Rosalina Fini, Tom Tyrrell, Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells & Dr. Ali Dhinojwala became
since 1845
DEPARTMENTS
2 From the Publisher
42 My Life
48 1000 Words
UPFRONT
4 Leading the Board
Cheryl Perez takes the reins at COSE.
BY JILL SELL
6 Stepping Down
Peggy Zone Fisher announces her retirement from the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio.
BY JILL SELL
8 Cheers to Success
Local enologist Brian Kincaid says the price of a wine doesn’t always determine its quality.
BY JILL SELL
10 Taking Off
Blue Abyss has purchased 12 acres of land in Brook Park for a state-ofthe-art R&D and training center.
BY TERRY TROY
14 Protecting Renters’ Rights
Families are getting a voice thanks to the Right to Counsel program through Legal Aid and United Way.
BY JILL SELL
16 Kudos to Kiddos
The annual KidShow at Great Lakes Mall celebrates 25 years.
BY TERRY TROY
18 Lifting Others
DNA Rising works with partners to find homes for those in need.
BY CHRISTINA EASTER
SCOREBOARD
20 ScoreBoard
We look at the strength of Metro Cleveland’s economy.
BY JAMES TRUTKO
COLUMN
22 Lee Fisher
Lee Fisher argues that despite differing opinions and viewpoints, we all hold similar values. Cov e r St o r ies
BY TERRY TROY
24 A World at Our Fingertips
Experts look to nature for clues to preserve and enhance life on Earth.
28 From Sustainability to Biomimicry Northeast Ohio organizations are dedicated to environmental stewardship.
FEATURES
30 Women Making History
At the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, women lead the way.
BY JILL SELL
31 A Call for the Better Good
Local nonprofits thrive thanks to dedicated volunteers.
BY TERRY TROY
32 An All-Around Perspective
Staff opportunities for growth pave the way for innovative care at McGregor.
BY JOANNE CAHILL
33 Improving Ideastream
A new jazz format highlights Northeast Ohio’s jazz scene.
BY LYNNE THOMPSON
34 Polymer Partners
Creating polymers that biodegrade is the focus of Akron’s Tech Hub.
BY TERRY TROY
37 Pushing Past Polarization
BW’s Democracy and Civility Initiative brings students together.
BY BOB SANDRICK
38 Exploring Roots of Society
A new Tri-C program highlights the importance of studying the humanities.
BY BOB SANDRICK
39 A Rising Sun Prayers From Maria raises awareness and funds for childhood cancer.
BY JILL SELL
40 Supporting Local Communities
Covia encourages employees to volunteer in their communities.
BY JOANNE CAHILL
41 Improving Homes
Legal Aid works to ensure families have healthy homes.
BY JILL SELL
SPECIAL SECTION
44 Meetings & Events
Evolving expectations are changing the way we think about meetings and events.
BY LINDA FEAGLER
FROM THE PUBLISHER //
BY LUTE HARMON SR.
The Greatest Threat of Our Time
There is an ad in a national magazine by an organization called For A Better World Foundation that finds no equivocation in calling climate change the greatest threat of our time.
In fact, the exact words of the ad are: The true common enemy of humanity is no longer religious, ideological, economic or political: It is climate change.
Since I am a believer in the adage “The point of sounding the alarm is to call people to action,” when Community Leader editor Terry Troy suggested we take a look at what Greater Cleveland is doing about its own environmental piece of the planet, I was all in (see pages 24-29).
As you will see, the answer to the question of our awareness of what a healthy environment means to a community, and what organizations are working to make us a leader in improving our environment, should make us appreciate all the more what we are doing about a subject most of us take for granted.
For a Great Lakes city that turned a polluted lake and river into a freshwater center of world-class hospitals and universities, you would think we would have turned it into a world-class center for environmental progress.
Oh, yes, I have an adage for that too: “It’s never too late.”
Executive Publisher Lute Harmon Sr.
Executive Editor Terry Troy
Managing Editor Jennifer Bowen Sima
Senior Editor Ann-Marie Vazzano
Managing Art Director Jenny Perdue
Art Directors Tom Abate Megan Rosta
Stacy Mallardi-Stajcar
Contributing Writers Karen Beis
Joanne Cahill
Christina Easter
Linda Feagler
Lee Fisher
Bob Sandrick
Jill Sell
Lynne Thompson
Terry Troy Jim Trutko
Contributing Artists Erik Drost
Associate Publisher Denise Polverine
Vice President, Advertising Paul Klein
Senior Account Sarah Desmond Executives Tiffany Myroniak
Account Executive Julie Bialowas
Operations Manager Corey Galloway
Traffic Manager Kristen Brickner
Production Manager Alyson Moutz Cowan
Audience and Events
Manager Jennifer Roberts
Chief Financial Officer George Sedlak
LearningKeep
UPFRONT
NEW LEADERS // BY JILL SELL
Leading the Board
Years ago, when Cheryl Perez was earning a college degree at Ohio University, her parents moved from her hometown of Youngstown to Cleveland.
“I wasn’t 100% on board with that idea. Cleveland was a ‘big city,’ as far as I was concerned. I was terrified. I didn’t want to go to Cleveland on school breaks,” says Perez, who has been a Clevelander for the past 25 years.
It’s safe to say Perez not only overcame her hesitation about the city but became a leader and a role model. Perez was elected board chair of Greater Cleveland Partnership’s (GCP) Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) in January. She is the first African American female chair in the organization’s 52-year history. COSE boasts more than 12,000 members and maintains a 31-member board.
“We always say that at COSE we always find the right chair at the right time,” says Megan Kim, COSE executive director and senior vice president, membership development and marketing at GCP. “Cheryl is the exact person we need to help us pivot our brand from an organization that has long been known for discounts and health insurance for small businesses to one that is known for growing small businesses. She also has more energy than any one person is allowed to have.”
Perez is owner/president of Cheryl C. Perez Brand of Companies, which provides consulting, coaching and online training programs to entrepreneurs and business owners who want to move forward. She has built and sold several companies over the past 25 years and has been coaching and training clients for 20.
“Cleveland’s small business community has always been an in-person, hands-on,
COSE names Perez as its first African American female chair.
let’s-get-together-for-coffee-and-networking community. COVID changed all that. My vision for COSE is to make sure we meet the needs of traditional members that we have had for years and years and make sure they are prepared for another pandemic situation if necessary. But we also want to provide education, resources and support for those newer entrepreneurs who are automatically starting an online presence and business,” says Perez, who served as COSE’s vice chair in 2023.
“If you look at the growth of entrepreneurship, black females are a significant segment,” says Kim. “Advocacy is important to COSE and, as a black female entrepreneur, Cheryl has created an audience for us that hasn’t been typical for COSE. We have people now who are looking at her as a role model and also as someone who is a part of their community who understands them.”
Perez says she believes she brings her skills as a strategist to her board leadership, as well as her ability to create and
execute game plans that will benefit the organization.
“I’m also structurally oriented,” says Perez. “Efficiency really has to be at the core of small businesses because if you are not efficient, it costs money.
Perez counts one of her weaknesses as lacking patience. But she tries to justify that trait as “just wanting to get a lot done and seeing an impact for our membership.”
She also admits she must learn not “to bite off more” than she can chew. COSE has just completed a strategic plan — the first in seven years — and Perez says she will use the first year of her term to develop those plans while the second year will be focused on “getting them done.”
Look for Perez anywhere in Cleveland where good food, wine and dancing are involved. But she also loves water, and says she doesn’t take advantage of Cleveland’s waterfront as much as she should.
“Yoga. I could do yoga at a beach because I am also relaxation-oriented,” she says.
Megan E. Kim, executive director of COSE (left) with new board chair Cheryl Perez and outgoing board chair Tim Opsitnick.
UPFRONT
Stepping Down
Peggy
Zone Fisher to leave Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio.
PRETIREMENTS // BY JILL SELL
photographs that hung on the walls and carefully packing them for the move.
eggy Zone Fisher will close her office door at the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio for the last time on August 31, which is the end of Diversity Center’s fiscal year. After 18 years of service, including being president and CEO, Zone Fisher is retiring and beginning a new chapter of her life.
Zone Fisher started packing the personal items in her office shortly after her retirement was announced in February. She has been taking down paintings and
“I have a very powerful art collection that I have collected over the years. I have purchased some works from local artists and will relocate them to my own private office,” says Zone Fisher. “And I am taking my personal collection of books — powerful books that I want to keep with me that are related to things like diversity, equity and justice, and written by phenomenal authors. If anyone wants to borrow them at any time, of course they can.”
But in addition to artwork and books, Zone Fisher (who guided the Diversity Center into becoming an independent, nonprofit organization), takes with her an incredible legacy and memories that will not lessen in importance with age.
The Diversity Center “works to eliminate bias, bigotry and racism.” Its programs and services were initially
Peggy Zone Fisher
Retirement is bittersweet for me. I love this organization. I am passionate about it. But it’s time for someone with fresh ideas to come in and elevate it to beyond what I have done. I am excited about that and will be available to anyone who wants to talk.”
— Peggy Zone Fisher
know what I want to do — need to do — when I see it.”
Zone Fisher will take some time to visit her out-of-state grandchildren, 6-year-old Violet and 6-month-old Dylan. She’s also looking forward to relaxing more with her “best friend” and husband of 44 years, Lee Fisher, dean and Joseph C. Hostetler-BakerHostetler Chair in Law at Cleveland State University College of Law.
mainly centered in Cuyahoga County, but under Zone Fisher’s watch, have expanded to 11 Northeast Ohio counties, serving more than 7,000 students, educators and professionals each year.
SHIFT Consulting, the professional services of the Diversity Center, is just one of the programs of which Zone Fisher is most proud. Another is LeadDIVERSITY, an expanded professional program diverse in age and gender that is licensed to nonprofit organizations in other states.
“Retirement is bittersweet for me. I love this organization. I am passionate about it. But it’s time for someone with fresh ideas to come in and elevate it to beyond what I have done. I am excited about that and will be available to anyone who wants to talk,” says Zone Fisher, deciding that the next chapter of her life must reflect the first letter of her first name and include purpose, passion and be part-time. And recently she added passport. “I am fortune that I don’t have to just jump into something. I’ll
She will catch up on emails and offers to “go for coffee.” But not before she sees the completion of this year’s Walk, Rock, Roll & Run, one of the Diversity’s Center’s two signature annual fund-raising events. (The other being the Humanitarian Award Celebration on November 20.) Since 2006, the two events combined have raised more than $16 million for programs and services. This year’s Walk, Rock, Roll & Run is Saturday, May 4, on the plaza of the Great Lakes Science Center.
“I want to go out with a big bang,” says Zone Fisher.
•
•
•
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GROWING SUCCESS // BY JILL SELL
Cheers to Success
Someone has to do it. One of the requirements in a particular enology course is to taste 30 different white wines.
“Personally, I am a dry red kind of guy. Even though you have to spit out most of the wine in those situations, I learned to appreciate white wine more after that,” says Brian Kincaid, the first African American to earn an associate’s degree in applied science in enology from Kent State University (KSU).
and applying that knowledge to creating wine. KSU Ashtabula offers classes, professional certificates and degree programs in enology and viticulture. Kincaid received his degree in December 2023.
and a microscope.” But, he says, a lack of role models and demographics threw up roadblocks.
That was before Kincaid met the late Mansfield Frazier, owner of the Vineyards and Winery at Chateau Hough, who sparked his interest in agriculture. Frazier told Kincaid he could either choose peppers or wine to begin a career.
“Mansfield said grapes were a generational thing, and I liked that. Once you got started, you could pass it on forever. People used to make wine for their families on their farms and never thought about selling it to others. After Mansfield passed away a few years ago, things at Chateau Hough stalled out a bit. But his wife is now currently in charge, and we are still taking very good care of the grapes,” says Kincaid, a partner and independent winemaking contractor for the Cleveland neighborhood winery. A Cleveland enologist creates urban wine.
Enology is the study of the chemistry and biology of the winemaking process
Kincaid grew up in Cleveland and dreamed about becoming a scientist, recalling, “I always wanted a telescope
Become a
with community partners.
Brian Kincaid received his associate’s degree in applied science in enology from Kent State University.
Kincaid is also the beer and wine manager for Meijer Fairfax Market on Cleveland’s East Side. The recognition of his degree among customers has made Kincaid somewhat of a local celebrity and something he was not expecting. But he often enjoys fielding questions from “wine snobs, wine connoisseurs and regular wine drinkers like you and me,” he says. Most importantly, Kincaid is on a mission to convince people that the price of a wine doesn’t always determine its quality.
He also fields a variety of questions, including those about ice wine, a type of dessert wine made from grapes that are frozen while on the vine.
“Ice wine is seasonal and always good when I visit a winery and it is part of a flight. But I couldn’t sit down and drink glass after glass. It’s super, super sweet like syrup on ice cream,” says Kincaid. “Ice wine also has a gimmick behind it and it always comes in skinny bottles so people think it’s really special.”
A Career Boost!
Kincaid, however, knows the value of marketing and packaging. He has been experimenting with making a type of Australian chardonnay that already has his friends and family raving about the taste. Initially he thought of naming the wine “The Enologist.” But that will most likely change once he meets with a branding team before he hopes to launch his product later this year.
“I look at the shelves of wine where I work and see so many wines that are named after people or families. That’s an idea…” he muses.
Left to right: The Vineyards of Chateau Hough; bottling KSU Ashtabula’s Sunset red wine; wine chemistry laboratory
UPFRONT
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT // BY TERRY TROY
Taking Off
So often our civic and business development projects turn out to be just pie in the sky. This one looks like it’s taking off.
