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CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I FEBRUARY 14, 2022

LEAVING A LEGACY

DEI initiatives help Cleveland maximize impact of All-Star Weekend

BY JOE SCALZO

When Cleveland lands a major event like the NBA All-Star Game, the NFL Draft or the Republican National Convention, one thing is guaranteed.

“The economic impact is going to happen,” said David Gilbert, the president and CEO of Destination Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Sports

Commission. “We know people are going to come to town and we know people are going to spend their money.

“Our efforts may help increase it, but by and large, the economic impact will happen.”

The question is, how do you maximize that impact?

For Gilbert, the answer goes be-

yond convincing tourists to stay an extra night or spend a few more dollars at a local restaurant.

“What we’ve learned over the years is there’s such an opportunity to use these events as a platform to advance other important community issues,” he said. “We want to leave a broader-lasting legacy, beyond just the economic impact that event will have.”

The NBA All-Star Game provides an ideal opportunity for income — and impact. All-Star Weekend, which runs Feb. 18-21, is expected to pump $100 million into Greater Cleveland’s economy and provide invaluable exposure for the city through worldwide broadcasts.

See ALL-STAR on Page 20

Cleveland is hosting the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 20 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. | ANTHONY GRAY/COURTESY

INSIDE: With its “All-Star Business Week,” Cuyahoga County wants to help NBA All-Star players and visitors find local barbershops, salons and restaurants. Page 20

Events businesses feel overlooked Developer plans $100M Many hope for targeted economic relief program

BY JEREMY NOBILE

Lake Erie Marine Trades Association president Michelle Burke was devastated when her small business — which puts on the annual Cleveland Boat Show at the I-X Center— was rejected for nearly $800,000 expected from a Small Business

Administration Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.

With the opportunity for a supplemental award through SVOG, “we are talking over $1 million” Burke said LEMTA should’ve qualified for but never did.

“We are in a very tenuous position right now,” Burke said. “I can tell you that if we are unable to execute the (2022 boat show rescheduled for March), it will really decimate our or-

NEWSPAPER

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ganization. We are counting on executing that show to keep going.”

With billions of dollars in aid provided to other industries, including restaurants and music venues, small businesses like LEMTA that rely on in-person events but don’t own concert clubs are feeling ignored in their own struggles when it comes to the government and economic relief.

See EVENTS on Page 19

THE

LAND SCAPE

project in Seven Hills

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

Industrial Commercial Properties LLC, a Solon-based developer known for tackling tough sites, is planning a $100 million groundup construction project in Seven Hills.

Early renderings of the 7Hills

District show a 240-unit apartment building, almost 93,000 square feet of offices and roughly 50,000 square feet of restaurants and retail space.

The plans span 10 acres on the south side of Rockside Road, west of Interstate 77.

See SEVEN HILLS on Page 17

A CRAIN’S CLEVELAND PODCAST

2/11/2022 12:35:07 PM

HEALTHCARE IS ABOUT MORE THAN MEDICINE. IT’S ABOUT HOPE. The MetroHealth System is redefining healthcare by going beyond medical treatment to improve the foundations of community health and well-being: access to affordable housing, a cleaner environment, economic opportunity and access to fresh food, convenient transportation, legal help and other services. That’s why we’re devoted to hope, health, and humanity. Find out more at metrohealth.org.

AKRON

Babcock & Wilcox appears poised for major growth

BY DAN SHINGLER

Akron’s Babcock & Wilcox appears to be on the rise, thanks largely to technologies it has developed to produce hydrogen from a variety of sources, to use biomass fuels to produce power, and to capture carbon from the atmosphere.

If you think those are things the world needs right now, you’re not alone. They’re a primary focus of the company’s top executives, as well as investors.

The hydrogen and carbon-capture technologies primarily are used by B&W’s Renewable and Environmental business segments. A third segment, Thermal, is more focused on traditional energy sources.

The company says its newer technology has helped fill its pipeline for potential new business, as well as land some major new projects. Those technologies are expected to drive the company’s overall business to new levels.

“The company has really reinvigorated a strategy around the Renewables and the Environmental segments with an eye toward the growth that’s happening in those markets,” said Rob Brown, a founding partner and senior research analyst at Lake Street Capital in Minneapolis who follows B&W. “They’re managing the thermal business well, but the growth is really in those other two sectors.”

The Renewable and Environmental segments took it on the chin in 2020. Revenues for the Renewable segment dropped to $156.2 million in 2020 from $205.6 million in 2019.

The Environmental segment was Wilson hit even harder, with revenue in 2020 falling to about $108 million from the 2019 level of $275.6 million.

Much of that decline was due to the pandemic, said Megan Wilson, who in January was named B&W’s chief strategy officer.

“In the deeper, darker days of COVID, we certainly saw not just projects we were working on but projects we were bidding on delayed,” Wilson said. “Now we’re seeing a step up.”

There has been much better news lately, particularly with regard to new business.

The company’s total revenues for the third quarter of 2021 were $160 million, up from $132.5 million in the third quarter of 2020, while its quarterly operating income increased to $14.8 million from $14.1 million in the like period a year ago. B&W is slated to deliver its fourth-quarter and year-end results in March.

But while most of the third quarter’s growth was driven by the Thermal segment, it’s what the Renewable and Environmental segments have contributed to recent new contracts and put into the company’s pipeline for future business that’s driving the current optimism.

In 2020, Renewable and Environmental combined accounted for less than half of the company’s $566.3 million in total revenues, with Thermal accounting for the rest. But while all three segments are expected to

Babcock & Wilcox has been headquartered in Akron’s East End development since moving from Barberton at the end of 2019. | DAN SHINGLER/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Babcock & Wilcox’s lobby at its headquarters in Akron’s East End development. | BABCOCK & WILCOX

grow, Wilson said B&W expects its Renewable and Environmental segments to make up two-thirds of the company’s revenues by the end of 2023, and the current pipeline indicates they’re on track to do just that.

“We’ve got about $6.5 billion, and our pipeline is not pie in the sky,” Wilson said. “It’s a bottom-up pipeline where we’ve got specific projects identified … and the pipeline absolutely supports that shift to twothirds (of 2023 revenue) from Renewable and Environmental.”

While the company might not realize all those revenues, which would come over several years, $6.5 billion is a huge number considering the company’s annual revenue for 2021 is on track to be $742.8 million, according to Brown.

And then the fun could really start.

“I think that will really show up in 2022,” Brown said. “In 2022 I’m ex-

mass project in Canada.

The Thermal segment has landed some big deals as well, including a $6 million contract B&W announced Jan. 27, under which it will provide technology to convert a Middle East chemical plant so “MORE THAN 60% OF OUR PIPELINE IS that it can go from using oil to cleanRELATED TO RENEWABLE AND er-burning natural gas in its six boilers, ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITIES, significantly reducing WHICH WILL DIRECTLY REFLECT THE the plant’s emissions.

Toward the end of PERFORMANCE OF OUR LONG-TERM last year, B&W’s ReSTRATEGY.” newable business an— Kenneth Young, Babcock & Wilcox chairman and CEO nounced it had some big contracts for waste to energy projects — including recent announcements.

For instance, B&W’s Renewable one worth $24 million in December, segment announced Jan. 25 that it and a $58 million contract anhad been awarded an $11 million nounced in November, both in Eucontract to provide technologies for rope. special boilers to be used in a bioThere’s apparently more to come, pecting (revenue of ) $881 million.”

The company is bringing the right products to market at the right time, and its efforts are bearing fruit, both Brown and Wilson said. That view is reflected in some of the company’s

too, especially for the Renewable and Environmental segments.

“More than 60% of our pipeline is related to Renewable and Environmental opportunities, which will directly reflect the performance of our long-term strategy,” B&W chairman and CEO Kenneth Young said when the company released third-quarter results in November.

Showing particular promise are B&W’s OxyBright and BrightLoop technologies, said Brandy Johnson, who in January became the company’s chief technology and engineering officer.

“B&W’s been known throughout the years for having the technology available when our customers need it, and we’ve spent a lot of time over the past few decades on this, especially on the decarbonization front,” Johnson said.

The OxyBright systems use pure oxygen to burn other fuels, producing readily captured, concentrated carbon dioxide as a byproduct, she said. B&W’s BrightLoop technology can be used to burn a variety of fuels while isolating about 95% of carbon dioxide emissions and producing steam, hydrogen and gas that can produce heat and power. The gas it produces, which B&W calls “Syngas,” also can be used in chemical-production processes, Johnson said.

“From that Syngas, you can make chemicals, or you can fire it to run a turbine,” she said.

Brown thinks the new technologies and B&W’s overall progress will pay off not just for the company, but for his clients and other shareholders as well. He’s expecting a big payoff in Johnson the form of an increased price for B&W’s shares by the end of this year.

“My target price is $13 per share,” Brown said.

That would be the highest price for B&W’s shares since 2018, which recently have been trading in the $7 to $8 range.

There’s more new technology as well as new business in the pipeline, too. Johnson said the company is working to produce renewable jet fuel by turning biomass and waste fuel into hydrogen with its BrightLoop system, and it hopes to be able to demonstrate that sometime in 2023.

“Today, most hydrogen is produced from natural gas, and when you produce hydrogen from a biomass fuel or a waste fuel, BrightLoop really gets hydrogen down to a place where it’s competitive,” Johnson said.

A lot of eyes will be on that demonstration when it’s unveiled. In the meantime, some of those same eyes will be watching to see how B&W fared in the fourth quarter of 2021 when it reports year-end results.

“I’m estimating $212 million (in revenue) for the December quarter,” Brown said.

That would be an increase of nearly 42% from the company’s fourth-quarter 2020 revenue of $149.9 million.

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

FEBRUARY 14, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 3

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Kent State University earns national research classification

BY AMY MORONA

There’s no shortage of lists about colleges. Biggest party schools. Top “green” campuses. Universities that are the best values or offer the most lucrative majors.

For insiders at higher education institutions, though, one grouping reigns supreme: the Carnegie classification. It sorts the 4,000-plus colleges in the nation into a variety of different categories. And at the top of that pile sits those that receive the designation as an R1 university.

“I can’t think of any university leader, or any university or college professor/researcher, that doesn’t keep track of this list,” said Todd Diacon, president of Kent State University.

Under those classifications, published for the first time in 1973, doctoral-degree-granting universities can earn that R1 status. It’s the highest level awarded in that category and indicates a university has “very high” research activity. Several factors are taken into consideration, including the number of faculty members and how much grant-funded research is conducted.

sity of Cincinnati and now Kent are the state’s public schools with R1 status. And, to borrow Diacon’s reference point, head up I-71 north and the only other university with the distinction is Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University, which is Ohio’s sole R1 private institution.

Diacon’s been at other institutions, he said, where the primary goal was stated and clear: Get to R1 status over the next decade. But he doesn’t remember that being said at Kent.

There were a few big moments, though, that contributed to its rise.

One was the 2015 hiring of Paul DiCorleto, who had stints at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western, as Kent’s vice president for research and sponsored programs. Another came two years later, when a consultant told officials they were already doing relevant work, it just wasn’t coordinated.

“It was not centrally directed in a way that would increase its impact, and even our understanding of what we were doing,” Diacon said.

The university moved to create several separate institutes around already strong research areas. That list now includes a brain health in-

“ALMOST ANYTHING THAT WE’RE ENVISIONING FROM AN INVESTMENT AND PAYOFF STRATEGY HAS INVOLVEMENT OF MULTIPLE OF THESE DIFFERENT ENTITIES. THAT KIND OF BRINGS FOLKS TOGETHER, BUILDING EXCITEMENT ABOUT RESEARCH.” — Doug Delahanty, KSU’s interim vice president for research and sponsored programs

The classifications were recently updated, and for the first time, Diacon’s Kent State made the cut. It’s now one of 146 colleges nationwide to have this distinction. Leaders at the university believe the new status will help distinguish KSU now and in the future.

