Crain's Cleveland Business

 FOCUS: SMALL BUSINESS

Owners and entrepreneurs struggle with postal gridlock. PAGE 12

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I FEBRUARY 8, 2021

RETAIL

HITTING THE BRICKS AND MORTAR

Shoppers not going to the empty storefront that held a Pier One Imports store in Avon until last year means the pedestrian crossing gets less use. | STAN BULARD/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Record retailer closings are translating into significantly higher shopping center vacancies BY STAN BULLARD | As Rustom Khouri, CEO of Westlake-based real estate

development company Carnegie Management & Development Corp., discusses conditions among the firm’s shopping centers in 17 states, he sees the challenge as “weathering the storm.”

In Northeast Ohio, he owns three centers with substantial movie theaters that are not paying rent amid the pandemic and feels the company has “a lot of vacancies.” He’s also thankful that his company kept leverage, and mortgage payments with it, low over the years.

Khouri

EDUCATION

With record numbers of retailers nationally closing — 60 major retailers in 2020 alone went out of business and more than 12,200 stores were shut — vacancy locally is following suit.

A preliminary year-end 2020 report by Moodys Analytics REIS put vacancy in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical area at 14.4%, compared with 10.5% nationally among the country’s 77 largest MSAs.

Moodys does not produce regional enclosed mall statistics, but estimates vacancy in the hard-hit property type climbed to 10.5% at the end of 2020 from 9.7% at the end of 2019.

Online realty data provider CoStar estimates more than 1 million square feet, a record, of retail space was vacated in the region last year.

See RETAIL on Page 21

GOVERNMENT

College career services looks different for CSU How does Ohio’s tax Pandemic presents unique challenges for graduating students seeking work

BY AMY MORONA

By December 2020, Jessica Colombi was exhausted.

Another semester at Cleveland State was winding down for the executive director of the university’s career services office. Her team’s calendars were packed with more virtual

office hours and weekly events with employers. Some staff had Google phone numbers, allowing students to text or call them directly.

“We really had turned ourselves inside out to make sure we were just absolutely, completely available to students,” she said. “But it was almost too much.”

NEWSPAPER

VOL. 42, NO. 5 l COPYRIGHT 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

College career services professionals like Colombi tend to be a pretty positive bunch. But even the biggest optimists face challenges when it comes to advis- Columbi ing graduating students amid the economic crunch and emotional toll the pandemic continues to level.

Last spring, job postings for those with bachelor’s degrees fell a reported 40% nationwide between March and May. Entry-level jobs for that group took the biggest hit.

See CAREER on Page 20

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structure stack up?

InnovateOhio advisory board compared state with mature and emerging tech markets

BY KIM PALMER

Last year, the InnovateOhio advisory board was tasked with comparing the state’s tax environment with the cities and states around the country where the tech economy is thriving or emerging.

The goal was to determine if Ohio’s tax structure was holding the state back from becoming the next Silicon Valley. The group's conclusion: Ohio's tax environment is competitive, and business growth stems from a state creating a comprehensive environment that at-

tracts and retains companies.

“The 21st-century economy requires innovation, talent and capital,” said Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who leads the InnovateOhio initiative, in an interview last week.

Members of the advisory board, which is made up of a group of business leaders and entrepreneurs, compared Ohio with both mature and emerging tech markets to determine the factors venture capital and business leaders weigh when making decisions about where to invest.

See TAX on Page 20

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HEALTH CARE

St. Vincent clinic integrates behavioral health, primary care New facility will offer outpatient mental health services, which is a first for the organization BBY LYDIA COUTRÉ

A new clinic opened by St. Vincent Charity Medical Center will serve as a one-stop-shop offering tailored treatment to patients seeking behavioral health care, including, for the first time, outpatient mental health services.

The Integrated Care Clinic marked its soft opening in early December when it started with psychotherapy services and has since gradually folded in more services and added staff as volume increases week over week.

In the new, 6,000-square-foot space, St. Vincent will offer a full range of services for behavioral health patients — from mental health care to treatment for substance use disorders to primary care — to provide continuum of care and help patients more easily keep their care organized. They’re working to provide shared medical appointments, trauma services, wellness activities and peer support.

The new facility, located across from the downtown hospital, is emblematic of a much deeper effort throughout the hospital to integrate mental health, substance abuse and primary care services. St. Vincent is expanding and enriching many of the existing services it’s well known for, including its psychiatric emergency department and Rosary Hall, which, founded in 1952, is among Ohio’s first hospital-based addiction treatment centers. It’s adding new offerings, including outpatient mental health services and peer-support specialists, who had previously been provided through community partnerships.

And key to these expansions and additions is a hospitalwide effort to better coordinate care across all services. In November, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center announced it was centralizing access to behavioral health inpatient services to offer better coordination of care.

Previously, a patient might have had to visit several offices or entirely different agencies to get all of the services they needed. Navigating this can be challenging for the population that St. Vincent tends to serve — those with more serious and persistent mental illness, co-occurring conditions and complex medical issues.

“And the fact that we have pretty much almost anything that they need here — and if we don’t, we have a really close partner that we can work with to get it for them — I think that’s pretty huge,” said Michael J. Biscaro, St. Vincent’s chief of behavioral health.

Biscaro, who joined St. Vincent in early 2020, is helping lead this integration effort, which St. Vincent has invested millions of dollars into, he said.

In addition to the lease for the new clinic, the investment includes renovating its adult inpatient psychiatric units in recent years and space for the new centralized intake. The efforts have also been supported by foundations and funds from Cuyahoga County’s opiate settlement, Biscaro said.

The hospital has added 26.25 fulltime equivalents, with another six planned this year. Biscaro’s hiring was part of an investment in behavioral health leadership, as was the late 2020 additions of both Russell E. Spieth, director of outpatient services

Ann E. Farris, a certified nurse practitioner, right, talks with Michelle Bock, a patient service representative, at St. Vincent Charity Hospital’s Integrated Care Clinic. | PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEN BLAZE FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Dr. Theodore Parran, the co-medical director at Rosary Hall, left, talks with William Ajayi, the Integrated Care Clinic’s manager.

“A LOT OF PLACES DO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH BECAUSE IT’S A NEED AND THEY HAVE TO DO IT. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT ST. V’S DOES BEHAVIORAL HEALTH BECAUSE IT WANTS TO, IT BELIEVES IN IT, AND IT’S MISSION CRITICAL.” ——Michael J. Biscaro, St. Vincent’s chief of behavioral health

at Rosary Hall, and William Ajayi, who leads the new Integrated Care Clinic.

The past year has exacerbated challenges in the community, which is still dealing with the opioid epidemic amid the global pandemic. As

the country grapples with both of these — alongside economic hardships, structural and political divisions and more — the needs of a community really reveal themselves, Ajayi said.

“COVID-19 has done a couple of

things,” he said. “It’s reminded us of what fear really looks and feels like, but it’s also, with our response to it, it’s also kind of highlighted structural, regional divisions and political divisions that have existed. … I’m grateful for some of it, because it forces us to think differently, but it certainly has revealed a lot of pain and frustration.”

Though the integration efforts were in motion before COVID-19, the pandemic reinforced the hospital’s deep commitment to behavioral health, which represents more than half of the staffed beds and more than half of the daily occupancy at St. Vincent.

“A lot of places do behavioral health because it’s a need and they have to do it,” Biscaro said. “I firmly believe that St. V’s does behavioral health because it wants to, it believes in it, and it’s mission critical.”

In 2021, St. Vincent’s behavioral health service line aims to serve 8,500 unique patients through 6,000 inpatient behavioral health admissions and psychiatric emergency department visits, as well as 12,400 outpatient visits, which would be more than double 2020, thanks largely to the addition of outpatient mental health services.

Historically, substantial roadblocks have slowed progress toward such integration — not just at St. Vincent or in the region, but across the country’s health care industry. After years and years of research, the science became overwhelming, Spieth said.

“I really think in many ways the opioid epidemic really led people to re-evaluate how we’re treating people in general,” he said. “And the research suggested that people are more likely to have good outcomes, good health outcomes, if systems are integrated.”

Biscaro categorizes the historical

barriers to integration into three categories: systems, including limited reimbursement from payers and problem-focused care that doesn’t always weigh a patient’s complex needs; processes for providers to communicate across specialties, facilities and organizations; and attitudes toward behavioral health. Stigma has long plagued behavioral health in society, and even in how providers historically thought about treatment. There was once a rationale that patients needed to first address a substance use disorder before engaging in mental health treatment or medical care, Spieth said.

“It was conceptualized as sequential, right? You get sober, and then you can take care of your hepatitis and then you can take care of your depression,” Spieth said. “Well, maybe people are having trouble avoiding drug and alcohol use because of mental health or because of physical health issues, or there’s not the right care to entice people into comprehensive treatment.”

Historically, providers treating mental health and those treating substance use disorders were often trained to not think about one another, said Dr. Ted Parran, co-medical director of Rosary Hall, who has been with St. Vincent since 1988.

“And they were also trained with a bias,” he said. “Addiction people were trained that mental health symptoms were just a consequence of the addictive disease, and people in mental health were trained that people with addictive symptoms were just self-medicating mental health issues.”

Moving primary care into psychiatric service providers and addiction service providers like methadone clinics and giving mental health and addiction providers a physical presence within primary care is “essential for us to really be able to bring into practice what we now know is best practices,” Parran said.

Ajayi said the first several weeks of the new clinic were focused on building relationships and understanding community needs in order to ensure what’s being built and offered is meaningful and helpful.

Integrating care offers better access, a healthier community, reduces stigma and opens the door for more conversations about mental health, said Scott S. Osiecki, CEO of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County, which provides $3 million annually for St. Vincent’s psychiatric emergency department, as well as $40,000 for a transportation program it offers patients.

“It could help some people who actually even might not even know that they’re suffering with a behavioral health issue when they go to the doctor for a physical ailment,” he said.

By offering a greater variety of service, the hospital can attract a range of new clients, Biscaro said. St. Vincent is working to market the new broader range of services it offers and plans to expand some of outpatient services to satellite sites in Solon and Independence this year.

There’s been a lot of growth in the past year, he said, “but we’re definitely not done yet.”

Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre

February 8, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 3

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With the industry beginning to mature, and with changes made to how patients can get their cards and buy material during the pandemic, sales of medical marijuana products in the Buckeye State grew nearly four times in 2020 over the inaugural sales year that kicked off in January 2019.

There was about $277 million in sales generated in Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program (OMMCP) between 2019 and 2020. About 80% of that occurred last year.

The first two years of retail sales combined have generated an estimated $19 million in sales tax revenue. The bulk of that comes at a time when state coffers are seeing drops in sales tax collections amid an economy-wracking health crisis.

Millions more in fees have been collected by the Ohio Department of Commerce and Board of Pharmacy since the program’s inception. Those funds are reinvested back into the OMMCP to run the program.

Through Feb. 2, total retail sales were $307.8 million. And as of Jan. 1, there were 214,916 marijuana recommendations made and 160,288 registered patients. About 13% of registered patients have not purchased anything.

Nearly 700 doctors now have certifications to recommend marijuana.

Now in its third year for sales, Ohio’s medical marijuana industry is beginning to stretch its legs.

Yet the program is generating proceeds short of its potential, operators say, especially when comparing sales to similar medical markets having greater success.

According to the state’s budding marijuana growers, processors and retailers, this is largely a function of the state’s heavily regulated program, which they say needs to be improved to better promote a thriving industry and enhance access for patients.

“Our market could easily be 50%100% more robust,” said Andy Rayburn, CEO of Buckeye Relief, an Eastlake marijuana cultivator and processor, and president of the Ohio Medical Cannabis Industry Association (OMCIA ) trade group. “The single biggest limiting factor is that we have 52 dispensaries open — and 59 in total licensed.

The result is patients don’t want to wait in line, and potential patients are less motivated to get their cards.”

It’s common for operators in Ohio to compare this market to others, like Pennsylvania or Maryland, where medical programs are generating greater proceeds with comparable patient pools.

But with federal prohibition necessitating states to have their own insular programs, each market is set up and evolving differently — in many cases to the benefit of patients and their surrounding industries. Pennsylvania, for example, allows conditions such as anxiety and autism to be treated with marijuana, which Ohio has denied adding to its list.

Some Ohio marijuana businesses express annoyance with state regulators and policymakers not reacting more quickly to support the burgeoning industry here. State regulators note that changes are in the works. But for companies, those aren't coming quite fast enough.

Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program Dispensary sales in 2019: About $58 million Dispensary sales in 2020: About $219 million Total dispensary sales through Feb. 2: About $308 million Sales tax generated through Feb. 2: About $21.2 million Based on average Ohio sales tax rate of 6.875% Dispensaries in operation: 52 Cultivators in operation: 13 Level I and 14 Level II Processors in operation: 24 Average cost of flower: $315 per ounce Board of Pharmacy licensing fee revenue: FY 2020: $6.9 million FY 2019: $3.5 million FY 2018: $1.9 million Department of Commerce licensing fee revenue: FY 2020: $5.5 million FY 2019: $3.2 million FY 2018: $4.2 million SOURCES: OHIO MEDICAL MARIJUANA CONTROL PROGRAM, OHIO DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, OHIO BOARD OF PHARMACY

“The Ohio House and Senate have not shown the appetite to improve the Ohio law, but we believe that there is a chance that changes may be made in 2021,” said Jared Maloof, CEO of Standard Wellness, a Gibsonburg-based vertically integrated marijuana company operating The Forest Sandusky dispensary.

“From an association standpoint, we are looking at any and all options to better the program,” said Matt Close, executive director of the OMCIA. “If we need to take a legislative approach, we will.”

Here are some of the factors complicating greater success of Ohio’s marijuana program:

Lack of dispensaries Marijuana companies across the supply chain say there are simply not enough retailers to properly meet customer demand.

The long drives for customers in pockets of the state with few or no dispensaries around and long waits outside (due to COVID restrictions) deter some participation.

“A population of nearly 12 million could quite easily sustain 250 dispensaries,” Maloof said. “The current infrastructure of dispensaries is having a difficult time keeping up with patient demand, and in some cases, patients wait over an hour to obtain their medicine.”

Ali Simon, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, which regulates dispensaries, said the board is

“in the process” of reviewing the need for additional marijuana stores.

If more licenses are to be awarded, the board will issue a request for applications specifying the requirements and process.

But companies are antsy for that process to play out more quickly.

With how long it took the first dispensaries to move through the process from application to opening, companies say it could take at least 12 to 18 months for new shops to come online following the release of those RFAs. “By that time, we will have a patient count well over 300,000,” Rayburn said, “and the market will be underserved.”

Few qualifying conditions The OMCIA and other petitioners have again asked the state to consider a number of new qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, many of which are permitted in other states, including anxiety disorders and autism. Anxiety disorder is the most commonly cited condition for using medical marijuana in Pennsylvania behind chronic pain.

Anxiety and autism have previously been rejected by the Ohio State Medical Board as appropriate qualifying conditions.

Other qualifying conditions sought by petitioners include opioid-use disorder, ADHD, fibromyalgia, diabetes and migraines.

If the medical board doesn’t agree to add qualifying conditions such as those, policymakers could introduce legislation to build them into House Bill 523, the bill signed into law by then-Gov. John Kasich establishing the OMMCP.

High retail costs A recent report by the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at Ohio State University found that prices for marijuana products in Ohio are a major deterrent for patients. Per a corresponding survey, the report notes that 84% of respondents said they would buy legal marijuana at a dispensary if costs were more in line with the black market.

For example, the report found a gram of flower in Ohio as of last August to be about 15% higher than the reported price in Michigan and 28% higher than the black market. Some operators contend Ohio’s prices are lower than this report suggests when factoring in discounted products and deals for groups like veterans.

Companies say high costs are due in large part to the expenses tied to Ohio’s heavily regulated program, including stiff annual licensing fees.

High price is the top complaint Kate Nelson, president of Greenleaf Apothecaries, which operates five dispensaries under The Botanist brand, tends to hear from customers.

