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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
OCTOBER 17 - 23, 2011
RICHARD “DUKE” JANKURA
ELAINE KAPUSTA
JumpStart Inc. ◆ Cleveland
Dots LLC ◆ Glenwillow
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ichard “Duke” Jankura brings top level corporate experience and a Marine’s “first-to-fight” discipline to undertaking his post as CFO at the JumpStart Inc. nonprofit that helps ready early stage companies for venture capital investments. He leads the finance, information technology and administration team at the $14 million nonprofit where he instituted the financial systems after JumpStart’s 2004 founding. Those systems have a twist because the government and nonprofit foundation sources of its funding require trustworthy data to gauge the effectiveness of investments. He also managed JumpStart’s organizational growth for seven years and supervised details from ensuring regulatory compliance to helping early stage firms find funding. At JumpStart, he has a staff of three direct reports while earlier in his career he served as controller of the McDonald Investments stock brokerage, both as an independent company and after it became a subsidiary of KeyCorp. At the brokerage and investment banking house he managed a staff of five financial professionals. At McDonald he led the automation of its accounting system in the 1990s, standardized incentive programs and ran the challenging financial side of going through multiple mergers. That background equipped him to organize JumpStart in 2004 when it was created by the merger of four predecessor outfits. Mr. Jankura is a veteran of the
U.S. Marine Corps, where he was a first lieutenant in logistics. He continues to support the Marines today. He attends afterhours events in uniform, the nomination said, and his service is as much a part of who he is as his MBA and undergraduate business degree from the University of Hartford in Connecticut. “He’s not just a financial pro. Duke is the voice of positivity 100% of the time within the organization, has a great sense of humor and impeccable ethics,” the nomination said. “He’s the first to compliment a team member or pass along another’s achievement to the entire staff. No job is too small for Duke either. He’ll grab a broom and sweep up after an event without being asked, even if he was the one giving the keynote presentation. He’s a true team player.” A product of Leadership Cleveland, Mr. Jankura served on the board of Old Brooklyn Community Development Corp., is a past president of Young Friends of the Cleveland Museum of Art and is treasurer of the Institute of Creative Leadership, a nonprofit that provides experience-based leadership training programs to area business and other groups. At the community development level, he’s helped write strategic plans. He also helped organize a “Main Street” initiative, a state and national program that assists marketing and development of aging commercial districts. Mr. Jankura and his wife, Janet, have two young children. Mr. Jankura coaches his son’s baseball team.
laine Kapusta is more than a CFO for a women’s fashion retailer with more than 400 stores across the country. She’s an instrumental component of Dots LLC’s journey to becoming a national brand. Ms. Kapusta joined Dots in 1994 as controller, and her determination to take the company to the next level helped her to climb the corporate ladder, ultimately becoming vice president and chief financial officer for the company in August 2007. In fact, Ms. Kapusta was the chief architect of Dots’ sale to the New York private equity firm of Irving Place Capital last January, which is expected to allow the retailer to open 600 more stores nationwide and lead to a potential public offering of its stock.
MICHAEL E. MAYHER Lakeland Community College ◆ Kirtland
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ichael E. Mayher not only brings insight and innovation to Lakeland Community College as its top business officer, he contributes to the state’s entire higher education community as well. For one, Mr. Mayher, who serves as Lakeland’s senior vice president for administrative services and treasurer, co-chaired a state task force charged with developing energy conservation goals for public
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She has been a leader throughout the Dots organization and has taken on a number of responsibilities, such as benefits planning, workers compensation, liability issues and the company’s budgeting and planning process. She also was instrumental in Dots’ opening a new distribution center and corporate headquarters in 2009. “She goes above and beyond her role in our company and leads her team to attain the highest caliber of results,” the nomination said. Simply put, Ms. Kapusta is a broad-based business leader, according to the nomination, and she brings value to all aspects of the business. “Elaine’s direct reports aspire to achieve the leadership qualities demonstrated by her each day.
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colleges and universities — something that prompted several higher education institutions across the state to invest millions in going green. He also was instrumental in developing Lakeland’s 20-year energy master plan, which serves as a road map to reduce the college’s direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 60%. Under his leadership, the college also initiated a $6.3 million energy conservation project in 2008, which translates to more than $500,000 in annual energy savings. “Lakeland’s energy savings project has been identified as the best practice example and benchmark for post-secondary institutions throughout the state and country,” the nomination said. Mr. Mayher consistently thinks outside the box and embraces innovative ideas to cut costs while at the same time securing the best services. He oversees the departments of business services, administrative
They are impressed by her ability to think on her feet and quickly analyze difficult situations, asking the right questions to drive results,” the nomination said. “She pushes them to the next level of their abilities by communicating high expectations while supporting their efforts and removing the barriers to success.” Prior to her work at Dots, Ms. Kapusta was at Ernst & Young, where she worked to improve profitability through solid budgeting, staffing and progress monitoring. She rose to the rank of senior manager in her 11-year career at Ernst & Young. Ms. Kapusta, a graduate of John Carroll University, is married with three children and is actively involved in their extracurricular activities, such as show choir, cheerleading and the drama club. Somehow, she manages to squeeze in time to volunteer at the Cleveland Food Bank. “Her inherent devotion and passion for success allows her to lead by example,” the nomination said.
technologies and facilities management, three of the largest departments at the college. “He encourages his managers to investigate and propose new ideas for efficiency and sustainability, and is always open to suggestions,” the nomination said. He led the way for Lakeland and nearby school districts to save money on insurance in an effort to band together to gain more leverage in price negotiations. Mr. Mayher currently is serving as the chairman for the Ohio Association of Community College’s risk management task force to implement a group risk management and procurement program. “Mike Mayher is an outstanding business officer and brings insight and innovation not only to Lakeland Community College, but also to other institutions of higher learning in Ohio and across the nation,” the nomination said. Mr. Mayher is involved in several nonprofit efforts on the local level. For example, he serves on the board of trustees for the Lake County YMCA and volunteers for the United Way. Mr. Mayher is married with one son. He is a graduate of Cleveland State University.