The Cleveland region is a crowded market for colleges. There are nearly 30 nonprofit institutions. But Diacon, who arrived at Kent in 2012 as provost and became president in 2019, said he tends to instead talk about Northern Ohio versus Northeast Ohio. He specifically talks about the area north of Columbus, home of Ohio State University.

OSU, Ohio University, the Univer-

stitute, an advanced materials and liquid crystal institute, and a design institute.

The structure has been beneficial, and not just strictly related to bringing in funding opportunities, according to Doug Delahanty, who is now KSU’s interim vice president for research and sponsored programs after DiCorleto retired last year. It helps break down silos.

“Almost any programming that we have on campus is co-sponsored by multiple institutes,” Delahanty said. “Almost anything that we’re envisioning from an investment and payoff strategy has involvement of multiple of these different entities.

That kind of brings folks together,

building excitement about research.”

He believes this new designation can be leveraged to help bolster the competitiveness of Kent’s research proposals for state and federal funding, adding that reviewers take note when looking at applications.

“If it’s from an R1 institution, there is a level of prestige associated with that, there’s a level of accomplishment,” he said. “There’s an understanding that an infrastructure exists to support an R1 designation.”

Aside from a potential boost to researchers, officials think it’ll help increase the attractiveness of Kent during job searches for professors, as well as drive enrollment for graduate-level courses.

The same level of impact probably won’t be felt when it comes to undergraduate admissions, though.

It’s too inside baseball for most.

Kent State’s full-time enrollment dropped 4% to about 26,000 students last fall.

President Diacon maintains the university didn’t rearrange any priorities on this journey. Earning R1 status, rising graduation rates and the growing diversification of the student body rank as the university’s three biggest accomplishments of the past decade, Diacon said.

There’s pushback nationally, though, around these classifications. The original intent was to frame similar colleges together to measure their work, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

But as Timothy Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation, told the publication, over time “it turned into this race to the top, where the R1 became the designation that even institutions that really weren’t designed to be fundamentally research institutions began to aspire to.”

The foundation announced a partnership with the American Council on Education earlier this month. The groups will collaborate to redefine the classifications into versions that “better reflect the public purpose, mission, focus, and impact of higher education,” according to a release. That will include a new classification looking at social and economic mobility.

Amy Morona: amy.morona@crain. com, (216) 771-5229, @AmyMorona

4 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | FEBRUARY 14, 2022

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MANUFACTURING

Diversified Fall Protection focuses on growth, safety

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

Diversified Fall Protection is on a mission to keep workers safe.

And, in the process, it’s seeing significant growth.

The Westlake-based company makes a variety of systems, from cable-based lifelines connected to anchor points to more passive protection like railing. Its products are used in indoor and outdoor applications in a variety of industries.

CEO Jeff Schneid said he thinks safety is often an “overlooked” part of business.

“The number one thing to us is to make sure that when people go to work in the morning, they go home safely to their families every night,” Schneid said.

Diversified Fall Protection was founded in 1994, and Schneid has owned it since 1997. In recent years, the company has been expanding fast, adding to its capabilities and its geographic reach.

Much of that has been through acquisitions. The company acquired Peak Fall Protection in North Carolina in the fall of 2019, Fall Protection Systems in Missouri in 2020, and both Versatile Systems Inc. in California and Rooftop Anchor Inc. in Utah in 2021. In addition to product and

geographic growth, the acquisitions have also allowed Diversified Fall Protection to acquire necessary talent, Schneid said, giving the company experts in different specialties.

The company has grown from about 58 employees in 2019, prior to the acquisitions, to 264 employees today. There are manufacturing facilities in Northeast Ohio, as well as in California, North Carolina and Utah, in addition to sales field offices across the country, said director of corporate marketing Steve Spirko.

And Schneid said the company has grown four to five times in revenue since 2019, though he declined to share specific figures. Schneid said the market Diversified Fall Protection is in has been fragmented, and he expects the company to continue making acquisitions in adjacent business spaces.

Diversified Fall Protection aims to address the entire fall protection process. The company first helps customers identify fall hazards, Spirko said, and then its in-house engineers create a customized solution for each customer’s environment.

“There’s never a one-size-fits-all,” Spirko said.

Then the company makes the product, installs it and continues to service it into the future. In addition,

Diversified Fall Protection makes personalized systems for its customers in a variety of industries. | DIVERSIFIED FALL PROTECTION

fall protection systems need to be inspected annually, or even more frequently in some states, so that’s another service the company offers. The company wants customers to think of them as a “trusted safety adviser” for the future, not just for that moment of purchase, Spirko said.

Fall protection-related violations are among the most-cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“There’s a lot of areas for us to impact,” Spirko said, from the systems

themselves to education and awareness efforts.

For fiscal year 2020, fall protection in construction was OSHA’s most frequently cited standard. Standards related to scaffolding and ladders in construction also made the top 10, as did fall protection training requirements. And OSHA’s fall prevention campaign notes that falls are the leading cause of death in construction, accounting for 351 deaths out of 1,008 construction fatalities in 2020.

A lot of Diversified Fall Protection’s

One year. 104 wins.

104

Learn more about what made 2021 a record-setting year for the Northeast Ohio Region.

$

Project Wins

7,469

New Jobs

1.5 Billion in Capital Investment

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

80

76

80

76

83

84

104

By the numbers: As one of the six network partners for JobsOhio, Team NEO connects companies across the 18 counties of the Northeast Ohio Region to resources for job creation and retention, regional investment, and business growth.

In 2021, the Northeast Ohio Economic Development Network conducted nearly 1,000 business retention calls and worked on 279 projects.

Since 2015, by the numbers (through December

customers come to them because they see a need or had a “near-miss,” said corporate vice president of sales Brandon Kelderhouse, but the company also is doing a lot of outreach to raise awareness of fall-related risks.

The company has fall protection specialists who proactively contact environmental, health and safety leaders at different organizations to start those kinds of conversations, he said.

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

$

439.3 Million in Payroll Created

583

Project Wins

31, 2021)

2.32 $ 11.33

44,635

$

New Jobs

Billion in Payroll Created

Billion in Capital Investment

Download Team NEO’s interactive 2021 performance & impact report at annual report.teamneo.org

No factor has been more impactful than The Northeast Ohio Region’s increasingly better coordinated network of economic development professionals, including the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

Team NEO accelerates business growth and job creation throughout the 18 counties of the Northeast Ohio Region; we are the designated JobsOhio network partner for the region. We are working to generate more jobs faster for more people, retain existing jobs, create a more inclusive workforce, and attract new investment to build a more robust and equitable regional economy.

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FINANCE

Investment firms expect another busy year for M&A in 2022

BY JEREMY NOBILE

At the tail end of 2021, Blue Point Capital Partners found itself in a rare position of turning away potential deal opportunities.

It’s just not something the firm has ever had to do in its 22-year history.

But then again, 2021 wasn’t a typical year for the M&A world.

“The end of last year was the first time we ever told investment bankers we are sorry, but we just don’t have capacity to be in your process right now,” said Blue Point partner Chip Chaikin.

“We would have never said that before.

But if you don’t have the manpower to work on it because you have so much going on, it’s what you have to do.”

Many buyout firms across the industry were in a similar boat.

“The universe of bidders was so busy doing other deals they just didn’t have the bandwidth,” said Brent Pietrafese, co-chair of the M&A practice at Calfee, Halter & Griswold.

Dealmaking in the private equity space remained red hot in 2021, which for many buyout firms like Blue Point meant an excessively busy year.

“The dynamic we saw last year was almost like one-and-a-half years of deals squeezed into 12 months,” said Chris Jones, managing partner at Cleveland-based Align Capital Partners. “Some people delayed in 2020 because of COVID, but then you had the regular 2021 activity plus the carry-

over. It was an exceptionally active year for capital markets, and you continue to have very accommodative capital markets and low interest rates. It was a perfect storm for a really active M&A year.”

U.S. investment firms closed more than 8,600 deals last year representing a combined value of more than $1.2 trillion, according to PitchBook. That total value marked a 50% increase over 2020, when the rise of COVID-19 resulted in what would ultimately be only a brief pause in M&A activity.

In retrospect, the pandemic had little negative impact on deal flow. If anything, it inspired some business owners to sell who didn’t want to continue navigating turbulent economic waters on their own, if at all.

COVID was but one of several factors at play influencing M&A deals. Another was the concern of a possible change in capital gains tax codes under President Joe Biden’s administration that prompted some sellers to pull the trigger — although those changes never played out.

Concerns with tax codes seem moot at this point. And the pandemic seemingly is beginning to recede.

Otherwise, many of the fundamentals driving M&A activity remain in play in 2022, including the trend of older business owners considering succession plans and retirement.

“We are continuing to see robust M&A volume across the U.S., including

here in Northeast Ohio, where the continuing demographic trends of baby boomers nearing retirement is particularly relevant in providing a strong source of M&A activity in the smalland medium-sized business community as owners look to grow before an ultimate exit event or are themselves exiting to a strategic or private equity investor,” said Ryan McGovern, a Cleveland-based managing director for New York-based Star Mountain Capital.

Additionally, private equity firms remain flush with dry powder, with more than $74 billion in capital raised in the past year, according to PitchBook.

However, the fervent pace of deal activity means big chunks of those cash piles have been put to work, prompting several firms to raise new funds.

Blue Point, for example, disclosed in December regulatory filings that it’s raising an $850 million fund, Blue Point Capital Partners V. That target size is 42% higher than that of its Blue Point Capital Partners IV fund.

With mountains of capital continuing to chase deals, deal multiples have, on average, inched up to 10- to 12-times earnings. There is variance in this, of course. Experts note that growing health care and software companies often draw the highest prices as strategic buyers compete for them.

And buyout firms are willing to pay up for the companies they like.

In this respect, the great seller’s mar-

How are business leaders feeling about 2022?

Chase Bank surveyed 1,602 businesses for its annual Business Leaders Outlook survey. Here’s a look at the results, based on responses from 74 Ohio companies.

For more, see our full story online.

Economic Outlook & Business Expectations  74% of midsize business leaders in Ohio are optimistic about their company’s performance (83% of all U.S.)  73% expect sales and revenue to increase (81% all U.S.) COVID Impacts  41% of businesses are running at or above pre-pandemic levels (53% all U.S.)  64% have had profits return or exceed pre-pandemic levels (74% all U.S.) Source: Chase’s annual Business Leaders Outlook survey

ket that’s prevailed since the financial crisis continues to solider on, said Stewart Kohl, co-CEO of Cleveland co-headquartered private equity firm The Riverside Co. “During this period, purchase price multiples increased significantly.

Much of this increase is due to the impact of Modern Monetary Theory and the resulting low interest rates. And this connection is arithmetic,” Kohl

said. “But part of is the large number of acquirers with cash, the ready availability of cheap capital and a fundamental optimism among buyers. Each year I say this is the best time I’ve seen in my now 34 years of experience to sell a company. Not just in terms of price but also speed and certainty. And then the next year it gets even better.”

Most industry professionals expect 2022 to be a comparably robust year for deal flow as 2021, though it’s unlikely to outdo it because of some of the unique factors previously at play — like those tax code concerns and the pandemic situation.