Kudos to the folks at Blue Abyss, the City of Brook Park and the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI). Earlier this year, John Vickers, CEO of Blue Abyss, and Edward Orcutt, mayor of Brook Park, confirmed the completion of the purchase of 12 acres of land on which the company plans to build a state-of-the-art extreme environment research, development and training center, as well as a hotel, a project reported in the August 2023 issue of Community Leader. Blue Abyss also received a $450,000 grant from Cuyahoga County’s Finance & Budgeting Committee.
While it’s great news for Blue Abyss, Brook Park and the OAI, there’s plenty of reason for everyone in Northeast Ohio to celebrate. An Economic and Fiscal Impact Study of the Blue Abyss Training Center and Hotel by the Department of Economics, Kent State University, concluded that the Blue Abyss Center and Hotel will provide substantive economic and fiscal benefits to the local economy as a visitor attraction. It also will bring high-quality jobs and economic benefits to the region. (See “By the Numbers” on following page.)
The project will be adjacent to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Blue Abyss land deal and grant to create boom.
and close to NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility, the OAI, Cleveland’s International Exposition (IX) Center, and world-class universities and hospitals. Construction will start this year.
Naturally, civic leadership is ecstatic.
“Blue Abyss investing in Brook Park for this ground-breaking facility is a clear sign of our unlimited potential and bright future and continues the great legacy of innovation by NASA Glenn and the Ohio Aerospace Institute, both located in Brook Park,” says Edward A. Orcutt, mayor of Brook Park. “We’re eager to collaborate, leveraging their expertise to boost our local economy, generate jobs and create a lasting legacy for our community and Northeast Ohio.
commitment to fostering innovation and growth in key industries. Blue Abyss’ decision to invest in Brook Park underscores Cuyahoga County’s position as a hub for cutting-edge enterprises, and we look forward to the positive impact this partnership will have on the broader region.”
So what are the next steps?
“Building on the positive feedback and encouraging responses from businesses and Clevelanders in general, the primary focus is on finalizing the full capital stack,” says Vickers. “In parallel, we are moving from expressions of interest from possible customers to securing concrete commitments and cultivating meaningful relationships with other stakeholders and key partners.”
“I extend heartfelt thanks to Blue Abyss for choosing Brook Park as their home. Together, we embark on an exciting journey toward innovation and prosperity. The road to the next generation of Space Exploration runs through Brook Park.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Blue Abyss to Cuyahoga County, marking a significant milestone in economic development,” adds Chris Ronayne, Cuyahoga County executive. “The presence of this global company brings job opportunities for our residents and reinforces our
“Building on the positive traction, we are able to make good on our promise to deliver a number of outreach initiatives to complement our construction activities. In addition, whilst the center itself will take some 18 months to build, there are other facets of what we have planned, which will start operating sooner.”
International projects of this magnitude do not come about without strategic partnerships, Vickers concedes. He is also quick to credit OAI with its help and partnership in bringing the project to fruition in Ohio.
John Vickers
BLUE ABYSS BY THE NUMBERS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
During the Construction Phase
The addition of 1,759 full-time equivalent jobs
Increase resident incomes by $135 million
Create total impact spending of $316 million
After 5 Years
Create or support over 3,900 jobs
Add $277 million to resident income
Increase county and sub-county tax revenue by $3.5 million
Increase total output by well over $654 million
After 30 Years
Create or support 21,800 jobs
Add $1.5 billion to resident income
Increase tax revenue by $19 million
Increase total output by $3.6 billion
(Source: Department of Economics Kent State University)
“The decision to establish the U.S. facility in Ohio is, in part, due to its strategic location near NASA Glenn, the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) and
FACILITY FACTS
Will occupy 12-acre site adjacent to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Will house the world’s largest and deepest R&D pool.
Pool will measure 40-meters-by-50 meters on the surface. It will include a 16-meter-wide shaft plunging to 50 meters.
Pool will hold 42,000 cubic meters of water, enough for 17 Olympic-sized pools.
Center will offer immersive XR-technology for extreme environment experience.
Human centrifuge will enable training and physiology research.
Hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers enable training and research in hypoxic and pressurized environments.
Blue Abyss Parabolic Flight 2.0 will enable microgravity research.
(Source: Blue Abyss)
several world-class centers of education and medicine,” says Vickers. “Further to that, it’s the passion and commitment demonstrated by the city of Brook Park,
Cuyahoga County and the State of Ohio. “We are committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible, much like Ohio’s history of being a ‘state of firsts’.
With its distinguished legacy, visionary leadership and alignment of goals with Blue Abyss, we believe it is the perfect location to proudly build the world’s first commercial astronaut training center.
“We are excited about the potential for partnership and the positive impact it will have on both the local community and the broader landscape of aerospace innovation. The warm welcome,
robust infrastructure and collaborative ecosystem that Ohio offers make it an ideal hub for our U.S. operations. I am particularly grateful to the leadership team at OAI, Brook Park city mayor and economic director and the local, county and state officials who continue to support us.”
The partnership with the Ohio Aerospace Institute team has been truly
exceptional, serving as invaluable local advocates and collaborators, adds Vickers. To date, the most beneficial aspects have been the robust local and aerospace industry networking facilitated by OAI, coupled with its positive can-do attitude.
“Their role in facilitating meetings with the right individuals at the right time has proven instrumental to our progress,” says Vickers. “Looking forward, we are eager to build upon this collaboration with industry, government and academic partners. Our vision includes expanding our supplier and customer base, leveraging the extensive network and expertise that OAI brings to the table.
“We anticipate that this collaborative effort will not only enhance our capabilities but also contribute to the positive social, economic and fiscal development of the area. We look forward to continuing this successful partnership, working in partnership with OAI to achieve shared goals and foster innovation within the aerospace sector.”
Digital rendering of the future training pool
UPFRONT
LEADING WITH LEGAL // BY JILL SELL
Protecting Renters’ Rights
Legal Aid and United Way partner on the Right to Counsel program.
Ashley and her five children moved into an apartment that was not what she had been expecting. The cabinets, appliances, hot water tank and furnace had been removed. Although the landlord agreed to replace the items, he did not pay the contractor the full amount, leaving Ashley with the balance. But things got
worse. The apartment was infested with mice and roaches, a toilet was leaking onto her children’s beds and there was a danger of lead exposure.
At one point, the home failed inspection and the landlord lost his contract for subsidized housing. Ashley refused to pay rent, and the landlord quickly sought to evict the family.
Legal Aid Society of Cleveland stepped in on Ashley’s behalf. The attorney convinced the landlord to drop the eviction because Ashley was already planning to move out. The landlord also paid Ashley $4,000 in damages.
That’s just one of many housing stories that has a happy ending, thanks to the joint efforts of Legal Aid, United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Right to Counsel program.
In 2023, Legal Aid assisted 4,519 Cleveland residents in 1,234 eviction Right to Counsel cases. Last year, 81% of people helped through the
Become a Mentor
program avoided eviction or an involuntary move.
It is estimated that Legal Aid represented between 60% and 80% of all Cleveland households that were likely eligible for Right to Counsel. Before the program was initiated, only 2% to 3% of all tenants had legal representation. That number has since increased to 16%.
Earlier this year, Legal Aid and United Way presented an independent evaluation to Cleveland and Cuyahoga County leaders, proving the worth of the Right to Counsel program for individuals, families and the community. Among other vital benefits, housing stability results in better opportunities for children to remain in their schools and for parents and caregivers to retain employment.
“Of tenants who are served an eviction notice in Cleveland Housing Court, about one-third are eligible for an attorney through the Right to Counsel program,” says Colleen Cotter, executive director of
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. “At Legal Aid, we have the experience of representing clients and United Way has a broad network of organizations it works with. Together it works well because we are all committed to the outcomes of justice and secure housing in the community.”
Right to Counsel is a public-private partnership developed by the City of Cleveland, Legal Aid and United Way in 2020. In addition to eviction measures, Right to Counsel actions have helped with the mitigation of damages, identified and responded to poor housing conditions and leveraged interventions, including rental assistance. Cleveland was the first midwestern city to pass legislation giving tenants a right to free legal counsel in Cleveland Housing Court.
Ken Surratt, chief development and investment officer with United Way of Greater Cleveland, says Right to Counsel funding is obtained through several sources, including city, county and state monies, plus philanthropy.
“Consistent, reliable funding needs to be available. We’d love to see more public investment. The successful data speaks for itself. And the fact that the city established Right to Counsel means there should be more funding to support it,” says Surratt.
Once that is accomplished, Surratt would like to see the program expand to other vulnerable populations. Currently, eligibility requires tenants to be at or below 100% of the federal poverty guidelines and have at least one child in their household.
“We also found that there are a lot of seniors who could be protected by Right to Counsel as well. There are also those who care for adults with disabilities who need help,” says Surratt. “It means finding out the size of those populations and identifying others.”
Cotter says she believes the reasons for evictions are complicated and run deep. But she cites lack of housing in general, lack of
affordable housing and the discontinuance of rental assistance programs available during the COVID pandemic, as major contributors. She also says a single trigger, such as a car breaking down, can be a significant factor.
“Someone’s car breaks down and they need to spend money fixing it so they can get to work. But now they are short on rent,” says Cotter. “Having short-term bridge dollars would make a difference.”
Surratt says the recent evaluations show Right to Counsel is fulfilling its purpose — “to protect safe, affordable and stable housing for Cleveland families.”
We’d love to see more public investment. The successful data speaks for itself.
us on 7/20/24 at
— Ken Surratt
CELEBRATIONS // BY TERRY TROY UPFRONT
Kudos to Kiddos
It’s a family fun event that’s been building memories for a quarter century.
The annual KidShow celebrated its 25th anniversary at Great Lakes Mall last month, an event dedicated to “anything and everything about kids.”
It first started in 1999, and it’s always been free for parents and kids.
Patty Perry, president of ProMark Enterprises and producer of the Annual KidShow, founded the event as a young parent looking for something entertaining for families with younger children.
“I was a parent who, 25 years ago with my first child, began to wonder what products, services and entertainment were available for my new family,” Perry recalls. “It seemed as though all the resources and events were scattered around, so I got to thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a one-stop shop for something related to kids?’ Clearly, we were not the only family wondering what to do with young kids.”
Coupled with her experience as a young parent, Perry was also owner of a company that specializes in events and marketing. She knew she had the makings of a great event. The rest, as they say, is history.
“One of the first tasks when planning an event is to choose a venue,” says Perry. “As a Mentor-based company and resident, my choice was Lake County.”
That meant the City of Mentor and Great Lakes Mall, specifically, where there was plenty of parking.
“This is our hometown,” explains Perry. ‘We have been members of our residential and business community for the past 35 years. There’s no better place than ‘your own backyard’ to put on an event for the community.”
But the event has grown over the years, today attracting attendees from all over Northeast Ohio, along with its strong support from Mentor and Lake County residents.
Throughout the years, the KidShow has provided hours of family fun and plenty of memories. This year was perhaps the KidShow’s best. Attendees were treated to goody bags, baton twirling demonstrations, singing, dancing,
Patty Perry
Free KidShow celebrates its silver anniversary.
clogging demonstrations, karate, magic and more.
“We like to pack our stage with entertainment performed by mostly kids, and that is on purpose,” says Perry. “It provides time for kids and groups to be on stage and, most importantly, it inspires other children who are watching. We want to show them what they, too, can try and do!”
Many of the entertaining groups were veterans of the KidShow, such as Showstoppers School of Baton and Dance.
“I think they have been here pretty close to all 25 years,” adds Perry.
This is our hometown. We have been members of our residential and business community for the past 35 years. There’s no better place than ‘your own backyard’ to put on an event for the community.”
— Patty Perry
This year saw the return of Dr. U.R. Awesome, a bubble artist and entertainer who actually put kids inside a bubble. Kids also had the opportunity to meet children’s book authors, get their photos snapped against a green screen and meet their favorite costumed characters.
In between staged performances, the KidShow hosted impromptu trivia contests where parents and kids could win prizes. Snack attacks held throughout
the day treated people surrounding the stage to cookies, chocolates, munchies and more. In addition to on-site exhibit booths, ProMark created special activity spots to encourage attendees and kids to walk the whole length of the mall.
“For me, the KidShow has become a sense of pride,” adds Perry. “To think that an event started 25 years ago is still relevant today — that people still look forward to — simply warms my heart.”
Look for next year’s KidShow at Great Lakes Mall, which should be the start of the next quarter of a century of building family memories.
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COMMUNITY
// BY CHRISTINA EASTER
Lifting Others
At the start of the pandemic, East Cleveland childhood best friends LaToya Smith and Danielle Acosta received phone calls from people in need of a place to live. Although Acosta is a real estate agent and manages rental property, she had challenges. A few weeks later, Acosta called Smith and their other best friend, Tracie Cleveland, about her vision to start DNA Rising to help provide one- to three-year bridge housing for veterans and single mothers in Northeast Ohio who are facing homelessness.
“I was getting eight to 10 calls a week, primarily from single mothers and veterans who could not find a place to live and were stuck in a shelter, temp home, group home or some type of temporary situation with children,” Acosta says. “These were people who had completed all of the amazing education and recovery programs, gotten their GED and had a housing voucher. And I thought, we have all of these vacant properties, land, empty buildings and houses in Cuyahoga County, and they have no place to go.”
DNA Rising helps find homes for veterans and single mothers.
their feet with the help of their case manager, social worker, financial literacy training and other partners of DNA Rising. Each month, DNA Rising sets aside $100 in a savings account. This money goes directly to the landlord for the security deposit on a rental or to a title company for a down payment to purchase a home.
“We were aware that there are programs for people in need of housing who are coming out of substance abuse and different scenarios, but that only gets a person so far,” Cleveland says. “Once they complete the program, they’re told, ‘you graduated — here’s your certificate of completion — now go find a home.’”
