Crain's Cleveland Business

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Entire contents Š 2015 by Crain Communications Inc. - Vol. 36, No. 27

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$2.00/JULY 6 - 12, 2015

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Small Business Matters i Want more information and resources on this week's topics, ideas and events? Go to www.cose.org/smallbizmatters.

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52 TIPS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

#27 – Generate Revenue by Selling Soft Cost Savings *VTWL[PUN VU WYPJL PZ L_[YLTLS` KP J\S[ [V KV ;O\Z I\ZPULZZLZ ULLK [V Ä UK ^H`Z to add value, along with competitive pricing, to stand apart from the competition and succeed in today’s economy. “When it comes to cost savings, most organizations focus on hard dollar amounts,” says Sara Schweda, director of client solutions for Group Transportation Services (GTS), a third-party logistics provider in Hudson. “In today’s competitive environment, companies strive to do more and perform better while keeping operations lean. Positioning your company as the partner to help a client achieve these goals is an VWWVY[\UP[` [V KP LYLU[PH[L `V\YZLSM MYVT `V\Y Sara Schweda, competitors and generate additional revenue Group Transportation Services streams for your business.”

Small businesses can leverage their port- JVTWL[P[P]L >OPSL LHJO VM [OLZL ILULÄ [Z PZ folio of services and highlight their largest as- considered a “soft cost,” they stress the real sets – their people and technology – to stay value received in saving both time and re-

sources. “Investments in service and technology result in substantial ROI for clients, but in order to sell these you must not only understand the clients’ processes and operations, but also the objectives that have been set as a company and direct your focus to helping the client accomplish them,” says Schweda.

Assigning a dollar value to items such as time savings, ease of use, or even customer service can be done if there is an understanding of the time and resources involved.

“We include this process review in our onboarding,” notes Schweda. Ask clients how they use data to make strategic business decisions across multiple business units.

“Hard dollar savings is by far the most at[YHJ[P]L KP LYLU[PH[VY PU KLJPZPVU THRPUN I\[ soft cost evaluations can provide additional ]HS\L ^OPSL PUJYLHZPUN `V\Y ZLY]PJL V LYPUNZ to the client.”

July 6

By The Numbers Growing Like Crazy NEO Tech Companies with more than $5M in Annual Revenue

11% 22%

WHAT’S HOT

2010

The Art of Social Media

2015

SOURCE: OHTEC TECH INDUSTRY STUDY (TO BE PUBLISHED SUMMER 2015)

Power Tips for Power Users 4HU` ZTHSS I\ZPULZZLZ [VKH` HYL Ä UK ing success promoting their brand on social media. But for every success story there are KVaLUZ TVYL HIV\[ [OL PUL LJ[P]L \ZHNL VM social media. One of the main reasons social media can be a valuable marketing tool is that it gives businesses the ability to interact and engage with a wider audience. Big or small, everyone today is looking for strategies that work to gain visibility in this new marketing age.

The Art of Social Media, published in December 2014, was written by Guy Kawasaki, the legendary former chief evangelist for Ap-

ple and a pioneer of business blogging and social media use for business, and Peg Fitzpatrick, a successful social media strategist. ;OPZ IVVR V LYZ ZV\UK WYHJ[PJHS HK]PJL VU ^H`Z [V IL L LJ[P]L PU [OL KPNP[HS THYRL[ [VKH` and has quickly become the go-to resource for small business owners looking to up their social media game. “I am a passionate marketer and have seen the amazing importance of winning in the digital marketing space over the last 10 years,” says Mike Foti, president of Innovate Building Solutions. “This book is practicable and actionable and written in bitesized chunks so you can learn some things,

put them into practice, and then pick it back up at a later date for more input/advice.”

“Small business owners all have the same challenge – time – and the reality that social media is free is a myth. It takes time to do it right,” says Foti. “This book provides resources and methods to save time VU ZVJPHS TLKPH HUK V LYZ OLSWM\S HK]PJL and important lessons that any small business owner can use to improve their social media footprint.”

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JULY 15 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Tucker Ellis, Cleveland Expert Advice. “Where else can you seek advice from more than 80 exhibitors and partners who understand the ZWLJPÄ J ULLKZ VM ZTHSS V^ULYZ HUK Z[HUK YLHK` [V V LY ZVS\[PVUZ [V OLSW `V\ PU `V\Y business?”

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Practical Learning. “Our breakout sessions will be lead by some of Ohio’s premier experts on topics that range from 7YPJPUN MVY =HS\L HUK 7YVÄ [Z [V +L]LSVWPUN Refresh and Recharge. “The COSE Your Employer Brand. Our goal is to make Small Business Convention is not your Z\YL [OH[ LHJO SLHYUPUN VWWVY[\UP[` V LYZ takeaways that you can apply to your busi- typical business gathering. Our goal is to put ness the next day that will make a real dif- on an event where small business owners can come to recharge their battery and mind ference.” ^P[O [^V KH`Z Ä SSLK ^P[O PUZWPYH[PVU M\U HUK Inspiration. “Our lineup of keynote making new friends and connections.” speakers is truly inspirational. They each i For more information or to register for the have a unique entrepreneurial story to share, 2015 Small Business Convention, go to as well as lessons on leadership and strategies www.cose.org/sbc. for success.”

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COSE’s next Boot Camp for small business V^ULYZ ^PSS MVJ\Z VU OV^ [V IL[[LY THUHNL Z[H UN talent and culture in your business. Walk away armed with tools, strategies and ideas that you can immediately put into action. Steve Ellis of Tucker Ellis, named one of the Best Lawyers in America for more than 10 years, will share his insights on why employees are a company’s greatest asset and why having the right talent is so critical to your success.

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We asked COSE’s 2015 Small Business Convention Planning Committee Chairman Dr. Joe Mayer, co-founder and managing partner of the Mayer Business Group, to give us a ZULHR WYL]PL^ VM [OL L]LU[ HUK V LY OPZ [VW Ä ]L YLHZVUZ UV[ [V TPZZ [OPZ `LHY»Z *VU]LU[PVU “The Convention planning committee is extremely excited about the lineup of speakers and topics, exhibitors and overall size and scope of the event this year,” says Mayer.

“We’ve got something for every small business to help them manage and grow their business.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the Convention, and we are thrilled to be holdPUN P[ MVY [OL Ä YZ[ [PTL PU KV^U[V^U *SL]LSHUK ¹ /LYL HYL 4H`LY»Z [VW Ä ]L YLHZVUZ [V H[ tend the Convention:

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Ruling has potential complications Companies that offer same-sex domestic partner benefits must determine impact of SCOTUS decision In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage, employers across the country are grappling with how the landmark decision will affect their benefits offerings, and it isn’t exactly clear how it’ll all shake out.

At the heart of the matter is the future of same-sex domestic partner benefits, which many companies — 77%, according to a survey by national benefits firm Aon Hewitt — have offered over the last several years.

Before the court’s ruling as other states legalized same-sex marriage, some major employers, including Verizon and IBM, axed those offerings. And with last month’s ruling, benefits experts expect that trend to accelerate.

However, some LGBT advocacy groups say that move could cause an issue, particularly in a state like Ohio that lacks statutes specifically prohibiting job discrimination in the private sector based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

By axing domestic partner benefits and forcing these individuals to secure marriage licenses, LGBT advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Campaign argue that they could be unfairly outed by their employer, potentially putting them at risk for discrimination in the workplace and other areas of their lives.

And given that many of the companies offering same-sex domestic partnership benefits also offer them to opposite-sex couples, they could potentially put some of their employees and their spouses at risk of being uninsured.

“I think any sort of knee-jerk reaction wouldn’t make sense,” said Michelle Tomallo, president and co-founder of Clevelandbased FIT Technologies and board president

for Plexus, a group that characterizes itself as the regional LGBT chamber of commerce.

“I think people need to have these conversations with their employees,” Tomallo said.

“From a best practices standpoint, retaining those policies are the most inclusive thing to do and the best way to embrace families of all types.”

Holding pattern Employers offering domestic partner benefits that responded to inquiries from Crain’s said it was simply too early to say what they planned to do.

Thompson Hine, a Cleveland-based law firm that has been recognized for its commitment to LGBT inclusivity, said in a statement that it hasn’t “yet determined what, if any, impact the Court’s decision will have on our employee benefits.”

Cleveland-based KeyBank, too, hasn’t made a decision. In a statement, the company said, “KeyBank prides itself on being an organization with a corporate culture that is one of diversity and inclusion. Given the rapidly changing landscape, no decisions have been made with respect to potential modifications in our benefit programs, including Key’s decade-long history of offering domestic partner benefits.”

Kent State, on the other hand, boasts provisions in its collective bargaining agreements with its various unions that include domestic partner benefits for same and opposite-sex partners.

Because those provisions are in those agreements, any change would have to be negotiated with the unions, according to a university spokesperson.

Of course, there are some benefits from switching from the domestic partner insurance rolls to those offered to married

GETTY IMAGES

By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com

See RULING, page 21

Questions loom for Associated Estates’ local office $2.5 billion purchase by investment fund has some in industry wondering about future of company’s Midwest holdings

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com

For Associated Estates Realty Corp. of Richmond Heights, the next step in its development looks to be into the spreadsheets of a larger enterprise.

Shareholders will get their say at an Aug. 5 special meeting at the Union Club in Cleveland, where they’ll be asked to approve Associated Estates’ $2.5 billion purchase by an investment fund affiliated with Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Corp.

Brookfield, an operator of funds invested in property, energy and infrastructure that controls $200 billion in assets, intends to fold Associated Estates into its San Diego, Calif.-based Fairfield Residential multifamily unit, which has 50,000 suites.

That’s the word from Jeffrey Friedman, Associated Estates’ chairman, president and CEO, in letters to employees dated June 10 that the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Com-

mission.

Although Associated Estates has said since it announced the merger April 22 that its headquarters will remain in Richmond Heights, how much of a staff survives in the 40,000-square-foot building at 1 AEC Parkway remains to be seen.

The future role of each member of corporate and regional management teams continues to be assessed by Fairfield, which is meeting with executives singly and in groups this month, although the transition plan may not be in place by the time of the merger, Friedman said in an SEC filing that included two letters to employees.

The filing noted that Associated Estates expects most of its propertylevel employees to be offered positions at Fairfield if they choose to remain with the company.

Fairfield ranks as one of the nation’s 20-largest multifamily property managers, with more than three times the suites in its portfolio than Associated Estates’ 15,000 suites in 56 apartment communities. Brookfield bought a controlling

stake in Fairfield in 2010 as it entered the U.S. multifamily arena, according to Brookfield’s website.

Ralph McGreevy, executive vice president of the Northeast Ohio Apartment Association trade group, said he worries not only about the future of Associated Estates’ corporate office here, but also the future of its substantial Northeast Ohio portfolio.

“This was a pretty happy company. I would say every position and location is under review to see if it fits into the new program,” McGreevy said.

“It’s a question that needs to be asked and answered. If it’s a San Diego-based company, I worry not only about the local management group, but individual properties as well.”

Associated Estates, which has winnowed its portfolio in the Midwest in an effort to curry Wall Street favor, owns seven apartment communities, a total of 1,303 suites, in Northeast Ohio.

Andrew Willis, Brookfield’s corporate spokesman, declined com-

ment until after the Aug. 5 meeting.

Associated Estates has not commented separately from its SEC filings and news releases, and it referred direct questions about the merger to Brookfield.