“It speaks volumes that companies and PE firms see this pace continuing,” said Jim Childs, head of Citizens M&A Advisory, in the company’s 2022 M&A outlook. “It reflects the confidence level in the market. The pandemic really disrupted the operating environment, and that creates a new value proposition for both sellers and buyers.”

“If you had to take the temperature of the economy overall, business confidence is very strong,” said Tom Zucker, president of Beachwood investment bank EdgePoint. “Our advice to a lot of our clients is be decisive and when you do decide (to sell), go quickly. Good companies are still getting premium valuations at record levels, and I expect that to continue happening in 2022.”

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

ONLINE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ANALYTICS www.kent.edu/crawford/online-msba

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PERSONAL VIEW

It’s time to start kidding around with economic development

BLOOMBERG

DAVID KORDALSKI/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

BLOOMBERG

GETTY IMAGES

BY MARK SNIDERMAN

EDITORIAL

Mixed record W

in some, lose some.

That’s a pattern of late with big commitments of public money to economic development projects. It’s not good enough, and it should — but probably won’t — give everyone pause the next time private interests come looking for the public’s help.

It’s legitimately exciting that chip-maker Intel Corp. will spend $20 billion to construct two fabrication plants on a 1,000-acre site near Columbus. Intel expects the plants to be operational by 2025, with the potential for more factories and total company investment over the next decade of $100 billion. That would make Ohio a focal point of America’s share of the global chip supply chain. The project is expected to generate more than 20,000 jobs.

But Intel isn’t coming cheap. The state and JobsOhio, the private, nonprofit economic development group, offered Intel $2.1 billion in incentives. And, as Bloomberg noted, “Once Intel develops the site, local property tax abatements will further enhance the $2.1 billion subsidy package, which exceeds what other high-profile companies have been promised in recent years for their projects.”

Not long ago — as in May 2021 — state officials were over the moon to land the first dedicated U.S. factory of Peloton Interactive Inc., a $400 million investment in a 1 millionsquare-foot operation near Toledo that would create about 2,200 local jobs.

Peloton, a darling of the early pandemic days, has seen its fortunes change, and last week the company announced it would cut 2,800 jobs and abandon development of the Toledo-area project. The company had started work on the factory and plans to finish external construction before selling the building and land. It will rely on third-party suppliers for production.

JobsOhio had announced $50 million in grants incentives for Peloton, and the Ohio Tax Credit Authority had approved a 15-year tax credit worth more than $47 million. Because the incentives were performance-based and didn’t kick in without Peloton hitting hiring targets, the company didn’t receive

tax dollars. But the Peloton saga is an important reminder that these projects can go sideways. J.P. Nauseef, president and CEO of JobsOhio, released a statement expressing disappointment about Peloton’s pullback but said he remains “optimistic that Ohio’s momentum is strong moving forward,” and that the Peloton building eventually will be a good home for another company. We hope his optimism is well-founded.

At the end of January, the Cleveland Guardians announced that their new lease agreement at Progressive Field and bond financing for improvements at the ballpark had been finalized, in a deal that keeps the team in Cleveland through at least 2036, and potentially through 2046.

We like baseball and love our team, no matter what it’s called. Keep in mind, though, that for the privilege of having Major League Baseball in Cleveland for the next generation, the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County collectively will contribute $17 million annually, while the state will contribute $2 million annually and the Guardians $10 million annually. This kind of deal, with the public kicking in more than the team, is par for the course in the world of professional sports. Big sports leagues are stable, at least, so there’s no Peloton-style risk here. It will be critical, though, for public officials to keep a close eye on plans for renovations and capital repairs to the ballpark, which could start at the end of the 2022 baseball season.

Facilities costs are on our mind because of what has happened at the Global Center for Health Innovation, where the Cuyahoga County Convention Facilities Development Corp., which oversees the center, recently voted to seek county funding for about $46 million in renovations to the structure.

The goal: reposition the building as an extension of the Huntington Convention Center.

The $465 million center, which we first came to know as the medical mart, has struggled for 15 years to find its place and get tenants to fill its space. And now, another $46 million?

We’re deep in good money after bad territory here — as is too often the case when the public is on the hook for these projects.

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

Cleveland has a new mayor for the first time in 16 years, and Justin Bibb is receiving advice from all quarters.

Redevelop the lakefront and Burke Lakefront Airport, build more bike and jogging paths, create more affordable housing, expand Cleveland’s tree canopy, provide neighborhood broadband, promote tourism, save Shaker Square, privatize the West Side Market, and, of Mark Sniderman course, reinvigorate the manufacturing is an executive in sector. residence in the What’s not to like? Fulfilling any of Economics these requests seems desirable. But Department at something essential is missing: people, the Weatherhead especially very young people. If invest- School of ing for the future pays dividends, there is Management at no better investment than investing in Case Western Reserve young children.

Invest in young children? How can University. that kind of investing compete with the items listed above, plus others not even mentioned? Easy. A large body of economic research shows that the inflation-adjusted rate of return on investing in the early care of children, from birth through age 5, is in the range of 10% to 15% per child per year. That’s quite impressive. Moreover, investing in children generates greater returns the younger — and more disadvantaged — the child.

Economic development means different things to different people, but generally, the term refers to the improvement in living standards experienced broadly in a community. If a region is experiencing healthy economic development, most residents should become wealthier, healthier and more secure over time. In 2019, U.S. median family income was $62,843, income per capita was $34,103, and the poverty rate was 11.4%. The comparable income figures for Cleveland were dramatically lower ($30,907 and $21,223), and the poverty rate dramatically higher (32.7%).

According to the Center for Community Solutions, in 2019 Cleveland had the largest poverty rate (31%) of any large U.S. city. Even worse, the poverty rate of children under 18 was nearly 50%. Clearly, by these benchmarks, economic development in Cleveland has a long way to go.

Cleveland can foster economic development through its tax, spending and regulatory policies. Not surprisingly, most economic development programs in Cleveland have focused on satisfying the immediate needs of business and property owners. These policies have supported the attraction and expansion of businesses, retraining our workforce and refurbishing our sports arenas. However, investments in human capital, such as the health and education of children from birth to age 5, are far more likely to have a more profound effect on economic development over the longer-run than a series of short-term projects benefiting narrow interests. The investments I have in mind are in proven programs that help families address their young children’s physical development, speech and language abilities, and social interactions with other children. To become a skyscraper, a building must have solid footings.

Investing in high-quality early care when kids are infants, and following through with that care until they enter kindergarten, pays enormous dividends for the children, their families, employers and society-at-large for decades to come. For example, Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman in the 1960s found that disadvantaged children benefited from a high-quality preschool program. His See DEVELOPMENT, on Page 9

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.

Sound off: Send a Personal View for the opinion page to emcintyre@crain.com. Please include a telephone number for verification purposes.

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OPINION

PERSONAL VIEW

Supporting Go Red for Women makes good business sense

BY CATHERINE O'MALLEY KEARNEY

On Friday, Feb. 25th, I’ll take my customary seat hosting one of KeyBank’s tables at the American Heart Association’s annual Go Red for Women luncheon. This is an opportunity during Heart Month for education, empowerment, sisterhood — and corporate philanthropy.

It’s a celebration that’s dear to my own heart because I am also a heart disease survivor. As a law school student in my 20s, I experienced serious health symptoms that were at the time dismissed as a mere cold. In fact, I had a life-threatening virus affecting my heart. If it were not for my family’s persistence and a life-saving drug made possible by American Heart Association research, I might not be here today.

In 2022, while many women know they need to be advocates for their own and their family’s health, not all have access to the necessary information or care. Black and Hispanic women are disproportionally impacted by heart disease and stroke, and research shows heart attacks are on the rise in younger women.

Go Red for Women began as a health equity campaign in 2004. In the past, heart disease was predominantly associated with men. Historically, men were the subjects of the research done to understand heart disease.

Today:  The Research Goes Red initiative works to equally represent women, helping the health care community to understand women’s specific risks, symptoms, diagnoses and treatments.  One of Go Red’s most exciting initiatives is STEM Goes Red for Girls. Launched in 2017, it addresses our region’s STEM workforce inequities and impacts innovation and economic development. This program has educated 561 middle- and high-school girls from a diverse mix of 44 schools across Greater Cleveland at no cost to them.  Go Red for Women helps fuel the mission of the American Heart Association here in Cleveland. Through its Target BP program, the AHA has worked with federally qualified health centers (which serve at-risk and underserved populations) to bring their patient population control rate up to 70%. Blood pressure is a silent killer that, when left untreated, can lead to heart attacks, stroke and other health threats.  Go Red aims to meet people where they are. One example has been faith-based community outreach, providing free blood pressure screenings, heart healthy recipes, and education. For low-income adults who may

DEVELOPMENT

From Page 8

subsequent research has shown that the next generation of those participants also benefited from stronger families and upward mobility. Benefits accrue to children in the form of fewer discipline problems in school, less engagement in criminal activity, higher high school and college graduation rates, better health and higher earnings. Parents benefit from stronger labor force participation and higher family incomes, and employers benefit from a more stable and skilled workforce. Taxpayers benefit from receiving more tax income, and spending less on social services, than would otherwise be the case.

Cleveland already has a terrific infrastructure in place to deliver high-quality early childhood services and programs. Organizations such as Starting Point, PRE4CLE, the Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood, Birthing Beautiful Communities and Bright Beginnings have learned how to collaborate effectively in pursuit of their common goals. Our philanthropic foundations continue to be supportive as well. These programs are successful and are making a difference for those who receive their services. However, while many children are being assisted, the unfulfilled potential is far greater. And COVID has taken its toll. For example, of the approximately 11,000 3-to-5 year olds in Cleveland, fewer than half (4,900) were

not have medical insurance, this can be a game-changer.

Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women. It claims more women’s lives than all forms of cancer combined, yet losing one woman to cardiovascular disease is one too many. The way to make progress is through education, research, awareness and equity. As many Catherine companies do more to support and O’Malley Kearney is chair empower diverse women from all of the Go Red for walks of life, I can think of no better focal point for our philanthropic efWomen forts than Go Red for Women.

Campaign, KeyBank continues to make sigimmediate past nificant investments in neighborpresident of the American Heart hoods as part of our recently exAssociation, and panded $40 billion National head of KeyBank Community Benefits Plan, which is focused on economic access and Institutional equity for underserved communiAdvisors. ties and populations. As champions of health equity and women, Go Red for Women was an immediate fit, and it has been a far-reaching means of supporting all women in our community for all these years.

There is yet another reason supporting Go Red for Women makes good economic sense. The movement funds significant medical research right here in Cleveland — the kind of research that once saved my life. Currently, the American Heart Association is providing $17.5 million across 31 research grants at Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth, Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University.

This translates into specialized and meaningful job creation right here in our community and a strong return on investment to our economy. Moreover, since 1960, the American Heart Association has given more than $113 million in grants to support meritorious research being done right here in Cleveland.

So, whether you are with us in person or in spirit in the red-studded ballroom on Feb. 25, I hope you will consider an alignment with Go Red for Women and supporting the American Heart Association’s deep engagement in the physical and economic health of our city. It makes good business sense – join me in giving at Cleveland Goes Red. enrolled in high-quality preschool programs before the onset of COVID. Today, that number has fallen to roughly 2,400. The hole is getting deeper.

Cleveland has to overcome only one obstacle to capitalize on the economic development potential of investing in young children. Money is not the obstacle. This region has demonstrated the will to fund the best library and park systems in the nation. Money has not been scarce when sports teams hold out their hands. The city, business community and the body politic must summon the will to elevate the stature and priority of investments in children to be — at the very least — on par with keeping sports arenas, attracting a corporate headquarters, building bike lanes and luring more conventions.