While prices are competitive and have been coming down, the regulatory costs make it harder to compete with markets next door, like Michigan, where customers go to buy marijuana to take back home to Ohio (crossing state borders with marijuana bought in another state is illegal).

Jeremy Nobile: jnobile@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @JeremyNobile

4 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | FEBRUARY 8, 2021

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MEDIA

Converting subscribers to digital is critical for newspapers

As advertising continues to falter, Northeast Ohio publications steer readers to online partners

BY JAY MILLER

In mid-December, the sales insert that had been regularly stuffed in the Sunday Plain Dealer carried the announcement that, beginning Jan. 31, the ad was “moving online” and would no longer appear in the PD and other newspapers around the country.

It was a sign that the nearly two-decade drain of advertising from newspapers would continue in 2021. So far, Northeast Ohio’s newspapers have met the decline in revenue by finding ways to cut costs. As a result, newspaper ownership has consolidated, and the papers have laid off staff and sold office buildings and printing plants.

The next step for the news organizations — a step that is becoming more visible in 2021 — is growing subscriptions to their digital partners — Cleveland.com in The Plain Dealer’s case — an acknowledgment that the future is online, not in print.

More broadly, a January report from Group M, a New York City-based media buying firm, found that print advertising for newspapers fell by 30% in 2020, in part because of pandemic-induced store closings, and that single-digit declines are expected for 2021 and annually beyond that.

Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a St. Petersburg, Fla., nonprofit journalism research organization that has been tracking newsroom layoffs nationwide, is reporting layoffs at more than 75 newsrooms at Ohio newspapers.

The layoffs of more than 30 newsroom staff at The Plain Dealer in April 2020 grabbed the most attention in the past year. The Plain Dealer once had a newsroom of more than 300

The Dec. 17 insert in the Sunday Plain Dealer announcing that CVS was ending its print advertising and moving digital was a sign that 2021 was going to be another year of advertising decline for newspapers. | JAY MILLER/CRAIN’S

people, but now relies on Cleveland. com’s staff — which stands at about 60 — to fill its pages. Both the paper and Cleveland.com are owned by Advance Publication Inc., which moved the paper’s design and production staff to regional centers.

Advance Publication’s Advance Local unit operates nine local news and information websites affiliated with 24 newspapers.

Bradley Harmon, Midwest regional president of Advance Local, declined to talk to Crain’s.

“At this time, I don’t have anything definitive to share with you other than what we extended to our clients in 2020,” he wrote in an email. “We are

incubating many ideas for 2021 but not ready for public consumption.”

Perhaps the biggest changes have occurred at what has become a large group of Northeast Ohio news organizations owned by the Gannett Co. of McLean, Va., the country’s largest newspaper chain. Gannett is the surviving brand of a sale to GateHouse Media Inc., which purchased the Gannett newspapers in 2019.

In Northeast Ohio, Gannett owns 20 daily and weekly newspapers, led by the Akron Beacon Journal and the Canton Repository. It also owns the former Dix chain of newspapers, led by the Record-Courier, which serves the Kent and Ravenna area.

Most recently, Gannett consolidated reporting staffs, bringing seven people from the former Dix papers into the Akron office, said Michael Shearer, who has been Gannett’s regional editor for its Northeast Ohio properties since 2019. The Record-Courier building in Kent was put up for sale in November.

The group also has consolidated printing. All of its newspapers are now printed at plants in Canton and Wooster.

The Beacon Journal left its landmark downtown building for rented space in 2019. It has been printed on the Canton Repository’s presses since 2013.

“We’re trying to align ourselves to avoid duplication, make the best use of all the resources that we have, which are obviously precious and important, and spend time driving digital growth agenda at the same time,” Shearer said. “We’re kind of hitting 2021 running full speed, hopefully toward that goal of (increasing) digital subscriptions.”

Shearer said the challenges the

newspapers face are building their digital presence and making sure that their content meets the needs of their audiences, especially young people.

One way it’s hoping to pay for those changes is building its digital subscriber base. Late last month, Shearer wrote that beginning Feb. 1, a “significant number of our top local stories” would be available online only to subscribers. Casual readers will now be able to read only five articles a month without charge. A subscription will cost $9.99 a month, which can include weekend home delivery.

He said in a telephone interview that seven editorial staffers who had been based in Kent are now based at the Ak-

“WE’RE KIND OF HITTING 2021 RUNNING FULL SPEED, HOPEFULLY TOWARD THAT GOAL OF (INCREASING) DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS.” — Michael Shearer, Gannett regional editor for Northeast Ohio properties

ron office, though now working from home. They often provide content that can appear in more than one of the group’s newspapers. A new website, BeaconJournal.com, was launched in September, replacing Ohio.com.

“Generally speaking, the expectation is that all of these folks now are focused on covering their communities and creating content to help us drive digital subscriptions across the whole Beacon Journal enterprise,” Shearer said. “And there are some other parts to that that I can’t get into quite yet. But the concept was bringing people together.”

Edd Pritchard — a reporter at the Canton Repository, one of the Gannett papers, and president of Local One of the Northeast Ohio NewsGuild — said GateHouse Media Inc., which bought the newspapers of Dix Communications in 2017 and the Beacon Journal in 2018, consolidated design staffs, costing several jobs, and cut the jobs of some copy editors. The NewsGuild represents editorial staff at three of the Gannett papers in Northeast Ohio.

“They’re moving things around and, of course, the goal is to try to maintain a successful business,” he said.

In addition to the Beacon Journal and the Repository, the guild represents reporters at the Massillon Independent. Pritchard also said that while most people are now working from home, the Massillon staff will move to Canton when offices reopen.

“You have all these different entities that are just searching for a business model that can somehow hold up,” said Thomas Fladung, managing partner of the Cleveland-based Hennes Communications crisis communications firm and, until 2015, managing editor of The Plain Dealer. “This has been going on for years now, but now, to me, it’s more critical than ever because you’re seeing the continuing decline in print advertising and the inability beyond the really big national papers, like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, to build enough digital subscriptions to really carry it. There have been real gains, but it hasn’t reached a point where it can sustain a healthy newsroom.”

Jay Miller: jmiller@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @millerjh

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PERSONAL VIEW

Boost STEM education to reduce racial health disparities RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

BBY RANDAL DOANE

EDITORIAL

Good start C

OVID-19 has eliminated many certainties in our lives, but go back to March 2020 and on this point we were quite sure: Ohio’s next budget cycle would be brutal.

It’s a relief, then, that the two-year state budget plan Gov. Mike DeWine rolled out last week is so normal. There aren’t tax hikes, though there is a notable fee increase. Spending isn’t being cut, thanks to significant federal government support, allowing vital social services to be supported. The state’s rainy-day fund, at $2.7 billion, remains untapped. The constitutional mandate of a balanced budget is achievable without massive amounts of pain.

The priorities DeWine outlined for the 2022-23 budget are just a starting point, and the plan will change — potentially in major ways — when state legislators weigh in. (They have until June 30 to approve it and will take their time in doing so.)

For now, though, we’re encouraged that the budget plan keeps Ohio on a relatively steady course in unsteady times. It helped that the economy held up better in many sectors than originally projected, but the DeWine administration’s budget team has done its job well THE PRIORITIES DEWINE in the face of immense pressure.

OUTLINED FOR THE The two-year budget proposal envisions spending 2022-23 BUDGET ARE $74.5 billion, above the $69 JUST A STARTING POINT, billion of the last biennial budget. This is possible AND THE PLAN WILL partly because of the federCHANGE — POTENTIALLY al government. DeWine the budget reflects fedIN MAJOR WAYS — WHEN said eral support of about $2.4 STATE LEGISLATORS billion, both in initiatives from former President WEIGH IN. Donald Trump and new President Joe Biden. Ohio’s manageable budget situation today is a reflection of the importance of a vigorous federal response during times of crisis.

But as DeWine noted, “We’re not out of this epidemic yet.

We don’t know what the future will bring.” To help speed the Ohio economy’s recovery, the budget proposes spending

more than $1 billion in one-time federal funds for what’s being called the Investing in Ohio Initiative. The vast majority of the money comes in two buckets: $460 million for small businesses, comprising $200 million in grants for bars and restaurants, $150 million in general Small Business Relief Grants, $50 million for lodging businesses, $40 million for indoor entertainment venues and $20 million for new businesses; and $450 million for local infrastructure projects, including $250 million to expand broadband internet access in underserved areas, a crucial part of bridging the digital divide.

Also included in the initiative is $70 million for job training, with a heavy emphasis on bolstering the TechCred program.

With an eye on that proposal, Ryan Augsburger, president of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, said the budget plan “strikes the right chord” in focusing on economic recovery.

These are all worthy priorities to get certain sectors back on their feet, or to make investments for a post-pandemic future, and we hope the final version of the budget retains them.

One aspect of the Investing in Ohio Initiative within the budget that has drawn particular criticism, from left and right, is a plan to spend $50 million on a marketing campaign designed to “promote the state as a world-class place to live, work and learn” with a focus on “career opportunities, top-tier colleges and universities, premier destinations and vibrant communities.” Without yet knowing what the marketing campaign would entail, we think there’s merit to that relatively small expenditure. The pandemic has companies and people rethinking their work and living arrangements, and relatively low-cost (and centrally located) Ohio has a real chance to attract workers — provided they know what’s available here.

We are puzzled, though, by DeWine’s proposal to add $10 to the state’s annual vehicle registration fee, and $2 to the state’s auto title fee, to raise about $127 million a year for the Ohio Highway Patrol. Given the financial pain many Ohioans are still experiencing, and the availability of the rainy-day fund, this seems like an unnecessary burden at the wrong time.

There will be a lot of give and take on the budget over the next few months, which is healthy. Even better: Most of the heavy lifting already has been done.

Executive Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com) Managing Editor: Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com) Contact Crain’s: 216-522-1383 Read Crain’s online: crainscleveland.com

May we all soon live in precedented times. The phrase “unprecedented times” was one of the most popular of 2020 and, at this time next year, some version of our previous lives will resume.

Let’s think now, though, about how to ensure it’s a more equitable version, in terms of health care and education.

Racialized health disparities are due in part to educational disparities, and I bet Doane is the Zoom and its ilk can play a constructive owner of role here. Since last March, I’ve witnessed Cadence first-hand the limits of online education. Editorial Services My wife is a professor, and my daughter is and a member in high school. Some things work. (Most of Ohio X. don’t.) But some things may work well enough to aid the college preparedness in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) of high schoolers from underrepresented groups. The long-standing issue of equity and higher education has direct implications for medicine, health care and wealth.

At colleges and universities across the country, introductory courses in biology, chemistry and mathematics are not designed to be weed-out courses — but that’s the effect, according to re- THE LONG-STANDING searchers in Science Advances.

“The take-home message ISSUE OF EQUITY AND here is that ‘business as usual’ is HIGHER EDUCATION disenfranchising groups of students who belong and can thrive HAS DIRECT in STEM because of a misguided IMPLICATIONS FOR culture in which rigor is correlated with how many people are MEDICINE, HEALTH weeded out,” noted Melanie M. CARE AND WEALTH. Cooper, a professor of science education at Michigan State University (MSU), in Chemical & Engineering News. Cooper plays a key role in the recently revised chemistry curriculum at MSU. In three years, the mean grade jumped from a C- to a B-. The number of students who earned a D, F or withdrew dropped by nearly 50%. (Preliminary data indicate that these students enroll in organic chemistry and other science courses and perform well.)

Cooper and her collaborators modeled their approach on the National Research Council’s “A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas” (The National Academies Press, 2012). Let’s take a leap of faith and figure that this model could work for actual high school students, from underrepresented groups, as a summer program with multiple STEM disciplines.

Case Western or Cleveland State would be great places to pilot this program. To begin, get local rising sophomores interested in STEM fields to commit to an eight-week hybrid course in biology. Enroll top-notch faculty educators to design and deliver the online component in appropriately digestible chunks. Enlist graduate students or medical students to work with small groups of students in well-equipped (and well-ventilated) labs. Pay all participants a stipend. (Yes, even the high school students.) Students who pass with a B- or better are eligible to return the next summer for a course in chemistry. The same standards apply for a rising senior interested in enrolling in a summer course in physics or mathematics.

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited. Send letters to Crain’s Cleveland Business, 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113, or by emailing ClevEdit@crain.com. Please include your complete name and city from which you are writing, and a telephone number for fact-checking purposes.

See DOANE on Page 21

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6 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | February 8, 2021

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OPINION Providing a private travel experience that exceeds expectations

PERSONAL VIEW

We must invest in solar power BBY KEVIN KELLEY

Our reliance on fossil fuels is not sustainable. Our best path to renewables includes solar energy — and the city of Cleveland has launched two innovative initiatives to investigate its feasibility and move forward with installing.

It is good news to know that President Biden and his administration in Washington, D.C., have embraced the financial and environmental benefits of solar — and other renewable sources — for the entire nation, setting real and ambitious goals to make our energy sector carbon free.

In May 2019, I commissioned an extensive “solar site assessment” as part of Cleveland’s aspiration to be a “Green City on a Blue Lake.”

The project team initially marked more than 200 cityowned sites, then narrowed them to 20 as the most promising places to harness solar rays through free-standing panels. Solar structures over city-owned surface parking lots are some of the most promising sites identified.

Meanwhile, the Jackson administration has been studying rooftops on municipal buildings as possible places for sun-catching panels.

And City Council’s solar project team has determined that there is enough annual daylight in Cleveland to generate electricity at viable rates. Legislation to move forward on solar installation on rooftops, over structures and fallow land was recently introduced.

We are moving ahead along the path to renewable energies. The continued use of fossil fuels is not sustainable, and it jeopardizes the very life of our planet.

Unfortunately, the political climate for renewable energy in Ohio has not been welcoming. Other states are racing ahead of us, to our economic detriment, adding new jobs and investments and industry in this arena.

There are about 268 companies in Ohio providing jobs in the solar industry, with 105 of those companies

manufacturing goods across the supply chain — from the polysilicon that many photovoltaic panels are comprised of to the racking systems used to install solar panels.

However, there are positive signs as renewable energies — solar and wind — continue to expand and to show that they are clean, viable sources of electric power.

Kelley is The Ohio Power Siting Board has president of approved seven solar projects in the Cleveland City state, three of which are currently Council. under construction.

One project, a 200-megawatt installation near Cincinnati, is employing several hundred workers to erect its 600,000 solar panels. The project has pumped millions of dollars into the local economy.

The cost of solar installations is initially high but falling. Costs have dropped 45% over the last five years, according to the solar industry. But solar technology is constantly advancing — and improvements will intensify and likely bring down the costs in the future.

And the sun’s rays are free, and solar energy systems are typically low maintenance, requiring minimal annual cleaning, with no moving parts, and little wear and tear.

Solar energy can be used for diverse purposes besides generating electricity. For example, where installations cover surface parking lots, charging stations for electric cars can be added. Increasingly, solar energy is being integrated into building materials (e.g., roof shingles, wall claddings, windows).

We are seeing more and more advances in solar power technology, making it more affordable and more sensible.

We cannot afford not to invest in solar power. Life depends on it.

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Herd immunity for business should precede national herd immunity BBY FIROUZ DANESHGARI, M.D.

ingly more attractive with the soon expected approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The Johnson & The availability of vaccines against SARS-CoV2 is fiJohnson vaccine, in addition to Pfiznally showing us a light at the end of a tunnel, illuminating a path away from pandemic-imposed restrictions. er-BioNTech and Moderna, will reWhile COVID-19 public safety guidelines continue to move the issue of supply limitation from the equation. Then the only inhibit our personal sense of community, restrictions on businesses that damage their operational capabiliremaining limitation would be the ability of federal and state plans to ties are proving to be more impactful due to their lasting serve the imminent needs of busieffect on the socioeconomic well-being of our nation.