At the corporate level, Associated has about 80 employees in Richmond Heights and about 400 nationally.

Regional focus With respect to properties, Fairfield and Associated Estates both have holdings in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Those are all high-rent, high-value multifamily locations prized in the industry.

Associated Estates is also big in locations where Fairfield is not represented, such as Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

The question is whether Fairfield values the Midwest properties for their stability — though less spectacular rents — and for greater geographic diversity.

If Brookfield values those characteristics, that increases chances the Associated Estates headquarters operation might fare better than otherwise with assets in the region.

Brookfield executives have said little about the deal on their own conference calls.

James Bruce Flatt, Brookfield Asset Management’s CEO, said in a May 15 call, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript, “We’ve been building multifamily. We’re now building multifamily in New York.

We’re building multifamily in London. So we continue to increase the business, and I’d say we’re an opportunistic investor in all asset classes of real estate. And to the extent we can find transactions that make sense for us, we’ll do them.

And to the extent there aren’t any available, we won’t. So it doesn’t really change anything, we just — we continue to be a value investor in real estate.”

Inside Brookfield, Fairfield is technically part of Brookfield’s vast See ASSOCIATED ESTATES, page 22

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Clean and safe isn’t just a NE Ohio company line

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To strengthen their commercial districts, a few Cleveland neighborhoods are adopting what are called “clean and safe” programs that offer enhanced security and sidewalk upkeep to their districts.

In particular, they are taking advantage of the reputation of success created by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and its yellow-and-blue uniformed “Ambassadors,” creating a program that has become a valued brand of sorts.

“I think the brand is worth something,” said Peter Rubin, whose Coral Cos. owns the four quadrants of Shaker Square, about his switch to the Ambassadors program. “We believe people identify the Ambassadors from their uniforms.

“We were providing much of the same services with a patchwork of contractors, but this delivers the services comprehensively with people who are well-trained,” said Rubin, who is Coral’s president and CEO. Coral contracts directly with DCA, the downtown group, since his company owns and manages the entire Shaker Square shopping district.

Elsewhere, property owners have partnered with community development organizations to create special improvement districts, or SIDs, to create a small property tax that covers the cost of the programs.

“As a property owner, it makes the whole area desirable and brings more interest for new businesses that may be considering coming in,” said Jeff Moreau, owner of Sweet Moses, an ice cream shop on Detroit Avenue in the Gordon Square Arts District.

“As a business owner, it’s a bonus,” he said. “If I was looking at space to lease and knowing a program like this was in place, it would be a selling point for going into that area. It adds an extra measure of security for our customers in addition to the cleanliness and the welcoming aspects of program.”

Street appeal DCA was the first in the area to adopt this kind of program when it created the Downtown Cleveland Improvement Corp. in 2005.

Now, Ohio City has a SID, as does the Gordon Square Arts District. Last week, the Kamm’s Corner Development Corp. gathered enough signatures from property owners to create a SID along Lorain Avenue at Cleveland’s western edge.

“Businesses do see a difference,” said Steve Lorenz executive director of the Kamm’s Corner organization, of what he has seen in other neighborhoods. “To be able to say to a prospective tenant, ‘The snow is going to get taken care of, the litter is going to be picked up, the planter in front of your place is always going to look nice,’ it’s easier to rent a space like that.”

Because of its small size, Kamm’s Corners is going to operate its program on its own. But the other neighborhoods chose the program

DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND ALLIANCE

A Downtown Cleveland Alliance Ambassador sweeps up along East 4th Street. developed by DCA after a solicitation of bids.

“It’s a great organizing platform for commercial districts,” said Joe Marinucci, president and CEO of DCA. “We’ve developed some good expertise. We know how to recruit and train personnel.”

DCA and its subcontractor, a Louisville, Ky., company called Block by Block, call the street-level employees Ambassadors and hire first for engaging and friendly personality rather than specific maintenance skills. The Ambassadors’ blue and yellow outfits are easy to spot, and the garb emphasizes their role as added security on the street.

Their duties range from watering planters and scrubbing off graffiti to calming down unruly teenagers and providing late-night escorts to parking lots.

Judi Feniger, executive director of the Gordon Square Arts District, said the DCA program made sense for her West Side neighborhood.

“Forming our own clean and safe force is not in our skill set,” she said.

“There’s also an economy of scale that DCA has created.”

By the numbers The tax levied on property owners within the Gordon Square Arts District-Cleveland Improvement Corp. generated $122,180, according to its 2103 income tax filing, and Feniger said 90% of that went to the “Clean and Safe” program. The Ohio City SID operates on a similar budget.

A group that seeks to create a SID must have a petition signed by property owners who control 60%

of the frontage within the boundaries chosen for the SID. The signed petition must be filed with a city council and renewed every five years.

The SID tax is assessed on frontage rather than on the property as a whole. In the Gordon Square district, the tax is $29.25 a linear foot. The district runs along Detroit Avenue from West 58th Street to West 73rd Street, as well as small distances down major cross streets such as West 65th Street.

The Ohio City SID, formally the Market District Improvement Corp., began its clean and safe program in April 2012. Its partner organization, Ohio City Inc., already is working on renewing and perhaps expanding the tax program, which expires in 2017.

The district currently covers the commercial area radiating from the corner of West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue. Tom McNair, executive director of Ohio City Inc., which serves the broader Ohio City neighborhood and provides support for the improvement district, said Ohio City property owners outside the SID boundaries are asking about an expansion that would include their properties.

“They’ve seen the success” in the district, he said.

“I certainly can see other parts of the (Ohio City) neighborhood where you could see this sort of service being performed — along Lorain Avenue, along Detroit Avenue,” McNair said. “It’s something that folks have mentioned to us that they like the services provided in the (SID). Those are ongoing conversations.”

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Company keeps media on point with audience With help of TopicPulse software, Futuri has doubled its workforce and moved into new downtown space

By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com

Turns out, some newsrooms will pay good money to know that women between the ages of 35 and 45 are sharing a story about piglets escaping from an overturned semitrailer.

Daniel Anstandig knows this.

His company, Futuri Media, has doubled in size over the past year. That growth pushed the company — formerly known as Listener Driven Radio — to leave Rocky River for a larger office in Cleveland’s Gateway District in January.

A software product called TopicPulse has driven a lot of that growth. More than 130 newsrooms, mostly radio and TV stations, use the software to identify what topics and news stories their core audience is talking about on social media. For instance, the great piglet escape near Xenia generated more online interest than any other general news story related to Ohio last month, according to TopicPulse.

Stories about the escape were shared more than 25 million times on social media and other websites, and they got picked up by nearly 1,500 online news sources.

With help from TopicPulse, as well as an increased focus on custom mobile app development, Futuri grew from 20 to 40 employees over the past year. About 25 of those employees work at the company’s new headquarters in the Brownell building, an old schoolhouse located just east of Progressive Field.

Big media companies have latched onto TopicPulse. A “large number” of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, which used to be

known as Clear Channel, use the software, “and they add more every quarter,” according to Anstandig. The TV division of E.W. Scripps Co. uses TopicPulse at several of its stations as well. And a few big players in the radio business, such as the Total Traffic and Weather Network, sell the software alongside other products.

At the same time, broadcasters are pouring money into mobile app development. That trend has paid off for Futuri: The company has created a total of 165 custom mobile apps, up from roughly 80 in early 2014.

“Now it’s a critical part of a broadcast operator’s strategy,” Anstandig said.

He expects Futuri’s growth to accelerate now that it is big enough to make “more sub-

stantial” investments.

For instance, it is hunting for other companies to buy. Futuri recently started working with Sonenshine Partners, an investment bank in New York, to identify technology companies in the media industry that might make for good acquisition targets.

The company also spent roughly a quarter of a million dollars turning 10,000 square feet on the first floor of the Brownell Building into a facility fit for a high-tech company.

“Everything you see here is brand new,” he said. “We redid the floors, the ceiling, the walls. We put a lot of technology into the building.”

Being able to make those kinds of investments is a new feeling for Anstandig. Sure, he

raised money from a few local investors — Lee Zapis and Rich Bongorno, both of whom are executives with Zapis Capital Group — back when he started Listener Driven Radio in 2009.

But otherwise, the company has been entirely funded by profits. So, for the first few years, Anstandig focused on selling one product, which is called Listener Driven Radio, a tool that allows listeners to pick the songs that play on the radio. And he focused on selling it in the United States.

Now he’s “thinking much bigger and broader.” For instance, this summer, Futuri is translating TopicPulse into Spanish, French, Italian, Norwegian and Swedish.

“We’ve started to get more strategic about how we grow the company long term,” he said.

TopicPulse is used by several local radio stations, including every station owned by iHeartMedia. And if you want to see its influence on local TV news, check out ABC at 4 p.m. on any given weekday. TopicPulse helps WEWS-TV select stories that run on a program called The Now, which “focuses on what’s hot and happening in Cleveland,” according to NewsNet5.com.

TopicPulse is “a really smart tool” that serves multiple purposes, according to Jeff Harris, news director at WEWS. For instance, the station uses TopicPulse to hunt for local stories that are getting traction with a wide range of people. It also uses the software to gauge how much interest its own stories generate on social media and elsewhere on the web.

“You can actually track each and every story,” he said.

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What’s the payoff when it comes to data centers?

They aren’t big employers, but some say benefits justify tax breaks

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Data centers don’t employ that many people, but the state of Ohio is recruiting them with tax incentives anyway.

Why would it want to do that?

The answer is complex. Job creation is just one part of it. Increased tax revenue is another. And some people say that data centers — essentially high-tech warehouses that power massive amounts of computer equipment — can help a community attract other high-tech businesses.

One of those people is Ted Griffith, managing director of information technology for JobsOhio.

One of the private nonprofit economic development group’s goals is to turn Ohio into “The Big Data Hub of the Midwest,” according to its website. Part of that effort involves recruiting data centers to the state.

A few companies have taken the bait, including Amazon.

One of its subsidiaries plans to build multiple data centers in the Columbus area. Another company, ByteGrid, recently opened the first phase of what could become a huge data center on the eastern edge of downtown Cleveland.

Griffith argues that attracting data centers could help Ohio attract and retain other businesses — especially those that process large amounts of data, be they major corporations or software companies that sell products that live on the Internet.

Being closer to the data center they use means they can process data faster and easily send in-house tech experts to work on their computer systems.

“IT departments do like to be near the data center,” Griffith said.

Big data, small employment It’s hard to find statistics to support that idea, but other people who spoke with Crain’s made similar comments.

For instance, several local companies have moved out-of-state data center operations into space that SecureData 365 is leasing inside of ByteGrid’s Cleveland facility, according to Ernie Blood, CEO of the Canton-based data center operator.

Data centers do create some jobs within their own walls, but many only employ 10, 20 or 30 people, even if they houses millions of dol-

lars worth of equipment.

For example, the state of Ohio gave ByteGrid a sales tax credit with an estimated value of $5.6 million.

In return, the Virginia-based company is required to invest $100 million into its 330,000-square-foot Cleveland data center by the end of 2018. But it’s only required to create 20 jobs.

Amazon is tasked with creating 120 full-time jobs, but that’s for three data centers. And it received $81 million in tax credits, which it will receive as it makes purchases in Ohio and hires employees.

Those jobs, however, may not present the full picture.

A few local data center operators have told Crain’s that they spend a lot of money with independent contractors.

BlueBridge Networks in Cleveland has 15 employees, but on any given day, the company will use just as many contractors, according to CEO Kevin Goodman.