Mayor Bibb has signaled he understands the importance of investing in young children. The mayor will appoint a chief of youth and family success to serve as a member of his own cabinet, and will create a cabinet position to support the success of children from birth through adulthood. These actions will give the city the administrative apparatus to engage with families and nonprofits, the business community, other governmental entities and the service providers already on the ground. This is, however, not the time to drown in process. It is time to acknowledge what works and go big.

Sniderman is also is a member of the executive committee of PRE4CLE, a plan to ensure all 3- and 4-year-old children in Cleveland have access to a high-quality preschool.

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GET CARE ANYWHERE MetroHealth program launched in the pandemic puts Hospital in the Home.

HEALTH CARE

M

PAGE 12

BY D

P safe lar sists care stre med Crai “Th or r prob soci Wes Med selv doe clud phy shou help R imp whe tors Med dem siste leng hosp A Ame Hen lis r ers

MENTAL HEALTH

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK PHOTO

FRONT AND CENTER

Making wellness a top priority is growing trend for employers, employees

BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

Roughly two years of a pandemic have forced mental health needs front and center for many employers.

Faced with new or different challenges, many employees are more aware of their own mental health needs, and as they spoke up, employers, too, have developed a stronger awareness of the importance of addressing those needs, said Patty Starr, president and CEO of Health

Action Council (HAC), a nonprofit coalition representing midsize to large employers that aims to enhance human and economic health.

Finding a better way to support employee mental health has been top of mind for many employers, including HAC members, prompting the council to make this one of the key topics of this year’s IN-VALUEABLE Conference Series & Expo.

The conference included virtual events in late January and early

February, with two more planned for Feb. 24 and March 10.

The percentage of U.S. employees who reported symptoms of depression or anxiety during the pandemic has increased fourfold, according to the Integrated Benefits Institute.

“I think it was already an epidemic before, but that’s really come to the surface now that mental health is a huge epidemic, and that people really aren’t getting the care that they need for it,” said Juliette Mc-

Clendon, a speaker at the conference and director of medical affairs at Big Health, a Boston-based digital therapeutics company focused on sleep and mental health.

McClendon said she has “absolutely” seen changes in the way employers operate and approach mental health support in the past two years through the pandemic and following the racial justice movement in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

“I think both of those events really brought very different topics of conversation to the surface and really reorganized many employers’ priorities,” she said. “Of course there were a lot of employers for whom mental health was a priority prior to the pandemic, but I think we’ve seen a lot more employers put mental health at the top of their list of priorities.”

See MENTAL HEALTH on Page 14

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FOCUS | HEALTH CARE

RE

Medical schools battle burnout through wellness education

BY DOUGLAS J. GUTH

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK PHOTO

Physicians are part of a public safety infrastructure getting particular attention as the pandemic persists. The image of tireless “health care heroes” overshadows how much stress this population is under, note medical professionals interviewed by Crain’s.

“These people are not superheroes or robots — they have real-world problems,” said Steven Ricanati, associate dean for students at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Physicians hold themselves to very high standards, and so does society. Sometimes that precludes us from acknowledging our physical and mental health. There should be an openness in looking for help.”

Ricanati’s comments reflect the importance of health care resiliency, whether in medical students or doctors with 20 years in the trenches.

Medicine’s inherent unpredictability demands adaptability and persistence, two traits especially challenged as virus waves continue to fill hospitals nationwide.

A summer 2021 report from the American Medical Association and Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis revealed that half of health workers have experienced burnout amid

ma and isolation of what can be a lonely profession.

“I don’t think COVID created anything new — it just magnified what was already there,” Ricanati said. “It was time for us to design a model that was more healthy for physicians.”

Building resiliency among health care employees starts early, as even the strongest med students will confront situations where stepping back is healthier than leaning into the work. Preparing would-be physicians before they face real adversity will gird them against the inevitable.

“You can’t have a medical school curriculum that makes students sick, then try and yoga your way out of it,” said Ricanati. “You have to have structural wellness.”

COVID-19. About 61% of 20,947 physicians and additional staff surveyed worried about exposing themselves or family members to the virus, while 38% reported anxiety or depression.

Another 43% suffered from work overload.

Ricanati, who also serves as attending physician in general internal medicine at MetroHealth, knows

first-hand the effect of overt strain on physicians and residents. A practice partner of Ricanati’s at MetroHealth committed suicide in December 2020, tragically illuminating the trau-

Healing the healers Although varied definitions of health care burnout exist, physical or mental exhaustion and an unempathetic bedside manner are its enduring traits, said Randon Welton, Margaret Clark Morgan Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) in Rootstown.

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FOCUS | HEALTH CARE

Program puts Hospital in the Home MetroHealth launched technology-supported initiative during the pandemic

BY LYDIA COUTRÉ

In the past nearly two years, MetroHealth has treated more than 900 patients through its “Hospital in the Home” program, which aims to provide high-touch care for patients where they’re most comfortable, with the support of technology.

Envisioned long before the pandemic and formalized during the crisis, the program has proven to be an effective new way to deliver care for patients who are interested in that model and in cases when providers deem it appropriate.

“The hospital at home is taking care of patients at home at their convenience,” said Dr. Nabil Chehade, MetroHealth’s executive vice president, Chief Population and Digital Health. “We leverage technology as much as we can by monitoring the patient in the convenience of their home from a centralized location by

Chehade

Dalton

a nursing and provider teams, but also the hospital at home is ready to deploy resources to the patient home when needed.”

The health system has been working to build out the infrastructure to continue growing the capacity and reach of Hospital in the Home.

Michael Dalton, vice president of virtual care enterprise for MetroHealth, said it’s important for the system to be committed for the long term, because the census of hospital-level patients seeking care at

home may fluctuate over time.

“As a continuous improvement process, it’s really necessary to be able to bring in additional patients, build out your Dreher level of comfort and quality and safety that we have built into the program,” he said.

Most recently, MetroHealth’s move to become the majority holder of the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio (VNA of Ohio) serves the goal of long-term programmatic sustainability, Chehade said. The nonprofit home health, hospice and mental health care provider (a member of the Holmdel, New Jersey-based Visiting Nurse Association Health Group) serves 11 counties in Northeast Ohio.

I mentor Y.O.U. youth “because I want to continue to expose my relatively small field in aeronautics to passionate young people who I know are going to be the upcoming innovators and difference makers.”

The partnership dovetails with a waiver MetroHealth received last year from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver allows MetroHealth to provide a hospital level of care at home, which involves more complexity and a lot more protocol, including requiring in-person visits. MetroHealth’s move to expand its formal partnership with VNA of Ohio will support those efforts, Chehade said.

“One of the main drivers to accelerate that conversation with the VNA is because of what we want to expand in the Hospital in the Home program,” he said.

An accelerated launch Plans to offer hospital-level care to patients in the comfort of their homes had been in the works for several years, as had different aspects of the digital care options necessary to make it possible, such as some telehealth and virtual care services that were often offered from provider to provider or site to site, rather than into a patient’s home.

But the explosion of virtual care during the pandemic accelerated the launch of Hospital in the Home in early 2020. All but a handful of the more than 900 patients treated in the program since then have been COVID-19 patients.

MetroHealth leveraged an FCC grant that was made available due to COVID-19 to purchase iPads they could provide to patients. To address concerns about the digital divide and connectivity, the iPads were cellular, LTE-enabled with 24/7 video availability, and a centralized nursing team would check on the patient at least twice a day, Chehade said. A physician would check in once a day. Patients also had connected remote monitoring

devices to measure at home their blood pressure, heart rate and blood oxygen levels.

Providers could identify patients who would be eligible for the program and could participate if interested. These were lower-acuity patients who needed more attention or monitoring than quarantining on their own.

COVID-19 served as an effective initial condition for the model.

“Believe it or not, COVID is very predictable, which makes it relatively easy and amenable for this remote monitoring system, and easy to provide protocol for our nurses to escalate the care,” Chehade said.

Plus, it allowed patients to stay at home, avoid contact with others and free up space in the hospitals.

Ultimately, though, the goal is at least maintaining the level of quality, if not improving it.

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FOCUS | HEALTH CARE

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to it, and it’s the right acuity, fundamentally the reason you do it is it’s a better program,” said Dr. Nick Dreher, medical director of population health at MetroHealth.

cation and partnership with the payer, and then a demonstration to show this is creating value for your patient, for your member.”

The Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver from CMS requires that patients have all the services they’d have in a hospital accessible in Working with payers their home, from labs and imaging MetroHealth also has used its to social services and food.

“All the things that theoretically digital tools to create other tools beyond Hospital in the Home as well, are available at a community level including a program of virtual medical floor, you have to have be chronic disease management with theoretically available to your Hosremote patient monitoring, Dalton pital in the Home,” Dreher said.

Though these weren’t required said. In July, it launched a program for virtual maternity services that for the COVID patients treated thus uses remote patient monitoring for far, they will be for those treated and reimbursed under the waiver. high-risk pregnancy.

The system also partnered with The latest COVID surge delayed emocha Health, which offers a digi- MetroHealth getting that expansion tal medication management solu- started among the Medicare popution, for its video directly observed lation, but the system is ready to go, therapy to ensure patients are tak- Chehade said.

Beyond qualifying for the waiver, ing their suboxone without requirMetroHealth has added one coming a physical visit. mercial insurer to the program for their Medi“ALL THE THINGS THAT care products.

THEORETICALLY ARE AVAILABLE There is interest from AT A COMMUNITY LEVEL MEDICAL other commercial insurers, but they’re hesitant FLOOR, YOU HAVE TO HAVE BE without further data.

“Everyone’s interestTHEORETICALLY AVAILABLE TO ed, but most of them are YOUR HOSPITAL IN THE HOME.” afraid of it, because it’s an unknown,” Dreher — Dr. Nick Dreher, medical director of population health at MetroHealth said.

Chehade said that the As for its Hospital in the Home hope is to provide this alternative program, Dalton said the team has model of care at a lower cost, but identified a number of other use that remains to be seen at this cases for the program, such as exac- point.

“In the infancy of the program, erbations of chronic disease or onit might be a more costly care, but cological care.

Traditionally, there are six diag- as the program evolves, and you noses that hospital at home pro- refine your workflows, you refine grams use for eligibility, with varia- who is best suited for those protions, Dreher said: low-acuity heart grams, you gain efficiency in the failure, low-acuity emphysema, program, the intention is to bring low-acuity pneumonia, cellulitis, down the cost,” he said. “So if you certain types of infections of the can provide at least good quality if urinary tract and infections of not higher, if you have high patient satisfaction and if you bring bone.

Going forward, one thing that down the cost of health care, arwill be key is the ability to work with en’t those the things that you’re payers, Dalton said, “because some looking for for health in this counof this definitely kind of fluctuates try?” in terms of how they view that care and where we can deliver it. And so Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, it definitely takes some level of edu- (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre

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A stu

Students at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown being trained to use the Ventriloscope. | PHOTOS BY CHRIS SMANTO

BURNOUT

From Page 11

“There’s also a reduced sense of accomplishment, where the physician feels they have nothing of value to offer,” said Welton. “Resiliency is the ability to continue that day-today work. It shows up as enthusiasm, a sense that you value the people you work for and with, and that you feel you’re a valuable part of the organization.”

