT Technologies Five Lakes Dental Practice Solutions Foundation Software Futuri Geauga Mechanical Company Global Transport, Inc Great Lakes Fasteners, Inc. Greenspace Construction Services, LLC

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Hileman Group Incept Infinium Wall Systems, Inc. Inforce Technologies INSIGHT2PROFIT Jarrett Logistics Laketec Communications LDA architects MAI Capital Management, LLC Marcum Wealth MarshBerry MediQuant LLC Molding Dynamics, Inc. National Safety Apparel, Inc. Neptune Plumbing & Heating Co. NMS, Inc. & Affiliates OnShift Onyx Creative Inc Payroll4Construction.com Peoples Services, Inc. Perspectus Architecture, LLC QualityIP Radcom, Inc Re/Max Haven Property Management reLink Medical Rent A Daughter Senior Care Repair Authority Request A Test Sequoia Financial Group, LLC Sgt. Clean Car Wash Shankman & Associates Shoemaker Rigging & Transport, LLC Simplex-IT Simplified Facilities Group, Inc. Sky Quest Technical Assurance, Inc. ThenDesign Architecture (TDA)

True Hire Universal Windows Direct VMI Group, Inc. WHS Engineering Inc. World Synergy Enterprises WTWH Media

UPSTARTS Beese Fulmer Private Wealth Management Bridge Analyzers, Inc. Ciresi & Morek ConnectedHR DMS Management Solutions FORM Grants Plus Inner Circle Advisors Jennasis & Associates, LLC Kiwi Creative M Genio Inc. Mortach Financial Planned Financial Services Ralston Instruments, LLC the telos institute TinyCircuits US Freight

CENTURIONS Budget Dumpster LLC Echo Health Inc Garland Industries Inc. GEMCORE Leaf Home Nations Lending Corporation NOMS Healthcare Park Place Technologies TalentLaunch

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NEO’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

Post-pandemic awards honor resilience and self-reflection By Vince Guerrieri Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland For 32 years, the Weatherhead 100 awards were as much a part of the Cleveland landscape as Lake Erie and the Terminal Tower. The awards, conceived in the 1980s when the region was emerging from deindustrialization, had become a real community event. “It’s both a reunion for people with mentors at the Weatherhead school and a way to reach out to the community,” said JB Silvers, a banking and finance professor at the Weatherhead School of Business at Case Western Reserve University, as well as the associate dean of finance. But when COVID-19 hit, organizers made the difficult decision to cancel the event in December 2020 – a decision that turned out to be wise, as new cases spiked that month before receding as vaccinations were introduced. This year, things won’t be fully back to normal. There will be no black tie gala. But applications were still collected, and winners will be recognized, if only virtually. “We wanted to be sure to recognize this year’s Malhotra winners, in light of the challenges they have overcome through the pandemic,” said Manoj Malhotra, dean of the Weatherhead School of Business. “But we understand that many companies may not be comfortable coming out and meeting in a large setting. There are still lots of concerns within the community. “I wish we weren’t where we are, but our desire to keep everyone safe and comfortable is why we didn’t do it in person this year, and I think everyone appreciates that. There was too much uncertainty.” Malhotra said that it’s particularly important to recognize businesses this year. Many have faced – and are continuing to face – unprecedented challenges in staffing, and have had to change rapidly to keep people working, even if not necessarily in the same building. Remote work has led to some innovation, Malhotra said, and while he doesn’t see the workplace becoming fully decentralized, some employers are now questioning the

nature of work in general.

INSIDE

“In some instances, going virtual led to greater efficiency,” he said. “I think we all learned that some tasks can be done just as productively when you’re not at the office.”

BUSINESS PROFILES

Some employers may decide that they don’t need the same real estate footprint that they did before the pandemic. Even now, as things slowly inch toward pre-pandemic levels of normalcy, changes are being made. “Schedules are much more fluid than they used to be,” Malhotra said. “The outcomes may not be changing, but how you deliver the outcomes has changed. And that can be an opportunity when you think about it. You can create a more satisfied workforce and a more productive workforce.” The Weatherhead 100 awards usually measure growth, Malhotra said, but that can be difficult to pinpoint year-over-year, since the pandemic led to the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression — even dwarfing the Great Recession of 2008. Even now, Silvers noted, ongoing supply chain issues present problems in the business world – but also opportunities.

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THE LISTS Weatherhead 100 ......... Page W12 Upstarts ......................... Page W15 Centurions ................... Page W15

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Weatherhead 100 awards to celebrate perseverance, adaptation in 2021 The business community of Northeast Ohio has seen no shortage of challenges to overcome this year; from the COVID-19 pandemic to an ongoing global supply chain disruption, it’s easy to see the end of this year as the finish line of a grueling marathon. It’s in this spirit of resilience that the Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management seeks to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of regional businesses with the 2021 Weatherhead 100 awards. Traditionally an in-person gala event, the 2020 Weatherhead 100 awards were cancelled as a consequence of the pandemic. The event returned this year as a virtual award ceremony. Scheduled for Dec. 9, the event was intended to recognize companies in the Weatherhead 100 winners, Weatherhead 100 Upstarts and Weatherhead 100 Centurions categories.

Award categories COVID cases continue to decline, and more people are getting vaccinated, so Malhotra hopes that everyone can gather in person again soon. “Next year, if everything has calmed down and safety and security isn’t an issue, we’d love to do a full-scale event,” he said. “We still think this is a great idea and brings people together in ways that are positive.

• Weatherhead 100 winners are recognized for achieving the highest recorded growth in net sales over the past five years — from at least $100,000 to $1 million. • Weatherhead 100 Upstarts are categorized as fast-growing companies with 15 or fewer employees and/or net sales of less than $5 million over the last year. • Weatherhead 100 Centurions are noted for their rapid growth and qualify for generating at least $100 million in net sales over the last year.

Benchmarking really helps, and this will help that take place. Networking is also important, and I hope we’ll get to that as soon as everyone can do it safely.”

“We’re having to rethink how we’re doing supply chains now,” he said, “Particularly with third parties. Things we offshored due to cost, we’re now onshoring again due to risk. We’re getting competitors to sit down and coordinate, which would have been unheard of even a couple years ago.” Malhotra said fewer companies applied for Weatherhead 100 recognition this year, but the applications they did receive are very detailed – a self-evaluation which benefits the companies themselves.

Celebrating 20 Years!

“We ask for data and growth, but introspection takes place when the companies sit back and think about where they’ve been,” he said. “This is still a yardstick for improvement and successful practices.”

