Crian's Cleveland Business

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Construction again has ‘meat’ to it Many in industry remain cautious, but recent data suggest healthier outlook

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Cavaliers drew a sellout crowd of 20,562 for their opener against the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 30 at Quicken Loans Arena.

Cavs are hot on biz side Team’s single-game ticket sales already have passed total for 2012-13 season; other key areas are up, too

By KEVIN KLEPS kkleps@crain.com

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2013-14 season opened last Wednesday night, Oct. 30, at Quicken Loans Arena with the usual bells

and whistles.

The much-hyped introductory video lived up to its billing, highlighting the Cavs’ ties to the city by weaving in images of many Cleveland landmarks. The 70-second clip displayed on the giant scoreboard concluded

with All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving shouting, “We are here to make some noise!”

Off the court, they already have.

After struggling at the gate in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons — ranking 19th and 22nd in attendance, respectively, in the 30team league — the Cavs’ revised season- and single-game ticket strategies are paying early dividends this fall.

See CAVS Page 25

The go-go construction market that was driven by a number of megaprojects in Northeast Ohio has turned into a so-so market, but the level of activity still looks far better than the dire years of the Great Recession.

Tony Panzica, president and CEO of Panzica Construction Co., said three months ago he was certain nonresidential construction spending would be off a lot this year. However, he recently has become more encouraged about the last part of this year and the future.

In Mr. Panzica’s view, the market has gained momentum, particularly in the last few months, as “small things are starting to pop up, the $500,000 to a few-million-dollar projects.”

See CONSTRUCTION Page 24

BUILDING HOPE A look at several key figures from a Crain’s analysis of McGraw Hill construction data about the Northeast Ohio market: Category x-2013 2012 Future construction $1.69B $1.53B Contracts for residential projects $785M

$565M

Future nonresidential contracts

$976M

$909M

■ Note: x-Figures are through August. ... The 2012 numbers are for the like period last year.

OPINION

It’s time to say farewell to the Chief

O

pportunity is knocking for the Cleveland Indians to turn a negative into a positive by engaging their fans in the process of creating a new name and logo for the city’s baseball franchise.

For now, the NFL’s Washington Redskins are drawing most

of the heat for the refusal of owner Daniel Snyder to change the name of his football team. However, it’s only a matter of time before the media spotlight fixes its glare on the Cleveland Indians when the subject arises of racial insensitivity in sports toward Native Americans.

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Read the full editorial on PAGE 4

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NEWSPAPER

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SPECIAL SECTION

GENERAL COUNSEL Crain’s honors some of the best and brightest legal minds in Northeast Ohio ■ Pages 13-22 PLUS: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ■ EVENT INFORMATION

Entire contents © 2013

by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 34, No. 44

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

3

INSIGHT

Private exchanges can be healthy choice But they also may be a more confusing option for workers who aren’t used to employers using the online marketplaces

By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com

Employers across the country, including a handful locally, are punting their employees to private marketplaces to sign up for health

care benefits much in the same way they might buy plane tickets on Travelocity.

At its core, the private exchange concept is similar to the glitch-ridden public marketplace that launched last month as part of

President Obama’s health care overhaul, though the private marketplaces are reporting fewer bugs than their public counterpart. But instead of the government subsidizing the coverage, the onus is on the employer.

On the private exchanges, employers can cap their contribution toward employee medical coverage as a fixed dollar amount or as a percentage of the total costs. The employee then delves into an online portal armed with cost calculators and other tools to select from a bevy of medical plans — sometimes from different carriers. Employers have steadily eroded benefits options in recent years in favor

of a one-size-fits-all approach, and exchange advocates say this is a way to tactfully inject more choices into the equation.

“It’s kind of like a gift card for benefits,” said Mark Alder, president of the Cleveland office of Gallagher Benefits Services, which recently launched a private marketplace powered by the New York-based Liazon Corp.

See EXCHANGE Page 8

THE WEEK IN QUOTES “Obviously, the last three years, in terms of wins and losses, haven’t been great.

We feel like it’s a coming-out party in terms of potential for the business.”

— Kerry Bubolz, president of business operations, Cleveland Cavaliers. Page One

“We looked at 80 houses before we found the right one.

It’s the same approach we took for locating the right business. We didn’t want to settle until we were sure.”

— Britt-Marie Culey (above), co-owner of Coquette Patisserie with her husband and business partner, Shane Culey. Page 10

JANET CENTURY

Bizdom startup MascotSecret raised $600,000 in venture capital this past summer. Shown are founders Donna Lee, middle, and Jen Jeng, along with Jake Goodman, whom the pair hired after moving to Cleveland from San Francisco.

BIG THINGS I START HERE

By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com

“He’s done some pretty transformative things for not only Lincoln Electric, but the industry.”

— Vincent K. Petrella, Lincoln Electric senior vice president and chief financial officer, regarding General and In-House Counsel Lifetime Achievement winner Frederick Stueber.

Page 13

LaunchHouse and Bizdom are generating plenty of interest from out-of-state entrepreneurs

See START Page 12

Website provides an all-encompassing view Hudson startup uses ‘secret sauce’ to mine data

“It’s a delicate dance that she dances well.”

— Claire Zangerle, president and CEO, Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio, regarding General and In-House Counsel finalist Emily Smayda Kelly.

Page 20

t’s a fact: Some entrepreneurs will move to Cleveland from bigger cities if you offer them a little bit of cash and a lot of assistance.

The LaunchHouse Accelerator and Bizdom Cleveland have proof: The two boot camp-style business accelerators have attracted a total of 12 startups from outside Ohio over the past two years.

They’ve come from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle — even China.

By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com

Quigg

The way Dan Quigg sees it, there never has been a shortage of data spewed out by governmental entities in Ohio, especially since the rise of the Internet. However,

making sense of it all, particularly for the average Joe, has always been the problem.

That’s where Mr. Quigg’s newest venture comes into play: www.360public.com, a website he recently launched as part of his Hudson-based startup Public Insight Corp. The website

aggregates thousands of data sets from public bodies across the state and makes them easily searchable and comparable.

“It’s not about the data but what you do with the data and how you leverage it,” said Mr. Quigg, also the CEO of Tecquiti LLC, an information technology consulting company in Hudson. “That’s really the secret sauce that we’ve got.”

See WEBSITE Page 26

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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NOVEMBER 4 - 10, 2013

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR:

Brian D. Tucker (btucker@crain.com) ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL:

John Campanelli (jcampanelli@crain.com) EDITOR:

Mark Dodosh (mdodosh@crain.com) MANAGING EDITOR:

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

OPINION

Chief issue

O

pportunity is knocking for the Cleveland Indians to turn a negative into a positive by engaging their fans in the process of creating a new name and logo for the city’s baseball franchise.

For now, the NFL’s Washington Redskins are drawing most of the heat for the refusal of owner Daniel Snyder to change the name of his football team. However, it’s only a matter of time before the media spotlight fixes its glare on the Cleveland Indians when the subject arises of racial insensitivity in sports toward Native Americans.

The Indians and particularly their logo, Chief Wahoo, already are brought up in stories and commentaries about what’s going on in Washington, and not in flattering ways.

Three weeks ago, Marc Tracy of The New Republic wrote a piece titled, “The most offensive team names in sports: A definitive ranking.” In Mr. Tracy’s view, the worst offender of the 17 teams he listed were our Cleveland Indians.

While the name of Washington’s team “is by no means a term of honor” when referring to Native Americans, Mr. Tracy wrote, “there is nothing in the world of sports quite like Chief Wahoo, who at the first glance is revealed to be a demeaning and racist caricature.”

Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio said last week team officials talk about the topic of the name and logo “with regularity,” but that there is “no effort at this time to change.” That’s unfortunate.

No team today would call itself the Sambos, nor would any team feature a grinning, sombrero-wearing Mexican on its cap, helmet or jersey. They simply wouldn’t fly with the large black and Hispanic populations that rightly would protest such offensive depictions of their races.

Just because Native Americans lack the numbers to object loudly enough to the many Indian-related names and images in sports doesn’t justify their ongoing use. That’s particularly true of Chief Wahoo. It’s hard to see how the tomato-red, bigtoothed chief honors a proud people.

And therein lies the opportunity.

Unlike the Redskins’ stubborn Mr. Snyder, the Indians’ ownership and management could make themselves look like the most enlightened people in sports by initiating a change in the ballclub’s identity.

Rather than begrudgingly relinquish a name that has been connected with the team for a century, the top brass could market the change as a way to write a new and exciting chapter in the franchise’s history.

The team could energize fans by conducting a contest to come up with a new name and logo (think of the merchandising potential!) and holding a ceremony where they could bury a streak of 65 years of championship-less seasons. In other words, make the transition fun.

We’ll even kick off the process by suggesting the name Bulldogs. Orel “The Bulldog” Hershiser, a hero of the glorious 1990s teams, could throw out the first pitch on Opening Day. The owners can bring praise to themselves and the city they call home by putting the past in the past. It is time.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Riding non-conservative winds of change ion, thumbed his nose at a “bloody the here are some winds blowing, opposition at any costs” political strateand it’s not just the kind that gy and thanked the president, swoop down from Onpraising his team for its quick tario and cause that BRIAN action to help New Jersey’s batlake-effect thing we all dread TUCKER tered residents and businesses. this time of year.

Now, a year later, the governor It seems everywhere I look, I withdrew his appeal to New Jersee signs of active admission by sey’s gay marriage law right after many of the Republican Party’s his state’s Supreme Court alstars — or stars in waiting — lowed gay marriages to proceed that they personally must chart under a new state law. Of course, a course away from the GOP’s the governor’s spin doctors tried ultra-conservative faction. to say he still opposes gay marOf course, some of the tea riage, but it’s clear that’s all about winning party’s true believers are having their a coming election as well as positioning own thinking-out-loud moments about himself as anti-Romney in advance of the their place in the Republican firmament, 2016 presidential election. but that’s another story. For now, I’d like Closer to home, our own state’s chief to remind you of some news developments from just the past couple weeks. executive has been taking similar tacks In no certain order, I begin with New in his political voyage, which may or may Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropping his not include the presidential cycle. Gov. fight against gay marriage in his state. A John Kasich got the attention of lots of year ago, the governor — no stranger to folks recently when he used the State controversy —caused apoplexy among Controlling Board to expand Medicaid’s some tea partiers with his good words for reach by using new money from the fedPresident Obama and the administraeral government. tion’s help in the wake of Hurricane And what did he tell The New York Sandy. Gov. Christie, in very public fashTimes? That he is “concerned about the

T

fact that there seems to be a war on the poor; that if you’re poor, you’re somehow shiftless and lazy.” Of course, that doesn’t change some of the things he’s done — like the deep cuts to local governments — that seem targeted to keep his conservative brethren in the fold as he heads to his own re-election vote next year.

It just appears to me that the smart money might be on those Republicans who can find a way to distance themselves from the slash-and-burn radicalism of the tea partiers. And that’s despite the sincerity of the move, challenged by the other side.

“This is someone who realized he had to get to the center and chose Medicaid as the issue,” the Times quoted a Democratic strategist as saying. “This doesn’t erase the first three years of his governorship when he pursued policies that rewarded the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.”

Well, few are more skeptical than career journalists, but I believe there are more Republicans out there who want a Christie- or Kasich-type than want a Ted Cruz.

I’m just sayin’.

■

TALK ON THE WEB

POLL POSITIONS

Re: Nestle pizza operations coming here ■ That’s GREAT news for Solon. It seems we’re constantly seeing businesses leave Northeast Ohio. Nice to see additional jobs added to the local economy.

I think I’m going to toss a DiGiorno pizza in the oven to celebrate. Maybe I’ll wash it down with some Nesquik!

— Mark Madere

Re: Introducing the Akron RubberDucks ■ Well, I am 56 years old … and this might be one of the stupidest things that I have ever heard. — Scott DePerro ■ I hope ShurTech jumps on this. It’s a no-brainer sponsorship opportunity for their Duck Tape line. (Duck Tape uniforms? An infield tarp that looks like a roll of Duck Tape?) — Steve Corcoran ■ Forget “small potatoes” Duck Tape

Reader responses to stories and blogs that appeared on: www.crainscleveland.com

(as a potential corporate sponsor.) I think they are really targeting the region’s largest company — Goodyear. — David Janus

Re: Global Center for Health Innovation ■ It’s a great start for Cleveland’s newest economic engine.

All those sitting on medical industry boards should encourage their organizations to hold their next meeting in Cleveland. With new demand for hotel rooms and supporting businesses, these new facilities and Cleveland should flourish.

— Leland Lewis See WEB Page 6

What do you make of all the technical problems of HealthCare.gov, the Obamacare website?

It proves government can’t handle large projects.

46.3% Stop the partisan bickering; just fix it.

51.9% Not surprising; insurance websites are always hard to navigate.

1.9% Vote in the poll each week at CrainsCleveland.com.

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COMING NEXT WEEK Care — on the go Crain’s Small Business section will take a look at mobile companies, such as Nicki Gambitta’s vet service.

Consumer demand and the desire for flexibility are helping to drive growth in such businesses.

LOWERING THE DOOM In August 2013, unemployment rates were lower in August than a year earlier in 311 of the 372 metropolitan statistics areas (MSAs), higher in 47 areas, and unchanged in 14 areas. The national unemployment rate in August was 7.3%, down from 8.2% a year earlier. Here’s the change in unemployment rates in the 13 Ohio MSAs:

MSA

REGULAR FEATURES Classified ....................26 Editorial ........................4 From the Publisher ........4 Going Places .................9

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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Letters ..........................6 Reporters’ Notebook....27 Talk on the Web .............4 What’s New..................27

Change in unemployment rate August 2012-August 2013

Akron +0.2 percentage points Canton-Massillon 0.0 Cincinnati-Middletown -0.2 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor -0.2 Columbus 0.0 Dayton -0.1 Lima +0.3 Mansfield -0.2 Sandusky +0.3 Springfield -0.5 Steubenville-Weirton -1.0 Toledo +0.4 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman -0.2 ■ Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; www.bls.gov

700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 Phone: (216) 522-1383 Fax: (216) 694-4264 www.crainscleveland.com Publisher/editorial director: Brian D. Tucker (btucker@crain.com) Associate publisher/editorial: John Campanelli (jcampanelli@crain.com) Editor: Mark Dodosh (mdodosh@crain.com) Managing editor: Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com) Sections editor: Amy Ann Stoessel (astoessel@crain.com) Assistant editor: Kevin Kleps (kkleps@crain.com) Sports Senior reporter: Stan Bullard (sbullard@crain.com) Real estate and construction Reporters: Jay Miller (jmiller@crain.com) Government Chuck Soder (csoder@crain.com) Technology Dan Shingler (dshingler@crain.com) Energy, steel and automotive Tim Magaw (tmagaw@crain.com) Health care and education Michelle Park (mpark@crain.com) Finance Rachel Abbey McCafferty (rmccafferty@crain.com) Manufacturing and energy Research editor: Deborah W. Hillyer (dhillyer@crain.com) Cartoonist/illustrator: Rich Williams Events manager: Jessica Snyder (jdsnyder@crain.com) Special events coordinator: Kim Hill (kroman@crain.com) Marketing strategist : Michelle Sustar (msustar@crain.com) Advertising director: Nicole Mastrangelo (nmastrangelo@crain.com) Senior account executive: Adam Mandell (amandell@crain.com) Account executives: Dawn Donegan (ddonegan@crain.com) Andy Hollander (ahollander@crain.com) Lindsie Bowman (lbowman@crain.com) John Banks (jbanks@crain.com) Office coordinator: Denise Donaldson (ddonaldson@crain.com) Digital strategy and development manager: Stephen Herron (sherron@crain.com) Web/Print production director: Craig L. Mackey (cmackey@crain.com) Production assistant/video editor: Steven Bennett (sbennett@crain.com) Billing: Susan Jaranowski, 313-446-6024 (sjaranowski@crain.com) Credit: Todd Masura, 313-446-6097 (tmasura@crain.com)

Crain Communications Inc. Keith E. Crain: Chairman Rance Crain: President Merrilee Crain: Secretary Mary Kay Crain: Treasurer William A. Morrow: Executive vice president/operations Chris Crain: Executive Vice President, Director of Strategic Operations Brian D. Tucker: Vice president Dave Kamis: Vice president/production & manufacturing Mary Kramer: Group publisher G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996) Subscriptions: In Ohio: 1 year - $64, 2 year - $110.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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NOVEMBER 4 - 10, 2013

LETTERS

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Issue 1 is of utmost importance

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e strongly support all the programs that are funded by Issue 1, the Cuyahoga County health and human services levy.

We congratulate the members of the County Council, who did the necessary financial and needs analysis that identified the increasing financial struggle resulting from decreased revenues and the increasing demand for services. We support the use of levy funds to provide mental health and addiction services that are not covered by Medicaid and access to services for persons who are not eligible for Medicaid or the insurance exchange. We also support services for children and the elderly provided by the county.

As mental health professionals, each of whom has been active in various aspects of mental health services for more 45 years each, we strongly support this levy.

