Crain's Cleveland Business

VOL. 40, NO. 9

MARCH 4 - 10, 2019

Source Lunch

Akron How Akron and Summit County fended off a cyber attack. Page 20

Kent State University’s J.R. Campbell Page 23

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

The List The largest conference centers in NEO Page 17 TECHNOLOGY

Blockland faces an uphill battle Cleveland has far to go in developing a tech hub mindset

By Jeremy Nobile jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

REAL ESTATE

RETAIL SHAKEOUT OPENS UNEXPECTED DOORS In the world of shopping center development, addition by subtraction is the name of the game

By Stan Bullard sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltyWriter

As the steady drumbeat of retailer closings continues to thump the shopping center business, stubbornly high vacancy is becoming a staple of the regional marketplace.

CBRE Group Inc.’s most recent retail report reflects that, showing vacancy dipped a bit, to 12.1% as of the end of 2018 from 12.7% a year earlier. However, the lowest vacancy rate in the past 10 years was at 9% in 2014. And as 2009 drew to a close 10 years ago, amid the toughest real estate and economic environment in decades, vacancy stood at 12.5%.

Tom Flynn, a CBRE senior vice president who specializes in big-box stores, summed

Illustration by xubingruo

Retail vacancies on the rise in NEO 15%

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SOURCE: CBRE Research NOTE: Covers Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark and Summit counties

Entire contents © 2019 by Crain Communications Inc.

it up succinctly: “The overriding thread in the market is that we have too much retail space. Amazon and online retailing may have accelerated it a bit, but that’s the situation. Some of this space will never be used for retail again. Beyond that, it’s a question of haves and have-nots.”

However, David Browning, managing director of CBRE’s Cleveland and Akron offices, said, “Statistically, it’s moving slowly, but there is change underway. New things are going on in terms of new mixed-use projects such as Van Aken District and Pinecrest (in Shaker Heights and Orange Village, respectively) and Menards (of Eau Claire, Wis.) and Meijer entering the market.”

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer operates large-format hypermarkets offering food as well as hard and soft goods.

SEE RETAIL, PAGE 21

The grassroots Blockland initiative’s goal of transforming Northeast Ohio into a blockchain-minded tech hub faces some tough challenges, particularly when it comes to competing with coastal markets where a tech sector is already deeply woven into the economic and cultural fabric.

So despite the high rate of startup failures across the United States, when word got out that Cleveland’s Votem Corp. — which has been developing and managing online and mobile voting platforms and applying blockchain technology to them — abruptly laid off effectively its entire staff of about 70 because it couldn’t make payroll, observers may speculate how that reflects on the ambitious goals of Blockland.

The fact that Votem’s news was even covered by the local media drew some ire from auto dealer, tech entrepreneur and Blockland driver Bernie Moreno, who downplayed some negative reactions on social media.

“These are the conversations that happen in a city that doesn’t understand technology,” said Moreno, who’s had about a 3.5% stake in Votem. “It frustrates me and is another sign that Cleveland has a long way to go to be relevant in the tech world.”

According to research firm CB Insights, about 70% of upstart tech companies in the United States fail, many within just 20 months of receiving financing. Tanking is so common that in markets with a high density of tech firms, such as Boston or Silicon Valley, most failures never hit the news.

But Votem rightfully garnered attention here because it’s one of just a couple firms actively engaged in the blockchain space in this market.

Moreno acknowledges that, but said he chooses to look at “the silver lining.” He said the fact some may not share that viewpoint speaks to the mentality in this market — and illustrates one of the challenges facing the Blockland initiative.

“Votem, if it does anything positive, it teaches the community the idea that we’re going to have a lot of failure,” he said. “And that’s OK because that’s part of it.”

SEE BLOCKLAND, PAGE 22

Inside $6 million renovation underway at Indians’ Club Lounge.

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Lumitex powers up phototherapy startup MuReva

By Lydia Coutré lcoutre@crain.com @LydiaCoutre

What started as a student project at a local company has morphed into a tremendous opportunity for Vedang Kothari, now president and CEO of a biotech startup in Northeast Ohio.

Five years ago, while interning at Strongsville-based lighting solutions company Lumitex, Kothari, a Case Western Reserve University student at the time, was tasked with brainstorming additional applications for the company’s phototherapy technology.

“Through that process, I stumbled upon this application to treat a side effect of cancer therapy called oral mucositis,” he said.

At Lumitex, Kothari began working on a phototherapy treatment for this condition, a common side effect of cancer treatment in which the patient develops painful or debilitating ulcers in the soft tissues within the oral cavity.

Last August, Lumitex spun this project out into a new company, MuReva Phototherapy Inc., and tapped Kothari to lead the startup as president and CEO. “He’s a really smart guy,” Lumitex CEO and MuReva chairman Peter Broer said of Kothari. “He’s a leader.

He’s a natural. As one of the investors said, he’s right out of central casting.”

So far, MuReva has raised $1.3 million in investment. It's also attracted another $1.7 million in grants from the federal government. MuReva plans to start clinical trials in the second quarter of this year.

Oral mucositis affects roughly 400,000 patients annually in the United States, affecting their cheeks, lips, gums, inner cavity and tonsilary

The MuReva Phototherapy System is an intraoral illuminated mouthpiece that can simultaneously deliver light to all soft tissue susceptible to oral mucositis. (Contributed photo)

“What I like about Northeast Ohio is that it’s a very close-knit community where people are very willing to help.”

— Vedang Kothari, president and CEO of MuReva

region — all of the soft tissues. Treatment options today are rather limited. Patients are usually given pain medication and/or antiseptic mouthwash, Kothari said. Beyond that, there’s not much doctors can do for the painful condition that, at advanced stages, can inhibit a patient’s ability to eat and speak.

Light therapy has been proven effective in treating oral mucositis, but

the ways to deliver that therapy are impractical, Kothari said. It can be administered with a laser, but having to go point by point through the oral cavity can take upward of 40 minutes per patient per day to deliver, which is why that hasn’t been adopted as standard treatment. Plus, it must be administered by a clinician, which is impractical for a daily therapy.

“We think we’ve solved that prob-

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lem,” Broer said. “We have a product which is essentially a very, very optically sophisticated mouthpiece that glows uniformly and gets the light throughout the oral cavity, including down the throat, and can treat the condition in five to seven minutes.”

The illuminated mouthpiece is made of a soft, flexible silicone material, which Kothari notes is key for the comfort of these patients. It’s capable of delivering the correct dosage of light to all of the oral mucositis-susceptible tissues in the mouth simultaneously.

For clinical trials, MuReva will use the device in the radiation clinic, but the hope, ultimately, is to create a take-home device that the patient can easily self-administer.

Lumitex creates unique lighting solutions — particularly in very lowprofile, sensitive applications that need light without complications such as heat. The company has a phototherapy product that treats jaundice in babies by wrapping them in light. Lumitex also can light surgical cavities inside the body to help surgeons see what they’re doing, especially in spinal surgery. In addition to its medical applications, the company has applications in electronics and automotive. Each of the businesses it started began as a project within Lumitex. Most recently, it developed keyboard backlighting technology and spun that into a subsidiary called Lumtiex Asia about 10 years ago.

“We’ve grown by developing projects that become businesses,” Broer said.

Lumitex has 130 employees in Northeast Ohio, organized in two businesses: Lumitex Medical Devices and the Lumitex parent, which is the electronics and automotive business. There are another 50 people in Lumitex Asia.

Growth by Design

Broer credits Northeast Ohio’s economic development network with helping Lumitex be able to incubate and ultimately launch MuReva.

Cleveland’s health care and bioscience business accelerator, BioEnterprise, and business accelerator JumpStart were both instrumental, he said, as well as the Ohio Aerospace Institute, which helped the company apply for the two Small Business Innovation Research grants it ultimately received.

Aram Nerpouni, president and CEO of BioEnterprise, said there is a “very robust ecosystem” in Northeast Ohio for someone like Kothari to “find a lot of resources here in town that can help him refine his business idea, identify partners to help him move it forward and then help him make sure that he’s got various perspectives on the economic case so he’s confident in making a decision.

And the result of that is the launch of a spinout company, MuReva.”

Kothari, who grew up in San Jose, Calif., came to Northeast Ohio to study biomedical engineering at Case Western, where he went on to earn a master’s in engineering and management.

The plan had been to return to California upon graduation, but the opportunity with Lumitex drew him in.

Kothari’s father, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, twice offered him job opportunities, but both times Kothari declined, opting to stay in Northeast Ohio.

“What I like about Northeast Ohio is that it’s a very close-knit community where people are very willing to help,” Kothari said. “I think in other places, like Silicon Valley, it’s very competitive. Whereas here … everyone I’ve talked to has been very willing to go out of their way to support us, even though there’s no direct financial gain for them.”

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Hawken’s Mastery School is a throwback

By Rachel Abbey McCafferty rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

In many ways, the Mastery School is a return to Hawken School’s roots.

In February, Hawken announced plans to open a new high school in University Circle in August 2020. The school will include a focus on experiential and interdisciplinary learning, and students won’t receive letter grades.

Hawken, a private, coeducational preK-12 school with campuses in Gates Mills, Lyndhurst and Cleveland, got its start as a progressive option for education in University Circle in 1915. Over time, it began to embrace — and get good at — a more standardized approach to teaching, said head of school Scott Looney.

But after Looney arrived in 2006, the school started to look at different ways to deliver education. And he used the school’s own past to inspire teachers.

Looney began a 2008 faculty retreat by telling a story about a school with an unusual approach to education. The school had a set amount of work each student had to accomplish every week, but students were allowed to work at their own pace, moving on to independent projects if they finished ahead of schedule.

Looney asked faculty if they thought the method would be something Hawken could achieve. About half thought it was too radical.

Then he revealed that the school in the story was Hawken in 1934.

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“I said, ‘Guys, we used to do this. We used to be really good at this. We can be again,’ ” Looney said.

The model that started to emerge included a focus Looney on in-depth learning and real world experiences.