Before DNA Rising was fully operational, Acosta spent six months taking a 501(c)(3) training course at Building Business Leaders of Tomorrow Today to learn the ins and outs of running a nonprofit organization. Upon completion, she did research to understand the leading players serving veterans and single mothers, identified the gaps or problems DNA Rising would work to solve and devised strategies to achieve desired outcomes. The plan included providing participants with a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 36 months to get back on
We were aware that there are programs for people in need of housing who are coming out of substance abuse and different scenarios, but that only gets a person so far. Once they complete the program, they’re told, ‘you graduated — here’s your certificate of completion — now go find a home.’”
— Tracie Cleveland
Feeling more comfortable with Acosta’s plan, they began establishing partnerships with other nonprofit organizations, city and county agencies and for-profit businesses. Although Smith and Cleveland sit on the board of different nonprofit organizations and Acosta volunteers on a board, they knew these experiences were not the same as running one.
“We looked at our personal networks, friends and business resources to identify organizations that would help us select participants for our program while continuing to be supported by partner organizations,” Smith says.
In 2021, DNA Rising received its first property in the Glenville neighborhood from the Cuyahoga Land Bank Charities. This was critical for the new organization, but now resources were needed to rehab the house, so the besties began fundraising and knocking on doors, getting
L to R: Tracie Cleveland, Danielle Acosta and LaToya Smith
donations of anything they could. DNA Rising also started working with financial service partners to educate prospective participants on the importance of financial literacy and empowerment.
“It’s all about partnerships and relationships,” Acosta says, and her bestie agrees. “Even though we have our connections, we still had to re-establish the relationship, and it wasn’t easy. Just because we know people doesn’t mean the money came in fast. There are too many organizations trying to do good things, and we had to prove we were going to use the money the right way.”
In November 2023, DNA Rising moved in its first family, a single mother with five kids. This was made possible in collaboration with the Home Depot Foundation’s volunteer force, Team Depot, which donated a team of volunteers who did clean up; Humble Design, which facilitated the furniture and staging of the home; Family Promise, the shelter where the family came from; and Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, which executed the master lease.
“We received a flier of this new property that was getting ready to lease, and we thought it would be a great fit with our housing and shelter program,” says Belinda Dawson, project coordinator for
Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry’s housing and shelter program. “With our collaborating community partners, we were able to get a referral from a family shelter and do a soft handoff.”
Next, DNA Rising reached out to Humble Design and told them what they needed for the new family.
“We tried to time it to where the family moved into a turn-key, fully furnished home,” says Debbie Eastburn, executive director of Humble Design. “Our mission is to change lives and communities by custom designing and fully furnishing home interiors for individuals, families and veterans emerging from
homelessness. We enjoyed working with DNA Rising because they’re there for much longer.”
On the day the family moved in, Councilwoman Meredith Turner was there for the ribbon cutting.
“One of my passions is providing affordable housing in our community,” Turner says. “I was blown away by the craftsmanship, decoration and support DNA Rising received to get the project complete. Also, I made a commitment on that day with the founders that DNA Rising would do a home in my district.”
DNA Rising is building on the lessons learned from its first project as it accomplishes its mission of providing safe and secure housing for individuals trying to rise out of their circumstances. The organization is always looking for volunteers skilled in marketing, social media, grant writing, fund development, clean-out, plumbing and electrical services.
Currently, DNA Rising is looking forward to working with the same partners and some new ones to identify a multi-family housing unit so they can help end homelessness for more veterans and single mothers. Coming up, the organization will be partnering with The Downing Brothers to work on the home selection process and help get the home move-in ready.
“We learned that rehabbing a dilapidated house is not easy,” Cleveland says. “You have to establish relationships, and that takes time.”
It’s all about partnerships and relationships. Even though we have our connections, we still had to re-establish the relationship, and it wasn’t easy. Just because we know people doesn’t mean the money came in fast. There are too many organizations trying to do good things, and we had to prove we were going to use the money the right way.”
— Danielle Acosta
DNA Rising’s first rehab project
ScoreBoard
By James Trutko
Is Metro Cleveland Competitive?
Many Metro Clevelanders wonder how competitive the area’s economy is in creating jobs and businesses. It is possible to look at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to compare the area’s performance against 11 other Midwestern metropolitan areas.
BLS’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) is based on actual business reports and not simply survey data. BLS also defines geographic areas in standard ways based on objective criteria, which allows a reliable comparison of various metropolitan areas, cities, counties and states. The QCEW data is often not used because reports lag by about six months.
The period from 2010 to 2023 offers a fair amount of time to assess Metro Cleveland’s ability to create jobs and businesses. Overall, Metro Cleveland finished 10th in job creation and ninth in business formation. Only Buffalo and Pittsburgh performed worse than Cleveland.
It is possible to provide a more nuanced look at Metro Cleveland’s position by separately analyzing the 2010-2019 recovery from the 2008-2010 Great Recession and the 20192023 COVID business collapse and rebound.
After the severe 2008-2010 recession, one would expect the Midwestern economies to bounce back strongly during the following 2010-2019 period, and they did. Overall, employment growth in the 12 economies averaged 13%, and employment in two areas exceeded 20%. But Metro Cleveland employment grew only 7% and finished 10th of 12 areas. Overall, the growth of business establishments
2010-19 Employment (Recession
Indianapolis-Anderson,
WI
Cleveland-Elyria, OH
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY Pittsburgh, PA
2010-19 Establishments (Recession Rebound)
St. Louis, MO-IL
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Columbus, OH
Kansas City, MO-KS
Indianapolis-Anderson, IN
Detroit-Warren, MI
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
12 MIDWESTERN MSA’S
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY Pittsburgh, PA
Cleveland-Elyria, OH
Chicago-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
2019-23 Employment (COVID Recovery)
Indianapolis-Anderson, IN
Columbus, OH
Kansas City, MO-KS
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
12 MIDWESTERN MSA’S
St. Louis, MO-IL
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
Chicago-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Detroit-Warren, MI
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
Cleveland-Elyria, OH
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
Pittsburgh, PA
averaged only 7%, but Metro Cleveland lagged with a mere 1% of growth and a ranking in second-to-last place.
Today, there is sufficient data to understand the extent and nature of the economic recovery following a major business disruption. Despite the low unemployment numbers that many analysts report, employment fell by an average of 1% overall in the 12 Midwestern metro areas. Metro Cleveland employment decreased by 3% from 2019 to 2023, placing it 10th of 12 areas.
The story on business establishments is much different. There was a huge surge 9% overall — in the number of businesses established after the COVID-related closures in the 12 metro areas. Metro Cleveland ranked seventh with an increase of 10% in new businesses. As a state, Ohio cities ranked at the very top, with Columbus and Cincinnati ranking No. 1 and No. 2, each tallying 18% new businesses established.
The business growth was part of a national trend in response to changing consumer preferences and habits driven partly by the pandemic and facilitated by new online technologies. Nonstore retail businesses and transportation/warehousing grew as online orders surged. Home improvements surged as remote work grew and workers set up home offices. People sought new health care products and personal services as they redefined their priorities. Entrepreneurs had the time to develop plans, low interest rates to finance start-ups and available technologies to make it easier to start businesses. The major downside to the establishment growth was that it was disproportionately non-employer business growth, so Metro Cleveland, like other areas, did not see a huge surge in employment.
The reality is that Metro Cleveland has performed poorly in employment and establishment growth, but the recent surge in business establishments is a unique opportunity for job creation if the businesses are successful.
James Trutko is an economist, market research professional and public policy analyst and has held positions with The Plain Dealer and the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. He writes articles for local publications and counsels entrepreneurs with Business Advisers of Cleveland. He can be reached at jmtrutko@gmail.com. His website is cuyahogascoreboard.com
2019-23 Establishments (COVID
Columbus, OH Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
Indianapolis-Anderson, IN
Kansas City, MO-KS Detroit-Warren, MI
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI Cleveland-Elyria, OH St. Louis, MO-IL 12
MSA’S Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Chicago-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Falls, NY Pittsburgh, PA
Large Midwestern MSA 2023 Estimate
Source: BLS, QCEW. 2023 estimate
Large Midwestern MSA 2023 Estimate Establishments
Source: BLS, QCEW. 2023 estimate is 4-quarter average
COMMUNITY // BY LEE FISHER
It’s Not About Them. It’s About Us.
Our values and what we teach our children are the key to moving forward.
In the midst of a contentious presidential election year and increasing acts of violence against innocent citizens at home and abroad, divisions in our country run deep and will run even deeper in the days ahead. Political polarization has reached new heights and political discourse has reached new lows.
We are living through a defining moment in history. We all will be put to the test as citizens.
Regardless of our political views and which elected officials and political candidates we support or oppose, we should hold all those who aspire to lead us to the same standards — calling out and condemning hate with moral clarity, engaging in civil discourse, defending and promoting democracy, respecting facts and the rule of law, telling the
truth and being kind and respectful to each other.
Those are not liberal or conservative values. Those are not the values of a political party. They are the values of the nation upon which we were founded as we endeavor to be a more perfect union.
But it’s not just about those we elect or those who promote violence and hate. It’s about us. What are our personal guiding values? What values do we want to teach our children? What are the values of the nation to which we pledge allegiance?
My friend and college classmate Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, in his recent book, The Bill of Obligations, argues that while the Bill of Rights is at the center of our Constitution, we
should also have a bill of obligations to which good citizens commit in order to heal our divisions and to safeguard democracy. Those obligations include the obligation to stay open to compromise, to remain civil, to reject violence and to put country and democracy before party and person.
Fidelity to democracy and rule of law does not mean that our founding fathers were always right or that law is always just. We all have work to do in making our country better. We are a work in progress. But when our nation has achieved anything of consequence, it has done so most often through civil debate, mutual respect and measured compromise. We are at our best when we are showing humility, listening to other views, respectfully debating differences and building consensus.
Yet, in partisan or economic self-interest, too many will close their eyes, suspend their values and rationalize hate, incivility and violence as necessary and acceptable means to an end.
Today, amidst the algorithms of social media and partisan opinion outlets masquerading as news stations, everything we perceive has a way of confirming whatever we believe. If we are to fulfill our obligations as citizens, we must stop seeing what we want to see and hearing what we want to hear. We must stop anchoring our opinions and huddling in our own ideological echo chambers.
As our nation becomes more diverse, we can find the shared values and common ground that make us all human and connected, or, by our silence, rationalization and inaction, we can allow partisans, demagogues and haters to exploit our differences to divide and separate us.
The alarming nationwide rise in gun violence and hateful acts and threats
against Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Muslim and Arab students on college campuses and elsewhere is unacceptable. We must condemn acts of antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism in the same breath and with equal fervor. Hate-based discrimination has no place in our country.
My wife, Peggy Zone Fisher, recently announced her upcoming retirement after 18 years of service as president/CEO of the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio. She has taught me and countless others that we are at our best when we speak out, not when we ourselves are attacked, but when our brothers and sisters are attacked. We must view every insult or attack on someone because of the color of their skin, the country where they or their ancestors were born, who they worship or who they love, as an offense against all of us and the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country.
When we establish a strong foundation of trust as citizens, we can withstand those sinister forces trying to tear us apart.
That’s why I tell our law students to think of themselves as more than aspiring lawyers. I ask them to think of themselves as future custodians of civility, defenders of democracy and guardians of justice.
Lee Fisher is Dean and Joseph C. Hostetler-BakerHostetler Chair in Law at Cleveland State University College of Law. He is the former Ohio Attorney General, Lt. Governor, Director of the Ohio Department of Development, Chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, State Representative, State Senator, Chair of the Cuyahoga County Legislative Delegation, President/ CEO of the Center for Families and Children and President/CEO of CEOs for Cities. In November 2022, Dean Fisher was inducted in the Cleveland Magazine Business Hall of Fame.
WHERE NEW PATHS BEGIN
Despite a global rush toward extinction, everything we need already exists.
By Terry Troy
It’s an ongoing and dynamic R&D facility over 3 billion years old. Even those who might scoff at that number for religious reasons agree: Everything we need to survive, thrive and succeed as a species already exists right here on Earth. We just need to find the answers. Often, they are staring us right in the face.
With our planet facing a global extinction crisis, (scientists are predicting that more than 1 million species are on track for elimination) the need for ecological responsibility and stewardship has become increasingly important. But we also need to balance the needs of our species, especially when it comes to technology, innovation and commerce. There may be a way to find that balance with a relatively new science being pioneered right here in Northeast Ohio. It’s called biomimicry, and it examines how nature has evolved to answer its own survival questions. Now we just have to ascertain how those answers can be used to improve our existence.
“Imagine that you could have access to 3 billion years of R&D and this technology could help solve problems using less energy, less materials in water-based chemistry,” says Carol Thaler, co-director of Great Lakes Biomimicry, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ohio Aerospace Institute and a nonprofit focused on accelerating innovation through nature.
“This kind of technology is what life on earth has to offer, if we take a moment to look.”
“Many of the engineering challenges facing humans today are similar to difficulties that exist in the natural world. Plants, animals and insects have evolved through generations of successes and failures resulting in remarkable adaptations to overcome these challenges.
“Innovation inspired by biology or biomimicry is the process where we take inspiration from nature to solve complex problems of science and engineering. With biomimicry, new materials, energy-saving shapes and chemical recipes can result in sustainable products and
processes that heal the earth. Not just ‘less bad,’ but regenerative.”
The idea that we have to have a dirty environment in order to have a strong economy is false, adds Thaler.
“Biomimicry is one of the most effective tools for driving transformative innovation because nature is constantly evolving at scale, is regenerative and manages the interrelatedness of
Researchers looked to the feet of tree frogs to help them create a tiny robot designed to crawl inside a patient’s body during keyhole surgery.
ISTOCK
L: Carol Thaler R: Trisha Brown
Dr. Ali Dhinojwala
systems,” adds Trisha Brown, co-director of the organization. “There must be something we can learn from that.