Blood made a similar point. He noted that nearly 200 IT employees are registered to work in SecureData’s Canton data center, including employees, contractors and clients.

That foot traffic exists because data centers are packed with equipment that needs to be maintained, Griffith noted. Think generators, batteries and massive air conditioners.

“These facilities require a lot of ongoing care,” Griffith said.

A study paid for by Facebook tried to estimate exactly how many jobs the company created in North Carolina, after building a data center in Forest City, a small town in the Appalachian foothills.

First, the basics: The study estimates that Facebook’s ongoing operational expenditures resulted in 230 jobs. That includes data center employees and jobs that it supports at other North Carolina companies — even the local utility that provides power to the data center.

But Facebook also spent $526 million to build and equip that data center between 2011 and 2013. That spending supported 2,600 jobs, according to the study, which was conducted by RTI International.

The final tally? 5,000 jobs — if you throw in the multiplier effect that economists often use to estimate the ripple effects created when Facebook’s employees and suppliers spend money in North Carolina.

But here are some numbers that don’t involve estimates and multipliers.

Facebook paid about $867,000 in

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taxes to the state of North Carolina in 2013, including income taxes from data center employees. It paid another $198,000 in property taxes to Forest City and Rutherford County.

Ready for the big time?

Of course, your tax revenue goes down when you give out tax incentives.

But states that want to compete for data centers need to offer them, according to Kevin Malinowski, a Cleveland-based real estate consultant with CBRE’s global data center solutions group.

“In order to compete, you really have to have the incentive component,” he said.

So can Ohio compete?

Yes, according Malinowski and others interviewed for this story.

The state generally has competitive power rates — which is key for data centers, given how much electricity they consume. Plus, data centers are expected to keep their computers running, all day, every day, which means they like states where people don’t worry about hurricanes and earthquakes.

And lately, Ohio’s incentive structure has improved. JobsOhio pushed the state to rewrite a law regarding incentives for data centers.

Now, companies that build data centers in Ohio can share the tax credits they receive with their tenants.

Plus, to get state incentives, data centers are now only required to maintain an annual payroll of $1.5 million, down from $5 million.

CBRE considers Ohio an “emerging market.”

It doesn’t have as many data centers as markets like northern Virginia, Silicon Valley or New York City, but it can compete, according to Malinowski.

However, the Columbus area has a few advantages over the Cleveland area, he said.

Ohio’s capitol city has a larger number of undeveloped green fields. And Cleveland’s landscape contains a few features that data centers try to avoid, just in case a disaster occurs.

“They like to be away from rail.

They like to be away from heavy industry,” Malinowski said.

But a lot of data centers are being built these days, so Cleveland will be able to attract some of them, he said.

“It’s eventually going to happen,” he added.

Volume 36, Number 27 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2015 by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: $2.00. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Crain’s Cleveland Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48207-2912. 1-877-824-9373.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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7

Texas expansion is ‘win-win’ for MVP Plastics

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com

MVP Plastics Inc. in Middlefield is taking a big step this month by setting up shop in Texas.

By opening a plant in Brownsville, Texas, the automotive supplier will become more “strategic” to its customers with operations in Mexico, said MVP Plastics president and CEO Darrell L. McNair.

That will help the company’s Ohio plant, too, he said, as customers like to maintain strong relationships with their supply chains.

Suppliers that are near site for customers will become preferred suppliers, McNair said, and the whole business will benefit.

“It’s a win-win,” McNair said.

MVP Plastics is a custom injection molder that primarily makes interior parts for vehicles. McNair has seen MVP Plastics through a lot of changes since buying the company with a private equity partner in 2000. He bought out the partner in 2008 and consolidated the company’s plants (originally in Mesopotamia and Champion) into one in Newton Falls in 2009 while weathering the recession. By 2012, MVP Plastics was starting to see the economy and its customer base strengthening and needed a larger plant. McNair bought the existing plant at 15005 Enterprise Way in Middlefield and moved the company there.

Now, it’s time to grow again. The company used to have a strategic alliance with a company in Texas, but that was dissolved in 2013. The new Brownsville plant will be right across the border from Mexico, where many automakers have operations.

“It was an area that was near site and provides access to a lot of the northern Mexican market,” McNair said.

The Texas investment is being driven by customer demand, McNair said, and it’s a “significant step” for MVP Plastics. He declined to share the company’s revenue, but said he’s expecting it to double with the addition of the Texas plant.

The automotive industry has been strong the past four or five years.

“Our industry is a growing industry,” McNair said.

MVP Plastics is investing about $1 million into the new plant for machinery, building improvements and the lease itself, McNair said.

The plant is about 30,000 square feet, slightly smaller than the 35,000-square-foot plant in Middlefield.

By next year, Middlefield and Brownsville should each have 16 pieces of equipment and a press range of 80 ton to 750 ton.

But the Texas plant won’t employ as many people.

There are about 65 employees in Middlefield, in both the office and on the plant floor. Brownsville is expected to have about 15 employees by the end of this year and 25 to 30 at the end of year two. The plant is expected to launch at the end of July.

Feliciano (Felix) Garcia will be the engineering manager in the Brownsville plant. He’s currently overseeing setup of the operation in Texas, where the company is installing machinery and making sure

everything in the building is up to code.

Garcia said he joined the company in January because he saw its growth potential and the opportunity to contribute to new projects.

He spent his first two months in the Ohio plant, getting to know the staff and the culture. The company wants the two plants to work as a team, he said.

MVP Plastics also is in the middle of creating a strategic alliance in Dongguan, China, McNair said, though he declined to identify the partner. He said that alliance would be complete in the third quarter.

McNair said he set a plan for

growth at MVP Plastics about five years ago that focused on acquisitions, geographic expansion and customer diversification — and the company has been hitting all of those goals. Its last acquisition was in 2012, and it looks for companies that complement what MVP already does. The plan is updated every year to reflect market changes, he said.

Since about 2012, McNair has been working with the Minority Business Development Agency Business Center in Cleveland, said executive director Raland Hatchett.

The company’s potential to grow is “exponential,” based on

the types of products MVP Plastics can make, Hatchett said. The agency connected McNair with its San Antonio global business development center, which helped him get in touch with the right economic development people in Texas.

“He has the business acumen to manage a successful business and understand what it takes to stay competitive in this global economy,” Hatchett said.

McNair said he’s looking to expand the company’s business in the health care, energy and appliance markets, in all of which it already makes some products.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MVP produces the silver circle on Dodge Viper steering wheel covers.

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BeaconCFO is setting quick pace, thriving on home base Business from private equity firms is sparking fast growth

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JULY 6 - 12, 2015

It was just after 8 p.m. on a Thursday when Thomas Gentile received a call from a Cleveland private equity firm, which needed a new CFO for a prominent wood products manufacturer in the Southeast that it had just acquired.

By midnight, the contract was sent. (Gentile declined to name specific companies.) A CFO with nearly 40 years of experience was secured before the weekend and was in place, in person, the following Monday.

“We needed to react quickly,” said Gentile, a co-founding partner of BeaconCFO Plus in Beachwood.

“We need to have speed, capacity and quality. And from the private equity standpoint, that’s really our niche.”

cause those firms aren’t as active or present in Columbus as they are here. Focus also found it too “litigious,” he added. But his group joined Focus in 2010 fully expecting to see business opportunities there.

“There came a point when we wanted to develop more work with private equity groups, of which Cleveland has many,” said cofounding partner Bob Boyce.

“But we want to be able to cover both ways of going to market.”

By 2013, private equity was actively coming to Beacon. A year later, the partners were ready to run the business on their own.

The firm has nine professionals now at an average age of about 60, each with at least 35 years of CFO experience.

And Beacon intends to hire a couple more next year, Gentile

“Cleveland is the whole package without all the hassles of a much larger city. And I’ve lived here (nearly) all my life. I feel like I owe a debt to this community because it’s been so good to me. The best way I can repay that, I believe, is if I can help create jobs or secure jobs here.”

– Thomas Gentile co-founding partner, BeaconCFO Plus

A focus on private equity and project-based contracts, a combination unique to CFO service firms in Ohio, is a growing strategy today for Beacon.

The firm’s business is currently about 75% in recurring CFO services and 25% contracts with private equity-owned businesses transitioning operations following a recent transaction.

Gentile and other partners formed Beacon in December, splitting away from Columbus-based FocusCFO, which exclusively provides recurring CFO services.

Gentile and two others took an ownership position in the central Ohio company in late 2010, but his team saw opportunities to work with Cleveland’s private equity market.

Beacon’s current office in Beachwood marked Focus’ northern Ohio presence — where the firm centered largely on manufacturers — before Gentile and other partners left their equity stake at Focus and bought back their books of business.

Gentile said Focus wasn’t interested in the private equity line be-

said, noting it’s already near full capacity for its CFO team, which mostly works with companies within an hour of Ohio but sends CFOs across the country as needed, considering the often-national scope of deals for Cleveland’s private equity firms.

“Our goal is to get everybody busy three days a week,” Gentile said, noting there would be a capacity to handle 40 accounts in total with eight CFOs working with a different company every day of the week. Gentile himself focuses specifically on business development.

“We’re at that point right now.

The capacity is right there,” he said. “We thought we’d have some people at three days a week, but not everybody.”

While declining to disclose specific revenues, Gentile said the firm is ahead of its mid-year projections and now forecasts a 20%30% revenue increase over 2014.

The growth so far this year has come largely from strong activity in manufacturing and logistics through the second quarter.

Boyce said the team is com-

CRAIN’S BLOGS

posed not of retirees looking to keep busy with a couple projects, but rather veteran CFOs who want to keep working full-time, just not at the 80-hour-a-week pace and with perhaps a bit less traveling.

Boyce, for instance, a native of England, worked 27 years with BP before coming to his “adopted” home in Akron, where his wife is from.

Regional approach Beacon focuses on companies between $2 million and $50 million in sales, with the bulk of contracts centered on companies with $30 million in revenue. Those contracts are often for indefinite periods.

“They tend to have technical heads … who know cash flow is an issue, but they’re not exactly sure how to drive it,” Gentile said.

On the private equity side, Beacon still focuses on mostly middlemarket-minded firms — larger firms often have their own staff to inject into executive roles like a CFO. Those contracts tend to be for between two to six months.

Of the 30-plus private equity firms around Cleveland, Gentile estimates Beacon works with eight to 10.

“Our goal is to grow this and grow it substantially,” Gentile said.

Additional offices aren’t currently in the works, and neither are acquisitions, but additional hires are. Beyond marketing efforts, additional growth will likely come via alliances with other related professional service groups with which Beacon can share business prospects.

The partners envision a Midwest alliance, Gentile said. They’re already working with a firm in Chicago and are in talks with a Detroit group about a similar relationship.

Gentile, a Northeast Ohio native and graduate of both Cleveland State and John Carroll universities, said he’s committed to staying here and focusing on this region.

“Cleveland is the whole package without all the hassles of a much larger city,” Gentile said.

“And I’ve lived here (nearly) all my life. I feel like I owe a debt to this community because it’s been so good to me.

“The best way I can repay that, I believe, is if I can help create jobs or secure jobs here.

“And where is job growth? It’s with the companies of the size we’re talking about.”

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JULY 6 - 12, 2015

PUBLISHER:

John Campanelli (jcampanelli@crain.com) EDITOR:

Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com) MANAGING EDITOR:

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

OPINION

Next step Some would say that the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage puts Ohio on equal ground with the rest of the country when it comes to attracting and retaining the best and brightest to live and work here.