The school started to offer its intensives program where, twice a year, students spend three weeks focused on one subject, and its macro courses, or interdisciplinary courses that bring together multiple subjects. It opened the Sally & Bob Gries Center for Experiential and Service Learning in University Circle. And then it hit a roadblock: how to grade this non-conventional learning.

Looney started to talk to other school leaders who were also frustrated with the grades model they had all been using. That was the start of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, a network of public and private schools looking to create a new kind of school transcript.

The goal of such transcripts is to measure all of a student’s achievements, like persistence and leadership skills, not just those achievements that can be easily measured by a test, and summarize them for colleges and universities.

After the consortium started in 2017, Hawken rededicated itself to the idea of opening a school focused on mastery and expanding the intensives and macros model it had creat-

ed. It bought a building from the Junior League of Cleveland in University Circle for that intent. The idea was to slowly grow the physical space as the school grew. Then the nearby Montessori High School shut its doors, and, suddenly, there were buildings nearby that would easily fit Hawken’s mission. Looney said that accelerated Hawken’s plans.

In addition to the Junior League building, Hawken bought four properties that used to belong to the Montessori High School — three buildings and a green space. Some of the new buildings could be used by Hawken overall, but many will support the new high school.

Ideally, Looney said, the funding would be raised before embarking on a new school, but he’s confident Hawken will be able to make it work.

Hawken now is in the midst of an approximately $7 million campaign to raise the funds to pay for the buildings, seed money for the school and scholarships, Looney said. The model of the Mastery School will be designed so that one in four students will receive a full scholarship.

So far, the school has raised about $1 million of its $7 million goal, Looney said. Hawken is reaching out to traditional supporters of the school, but also to people who support the mastery style of education.

Teaching skills for the future One of the reasons experiential learning is important is because of the role sensory memory plays in long-term learning, said Julia Griffin,

“Learning something for depth and for transfer, that’s what mastery really means.”

— Julia Griffin, director of the Mastery School

who will be the director of the Mastery School. The moments where students are actively participating in something are more likely to stick with them.

“If you want this sort of short-term, memorize-it, regurgitate-it-on-thequiz, forget-it cycle, that cramming, like the way that I did as a student with flash cards, that is the most efficient

way to learn it for the quiz tomorrow,” Griffin said. “But if I want to actually know it and be able to remember it next month, next year, the cramming method is not good for that. So I think that’s where this idea of learning something for depth and for transfer, that’s what mastery really means.”

Griffin, currently the assistant director for teaching and learning at Hawken’s Upper School, has been at Hawken for 16 years.

Her own educational experience had been a more traditional one. Griffin attended a public suburban school system in upper state New York where she excelled, skipping a grade and scoring high on standardized tests.

“The bounds of traditional school worked well for me,” Griffin said.

But she knows that’s not the case for everyone. And she knows that what a standardized test can measure is narrow and limited, even if a student does well on them. A good grade can signal to a student that their learning is done.

In December, Griffin and Looney taught an intensives class called “Design the Ideal High School.” And the students were told — and sworn to silence — that Hawken was actually starting a new high school and wanted their input. As part of the course, Hawken took the small group of students to the San Francisco area, where they visited innovative schools and companies like Apple and Google. At the companies, students learned about the skills employers thought today’s graduates were lacking, like the ability to collaborate.

SEE HAWKEN, PAGE 4

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Higley adds second out-of-town office in a year

By Stan Bullard sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltyWriter

The Albert M. Higley Co. of Cleveland has finished the second leg of its geographic expansion plan, opening an office in Pittsburgh.

The Cleveland-based general contractor and construction management firm has hired a market leader, Skylar Van Soest, as a regional vice president to drive its expansion in Pittsburgh and leased enough space to accommodate a staff of seven at Station Square, a former railroad depot turned into shops and offices.

Van Soest was previously a senior program manager at Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh.

Gareth Vaughan, Higley president and CEO, said the company intentionally hired a person with executive-level construction experience but not an executive with one of the former steeltown-turned-tech center’s legacy construction contractors.

“We feel that if you hire an executive from a local contractor, you take on that persona in the market,” Vaughan said in an interview. “We want our own voice and want to have the perspective of a person with different experience in the market.”

The expansion step was not taken lightly by Higley, a high-profile firm in Northeast Ohio that dates from 1925.

“We spent two years studying the market before taking this step,” Vaughan said of the geographic expansion initiative led by Dan Sehlhorst, Higley’s vice president of strategic and major pursuits, and Anna

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The students put together proposals that they presented to the board of trustees and the school’s senior leadership. Griffin said the school liked one of the ideas so much — the idea that a student will identify their own learning goals in addition to the teachers’ curriculum — that it’s been incorporated into the working

“We want our own voice and want to have the perspective of a person with different experience in the market.”

Dodson, vice president of business development.

Higley was attracted to Pittsburgh because of its proximity to Cleveland and its similar age and industrial history, Vaughan said, as well as a heavily unionized construction industry.

Pittsburgh also has substantial health care and educational institutions, a key market for Higley here.

“One of our existing clients already has a job there for us,” Vaughan said, as Higley is constructing for LaSalle Development Group Ltd. of Minneapolis an assisted-living and memory care center for senior citizens, called Tapestry, in Moon Township. Higley was the contractor on redevelopment last year of a former hotel at 28500 Euclid Ave. in Wickliffe as a Tapestry. The Pittsburgh project also repurposes a

former hotel for the senior citizen housing market, a $19 million job.

The Pittsburgh office comes a year after Higley launched an office in Detroit as an expansion area.

“We’re getting traction there,” Vaughan said, as the firm has secured enough work to boost its Motown staff to seven.

Over the long haul, Vaughan said, growth in those markets may trigger more at Higley’s home office, but that’s not the case. The short drive time to Pittsburgh and Detroit also means that executives from Cleveland can reach them quickly, as the firm has a series of market leaders here for areas such as health care and education who are steeped in such areas.

Dodson also provides business development services in all three markets.

Even so, the busy construction market has prompted the firm to add 10 people to its core Cleveland staff of 100. However, Higley’s new headquarters at 3636 Euclid Ave., which it moved into last year, can still accommodate more staff, Vaughan said.

Higley had gross sales of more than $200 million, which includes the cost of building materials, in 2018 to achieve a record year. That figure was a “substantial increase” from its 2017 sales, Vaughan said.

While seeking work in additional markets allows the firm to grow revenue-wise, that’s not its entire reason for adding new out-of-town offices.

“With new offices, we will be able to provide growth opportunities for our executives as people transition into new roles,” Vaughan said. Otherwise, he said, the contractor would have good people waiting for someone to retire to win a promotion.

schedule for the Mastery School.

Setting and working toward learning goals is a skill students need in the real world, so this approach will give them the chance to practice it in a school setting.

Schools like Hawken have flexibility and the ability to change quickly because they’re not using public funding and don’t have to answer to the same kind of systems, Looney said. The Mastery School will serve the students who enroll there, but it’s

also designed to be a proof of concept for the model.

“Independent schools have an obligation to the educational industry to use the flexibility that we are given by our construct, if we believe in helping kids, all kids, regardless of whether they’re kids we educate or not,” Looney said. “The public school system will make the vast majority of the contributions to what education becomes in this world. As it should. Our little contribution is that we can test stuff first.”

— Gareth Vaughan, Higley president and CEO

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Above: A mobile collaboration space and a private phone booth help make TestOil’s offices and lab flexible and customizable.

Left: Employees helped design their own workspaces in an effort to make the recently expanded lab more efficient. A number of the suggestions were implemented in the renovation. (Contributed photos)

Focus on customer service fuels TestOil’s growth

By Rachel Abbey McCafferty rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

TestOil is aptly named: That’s exactly what it does.

Specifically, the company analyzes oil samples from heavy industrial equipment for wear particles, which is important for preventive maintenance. Taking care of problems before they happen means there’s less chance of machine failure or downtime.

The company was founded in 1988 and has grown steadily over the years, said chief operating officer Mary Messuti. That’s in part because it’s a somewhat “recession-proof” business, she said, as customers want to protect their machinery both when times are tough and when they’re not.

But growth really picked up in the last nine years, Messuti noted. She thinks that’s due in part to the company’s approach to customer service, which includes same-day oil-testing results and a commitment to resolving issues in one phone call.

TestOil, the customer-facing name for holding company Insight Services Inc., recently expanded, adding about 5,400 square feet of space to its 10,000-square-foot building in Strongsville.

TestOil’s offices and lab are flexible and customizable. Its bright, open offices have sit-stand desks and movable meeting pods scattered throughout. To help with the flow and efficiency of the new lab, employees were invited to take part in meetings to design their own workspaces, Messuti said.

In addition, a number of changes have been made in the lab to eliminate wasted time, said lab manager Devin Evancho, from adding more automated equipment to a screen that shows where work is getting backed up, so techs can help relieve the bottleneck.

The expansion was completed in January. Messuti declined to share the amount the company invested in the expansion or annual revenue.

Today, TestOil has about 100 employees, said Chad Bittner, vice president of marketing and customer experience. And it’s constantly growing to meet business demands. In the past nine years, the company added about 75 new jobs.

For the most part, TestOil doesn’t ask its employees to bring particular degrees or certificates to the table.

Instead, it trains them through its

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TestOil’s Strongsville office was recently expanded by 5,400 square feet.

TestOil University once they’re hired.

There are some jobs that might require a degree, but most do not.

“They just need to be good, deductive thinkers,” Messuti said.

In the past year, TestOil has expanded its training program to include such skills as personal finances, in addition to professional skills.

Messuti said it’s a way to show employees that the company cares about them.

TestOil tries to create a positive culture for its employees. Because the company is committed to sameday service, employees don’t always know when their days will end, Messuti noted. So TestOil tries to provide fun breaks from work, such as picnics, art projects and live music.

Messuti said the company’s approach of training new hires and promoting from within has meant that it hasn’t had difficulty finding employees. And the company culture is important, too. After all, today’s applicants can easily find comments from current employees. Messuti said applicants to TestOil will see positive ones.

“You know, you can’t really manufacture that,” Messuti said. “You’re either doing it or you’re not.”