NEOMED is one of two Ohio hospitals to receive a total of $4.2 million in federal funding to improve health care retention. The funds, distributed through the Biden ad-

MENTAL HEALTH

From Page 10

More than a benefit Mental health has traditionally been thought of as a benefit strategy, but it really needs to be viewed through a workforce strategy lens, said Jennifer Hunter, founder of Emvitals, a mental health technology company.

“Employers are the largest purchasers of behavioral health care in the world,” Hunter said. “If we’re going to improve the standard of mental health care in terms of access, and if we’re ever going to get into a conversation not just about access but about quality, it’s employers who are going to really push that

ministration’s American Rescue Plan Act, are part of $103 million awarded nationwide to promote mental health in the workforce. Taking into special consideration the needs of rural and medically underserved communities, the program will assist health care organizations in efforts around wellness and resiliency.

Welton’s organization procured just over $2 million over the course of three years, money that will create partnerships and utilize local resources to help health care professionals respond to workplace stressors.

A program called “Healer’s Art,” for example, teaches students how to movement to the forefront.”

Employers are making significant investments in employee assistance programs and benefits like outpatient mental health care, she said, but they lack good data around the value that they’re getting for that investment — a gap that Emvitals aims to help fill.

Emvitals, founded in 2019, created a proactive outreach tool that invites users to check in on what it calls their emotional health vital signs through a root cause assessment of mental health symptoms. It asks about things such as stressful life events (not just the type, but the cumulative number), social determinants and protective factors (like sleep and social support) in order to be able to route individuals to the right level of care, Hunter said. The

Welton

Ricanati

find meaning in their work, creating a humanistic approach centered on introspection rather than simply diagnosing and prescribing.

“The value of what you do can be through poetry, journaling and storytelling,” Welton said. “It’s about finding the barriers to joy in your work,

Starr

Hunter

company serves more than 40 employers, supporting employees across the country.

Connecting users to care can offer great value to employers, Hunter said, noting that depression is one of the top reasons people go on shortterm disability.

She points to research from the Integrated Benefits Institute, which indicates that depression afflicts

and reflecting on what you can do about it.”

At University Hospitals, clinicians and other workers have a suite of wellness resources to choose from.

Dedicated meditation spaces, music therapy and seated massages all do their part in de-stressing busy employees, said Francoise Adan, whole health and well-being officer at University Hospitals.

Adan also knows these perks are only a start when it comes to fostering caregiver resiliency.

“They’re not a check mark, but something we’ll do more of, and better,” said Adan. “The team and resources that UH has put behind these efforts are only growing.” one in eight employees and is one of the costliest conditions for employers’ disability insurance policies, at $17 per employee, per year, compared with hyMcClendon pertension, diabetes and obesity, all of which are between $1 and $2 per employee, per year. Yet, the institute points out, fewer than one in 10 people are recommended for depression screenings.

There’s substantial opportunity for cost savings in employers' mental health care benefits, and many are beginning to take note of that, Hunter said. And beyond cost, there

Coming together in a crisis Interconnectedness and a sense of purpose are two vital aspects of health care suffering under COVID, said Ricanati of Case. Heightened isolation is leaving practitioners on their own, even when treating more patients who are coming into their care critically ill or dying.

To combat this issue, Case med school puts learners together in small groups, where they hone conflict-resolution skills and form irreplaceable bonds. Ideally, that social network will remain on call when individuals encounter any number of personal or professional difficulties. are concerns of presenteeism, absenteeism and productivity.

“Depression is the No. 1 disabler of work performance,” Hunter said.

“There is no health condition that disables a person’s ability to do their job more. It’s one month of lost productivity a year for a depressed employee, or five hours a week of lost productivity.”

Finding solutions Its “absolutely crucial” for employers to provide multiple options for mental health care to their employees, to meet their different needs, and from an equity point of view, McClendon said.

“In order to be able to actually get to a point where we have equality of mental health, we need to start from

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Nort

a pl peo nee them just eryo Th opti tion to-f ploy digi M get diffe pan thos be t are try t said mat

FOCUS | HEALTH CARE Modern medicine requires bystander training, where young physicians are able to effectively respond to a struggling peer. Stigma over mental health and suicide is a major hurdle for the medical community to overcome; Case tabbed a third-party mental health provider for students to access 24/7. Following the death of the Metro physician, the hospital system engaged grieving employees in conversations around depression, anxiety and other sensitive topics.

“IT’S AN UNBELIEVABLY IMPORTANT TIME FOR US TO DESIGN A SYSTEM THAT’S MORE HEALTHY FOR BOTH PATIENTS AND DOCTORS, SO WE DON’T HAVE TO TALK ABOUT RESILIENCE AND BURNOUT.” — Steven Ricanati, associate dean for students at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Ricanati said, “The community was very open and public about it. We utilized those discussions as a way to reflect on our community. How we could keep a closer eye on one another, and have a heightened sense of being a bystander when you see someone struggling. Just talking about suicide is a taboo for people who feel like they have to be superhuman.”

A deluge of COVID patients, some of whom may never leave the hospital, has left physicians with feelings of self-doubt, guilt and powerlessness. Painful as it is, new clinicians must reconcile themselves with what they deem failure, even in terms of losing patients under their watch.

“One positive to come out of this situation is a strong sense of purpose about who we are, and what we provide to society,” said Ricanati. “It’s an unbelievably important time for us to design a system that’s more healthy for both patients and doctors, so we don’t have to talk about resilience and burnout.”

NEOMED’s Welton said a feeling of common cause has become a primary resilience builder for the school.

“Working on a team means you won’t feel alone as you go through this,” Welton said. “The crisis is what pulled us together. We figured out how to do the work in a new way.”

A student at Northeast Ohio Medical University making a NEOvations presentation.

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Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Medicine students working in the school’s student-run free clinic.

a place of equity, meaning we give people what they need when they need it,” she said. “We sort of meet them where they’re at, rather than just offering one-size-fits-all to everyone.”

This means a range of different options, she said, including traditional mental health services, faceto-face and virtual care options, employee assistance programs and digital support services.

McClendon said it’s important to get information and solutions to the different populations within a company in a way that makes sense to those employees. Outreach needs to be targeted and intentional, so they are more likely to engage or at least try to understand their options, she said. For example, to provide information from a trusted source fo-

cused on specific needs, Big Health has created videos of mental health professionals from different racial and ethnic minority communities to talk about access barriers these different communities face, and unique impacts to their mental health.

With no one-size-fits-all solution, Starr said it’s important for employers to dig into their data to understand which populations may be needing additional services, where they’re located and whether they’re largely within the dependent or employee population. With that understanding, they can investigate services with the support of their insurance company or third-party administrator.

“I would check with my consultant and broker to say what are some

of the best practices in this space, and then I would go to some of the trend studies and go, 'OK, what are some other employer trends I’m seeing in this space?’” she said.

“From there, I would start to investigate clinically proven and supported solutions based on the audience and geography of where I need the additional support.”

McClendon also stressed the importance of evidence-based solutions, especially given the explosion of telehealth and other virtual care options. Employers may not always know how to vet the myriad digital mental health tools available right now, she said. It’s important to look for a culturally inclusive and responsive solution with clinical evidence and great outcomes.

“Digital therapeutics are starting

to really move into health care,” she said. “All of these different stakeholders are trying to figure out exactly how to make decisions and understand these digital resources.”

Employers are also trying to figure out how to navigate the new world of more hybrid and remote work while keeping mental health in mind, said Bobby Kaleal, owner of Health 360 and a performance coach there. He supports individuals’ mental, physical, nutritional and emotional health, and works with companies to offer workplace wellness solutions that address mental health.

“We’re seeing employers recognize that the state of their employees is different than before and that certain things need to be addressed differently than before,” he said.

Whatever solutions employers

settle on, the recognition of mental health care’s importance is growing among employers, Hunter said.

There’s a rapidly growing recognition that mental health care isn’t an aside to health, but central to it.

“Whether you’re a payer or you’re a health care system or you’re an employer, understanding that emotional health is core to health, I think we’ve seen just a rapid, rapid understanding of that — and demand,” she said. “Employers, as purchasers, are demanding that be at the core of their health care investments. So in that sense, the pandemic has really accelerated something that has been much needed for a very long time.”

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

FEBRUARY 14, 2022 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 15

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1/21/22 11:24 AM

DATA SCOOP

Bigger Minority-Owned Business Directory includes more ownership data

BY CHUCK SODER

This year’s Minority-Owned Business Directory includes more companies — and more details about who owns them.

The full Excel directory includes 173 Northeast Ohio-based companies and organizations, up from 133 last year. For almost every company, we also added majority owner names and list any organizations that certify them as minority-owned.

Thus, we figured it’s time to break down who owns what in the directory, but first, some housekeeping: The full directory, which includes even

the smallest companies, will run in the Book of Lists at the end of 2022, but Crain’s Data Members can get the Excel version now. The 25 largest employers in the directory also appear in a ranked list in this week’s print edition.

Now, here are a few ownership stats covering the 165 private-sector companies in the directory (which also includes eight nonprofits focused on minority issues).  Of those 165 companies, 117, or 70.9%, are Black-owned. They employ just over half of the 3,334 local employees working for companies in the directory.

 Thirty-one companies, 18.8%, are listed as Hispanic/Latino-owned, but they account for 37.4% of all directory employees, an outsized portion. Granted, that’s partly because those 31 companies includes Janitorial Services Inc. of Cuyahoga Heights. It’s in the No. 1 spot on the list, but most of its employees are part time.  The average company is 95.5% minority-owned. Only nine are listed as 51% minority-owned — the minimum threshold to make the directory. Five of those nine companies, however, are among the 25 largest employers in the directory.

 Companies aren’t required to be certified as minority-owned to be in the directory or on the ranked list in print. Still, 67% say they hold at least one certification — and some companies hold several. Most are from the state of Ohio, the city of Cleveland and other government entities, but several are from organizations like the National Minority Supplier Development Council.  The majority owner is listed as the company’s sole top executive for 35 of top 50 employers in the directory.

As for the other 15, seven list the majority owner as one of multiple top executives.

SEVEN HILLS

From Page 1

To the south, PulteGroup hopes to construct 147 townhouses on a partially wooded, 35-acre site. The houses, priced starting around $350,000, will serve as a buffer between commercial development along Rockside and existing single-family homes to the west.

Seven Hills, a community of about 11,500 people, has been talking about the Rockside land for more than a decade. Developers Louis Beck and Jeff Graef bought up much of the site in 2015 and ultimately cobbled together 54 acres. They’ve spent the intervening years trying to find the right project team — and project type.

Industrial Commercial Properties entered the picture last year, after Graef and Beck parted ways with Fairmount Properties, an Orange-based developer that explored buying the entire site. Now ICP and its frequent joint-venture partner, California-based Industrial Realty Group LLC, have a deal to buy the Rockside frontage for an undisclosed price.

And they’re setting an aggressive pace, with hopes of starting construction this year. Talks with prospective corporate tenants are driving that schedule, despite broad uncertainty about how the pandemic and the growth of remote work will impact long-term demand for office space.

“We’re rather bullish on the office market,” Chris Salata, ICP’s chief operating officer, said during a recent interview. “We think it’s going to come back. We think it’s going to come back — and it’s going to look different.”

The developers presented preliminary plans late Wednesday, Feb. 9, during a joint meeting of the city’s council and its planning commission. That discussion started what is likely to be a lengthy public process.

ICP is pitching its vision as a mixed-use district, where people will easily be able to walk between the apartments, offices, shops and restaurants. Fairmount had a similar vision for the site, but ICP has pared each of the components — shaving off about 100 apartments, trimming some office space and halving the amount of retail and dining.

