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To make a more accessible additive manufacturing product, JuggerBot focused on the materials customers could use. JuggerBot’s products are designed to run more functional, performance materials rather than those typically used for prototypes, Fernback said. ey also run third-party materials, which means customers aren’t bound to a particular seller for their raw materials.
e P3-44 will take that approach even further. Customers won’t have to use laments as the raw material, as is typical for 3D printers.
Instead, they will be able to use thermoplastic pellets, which they may already use in other applications.
TURNCAP From Page 3
expansion is getting too long in the tooth to continue much longer — is just another factor behind why launching TurnCap now makes so much sense.
And that’s despite some headwinds a business like this would face, such as the falling interest rate environment that could challenge a fund’s ability to achieve strong returns. Some groups, like bond investors, expect the Federal Reserve to drop rates further this year in response to global economic challenges.
“It’s very appropriate right now, with what’s happening in the stock market and economy. We de nitely feel we are a little long in the cycle,” Pinney said. “We think there will be some distressed opportunities and (TurnCap’s product) will be in high demand.” JuggerBot 3D co-founders Zac DiVencenzo, left, and Dan Fernback. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
In addition, Fernback said the P3- 44 is faster than traditional 3D printers: about 200 times faster, he estimated. Larger pellet extruders can print products even faster, but JuggerBot is aiming to scale that down for a less expensive machine. With the P3-44, customers will be able to print products that are 3 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 4 feet long.
And JuggerBot plans to keep growing. In 2020, Fernback said, JuggerBot intends to build out its national sales network, with a goal of expanding distribution support for its customers outside the local region in 2021.
Ultimately, the company wants to serve as the “premier 3D printing partner for manufacturers,” he said. at will mean adding more products and more technology o erings to the Youngstown-based company’s portfolio.
Rachel Abbey McCa erty: (216) 771- 5379, rmcca erty@crain.comW
Doyle
Hu man
e fund duration should be about three to ve years. Even if a recession doesn’t immediately set in, the odds of that eventually happening increase with time. at could lead to more deal opportunities for the debt fund.
Other investments could include preferred-equity deals. Pinney pointed to the strength of the multifamily market — which is the main focus of Cleveland-based real estate investment trust Citymark Capital, which reported market-beating gains last summer and is currently investing out of a fund that carried a target size of $250 million — in the Cleveland area and elsewhere as an area in which TurnCap is interested.
TurnCap will be agnostic in terms of geographies, asset classes and real estate sectors. It’s motivated by good debt deals above any other factors. But Pinney praised Citymark’s approach and highlighted it as a group TurnCap would “hope” to one day partner with.
“Hopefully, we can facilitate some growth and some deals,” Pinney said. “We are excited to move forward.” Pinney
Jeremy Nobile: jnobile@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @JeremyNobile
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EDITORIAL Stay calm
RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
Investors were plenty worried last week about the potential harm to worldwide economic growth from the coronavirus outbreak. The D ow closed down 1,191 points, or 4.4%, last Thursday, Feb. 27, the worst one-day point drop in history. The index had lost 3,226 points through Thursday, and U.S. futures on Friday morn ing pointed to a continuing selloff on Wall Street. The S&P 500 was off mor e than 12% over the course of six consecutive days of losses that wiped out $3.4 trillion in market value. Shares of manufactur ers, banks and utilities alike have dropped by double digits. S tocks are getting hammered because investors fe ar a drop in economic activity, from supply-chain disr uption and demand compression, that central bankers can’t fix.
The coronavirus outbreak poses serious health and economic threats to the United States, but as Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, said last week, “This is not a time for fear.”
It is a time for the federal government to fully deploy its resourc es to respond to the threat, and to make sure that proper isolation units, medical supplies and other vital equipment are available. This is, first and foremost, a health issue. Stay calm. Follow the direction of health officials. Pay attention to updates from credible sources. Don't spread bad information. Help be part of doing the right things to fight the virus. FOLLOW THE DIRECTION OF HEALTH OFFICIALS. PAY ATTENTION TO UPDATES FROM CREDIBLE SOURCES.
Incentive structure W e're only a couple of months into 2020, but it's already shaping up to be the year of the tax incentive. B endix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC is receiving more than $25 million in estimated incentives to mo ve to Avon from an outdated facility in Elyria. Cleveland City Council has introduced legislation that would commit up to $100 million in incentives to help The Sherwin-Williams Co. build a new downtown headquarters, while Brecksville, where Sherwin-Williams intends put a new R&D facility, has created an incentive package of a similar size.
Incentives have become a standard part of expansion proj ects of even modest scale. Each project has to be evaluated on its o wn merits. But it's helpful to know whether these incentives actually work. The evidence, based on a report issued l ast week by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, is mixed.
In reviewing awards issued by the Ohio Development Ser vices Agency (DSA) for terms ending in 2018, the report found " only 50% of Economic Development Loan Awards closed out in 2018 had substantially complied with the terms of the loans." The noncompliant awardees "received a total of $13.9 million in loans," according to the report. (The state considers project completion, job creation, job retention and payroll commit ments in determining compliance. It accepts 90% compliance w ith terms of the agreement as being compliant; your mileage may vary on whether that should be the standard.)
Of the 81 tax credit awards closed out in 2018, a third — 27 of them — were substantially noncompliant, with the value of those awards totaling $4.8 million to date. And none of 34 roadwork development grants had firm job creation or reten tion requirements. Y ost had some sensible suggestions to make sure the public’s dollars are being wisely spent. Among them: "DSA should b e required by statute to provide a hybrid list of JobsOhio economic award recipients to the entity conducting this review in fut ure years." Also, he said modification of agreement terms after entering into award agreements "seems like ad justing terms to means. If lower targets were sufficient to justify the deal, it would seem that those targets would be adopted originally. If it is in the public interest to change terms post fact o, those changes ought to at least be reviewed by an independent authority prior to making the modification." Thos e are good places to start, and the General Assembly should pursue them immediately.
It's critical to tighten up controls on state incentives to make sure the projects they assist are generating a fair return on the public's investment.
FROM THE MANUFACTURING BEAT Worker retention? Start with paid parental leave
In my line of work, I hear a lot about employers who want to find more skilled workers, who want to reduce turnover and keep those employees on the pay roll once they do find them. I h ave a suggestion: Offer paid parental leave. I j ust got back from 12 weeks of maternity leave after having my first d aughter. (Yes, she is very cute; thank you in advance.)
I have always been someone who val ues my work and someone who, for better or worse, has her iden tity shaped by it. But I’ll be honest: Without maternity leave in those early weeks, I would have been a terrible em ployee. I did not have the emotional or mental capacity for an ything but my family at that time. How could I when my daughter was adjusting to the world, when she had no con cept of the difference between day and night, when she had t o eat literally every hour? I — and my husband, who was able to take six weeks of paternity leave — needed that time away from work to bond, to get to know one another and to settle into some routines. Now, three months later, I have the mental space to bring my work back into my life.
But my family is lucky, far luckier than most, that my hus band and I were both able to take time off. I n March 2018, just 16% of workers in private industry had paid family leave, according to data from the Bureau of La bor Statistics. Eighty-eight percent had access to unpaid family leave. Those percentag es increase to 25% for paid le ave and 94% for unpaid leave for state and local gov ernment employees. The n umbers don’t add up to 100% in any of the categories be cause some workers, like me, h ave access to both paid and unpaid leave.
Family leave includes more than just parental leave, but it’s a close comparison. And, really, the offer of protecting someone’s job while they welcome a new member of their family or care for a loved one should just be the starting point for employers looking to increase employee retention and satisfaction.
My generation, the much-maligned millennials, came of age during the Great Recession. Like the generations that came before us, plenty of us would like to be loyal to a com pany that treats us well. But how we define that is a bit different. We saw our parents and our peers get laid off in droves. W e struggled to find stable jobs. It taught us that while work is important, it shouldn’t be the most important thing. We want to be paid fair wages for our work, but we also want flexibility that lets us balance work with our lives. Paid pa rental leave is part of that. So are employers who don’t micromanage sick days, or managers who don’t expect after-hours answers to emails. I h ave so much more appreciation for an employer who recognizes that a job is part of my life rather than the whole thing. That makes me want to give it my all when I am at work. So I suppose this column is a bit of a thank-you to my em ployer, and a (strong) suggestion to others. Even if I never ne ed paid parental leave for myself again, I’d never want to work somewhere it wasn’t offered. I suspect I’m not alone.
And let me offer just one piece of unsolicited advice to anyone about to become a parent: If you have paid parental leave available, take it. Enjoy that time with your newly ex panded family. Your work will be there when you get back. I’LL BE HONEST: WITHOUT MATERNITY LEAVE IN THOSE EARLY WEEKS, I WOULD HAVE BEEN A TERRIBLE EMPLOYEE. Rachel Abbey McCAFFERTY
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Against the Issue 33 HHS levy
I was just wondering if before you enthusiastically endorsed another tax increase you bothered to look at what we pay now.
If you take a minute to look at per-capita county spending for Franklin and Hamilton counties, and compare them to Cuyahoga County, it is shocking. Also, when they did a reappraisal of everyone’s property last year, didn’t that result in a big revenue increase?
A third point: Take a look at some of our neighboring counties and their development. To the west, you can literally move two blocks to another county and cut your tax bill in half.