The company has seen increased demand from its existing customers, as well as growth in new customers.

As the industry becomes more sophisticated, people better understand the value of predictive analysis, she said. Messuti started to see that increase as the use of lean grew, since the lean approach puts a strong emphasis on maintenance.

“We want to predict it, we want to prevent any kind of catastrophic failures and we want to get ahead of that eight-ball,” Messuti said.

One of TestOil’s customers is the Kingsport, Tenn., plant of plastics and chemical company Eastman Chemical Co. The plant has used TestOil for its oil analysis for more than a decade, said technologist Earl Edens.

Eastman Chemical has a substantial predictive analysis program to try to prevent machine failures, and oil analysis is one of the approaches it uses.

“The cost to repair a machine if it’s gone to failure is a whole lot more than it is if you can predict before a machine actually fails. If you can use technology to predict a machine is headed toward failure and you stop it before then, it’s a huge cost difference in repairing a piece of equipment. It’s a lot of cost savings,” Edens said.

He added that the plant has stuck with TestOil over the years for its customer service. Eastman Chemical can connect with TestOil within one phone call or email, he said, and the company visits regularly to discuss updates.

Customers typically mail oil samples to TestOil, but the company

recently launched a new industrial services business segment. Messuti said customers don’t always have enough time or employees to take those samples, so the new segment will send TestOil analysts to the customers. A beta test is underway and the segment will continue to grow.

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Indians’ Club Lounge gets new look, flow $6 million project features huge TV arrays, extended bar, glass walls and outdoor social spot

By Kevin Kleps kkleps@crain.com @KevinKleps

There isn’t a catchy name — at least not yet — but a premium gathering spot for Cleveland Indians season-ticket holders is undergoing a top-to-bottom renovation that, like past work at Progressive Field, will provide better connections to the field.

The Club Lounge, which is located behind the club seating area at the 25-year-old ballpark, is being redone as part of a $6 million project. The work started after the Tribe was swept by the Houston Astros in the postseason, and it’s on track to be completed before the home opener against the Chicago White Sox on April 1.

The space serves fans who sit in 12 sections of seats — from 326 to 348 — in the mezzanine level that sits atop the field-box seats along the firstbase line. The lounge, aside from some minor tweaks, had been largely unchanged since Progressive Field opened in 1994.

By April, “everything will be new,” said Tim Salcer, the Tribe’s vice president of sales and service.

The Club Lounge will have two arrays of nine 75-inch TVs, in three-bythree arrangements on areas that will be 9 feet, 5 inches high and 16 feet, 5 inches wide. Another 13 70-inch TVs will be added: four behind the bar and nine on columns in the lounge.

The bar will be moved from the center of the lounge to the back, where it will overlook massive glass walls. At 60 feet, 7 inches long, the bar is an inch longer than the distance between home plate and the pitcher’s mound.

“Can we just cut off an inch and make it easier for us to remember?”

Salcer joked during a recent meeting with Crain’s.

Shifting the location of the bar will improve the flow inside the lounge, said Weber Murphy Fox principal Sean Plunkett, whose firm designed the space, as it did The Corner and other recent ballpark renovations.

“There will be a lot more standing tables inside,” Plunkett said. “People can loiter about at tables, rather than always looking for a seat. We changed a ton of those types of elements.”

The seating capacity inside the Club Lounge is increasing 29%, from 309 to 398, and the Indians are adding another 121 spots outside the club, bringing the total increase to 210, or 68%.

The latter spaces are part of a bar that is being constructed in the club outfield sections. The outside bar will overlook the ballpark and be a short toss from The Corner.

And like The Corner, a popular gathering spot that was one of the key elements of the Progressive Field renovations completed in 2015, the bar outside the Club Lounge will have drink rails.

“The drink rails have obviously been successful for us, but as we researched and did surveys of our season-ticket holders and fans and said, ‘What are things that you want?,’ one thing that was really important to them was to be able to enjoy the food from the Club Lounge, but also to see the game at the same time,” Salcer said.

Same place, ‘new feel’ In past years, the game — aside from those who watched the Tribe on one of the TVs — was mostly an

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The new Club Lounge at Progressive Field will have two arrays of nine 75-inch TVs. Each array is 9 feet, 5 inches high and 16 feet, 5 inches wide.

A new merchandise store, shown to the right of the escalator, is being built in the Club Lounge. (Photos by Andrew Mascharka/Cleveland Indians)

afterthought in the Club Lounge.

The current renovation, continuing themes of the major work prior to the 2015 and ’16 seasons, ad-

dresses that by opening up the space and installing floor-to-ceiling, retractable glass doors. The work again is being done by Gilbane Building

Club Lounge: By the numbers 2: Arrays of nine 75-inch TVs that are 9 feet, 5 inches high and 16 feet, 5 inches wide 4: 70-inch TVs behind the bar 9: 70-inch TVs on the columns around the remainder of the lounge 60 feet, 7 inches: Length of the new bar — one inch longer than the distance between the pitcher’s mound and home plate 398: Seating capacity in the club lounge — a 29% increase from the previous space 121: Capacity for the social spaces outside the lounge, bringing the total capacity increase to 68% $6 million: Cost of the project $2.9 million: Funds that are coming from Cuyahoga County’s tax on alcohol and cigarettes

Co., a Providence, R.I.-based firm that has offices in Cleveland and Columbus.

“They were totally separated,” Salcer said of the former Club Lounge and the play on the field. “You almost felt a bit isolated from the ballpark experience.”

Plunkett, the Weber Murphy Fox principal, said the glass “will blur the line between where the club starts and stops, and where the field experience starts and stops.”

The columns inside the lounge will be wrapped in brick, which might remind fans of amenities in The Corner and the Lexus Homeplate Club. The latter was part of the second round of renovations that were finished prior to the 2016 campaign.

The Club Lounge soon will get a title partner, Salcer said, and the improved space will allow the Indians to host more events in the offseason. The lounge is now one level and its kitchen has also been fully renovated.

The Indians have shared concepts

of the renovation with current and prospective season-ticket holders.

Salcer said about a third of the team’s new season-ticket sales for 2019 have been for spots in the club sections, and “a lot” of season-ticket holders have upgraded their seats because of the improvements.

The Tribe will no longer conduct group sales for clubs seats, making the area is exclusive to season-ticket holders — a group that has topped 13,000 full-season equivalents in each of the last two years.

And while there are some similarities to recent renovations, “the Club Lounge is a very different experience than The Corner, and food and concession locations around the ballpark,” Plunkett said.

“It has its own feel,” he added. “It’s a little more upscale than The Corner, which was designed to be pretty rustic.”

The Club Lounge has all-inclusive food and non-alcoholic drink offerings, making it, in Salcer’s estimation, “one of the best values in all of the ballpark.”

The club seats are also among the most expensive, with season tickets that range in cost from $62.75 (outfield club seats for quarter-season weekday plans) to $100.75 per game (infield club seats for quarter-season weekend plans).

The Indians, Salcer said, are investing in that core group of customers with the renovation. Almost half of the project’s cost — $2.9 million — is coming from Cuyahoga County’s tax on alcohol and cigarettes.

“We decided it was our highest priority for our season-ticket holders, and the space was tired and needed to be renovated,” Salcer said.

And for those who still want to watch the game on one of the Club Lounge’s 31 oversized TVs, the sound system has been upgraded, too.

2/28/19 4:02 PM

What would you like the power to do?

At Bank of America we are here to serve, and listening to how people answer this question is how we learn what matters most to them, so we can help them achieve their goals. We had one of our best years ever in 2018: strong recognition for customer service in every category, the highest levels of customer satisfaction and record financial results that allow us to keep investing in how we serve you. That translates to a great team delivering the best capabilities for our clients and for our communities.

We are proud to serve Ohio and help drive it forward by sharing our success, through the lending, investing, giving and volunteering that you need to remain vibrant and vital.

$191 Million

$3.7 Billion

$282 Million

Home loans1

Loans outstanding to commercial business

Credit provided during 2018 by Bank of America to small businesses in Ohio

$8.3 Million

$4.3 Million

139K

in grants and matching gifts during the last five years addressing economic mobility and community needs2

pledged by employees to local nonprofits and community needs in the last five years3

employee volunteer hours contributed locally during the last five years

Ohio is home for me and my team. We know this community and we are here to serve your needs and help you achieve your goals. That’s why we’re always asking:

What would you like the power to do?

Let me know at: jeneen.marziani@bankofamerica.com Jeneen Marziani Ohio Market President

As always, protect your personal data. For assistance with a personal financial issue, please visit your nearest financial center.

Home loan dollars reflect a rolling 12-month total of First mortgage loan production figures including Consumer Banking and GWIM. Community involvement amounts represent a cumulative 5-year period of contributions.

3 Employee local nonprofit pledges may include: disaster relief, deceased/retirement dollars, volunteer grants and volunteer service awards. © 2019 Bank of America Corporation. | Member FDIC | AR54YRJW | TAD-01-19-2357

1

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Opinion From the Editor

Joe Crea gathered us all at his table

Editorial

Read all about it This is an era in which there’s considerable skepticism, often for good reason, about the ability of public institutions to carry out their missions.

That’s why it’s so satisfying that one big institution in town — the Cleveland Public Library — has such a good story to tell as it kicks off the celebration of its 150th birthday.

Executive director Felton Thomas Jr., in a “State of the Library” address last week at the City Club of Cleveland, laid out details of sharpening the strategic plan and bolstering the facilities master plan — made possible by voters’ passage of a tax increase in 2017 — for what’s often called “The People’s University.”

One aspect of Thomas’ presentation that got a lot of attention was his announcement that the library is ending fines for overdue materials. As Crain’s government reporter Jay Miller wrote in his web story about Thomas’ remarks, the elimination of fines is “a growing trend among libraries,” as many officials “believe fines are a barrier to use for some, undermining the core value of the library as a place that provides free and equal access to all the people.”