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It remains important – particularly after the past year – to recognize businesses for surviving and, in some cases, thriving. “Being physically able to get together adds an element of excitement, but I think it’s important to have the recognition,” Malhotra said.

nomshealthcare.com Weatherhead 100 Centurian Winner!

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NEO’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

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Giving healers the tools they need By Vince Guerrieri Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

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Like everyone else, Jeff Dalton was glued to his television set in March 2020 when Gov. Mike DeWine gave his daily briefings on the advance of COVID-19. And when DeWine announced the stay-at-home order, Dalton, the president and CEO of reLink Medical, first had to figure out how he and his employees would work from home. The second order of business?

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“We called all of our customers and said, ‘how can we help you?’” he said.

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Founded in 2016, reLink’s primary focus had initially been helping hospitals manage equipment disposal – everything from infusion pumps to MRI machines. But with the onset of a pandemic that hadn’t been seen in living memory, the hospitals’ focus changed, and so did reLink’s.

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Standing tall as a beacon for NEO manufacturing By Conner Howard, Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

I

t’s been said that a rising tide lifts all ships, and that it’s better to succeed as a community than as an individual. Sal Geraci These axioms Chief Operating can be seen in Officer action at National Safety National Safety Apparel (NSA) Apparel (NSA), which has been manufacturing protective clothing and work wear while steadily growing its brand since 1935. A fourth-generation family-owned business, NSA operates out of a main manufacturing facility in West Cleveland, with satellite facilities in Chicago and Arkansas and a total headcount of around 700 employees across all locations. Chief Operating Officer Sal Geraci said an ambitious expansion strategy and well-chosen acquisitions have fueled the company’s growth and made the organization stronger.

“Every time we do an acquisition, I think we learn something from the company we acquire in terms of what works for their organization, what works better in ours and using a best practices model to determine what we’re going to incorporate,” Geraci said. While acquisitions and an aggressive growth pattern have expanded NSA’s footprint, the factors that truly set the business apart include adaptability, flexibility and a dedication to providing innovative solutions for customers. “For many years, our key competency was our ability to customize products for industrial workers very quickly,” Geraci said. “So, we would do made-to-order (products) in a matter of days or weeks at the most, where many companies would struggle with that.” This spirit of versatility and willingness to adapt to shifting circumstances would end up serving the company well when COVID-19 struck in 2020 and global supply chain difficulties carried on well into 2021.

Weathering the storm

When the viral pandemic spread throughout the U.S. in 2020 and concurrent shelter-in-place orders were given, many businesses struggled to maintain operations. Amid these challenges, NSA leaned into its adaptable nature to meet the needs of the marketplace by manufacturing masks, gowns and other personal protective equipment (PPE). “We kind of shifted away from our core products and quickly mobilized all of our factories to make PPE to fight the pandemic, which is something we’re all very proud of to this day,” Geraci said. “Our orders really dipped early last year, at the height of the concern about the pandemic. By mobilizing and pivoting the way we did, we were able to keep our workers and still have a really solid year from a growth standpoint even in the face of the pandemic.” Empowering the industry

As successful as NSA has been over the decades, the organization is equally committed to building

up other manufacturers in Northeast Ohio. Geraci often partners with the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) and is a member of MAGNET’s Manufacturing Innovation Council. He feels strongly about advocating for Northeast Ohio’s resurgence as a manufacturing hub. “We’re working on ways to attract other industry and other manufacturers into Northeast Ohio and showing why this area is so good for manufacturing,” Geraci said. “The work in that area and using NSA as a lighthouse to help attract others to Northeast Ohio is really something that I’m honored to be a part of, being a Northeast Ohio native and really wanting this area to grow and thrive.”

MAGNET, said NSA has been a valuable resource for MAGNET’s strategic blueprint and the Northeast Ohio manufacturing industry as a whole. “What I love about the NSA team is their openness to collaboration, their willingness to listen and try new things … not every leadership team has that ability,” Cornuke said. “(NSA has) leaned into the blueprint as leaders and truly as contributors to a broader conversation about how to help build manufacturing in Ohio to a place where it leads the world in global, advanced manufacturing.” Story sponsored by:

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

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“As COVID happened, hospitals stopped thinking about how to get rid of old things and started thinking about what new equipment they needed to buy,” Dalton said. According to Dalton, the first thing he heard from hospitals is that they needed to clear out space, anticipating a massive influx of patients who needed treatment for COVID-19. The next step was to get the equipment they would need, including ventilators, which quickly became scarce. Out of that pivot grew reLink Ready – a new division that helps hospitals acquire cost-effective equipment. “Our core business is helping hospitals manage equipment disposition,” Dalton said. “It was affected by COVID, but we transitioned very quickly for our customers.” Those customers include University Hospitals. Tim England, the biomed supply chain manager for University Hospitals, said they’d relied on reLink strictly for disposal of medical equipment – itself a complicated task.

Sorting through the excess Dalton said that a typical 250-bed hospital must manage around 2,000 pieces of medical equipment annually, ranging in size from portable defibrillators Dalton to MRI machines. Some hospitals, he notes, have warehouses just to store their equipment repositories – all of which are depreciating assets, some quickly being made obsolete by new technology. “There’s a tremendous amount of waste in purchasing medical equipment,” he said. Also, Dalton said, hospitals sometimes buy too much, or buy the wrong item. Beyond that, he noted, every piece of new equipment usually leads to a piece of displaced equipment, and it’s not as simple as leaving it on the curb for a garbage truck to pick up. Some equipment can be repurposed or rehomed, but other machines, which may still pose radiation risks or biohazards, or act as repositories for sensitive medical information, pose their own issues. “There’s no medical device we can’t handle,” Dalton said, noting that the company has been able to recycle 2.5 million pounds of equipment annually. But as the pandemic raged, reLink was able to carve out a new niche. The company has two offices, one in

Weatherhead 100

No. 1 reLink Medical Twinsburg Founded: 2014 Sales growth: 2745% Number of employees: 52

Northeast Ohio and one in Atlanta. Pre-COVID, reLink was disposing of 8,000-10,000 pieces of medical equipment monthly. But the pandemic created a new need for them to fill: Providing equipment for hospitals and other medical facilities that might need it. England said the pandemic forced University Hospitals into “react now” mode, and reLink was able to help. “Our relationship was one-dimensional previously, just disposition,” England said. “They were effective at it, but we didn’t need to go into other facets. ReLink had demonstrated expertise, but we didn’t have the need. The pandemic forced us together and reLink showed their expertise on the fly.” Each spike in COVID cases and hospitalizations usually led to a decline in companies needing reLink’s disposal services – but more would need reLink Ready’s services to find equipment they needed. “I think we’ve added to our mission. The dip we saw on disposition during COVID helped us create a new value to hospitals,” said Dalton, who envisions 30-40 percent growth next year. “Our core mission has already responded back, and we’ve been able to form a new business.”