Daneshgari is a nesses and organizations that are The key question we must now ask is: Should leaders professor of desperately waiting to get their emof businesses and organizations wait for the stages of surgery at Case federal- and state-driven operations — Operation Warp Western Reserve ployees vaccinated so they can go Speed (OWS) and President Biden’s executive orders — University. back to “normal” functioning. to reach their employees based on the categories used Public health officials have all in those plans for vaccine distribution? Or should they along told us that arriving at either take a more proactive approach to get their employees of two destinations will allow containment of SARSvaccinated so they can get back to work safely, and CoV2: achieving herd immunity or the availability of an keep working? This question is remarkably similar to effective vaccination. Now that we have arrived at one of the decision employers had to make regarding their the destinations, it appears necessary for businesses roles in mitigating risks during the initial phases of the and organizations to take a proactive role in vaccinating pandemic. their employees with a Based on the current % of population needing vaccines: 70% speed that meets their level of vaccination accombusiness needs, instead of Total Current succumbing to the impleplished in the state of Ohio

vaccines weekly (as of Jan. 21), it will take mentation limits of the exPopulation started average over a year before we arrive Ohio 11,700,000 500,176 140,000 isting federal and state systems. Availability of adat the desired level of 70% 4,500,000 183,696 30,000 ditional vaccines should immunization in Cuyahoga Northeast Ohio County, Northeast Ohio Cuyahoga County 1,200,000 56,592 10,000 encourage businesses to and Ohio at large. execute plans to arrive at Examples of models deployed in other states indicate the desired levels of immunity in order to contribute to that there are alternative paths for a speedier deploy- achieving national herd immunity, thereby regenerament of vaccinations that would augment the federal/ tion of the socioeconomical well-being of the businessstate plans. The alternative paths will become increas- es and, therefore, our nation.

February 8, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 7

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REAL ESTATE

Emboldened by demand, Fogg sets two-building plan Local firm is adding a combined 322,000 square feet of industrial properties in Euclid and Stow “SO LITTLE SPACE IS AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET, AND WE AND OUR COMPETITORS HAVE SO LITTLE EMPTY SPACE IN OUR PROPERTIES, IT MAKES SENSES FOR US TO DEVELOP.”

BBY STAN BULLARD

Ray Fogg Corporate Properties, the realty unit of Ray Fogg Building Methods of Brooklyn Heights, plans to add new buildings this year in Euclid and Stow — and maybe more.

Ray Fogg Jr., president of the family-owned company, said recent experience has encouraged him to be aggressive.

“We’ve found that even when we start buildings on a speculative basis, we wind up getting them leased by the time we finish them or soon after,” Fogg said.

Next up at Bluestone Business Park in Euclid is a 75,000-square-foot building at the southeast corner of Bluestone Boulevard and East 260th Street.

And in Stow, a 247,000-squarefoot structure is planned for Seasons Business Park. That building will open a second phase of the park on the southwest side of the Seasons Road interchange with State Route 8.

It will require building a 1/3-mile street with utilities to convert the greenfield from raw land to a readyto-build industrial park with sites available for new structures.

The new street will be called “Gray Lane,” since the first phase of the park has a street named “Scarlet Lane.” Fogg said the street names were suggested by the late David Brennan, the Akron lawyer, developer and business owner, to pay homage to Ohio State University. Brennan and Fogg launched the park as a joint venture five years ago, with Brennan, and now Brennan’s heirs, contributing land for the park.

The second phase of Seasons Business Park is in development because the first phase, on the opposite side

——Ray Fogg Jr., Ray Fogg Corporate Properties president

This aerial shows the five buildings at Bluestone Business Park in Euclid (at right). A parcel at the front of the park (immediately right of East 260th Street) will be the site of the next structure that Ray Fogg Corporate Properties plans to build there this year. The industrial park is across the street from the Amazon distribution center on the former site of Euclid Square Mall. | CONTRIBUTED

of Seasons Road, is fully developed with four buildings. It has about 600,000 square feet of rentable space, and just 40,000 square feet is left available, Fogg said.

Several substantial prospects are so interested in space in the next building that Fogg said the joint venture might consider adding a second building this year. He declined to identify the prospects because leases, of course, are not yet signed.

After building the next structure at Bluestone, Fogg will have sites for

two buildings left for the future. The next structure there will be constructed so it can accommodate multiple tenants, he said, even though large tenants have taken up most of the space at the existing five buildings in Euclid.

“We felt that Euclid would have more manufacturing companies locating there, as so many are located in the area, and we have a few, but for the most part we’ve been surprised” that e-commerce and distribution companies have been Bluestone’s

main tenants since the park opened in 2014, he said. The new industrial park repurposed a long-empty massive factory dating from World War II as building sites.

The market is emboldening the company to press forward.

“So little space is available in the market, and we and our competitors have so little empty space in our properties, it makes senses for us to develop,” Fogg said. He also noted that lenders are eager to lend to industrial properties because of strong

demand for such buildings.

Terry Coyne, a Newmark vice chairman and head of its industrial unit, said, “Fogg has done well with both parks. It makes sense to keep on building.”

In a report on the industrial market, George Pofok, a senior vice president at the Cushman & Wakefield Cresco real estate brokerage in Independence, said 10 large, contemporary buildings were started in Northeast Ohio last year without tenants committed to them in advance.

“This is the largest boom in speculative buildings we’ve ever seen in here,” Pofok said. “You have quality companies here and tremendous deals are getting done. It has all made building industrial property in Northeast Ohio sexy again.”

He said the result is out-of-town developers jostling with locals for deals.

Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter

MANUFACTURING

Expansion at Röchling in South Euclid sets facility up for growth $4.9 million project adds 60,000 square feet of warehouse space that manufacturer can use for inventory BBY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

The Röchling plant in South Euclid has a long history, but it isn’t done changing yet.

A $4.9 million expansion recently was completed at the facility, giving the composites manufacturer more space for inventory and for future growth.

The Röchling Glastic Composites site in South Euclid is part of the German Röchling Group’s industrial division. The group has 90 locations across the globe and employs about 11,500 people. A news release noted that its three divisions had combined annual sales of 2.352 billion euros in 2019.

The facility at 4321 Glenridge Road got its start as Glastic Corp. The commercial fiberglass company had been created in the mid-1940s and moved to South Euclid from Cleveland 70 years ago, said Fred Sanford, Röchling vice president and general manager. It’s been part of the community ever since.

Sanford said Glastic had been at the top of its industry at its peak, outright inventing or contributing to

the invention of many of the processes still used today in thermoset composites manufacturing. But like many long-standing companies, it’s been through ups and downs. And, he said, it was at a particular low point before Röchling acquired it in 2007.

The company’s previous ownership had opted to eliminate inventory and focus on a just-in-time approach.

That required more manufacturing equipment, which Sanford said hurt the company’s “economies of scale.”

Sanford likened the South Euclid operation to a “steel mill for fiberglass components.” Customers can opt for a variety of colors and performance characteristics, and producing those varieties to order on a daily basis required a lot of equipment.

After acquiring the business, Röchling went back to making products in advance, but the prior increase in equipment left the South Euclid facility without room to store its finished goods properly. The company had to store inventory wherever it could find space in the plant.

Röchling’s expansion gave it more room to store inventory. | RÖCHLING INDUSTRIAL CLEVELAND

“There was no opportunity to grow as we were set up a year ago,” Sanford said.

Sanford came to Röchling’s South Euclid facility in 2014 as the company was looking to focus more intentionally on its internal processes. It

took a while for changes to take hold and lead to growth, but that turn began around 2017, Sanford said. And then it quickly became apparent the facility needed more space to continue that upward trend.

“Without that space, it wasn’t possible,” Sanford said. “There was a limit to which we could grow.”

Röchling approached South Euclid about expanding about two years ago, and the city worked with Cuyahoga County to secure some incentives to make it happen, said South Euclid economic development director Michael Love. The county was able to offer the company a loan, he said, and the city put an eightyear, 50% tax abatement in place.

The facility has been one of the city’s longest-tenured businesses, anchoring its “small but mighty industrial and manufacturing corridor.”

As part of the expansion, Röchling expects to add at least 26 new employees at the South Euclid facility.

Today, it employs about 110.

Essentially, the recent expansion allowed Röchling to better organize the inventory that had been stored throughout the facility, adding about

60,000 square feet of racked warehouse space, Sanford said. The facility had been almost 125,000 square feet before the expansion.

Röchling already is using about 40,000 square feet of the expansion for its existing business, but the rest is available for future growth.

The plant makes composite sheets and profiles for a variety of industries. Its core business has remained steady over the years. That includes products for low- to medium-voltage distribution equipment such as transformers and motors for the commercial and industrial markets, as well as products for electric infrastructure for rapid transit systems.

But Sanford said Röchling sees opportunities in new or expanded markets, such as transit, process equipment, construction or ballistic protection panels.

Sanford said Röchling plans to keep investing in the South Euclid facility in the coming years, adding equipment as its growth plan progresses.

Rachel Abbey McCafferty: (216) 771-5379, rmccafferty@crain.com

8 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | February 8, 2021

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SPORTS BUSINESS

After seizures stalled his NASCAR career, NEO native moves into owner’s seat At 24, Matt Tifft is the youngest owner in NASCAR’s Cup Series as he teams with veteran driver and owner B.J. McLeod to form Live Fast Motorsports

BY KEVIN KLEPS

When Matt Tifft was about 11, his parents had him plot out what he thought his career in auto racing was going to look like.

It was a business proposal of sorts, with pluses and minuses, and a timeline for when the up-and-coming driver would reach each level of NASCAR. What they couldn’t account for was a series of health issues that forced Tifft to stop racing in 2019, when he was just 23.

Tifft, a Hinckley native who graduated from Highland High School in Medina, had surgery to remove a tumor from his brain in 2016. Three years later, after he had risen to the pinnacle of the sport as a driver on NASCAR’s Cup Series, Tifft had a seizure before practice at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

“I had no idea what the next step was,” Tifft said.

He considered working in public relations or sponsorships — anything that could keep him involved in racing.

It was then that his knowledge of the inner workings of the sport, aided by the plans he had made with his parents, proved to be crucial.

At 24, Tifft is the youngest owner in NASCAR’s Cup Series. He and B.J. McLeod, a veteran driver and owner, have formed Live Fast Motorsports, which is based in Mooresville, N.C. Last October, Tifft and McLeod purchased the half of Go Fas Racing’s NASCAR charter that was owned by Archie St. Hilaire. The other half will continue to be owned by Joe Falk.

It’s a somewhat complicated arrangement that included Live Fast acquiring many of Go Fas’ racing assets, and about half of its employees, as Go Fas scales down to a part-time Cup Series schedule.

The result is a new full-time entry on NASCAR’s top circuit, with the 37-year-old McLeod driving Live Fast’s No. 78 Ford Mustang and Tifft switching from the driver’s seat to the day-to-day business operations. The group’s first race will be the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14.

“The fact that we pulled it off was

absolutely mind-blowing to us, but also life-changing,” Tifft said. “Having a team is a huge deal, but having the asset of the charter really solidifies us as a legitimate team. It also solidifies us to have a long future in the sport.”

Family planning There are 36 charters in the NASCAR Cup Series. Each comes with a guaranteed entry and a share of the purse for each points race.

Live Fast is joining 23XI Racing (which features driver Bubba Wallace, plus team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin) and Trackhouse Racing (owned by Justin Marks and rapper Pitbull) as new full-time entries on the sport’s top circuit.

Tifft said the value of the charters is based on a combination of factors that includes the racing team’s recent results. The cost of the full-time entries can range from the low millions to well over eight figures, he said.

“The charter we bought was less of a premium price than, say, the char-

ter that Michael Jordan bought,” Tifft said.

The idea of acquiring a charter, which seemed like a long shot at the time, was hatched in conversations between Tifft and McLeod during one of their trips to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch “Sunday Night Football.” The drivers have competed on each of the four major NASCAR series, and McLeod’s long ownership history includes a truck series stint in which Tifft served as a driver for a few races.

Tifft believes it’s an ideal arrangement that will consist of McLeod presiding over the competition side of the team and Tifft working in sponsorships and promotions.

It’s a throwback of sorts for a former driver who first started competing by racing go-karts at Barberton Speedway in Norton.

Tifft’s parents, Quinten and Victoria, founded Clinical Research Management and grew it into a highly successful business with hundreds of employees before selling the firm to ICON in 2016.

As Matt became more invested in racing, he said his mom urged him to come up with a plan for how his career would unfold.

“We made sure that he spent a lot of time on the business and sponsorship side all along,” Quinten Tifft said. “So in a way, this is just a little diversion from the path he’s been on all along since he was 10 or 11.”

‘A hidden thing’ The transition from driver to owner is far from easy. For Tifft, it could

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10 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | FEBRUARY 8, 2021

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Hinc Serie heal

be e only ing con T last abo he’s stop seiz eym epis

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a lot sorTifft ittle n on

wnould

“HAVING A TEAM IS A HUGE DEAL, BUT HAVING THE ASSET OF THE CHARTER REALLY SOLIDIFIES US AS A LEGITIMATE TEAM. IT ALSO SOLIDIFIES US TO HAVE A LONG FUTURE IN THE SPORT.”

Hinckley native Matt Tifft raced a Cleveland Indians-themed car on the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2018. This picture shows a Jobu figurine on the hood of the car. A series of health issues forced Tifft to stop racing in 2019, when he was just 23. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

be even more difficult, since he is only 15 months removed from a racing career that he thought would continue well into his 30s.

Tifft was diagnosed with epilepsy last year, and he’s been outspoken about the anxiety and panic attacks he’s battled since he was forced to stop racing. He’s had six additional seizures (including one on his honeymoon in December 2019) since the episode in Martinsville, though he’s

encouraged that the most recent ones he’s suffered have been milder than the previous versions.

Tifft said he participated in a study at University Hospitals that resulted in a change from a “generalized approach to a focal point approach,” as well as a switch in medications. His past two seizures have lasted about a minute (down from five), and he retained consciousness throughout the last episode, which was a first.

“When I had the brain tumor in 2016, it was easier to talk about because it was tangible. I saw where it was, and when it was gone, I had a timeline of what I was supposed to do.

That made it a lot easier,” Tifft said.

“This is a hidden thing, and I don’t know where it comes from. It took a long time to accept that, but it’s starting to feel more like I’m in a good place to talk about it and accept it.”

He still can’t drive, which, his father notes, is lucrative for Uber and Lyft. Matt purchased a Tesla and hopes that as his health improves, he will be allowed to get behind the wheel and have the car's autonomous technology serve as an emergency backup.

He credits the support of his wife, Jordan, and family for helping him deal with all of the health problems.

And he has plenty of things to keep him distracted, from NASCAR to a Cleveland sports-centric web series he co-hosts and even an appearance in an upcoming movie — “The Hunt-

SEAN GARDNER/GETTY IMAGES

——Matt Tifft

ing,” which stars friend and former Browns running back Peyton Hillis.

Like everything else, Tifft is frank about Live Fast’s expectations for its debut season in the ultra-competitive Cup Series. He calls 2021 “kind of a weird layover year” that will serve as the sport’s transition to a Next Gen car model that will be more expensive ($200,000 to $250,000 each, Tifft said) but is expected to at least somewhat level the playing field in 2022.

“We’re not coming out here saying we’re going to be a winning team, because we don’t have the budget to be in that place,” Tifft said.

Live Fast figures it can run in the 25th- to 30th-place range, and maybe go up a few spots if it inks more sponsorship deals.

More important for Tifft is he thinks he’s found a long-term solution for a question he had when he was forced to stop racing: “What do I do now?”

The answer wasn’t obvious at the time, but considering his previous homework, maybe it should have been.

Kevin Kleps: kkleps@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @KevinKleps

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CLOSE DATE: Feb. 15 | ISSUE DATE: March 12 February 8, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 11

SMALL BUSINESS

Business owners try to grasp lessons learned after postal gridlock upends package deliveries

SNAIL MAIL’S SLUGGISH PROBLEM BY DOUGLAS J. GUTH | Artist and entrepreneur April

Bleakney knew from the jump that delays in shipping would be a problem this past holiday season.

When delivery disruptions accelerated in early December, Bleakney warned her online customers about further interruptions, even as she did her best to meet demand.

“I personally messaged all customers and placed notices on my social media,” said Bleakney, owner of Ape Made, a one-woman provider of art, hand-printed apparel and accessories. “I’ve only had two returns due to extreme holiday delays, out of many weekslong delivery times.”