And I haven’t even bothered to mention the ongoing investigations in our county. e tax rate in Cuyahoga County is unsustainable. Michael J. Gordon Sr. Tendon Manufacturing Inc. Warrensville Heights
‘Free’ isn’t free
e move by the LeBron James Family Foundation’s I Promise Network and Kent State University to cover four years of tuition and a year of room and board for eligible students is a generous act on the part of Mr. James and KSU. ey are to be applauded. But please stop calling it free. It is not free.
e KSU professors are being paid, KSU food services will still receive an invoice from their suppliers, and the gas and electric bills will arrive at KSU and be paid. ese students are receiving the bene ts of someone else’s hard work. To call something “free” devalues it. is is a gift of education, the cost of which will be borne by someone else (Mr. James).
e distinction between “gift” and “free” is important for two reasons. First, we have politicians promoting a similar “free” education. It’s a lie, and disrespectful to those whose resources are used (or forcibly taken) to cover the costs. Second, when something is portrayed as “free,” human nature tends to devalue that item. When that same item has a cost associated with it (especially to the consumer of that item), it holds greater value. It receives greater care.
e next four years will be (and should be) di cult for these young people. I hope the educators at KSU will push and challenge them far beyond what these young people ever thought themselves capable. e prospect of losing what they (or someone else) generously invested will serve as motivation to press on and become who we all hope they will be. We do them no favors by telling them their precious, expensive education is “free.” Tom Polasky Aurora
Strong survivors
Chad Livengood’s Feb. 17 interview with Dan Gilbert, “ e day everything changed,” hit home. I had a stroke on Aug. 14, 2016. I was then a senior executive, in great shape; I had never even thought of a stroke. Like Dan, I was fortunate to have been rushed to the hospital; it could have been much worse. Yet, much has changed. My wife, Eileen, has been my main advocate. She suggested that I attend SpeakEasy meetings at the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center. Designed for stroke victims and their caregivers, SpeakEasy has been a godsend for many.
I hope you never have a stroke, but it can come without notice. It can be debilitating, humbling and terrifying.
I wish the best to Dan and all stroke survivors. We are a strong community. Joe Brady Westlake
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DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
MAKING A PLAY FOR PEACE
BY | JUDY STRINGER LOCAL GAMING STARTUP SOCENT STUDIOS WANTS ITS VIDEO GAME TO INSPIRE POLITICAL, SOCIAL ACTION
Often associated with antisocial behaviors like violence and aggression, video games are not typically viewed as vehicles for positive social change. A Cleveland entrepreneur is among a pioneering contingent of game developers seeking to change that narrative.
Justin Bastian is founder and CEO of Cleveland-based Socent Studios, a 4-year-old digital production startup that aims to mobilize players into joining the ght for con ict-free consumer electronics. Bastian said his video game — tentatively titled “ e Deadliest War: A World Game of Peace” — is “production-ready” and will educate gamers on the link between con ict minerals found in their tech gadgets and the brutal war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Late in February, the nascent company went live as one of 21 featured on Opportunity CLE’s project exchange, which is designed to highlight promising early-stage investments that bring with them potential tax incentives. According to Bastian, it soon may also be featured on a platform focused on social impact investing and is in serious funding talks with the foundation of a prominent media publisher.
“I can’t say as of right now when I will get the funding, but I know this: I am never giving up on this project,” he said. “ is game will happen, and it will in uence the world toward peace in Congo.”
It was 2016 when a “Navy SEAL friend” rst exposed Bastian to a lm about con ict minerals, which are extracted from militiacontrolled mines in eastern Congo and then sold for use in consumer electronics such as cellphones, laptops and game consoles. e trade of these minerals - nances rebel armies in the African nation and contributes to widespread human-rights abuses.
At the time, Bastian said he was producing “H-Hour,” a video game to succeed Sony’s popular “SO“I IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED THAT MY PASSION FOR ELECTRONICS AND GAMES WAS DIRECTLY FINANCING AND FUELING THE WORLD’S DEADLIEST WAR SINCE WORLD WAR II, THAT I WAS A DIRECT CONTRIBUTOR TO THE GREATEST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS ON OUR PLANET.” — Justin Bastian, founder and CEO, Socent Studios COM: U.S. Navy SEALs” as part of his rst indie game startup, SOF Studios. e longtime techie hadn’t heard about con ict minerals, nor could he locate Congo on a map, but the documentary struck a nerve.
“I immediately recognized that my passion for electronics and games was directly nancing and fueling the world’s deadliest war since World War II, that I was a direct contributor to the greatest humanitarian crisis on our planet. It was absolutely crushing,” Bastian said.
He soon surmised, however, that video-game enthusiasts like him represent a largely untapped change agent in con ict electronics. Bastian claimed there are 153 million “highly politically active” online gamers in the U.S., including roughly 50 million who are “prosocial,” meaning they are inclined to act — politically or otherwise — when they know it will bene t others. He added that gamers also happen to be
AI NEEDS PEOPLE Arti cial intelligence startups hope to augment the workforce, not replace it. PAGE 12
“the most passionate electronics consumers in the world.”
“So, we decided to build a video game to share the hope, story and beauty of Congo with millions of passionate, prosocial, politically active online gamers,” he said.
Armed with $175,000 from two early Socent investors, Bastian and Net ix-distributed lmmaker Mike Ramsdell journeyed overseas in 2017 to immerse themselves in the peace e ort. e duo built relationships with prominent local leaders and generated several short lms based on their monthlong visit, including one that was screened at e Oxford Union by American actress Robin Wright and Congolese nonviolence activist Fred Bauma.
In addition to the lms, Socent has produced graphic novels in four languages to both inform freedom ghters in eastern Congo and develop a prerelease “Deadliest War” audience here in the U.S., Bastian said. He’s also recruited writers, game developers and franchise creators from the likes of Sony, Marvel and DC Comics and completed the video game’s preproduction designs, storylines and intellectual-property protection.
“Now, we are just awaiting funding,” he said.
Socent is seeking $500,000 in seed nancing to produce a “playable” PC-based prototype, according to Bastian, and cultivate an engaged community of 30,000-50,000 early users. After that, he estimated the company will need another $3.5 million to fully build out its PC release and scale “Deadliest War” for Xbox and PlayStation systems, which could be available as soon as 18 months after the seed round.
“Deadliest War,” a narrative-driven, rst-person game, will put players in the shoes of a young Congolese boy who has witnessed violence at the hands of armed militants and must ght inner demons that threaten to consume his goodness. Along the way, vignettes and other game features will open players' eyes to the “unbelievable beauty” of the African nation and its people, Bastian said, and educate them about the mining and trade of con ict minerals.
Players also will be linked to a petition demanding electronic manufacturers stop using con ict minerals, and Socent’s online gaming platform will enable gamers to connect directly to government websites at the local, state and federal level, giving them easy access to their representatives. Bastian said geolocation features will enable users to identify likeminded gamers in their community and beyond, ideally to spark peaceful political actions such as discussions, protests and assemblies.
Ultimately, Bastian said he hopes to leverage the game into a “World Game of Peace” franchise, which will script follow-up installments on humanitarian crises in other countries. While the $138 billion video-game market is highly competitive, he said “Deadliest War” and its successors will fall into the edgling, culture-focused “world game” space, which is sparsely populated but not untested.
World game pioneer “Never Alone,” inspired by Alaskan Native communities, brought in $40 million on a $3 million production budget even before being ported over from PCs to consoles, according to Bastian.
“We know the market is there,” he said. “We know that there are 50 million gamers in the U.S. alone who are going to care a great deal about our cause and want to take political action with us to put an end to con ict electronics in our supply chain.” Left: Justin Bastian (center) during his 2017 trip to eastern Congo. Inset: Bastian poses with Congolese freedom ghters. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
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Y B LEE CHILCOTE
e Cleveland startup LIFTR uses arti cial intelligence (AI) to help companies model how audiences will engage with ads, saving businesses the time and money of traditional A/B testing. Although it just released its rst product in January, the company has already attracted a number of signi cant clients, said co-founder Ted Troxell. Still, as he looks ahead to the next stage of growth, he’s worried about attracting talent.
“ e di culty we have establishing an AI company in Northeast Ohio is expanding our talent pool,” he said. “ ere are lots of people who want to learn AI here, but to really see success, we need buy-in from all the stakeholders.”
Brendan Mulcahy, a software developer who co-chairs the Cleveland AI meetup group with Troxell, said he believes Troxell is right. He said that Cleveland needs more tech talent who understand AI in order to unlock the full business potential of the technology. “ ere are a lot of opportunities where companies could Troxell
Hall
be using these technologies, but because there aren’t a lot of people who know how to do it, they’re not taking advantage of it,” he noted.
Nonetheless, these tech leaders say that the success of the AI meetup group, which regularly attracts 70 or more people to its free, open sessions, is a good sign. ey also run an online study group called Fast AI that has been regularly attracting 50 or more people. As more people are trained in AI and more businesses tap into machine learning, Northeast Ohio’s tech talent pool will grow, they say.
Heather Hall, entrepreneur-in-residence for software and IT with the Jumpstart Inc. business accelerator, said her organization is seeing more and more AI startups in Northeast Ohio. “I’ve been in this role for 16 months, and the number of AI companies I have now versus this time last year, it has grown exponentially,” she said.
Fnding people well-versed in AI is also not just a Cleveland challenge. Tech leaders say there’s a global AI skills shortage. “All of these companies have been told for years that data is the answer, and now that they have all this data, they don’t have anyone to analyze it,” Troxell said.
While companies on the coasts vacuum up top talent by o ering higher salaries and better incentive packages, Cleveland’s cost of living, amenities and entrepreneurial ecosystem make it attractive, too.
ose factors are very attractive, said Austin Murray, CEO of Prophit. ai, a company that uses machine learning to help businesses avoid paying indirect tax on items they’ve purchased. “From a startup perspective, you’ve got a lot of really exciting resources here,” he said. “We’ve felt
COMBINED STRENGTH
very much like we’re getting a handson approach from every expert.”