“Nature’s ability to drive innovation in sustainability is based on over 3 billion years of experience with R&D. Biological systems have evolved optimizing both energy and material usage. Emulating this would benefit a business’s bottom line and the environment by shifting the current business model from maximization to optimization. Equally important, biomimicry innovation leads to actions that can help us address climate change challenges with solutions that are in sync with natural systems.”
The science of biomimicry has taken root here in Northeast Ohio and is beginning to grow. That’s not to say there haven’t been some problems along the way. There have been, however, plenty of miracles.
How It Started
The concept of biomimicry is the brainchild of author and scientist Janine Benyus, who popularized the concept in her 1997 book, “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.” The idea took root in the mind of local business leader and entrepreneur Tom Tyrrell back in 2008, who today is emeritus founder and chairman emeritus of Great Lakes Biomimicry.
“I was working on a project called the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative, funded by the Gund Foundation and the County Planning Commission, which was a two-year study of the watershed between Lake Erie and Akron,” says Tyrrell. “Someone mentioned the
“Biomimicry really requires that you think about solutions from many perspectives. You must think about it from an engineering and science standpoint, but also from a design perspective.”
concept of biomimicry, so I went home and looked it up.”
After just a few paragraphs into the online article, Tyrrell was intrigued. Then he read an article about the Japanese Bullet Train and its use of a design imitation of kingfishers’ splashproof bill to improve aerodynamics, and he was hooked.
“We are a location that has plenty of nature-based education and green space, so I thought this would be an ideal location for something like this,” says Tyrrell.
After working with another local nonprofit attempting to build biomimicry into a usable science and business model, Tyrrell approached another successful entrepreneur, Don Knechtges, who today is an emeritus board member of Great Lakes Biomimicry. Blessed with an engineering background, plenty of marketing experience and an open, creative and entrepreneurial mind, Knechtges quickly realized the growth potential of the new scientific concept.
The idea was to initially focus on education and build the discipline through our area’s colleges, universities and grade school systems. The science would then be used to foster innovation through Northeast Ohio’s strong community of major corporations. It would be funded through corporate innovation as well as our area’s strong philanthropic base.
It wasn’t long before the two met up with Dr. Peter Niewiarowski at the University of Akron to pioneer an education track in biomimicry. Soon, the trio developed biomimicry PhD fellowships within the University of Akron’s integrated bioscience program.
“Don (Knechtges) and Tom (Tyrrell) were captivated by an idea made popular by Janine Benyus back in the ’90s,” says Niewiarowski. “They approached a number of people on the academic scene, including biologists and others who saw the power of the idea, and
— Dr. Ali Dhinojwala
worked with educators to connect to businesses primarily, but also community organizations, to make the concept better known.”
Using the support of corporate sponsorship and private industry, the University began offering fellowships in biomimicry that combine other disciplines such as biology, engineering, chemistry, marketing and even art. As a part of the program, the fellows spend 15 to 20 hours a week at a company that pays them for developing biomimicry-inspired products and solutions.
Today, the program is supported by major corporations in our area, including Goodyear, Lubrizol, Parker Hannifin, Sherwin-Williams, Steris through its U.S. Endoscopy Division and GOJO Industries, among other businesses. The critical component of the program is that the private entities help pay for the education of the fellows with the reward of owning the intellectual property they generate.
The program led to the founding of the University of Akron Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center (BRIC), which today is an internationally recognized leader in the field of biomimicry. BRIC is led by academics who come from four divergent disciplines: Dr. Niewiarowski, who is a biologist; Dr. Christopher M. Miller, PE, an associate professor of civil engineering; Dr. Ali Dhinojwala, the W. Gerald Austen endowed chair and H.A. Morton professor in the School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering; and Matthew Kolodziej, who is a professor of painting and drawing.
“Together we represent the four basic disciplines that we wanted to bring together,” says Dhinojwala. “Biomimicry really requires that you think about solutions from many perspectives. You must think about it from an engineering and science standpoint, but also from a design perspective.”
Biomimicry in Action
BRIC connects artists, businesspeople, designers, engineers and scientists to create biomimicry-based innovation using interdisciplinary research that draws inspiration from organisms as diverse as ants, bacteria, cacti, fish, flies, geckos, mussels, snakes and spiders.
The results have been astounding.
In the case of GOJO Industries, the program was utilized to create a touchless dispenser for hand sanitizer that uses 50% less energy than its predecessor. It’s based on the human heart’s efficiency in moving blood through its chambers.
Mentor-based Steris and its division US Endoscopy had a fellow who worked with the new product development staff to create US Endoscopy’s Talon Grasping Device. The new product development team looked to raptors for help.
While nature uniquely adapted birds to grasp and hold prey, there were several differences between the commercially available wire graspers on the medical market and the operational characteristics of birds. The commercially available graspers utilized three points of contact and were designed to meet at the center. The talons of raptors,
however, had four claws that were staggered or offset as they collapsed on their target prey, but still were able to create significant pinching power. Incorporating these features into the Talon Grasping Device not only proved advantageous when it came to grasping and maintaining control of the foreign object, but also made it easier to house the graspers into the tubing for transportation to the site.
Anyone who has driven on Northeast Ohio’s frozen roads can understand the importance of traction. So why not study what makes it possible for some arctic animals to walk and run across the ice so gracefully without slipping?
Three researchers from the University of Akron took a deep dive into the paws of polar bears to find out. The project team included Dr. Dhinojwala.
“We were interested in this topic because being in Akron, many of our national partners need to develop tires with a strong grip on the road in ice and snow conditions,” says Dhinojwala.
discovered that previous work studied the microstructures (papillae, the little bumps on the pad of the foot) of polar bear paws and found that the papillae were adaptations for improved traction on snow. The previous studies did not include other species of bear, so Garner helped identify two species closely related to the polar bear (the brown bear and American black bear) and one distantly related (the sun bear) to include.
Connecting with a variety of museums, scientists, environmentalists and even taxidermists across the country, the team collected and studied samples and replicas of polar bear paw pads. After a 3D analysis, the team discovered that the papillae (or bumps) on polar bear paw pads were taller than other species, including brown bears and black bears. This is what gave polar bears better traction in the snow.
Nate Orndorf, a 2022 PhD graduate who is now employed as a senior material scientist at Bridgestone Americas, and Austin Garner, a 2021 PhD graduate who is now an assistant professor of biology at Syracuse University, decided to study polar bears who walk and run across ice effortlessly.
The project was interdisciplinary, combining approaches and techniques from both biological and materials research. Orndorf and Dhinojwala are polymer scientists who integrate biology into their research, while Garner is an animal biologist who integrates materials science into his research.
The idea was to look at the paw pads of polar bears. The team
Now that their research has been published, other scientists and manufacturers can look at its application for their specific projects.
“If you look at snow tires, you will see that they do have some deeper treads, but this research could also show various ways to design them that could have a larger impact,” says Dhinojwala.
But the interest isn’t just for tire manufacturers.
“Individuals who do high altitude climbing are interested in this research, and companies that specialize in the delivery of goods in bad weather would love to have better grip,” Dhinojwala adds.
Studying how nature adapts to different environments, Dhinojwala concedes that biomimicry is a new way of looking at innovation. He and his team have examined gecko adhesion, spider silk, mussel adhesion and structural colors inspired by birds and other organisms. His research is supported by the National Science Foundation, Air Force
“We were interested in this topic because being in Akron, many of our national partners need to develop tires with a strong grip on the road in ice and snow conditions.”
— Dr. Ali Dhinojwala
Polar bear paw pads provided inspiration for a newly improved snow tire tread.
“It is very important for us to create an awareness, especially when students are in the sixth grade or even before.”
Office of Scientific Research and other various industries.
His team is continuing to look at ice — how ice formation takes place, ice adhesion — research that is very helpful for the automotive and aircraft industries. His students have just begun working on a project funded by the National Science Foundation.
Another area of study is the use of adhesives and stickiness used by geckos and spiders in capturing prey.
“Spider silk is always of interest because of the sticky net they create for webs,” says Dhinojwala. “It’s also one of the strongest materials known to mankind by weight — even stronger than steel by weight.”
One fascinating example of silk toughness comes from Darwin’s bark spider found in Madagascar. It produces an extraordinarily tough silk and can build webs that span rivers.
Here, the research hope is to create adhesives that can work in moist conditions or even underwater for bandages and other biomedical applications.
BRIC is also actively involved with the creation of sustainable polymers through the national Tech Hub recently created for the Polymer Industry Cluster of the Greater Akron Chamber. Other projects include the development of permanent/reversible adhesives, new building
construction techniques, color-producing additives/structures, robotic actuators/control systems, thermal management systems, water harvesting/repellent materials and more.
Creating Future Innovators
Beyond research, BRIC activities include training next-generation innovators by developing and implementing undergraduate- and graduate-level curricula, promoting awareness of biomimicry through public seminars and accelerating innovation through codelivery of professional services through organizations such as Great Lakes Biomimicry.
There are also a number of organizations that are involved with creating biomimicry curricula to train teachers throughout Cuyahoga, Lorain and Summit counties. Lorain County Community College and Baldwin Wallace are involved with biomimicry and there are programs at public schools in Lorain County, including Lake Ridge Academy in North Ridgeville.
“It is very important for us to create an awareness, especially when students are in the sixth grade or even before,” says Tyrrell.
The STEM Center of Excellence, being built at the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio Camp Ledgewood in Peninsula, is projected to be completed this fall. The scouts hope to provide the equipment, tools and skills to build students’ science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) confidence and education.
The STEM Center will include an 8,000-square-foot building and will be integrated with the outdoors. It will house a wet lab; workshop space, including tools needed for prototyping and invention; a tech space; podcast booth; an observatory; a weather station and more. Outside, the building will include other immersive experiences, including a meadow with a honeybee exhibit, an outdoor pavilion with bat houses, a rain garden and an outdoor classroom.
The STEM Center of Excellence will be a multilevel building with workshops and technology designed to teach girls how to learn from nature to solve today’s technological problems. It will carry a biomimicry theme with the goal of sparking an interest in technology and nature, according to Jane Christyson, Girl Scouts of North East Ohio CEO.
Christyson describes the building’s design as spectacular, complete with a glass butterfly roof boasting wind and solar power sources. An entire campus is being developed around it where girls can learn about bioretention, bees and bats and work in a rain garden.
While that is the good news, across our area, several biomimicry educational projects have been on hiatus, due to a scarcity of funds. However, there are plans to resurrect many in the near future.
The ultimate goal of all these efforts is for biomimicry to become yet another driver for sustainable economic development here in Northeast Ohio.
Tom Tyrrell
— Tom Tyrrell
From to Biomimicry
Our environmental stewardship story runs from the ridiculous to the sublime.
By Terry Troy
When it comes to Northeast Ohio, our environmental tale comes with a taste of irony. The region that gave us the burning Cuyahoga River and caused the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Clean Water Act has now evolved into one of the leading regions in the nation for biomimicry.
If you read the previous article on biomimicry, the model of using a nonprofit as a conduit to fund education and research, which then becomes a product or process that creates a profit for business, is unique. It’s a natural evolution of environmentalism that has morphed beyond stewardship and sustainability into a more profitable paradigm. We have great organizations in Northeast Ohio that lead through example, using environmental stewardship and ecology to consistently improve our quality of life and the success of our commerce.
“The thing that really sets our region apart is that we have an abundant supply of clean fresh water,” says Kyle DreyfussWells, CEO of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). “We play an essential role in maintaining that abundant supply of water, which
in turn improves our quality of life and in making Northeast Ohio a place where visitors and businesses want to come and stay. We maintain the stormwater and wastewater infrastructure, which is the foundation upon which a quality of life can be built.
“Northeast Ohio is the place where the river once caught fire. Today we have not only rebounded completely from that but have also learned a lot along the way.”
And it’s not just about making sure water is clean, as the NEORSD does with its participation in major ecological initiatives like Project Clean Lake, but also in how it sets an example for other businesses when it comes to building sustainable energy systems to reduce a carbon footprint.
“That’s why Marie (Fechik-Kirk) and her team have the freedom to look across our entire organization in terms of our sustainability programs,” says Dreyfuss-Wells. “We use huge amounts of electricity as well as huge amounts of chemicals. And we have a very complex organization. Marie and her team look across our entire organization to create efficiencies. And we are well coordinated with other big infrastructure
“Northeast Ohio is the place where the river once caught fire. Today we have not only rebounded completely from that but have also learned a lot along the way.”
— Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells
agencies in our area in terms of our approach to sustainability.”
“Measuring and monitoring our greenhouse gas emissions in terms of our electricity usage is important, of course,” says Fechik-Kirk, who is manager of Sustainability and Special Projects at the NEORSD.
And while the amount of water filtered and treated has grown, improved efficiencies have actually lowered the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the NEORSD, says Fechik-Kirk.
As you may have already guessed, the other notable environmental steward in the Greater Cleveland area is the Cleveland Metroparks. Encompassing more than 25,000 acres across 18 reservations
Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells
and 325 miles of trails, the Cleveland Metroparks are home to numerous environments that house unique species, some of which are still unknown to naturalists.
With a management philosophy based on an ecosystem approach to natural resource management, the Cleveland Metroparks manages the land and water while protecting native plants and animals — some of which may hold either the chemicals or inherent biological design that may benefit all of humankind.
Some of those ecosystem management techniques may be a prescribed fire or brush hog mowing to mimic natural disturbances that create and sustain specific habitats for animals like blue-winged warblers, indigo buntings and numerous butterflies found in our meadows. Other management tools are used to enhance, restore or recreate wetlands and streams that are important breeding and foraging habitats for amphibians, reptiles, birds and insects. There are also ongoing programs to protect our ecosystems from invasive species of both plants and animals, which may hasten the extinction of native species.