There’s some risk to the strategy: Research on the subject is mixed as to whether eliminating fines reduces return rates of library materials. But there’s a significant upside to bringing in new patrons and allowing previous users to come back. Libraries are among the institutions today best positioned to create meaningful public spaces for people of all backgrounds. For many users, they’re a valuable job resource, or a networking opportunity, or a connection to information that otherwise would be difficult to access. We should cheer the resilience of CPL, and all of Northeast Ohio’s libraries, in continuing to attract patrons.

Over the next year, the library will hold a series of community events seeking to raise its profile. Among them is a street festival in late July in which CPL will shut down the streets in front of the Main Library downtown for activities and live music. The facilities master plan is focused on identifying branch libraries in need of improvement, with an eye specifically on features

geared to serving their surrounding neighborhoods. (It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.) The library also is raising its philanthropic game, as the nonprofit Friends of the Cleveland Public Library has been renamed the Cleveland Public Library Foundation and is being reorganized to be more efficient at identifying donor dollars.

“Our aspiration is to become the best 21st-century library for the city of Cleveland,” Thomas said in his City Club address. We applaud the ambition and look forward to the next chapter of the story.

Taking the lead

Two other important Cleveland institutions — the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Clinic — are offering valuable leadership of a different sort.

The Musical Arts Association, the nonprofit that runs business operations of the orchestra, this month reached an agreement with Service Employees International Union Local 1 on a contract that guarantees wage increases for all Severance Hall facilities employees each year and leads to each worker making at least $15.10 per hour as of Jan. 1, 2021. The Clinic, meanwhile, in January raised its minimum wage for employees to $14 per hour, and by 2020 that figure will rise to $15.

The politics of the minimum wage are tough. Ohio’s minimum wage on Jan. 1 rose to $8.55 per hour, but bills to boost it to $15 have gone nowhere. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour; it has not increased since July 2009.

There are reasonable economic arguments against the blunt force of mandating a $15-per-hour minimum wage, particularly in slow-growth areas where such an increase could be hugely disruptive to labor markets. But employers are free to figure out ways to get to (or near) $15 if it can fit their business model. Such raises make a meaningful difference in the lives of workers. We’re glad the orchestra and the Clinic have made this work.

Publisher and Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com)

CLEVELAND BUSINESS P008_09_CL_20190304.indd 8

Managing Editor:

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

Contact Crain’s:

216-522-1383

Read Crain’s online: crainscleveland.com

When Joe Crea retired from the Plain Dealer two years ago, he was feted at a party at Collision Bend Brewing Co. in the Flats.

Dozens of well-wishers toasted the longtime food and restaurants editor at the paper. As someone who worked alongside Joe for a dozen or so years at the PD, I was among those who raised a glass in his honor. Finally, toward the end of the night, I pulled Joe away from the crowd and whispered in his ear, “If you’re interested, we’d love for you to cover the business of food for Crain’s.”

That’s how Crea’s “retirement” lasted a matter of days and how Crain’s Cleveland Business became the home for one of the finest writers on the Northeast Ohio food scene, where he continued to share his wit, Elizabeth wisdom and words for a legion of readers.

McIntyre On Feb. 22, Joe lost his three-year fight with cancer, almost a month to the day after his final piece, about chef Dante Boccuzzi, appeared in Crain’s.

Joe relished language as much as he savored food. So I wasn’t surprised that it took him weeks to decide on a name for his regular column in Crain’s. At the Plain Dealer, he wrote under the “Restaurant Row” moniker. He wanted to leave that behind, though, and come up with something different. Three weeks after we talked, he proposed “At the Table” as the name for his Crain’s column. Sue Walton, his editor here, and I agreed it was perfect.

Last week, as Sue and I sat next to each other at Joe’s funeral, having both worked with him at the Plain Dealer and Crain’s, we smiled when Fr. Peter Kovacina concluded his service by mentioning that we were all gathered at the table to celebrate with Joe as he would want. Truly, there was no better title Joe could have given his final journalistic output, and his life, than “At the Table.”

Eating is a communal experience. It’s about coming together and sharing not only nourishment but time with each other.

Most importantly, it’s about sharing your most valuable asset: yourself.

These days, as we seem to share more screen time than face time, we must cherish opportunities to interact personally, whether over a meal or over the phone. Joe understood the authentic experience of sharing oneself.

In June 2017, Joe spoke to the importance and existential quality of food when he began his relationship with Crain’s. I’ll step aside here and let him tell the story, in his conversational and honest style, in this excerpt from his column: On some level or another, food matters to each one of us. Whether you “eat to live” or live to be the very first through the doors of the next hot new place, eating plays a central role in living.

And maybe in living a more enjoyable, adventurous life.

This past November, as Thanksgiving approached and he began yet another new round of chemo, Joe was feeling reflective, as he listed all he was grateful for: his wife, Gretchen; their son, Spencer; his family and great friends.

Maybe it’s this stage of life I’ve achieved, all the years I’ve lived and the adventures I’ve enjoyed.

Yet for all the emotions I’ve experienced and even the many deadly sins in which I’ve indulged, the sweetest epiphany took the longest to emerge: a deep-seated sense of contentment.

SEE CREA, 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.

2/28/19 5:02 PM

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CREA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

As a citizen of this community as well as serving as “a voice,” well, I’m grateful for a lot of things beyond my personal selfish ends. Namely, Cleveland’s renaissance and return to prominence.

As a food guy, I’m grateful for our city’s burgeoning restaurant scene and its newfound reputation as a culinary mecca. And I’m grateful for how people of every stripe love to dine, cook and find a plethora of amazing local products to try and places to shop for artisan goods.

But there’s much more beyond that. …

To see this city — my city — come back to life? A town I’d left in the early 1980s, wondering why the city fathers didn’t just dump tumbleweed on Public Square. That seemed nothing shy of miraculous.

Whenever I think about it, my heart swells. Sometimes I think of it as sweat equity; I’ve chronicled this city these past 20 years, not counting a slew of stories I wrote during the 1970s. Other times it represents the kind of pragmatic investment one makes in voting for a public school levy, even though your kids go to private schools. You do it because it’s good for everyone and secures your property values.

Bottom line? For me, it’s civic pride. It’s a sense of place, and home, and — honestly — a place of hope. There’s a horizon to look to-

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Bottom line? For me, it’s civic pride. It’s a sense of place, and home, and — honestly — a place of hope. There’s a horizon to look toward, and a place to build on, contribute to and improve.

ward, and a place to build on, contribute to and improve.

I love this town, the people in it (well, most of them) and its remarkable institutions, particularly its charitable and artistic endeavors.

And this town, and the people in it — Joe’s family and friends, his co-workers at the Plain Dealer, cleveland.com and Crain’s, the restaurant community from proprietors to celebrity chefs to dishwashers — loved this man.

We were all privileged to be at his table.

Re: Shareholder proposal at TransDigm “There are numerous cost-effective ways for companies to reduce ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions and help protect society from the worst impacts of climate change while reaping financial benefits,” the proposal states. This shareholder group claims there are “numerous” ways to reduce emissions. I await their documenting a mere two or three of the “numerous” scientifically proven solutions. I am also interested in knowing how to reap the “financial benefits” the shareholder group says are available because this will help drive up the stock price. It is wonderful that the shareholder group can provide us with details of scientific analysis of numerous benefits and how to reap additional financial benefits. I know they have this information available, because they don’t want their claims grouped into the same type of mindless blathering about the world coming to an abrupt end in 10 years like some politicians are espousing.

— James D

Re: State looks to hike gas tax I agree on the need to increase funding for infrastructure, but question how to do it. Yes, having ignored it so long created the problem. But is this proposal to raise the gas tax nothing more than a heavy Band-Aid? Today’s vehicles are far more fuel-efficient. ... That means far less gasoline is now used, while cars continue to wear out our roads at a consistent level.

What about today’s hybrid and electric vehicles?

Yes, they’re a small portion of the market, but for how long? Ohio should deal with it now rather than ignore it like it ignored fuel efficiency for decades.

Every mile driven on Ohio roads causes deterioration, whether it’s done by residents, visitors, passthrough; low-MPG trucks, family SUVs; gasoline,

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For consideration: 1. Include a surcharge for annual vehicle registration that would be dedicated to maintaining Ohio’s infrastructure. This doesn’t have to be a large amount, but one spread proportionately across all vehicles owned in Ohio.

2. Include an infrastructure surcharge on the sale of all vehicles, whether through dealers or individuals. The fee would be assessed at the point of vehicle title transfer.

3. Assess a small surcharge on tolls for vehicles with out-of-state tags. This could easily be accomplished by allowing license plates stickers of Ohio vehicles to be properly identified via EZ-Pass and not charged.

4. Add more toll roads throughout Ohio. ... This would allow for a smaller gasoline tax for those who merely travel locally.

I strongly support finding a way to raise money in support of Ohio’s roads and bridges. But I don’t think a huge increase on the gas tax is the solution. — SteveBossin

216.635.4289 audris@brooklynohio.gov

Development on the lakefront There are several reasons that make the Green Ribbon Coalition’s East Shoreway proposal credible, including increasing the economic activity and livability within the adjacent Glenville and St. Clair-Superior neighborhoods, similar to what has happened in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood on the West Side. I’m glad Cleveland city planning director Freddy Collier said the proposal has not been off the table. He is correct about the shortfall in state dollars for existing road projects that need to be funded. But that is currently; funding can eventually become available and construction for the project can be phased in over a decade or more. — Bob Gardin

2/28/19 5:03 PM

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Focus

Ac

MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER Casual lounge seating can be found in Ritz-Carlton’s TURN Bar + Kitchen.

Area hotels encourage a more social atmosphere for guests and visitors.

(Contributed photos)

Hotels check into the coworking craze Lobbies and public spaces transform into welcoming business hubs for freelancers, entrepreneurs

By Douglas J. Guth clbfreelancer@crain.com

Coworking spaces are becoming increasingly common worldwide, offering freelancers, entrepreneurs and other nontraditional workers a place to brainstorm outside of a typical buttoned-up office environment. Meanwhile, major corporations such as Microsoft and GE are filling communal tables at trendy shared offices around the globe, a movement likely to grow alongside a flexible workforce fueled by technology.