Prophit.ai has found a niche by focusing on manufacturing companies in Ohio and the Midwest. States o er a lot of favorable exemptions for these industries in order to keep them here and incentivize growth. Murray previously worked as a tax attorney, where he saw many manufacturers paying high legal and accounting costs to avoid unnecessary taxes. He started Prophit.ai in order to help solve that business problem through machine learning technology.
Troxell said the entire community needs to get behind AI in order for it to realize its full potential in Northeast Ohio. “It needs to be a community e ort, not just from the AI community or the tech or entrepreneurial community,” he said. “ is is something that could really help us grow. “If we’re able to come together and grow the talent pool here, it really sets us up for a lot of success,” he added.
Some of the resistance to AI stems from a false notion that it will take away good jobs. “We spend a lot of time explaining that AI is not what science ction makes it out to be,” said Murray. “I think the way AI should be implemented is for augmentation rather than automation. You use the technology to enable existing professionals to do the work more quickly and professionally.”
“It’s not a thing where we want to get rid of all of the jobs,” Mulcahey added. “We just want to get rid of the jobs that are really boring.”
Hall said that as startups like LIFTR and Prophit.ai continue to develop, she’d like to see more Northeast Ohio businesses using their technologies. “ e technology needs to be adopted by companies big or small, either through piloting or purchasing these solutions and starting to apply them,” she said. “It’s that rising tide that lifts all boats. Companies coming in behind startups and putting it into practice is what we really need to drive growth.”
Contact Lee Chilcote: clbfreelancer@crain.com
Y B DOUGLAS J. GUTH Nottingham Spirk program vets new concepts ahead of investment
A company’s year-to-year growth depends on its ability to innovate, with successful e orts tied to creating new markets that displace established products or brands.
ough this type of “disruptive innovation” isn’t novel, chief executives must keep their core offerings fresh in the minds of client companies, retailers and consumers. How to approach innovation tactically is the big question, one that Cleveland product design rm Nottingham Spirk aims to answer through a newly introduced vetting process.
Known as REACH — from Readiness Evaluation and Category Horizon — the program provides a market appraisal of either an existing product concept or a competitor’s o ering, backed by an investment impact report. Introduced in December 2019, REACH assesses whether an idea has legs to meaningfully unsettle a market before a signi cant expenditure of time and money is made.
“ e majority of our clients come to us for this exact reason,” said Vikki Nowak, Nottingham Spirk vice president of strategy. “ ey would rather disrupt themselves than be disrupted.”
Firms pursue innovation to enhance core products, leverage something they do well into a new space or serve brand-new markets and customer needs. A struggling company may seek to pursue more high-risk initiatives to dramatically alter its growth curve and shake up the market., in much the same way that Apple, beginning in the late 1990s, created a tsunami-sized splash via several transformational initiatives, including its iTunes music platform. Early-stage enterprises, meanwhile, may put disproportional dollars into a game-changing innovation, with the goal of
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attracting media attention, customers and investors.
As a rule of thumb, companies that outperform their peers abide by a 70-20-10 breakdown of investment, with 70% of activity dedicated to core initiatives, 20% to adjacent ones and 10% to transformative ones. e “golden ratio” — as coined by Harvard Business Review — has a ip side in which bold innovation contributes to 70% of a company’s bottom line.
Together, Nowak said, these ndings illuminate the importance of managing innovation deliberately and closely.
“ e pain point for clients is trying to gure out what’s most successful for them,” she said. “Our goal with REACH is to de-risk an investment. e other bene t is shining a light on gaps for success, so if a company moves forward (on an innovation), they know what they need to address in development.”
Moving the needle
During the four-week REACH program, Nottingham’s team helps optimize a client’s product concept while identifying prospects for market di erentiation. e e ort’s rst two participants are a large medical device manufacturer and a company centered on tness (because of nond i s c l o s u r e a g r e e m e n t s , the companies can’t be identi- ed any further, as it might reveal their next moves to competitors). Nottingham is evaluating a product for the medical maker. For the tness company, the rm is focused on an emerging technology concept, with future plans to get the product in front of focus groups.
Nottingham engages companies of all sizes, although it’s larger entities that often struggle with prioritizing innovation in the face of global competitive pressure. Nowak said she understands this tension as a former online service director at a major insurer, where she spent nearly a decade establishing user best practices for the company’s various service platforms.
“You’re vying for a product or idea and having to prove your concept is going to move the needle,” Nowak said. “An independent third party can give an outside perspective, saying this product is needed and an opportunity is there.” Nowak
Among other things, REACH is designed to assess obstacles for clients entering a new market space. For example, if a paint company wanted to sell vacuum cleaners, Nottingham would determine market gaps, functionality and the needs of end users. e rm also establishes risk factors such as marketing spend, concurrently considering retractable cords and other di erentiation points for our theoretical vacuum.
“Who are the other players in the market and what are they doing?,” Nowak asked. “Do your products have features that stand out as unique?”
Innovation may be a buzzword in business, but it also symbolizes the danger of missed opportunities. Nowak noted that Kodak’s inability to recognize digital photography as a disruptive technology is the stu of legend, and a cautionary tale for companies busy aligning their internal priorities.
“Sta might be focused on the core product, so that transition is hard,” she said. “We help companies understand the risks before we get started. Let’s go into this with our eyes wide open.”
Contact Douglas J. Guth: clbfreelancer@crain.com
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Our College of Business Administration (CBA) is not only accredited by the AACSB, it’s dually accredited (in business and accounting) — putting it among the top 3% of the thousands of business schools worldwide.
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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER
Excitement, sustainability top event planners priority list
By JUDY STRINGER Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland W hen it comes to contemporary meetings and conferences, there is one hazard professional planners must avoid at any cost: “Been there, done that.”
People want to be entertained, local event professionals said, and organizations that rehash the same old formats, menus and activities run a steep risk of failing to excite, inspire or even engage participants.
Often, that begins with changing up some of the “fussy” event mainstays, according to Cleveland Metropolitan Conference Center manager Susan Beech. Rather than plated chicken entrees, for example, corporate events organizers are opting for convivial “food truck-style” foods, such as handheld tacos and sliders or ramen bowls, Beech said. Other “fun” fare recently done at the conference center includes ice cream sandwiches as a dessert and a hot cocoa bar during a holiday gathering.
Jim Mahon, vice president of marketing and brand management for the Akron/ Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau said guests of the John S. Knight Convention Center have been served deconstructed salads “that allow them to see, appreciate and manipulate the items on their plate, while doing their part to ‘finish’ the presentation before eating it.” In addition to fun food, the planners see interactive presentations, executive panels and tailored breakout sessions replacing “stodgy, lecture-like” keynote speeches. And, they said, entertainment today goes way beyond photo booths to live music, cooking demonstrations, mixology lessons and visual art exhibitions. “It’s a unique place to sort of naturally get that ‘taste of Cleveland,’ so to speak,” she said.
Many clients double down on the locality theme with menu items that feature regional specialties.
Mahon cites a growing appeal for locally sourced foods among his clients. He said the convention center’s inhouse culinary team has used Summit County vendors to meet a variety of requests “from local ice cream and baked products to hydroponic greens, cheeses and sushi.”
Likewise, he said “clients are taking advantage, more so than ever, of local attractions and assets to round out and complement their overall meeting experience.”
Touring the Akron Art Museum, visiting the Akron Zoo, riding the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad or racing down the iconic Derby Downs track are among the uniquely Akron “experiences” Mahon said organizations want built into their event schedules.
LOCAL EXPERIENCES
Another popular way to infuse flair into an event is to incorporate some of the host city’s distinct foods or assets. Kennedy said meeting organizers tend to choose FirstEnergy Stadium as a venue — or as an attraction “stop” during a large conference or tradeshow — because it’s a distinctive Cleveland landmark.
The John S. Knight Convention Center has an in-house culinary team that can respond to a variety of client requests.
WASTE NOT
As an increasing number of individuals and corporations make a commitment to lessen their impact on the environment, sustainability is becoming another important factor in event planning.
Event hosts want to reduce waste by eliminating bottled water in favor of “good old-fashioned” water pitchers paired with glass or compostable water cups, Beech said. Many also are trading paper plates and plastic utensils for reusable china and silverware – or at the very least products made of materials that easily decompose.
Some event planners go further and request arrangements for leftover food to be sent to homeless shelters or composting facilities rather than landfills. “Sustainability is definitely a bigger issue in events today than it has been in the 15 years that I have been in this business,” Kennedy said. “And the nice thing is that now compostable materials and other environmentally friendly products are easier to source.”
Technology plays a role too. Digital
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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EVENT SHOWCASE
The ‘perfect’ downtown CLE space that no one knows about
By KIMBERLY BONVISSUTO Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland S usan Beech, manager of the Cleveland Metropolitan Conference Center at One Cleveland Center, calls the venue a “hidden gem in plain sight.”
The conference space, formerly known as the Forum, is managed by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and has 10 separate meeting spaces — from the basic 10-person boardroom with tables and executive chairs to a 400- seat theater-style auditorium.
The Bar Association took over the space in 2014 as a way to avoid paying outside rental fees for its internal meetings and events.
“It’s the perfect venue for anyone who needs a space that is reasonably priced and professional. It’s a great space downtown,” Beech said. “Not only do we have fantastic rooms and an auditorium, but we also have a second-floor balcony that overlooks the lobby. At night you can put a bar out there with hightop tables. It’s a nice place for all-day conferences to offer a cocktail hour to finish off the day — somewhere where people can socialize and network.”
She adds that the ambiance created by the glass is spectacular.
Global Cleveland utilized the space for its annual meeting and its InterCLE event, welcoming international studies students. Global Cleveland president Joe Cimperman called the conference center “one of the jewels of downtown,” saying the space is fresh and has an amazing staff that catered to his organization’s every need.
