REAL ESTATE
Jeffrey Anderson
Adam Bortz
Dan Baker
PRESIDENT AND CEO Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate
CEO Baker Construction Enterprises
CEO Towne Properties
Anderson founded the firm in the 1970s while working with Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, focusing on site selection for restaurants like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s, and Chi Chi’s. In the ’80s, the company shifted to neighborhood retail centers that include Hyde Park Station and Beechmont Station. In the ’90s, Anderson developed Rookwood Pavilion, then Rookwood Commons. The company has been hired to work on Kenwood Collection, Newport on the Levee, and University Station at Xavier, among other projects.
Baker founded Baker Cement Contractors with brothers Ken and Jim in 1968 after working with their grandfather in residential masonry in their hometown of Oxford. More than 50 years later, he leads the umbrella company that includes 11 separate entities. Based in Monroe, it’s one of the country’s largest specialty concrete companies and the fifth-largest private firm in Greater Cincinnati with almost $1.5 billion in revenue in 2020.
Bortz’s father, Neil, started the company in the summer of 1961 when he bought several houses in Mt. Adams when the neighborhood was showing its age. The company that the younger Bortz oversees today owns or manages more than 12,000 apartments, more than 130,000 commercial and homeowners association units and 600,000 square feet of office space. Hometown: Cincinnati Education: Kenyon College (undergraduate) What has been the toughest challenge for you as a business leader during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Adapting to the ever-changing landscape of regulations, economic conditions, and health concerns that impacted our associates, families, and clients. Has your leadership approach changed because of the pandemic? Yes and no. I’ve always believed in trusting our associates to make decisions that align with our values to move Towne forward.
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