The Metroparks also has been recognized nationally for its ecological stewardship and conservation efforts, but also for its operating efficiencies, being recognized by the EPA in 2022 with an Encouraging Environmental Excellence Platinum Award. To win the award, a business or organization must expand its environmental and sustainability programs beyond its facilities and demonstrate that its environmental stewardship efforts benefit not only the local community but the entire region or geographic area.
“Our focus areas are energy efficiency and conservation,” says Rosalina Fini, chief legal and ethics officer who is also co-chair of the Metroparks’ Eco Team, which is responsible for coordination of sustainability efforts. “But we are also focused on water quality and conservation as well as stormwater management.”
As one of the largest catch basins in Northeast Ohio, the Metroparks often work with the NEORSD on collaborative projects.
Since 2010, Cleveland Metroparks has acquired nearly 3,892.11 acres of quality wetlands, streams and forests. With a border to Lake Erie, Cleveland Metroparks realizes the importance of urban watersheds. Stormwater, pollution, algal blooms, invasive species and loss of wetlands pose continuing challenges, and the Park District has received national attention for making watershed stewardship a priority through education, scientific monitoring and environmental restoration. As a result of these efforts, Cleveland Metroparks has lowered regional stormwater management costs by over $8.09 million annually.
“The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act also has provided an excellent opportunity for us to make significant progress, especially when it comes to clean energy,” says Fini. “For the first time, government entities can take advantage of a program that helps us recover some of the costs of sustainability programs, like the installation of solar panels to produce energy.
“We are just finishing a feasibility study on the installation of solar panels in some of our facilities that use the most electricity to see how much we can reduce our carbon footprint, but also whether or not we are making prudent financial decisions.”
Prudent financial decisions are also important to the ecological mission of any organization. Maintaining a balance between what is good for the environment and what is good for business is always important, or the program becomes self-defeating and impractical.
The Lake Erie Foundation is an example of a nonprofit that promotes a green agenda while keeping an eye toward the business practicality of enforcing environmental initiatives. It’s a great example of how a nonprofit ecological organization can work with for-profit businesses.
“Our focus areas are energy efficiency and conservation. But we are also focused on water quality and conservation as well as stormwater management.”
— Rosalina Fini
“I basically work with scientists from The Ohio State University as well as legislatures and government agencies on three basic initiatives,” says Matt Fisher, vice president of the Lake Erie Foundation (LEF). “We have been very supportive of efforts to reduce our algal bloom by reducing phosphorus runoff from farming operations. But at the same time, we realize that we have to work within the parameters that keep farmers viable.
“We are also supportive of trying to reduce the amount of plastics in the water and generally supportive of other green initiatives, but we are not an activist organization.”
For instance, the LEF does not support the installation of wind turbines on Lake Erie without further study, says Fisher.
“Many people look at us as an environmental organization, which we are, and we support green energy,” says Fisher. “But we really don’t know how many birds might migrate through the windmills’ pathway, or how the cables running from the windmills impact the pollution of the central basin and how that might ultimately impact fish. We need to study even more green projects to see how they impact our environment or lifestyle.
“We are formed with people who have business backgrounds, or people who have actual businesses along Lake Erie,” adds Fisher, “which really makes us a green organization that promotes sustainability and the environment with an eye toward business practicality.”
This is the kind of partnership between the nonprofits, companies, schools and government organizations involved in the emerging science of biomimicry.
Rosalina
Fini
FEATURES FEATURES
WOMEN MAKING HISTORY
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History encourages female participation in science and learning. By Jill Sell
There’s a joke going around the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) that a large banner with the words, “Nifty, nifty, I am turning 50” should be hung up high. The reference is to the 50th anniversary of the 1974 discovery of the 3.2-million-year-old fossil skeleton, “Lucy.” A representative of the species known as Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy was found on a dig in Ethiopia. The expedition was co-led by former CMNH curator of physical anthropology Donald Johanson.
Called one of the most significant anthropological findings of our time, Lucy was the oldest and most complete human ancestor ever found at the time. Lucy’s original fossil bones are held in the National Museum of Ethiopia, but CMNH researchers and others have studied Lucy’s fossils and bone cast here and have gathered vital information to understand our human past to our global future.
It is fitting that Lucy’s milestone anniversary coincides with the CMNH’s current $150 million transformation project.
“Culture is something you have to work at every day,” says Sonia Winner, CMNH president and CEO and the fourth woman in the museum’s history to hold the leadership roles. “The more diversity you have around decision-makers, the better it is for the culture, organization and community.”
According to National Science Foundation stats on representation in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workforce Winner cited, 29% of STEM careers are filled by men and 18% by women. (It is noted in the 2023 report Winner is referencing that men and women represented similar proportions of the total workforce — 52% men and 48% women.) But at the CMNH, 62% of its 130 employees are women, including five curators and four in senior leadership. Also, Hunting Valley resident Sally Sears serves as the museum’s first women board chair.
The encouragement of female participation is apparent at every level. Livestreamed programs featuring CMNH scientists doing field work in Australia have been shown in the museum’s auditorium, allowing girls (and boys) a “pathway to understand potential career options in science and at the
“We are one of the few places where children — and yes, girls — are in charge.”
museum,” according to Winner. Middle School Science Night, science camps and other programs and opportunities allow students the chance to see their own personal future in the sciences.
And if someone is looking for women role models, look no farther than CMNH. Winner herself is an example to young women as a community leader. She is helping to enhance University Circle with the physical transformation of the museum, as well as expand its openness to the entire Cleveland community. Under her direction, CMNH has also continued to create a nurturing and supportive environment for female researchers. Winner proudly points to two female museum staff members who recently have been in the global spotlight.
Research by CMNH Associate Curator and the Robert J. and Linnet E. Fritz Endowed Chair of Human Origins Dr. Emma Finestone of stone tools found in Kenya has brought her attention in the media and in scientific communities. Winner also recognizes Dr. Elizabeth (Ebeth) Sawchuk, associate curator of human evolution, for her work, particularly with DNA research.
“We sometimes forget that adults need a sense of wonder. And it starts with children. We are one of the few places where children — and yes, girls — are in charge,” says Winner.
— SONIA WINNER
EMMA FINESTONE EBETH SAWCHUK
A CALL FOR THE BETTER GOOD
Volunteers are the driving force behind Northeast Ohio’s nonprofits. By Terry Troy
Whether it’s for a personal reason, a cause or initiative you believe in or as a way of helping an organization you admire, everyone should volunteer. The rewards will come back to you a hundred-fold, in terms of satisfaction, professional growth and building new, and often important, personal relationships.
There are myriad ways you can volunteer, whether it be a few hours a week handing out meals at a food pantry to donating significant professional services on an ongoing basis. Not too surprisingly, volunteers are the backbone of many nonprofits across Northeast Ohio. Yet many nonprofits seek incredible challenges when it comes to meeting their needs for volunteers.
This is the first of several articles that are a collaboration between HW&Co., a CPA and advisory firm headquartered in Cleveland with numerous clients in the nonprofit sector, and Business Volunteers Unlimited (BVU), a Northeast Ohio-based organization focused on building partnerships between businesses and nonprofits. A webinar is scheduled for later this month.
“It’s very hard to see just how some of these nonprofit organizations can execute their mission without having a sizable core of volunteers,” says Helen Weeber, senior manager, director of HW&Co.’s Nonprofit Advisors Group. “Even nonprofits that have very successful fundraisers cannot do it on their own. Their people are doing a lot of work, but there are still staffing shortages or they are on tight budgets.”
“We work with virtually every type of nonprofit here in Northeast Ohio,” says Rob Zaremsky, director of business and community engagement at BVU.
“We send thousands of volunteers to support hundreds of different organizations, many in high impact areas.
“Some of that is done through our volunteer center, which is something of a free forum for volunteers to find opportunities and get connected. But we also have businesses that we work with here locally. We support them in assisting nonprofits with their ongoing business or for upcoming projects. These people not only come from businesses, but from career groups, faith-based groups or from families and even individuals. Our volunteer base is quite different, but it all supports the nonprofit community.”
But every year that need resets, notes Friedman, so College Now Greater Cleveland is always actively recruiting a new class of mentors. But by all accounts, College Now does have an advantage.
“We’re lucky because a lot of people have an affinity for this kind of work,” says Friedman. “There is also a lot of satisfaction working with young and upcoming talent. But it always comes down to a question of tenacity on our part, which our team has. We make sure we have the right message and our team is good at delivering it. We just have to keep pounding. Every spring there is a concern that we are not going to have enough mentors, but we always do.”
“It’s very hard to see just how some of these nonprofit organizations can execute their mission without having a sizable core of volunteers.”
— HELEN WEEBER
“Our mentoring program is entirely based on volunteers, so for us it is paramount,” says Lee Friedman, CEO of College Now Greater Cleveland, which helps more than 30,000 students and adult learners prepare for post-secondary education. “Our mentoring program pairs every scholarship recipient with a mentor in the community, whether that mentor is a recent college graduate or is over 85 years old. They offer guidance and are the coaches who help our students make good decisions and hopefully become our next generation of business leaders. We have more than 1,800 volunteers in our mentoring program —and that is just this year.”
The Gathering Place, which is a community that supports, educates and empowers families coping with cancer, is another nonprofit that is attractive to many volunteers, although it still faces challenges, especially when it comes to filling every position available, says Holly Bhatt, volunteer services manager. While it has just over 20 full-time employees, the Gathering Place enlists the help of hundreds of volunteers annually, some of whom spread the word about the organization or visit cancer survivors in the community all the way up to professionals with specific skillsets such as financial planning or legal guidance.
“We even have Reiki masters and reflexologists who are more specialized volunteers, all the way down to people who help in our warehouse with all sorts of tasks,” says Bhatt. “Many of our volunteers fit our participants with wigs after they have lost their hair from chemo.”
Those volunteers may be here on a part-time basis serving as a receptionist at the front desk.
“But they are always in demand. And they are always welcome,” adds Bhatt.
ROB ZAREMSKY
LEE FRIEDMAN
HOLLY BHATT
PERSPECTIVE AN ALL-AROUND
survey and an internal employee culture survey are two important metrics that guide them.
“We are a great place to work. We aspire to be innovative and invite people into our community to move into better careers,” says O’Brien. “We also strive to set the standards for others to follow.”
Through one of these innovative programs, Earn and Learn, McGregor is collaborating with local nonprofit senior care providers to recruit and train State Tested Nursing Assistants (STNAs). STNAs are essential to senior care and provide day-to-day service. Earn and Learn is improving the health care workforce landscape in greater Cleveland and is funded by several public programs and private foundations.
“We have had a cross section of our employees participate in the program,” she says. “Many stay beyond and continue to grow with us. We are a lifelong learning organization, and some of our staff have 10, 20, 30 years of employment with us.”
As Americans live longer and baby boomers retire, older adults are making plans and facing new decisions on how to live their best lives. From choosing where to live to finding the right health care, there is a lot to sort through to find the right option.
According to Lee Ann O’Brien, chief marketing officer for McGregor Senior Living, one important thing to consider for those looking at senior living communities is how they provide learning opportunities, innovation and growth for staff. She asserts that this says a lot about an organization.
“You have to look at the whole picture,” she explains. “How do staff
Joanne Cahill
McGregor Senior Living focuses on the connection between workforce, quality of care and innovation. By
interact with one another? How do they innovate? Are staff empowered to grow? We are not static ... we are also always enhancing staff and services.”
McGregor is a senior care provider that offers a continuum of care, including independent and assisted living, as well as skilled nursing and home care. O’Brien says from management to staff, there are opportunities for growth for all who work there, and this benefits both employees and residents. She calls it a journey guided by a 360-degree perspective.
“We acknowledge the interconnectedness of our workforce, the quality of care it provides and the innovation it fosters,” she says. “We work to ensure that each patient receives the highest standard of care, tailored to their unique needs.”
“We strive to set the standards for others to follow.”
— LEE ANN O’BRIEN
The McGregor team takes both staff and resident experiences seriously, using tools and technology to measure their success. An annual resident
A Leadership Academy program for training new managers is yet another pathway for retaining and promoting employees from within. McGregor also offers tuition reimbursement and provides resources for staff to earn professional certifications.
McGregor is looking to the future and building relationships with potential staff, as well. It recently opened its doors to serve as the clinical location for the Central School of Practical Nursing for licensed practical nurse training. The senior care leader has even spanned its reach across the ocean to recruit several nurses from the Philippines.
“We are always growing and innovating,” adds O’Brien. “It all goes back to enhancing life quality for our residents.”
IMPROVING IDEASTREAM
A new NPR jazz format opens up listening choices.
By Lynne Thompson
Acasualty of Ideastream Public Media’s WCPN 90.3 FM and Kent State University’s WKSU 89.7 FM consolidating their National Public Radio (NPR) programming was WCPN’s jazz programming. The March 2022 move made WKSU Northeast Ohio’s primary NPR news-and-information radio outlet, relegated WCPN to a WKSU “repeater station,” and switched WCPN’s position on the radio dial with that of Ideastream’s classical music station, WCLV 104.9 FM. WCLV began airing WCPN’s Ideastream-created jazz content, but during the wee hours of the morning.
The service, broadcast on 90.3 HD2 and livestreamed on JazzNeo.org, features hosts Dee Perry — a longtime WCPN broadcast journalist who came out of retirement to take the position — and WCLV/WCPN vets John Simna and Dan Polletta.
“People that had been listening to WCLV overnights would write and say, ‘When are you going to do a fulltime jazz station?’”
— JENNY NORTHERN
“People that had been listening to WCLV overnights would write and say, ‘When are you going to do a full-time jazz station?’” remembers Ideastream Public Media general manager Jenny Northern. “We said, ‘OK, it’s time to think about a full-time jazz service.”
On Feb. 26 — exactly 107 years to the day that the Original Dixieland Jass Band (yes Jass) released the world’s first “jazz” record — Ideastream launched JazzNEO, Northeast Ohio’s only fulltime professionally hosted jazz station.