“We had a lot of needs, to be able to communicate a lot of different things on screens and mobile. We needed breakout areas. There wasn’t one thing we found that they were not able to provide,” Cimperman said. “They were so willing to work with us. It wasn’t a one-size-fitsall. It wasn’t $39.50 per person where they serve you old bagels. They were amazing and their technology was superior.
“We really felt like it was a real partnership. They made everything happen.” The space also has been used for expositions and competitions, shareholder meetings, continuing education classes, lunch and learns, business dinners, cocktail parties, holiday parties, baby showers, family reunions, memorial services, graduation ceremonies, town hall meetings, magic shows and movie premieres.
All of the rooms are flexible, and the center includes use of audio-visual equipment as part of the rental price, including projectors, 70-inch televisions, laptops, microphones, podiums, microphones, video conferencing and Wi-Fi. The facility also offers access to linens and security, and catering is available from Sausalito on Ninth, which is located directly across the street.
Medical Mutual built the facility in 1983, intending for it to be its headquarters, but the company never occupied the space and sold it before it was completed. The Forum Conference Center took it over and used it as a conference center for several years, before Sammy’s moved in to use it as a catering facility. Six years ago, the Bar Association moved in and decided to utilize it as rental space when not holding its own meetings and events. “We’re really trying to reach out beyond the legal community to other groups and let them know we have this fantastic rental space available,” said Beech, adding that the facility also has attached parking. “Just another benefit of our amazing location.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
programs and event apps cut paper waste, the planners said, while livestreaming is becoming an increasingly common way to reduce the number of people who travel long distances and add to an event’s carbon footprint.
Other trends of note include a continued emphasis on branding and closer attention to diversity and inclusion. Organizers and sponsors want their brand on just about every aspect of the event from display monitors greeting guests to paper sleeves for their coffee cups. They also want to ensure they are getting the most diverse set of voices possible with women and people of color represented among their speakers and presenters, as well as in their audiences. Partnering with clients to meet these emerging demands can be a challenge, said Beech of the Cleveland Metropolitan Conference Center, but it’s also what makes the job fun.
RANK CONFERENCE CENTER 1 International Exposition (I-X) Center One I-X Center Drive, Cleveland 44135 216-265-2612/ixcenter.com 2 Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland 1 St. Clair Ave. N.E., Cleveland 44114 216-928-1600/clevelandconventions.com 3 The University of Akron Conference Services 135 E. Mill St., Akron 44325 330-972-8215/uakron.edu/dining/catering/index.dot
Kalahari Resort & Convention Center 7000 Kalahari Drive, Sandusky 44870 877-642-6847/kalaharimeetings.com Corporate College East 4400 Richmond Road, Warrensville Heights 44128 216-987-2938/corporatecollege.com
LCCC Conference & Dining Services 1005 N. Abbe Road, Elyria 44035 440-366-4100/lorainccc.edu/spitzer Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 1 Center Court, Cleveland 44115 216-420-2000/rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com
Cleveland Public Auditorium & Conference Center 500 Lakeside Ave., Cleveland 44114 216-348-2211/city.cleveland.oh.us Nautica Waterfront District 2000 Sycamore St., Cleveland 44113 216-862-1618/nauticaflats.com FirstEnergy Stadium 100 Alfred Lerner Way, Cleveland 44114 440-824-3523/cbhospitality.com
Renaissance Cleveland Hotel 24 Public Square, Cleveland 44113 216-696-5600/renaissancecleveland.com OSU Wooster Campus Conference Center 1680 Madison Ave., OSU Wooster Campus, Wooster 44691 330-263-5500/woostervenues.osu.edu/home John S. Knight Center 77 E. Mill St., Akron 44308 330-374-8900/johnsknightcenter.org
Hilton Cleveland Downtown 100 Lakeside Ave. E., Cleveland 44114 216-413-5000/hiltonclevelanddowntown.com House of Blues 308 Euclid Ave., Cleveland 44114 216-274-3353/houseofblues.com/cleveland Wolstein Center 2000 Prospect Ave., Cleveland 44115 216-687-9292/wolsteincenter.com
Cleveland Campus of Indiana Wesleyan University 4100 Rockside Road, Independence 44131 216-525-6160/indwes.edu/cleveland Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - events 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland 44109 216-635-3304/clevelandmetroparks.com/rentals Sawmill Creek by Cedar Point Resorts (1) 400 Sawmill Creek Drive, Huron 44839 419-433-3800/sawmillcreekresort.com
InterContinental Cleveland 9801 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland 44106 216-707-4100/intercontinentalcleveland.com Kent Student Center - Kent State University P.O. Box 5190, Kent 44242 330-672-3202/kent.edu
The NEW Center at NEOMED 4211 Ohio Route 44, Rootstown 44272 330-325-6173/newcenterevents.com Cleveland Metropolitan Conference Center (2) 1375 E. 9th St., Cleveland 44114 216-539-3709/clemetroconference.com Landerhaven 6111 Landerhaven Drive, Mayfield Heights 44124 440-449-0700/landerhaven.com LaCentre Conference & Banquet Facility 25777 Detroit Road, Westlake 44145 440-250-2000/lacentre.com
The Conference Center, Kent State University at Stark 6000 Frank Ave. N.W., North Canton 44720 330-244-3300/kent.edu/stark/cucc Bertram Inn & Conference Center 600 N. Aurora Road, Aurora 44202 330-995-0200/thebertraminn.com MEETING SPACE (SQ. FT.) LARGEST ROOM CAPACITY # MEETING ROOMS AMENITIES/SERVICES SALES CONTACT CATERING CONTACT 1,050,000 32,000 29 Over 1 million square feet of space, including exhibit space, meeting rooms and a grand ballroom; 7,200 parking spots on site Lisa Reau lreau@ixcenter.com Tony Minelli tminelli@ixcenter.com 350,000 15,000 41 225,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 32,200-square
foot grand ballroom; attached to Global Center and Hilton Cleveland Downtown Travis Poppell tpoppell@clevelandconventions.com Matt Del Regno mdelregno@levyrestaurants.com 250,000 2,000 26 Space at multiple locations including the Student Union, InfoCision Stadium, E.J. Thomas Hall and Quaker Square; on-premise catering, AV and printing services Margo Ohlson uaconference@uakron.edu NA 215,000 4,800 36 890-room hotel, conference and waterpark resort; team building activities, 10 restaurants/bars, business center, free parking/internet, shops, spa Jerry Simon jsimon@kalahariresorts.com Leslie Meyer lmeyer@kalahariresorts.com 107,000 350 28 Meeting room rental packages include projectors or touchscreens, AV media station, wireless internet, parking; team-building kitchen added in 2020 Joan O'Connor joan.o'connor@tri-c.edu Beth Noll elizabeth.noll@tri-c.edu
100,841 350 50 Free WiFi, free parking, onsite catering, video
conferencing, video recording, ARS Software, data projectors with VGA and HDMI capabilities 100,449 19,300 15 AV services, internet access, video conferencing, inhouse food and beverage service, tours Dean Johnson djohnson1@lorainccc.edu Dean Johnson djohnson1@lorainccc.edu
Eric Clouse Cydney Bowman cbowman@cavs.com Shari Lindenbaum slindenbaum@cavs.com
91,596 10,000 15 Historic venue with spacious, flexible meeting rooms and amenities including catering, floral, decor and AV technology 75,000 1,000 5 Waterfront property, includes Windows on the River, Greater Cleveland Aquarium, Nautica Queen dining ship and Jacobs Pavilion - west bank of the Flats 70,424 800 7 Most amenities provided in house; limited AV, limited tables and chairs, linens, catering, cleaning and security Melissa Marik mmarik@executivecaterers.com
Mary Horoszko mhoroszko@bhwk.com
Casey Hodgkiss info@cbhospitality.com Emily Hinde ehinde@executivecaterers.com
NA
Casey Hodgkiss info@cbhospitality.com
64,000 2,950 33 Executive boardrooms, AV services, business center, high-speed internet, event service professionals, 22,000-square-foot grand ballroom 60,000 1,000 14 Ergonomic furniture, communications technology, dedicated conference planners, complete catering services, 1,000-seat auditorium, free parking 58,000 5,000 18 In-house culinary department, AV and
communication services, expansive dock area, parking deck via skywalk, adjacent parking Carrie Corrigan carrie.corrigan@renaissancehotels.com Jennifer Gleba jen.gleba@renaissancehotels.com
Debbie Shaffer shaffer.271@osu.edu
Dirk Breiding dbreiding@visitakron-summit.org NA
Ron Dorsey rdorsey@visitakron-summit.org
50,000 2,016 18 New LEED certified building connected to the
Huntington Convention Center and Global Center; restaurant, 32nd floor bar, lakefront views Julia Austin NA 45,000 1,200 5 Catering, dining, entertainment Julie Woyma juliewoyma@livenation.com Julie Woyma juliewoyma@livenation.com
43,676 2,000 10 Conference center and arena space that transforms into a grand ballroom space; AV services, in-house catering and parking
40,000 120 25 Classroom and meeting spaces with technology stations, free WiFi, beverage service catering available, outside catering allowed 37,280 800 6 Stillwater Place available year-round for up to 300 guests; various exhibit buildings available with timing restrictions; AV services available 36,000 2,000 25 Indoor/outdoor pools, beach, shops, restaurants, golf course, meeting space, marina Michelle Schilling m.l.schilling@csuohio.edu
Vaso Suhodolsky vaso.suhodolsky@indwes.edu
Stacy DeChant slb@clevelandmetroparks.com
Cathy Razzante cathy.razzante@cedarpoint.com
35,000 600 13 Table 45 for lunch and dinner, Northcoast Cafe for breakfast and lunch, 24-hour in-room dining, business center, fitness center, amphitheater 35,000 900 32 AV services, food service, summer housing, guest
WiFi, internet, recreation center, gymnasium, fashion museum
35,000 725 14 Modern design, executive chef/catering staff, in
house event planners, AV services, easy access from Interstate 76, free parking 30,000 400 10 Located in heart of downtown, 10 room facility with 400-seat auditorium, no food or beverage minimum Terri Kufel terri.kufel@ihg.com
Ann Myers aday@kent.edu
Andy Malitz, amalitz@signetre.com Amanda Senn amanda@newcenterevents.com Susan Beech sbeech@clemetrobar.org Joe Paoletta j.paoletta3@csuohio.edu
NA
NA
Jennifer Esposito jennifer.esposito@cedarpoint.com Jessica Jordan jessica.jordan@cedarpoint.com Terri Kufel terri.kufel@ihg.com
NA
Sheryl Loftus sloftus@neomed.edu
Susan Beech sbeech@clemetrobar.org
27,000 1,200 7 Event venue, indoor and outdoor spaces, unique menus, decor and floral design, AV, WiFi, valet parking, adjacent hotel 26,000 800 9 Professional catering and event planning;
multimedia services with lighting and production operated by in-house technology company
24,200 600 14 Spaces suitable for corporate meetings, training, videoconferencing, trade shows, conferences; equipment and professional services available
24,000 700 32 Leopard restaurant, Paws restaurant-lounge, sushi
bar, outdoor pool, free parking, game room, business center, WiFi Melissa Marik mmarik@executivecaterers.com
Beatriz Lopez, blopez@lacentre.com Jennifer Gilmore jgilmore@lacentre.com
Janet Capocci jcapocci@kent.edu Sam Umina sumina@executivecaterers.com
NA
NA
Frank Doctor Alex Shaffer ashaffer@thebertraminn.com
Akron entrepreneurs launch luxury, unisex clothing line
CLASSIFIEDS Advertising Section Every year, Crain’s Cleveland Business salutes a group of inspiring women whose dedication and achievements enrich Northeast Ohio, its institutions and its people. Do you know a female business leader who is enriching our region? NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN!