Now, hotels are hopping on the coworking craze, transforming their lobbies and public spaces into welcoming business hubs suited not only to guests, but to people living or working in the surrounding neighborhood as well.

In Cleveland, hotels are trending toward shared experiences over the average stuffy business center, while still offering conventional meeting rooms for those who prefer that type of space.

Hilton Cleveland Downtown has 50,000 square feet of meeting space, but also sports an extra 1 million square feet of space thanks to its connection to the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. Giant corporate events

P010_011_CL_20190304.indd 10

pass through the complex weekly, with conventioneers using the Hilton’s airy lobby as an “in-between” area that's less formal than the meeting rooms they’ve been isolated in for days.

Close to Hilton’s lobby entrance is a coworking space with sofas and communal work tables, where networking guests can log onto four available computers, use a printer or charge an electronic device. Nearby is a 24-hour grab-and-go eatery selling coffee, salads and fresh-made sandwiches.

“We have a very open lobby that’s a comfortable environment to work in,” said Andrea Mueller, the Hilton’s manager of sales and marketing. “What we’re seeing is very casual kinds of meetings and roundtable discussions.”

Convention attendees looking to get away from the lobby’s hustle can use Eliot’s Living Room, a lounge area extending from Eliot’s Bar on the second floor. Living up to its name, the space boasts couches and large, soft chairs.

Guests there can link to Hilton’s free Wi-Fi and get some work done before their next meeting.

“Calling the space a ‘living room’ means having a level of comfort that allows people to produce their best work,” said Mueller. “We realized that takes place when people are comfortable.”

2/28/19 4:15 PM

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

A cozy alternative At Aloft Cleveland Downtown — situated in the bustling Flats East Bank neighborhood — work tables in the lobby attract office workers from EY and Northwest Mutual as well as residents of area apartment complexes, said director of operations Tony Heise.

“We have two tables strategically placed in the lobby, one front-facing and one toward the back,” he said.

“You can fit eight or nine people around each table. Instead of a fullblown meeting area, it’s a place to sit and talk.”

Offered as a cozy alternative to Aloft’s ballroom, each workspace features outlets for laptops and other devices. Impromptu breakout sessions occur in comfortable seating areas partitioned off from the rest of the lobby, with complimentary coffee, tea and bottled water available for guests.

New Aloft hotels will have casual meeting or coworking areas specifically designed as an offshoot of the standard business center. Adding a dedicated coworking space creates new revenue streams while also engaging the neighboring community, Heise said.

“Working in a space like this allows our guests to interact and communicate in a social atmosphere,” he noted. “It’s also bringing foot traffic into the building. More people will want to see the rooms or grab a drink at the bar.”

Ritz-Carlton Cleveland studied consumer trends during a $40 million renovation of its guestrooms and public spaces. Along with a completely refashioned sixth-floor lobby area, the hotel’s new meeting-friendly interiors include seating near the LINKS interactive kitchen. Additional casual meeting space is available in the foyer of Core Fitness Club and TURN Bar + Kitchen’s residential lounge.

“What we heard in our survey is that people want to connect with

“What we heard in our survey is that people want to connect with others rather than sit in their rooms or in a traditional business setting.”

Hotels increasingly seek to craft a memorable experience.

— Lynn Coletto, Ritz-Carlton’s director of sales and marketing

others rather than sit in their rooms or in a traditional business setting,” said Lynn Coletto, Ritz-Carlton’s director of sales and marketing.

Although the hotel still provides guests with the expected luxury offerings — in addition to 19,000 square feet of meeting space — an increased focus on informality points to an industry seeking to craft memorable experiences.

“Go back to our grand opening (after the renovation) and it was a block party, not a private invitation,” Coletto said. “We invited everyone from Cleveland to come. We’re proud of our community here and want the hotel to be an extension of people’s homes or living rooms.”

Hotels harnessing the global rise of coworking are seeking fresh ways to reach new patrons.

Hartmut Ott, general manager of Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower, is excited about an outdoor

patio adjacent to the hotel and office building that opened last spring.

Part of an innovative aesthetic that includes a refurbished lobby and a new fitness center, the seasonal patio is accessible to both guests and Key

Tower tenants interested in pairing dining with relaxed work conversation. Opening up the patio brings attention to multiple amenities held within the overall space — among them a spa and fine-dining Italian restaurant — which ideally activates the entire complex.

“There’s lots of operations we have here under one roof,” said Ott, who moved here from Chicago in 2017 to helm the larger renovation. “We’re going to develop our own character and be successful with it.”

Unique way to reach guests Coworking has gained attention from the hotel sector as casual shared office facilities continue to flourish.

According to estimates from the Global Coworking Survey, 1.7 million people were expected to be working in 19,000 coworking spaces worldwide by the end of 2018, with about two-thirds of those spaces considering expansion plans before the end of the year.

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

Take a chance on a casino for your next meeting

By Judy Stringer clbfreelancer@crain.com

Corporate events today are becoming less about the meeting and more about the experience, and that’s welcome news for local casinos, which declare they are all about the latter.

“When preparing to plan a meeting or event, not many people would think about a casino to include in their itinerary,” said Mark Tricano, senior vice president of Northeast Ohio operations and general manager of Jack Cleveland Casino. “However, one thing that is unique to us is our ability to put on an event in an environment that is fun and active, where you are kind of part of the activity that is around you.”

Tricano said the downtown casino has a long history as a site for casual, unstructured outings, such as professional group gatherings or company happy hours, but it’s increasingly also being sought for planned business meetings and corporate events.

He noted that many of those inquiries are coming from organizations attending events at the nearby Huntington Convention Center and looking for unique group experiences outside the traditional conference or convention setting.

Jack is responding to the demand by tailoring some of its existing promotions for VIP players to corporate clientele.

“It would be like, for instance, one of our slot tournaments,” Tricano said. “We would rope off a section of the casino where we would have our tournament game for people attending that event, and we would customize the tournament for them so they feel like they are their own VIPs within the casino.”

Promotions include a variety interactive gaming experiences from slot and poker tournaments to video tutorials on blackjack, baccarat or craps. He said he expects Jack’s new Synergy Table Games, the only installation of its kind in Northeast Ohio, will be a hit among event organizers.

The arena-style setup fuses electronic table games with high-energy dealer entertainment, live DJs, pulsating lights and a giant video wall.

Tricano said Jack can provide “a very high-end touch” to smaller gatherings of 25-40 people in its VIP Lounge, called The Library, but it can accommodate groups as large as 250. The Library is exclusive and not all casino guests have access. It’s also a great place for corporate guest to “socialize if gaming is not their interest,” he added.

A private dining room in the Seven Chefs Buffet restaurant is ideally suited for larger groups, Tricano said, while smaller parties can choose a dining experience that is more à la carte. The downtown location is one of Jack’s biggest assets, according to Tricano. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the convention center and an

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER “When preparing to plan a meeting or event, not many people would think about a casino to include in their itinerary.”

Mark Tricano, Jack Cleveland Casino general manager

inexpensive Uber or Lyft ride.

“We think that the casino is becoming top of mind among those somewhat unique experiences that Cleveland has to offer,” he said, “and as a 24/7 business, we can meet your needs any time of day or any day of the week.”

Michelle Baker, special events and catering manager for the Hard Rock Rocksino, said she has also seen an increase in private events at the Northfield casino.

“Groups, corporate clients and even private parties, like birthdays or mitzvahs, are looking for an experience, whether that means going out to the (Video Lottery Terminal) ma-

chines or catching a show at Hard Rock Live after their event, or even walking over to the racetrack and watching the horses or wagering,” Baker said.

The draw is being “immersed in the experience of Northfield Park, not just sitting in a meeting or standing around and talking,” she said.

“Some people will have their corporate meeting in the morning, then we will feed them lunch, which may include another presentation or meeting, and then the team will go out and game and spend the afternoon hoping to win some money. That’s becoming a popular scenario.”

Baker said Rocksino’s Club Velvet

can accommodate private gatherings from 20 to 250 people, depending on the room setup. The stage offers a place for presentations, and the space is fully equipped with a sound system and a video screen. In the past, she noted, organizations such as Akron Children’s Hospital and Susan G. Komen have hosted fundraisers at Club Velvet by hiring a recording artist to perform and selling tickets to guests.

“It’s a more casual atmosphere, so they don’t have to get so dressed up,” she pointed out, adding that guests can migrate into the casino for a “built-on after-party.”

Its concert venue, Hard Rock Live, can be used for galas and larger social events of anywhere from 500 to 1,000 guests or for trade shows. The site also offers a smaller four-seasons room, called Kosar’s Patio, where meetings of up to 30 people can be held.

Baker said many of the organizations that choose the Rocksino as a venue do so because it’s easy to access from state Route 8 or Interstates 480 and 271 and offers ample parking.

“We have valet parking and you don’t have the hassle of fighting traffic to get downtown,” she said.

With so much of a meeting planner’s business being repeat clients, Tricano said he believes casinos can put a new spin on events to keep their corporate accounts happy.

“I think it is a way for them to really build into a program a component that helps to keep it fresh and also put it in an interesting environment that is engaging and exciting,” he said.

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

Event center makes meeting at Crocker Park more than a chance encounter

By Stan Bullard sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltyWriter

Crocker Park is not only home to offices, apartments and a plethora of stores, but also Market Square, a $2.7 million civic space created by the city of Westlake for community and corporate events that’s used for everything from business expos and company meetings to weddings.

And sometimes, it’s used for more than just one wedding. “We married nine couples there last Valentine’s Day,” said Stacie Schmidt, vice president of Cleveland-based Stark Enterprises, which co-developed the mixed-use center near the Crocker Road interchange with I-90 and manages the city-owned venue.

The building has hosted parties, weddings, movies in the park, nonprofit fundraisers, birthday parties,

plays and arts-and-craft shows. It’s also used for corporate business meetings and luncheons.