THE

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Congratulations to Our Fellow Weatherhead 100 Award Winners. A special thanks to all of our employees, vendors and customers for helping to make us a 5-time Weatherhead 100 Honoree. The last 20 months have given new meaning to teamwork in our facilities!

And reLink has proven more than capable of implementing that new business, England says. “We focus on businesses that know their core competency, and reLink has a very sophisticated level of expertise,” he says. “When we need something, they act and act now. It’s very calibrated and they check in with us afterward and continually seek feedback, which gives us comfort that we’re in the right hands.”

Going Beyond Logistics for a Better Solution www.peoplesservices.com | (330) 453-3709

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NEO’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

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Calyx is a partner that grows with you By Vince Guerrieri Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

want to do? We have the ‘what,’ but it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand why.”

Sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, cyberattacks work.

The company was founded in 2005 as a typical managed service provider, and started developing Framework in 2011. Among Framework’s selling points: it required no onsite equipment or extensive hardware upgrades, and onboarding typically takes three months or less. It appealed particularly well to smaller or medium-sized businesses that might need the service, but not at the expense that running it themselves would take. Henison notes that Libra leases its equipment from Calyx.

Occasionally, an employee will glance at an email that looks official enough and click on the link, which turns out to be a phishing attempt. It happened recently at Libra Industries, a manufacturing company that builds a variety of products for military contractors – so, security is highly valued. Libra uses a cloud-based computer platform, Framework, designed and built by Calyx. Their countermeasures were swift, precise and effective. “Within minutes, it was quarantined, and the whole system was restored within a matter of hours,” said Libra chief financial officer David Henison. “We’ve known managed service

clients who have been victims of cyberattacks and lost weeks of data.” Henison said Calyx’s response is one more example of its skills – and praises the way the company integrates itself into Libra’s mission.

“They want to feel like they’re part of your company’s culture,” he said. “They want to be responsive, and they want it to be seamless even if it’s an outsourced service.” That’s by design, said Calyx CEO Jason Fordu, who says the key to

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acquiring and maintaining customers is to find an answer to the question, “So what?” “I can tell you everything we do, but does that matter to you?” he said. “What are your goals? What do you

Adapting for the future Another selling point of Framework, demonstrated in 2020 when COVID-19 hit, is its accessibility from points outside the office. In

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fact, Calyx made the call for its employees to work from home even before the state order. And clients were also well-positioned to take similar steps – while other companies scrambled to set up VPN networks and find enough laptops. “A lot of companies were caught flat-footed,” Fordu said. “Forced change can be messy, uncomfortable, difficult and costly.” That’s not to say that Calyx didn’t take a hit as well. “We had an incredible sales pipeline, and we had a number of deals right on the edge,” said chief operations officer Ed Grauel. “I had proposals out for signature, and everything just screeched to a halt. Everyone wasn’t looking to make a change, and just wanted to ride it out.” Grauel says that thanks to the company’s sales staff, orders were back up to where they were before the pandemic hit by September of this year. In fact, Grauel says, the pandemic allowed the company to refresh its vision, and earlier this year it launched of an aggressive five-year plan with a goal of tenfold growth.

Weatherhead 100

No. 6 Calyx

Westlake Founded: 2005 Sales growth: 381% Number of employees: 28

The new space is also more flexible to accommodate storage, office space and creative space. Like many companies, Calyx is rethinking the nature of its workspace. “We have no mandate to have employees here,” Fordu says. “Work-fromhome has its place, but collaboration has its space as well. We’re more flexible now than we were before.”

LET’S GET SOCIAL LET’S GET SOCIAL LET’S

Fordu

“I think we are poised to do some really incredible things,” he said. “We have good people, and we’re rowing in the same direction. We will get to the same destination and we’ll outrun anyone else on the way there.” The company also moved to a new location in May. Like its former home, it’s in Westlake, but this one offers more space to accommodate plans to hire an additional 18 employees over the next 12 to 18 months. Calyx currently has about 30 employees, according to Fordu.

Henison says that Libra has grown from 250 employees and $50 million in revenue when they hired Calyx in 2018, to 500 employees and $150 million now. With growth like that, it’s possible to outgrow your contractors, but that hasn’t been the case with Calyx. “They’ve grown right along with us,” he said. That’s part of Calyx’s culture too. “Our mission is to create a better way,” Fordu said. “The vision is to provide an environment of growth. That applies to clients and team members.”

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Congratulations to the 2021 Weatherhead Winners, Upstarts, and Centurions on their recent achievements. Focused on Solutions. Focused on You. 216.920.4800 | www.mai.capital December 13, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 29

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NEO’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

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‘Relationship business’ propels M Genio By Kimberly Bonvissuto Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

By K Cra

Upstart

When Jacob Glenn and his partners started their boutique smart technology firm M Genio Inc. in 2012, the intent was to be a mobile development shop.

No. 1

“Over time, we joked that that lasted a day, because our first project wasn’t even mobile,” said Glenn, company founder and president.

Cleveland

M Genio

Founded: 2012 Sales growth: 155% Number of employees: 8

Today, the company focuses on mobile solutions and cloud automation, with a growing focus on the Internet of Things (IoT). The firm provides strategy, software development and ongoing support to clients ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies. Its customer base includes consumer goods companies, manufacturers, financial service firms, health care agencies and building product dealers. Ninety percent of the business-to-business firm’s growth has come through partnerships and referrals as it develops solutions to help companies work with their own customers.

Relationship business

In a bid to help its smaller customers, M Genio built a quick-start IoT software solution to help accelerate projects for those clients. Glenn said the code provides 80% of the program prebuilt, with the ability to plug customization into the remaining 20%. The service, he said, provides M Genio’s quality solution, but at half the cost and in half the time.

Wade Hoffman, director of analytics for Carter Lumber, calls himself a “big fan.” He said Carter Lumber initially found M Genio when it was looking for a full stack programmer but couldn’t find one at an affordable rate. M Genio, he said, leveraged its resources through a variety of team members to get the job done. Over several years, M Genio has produced a customer-facing app

and eight other apps for field employees and internal corporate office use. “They’ve transitioned into all facets of our programming, whether it be web devs, Andriod app development or iOS development,” Hoffman said. “They help with data structures and APIs (application programming interfaces).” Hoffman called the services “unbelievable” and said they add considerable value to their clients’ businesses. “They’re consistently on time, their responses are always immediate, and they just do a good job,” Hoffman said. “Carter Lumber sells wood, but it’s a relationship Glenn business, and we have a good relationship with those guys and trust that when we have a need, they’ll find the resources to get it done.” What makes M Genio different, Glenn said, is that the firm embeds itself in clients’ teams.