“What we are determined to do, to the extent possible, through JazzNEO, is shine the light on what’s happening here in the region,” Northern says. There’s plenty to cover and promote in Northeast Ohio’s jazz community, including noted natives such as Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer and producer Joe Lovano. Here, you’ll also find emerging artists such as singer-songwriter Ava Preston, and the many ensembles that play clubs such as the Bop Stop in Cleveland and BLU Jazz+ in Akron. You’ll also hear artists who have appeared at the Tri-C JazzFest and who have performed with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, as well as performances by students and faculty in jazz-studies programs at the likes of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Kent State University.
“One of the things that I really aspire to do is have a show that showcases these students in these jazz programs across the region,” Northern says.
Programming already includes “JazzNEO Spotlight,” a series of spots aired
during programming breaks that feature local artists, venues and organizations; “Jazz in NEO,” spots trumpeting upcoming events; and “Jazz Happening Now,” an hour-long weekly show acquired from public radio distribution company PRX that focuses on music by up-and-coming artists. A form on the station’s website invites artists to submit recordings of their work.
“We may put them on the air,” Northern says. The current playlist includes music from all eras.
“But we think the present day is really important,” Northern adds. “It’s critical to continue to shine a light on emerging artists because they are the future of jazz.”
The schedule also includes Bop Stop’s own created and distributed “Live From the Bop Stop.”
Northern mentions conversations with the Tri-C JazzFest about covering the festival. There are also talks with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra about how the station might partner with the group and discussions with the Cleveland Museum of Art regarding how JazzNEO might bring jazz performances to its Transformer Station. One of Northern’s top goals is to create a dedicated studio for the station at Ideastream’s Idea Center to allow for live interviews to happen in downtown Cleveland — an investment that would involve restructuring the WCLV studio.
“We need to see what support there is in the community,” she says. “Ideastream is public media. And public media relies on the community for support.”
POLYMER PARTNERS
Akron’s Tech Hub will use biomimicry to create sustainable and biodegradable feed stocks.
By Terry Troy
While biomimicry is being used for new technological innovations across many sciences and disciplines, it is playing its most important role in the development of new sustainable polymers — especially those that can biodegrade. That’s the consensus of sources within the polymer industry and with the scientists who are working in biomimicry.
The initiative came into better focus with the designation of the Polymer Industry Cluster of the Greater Akron Chamber as a national Tech Hub — a designation that was tasked with creating sustainable and biodegradable polymers.
When the Polymer Industry Cluster of the Greater Akron Chamber received its designation as both a national Tech Hub and a recipient of a Strategic Development Grant last October, it really came as no surprise to industry insiders. After all, the Greater Akron area has been a world leader in the polymer industry and the development of new technology for well over 100 years.
What is transformative is how much impact those two awards will have
“We
are ranked No. 1 in the world in polymer science and theory. So, we know that we are really good at this, but having the Tech Hub designation lets the rest of the world know what we already knew.”
— BRIAN ANDERSON
on our state’s economy, especially in those 18 counties surrounding the Greater Akron area.
“The overall purpose of the Tech Hub program is in line with the general initiative of the polymer cluster that we started well before the Tech Hub program ever existed,” says Brian Anderson, vice president of the Polymer Industry Cluster and now regional innovation officer of the new Tech Hub. “We wanted to create a robust ecosystem around a technology that we are really good at and create a continuous engine of innovative growth, fueled by strong R&D activity, developing new technology, building an entrepreneurial ecosystem and commercializing new technologies.”
The Greater Akron Chamber actually started its work on the Polymer Industry Cluster over three years ago.
“Over the last several years, the Polymer Industry Cluster, powered by the Greater Akron Chamber, has been working
closely with our polymer companies, industry stakeholders, research institutions and economic development partners to double down on our region’s legacy in polymers to create a new future for advanced polymer materials that are both functional and sustainable,” says Steve Millard, president and CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber. “Greater Akron’s Designation as a Tech Hub and awardee of the Strategic Development Grant will accelerate our efforts to advance our work, invest in our region’s future and build on Ohio’s rich history in the polymer sector. We are excited to be a part of the opportunity of solving tomorrow’s problems from a foundation of scientific and manufacturing leadership that goes back 125 years.”
STEVE MILLARD
And the chamber’s key partners agree.
“This is a community with a rich history of partnership and collaboration for economic development, workforce creation and innovation,” says Dr. Gary Miller, president of the University of Akron, one of the leading academic partners in the cluster. “Our designation as a Tech Hub and the awarding of a development grant both affirm this great history and ensure our continuation as a national leader in polymer and advanced materials research, education, training and technology innovation. The University of Akron, which is ranked No. 1 in the world for polymer science and plastics engineering, is excited to continue this work with our partners.”
Out of nearly 400 total applicants nationwide, 31 received a Tech Hub Designation and 29 received a Strategy Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA). The Greater Akron Chamber’s (GAC) application was one of only 11 to receive both, which advantageously positions GAC’s Polymer Industry Cluster for a potential Phase 2 grant award of between $40 million and $75 million. The Tech Hubs are designed to catalyze investment in technologies critical to economic growth, national security and job creation, and will help communities across the country become centers of innovation critical to American competitiveness.
With its formal title being the Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub, the first initiative will be a focus on innovation to address the severe climate and environmental impacts resulting from the use of fossil fuel-derived polymers (rubbers and plastics) through accelerating sustainable polymer manufacturing and commercialization in the United States.
“Our expertise with polymers obviously started with the rubber and tire industry,” says Anderson. “Today we have a level of expertise that is much broader and far reaching and includes diverse industries like health care and electronics. Look at any material today. If it is not metal or glass, there’s a good chance that it is a polymer.”
However, the production of polymers has resulted in challenges like greenhouse
gas emissions and plastic pollution. The Tech Hub is seeking to leverage its regional assets — such as the largest concentration of plastics and rubber manufacturing plants, machines and materials in North America — as well as regional partnerships in research and development and an inclusive regional workforce, to establish global leadership in sustainable plastic and rubber technology that has reduced emissions and is recyclable, biodegradable and non-toxic.
“And there are a couple of ways to attack environmental issues,” says Anderson. “One way is to create materials that are biodegradable at the end of their useful life. Materials that won’t just float around in our oceans for hundreds of years but will biodegrade.
“The other way is to recreate our recycling capabilities so that we can tear apart these complex plastic materials into their original forms so that we can make the next product out of the same material without adding more plastic to the overall ecosystem. What we are talking about is unlocking the power of a circular economy, reducing the carbon footprint across the entire life cycle of a product or material.
“Plastics aren’t going anywhere,” adds Anderson. “They offer superior performance and are economical. We need to figure out how to make plastics and polymers more sustainable — to create polymers from sustainable feed stocks, rather than creating them from fossil fuels. Making polymers from plants or recycled materials is an obvious answer.”
That would certainly change the current negative dialogue around the whole idea of polymer and plastics use and the impact on our environment.
Naturally, academia plays a key partner in the cluster’s growing consortium of partners.
“When we started our cluster three years ago, we had 17 partners,” says
“This is a community with a rich history of partnership and collaboration for economic development, workforce creation and innovation.”
— DR. GARY MILLER
Anderson. “It has grown to over 50 or so today, and we continue to grow.”
There are four major higher education partners, which include the aforementioned University of Akron, as well as Case Western Reserve University and Kent State University — two excellent sources for R&D activity, which is often complementary, notes Anderson.
“We also have Stark State College, which does a lot of field work for us,” adds Anderson. “They are always updating our new talent needs and are very helpful with workforce development and retention of talent.”
There are also about 40 private sector companies that are involved closely with the cluster, many of which are multi-billion-dollar corporations, including Goodyear, Bridgestone, Continental, Avery Dennison and Coca-Cola, to name but a few.
DR. HANS DORFI
“Bridgestone is committed to sustainable mobility and its partnership with the Polymer Cluster Initiative,” says Dr. Hans Dorfi, senior vice president of Product Development for Bridgestone Americas and incoming board chair at the Bounce Innovation Hub. “We congratulate the team on achieving the regional technology hub designation. This is an important milestone toward developing novel sustainable polymers.”
While the numbers of partners are growing, it is still just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the overall Ohio polymer industry.”
In Northeast Ohio alone, there are over 500 polymer companies, Anderson says.
“Out of those, many are involved with manufacturing, a sector which employs over 42,000 people” he says. “But there are also other companies that are just R&D shops, or transportation and logistics companies. We have a much broader and more robust polymer industry than just manufacturing.
“We have a lot of assets and capabilities in the region,” adds Anderson. “We are ranked No. 1 in the world in polymer science and theory. So, we know that we are really good at this, but having the Tech Hub designation lets the rest of the world know what we already knew.”
Developing new polymer technology to benefit even more industries is also key in the cluster’s future initiatives, says Anderson. Indeed, just highlighting examples of the polymer industry’s past innovations would take up an entire book.
“Think of all the applications of polymers across multiple industries and industry sectors,” says Anderson. “If you look at the automotive side alone, EVs require tires that can withstand different kinds of stresses than traditional tires. Vehicles that get better fuel economy also need lighter weight components — which
polymers provide. There are also important polymer elements in new batteries.”
We are seeing that in the evolution of lithium-ion batteries to the future’s solid-state batteries.
“Through our incredibly strong R&D activity, we are developing these new technologies,” says Anderson. “We have a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, so we are also commercializing those technologies. We are also building new businesses around those technologies.”
This, of course, leads to job creation and the attraction of new talent and companies.
“The designation as a Tech Hub, and the Strategic Development Grant, will absolutely have a positive impact on the
polymer industry jobs that are already here as well as the jobs we will soon create,” says Anderson. “It will help us toward the creation of a more attractive business ecosystem to thrive in and around the polymer industry. It will make our region even more attractive, which will ultimately bring in more business, talent and capital — which creates a continuous engine of innovation and growth.”
“For over a century, Akron has been a driving force in transforming some of our nation’s most important industries,” says Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. “Being selected as a Tech Hub is a testament to the hard work of the Greater Akron Chamber. This designation is a great example of how Ohio will continue to be at the heart of innovation for years to come.”
“I want to commend the Greater Akron Chamber for putting together a winning proposal,” adds Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted. “This is a great opportunity for the team to leverage these federal dollars with state dollars for innovative polymer research and development happening right here in Ohio so that jobs can be created for Ohioans living in the region.”
Goodyear Polymer Center - Akron, Ohio
GOV. MIKE DEWINE LT. GOV. JON HUSTED
POLARIZATION PUSHING PAST
BW is working to bring civility back to political and contentious issues. By Bob Sandrick
Lauren Copeland felt anxiety rise within her whenever she led her students into a classroom discussion on politics. The students were anxious, too.
orientation class, called First-Year Experience 100. All incoming students are required to take the class.
into smaller groups, where conservatives, liberals and even conspiracy believers talked politics.
“I was nervous when the discussions started about how they would go and what I would say, but by the end, I came to have greater empathy for all of the discussion partners,” Copeland says. “We identified things we had in common instead of focusing on things that divided us.”
Lessons Copeland learned from Braver Angels were incorporated into Baldwin Wallace’s first-year class. However,
Claudine Grunenwald Kirschner, the university’s director of first-year and second-year experience, says Baldwin Wallace also brings its own observations and research to the table.
“There have been elements of dialogue (about civil discourse) in the first-year experience course before,” Grunenwald says. “Now there is a stronger commitment to it. And we collaborate between what takes place with the first-year course and the new civil discourse initiative.”
Copeland, an associate professor of political science at Baldwin Wallace University, noticed it happening at the start of the 2016 presidential election. She observed that students would either talk past each other, not hearing what those with different views were saying, or remain silent.
“It made the classroom environment feel toxic,” Copeland says.
Baldwin Wallace has devised a way to deal with a problem — political and ideological polarization — that has plagued every corner of American society over the past eight years or so. The university, starting this fall, will add the subject of civil discourse to its freshman
The civil discourse experiment is part of Baldwin Wallace’s Democracy and Civility Initiative, which Copeland helped launch in February 2023. The initiative is in partnership with Braver Angels, a nonpartisan nonprofit working to improve people’s communication skills — especially when it comes to politics, and cleveland.com, which has taken on the Braver Angels cause.
The initiative’s purpose is to teach students how to talk civilly and courteously about various issues, including potentially contentious ones, both inside and outside the classroom. The topics might include politics, but students might choose to discuss campus-related issues instead.
“It’s a really different approach,” Copeland says. “It’s listening to understand instead of listening to argue.”
Copeland first learned about Braver Angels in December 2022 and attended a virtual meeting of the group the following month. Attendees were divided
Copeland says keys to civil discourse include listening and trying to understand how people arrived at their beliefs.
“One of the core principles is you cannot change other people’s opinions, attitudes and beliefs,” Copeland says. “Once you abandon that expectation, it’s very liberating, because it allows you to engage in curiosity conversations.”
The new civil discourse element in the first-year class received input from political science seniors and juniors, including Shekinah Crawford, as part of their applied research requirement.
“During my first semester, I didn’t engage in the conversation because I didn’t know how,” Crawford says. “And I didn’t want to be under scrutiny by any of my classmates. I like that we’re able to change the narrative and show students that it’s OK to participate and share your ideas with the people around you.”
LAUREN COPELAND
CLAUDINE GRUNENWALD KIRSCHNER
Studying art, history, sociology and anthropology is every bit as important as mastering STEM.
ROOTS OF SOCIETY EXPLORING
A new program helps high schoolers realize the importance of the humanities. By Bob Sandrick
Studying the humanities — subjects like art, history, sociology and anthropology — is just as important as mastering science and math, says David Busch, a humanities instructor at Cuyahoga Community College.
The humanities show students the roots of contemporary societal problems and issues, which is vital to addressing those problems and issues. Also, drawing on history shapes the lives of students, giving them perspectives they would not have gained otherwise.
