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SEPTEMBER 7 - 13, 2015
THE WEEK SEPTEMBER 7 - 13 The big story: Cleveland Indians president Mark Shapiro confirmed he will leave the organization at the end of September to join the Toronto Blue Jays, where he will replace the retiring Paul Beeston as president and CEO. Shapiro’s duties with Shapiro the Indians will be divided among the leadership team that’s already in place, said team owner Paul Dolan. Shapiro said the decision to leave the Indians, where he has worked for 23 years, came down to “how compelling and unique the opportunity in Toronto is.”
Time to eat: Yours Truly, the regional chain offering family-friendly dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plans to open a location in downtown Cleveland at the Halle Building, 1228 Euclid Ave. Scheduled to open in spring 2016, the restaurant plans to have 130 seats on the east end of the Euclid Avenue side of the former department store building. It will be the 34-year-old chain’s first downtown venture and its ninth location. Plans call for a diner-style design that incorporates elements of the original fine jewelry department, said Larry Shibley, chairman of Yours Truly’s board. Yours Truly also wants to repurpose the space furnishings from the department store that building owner K&D Group has found stored in the property. See what develops: The city of Independence and Cleveland-based Fairmount Properties executed a memorandum of understanding covering the development of 33 acres the city owns on two sites: on the north side of Rockside Road at Oak Tree Boulevard, and at a former middle school on Brecksville Road. Initial planning calls for the land on Rockside at Oak Tree to be developed as a mixed-use district with a variety of retail, restaurant and residential uses organized in a walkable area. The vision for the middle school site is to concentrate on adding for-sale housing options that do not currently exist in Independence for young professionals and empty nesters.
In control: University Hospitals plans to take sole ownership of St. John Medical Center, a 204bed, full-service Catholic hospital in Westlake that it has co-owned with the Sisters of Charity Health System since 1999. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the agreement is expected to be finalized within 60 days. At present, UH and the Sisters are 50-50 partners in the hospital. Proceeds from the sale will be reinvested into the Sisters’ other ministries. As part of the transfer, UH and the Sisters said the “legacy of Catholic health care” would continue under UH’s ownership. Back at it: Summa Health System revived a legal battle with Western Reserve Hospital Partners. The Akron-based hospital system in a lawsuit is demanding more transparency in how the for-profit Western Reserve Hospital that it coowns with the physician investor group is operated. In addition, though unrelated to the lawsuit, Summa may have to evict the hospital from its current property because both parties can’t agree on a selling price for the facility. Capital gains: The amount of startup capital available for aspiring small business owners in Cuyahoga County is growing. The county and the Cleveland Foundation are putting nearly $2.2 million into a county loan program run by the Economic & Community Development Institute, a Columbus microlending nonprofit with a growing presence in Cleveland. The Microenterprise Loan Program will provide loans ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 to creative startup ventures that find it difficult to obtain traditional financing.
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REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOK BEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS
Kent Displays writes a new chapter in its development
School has started at Lincoln Electric, too
them,” Scales said. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty
Kent Displays Inc. is learning more about how teachers and students can use its ewriters in the classroom, with funding from the National Science Foundation. On Sept. 3, Kent Displays learned that it was receiving funding for the second phase of its research into electronic tablets and education, said Todd Packer, the company’s intellectual property manager. Information from the foundation puts the total at $722,044 for the year. Packer said the company will be working with Kent State University on this phase of the project. In the first phase, which was for initial research, Kent Displays received a lesser amount of funding. It also focused on a narrower pool of ages and subjects, as well as fewer students, than the second phase will encompass. This funding allows the company and university to look at how students in the region in grade levels from kindergarten through college use the devices in the classroom. The research will help the company better understand the value of e-writers in education, as well as what challenges teachers face when using them, Packer said. Ultimately, it helps the company understand its consumers better. The research also lets Kent Displays learn more about how digital handwriting helps with learning, allowing the company a stronger foothold in the education market, Packer said. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty
Euclid-based Lincoln Electric Co. has taken steps to help better educate the next generation of welders. In July, Lincoln Electric launched an online curriculum tool for welding school teachers called U/LINC. The subscription-based program includes more than 1,500 teaching tools like lesson plans, hand-outs, tests and presentations. It allows teachers at institutions from high schools to technical colleges to unions to use Lincoln Electric’s program instead of having to invest time in developing their own curriculum. Topics range from safety to CNC plasma cutting to fabrication. Jason Scales, manager of educational services, said he wasn’t aware of another resource as in-depth as the one Lincoln has introduced. The company has always had teaching materials available for instructors, but this is the first time it’s offered a complete curriculum, Scales said. It’s also the first time the company has offered something like this completely online, which allows it to be a “living document” that can be quickly added to or updated. Lincoln Electric makes a lot of technology that is used to teach welding, like its virtual welding machine, and Scales said the company also wants to give instructors the tools to teach the industry. The curriculum can help those learning at companies and schools be more productive and safer. “The education market and schools and industry really see us as a full partner with
Brennan Manna makes world a little smaller for clients
MILESTONES
BEST OF THE BLOGS Excerpts from recent blog entries on CrainsCleveland.com.