Not quite. Ohio now needs to enact statues that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the workplace and elsewhere. Equal marriage rights in every state takes away the disadvantage that burdened Ohio because of its Constitutional amendment essentially telling same sex couples that they’re unwelcomed. But it’s not enough.

The threat of discrimination on the job is real for the LGBT community. UCLA’s Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy found that anywhere from 15% to 43% of LGBT workers have experienced some form of discrimination on the job.

The numbers are even more sobering for transgender workers, with 90% reporting some form of workplace harassment or mistreatment.

Ohio currently is one of 28 states that does not explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. That means as an LGBT person, there is no law in Ohio to protect you from being fired from your job, evicted from your apartment or even kicked out of a restaurant. That’s enough to make a highly qualified candidate think twice before accepting an Ohio employer’s job offer.

Ohio needs to take the next step to ensure we are providing equality in the workplace by adding sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under its civil rights laws.

A small feat Small businesses power our economy, employing about half of the private sector workforce in the United States. Their value should not be underestimated. Over the past 15 years, small businesses have generated more than 60% of net new jobs.

But they have been slow to recover from the worst economic downturn in recent history. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland shows that job creation by small businesses has lagged.

That’s why we are pleased to see small-business tax relief included in the state budget that Gov. John Kasich signed last week. The two-year spending plan eliminates a portion of income tax for small businesses for the first $250,000 of business owner’s income, with a 3% flat-tax on business income above the $250,000 threshold beginning in tax year 2016.

Providing such relief will likely pay dividends as small businesses reinvest that money, employ more people and strengthen local economies.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Appreciating the bigger picture Two decades ago, I worked nights with news days are a pain for journalists, but a veteran newspaper editor who often for people and families, days without told the same joke as we searched the news are good days. wires for articles to fill the news holes Which brings us to Cleveland Mayor that popped up between editions.

Frank Jackson.

He talked about having a pre-written Jackson faces the same headaches and article ready to plug in that pushback that all big-city would describe another day mayors have to endure, from without the rapture. The complaints about potholes to headline would read, “World accusations that he is somedid not end yesterday.” how beholden to certain con“We could use it every day,” stituents, certain neighborhe’d say. hoods or certain members of The joke should have gotten the business community. Like old quickly. It was absurd. Of all mayors, he is blamed for course the world didn’t end. the bad and ignored for the The sun didn’t turn into a red good. giant, either. And unicorns did- JOHN Jackson gets mostly strong n’t rise out of the sea. Did we CAMPANELLI support in the business comwant to put that in the paper, munity, and there’s a good too? reason: He acts more like a CEO than a Yet the joke was kind of profound. politician. A pretty good CEO, too.

If you think about it — and we rarely Since we are well into his third term, we do — we all walk the Earth on a thread, may have forgotten what other big cities trusting scores of people, from world deal with: mayors who are politicians first leaders to airline pilots to drivers mergand CEOs second or third (or worse). ing into traffic on I-90, to hold off the end Jackson doesn’t do political theater. of our own personal worlds.

No grandstanding, credit-taking or miThat tired joke always gave me a mocrophone-grabbing. Some people actument to think about that and to celebrate ally complain that he is not spending not the good news that happened but enough time in the limelight. the bad news that didn’t happen. Slow He’s chosen pragmatism over oppor-

tunism, strategizing over speaking too soon. His methodical style of community engagement, almost always done without cameras or microphones around, works. One of the reasons is that Jackson is almost unrealistically real, using just one persona no matter who is in the room. What you see is what you get.

His most significant leadership stumble (and the biggest danger to his legacy) is the police mess, yet he seems to be approaching the city’s agreement with the Department of Justice not as a penalty but as an opportunity for Cleveland to become a model for the rest of the nation.

That’s the work of a solid CEO. Like any city, Cleveland has plenty of problems and challenges. But no one can deny that the trajectory of the city under Jackson has been a steady upward slope.

Other mayors deliver more personality, more magnetism and more eloquence. But they also deliver more drama, more confrontation and more runaway political ambition.

Ask the citizens of Toronto, Baltimore and even Akron if they’d prefer the thoughtful — perhaps bland — style of Cleveland’s mayor.

And when it comes time to judge Jackson, let’s remember not only what happened during his tenure, but what didn’t.

TALK ON THE WEB Re: Dreams for a livelier lakefront This is a great step forward for our amazing city! Best of luck moving this forward!

— 197056 This is why I call it “BELIEVELAND.” — George Witherspoon

Re: Gene therapy companies grow Too many conservative wealthy Clevelanders just keep giving the old institutions the same old endowed chair when what they should really do is invest in these groundbreaking new fields of science.

We have such great potential right un-

der our noses.

A lot of these potential blockbuster treatments are just about to pop into successful cures, and they need our support NOW. A successful treatment will return a great profit and that in turn will allow even more generous giving.

— James Shellenburger

Re: Diversity at law firms So long as the Big Law firms remain stupid enough to select their new lawyers from the top 5% of law school graduates, without even examining other applicants, the firms will keep hiring the same old people — compliant, docile, white men and women who have learned to keep their noses clean,

who have learned to look at life as a series of boxes to be checked, and who will never embarrass the firm (nor ever do anything important other than making a lot of money for their clients and themselves).

We attorneys of different stripes, of different backgrounds, often prevail against Big Law-trained lawyers because they are so removed from the real world.

More than once, I have had to give directions to the restrooms in the Justice Center to Big Law attorneys.

That’s so, so sad.

Their handlers haven’t even let them come to court that often.

Don’t let the Big Law firms fool you — the best lawyers in town are not working for them.

— Cleveland Bill

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GOING PLACES

11

Send information for Going Places to dhillyer@crain.com

JOB CHANGES Financial Service BELLMARK PARTNERS LLC: Alex Hildebrandt to vice president; Chris Yike and Tony Dotson to associates.

MELCAP PARTNERS: Matthew J. Roberts to associate; Matthew M. Sweet to analyst.

Behn

Ketterer

Koblentz

Miggins

Donnelly

Mlakar

Hackenberg

Zucca

Hospitality EXECUTIVE CATERERS: Melissa Marik to vice president, business development.

MANUFACTURING TIMKEN CO.: Doug Behn to director of global accounting and external reporting.

Nonprofits SISTERS OF CHARITY FOUNDATION: Lowell Perry Jr. to director, Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood.

UNIVERSITY CIRCLE INC.: James G. Repicky to chief of police.

Real Estate BASS OHIO REAL ESTATE: David Lyons to senior vice president, finance; David Matthews to senior vice president, sales.

Staffing DIRECT RECRUITERS: Danielle Ketterer to project manager, health care IT practice.

Technology BLUEBRIDGE: Ron Eckart to systems engineer; Joseph Michael to account executive.

OECONNECTION: Gary Coveyou to national accounts manager.

BOARDS CLEVELAND-MARSHALL LAW

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: Kevin M. Butler to president; Gregory F. Clifford to president-elect; Tim L. Collins to vice president; Michelle L. Paris to secretary; John C. Calabrese to treasurer; James P. Sammon to immediate past president.

& Bernstein Co. LPA) received Alumni of the Year Awards; Jonathan Witmer-Rich (Cleveland Marshall College of Law) received the Wilson G. Stapleton Award for Faculty Excellence.

ALCOHOL, DRUG ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES BOARD OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY: Leslie Koblentz, M.D., (St. Vincent Charity Medical Center) received the Mental Health Professional of the Year Award.

CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN BAR ASSOCIATION: Judge Michael P. Donnelly (Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court) received the Honorable William K. Thomas Professionalism Award; Honorable Dan Aaron Polster (United States District Court) received the Justice for All Volunteer of the Year Award; Hugh E. McKay (Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP) and Ginger F. Mlakar (The Cleveland Foundation) received the President’s Award.

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS CLEVELAND SECTION: Lynn S. Miggins (KS Associates Inc.) received the Outstanding Civil Engineer of the Year Award.

OHIO HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: I. James Hackenberg (Baker, Hackenberg and Henning Co. LPA) received the 2015 Dr. Eli Crew Community Service Excellence Award.

CLEVELAND-MARSHALL LAW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: Judge Nancy R. McDonnell (Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court) and Patrick J. Perotti (Dworken

OHIO SOCIETY OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS: Linda Zucca (Kent State University) received the Outstanding Ohio Accounting Educator Award.

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Cody Allen

Christine Blake

Boone High School, Orlando, Fla.; 2007

Lake Catholic, Mentor; 1986

Extracurriculars: Allen played football and was Boone’s starting quarterback. He said he considered quitting baseball in favor of football during his freshman and sophomore years, but he stuck with it — which proved to be a wise move.

Other fun facts: Allen was on the homecoming court as a freshman, but his fraternal twin, Chad, took his place on the court for their last three years of high school. Chad Allen also was voted the funniest boy in the class. “He was more popular,” Cody said.

Extracurriculars: Cheerleading

Craig Boise

Akram Boutros

Sherrod Brown

Zack Bruell

Jane Campbell

Lathrop High School, Lathrop, Mo.; 1982

Hillcrest High School, Jamaica, Queens, N.Y.; 1979

Mansfield Senior High, Mansfield; 1970

Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights; 1971

Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights; 1971

Extracurriculars: Golf Fun facts: “My (draft) lottery number was 31; learning to drive a stick shift on my friend’s dad’s Volkswagen and not getting hit by the Shaker Rapid.”

Extracurriculars: Field hockey, basketball, synchronized swimming Fun facts: The student council election occurred right after Gov. James Rhodes ordered the National Guard to fire at Kent State, and we had a big walkout led by then senior John Lawson (class of 1970), whose dad was the superintendent of Shaker schools. We rallied at Plymouth Church. The Students for a Democratic Society was a recognized extracurricular activity with a photo in the yearbook.

Extracurriculars: Band, marching band, jazz band, National Honor Society, Future Farmers of America (chapter treasurer) Fun facts: “I spent my summers during high school on my uncle's working ranch in western Nebraska riding horses, branding calves, fixing fences, baling and hauling hay.”

Extracurriculars: Art, chess, tutoring Other fun facts: “Ray Ramano and Fran Drescher went to the same high school. I designed the senior T-shirt and senior button.”

Extracurriculars: Left-handed pitcher, centerfielder for Mansfield Tygers; guard for basketball team; president of student council; officer in the Black History Club; Key Club Fun facts: Worked on the family farm in summers milking Guernseys and baling hay; Eagle Scout; organized first Earth Day celebration in the city of Mansfield on April 22, 1970.

Tom Embrescia

August Fluker

Marcia Fudge

Hiroyuki Fujita

Allison Grealis

Warrensville Heights High School, Warrensville Heights; 1964

John Marshall High School, Cleveland; 1981

Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights; 1971

Unebi High School, Nara, Japan; 1984

Our Lady of the Elms, Akron; 1993

Extracurriculars: Varsity basketball (four years); Halle Department Store Fashion Council; president, freshman class Fun facts: Embrescia received a sports/scholarship offer to Brown University but, “I was so parochial that I didn’t even know it was an Ivy League school — plus I had never traveled, and it was in Providence, Rhode Island,” he said. He opted instead to go to Bowling Green State University, where he met his wife of 46 years. “Life has a way of making things work out,” he said.