Recent research shows adverse lifetime events contribute to the incidence of both health and mental health problems and reduce life expectancy for those with chronic health and behavioral health problems by as much as 25 years. For adults, in addition to providing more effective integrated medical treatment and medications, we also know the importance of care management, counseling, rehabilitation, supportive stable housing, and jobs, some of them provided by local agencies. In addition, there has been significant research that demonstrates the importance of early childhood intervention and specialized education for children to improve their health.

Issue 1 will assist 100 local agencies in providing services to residents of the county. These provide: ■ integrated primary health and behavioral health care management that will improve both health and behavioral health of adults and

children. This is often referred to as a medical home, a place or organization where all of a person’s health and behavioral health needs will be met; ■ more rehabilitation to adults to enhance their skills and enable them to participate more actively in their family or community, including jobs and employment services; ■ more early intervention treatment and education for children with early behavioral health problems in order to build their skills and enable them to become selfsupporting adults; ■ more crisis intervention services for families and children and single adults to prevent suicide, violence, incarceration and adverse lifetime events; and ■ more rehabilitation services to persons who are sent into juvenile and adult justice systems and enable them to live a more productive life.

All these services will contribute to the recovery of persons who have experienced behavioral health problems.

Cuyahoga County is fortunate to have two excellent medical schools that do advanced research on behavioral health problems, from genetics to neuroimaging, and clinical research, so the agencies providing integrated health care have early access to new treatments or new studies of the efficacy of treatment, and evidence-based treatments that may be developed.

We urge you to vote for Issue 1.

It is the most important issue on the November ballot, It is a direct and a wise investment in the improved health of Cuyahoga County residents.

Dr. L. Douglas Lenkoski H. Bernard Smith Kathleen H. Stoll All former members of the Community Mental Health Board

WRITE TO US Send your letters to: Mark Dodosh, editor, Crain’s Cleveland Business, 700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 Email: editor@crainscleveland.com

Don’t pity hospitals Regarding your Page One story, “High deductibles up hospitals’ worry” in your Oct. 28 issue: Seeing this headline caused me to immediately wonder if we will be seeing a follow-up article headlined, “High hospital costs and excessive services worry consumers.”

If hospitals are worried about consumers selecting high-deductible plans as way to balance the financial impact of unaffordable premiums, why don’t the hospitals seek help from the people who designed and passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act? The paramount question is, “Who is looking out for the interests of the consumers?”

David W. Stetler Westlake

Compromise? No Brian Tucker’s continual effort to demonize the tea party is obsessive and getting a little boring. Progressive Republicans and Democrats love to compromise as long as they’re growing government and securing their jobs.

Our country is $17 trillion in debt and our government’s addiction to spending is unsustainable and getting worse.

The hell with compromise — the direction this country is heading needs to stop and folks who put America ahead of their own selfish ambitions need to lead. That, Mr. Tucker, would be the conservative wing of the Republican Party — namely, the tea party.

Jeff Longo North Royalton

25651 Detroit Rd, Suite 203, Westlake, OH 44145

Web: Renewable energy isn’t enough Re: Renewable energy

Re: Future of Chief Wahoo

Re: JobsOhio’s performance

■ The reality is that renewable energy will never be able to provide more than 5% of our energy needs.

It is not clear if the study (cited by guest blogger John Colm of WireNet) took into account the fact that solar and wind energy would not exist unless heavily subsidized by the government.

Many of the solar and wind companies which were heavily funded and subsidized by the government have declared bankruptcy. Demand cannot be created in a heavily subsidized industry.

— Stephen Pasternack

■ I am a born and raised Clevelander and I believe that it should be changed.

Yes, Chief Wahoo is cartoony, but the red-faced Wahoo has reached his end. I have no issue with the Indians name, but an arrowhead tipped spear with two feathers hanging from it would be better and less offensive.

It could be a marketing flurry with a money prize and tickets to games for the winning entry. But it is time to make a change.

— Kevin Peeples

■ Prior to the current administration, Ohio had the Third Frontier to help startups. Everyone knew exactly what they were doing, and it was trying to be very transparent.

Unfortunately, we now have JobsOhio, which swallowed up the Third Frontier and made it a tool to serve an elite group.

This goes hand-in-hand with a governor trying to appeal to everyone and consequently getting everyone mad.

If only he were a true moderate!

— Neil Dick

continued from PAGE 4

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■ Crain’s on Twitter: @CrainsCleveland ■ Crain’s on Facebook: Facebook.com/CrainsCleveland ■ Crain’s daily e-newsletters: CrainsCleveland.com/register ■ Newsletter schedule: Weekdays: Morning Roundup and daily headlines; Mondays: Real Estate Report; Tuesdays: Health Care Report; Wednesdays: Dealmaker Alert; Thursdays: Small Business Report; Fridays: Shale and Energy Report

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The company just broke ground on the addition last month, and Mr. Vancura said the goal is to get the foundation in place before the end of 2013. Chem Tech is targeting next spring for an opening date.

Chem Tech’s Middlefield site consists of four blend lines for chemical dispersion and three rubber mixing lines. Mr. Vancura said the eighth line will be an additional

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rubber intermeshing line. “Our goal is to never run out of capacity,� Mr. Vancura said. “The site we just broke ground on can go up to 500,000 square foot (of space).

Now we’re not building that much yet. I don’t need that much. But we’ll be building that in modules.

That will give us the ability to grow into the future. We should be set for some time before we have to look at a new physical location expansion.�

Chem Tech is expanding to keep up with its rapid growth. Mr. Vancura said the company has grown by 50% each of the last two years. So far through 2013, the company has posted a 30% sales increase. The secret to the company’s success is its focus on the customer, said Jim Schill, its chairman and CEO. “Our philosophy can be summed up in four words: do the right thing,� he said. “We are very, very conscious of our customers. We do a lot of things the way they were done 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago.�

Mr. Schill founded Chem Tech in 2001. He was a founder of Elastochem in 1979, and started Gold Key Processing in 1998. He worked for Burton Rubber as chief financial officer and vice president of finance

in 1966. Elastochem was sold to Rhein Chemie in 1996, and Gold Key was sold to Hexpol in 2007.

Mr. Schill has brought the same approach to Chem Tech as he did his other two successful ventures: creating the best job possible for his employees. “We make it worth their while to work here,� Mr. Schill said. “We pay 100% of health care; there’s practically nobody else in the county that does that. The way I look at it, at some point in time if you say to your employee from here on in, you have to pay for a portion of your health care, that’s a pay cut.�

Mr. Vancura also was involved with Gold Key and stayed on as managing director when the company was sold to Hexpol. He joined Chem Tech as chief operating officer after doing consulting work for the company. “It isn’t just the equipment; it’s the people,� Mr. Vancura said. “It’s our systems and how we’re doing business.� ■(Chris Sweeney is a reporter with Rubber & Plastics News, a sister publication of Crain’s Cleveland Business.)

Exchange: Employees can make more ‘educated decisions’ based on needs continued from PAGE 3

The private exchange model has been around for some time, though insurance experts say the health care affordability crisis ensnaring employers is expected to accelerate its popularity during the next three to five years, particularly among middle-market firms. Companies increasingly see the exchange model as a vehicle to more accurately predict their health care spending and simultaneously to give employees more options for coverage.

Exchanges are viewed as a way to transition more easily from a defined benefits model to a defined contribution model — a shift akin to the migration away from pension plans toward 401(k) accounts. That said, the migration toward private exchanges and defined contributions doesn’t necessarily pull costs out of the system; it just shifts them to the employee from the employer. “When you crawl across the desert and are really thirsty, anything looks good to drink,� said Robert Klonk, CEO of Oswald Cos., a Cleveland-based benefits brokerage developing its own private exchange. “Anything that potentially lowers an employer’s health care costs looks good. This is what I call the shiny new tool.�

Hello, middle market

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The bulk of the activity in the private exchange arena has been fueled by big corporations such as Walgreens, Sears Holdings Corp. and Darden Restaurants. All three firms are part of the multicarrier private exchange administered by Aon Hewitt, a nationwide benefits brokerage company. In total, Aon expects more than 600,000 U.S. em-

ployees and their families will be covered in 2014 under plans offered on Aon’s exchange. “This is an opportunity for individuals to make their health care purchasing decisions through an online environment that offers competitively priced products and services from differing insurance companies,� said Gregory Hubbell, a senior vice president in Aon Hewitt’s Cleveland office. “It’s not much different from other marketplaces, like Amazon or iTunes.�

However, a middle-market firm engaged in a private exchange likely will work with a single insurance carrier offering a slate of plans. An exchange populated by only a few hundred employees and multiple carriers, for instance, would expose the insurance companies to too much risk. Still, brokers contend employees of middle-market firms will have plenty to choose from on their private exchanges.

About 150 employees at Nations Lending Corp. in Independence, for example, recently chose from 12 Medical Mutual offerings on Gallagher’s private exchange, according to Cheryl Lieber, Nations Lending’s chief administrative officer. “They could choose whatever they wanted to based on their finances and health needs,� she said. “They could make a more educated decision for themselves than us as a company saying, ‘This is what you get.’ �

Choosing wisely Exchange advocates say the decision-making tools on the exchange websites ensure the enrollment process goes smoothly and wards off most people’s apprehension over having too many options from

which to select. Ms. Lieber characterized Gallagher’s marketplace as a “very user-friendly system� and said, “The support that was given for it was phenomenal.�

Of course, as with 401(k) plans, poor plan selection in the exchange could come back to haunt someone later. As with the Obamacare exchanges, some health care providers fear that when presented with so many choices, employees might flock toward the plans with the lowest premiums — plans that often come with the highest deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs.

Mr. Klonk of Oswald predicts that while people might enroll in the cheaper plans from the outset, they likely will migrate toward richer plans in the coming years as they’re faced with larger medical bills. And despite all the gizmos associated with the exchanges, it’s not going to be a simple purchase for everyone. “Going back decades, employees have always counted on their employers to make their decisions for them,� he said. “It’s going to be very challenging for people initially.�

While the exchange concept might be attractive initially, it could come back to trouble employers who view exchanges as a way to get out of the health care business entirely. Should employers forego an increase in the size of the subsidies they’re offering their employees and health care costs continue to rise, employee retention and attraction could become an issue. “That cycle can’t continue very long without people leaving the company,â€? Mr. Klonk said. “Exchanges and all those other things don’t reduce health care costs. It shifts them.â€? â–

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9

GOING PLACES JOB CHANGES

Attn: Manufacturers & Warehouses

EDUCATION

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BRUNSWICK COS.: Sharon Marlowe to lawyers professional liability account executive.

LEGAL BUCKINGHAM, DOOLITTLE & BURROUGHS LLC: Anthony R. Vacanti and Michael Puterbaugh to partners.

senior vice president, office division.

TRANSACTION REALTY: Cheryl Jaworski to sales associate.

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MANUFACTURING BRENNAN INDUSTRIES: Kelly Forrest to marketing coordinator.

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ADCOM GROUP: Stuart Glassman to senior vice president.

PROXIMITY MARKETING: Shon Christy to vice president, social media.

PRICE FOR PROFIT: Jason Quinones to database administrator; Ryan Burnett to IT manager; Dave Swicegood to developer.

RADCOM: Peggy Lee-Tocco to account executive.

WYSE ADVERTISING: Sarah Spiece to assistant strategic planner.

STATE AND FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS INC.: Juli Hicks to director of human resources.

REAL ESTATE

STAFFING

NAI DAUS: Cyndie O’Bryon to

AREA TEMPS INC.: Jessica Alford

John Carroll receives $2.5M donation for business school John Carroll University alumnus Ray Smiley and his wife, Eleanor, said they will donate $2.5 million to the university’s business school to endow a chair in business ethics.

Mr. Smiley, a 1951 graduate of the university, was an executive at McDowell-Wellman Engineering Co. and Gilford Instrument Laboratories. He finished his career as chief financial officer at Bearings Inc. He is a member of the university’s board of directors. The university is conducting a national search for the inaugural chair in business ethics.

“We are grateful that the Smileys have chosen to invest in our students in this way, by addressing ethical, moral, and social justice problems in the world community,” John Carroll president Robert L. Niehoff said in a news release.

He added, “Establishing a chair in

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HEALTHSPAN: Marc Scheuer to manager of sales; Charlie Adams to manager, broker relations and consultant relations.

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ON THE WEB Story from: www.crainscleveland.com business ethics will enable the university to hire an achieved academic scholar and create collaborative programming centered on generating innovative ideas.”

The Smileys’ gift is part of the university’s $100 million Forever Carroll Campaign, which publicly launched last May. — Timothy Magaw

Choices

There are thousands of law firms.

But many accomplished attorneys have chosen McDonald Hopkins.

C.TRAC INC.: Joe Morel to director of technology; Billy Meade to lead developer architect.

AWARDS ATI NURSING EDUCATION: Cathy Snelson (Kent State University College of Nursing) received the Nurse’s Touch Award.

FEDERATION OF GERMAN MERICAN SOCIETIES OF GREATER CLEVELAND: Paul Psota (Altenheim) received the 2013 Man of the Year Award.

PREVENT BLINDNESS: Jerry Kelsheimer (Fifth Third Bank) received the People of Vision Award.

Send information for Going Places to dhillyer@crain.com.

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Pastry chef finds enticing new digs

P

MCKINLEY WILEY

Pastry chef Britt-Marie Culey and her husband, Shane, soon will open Coquette Patisserie in the Euclid 115 Building across from the Cleveland Institute of Art.

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astry chef Britt-Marie Culey’s patience has paid off.

After five years of carefully searching Cleveland’s East Side for the ideal location in which to expand her fledgling home-based bakery, Ms. Culey secured what she considers the perfect space.

Ms. Culey and her husband and business partner, Shane Culey, are scheduled to open soon Coquette Patisserie at 11607 Euclid Ave. in the Euclid 115 Building, across from the Cleveland Institute of Art. “The space is situated between all these cultural gems and institutions,” Ms. Culey said. “Our target clientele is people who frequent University Circle.”

The patisserie café and retail shop will serve authentic pastries, plus a small savory menu of about 10 French dishes that fuse Ms. Culey’s Scandinavian heritage and French grower champagne.

About 600 square feet of the 1,000-square-foot space will be dedicated to a commercial kitchen, and the remaining real estate will accommodate about 20 to 30 seats for an intimate dining setting.

The duo will continue each Saturday to operate at Shaker Square Farmers Market, which has been a boon to their organic growth (along with a wholesale restaurant and catering business). So much so that Ms. Culey nearly moved on two different Shaker Square locations.

“We realized a space in Shaker Square would conflict with our farmers market presence, and we wanted to maintain that,” she said.

“Our customers there have been so supportive. Then we heard about the University Circle space, and Shane and I knew this was it.”

The chef transplanted her growing startup from rural Connecticut to her Cleveland Heights home in 2008. The reception was immediate, she said, prompting the need to expand beyond her kitchen.

Ms. Culey, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, Ore., garnered industry experience in southern France before relocating to New York City, where she worked at Manhattan’s Financier Pâtisserie. A year-long stint in her native Connecticut preceded the move to Cleveland Heights, a market she and Shane had identified as an ideal location in which to grow their business and

KATHYAMESCARR

WHAT’S COOKING raise a family.

“We looked at 80 houses before we found the right one,” Ms. Culey said.

“It’s the same approach we took for locating the right business. We didn’t want to settle until we were sure.”

Other local morsels ■ The East Side is gaining another French-inspired eatery, which aims to provide classic French cuisine and superb service with a social cause.

Edwins Restaurant and Leadership Institute opened last Friday, Nov. 1, at Shaker Square, as both a high-quality dining destination for the public and a training center for former prisoners. The nonprofit’s mission is to teach the adults through an intensive six-month training program all aspects of running a restaurant and prepare them for successful re-entry into the professional world.

“It’s about eating well and doing good,” said founder Brandon Chrostowski, an accomplished chef, sommelier and former general manager of L’Albatros in University Circle.

Edwins has raised more than $300,000 from various entities, including the Cleveland Foundation, RPM International and Fairmount Minerals. Judging by a soft opening on Monday, Oct. 28, where spot-on cuisine and attentive service aligned with Mr. Chrostowski’s high expectations, Edwins is a suprême choice for a business lunch or dinner. Located at 13101 Shaker Square, Cleveland; 216-921-3333; edwinsrestaurant.org.

■ Granite City Food & Brewery is entering the Cleveland market with its opening this Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Legacy Village. The 11,300square-foot space will seat 375 and employ about 200. Operators say the restaurant’s menu items are prepared fresh daily and from scratch.

The Minneapolis-based chain has 30 restaurants in 13 states. Located at 24519 Cedar Road, Lyndhurst; gcfb.com.

■

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Start: Software startup MascotSecret is ‘going to blow up’ continued from PAGE 3

And those entrepreneurs should keep coming, because LaunchHouse and Bizdom both are pushing harder to recruit out-of-state startups than they did when the state-supported programs were created two years ago.

For instance, five of the 11 startups now going through the LaunchHouse Accelerator had been based in other cities. Plus, LaunchHouse has received applications from Spain, France, Singapore and Azerbaijan, said Shannon Lyons, who runs the accelerator, which is based at the Shaker LaunchHouse incubator in Shaker Heights. The incubator recently worked with the city to renovate a few run-down houses on a nearby street, which already house a few out-of-town entrepreneurs and should help the accelerator attract more, Ms. Lyons said.