Driven to succeed
COMPANY: PRADCO, Chagrin Falls MILESTONE: Its 60th anniversary PRADCO, founded in 1955, helps organizations evaluate, select and develop employees. The firm says it combines “research-based practices with cutting-edge technology to support companies in all areas of talent management.” Services are available in multiple languages, enabling clients “to assess and develop individuals in the comfort of their native language,” PRADCO says. Its staff members are doctorate- and master’slevel management consultants with training in leadership, organizational behavior, industrial psychology and business. For information visit www.pradco.com.
COMPANY: Aespire, Sheffield Village MILESTONE: Its 20th anniversary Aespire says that over two decades, it has “evolved from a generalist design firm to an agency that specializes in aligning purpose, strategy and design for mission-driven organizations.” The firm’s regional presence has expanded since its founding in 1995, and the agency has garnered attention for its work with colleges, nonprofits, nongovernment organizations and foundations. Founded in 1985 as Brian Sooy & Co., the agency formally changed its name to Aespire in February. In April, it moved to Sheffield Village from Elyria. Sooy remains the firm’s president. For information, visit www.aespire.com.
Akron-based law firm Brennan, Manna & Diamond LLC has taken a step to help its clients expand in China — and to help Chinese companies expand here. The firm on Sept. 4 announced a new formal affiliation with Chinese law firm Jade & Fountain PRC Lawyers Corp. Brennan Manna already has an office in Shanghai, China, but this agreement adds another layer of protection for clients, as laws in China are “changing all the time,” said attorney Veronica Jiajia Xu. More clients are interested in working in China and in other Asian countries, Xu said. While the firm will still be working with its clients on those expansions, the workload was so great that it wanted additional help. Enter the affiliation with Jade & Fountain, the first of its kind the Akron firm has taken on. Prior to this, the two firms were working with one another in a less formal way, Xu said. Xu said when Jade & Fountain’s clients look to expand in the United States, the firm also will be able to help them navigate local laws. Brennan Manna has five offices in Akron, Columbus, Jacksonville, Fla., Bonita Springs, Fla., and Shanghai. Between all five, it has about 70 attorneys, Xu said, plus support staff including paralegals and administrative employees. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty
Ohio is a pretty good state in which to drive a car, according to an analysis from BankRate.com. The website ranked states in six categories: number of fatal crashes per 100,000 miles driven; number of car thefts per 100,000 people; car repair costs per job; annual gasoline spending; a fiveyear average of insurance premiums; and average commute times. Ohio was the 18th-best state for drivers. Its ranking was helped by below-average insurance costs ($699 annually vs. the national average of $910) and a low fatal crash rate (0.88 per 100,000 miles driven compared with the national average of 1.11). However, Ohio had the second-highest gas expenses, at $1,433 per year vs. $949 nationally. Idaho is the best state for drivers, thanks to low gas and insurance expenses, below-average thefts and short commute times. Vermont, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota rounded out the five best states for drivers. Louisiana placed last on the list, in large part because of the nation’s highest car insurance costs and an above-average fatal crash rate. California, Texas, Maryland and New Jersey made up the rest of the bottom five.
More All-Stars Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt is in good company on a list from Haaretz of the top 13 Jewish newsmakers of 5775 on the Jewish calendar. From the story by Haaretz, a leading English-language website for news and analysis of Israel and the Middle East: American-Israeli coach David Blatt, in his first season as the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, guided the club to the NBA Finals and put the Midwestern city
on the radar of Israelis — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu among them. Blatt, 56, had come to Cleveland after coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv to an unlikely Euroleague title. The Boston-area native had played professionally in Israel, making aliyah in 1979, and in college at Princeton. Others on the list include Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, currently disrupting the Democratic establishment’s rush to nominate Hillary Clinton.
Pet cause Here’s another way you can tell Ohioans are good people: We love our dogs. A survey of 3,000 “dog parents” from dog-treat maker Milo’s Kitchen ranked U.S. states by how much people love their dogs based on thankful, grateful, and loving behaviors with their dogs. Such behaviors include buying regular gifts for their dog, petting their dog, spending time with their dog and telling their dog “I love you,” the company said. This highly scientific survey put Ohio at No. 9. California, New York and Washington are the top three states. Among other findings: ■ 86% of dog parents say their dog “comforts me immeasurably” ■ 71% say their dog “reminds me to seek out more joy in life” ■ 64% say their dog “makes me look forward to going home more than anything else” ■ 63% say their dog “makes me much more patient and responsible” ■ 65% say their dog “helps me become a better person” ■ 95% of dog parents say they have a regular conversation out loud with their dog.