NOMINATION DEADLINE: APRIL 10 If Alexandre Marr’s luxury fashion label doesn’t succeed, he can always pursue a career as a classical pianist. Marr, 27, plans to excel at both. He and two business partners recently launched the Anantvir clothing line, a collection of 14 unisex pieces, including jackets, tops and pants. e label fuses Indian silhouettes and silks with monochromatic and Western aesthetics, Marr said.
e black clothing, with simple ivory embroidery, was designed by Marr and manufactured in Kolkata, India.
Prices range from $180 for harem pants or top, to $850 for a long gown with embroidery.
An executive at a company in India that manufactures colorful silk clothing with elaborate embroidery was so convinced that similar items in black silk with minimal embroidery could be successful in the United States that he became Anantvir’s sole investor.
“We will make every e ort to be successful online and in brick and mortar,” Marr said. “We have something to prove to him.”
Marr’s interest in fashion began at a young age. He was encouraged by his grandmother, who worked as a seamstress at Jo-Ann Fabric and brought home material and sewing machines.
e self-taught designer was soon making custom pieces for himself and his family.
He was also excelling in piano, which he began at age 10. He enrolled at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. But he transferred after his freshman year to Kent State University and graduated in 2014 with a degree in fashion merchandising.
He spent a year designing leather and nylon products for dogs at Coastal Pet Products in Alliance, then took a job at American Greetings Corp. in Westlake, where he was on the innovation team, which developed everything but greeting cards.
Marr and his partner, Dominic Iudiciani, a graphic designer and freelance photographer, also designed austere and monochromatic clothing and furniture for themselves and clients.
In the spring of 2018, Marr was searching the internet for clothing inspirations when he came across photos of traditional Indian men’s silk suits in royal blue.
“It was an inspiring moment,” Marr said. “I reached out to the manufacturer through Facebook.”
He got in touch with Anantveer Agarwal, who works with his mother, Anju Agarwal, at the company she founded, Smriti Apparels in Kolkata, India.
Marr made an unconventional proposal.
“I wanted them to create something similar for me with design Y B KAREN FARKAS
modi cations, monochrome and with an architectural silhouette,” he said. “I wanted to modernize it.”
After Marr received his custom-ordered black clothing, he, Iudiciani and Chad Lally, who has a computer engineering degree and is an expert in social media, got on the phone with Anantveer Agarwal.
“We pitched the idea to create a brand and rather than tweak his silhouettes, we would create new items,” Marr said. “He was intrigued by my request and the more we spoke, we decided I could create something, a collection, taking traditional Indian Eastern menswear and making it avant-garde. He was on board and became our business partner and investor.”
e three U.S. partners created Anantvir, a slight change of Agarwal’s rst name.
Over the summer, Marr sketched clothing and emailed the designs to Agarwal. e samples were manufactured in India and mailed to Akron, where Marr would make tweaks to the design, fabric and embroidery.
“Each piece took months,” he said. Marr was invited to Columbus Fashion Week and the samples appeared on the runway in October 2018.
“We got two big pieces of feedback,” Marr said. “One was that the clothing would work well as formal-wear. e other was that it could be unisex. And people thought the price point was great.”
Female models wore them at a pop-up fashion show on Jan. 25 at Wonderball 2020 at the Columbus Museum of Art. Marr said he thinks the clothing is appropriate for men and women of all ages.
Iudiciani oversees the photography and graphics, and Lally handles the website and social media.
Agarwal will receive a percentage of the net sales.
“He is very perplexed by the whole project,” Marr said. “He trusts us that we have the markets. It would not take o in India, but that is the whole point.”
Marr is planning on one collection per year.
“ is is year one, and if it goes well we’ll have year two,” he said.
Equally important is his career as a pianist.
In addition to performing at private events and giving lessons, he is the music director and pianist for the Church of the Western Reserve in Pepper Pike and at Temple Israel in Akron.
In 2017, he and Merissa Coleman launched e Cabaret Project in partnership with Akron’s Blu Jazz +. It has been so successful they recently incorporated, he said.
He is pursuing a master’s degree in piano performance at Kent State, where he is also a graduate assistant. He returned to Kent State last fall, a few months after American Greetings disbanded the innovation team.
While at Kent State, he plans to share his story of how he created Anantvir with students in the school of fashion.
Northeast Ohio o ers great opportunities in music and fashion, he said.
“I have no desire to go anywhere,” he said. Contact Karen Farkas: clbfreelancer@crain.com Anantvir principals, from left, Chad Lally, Alexandre Marr and Dominic Iudiciani wear some of their company’s creations as they walk down the runway to close out the label’s show at Fashion Week Columbus 2018. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
To place your listing in Crain’s Cleveland Classifieds,
contact Suzanne Janik at 313-446-0455
or email sjanik@crain.com
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
LIST YOUR RETAIL SPACE HERE!
HEALTH CARE Guide4Care gets traction as a new employee bene t
Startup wants to help workers navigate health care system for themselves and families
Y B KAREN FARKAS
Employee bene ts have evolved from standard health, dental and vision insurance to child care coverage, tuition reimbursement and wellness programs.
Christine Dodd wants businesses to consider another bene t — one that helps workers navigate the health care system for themselves and their families.
Dodd developed Akron startup Guide4Care, which counsels employees on health issues, including identifying doctors, resolving medical bills, researching clinical trials and assisting with elderly parents. Employees also can receive help to enroll in Medicare and Medicaid.
“ e health care system is fragmented,” Dodd said. “I want to help people gure it out.”
Dodd said bene t costs are negotiated with the employer. e “basic” plan includes ve annual one-hour phone/video consultations with a patient navigator. e “premium” plan includes 10 annual consultations.
Her rst client, the Jewish Community Board of Akron, signed on in late December. Services began Feb. 17.
Dodd, 49, said she believes her career and life experiences led to Guide4Care.
“I have always been a health advocate,” she said. An attorney, she has extensive experience in health care law, lobbying and grant-writing. She worked at large law rms, in the federal government and for IBM. She lived in Washington, D.C., until 2010.
She returned to Northeast Ohio to be closer to her family. She took a job as director of government relations and development at Akron’s Austen BioInnovation Institute, then joined a law rm to write grants for federal funding and lobby on health care policy and government a airs.
When the rm closed its Cleveland o ce in 2017, she formed gHealth Solutions to provide health care consulting and government relations.
When her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2018, she became his full-time advocate and caregiver. He had myriad complications that required many medical decisions. Dodd
“I know health care and hospitals, but the decisions were stressful,” she said. “I felt the system was so complex.” Her father died three months after his diagnosis. Dodd decided to focus on helping caregivers and developed a business called Elder Navigator.
“I planned to help people with parents having health issues,” she said.
She met with community leaders and employers and formed an advisory board of business and health care experts to help her market Elder Navigator as an employee bene t.
However, she realized her proposed bene t would be more e ective if she expanded her business model. “I listen really closely to the advisory board,” she said. “ ere were lots of discussions about changing from elder care to Guide4Care and whether it should be business-to-business or business-to-consumer.”
She focused on businesses, meeting with CEOs and contacting o cials she knew in the legal and health care elds. Nearly all understood the concept of Guide4Care, she said.
“Everyone has a personal story” of dealing with the health care system, she noted. “And they want employees to be happy and healthy at work.”
Todd Poliko , CEO of the Jewish Community Board of Akron, agrees. Guide4Care is available to the 100 full- and part-time workers at the board, the Shaw Jewish Community Center of Akron and the Lippman School.
“Studies have shown that if people are happy where they work, they are more productive,” he said. “ ey are more productive when they know the place cares about them in the o ce and when they are not in the o ce. e bene t to our team far outweighs the cost of the program.”
Poliko said he expects to use the bene t himself as he handles the care of his elderly parents. He added he was unaware of any bene t similar to Guide4Care.