To serve our customers with unmatched excellence, seeking always to anticipate their needs.

“We’re focused on the same things they are — their business success and making sure the solution is a long-term solution that will fit their business model,” Glenn said. Having worked at larger firms, Glenn said he didn’t like the hierarchy that came with an account manager, a project manager and a delivery team.

Congratulations

“When we come in, my team is directly involved,” he said. “I don’t have a wall in between with a project manager making everything sound like sunshine and rainbows. We’re direct and honest and

transparent about where the issues are, the good and the bad. If we’re behind, you’ll know it when we know it.”

Creating a culture Company culture is a major area of focus for M Genio. Glenn said he grew up in the services industry but found himself changing jobs often because of disagreements with leadership. “At some point you decide maybe you should be the leadership,” Glenn said. “We focus heavily on culture and making sure it’s a place where people want to come to work — that’s key to growth.” M Genio has 10 employees and some subcontractors, with everyone local to the Cleveland area. While the company has done international work and will “work with anybody,” Glenn said the main focus is on building relationships with clients based in Ohio. Glenn said the company has grown conservatively over time — slower than many of its competitors that launched around the same time — but that’s intentional. “We’ve grown slower than some of our peers, but a part of that is because we don’t compromise on who we hire. If they don’t fit, we don’t bring them in.” The biggest difference in the company today compared to its early years is the size of its customers. The company started out with small customers and small projects, but is now working with companies such as Moen, Carter Lumber and Cardinal Health.

2021 WEATHERHEAD WINNERS

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Growth fueled by customer needs By Kimberly Bonvissuto Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

fresh cut vegetable and reduce ripening and spoilage, increasing shelf life.

Twenty-four years ago, Bridge Analyzers Inc. of Bedford Heights was born out of a desire to create a battery-powered analysis tool to help motorcycle mechanics measure exhaust emissions. Today, the business has customers in the industrial, automotive and food and beverage sectors. Bridge Analyzers designs, builds and services exhaust emissions analyzers, residual oxygen analyzers, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) headspace gas analyzers and case-ready meat gas analyzers. The company recently entered the pharmaceutical sector by becoming the North American distributor for Gasporox, a Swedish company that develops laser-based sensors used on production and inspection lines. President David Anderson, who bought the company from Robert Schrader in 2014, explained that the units use infrared optics to measure gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons. On the exhaust gas side, Anderson said the analyzers are used by individuals servicing vehicles typically used indoors or off-road, including lift trucks, Zamboni machines and motorcycles in need of performance tuning.

“What happened, big picture, is gas analyzers are more and more a part of our daily lives,” Schrader said. “We’re fortunate we were involved in making very complex analyzers for emission control. The food packaging industry was just about to launch with all different kinds of modified atmospheric packaging for food.”

Since buying the business, Anderson said he’s invested time and effort to develop an internet presence, selling Bridge Analyzers products on Amazon and e-commerce sites. He said he’s doubled the business in terms of new sales over a five-to-sixyear period.

The beginning Schrader is watching the evolution of “his baby” from nearby. He and his wife, Penelope, moved to Chagrin Falls from California several years ago after visiting the area to catch up with Anderson and take a peek at how the business was doing.

“They fell in love with Cleveland and the Chagrin Valley,” Anderson said. “They both have fundamental knowledge of the business. My wife and I have developed a friendship with them as well. This is Anderson rare, that a business seller and buyer remain very friendly years afterward.” Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a trend in the performance Schrader said building a company testing industry. A.P. Mollerand watching it grow means passing Maersk, a globally-integrated it onto the right person. He said he’s container logistics company, for watched the business “change example, is using Bridge Analyzers amazingly” over the years since he set units on large container ships to out to miniaturize gas analyzer reduce its carbon footprint by technology. checking a marine bio fuel oil from ExxonMobil. Word got out, and a call came in from Chiquita asking for an analyzer to Another area Anderson is seeing measure carbon dioxide and oxygen. more interest in is carbon dioxide The goal was to take the analyzers on sequestration — essentially the ships to measure gases in shipping practice of capturing carbon containers being transported across dioxide. the Gulf of Mexico from Costa Rica. The company suspends the ripening “That has very significant process in the containers using a potential down the road for controlled mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide, with 40,000 pounds of over-the-road capture of C02. It’s bananas in one container. a novel prospect,” Anderson said. “It’s exclusively being done to try to reduce emissions over-the-road The food packaging business, Schrader said, ended up being as big, vehicles are outputting — and sometimes bigger, than the exhaust.”

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Upstart

No. 2

A discovery at a MAP expo led the company to branch out into yet another direction — meat packaging. Someone figured out a way to package beef in an atmosphere that contains a small percentage of carbon monoxide to curb bacterial growth and maintain the redness of the meat. It was a game changer for the industry.

Looking ahead

original exhaust gas analyzer business. The company expanded into the modified atmospheric packaging business to help produce companies suspend oxidation of

Schrader said he never imagined that the company he started to create a battery-powered analyzer to help people work on motorcycles would one day diverge into the food and meat packaging industries. Bridge Analyzers also branched out

Bridge Analyzers Bedford Heights Founded: 1997 Sales growth: 117%

Number of employees: 10 from solely building its own analyzers into acquiring other technologies and growing the business — something Schrader says is “smart.” “I’m not surprised at all to see the company pulled into new business, because that was, in fact, the initial founding strategy of the company,” Schrader said. “Be adaptive, because the world is adaptive. Don’t hang onto your products — expand them. The company will have a natural growth in the direction the market will take it — the market being customers, people looking for a gas analyzer for some reason.”

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12/8/2021 3:14:06 PM


NEO’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

W10

Leaf Home builds on familiar playbook By Judy Stringer For Crain’s Content Studio

Beck declined to disclose projected earnings for 2021.

When former Zips quarterback Matt Kaulig began scaling his Hudson-based business LeafFilter nearly 15 years ago, he led an aggressive offense. Satellite locations were opened within a two-hour radius of established offices in a repeating pattern Kaulig called “the spiderweb effect.”

Growing upward and outward Leaf Home was formed in January 2019 with interests in LeafFilter and a trio of fledgling verticals. The latter includes Leaf Home Safety Solutions and Leaf Home Water Solutions, which sell and install walk-in tubs and whole-home water filtrations systems, respectively, as well as Leaf Home Enhancements, which offers a growing line of in-home renovation services like cabinet refacing and window replacements.