Extracurriculars: Junior varsity football, math tutor, National Honor Society Fun facts: Voted most likely to succeed; prettiest eyes

Extracurriculars: Many sports, basketball, fencing, track and field, volleyball, field hockey Fun facts: “In high school, I loved dancing. I was also very outgoing.”

Extracurriculars: Soccer, tennis, piano, jogging Fun facts: “My nickname was Daibutsu (Big Buddha in Japanese).”

Extracurriculars: Tennis, yearbook, liturgy committee, social action group, student government Fun facts: “I was voted most likely to name my first born John Kennedy (I had a huge crush at the time on the sadly now-deceased JFK Jr. and surprisingly I did name my only son John), and most likely to own a tissue/Kleenex manufacturing facility as I endlessly was suffering from allergies year-round (funny that I now find myself in the manufacturing sector).”

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Cody Allen

Christine Blake

Relief pitcher, Cleveland Indians

President, CEO; Cardinal Credit Union

Advice you would give to your 18-year-old self: Keep working. “I had some success in high school, and obviously went to college to play baseball and have reached the big leagues,” Allen said. “But our game is so competitive that all along the way there are people competing with you, and you have to outwork them.” (The Tribe’s closer was the first member of the 2011 draft class to reach the major leagues.)

“My best advice is to come to work early, work harder than your colleagues, ask for additional projects, offer help consistently and do your very best.”

Craig Boise

Dr. Akram Boutros

Sen. Sherrod Brown

Zack Bruell

Jane Campbell

Dean; Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

President, CEO; The MetroHealth System

U.S. senator

“You’re going to make mistakes in life — everyone does, and that’s OK. Just learn from them and keep your focus forward, not backward.

Never lose your intellectual curiosity, your desire to explore the world and your willingness to question the orthodox.”

“It doesn’t matter where you start, but how fast you can improve.”

“When you go off to school, take on the things that scare you. (And remember: Everyone around you is just as insecure as you are.)”

Restaurateur; Parallax, L’Albatros, Table 45, Chinato, Cowell & Hubbard, Dynomite, Kafeteria

First female mayor of Cleveland; former state representative and Cuyahoga County commissioner; currently, director of the Washington office for Public Policy and Advocacy, National Development Council

Tom Embrescia

August Fluker

Marcia Fudge

Hiroyuki Fujita

Allison Grealis

Chairman; Second Generation Ltd.

Principal; City Architecture

President, CEO; Quality Electrodynamics

“Do something I enjoy so it is not work but fun, and, however possible, own the business so that my destiny is in my own hands.”

“Be less serious.”

U.S. representative; former mayor, Warrensville Heights

Vice president of membership and association services, Precision Metalforming Association; president, Women in Manufacturing

“Be patient; it’s a marathon, not a sprint! Appreciate the moment before it slips away!”

“You should have gone to law school after all — you would have more choices later on; these friends are precious — stay in touch with them because you shared a part of your life that nobody else will understand; your parents really do love you and that is the greatest gift of all.

Recognize how fortunate you are and thank them occasionally. ...”

“Work hard and play hard. Life is short, and we must make the most of it.”

“Even if you do not know now what you want to do in the future, do not worry. Just do your best at the things in front of you, one step at a time.

Everything will be fine.”

“Advice I would give to my 18-year-old self would be to pursue a career that you are passionate about (which I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to do and genuinely love coming to work each day) and be yourself, quirks and all, and don’t change for anyone.”

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Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, current U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Malta, Cleveland Heights High School Vanessa Bayer, current “Saturday Night Live” cast member, Orange High School Carter L. Bays, creator and executive producer, “How I Met Your Mother,” Shaker Heights High School

Mary Jordan, reporter for the Washington Post and co-winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism, Saint Joseph Academy Cardale Jones, college football player, Glenville High School Clark Kellogg, former NBA player, Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School

Halle Berry, actress, Bedford High School

Don King, boxing promoter, John Adams High School

Chris Broussard, sports journalist, Holy Name High School Earl Boykins, former NBA player, Cleveland Central Catholic Eric Carmen, singer-songwriter, Charles F. Brush High School, Lyndhurst Nick Caserio, New England Patriots director of player personnel, University School Dick Celeste, Ohio governor, Lakewood High School Gary Cohn, president/COO of Goldman, Sachs & Co., Gilmour Academy Tim Conway, actor, Chagrin Falls High School Tom Cousineau, former NFL player, St. Edward High School Larry Dolan, former owner, Cleveland Indians, Saint Ignatius High School Phil Donahue, television talk show host, St. Edward High School Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, “All the Light We Cannot See,” University School Lee Evans, former NFL player, Bedford High School Chuck Findley, former lead trumpet of the NBC Orchestra & the Tonight Show Band, Maple Heights High School London Fletcher, former NFL player, Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School Brad Friedel, U.S. National soccer team goalkeeper, Bay High School Jason Garrett, former NFL quarterback and offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, Dallas Cowboys, and current head coach of the Cowboys, University School Ted Ginn Jr., NFL player, Glenville High School Bob Golic, former NFL player, Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School Mike Golic, former NFL player, Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser, Charles F. Brush High School Arsenio Hall, TV personality, Warrensville Heights High School Steve Harvey, actor and comedian, Glenville High School Mike Hegan, TV and radio announcer, Cleveland Indians, former MLB player, Saint Ignatius High School

JULY 6 - 12, 2015

LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School

LeCharles Bentley, former NFL player, Saint Ignatius High School

Jim Brickman, musician, Shaker Heights High School

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

Albert Green

Lynn-Ann Gries

Marcie Goodman

Blue Mountain Academy, Hamburg, Pa.; 1983

Columbia High School, Maplewood, N.J.; 1980

Beachwood High School, Beachwood; 1973 (but don’t tell)

Extracurriculars: “Sports of every and any kind!”

Extracurriculars: Ballet (“Seriously, it’s all I did ... six days/week,” she said.)

Fun facts: Talk about coincidence — Lynn-Ann Gries’ maiden name was Ries. So, it looks like there’s a weird typo in her high school yearbook.

Extracurriculars: Yearbook editor Fun facts: “I got to drive around in my mom’s Camaro.”

Ned Hill

Deborah Hoover

John Hughes

Canterbury School, New Milford, Conn.; 1970

Manchester Central High School, Manchester N.H.; Philips Exeter Summer Program (1972); 1973

Lincoln High School, Gahanna; 2007

Jenne Lombardo, founder of MADE Fashion Week, Hathaway Brown School Oliver Luck, former NFL player, former West Virginia athletic director and father of current NFL star Andrew Luck, Saint Ignatius High School Nick Mileti, former owner, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indians, John Adams High School Barb Mucha, professional golfer and former LPGA Tour member, Valley Forge High School Eric Musselman, NBA head coach, Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Terrence O’Donnell, Ohio Supreme Court Justice, St. Edward High School Roger Penske, race car driver, team owner, Shaker Heights High School Rich Paul, NBA agent, Benedictine High School Monica Potter, television and film star, Euclid High School Alan Ruck, actor (played Cameron Frye in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”), Parma Senior High School Anthony and Joe Russo, writers, directors and producers, “Welcome to Collinwood,” “Arrested Development,” “Community,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Benedictine High School Bradley Sellers, former NBA player, current mayor of Warrensville Heights, Warrensville Heights High School

Extracurriculars: “The usual: being mediocre in sports. Track was great! If you are slow (as I was) and you like running you got to play longer. Best was distance training, take along a dollar or two, run to the Dairy Bar and have a milkshake, head back to practice, coaches knew what we were up to and then made you run sprints.”

Extracurriculars: Avid skier, swimmer, trained lifesaver, actress, drama club officer, ballet student, newspaper reporter, student government, hospital volunteer, artist, National Honor Society, church youth group Fun facts: “I was a politically savvy teenager due to the parade of pre-primary presidential candidates that dropped by our school!”

Extracurriculars: Varsity letterman in football, basketball, track and field. He competed in the shot put.

Fun facts: In what turned out to be a spot-on prediction, Hughes was named Most Likely to Become a Professional Athlete. Hughes stayed in the Buckeye State by accepting a scholarship to play football at the University of Cincinnati, and he continued the all-Ohio trend when he was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft.

Robert Smith, former NFL football player, Euclid High School John W. Snow, 73rd U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Gilmour Academy George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC’s “This Week,” senior political adviser, press secretary and communications director for U.S. President Bill Clinton, Orange High School Steve Stone, former MLB All-Star pitcher, Cy Young Award winner, Charles F. Brush High School Michael Symon, restaurateur, television host, St. Edward High School Tina Tchen, First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, Beachwood High School Jim Tressel, former Ohio State football coach and current president of Youngstown State, Berea High School Tom Weiskopf, professional golfer, Benedictine High School

Patricia Heaton, actress, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” Bay High School

Bill Watterson, creator of comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, Chagrin Falls High School

Desmond Howard, former NFL player, Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School

Donte Whitner, NFL player, Glenville High School

Brian Hoyer, NFL player, Saint Ignatius High School

Dave Zastudil, NFL punter, Bay High School

Alex Johnson

Peter Lawson Jones

Allie (Clifton) Kalsow

Concord High School, Concord, N.C.; 1967

Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights; 1971

Van Wert High School, Van Wert; 2006

Extracurriculars: Choir, yearbook, student newspaper, intramural basketball, football, Sunday School superintendent Fun facts: Classmates thought he was most likely to be a preacher.

Extracurriculars: Student council; sports editor, The Shakerite; varsity track (two-year letterman); varsity football Fun facts: “When no African-American students made the cheerleading team, controversy ensued and the principal asked me to chair a committee to address the issue. We devised what we thought was a quite fair and reasonable solution. Apparently, not everyone agreed, and I received my first unpleasant missive from a ‘constituent.’ Welcome, PLJ, to the world of politics!”

Extracurriculars: Volleyball, basketball, track and field, student council, French club, the Beta club (an academic leadership and service group), sportsmanship committee Fun facts: She was voted the most athletic by her senior class and received the Chuck Thompson Scholar Athlete Award. Her father, Bill Clifton, was the school’s principal.

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HOW BAD IS THAT LEAK?

Albert Green

Lynn-Ann Gries

Marcie Goodman

CEO, Kent Displays Inc.

Seed stage investor/consultant

Advice you would give to your 18-year-old self: “Be bold, be creative, be persistent, respect the past — but don’t live in it.”

“When you graduate from college take a job that ignites your passion even if it pays very little, you’ll work harder and climb faster when you love what you do and, eventually, the money part will take care of itself.”

Executive director, Cleveland International Film Festival “Memorize and live by Brené Brown’s Vulnerability Prayer — which can be found in her book, ‘Daring Greatly’ — ‘Give me the courage to show up and let myself be seen.’”

Keep your assets safe by taking the time to ensure that problems at the top of your building are not damaging your bottom line.

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CAREY

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MEMBER: National Roofing Contractors Association

What Can Your Address Do For Your Business?

Friday, August 7 IDEAS AT DAWN

7:00 - 10:00am Downtown Cleveland Oswald Conference Centre

PRESENTED BY

CrainsCleveland.com/Events Ned Hill

Deborah Hoover

John Hughes

Former dean, Maxine Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University; Professor of public affairs, Ohio State University

President, CEO; The Burton D. Morgan Foundation

Defensive lineman; Cleveland Browns

“Be bold — you are on the leading edge of the women’s movement!”

“Depend on yourself and put in the extra work when you’re young to prepare for your future.”

Because we understand your business…

“Follow your passion.”