Guide4Care sounds like a di erent spin on health advocates, a service o ered through a company’s health insurance bene ts broker that provides assistance to employees and their families, said Suzanne Goulden, director of total rewards for the Society of Human Resource Management, a professional HR membership association in Alexandria, Va.
She explained that an advocate can provide resources to help employees deal with claims, doctors and medical conditions.
“Guide4Care sounds like it is giving a more personal touch, like a concierge service,” she added.
And providing help applying for Medicare and Medicaid would be unique and not o ered elsewhere, Goulden said.
Dodd, who is working in the Bounce Innovation Hub in Akron, is in negotiations with several potential clients. While there has been interest from investors, she said she wants to see how Guide4Care evolves before deciding if she wants to bring others into the business. She and her single employee currently are the patient navigators.
She is also developing an app that would provide information to employees in the program. In the future, she would like to set up a nonpro t Guide4Care to provide services for “dual eligibles” — people on Medicare and Medicaid.
Dodd said she may not have become as passionate about helping people navigate the health care system if her father had not become ill. “It happened for a reason,” she said about the trajectory of her career. “And I hope something good comes out of my dad’s death.”
Contact Karen Farkas: clbfreelancer@crain.com
Jens Molbak
FOUNDER, WINWIN AND COINSTAR
MONDAY, MARCH 9 7 P.M. • CARTWRIGHT HALL, KENT CAMPUS
Presented by the Center for Information Systems
TRI-SECTOR INNOVATION: UNITING PROFIT AND PURPOSE
e tally got as high as 13,800 in 2018, sparked by a franchise-record winning streak and 102 victories the year before. (For accounting purposes, four 20-game ticket packages count as one FSE, since the club has 81 home games to sell.)
e current tally of 11,000 is almost 3,200 above the Indians’ FSE average from 2010-16, and it puts the Tribe on pace to rank about 17th in baseball, Salcer said. ( e Indians were 13th last season.)
Salcer and other Tribe executives often point to the “strong support” the club has received from its fans the past few years, though the attendance totals don’t re ect those sentiments as well as other metrics do.
e Tribe’s TV ratings on SportsTime Ohio have ranked in the top three in MLB in each of the last three seasons, and the club led all of baseball with a prime-time norm of 7.18 in 2019.
e Indians also topped baseball in Twitter engagements for the most recent one-year period.
e All-Star Game, meanwhile, contributed to a record year for corporate partnerships, and the Indians have had double-digit increases in the category for three consecutive years. is year, which started with the club announcing a new mortgage partner (Union Home Mortgage), the Indians could match or slightly increase their partnership revenue, which Salcer said would be “a huge success” because of All-Star-generatThe Indians have added three home-plate boxes to Progressive Field. The open suites have room for eight fans and are being sold as part of the club’s season-ticket packages. | CLEVELAND INDIANS
ed business that didn’t return.
Corporate partnerships are topped only by season tickets in importance to the club’s nonbroadcast revenues, and the driver in the Indians getting back to average, or better, in FSEs has been a surge in popularity of 20- game plans.
e Indians are third in baseball in partial ticket plans. Of their 6,600 season-ticket accounts, 4,200 (64%) are tied to 20-game packages. e Indians’ group sales — which primarily target local companies, organizations, schools and universities — are up 19%.
“We’ve had really strong growth,” Salcer said.
Tickets to the Indians’ premium regular-season draw — the home opener — went on sale to the general public on Monday, Feb. 24.
As of press time on Friday, Feb. 28, tickets still remained for a contest that in the past often sold out within the rst hour that the last remaining seats were made available.
Salcer attributed that in part to the early date for the 2020 opener: March 26, just the second time the Tribe has had its rst home game in March and ve days earlier than the previous franchise record. e Tribe VP also said he thinks the club’s crackdown on secondary-market sales is a factor, since fans who in the past might have tried to make a quick pro t on Opening Day know they could have their tickets revoked.
“ ose are all behaviors that we think are best for our fans, and we’ve been very diligent in making sure that we protect our fan base,” Salcer said. “We want our fans to get tickets at fair prices and face value.”
ere’s little question, however, that the Indians’ less-than-scintillating o season, including a second straight year of payroll cuts, have played a part in the unusually slow response to the home opener.
Still, the Tribe has passed the
N O M I N AT I O N S N OW O P E N !
1-million mark in tickets sold for 2020, and it believes another season of playo contention, combined with other new promotions and attractions, can win some fans back.
e Indians for the rst time are making special promotional items, such as caps featuring the branding of local high schools and universities, and mascot-themed bobbleheads, available for single-game ticket purchases. In the past, the promotions were tied to group sales, Salcer said. e Indians have also added home-plate boxes — three eight-person areas that follow an open-suite concept that has gained popularity in sports — to the rst-base side of the Lexus Home Plate Club. e boxes, with four-seat rst rows and four bar stools with drink rails in the back, have all-inclusive food and beverage o erings and are being sold as part of the club’s season-ticket packages.
It’s all part of a concerted e ort by the club’s business team to gain every edge it can.
“Why aren’t the fans coming? I think they are,” Salcer said. “I think they’re really engaged. ere just aren’t as many people in the Cleveland metropolitan area.”
Market size is always a factor in the Tribe attendance debate, as is on- eld performance, fan sentiment, weather, the draw and ease of the athome viewing experience, plus plenty of other variables.
Winning, though, has proven to be the Indians’ best hope at the gate, and beyond.
Kevin Kleps: kkleps@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @KevinKleps
ARE YOU A HEALTH CARE DISRUPTOR?
Crain’s Cleveland Business is saluting the dedication, leadership and innovative achievements of Northeast Ohio’s health care community. This special feature will focus on disruptors – those promoting radical change and adaptation – and is designed to recognize individuals and teams affecting patient care, the community and health care sector. This year’s section will be published in the June 1 issue of Crain’s Cleveland Business. Finalists and winners will receive recognition at the Crain’s Health Care Forum.
NOMINATION CATEGORIES: ■ Public health ■ Technology and data ■ Patient care ■ Research ■ Payment
e project, recently named Intro, nally will break ground in midMarch. It will be a nine-story mixeduse building with about 36,000 square feet of retail and 300 apartments “priced near the top of the market,” according to Whalen.
“ ey are going to have a lot of studio apartments, a large chunk of one-bedroom, some three-bedroom units. We are marketed to young millennials and empty-nesters,” Whalen said.
e $140 million-plus project, when completed, will be the largest mass timber frame building in the United States, according to Whalen.
Framing a di erent approach
Mass timber is an engineered wood product with the structural rigidity and integrity of steel and concrete. It has been widely used in Europe and Australia, but has been rare in the United States, though its use is rising in response to climate change. e product combines layers of lumber, eliminating the waste of traditional timber processing, according to Harbor Bay CEO Mark Bell.
e mass timber is used to frame out the building and is then left exposed, so interior spaces do not require drywall or particle board, Bell said.
“We are not just using this material for its sustainable nature; it is beautiful, and we worked hard to expose as The Intro project will break ground in mid-March across from the West Side Market. The nine-story building will have about 36,000 square feet of retail space and 300 apartments. | CONTRIBUTED RENDERING
much of the wood as possible,” he said.
e engineered wood is more re-resistant and has thermodynamic properties that require less energy to heat and cool. It’s so new that the company had to work with Cleveland for 15 months to update city building codes.
Union construction workers also had to travel out of state to learn how to work with the material. e nature of mass timber means a faster build timeline than reinforced concrete, which needs time to dry and set.
e mass timber used for Intro will be prefabricated with the plumbing and wiring specs included, which means the approximately 500,000- square-foot building is expected to be completed in 12 to 18 months, saving money.
e mass timber will come directly from the Austrian-based company Binderholz GmbH to Ohio City through the Port of Cleveland. Shipping the building materials directly reduces the carbon footprint and opens a possible new trade relationship for the port.
Financing and tax incentives
Issues with general building costs almost derailed the project when the city pushed back on a possible Ohio sustainable tax credit from the state agency that provides nancial aid for air-quality projects. Harbor Bay eventually dropped that request for a 30-year tax abatement, and the Port of Cleveland, city and state worked to create a new capital stack in its place. e Port will provide up to $130 million in taxable lease bonds for construction, a loan to be repaid by the revenue from apartment and retail rents.
e project will also receive a $2 million deferred loan from the city of Cleveland and a $10.8 million loan from the state through the Ohio Development Services Agency.
e developers are contributing more than $30 million, and Intro will receive a 15-year tax abatement and a tax-increment nancing that applies to new taxes, but not to taxes for Cleveland schools.
Beyond use of sustainable building materials and economic development potential for the Port of Cleveland, Intro is an example of the trend toward walkable neighborhoods and development around public transportation.
e project has underground parking — a requirement in Cleveland — but because of Intro’s proximity to the West 25th Street Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority stop and multiple bus lines (including two that run 24 hours a day), Bell said he hopes residents might consider ditching their cars altogether.
“We are really going to emphasize in our design to educate a consumer base to really think urban, to encourage them to say, ‘Why have a car?’ ” he said. “ e RTA gets you to the airport in 20 minutes, you can be downtown in ve minutes — what is the purpose for a car?”
Harbor Bay paid $10.5 million and worked on relocating the Market Plaza strips’s businesses, providing construction and nancing services to assist in rehabbing abandoned buildings for them in the Ohio City area.
“Most developers are focused on getting the site cleared as quickly as possible,” Whalen said. “But, for me, having lived in the area before, it was important to work with everyone to achieve a sustainable solution for the neighborhood.”
Kim Palmer: kpalmer@crain.com, (216) 771-5384, @kimfouro ve
Crain’s Cleveland Business is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2020. As part of that, Crain’s Newsmaker Awards will recognize at this elite luncheon some of the top newsmakers in Cleveland who have paved the way for businesses, leaders and Northeast Ohio.