Today, the LeafFilter gutter protection brand has 181 offices spanning the U.S. and Canada, and that bold tactic is coming into play with the newer home improvement brands from its parent company Leaf Home. The company’s mindset hasn’t changed, aside from one twist, according to Leaf Home public relations manager Nicole McCauley. “For example, with our Leaf Home Safety Solutions, we opened an office in Denver last month, and we had a LeafFilter office there as well,” she said. “So even if we don’t have another Leaf Home Safety

Solutions nearby, we do have a sister brand that can kind of help guide them as needed.” Leaf Home itself doesn’t need much guidance. The holding

company grew by nearly 90% in 2020, when it increased revenues from $582 million in 2019 to $1.1 billion, building on seven years of 75+% growth — primarily within the flagship LeafFilter brand —

Thank You. Park Place Technologies is honored to be named as one of the Weatherhead 100 recipients. Global data center and networking optimization CONTACT US P: +1 877.778.8707 ParkPlaceTechnologies.com

P023_P033_CL_20211213.indd 32

By J For

according to chief growth officer Jeff Beck.

“One of the things we realized as we grew with LeafFilter is that we were uniquely positioned as a direct-toconsumer company,” Beck explained. “Creating a parent company so we could expand our home service offerings just made sense to us.” Beck said Leaf Home opened a total of 25 offices across the four verticals in 2020 and has added 46 so far this year. Overall, the company now has 146 sites, with new locations in Edmonton, Alberta; San Jose, Calif.; Wichita, Kan.; Everett, Wash. and Jacksonville, Fla.

Beck

It also has 2,000 employees, including about 700 in Northeast Ohio, in addition to the roughly 6,000 private contractors it uses across the U.S. Roughly 650 employees came on board last year alone. Ensuring repeatability – even to the point of having an “office opening team” has been a key part this expansion, according to Beck. “We know the number of people it makes sense to start with at each site. We know the type of office space to look for. We even use the same furniture setup,” he said. “This repeatability allows us to really focus on the work without getting bogged down by details.”

Marketing muscle While opening offices has been the bread and butter of the company’s “aggressive but controlled” growth

Centurion

No. 1 Leaf Home Hudson Founded: 2005 Sales growth: 862% Number of employees: 1984 pattern, McCauley said acquisition is also part of the mix. Leaf Home has acquired six companies over the last 14 months through its Leaf Home Enhancements subsidiary, including the recent purchase of a Chicagobased Bath Planet dealer. And, Beck said, geographical reach “is only a small part” of the company’s overall growth drivers. “The available whitespace in our verticals allows for phenomenal growth in our existing offices as well,” he said. Some 80% of Leaf Home’s growth in 2020 derived organically from its previous businesses, and McCauley said the company’s well-oiled marketing machine makes it uniquely positioned to maneuver into more gaps in existing markets and product lines. “Our technology and data insight capabilities allow us to see which ads will perform best in which markets and tailor our messaging faster and more strategically,” she said. LeafFilter mailers targeting younger couples, for example, often include text about spending less time on gutter cleaning while those aimed at older adults tend to focus on ladder fall risk. Similarly, spring gutter cleaning ads in the southeast, where pine needles are a clogging culprit, look different from leafier ads in other parts of the country. In-house call centers, located in Hudson and Las Vegas, help provide feedback about what is working and what is not, according to McCauley. “We are constantly AB testing with our call centers so that we can pivot in ways to provide them with the content that they need,” she said. “It’s kind of a passion project for us.”

12/8/2021 3:14:08 PM

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SPONSORED CONTENT W11

Riding the accountable care wave By Judy Stringer For Crain’s Content Studio When a group of 30 Sandusky-area physicians banded together to launch Northern Ohio Medical Specialists in 2001, they could not have envisioned the 16-county, 283-provider, $140-million network — now simply NOMS Healthcare — that exists today. That’s largely because the independent, physician-owned and -led medical practice predated the 2010 Affordable Care Act and its creation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), according to NOMS chief strategic officer Rick Schneider. “The Affordable Care Act just kind of put a name on what we were already trying to do,” he said. “We had primary care doctors, specialists and surgical specialists as some of our founding members, and what we were trying to do initially was create those open lines of communication that would not only improve the overall process for the patient but allow for streamlined services that could ultimately reduce the cost of care.” Under an ACO, payers and participating providers share in any cost savings that arise from curbing unnecessary medical costs. Schneider said NOMS aligned with that model particularly well because, along with supporting collaboration among physicians and specialists (which can help avoid duplicate testing or unnecessary procedures), the bulk of its patient services are delivered inside doctors’ offices or surgery centers and outside of high-cost hospital settings. In 2013, NOMS Healthcare became one of only 35 advancepay Medicare ACOs across the county, securing a $1.7 million loan from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to build its ACO infrastructure. The money, combined with a matching internal investment, helped the company expand the care team, enhance its EMR platform and augment data analytics capabilities, according to Schneider. “With that, we really just started stepping on the gas and looking

for partnerships with our other payers, where we could utilize that (ACO) model to decrease the overall cost of care while providing a better benefit to patients,” Schneider said. “At the end of the day, that’s also going to make their insurance premiums more competitive, and they’re going to be able to continue to scale up in volume.” As insurance companies came on board and a clearer picture of the value of the “high quality care at a lower cost (i.e. outpatient) setting” emerged, Schneider added, NOMS began thinking bigger in terms of its footprint. “Starting in 2015, our 36-month projection was to span the width of the state,” he said. “We’ve done that. We’ve actually scaled much quicker than we anticipated because our model and how we operate has really resonated in the physician community.”

Doctor’s orders Health care industry watchman Tom Ferkovic, in fact, credits much of NOMS’ growth to its appeal among providers. Physicians who join its network, he said, enjoy the autonomy of a private practice without the headaches of running a medical business.

Centurion

No. 6 NOMS Healthcare Sandusky Founded: 2001 Sales growth: 134% Number of employees: 955

Those kinds of savings are just what the doctor ordered when it comes to keeping NOMS’ expansion plans on track. The company currently has a presence in Western Pennsylvania in addition to its Northern Ohio foothold. While declining to provide specifics, Schneider said plans are in the works to grow into other Ohio markets and enter “a few more” states before the end of 2022. “Starting in 2022, we think we could effectively double in size again,” he said. “The disruption in healthcare is really just beginning.”

Your industry is changing. Be ready to meet it head on.