The seven-story residential building, with four floors of apartments above three levels of parking, will be tucked into a hillside that slopes up sharply as the property runs south from Rockside. That design will save the developers money on site work

A rendering shows the proposed 240-unit apartment building, which will be built into a sloping hillside. The parking garage will be concealed by the grade change and liner units along the front. | DIMIT ARCHITECTS; ICP

A rendering shows a skyline view of downtown Cleveland from the pool deck at a planned apartment building in Seven Hills, at a mixed-use project along Rockside Road. | DIMIT ARCHITECTS; NEFF & ASSOCIATES; ICP

and let them hide the 547-space parking garage from view.

Ground-floor storefronts and liner apartments will mask the front of the structure. The apartment complex will include a pool deck, facing north toward the downtown Cleveland skyline.

“I think the combination of residential, retail and office will be a nice addition to the Rockside corridor, and a continuation of the investment that we’re seeing on the north side of

Rockside,” Mayor Anthony Biasiotta said during an interview.

He noted that ErieBank just opened a new regional headquarters on Rockside, immediately north of the 7Hills District site. Sweeping Corporation of America recently recommitted to the area. And Meijer opened a supercenter in the city last year, off Broadview Road.

Seven Hills is roughing out a development agreement with ICP and Pulte, which plans to build its town-

homes on lots developed by Graef, Beck and Doug Krause of Hinckley-based Carrington Homes.

Biasiotta said that the city is talking to ICP about potential incentives for its portion of the project. Those conversations include tax-increment financing, an arrangement that would plow new property-tax revenues from the development back into the project, to help finance infrastructure work.

The Parma City School District will

The number of total Northeast Ohioans employed by companies in the directory increased by 2.9% if you include Janitorial Services Inc., which has an outsized impact given its size and the fact that it reports fulltime equivalent employment (others on the list report full-time employees only). Without JSI, employment fell by 1.3%.

Of course, the directory is by no means complete. Visit bit.ly/ crains-minority-owned to submit your company if you haven’t already.

Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com, (216) 771-5374, @ChuckSoder have to approve any tax-increment financing deal.

“When the office building is built … we stand ready to work with future tenants through income-tax rebates and other potential vehicles,” the mayor said.

During the public meeting Wednesday, officials seemed enthusiastic about the plans. A few council members raised concerns about the townhouses, though, saying that neighbors would prefer single-family homes, instead.

Jim O’Connor, Pulte’s regional director of planning, said the publicly traded homebuilder believes the location and the style of homes will appeal to young professionals and older residents who want access to recreation, dining and entertainment — without the responsibility of a large yard.

“This will attract what we call the urban suburbanite,” he said.

Nearly a third of the townhouses will have the main bedroom on the first floor, making them accessible to buyers hoping to age in place. At 2,625 to 2,780 square feet, those homes will be priced starting in the low $400,000s, O’Connor said.

The other townhouses, without a first-floor bedroom, will be 1,800 to 2,800 square feet. If city officials sign off, Pulte expects to build the townhouses in three phases over three years.

Graef and Beck will hang onto a few lots at the western edge of the site, along Crossview Drive, where they still could construct a handful of single-family homes.

After fits and starts, Graef seems confident that ICP can get dirt moving in Seven Hills.

“The city has looked at this site for years,” Salata said. “They’ve been through multiple iterations. We don’t kick a lot of tires. When we put something under contract, we execute.”

Elsewhere in Northeast Ohio, the company is transforming the long-suffering City View Center shopping center in Garfield Heights into a business park, reimagining land where the Geauga Lake amusement park once stood and chasing a slew of industrial real estate deals.

With Industrial Realty Group, its 50% partner on the Seven Hills deal, ICP is planning for the future of the I-X Center, the sprawling Cleveland venue that the companies took control of last year.

“We’re excited to have them on board,” Graef said. “They’ve got good capacity to get a project of this magnitude done.”

Michelle Jarboe: michelle.jarboe@ crain.com, (216) 771-5437, @mjarboe

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

COMPANY

LOCAL FT STAFF 1-1-2022 1-YEAR CHANGE

DESCRIPTION

% OWNED BY MINORITIES/ ORGANIZATIONS CERTIFYING COMPANY IS MINORITY OWNED

MAJORITY OWNER(S)

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE(S)

1

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

750 1 20%

Janitorial services company

100% Hispanic/Latino NMSDC, state of Ohio

Ronald Martinez Jr., president

Ronald Martinez Jr., president

2

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

270 -3.2%

Commercial bakers

100% Black/African American NMSDC

Tilmon F. Brown, chairman

Trina J. Bediako, CEO

3

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

229 0%

Distributor of food, paper and beverage products

100% Black/African American —

Warren E. Anderson, chairman, CEO

Warren E. Anderson, chairman, CEO

4

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

165 26.9%

Medical practice specializing in medical, surgical and aesthetic dermatology

100% Hispanic/Latino None

Jorge Garcia-Zuazaga, president, CEO

Jorge Garcia-Zuazaga, president, CEO

5

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

131 -11.5%

Commercial laundry primarily serving the health care industry

75% Black/African American; 2.9% Middle Eastern/North African; 2.9% Asian; 2.2% Hispanic/Latino None

Employee owned

John McMicken, CEO Craig Forgea, chief operating officer

6

ULLMAN ELECTRIC & TECHNOLOGIES CO. 3901 Chester Ave., Suite B, Cleveland 216-432-5777/ullmanelectric.com

130 -12.8%

Electrical subcontractor providing services to general contractors and owners

51% Asian City of Cleveland

Suzanne Ullman, president

Ron H. Ullman, chief operating officer

7

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

99 -29.3%

3PL provider of warehousing, distribution and ecommerce fulfillment

100% Black/African American NMSDC

Andre Thornton, owner, CEO

Andre Thornton, owner, CEO

8

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

95 -13.6%

Tooling and metal stamping company

100% Hispanic/Latino NMSDC

Liliana Chahda, vice president, CFO

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

9

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

90 0%

Erectors of miscellaneous, structural, ornamental and architectural metals and steel

100% Native American City of Cleveland, state of Ohio

Chester M. Mull Jr., president William Mull, vice president

Chester M. Mull Jr., president

10

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

85 34.9%

Plastics injection molder, foam 100% Black/African American and rubber distributor NMSDC, state of Ohio

Darrell L. McNair, president, CEO

Darrell L. McNair, president, CEO

11

TECH READY MIX INC. 5000 Crayton Ave., Cleveland 216-361-5000/techreadymix.com

75 0%

Concrete ready mix producer, construction services

Mark F. Perkins, president

Mark F. Perkins, president

12

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

72 14.3%

Provider of security personnel, 100% Black/African American security systems, safety City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, training and investigations NEORSD

Anita L. Spencer, president, owner

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

13

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

50 19%

Construction management, commercial waterproofing and general contracting company

Ariane B. Kirkpatrick, president, CEO

Ariane B. Kirkpatrick, president, CEO

13

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

50 0%

Technology solutions provider 100% Black/African American None

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

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

15

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

47 4.4%

Immigration, deportation and criminal law firm

100% Asian None

Margaret W. Wong, president, managing partner

Margaret W. Wong, president, managing partner

16

STEVENS DELIVERY SYSTEMS INC. (SDS DELIVERY SERVICES) 12400 Plaza Drive, Parma 440-857-0800/stevensdeliverysystems.com

45 -30.8%

Delivery company serving Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan

100% Black/African American City of Cleveland, state of Ohio

Margaret Stevens, vice president

Mark Stevens, president

17

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

40 0%

Intellectual property law firm

52% Asian Supplier Clearinghouse

Himanshu Amin, managing partner

Himanshu Amin, managing partner

17

NORTH ELECTRIC INC. 12117 Bennington Ave., Cleveland 216-331-4141/northelecinc.com

40 0%

Electrical contractor

100% Latino/Hispanic City of Cleveland, state of Ohio

Jose Rivera, president

Jose Rivera, president

17

ROCK HOMES INC. (FOX ENTERPRISE SERVICES) 7630 Freedom Ave. N.W., North Canton 330-497-5200/foxenterpriseservices.com

40 14.3%

Commercial roofing, sheet metal and rough carpentry

51% Hispanic State of Ohio

Delilah J. Volpe, CFO

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

20

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

38 8.6%

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

100% Black/African American City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, state of Ohio

Keith L. Rogers, owner

Keith L. Rogers, owner

21

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

37 5.7%

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

51% Black/African American NMSDC

Richard Wall, CEO

Richard Wall, CEO

22

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

35 9.4%

Real estate sales, leasing, management and consulting

100% Black/African American State of Ohio

Akil S. Hameed, CEO, owner

Akil S. Hameed, CEO, owner

23

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

33 0%

Provider of online education, apps and productivity tools for manufacturers

100% Asian NMSDC

Senthil Kumar, founder

Senthil Kumar, founder

24

M. RIVERA CONSTRUCTION CO. 4301 Train Ave., Cleveland 216-523-8050/mriveraconstruction.com

30 20%

Selective interior demolition and asbestos abatement provider

100% Hispanic/Latino City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, state of Ohio

Jennifer Toth, president

Jennifer Toth, president

25

MCTECH CORP. 8100 Grand Ave., Cleveland 216-391-7700/mctech360.com

28 0%

General contractor and construction manager

51% Black/African American City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, NEORSD, others

Mark F. Perkins, CEO and sales

Mark F. Perkins, CEO and sales

51% Black/African American City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, state of Ohio, NEORSD, others

100% Black/African American —

Research by Chuck Soder (csoder@crain.com) | Information is from the companies. To be listed, companies must be at least 51% minority owned and headquartered in Northeast Ohio. Crain's does not require that companies be certified as minority-owned businesses; companies that submitted certification information were not required to provided documentation. Should your organization require documentation please request it before doing business with a listed company. NMSDC stands for National Minority Supplier Development Council. NEORSD stands for Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. NOTES: 1. Full-time equivalent; most JSI employees are part time.

Get 173 minority-owned companies in the full directory in Excel format. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data 18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | FEBRUARY 14, 2022

P018_CL_20220214.indd 18

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EVENTS

From Page 1

The national Live Events Coalition trade group is continuing to push Congress for some targeted federal aid for this sector. But whether its efforts yield any money is anyone’s guess.

There remain “many hurdles to jump through,” said LEC chair of government affairs Dwayne Thomas, who also runs Greenlight Creative, a lighting provider for live events in Portland, Oregon.

After all, lawmakers’ political interests just aren’t that focused on this expansive cadre of small-business operators that encompasses venue promoters, trade show producers and all that live events entail, from marketing to production of light and sound.

This may be in part due to industries like restaurants and music venues being more visible and understood by the public at large.

The LEC is also young itself — formed during COVID like the National Independent Venue Association — and competing for attention among myriad other trade groups.

That includes the influential, 103-year-old National Restaurant Association, which continues to call on Congress to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

In pre-COVID times, the live events industry represented an estimated 1 million businesses, 12 million employees and an economic impact of approximately $1 trillion, according to LEC.

Attendees look around at the 2020 Cleveland Boat Show. The event was canceled in 2021 because of the pandemic. | CONTRIBUTED

“So how do you characterize where the industry stands? Well, Omicron is killing us,” Thomas said. “Members have sold their businesses, their fleets and other assets. … We are in debt now. Most of us multiplied debt five to 10 times in this thing. We are asking Congress to give us something, not just to keep the doors open but to start to relieve some of this damn debt.”

For LEMTA, SVOG money would’ve gone quite a long way in supporting business operations over a couple down years as live events were stopped during surges of COVID-19. The grant would’ve also positioned LEMTA to capitalize on other event opportunities as those came back up.