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Join us for a panel discussion celebrating the accomplishments of these key individuals and organizations from the last four decades.
1980s
ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME // Mike Benz COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT // Cleveland’s Neighborhoods
1990s
GATEWAY PROJECT // Tom Chema FRED NANCE // The Return of the Cleveland Browns
2000s
CLEVELAND’S RISE // Economic Development Organizations HEALTH CARE // Growth of the Cleveland Clinic
2010s
DAVID GILBERT // Republican National Convention KEYCORP // Expansion and Growth
For example, on Feb. 25, 2015, the stock closed at $29.48. Five years later, on Feb. 25, 2020, it closed at $5.31. “W e continue to take significant steps to improve the company’s cost structure and manage working capi tal efficiency while we simplify the or ganization, focus on serving our customers and improve safety across the company,” interim CEO and president Terry L. Dunlap said in the earnings release, highlighting a 14% reduction in salaried workforce, the divestment of assets and the freezing of some long-term benefit plans.
Dunlap took on the interim leader ship role in October 2019, when Ward J . “Tim” Timken Jr. stepped down as president and CEO of the company bearing his family's name. In a news release, Timken said the change was “an effort to revitalize both the nearterm performance and long-term po tential of TimkenSteel.” T imken had served as the company’s leader since its spinoff from Timken Co. in 2014. Dunlap, who spent mor e than 30 years with specialty metals company Allegheny Technol ogies Inc., had been a TimkenSteel dir ector since August 2015. The release noted that he had experience in “ sales, marketing, manufacturing and operations, supply chain, pro curement and information technology.” J ustin Bergner, research analyst for G. Research, said that under Tim ken’s leadership, the company may not h ave identified and acted on new revenue streams and cost-cutting measures as quickly as possible, but that Dunlap might have a more “commercial mindset.”
Gibbs said he thinks Dunlap is working to simplify the business, tak ing steps to align costs with revenue and “re-establish credibility” in order to get the company to stand on its own or to be sold.
Tyler Kenyon, equity research ana lyst at Cowen, said that he also got the s ense that “all options are on the table” at TimkenSteel, which could include a sale of the business.
Kenyon said he expects Timken Steel to recover as rig count — which indic ates how many oil and gas drilling systems are active — stabilizes, indus trial destocking slows and auto industry demand recovers. The company’s recent cost reduc tions could also contribute to a recovery, he added. In a recent news r elease, TimkenSteel estimated that such measures saved about $40 mil lion in 2019, and were expected to add up t o $70 million in annualized savings in the future.
“IF WE DON’T GET OIL PRICES TO GO UP, THE RIG COUNT WON’T GO UP, AND THEN THEY WON’T BE BUYING THE STEEL THEY NEED.” — Theodore O’Neill, senior equity analyst at Litchfield Hills Research, on TimkenSteel
Bergner said TimkenSteel has faced a “triple whammy of challenging end markets” in energy, automotive and industrial. It has done a good job win ning new contracts in the automotive s ector, Bergner added, but production numbers in that space are still flat or down, and contracts have been reset ting at low prices. The industrial market has been challenged by imports. And the ener gy market has been “decimated” by falling oil prices. All th at means the company’s melt capacity has fallen below 50%, Bergner said. If it can’t win new busi ness and increase its melt utilization, he s aid another option would be selling to a larger company that could b etter leverage its assets.
Theodore O’Neill, senior equity ana lyst at Litchfield Hills Research, attributed the company’s shortcomings in r ecent quarters primarily to external drivers such as a low rig count, and he doesn’t think there will be a turn around until those factors improve. “ If we don’t get oil prices to go up, the rig count won’t go up, and then they won’t be buying the steel they need,” O’Neill said.
However, not everyone attributes the company’s stock price challenges solely to outside factors.
Until a few quarters ago, the mar kets TimkenSteel serves were still in g ood shape, and there was strong end-market demand.
Even so, the company struggled to meet its own expectations and the ex pectations of the market, Gibbs said. It sho ok investors’ belief in the guidance the company was putting out.
Gibbs said a particular quarter stands out in his mind. Leading up to that quarter’s results being released, TimkenSteel put out guidance well above what the markets were expecting. Stock prices increased and investors waited for the official results. Before those results were released, the com pany came back with new guidance, now below the market’s original exp ectations. That made it look like TimkenSteel didn’t know its own business, Gibbs said, which helped turn some investors off the stock.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he said. “You shouldn’t be missing your own expectations.”
With the new leadership, Gibbs said he thinks the bar has been reset and expectations have been lowered. The new management team is there to try to “right the ship,” and people tend to be understanding during that process, he noted.
For the first quarter of 2020, Tim kenSteel is expecting shipments to incr ease. It’s already taken on more cost-cutting measures as the year has begun, divesting a scrap processing facility in Akron and closing a materi al services facility in Houston. N ow, it’s time to see if the changes the company is making will pay off.
Rachel Abbey McCafferty: rmccafferty@crain.com, (216) 771-5379, @ramccafferty
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
CONSTRUCTION FINANCIAL SERVICES
Donley’s is pleased to announce the promotion of Olga Krauss, AIA, from Project Engineer to Manager–Design & Construction Integration. This newly created position focuses on collaboration between design firms and Donley’s CM teams. Olga joined Donley’s in 2019, bringing eight years of design experience. She has extensive expertise in developing design documents and an in-depth knowledge of best practices. She is currently working on Swagelok’s new Headquarters and Global Innovation Center.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Aon Aon welcomes Paul Korfmacher to its Cleveland office. Licensed in 48 states, Paul brings 11 years of experience in the insurance industry specializing in complex risk solutions. Paul will utilize his background as a Risk Manager and National Account Executive to provide complete program analysis for new clients to reduce exposures and minimize total cost of risk. Paul has served clients in various industries including transportation, construction, manufacturing, and distribution.
Flagstar Bank
Flagstar Bank, a $23-billion Midwest regional bank, has hired Ray Green and Joe Panico to lead Flagstar Business Capital, the bank’s newly formed asset based lending and senior secured lending group. Green joins as senior vice president and director of Flagstar Business Capital, with experience starting, growing, and leading asset based lending groups. Panico joins as first vice president and senior managing director. Previously, Green was executive vice president of Woodforest National Bank, where he built a specialty finance platform. Panico was senior vice president responsible for business development at Woodforest. Flagstar Business Capital works with companies and sponsors nationwide, providing commitments up to $30 million. Green Panico
To place your listing, visit www.crainscleveland.com/people-on-the-move or for more information, please call Debora Stein at (917) 226-5470 or email dstein@crain.com. Advertising Section
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Johnson Investment Counsel
Johnson Investment Counsel is pleased to announce the addition of Portfolio Manager, James Wineland, CIMA®, AIF®. James holds the Certified Investment Management (CIMA®) designation, The Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) Designation and is a CFP© candidate. James brings nearly a decade of experience in the financial industry. With more than $13 billion in assets under management, Johnson Investment Counsel is one of Ohio’s largest independent investment advisory firms.
LEGAL
McMahon DeGulis LLP
McMahon DeGulis LLP is pleased to announce that Erin M. McDevitt-Frantz has been named a Partner at the firm. Erin has over a decade of experience in environmental law and complex commercial litigation including enforcement defense, insurance coverage and cost recovery. Erin’s clients include public and private sector entities including publicly traded companies and large municipalities.
INSURANCE
Gallagher
Gallagher is excited to welcome Corbin Baran to our Ohio team! Corbin joins Gallagher as an Area Vice President, helping clients to design, manage, measure, and optimize their healthcare solutions. In prior roles, Corbin consulted with employer groups, corporate leadership, and insurance brokers to offer effective healthcare solutions. With five years in insurance, Corbin brings industry experience and is looking forward to continuing to grow his career with Gallagher.
LEGAL
Jackson Lewis P.C.
Jackson Lewis P.C. is pleased to announce that Vincent J. Tersigni has been appointed as Office Managing Principal in Cleveland. In addition to his role as Office Managing Principal, Mr. Tersigni also serves as the Cleveland Office Litigation Manager. He focuses his practice on representing employers in both the public and private sectors in labor and employment law matters.
NONPROFITS
Jewish Federation of Cleveland
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland is proud to announce that Rachel Lappen has been named its chief development officer. She brings nearly 20 years of experience in the Jewish community and the arts to this role. She comes to Federation from The Cleveland Orchestra, where she was the senior director of development. She received a BA in Biblical Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a BA in Music from Barnard College. She earned an MA in Arts Administration from Columbia University.
REAL ESTATE
Redwood Living, Inc.
Developer and owner of single-family apartment homes, Redwood Living, Inc., has named real estate industry veteran Kevin Kwiatkowski as Vice President of Acquisitions. He will immediately integrate into Redwood’s portfolio of rental properties in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina and South Carolina, working with land brokers and helping to propel Redwood’s expansion plans into new markets. He brings 20+ years of experience in real estate acquisition, entitlement and land development.
A Gateway to a reimagined downtown
` WHY IT MATTERS TODAY` THE HISTORY By the early 1980s, 50-year-old Cleveland Municipal Stadium was showing its age. It had never possessed the charm of Boston’s 1912 Fenway Park or Chicago’s 1914 Wrigley Field, two baseball fields beloved by their fans. Instead, it was born of a compromise that dictated it be a multipurpose building. In the end, it was comfortable for neither baseball nor football fans. It also was the first publicly owned major sports facility. The push for a new stadium began in earnest in 1983, when the estate of F.J. “Steve” O’Neill put the Indians up for sale. Then, on the night of March 12, 1984, in Baltimore, moving vans pulled up to the training facility of the Colts and picked up all of the helmets, shoulder pads, footballs and other property of the NFL team and headed west to Indianapolis. The concern suddenly became: Would the Indians be the next team to pull up stakes? — Jay Miller
In 1984, Cuyahoga County commissioner Vincent Campanella proposed a $150 million domed stadium south of Public Square. On May 9 of that year, voters rejected a proposal to pay for the domed stadium w ith an addition to the sales tax.