“We want to be known as a place … where startups come from across the world,” she said.

Like LaunchHouse, Bizdom has promoted itself through online directories that entrepreneurs use when looking for accelerators to join. As a result, six startups have moved to the company’s downtown Cleveland accelerator from other states. A third local accelerator, FlashStarts, mainly works to attract local entrepreneurs.

Like other accelerators cropping up across the country, Bizdom and LaunchHouse provide even the youngest companies with up to

$25,000, three months of intense mentoring and office space in exchange for equity.

This year, Bizdom upped the ante to help it attract entrepreneurs who otherwise might sign up with big-name accelerators in other regions, such as TechStars and Y Combinator: The Cleveland accelerator now plans to make an additional investment of up to $100,000 in its most promising tenants, said Paul Allen, who manages the program.

“We want to be competitive with other accelerators like TechStars, and we recognize that amazing founders have other options,” Mr. Allen said.

Granted, many accelerator tenants have no customers when they arrive. Some will die within a few years of graduating from the 3month-long programs. And in LaunchHouse’s case, some startups coming from outside Ohio probably will move away, because the accelerator doesn’t require them to remain nearby.

But some will stay and thrive, creating jobs and wealth that Ohio otherwise would have missed out on, Mr. Allen said.

The process, however, will take time, he cautioned.

“You have to plant lots and lots and lots of seeds, and you have to wait for those seeds to grow into big flowers or big trees,” he said.

Sharing a secret A few seeds that blew in from out

of state have started to sprout.

Bizdom’s MascotSecret raised $600,000 in venture capital this summer in a round led by Toba Capital, which has offices in Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco — where MascotSecret’s founders used to live.

The company has developed smart phone software that allows people at events to upgrade their seats for a fee. The Cleveland Cavaliers started testing it with a limited number of people last season, and since then the startup has struck deals with the Houston Rockets and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

Four of MascotSecret’s seven employees live in other regions, but that could change as the company grows and increases its ability to recruit people from outside Northeast Ohio to the area, according to founders Donna Lee and Jen Jeng.

They were attracted to Bizdom because it was founded by Dan Gilbert, who owns large stakes in the Cavs and Veritix, a digital ticketing company that shares space with Bizdom.

“We’re going to blow up … and be Dan Gilbert’s biggest competitor for real estate,” Ms. Lee said with a laugh.

However, many of the startups that moved here are just getting started. Vendalize.com consists of just two people, Mitch Turck, who moved to LaunchHouse from Pittsburgh, and developer Adam Leonard, who still lives in New York.

The big city wouldn’t be a great place to test the company’s locally focused search engine technology, Mr. Turck said. Cleveland resembles the rest of the country, unlike New York and San Francisco, Mr. Turck said.

Granted, Vendalize.com’s next step would be to focus on a major city. Might the company move away once it takes that step? That depends on how much money the startup can raise from area investors, Mr. Turck said.

There’s no telling how many LaunchHouse startups begun by non-Ohioans might return home after graduating from the program.

The founder of blogging platform Sliced Apples, the one out-of-state startup that joined the accelerator’s 2012 class, since has moved back to Florida. Norin.TV also has a high likelihood of returning to China: The company, which is developing a way to teach English via the web using TV shows and movies with subtitles, will need to be near the market for its services, according to co-founder Chris Baek.

Given its potential, Norin.TV is the rare exception where LaunchHouse would accept a company that has a high likelihood of leaving town, according to LaunchHouse partner Todd Goldstein.

Ties that bind LaunchHouse can maintain many startups by helping them raise money from investors and find local customers, Ms. Lyons

said.

Like Bizdom, LaunchHouse has received grants from the Ohio Third Frontier economic development program, in addition to assistance from Shaker Heights. But requiring the startups to remain in Northeast Ohio could make it “tough for a startup that needs to be nimble” in order to attract customers and investors, Mr. Goldstein said.

The Brandery, a Cincinnati accelerator that has been ranked as one of the best in the country, has a similar policy. Three of the eight startups that went through the Brandery accelerator last year are now based elsewhere, while the rest still have a presence in Cincinnati, according to general manager Mike Bott.

“If we can retain two or three or four … we’re a net importer of startups that otherwise wouldn’t have come to Cincinnati,” he said, noting that Ohio entrepreneurs account for only 15% of Brandery’s applicants.

On the other hand, Bizdom startups sign a contract requiring them to base their headquarters in either the city of Cleveland or Detroit, where there is another Bizdom branch. No applicants have told Mr. Allen they have a problem with the rule, which is meant to spur high-tech entrepreneurship in those cities.

“There is a sense of responsibility to help cultivate this critical mass,” he said.

■

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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FREDERICK STUEBER Senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and secretary Lincoln Electric hen he first heard about the job he’s held for nearly two decades, Fred Stueber actually asked several other attorneys to consider the opportunity.

Then an attorney at Jones Day who learned through his work with Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. that it wanted to expand its legal department, Mr. Stueber ultimately decided to try going in-house himself.

He’d not been seeking to leave the law firm, but had watched his late uncle lead a successful career as general counsel for a bank.

“I sized up the opportunity, and I thought it was a company where I could make a difference,” Mr. Stueber said.

Those who work alongside him say he has.

In all, Mr. Stueber — senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer and secretary for the Euclid-based welding equipment manufacturer — has led a 33-year legal career. Eighteen of those, he’s spent at Lincoln Electric.

“He’s done some pretty transformative things for not only Lincoln Electric, but the industry,” said Vincent K. Petrella, the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. “Fred led an industry defense group against what’s referred to as fume litigation. Fred engineered … a collective defense plan that ultimately resulted in the dismissal of literally thousands of cases against Lincoln Electric and the industry.

“It isn’t oftentimes that a company and an industry survive the onslaught of the plaintiffs’ bar,” Mr. Petrella added.

That multi-district welding fume litigation, wherein plaintiffs’ attorneys sued Lincoln Electric and numerous competitors, alleging neurological disorders from welding fumes, spanned a decade and was dissolved this year. It was not the first high-stakes litigation Mr. Stueber handled.

A year after he joined the company in 1995, he found himself defending in 1996 a class action suit brought by plaintiffs who claimed that Lincoln Electric weld metal used in buildings damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California was defective.

“We were able in both instances to prove the substance of the claims was false,” Mr. Stueber said. “We were successful because the Lincoln employees were able to tell their story persuasively. The Lincoln employees really know the welding business, and they can tell that story, and that, I’ve found, has been extremely useful.”

Mr. Stueber has built a solid, “world-class” legal department within Lincoln Electric, Mr. Petrella said.

He’s not one to settle, but instead is “very aggressive” in defending the company against “almost any and all attacks,” he added.

“I’m on that page completely from a CFO perspective because I think too often in American business, you look at situations where somebody’s suing you (and think), ‘It’ll cost me half a million dollars to defend this, but I can settle,’” Mr. Petrella said. “Fred has the foresight and the vision to understand that when you do that, you’re welcoming more and more litigation and you become a soft target.”

Mr. Petrella said the message is clear: “You better think twice because we’re going to defend ourselves.”

And it still is: The company’s now involved in litigation with insurance carriers over excess coverage issues.

Mr. Stueber attributes his successes to the career track he’s followed: He earned his law degree from Harvard University, gained perspective on managing litigation as a clerk for a federal judge in 1980 and joined Jones Day as a corporate lawyer in 1981, where he spent 13 years, the final six as a partner.

Within his current role, Mr. Stueber oversees a staff of four lawyers and two paralegals who handle more than litigation; corporate governance matters, mergers and acquisitions, corporate compliance, intellectual property and labor law matters fall under their purview, too.

A native of Shaker Heights, Mr. Stueber, 60, today lives in Cleveland Heights with his wife, Betsy. They have two college-aged sons, a yellow Labrador named Maizey and a summer home on Kelley’s Island in Lake Erie, where they spend time boating and enjoying the water.

He last week was elected as a trustee of ideastream, a nonprofit multiple-media public service organization serving Northeast Ohio, and also is a trustee of the John P. Murphy Foundation, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and University School, which he attended for four years. — Michelle Park Lazette

W

F

or the second year, Crain’s Cleveland Business is honoring those working in the region’s general and in-house counsel positions.

Winners and finalists were determined by an independent panel of legal experts.

Consideration was given to leadership; business strategy achievement; protection of company interests; governance/compliance; notable legal achievements; and community volunteer efforts.

Judges for this year’s program were: Luke Cleland, associate general counsel, University Hospitals Health System; Rusty Hood, vice president, general counsel, Bendix Commercial Vehicles System; Henry Grendell, vice president, general counsel, Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America; and Barbara Roman, partner, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis. ❇❇❇❇❇ Winners and finalists will be recog-

FINALISTS ■ Sheryl King Benford, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority; Page 16 ■ Kim F. Bixenstine, University Hospitals; Page 14 ■ Kevin Brokaw, Geis Companies; Page 15 ■ A. Steven Dever, Ganley Management Co.; Page 15 ■ Matthew Donnelly, Cleveland Clinic; Page 14 ■ Steve Eisenberg, AssuraMed; Page 17 ■ Elizabeth Evans, Republic Steel; Page 15 ■ Patricia Gaul, PlayhouseSquare Foundation; Page 18 ■ Jennifer M. Griveas, Eliza Jennings; Page 18 ■ Matthew Heinle, Mercy Medical Center; Page 16 ■ Shannon Fogarty Jerse, Sisters of Charity Health System; Page 19 ■ Emily Smayda Kelly, Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio; Page 20 ■ Douglas Kordel, Proforma; Page 20 ■ Scott M. Lewis, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis; Page 22 ■ Chris Mason, Clinical Research Management Inc.; Page 16 ■ Duffield E. Milkie, Cedar Fair LP; Page 19 ■ John C. Orlando Jr., Orlando Baking Co.; Page 17 ■ Geri Presti, Forest City Enterprises; right ■ Marilyn Tobocman, Ohio Attorney General’s Office; Page 21 ■ Willis Walker, Kent State University; Page 20

RISING STAR FINALISTS ■ Nadine Ezzie, Broadvox; Page 21 ■ Amanda Kitzberger, GOJO Industries; Page 22 ■ John Warren, University Hospitals; Page 17 ■ Ashlee Webster, GCA Services Group Inc.; Page 19

nized during a program from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 13 at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven in Mayfield Heights, which will follow morning and afternoon education sessions.

The education portion — for which up to six hours of continuing legal education credits are available — starts at 8 a.m. with three morning sessions: ■ Ethics: Perils of Privilege and Production (1 hour, Ethics) ■ Professionalism: Developments in Spoliation of Evidence (0.5 hour, Professionalism) ■ Professionalism: Social Media Issues (0.5 hour, Professionalism) The morning speaker, for which one substance abuse hour is available, will be Gary Stromberg, author and speaker, The BLACKBIRD Group.

A luncheon keynote address will be given by Judge Jed S. Rakoff, senior U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York, who will speak on “The

GERI PRESTI Executive vice president; general counsel; corporate secretary Forest City Enterprises Inc.

A

s a publicly traded national real estate development concern with almost $11 billion in assets, almost 3,000 associates and operations in 26 states from Boston to Hawaii, a lot of lawyering needs to be done at Forest City. Overseeing the legal side of things is Geri Presti’s job.

Ms. Presti is responsible for all of Forest City’s legal matters, including real estate development, financing, corporate governance and securities law. She heads a group of more than 20 in-house attorneys and oversees the company’s relationships with outside law firms. She is a member of the company’s executive management team and works closely with its CEO, CFO and other business leaders to promote Forest City’s initiatives, according to the nomination. When employees and directors have ethical concerns, their queries go to an email she monitors to provide rapid responses.

David LaRue, Forest City CEO, called Ms. Presti “the glue that keeps the enterprise on track,” and she has played a key role in the company’s drive to reduce indebtedness and improve its balance sheet.

Looking back at the past year, he noted that many major transactions, from bringing in a partner at 8 Spruce Street to early redemption of debt “do not happen without tremendous support and leadership from your general counsel.”

She joined Forest City fresh from Case Western Reserve University in 1989 as she completed a joint program to receive a master’s degree in social service administration and a law degree. She also brought with her five years of experience as a licensed music therapist at the Cleveland Music Settlement. She became general counsel in 2002, the company’s corporate secretary in 2008 and an executive vice president in 2012.

Surprising Paucity of Criminal Prosecutions Arising from the Financial Crisis.”

Participants then will be able to choose to attend two panel discussions: From 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. (running concurrently): (1.5 hours, general) ■ Creating a living, breathing and current compliance program ■ Contemporary employment issues: From your boss to the loading dock From 3 to 4:30 p.m. (running concurrently): (1.5 hours, general) ■ Managing social media risk in turbulent times ■ Preparing for the inevitable litigation or regulatory crisis ❇❇❇❇❇ Attendees can opt to attend all or part of the day; different pricing tiers are available. For more information, go to www.crainscleveland.com/ GENERAL_COUNSEL or contact Kim Hill at 216-771-5182 or kehill@crain.com.

Andy Passen, Forest City’s executive vice president of human resources, said Ms. Presti commits herself 100% to the problems and assignments that go her way.

“I know that I can trust her judgment and that her advice is backed by well-reasoned thought” and, Mr. Passen said, “where appropriate, well documented and detailed research.”

Specific areas in which Ms. Presti has been personally involved, according to the nomination, include increasing the legal department’s focus on regulatory requirements, helping the company’s board of directors with succession plans, and supporting its human resources diversity programs and leadership development among women by participating in its Women’s Leadership Associates Resource Group.

Colleagues describe her as responsible, professional and giving. Amy Kellogg, cochair of BakerHostetler’s national real estate practice, said it is easy to forget that Ms. Presti’s responsibilities extend far beyond Cleveland and describes her as “a great role model not only in the legal profession, but in giving back to the community.”

At a company that is well known for charitable activities, Ms. Presti has “never ceasing” dedication to the community, Mr. Passen said.

Ms. Presti has served as a trustee for the Greater Cleveland General Counsel Association and for the L.L.M. Program for Legal Studies at the CWRU School of Law. She also has been involved with Business Volunteers Unlimited, the International Council of Shopping Centers, Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland, the executive committee of CWRU and the In Counsel with Women trade group.

Since joining Forest City, she has remained active at the Cleveland Music Settlement, serving as its vice chairman and vice president, and chaired its executive, strategic planning, governance and finance committees.

Mr. LaRue said Ms. Presti’s enthusiasm can recharge a room but she is not all business. “She’s also attuned to the personal side of things,” he said, “and supports people in their challenges or their celebrations.” — Stan Bullard

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14 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

KIM BIXENSTINE

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Porter Wright salutes all attorneys selected by their colleagues for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America©, including seven of our Cleveland-based attorneys.

Michael A. Ellis Donald J. Fisher Phillip E. Langer Hugh E. McKay

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Congratulations, Willis Walker on being named a 2013 In-House and General Counsel finalist. You are an example of excellence in action, happening every day at Kent State University.

Vice President

Willis Walker, Esq. General Counsel Kent State University

Kent State University congratulates all In-House and General Counsel finalists.

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Vice president and deputy general counsel University Hospitals hen Kim Bixenstine arrived at University Hospitals a decade ago, the health system didn’t have an inhouse claims and litigation department.

However, Ms. Bixenstine, now serving as vice president and deputy general counsel, worked closely with Janet Miller, the health system’s chief legal officer, to persuade UH’s top brass that such a department was needed. And good thing UH’s administration listened because the department that Ms. Bixenstine now steers has paid dividends.

According to the nomination, since the end of 2004, the number of pending medical malpractice and general liability lawsuits against UH has been reduced by more than 70% despite the fact that the health system has seen a 24% increase in the number of patients seen.

The net result is an addition of approximately $180 million to the health system’s bottom line since 2006, according to the nomination.

In recent years, Ms. Bixenstine also has helped settle 80% of medical malpractice and general liability matters in house, resulting in about $2 million in legal fee savings, according to the nomination.

“She typically gets some of the knottiest, most complex issues and comes up with creative solutions,” Ms. Miller said. “She’s one of the most creative lawyers I’ve ever worked with.”

Even if UH wins a medical malpractice case, Ms. Bixenstine leads a

MATTHEW DONNELLY Deputy chief legal officer Cleveland Clinic atthew Donnelly’s fingerprints can be found well beyond the Cleveland Clinic’s stronghold in Northeast Ohio. Indeed, his influence can be felt even in the Clinic’s most distant ventures.

As one of the Clinic’s deputy chief legal officers, Mr. Donnelly has been instrumental in the health system’s ongoing project in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Clinic partnered with Mubadala, a wholly owned affiliate of the government, to build the international, 350-bed hospital.

The United Arab Emirates is a young country in the process of evaluating health care systems around the world to find the best models of care for its citizens. As such, Mr. Donnelly has shared what he has learned at the Clinic over the last seven years.

