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10/15/2010
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$1.50/OCTOBER 18 - 24, 2010
Vol. 31, No. 41
Execs who choose politics find it’s not a day at the office Candidates with business backgrounds tout abilities to lead a company, but transition to government not always seamless By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
P JESSE KRAMER
Thomas Perciak says the similarities are few between the nearly 40 years he spent in the banking business and his job since 2004 as mayor of Strongsville.
MATT BRAKEY
PETE DRAGANIC
TOM GANLEY
Current job: energy consultant
Current job: construction contractor
Current job: auto dealer
Candidate: Cuyahoga County council
Candidate: Cuyahoga County council
Business loans make up larger share of credit union portfolios By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
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Credit unions, long a bastion of consumer lending, have become a haven for Joe Business Owner, too. Amid tighter bank lending standards in the wake of the subprime mortgage fiasco, credit unions are accelerating their issuance of small
business loans. As a result, an area of business that was a specialty line for credit unions has become more mainstream, said John Kutchey, deputy director of the examination and insurance office of the National Credit Union Administration, the industry’s federal supervisor. Examples of growth abound.
KEN LANCI Current job: Consolitated Graphics Group Inc. owner
Candidate: 13th district congressman
INSIDE Hospitals’ charitable donations rebound The recession undercut the fundraising efforts of hospital systems nationwide, but some local health care institutions are reporting rising levels of charitable giving. Those hospitals say they are focusing on bolstering relationships with individual donors. Read Tim Magaw’s story on Page 3.
See CREDIT Page 35
Candidate: Cuyahoga County executive
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See POLITICS Page 7
JACK SCHRON Current job: Jergens Inc. CEO Candidate: Cuyahoga County Council
Danaher’s winning bid for Keithley could cost local jobs By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
Employees of Keithley Instruments Inc. might not like one of the reasons Danaher Corp. was willing to pay a 74% premium for the Solon company, according to two executives from an investment manage-
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ast performance suggests few successful business people have managed to continue their winning ways by moving into politics — think presidential hopefuls Steve Forbes and Ross Perot from years past. However, that isn’t stopping local executives and business owners from trying to emulate Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP who has been mayor of New York City since his election in 2001. On Nov. 2, Northeast Ohio voters will find a handful of business leaders on the ballot running for key offices. Among them are Republican Peter
Corrigan, chief operating officer of Prestolite Electric Inc., who is challenging longtime incumbent Dennis Kucinich in the 10th Congressional District, and Pete Draganic, a Republican and construction contractor who wants to represent the Fourth District on the new Cuyahoga County Council. These candidates and others make essentially the same argument: I’ve been a success in business, and I can be successful in government. However, unless some of them can pull out victories next month, the number of business people who voters have given the chance to show what they can do in government is small.
Crain’s for the fourth time honors Northeast Ohio’s top financial officers for their fiscal leadership and asset management ■ Pages 17-33
ment firm in Beachwood. Edward Hemmelgarn and Raymond Rund of Shaker Investments LLC said they expect Danaher to cut at least some sales and administrative positions once it completes the deal to acquire the maker of electrical testing and measurement equipment, See KEITHLEY Page 8