But by 1989, Michael R. White was mayor of Cleveland, and he and the Cuyahoga County commissioners came up with a plan for a baseballonly stadium to satisfy the Jacobs brothers. At White’s insistence, the plan would include an arena to bring the Cleveland Cavaliers back to the city from Richfield’s Coliseum, which Cavs owner Nick Mileti had privately built for $17 million in 1972.
The Gateway financing plan was based on a new tax that came to be called the “sin tax.” It was designed to provide half of the cost of the complex, on a 28-acre site that had been home to the Central Market and food-relat ed retailers. The 15-year tax would add 1.9 cen ts to the cost of a 12-ounce beer, 1.7 cents to a 5-ounce glass of wine, 3.7 cents per shot of liquor and 5 cents to a pack of cigarettes. The rest of the cost would be borne by private sources, including the teams, or by the buildings’ users, in the form of licens es for loges and premium seating. O n May 8, 1990, 51.7% of county voters approved Issue 2. The Gateway Economic Development Corp. was created, and planning for the two fa cilities could move ahead. The cost w as expected to be $344 million, though it didn’t quite work out that way — because of changes, delays and rising costs, the final tab would be in the neighborhood of $425 million, with the public picking up the excess. On April 4, 1994, President Bill Clinton threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Jacobs Field; the base ball team owners had paid for naming rights. It took 11 innings for the I ndians to defeat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 41,459. The first event at Gateway was a Pittsburgh Pirates-Cleveland Indians exhibition game on April 2, 1994. Two days later, the Indians opened the regular season by defeating the Seattle Mariners 4-3 before 41,459 fans. | JEFF HAYNES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
` IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“Should this facility not be available in Cleveland, should the vote (to create the sin tax) be a negative one, we may find ourselves confronting a subject we want to avoid.” — Fay Vincent, commissioner of Major League Baseball, in front of Cleveland City Council shortly before the vote on May 8, 1990, raising the subject of Cleveland losing its baseball team if the vote to create the sin tax failed.
“If you want that quality of life that having sports teams provide, you have to subsidize it, and it is better to subsidize the venue than to subsidize the teams. And then you get the economic development discussion.” — Thomas V. Chema, executive director of the Gateway Economic Development Corp. from its inception in 1990 until June 1995.
“Mayor White ... enacted a public land protective district to prevent demolition of older buildings by would-be parking operators. This action, combined with the year-round activity ensured by building an arena next to a ballpark, led to the redevelopment of East Fourth Street and adjacent areas into thriving urban entertainment districts.” — Ken Silliman, executive assistant to Mayor White from 1995 to 2002, at the time of Gateway’s planning and development, and now a member of the board of the Gateway Economic Development Corp. Though it was never a strong selling point at the time the sin tax was up for a v ote, the role the Gateway project has played in the develop ment of downtown Cleveland has b een significant.
The Gateway footprint at the time encompassed a hodgepodge of aging buildings, including the Central Mar ket, an Army-Navy store and storefronts that sold hats, wigs, shoes and c lothing. On its last legs, too, was Record Rendezvous, the record store o wned by Leo Mintz that sponsored the first ever rock and roll concert. That concert, and Mintz’s store, were key to Cleveland landing the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Gateway changed the area’s tra jectory. M eeting a reporter at the corner of East Fourth Street and Prospect Avenue in the late 1980s, when de velopment of sports facilities was s till a dream, then-Cleveland city planning director Hunter Morrison, looking first at the Central Market (where Gateway would be built) and then back toward Euclid Avenue, envisioned a redeveloped East Fourth, along with further develop ment on Prospect Avenue and even alon g Euclid Avenue to the north, if a way could be found to build a new sports complex.
“There’s a mythology that it didn’t deliver, and it really did deliver,” said Thomas Yablonsky, currently execu tive vice president of the Downtown C leveland Alliance, who has been active in the development of the Gateway area since 1995. “It took a part of do wntown that had had been woefully underinvested in — Euclid Avenue, East Fourth Street and Lower Pr ospect — and gave it a whole new life. I’ve charted that since 1994. Eight hotels have opened there, close to 30 residential buildings and, the last time I counted them, just about 60 full-service restaurants.”
GETTING STRONGER: Cleveland Clinic in 2019 reported strong financials, improved patient safety measures, having served more patients than ever and con tinued expansion of its footprint, said president and CEO Dr. Tom M ihaljevic in his annual State of the Clinic address. The Clinic had $390 million in operating income — up 47% from 2018 — on $10.6 billion in operating revenue, up 18.7% from 2018. Mihaljevic credited caring for more patients, a strong economy and expansion in Florida for that growth, which followed a 19% dip in 2018 op erating income. Finances in 2019 were b olstered by a $261 million gift from the Lord Foundation of Ohio.
ty by targeting specific, measurable g oals and outcomes. The Hub’s network of partners will set realistic, me aningful goals over the next decade. About 51% of children in Cleveland live in poverty, the highest rate in the U .S.
non profit sector partners to help people living in the deepest poverty across C leveland. Known as the Community Hub for Basic Needs, the effort sup ports United Way’s strategic plan to maximize its impact in the communiFIBER FILL: Cleveland company Everstream continued its Midwestern expansion with the purchase of Rocket F iber of Detroit, a broadband internet provider. Rocket Fiber was founded in 2014 with financial backing from De troit billionaire/Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. The deal, set to close this spring, giv es Everstream access to the Detroit company’s 41 route miles of fiber net work in downtown Detroit and provides Southeast Michigan clients a direct connection to Everstream’s gr owing fiber network in the Midwest.
crainscleveland.com Publisher/editor Elizabeth McIntyre (216) 771-5358 or emcintyre@crain.com Group publisher Mary Kramer (313) 446-0399 or mkramer@crain.com Managing editor Scott Suttell (216) 771-5227 or ssuttell@crain.com Sections editor Michael von Glahn (216) 771-5359 or mvonglahn@crain.com Creative director David Kordalski (216) 771-5169 or dkordalski@crain.com Web editor Damon Sims (216) 771-5279 or dasims@crain.com Associate editor/Akron Sue Walton (330) 802-4615 or swalton@crain.com Assistant editor Kevin Kleps (216) 771-5256 or kkleps@crain.com Senior data editor Chuck Soder (216) 771-5374 or csoder@crain.com Editorial researcher William Lucey (216) 771-5243 or wlucey@crain.com Cartoonist Rich Williams REPORTERS Stan Bullard, senior reporter, Real estate/ construction. (216) 771-5228 or sbullard@crain.com Jay Miller, Government. (216) 771-5362 or jmiller@crain.com Rachel Abbey McCafferty, Manufacturing/energy/ education. (216) 771-5379 or rmccafferty@crain.com Jeremy Nobile, Finance/legal/beer/cannabis. (216) 771-5255 or jnobile@crain.com Kim Palmer, Government. (216) 771-5384 or kpalmer@crain.com Dan Shingler, Energy/steel/auto/Akron. (216) 771-5290 or dshingler@crain.com Lydia Coutré, Health care/nonprofits. (216) 771-5479 or lcoutre@crain.com ADVERTISING Local sales manager Megan Norman, (216) 771-5182 or mnorman@crain.com Events manager Erin Bechler, (216) 771-5388 or ebechler@crain.com Integrated marketing manager Michelle Sustar, (216) 771-5371 or msustar@crain.com Managing editor custom/special projects Amy Ann Stoessel (216) 771-5155 or astoessel@crain.com Associate publisher Lisa Rudy Director of advertising sales Scott Carlson Senior account executive John Petty Account executives Laura Kulber Mintz, Loren Breen People on the Move manager Debora Stein, (917) 226-5470, dstein@crain.com Pre-press and digital production Craig L. Mackey Office coordinator Karen Friedman Media services manager Nicole Spell Billing YahNica Crawford Credit Thomas Hanovich CUSTOMER SERVICE Customer service and subscriptions: (877) 824-9373 or customerservice@crainscleveland.com Reprints: Laura Picariello (732) 723-0569 or lpicariello@crain.com
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Volume 41, Number 8 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, except for the first issue in January, July and September, the last issue in May and the fourth issue in November, at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2020 by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, OH, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: $2.00. Postmaster: Send address changes to Crain’s Cleveland Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, MI 48207-2912. 1 (877) 824-9373. Subscriptions: In Ohio: 1 year - $64, 2 year - $110. Outside Ohio: 1 year - $110, 2 year - $195. Single copy, $2.00. Allow 4 weeks for change of address. For subscription information and delivery concerns send correspondence to Audience Development Department, Crain’s Cleveland Business, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, MI, 48207-9911, or email to customerservice@crainscleveland.com, or call (877) 824-9373 (in the U.S. and Canada) or (313) 446-0450 (all other locations), or fax (313) 446-6777.
Join Crain’s journalists and local real estate experts for a morning discussion on the history and current state of downtown Cleveland development.
THE MUSIC BOX SUPPER CLUB WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 8:30 A.M.
PANEL ANNOUNCED! MODERATOR Stan Bullard senior reporter, real estate, Crain's Cleveland Business
PANELISTS Doug Price CEO, K&D Group
Howard "Hoby" Hanna IV president Howard Hanna Real Estate Services
John J. Carney co-founder and managing partner, Landmark Management
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION HISTORY OF DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND DEVELOPMENT Tom Yablonsky executive VP, Downtown Cleveland Alliance; executive director, Historic Gateway Neighborhood and Historic Warehouse District Development Corp.
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