Empathetic clientele didn’t make the situation any less frustrating for small business owners caught up in United States Postal Service’s (USPS) cost-cutting measures that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cleveland owners dealt with dissatisfied customers as packages piled up at post offices, with some untracked items making a long circuit among several states. Bleakney, whose holiday sales normally comprise about one-quarter of her annual revenue, encountered holdups with these season’s orders even after having scanned them at the post office.

Side, a necessity as even now Ape Made is experiencing hiccups in a postal system that is still trying to catch up from the holiday crunch.

Shipping with more expensive carriers isn’t feasible, nor does she want to pass that cost on to the customer.

“For now, I’ll hope for an improvement,” Bleakney said of the postal service. “I’m trying to be optimistic.”

A season of frustration

Artist and entrepreneur April Bleakney in her Ape Made studio. | DANIEL LOZADA

“There were four- to five-week delivery times locally, where I could practically walk items over,” Bleakney said. “I’d track a package to Painesville and it would be just sitting somewhere, or be in different spots in Cleveland, Akron or Detroit.”

Bleakney offers free shipping through her Etsy shop to compete with prominent online retailers. Returns due to postal delays had her eating shipping cost as well as income for the item. Bleakney does provide free local pickup on Cleveland’s near West

Online shopping skyrocketed in 2020, a year marked by retail uncertainty and rolling stay-at-home orders. During the week of Cyber Monday — which refers to the Monday following Thanksgiving — U.S. shoppers spent $34.4 billion, a 20% increase from 2019, according to data from Adobe Analytics.

Delivery giants UPS and FedEx, along with USPS, transported a record 3 billion parcels over the holidays, according to ShipMatrix, a parcel consultancy and technology services provider.

Naddia Dhalai, spokeswoman for the Northern Ohio and Ohio Valley districts of USPS, said in a

12 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | FEBRUARY 8, 2021

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TAX TIPS

Advice for the life you lead

What tax policy changes can we expect under the Biden administration?

Let your goals be your guide

PAGE 15

Modesto P. Ruggiero, CEPA® Managing Director– Wealth Management Senior Portfolio Manager Wealth Advisor

Ruggiero Wealth Management UBS Financial Services Inc. 600 Superior Avenue East 27th Floor Cleveland, OH 44114 216-736-8317

modesto.ruggiero@ubs.com

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MELTON MEDIA VIA ISTOCK

As a firm providing wealth management services to clients, UBS Financial Services Inc. offers investment advisory services in its capacity as an SEC-registered investment adviser and brokerage services in its capacity as an SEC-registered broker-dealer. Investment advisory services and brokerage services are separate and distinct, differ in material ways and are governed by different laws and separate arrangements. It is important that clients understand the ways in which we conduct business, that they carefully read the agreements and disclosures that we provide to them about the products or services we offer. For more information, please review the PDF document at ubs.com/relationshipsummary. © UBS 2020. All rights reserved. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC. CJ-UBS-2031105874_2 Exp.: 10/31/2021

statement that 1.1 billion holiday packages were delivered by the Postal Service amid a once-in-acentury pandemic.

According to USPS data, only 28.8% of first-class mail in the Northern Ohio district was delivered on time for the week ending Dec. 19.

“Throughout the peak season, the Postal Service managed through a record of volume while also overcoming COVID-19 employee shortages, winter storms in the Northeast, and ongoing capacity challenges with airlifts and trucking,” Dhalai said.

To stabilize operations, USPS increased full-time staff by more than 10,000 at several facilities nationwide. Package processing and dispatch capacity were extended beyond the holidays to further expedite shipping, Dhalai added.

“As holiday inventory continues to drop, the Postal Service fully anticipates improvements in performance,” she said.

Megan DiVincenzo, owner of Cleveland-based women’s accessory brand The Sis Kiss, announced a cutoff on her custom-designed jewelry and other wares well before

PROMOTE. CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JUNE 29, 2020 I

Why not?

Dr. Sandra Hong

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JUNE 29, 2020 I “We get to do detective work and figure out how and why things are going on,” Hong exRegional Medical plained. “We’re absolutely makDirector, Cleveland Clinic ing people feel better. It was a laAllergy and immunology com- bor of love to create the program.”

Helming the Clinic’s allergy prise what Sandra Hong calls a “happy field” of medicine, con- center marks only one of her leadsidering practitioners can make ership positions. Hong, who to do detective work 2005,get followan immediate impact on a pa- joined the Clinic in “We figureis out ing a fellowship inand Boston, di- how and why CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JUNE 29, 2020 I tient’s quality of life. things are going on,” Hong exMedical rector for the hospital system’s “There are studiesRegional that make alplained. “We’re absolutely makDirector, Cleveland Clinic southern region, orchestrating lergies equal to open heart suring people feel better. It was a lagery, where people are prevented operations in Brunswick, Medina, Allergy and immunology com- bor of love to create the program.”

Wadsworth, Olmsted Township from full functionality in school Helming the Clinic’s allergy prise what Sandra Hong calls a and Strongsville. and work,” said Hong, who among “happy field” of medicine, con- center marks only one of her leadHong and positions. impleother leadership positions is diership Hong, who sidering practitioners can also makecreated mented new scribe rector of ClevelandanClinic’s new impact joinedprograms the Clinic in 2005, followimmediate ontwo a pain 2020: a postbaccalaureate de- in Boston, is diFood Allergy Centertient’s of Excellence ing a fellowship quality of life.

“We get to do detective work signed in alcollaboration withhospital system’s (FACE). “We absolutely are are makrector for the “There studies that make and figure out how and why Stanford and a region, proing patients feel better.

Theequal beautyto open orchestrating lergies heartUniversity sur- southern things are going on,” Hong exRegional in which Medical third-year of it is, we’re takinggery, care where of generoperations instuBrunswick,plained.

Medina, “We’re absolutely makpeoplegram are prevented dentsDirector, the Cleveland Ohio University ations of families.” from full functionality Clinic Wadsworth, Olmsted Township infrom school ing people feel better. It was a laHeritage College of Medicine reHong helped develop northern Strongsville. and work, ” said Hong, who among bor of love to create the program.” and and immunology ceiveAllergy hands-on acom- and Ohio’s first food-allergy center, positions Hongunder also created impleother leadership is di- training Helming the Clinic’s allergy prisephysician. what Sandra Hong calls a which launched inrector February.

To- tenured of Cleveland Clinic’s new mented two new scribe programs marks only one of her lead“happy field” of medicine, Cleveland Clinic staffcon- centerdeday, she leads a multidisciplinary in chief 2020: of a postbaccalaureate Food Allergy Center of Excellence practitioners can make ership positions. Hong, who Herbsidering Wiedemann, who recruited team of allergists, (FACE). pediatric“We psyin collaboration with absolutely are mak- signed anto immediate impact onde-a pa- joined the Clinic in 2005, followHongThe the hospital’s allergy chologists and dieticians working Stanford University and a proing patients feel better. beauty ing a stufellowship in Boston, is diquality of life. gram in which has watched while she third-year of it is, we’re takingpartment, caretient’s of generto diagnose allergies and disease rector hospital system’s studies thatcommake aldents and from the Ohio University of families.” grew as“There both aare clinician picked up byfor Thethe Daily Show with caused by reactionsations to food.

The Hong file southern lergies equal Heritage to open College heart surofTrevor Medicine re- region, orchestrating Hong helped northern municator.

Noah.

About 32 million people in the develop operations Medina, gery,center, where people are prevented ` Hobbies: ceive hands-on training under Hong a in Brunswick, Ohio’s includfirst food-allergy “Sandy has an enthusiastic Though loves talking U.S. have food allergies, Olmsted one Township from full functionality in school tenured physician. launched February.

To-personality, engaging and is shop,Wadsworth, she’s never watched of Swimming ing 8% of children.which Hong’s own inand and work,” said Hong, who among Cleveland Clinic chief of Strongsville. staff shepeanut leads a multidisciplinary able and to communicate very well her own interviews, leaving that nephews live with day, severe ` Currently reading: Hong also created impleother leadership positions Herb Wiedemann, whotorecruited team of allergists, psylay audiences, which in heris diup her proud mother,and who’s allergies, which cause hives, itch- topediatric “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African mented new scribeofprograms of Cleveland new Hong toClinic’s the hospital’s de-two chologists and dieticians working case rector includes patients,” Wiedefondallergy of taking screenshots her ing and shortness of breath. PeaChildhood” by Trevor Noah in 2020: postbaccalaureate Food Allergy of Excellence partment, has watched while she to diagnose allergies and disease daughter’s TVaappearances, occa- demann said.

“She’sCenter a superb allernut allergy is the most common signed collaboration (FACE).

“We grew absolutely are makas both a clinician and com-in up by four The with Daily Show with travel causedanaphyby reactions to food. gist, but because of her various ` Her bucket-list sionally with onepicked of Hong’s cause of food-induced Thedestination: Hong file Stanford University and a proing patients feel better. beauty municator.

Trevor Noah.

About 32 million people in theevolved talents, she’s in a The numAn overwater bungalow in French Polynesia children smooching their mom’s laxis, a potentially life-threatengram in which third-year stuof it is, we’re taking care of gener“Sandy has an enthusiastic U.S. have food allergies, includber of areas.” image on screen. Though Hong loves talking ` Hobbies: ing reaction. ` Best piece she’s received: Swimming dents from the Ohio University ations of families. ”engaging and personality, andKorean-born is shop, she’s never watched one of ofadvice ing 8%Strongsof children. AHong’s own sought-after speaker, Hong Hong’s mother Based in Hong’s native “Be kind, workthat hard and stay humble.”

Heritage College of Medicine rehelped develop northern able to communicate her own interviews, leaving nephews live withconducted severeHong peanut 19 media presentaand very fatherwell — a former cytologist ville, FACE also treats patients ` Currently reading: ceive hands-on training undermother, a Ohio’s first food-allergy center, to layallergy-reaudiences, which in her upowner, to herrespecproud who’s allergies, which itchtionshives, in 2019, tackling and grocery-store with allergic diseases such as cause a Crime: Stories from a South African ` Her dream job as “Born a child: caseinincludes Wiede-physician. fond of taking screenshots of her which launched February.

To- tenured ing and shortness of breath.

Trevor Noah for, among other out-patients,” tively — instilled in their child the Lifeguard. “My mother’sChildhood” asthma and eczema, conditions lated topicsPeadream jobbywas for me TV appearances, occasaid. “She’s a superbCleveland aller- daughter’s nut allergy is the mostday, common Clinic chief of staff she leadsmann a multidisciplinary often exacerbated by anxiety, iso- lets, NBC Nightly News, The New value of hard work and kindness, to be a doctor. Mothers really do know best.” gist, but because of herHerb various sionallywho withrecruited one of Hong’s four ` Her bucket-list travel destination: cause of food-inducedteam anaphy anaphyWiedemann, of allergists, pediatric psylation and bullying. Researching York Times and USA Today. An virtues that Hong utilizes today. she’sworking evolved inHong a numlaxis, a potentially life-threaten life-threatento the children hospital’ssmooching allergy de-their mom’s An overwater bungalow in French Polynesia chologists andtalents, dieticians Thera‘I’ve always tried to treat people and eventually improving every interview on Aimmune ber of areas.” image on screen. ing reaction. watched while she to diagnose allergies and disease partment, has Best piece peutics — a biopharmaceutical in the way I want to be treated, or facet of an individual’sBased life isinwhat doingmother a job that `speaks to of meadvice andshe’s received: A sought-after Strongs Hong’s native StrongsgrewHong as both a Hong’s clinicianKorean-born and com- picked up by Show with caused by reactions to food. speaker, “BeThe kind, Daily workIt’s hard and stay humble.”The Hong file developing treatments how I want my family to be treat- allows me to help spurred Hong’s initial others. what conducted 19 inmedia ville,interest FACE in also company treats patients municator. and father — a former cytologist Trevor Noah.

About 32 million people the presentafor food allergies — in was2019, even ed,”allergy-reshe said. “I’mand blessed to be a owner, the field, she said. with allergic diseases I love respecdoing.” — `Douglas J. job Guth tions tackling grocery-store such as food ` Hobbies: Her dream as atalking child: “Sandy has an enthusiastic Though Hong loves U.S. have allergies, includlated topics for, among out- tively asthma and eczema, conditions — instilledand in their “My mother’sone dreamof job wasSwimming for me and engaging personality, is child shop,the she’s Lifeguard. never watched ing 8% of children.

Hong’s own other Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Cleveland Business. © 2020 Crain Inc. All rights reserved.

NBC Nightly News, The New often exacerbated by anxiety, iso value of hard work and kindness, isoto be a doctor. Mothers reallythat do know best.” able to Communications communicate very well her own interviews, leaving nephews livelets, with severe peanut ` Currently reading: Further duplication without prohibited. #CC320 York Times andpermission USA Today.

An virtues that Hong today. lation and bullying. Researching to islay audiences, which in utilizes her up to her proud mother, who’s allergies, which cause hives, itch“Born a Crime: Stories from a South African interview on Aimmune Theraalways tried to treatfond people and eventually improving every includes ‘I’ve patients,” Wiedeof taking screenshots of her ing and shortness of breath.

Pea- case Childhood” by Trevor Noah — common a biopharmaceutical in the way I wantallerto be treated, or TV facet of an individual’s life what ispeutics doing a job that speaks daughter’s appearances, occa- to me and mann said. “She’s a superb nutisallergy the most company developing how I want family to be treat- with spurred Hong’s initial cause interestofinfood-induced allows help others. what gist, but because of hermyvarious ` Her bucket-list travel destination: sionally one me of to Hong’s four It’s anaphy- treatments for food allergies — was evenshe’sed,evolved the field, she said. ” she said. blessedchildren to be a smooching I love doing. ” — Douglas Guth talents, in “I’m a numoverwater bungalow in French Polynesia their mom’s J. An laxis, a potentially life-threatenber of areas.” image on screen. ing reaction.

Reprinted with fromStrongsCrain’s Cleveland © 2020speaker, Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. mother ` Best piece of advice she’s received: A Business. sought-after Hong Hong’s Korean-born inpermission Hong’s native Based “Be kind, work hard and stay humble.”

Furtherpatients duplicationconducted without permission is prohibited. #CC320 19 media presentaand father — a former cytologist ville, FACE also treats with allergic diseases such as tions in 2019, tackling allergy-re- and grocery-store owner, respec- ` Her dream job as a child: asthma and eczema, conditions lated topics for, among other out- tively — instilled in their child the Lifeguard. “My mother’s dream job was for me often exacerbated by anxiety, iso- lets, NBC Nightly News, The New value of hard work and kindness, to be a doctor. Mothers really do know best.” lation and bullying. Researching York Times and USA Today. An virtues that Hong utilizes today. and eventually improving every interview on Aimmune Thera‘I’ve always tried to treat people facet of an individual’s life is what peutics — a biopharmaceutical in the way I want to be treated, or doing a job that speaks to me and spurred Hong’s initial interest in company developing treatments how I want my family to be treat- allows me to help others. It’s what for food allergies — was even ed,” she said. “I’m blessed to be a I love doing.” — Douglas J. Guth the field, she said.

Dr. Sandra Hong

Dr. Sandra Hong

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I AUGUST 24, 2020 I

FOCUS | NOTABLE LGBTQ EXECUTIVES Crain’s Cleveland Business is celebrating the professionals who have an impact on Northeast Ohio in their business and in advocacy work in the LGBTQ community — as members, allies and supporters.

Our profiles of 21 professionals, written based on nomination forms submitted to Crain’s, honor their business, civic and philanthropic achievements while highlighting their work on LGBTQ equality and inclusion.

Gregg Levine Title: Senior Career Consultant, Ratliff & Taylor Last degree earned: MBA, Cleveland State University Guiding people in their careers and protecting human rights have been the focus of Gregg Levine’s life.

Currently senior consultant at Ratliff & Taylor, a talent management firm in Independence, Levine provides guidance to executives and other professionals with career transitions. Outside the job, he is active in the Human Rights Campaign and chairs the community relations committee of the Cleveland Jewish Federation(CJF).