Designed by Bialosky Cleveland to fit the rest of the architecture of Crocker Park, it’s an expansive property with 8,500 square feet available for rent capable of seating 999 people. The structure has 39-foot vaulted ceilings as well as six garage doors that can be opened, weather permitting. A half-acre green space, dubbed Crocker Commons, is available next door for outdoor functions, as well as events that use both indoor and outdoor space.

To provide services for guests, The Driftwood Group, the Burton-based restaurant and catering companies, exclusively provides catering services, and Cleveland-based Hughie’s Event Production Services provides audio and video services, as well as rigging, staging, lighting and decor.

The facility’s website shows possi-

ble arrangements for everything from a formal stage to concert seating, plus dinner arrangements.

The property is, literally, a creation by committee. Stark Enterprises founder Robert Stark offered to make land available to the city for public use while Crocker Park was in the planning stages. But he wanted to ensure it’d be used regularly. The city appointed a committee and the current concept developed through negotiations with Stark Enterprises.

Michael Killeen, president of Westlake City Council, said the idea germinated as Crocker Park was planned because the strongest town centers to that point incorporated a civic use such as a city hall or library.

The city had those points covered, so the event center surfaced.

“I call it a buzz center,” Killeen said.

“It helps create buzz for the property.

That is effectively our downtown, and we want it to succeed.”

Market Square at Crocker Park is designed so it can be opened up during fair weather, allowing both indoor and outdoor functions.

(Contributed photos)

Although it’s a city-owned facility — Westlake has an allocation of days for its use each year — for others, use of the property is not free.

Costs range from $600 before 3 p.m. weekdays and $1,500 for a full day Monday through Thursday. Fees for all-day rentals in peak periods range from $2,000 for all day Sunday and $2,500 all day Friday to $3,000 for Saturdays. Another fee is charged for the outdoor space, ranging from $750 for a full day Monday through Thursday to $1,500 for Saturdays, with lower

rates for use before 3 p.m. weekdays.

Schmidt said special events with fewer than 50 people are charged a different rate based on the type of event.

“We’ve been able to work with every group that has wanted to rent the space,” Schmidt said. “We’ve even had some fun groups and hosted Poses & Paws with Entercom Radio of Philadelphia. Poses & Paws is a fundraiser for the Cleveland Animal Protective League offering kitten yoga, Barnyard Yoga (with alpacas, goats and even a

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

The center can seat nearly 1,000.

according to Westlake city officials.

Mayor Dennis Clough said he does not feel the property is used as much as he had hoped.

Councilman Ken Brady, whose Ward 5 includes Crocker, said pricing cow) and this year a Dog Easter Egg Hunt. We’re very pet-friendly.”

Hermes Sports and Events of Tremont runs two races out of Market Square each year: a Resolution Run in January (though not this year due to a scheduling conflict) and a Moms Rock run on Mother’s Day that each attracts upward of 350 runners.

Joe Neroni, Hermes director of sales and marketing, said, “The venue is great for us. It’s open (weather permitting) and has restrooms. If we need a stage, we can get one in.”

The location is central for West Side runners, and Crocker Park has restaurants available if runners want to go to breakfast afterward, Neroni noted.

The rental fee is “not extravagant. ... We’re in the running business,” Neroni said.

Other users over the years include American Greetings Corp. and the pop-up retail event hosted by Shop Cleveland Market, which rents table space to about 50 vendors.

may be offputting to some. Two unexpected things the city and Crocker Park are negotiating to resolve, Brady said, are acquiring tables and chairs so customers don’t have to pay to bring them in, and providing more

space for catering operations.

Schmidt said Market Square was used for 60 events last year.

“We want to continue to expand,” she said. “It’s all about education and marketing.”

Alesya Vasilevskiy, the owner of Shop Cleveland, said she set up the pop-up at Market Square in 2017 because it taps a different market than more urban event locations and had a built-in clientele as a retail center.

“Every year we get more people. It’s a little tucked in the back (near Dick’s Sporting Goods), but Market Square is better known every year,” Vasilevskiy said. “We’ve gotten offers from other locations, but stayed there because the staff is so good to work with.”

Vasilevskiy said she enjoys the design of the space.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “The wood walls serve as a great backdrop.

It’s so large it is a blank space that you can do anything you really want there.”

Schmidt said events and organizers gain visibility by booking the facility and have Crocker Park’s hotel rooms, parking and setting as an amenity.

Still, there is room for improvement,

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

Event centers cite new reasons for growth If you experienced a revenue increase, what is the biggest factor that drove the increase?

By Chuck Soder

Did this facility experience an increase or decrease in event-related revenue last year??

NEO becoming known as an event destination

Increase: 12% or more

Landed one or two large events

Increase: 7% to 11.99%

csoder@crain.com @ChuckSoder

Increase: 2% to 6.99%

Other

Little or no change

Improving economy

Decrease: 2% to 6.99%

Operational changes related to our facility Physical changes to our facility

0

2019 2017

Decrease: 7% to 11.99% 2019 2017 0

1

2

3

0 4

5

NOTE: 16 respondents of 48 surveyed in 2019; 16 respondents of 39 surveyed in 2017

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

NOTES: 22 respondents of 48 surveyed in 2019; 23 respondents of 39 surveyed in 2017; 2017 figure includes one hotel that didn’t respond for list this year; no respondents reported a decrease of 12% or more in either survey.

Local conference centers are taking a little bit more credit for the business they bring in these days, judging by a survey Crain’s conducted while collecting data for our Conference Centers list.

We asked facilities that experienced an increase in revenue in 2018 to identify the biggest factor driving that rise.

Five selected “Operational changes related to our facility” — up from one when we last asked that question two years ago. Conversely, just one facility picked “Northeast Ohio becoming known as an event destination,” down from four back in 2017, shortly after the region hosted the Republican National Convention and had two major sports teams compete for championships.

Granted, they’re not taking all the credit for themselves: Four conference centers — including three in the top 10 — picked “Improving economy,” up from two last year.

Of course, you might have noticed that we’re talking about small numbers here: Of the 48 conference centers on the full digital version of the list, 16 answered that question this year and in 2017. And obviously, not every local conference center is on the list, which focuses more on larger facilities.

We also asked whether the facility in question had experienced an increase or decrease in event-related revenue in 2018. Fourteen of the 22 facilities that responded said revenue was up in 2018, including seven in the top 15.

Only two facilities reported a decrease, but that number may be artificially low, since facilities might not want to report a decrease, even though we promised anonymity.

This year, answers to that question were somewhat less extreme: Respondents were more likely to report modest revenue increases or pick “Little or no change” compared to the 2017 survey. Fewer reported large increases or decreases of any kind.

Let’s not forget that event centers two years ago were coming off a particularly big year. For instance, in 2017 we asked this question: “People tell us that Northeast Ohio is gaining a reputation as a good place to host events, citing new hotels and amenities in downtown Cleveland and big events like the Republican National Convention. Based on what you’ve heard from clients, has the region’s image improved to the point where it has actually helped this facility win business?”

At the time, 12 of the 22 respondents said, “Yes,” six said, “Maybe — I’m not sure” and four said, “No.” We did not ask that question this year.

As for the list ...

Hospitality@profootballhof.com |330-456-8207 P016_CL_20190304.indd 16

This year’s list includes some larger facilities that didn’t submit last time around, including the University of Akron Conference Services at No. 3, Kalahari Resort & Convention Center at No. 4 and FirstEnergy Stadium at No. 8.

Of course, it’s still dominated at No. 1 by the International Exposition Center, commonly known as the I-X Center, which boasts more than 1 million square feet of space.

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THE LIST

Conference Centers Ranked by meeting space THIS YEAR NAME

MEETING SPACE (SQ. FT.)

LARGEST # OF ROOM MEETING CAPACITY ROOMS AMENITIES/SERVICES

SALES CONTACT

CATERING CONTACT

1

International Exposition (I-X) Center One I-X Center Drive, Cleveland 44135 (216) 265-2612/ixcenter.com

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

2

Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland 1 St. Clair Ave. N.E., Cleveland 44114 (216) 928-1600/clevelandconventions.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

3

The University of Akron Conference Services 135 E. Mill St., Akron 44325 (330) 972-8215/uakron.edu/dining/catering/index.dot

250,000

2,000

26

Space at multiple locations including the Student Union, InfoCision Stadium and Quaker Square; onpremise catering, AV and printing services

Margo Ohlson uaconference@uakron.edu

NA

4

Kalahari Resort & Convention Center 7000 Kalahari Drive, Sandusky 44870 (877) 642-6847/kalaharimeetings.com

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

5

Corporate College East 4400 Richmond Road, Warrensville Heights 44128 (216) 987-2938/corporatecollege.com

107,000

350

29

Spaces range from boardrooms to large conference rooms; rooms include projector, screen, AV station, internet; parking; event support team

Joan O'Connor joan.o'connor@tri-c.edu

Beth Noll elizabeth.noll@tri-c.edu

6

LCCC Conference & Dining Services 1005 N. Abbe Road, Elyria 44035 (440) 366-4100/lorainccc.edu/spitzer

100,841

350

50

Free Wi-Fi, free parking, onsite catering, video conferencing, video recording, ARS Software, data projectors with VGA and HDMI capabilities

Marcus Wagner mwagner@lorainccc.edu

Marcus Wagner mwagner@lorainccc.edu

7

Cleveland Public Auditorium & Conference Center 500 Lakeside Ave., Cleveland 44114 (216) 348-2211/city.cleveland.oh.us

91,596

10,000

15

Historic venue with spacious, flexible meeting rooms and amenities including catering, floral, decor and AV technology

David Lipinsky dlipinsky@city.cleveland.oh.us

Emily Hinde ehinde@executivecaterers.com

8

FirstEnergy Stadium 100 Alfred Lerner Way, Cleveland 44114 (440) 824-3523/cbhospitality.com

70,424

800

7

Most amenities provided in house; limited AV, limited tables and chairs, linens, catering, cleaning and security

Casey Hodgkiss info@cbhospitality.com

Casey Hodgkiss info@cbhospitality.com

9

Renaissance Cleveland Hotel 24 Public Square, Cleveland 44113 (216) 696-5600/renaissancecleveland.com