“They are like a shelter in a storm for those doctors who don’t want to work for a hospital or a private equity-owned company or something like that,” said Ferkovic, CEO of Akron-based Medic Management Group. “It’s a great alternative that lets (physicians) keep control over their own practice, with the protection and all the tools and assets of a larger organization.” Ferkovic said NOMS has also been effective at leveraging available data to optimize care spending. In 2020 alone, NOMS ACO saved Medicare an estimated $5.1 million by meeting cost and quality goals linked to the care of nearly 10,000 beneficiaries across the northern part of Ohio, the agency reports. Since the program’s inception, NOMS has driven savings of more than $17.4 million. Today, Schneider said, Medicare spends just under $9,000 per beneficiary on NOMS ACO patients compared to a national per-patient average that hovers closer to $11,000.

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P023_P033_CL_20211213.indd 33

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NEO’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

W12

WEATHERHEAD 100 WINNERS

25

26 Rank

% Sales growth

Company name

HQ city

Year founded

Website

Company description

Employees (2020)

1

2745%

reLink Medical

Twinsburg

2014

https://www.relinkmedical.com

reLink Medical manages the decommissioning and disposition of medical equipment for the healthcare industry.

52

2

1180%

Crawford United Corporation

Cleveland

1905

www.crawfordunited.com

Crawford United Corporation is a holding company providing specialty industrial products to diverse markets.

260

3

1117%

Geauga Mechanical Company

Chardon

1950

www.geaugamechanical.com

Geauga Mechanical Company is a full-service mechanical contractor serving Northeast Ohio since 1950.

65

4

414%

Sgt. Clean Car Wash

Westlake

2013

www.sgtclean.com

Sgt. Clean Car Wash is a veteran-owned express exterior car wash chain serving Northeast Ohio.

65

5

413%

Marcum Wealth

Cleveland

2006

www.marcumwealth.com

Marcum Wealth provides financial planning and investment management services to individuals and corporate 401(K) plans.

35

6

381%

Calyx, LLC

Westlake

2005

https://calyxit.com/

Calyx provides IT solutions for the modern business.

28

7

344%

CleanLife

Cleveland

2011

https://cleanlife.com

CleanLife develops customized LED solutions for diverse brands around the world.

16

8

332%

Inforce Technologies

Chagrin Falls

2009

https://www.inforcetechnologies.com/

Inforce is a systems integration and technology consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry.

18

9

305%

Great Lakes Fasteners, Inc.

Twinsburg

1958

www.glfus.com

GLF is a full-line fastener distributor supplying inch and metric fasteners and fabrications to manufacturers across the USA.

42

10

224%

Greenspace Construction Services, LLC

Cleveland

2011

www.gcsteam.com

Greenspace Construction Services, LLC offers at-risk, design-build, and general contracting services.

33

35

11

205%

LDA architects

Cleveland

1995

www.ldaarchitecture.com

LDA architects is an architectural firm founded in 1995 with a staff of 30 professionals including architects, interior designers, historic preservation specialists and landscape designers.

29

36

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

37

12

198%

Universal Windows Direct

Bedford Heights

2002

universalwindowsdirect.com

Universal Windows Direct installs windows, doors and other home improvement products serving the repair and remodel market.

265

13

169%

Ancora

Cleveland

2003

www.ancora.net

Ancora offers asset management, family wealth and retirement plan services.

80

14

165%

Repair Authority

Strongsville

1990

www.repairauthority.com

Repair Authority provides repair services for home respiratory equipment, including CPAP devices, oxygen concentrators and ventilators.

49

15

157%

QualityIP

Kent

2004

https://qualityip.com/

QualityIP provides professional IT services to small and mid-sized organizations throughout NEO and various states within the U.S.

55

41

16

154%

MediQuant LLC

Brecksville

1999

www.mediquant.com

MediQuant creates healthcare IT efficiencies with intelligent applications for revenue and data life.

175

42

17

153%

Checkpoint Surgical

Independence

2009

www.checkpointsurgical.com

Checkpoint Surgical is a medical device company with proprietary neurostimulation technology for nerve protection and repair.

54

18

149%

OnShift

Cleveland

2008

http://www.onshift.com/

OnShift provides human capital management software purpose-built for senior care.

194

44

19

145%

INSIGHT2PROFIT

Beachwood

2006

insight2profit.com

INSIGHT2PROFIT drives enterprise value through commercial expertise, data science and relentless execution.

154

45

20

145%

Futuri

Seven Hills

2009

futurimedia.com

Futuri develops audience engagement and sales intelligence software for media, content creators and marketers.

52

46

21

145%

Consolidus, LLC

Akron

2006

www.consolidus.com

Consolidus offers advanced technology and management solutions to better manage purchasing of custom branded products.

16

47

22

141%

Global Transport, Inc.

Brook Park

2008

globaltransportinc.com

Global Transport Inc. is a trucking, brokerage, logistics and 3PL provider servicing 48 states.

42

23

135%

Payroll4Construction.com

Strongsville

2006

https://www.payroll4construction.com/

Payroll4Construction is a full-service construction payroll provider that helps contractors eliminate payroll hassles.

62

24

134%

Hileman Group

Cleveland

2002

www.hilemangroup.com

Hileman Group is a digital advertising agency specializing in healthcare and business-to-business marketing.

39

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38

39

40

43

48

49

50


SPONSORED CONTENT W13

25

121%

Direct Recruiters, Inc.

Solon

1983

www.directrecruiters.com

Direct Recruiters Inc. is an executive search firm that recruits top talent for mission-critical positions.

63

26

121%

Sequoia Financial Group, LLC

Akron

1991

sequoia-financial.com

Sequoia Financial Group crafts customized financial plans tailored to clients' individual needs.

90

27

118%

FIT Technologies

Cleveland

1999

www.fittechnologies.com

FIT Technologies is a full-service managed IT firm providing helpdesk, field support, Internet, network solutions and strategic IT consulting.

93

28

118%

Crimcheck Technologies

Brunswick

1991

www.crimcheck.net

Crimcheck Technologies offers simplified pre-screening and onboarding solutions for building your workforce.

62

29

118%

Ashton Technology Solutions, Inc.

Beachwood

1994

https://www.ashtonsolutions.com/

Ashton Technology Solutions Inc. offers managed and co-managed IT services, data security, IT project management, strategic consulting and other technology assistance.

21

30

117%

MAI Capital Management, LLC

Cleveland

1973

www.mai.capital

MAI Capital Management, LLC is a full-service wealth manager and registered investment advisor.

192

31

113%

Carnegie Investment Counsel

Pepper Pike

2009

www.carnegieinvest.com

Carnagie Investment Counsel is an investment and wealth management firm offering a variety of financial planning services.

52

32

113%

Rent A Daughter Senior Care

Beachwood

2005

www.rentadaughter.org

Rent A Daughter Senior Care provides home healthcare, companionship and full support either in their clients homes or in assisted living facilities.