“Gregg is a leader in every sense of the word,” said Debbie Klein, the Jewish federation’s managing director for community relations, in the nomination. “He listens intently, he feels the pain of those who are disenfranchised and responds with action, and he brings people along. Gregg is an incredible asset to the organizations fortunate enough to call him a lay leader and volunteer.”

Levine spent 33 years at BP America, starting, according to the nomination, as a “gas jockey” when it was the Standard Oil Co. (Ohio) and rising through a succession of marketing and human resources jobs. After retiring from BP, he earned an executive coaching certificate from Case Western Reserve University and began a second career at Ratliff and Taylor.

While at BP, he worked in London for much of 2012, promoting the company’s sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games there. That led to a role on the executive committee of the Gay Games that were held in Cleveland in 2014.

According to nominator Michael Jacobson, a longtime marketing executive who is now president of MHJ Consulting Group, Levine’s greatest contribution to other members of the LGBTQ community is his active, open lifestyle.

“By being open and speaking out about his struggles and lifestyle changes, Gregg continues to lead by example,” Jacobson wrote. “His story of his struggles lets others know they are not alone or the only ones seeking answers.”

In that role, Levine leads discussions at several local Jewish synagogues to help young people and their families who are working to come out. — Jay Miller

Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Cleveland Business. © 2020 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

Further duplication without permission is prohibited. #CC320

Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Cleveland Business. © 2020 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

Further duplication without permission is prohibited. #CC345

Megan DiVincenzo, owner of women’s accessory brand The Sis Kiss. | SIS KISS PHOTO

Christmas, with hopes of getting enough lead time for delivery.

“If you didn’t order your custom piece by Nov. 3, we couldn’t guarantee it would get to you by the holiday,” said DiVincenzo, who launched the business in 2013 with

sister, Marla. “We were good on our end, but once our pieces got to the post office, they were sitting around without being scanned. Customers didn’t know what was going on.”

See DELIVERY on Page 17

Laura Picariello, Reprints Sales Manager Phone: (732) 723-0569 • Fax (888) 299-2205 Email: lpicariello@crain.com

FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 13

FOCUS | SMALL BUSINESS

HarvestOwl wisely leans into COVID shift to residential cli Company provides meal deliveries to on-site refrigerators for easy pickup BBY JUDY STRINGER

vided employer-subsidized lunches to office workers. Employees at its HarvestOwl founder Scott Himmel corporate clients, which ranged from describes the meal service’s pan- 30-person firms to large organizademic imperative as an “adapt or tions like Vitamix and the Cleveland wait it out” decision rather than Cavaliers, would preorder provisions adapt-or-die one. electronically from a menu that Yes, the company — formerly changed weekly. The meals were known as LunchOwl — took a huge then delivered to an on-site Lunhit as its 75 corporate clients closed chOwl refrigerator, where employees their doors in March. All of Lun- could pick them up at their convechOwl’s revenue came from offices, nience.

The business model was thriving. either in the form of individually ordered employee lunches or lunch ca- Revenue for the private company intering sales. creased by 45% from 2018 to early Prior to the pandemic, the compa- 2020, Himmel said. ny had 12 team members. It’s now at “That was life before the pandemeight. ic,” he said.

In the aftermath, Himmel has had With the office market decimated success launching a sister brand by COVID-19, Himmel and his team called Kudo Box, decided to shift which allows ortheir service tar“WHAT SERVED US WELL get to residential ganizations to exbuildings press gratitude to WAS FOCUSING ON OUR and hardworking change the comCORE COMPETENCY. WE home-based empany’s name to HarvestOwl. The ployees via care ARE REALLY GOOD AT specially depackages. Thousands of Kudo PROVIDING HEALTHY FOOD signed refrigeraBoxes have been TO A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE tors were placed in the lobbies of sold and shipped Cleveland apartvia UPS to desti- ON A RECURRING BASIS.” nations across the ——Scott Himmel, HarvestOwl founder ment complexes country, he said.

One University Still, keeping the company’s Circle, Centric and Park Lane Villa as 5,000-square-foot Midtown commis- part of a pilot test that began in Ausary buzzing amid coronavirus clo- gust. sures — and in a post-pandemic Just like the office workers before world where full-time office-based them, renters in those buildings workers are no longer a given — could go online and select meals hinged on pinning “a compelling an- from the HarvestOwl weekly menu. gle” for the Cleveland-area meal The company added technology that enabled its residential users to unbusiness, according to Himmel.

“It was easy to kind of get pulled lock the refrigerator with their phone into various different directions. and retrieve orders.

Maybe we could use the commissary Unlike the “corporate partners” for this or for that,” he said. “But with before them, however, property ownevery restaurant in the city pushing ers do not contribute to defray the takeout and home delivery, we had cost of each meal. Instead, Himmel to find a way to cut through the noise. said, the building owner pays a nom“What served us well was focusing inal monthly fee, which includes all on our core competency. We are real- delivery fees, to offer HarvestOwl as ly good at providing healthy food to a an amenity for their residents.

“The rate starts at $95 per month captive audience on a recurring basis. We recognized that the same ser- and varies based on property size,” vice that we were providing to busi- he said. “The value of having fresh, nesses and offices translates very personalized, scratch-made meals onsite far exceeds the cost from their well to large residential buildings.”

Founded in 2014, LunchOwl pro- standpoint. The service has expand-

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, HarvestOwl adjusted its business model by putting its on-site refrigerators for meal deliveries in large residential buildings instead of office buildings. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

our building to represent — healthy, quality food from local sources, wherever possible,” he said.

Many of its residents are still working from home, he said, but even those leaving for work daily — like its significant cadre of health care workers — appreciate having a healthy meal waiting for them in the lobby “without having to pay a premium.”

Currently, Schneider added, there is the safety element of helping residents limit outside interactions, but he thinks convenience will drive usage long after this crisis.

in M High coro crea with ons COV look ven “W Poin Day he s B mar vest slow said com es a lunc “W redu to g mul “Ou ly to A eage both rate dote ics. bus 15% uted to re ees part “Th wer have

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HarvestOwl lets customers choose from its weekly menu to individually order fresh, scratch-made items, such as this Tofu Peanut Rainbow Bowl.

ed to nine area apartment buildings with a “handful of others in the works,” Himmel said.

Mitchell Schneider, president of One University Circle owner First Interstate Properties, said the “mental-

ity of the company in terms of health and well-being” made HarvestOwl a nice fit for his 500-resident property.

“The way that Scott and HarvestOwl approach their work is very much aligned with what we wanted

The pandemic also is providing a boost for HarvestOwl’s expansion in multitenant office buildings. Analogous to the residential side of the business, multitenant landlords pay a monthly fee to cover delivery costs so any employee in the building can purchase full-priced meals for pickup at an onsite HarvestOwl refrigerator.

The company had refrigerators at the AECOM Building on St. Clair Avenue, Landerbrook Corporate Center

Y

JobsOhio funding will give Sperry & Rice room to grow Rubber and sponge manufacturer is expanding its Holmes County facility, adding 30 jobs BBY JIM JOHNSON RUBBER & PLASTICS NEWS

Sperry & Rice LLC is expanding its Holmes County operations to increase production.

The move is expected to add 30 jobs at its Killbuck facility during the next three years.

The manufacturer, which has been in the rubber, sponge and plastics businesses since the 1940s, termed the investment as “significant.”

“We plan to make a significant investment to implement this strategic expansion,” CEO Randy Dobbs said in a statement. “The investment in-

cludes the purchase of new manufacturing equipment, upgrades to existing equipment and costs associated with finding and retaining good employees.”

The company could not be reached for additional comment, but nonprofit economic development organization JobsOhio provided some details.

The 30 additional jobs are expected to create a total of $968,000 in new payroll, JobsOhio said. The project also will help the company retain 53 existing positions at the Ohio facility.

Sperry & Rice is investing $250,000 of its own money into the project, the group said.

“THE OFFER OF ASSISTANCE FROM JOBSOHIO PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FINAL DECISION TO GROW THE OPERATION IN KILLBUCK.” ——Randy Dobbs, Sperry & Rice CEO

The company, which also has a location in Brookville, Ind., said the project in Ohio will better utilize its Killbuck site.

JobsOhio is helping with a $200,000 economic development grant to help purchase new equipment and upgrade existing equipment.

“The offer of assistance from JobsOhio played an important role in the final decision to grow the operation in Killbuck,” Dobbs said.

The new jobs in Killbuck will help the community.

“In recent years, the community suffered a significant loss of jobs with the departure of a large employer, so we are pleased that Sperry & Rice will be adding a number of attractive employment positions,” Mark Leininger, director of the Holmes County Economic Development Council, said in a statement.

Sperry & Rice specializes in making products for the appliance, automo-

tive, truck and bus, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning sectors.

JobsOhio worked with regional economic development groups around the state, including Ohio Southeast Economic Development, for this project.

“Sperry & Rice has a long history of ingenuity and quality products.

Holmes County has a reputation for an excellent work force. It’s a powerful combination,” Ohio Southeast president Mike Jacoby said in a statement.

Rubber & Plastics News is a sister publication of Crain’s Cleveland Business.

14 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | February 8, 2021

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L fi

FOCUS | SMALL BUSINESS | TAX TIPS

ial clientele

in

thy, ces,

orkven e its orklthy bby m.” here resibut us-

in Mayfield Heights and One Chagrin Highlands in Beachwood before coronavirus struck, but is seeing increased interest now. Himmel said with the uncertain future of many onsite delis and cafés, closed by COVID, office building owners are looking for new way to provide convenient meals to tenants.

“We will be launching at North Point complex, which is where Jones Day is located, in the coming weeks,” he said.

Both the residential and office markets are helping to sustain HarvestOwl, while its corporate base slowly comes back online. Himmel said 28% of its business partners (21 companies) have opened their offices and reactivated the subsidized lunch service.

“We help them operate safely by reducing the need for team members to go out for lunch and by reducing multiple one-off deliveries,” he said.

“Our meals are packaged individually to minimize shared touchpoints.”

And, Himmel said, the company is eager to continue growing business both inside and outside of its corporate partnership model as an anecdote to changing workplace dynamics. From conversations with partner businesses, he anticipates 10% to 15% won’t reopen, opting for distributed models. Half of those who plan to reopen say they will offer employees the flexibility to work at home part time.

“Things will never be like they were before,” he said, “but I think we have found ways to stay relevant.”

Contact Judy Stringer: clbfreelancer@crain.com

What tax policy changes can we expect under Biden?

BY CARL GRASSI

Now that Democrats control the presidency and Congress, what tax policy changes can we expect to see from the Biden administration? The main components of Biden’s tax proposals are discussed below. Until we know whether these proposals are passed by Congress, planning will be a challenge, but it is not too soon to begin thinking about how the latest change of administration in Washington could affect your business and personal tax planning.

Business tax As a candidate, Biden prioritized reversing the tax breaks that corporations received under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The new administration intends to raise the standard corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Additionally, the TCJA removed the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, which Biden intends to bring back in a different form. Under Biden’s proposal, corporations with $100 million or more in book income would pay the standard corporate tax rate or a 15% minimum tax, whichever is greater.

The tax plan would penalize companies that export jobs overseas. It would establish a 10% penalty surtax on companies that send manufacturing and service jobs to foreign countries, and double the current rate of tax on income from intangible assets earned by foreign affiliates of U.S. companies. Companies would also be denied deductions for expenses related to

moving jobs and producfor capital gains would be tion overseas.

43.4%, after taking into Biden’s plan would ofaccount the 3.8% tax on fer a variety of tax credits. net investment income.

A Made in America Tax Biden also proposed Credit would reward aceliminating certain tax detivities that retool faciliductions for individuals ties to create manufacturearning more than ing jobs or expand $400,000. The benefit of existing manufacturing Grassi is senior itemized deductions payroll. The Manufactur- counsel at would be capped at 28%, ing Communities Tax McDonald even though these taxpayCredit will be extended to Hopkins LLC. ers would be subject to a provide tax relief to busihigher marginal tax rate. nesses that make qualifyFurther, high income owning investments in communities ers of certain pass-through busithat have suffered a major job loss nesses would lose the 20% deducevent. The plan will expand and tion under Section 199A for their make permanent the New Markets income from those businesses.

Tax Credit and offer tax credits to Under Biden’s plan, higher insmall business for adopting work- come wage earners would pay the place retirement savings plans.

12.4% Social Security payroll tax on earned income above $400,000. This would create a “doughnut hole” in Individual income tax the current Social Security payroll Biden’s proposals for individual tax: Wages between $137,700 (the income taxes focus on increasing current wage cap) and $400,000 rates for higher income individu- would not be subject to tax.

Biden would also provide tax reals and providing relief for lower and middle income taxpayers. lief for lower and middle income Biden proposes to increase the top taxpayers. His plan seeks to expand bracket for individuals earning the child and dependent care tax more than $400,000 from 37% to credit maximum to $8,000 ($16,000 the pre-TCJA level of 39.6%. Taxes for more than one dependent); inalso would increase on long-term crease the child tax credit to $3,000 capital gains and qualified divi- while adding a $600 bonus credit for dends on amounts greater than $1 children under six; and reestablish million to 39.6% from the current the first-time homebuyers’ tax credrate of 20%. This would include it, which would provide up to eliminating the carried interest $15,000 for first-time homebuyers. “loophole” claimed by many pri- He would also expand the Earned vate equity managers, which per- Income Tax Credit (EITC) for one mits fund managers’ perfor- year, proposing to increase the EITC mance-based compensation to be for adults without children from taxed as capital gains. For high in- $530 to about $1,500, and increase come investors, the marginal rate the income limit from $16,000 to

ng a n in alousiy a s so purp at

about $21,000. Furthermore, he would repeal the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction enacted under the TCJA, which would benefit taxpayers at all levels in certain states.

Estate tax Currently, the estate and lifetime gift exemptions for 2021 are $11.7 million, and the maximum estate and gift tax rates are 40% (for amounts above $1 million).

Biden would lower these exemptions and increase the tax rate to “historic levels,” which some believe means: 1. reducing the exemptions to $3.5 million for the estate tax exemption, and $1 million for the lifetime gift tax exemption 2. increasing the maximum estate and gift tax rates to 45%.

Another change which may affect taxpayers of all income levels is the elimination of a step-up in basis for inherited property. Under current law, the income tax basis of property is stepped-up to the fair market value at death, meaning that any appreciation in the property during the life of the decedent escapes income tax. Under Biden’s plan, however, this would change, either by requiring the decedent’s estate to pay capital gains tax on the appreciation in the property at the time of death or by eliminating the step-up in tax basis so that the heirs ultimately pay tax on the appreciation when they sell the property.

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FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 15 2/4/21 9:25 AM

2/4/2021 12:20:29 PM

MARCH 23 | 4 – 5 P.M. Join Crain’s Cleveland Business as we recognize the individuals and headlines that rose above all others during the unprecedented year that was 2020.

Crain’s looks to give special recognition to those who could not stay home: essential, frontline workers.

MODERATOR

LYDIA COUTRÉ

Reporter, Health care/Nonprofit Crain’s Cleveland Business

JAFAR ABUNASSER, MD Pulmonary and Critical Care Cleveland Clinic

MIGUEL LUGO

Plant Manager/Tool Room Manager Talan Products

CHRISTINA WOODSON

Nutrition Department/Curbside shopper Mustard Seed Market

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REGISTER TODAY: crainscleveland.com/newsmakerevent Webcast Questions: clbwebcasts@crain.comSponsorship Information: mike.schoenbrun@crain.com

FOCUS | SMALL BUSINESS

DELIVERY

“DEVELOP A PLAN GOING FORWARD THAT UTILIZES MULTIPLE DELIVERY OPTIONS AND PRIVATE PROVIDERS. BUILD IN AS MUCH LEAD TIME AS POSSIBLE INTO YOUR OPERATIONS SO THAT, REGARDLESS OF WHAT MAY OCCUR, DELIVERY DELAYS ARE MITIGATED TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE POSSIBLE.”