Humanities Academy at its Eastern Campus in summer 2022. The nineweek summer program invites local high school juniors and seniors to study the humanities not only in the classroom but in the community, where art and history come alive.
The academy, which prepares high schoolers for college, targets those from lower-income families who are often first-generation college students. The program is free and provides each student a $3,150 stipend.
“Even if you’re interested in nursing or engineering, the study of humanities is still important for the development of self and the realizing of possibilities.”
— DAVID BUSCH
“Even if you’re interested in nursing or engineering, the study of humanities is still important for the development of self and the realizing of possibilities,” Busch says.
That’s why Tri-C launched the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Youth
“These students want to do summer humanities programs but normally can’t because they need to work part-time or full-time jobs to help support their families, or the programs themselves are not affordable,” says Busch, the academy’s program manager. “The stipends remove that either/or situation for them.”
Over the past two summers, 65 high schoolers have studied in the academy and 30 more are enrolled for this
summer. They come from Cleveland and inner-ring suburbs like Cleveland Heights and Garfield Heights but also from outlying communities like Westlake, Willoughby and Medina County. The idea is to connect students with varying geographical and educational backgrounds to broaden their perspectives.
Busch says that of the 14 humanities academy students who have since graduated high school, 86% are now attending college, and of that number, 58% are first-generation college students.
In the humanities academy classroom, students discuss deep questions, like “What is beauty?” and “What is justice?”. They go on field trips, including those to the Cleveland Museum of Art and Cory United Methodist Church on 105th Street in Cleveland, where both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X spoke.
Michael Arcaro, a senior at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School in Cleveland, took part in the 2023 Tri-C humanities academy. He says he enjoyed the off-campus activities the most.
“I’ve met people who work at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the LAND Studio (for local artists in Cleveland) and even a Cleveland mural artist,” Arcaro says.
Layla Tinsley, a student at Cleveland School of the Arts, was Arcaro’s classmate in last summer’s academy. She’s into cultural anthropology and was drawn to the academy because of its emphasis on art, history and literature.
“We did a lot of digging deeper — deeper in our own writing, how we look at different questions and how we read books,” Tinsley says. “I’ve also learned that you have to hold your values firm but still be open to learning and listening,” she adds. “These are the intellectual virtues we’ve been talking about.
A RISING SUN
Prayers From Maria offers love and hope. By Jill Sell
It’s impossible to see acres and acres of glorious solar-loving sunflowers in Avon and along the Cedar Point Causeway and not be moved by their beauty and mystique. The Prayers From Maria Fields of Hope are so much more than just joyful flowers that turn their faces toward the sun.
The sunflowers represent many things to so many people. They are a visual reminder of a little girl who lost her life to a brain tumor, but who never stopped thinking of other children fighting similar battles. The flowers also express the love and hope of family members of other children who have passed or who are still fighting.
Maria McNamara was 7 years old in 2007 when her parents, Ed and Megan McNamara, said goodbye to their only daughter, losing her to a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). When the McNamaras learned that funding for children’s cancer research in this country is very limited, they established the Prayers From Maria Children’s Cancer Foundation.
Today, the nonprofit foundation provides research dollars to medical institutions and individual researchers who are on a mission to prevent, treat and eliminate childhood cancers. The money is far-reaching, supporting studies and programs at Northeast Ohio medical facilities, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Alabama and My DIPG/
DMG Nurse Navigator program, which provides nationwide support to patients and their families facing a pediatric brain tumor, as well as other locations.
“DIPG is a disease for which there has been no progress for the past 70 years. It’s as lethal then as it is now,” says Mark Kieran, MD, PhD, a nationally known pediatric oncologist who serves as the chair of Prayers From Maria’s Scientific Advisory Board. “Ed and Megan realized the statistics are unacceptable. Their question was what could be done? No one foundation is going to cure this disease. It’s going to take all of us.”
Dr. Kieran says the McNamaras have been able to raise awareness about childhood cancer and continue to raise funding for a variety of research methods and goals — including finding out “what does and doesn’t work, which is just as important.”
It goes without saying that medical research is extremely expensive. Prayers From Maria relies on two major annual events that boost the foundation’s account for researchers.
The Sunflower Soiree is Friday, July 12, at The Foundry, a nonprofit rowing, sailing and STEM education school in the Flats of Cleveland. Megan McNamara says the evening
honors and celebrates researchers from across the country as well as VIP donors who represent many of Cleveland’s well-known names in philanthropy, business, arts and culture, entertainment and sports. The Soiree is by invitation, but it is also a ticketed event for the public.
“We love The Foundry. And by having our event there again, we hope we are supporting their organization as well,” says Megan McNamara.
The Sunflower Summer Wine Festival, Saturday, July 13, will attract thousands of people to Depot Street in Rocky River. Entertainers include Ed Purcell Music, featuring a solo acoustic cover artist, and Billy Morris and the Sunset Strip, an ’80s tribute band.
“We always like to have a few new surprises at the festival, so this year we are going to have a small private bourbon addition,” says McNamara. “When we look at pictures from past festivals, we have to smile because everyone in the pictures is smiling.”
McNamara says Prayers From Maria media screen presentations and signage around the festival “help thank people for coming and explain our work.
“We call all our events win-win situations for everyone involved, and we want everyone to be happy,” Megan adds.
“Ed and Megan realized the statistics are unacceptable. Their question was, ‘what could be done?’ No one foundation is going to cure this disease. It’s going to take all of us.”
— MARK KIERAN, MD, PhD
Left: Sunflower Soiree Above: Sunflower Summer Wine Festival
In 2023, Covia team members collectively spent over 12,500 volunteer hours in their communities working for causes they love. One international corporation in Independence is advancing local grassroots causes in communities where it does business in the U.S. and abroad. Covia, a leading provider of mineral solutions for many industrial bluechip customers, is helping its team members to support causes that are important to them through its charitable arm, the Covia Foundation.
Though not a household name, Covia provides materials for industries like glass, ceramics, coatings, metals, foundry, polymers, construction, water filtration, sports and recreation and oil and gas. In 2023 alone, its foundation contributed over $1.1 million to local communities, and much of the foundation’s charitable work is driven by employees.
The Independence office spent their Covia Cares Action Day last year working alongside LAND Studio on beautification projects.
gifts up to $1,000 to providing 24 hours of paid volunteer time annually.
Employees who volunteer in their communities can also earn grant funding. For example, a volunteer firefighter or Little League coach could receive a $500 grant to the charity of their choice up to twice a year for every 40 hours of personal volunteer time, and an additional $100 for every 20 hours.
Lewis says another great asset of the foundation is the ability to mobilize Covia employees through its Covia Cares Action Days. These volunteer days allow each facility to plan unique volunteer activities to give back to the community. The program has grown quickly since inception, and in 2023 there were 34 action days.
“We give money to our local plants and let them use it for what is important in their own communities,” says Lewis. “They take the lead on what is best for them.”
According to Kristin Lewis, manager of community relations, the foundation has a large footprint and a local focus. It is not unusual for an employee to raise funds for a favorite cause and personally hand deliver it to the charity.
“Our team members might raise money for a food bank and then walk the check down to the charity and present it to them directly,” she explains.
All these efforts really add up. Lewis says that in 2023, Covia team members collectively spent over 12,500 volunteer hours in their communities working for causes they love. The foundation offers its employees a wide spectrum of giving options and incentives to engage them in the process — from 1:1 matching
In Greater Cleveland, the Independence office spent its Covia Cares Action Day last year working alongside LAND Studio, beautifying Covia’s City Side Garden and Irishtown Bend in the Flats. Others helped at Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank, collecting and donating more than 200 books. At the Wisconsin plant in the winter, not surprisingly, a coat drive was the local cause of choice.
With facilities in Canada, Mexico and Denmark, Covia’s plants abroad are very active with the foundation, as well. In Mexico, for example, Lewis explains that team members prioritized volunteer work for local schools, clean water initiatives, entrepreneurship support and community empowerment.
In addition, the Covia Foundation hosts two major golf fundraisers in the Greater Cleveland area every year. The annual Stars, Stripes & Links golf outing supports and engages injured combat veterans, and the Bill Conway Founders Charity Golf Classic has raised more than $2 million for the United Way since 2007.
KRISTIN LEWIS
IMPROVING HOMES
Families need legal advice to help maintain healthy dwellings.
By Jill Sell
ABoston pediatrician was treating children for asthma, an inflammatory disease of the airways of the lung for which there is no known cure. Symptoms can be lessened, however, and the physician was prescribing medicine and other treatments. But the doctor also knew asthma was caused by both genetic and environmental reasons, including reactions to allergy and pollution-causing substances.
services are used to address social needs, people with chronic illnesses are healthier and admitted to the hospital less frequently, saving health care costs.”
The team of Legal Aid staff who are part of the medical–legal partnership practice. Each works on-site at various health care institutions in Cleveland. The group is pictured here outside of Legal Aid’s offices on West Sixth Street in mid-2023.
helps with educational and special needs issues, evictions, immigration concerns, transportation barriers, older adult situations and more. In 2023, Legal Aid managed 348 MetroHealth cases, impacting more than 1,000 total household members, according to Cook.
“The doctor realized that as long as these kids were going home to poor housing conditions, they weren’t going to get any better. He had that ‘aha moment.’ In addition to medical care, these kids and their families needed legal help to improve their living environment,” says Katie Feldman, managing attorney, Health and Opportunity Practice Group, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.
That realization is given major credit for starting the medical–legal partnership movement in the United States. According to the National Center for Medical Legal Partnerships, last year the collaboration helped more than 75,000 patients resolve legal issues that impeded good health. According to the organization, “when legal expertise and
In Northeast Ohio, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is celebrating its 20year anniversary of establishing a medical–legal partnership with the MetroHealth System. Known as the Community Advocacy Program, the partnership was formalized in 2003. It was the first medical–legal partnership in Ohio and the fourth in the United States, according to Karen Cook, director, Healthy Families and Thriving Communities, and interim president, MetroHealth’s Institute for H.O.P.E (Health, Opportunity, Partnership, Empowerment).
Legal Aid attorneys assist patients referred by medical and social work staffs at five different MetroHealth locations. Those include: Main Campus Pediatrics, Old Brooklyn Health Center, Ohio City Health Center, Buckeye Health Center and Broadway Health Center. Lawyers handle a wide variety of issues that affect patients’ health. Those can include housing conditions such as water leaks that create mold and also rodent and pest infestations. Legal Aid also
Nine Legal Aid attorneys and multiple paralegals are involved with medical–legal partnerships at medical facilities across Cleveland. In addition to MetroHealth, the legal organization works with St. Vincent Charity Community Health Center, University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic. The Cleveland Clinic partnership began in 2022 with pediatric patients at the Main Campus and now has expanded services to the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center.
In addition to meeting with patients, Legal Aid attorneys conduct training for medical personnel to identify problems that may benefit from legal interventions. Its Curbside Consults also assist patients and medical staff when a more complex legal court case is not needed. Funding for the medical–legal partnerships is primarily provided by law firms, health care institutions and philanthropy.
“About 80% of a person’s health is impacted by what happens outside the doctor’s office because of social drivers, or social determinates,” says Feldman. “It is incredibly effective to work with health care providers who spot issues and who make these referrals to Legal Aid to try to resolve related legal problems. It’s a team approach and much more effective than just handing someone a card and saying, ‘Here’s the number of an attorney.’ You never know if someone makes that call or not.”
In 2023, Legal Aid managed 348 MetroHealth cases, impacting more than 1,000 total household members.
KATIE FELDMAN
KAREN COOK
My Life
By Lynne Thompson
My Home
Finishing the Attic
Finishing the attic is one of the most cost-effective ways to add square footage and value to a home, according to Vince Monachino, director of operations for Oster Services custom build-and-remodel firm in Lakewood. But turning an attic into usable living space — even utilitarian storage space — can come with challenges. He recommends considering the following before beginning to dream about turning it into a noisy teen’s bedroom or storage unit substitute:
Determining what’s up there. In many homes, the only way to the attic is through a panel in the ceiling of a garage, utility room, closet, etc. — one that may not be equipped with pull-down stairs. Some homeowners haven’t seen theirs. Those who own newer construction may be surprised. Monachino describes attics in which there are no floors, as well as spaces filled with blown-in insulation, electrical wiring and/or HVAC ductwork — elements that may have to be moved. “Attics aren’t typically built with an eye toward finishing down the road unless it’s specifically requested,” he says.
Creating or reinforcing support. Even attics with some sort of floor might not be built to handle anything more than storing seasonal clothing and holiday ornaments. “A lot of times, the ceiling joists that are used to create the floor of the attic ... may not be structurally sufficient to actually meet code requirements for living space,” Monachino notes. He suggests hiring an architect to evaluate the floor system.
Creating access. “Installing any sort of permanent set of stairs … is going to require a building permit,” Monachino says. The project may involve framing and drywall work, even relocating the entrance. Codes also stipulate that an attic turned living space has a window that may need to be enlarged or, if the attic does not have one, added.
My Earth
Going Green with Pest Prevention
John Young
The greenest form of pest control? Prevention, according to John Young, owner of Speed Exterminating Co. in Cleveland. He lists things that reduce, if not eliminate, “dampness, decomposition and hiding areas” — the three features insects, rodents and reptiles seek in a home. The following are less obvious than replacing torn screens and caulking foundation cracks and crevices:
Screen the chimney. Young advises installing a chimney screen over the flue. He warns that animals can set up house right on top of a closed damper. “That’s a nice, warm home for a lot of animals.”
Dry up. “Run a dehumidifier in your basement,” Young suggests. “When you get down into a damp, musty basement with no ventilation and just stagnant air, insects just seem to love it.” In addition to repairing plumbing leaks, he recommends consulting a plumber about wrapping sweating pipes.