Stateside, Mr. Donnelly has contributed to the Clinic by putting an emphasis on evaluating cases well before lawsuits are filed. These early assessments have enabled the litigation team he steers to more efficiently manage the claims process. As a result, the Clinic’s legal spend and the number of lawsuits against the health system both have decreased.

“He’s a star performer,” said David Rowan, the Clinic’s chief legal officer. “We are at our best when we’re working as a team, and Matt is a great team player. He

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review process to discern whether any lessons could be learned from the ordeal. It sounds like a difficult task, but Ms. Bixenstine approaches each situation in a manner that exudes confidence and collaboration, according to Ms. Miller.

“She has an infectious smile,” Ms. Miller said. “She gets people to collaborate because of the way she talks through the issues. She’s got terrific negotiation skills. People love her.

Ms. Bixenstine’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed inside the organization. A few years back, her team won an in-house achievement award for demonstrating the greatest measurable impact on UH’s pillars of quality, service excellence, employee engagement and financial performance.

“Kim’s close collaboration with human resources and the organization’s clinical partners has resulted in the creation of a culture of transparency,” the nomination said.

“The goal is to focus on the humane aspects of patient care, and apologizing to patients when merited, which is instrumental in advocating that policy of (putting) patients first,” the nomination said.

Beyond UH, Ms. Bixenstine is a member of several community organizations and a frequent speaker at seminars. She’s a member of Leadership Cleveland’s 2009 class and serves on the boards of trustees at the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, the Great Lakes Theater and the Shaker Heights Development Corporation.

She is also an active member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and has worked with the Northeast Ohio chapter of the American Arbitration Association, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland and Planned Parenthood of Greater Cleveland.

“She is a remarkable lawyer and deserves all the accolades she can get,” Ms. Miller said.

— Timothy Magaw works well with docs, nurses and other caregivers.”

Mr. Donnelly recently was charged with developing an inhouse ethics committee for the Clinic’s legal department. Having the foresight that ethical issues don’t only affect attorneys, he corralled a diverse group of attorneys, paralegals and administrative assistants for the venture.

“In this capacity, Matt serves as a valued ethical resource for the organization and promotes the Clinic’s tradition of carrying out daily activities within appropriate ethical and legal standards,” the nomination said.

Mr. Donnelly also was instrumental in helping with the installation of the legal department’s electronic billing system, which has helped the legal department better gauge where monetary resources are going. According to the nomination, the effort already has had a positive effect on the organization’s bottom line.

“He’s a valued member of the team and someone I rely upon for judgment,” Mr. Rowan said. “I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Mr. Donnelly was heavily involved with the development of the first Northeast Ohio Medical Legal Summit, which was held last year.

Last year, he served as the vice chair for the event and will serve as chair for the 2014 summit. The summit brings together lawyers, doctors, health care professionals and others. He’s also one of the founding members of the Brehon Law Society for Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, a newly formed Irish-American Bar Association.

In his spare time, Mr. Donnelly coaches both his sons’ baseball teams. — Timothy Magaw

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A. STEVEN DEVER General counsel Ganley Management Co. o many folks in the area, Steve Dever is probably remembered, fondly or otherwise, for his days as assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor. But since fall 2010, Mr. Dever has served as general counsel to the Brecksville-based Ganley Auto Group, an association of independently operated automobile dealerships and Ohio’s largest automotive retailer.

“Coming to our industry is a little bit of a switch for him, but he has managed to do it seamlessly,” said CEO Kenneth Ganley, who has been Mr. Dever’s boss for the last three years.

As general counsel, Mr. Dever is Ganley’s chief legal adviser relating to a wide variety of matters regarding litigation, acquisitions, regulatory issues, employment matters, risk management and consumer affairs.

But given that the auto business is fairly litigious, Mr. Dever’s experience as a trial lawyer also has come in more than a little handy, Mr. Ganley said.

“His plate’s very full, because not only does Steve handle all of our transaction work and litigation, but he also oversees our human resources,” Mr. Ganley said.

That’s no small bit of work either, given that the chain of dealerships has more than 1,300 employees.

In addition, Mr. Dever assists in the expansion of the Ganley automotive brand by implementing strategies for better employee train-

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ELIZABETH EVANS Vice president; general counsel; secretary Republic Steel lizabeth Evans only has been with Republic Steel for a year and a half, but the vice president, general counsel and secretary already has made a big difference at the steel manufacturer.

“As the first general counsel for the company, Elizabeth created the legal department from scratch,” the nomination said.

“In the process, she decreased the company’s legal expenses by more than $1 million in less than 12 months. She created numerous policies and procedures designed to help the company minimize its risk and exposure to liability,” according to the nomination. “Elizabeth also successfully settled an outstanding preference case that had been going on for more than six years and has settled a handful of smaller legal issues before they grew into litigation matters, thus saving the company money and minimizing negative publicity.”

The nomination noted that Ms. Evans was both the company’s first general counsel and the first woman to become an executive at Republic Steel. Michael Humphrey, the vice president of supply chain management and security at Republic Steel, confirmed that was the case, at least since the company’s new ownership took over in 2005.

Mr. Humphrey said the company decided it was more cost effective to bring its legal affairs inside.

Ms. Evans said the cuts to the legal expenses added up to more than

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GENERAL AND IN-HOUSE COUNSEL ing and policies for the workplace.

“With his experience he has been able to be more effective in representing Ganley Automotive Group before regulatory agencies.

On risk mitigation, he has become actively involved in developing corporate policies and procedures in the areas of consumer sales practices, human resources and compliance. He is actively involved in the structure, planning, and financing of new acquisitions,” Mr. Ganley wrote in nominating his top attorney for this year’s General Counsel awards.

But one of the qualities Mr. Ganley said he values the most in his lawyer is Mr. Dever’s integrity.

His boss has grown to trust him so much that Mr. Dever not only works on dealership issues, but handles family and estate planning for the Ganley family, Mr. Ganley said.

Yet, Mr. Dever still finds time for plenty of outside work. He serves on the board of directors for the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), a regional nonprofit economic development organization formed to build an offshore wind power industry in Northeast Ohio. LEEDCo’s mission is to create employment, drive economic prosperity, generate clean energy and expand Ohio’s electricity portfolio.

He brings a slew of honors from his past position as a prosecutor to the job as well — lest anyone question his lawyering skills.

Mr. Dever has been recognized by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for his efforts in the pursuit of justice, Mr. Ganley noted.

— Dan Shingler 50% of the company’s outside legal spending. Ms. Evans said Republic Steel had been a client when she was an attorney at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP and that the company sparked her interest. The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law graduate worked at Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP prior to her time at Benesch.

At Republic Steel, Ms. Evans manages all the legal aspects of the company, including managing the two in-house attorneys she hired and all outside attorneys. In addition to her responsibilities with the legal department, Ms. Evans also is the vice president of labor relations, human resources and environmental health and safety. Mr. Humphrey said those departments are highly regulated, and it just made sense to have Ms. Evans oversee them to make sure the company is in compliance, as well.

Ms. Evans said the executive officers at the company are enthusiastic about bringing change to the company, which can trace its roots back more than 125 years. It can be a challenge, but it’s a lot of fun, she said.

“It’s a very ambitious, energetic executive team. And everyone works well together,” Ms. Evans said.

Mr. Humphrey called Ms. Evans a “sharp” and “no-nonsense” leader who is effective in and out of the legal department. She has a “keen ability to manage,” he said, and she’s fun to be around.

Outside of her work at Republic Steel, Ms. Evans serves on the board of directors for City Year Cleveland and the board of directors for the Cleveland chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. She also is a founding member, board member and president of Young ACG Cleveland. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty

KEVIN BROKAW Director of development; general counsel Geis Cos.

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evin Brokaw does not wear a hard hat for his job, but his role is as essential on building projects and developments by Streetsboro-based Geis Cos. as that of the construction workers who do.

As general counsel for the Geis family-owned concern, Mr. Brokaw works with the 90-person firm’s other professionals in putting together projects from site selection and acquisition to financing and construction as well as any claims that may occur in the litigation-intensive construction business. He developed the in-house counsel office when he joined the company in 2009 and also coordinates legal work farmed out to outside counsel.

While Geis has achieved a new level of prominence this year with The 9, a $200 million conversion of the onetime 21-story Ameritrust Corp. skyscraper to a hotel, apartments and retail uses, and construction of a new Cuyahoga County headquarters building, Mr. Brokaw also enjoys working on the

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smaller build-to-suit industrial projects that have been the firm’s bread and butter for decades.

“It’s exciting to work on a little bit of both,” Mr. Brokaw said. “Ameritrust is a game-changer for the city.

It is taking something that was a black eye for the city and helping create a positive for the city. In our niche as a build-to-suit industrial contractor, those are the projects that bring jobs into the state.”

Mr. Brokaw achieved a lifelong goal earlier this year when Geis gave him the added title of director of development in addition to general counsel.

“The goal for me always has been to move the meter from law to general business. That evolved here over time,” Mr. Brokaw said.

That goal ran deep, for Mr. Brokaw feels it’s the kind of law his father, Glenn Brokaw, practiced in a long career that included a job as general counsel at the old First Union Real Estate Corp., a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust based in Cleveland until the 1980s. He also equipped himself for it by going through the dual track law and MBA program at Cleveland State University.

Mr. Brokaw had substantial construction law experience before he joined Geis with stints for retail developers such as Doppco Development Co. of Pepper Pike and Cedarwood Cos. of Akron. He

served as a lawyer for the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority and ran his own firm before he joined Geis.

He also put in his time learning the nuts and bolts and paperwork side of law practice, working in estate planning and product liability for Wegman, Hessler and Vanderburg in Independence immediately after getting his law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law as well as a stint at Levy & Dubyak, a Beachwood law firm that represents many Northeast Ohio realty developers and property owners.

Jack Waldeck, chairman of the real estate unit at the Walter & Haverfield LLP law firm, said Mr. Brokaw’s visibility in the Northeast Ohio legal community has risen dramatically the past few years as Geis entered the urban market with projects in MidTown and downtown Cleveland from the suburbs.

“He knows what he needs on behalf of his clients,” Mr. Waldeck said. “He also has a parallel skill set on the financial side to understand projections and forecasts.”

Mr. Brokaw said he knows where he will find his opportunities and challenges in the future: continuing to work with brothers Fred and Greg Geis as they push to make the regional developer a nationally known real estate concern. — Stan Bullard

From your friends and colleagues at Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio

Congratulations Emily Smayda Kelly and all of the finalists for the 2013 General & In-House Counsel Awards.

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to our employees.

216-931-1400 VNAohio.org

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CHRIS MASON General counsel; director of contracting Clinical Research Management Inc. hen Chris Mason joined Clinical Research Management 15 years ago, the Medina County company had fewer than 40 employees.

Now, the firm — a full-service contract research organization that supports clinical research and clinical trial services for biologics, drugs and devices — has 370 workers.

In the last 18 months, Mr. Mason’s “invaluable experience, advice and expertise has led to the award of four large government contracts with ceilings” of more than $125 million, according to the nomination.

Wayne Mosley, ClinicalRM’s chief financial officer, said the contracts involve clinical trials with the National Institutes of Health, along with basic and applied research for the U.S. military.

“As one of the first points of contact, Mr. Mason is integral in maintaining positive relationships with ClinicalRM’s customers,” the nomination said. “This has facilitated growth on current contracts and the re-awarding of expiring contracts.”

Mr. Mason’s efforts have helped ClinicalRM increase its net income

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by 43% in the last two years, the nomination said.

“We are proud to have Chris as part of our leadership team,” Mr. Mosley said. “His leadership and management skills benefit the firm on a daily basis. He is ethical, strategic and innovative, serving as an invaluable resource for every function and person at ClinicalRM.” Mr. Mosley cited Mr. Mason’s “extraordinary analytical abilities” as a big reason for his success.

Mr. Mason helped lead the development of ClinicalRM’s strategic plan, and he’s directly involved in key strategy sessions on business growth.

Mr. Mosley said ClinicalRM’s “corporate success and excellent relationships with clients are a direct result of having Chris Mason as part” of its team.

Mr. Mason has been a volunteer for the Hudson Kiwanis Little League as an assistant coach the last four years.

He also supports the Brunswick Salvation Army by sponsoring its “angel campaign” during the holiday season. Mr. Mason donates funds, and he shops for children and families in need.

— Kevin Kleps

SHERYL KING BENFORD General counsel; deputy general manager for legal affairs Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority hile she might prefer to be recognized for the legal work that has cleared the way for RTA’s new rapid transit stations or for being one of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law’s alumni of the year in 2004 along with the late NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert, public transit riders and pedestrians regularly interact with Ms. Benford when they hear her voice say, “Caution, bus turning.”

As, literally, the voice of RTA, she adds a cautionary admonition to the transit system’s safety effort, said the nomination from RTA general manager Joe Calabrese.

More substantively, he notes that the RTA safety program Ms. Benford leads has won bus safety awards from the American Public

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MATTHEW HEINLE Executive vice president; general counsel Mercy Medical Center atthew Heinle has more than a few things to keep track of as general counsel for Mercy Medical Center in Canton.

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Transit Association for the last three years.

At RTA, Ms. Benford supervises 35 employees, including nine attorneys, in the legal, risk management and safety departments and the Office of Equal Opportunity. The legal department’s work focuses on contracts, real estate and civil litigation and employment, labor and civil rights disputes.

The civil litigation has probably the highest profile since it often involves a defense of the agency when a bus is involved in a traffic accident.

“Sheryl is a trusted adviser whose candor, intellect and judgment are invaluable,” the nomination said. “Sheryl leads not by her rank or through intimidation, but by wise and effective listening, communication and action.”

A key part of her job in the last two years has involved the transit

system’s real estate acquisition and construction program. That has included legal work for relocating a rapid transit station from Euclid Avenue to Little Italy and for the rehabilitation of the CedarUniversity and the BuckeyeWoodland rapid stations.

Ms. Benford got her first taste of RTA’s legal work when she served as associate counsel from 1991 to 1992, wrapping up work on the construction of Tower City station.

Before that she was an assistant law director for the city of Cleveland. She returned to RTA as general counsel in 2000 after eight years as director of law for the city of Shaker Heights.

In the mid-1980s, she got her first taste of civil litigation working for the Cleveland law firm of Bailey, Benford & Associates, where she met her late husband Ronald Benford. Before graduating from law school in 1979 she was a teacher and principal in the East Cleveland school district. — Jay Miller

More, say, than general counsels who have to deal with contracts, lawsuits, corporate governance and the other more typical legal issues that corporate attorneys, including Mr. Heinle, have to deal with every day.

“There’s medical staff issues dealing with credentialing, peerreview processes — Matt has to be up on all of that,” says his boss, CEO Thomas Cecconi.

Then there are the human resources issues — Mercy has nearly 2,400 employees and Mr. Heinle is actively involved in HR issues as well, Mr. Cecconi said.

And, of course, there are a slew of federal and state health care laws and regulations.

There are organization-specific projects as well, such as in 2010 when Mercy successfully challenged rival Aultman Health Foundation’s practice of paying insurance brokers to steer clients to Aultman’s insurance company.

Mr. Heinle oversaw those efforts as well, including getting the verdict against Aultman upheld by the Ohio Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court.

But Mr. Heinle does all of that and more, his boss says.

“I do like him very, very much,”

Mr. Cecconi said. “I think he does an absolutely outstanding job at MMC and he’s also involved to a certain degree with some of the legal concerns of our health system, Sisters of Charity Health System in Cleveland as well.”

But one of the things Mr. Cecconi likes best about his main lawyer is the fact that Mr. Heinle finds ways to get things done. It’s easy to find a lawyer to tell you why you can’t do something, but what executives more often need to know is how they can get something done, Mr. Cecconi said.

Mr. Cecconi actually hired Mr. Heinle, who he already knew from his days in private practice. In the five years since, he’s only become more convinced he got the right guy, Mr. Cecconi said.

“It’s not an easy job that he has, either,” Mr. Cecconi attests.

Others agree, including Baker & Hostetler partner Daniel Warren, who nominated Mr. Heinle for this year’s general counsel recognition.

“My dad spent more than four decades as the general counsel of a large company, so I know how rare the qualities are that make for greatness in that difficult position,” Mr. Warren wrote. “Matt Heinle possesses every one of those qualities ...

When I look back on my career of 30 years, I feel that one of the very best experiences I have had was working closely with Matt Heinle.”

— Dan Shingler

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STEVE EISENBERG Vice president; general counsel AssuraMed teve Eisenberg has not even been on the job for two years as general counsel for Twinsburg-based AssuraMed, a national medical supply distribution company.

But he’s already made a mark, as well as some fans at the company — including CEO Michael Petras, who nominated Mr. Eisenberg for this year’s recognition.

“We have grown rapidly over the past decade, and approximately two years ago embarked on a search for our first general counsel. We were looking for someone who not only could facilitate the growth and help us proactively manage risks that come with growth, particularly in the health care industry, but someone who understood the business of health care. … Steve has exceeded our expectations,” Mr. Petras wrote in nominating his main lawyer.