However, the SBA said LEMTA was not eligible for the SVOG program, according to a rejection letter. This comes despite LEMTA producing a number of “experiential events” annually featuring vendors, live music and activities, Burke said.

Burke’s attorney (and husband), Joseph Burke, appealed the rejection to no avail. Joseph Burke argues that, to his and Michelle’s frustration, the SBA was changing eligibility rules on the fly. Contending that LEMTA should’ve qualified for the money as a live venue promoter, Joseph Burke continues to “weigh options” to get that money — which could possibly include the steep uphill battle of suing the SBA. “We showed an eligibility matrix

for each show, annotated with evidence. The point is, we met all the eligibility requirements without question,” Joseph Burke asserts. “After the fact, they come up with different reasons that contradict written decisions denying our appeal. It seems to me like a moving shell game here.

I’m just so certain we qualified for this, which is why I’m not letting it go.”

More than $13.6 billion was awarded to nearly 13,000 SVOG applicants through 2021, with $386 million disbursed in Ohio.

But for small businesses reliant on live events that are feeling excluded from economic relief, like LEMTA, a targeted award program could have a huge impact.

Joan Gaudion McKinney, president of Aurora Exhibit Solutions Inc. in Columbus, a provider of “branded environments” for trade shows as well as branding and marketing strategies for live events, said amid COVID she had to take on debt she tries so hard to avoid and has rarely needed. Her business was established in 1994.

Revenue sank 90% for Aurora amid COVID. About half of it has come back so far, and more events are being booked for later in 2022. But there’s still a hole left by the economic gut punch of COVID. While some SBA programs have helped sustain the company — including the Paycheck Protection Program and a $100,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan — some targeted economic relief would help the business hire additional staff and pay off some of the debt accrued to make ends meet during the downturn in business.

For Gaudion McKinney, the COVID situation is reminiscent of the aftershocks of Sept. 11, 2001, after which live events were put on hold. She said it took her 11 years to get back to prior profitability and climb out of debt — and she is dreading having to climb out of debt once again.

“We really are feeling overlooked right now,” she said. “That is why we are so thrilled the LEC formed. We never had a trade group before. And it will live on beyond the pandemic, because it is creating awareness of the economic impact of this industry.”

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

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Register the business Location and business structure determine how a business needs to be registered. In most cases, it is as simple as registering the business name with the state and local government.

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Apply for an employer identification number (EIN) Once the business has a legal name and has been officially formed as an LLC or S Corporation, the business owner will need to apply for an employer identification number (EIN). The prior two steps need to be completed first to avoid any need to re-file, as the IRS will ask for the business formation date and the legal business name as approved by the state. It is recommended, and often required, to have an EIN when opening a business bank account, hiring employees or attempting to build

Open a business bank account Utilizing a business bank account provides additional personal liability protection and helps a business remain legally compliant. A business bank account also offers an additional sense of professionalism since customers will be able to make payments to the business rather than the individual business owner. An important added benefit is establishing a credit history for the business, which can be used in case of emergency to build inventory or for large equipment purchases. As mentioned before, a federal EIN will be necessary for this step.

Helping minority entrepreneurs overcome these hurdles and become success stories is what inspired the creation of Apple Growth Partners’ (AGP) IMPACT team. IMPACT’s advisors can help transition side hustles into an established business without the headache.

This advertising-supported section/feature is produced by Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business. The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain’s Content Studio content.

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GOVERNMENT

Cuyahoga County provides platform to local businesses for NBA All-Star week

BY KIM PALMER

Estimates are that the NBA’s AllStar Game celebration in Cleveland will bring in a total of somewhere around $100 million in outside spending to the region.

Spending by players, celebrities and their entourages will definitely flow to downtown hotels and restaurants, but Cuyahoga County officials are hoping to spread that out a bit to some of the area’s smaller businesses — the ones with little or no budgets for marketing services and products.

“I was thinking about how we (Cuyahoga County) could do something to help those smaller businesses with little or no way to get the word out,” explains Tyler Sinclair, a communications employee with Cuyahoga County.

Playing off the success of other regional organizations’ influential use of social media to garner national attention — consider the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s snarky back-and-forth with New York City last year — Sinclair came up with the “All-Star Business Week.”

In the week leading up to and during the main event, the NBA AllStar Game on Sunday, Feb. 20, Cuyahoga County’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social media feeds,

ALL-STAR

From Page 1

Soon after landing the event, Destination Cleveland and the sports commission partnered with the city, the Cavaliers, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and other local groups on a Local Organizing Committee, whose goal was to maximize the event’s impact, particularly within Cleveland’s neighborhoods and minority-owned businesses.

They came up with more than a dozen diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, including the following: A supplier diversity forum held on Sept. 30, 2021, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The event, hosted by the Cavs and the NBA, included 25 Black- and minority-owned businesses that interacted with 30 NBA buyers, partners and team members in categories such as transportation, event production, security, graphics, printing, promotional items, catering, IT networking support, tenting, fencing and staffing.

Of those, between 12 and 15 were contracted to supply work for All-Star Weekend at a follow-up match-making event on Nov. 11.

The NBA Rewards app.

The app is the NBA’s primary portal for information, ticketing and engagement with consumers during the NBA All-Star Game. It includes 191 Cuyahoga County businesses, including 73% that are at least co-owned by one or more members of a diverse category. Of those, 49% are minority-owned (Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American or Arab American), 49% are female-owned, 5% are LGBTQ-owned and 4% are veteran-owned.

nounced, Sinclair said.

“I was getting emails all night, at all hours — it was incredibly encouraging. There were some businesses that I had not even heard of,” Sinclair said.

Ivy Williams and Zenobia Sheets, the founding partners of Heights Esthetics, were quick to jump on the idea of both catering to the All-Star visitors and using social media to build up a customer base after seeing a program flyer on Instagram.

The group of recent business own“THE IDEA IS TO PUT OUT THESE PITCHES ers opened the day FROM LOCAL OWNERS AND EMPLOYEES spa located in Cleveland Heights ON WHY THESE FANS, OR EVEN NBA in April.

ALL-STARS THEMSELVES, SHOULD VISIT They have had to be creative and THEIR BUSINESSES WHILE IN TOWN.” flexible, staying — Tyler Sinclair, a communications open from 7 a.m. to employee with Cuyahoga County 7 p.m. seven days a week for appointThe plan came to Sinclair as an ments or walk-ins, to build a up clieasy way to promote businesses that entele during the COVID-19 case provide services and goods visitors spikes.

The fledgling spa provides an armay want, especially in hard-hit industries shut down temporarily ray of services, including a variety of facial, massage, wax, makeup, during the pandemic.

The idea was so popular that with- eyelash and beard treatment serin two days, there were 70 submis- vices, some of which Sheets said sions for the weeklong promotion might be relatively new to the area with the county, 40 of which came in but are common in larger cities like less than 24 hours after it was first an- Los Angeles and New York City — which have more than 65,000 current followers, will host and amplify a list of businesses so that NBA fans can discover where to get everything from a massage or haircut to authentic barbecue.

“The idea is to put out these pitches from local owners and employees on why these fans, or even NBA AllStars themselves, should visit their businesses while in town,” Sinclair said.

From left: Heights Esthetics co-owner Zenobia Sheets, lash tech Cierra Hancock and co-owner Ivy Williams. The day spa opened in Cleveland Heights in April. | CONTRIBUTED

and of course, because it is Cleveland, all available for an affordable price.

“We have a joint All-Star and Valentine’s Day weekend package for $120,” Sheets said. “And if we have to extend our hours, we will. We are very accommodating — if you need a service, like a massage, before your flight out of town, we can do that.”

As a relatively new business, the salon relies heavily on both word-ofmouth and a well-visited Instagram page to bring in new clients, so partnering with the county was a logical fit, Sheets said.

The business has also benefited from clients looking to patronize

both a women-owned and a Blackowned business, something she thinks will be important to All-Star visitors as well.

This year’s All-Star Game, part of the league’s 75th anniversary, features a number of programs that highlight Black businesses and issues.

Cleveland is hosting the inaugural NBA HBCU Classic, with a game between Morgan State and Howard University on Saturday, Feb. 19, at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center.

“It turns out that people want to go to local, Black-owned businesses and will do a Google search looking for

The Real Black Friday business expo, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19, at Tower City.

The free community event will feature more than 100 local businesses and is designed to “bring awareness to and create immediate financial impact for Black-owned businesses.”

Taste of Black Cleveland, held Feb. 12 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The event featured local Blackowned restaurants, caterers and mixologists.

The Cleveland Power of Sport Summit, which will be held Feb. 18-19 at the Cleveland Metropolitan Conference Center.

The free event will showcase local and national organizations that are addressing topics such as adaptive sports, gender equity, LGBTQIA+ athlete advocacy, racial equity and more.

Other DEI initiatives include informational webinars, networking events, youth programs, performing arts contests and social impact events.

“The NBA really has made this (DEI) a big priority,” Gilbert said.

“Not that other events haven’t also made it a priority, but the NBA has really made an outsized effort in this area. And if we’re working at it from both sides, the worker side and the event owner side, it makes it that much easier and that much more impactful.”

Chardonnay Graham is the owner and creative director of Touch Cleveland, a full-service marketing and public relations firm in the city. The NBA contracted her firm to manage some of the local PR work around AllStar Weekend, providing a boost for her company while also giving Touch Cleveland the chance to help other area businesses through initiatives

Cleveland is hosting the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 20 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

| ANTHONY GRAY/COURTESY

20 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | FEBRUARY 14, 2022

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Barry’s Barber Shop owner Barry Cook and barber Vinny Livdur. Cook said about 20% of his customers come via social media, mostly Facebook and Instagram. | CONTRIBUTED

that,” Williams said.

Barry Cook Jr., owner of Barry’s Barbershop, saw the social media offer from the county on Facebook and also thought it might be a good way to drive more traffic to some of his new, younger employees.

Cook said about 20% of his customers come via social media, mostly Facebook and Instagram, and he was planning on promoting his shop to take advantage of the thousands of visitors expected to come for the AllStar Game.

“I was going to throw an ad on Google to bring in more of the people who will be in town, but to be honest, I wasn’t planning anything much

more,” Cook said.

The services at the shop that Cook took over two years ago from his father, who opened it in 1998, are less cosmopolitan and more a short list of old-school barber offerings of haircuts and beard trims.

The appeal for his clients, who range from blue-collar workers to lawyers, Cook said, is the camaraderie in his place, which is stuffed with antiques and where big band music, Frank Sinatra and Count Basie dominate the playlist.

As far as what he hopes might come from the partnership with the county, Cook said he would like it if he could get some of the All-Star visilike the NBA Rewards app.

“It’s really our mission to help provide resources to small businesses,” she said.

“We try to make sure that minority-owned businesses are signed up for these opportunities. Exposure is the best PR I think you can get. You hope people take Gilbert advantage of the (DEI) opportunities to forge relationships and build their business.”

Peg Walsh is the president of Cleveland-based Copy King, which is providing various printing projects for All-Star Weekend.

She said the outreach events translated into actu- Graham al business for her company, as well as others owned by women and minorities.

“We are truly appreciative of David Gilbert’s focus on maximizing opportunities for female and minority owned businesses,” she wrote in an email. “The thoughtful and purpose-

tors to just walk in the door. “If they come in, they will have a good time just sitting around and talking,” Cook said.

When pressed, Cook said that he might hold out some hope that Serbian-born Nikola Jokic, from the Denver Nuggets, might want to stop by for a haircut or a conversation with his Serbian brother-in-law or any of his other Serbian customers.