Business Litigation Employment & Labor R e a l E s tatt e & C o n s t r u c t i o n Health & Medicine Tr u s t & E s t a t e s

...you sleep soundly Alex Johnson

Peter Lawson Jones

Allie (Clifton) Kalsow

President, Cuyahoga Community College

Attorney, actor and consultant; formerly a councilman, vice mayor of Shaker Heights and a Cuyahoga County commissioner

Cleveland Cavaliers reporter; Fox Sports Ohio

“Your parents and grandparents are willing to share their hard-won wisdom. Make the most of it. Listen to them and respect them, even if you don’t understand why at the time.”

“Savor every second of the wonderfully fulfilling life that will subsequently unfold, and don’t be in a hurry to flip the pages to see what lies ahead in the next chapter; it will get here much sooner than you could ever imagine. … Embrace and spend as much time as you can with your parents as one day you will regrettably find that they are not — as you thought – immortal. …

And, definitely get that pretty young lady whom you met at the Celery Stalk’s number!”

Your business is only as strong as the individuals who help it run smoothly. That’s why we make certain your business embodies an environment that is safe, compliant and supportive of your staff. You can sleep soundly knowing we represent, support, and protect you and your business.

“Live more, worry less, but ALWAYS stay true to you.”

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC • A Northeast Ohio Business Law Firm Akron • Canton • Cleveland bdblaw.com

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JULY 6 - 12, 2015

Stewart Kohl

James Levin

Caroline ‘Connie’ Luhta

Joe Marinucci

Darrell McNair

Leonia High School, Leonia, N.J.; 1973

Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights; 1971

Thomas W. Harvey High School, Painesville; 1948

Cathedral Latin High School, Cleveland; 1972

Downers Grove North, Downers Grove, Ill.; 1979

Extracurriculars: “Alternate club of misfits that we called a Cuban-styled socialistic government of friends.”

Extracurriculars: Y-Teen, social board, attendance board, cheering club, news bureau, National Honor Society, Le Masque, French club, Quill and Scroll, Harbinger staff, Anvil staff

Extracurriculars: Football, All-Crown linebacker, intramurals, junior class president, senior action committee, prom committee

Extracurriculars: Wrestling, golf Fun facts: “Nickname was Mac and was considered the baby of the bunch as I was 16 when I graduated. In high school I wrestled 98 pounds my first three years and 119 my senior year. I was nationally ranked and placed fourth in the Junior Nationals and fourth in the Junior Olympics (1979).”

Fred Nance

Dominic Ozanne

Steve Peplin

Saint Ignatius High School; 1971

Saint Ignatius High School, Cleveland; 1971

Extracurriculars: Football, track, Young Catholic Interracial Council Fun facts: Fastest guy in the school. (Nance ran track all four years, led in sprints, so his being fastest on the track team was “common knowledge,” he says.) He also was offered scholarships to Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

Extracurriculars: Homeroom representative; track; Ignatius Entertainment Association, member and president of the group that organized mixers; Radio Club Fun facts: As president of the Ignatius Entertainment Association his senior year, he handled tickets and money. He remembers meeting immediately after each mixer with Father Miday, the school’s treasurer, to reconcile tickets and receipts. Ozanne called meeting with the fiscally responsible priest, “a very valuable learning experience.”

The Cleveland Urban Learning Community (a part of Saint Ignatius in downtown Cleveland; it doesn’t exist anymore.) But, he said 95% of his high school time was spent at Bay High School in Bay Village; 1974

Radhika Reddy

Chris Ronayne

Natalie Ronayne

Saint Ann’s High School, Secunderabad, AP, India; 1975 (She completed 12th grade in India, where it is called intermediate college, and is equivalent to completing a U.S. high school senior year.)

Bay Village High School; 1986

Pymatuning Valley High School, Andover, Ohio; 1981

Extracurriculars: “Geek by day and hippie by night.”

Fun facts: One of the founders of the Leonia Alternative High School.

AT HOME. IN THE OFFICE. AT THE GYM. ON THE GO.

STAY CONNECTED. Facebook.com/CrainsCleveland | Twitter.com/CrainsCleveland Instagram.com/CrainsCleveland

Extracurriculars: Travel, cricket, table tennis, badminton, horse riding, biking Fun facts: She was youngest in her class and graduated at the age of 15 from 12th grade.

She was captain of her high school cricket team, and won medals in table tennis and badminton.

Extracurriculars: Captain, high school hockey team; Model UN; student newspaper editorial page editor (senior year); sports page co-editor (junior year).

Fun facts: Homecoming king, voted “Most Congenial”

Extracurriculars: Non-traditional … “We’ll leave it at that,” he said.

Fun facts: “High school nickname was ‘Pepliano.’ All of my high school friends have been very successful. I stay in touch with a ton of them.”

Extracurriculars: Band, cheerleading, Model UN, student council Fun facts: Elected student council president and started high school’s first environmental club

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Stewart Kohl

James Levin

Caroline ‘Connie’ Luhta

Joe Marinucci

Darrell McNair

Co-CEO; The Riverside Co.

Attorney; executive director, One World Festival

Trustee, Concord Township; president, board of directors, International Women’s Air & Space Museum, Cleveland; president, Concord Air Park, Painesville

President, CEO; Downtown Cleveland Alliance

President, CEO; MVP Plastics Inc.

Advice you would give to your 18-year-old self: “At some point a company named Apple will sell stock. Buy as much of it as you can.

Just trust me here.”

“Explore. Don’t worry about defining yourself too much right now. Take risks and open yourself to many flavors and opportunities and experiences. Stay away from corners. Be expansive.

Open yourself to the unimaginable gifts and offerings of the universe. Get a little bit dirty.

Knock the dust off. Fail. Be compassionate and generous and take the high road. It’s much more fun to give and create things than to worry about the material and collecting things.”

“Set high standards for yourself and work hard as it will make your challenges and competition seem that much easier.”

“I would tell myself to be honest, loyal, do your best in all endeavors, and you will be successful in life.”

Fred Nance

Dominic Ozanne

Steve Peplin

Regional managing partner; Squire Patton Boggs

President, CEO; Ozanne Construction Co.

CEO; Talan Products

“Study harder.”

“Work hard, make it look easy, keep reading a ton.”

Radhika Reddy

Chris Ronayne

Natalie Ronayne

Founding partner; Ariel Ventures LLC

President; University Circle Corp.

“At 18, I graduated with a bachelor’s in science, following the advice of my friends and parents to do medicine. But later knowing that I am better suited for business, I would advise me at 18 to understand my strengths and not follow others’ plans for me and to follow my own path.”

“Make your avocation your vocation.”

Executive vice president; Cleveland Botanical Garden

“You’re about to embark upon one marvelous adventure after another. Enjoy and cherish each one.”

“Explore your options. Keep as many of those options available as possible.”

“Do something to make the world a more beautiful place… and see more of it!”

17

phone: 216.298.9131s email: contact@zackbruellevents.com s view: zackbruellevents.com

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Scott Scarborough

Meredith Scerba

Connie Schultz

Baiju Shah

Karen Small

Ross S. Sterling High School, Baytown, Texas; 1981

Pinecrest High School, Southern Pines, N.C.; 1997

Ashtabula High School, Ashtabula; 1975

Mayfield High School, Mayfield; 1989

Extracurriculars: Swimming team. She was a state qualifier and team captain.

Fun facts: Scerba was the president of the Future Business Leaders of America, and she led the girls swimming team in points all four years.

Extracurriculars: Model UN, various academic competition teams (e.g., math, science, academic decathlons, etc.), benchwarmer on JV basketball team Fun facts: Skipped school to attend Indians home openers.

Beaumont School, Cleveland Heights; 1972

Extracurriculars: Football, baseball, debate team Fun facts: Elected governor of the Texas American Legion Boys State Program

Extracurriculars: Junior and senior class president, student senator, yearbook, newspaper, literary magazine, choir, Thespian Club Fun facts: “Cheerleader, but only for one year because, to my horror, the boys cheered loudest when they could see my tights. ... Also, I was on the homecoming court but I’m the only female in my family — that includes my mother — not to be voted Homecoming Queen. Well into my 30s, my mother introduced my sisters by their homecoming reigns and then said, ‘And Connie’ — long pause — ‘Connie is very smart.’”

J.R. Smith

Robyn Minter Smyers

Roger Sustar

Beverly Warren

Iris Wolstein

St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, Newark, N.J.; 2004

Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights; 1987

St. Joseph High School, Cleveland; 1961

Harding High School, Charlotte, N.C.; 1966

Cleveland Heights High School, Cleveland Heights; 1948

Extracurriculars: Played football and basketball. Smith, a promising football prospect, gave up the sport after transferring to St. Benedict’s prior to his junior season.

Fun facts: Smith attended four high schools. In 2004, he was named the co-MVP (along with eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard) of the McDonald’s High School All-American Game.

Smith scored a game-high 25 points. He later passed up a chance to play for the University of North Carolina by declaring for the NBA draft.

Extracurriculars: Field hockey, co-captain; a capella choir, president; community service club, president; Chanticleers (singing group); Student Group on Race Relations (S.G.O.R.R.); Spanish club; performer in numerous theater productions Fun facts: Starred as Princess Barbara in the musical “The Apple Tree.”

Extracurriculars: Vice president of the student body, business manager of the yearbook staff, active in sports Fun facts: Voted most athletic

Extracurriculars: Volunteered at the gift shop at the now-closed Mount Sinai Hospital

Stan Bullard, senior reporter West Technical High School, Cleveland; 1972 Extracurriculars: Tatler reporter and editor; Quill & Scroll Society; NASA Explorer Electronics Post; Ecology Club; OSU Journalism Career Institute; Teen Press (WVIZ); homeroom secretary

Deborah Hillyer, research editor Langley High School, Pittsburgh, Pa.; 1967 Extracurriculars: Choir, yearbook, newspaper

Fun facts: Sustar sold hot dogs at Cleveland Municipal Stadium and worked at the Arco Gas Station at Vine Street and Willowick Drive. He won the Plain Dealer’s annual All-Star hockey contest in 1961. The girl he took to the junior prom later became a nun after high school.

She’s been a nun now for 54 years.

Kevin Kleps, assistant editor/sports Strong Vincent High School, Erie, Pa.; 1991 Extracurriculars: Basketball, National Honor Society

Timothy Magaw, health care/nonprofit reporter Archbishop Hoban High School, Akron; 2005 Extracurriculars: Newspaper, student council, intramural basketball

Rebecca R. Markovitz, art director McKeesport High School, McKeesport, Pa.; 2001 Extracurriculars: Marching band, Red & Blue editor, speech, library aide, student trainer, Model UN, web page club, PAWWS, student plays

Extracurriculars: Drama club, cheerleading, Red Cross, glee club Fun facts: “My nickname was ‘French fry,’ not sure how that came about, but it did. I was on the homecoming court for Cathedral Latin homecoming and played the Artful Dodger in the musical ‘Oliver.’”

Rachel Abbey McCafferty, manufacturing reporter Lakeview High School, Cortland, Ohio; 2004 Extracurriculars: Newspaper, executive committee, cross country (and about 10,000 other things over the years ...)

Elizabeth McIntyre, editor Cardinal Mooney High School, Youngstown; 1985 Extracurriculars: Speech team, performing arts, yearbook, Latin club

NOT PICTURED: Dan Shingler, manufacturing/energy reporter; Manchester High School, Portage Lakes; 1982. Extracurriculars: Took care of a three-acre garden in addition to two acres of lawn and managed family’s restaurant.