“Since joining the company 18 months ago, AssuraMed, like the

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JOHN C. ORLANDO JR. General counsel; director of operations Orlando Baking Co. ohn C. Orlando Jr. had other options. Mr. Orlando was practicing law for a firm in Cleveland in 2008, when he joined Orlando Baking Co. In other words, John Anthony Orlando knows that he shouldn’t take his younger cousin’s presence for granted.

“We’re glad he came and joined the family business,” he said.

As general counsel and director of operations for the 140-year-old bakery, John C. Orlando Jr. has a broad range of responsibilities.

Sure, he handles your typical lawyer stuff, such as negotiating contracts, setting policies and procedures, and working with outside counsel. But Orlando Baking’s human resources staff also reports to Mr. Orlando, who created the procedures used to train the company’s 400 employees.

Plus, he does a lot of other work related to the company’s day-today operations, according to John Anthony Orlando. In general, he helps make sure things get done,

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health care industry, has undergone many changes, and Steve’s leadership during this period has been instrumental to the success associated with these changes,” Mr. Petras continued.

Mr. Eisenberg was, of course, not stepping into a fully functional legal department as AssuraMed’s first inhouse general counsel. So he had to learn the company’s business while setting a department up — and he did it seamlessly, Mr. Petras said.

Then, he quickly became a trusted adviser to the CEO and the rest of the company’s executive team.

After that, Mr. Eisenberg went to work helping the company with several key initiatives.

“Steve was a key player in the team that renegotiated our freight transportation contract. Most of our supplies are delivered directly to the home, so freight is a major component of our business. The

new agreement achieved significant long-term savings while maintaining service levels across our distribution network,” Mr. Petras said.

“Additionally, Steve was instrumental in negotiating both the purchase of a major software package and an implementation agreement that will lead to a completely new website providing an enhanced online experience for our customers,” he added.

Mr. Eisenberg’s accomplishments also have included increasing productivity by implementing a contract database that allowed the company to monitor and track key milestones in its customer contracts, while at the same time working to strengthen AssuraMed’s relationships with its own vendors, Mr. Petras said.

And all of that was just the light lifting — in the past six months, Mr. Eisenberg has helped AssuraMed go through a refinancing of its own business, the acquisition of another company and, finally, the acquisitions of AssuraMed itself by Cardinal Health. — Dan Shingler

“from making the bread to packing the bread and shipping it out,” said his older cousin, who is executive vice president of operations.

John C. is good at both the legal and operational sides of his job: On the legal side, he has “participated in the negotiation of major union contracts that resulted in significant savings to the company, ultimately benefiting both the company and its employees,” the nomination said. He also is involved in planning efforts related to an ongoing expansion project at the company’s headquarters on East 79th Street in Cleveland.

On the operational end, “Mr. Orlando has spearheaded initiatives designed to reduce unnecessary or unproductive employee overtime and improve profitability,” the nomination said. He also has led efforts “to increase efficiency in the plant and reduce waste, which has increased the company’s profits,” according to the nomination.

Mr. Orlando — who reports to his father, co-CEO John C. Orlando Sr., as well as John Anthony Orlando — graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 1996 before going on to earn his bachelor’s in financial management from Ohio State University in 2001. Along the way, he spent some summers working at Orlando Baking, John Anthony said.

John C. started working for the law firm Climaco, Wilcox, Peca,

Tarantino & Garofoli in 2003. After earning his law degree in 2005, he stayed on with Climaco until 2008.

John Anthony said he isn’t surprised at how thorough his cousin is, given his legal background.

“He’s very detailed in the work that he does,” Mr. Orlando said.

— Chuck Soder

PlayhouseSquare’s staff and trustees congratulate Patty Gaul and all of the General and In House Counsel Award finalists.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 17

JOHN WARREN Assistant general counsel University Hospitals hen Harlin Adelman first met John Warren, Mr. Warren was interviewing for a position as a law clerk.

Mr. Adelman, who is vice president and general counsel for University Hospitals, believed then that Mr. Warren would be a good addition to the staff — and it looks like those instincts were correct.

“He’s very unassuming … he didn’t toot his own horn,” he said.

More than six years later, Mr. Warren now works as assistant general counsel in UH’s 35-person corporate legal service department, which includes 15 attorneys.

He splits his time between a number of areas, and his work has included serving as a liaison for outside ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) counsel.

According to the nomination, Mr. Warren over a three-year period reduced UH’s outside counsel legal spend on benefit matters by more than 50%, saving UH more than $500,000 per year on legal costs.

Additionally, Mr. Warren works on the recruitment side, including acting as lead attorney for the new department chairs of ophthalmology and genetics and a new division chief of cardiothoracic surgery.

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Mr. Adelman said that in both of these areas, Mr. Warren has worked to become a subject matter expert, and in doing so, has earned respect among his peers and UH’s senior leadership.

“You don’t need a position of authority or fancy title to be a leader,” said Mr. Adelman, who describes Mr. Warren as a terrific communicator, low-key, low-maintenance and highly motivated.

“There’s no ego about this guy,” he said.

Mr. Warren served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1999 to 2007.

In 2003, he served active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and was deployed to both Iraq and Kuwait. He is an active member of the community, volunteering in his church, Divine Word Catholic Church in Kirtland.

“Through his exemplary work, he has successfully built trust in his relationships with clients and colleagues by consistently treating them with dignity, respect and fairness,” Mr. Adelman said in a letter accompanying Mr. Warren’s nomination. “John has also assumed responsibility for helping others in the organization to strengthen specific knowledge and skill areas and model behaviors essential to UH values.”

— Amy Ann Stoessel

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GENERAL AND IN-HOUSE COUNSEL PATRICIA GAUL Senior vice president; general counsel; CFO PlayhouseSquare Foundation aybe this will give you a sense of Patricia Gaul’s versatility: In 2008, she was featured in Crain’s CFO of the Year section for her efforts to keep PlayhouseSquare’s budget balanced and to manage the financing of multiple construction projects.

But she’s also a great general counsel, according to Art Falco, president and CEO of the downtown Cleveland institution.

“It would be very difficult to replace her,” he said.

She took a job at PlayhouseSquare as its financial controller back in 1984, after working in the U.S. Senate offices of Sens. Edward Kennedy and Bill Bradley. That was roughly six months before Mr. Falco came on board.

While working at Playhouse, she earned her J.D. from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law., immediately giving the institution an in-house lawyer who also happened to have an accounting degree from Georgetown University.

Ms. Gaul’s legal skills have been particularly valuable as PlayhouseSquare has expanded its real estate portfolio in downtown Cleveland, according to Mr. Falco. Doing so required establishing multiple new limited liability corporations, applying for all sorts of state and federal tax credits and working with more specialized legal experts at outside firms, he noted.

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JENNIFER M. GRIVEAS Director of legal affairs Eliza Jennings n-house lawyers have long had a reputation for telling their colleagues what they can’t do.

Not Jennifer Griveas. Instead, the director of legal affairs at Eliza Jennings is known for being welcoming and funny, according to Deborah Lewis Hiller, president and CEO of the nonprofit, which provides services for the elderly.

Her colleagues know that they can ask her legal questions without feeling like she’s wearing a badge, Ms. Hiller said.

“Jen is exceptionally talented in that regard,” she said.

Those interpersonal skills may have come in handy for Eliza Jennings. Since coming on board in April 2011, Ms. Griveas has helped the nonprofit develop a better relationship with the Service Employees International Union. She’s got some expertise in labor relations, too, having previously provided employment counseling for corporate and nonprofit clients.

She’s also done a lot to help employees throughout the Eliza Jennings network work together to better manage legal risks the organization could face — from customers, employees or government regulators — if the organization doesn’t do its job correctly. She promoted networkwide best practices to staff at multiple sites throughout the organization and helped teach the organization’s leaders how they can look for ways to identify risks and manage them.

It helped that she’s not afraid of

I CONGRATULATIONS

A. STEVEN DEVER From the entire Ganley Automotive Team!

NOVEMBER 4 - 10, 2013

She was a big contributor to PlayhouseSquare’s recent effort to renovate the Allen Theatre complex. The $54 million project involved refurbishing three theaters and buying the nearby Middough Building on East 13th Street. Ms. Gaul helped secure tax credits and bank financing to support the project, according to the nomination.

Beyond the legal issues related to securing real estate, as PlayhouseSquare’s CFO, Ms. Gaul also helps make sure those properties don’t disrupt the institution’s budget. Thus, she helps approve tenants, set rental rates and come up with financial projections related to the properties, Mr. Falco said.

That project is “just the tip of the iceberg as she continues to push for excellence in all areas of the PSF portfolio,” the nomination said.

She also makes sure that the organization’s performances “pay their way as best as possible,” according to the nomination.

Ms. Gaul embraces the artistic mission of PlayhouseSquare as well as efforts to improve its theaters and the neighborhood that surrounds the institution, which has about 100 employees and $60 million in annual revenue, according to the nomination.

“There are few who could provide the legal and business knowledge and service to make this happen, and Patty is phenomenal at it,” the nomination said.

Ms. Gaul is a member of the audit committee for both the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

Mr. Falco described her as “incredibly talented.”

“She’s very intelligent. She’s a great team player,” he said.

— Chuck Soder Eliza Jennings’ information technology department. She worked with IT staff “to create a database that allows the risk management team to analyze raw incident data to identify risk trends more easily,” the nomination said.

Ms. Griveas also was a key member of the team that negotiated a partnership with the Kumon Institute of Education in Japan, the nomination said. That 2010 deal allowed Eliza Jennings to use SAIDO Learning, a non-pharmaceutical method used to treat Alzheimer’s and dementia, and license it to other elder care service providers in the United States, according to the nomination.

Now Ms. Griveas is trained in the SAIDO Learning method. Each week, she conducts the therapy with Eliza Jennings residents on a volunteer basis. She also helps train other employees to provide the therapy.

Ms. Griveas studied journalism at Kent State University and was a design editor at Crain’s Cleveland Business. She earned her law degree in 2005 from the ClevelandMarshall College of Law, and spent the next five years at Frantz Ward LLP in Cleveland.

She also volunteers outside of Eliza Jennings. Ms. Griveas is a new lawyer mentor through the Ohio Supreme Court’s Lawyer to Lawyer program. In addition, she belongs to the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland, the Friends of Lakewood Public Library and the Lakewood High School Alumni Association (she’s editor of the alumni newsletter).

Also worth noting: At the start of 2014, she’ll receive what Ms. Hiller described as a “very well-deserved” promotion. Ms. Griveas will be named vice president of legal affairs.

“She has been certainly an incredibly talented lawyer,” Ms. Hiller said. — Chuck Soder

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DUFFIELD E. MILKIE Corporate vice president; general counsel and corporate secretary Cedar Fair LP

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uffield E. Milkie is the only attorney for Cedar Fair, one of the largest amusement park operators in the world.

Mr. Milkie’s seemingly daunting task was made even more challenging by the March 2008 timing of his arrival in Sandusky — which was shortly before the financial crisis struck and a legal battle began with an activist hedge fund.

Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, bid $11.50 a share in an effort to take over Cedar Fair in December 2009. Investors voted down the buyout, and the company’s share price has increased 30% in the last 10 months.

The hedge fund “pursued combative strategies that threatened to distract from the hard work and long-term focus required to move the company past the hardships visited on the industry by the (financial) crisis,” the nomination said. “Dealing with that activist and making peace were of paramount importance to the company moving forward, and Duff was right at the center of those discussions.

“Duff’s steady leadership in the midst of those challenging events

SHANNON FOGARTY JERSE Deputy general counsel Sisters of Charity Health System hannon Fogarty Jerse’s years of community and professional involvement are tied to the Sisters of Charity Health System’s mission and ministry, said Terrence Kessler, its interim president and CEO. Ms. Jerse, the deputy general counsel at the health system, was part of Cuyahoga County’s Child Protection Coalition for three years, where she said she helped set policy on topics like how sexual abuse investigations should be run.

Her experience in health care and sexual abuse-related issues led to her work with the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Review Board that was created by the “Policy for the Safety of Children in Matters of Sexual Abuse.” She spent seven years on the board and was also on the investigations committee and served as chair of the search committee.

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helped steer the company through the most tumultuous time in its history,” the nomination continued.

Cedar Fair — which owns 11 amusement parks, including Cedar Point — recently announced that its 2013 revenues through Sept. 1 were $927 million, an increase of 6% from the like period a year ago.

“His stable demeanor and measured voice during the turmoil, and since, have been a key contributing factor to Cedar Fair’s continued, successful growth,” the nomination said of Mr. Milkie.

In the last 10 months, Mr. Milkie led two significant dispositions — negotiating the sale of Knott’s Soak City in San Diego to Sea World Parks & Entertainment, and leading a deal to sell Knott’s Soak City in Palm Springs, Calif., to CNL Lifestyle Properties.

“The sale of these non-core assets generated $30 million in cash, which is forming the backbone of a plan to invest increased capital in Northeast Ohio, including the refurbishment of Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point,” the nomination said.

Mr. Milkie also led talks with the San Francisco 49ers, which led to an agreement in which the NFL

“Shannon is well-versed in her field and has participated in numerous pro bono and volunteer activities throughout her 25-year legal career,” the nomination said. “She has dedicated considerable volunteer time to matters involving child welfare and safety, and has integrated her scholarly work with pro bono efforts designed to serve and protect children and women at risk.”

Ms. Jerse worked at Clevelandbased Arter & Hadden, the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals before coming to Sisters of Charity, the parent organization of five Catholic hospitals, including St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland, and other foundations, organizations and health care facilities.

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team is allowed to use a portion of the parking lot at Cedar Fair’s Great America amusement park in Santa Clara, Calif., for the construction of a parking facility at its new stadium.

“The deal,” according to the nomination, “provided a new revenue source for Cedar Fair and allowed it to build a new signature roller coaster at Great America that has driven increased attendance at the park.”

Mr. Milkie steered the process of interviewing and vetting each of Cedar Fair’s nine new board members, leading to an “exceptional” leadership team, the nomination said.

Known as the “Mayor of Sandusky,” Mr. Milkie is a “personable friend to the community and a committed family man,” according to the nomination.

Mr. Milkie is active with several schools in the Sandusky area, including St. Mary’s, where his four children attend, and Bellevue High School, his alma mater. He is a coach and mentor, and he helps both schools with fundraising efforts.

Mr. Milkie also has served on multiple civic boards and community organizations. He is a current member of the board of trustees for the Sandusky Area YMCA, and a member of the boards of directors at Firelands Regional Medical Center and St. Mary’s. — Kevin Kleps

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ASHLEE WEBSTER Corporate attorney GCA Services Group

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shlee Webster always knew she wanted to eventually practice law on the corporate side.

“That was my ultimate goal,” said Ms. Webster, who earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from North Carolina State University. “I kind of like being on the same team.”

Ms. Webster is a corporate attorney for the commercial side at GCA Services Group, a position she has held since March.

Cleveland-based GCA Services Group is a national provider of facility services. It has more than 32,000 employees in 47 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

At GCA, Ms. Webster’s work runs the gamut, including drafting and reviewing contracts and anything that comes up in the commercial division. “There’s no telling what’s going to come across my desk,” she said.

Ms. Webster is described by Samuel Knezevic, GCA corporate

vice president and general counsel, as a “glass half-full” kind of person.

“She’s delightful to work with; she’s always positive and upbeat,” he said. “She’s a fine corporate lawyer … she’s probably more experienced beyond her years.”

Prior to starting work at GCA, Ms. Webster was general counsel and director of human resources at Climax Metal Products in Mentor, where she started in August 2011, and she worked for a North Carolina law firm as well.

“Ashlee’s contributions to Climax Metal Products are considered exemplary for a professional with less than 10 years of experience because of the array of challenges she faces on a day-to-day basis,” said a nomination submitted in 2012 for Ms. Webster and her work at Climax. “She is an extremely hard worker and is committed to protecting and fighting for our company. She is always willing to put forth extra effort and is making a difference in our company.”

A North Carolina native, Ms. Webster received her J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law. She recently became a member of the board for the Northern Ohio Hemophilia Foundation.

— Amy Ann Stoessel

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EMILY SMAYDA KELLY General counsel; chief human resources officer Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio

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mily Smayda Kelly has made a big difference in the culture at the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio in the two years since she joined the staff as the nonprofit’s first general counsel and chief human resources officer.

“While she has been a terrific asset to the HR department, her role as general counsel at the VNA has helped transform the organization from a historic ‘we/they’ culture to an ‘us’ culture. Ultimately, this has improved employee retention and enabled us to deliver higher quality services to our patients and clients,” the nomination said.

The Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio, whose members provide home and hospice care to patients, serves 28 counties. In about 16 of those, the direct care nurses are part of either the Ohio Nurses Association or the Service Employees International Union. President and CEO Claire Zangerle said that Ms. Kelly has been instrumental in bringing labor and management together and putting the mission of the organization at the forefront.

“It’s a delicate dance that she

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dances well,” Ms. Zangerle said.

In Ms. Kelly’s role as general counsel, she leads all labor contracts. In the two years since Ms. Kelly joined the association, the number of grievances filed by the unions to management has decreased by about 60%, Ms. Zangerle said.