From Page 12

A member of DiVincenzo’s seven-person team attempted to track every order, including those that didn’t ship until well after the start of 2021.

The employee pursued every available avenue to untangle postal gridlock, contacting the postmaster, the local chamber of commerce and even the office of an Ohio congressperson.

Any incremental movement would at least have been something to report to customers, an improbability with an overloaded Postal Service unable to track orders. Packages labeled for Cleveland were shuttled to Michigan before cycling back, increasing customer confusion and raising DiVincenzo’s blood pressure.

“We couldn’t just pick up those pieces and deliver them, because we didn’t know where they were,” DiVincenzo said. “I went to the post office to see their back room, because I knew (those orders) were sitting around somewhere.”

DiVincenzo answered refund requests while providing bullet-pointed explanations on her Instagram feed about delays. Though sales over last holiday season increased by 15% to 20% — thanks, in part, to a pivot to face masks — hunting down wayward orders and reassuring annoyed customers had its cost in manpower.

The Sis Kiss spent much of January recouping that time and money. As a small percentage of holiday gifts are

— Deb Janik, senior vice president of business growth and development at Greater Cleveland Partnership

Slow postal delivery caused headaches for small business owners in recent months as packages to customers were delayed. Seen here is Cleveland’s main post office on Orange Avenue on a recent afternoon. | MICHELLE JARBOE/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

still in the ether, DiVincenzo started utilizing FedEx and UPS to ship urgent orders.

Analyze the fallout While all businesses suffered from mail slowdowns this Christmas, e-commerce faced uniquely significant challenges in sending out prod-

ucts or receiving returns, said Deb Janik, senior vice president of business growth and development at Greater Cleveland Partnership. GCP’s organizational core includes its small business division, the Council of Smaller Business Enterprises (COSE).

Janik suggests entrepreneurs burned over the holidays take time to carefully analyze the fallout.

“Where did the most significant delays occur?” Janik said in an email.

“What service areas? Days of the week? Develop a plan going forward that utilizes multiple delivery options and private providers. Build in as much lead time as possible into your operations so that, regardless of what may occur, delivery delays are mitigated to the highest degree possible.”

Ape Made owner Bleakney takes comfort in commiserating with fellow vendors from the Cleveland Bazaar indie craft show, who spent the holidays trading advice and a bit of gallows humor. A meme she shared to her Instagram page reads, “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but stop tracking that package. It’s in the Lord’s hands now.”

“All the stories were the same — you get to the point where it’s so messed up, you kind of let it go a little bit,” Bleakney said. “I just want to say thank you to my customers for being patient and understanding.”

Contact Douglas J. Guth: clbfreelancer@crain.com

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NPA107558-0004

FEBRUARY 8, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 17

CRAIN'S LIST | MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES Ranked by local full-time employees RANK

COMPANY

FULL-TIME LOCAL STAFF 1-1-2021

MINORITY OWNERSHIP %

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE(S)

1

JANITORIAL SERVICES INC. (JSI) 4830 E. 49th St., lower level, Cuyahoga Heights 44125 216-341-8601/jsijanitorial.com

625 1

100% Hispanic/Latino

Janitorial services company

Ronald Martinez Jr., president

2

NEW HORIZONS BAKING CO. 211 Woodlawn Ave., Norwalk 44857 419-663-6432/newhorizonsbaking.com

279

86.5% Black/African American

Commercial bakers

Trina J. Bediako, CEO

3

THE ANDERSON-DUBOSE CO. 5300 Tod Ave. S.W., Lordstown 44481 440-248-8800/a-d.us

229

100% Black/African American

Distributor of food, paper and beverage products

Warren E. Anderson, chairman, CEO

4

EVERGREEN COOPERATIVE LAUNDRY INC. 15300 S. Waterloo Road, Cleveland 44110 216-486-1947/evgoh.com

148

75% Black/African American; 2.9% Middle Eastern/North African; 2.9% Asian; 2.2% Hispanic/Latino

Commercial laundry primarily serving the health care industry

John McMicken, CEO Craig Forgea, chief operating officer

5

ASW GLOBAL LLC 3375 Gilchrist Road, Mogadore 44260 888-363-8492/aswglobal.com

140

100% Black/African American

3PL provider of warehousing, distribution and ecommerce fulfillment

Andre Thornton, owner, CEO

6

APEX DERMATOLOGY 5800 Landerbrook Drive, Suite 100, Mayfield Heights 44124 833-279-7546/apexskin.com

130

100% Hispanic/Latino

Medical practice specializing in medical, surgical and aesthetic dermatology

Jorge Garcia-Zuazaga, president, CEO

7

CLEVELAND DIE & MANUFACTURING CO. 20303 1st Ave., Middleburg Heights 44130 440-243-3404/clevelanddie.com

110

100% Hispanic/Latino

Tooling and metal stamping company

Liliana Chahda, vice president, CFO Juan E. Chahda, president, CEO

8

RITTMAN INC. (MULL IRON) 10 Mull Drive, Rittman 44270 330-927-6855/mulliron.net

90

100% Native American

Erectors of miscellaneous structural, ornamental and architectural metals and steel

Chester M. Mull Jr., president

9

SDS DELIVERY SYSTEMS INC. 6880 Lake Abram Drive, Middleburg Hts 44130 440-973-4366/stevensdeliverysystems.com

65

100% Black/African American

Local and statewide delivery company

Mark Stevens, president

10

MVP PLASTICS 15005 Enterprise Way, Middlefield 44062 330-849-3636/mvpplastics.com

63

100% Black/African American

Custom plastics injection molding company

Darrell L. McNair, president, CEO

10

SAFE CHOICE LLC 11811 Shaker Blvd., Suite 415, Cleveland 44120 216-231-7233/safechoicellc.com

63

100% Black/African American

General security contractor providing personnel, security systems, safety training and investigations

Anita L. Spencer, president, owner Anthony Spencer Jr., senior vice president, co-owner

12

MAC PRODUCTIONS INC. 13115 Puritas Ave., Suite 3, Cleveland 44135 833-742-5622/macproductions.net

50

100% Black/African American

Technology solutions provider

John A. Stubbs, chairman, CEO, chief marketing officer

13

FOX ENTERPRISE SERVICES 7630 Freedom Ave. N.W., North Canton 44720 330-497-5200/foxenterpriseservices.com

45

51% Hispanic/Latino

Aluminum composite metal fabricator

Delilah J. Volpe, CFO Anthony M. Volpe, vice president, CEO

13

MARGARET W. WONG & ASSOCIATES LLC 3150 Chester Ave., Cleveland 44114 216-566-9908/imwong.com

45

100% Asian

Immigration, deportation and criminal law firm

Margaret W. Wong, president, managing partner

15

THE AKA TEAM 4711 Hinckley Industrial Parkway, Cleveland 44109 216-751-2000/akateam.com

42

100% Black/African American

Construction management, commercial waterproofing and general contracting company

Ariane B. Kirkpatrick, president, CEO

16

AMIN, TUROCY & WATSON LLP 200 Park Ave., Suite 300, Beachwood 44122 216-696-8730/thepatentattorneys.com

40

52% Asian

Intellectual property law firm

Himanshu Amin, managing partner

17

RAR CONTRACTING CO, INC. 4545 Spring Road, Suite 2, Brooklyn Heights 44131 440-735-1946

35

100% Black/African American

Concrete and aggregate materials supplier; hauler of construction materials and equipment

Keith L. Rogers, owner

17

RW DELIVERY INC. 12487 Plaza Drive, Cleveland 44130 216-267-2000/rwdelivery.com

35

51% Black/African American

Local and long-haul trucking- and transportation-related services provider

Richard Wall, CEO

19

GREEN CITY GROWERS COOPERATIVE 5800 Diamond Ave., Cleveland 44104 216-268-0200/evgoh.com

33

71% Black/African American; 12% Middle Eastern/North African; 9.8% Hispanic/Latino; 2% Asian

Hydroponic greenhouse growing lettuce and herbs, primarily basil

John McMicken, interim president

19

THORS LLC 5054 Paramount Blvd., Medina 44256 330-576-4448/thors.com

33

100% Asian

Provider of online education, apps and productivity tools for manufacturers

Senthil Kumar, founder

21

FASS MANAGEMENT REAL ESTATE SERVICES 3705 Lee Road, Suite 100, Shaker Heights 44120 866-861-4761/fass-res.com

32

100% Black/African American

Real estate sales, leasing, management and consulting

Akil S. Hameed, CEO, owner

22

SPECTRUM GLOBAL HOLDINGS LLC 468 Richmond Road, Richmond Heights 44143 440-212-2567/spectrum-global.com

30

100% Black/African American

Consulting firm specializing in economic development, entrepreneurship program design and business capital formation

Nnamdi Michael Obi, CEO

23

INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER SYSTEMS (ELSONS INTERNATIONAL) 16601 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland 44110 216-481-8219/elsonsinternational.com

25

100% Black/African American

Manufacturer and distributor of corrugated packaging

Andrew Jackson, CEO

23

UNITED COMMERCIAL CLEANING CREW LLC 2000 Auburn Drive, Suite 200, Beachwood 44122 216-272-0040/unitedcleaningcrew.com

25

100% Black/African American

Janitorial and environmental services company

Reneé Teal, owner

25

AVILES CONSTRUCTION 7011 Clark Ave., Cleveland 44102 216-939-1084/avilesenergysolutions.com

22

100% Hispanic/Latino

Insulation, HVAC, plumbing and electric plumbing services provider making homes energy efficient

Alejandro J. Aviles, vice president

25

E.F. BOYD & SON FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORY INC. 2165 E. 89th St., Cleveland 44106 216-791-0770/efboyd.com

22

100% Black/African American

Funeral home

William F. Boyd II, CEO

25

FLEET FAST 582 S. Arlington St., Akron 44306 330-773-9597/fleetfastsolutions.com

22

100% Asian

Damage repair solutions for truck fleets

Raj Basran, president

Researched by Chuck Soder, Bill Lucey and Darleen White. Send feedback to csoder@crain.com. | Information is provided by the companies. NOTES: 1. Full-time equivalent; most JSI employees are part time

Get all 132 minority-owned companies in the full directory in Excel format. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data 18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | February 8, 2021

P018_CL_20210208.indd 18

2/5/2021 10:29:31 AM

AKRON

DATA SCOOP

Black-owned businesses say they’re at disadvantage Martin House hotel conversion REAL ESTATE

loses senior lender, on hold for now

Minority business survey Do you feel like your company is at an advantage or a disadvantage because it is minority-owned?

Black-owned Other minority-owned

Advantage

63 Black-owned businesses and 19 other minority-owned businesses responding.

Slight advantage No difference Slight disadvantage Disadvantage 0

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Do you feel as though clients/co-workers/business partners treat you differently because you are a minority?

Black-owned Other minority-owned

Frequently

63 Black-owned businesses and 18 other minority-owned businesses responding.

Sometimes Rarely Almost never Never 0

10%

20%

30%

SOURCE: CRAIN’S SURVEY

40%

50%

60%

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS GRAPHIC

Survey queries minority-owned companies BBY CHUCK SODER

Far more than other minority-owned businesses, Black-owned businesses from throughout Northeast Ohio say they operate at a disadvantage, according to a Crain’s survey.

Respondents from Black-owned businesses also were much more likely to report that they are treated differently because of their race, according to the survey. Crain’s conducted the survey while compiling its Minority-Owned Business Directory, which includes businesses large and small in various industries. The biggest companies appear in a ranked list on page 18.

The difference is stark.

Of the 132 companies in this year’s directory, 82 answered this multiple choice question: ``Do you feel like your company is at an advantage or a disadvantage because it is minority-owned?

Of the 63 Black-owned businesses answering the question, 62% picked either “Disadvantage” (the most popular answer for that group) or “Slight disadvantage.” Just 21% picked “Slight advantage” or “Advantage” (the least popular answer).

By contrast, most of the other 19 minority-owned businesses who answered the question picked “No difference.”

The difference in attitudes held steady when we asked this question: ``Do you feel as though clients/ co-workers/business partners treat you differently because you are a minority?

Though only 14% of respondents from Black-owned businesses picked

“Frequently,” another 57% picked “Sometimes.”

The most popular response from the other 18 minority-owned businesses? “Never,” at 39%. None of them picked “Frequently,” though 28% picked “Sometimes.” Of course, that’s a fairly small sample — a few additional answers could have altered the percentages considerably.

But we also saw a big difference when we last asked these same questions two years ago.

But there is good news in the directory: Combined employment for the 121 companies that reported employment figures for both 2020 and 2021 rose 3.3%, despite the COVID-induced recession. The largest companies in the directory gave those figures a boost: Six of the 10 largest companies added employees during 2020, and two others were flat. Granted, though almost all of the largest companies from past years submitted again this year, the directory as always includes lots of tiny companies, and we can’t say how many of the smaller companies that didn’t submit shrank or went out of business.

The full directory is available to Crain’s Data Members in Excel format and will be published in our Book of Lists at the end of 2021. Note: Unlike in past years, we’re no longer including LGBT-owned businesses in the Excel directory or the printed list.

Crain’s plans to publish a separate list and directory featuring LGBTowned businesses later this year. Visit bit.ly/3jdmVWX to submit for either directory.

Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com, (216) 771-5374, @ChuckSoder

A rendering of the interior of the proposed Martin House hotel. | CONTRIBUTED RENDERING

Developer still hopes to move forward with project this year BBY DAN SHINGLER

A major hotel project in Akron has become a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least for now.

The planned $21 million hotel conversion of the Martin Center on the campus of the University of Akron lost its financing last year when its senior lender pulled out of the deal, and the project has yet to find a new lender willing to replace it, said Tom Chema, chairman of Cleveland’s Gateway Group.

“We were trying to get to closing, and because of COVID they changed their mind. That was 11 months ago, and we’ve been struggling for 11 months to find another senior lender,” said Chema, whose firm is partnered with Paran Management, also of Cleveland, to develop the property.

The project was supposed to be completed at the end of 2020 and expected to start holding events and renting rooms early this year. But now the developers are hoping just to start construction this year, hopefully in the spring.

The university also has a stake in the project moving forward, as Chema said the school is leasing the site to the developers and would own a minority stake in the hotel. A university spokeswoman referred questions to the developers.

“We only know what they tell us — that they are hoping to start construction late spring 2021. (Construction) should take about 13-15 months,” university media relations specialist Lisa Craig said via email.

The project would breathe new life into a property the university has long controlled and that has sat unused in recent years.

The Martin Center opened in 1918 as a private club for faculty, alumni and other, mostly wealthy backers of the university. But, like many private clubs, Martin declined over the decades. It was taken over by the university's development foundation in 1978 and finally closed in 2013.

The proposed Martin House development would reinvent the site as a high-end boutique hotel. Plans call for the existing 35,000-squarefoot facility to be built out with a restaurant, coffee shop, banquet hall, ballrooms and lobby, along with up to 13 rooms for guests. An-

Developers still hope to convert the Martin Center at the University of Akron into a high-end boutique hotel, despite the project losing a significant lender.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

other 60 rooms would be built in a 25,000-square-foot addition, according to the developers’ plans.

But after thinking the project was in the clear, with its financing nearly finalized at the end of 2019, Chema said he’s now virtually back to square one and looking for a new senior lender. He declined to say which bank had pulled out as the original senior lender.

Now, however, he’s under more pressure than before.

“Sometime before the end of this year, we have to get started or we lose our tax credits,” Chema said.

The project has $3.2 million in historic tax credits as part of its capital stack, with half coming from the state of Ohio and the other half coming from the federal government. Chema said the state’s portion of those credits require the project to be started this year, otherwise developers will have to hope the credits are renewed or face losing them. The federal tax credits do not expire at the end of the year, he said.

Chema said he’s particularly frustrated because he would like to do construction now so the hotel is open when the pandemic lifts and travelers return to the air and roads.

“We’d be able to take advantage of what I think everyone knows is increasing pent-up demand. … I really believe we are social creatures, and we want to come together,” he said. “And the kinds of things I think our boutique hotel will appeal to aren’t going away.

People are still going to want to get married, they’re still going to want to have big receptions, and they’re still going to want to stay in hotels.”