75

33

105%

Digital Print Solutions

Richfield

2009

www.dpsamerica.com

Digital Print Solutions is a dealer of Canon production equipment specializing in supplies for the commercial printing and production environments.

65

34

103%

Re/Max Haven Property Management

Bedford Heights

2010

www.rentcle.com

Re/Max Haven Property Management specializes in rental real estate acquisition and management.

33

35

100%

Apex Dermatology and Skin Surgery Center

Mayfield Heights

2011

apexskin.com

Apex Dermatology and Skin Surgery Center offers a variety of medical and cosmetic dermatology services.

186

36

98%

Incept

Canton

1993

www.inceptresults.com

Incept is a multi-channel customer experience and marketing partner.

555

37

94%

VMI Group, Inc.

Macedonia

2012

www.thevmigroup.com

VMI is a concrete contractor specializing in foundations, concrete floors, structural concrete and site concrete.

49

38

93%

Sky Quest

Cleveland

2001

www.flyskyquest.com

Sky Quest provides safe and reliable private jet charter services, aircraft management and aircraft sales.

84

39

89%

Fire-Dex

Medina

1983

www.firedex.com

Fire-Dex is a family-owned manufacturer of PPE for first responders and an independent service provider of PPE care & maintenance.

186

40

89%

National Safety Apparel, Inc.

Cleveland

1935

www.thinkNSA.com

National Safety Apparel manufactures a variety of safety apparel including fire resistant and high-visibility clothing.

578

41

82%

Radcom, Inc

Cuyahoga Falls

1996

www.radcomservices.com

Radcom is a knowledge transfer and performance improvement firm combining training expertise and technical documentation know-how.

17

42

76%

Simplex-IT

Stow

2007

https://Simplex-IT.com

Simplex-IT provides managed and co-managed IT services for small and medium-sized businesses in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

16

43

68%

Laketec Communications

North Olmsted

1989

www.laketec.com

Laketec Communications is an IT solutions and managed services provider, specializing in voice, network & cloud.

41

44

67%

Technical Assurance, Inc.

Willoughby

1993

https://technicalassurance.com/

Technical Assurance is a building enclosure, consulting and engineering firm.

48

45

66%

Molding Dynamics, Inc.

Bedford

2001

www.moldingdynamics.net

Molding Dynamics Inc. specializes in custom plastic injection molding.

48

46

63%

MarshBerry

Woodmere

1981

www.marshberry.com

MarshBerry provides strategic consulting and M&A advisory to clients in the insurance industry.

121

es

47

62%

Request A Test

Brecksville

2002

requestatest.com

Request A Test is a national provider of affordable online lab and drug testing.

18

48

61%

Banyan Technology Inc

Westlake

2001

www.banyantechnology.com

Banyan Technology Inc. is a national provider of live carrier and API connectivity for transportation management.

56

49

59%

WHS Engineering Inc.

Cleveland

2005

www.whs-eng.com

CWHS Engineering Inc. provides consulting engineering services for HVAC, plumbing, electrical and structural building systems.

38

50

59%

Crescendo Commercial Realty, LLC

Independence

2008

www.cc-realty.com

Crescendo Commercial Realty offers various services including consulting, leasing, investment brokerage and property management.

35

P034_P037_CL_20211213.indd 35

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NEO’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES

W14

WEATHERHEAD 100 WINNERS CONTINUED

W

51

57%

Compass Self Storage

Cleveland

2008

www.compassselfstorage.com

Compass Self Storage provides self-storage and moving solutions nationwide.

255

Ran

52

57%

Corrigan Krause

Westlake

1989

www.corrigankrause.com

Corrigan Krause is a regional CPA firm located in Westlake, Ohio, providing tax, accounting, auditing and consulting services to closely-held businesses since 1989.

64

1

53

53%

Simplified Facilities Group, Inc.

Elyria

2002

www.simplifiedfacilities.com

Simplified Facilities Group is a single source solution for a variety of facility and maintenance needs.

16

2

54

52%

AQUA DOC Lake & Pond Management

Chardon

1983

www.aquadocinc.com

AQUA DOC Lake & Pond Management is a full-service provider specializing in lake monitoring, fountains, aeration, and more.

129

55

50%

WTWH Media

Cleveland

2006

wtwhmedia.com

WTWH Media is a digital-first B2B media company focused on providing valuable content for users while delivering measurable ROI for marketers.

80

4

56

50%

Etactics Inc.

Hudson

1999

https://etactics.com/

Etactics Inc. assists clients across various business sectors to improve business processes, boost staff productivity, reduce expenses and accelerate payment.

90

5

57

49%

Jarrett Logistics

Orrville

1999

www.gojarrett.com

Jarrett Logistics drives visibility, control and continuous improvement throughout the entire supply chain.

135

58

47%

Shankman & Associates

Solon

1978

Shankman & Associates is a regional, full-service CPG broker covering all classes of trade in an eight-state Midwestern geography.

96

59

47%

Carver Financial Services, Inc.

Mentor

1990

CarverFinancialServices.com

Carver Financial Services Inc. is dedicated to helping clients simplify their lives and enhance their standard of living.

23

9

60

45%

Infinium Wall Systems, Inc.

Strongsville

2003

www.infiniumwalls.com

Infinium Wall Systems Inc. is a manufacturer of interior glass wall systems used as demountable partitions.

49

10

61

44%

True Hire

Uniontown

1995

www.true-hire.com

True Hire has been conducting background checks for Fortune 500 and small to mid-size companies for more than 26 years.

17

11

62

42%

Five Lakes Dental Practice Solutions

Pepper Pike

2010

www.fivelakespro.com

Five Lakes helps dental practices attract and retain patients and maximize reimbursements.

38

12

63

39%

AtNetPlus

Stow

1998

atnetplus.com

AtNetPlus is a provider of managed IT services for small to mid-sized businesses.

31

13

64

39%

Neptune Plumbing & Heating Co.

Cleveland

1957

www.NeptunePlumbing.net

Neptune Plumbing & Heating Co. is a full-service plumbing contractor specializing in new construction, prefabrication & design, and 24/7 service.

85

14

3

6 7 8

15

65

39%

Corporate Technologies Group, Inc.

Hudson

1999

www.ctgusa.net

CTG provides IT solutions and support, managed services and telecommunications for businesses in Northeast Ohio.

18

66

35%

World Synergy Enterprises

Beachwood

1998

worldsynergy.com

World Synergy Enterprises provides strategic marketing, technology and application solutions that align with client goals.

23

67

34%

Peoples Services, Inc.