Ms. Kelly has experience in the public, private and corporate sectors. She said she started her career with the city of Cleveland in the labor and employment section, and then she worked on the labor side of the aisle for Wuliger, Fadel & Beyer LLC and Tradesmen International. She also had a brief stint at Goldstein Gragel LLC. “Having served both labor and management in her legal career, Emily brings that perspective to the VNA which allows for tighter compromises and understanding of issues on both sides,” the nomination said. “Whether it is negotiating labor contracts, handling sensitive employee issues or ensuring the organization manages its risk, Emily brings a level of creativity to this nonprofit organization that it has not seen in its 111 years of existence.”

Ms. Kelly said that she was drawn to the Visiting Nurse Asso-

ciation because she personally valued home care after experiencing a difficult labor with her child.

“I came to a part of my career that I wanted to give back to the community, as well,” she said.

Ms. Zangerle praised Ms. Kelly’s creativity tempered with realism, and said that she understands that health care isn’t always straightforward.

“She does understand that the world of health care can sometimes be a gray world,” Ms. Zangerle said.

Ms. Kelly is also responsible for the human resources responsibilities in the association, from hiring to benefits to organizational development.

Outside of work, she is very involved in the community, including with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the In-House Employment Attorney Roundtable, the alumni association at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and the board at the Early Childhood Enrichment Center in Shaker Heights.

A former competitive ice skater, Ms. Kelly also teaches ice skating to children and adults in Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights.

She said she enjoys it as a unique way to build relationships and network, as well as a way to stay active. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty

DOUGLAS KORDEL Chief strategic planning officer; general counsel Proforma hen Proforma is considering adding another franchise to its more than 700 current franchises, it relies on Douglas Kordel.

When the company, which provides backoffice support to its franchises from its offices in Independence, is considering an acquisition of another’s book of business or a group of would-be franchise owners, it relies on Mr. Kordel.

“Almost everything that happens runs through Doug and his department,” sums up Brian Smith, president and chief operating officer for Proforma, whose franchise owners sell print and promotional products ranging from apparel to mugs to pens.

“We can’t onboard a franchise without going through the legal process that he created,” Mr. Smith added. “We can’t do an acquisition without understanding the impact to our franchise disclosure document. That’s why it’s so gratifying to have someone who has the great legal mind, but also the great business mind.”

Mr. Kordel joined Proforma, which employs roughly 150 people in Independence, 10 years ago. He is both the company’s general counsel and chief strategic planning officer.

Mr. Kordel’s leadership has helped the company respond well to a highly regulated and “con-

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WILLIS WALKER Vice president; general counsel Kent State University illis Walker could be considered Kent State University’s Yoda — the soft-spoken and wise Jedi master from the Star Wars saga.

At least that’s how Kent State president Lester Lefton characterized Mr. Walker, the university’s vice president and general counsel, who also serves as one of Dr. Lefton’s most trusted advisers.

“His deep voice and wise counsel give you a sense that this is a guy who really knows what’s going on,” Dr. Lefton said about Mr. Walker. “It’s in the same way a very experienced minister, priest or rabbi does. He can cut through the legal issues and tell you what’s really going on.”

“Willis is taciturn,” Dr. Lefton added. “He’s quiet and speaks only when necessary, but when he speaks, everyone listens. “ Over the last decade, several major court decisions and an increasingly complicated regulatory landscape have changed the way universities — both public and private — do business. However, Mr. Walker, who has been with the university for 15 years, has helped Kent State keep its finger on all of those changes. In addition to his legal duties, Mr. Walker also steered Kent State’s human resources division for a period of time.

Mr. Walker approaches his legal work with the sensitivity of a human resources professional, according to Dr. Lefton.

“He also continuously

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NOVEMBER 4 - 10, 2013

stantly changing” franchise environment, according to the nomination. Recent Federal Trade Commission changes to how a franchise discloses its prospects, and the document used for such disclosure, required a major restructure of Proforma’s franchise disclosure document, along with adherence to varied nuances of the states.

That’s “no small task with Proforma operating in all 50 states, plus Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland,” the nomination said.

And, where it has an international presence, Mr. Kordel also must ensure the company meets all guidelines in foreign countries, as with Proforma’s expansion into the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The time Mr. Kordel spends originating and reviewing merger and acquisition opportunities “is hugely important to us,” Mr. Smith said. This year alone, Proforma will do 30 to 40 individual transactions, Mr. Smith projected.

“Proforma’s franchise owners benefited from the M&A program’s lead identification, negotiation, due diligence and deal structure, as well as its post-acquisition integration,” the nomination said.

Mr. Kordel also has left his mark in getting the company certified by the National Women Business Owners Corp., which opens the door for franchise owners to earn their certification, an advantage when competing for new clients, and his “advanced use of alternative resolution techniques” has helped Proforma avoid litigation “at all levels of the court system — not a bad track record for a business maintaining $400 million in sales on an annual basis across 700+ franchise owners,” the nomination said. — Michelle Park approaches matters with a compassionate lens for the individual plaintiff issues, which often occur in higher education litigation,” the nomination said.

Because of Mr. Walker’s leadership over the past year, in particular, the university’s considerably small litigation portfolio has seen several successful outcomes, including a recent case involving Kent State’s former basketball coach, Geno Ford.

A Portage County judge, for example, last summer awarded Kent State $1.2 million after ruling that Mr. Ford breached his contract in 2011 by leaving to become head coach at Bradley University in Illinois.

“He’s very strategic,” Dr. Lefton said. “One of the key things about Willis is that he really understands how to keep his eye on the ball.

He’s not distracted.”

Whether the case is large or small, the nomination said Mr. Walker applies equal consideration to the university’s position and interest in each, which is directly reflected in the university’s successful litigation practices.

As a veteran of the university, Mr. Walker serves as a professional mentor to the university’s faculty and staff, according to the nomination. He also mentors several students. He regularly attends charity events on behalf of the university or through his own involvement in extracurricular activities.

Before joining Kent State, Mr. Walker served as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies and was the assistant chief counsel for Lockheed Martin Energy Systems. Also, he served as special counsel for Ohio’s attorney general and assistant law director for the city of Chillicothe.

— Timothy Magaw

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MARILYN TOBOCMAN Principal assistant attorney general, civil rights section Ohio Attorney General’s Office arilyn Tobocman was into her fifth decade before she started practicing law. But she’s left her mark on civil rights law in Ohio in the two decades since she graduated in 1983 from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

Since 1993, Ms. Tobocman has been with the Ohio Attorney General’s office, where she now is principal assistant attorney general for civil rights, based in Cleveland. Part of that job is being counsel to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

Her career includes a decade with Housing Advocates Inc., a civil rights nonprofit, and with the law firm of Kramer & Tobocman, a civil rights law firm.

“Marilyn Tobocman has been instrumental in providing access to the justice system for those who often have been excluded,” the nomination from Diane Citrino, a shareholder in the Cleveland law firm of Thacker Matinsek LPA, said. “She has an unwavering passion for civil rights and justice.”

Ms. Citrino worked with Ms. Tobocman when Ms. Citrino was regional director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission for the Akron region from 2003 to 2007.

Though her career began with a private practice that specialized in housing discrimination, Ms. Tobocman has broadened her efforts to help defend the rights of women and the disabled.

Ms. Citrino believes that Ms.

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Jerse continued from PAGE 19

Ms. Jerse said she always had her eye on St. Vincent and that her goal was to work at the faith-based organization where she serves as general counsel. She said she enjoys the people she works with and the organization’s rich tradition.

Ms. Jerse has been with the health system for about four years. In that time, the organization has moved from primarily keeping paper files to using a contract database that Ms. Jerse implemented and oversees.

Ms. Jerse is also the general counsel for the St. Vincent Charity Development Foundation as part of her work with St. Vincent Medical Cen-

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One of the biggest cases of Ms. Tobocman’s career with the attorney general’s office came in 2003 when she was a member of the legal team that won a $4.3 million settlement against Farmers Insurance, which had been accused of red-lining, or discriminating, against the owners of older homes in select neighborhoods in the Toledo area.

That case led to changes in company policy.

Ms. Citrino and Ms. Tobocman teamed up in 2009 when the Ohio Civil Rights Commission agreed to assist the Housing Research & Advocacy Center in Cleveland in a lawsuit against the K&D Group and others responsible for design and construction of the Stonebridge apartments and condominiums in Cleveland’s Flats. The suit asked for changes to bring the project into compliance with state accessibility laws. In 2011, a settlement was reached with the building owner agreeing to make alterations to the properties.

Ms. Tobocman speaks regularly on civil rights issues in housing and real estate and has been an adjunct professor of law at Cleveland-Marshall working in the Fair Housing Law Clinic.

Ms. Tobocman was a volunteer for several organizations, including the League of Women Voters and Housing Advocates in the years leading up to her decision to go to law school. — Jay Miller ter. She is responsible for contractual matters and governance issues at all three, said Mr. Kessler, who is also the general counsel for the Sisters of Charity Health System.

Mr. Kessler said Ms. Jerse has a good sense of when to check in with him and when to take the lead. She’s bright and easy to work with, he added.

“She’s got a great sparkle,” he said.

Outside of work, Ms. Jerse spends time with her family — she has four children, ages 10 to 20 — and volunteers at Our Lady of the Lake School Steering Committee and Our Lady of the Lake Endowment Committee. Her husband, Ed Jerse, is a former state representative who is now running for state Senate.

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

NADINE EZZIE Deputy general counsel and assistant secretary Broadvox adine Ezzie works for a digital phone service provider, so it makes sense that she’s an exemplary communicator.

“She’s very direct and concise, and she brings a rigorous intellectual approach to discussions,” says Arnaud Gautier, chief marketing officer at Broadvox, the telecom provider Ms. Ezzie joined about two-and-a-half years ago. “That’s something I really appreciate in working with lawyers.”

Mr. Gautier, who joined Broadvox in May 2012 from telecom company MegaPath, said he was surprised to learn, upon meeting Ms. Ezzie, that she only had been at the company for about a year.

“I definitely thought she had joined quite a bit prior to that, based on the expertise” she brought to internal discussions, and, subsequently, to external negotiations with vendors and other parties, he said.

According to her nomination, Ms. Ezzie “has provided leadership in both the legal aspects of the company’s work but in the culture of our company as well.”

For instance, the nomination noted that Ms. Ezzie recently worked on a $32 million asset pur-

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chase agreement in which she “participated in the negotiations, drafted the document, interfaced with management to produce the multitude of documentation required, and most importantly, provided the organization skills to keep the process on track and focused on the required achievables.”

As a national telecom provider, Broadvox’s work “is highly regulated by the FCC and by multiple state public utility commissions,” the nomination stated. Ms. Ezzie works closely with regulatory bodies, and, in addition to making sure required filings are correct and timely, “provides insight and guidance to employees so that they are knowledgeable of the many laws and regulations that impact their work.”

One way she has done that is through the launch of an employee training program, in which Broadvox’s legal and human resources areas present one-hour seminars open to all of the company’s 240-plus employees.

Topics have ranged from leadership development to unfair competition. Mr. Gautier described the program as a measure that helps identify “the rocks beneath the water” on regulatory and other

matters.

Ms. Ezzie also launched a Women’s Leadership Committee within Broadvox; it’s a group comprised of about 50 women from the company’s U.S. offices in Cleveland, Atlanta and Seattle.

The program, which draws on some of the principles raised in the best-selling book “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead” by Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, helps women “share strengths and increase business skills,” according to the nomination.

“In a time when the business day is already filled with time-sensitive projects and last-minute deadlines, (Ms. Ezzie) has managed to inspire and guide a significant group of employees to take initiative and grow skills and abilities that … will continue to benefit the company, and the people in the group for many years,” the nomination stated.

Ms. Ezzie also co-authored the company’s first employee handbook, and other Broadvox employees “seek her out for advice and guidance,” according to the nomination.

She serves on the board of Joseph’s Home and currently is vice chair of that nonprofit, which provides a nurturing, caring environment for men in transition with acute medical needs.

— Scott Suttell

Eliza Jennings would like to congratulate

Jennifer Griveas,

Director of Legal Affairs, on being selected as a finalist for the Crain’s Cleveland Business General and In-house Counsel Summit.

elizajennings.org

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AMANDA KITZBERGER Associate legal counsel GOJO Industries

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trong legal judgment. Technical expertise. Business acumen. Amanda Kitzberger covers all the bases GOJO Industries looks for in its in-house legal counsel, said Joe Kanfer, chairman and CEO of the Akronbased maker of skin health and hygiene products.

Ms. Kitzberger joined the company in 2008 as a patent agent after graduating from the University of Akron School of Law, Mr. Kanfer said. Patents are important at GOJO, which makes products including hand sanitizers and soaps, moisturizers, surgical scrubs, wipes and skin conditioners. But it wasn’t just the patent work — or her technical background stemming from a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Ohio Northern University — that marked Ms. Kitzberger as an up-and-comer within GOJO, which has about 1,500 employees in Ohio.

“She had a really strong, intuitive feel for the business aspects of the company,” Mr. Kanfer said, noting that patents “aren’t worth anything without a business purpose.”

Indeed, Ms. Kitzberger and her team “developed an intellectual property strategy for the organization that was aligned with busi-

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ness and enterprise strategy,” according to the nomination.

“This provided a road map for research and development, product management and the (GOJO) business units. The strategy aligned various groups within the organization around one common vision, accelerating research and the patent process.”

Ms. Kitzberger led the formation of what GOJO calls its IP Assets Management Team, which “manages strategy and ensures execution of the strategy,” the nomination stated. Leading that team “requires whole-systems thinking, understanding how processes interconnect and are related to one another and anticipating and adjusting for impact upstream or downstream in the many related IP processes.”

The nomination noted that Ms. Kitzberger “developed an intellectual property docket system that provided reports to different parts of the organization to assist in strategic planning and business reporting.” She also “partnered with outside counsel to implement a trademark use library which assists in documenting trademark use for registration, enforcement

and renewal purposes,” according to the nomination.

In-house counsel need to be able to communicate with company executives, other members of the legal department and with outside counsel. The nomination stated that Ms. Kitzberger excels at this balancing act, as her “regular reporting and follow-up have established her as a trusted and reliable business partner.”

Mr. Kanfer said he also appreciates Ms. Kitzberger’s skills as a communicator because she’s “very straightforward, very direct in stating her views. You always know exactly where she stands.”

He likes that style because some lawyers “talk legal-speak, not business-speak,” adding quickly, “I’m a lawyer, so I can say that.”

Away from work, Ms. Kitzberger volunteers through the Akron Bar Association and University of Akron School of Law as a mentor for a law student whose second career will be in law. She also is a volunteer on the board of directors for her children’s preschool, where she is believed to be the first attorney to serve on the board.

In 2008 and 2009, she was a Legal Aid volunteer at the Lawton Street Community Center in Akron, assisting low-income families in counseling and referring issues to appropriate agencies.

— Scott Suttell

SCOTT M. LEWIS Partner; administrative partner Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis ll the while that Scott M. Lewis is guiding his clients through expansion and other business matters, he’s responsible, too, for a “long list of administrative functions” for his own company.

And busy as that keeps him, he stays ahead, says Peter Turner, who, as managing partner of Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis in Woodmere, serves with Mr. Lewis on the law firm’s three-person management committee.

“He is an amazing multi-tasker,” Mr. Turner said. “His priority is service to his clients, but he does a whole lot more than that.”

Administrative partner for the firm since Sept. 1, 2011, Mr. Lewis handles insurance, accounting and timekeeping, and maintenance of the office furnishings and decorations, to name a few.

But he also serves many clients, among them G. Herschman Architects Inc. in Cleveland, which nominated him.

“He looks out for the present and future opportunities for our company,” the nomination said. “… He has a deep knowledge of ‘what ifs,’ and helps us identify solutions that … may not have been on our radar.

“As our industry has come off its worst recession in our lifetime, it was (and is) critical to have the best consultants assisting us with the future growth and expansion of our business,” the nomination continued.

“He also responds 24-7 to critical issues and questions when situations arise with very short timeframes.”

Mr. Turner agreed.

“You might send something at 10 at night, and 1 in the morning,

A

NOVEMBER 4 - 10, 2013

you’ll get a reply from him,” he said. “He is so connected and responsive. It’s great for the clients, it’s great for us.

“He pays attention to detail and is very thorough in covering all the bases to make sure that the client’s legal position is sound and protected,” Mr. Turner added. “Scott is not a shoot-from-the-hip type of person. He’s very careful in how he goes about advising.”

From the nominator’s perspective, that “care, diligence, and excellent collaboration with all parties” is directly responsible for the architectural firm’s multiple successes throughout the years.

Mr. Turner said he’s known no one who’s matched Mr. Lewis’ breadth and depth in addressing administrative issues.

“He is so responsive and ahead of things,” he said.

Months before it’s time for the law firm’s annual renewal of legal malpractice insurance, for example, Mr. Lewis is contacting agents to see what quotes are, Mr. Turner said.

“He’s constantly on the lookout for what needs to be done,” he said. “If you get behind on those things, then you’re sometimes forced to accept something other than what you would want.”

According to the nomination, Mr. Lewis has been a “community activist” for most of his adult life.

He currently serves as a trustee of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and the Legal Studies Community Advisory Board of South University, and also is a member of the Orange Village Planning & Zoning Commission.