But, so far, he has not been able to find a lender who agrees or is willing to take a risk on the pandemic end-

ing. Chema said he’s been talking to banks, family wealth managers and other lenders in an effort to get the project back on track.

The project already has extended its agreement with the university, Chema said. He hopes to take control of the property in the spring to avoid asking for another extension.

“May is when we told the university we’d be in, so we’d have to extend it if we’re not in there by then.

But I’m confident we won’t have to do that,” he said.

Chema — always an optimist about the developments he works on; he got Cleveland’s Gateway development done in the 1990s, after all — said Martin House needs “more vaccine and a little bit of confidence on the part of the financing sector that hospitality is coming back.”

It’s not the project itself, but the entire hospitality industry that has lenders pulled back, he said.

Chris Burnham, president of the Development Finance Authority of Summit County and no stranger to project financing, agrees.

“It’s the industry,” Burnham said.

It might be a while before lenders are comfortable putting out money for hotel projects again, Burnham said, because it’s not a foregone conclusion that travel, especially business travel, will quickly bounce back. Lenders might want to see the rebound first and lend later.

“I think it’s going to take time for business travel and other things to come back. That’s just a reality. …

That’s not a knock against the project in any way. It’s just an industry with challenges,” Burnham said.

Dan Shingler: dshingler@crain. com, (216) 771-5290, @DanShingler

February 8, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 19

P019_CL_20210208.indd 19

2/5/2021 2:10:48 PM

CAREER

From Page 1

Findings by Team NEO showed the top local job postings for the bulk of 2020 were in sectors such as health care, retail and accommodations/ food services, all fields where a fouryear college degree may not be needed. That report also noted about 80% of those open positions didn’t specify any postsecondary degree requirements, but did find there were “plenty” of entry-level opportunities.

Roughly five weeks into the new year, Colombi said she’s encouraged by an uptick of job postings. The feeling does fade, though, when she shifts through scammers trying to submit postings to the school’s job board or when news about local layoffs emerges. Like many public urban institutions across the country, Cleveland State and the economy of the city in its name are intertwined.

The university reports 80% of its graduates live within the area.

And that group faces extra competition for open positions this year. Recent figures report 315,000 Ohioians were unemployed in December. Colombi frequently reminds students that employers aren’t just looking at them, either. They’re also considering graduating students at Youngstown State, Kent State and the rest of Ohio’s higher education institutions.

“All the more reason that we really hope to goodness that they come and work with us, that they hone that elevator pitch, that they show up for these events, meet employers, take advantage of all the opportunities that we have for them and keep at it,” Colombi said.

This semester, Colombi’s conversations center on encouraging students to focus on the present. Remote internships and jobs, which she

TAX

From Page 1

“What the study came up with is that Ohio has the 16th-lowest top income tax rate and the 18th-lowest top capital gains (rate) in the country,” Husted said.

The state’s 4.8% income tax rate is well below the top marginal income tax of California (13.3%) and New York (8.8%), and slightly below Kentucky (5%) and Illinois (4.9%), according to the group’s findings. Some states, including Texas, Florida, Washington and Nevada, have no state income tax at all.

In long-term capital gains, according to the findings, Ohio’s rate of 4.8% is slightly above economic competitors such as Michigan (3.9%) and Colorado (4.25%). The analysis concluded that Ohio falls “somewhere in the middle of the pack” on taxes compared with other states.

“If you look at the who has the worst tax code but the most venture capital, it’s California. And there are other places that are high on the list of venture capital with terrible tax codes,” Husted said. “Do tax structures tell the whole story? I think we concluded no, it does not tell the whole story, but it’s important.”

Correlation is not causation Ohio has made significant modifications to the corporate and individual tax structure over the past 15 years to make the state more business friendly, Husted said.

In 2005, state lawmakers eliminated the tangible personal property tax,

As an urban institution, Cleveland State and the city’s economy are intertwined. | CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY

previously looked at skeptically, are a realistic option now. There’s more dialogue on how to prepare for video chats. Mock interviews and resume workshops are done via Zoom.

“We absolutely talk to students about how this might not be the moment for your dream job,” she said.

Four in 10 recent college graduates reported being underemployed in their first position even before the pandemic. That first job is important, according to findings from labor market analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies. The findings showed there is a higher chance to remain locked into the cycle of underemployment for up to a decade in the majority of fields for employees who start out that way.

In Cleveland, Colombi is reminding students to focus on the long game, especially when it comes to some of the area’s powerhouse employers.

“UH (University Hospitals) or the Cleveland Clinic are hiring a lot of positions right now to do lab testing,” she said. “It might not be your dream job, but it is a foot in the door to an institution where they’ll develop you as a professional and there’s room to grow.”

But the first step to having those conversations is actually finding the students. It’s more work now. Gone are the moments of catching a student as they walked across campus, or squeezing into an elevator together to chat about a potential job or internship.

“We’ve just got to be in touch with them to help them understand the power of their own story and that they have a network,” she said. “It’s not just about your major, it’s also about your interests, your skills and your value system.”

A beefed-up social media presence features testimonials from students who have utilized the career services office. The hope is to entice their peers.

“I genuinely, really appreciate all the help career services gave me in this endeavor,” read part of a note from a student announcing a new job six weeks ago. “I really doubt I would have gotten the position without it.”

the corporate franchise tax and the inventory tax and replaced them with the Commercial Activity Tax, or CAT. The franchise tax served as a state corporate income tax and was paid on profits or net worth, while the tangible personal property tax was levied on machinery, equipment and inventory. The shift to CAT reduced the overall business tax revenue collected in the state.

“Over the years in Ohio, we attempted to do a couple things to change our tax code to make it more business friendly,” Husted said. “And we have been cutting the income tax rate during that time. Most businesses tell us it is preferable to the tax code that we had before.”

In fiscal year 2020, Ohio collected $1.98 billion in CAT revenue, about $1 billion less in business tax revenue than the state would have collected under the previous tax formula, according to an Ohio Department of Taxation report issued in December.

Although the tax code is one of the things governments use to create incentives to attract venture capital, Husted said one of InnovateOhio’s findings was that tax liability alone does not drive businesses and investors to move when “the numbers are close,” and that quality of life holds more sway than pure economics.

“It is more than just taxes. It’s the sense of place that makes the difference,” he said. “It’s why Nashville, Tenn., is growing its tech economy, but Memphis is not.”

Ohio and other states continue to offer targeted tax deals, Husted noted, but business people understand there are limits to those breaks.

“If you’re investing in the right

“IF YOU’RE INVESTING IN THE RIGHT THINGS, IT WILL ELEVATE PEOPLE’S EARNING POWER, AND THERE WILL BE A RETURN ON THOSE INVESTMENTS. THAT’S WHY WE WANT TO GET THIS RIGHT.”

Paycheck Protection Program funds.

Roegner also sponsored last year’s Senate Bill 352, which would have rolled back a provision from previous COVID-19 related legislation allowing companies to continue to collect payroll taxes, for employees working remotely, in the city where the business is located. Roegner said she plans to reintroduce the issue again this session, either as a standalone bill or as part of the biennial budget.

Since January, Roegner has introduced bills to allow workers with health care-related occupational licenses from out of state to work in Ohio; to cut business regulation by 30%; and to defer taxes on COVID-related federal funds for small business.

“All the legislation that has been introduced since the beginning of the new session this year has been trying to help business with regulations, taxes and workforce,” Roegner said.

——Lt. Gov. Jon Husted

things, it will elevate people’s earning power, and there will be a return on those investments,” Husted said.

“That’s why we want to get this right. ... We want to figure out how to create an incentive for people who actually are investing in Ohio and creating jobs in Ohio.”

Putting business first State Sen. Kristina Roegner of Hudson has her eyes set on reevaluating how Ohioans and small businesses pay taxes.

She is part of the Business First Caucus, a bipartisan group of 70 lawmakers that, according to a statement from the group, was created “to advance policies and initiatives that will help make Ohio the most business-friendly state in the nation.”

The Republican represents District 27, which includes Stark, Summit and Wayne counties. She said she has sponsored a bill that would defer taxes on federal CARES Act and the

Less is not more Zach Schiller, research director at Policy Matters Ohio, a progressive think tank, says the main obstacle to attracting business and investors to the state stems from 15 years of big tax cuts.

“Business taxes in Ohio are lower than in other states. The very idea that giving tax breaks is going to somehow allow for the growth of vibrant businesses is, frankly, a misconception,” said Schiller, who has done extensive research in the business tax formula change and how it affects public services.

Schiller argues that state leaders, rather than searching solely for ways

There also are targeted email blasts, weekend chat hours and leveraging internal relationships with other on-campus departments to find more people to connect with and advise. Despite the best efforts of Colombi’s team, some of the university’s 12,000 full-time students may still prove to be unreachable.

“What I’m nervous about is the students that fall through the cracks, because we can’t find them and they don’t come seek us out,” she said.

About 55% of CSU’s students are women, and nearly one-third are people of color — groups disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Colombi said chunks of the appointments that do materialize are spent coaching students on how not to “freak out” about a lack of internet access or a computer that doesn’t consistently work.

“Our students are the first generation in their family to go to college,” she said. “They’re nontraditional students, they’re working other jobs, they’re taking care of family members. And the pandemic really just has been one extra thing.”

She said they remain resilient, though, and her staff encourages them to remain flexible. That includes stretching their definition of networking. It’s been a big focus of the department, replacing the mainstays of in-person events with recommendations that students make connections on LinkedIn or join professional associations.

Eighty students attended a recent free webinar on the topic, resulting in 80 more emails staffers could add to their distribution lists. Two wins in one as the journey of the career services department and job-seeking students continues.

Amy Morona: amy.morona@crain. com, (216) 771-5229, @AmyMorona to bring in new sources of tax revenue at discounted rates, should focus on ensuring a robust tax system that pays for quality K-12 schools, affordable colleges and a strong public health system — all of which create an environment able to sustain the innovation and talent that Husted says the state needs.

“We have unmet needs now, and I would suggest that we focus on meeting those needs instead of having an abstract discussion of tax levels,” Schiller said.

Ernst & Young, which compiles a study each year for business lobbying group the Council on State Taxation, found that Ohio’s combined state and local taxes on business were considerably lower than the national average as a share of private-sector gross state product, at 3.7% vs. 4.5% nationally.

“We are providing all kinds of financial incentives that multiply with each new state legislative session,” Schiller said. “We cut our taxes by $7 billion a year at the state and local level, and where has it gotten us? Our incomes still lags behind the national average. Our job growth has failed behind that of other states.”

Attitudes toward lower taxes as a sure-fire way to create more business is changing, Schiller said, and the burden has shifted to those who want to cut taxes to illustrate how that policy has worked.

“I think that the conversation is certainly changing at the national level on this and at the state level,” he said.

Kim Palmer: kpalmer@crain.com, (216) 771-5384, @kimfouroffive

20 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | February 8, 2021

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THE WEEK

BY THE NUMBERS: FirstEnergy agreed to give up annual subsidies that were part of Ohio’s tainted House Bill 6 energy law and would have totaled more than $100 million this year, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Feb. 1. Yost, who was already asking the courts to stop the payments, said the company agreed to file with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to eliminate the so-called decoupling provision of the 2019 energy law. The provision would have subsidized the company in 2021 and future years, including with about $102 million in 2021, Yost said. The subsidies were in the form of a “conservation support rider” that was part of HB 6, the law that federal prosecutors say was passed as part of a $60 million bribery scheme, he said.

LINE OF SUCCESSION: STERIS plc, the Dublin, Ireland-based maker of sterilization products with U.S. operations headquartered in Mentor, has set plans for a CEO transition. The company announced Feb. 3 that president and CEO Walt Rosebrough will step down from those roles on July 29, coinciding with STERIS’ annual meeting.

Rosebrough, who became CEO in 2007, will remain as CEO emeritus and senior adviser to STERIS’ leadership and board of directors for the next two years. Succeeding Rosebrough as president and CEO on July 29 will be Dan Carestio, STERIS’ current chief operating officer. Carestio was unanimously appointed to the company’s board.

The board intends to include Carestio on the slate of directors for election at the annual meeting in July. Rosebrough advised the board he does not intend to stand for re-election.

RETAIL

From Page 1

That’s what results when Shoppes at Parma loses its J.C. Penney store, the last Sears store in Northeast Ohio closes at Great Northern Mall, and the Stein Mart chain shuts down, emptying three stores in the region, on top of multiple smaller ones.

With a welter of store closings and bankruptcies erupting in the first month of 2021, CoStar also forecasts another 1 million square feet of empty space will hit the Cleveland-Akron market this year.

Against such a context, Bob Nieto, the owner of R.G. Nieto Management Co. of Hinckley who heads investor groups owning open-air centers in the 100,000 to 250,000-square-foot range from Sandusky to Painesville and as far south as Canton, counts himself lucky things have not been worse.

Even so, he points out the anomalous impact of the pandemic economy: tenants needing rent relief. He said he provided three months of deferred rent during last spring’s lockdown that tenants had to repay later.

“I was surprised only 25% of the tenants took it,” Nieto said. Although he is thankful things weren’t worse, he noted his own signs of store carnage, such as the loss of three large-format Chinese buffets, although smaller Chinese restaurants generally fared OK. “For those that suffered, others did better, such as grocers and dollar stores,” Nieto said.

A saving grace for landlords was that new stores kept on entering the region so leasing remained dynamic.

Tori Nook, a principal at the Anchor Cleveland retail-focused bro-

DOANE

Murray. “The declining diversity of doctors reduces the quality of health care in the U.S. as a whole — From Page 6 for all patient populations.” The difThe lab instructors benefit from ferential quality of care offered for the experience of teaching chemis- Black American women and their try with a focus on student success. newborns remains a national crisis: (Colleges and universities that sur- The mortality rate for black infants vive the next big contraction will be is 120% higher than the rate for on the lookout for newly minted white infants. (The rate for Hispanic Ph.D.s with this experience. By some infants is 9% higher than the rate for accounts, medical school training is white infants.) The gap in life exequally ripe for a renaissance.) The pectancy between Black and white benefits for the high school students Americans has narrowed in recent include the knowledge, the confi- years, but largely due to the toll of dence and the stipend. The students the opioid epidemic on rural white communities. are also likely to Let’s| tally draw at-D BTHE CRAIN ’ S C Lpositive EVELAN U S I NMORTALITY E S S | S E PRATE T E M B EFOR R 3 - 9 , 2 018 PA G Ejust 37 two players that tention from colA crowd gathers at the 2019 Cleveland Auto Show at the I-X Center. The long-running BLACK INFANTS IS 120% have deep enough lege admissions show is moving downtown this year in the wake of I-X Center’s closure. The 10-day event officers across the HIGHER THAN THE RATE FOR pockets and skin is set for Dec. 3-12 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. | CLEVELAND AUTO SHOW in the game. Zimcountry — and WHITE INFANTS. (THE RATE their representa- FOR HISPANIC INFANTS IS mer Biomet just ON WITH THE SHOW: The 2021 Cleveland part of the larger Chinese company. dropped $2 milAuto Show, in limbo since the I-X In a WARN letter, the company said it tives in financial 9% HIGHER THAN THE RATE lion into the arms Center exited the event business, is planned to close the facility at 7005 aid, too. moving downtown. The Greater Cochran Road in April. It expects to of Empowerment A d d i t i o n a l FOR WHITE INFANTS.) Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ As- lay off 65 employees as part of this benefits for these Programs, Inc., students and their communities the fix-it fund of the NAACP. If half sociation confirmed Tuesday, Feb. 2, closure, as positions are being elimimay accrue over time. The typical the claims in a recent expose on the that the show will be staged at the nated or transferred to a facility in STEM worker earns 65% more than American Medical Association Huntington Convention Center of South Carolina. There are about 70 the typical non-STEM worker, and (AMA) are 25% true, the AMA has Cleveland from Dec. 3 to Dec. 12. workers employed through the Glenthe racial earnings gap is narrower enough spare change from licensing Those dates are a significant shift for willow facility, including five who in STEM fields than in non-STEM fees alone to sponsor a full-blown the long-running show, which tradi- work remotely. fields. Likewise, 2021 is year five in program, on a national scale, for detionally takes place in late February the crisis in the number of Black cades. and early March, serving as the kick- ON A MISSION: Power management American men in medicine. “It is “This is the way,” the Mandalorioff to the spring car sales season. The company Eaton agreed to buy an American crisis,” according to an proposed, in 2019. In 2021, do 2020 auto show drew 348,424 attend- Cobham Mission Systems, a maker of Dr. Cato Laurencin and Marsha we have the will? ees to the I-X Center, just days before air-to-air refueling systems, for $2.83 Ohio barred most mass gatherings billion. The purchase price includes and placed restrictions on business- $130 million in tax benefits. Excluding the amount paid for tax benefits, es to slow the spread of COVID-19. the purchase price represents about Advertising Section COMING TO AN END: TTI Floor Care, the 14 times Cobham’s 2020 earnings becompany behind the Hoover and fore interest, taxes, depreciation and Dirt Devil brands, is closing its facili- amortization (EBITDA). The deal is ty in Glenwillow, according to a letter expected to close in the second half filed with the state. TTI Floor Care of 2021. Cobham primarily serves deNorth America in Charlotte, N.C., is fense markets.