“If Jokic came here, people would go crazy,” Cook added.

Williams and Sheets said they do not have a wish list of NBA players or celebrities they hope will book a service with them over the All-Star week, but they did mention that they have the best eyelash game in town and provide a mobile service for a small fee.

“We are only 10 minutes from downtown, but for a celebrity who does not want to leave the city, they can book us to come out to their location,” Sheets said.

Sinclair is hoping that these companies see some more traffic from the visibility of the county’s verified social media accounts, and whether or not he gets to use Twitter to call out former Chicago Bulls player Joakim Noah’s recent half-hearted endorsement of Cleveland hosting the All-Star Weekend remains to be seen.

“I haven’t been given permission to use the Twitter account for that yet,” he said.

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

NEW IN CHARGE: Diebold Nixdorf Inc. is getting a new CEO. The Hudson-based maker of automated teller machines, financial services software and other products for connected commerce on Thursday, Feb. 10, announced that it named Octavio Marquez as president and chief executive, effective March 11.

Current CEO Gerrard Schmid will remain a member of the board until his current term expires at the 2022 annual shareholder meeting. He then will serve as an adviser to the company “to help ensure a seamless transition,” Diebold Nixdorf said. Marquez also will join Diebold Nixdorf’s board. Schmid became CEO in February 2018. Marquez, currently executive vice president of global banking, joined Diebold Nixdorf in January 2014 and has held multiple leadership roles during his time at the company.

LUXURY RENTALS: The 227 apartments planned at the Tower at Erieview will bear the W name — the first rentals to fly that high-end hospitality flag. The lower floors of the 40-story downtown Cleveland office tower already are slated to become a W hotel, under a deal announced last fall by Marriott International Inc. and members of the Kassouf family, the building’s owners. Now that lofty repositioning will extend to the living spaces upstairs, where tenants will have access to in-room dining, cleaning, laundry services and other amenities. Representatives for Marriott and the Kassoufs confirmed this week that the parties have inked a licensing deal, marking the hospitality giant’s entrée into the apartment market. Existing W Residences are for-sale products — luxury condos and vacation properties with fractional ownership structures. Across its stable of brands, Marriott had close to 190 such projects open or under development globally, as of early this year.

on the outskirts of Severance Town Center. The Severance Medical Arts Building changed hands Feb. 3, after hitting the auction block late last year. Public records identify the new owner as a limited liability company tied to Dr. Vikas Ghai, a hematologist-oncologist based in Bakersfield, California. Ghai did not respond to inquiries about the purchase, a potential redevelopment play.

The nearly 99,000-square-foot building is only 37% occupied, according to the auction listing on the Ten-X website. The structure sits on a 5.65acre parcel zoned for mixed-use development, including office, retail and residential uses. “Ultimately, I think it’s going to be a good opportunity to see some revinvestment and redevelopment of a key property at a key site for the city,” said Brian Anderson, business development manager for the East Side inner-ring suburb.

WILD RIDE: Peloton Interactive Inc. is cutting jobs, changing its CEO and abandoning plans to build a factory near Toledo. The company on Tuesday, Feb. 8, said it’s “winding down the development of its Peloton Output Park (POP) manufacturing plan,” a 1 million-square-foot plant intended for Wood County. Peloton said ending the Toledo project “will result in $60 million in restructuring capital expenses.” JobsOhio, the state’s nonprofit economic development arm, previously announced $50 million in grants to Peloton as part of an agreement that promised nearly 2,200 jobs with a payroll of about $130 million. The company said in Tuesday’s statement that it will rely on third-party suppliers instead of building its own high-tech exercise bikes at the Toledo-area plant, which was to open in 2023.

Peloton plans to finish external construction of the factory and then sell the building and land.

Peloton also announced CEO John Foley will step down and become executive chairman. It will cut about 2,800 jobs globally, affecting around 20% of corporate positions.

Of course, there are limits. Not every Cleveland-area business or supplier landed a contract with the NBA. Not every minority-owned business will benefit from the All-Star Game, either this weekend or in the months ahead.

“There’s always someone who is going to feel left out,” PRESCRIPTION FOR THE BUILDGraham said. “There is alING: A California physician has ways more than can be done. paid $1.08 million for a medical ofBut for the people involved, fice building in Cleveland Heights, there is a lot of excitement.”

Gilbert’s goal for every C R A I N ’ S C L E V E L A N D B U S I N E S S | S E P T E M B E R 3 - 9 , 2 018 | PA G E 2 9 event — whether it’s a major one like the 2019 MLB AllStar Game or a smaller one Advertising Section like the upcoming USA Boxing National Qualifier — is for Cleveland to outshine all previous hosts.

But he doesn’t just want to measure success by how many people attend or how much money is spent over a three-day period. That’s why To place your listing in Crain’s Cleveland Classifieds, events like the Cleveland Power of Sport Summit are so important, he contact Ainsley Burgess at 313-446-0455 said. They allow “IT TAKES EXTRA TIME AND RESOURCES Cleveland to shine a spotlight on importor email ainsley.burgess@crain.com FOR SURE, BUT IN THE END IT’S SO ant themes like genWELL WORTH IT BECAUSE EVENTS LIKE der equity and racial equality and athlete THIS LEAVE A LONGER-LASTING advocacy, making a difference that can FOOTPRINT ON OUR CITY THAN THEY last for years.

DO IT IN OTHER CITIES.” “What we think we do as well or better — David Gilbert, Destination Cleveland CEO than any city in the ful outreach to all organizations truly country is use those events to elevate BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY makes sure everyone has an oppor- those kinds of issues,” he said. “It tunity to provide high-quality ser- takes extra time and resources for sure, but in the end it’s so well worth vices and products.

We at Griffin Moor are seeking a business in the Corrugated Box “Out-of-town vendors could have it because events like this leave a lonindustry to acquire been used to satisfy business needs ger-lasting footprint on our city than within the Midwest. for this event; however, Cleveland they do it in other cities.”

Please contact us and Mr. Gilbert have leveraged this and reference opportunity to increase opportuni- Joe Scalzo: joe.scalzo@crain.com, mandate AD344 ties for Cleveland businesses.”

(216) 771-5256, @JoeScalzo01

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Nick Dunlop has joined Key Private Bank as Vice President, Director of Sales & Strategy, holding responsibility for the national collaboration efforts between Key Private Bank and KeyBank’s Business and Commercial Bank lines of business. Prior to this new role, Nick held various positions within Key Private Bank, as well as KeyBank’s consumer network.

Judson Senior Living is pleased to announce that Jim Barnes has been promoted to Vice President of Judson Park. Previously, Jim was Director of Social Services. In his new role, Jim oversees campus operations, services, and programs. Jim has extensive and varied experience in customer-centric organizations within the not-for-profit sector, focusing on a customized approach to healthcare. Jim holds a Master of Social Work with an administrative concentration from Ohio University.

Todd Behrens, Intellectual Property Partner, is a registered patent attorney advising clients in patent procurement/ strategic patent portfolio development spanning various technologies, including autonomous vehicles, software design, wireless technologies, sensor systems, computer hardware, web-based innovations, communication protocols, networking, digital signal processing, analog/digital circuit design, semiconductors, industrial automation systems, electronics, medical/mechanical devices.

CONSULTING

Jefferson Wells Jefferson Wells is pleased to welcome Chris Millen to our leadership team as Director, Client Strategy and Services.

Chris has joined to lead the development of client relationships in Northeast Ohio.

Throughout his career, Chris has served finance and accounting, internal audit and tax leaders with consulting, staffing and permanent placement services.

Chris is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

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orthobrain® Andrew Fligor was promoted to Senior Vice President, Technology and Strategic Operations.

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Judson Senior Living Judson Senior Living is pleased to announce Dianna Huckestein as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Dianna is a progressive and innovative marketing executive with 25+ years of strategic orientation, a broad business perspective, and has extensive diversified experience in customer-centered organizations.

Dianna oversees consumer engagement, marketing, and communication strategies. She received her Master’s degree in Health Care Administration from Central Michigan University.

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Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP Mike Medley, Intellectual Property Partner, is a registered patent attorney counseling clients on dynamic areas of patent law across many technologies, e.g., computer software (AI, control systems, search engines, electronic advertising, electronic health record systems), lidar/radar systems, renewable energy systems, wireless communication tech, robotics, X-ray systems, heating/cooling systems, programmable logic controllers, nuclear power systems, perception systems in autonomous vehicles.

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Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP

Frantz Ward is pleased to announce Richard C. Humiston joins the firm as Of Counsel in its Business Law Practice group. With over twelve years of experience, Rick concentrates his practice on estate planning and probate administration, representing clients with varying levels of wealth and planning needs. He earned his J.D. from ClevelandMarshall College of Law and his B.S. from the University of Arizona.

Jason Rothman joined Calfee as an Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group Partner.

Jason advises publicly traded companies, closely held businesses and nonprofit organizations on all aspects of qualified and nonqualified employee benefit plans, executive compensation plans, health and welfare plans, employment agreements and other related legal and compliance issues.

22 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | FEBRUARY 14, 2022

LAW

Taft Law Taft is pleased to announce that Will Doyle has been elected to partner. Will is a member of the commercial litigation and intellectual property groups.

He advises and defends clients across diverse industries including private equity, real estate, manufacturing, healthcare, and higher education, to help them protect their business interests and position themselves for growth.

He earned his J.D. in 2013 from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

LAW

Taft Law Chris Mykytiak has joined Taft as Of Counsel in the Real Estate Group. He counsels clients on all aspects of real estate acquisitions, dispositions, development, leasing, investments, and financings. He advises clients on complex commercial, infrastructure, retail, hospitality, and mixed-use real estate transactions across multiple jurisdictions. Chris earned his J.D. in 2009 from the University of Michigan Law School. He graduated from Michigan State University with two bachelor of arts degrees.

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Taft Law Taft is pleased to announce that Eugene Roytberg has been elected to partner.

Eugene focuses his practice on commercial finance, mergers and acquisitions, and joint venture transactions. He represents private equity portfolio companies and privately held companies in the structuring, negotiation, and documentation of various transactions. He earned a B.S., summa cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University, and a J.D. in 2011, cum laude, from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

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Taft Law Michael De Matteis has joined Taft as an associate in the Business Practice Group primarily focusing on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and general corporate counseling. He advises clients on deal negotiation, structuring, and documentation, and on corporate governance matters.

Michael earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Akron School of Law in 2017, and holds an M.B.A. in Management from the University of Akron College of Business.

LAW

KJK KJK is pleased to announce two firm promotions. Alex Jones has been promoted to Partner.

Alex is a valuable Jones member of KJK’s Corporate, eCommerce and Intellectual Property groups.

Within the Corporate team, Alex focuses on mergers and acquisitions, assisting companies as they expand and grow their businesses through acquisitions and providing guidance in the sale of their businesses. Janet Scalley Stewart Scalley has also been elevated to Partner. She handles some of KJK’s most procedurally and emotionally challenging civil litigation, including complex commercial litigation and domestic relations and family law.

She guides clients in Northeast Ohio through what are often emotionally-charged legal matters, including divorce, child custody and more.

LAW

Walter | Haverfield Matt Golish brings more than 20 years of litigation experience to Walter | Haverfield. He regularly represents clients in the areas of commercial litigation, employment litigation, insurance and white-collar criminal matters.

Matt has litigated high-profile and complex civil matters, including wrongful death, catastrophic injury cases, and “Bet-the-Company” litigation in Ohio and nationwide.

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