He’s a former board member of the Cleveland Sight Center, International Services Center, Cleveland Hillel Foundation and Cleveland Jewish News.

In addition, Mr. Lewis has extended his musical talents to NoteOriety, a show choir, for more than a decade.

— Michelle Park Lazette

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

23

LARGEST HOSPITALS

RANKED BY 2012 NET PATIENT REVENUE

Company Address Rank Phone/Website

Net patient revenue ($ millions) 2012

2011

% change

Staffed beds

FTE employees as of 9/1/2013

Year founded

Top executive Health care system Title

1

Cleveland Clinic 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland 44195 (216) 444-2200/www.clevelandclinic.org

3,829.8

3,450.2

11.0

1,277

22,638

1921

Cleveland Clinic Health System

Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, M.D. president, CEO

2

University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Subsidiaries 11100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland 44106 (216) 844-1000/www.uhhospitals.org

1,711.0

1,684.8

1.6

801

12,192

1866

University Hospitals

Fred C. Rothstein, M.D. president

3

MetroHealth Medical Center 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland 44109 (216) 778-7800/www.metrohealth.org

683.3

669.4

2.1

NA

5,516

1837

Boutros, M.D. MetroHealth System Akram president, CEO

4

Summa Akron City Hospital and Summa St. Thomas Hospital 525 E. Market St., Akron 44309 (330) 375-3000/www.summahealth.org

668.9

655.2

2.1

396

4,306

1892 and 1922

5

Akron Children's Hospital One Perkins Square, Akron 44308 (330) 543-1000/www.akronchildrens.org

509.4

460.0

10.7

345

3,794

6

Akron General Medical Center One Akron General Ave., Akron 44307 (330) 344-6000/www.akrongeneral.org

443.6

467.1

(5.0)

450

7

Fairview Hospital 18101 Lorain Ave., Cleveland 44111 (216) 476-7000/www.fairviewhospital.org

408.8

399.6

2.3

8

Hillcrest Hospital 6780 Mayfield Road, Mayfield Heights 44124 (440) 312-4500/www.hillcresthospital.org

374.3

350.0

9

Aultman Hospital 2600 Sixth St. S.W., Canton 44710 (330) 452-9911/www.aultman.org

364.5

10

Southwest General 18697 Bagley Road, Middleburg Heights 44130 (440) 816-8000/www.swgeneral.com

11

Summa Health System

Thomas Malone, M.D. president

1890

NA

William H. Considine president, CEO

3,762

1914

Akron General Health System

Alan J. Papa president, COO, Akron General Health System

390

NA

1892

Cleveland Clinic Health System

Neil P. Smith, D.O. president

6.9

391

NA

1968

Cleveland Clinic Health System

Brian Harte, M.D. president

371.5

(1.9)

580

3,328

1892

Aultman Health Foundation

Christopher E. Remark CEO

290.8

274.8

5.8

340

1,790

1920

partnering with University Hospitals

Thomas A. Selden president, CEO

St. Elizabeth Health Center 1044 Belmont Ave., Youngstown 44501-1790 (330) 746-7211/www.hmpartners.org

285.3

275.2

3.7

429

NA

1911

Humility of Mary Health Partners

Donald Koenig executive vice president, operations

12

Mercy Medical Center(1) 1320 Mercy Drive N.W., Canton 44708 (330) 489-1000/www.cantonmercy.org

269.5

256.1

5.2

338

2,038

1908

Sisters of Charity Health System

Thomas E. Cecconi president, CEO

13

Firelands Regional Medical Center(1) 1111 Hayes Ave., Sandusky 44870 (419) 557-7400/www.firelands.com

200.4

200.8

(0.2)

221

1,460

1876

Firelands Regional Health System

Martin E. Tursky president, CEO

14

Mercy 3700 Kolbe Road, Lorain 44053 (440) 960-4000/www.mercyonline.org

193.6

198.8

(2.6)

317

1,635

1892

Catholic Health Partners

Edwin M. Oley president, CEO

15

EMH Elyria Medical Center 630 E. River St., Elyria 44035 (440) 329-7500/www.emh-healthcare.org

188.0

189.4

(0.7)

250

1,611

1908

EMH Healthcare

Donald S. Sheldon, M.D. president, CEO

16

West Medical Center(2) 36000 Euclid Ave., Willoughby 44094 (440) 953-9600/www.lakehealth.org

177.6

177.6

(0.0)

267

2,193

1961

Lake Health

Cynthia Moore-Hardy president, CEO

17

Summa Barberton Hospital 155 Fifth St. N.E., Barberton 44203 (330) 615-3000/www.summahealth.org

174.3

174.3

(0.0)

139

1,100

1915

Summa Health System

Thomas A. DeBord president

18

Parma Community General Hospital 7007 Powers Blvd., Parma 44129 (440) 743-3000/www.parmahospital.org

174.0

177.4

(1.9)

288

1,390

1961

NA

Terrence G. Deis president, CEO

19

TriPoint Medical Center(3) 7590 Auburn Road, Concord Township 44077 (440) 375-8100/www.lakehealth.org

171.0

163.9

4.3

135

2,193

2009

Lake Health

Cynthia Moore-Hardy president, CEO

20

Trumbull Memorial Hospital(1) 1350 E. Market St., Warren 44482 (330) 841-9011/www.trumbullmemorial.net

169.4

163.0

3.9

311

1,130

NA

ValleyCare Health System of Ohio

John Walsh CEO

21

Marymount Hospital 12300 McCracken Road, Garfield Heights 44125 (216) 581-0500/www.marymount.org

159.2

155.7

2.2

315

NA

1949

Cleveland Clinic Health System

Joanne Zeroske president

22

St. Vincent Charity Medical Center 2351 E. 22nd St., Cleveland 44115 (216) 861-6200/www.stvincentcharity.com

150.7

135.5

11.2

154

844

1865

Sisters of Charity Health System

David F. Perse, M.D. president, CEO

23

St. John Medical Center 29000 Center Ridge Road, Westlake 44145 (440) 835-8000/www.stjohnmedicalcenter.net

142.1

148.4

(4.2)

194

988

1981

UHHS/CSAHS Cuyahoga, Inc.

William A. Young president, CEO

24

Northside Medical Center(1) 500 Gypsy Lane, Youngstown 44501 (330) 884-1000/www.northsidemedicalcenter.net

140.0

140.2

(0.1)

168

983

NA

ValleyCare Health System of Ohio

Kirk Ray CEO

25

University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center 3999 Richmond Road, Beachwood 44122 (216) 844-2273/www.uhhospitals.org/ahuja

132.3

69.7

89.7

108

822

2010

University Hospitals

Susan Juris president

26

St. Joseph Health Center 667 Eastland Ave., Warren 44484 (330) 841-4000/www.hmpartners.org

131.7

130.7

0.7

138

NA

1924

Humility of Mary Health Partners

Kathy Cook president

27

Lakewood Hospital 14519 Detroit Ave., Lakewood 44107 (216) 521-4200/www.lakewoodhospital.org

130.3

127.8

1.9

250

NA

1907

Cleveland Clinic Health System

Shannan Ritchie interim president

28

Robinson Memorial Hospital 6847 N. Chestnut St., Ravenna 44266 (330) 297-0811/www.robinsonmemorial.org

118.9

121.5

(2.1)

117

1,035

1917

Summa Health System

Stephen Colecchi president, CEO

29

South Pointe Hospital 20000 Harvard Road, Warrensville Heights 44122 (216) 491-6000/www.southpointehospital.org

117.4

124.6

(5.8)

173

NA

1957

Cleveland Clinic Health System

Robert Juhasz, D.O. president

30

Euclid Hospital 18901 Lake Shore Blvd., Euclid 44119 (216) 531-9000/www.euclidhospital.org

110.5

105.4

4.8

371

NA

1952

Cleveland Clinic Health System

Mark Froimson, M.D. president

Source: Information submitted by the hospital unless otherwise noted. Crain's Cleveland Business does not independently verify the information and there is no guarantee these listings are complete or accurate. (1) Information is from the American Hospital Directory based on Medicare cost reports, www.ahd.com. Employee numbers represent total employees, not full-time equivalent employees. Staffed beds is the number of total complex beds. (2) Numbers are estimates. Employee numbers include West, TriPoint and subsidiaries. (3) Numbers are estimates and include 13 off-site locations and LHPG practices. Employee number also includes West Medical Center.

RESEARCHED BY Deborah W. Hillyer

20131104-NEWS--24-NAT-CCI-CL_--

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Construction: Employers are still hesistant to bring in more help have started moving.

For instance, the proposed, $260 million convention center hotel in Cleveland was not discussed earlier this year as workers on the convention center were wrapping up that project. Also, it wasn’t until last January that developer Geis Cos. won the competition to buy the 21floor Ameritrust Tower and associated buildings from Cuyahoga County as part of a plan to create a new county headquarters. Today, steel is going up for the eight-floor county building, and Ameritrust Tower is amid a $200 million makeover as apartments, a hotel and retail space.

In addition, K&D Group of Willoughby only recently launched its $65 million conversion to apartments of the former East Ohio Gas Co. headquarters building at 1717 E. Ninth St. in downtown Cleveland.

continued from PAGE 1

“That is the meat and potatoes for a good construction market,� said Mr. Panzica, who feels good about 2014 and 2015.

Statistics show a level of construction activity that, if not robust, is at least decent.

According to a Crain’s analysis of McGraw Hill data, contract awards for future construction in Northeast Ohio climbed 10% through August this year, to $1.69 billion from $1.53 billion in last year’s like period.

Builders can thank the resurgence in residential construction for that steady pace as the housing market shook off its worst period since the Great Depression, though nonresidential construction also hasn’t fallen off a cliff.

Jim Wymer, president of WXZ Development in Fairview Park, which is building condominiums in Rocky River and apartments at University Circle, is benefitting from the residential rebound. And, as a developer of smaller real estate projects, he sees an aspect of the market that the big contractors do not. “At our level, the market for subcontractors and (construction) trades is tight,� Mr. Wymer said. “It’s hard to get subcontractors to commit and to be committed on a tight time frame. Many of the smaller (subcontractors) cut way back and are reluctant to staff up.

They’re spreading themselves thin.

Everyone is hesitant about how long they will stay busy this time around.�

According to McGraw Hill data, contracts for residential construction through August in Northeast Ohio climbed 41%, to $785 million this year from $556 million in last year’s like period. The market has been paced by a rash of apartment

A good worry STAN BULLARD

Steel is going up at the eight-floor building that will serve as the new Cuyahoga County headquarters. construction, renewed townhouse construction and a revival of singlefamily home building.

Meantime, McGraw Hill’s data show nonresidential construction won’t recede as much as many observers had expected, thanks to a bunch of smaller development projects in the $20 million range.

Its report on future nonresidential construction contracting through August showed a dip of almost 7%, to $909 million this year from $976 million in last year’s like period. More projects started up late this year than were expected last year, when the new Cleveland Convention Center and the Ernst & Young Tower and Aloft Hotel were going up near the Cuyahoga River as part of the Flats East Bank project.

Tim Lavelle, president and CEO of Gorman-Lavelle Corp., said his company finished plumbing work on the Global Center for Health Innovation and Cleveland Convention Center earlier this year and since has gone into a “holding pattern� as it waits for more big-ticket projects to hit the market. “We have work, but we hope to see more in the future,� said Mr. Lavelle, who noted that his company works on “the high barrier-toentry, complex projects.� “I’m not giddy,� Mr. Lavelle said. “I’m cautiously optimistic.�

Competition intensifies The annual construction survey by accounting and business advisory firm Skoda Minotti Group indicates the achingly slow economic

CFO of the Year

recovery has tempered the old bravado among builders.

Last year, 49% of the survey respondents said they were optimistic about more opportunities in the next three years in Northeast Ohio. In this year’s survey, a smaller number — 43% — said there will be more opportunities the next three years. However, the report noted that the latest figure is still the second-highest positive outlook since Skoda Minotti started the survey in 2008, when the worst of the recession began to kick in.

Likewise, competition for construction work rose this year over last, according to the survey. This year, 66% of the respondents saw five or more bidders on most jobs, compared with 51% last year. However, this year’s figure also is well below the survey results of 2010, when 82% of respondents reported that level of competition for work.

Roger Gingerich, partner-incharge of the Skoda Minotti construction and real estate group, said builders “have to keep going to the mat� to get work. “Talk to the contractors, and we have a lot, and many don’t know where the next job is coming from,�

Mr. Gingerich said.

Still, a few large projects have appeared this year, and others recently

Just how marginal the movement is in the construction market becomes clear from construction employment figures provided by the AGC Contractors trade group.

Construction jobs in Northeast Ohio dipped in August to 47,600, down 2% from 48,700 in August 2012, according to the trade group.

The betwixt and between nature of this year’s construction market is reflected in how Doug Price, CEO of K&D Group, sees the world.

Mr. Price’s company recently finished two projects in downtown Cleveland: the Residences at the Hanna, which converted an office building to apartments, and conversion of the Embassy Suites Hotel at Reserve Square back to apartments. As construction crews mass to work on the East Ohio Gas building’s conversion, Mr. Price noted that K&D has hit the construction market at a good time as a buyer of services, though that good time might not last. “We’re in the middle of a bunch of huge projects,� Mr. Price said. “The market slowed down, and now it’s coming back. I worry that when the convention center hotel and some other projects get going, we’ll strain the labor base.�

That worry is a far cry from the handwringing over the industry’s future that was pervasive in 2009 and 2010. â–

Richard T. Marabito Chief Financial Officer Olympic Steel, Inc.

Thanks to Crain’s Cleveland Business for recognizing Rick with this well-deserved honor, acknowledging what we have always known.

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20131104-NEWS--25-NAT-CCI-CL_--

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Cavs: Offseason moves have sparked interest in team that has struggled

Brews + Prose (+ Phi Beta Kappa)

continued from PAGE 1

Come join us!

Single-game sales for the 2013-14 campaign already have exceeded the season total from all of last year, which is more impressive when you consider that individual tickets for this season have been on sale for less than a month — and ducats for only 23 of the Cavs’ 41 home games are available.

The Cleveland Association of Phi Beta Kappa invites all Northeast Ohio ΦBK members to join us as guests of “Brews + Prose.” Meet novelist Varley O’Connor (“The Master’s Muse”) and poet Bruce Weigl (“The Abundance of Nothing”) and enjoy a craft microbrew with fellow ΦBKs!

An advantageous split Last season, the Cavs for the first time split single-game ticket sales into two stages. In explaining the move, the team said historical data showed that during the initial preseason selling period, a “significant number” of single-game tickets for contests that occurred in the second half of the season were bought by “non-affiliated secondary markets ” — that is, ticket brokers and other ticket resellers.

The Cavs have their own secondary ticket market in Flash Seats, which is part of Veritix, a company controlled by team owner Dan Gilbert. However, the Cavs believe delaying single-game sales for contests played in the last three months of the season prevents other brokers on the secondary market from snapping up most of the available seats for the marquee dates on the schedule.

The team continued the practice in 2013-14, and made single-game tickets available Oct. 5 for the first 23 contests at The Q. Individual tickets for the 18 home games played in February, March and April — a stretch that includes the only visits by prime Western Conference attractions San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Houston and the L.A. Lakers — will go on sale Dec. 7.

Thanks in large part to a frantic offseason that featured the return of coach Mike Brown, the drafting of Anthony Bennett first overall and the free-agent signings of Jarrett Jack, Andrew Bynum and Earl Clark, the results of the ticket strategy have been more encouraging than the oft-injured Mr. Bynum making a surprise return to the court for the season opener.

The team does not disclose sales figures. However, it did say individual ticket purchases in the first 24 days of the on-sale period exceeded the season total for 2012-13 — a figure that included the sales for the first and second halves of the home schedule.

“I’m excited,” said Kerry Bubolz, the Cavs’ president of business operations. “Obviously, the last three years, in terms of wins and losses, haven’t been great. We feel like it’s a coming-out party in terms of potential for the business.”

That momentum is evident in other areas, too.

The team said group deposits — for purchases of 20 tickets or more to a single game — have jumped 200% over the like period in 2012.

Also, renewals among existing group buyers are up 5% compared with the like period in 2012.

The team’s first big foray into free agency since LeBron James took his talents elsewhere, combined with winning the draft lottery and the surprisingly welcomed return of

25

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Andrew Bynum made a somewhat surprising return to the court in the Cavs’ win over Brook Lopez, left, and the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 30.

Mr. Brown, have made a large impact on the bottom line.

“That’s a big piece of it,” Mr. Bubolz said. “We’re not talking about a move or two. There were major changes to the basketball side of the organization. Coach Brown, Anthony, three new players in free agency and the development of our core young players. That’s significant.”

Fans flock online, too The moves also made quite a technological stir.

The Cavs rank in the top five in the league’s “team website metric rankings,” which track page views to each team’s site, page views per visit, the average time spent per website visit, the average unique visitors per day and video streams.

The team also passed 1 million likes on Facebook in September — the Cavs’ current total of more than 1.1 million is more than 400,000 ahead of the Browns — and has a Twitter following of almost 250,000, with significant leads on both the Browns and Indians.