64,000

2,950

33

Executive boardrooms, AV services, business center, high-speed internet, event service professionals, 22,000-square-foot grand ballroom

Carrie Corrigan carrie.corrigan@renaissancehotels.com

Jennifer Gleba jen.gleba@renaissancehotels.com

10

Arden Shisler Conference Center/Fisher Auditorium 1680 Madison Ave., OSU Wooster Campus, Wooster 44691 (330) 263-5500/shislercenter.com

60,000

500

14

Ergonomic furniture, communications technology, dedicated conference planners, complete catering services, 1,000-seat auditorium, free parking

Debbie Shaffer shaffer.271@osu.edu

NA

11

John S. Knight Center 77 E. Mill St., Akron 44308 (330) 374-8900/johnsknightcenter.org

58,000

5,000 (1)

18

In-house culinary department, AV and communication services, expansive dock area, parking deck via skywalk, adjacent parking

Dirk Breiding dbreiding@visitakron-summit.org

Ron Dorsey

12

Hilton Cleveland Downtown 100 Lakeside Ave. E., Cleveland 44114 (216) 413-5000/hiltonclevelanddowntown.com

50,000

2,016

18

New LEED certified building connected to the Huntington Convention Center and Global Center; restaurant, 32nd floor bar, lakefront views

Tanya Minor

NA

12

Sawmill Creek Resort & Conference Center 400 Sawmill Creek Drive, Huron 44839 (800) 729-6455/sawmillcreekresort.com

50,000

2,000

25

Business center, exhibitor services, 18-hole golf course, AV/information technology services

Cathy Razzante crazzante@sawmillcreekresort.com

Lisa Wood lwood@sawmillcreekresort.com

14

House of Blues 308 Euclid Ave., Cleveland 44114 (216) 274-3353/houseofblues.com/cleveland

45,000

1,200

5

Catering, dining, entertainment

Julie Woyma juliewoyma@livenation.com

Julie Woyma juliewoyma@livenation.com

15

Wolstein Center 2000 Prospect Ave., Cleveland 44115 (216) 687-9292/wolsteincenter.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

Michelle Schilling m.l.schilling@csuohio.edu

Joe Paoletta j.paoletta3@csuohio.edu

16

Cleveland Campus of Indiana Wesleyan University 4100 Rockside Road, Independence 44131 (216) 525-6160/indwes.edu/cleveland

40,000

120

25

Classroom and meeting spaces with technology stations and Wi-Fi, beverage service catering available, outside catering allowed

Vaso Suhodolsky vaso.suhodolsky@indwes.edu

NA

17

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland 44109 (216) 635-3304/clevelandmetroparks.com/rentals

37,280

800

6

Stillwater Place available year-round for up to 300 guests; various exhibit buildings available with timing restrictions; AV services available

Stacy DeChant slb@clevelandmetroparks.com

NA

18

Progressive Field 2401 Ontario St., Cleveland 44115 (216) 420-4871/mlb.com/indians/ballpark

36,000

2,000

12

Onsite catering and parking, AV equipment, scoreboard usage

Shelbie Johnson sjohnson1@delawarenorth.com

NA

19

InterContinental Hotel & Conference Center 9801 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland 44106 (216) 707-4100/intercontinentalcleveland.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

Terri Kufel terri.kufel@ihg.com

Terri Kufel terri.kufel@ihg.com

19

Kent Student Center - Kent State University P.O. Box 5190, Kent 44242 (330) 672-3202/kent.edu

35,000

900

32

AV services, food service, summer housing, internet, recreation center, gymnasium, fashion museum

Susan O’Karma ucb@kent.edu Ann Day

NA

19

NEW Center 4211 Ohio Route 44, Rootstown 44272 (330) 325-6173/newcenterevents.com

35,000

725

14

Modern design, executive chef/catering staff, inhouse event planner, AV services, easy access from Interstate 76, free parking

Amanda Senn amanda@newcenterevents.com

Sheryl Loftus sloftus@neomed.edu

22

Cleveland Metropolitan Conference Center 1375 E. 9th St., Cleveland 44114 (216) 539-3709/clemetroconference.com

30,000

400

10

Located in heart of downtown, unique 400 seat auditorium, space for receptions, no food or beverage minimum

Melanie Farrell mfarrell@clemetrobar.org

Lucy Jackson ljackson@clemetrobar.org

23

Landerhaven 6111 Landerhaven Drive, Mayfield Heights 44124 (440) 449-0700/landerhaven.com

27,000

1,200

7

Event venue, indoor and outdoor spaces, unique menus, decor and floral design, AV, Wi-Fi, valet parking, adjacent hotel

Melissa Marik mmarik@executivecaterers.com

Sam Umina sumina@executivecaterers.com

LaCentre Conference & Banquet Facility 25777 Detroit Road, Westlake 44145 (440) 250-2000/lacentre.com

26,000

800

9

Professional catering and event planning; multimedia services with lighting and production operated by inhouse technology company

Beatriz Lopez blopez@lacentre.com Jennifer Gilmore jgilmore@lacentre.com

NA

25

The Conference Center, Kent State University at Stark 6000 Frank Ave. N.W., North Canton 44720 (330) 244-3300/kent.edu/stark/cucc

24,200

600

14

Spaces suitable for corporate meetings, training, videoconferencing, trade shows, conferences; equipment and professional services available

Janet Capocci jcapocci@kent.edu

NA

26

Bertram Hotel & Conference Center 600 N. Aurora Road, Aurora 44202 (330) 995-0200/thebertraminn.com

24,000

700

32

Free wireless in guest rooms and public spaces, AV services, free parking

Frank Doctor

Alex Shaffer ashaffer@thebertraminn.com

26

Quicken Loans Arena (2) 1 Center Court, Cleveland 44115 (216) 420-2000/theqarena.com

24,000

20,000

8

AV services, internet access, video conferencing, inhouse food and beverage service

Eric Clouse

Shari Lindenbaum slindenbaum@cavs.com

28

Sheraton Suites Akron/Cuyahoga Falls 1989 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls 44221 (330) 929-3000/sheratonakron.com

23,000

500

14

Located in the newly revitalized historic downtown area, all-suite hotel, outdoor dining, river view meeting rooms, ballroom

Stacey Sobel-Marder ssobel@sheratonakron.com

Stacey Sobel-Marder ssobel@sheratonakron.com

24

RESEARCHED BY CHUCK SODER (CSODER@CRAIN.COM)

Get 48 facilities and more executives names/email addresses. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data Information is provided by the companies. Send all feedback to Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com

(1) Theater style (2) Quicken Loans Arena is undergoing renovations. It is slated to close on May 5 and reopen in late September/early October.

P017_CL_20190304.indd 17

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TransDigm being pushed to return ‘excess profit’

By BLOOMBERG

The Army and the Pentagon’s purchasing agency are pursuing voluntary refunds from Cleveland-based TransDigm Group Inc. after an inspector general’s report found $16.1 million in “excess profit” on $26.2 million in sales by the manufacturer of aircraft components.

The Defense Department’s watchdog office said it discovered excess profit on 46 of 47 parts in a sample of purchases from 2015 to 2017, according to the report obtained by Bloomberg News. It said the company earned more than a reasonable profit on 46 of 47 parts sampled, ranging from excesses of 17% to 4,451%.

Liza Sabol, a spokeswoman for TransDigm, didn’t provide an immediate comment on the audit, which was released Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Although the audit disclosed relatively small sums when judged against a $617 billion U.S. defense budget, findings of excessive profit and weaknesses in the defense contracting process are likely to fuel debate over how to avoid waste as Congress takes up the Pentagon’s

Officials from the Pentagon (pictured) and the Army say Transdigm Group Inc. owes the government for excess profits on purchases that were made. (Bloomberg)

proposed budget for fiscal 2020 in coming weeks.

The Defense Logistics Agency initiated a request last month for $11.5 million from the company, while the Army Contracting Command will seek refunds of about $18,000, according to comments contained in the audit.

Overall, “our analysis determined that only one part” within a sample of 47 had “a reasonable profit of 11 percent,” according to the audit signed

by Theresa Hull, assistant inspector general for acquisition. Nonetheless, it said contracting officers had “determined that prices were fair and reasonable” at the time contracts were awarded.

The review was requested by three Democratic lawmakers who sit on defense panels: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Youngstown and Ro Khanna of California.

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BioMotiv CEO Shah says exit was planned for ‘months’

By Scott Suttell ssuttell@crain.com @ssuttell

Baiju R. Shah, the CEO of drug development accelerator BioMotiv, is stepping down from that role.

BioMotiv in a news release announced that Shah is exiting as head of the organization, which is associated with The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, a $340 million initiative for advancing medicine centered at University Hospitals in Cleveland. In turn, it said chief scientific officer Ted Torphy, PhD, “has been selected to serve as BioMotiv’s CEO during the transition.” BioMotiv will determine later if Torphy becomes CEO on a permanent basis.

In a phone interview on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 27, Shah said he had been planning “for quite some time” — a “number of months” was the time frame he offered — to exit the CEO job. He said he will continue as an adviser to BioMotiv “so that nothing drops in the handoff.” BioMotiv has about 50 employees. Shah has led the organization since its founding in 2012.

Shah, 47, who prior to leading BioMotiv was president and CEO of BioEnterprise and founder and chair of the Summer on the Cuyahoga internship program, among other ventures, said he tends to “get excited about do-

ing the next thing.” He wasn't at liberty to say, exactly, what the next thing will be after BioMotiv, but said it will be “at the intersection of innovation and health care here in Cleveland.”

Ron Harrington, chairman of BioMotiv, said in a statement that under Shah’s leadership, “BioMotiv has grown from a visionary concept into

Baiju Shah said he tends to “get excited about doing the next thing.” a robust, successful and mission-driven company that is well-positioned and well-resourced to succeed in accelerating breakthrough discoveries into medicines. We appreciate his many contributions in establishing and building the enterprise.”