20150706-NEWS--19-NAT-CCI-CL_--

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

19

Scott Scarborough

Meredith Scerba

Connie Schultz

Baiju Shah

Karen Small

President, University of Akron

Senior vice president of operations and marketing, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission

Columnist, Creators Syndicate

CEO, BioMotiv LLC

“Your mom is right: When you’re 40 and still virtually wrinkle-free, you’ll be glad you have a fat face.”

“Take more risks and don’t be afraid to fail.”

Chef/owner Flying Fig Restaurant; Market at the Fig

Advice you would give to your 18-year-old self: “Go to college, work hard, have fun, and don’t get married until you are 35!”

“It’s never too early to identify and engage with a mentor who can guide you in the career field of your choice. They will become your ambassador!”

“If I could advise my 18-year-old self I would say to take more time to let curiosity lead me around by the nose, to travel around to many places and to not become serious so early.”

J.R. Smith

Robyn Minter Smyers

Roger Sustar

Beverly Warren

Iris Wolstein

Shooting guard, Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland partner-in-charge, Thompson Hine LLP

CEO; Fredon Corp.

President, Kent State University

“Work hard!”

“Always be open to opportunities; remember to take your work seriously but never take yourself too seriously.”

President Heritage Development Co.

“Save your money, keep a good group of people around and don’t get too many tattoos.”

Jay Miller, government reporter Cleveland Heights High School, Cleveland Heights; 1965 Extracurriculars: Newspaper

“Follow the advice of Howard Thurman, ‘Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.’”

Jeremy Nobile, finance/legal reporter St. Clairsville High School, St. Clairsville; 2004 Extracurriculars: Football (also mentored freshmen players), weight training, track and field (threw shot and disc senior year), chess club, Boy Scouts of America (Eagle Scout rank)

“I would do everything as I did. The most important things are: first, have a good marriage; second, be a good mother, and three, have a career. I had no idea what I would do later in life. In those days, the young ladies only thought about getting married.” She met the late Bert Wolstein the year before she started at Ohio State University and left after two quarters to get married. “We were married 57 years ago.

We did something right.”

Damon Sims, web editor

Chuck Soder, technology reporter

Amy Ann Stoessel, sections editor

Scott Suttell, managing editor

Sue Walton, associate editor for Akron

Shaw High School; 1994

Wapakoneta High School, Wapakoneta, Ohio; 1999

Holy Name High School, Parma Heights; 1992

West Geauga High School, Chesterland; 1985

Strongsville High School, Strongsville; 1988

Extracurriculars: School musicals, show choir, cross country, school newspaper, media club

Extracurriculars: Newspaper, yearbook, marching band, campus ministry, Spanish club, student council, ski club

Extracurriculars: Newspaper, debate team, marching band

Extracurriculars: Newspaper, yearbook

Extracurriculars: National Honor Society

COVER ART AND INSIDE ILLUSTRATIONS BY LISA LOREK

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

JULY 6 - 12, 2015

LARGEST OHIO PUBLIC COMPANIES RANKED BY MARKET VALUE Company/Ticker symbol Headquarters Rank Phone/Website

Market cap 5-29-2015 (millions)

Business category

Top executive Title

Company/Ticker symbol Headquarters Rank Phone/Website

Market cap 5-29-2015 (millions)

Business category

Top executive Title

1

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# # >4>

Numerical information provided by S&P Capital IQ, www.spcapitaliq.com. Market cap as of May 29, 2015. We welcome all responses to our lists and will include omitted information or clarifications in coming issues.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

RULING continued from page 3

couples. From the employer perspective, domestic partner benefits programs can be complicated to administer, and it could be easier to handle all benefits under one umbrella, according to Paul Nachtwey, vice president of Todd Associates, an insurance brokerage in Beachwood.

Also, workers are taxed on the value of those domestic partner benefits — unlike the benefits provided to opposite-sex married couples — and companies are required to calculate the amount.

Another wrinkle appears to be unfolding at Cleveland’s City Hall.

In May, the city began extending its employees in same-sex relationships full health coverage and other benefits.

Prior, those couples had to be signed onto the city’s domestic partners registry by March 2012. Under that law, opposite-sex domestic partners would not qualify for the

benefits, with the idea that those individuals could get married.

But in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, council is considering doing away with the provision.

“We are visiting it and looking at all the details,” said Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, a sponsor of the ordinance approved in May. “We’re trying to figure it out right now. Obviously, this was an effort to mitigate the fact that the state of Ohio would not let people get married.”

‘What ifs’ abound Meanwhile, some self-funded employers, particularly those with a religious bent, might consider not offering benefits to same-sex couples if they view such moves as being in direct conflict with their values.

However, benefits experts say further guidance is needed from

the feds, but if a company is considering that move, be prepared to litigate.

“Some of the bigger areas where you’re going to see litigation is on the religious side — church plans and things of that nature,” said Wade Clark, an employee benefits attorney and partner at Calfee, Halter & Griswold in Cleveland.

“It’s certainly unclear. Even as indicated in the court’s decision, there are First Amendment rights issues out there. How far that impacts benefits remains to be seen.”

If anything, employers need not make any sudden decisions, but rather wait for further guidance from the government, according to Greg Hubbell, senior vice president for Aon’s health and benefits practice in Northeast Ohio.

“At this point, it’s best for employers to be patient and not react or overreact just yet,” Hubbell said.

“It becomes a checkerboard of ‘what ifs.’”

#CrainsSITC

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JULY 6 - 12, 2015

ASSOCIATED ESTATES billion Manhattan West mixed-use project in New York City.

continued from page 3

office and mixed-use portfolio, run

by Brookfield Property Partners.

Ric Clark, its CEO, said in the Seeking Alpha transcript of a May 1 conference call that the “Associated Estates portfolio overlaps with many of our existing multifamily markets and we see attractive opportunities to leverage our existing (word missing) in the Associated Estates platforms to generate the best risk adjusted returns within these assets.”

Those discussions were virtually footnotes for an outfit with massive property operations, such as a stake in Canary Wharf in London.

It’s also building an 884-unit apartment tower as part of a $4.5

Big potential paydays For Friedman’s part, in an April 29 letter to employees filed with the SEC, he said that after meeting with Brookfield post merger announcement, “I am encouraged that Brookfield has expressed a strong interest in our Midwest portfolio, a desire to continue our efforts in developing properties, and a commitment to growth.”

However, at least for Friedman and a handful of named executives, there stands to be a substantial cash cushion, if shareholders approve it, to prepare them for their next step outside the real estate in-

vestment trust.

Associated Estates’ proxy discloses Friedman would be eligible for compensation totaling $13.7 million between cash, payment for performance-oriented options and even a year of expenses for an office and an executive assistant. In an SEC filing, Associated Estates indicated its board — prior to accepting the proposed merger — asked Friedman if he had discussed his personal future with Brookfield. He answered no.

Other executives receiving multimillion-dollar compensation packages include John Shannon, chief operating officer, $4.6 million; Lou Fatica, chief financial officer, $3.9 million; and Scott Irwin, general counsel, $2.4 million. Fried-

man’s son, Jason Friedman, the senior vice president for acquisition and development, would receive $2.6 million. Those packages include retention bonuses for the period from April through the special meeting and $20,000 for outplacement assistance.

Although four lawsuits have challenged the buyout, the merger stands to reap benefits for shareholders from the confluence of timing, with apartments being prized the most by investors at anytime in years, a strong stock market and merger and acquisitions frenzy.

The share price also benefited mightily from activist investor Jonathan Litt’s criticism of the stock’s and management’s performance earlier in the year, which

prompted the Associated Estates board to examine alternatives. Litt is the investment officer at Stamford, Conn.-based Land & Buildings hedge fund.

The $28.75 per share price that Brookfield would pay shareholders if they approve the merger is 17% above the $24.48 share price the stock had closed the day before the proposed merger was announced.

The day prior to Litt’s strident criticism of Associated Estates that began June 3, 2014, the stock closed at $16.74 a share. That means the proposed sellout price is 72% more than the market was valuing Associated Estates at before the contentious year and before it began seeking alternatives.

REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIED Phone: (216) 522-1383 Fax: (216) 694-4264 Contact: Denise Donaldson E-mail: DDonaldson@crain.com AUCTION

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See website for complete terms and conditions.

John Froelich

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Call Jeff 440-552-3100

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Commercial warehouse/properties Available for lease Up to 50,000 ft2. Featuring a 44 dock Truck Terminal with offices. Very close to the airport, I480 and I71.

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PRIVATE INVESTOR looking for commercial real estate projects to fund.

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Need a Medical Office Condo?

216-926-4206

Tour 875 sq. ft. at Westlake's St. John Medical Center.

Call Sandra M. Johnson, Realtor, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. 216.999.1093

List your commercial, industrial, executive property or retail space here!

Crain’s Cleveland Business’ classifieds will help you fill that space.

Contact Denise Donaldson at 216.522-1383 DDonaldson@Crain.com

C. W. JENNINGS INDUSTRIAL EXCHANGE Global Expansion Consulting Construction • Acquisitions Exporting • Financing

FOR SALE Used Cinci hyd. Shear model #6G08 3/4 mild steel.

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BUSINESSES FOR SALE Selling a Business?

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Recycling business for Sale Ferrous and Non-ferrous material, Medina county.

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216-641-7897 or 440-382-8694

Crain’s Executive Recruiter Wanted: Plant Manager

Construction Engineering

25 person stamping shop

BASF Corporation seeks a Technology Manager (Beachwood, OH) to manage dev't of admixture & concrete technol. & customer support for the Americas Admixture Systems bus. of BASF's Construction Chem. div. Manage financials for the Admixture R&D Group, incl. P&L statements, expense control, & op. budget. Req. Bachelor's degree in Chem. Eng, Production Eng, Industrial Eng, Materials Sci, Civil Eng, Chem., or rel. field, & 8 years of exp. in construction chemicals. Exp. must incl. managing R&D from develp.to commercial. of construction chemicals, as well as exp. managing strategy & manuf'g, tech. support for concrete admixtures & other construction chem. (incl. repair materials, grout, coatings, membranes, & sealants) w/in a construction chem. environ.

Resume only to: Plant Manager 1404 Lear Industrial Parkway Avon, Ohio 44011

To place your Crain’s Cleveland Business Executive Recruiter ad Call Denise Donaldson at 216-522-1383

Must have exp. managing expense control & a budget in excess of $5 mil.

Exp. working & collaborating w/global colleagues on technical strategies & projects req'd. Must have exp. working in S. Amer., & exp. in operations & prod. scale up. Must have exp. in hiring, coaching & dev't, & personnel performance management. Up to 25% int'l & domestic travel req'd.

Pls. submit your resume, indicating Requisition Code 1501310, to Rania Kirollos, BASF HR, Reference: Technology Manager, 23700 Chagrin Boulevard, Beachwood, OH 44122.

EOE M/F/D/V.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY New Businesses for Sale Manufacturer of Textiles Direct Mail Service Business Service Car Wash www.empirebusinesses.com

440-461-2202

ENGINEERING Quality & Process Manager sought by Avery Dennison Reqs: BS plus 3 yrs exp & exp w/ ISO 9001; Six Sigma tools & methodologies; & Lean manufacturing. Job Site: Painesville, OH. Send resume referencing 8R26GW to: Avery Dennison Corporation, Attn. M. Campbell Burkhart, 250 Chester Street, Painesville, OH 44077. No phone calls or e-mails please. Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. w/o sponsorship. EOE.