Clean pantries and cupboards. Toss items that have passed their expiration date. Put cereals, sugars, flours, herbs and spices, dry pet foods, etc. in tightly sealed containers — and use them up before buying more. A wipe with a damp sponge, he adds, may not be sufficient to clean up a spill. “If you spilled oatmeal, it got underneath that contact paper,” he says. “So you need to take that up.”
Undress defensively. Young recommends getting in the habit of leaving shoes, coats and bags in the mudroom or hall closet and immediately dropping dirty clothes in the laundry room rather than on or near the bed, “exactly where bedbugs want to be.”
Vince Monachino
My Health
Bottled Water
The latest study to show plastic particles break and flake off a bottle of H2O was published in January in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers at Columbia University demonstrated the power of a optical-imaging technology by measuring the number of these particles in bottled water. They found that one liter contained an average of 240,000 particles of major plastic types. A whopping 90% were nanoplastics — particles undetectable to the human eye, even under a common microscope, measuring less than one-millionth of a meter. Experts, including Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute associate staffer Chris Hine, PhD, say nanoplastics are small enough to enter human cells, tissues and organs, potentially disrupting processes and functions.
“We don’t really know a lot of the consequences just because we never knew [about] the abundance of these nanoparticles,” he says.
What researchers have discovered is enough to make health-conscious consumers consider ditching plastics for glass and stainless steel. Hine mentions, for example, studies on the plasticizer Bisphenol A or BPA. “It does mimic the estrogen hormone, so it does have some feminizing effects, especially on males,” he says.
Hine and his colleagues also have found that high levels of BPA in peripubertal rodents made the animals slightly less intelligent as a short-term effect.
“The long-term effect that we did see was a change to body composition … If [the animals] were exposed during that very narrow window of their lifetime to high levels of Bisphenol A, they ended up having more fat mass than lean mass compared to animals that were not exposed to Bisphenol A,” he says.
Hine echoes other experts’ advice: Drink tap water in places where it is safe to do so.
My Food New Ice Cream Flavors LemonMeringue
Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, rocky road — everyone has a go-to ice cream. But there’s always room in the bowl for a new flavor. Here’s a sampling of the decadent delights that will be available this summer:
BananaCaramel Nut Bread
Rosati’s Frozen Custard — an offshoot of Brecksville-based Honey Hut Ice Cream — will be dropping chunks of banana-nut bread housemade with Co-owner Marcia Rosati’s recipe into banana frozen custard, then finishing it with a caramel swirl, at its two stands. “[Banana-nut] bread is her signature dish,” Vice President of Operations Jonathan Rosati says of the flavor’s inspiration. His new favorite is Maple Glazed Doughnut, a maple frozen custard laced with chunks of locally made glazed doughnuts. “Those doughnuts do the most amazing thing when you freeze them,” he rhapsodizes. “The icing around them makes them softly crunchy. Then you get the soft cake in the middle.” 95 E. Aurora Road, Northfield Center, and 922 Pearl Road, Brunswick, rosatisfrozencustard.com
Pie
One of Graeter’s Summer 2023 limited edition flavors has made its way into grocery store and scoop-shop pints. Vice President of Marketing
Tim Philpott describes a marshmallow-lemon ice cream filled with tart lemon crunch and traditional piecrust pieces, calling it “a very citrusy, refreshing burst of lemon.” He teases that the Cincinnati company, known for its signature Black Raspberry Chocolate Chunk, will unveil “a new expression of [red] raspberry” later this season. 10 Park Ave., Suite116, Orange Village, and 261 Main St., Westlake, graeters.com
SnowConeSorbet
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is swirling blue brambleberry, watermelon and pink lemonade sorbets to create a taste of the amusement park staple that “lives up to that [childhood] memory,” according to Columbus-based Director of
Innovation and Communications Beth Stallings. Another gourmet interpretation of a kid favorite: Burnt Orange Dreamsicle — orange ice cream swirled with vanilla custard and burnt-orange caramel. “You get that brightness, but also that caramelized depth,” Stallings says. Available in scoop shops June 6, and in independent retailers after June 17. 67 N. Main St., Chagrin Falls, jenis.com/blogs/scoopshops/cleveland-oh.
Chris Hine
LET’S MEET
Today’s meetings and events are adapting to meet changing times and attendee expectations.
BY LINDA FEAGLER
Great meetings aren’t happenstance. They require thorough planning, meticulous preparation and a knack for ensuring they’ll proceed glitch-free.
Here, experts share timely advice for success.
SETTING THE STAGE
The days of presenting a long-winded PowerPoint presentation in a stark boardroom are going the way of the floppy disc.
“Today, it’s really all about the experience,” says Meghan Weigand, director of events and marketing for Tap Root Hospitality, owners of The Orchid House Winery in Aurora, Never Ordinary Bourbon Society (No-BS) (members only club) and Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens in Chagrin Falls. “During the pandemic, people got used to staying home and working virtually — which led to the mindset of, ‘Is it really worth going out, traveling and sitting in this meeting when I can just log on hybrid and get the same experience I would have if I attended in person?’”
That, Weigand adds, along with a new generation of workers used to being on the go and popping in and out for events, is leading to a focus on
corporate confabs that are casual and user-friendly.
The Orchid House Winery and Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens are tailor-made for that ambiance with sophisticated spaces that hold 30 to 300. Popular gathering spots at The Orchid House include The Study, with its custom chandelier made of handblown glass from The Glass Asylum in Chagrin Falls and hand-carved wood beams; the tented Wild Lotus Garden & Gable Bar, bordered by gardens, a waterfall and stream; and The Conservatory, a tented intimate gathering space.
“Orchid House is an enchanting, homey and ideal spot to hold a meeting where everyone in attendance will feel comfortable,” Weigand says.
Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens offers meeting options that include the sophisticated Oak Room, which boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and stunning
“[We’re] seeing better attendance during fun, afterwork events where people can mingle, instead of sitting and listening.”
- Meghan Weigand, director of events and marketing, Tap Root Hospitality
views of trees and the woods adjoining them; and the Cellar Lounge, which exudes a modern vibe with booth seating and a patio with a wine-barrelhead water feature.
“Our spaces are appealing to groups because they are in nature,” Weigand says. “Attendees aren’t stuck sitting in a conference room.
“Based on what chambers of commerce for Aurora and Chagrin Falls have told us,”she adds, “they’re seeing better attendance during fun, after-work events where people can mingle, instead of sitting and listening.”
With 18 reservations, 100 hiking trails, eight lakefront parks, five nature centers — and more than 75 rentable
Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens
Unique and memorable venue
Professional event planning services
Modern, upscale catering
Audio/video system for presentations
Upgrade to include animal encounters Visit
facilities — the Cleveland Metroparks provide countless ways to commune with nature during get-togethers.
“Whether it’s the size of your group, the time of year that you’re meeting or the kind of unique location you’re seeking, the Cleveland Metroparks can provide a unique experience,” says Kelly Manderfield, chief marketing officer for Cleveland Metroparks.
Popular locations include Stillwater Place, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s scenic, state-of-the-art conference center, which provides a seating capacity of up to 300, catering services, a four-season outdoor patio and fireplace, along with stunning views of Waterfowl Lake. A new auditorium in the zoo’s administration building offers state-of-the-art video conferencing capabilities and features a patio overlooking the African Elephant Crossing, where guests can experience open-air viewing of the mammals.
“For after-hour event rentals, our team works really hard to give organizations a sense of ownership with custom signage, photo ops and experiences that you can’t get anywhere else,” Manderfield says. “We’ve also had organizations schedule their employee events around some of our unique seasonal attractions including Asian Lantern Festival, which not only provides for a great meeting experience but also is an opportunity for organizations to give back to their employees and their families with an exclusive, private addon experience.”
Additionally, Merwin’s Wharf, Cleveland Metroparks’ full- service restaurant located in the Flats along the banks of the Cuyahoga River, has a private meeting room that comfortably seats 40 guests, with the ability to add additional guests in a more casual, stationed setting. Post-meeting golf outings at Sleepy Hollow in Brecksville and Fairview Park’s Big Met — which can include breakfast and lunch — are also popular options.
“Having the opportunity to bring your friends and family to a corporate event has become a memorable experience for so many people,” Manderfield reflects.
VIRTUAL REALITY
Before COVID, “Zoom” was the title of a children’s show on PBS. But now, it’s part of the meeting vernacular that’s made hybrid meetings more convenient, and often less time-consuming.
“When the pandemic was at its height, people met virtually just so they could see their colleagues when in-person meetings were not permitted or encouraged,” says Dean Johnson, manager of conference and dining services
at Lorain County Community College’s John A. Spitzer Conference Center in Elyria. “But these days, meeting virtually has become a planned way to save people a trip across town or across country. And sometimes, they happen unexpectedly because someone is running late and can’t make it in time to be in attendance.”
Technology is a beautiful thing when it works. And when it doesn’t, LCCC’s experienced event planning team is always at the ready to ensure any malfunction is quickly resolved at the center, which features 16 rentable conference spaces in sizes that accommodate 10 to 360 guests.
“As an attendee who’s participated in a variety of conferences in a variety of locations, I’ve been burned on tech enough to recommend conference planners test it before the actual event,” Johnson advises. “It’s a given that technology will fail — and it’s no one’s fault. In addition to configuring the rooms for meetings, our team members are technology facilitators and troubleshooters who can quickly resolve issues.”
Conferencing services can also provide access to laptops, projectors and sound and video recording, along with WebEx
“One of the aspects that’s become really popular is for corporations to ask us to provide an after-hours special event that offers a unique experience to the staff and their families.”
- Kelly Manderfield, chief marketing officer, Cleveland Metroparks
Lorain County Community College’s John A. Spitzer Conference Center in Elyria
The new auditorium in the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo administration building
“When you do something above and beyond, it will make such a big difference.”
- Mo Ayoub, general manager, LaCentre Conference & Banquet Facility
services and cameras that are appropriate for the size and layout of rooms.
Johnson is quick to add that flipcharts are becoming outdated, since virtual participants have a hard time reading them.
“Trends include engaging participants with Slido, a platform that offers interactive Q&A opportunities and live polling; Kahoot!, a game platform,” he says.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
No matter the subject matter, no matter the format, a key consideration that never strays far from meeting attendees’ minds is: ‘What’s for lunch?’ (or dinner, if the event is taking place in the evening.)
“The Food Network has made food exciting and more important than ever to guaranteeing the success of an event,” says Dean Johnson.
Selecting the menu can often turn into a conundrum, Johnson adds, given the myriad of dietary restrictions that should be taken into account.
“They’re more prevalent than ever,” he says. “You’re seeing a lot more people who are vegetarians or follow gluten-free and non-dairy regimens.”
The conference center’s team caters to those dietary needs and others that need to be addressed: Executive chef Dean Diluciano is known for creating interactive buffet stations — which range from Asian rice bowl to taco, dog and burger, and pasta — where attendees with food allergies and special preferences can personalize lunch and dinner selections. LCCC baker Maggie Gross specializes in crafting finger-food desserts, which often include salted caramel cheesecake bites and edible chocolate cups filled with chocolate or raspberry mousse.
“[Conference facilitators] are often hesitant to order for big groups because they’re nervous about making the right choices,” Johnson says. “The menu we offer is a guide, but we can customize it to fit their entire audience.”
SELECT YOUR SIZE
Mo Ayoub, general manager of La Centre Conference & Banquet Facility takes pride in ensuring guests at the Westlake center feel at home the moment they open the door. Soft, jazz music plays in the pre-function room, which also features an optional coatcheck service, cozy fireplace and ideal spots to mingle and enjoy appetizers when they’re served.
The LaCentre complex — which includes the 10,000-square-foot Champagne Ballroom with 20-foot ceilings and four sparkling crystal chandeliers — and the 6,000-square-foot Bordeaux Ballroom, can be partitioned off to fit a variety of space needs.
“In addition to galas and large corporate events, we’re the perfect location to host a dinner party for family and friends, or for a small corporation to host a regular meeting that provides an opportunity for employees to spend a day out of the office,” Ayoub says.
LaCentre offers conference packages that feature generous selections of breakfast and lunch cuisine made in-house, all-day beverage service and snacks brimming with seasonal fresh fruit.
APPRECIATION IS APPRECIATED
Mo Ayoub has seen more than his fair share of meetings at LaCentre Conference & Banquet Facility. But the ones he’s witnessed that remain memorable are those in which employees are recognized as valuable members of the team.
“Yes, it might be the usual training meeting or a conference that focuses on the year ahead,” he says. “But setting aside time to let attendees know how important they are to an organization is priceless. It can range from awarding additional PTO or randomly pulling numbers out of a box for prizes that might include a TV, iPad or weekend getaway or trip. And it doesn’t have to be extravagant — it could even be the CEO standing in the hallway to individually greet employees by name and thank them for their hard work.
“When you do something above and beyond,” Ayoub adds, “it will make such a big difference.”
What Attendees Want
To be asked for input.
When it comes to planning the program itinerary, attendees are often not asked to provide suggestions. Instead of delegating a conference committee to design the event, make the meeting or event beneficial for all who are asked to attend by asking them which topics they’re most interested in and which speakers they’d like to hear from.
To know what to expect.
Consistent communication that includes a platform or website for easy registration, real-time updates, start times, directions and room numbers for sessions will give attendees a head start on getting the most out of the experience.
Information that can be presented in ways that can easily be retained.
Statistics indicate that we tend to remember three or four things at a time before being overwhelmed. Additionally, most people recall what is first and last in a presentation, so time essential thoughts you want to share accordingly.
Hybrid and virtual options.
While in-person events are valued options for networking and socializing, digital events are appreciated for their convenience, value and efficiency — and may boost attendance.
Families enjoy playing with bubbles during the spring in Public Square.