Canton

1914

www.peoplesservices.com

Peoples Services Inc. is an asset-based network of companies dedicated to providing third-party logistics services.

636

68

32%

Allegro Real Estate Brokers & Advisors

Cleveland

2001

www.allegrorealty.com

Allegro Real Estate Brokers & Advisors is a global commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm.

23

69

31%

Colliers International Cleveland

US- Seattle Corporate - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2012

www.colliers.com

Colliers is a diversified professional services and investment management company.

40

16 17

W 1 2

70

21%

Perspectus Architecture, LLC

Cleveland

2001

https://perspectus.com/

Perspectus provides architectural design, planning, interior design and historic architecture with a client-focused philosophy.

48

3

71

17%

Shoemaker Rigging & Transport, LLC

Akron

2013

www.shoemakerrigging.com

Shoemaker Rigging & Transport offers heavy machinery moving and transport services, plant relocations and more.

31

4

72

15%

NMS, Inc. & Affiliates

Chardon

1996

www.nms-cpa.com

NMS Inc. & Affiliates is a full-service accounting and financial firm.

42

5

73

10%

Foundation Software

Strongsville

1985

https://www.foundationsoft.com/

Foundation Software develops and supports job cost accounting and project management software for the construction industry.

254

74

6%

ThenDesign Architecture (TDA)

Willoughby

1989

www.thendesign.com

ThenDesign Architecture provides planning, architecture, interior design, construction administration, graphic design and communications services.

54

Onyx Creative Inc

Cleveland

Onyx Creative is a national architecture, engineering, interior design and brand experience firm.

106

75

2%

P034_P037_CL_20211213.indd 36

1974

onyxcreative.com

6 7 8

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9


SPONSORED CONTENT W15

WEATHERHEAD 100 UPSTART WINNERS Rank

% Sales growth

Company name

HQ city

Year founded

Website

Company description

Employees (2020)

1

155%

M Genio Inc.

Cleveland

2012

www.mgenio.com

M Genio is a boutique custom software development firm focused on mobile, cloud, and IoT.

8

2

117%

Bridge Analyzers, Inc.

Bedford Heights

1997

www.bridgeanalyzers.com

Bridge Analyzers is an original equipment manufacturer of gas analyzers for food packaging and exhaust emissions.

10

3

114%

Jennasis & Associates, LLC

Olmsted Township

2011

jennasisassociates.com

Jennasis & Associates is a creative agency offering branding, content marketing, design, public relations, social media strategy, search engine optimization and other services.

1

4

111%

Beese Fulmer Private Wealth Management

Canton

1980

www.beesefulmer.com

Beese Fulmer Private Wealth Management provides personalized, confidential investment management to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and corporations.

13

5

105%

Kiwi Creative

Strongsville

2011

kiwicreative.net

Kiwi Creative is a digital marketing agency for B2B software and technology companies.

10

6

100%

Inner Circle Advisors

Independence

1996

www.innercirclellc.com

Inner Circle Advisors offers advisory, tax and accounting services for businesses and their owners.

12

7

99%

ConnectedHR

Cleveland

2014

https://connected-hr.com/

ConnectedHR provides customized fractional HR services delivered by high-caliber, experienced consultants.

14

8

81%

Mortach Financial

Avon

2000

mortachfinancial.com

Mortach Financial offers financial planning services to help client prepare to retire on their own terms.

6

9

78%

the telos institute

Chardon

2006

www.thetelosinstitute.com

The telos institute is a organizational strategy firm offering leadership development services, merger management and more.

14

10

69%

Ciresi & Morek

Brecksville

2012

www.ciresiandmorek.com

Ciresi & Morek is an executive search firm that strategically partners with its clients to recruit talent globally.

10

11

56%

DMS Management Solutions

Westlake

2003

https://www.dmsmgmtsolutions.com/

DMS Management Solutions provides a wide range of accounting and consulting services to small & medium-sized businesses.

13

12

51%

Planned Financial Services

Brecksville

1994

www.PlannedFinancial.com

Planned Financial Services acts as an independent financial steward for individuals, families and businesses seeking objective wealth planning.

10

13

41%

TinyCircuits

Akron

2011

https://tinycircuits.com

TinyCircuits is a designer and manufacturer of miniature electronic devices.

10

14

40%

US Freight

Rocky River

2009

www.gousfreight.com

US Freight is a logistics company that acts as the liaison between customers and shippers across the United States.

15

15

27%

Grants Plus

Cleveland

2007

grantsplus.com

Grants Plus is a grant firm that has helped nonprofits raise more than $200 million in grant funding.

15

16 17

22%

FORM

Shaker Heights

2004

https://www.theformgroup.com

FORM is a creative agency for arts and culture and nonprofits.

11

22%

Ralston Instruments, LLC

Newbury

1969

Ralstoninst.com

Ralston Instruments is a developer of hardware and software solutions for the high precision test and calibration market.

11

WEATHERHEAD 100 CENTURION WINNERS 1

862%

Leaf Home

Hudson

2005

www.leafhome.com

Leaf Home is a technology-enabled, direct-to-consumer provider of home solutions.

1984

2

256%

Park Place Technologies

Cleveland

1991

parkplacetechnologies.com

Park Place Technologies simplifies the management of complex technology environments worldwide through parts distribution and on-site service.

2300

3

226%

GEMCORE

Hudson

1992

www.gemcorehealth.com

GEMCORE is a family of privately-held companies providing diabetes management solutions, mail-order and wholesale supplies, medications, specialty third-party logistics and more.

302

4

168%

Budget Dumpster LLC

Westlake

2009

https://www.budgetdumpster.com/

Budget Dumpster provides affordable and dependable waste removal solutions to customers nationwide.

258

5

163%

Echo Health Inc

Westlake

1996

www.echohealthinc.com

Echo Health Inc. is a processor of electronic payments for the healthcare and insurance industries, providing payment system solutions for payors of all sizes.

116

6

134%

NOMS Healthcare

Sandusky

2001

www.nomshealthcare.com

NOMS Healthcare is a multi-specialty practice with approximately 300 providers in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

955

7

114%

Nations Lending Corporation

Independence

2003

https://nationslending.com/

Nations Lending is a mortgage lender that seeks to find tailored, custom financial solutions for each client.

1035

8

86%

Garland Industries Inc.

Independence

1895

www.garlandco.com

Garland Industries Inc. is a manufacturer of high-performance roofing and building envelope systems.

1315

9

47%

TalentLaunch

Independence

2016

https://mytalentlaunch.com/

TalentLaunch is a nationwide network of independently-operated staffing and recruitment firms under common ownership.

205

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