20150706-NEWS--23-NAT-CCI-CL_--

7/2/2015

1:04 PM

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JULY 6 - 12, 2015

THE WEEK JUNE 29 - JULY 5 The big story:

Four proposed Northeast Ohio real estate projects, including one for a commercial building dating from the 1860s near the West Side Market, received prized allocations STAN BULLARD of Ohio State Historic The building at 2030 Preservation Tax Credits W. 25th St. was the from the state. Other largsmallest but oldest er projects for buildings local project to th dating from the early 20 receive a tax credit. century that secured awards include the Leader Building, 526 E. Superior Ave., and the Stuyvesant Motor Car Co. Building, 1937 Prospect Ave., both in downtown Cleveland. The United Building, 1 S. Main St. in Akron, which dates from the same period, also received a tax credit award.

The projects are among $27.5 million in historic tax credits the state announced June 30.

A fresh view: ViewRay cancelled its plans to raise $52 million on the stock market, but it now has another source of capital. The radiation therapy technology company struck a deal that will allow it to raise up to $50 million in debt financing from CRG, a Houston-based lender that focuses on health care companies. ViewRay will borrow $30 million initially, though it has the option to borrow another $20 million. The money will allow the Oakwood Village company to continue to ramp up sales of its MRI-guided radiation therapy system. The company also will use the money to pay off $13 million it previously borrowed.

Sparing no expense: The furious pace of activity on July 1, the first day of NBA free agency, led to good things for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as three-time All-Star Kevin Love announced his return to the team. The Cavs also agreed to deals with Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert — two key pieces to their run to the NBA Finals. Collectively, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert committed nearly $250 million to those players. And that doesn’t yet include a deal with LeBron James, who’s expected to re-sign, though likely to a short-term contract so he can take advantage of a league salary cap that will jump significantly next year.

New motivation: BioMotiv of Beachwood formed a pharmaceutical company that aims to commercialize a technology that could be used to treat inflammatory and vascular disorders.

The spinoff, Sujana Biotech, licensed the technology from Case Western Reserve University. It also recently raised $800,000 from four investors.

The Sujana technology is based on research conducted by local scientists who have identified a mechanism that the body uses to send white blood cells to the site of a vascular injury.

Out-of-the-box thinking: Downtown Cleveland Alliance and its partners want your help in making downtown more beautiful. DCA and its City Advocates program, in partnership with Citizens Bank and the city of Cleveland, announced the Citizens ArtBox project. Artists are encouraged to submit digital artwork proposals for the public art project, with the work displayed on utility boxes in downtown Cleveland. Winning designs will decorate utility boxes that line Euclid Avenue from Public Square to Playhouse Square. Up to 11 boxes will be wrapped with printed art designs. Proposals will be accepted through July 31.

On the move: Kent State University hired Nick Gattozzi, a veteran lobbyist for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, as its executive director of government and community relations. Gattozzi, who most recently served at GCP’s vice president of government advocacy, starts in his new role Aug. 1. At Kent State, he will report directly to the university’s president, Beverly Warren, and earn an annual salary of $175,000. He had been with the regional chamber of commerce since 2006.

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

23

REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOK BEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS

This old building is state of the art Art patrons Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell have staked another big claim in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood that promises to add more arts-related buzz and flair to the revitalizing district.

Through Hingetown Holdings LLC, the Bidwells on June 15 purchased the Van Roy Building, 2900 Detroit Ave., from an affiliate of Novelty-based real estate developer Michael Chesler, according to Cuyahoga County online land records.

Fred Bidwell described the purchase as a “strategic move.” Empty space in the building will be leased to arts-related ventures, he said, to help build on the idea of connecting the resurgent West 25th Street area near Detroit with the Gordon Square arts district.

“There are a few points of light on Detroit,” Bidwell said. “This will be another link in the chain in the development of that trendy, hot neighborhood. As a co-chair of the Gordon Square Arts District, one of our objectives is to make Detroit between West 25th and (65th streets) a vital and active corridor.”

The Bidwells, whose support for a gallery in a former electrical building now called the Transformer Station, are actively involved in that nearby operation and plan to make their home in the Van Roy. “Our plans are to make a residence out of the top floor,” Bidwell said. “It will be one extremely cool, 10,000-square-foot residence with views of the city from every side.”

It also fits another city redevelopment trend. The Bidwells will shed their current residence on 15 wooded acres in Peninsula

for urban life.

County records do not show how much Hingetown Holdings paid for the three-story building, which the county values at $584,000. Bidwell declined to disclose the price. Hingetown also assumed a $2.4 million mortgage on the property from Morgan Stanley with the purchase. — Stan Bullard

began to make it to store shelves in April.

Currently, the milk can be found at Constantino’s Market in University Circle and the Warehouse District, Matun said, as well as at some farmer’s markets. The company also sells the product at its warehouse at 5685 Hudson Industrial Parkway, suite 4, in Hudson.

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

Don’t like milk? True Dairy could change your mind

They give a damn about their improving reputations

A relatively new product out of Hudson aims to expand the options on your local grocery store’s dairy shelves.

True Dairy Flavors, a division of Midpoint Enterprises Inc., launched its flavored milk product this spring. The company is looking to go beyond the traditional chocolate and strawberry milks and instead offer more unusual flavors like banana cream, black cherry and cotton candy.

The 1% milk is purchased from a regional dairy farm and repasteurized in Hudson, said Midpoint’s president, Tom Matun. The company is adding the flavoring and a bit of sugar to the milk and bottling it on site.

“Most people are pleasantly surprised that it’s light and refreshing,” Matun said.

This is the company’s first foray into manufacturing. Midpoint traditionally serves as a distributor, selling products like coffee and powdered Gatorade, typically directly to businesses, through its other divisions.

Matun said the inspiration for the new division came about last fall. His sister had been buying flavored milk for her children, but it was difficult to find in the area. Production started in March and the product

The public thinks particularly fondly of Huntington Bank.

Huntington ranks high among financial institutions with stellar reputations in both customer and noncustomer groups, according to the sixth annual American Banker/Reputation Institute Survey of Bank Reputations, and the highest among those surveyed operating in Northeast Ohio.

Public perceptions of banks have greatly improved since last year, according to the survey’s findings released June 25 and published in American Banker. Most of the 32 major banks examined ranked in the top two echelons of either “excellent” or “strong” with customers and “average” with noncustomers. Banks are scored on a 100point scale based on how ethical, transparent and fair they are perceived to be.

Huntington placed second in customer reputation with 82.07 points (excellent), and sixth in noncustomer reputations with a score of 63.12 (average). Comparatively, Citizens Bank, KeyBank, FirstMerit Bank and PNC Bank were all deemed “strong” in customer reputation with each ranking ninth, 11th, 19th and 20th, respectively.

— Jeremy Nobile

WHAT’S NEW

BEST OF THE BLOGS Excerpts from recent blog entries on CrainsCleveland.com.

Good idea

COMPANY: Buyers Products Co. Cleveland PRODUCT: Waterproof electric winches The company, a manufacturer of products for the mobile equipment industry, says the new, commercial-grade electric line pull winches are ideal for utility, government and contractor fleet vehicles.

They’re available in two sizes: 9,500-pound and 12,000-pound.

Buyers Products says the winches’ waterproof-submersible construction “seals and protects the electronics and internals for reliable use in the harshest of environments.” The 12-volt winch is powered by a 4.9-horsepower series wound motor. A high-speed, three-stage, planetary gear box provides efficient line speed, according to the company.

The 3/8-inch, galvanized winch cable is 100 feet long. A standard spooling clutch provides manual deployment of the winch cable. An autobrake and power in/out control by the handheld remote or optional wireless remote provide consistent load control for the user, the company says.

Buyers Products’ equipment includes the SnowDogg line of snow plows, the ScoopDogg line of snow pushers, the SaltDogg line of salt spreaders, DumperDogg dump inserts and a line of toolboxes.

For information, visit www.buyersproducts.com.

Send information about new products to managing editor Scott Suttell at ssuttell@crain.com.

Robert Lerman, an economics professor at American University, laid out a sensible plan to help veterans overcome employment and housing obstacles, and Cleveland could play a role in it.

In a Q&A with National Journal, Lerman described his proposal for a construction apprenticeship program that would train veterans to rehabilitate homes, while also helping them purchase those homes.

The basic idea, he said, “is to design a program that would renovate homes in communities where the cost of buying is especially low compared with the cost of renting and to utilize veterans as apprentices on the construction of the homes.”

National Journal asked about the types of places that would be a good fit for the program. Here’s Lerman’s response: We’ve looked closely at places like Baltimore and Cleveland. These are two of many cities where you could renovate homes that have been abandoned. In Cleveland, a land bank owns more than a thousand units that they’re willing to give up for good purposes. And the good purpose that this program would propose to the land bank would be the apprenticeship and the renovation of these units, along with the increased access to homeownership.

Changing times Jim O’Connor, president for employee benefits at CBIZ, the Cleveland-based benefits consultancy, was quoted in a Washington Post story about a shift in companies’ approaches to wellness programs.

There essentially has been a move away from just thinking about wellness as something that can lower health-care

costs, in favor of creating an environment that’s more health-conscious.

The Post said new-era wellness plans “try to tackle the intangible, immeasurable aspects of an employee’s life that invariably creep into the workplace.” In addition to fitness classes and health screenings, companies increasingly offer financial planning workshops, meditation and yoga classes, and free massages — anything that gives employees greater peace of mind.

“It’s very hard to measure the return on investment for something like a yoga class,” O’Connor said. “As a financial leader, you want to be able to see a return on investment for everything you do, and yet companies are still making an investment in (wellness programs) because they intuitively feel it’s a good idea.”

Blaze of glory Everything LeBron James touches seems to turn out just right — even pizza.

Business Insider profiled Blaze Pizza, a Chipotle-style pizza chain that includes James among its investors, hopes to be as big as Starbucks one day and is “well on its way there.” The story noted that California-based Blaze Pizza opened 50 restaurants across the United States in 2014, and it’s opening a new location every five days.

The formula is pretty simple: There are as many as seven cheeses, eight proteins, 20 vegetables, and four sauces to choose from. No matter how many toppings you add, the pizza costs the same: $7.95 and up, depending on location.

Co-founder Rick Wetzel said he aims to deliver a “big blow” to major delivery chains such as Domino’s, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut, in the same way Netflix killed Blockbuster.

So far, Blaze Pizza’s only Ohio locations are in Columbus and Mason, near Cincinnati.

20150706-NEWS--24-NAT-CCI-CL_--

7/1/2015

2:14 PM

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Based on an average user profile that includes both usage and standby. Actual battery performance will vary and depends on signal strength, network configuration, features selected and voice, data and other application usage patterns.

Charging speeds vary based on battery emptiness; usage based on average user profile and may vary based on network signal, configuration and usage patterns. †† Results based on third-party study.

Account credit applied within 2-3 billing cycles. Credit will be removed from account if line is suspended or changed to non-qualifying price plan after activation. Activation fee/line: $40. IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Corporate Subscribers Only. Subject to Major Acct Agmt, Calling Plan, & credit approval. Up to $350 early termination fee/line. Offers & coverage, varying by svc, not available everywhere; see vzw.com. While supplies last. Restocking fee may apply. DROID is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. and its related companies. Used under license. © 2015 Verizon Wireless.

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