CLASSIFIEDS

kerage in Beachwood, said that after the lockdown ended last year, leasing action returned, with everything from new food purveyors to expanding auto Nook parts, dental and a cadre of wellness-related tenants.

Although some empties stand out at various centers, Nook said finding good locations for small tenants under 10,000 square feet remains difficult. Some operators also are fine-tuning their operations.

“Chipotle is on a rampage seeking drive-up windows,” she said, and pointed to former Giant Eagle and Toys R Us locations being turned into self-storage centers.

CoStar estimates, however, that about 1.4 million square feet was leased in Northeast Ohio in 2020, about 18% below the three-year average for leasing action.

Rents in the area are also down more than 1% in 2020 from 2019, CoStar said, though it doesn’t disclose a specific number.

The ultimate challenge for retail landlords in this context will be making their mortgage payments.

Pain is already striking both recently completed and landmark shopping centers. The Pinecrest mixed-use center in Orange Village went back to its lender last year. And venerable Shaker Square in Cleveland was hit in January with a foreclosure proceeding.

Trepp, a mortgage information provider in New York City, shows how much of a challenge is brewing for some retail landlords.

Nationally, Trepp puts the more than 30-day delinquency rate in the retail sector at 12.7% from 4% a year ago, although it is lower than a peak of 18% in mid-2020. (It does not provide local data at this time.) The numbers decline as landlords cure defaults or win some form of lender relief.

Nieto feels the advent of mass vaccinations will lead to a better retail environment. Indeed, he looks forward to a resurgence in demand for space in 2022.

The optimistic attitude is common among shopping center owners. The International Council of Shopping Centers trade group reported last Thursday, Feb. 4, that a national survey found 60% of retail landlords and 55% of retailers expect a return to pre-pandemic business levels by the end of 2021.

However, that’s also after the pace of change accelerated as bricks-andmortar operations added curbside pick-up and online ordering to cope with increased online retailing during the drive for contact-less shopping in the COVID-19 era.

For his part, Khouri feels that the viability of the shopping center business may be at risk. He said he remains glad his company has been active in other segments, such as office leasing and deals for federal tenants such as the FBI and the Veterans Administration through the General Services Administration.

“I think this is a changing trend in how people buy products,” Khouri said. “The longer this pandemic hangs around, the more purchasing patterns change, and the more consumers will continue to use (online shopping) after it’s over.”

Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Advertising Section

To place your listing, visit www.crainscleveland.com/people-on-the-move or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com ARCHITECTURE

LAW

LAW

Makovich & Pusti Architects

Gallagher Sharp LLP

Ulmer & Berne LLP

Makovich & Pusti Architects (MPA) is honored to announce that Steve Jouriles, AIA, CDP, LEED AP has been promoted to the role of Principal. Steve joined the MPA team in early 2018 championing over 30 years of architecture experience. Steve directs our Building Enclosure team and manages projects in Healthcare, Higher Education, and Public Markets. As a Principal, Steve will extend our market outreach and continue to build lasting client relationships through his efficient leadership.

Gallagher Sharp is pleased to announce that Maia E. Jerin, Esq. has become a Partner. Maia represents clients in professional liability matters, with a particular emphasis on legal malpractice and real estate. She also defends clients in complex commercial disputes. She frequently presents on legal ethics topics, focusing often on the use of technology in the law.

Maia received her law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and her undergraduate degree from John Carroll University.

Sachin V. Java joins Ulmer as an associate in the Business Law Practice Group. He focuses his practice on corporate law matters including business counseling, mergers and acquisitions, and health care regulatory compliance. He uses his legal experience and health care industry background to help clients achieve their business goals, including medical providers, owners and operators of long-term care facilities, and other health care entities. He earned his J.D. from ClevelandMarshall College of Law.

LAW LAW

Cavitch, Familo & Durkin Co., L.P.A. Cavitch, Familo & Durkin announces Michael Rasor has been named as the new Chairman of the Capital and Finance Practice Group. Mike advises privately held businesses, real estate investors, lenders, and investment funds on transactions, securities compliance, and disputes. Mike is also an author and editor of Ohio Transaction Guide and Current Legal Forms.

Mike is a past President of Stow City Council, being elected from 2010-2019. Mike was named as one of Crain’s “Forty under 40” in 2017.

Ziegler Metzger LLP LAW

Mansour Gavin LPA Mansour Gavin is pleased to announce that Daniel J. McGuire has been elected to the firm’s partnership.

Focusing his practice on estate planning and trusts, Dan has represented clients in the entire wealth spectrum and is adept at advising clients to address changing circumstances that require planning for the future. Prior to joining Mansour Gavin in 2018, Dan was in private practice and later joined the trust department at PNC. He earned his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

LAW

Cavitch, Familo & Durkin Co., L.P.A.

LAW

Cavitch, Familo & Durkin Co., L.P.A. announces Robert West has been elected to shareholder at the firm. Bob is an experienced civil litigator with a robust probate litigation practice.

His consumer financial services practice involves advising and representing individuals, financial institutions and mortgage servicers on an array of consumer finance matters. Bob is also a licensed patent attorney with the USPTO assisting clients in obtaining U.S. and foreign patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman Co., LPA is pleased to welcome Tracy S. Francis to the firm as a principal in the Litigation group. Francis focuses her practice on business litigation, complex commercial, class action, fraud, employment, product liability, environmental, intellectual property, and defamation litigation. She earned her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from The University of Akron School of Law, where she graduated 1st in her class.

Ziegler Metzger LLP congratulates Elizabeth Klucher Reynolds on passing the Ohio Bar and joining the firm as an associate. Elizabeth received her law degree from ClevelandMarshall College of Law and her undergraduate degree from Mercyhurst University. While Elizabeth is involved in a variety of the firm’s practice areas, her focus is in estate planning, probate and trust administration.

NONPROFITS

STAFFING & SERVICES

Facing History and Ourselves

The Reserves Network

Facing History and Ourselves is proud to announce that Neal Restivo has been named to the Cleveland Advisory Board. Restivo is the CEO of Oatey Co. Restivo believes “the work that Facing History does to help eliminate racism and injustice is so impressive and important. I look forward to working with the Cleveland Advisory Board to explore how we can expand Facing History’s reach within the corporate community and increase awareness and support for its critical mission.”

The Reserves Network has named Amanda Lowe as vice president & corporate counsel.

She joins the staffing firm with more than 20 years of criminal law and litigation experience, the last 18 of which she served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Criminal Division for the Franklin County, Ohio’s Prosecutor’s Office. Among the areas Lowe will be responsible for include state and federal workplace regulations, human resource and legal guidelines and statutory compliance issues.

She received her Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University Moritz School of Law in Columbus, Ohio.

NONPROFITS

Facing History and Ourselves Facing History and Ourselves is proud to announce that Ranjit Tamaskar, MD, has been named to the Cleveland Advisory Board. Tamaskar is a physician partner at Atrium Medical Group.

Tamaskar believes “Facing History has the best resources to educate about the past and improve our present.” He is eager to support the organization’s efforts to nurture young minds and help shape informed citizens who will use their understanding of history to work toward a more just society.

NONPROFITS

Facing History and Ourselves Facing History and Ourselves is proud to announce that Aneet P. Deshpande, CFA, has been named to the Cleveland Advisory Board. Deshpande is the Chief Investment Strategist at Clearstead. Facing History and Ourselves works with students and teachers throughout Northeast Ohio to stand up to bigotry and hate. Deshpande states, “the organization’s long history and excellence in helping to combat hate and bigotry have never been more needed than today. I am honored to play a part in this cause.”

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22 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | February 8, 2021

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TECHNOLOGY

MCPc MCPc promotes Jason Taylor to Chief of Staff. Taylor has served as an executive for 13+ years in various positions, most recently as President overseeing sales, marketing, IT, service delivery, and business operations. In his new Chief of Staff role, Taylor is responsible for strategic planning, product standardization and development, training initiatives, measured operational improvement and the proactive alignment of senior executives, key business units, and departmental leaders.

TECHNOLOGY

REAL ESTATE

Premier Development Partners Premier Development Partners is proud to announce that Ted Wochna has joined our team as Senior Property Manager. Mr. Wochna brings 28+ years of commercial real estate management, operations, and maintenance experience to the Premier Development Partners portfolio. We are looking forward to seeing Ted excel in this position and continue to provide top tier support and management to our portfolio.

MCPc MCPc promotes Michael Montisano to President.

Montisano has been with MCPc 7 years across two stints, most recently as SVP of Operations and has past executive ownership for partner management, sales management, and corporate operations. As President, Montisano is responsible for the overall alignment of business development, product delivery, and the ongoing refinement and growth of revenue and margin, pipeline management, sales operations, and the strategic customer engagement process.

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THE DIGITAL DIVIDE MAY 12

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BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION Join us for a very important morning forum as we tackle this monumental issue head on with local experts and the Crain’s newsroom.

REGISTER TODAY: Crainscleveland.com/DigitalDivideEvent SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION: mike.schoenbrun@crain.com

200 Mbps

FASTER SPEEDS. BETTER FEATURES.

BEST VALUE.

49

200Mbps INTERNET

$

99 /mo. when bundled for 1 year*

19

BUSINESS PHONE

+

$

99

/mo. per line when bundled with Internet for 1 year**

NO ADDED PHONE TAXES. NO HIDDEN FEES. NO CONTRACTS.

 Business Customers  who switch to Spectrum can cut their bill in half.# Claim your special offer today. Promo code A26N.

855-281-2819 Business.Spectrum.com

200 Mbps

GET MORE DONE WITH

FASTER INTERNET

49

200Mbps BUSINESS INTERNET OVER

99.9% NETWORK RELIABILITY§

99

$

/mo. when bundled for 1 year*

Now Available:

Add Wireless Internet Backup for Constant Connectivity◊◊

NO CONTRACTS

Speed is just the beginning with these valuable FREE features worth over $50/mo.=

FREE Modem

FREE Desktop Security

FREE Email Addresses

FREE Domain Name

NO CONTRACTS. So we earn your business every day.

Limited-time offer; subject to change. Qualified new business customers only. Must not have subscribed to applicable services w/ in the last 30 days & have no outstanding obligation to Charter. *$49.99 Internet offer is for 12 mos. when bundled w/ TV or Voice & incl. Spectrum Business Internet starting speeds. Spectrum Internet modem is req'd & included in price; Internet taxes are included in price except where req'd by law (Texas).

Internet speeds may not be avail. in all areas. Actual speeds may vary. Speed based on download speed on wired connection. Wireless Internet speeds may vary. ◊◊Wireless Internet Backup offer is available for $20/month and requires a subscription to Spectrum Business Internet, and Static IP or Business WiFi services. Supports up to 4 devices and includes download speed up to 10Mbps, with 8-hour battery backup. LTE modem is required & included in price. Internet speeds may be limited when connected to the LTE Modem. Not available with Spectrum Business Internet Gig. Static IP and Business WiFi not supported when Wireless Internet Backup service is engaged. **$19.99 Voice offer is for 12 mos. when bundled with Internet & incl. one business phone line w/ unlimited local & long distance w/ in the U.S., Puerto Rico, & Canada plus 2,000 long-distance minutes to Mexico. Limited-time offer. Offer not available in all areas. Includes phone taxes, charges and fees. Other telephone services may have corresponding taxes and rates. #Savings based on comparison of Spectrum Business promo rates vs. competitors' non-promo rates for Internet & an avg. of 2 phone lines, based on customer billing statements Jan. - Jun. 2020. Actual savings may vary. =Value based on retail price for comparable services. §99.9% network reliability based on average HFC Availability, Jan 2019 - Oct 2020. Visit business.spectrum.com/network-reliability for more details. Standard pricing applies after promo. period. Services subject to all applicable service terms & conditions, which are subject to change. Services & promo. offers not avail. in all areas. Installation & other equipment taxes & fees may apply. Restrictions apply. Call for details. © 2021 Charter Communications, Inc.

DIAL UP THE VALUE WITH

MORE PHONE FEATURES

19

BUSINESS PHONE

NO

Added Phone Taxes

NO

Hidden Fees

$

99

/mo. per line when bundled with Internet for 1 year**

Keep your existing phone number and equipment

NO CONTRACTS

Your business is anywhere you are with 35+ FREE advanced calling features.

FREE 3-Way Calling

FREE Voicemail to Email

Stuck in a contract?

We’ll buy you out of your current contract up to $500.◊

FREE

Call Forwarding

FREE Call Hunting

855-281-2819 Business.Spectrum.com

Limited-time offer; subject to change. Qualified new business customers only. Must not have subscribed to applicable services w/ in the last 30 days & have no outstanding obligation to Charter. *$49.99 Internet offer is for 12 mos. when bundled w/ TV or Voice & incl. Spectrum Business Internet starting speeds. Spectrum Internet modem is req'd & included in price; Internet taxes are included in price except where req'd by law (Texas). □Spectrum Business Internet Gig includes speeds up to 940Mbps. Additional installation fees apply. Internet speed may not be avail. in all areas. Actual speeds may vary. Speed based on download speed on wired connection. Wireless Internet speeds may vary. **$19.99 Voice offer is for 12 mos. when bundled with Internet & incl. one business phone line w/ unlimited local & long distance w/ in the U.S., Puerto Rico, & Canada plus 2,000 long-distance minutes to Mexico. Limited time offer. Offer not available in all areas. Includes phone taxes, charges and fees. Other telephone services may have corresponding taxes and rates. #Savings based on comparison of Spectrum Business promo rates vs. competitors' non-promo rates for Internet & an avg. of 2 phone lines, based on customer billing statements Jan. - Jun. 2020. Actual savings may vary. =Value based on retail price for comparable services. §99.9% network reliability based on average HFC Availability, Jan 2019 - Oct 2020. Visit business.spectrum.com/network-reliability for more details. ◊Contract Buyout offer is valid up to $500. Visit Business.Spectrum.com/contractbuyout for details. Standard pricing applies after promo. period. Services subject to all applicable service terms & conditions, which are subject to change. Services & promo. offers not avail. in all areas. Installation & other equipment taxes & fees may apply. Restrictions apply. Call for details. © 2021 Charter Communications, Inc.

SPECTRUM BUSINESS

GIVES YOU MORE. ast Internet speeds from F 200Mbps up to 940Mbps

eep your existing phone number K and equipment

No data caps or throttling

35+ business calling features

Over 99.9% network reliabilityยง

Over $50/mo. in FREE Internet features=

200Mbps INTERNET

49

$

99 /mo. when bundled for 1 year*

BUSINESS PHONE

+

$

19

99

/mo. per line when bundled with Internet for 1 year**

NO ADDED PHONE TAXES. NO HIDDEN FEES. NO CONTRACTS.

Customers who switch to Spectrum Business can cut their bill in half.# Claim your special offer today. Promo code A26N.

855-281-2819 Business.Spectrum.com

SMB-GEN200-0208

DIG