“It’s represented in ways near and far, both directly and indirectly,” said Tad Carper, Cavs vice president of communications, of the increased buzz the team has generated. “Things continue to move in the right direction.”

As for building the team’s seasonticket base, the Cavs have adopted a new engagement strategy.

In late January, the Cavs launched Wine & Gold United, a membership club for season-ticket holders that features VIP events, “chalk talks” with members of the front office, conference calls with Mr. Gilbert and other perks. It’s an effort to create a “365-day-a-year relationship” with season-ticket holders, Mr. Bubolz said.

As part of that effort, the Cavs and Milwaukee Bucks this season became the first two NBA teams to display the names of their seasonticket holders on the court. The floor at The Q now features the names of hundreds of Wine & Gold United members in gold lettering

on the “ALL FOR ONE. ONE FOR ALL.” decal that is located on the halfcourt sideline.

The initiative apparently is working.

The league doesn’t allow teams to disclose season-ticket numbers.

However, the Cavs said new revenue generated this season by the Wine & Gold United club already has doubled the 2012-13 total for new business generated by seasonticket holders.

“I think we felt the vibe and the interest,” Mr. Bubolz said, when asked if the early numbers surprised him. “It goes back to the belief and the changes we made in the offseason.”

■

ACG CLEVELAND CORPORATE WTH AND M&A GROWTH Issue date: January 27, 2014 Ad close: December 2, 2013 Materials due: December 16, 2013 Book your ad today! Contact Michelle Sustar at 216-522-1383 or msustar@crain.com

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Dream.Dare.Do. Meet Alexandra.

In 1999 she was an aspiring music student. Today, she is Assistant Concertmaster with The Cleveland Orchestra.

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Volume 34, Number 44 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, except for combined issues on the fourth week of December and fifth week of December at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2013 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. REPRINT INFORMATION: 800-290-5460 Ext. 136

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Website: Nonprofit now can ‘migrate into the world of analysis’ “Hopefully, it will also generate a new source of revenue to support our organization over the long term.”

continued from PAGE 3

In a matter of clicks, for example, a user can compare the average ACT scores for students from the Lakewood City Schools and Cleveland Metropolitan School District (23 and 15, respectively). Interested in comparing the median home values of Strongsville and Akron?

No problem — a few clicks will get you an answer of $202,600 and $89,800, respectively.

“We’ve broken down those barriers and given people more power than they ever would have had themselves,” said Chris Lintner, who was heavily involved in the site’s development as Public Insight’s product manager.

Contact: Phone: Fax: E-mail:

– Dan Quigg, entrepreneur, on his newest venture, www.360-public.com The basic service is free, but additional capabilities — such as the ability to compare data over a certain time frame — are available for a fee. The company’s leaders are pitching the site’s services to school districts, municipalities, nonprofits and others they believe could find

Denise Donaldson (216) 522-1383 (216) 694-4264 DDonaldson@crain.com

value in the ability to quickly access and digest large amounts of data.

School districts and their associated teachers’ unions, for instance, might find the site of value from opposite sides during contract negotiations, Mr. Quigg noted.

“Whether it’s friend or foe, we’re Switzerland,” he said.

Its founders believe the website has the potential to make money, and so does the Center for Community Solutions, a century-old social nonprofit in the Cleveland area that recently invested $100,000 in the project for an undisclosed stake in the company.

Admittedly, it’s an unusual approach for the nonprofit, according

to its executive director, John Begala. It’s the first time the Center for Community Solutions has invested its own money in a for-profit venture.

However, the site potentially could provide a payoff besides the return on investment, as Mr. Begala said the center will use the website to build research studies and analyze public data to better identify social problems and the areas most afflicted by them.

“This allows us to migrate more into the world of analysis, which is good for our funders,” Mr. Begala said. “Hopefully, it will also generate a new source of revenue to support our organization over the long

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At present, the website encompasses only Ohio data, but Mr. Quigg said his firm plans to have data from across the country pumped into the system by next year’s second quarter.

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■

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Crain’s Executive Recruiter Business Opportunity for a Qualified Event Manager/Operator for a Restaurant/Party Center in Eastlake, Ohio to: Oversee all Operations; Develop/Preserve positive community/patron interactions; Manage finances, PR; Plan and execute events; Maintain cleanliness of interior/exterior areas; Ensure well-trained, customer oriented staff, Ensure excellent food quality and service standards; Maintain equipment; Ensure overall legal compliance. Mail business proposal/qualifications/additional info requests to: vijbs_properties@yahoo.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Crain’s Cleveland Business is the premier source of business news across Northeast Ohio, producing a weekly, four-color newspaper as well as a robust website and broad collection of targeted e-newsletters.

Job Responsibilities: Maintain and up sell existing accounts by traveling as necessary to visit clients in person • Develop and build relationships with existing and potential clients in order to understand their business needs and sell them integrated sales plans (such as print, online, events) to meet their needs • Prospect new business via the phone and in person • Sell various special sections • Provide outstanding customer service • Maintain ACT Database Job Requirements: • Minimum of 5 years of outside sales experience • Excellent verbal/written communication skills • Ability to meet deadlines and handle multiple tasks with accuracy • Previous Internet/media sales • Ability to travel regularly to meet with clients in territory • Highly motivated, proactive and enthusiastic team player to go the "extra mile" Crain Communications offers a competitive salary, a generous benefits package, profit sharing, and a friendly work environment. This is a great time to join our organization -- a profitable, well established publishing leader.

To apply for this position please visit our website at www.crain.com and search under the Careers section.

Vice President of Communication and External Affairs SUMMARY: The Vice President of Communication and External Affairs will be responsible for implementing and managing the governmental affairs, community outreach, and communication efforts of the Port of Cleveland.

The core functions of this position are: developing and maintaining strong relationships with federal, state and local elected and appointed officials, staff, trade organizations, local media, and all relevant external stakeholder groups; managing public relations contractors; and overseeing and implementing the Port of Cleveland’s media, communications, and community outreach strategy. Application Deadline: November 30, 2013

For complete posting please visit www.portofcleveland.com

News Director for WKSU Radio Kent, Ohio Oversee news and information programming; responsible for the structure and strategy that will ensure WKSU remain crucial part of Northeast Ohio’s context, understanding, and sense of community.

WKSU is a service of Kent State University.

Visit www.wksu.org/about/employment for more information.

Senior Sales Associate for WKSU Radio Kent, Ohio Develop new underwriters and cultivate relations with current underwriters for public radio sponsorships in support of on-going programs, limited series and specials, pledge programming, and social events. WKSU is a service of Kent State University.

Visit www.wksu.org/about/employment for more information.

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

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NOVEMBER 4 - 10, 2013

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM

27

THEINSIDER

THEWEEK

REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOK BEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS

OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3

An idea no one thinks is horrible

The big story: Nestle USA is moving its Nestle Pizza Division to Solon from Northbrook, Ill., and is bringing 250 jobs with it. The move is expected to be completed in mid-2014. Solon is home to multiple Nestle divisions, including Nestle Prepared Foods and Nestle Baking. The company already employs about 2,500 in the city. Nestle plans to use its existing facilities in Solon and does not plan to build a plant for the pizza division.

■ Jon Stahl’s sky-high dream could start at the top of a hotel that has yet to be built.

Mr. Stahl is the driving force behind a grand plan to build an elevated cable car system that, if completed, would whisk people all over downtown Cleveland.

If he has his way, the first leg of the Cleveland SkyLift would carry people between the lakefront and the new hotel that’s slated to be built next to the Cleveland Convention Center.

The cable car lift could do a lot to make the new hotel stand out, Mr. Stahl said.

“We can’t think of a better way to make it iconic,” he said, adding that the lift would serve as a novel alternative to the pedestrian bridge that the city of Cleveland wants to build nearby.

Mr. Stahl — president of LeanDog Inc., a software company based on a barge next to Burke Lakefront Airport — is a long way from realizing even the first leg of the Cleveland SkyLift. He’s had formal conversations with officials from Cuyahoga County but not with Hilton Worldwide. Plus, the city of Cleveland has yet to pick the company that will redevelop the downtown lakefront. Mr. Stahl wants the cable car lift to land between the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

But several people and organizations have voiced support for the plan, including the Port of Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland

What’s next for Comex?:

SherwinWilliams Co. suffered a significant setback in its year-long effort to acquire the operations in Mexico of Mexican paint maker Consorcio Comex in a $2.3 billion deal. The Federal Economic Competition Commission of Mexico informed Sherwin-Williams that the company’s appeal related to its pending acquisition of Comex was denied and the acquisition is not authorized.

Sherwin-Williams said it’s reviewing the decision “and is considering all options, including whether to refile with the commission.”

Security blanket: Securus Medical Group Inc., a privately held medical device company in Cleveland, announced the initial closing of a $6.5 million Series B financing round led by new investor 3X5 Special Opportunity Fund and named Steven Girouard as its president and CEO. Securus plans to use proceeds to further develop its Aurora thermographic mapping system, a thermal measurement device that is expected to have several clinical applications for temperature monitoring during energy-based surgical procedures.

Downtown shuffle: McKinsey & Co.’s move to the new Ernst & Young office building in Cleveland’s Flats is a gain for corporate communications/public relations firm Dix & Eaton, which will move from the 14th floor of the 200 Public Square building to the 39th floor — a space McKinsey is shedding along with its 40th floor office. The big management consulting firm has leased less than 20,000 square feet at the Ernst & Young building at 950 Main Ave. Dix & Eaton will be in its new suite next summer. It will occupy 25,000 square feet compared with its current 29,307 square feet, thanks to a more efficient space plan.

They’ll play in Quackron: Using a tire-track theme that would seem to make the Rubber City proud, the Akron Aeros announced a name change. The Akron RubberDucks, a Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, have a new website, new color scheme and a logo featuring a fierce duck with tire tracks in its black feathers.

Off the acclerator: The leader of the Bizdom Cleveland business accelerator is moving to Colorado. Paul Allen plans to leave early next year, once he can hire and train someone else to run Bizdom, a three-month-long boot camp for entrepreneurs. Mr. Allen has provided advice to numerous startup companies since arriving in Northeast Ohio seven years ago. He’s leaving because his wife, Dr. Rebecca Boxer, accepted a position at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.

No small feat: Two Case Western Reserve University researchers received a $424,000 grant to develop simpler ways to make complex, two-sided nanoparticles. Nicole Steinmetz, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and Rigoberto Advincula, professor of macromolecular science and engineering, received the grant from the National Science Foundation.

WHAT’S NEW

Regional Transit Authority, Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, which through a subsidiary is serving as fiscal agent for the project. Cable car manufacturer Leitner-Poma is paying for an engineering study and estimates the proposed first leg would cost about $10 million to build.

People who listen to Mr. Stahl’s pitch tend to get excited about it, said Fred Geis of Geis Cos. The Streetsboro-based real estate developer has an option to build an office park on city-owned land near Burke.

“I don’t think I’ve been in one meeting where someone saw the project and said, ‘I think this is a horrible idea,’” he said with a laugh.

— Chuck Soder

MetroHealth takes its act to the classroom ■ Middleburg Heights and Brecksville aren’t the only areas primed for colonization by The MetroHealth System. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is next.

This Wednesday, Nov. 6, MetroHealth will open a health center inside the Mound-STEM School on Ackley Road in Cleveland’s Slavic Village, and others could be on the way.

The health center won’t offer the same breadth of services as it does on its main campus on West 25th Street or at its multimillion-dollar community health centers.

Spate of layoffs started here

PRODUCT: MagnaForce alloy Alcoa, which makes forged aluminum wheels in Cleveland, said it has rolled out its “most advanced aluminum wheel alloy in 45 years.”

The new material “opens the door for lighter-weight wheels at increased strength with the same corrosion-resistant characteristics as the industry standard,” according to the company. Alcoa said it expects to introduce a state-of-the-art wheel featuring the alloy in early 2014.

Unveiled at the American Trucking Association Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., the new lightweight alloy, called MagnaForce, “is on average 16.5% stronger than the industry standard, Alcoa’s 6061 alloy, in similar applications,” the company said.

Alcoa said it will use the material to make wheels for commercial transportation, where lighter-weight products that increase fuel efficiency are in high demand.

Tim Myers, president of Alcoa Wheel, said the alloy “opens the door to production of the strongest, lightest wheels to increase fleet payload, improve fuel efficiency and enhance sustainability.”

The alloy was developed over two years.

For details, visit www.alcoawheels.com.

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

A merger of bank brothers ■ With the aim of eliminating duplicate expenses as well as two sets of bank examinations and two sets of audits, Middlefield Banc Corp. will merge one subsidiary, Emerald Bank, into its other subsidiary, The Middlefield Banking Co., according to a public filing dated Oct. 25.

Executive vice president and chief operating officer Jim Heslop wouldn’t call the merger material, but he said there will be cost savings, and “now, we only have to worry about one of those (safety and soundness exams) a year.”

The unified Middlefield Banking Co. is tentatively set to open Jan. 21, 2014. It will absorb two Emerald Bank offices in Dublin and Westerville, Mr. Heslop said. The bank will have a total of 10 branches in Northeast and central Ohio.

No layoffs will occur, according to Mr. Heslop. — Michelle Park Lazette

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

COMPANY: Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products, Cleveland

Instead, the clinic will offer primary and preventive health care services such as checkups, immunizations and other services. It also will offer referral services for issues such as behavioral health.

The clinic will be staffed by Dr. Christine Alexander, interim chairwoman of family medicine at MetroHealth, as well as a MetroHealth nurse and the school nurse.

MetroHealth’s school-based health center program is financed by grants from the Third Federal Savings & Loan Foundation, Eaton Corp. Charitable Fund and individual donors. — Timothy Magaw

■ It turns out Cleveland was ground zero for a contagion of layoffs in Bank of America’s mortgage operations.

The lender in August announced cuts of 1,100 mortgage employees at two centers in the Cleveland area, as well as 500 more in Sunrise, Fla.; Buford and Atlanta, Ga.; Richmond, Va.; South Jordan, Utah; and Taunton, Mass. Then it cut another 1,200 mortgage jobs in late October “and is aiming to shed another 2,800 such jobs in the fourth quarter,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal said the layoffs in California, Florida and Texas “follow similar moves at Wells Fargo, which cut about 6,200 jobs in its mortgage unit, and Citigroup Inc., which has trimmed about 1,100 jobs.”

The cuts are “in response to lower demand for mortgage refinancing and shrinking portfolios of bad loans,” the story stated. Offices “that sprouted up to help banks process a wave of mortgage-related transactions in recent years,” including those in the Cleveland are, now are closing, The Journal said.

Public financing, private approach ■ Increasingly, states’ pro-business organizations — like JobsOhio here — are publicly financed but privately controlled and not particularly transparent.

That was the conclusion of an analysis by The Center for Public Integrity, which said Ohio and about 10 other states “have given control over lucrative corporate tax incentives” to organizations “which are often run by the states’ most influential businessmen, generally at the pleasure of the governor,” according to the center.

Supporters “say these partnerships are

more nimble than government bureaucracies and are insulated from the vagaries of electoral politics,” the center noted. “But both liberal and conservative watchdog groups say the practice takes a government function already prone to mismanagement and obfuscation and makes the situation worse by giving oversight of business incentives to businesses themselves.”

JobsOhio, created in 2011, operates as an independent nonprofit, “exempting it from most state ethics and open records laws and, as of this year, from government audits,” the center said.

“What they’ve done is taken a system that didn’t have a whole lot of disclosure and wasn’t that great a system under any governor, and they’ve privatized it so that you don’t know what’s going on with all those public dollars,” said Brian Rothenberg, executive director of ProgressOhio, a liberal group, that has sued the state, arguing the liquor sales lease is illegal.

The holidays are coming up ...

■ Matthew Chojnacki, a Clevelander who writes about film and music, last week published a book that could make a nice gift for the movie lover in your life.

“Alternative Movie Posters: Film Art from the Underground” features 200 posters from more than 100 artists and 20 countries, plus commentary.

The movies include “Pulp Fiction,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Star Wars,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Pretty in Pink,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Gremlins,” “Carrie,” “Mean Girls” and “The Shining.”

If the book’s cover image, a rethinking of the “Taxi Driver” poster, is indicative of the project as a whole, it should be a fun book.

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The NEW 2014 BMW X5.

Entertaining

Versatility has never looked this good.

by De s i g n

November 8-9 at The Ohio Design Centre

A Fundraiser for The North Union Farmers Market Sponsored by The Ohio Design Centre

COME SEE IT TODAY!

Featuring over 30 spectacular themed tabletop, dining and entertaining vignettes created by Cleveland’s most talented interior designers.

BMW Cleveland

6135 Kruse Dr. • Solon • 1-866-210-6710 www.BMWCleveland.com

Friday, November 8 12 noon – 7pm & Saturday, November 9 11am – 4pm

BMW Cleveland

Ohio Design Centre 23533 Mercantile Road | Beachwood, Ohio 44122

$10 to benefit the communication and education programs of the North Union Farmers Market

More information: 216-831-1245 or visit ohiodesigncentre.com and click on events

BMWCleveland.com 440-542-0600

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