He said Torphy “has been instrumental in building the company’s profile and partnerships throughout the pharmaceutical industry. I am pleased to have him serve as the CEO of BioMotiv through the transition and look forward to working with him to support the company’s continued growth and development.”

Torphy, who joined BioMotiv in 2014, has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to working at BioMotiv,

he was the global head of external innovation for J&J Drug Discovery, after having previously served as head of J&J’s Corporate Office of Science & Technology. Since 2006, Torphy also has chaired the board of directors of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Inc., a disease-focused venture philanthropy organization.

Shah said Torphy is “a fantastic individual” with a “unique position and background” in the pharmaceutical industry and in small-molecule and large-molecule drug discovery and preclinical development.

Torphy, in a phone interview, said he “thought about it a bit, but not too long,” when asked to serve as CEO during a transitional period at BioMotiv.

He said he was initially attracted to the job at BioMotiv five years ago by the organization’s promise of providing a new, more efficient model for early stage research and development.

Torphy said Shah “is far and away the best boss I’ve ever had” and has led BioMotiv to “put the right people and processes together to make us efficient as a drug-discovery operation.” Now, Torphy said, BioMotiv is entering an era in which “we need to operate. We need to produce” therapies. It’s that transition in focus, he said, that he and BioMotiv’s board will oversee.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

AKRON

Three-point defense defeated virus attack

By Dan Shingler dshingler@crain.com @DanShingler

Before Jan. 22, Mark Petit was just a regular information technology manager.

The chief information officer was one good enough to be put in charge of the computer systems for both Akron and Summit County, but he was pretty much just a normal computer chief, keeping things running, reminding people to change passwords and not click on links in emails from unknown senders.

Now, he’s fought off cyber enemies alongside what he said is an elite team of computer warriors from the FBI and the state’s digital Green Berets: the Ohio National Guard’s 4-year-old Cyber Protection Team.

It was a baptism by fire, Petit said, but one that tempered both him and the systems he’s charged with protecting. By late February, things were back to normal enough that he had time to tell us how it all went down.

It was a long weekend, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 21, a federal holiday.

“On or about Jan. 17, we saw a large influx of invoice-related emails that were spam,” recalled Petit, who said viruses often use fake invoices to spread and set off ransomware. He said he’s seen such viruses infect area companies as well.

Petit thinks the timing of the attack might have been deliberate. Hackers probably assumed no one would be around due to the holiday. They likely couldn’t have known Akron also was facing a crisis from Winter Storm Harper and 15 inches of snow that overwhelmed the city’s plows.

The hackers just got lucky with that, Petit said.

“If it was a targeted attack. It was set off when government wasn’t going to be around on Monday. ... (Jan. 22) was when all shit really hit the fan,” Petit said.

That was when the virus showed itself by locking down infected computers and shared files — and demanding payment for their release.

“On Tuesday, one of our techs noticed that one of our users had their

Akron suffered a virus attack of its computer system in late January that required the help of state and federal cyber teams. (Shane Wynn for AkronStock)

network share folder crypto-locked and within the folder was an HTML file that said basically, ‘Go to the dark web, pay this ransom and you can have your files,’ ” Petit said.

“Then we noticed other users with the same thing,” he added, proof that a larger problem was spreading through the system.

Through Tuesday, he and the IT staff consulted with their software vendors.

They found another source of alarm and urgency: The virus apparently was communicating with someone on the outside and waiting for commands, Petit said. Akron and its providers decided to quarantine the city’s computers from one another, shutting down about 300 out of 3,500 city workstations so the virus couldn't spread.

That action, not the virus, was what took down most of the city’s computers, including the 311 public information system that might have allowed residents to help guide snowplows as the city continued to dig out from the big storm.

“We shut down some business systems. With the snow-removal issue that weekend, we had to shut down our 311, so that was a bad problem politically. … But it did not affect public safety or dispatch. … We pretty much spent the rest of (Tuesday) taking down sys-

tems and it was extremely disruptive, but it was effective,” he said, crediting his “great team” of about 35 IT professionals for that effort.

By Wednesday, Jan. 23, Petit and his team had largely isolated the problem and were meeting with the FBI. He also called state officials, and the governor decided the event warranted deploying the Ohio National Guard Cyber Protection Team, one of the nation’s first. A major with the team arrived in Akron on Thursday, Jan. 24.

FBI experts told Petit he was fighting a version of the internationally dreaded Emotet malware program.

Emotet is constantly tweaked so it can get past antivirus software, and Akron had been hit by a brand-new version of it, a so-called “zero-day threat” that antivirus developers had not addressed, Petit said.

But more help was arriving.

“The whole team showed up on Friday (Jan. 25) and there were nine people. They were awesome cyber-professionals,” said Petit, who previously didn’t know about the Ohio National Guard Cyber Protection Team.

He’d love to give them credit individually but can’t, he said. The unit operates in secrecy and Petit signed an agreement to not divulge any

identifying information.

“A lot of them were security heads at large corporations who serve in the National Guard,” Petit said. “All of these people were trained in cybersecurity and constantly trained further by the government.”

They helped the city develop a recovery strategy and told Petit Akron was not in as much trouble as it might have been. Petit and his people had isolated unaffected computers fast enough to prevent a major problem and the virus was isolated, they told him.

They also praised the city's procedure of backing up its entire system every night, which meant any affected machine could be wiped clean and brought back online free of infection.

No ransom payment was made.

Neither Petit nor any of his staff even bothered to visit the dark website the virus used to find out how much was being demanded, he said.

Instead, he and his team began scrubbing and replacing hard drives, right down to installing new operating systems on any machine suspected of being exposed to infection. It’s requiring new hardware and software purchases, which won’t be cheap, and the city has yet to tally its final cost. But Petit said it will be much less than the reported $9.5 mil-

lion Atlanta spent addressing its computer attack last year.

Also unlike Atlanta, which lost its computer systems and was using pen and paper months after its attack, Akron got back on its feet pretty quickly.

Petit said he and his crew worked 18and 20-hour days up until Jan. 31. By then, the city’s systems were back online, with no loss of data.

State experts helped Petit find the source of the problem: two employees had clicked a link they shouldn’t have in a phishing email.

“I did not make their names public. The mayor asked. I said, ‘You don’t want to know,’ ” Petit said.

He’s got enough trouble with annoyed users at the moment, he added. New, 14-character passwords are part of the city’s more stringent security policies.

Petit gets high marks from the higher-ups, though. Summit County chief of staff Jason Dodson said Petit has been instrumental in helping the county consolidate its services, which included its IT functions.

Akron press secretary Ellen Lander Nischt said Mayor Dan Horrigan has been pleased with the response to the recent attack as well.

“Mark and his team were critical in minimizing the impact of the attack and preventing additional damage or inconvenience,” Nischt said via email.

The whole experience serves as a lesson for everyone, Petit and others said.

“Unfortunately, it's not a localized one-off. Malware is an arms race, and the attackers are very well funded,” said Marling Engle, founder of Metisentry, a software development firm in Akron.

He thought the city recovered relatively quickly from the attack.

Having a backup is a “baseline requirement,” Engle said in correspondence with Crain’s, but having a good one takes time and money.

“Backup is like water, in that it is essential for the organization to live.

Even with good backup options, organizations need to tackle the quality of their backup. … Shorter downtime costs more, and the cost curve is exponential, not linear. Two hours might cost 10 times more than four hours."

Akron had good backups, but Petit said he’s working to further improve them.

Minerva prom shop has girls saying ‘yes to the dress’

By Judy Stringer clbfreelancer@crain.com

Hidden among downtown Minerva’s historical ambiance is a boutique that is anything but bygone.

The 4,000-person village is home to Henri’s Cloud Nine, a 60-year-old store that becomes a prom shopping mecca for thousands of teenage girls each year between January and April.

Carloads of dress hunters — about 5,000 to 8,000 annually, according to marketing director Lisa Schnader — pour into Henri’s Minerva shop, which prides itself in carrying one of the nation’s largest selection of prom dresses.

Henri’s owner Meg Walters opened a second location in Columbus in 2009, and the company begins each year with about 10,000 dresses between the two stores, Schnader said. The stock includes wedding gowns and pageant dresses, but prom is king.

“In 2018, our stores sold over 8,000 prom dresses alone,” she said.

P020_CL_20190304.indd 20

The original Henri’s Cloud Nine — before Walters bought the store in the late 1970s — was a small bridal boutique.

Walters began to carry prom dresses a few years into the business, Schnader said, but has focused more intensely on the prom market in the past decade.

“We still cater to brides, and we still have brides coming from all over to work with our stylists and find a wedding dress here, but prom has really ramped up in the last 10 years,” said Schnader, who added that the timing was well suited as it mirrored an escalation in “all things prom.”

Today, Henri’s is a must stop for prom dress shoppers in Northeast Ohio and beyond. Schnader said teens from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York flock to the flagship Minerva store. Including its 20,000-square-foot Columbus showroom — the epicenter of Henri’s pageant business, located near the Polaris Fashion Place shopping district — the retailer pulls from Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana, as well as

pageant hopefuls who fly in from California, Nebraska and Texas or from other countries.

“We just recently dressed Miss Barbados for the Miss Universe Pageant,” Schnader said. “This year, we are working with Miss Hawaii USA, too.”

Destination dress boutiques are becoming a more familiar concept, according to Chelsea Peabody, media relations manager for International Market Centers. Each August, her company puts on the World of Prom show in Atlanta, where buyers scout the coming season’s trends and place their early orders. Responding to the growing demand to showcase designs, World of Prom organizers added 70,000 square feet to the annual event in 2017, bringing the footprint to a whopping 210,000 square feet of social occasion fashions.

Peabody said parents can thank the TLC show “Say Yes to the Dress,” for reinforcing young girls’ desires to have that magic moment when they see themselves in the gown of their dreams.

That means prom shops — at least those that properly maintain their inventory, she said — have largely withstood the onslaught of cyber retailers.

“It’s about the experience of coming in to see the dress and to feel it,” Peabody said.

Still, girls “love to shop online,” Schnader noted, and Henri’s has spent “a lot of time and resources” enhancing its web experience. The website features every dress carried in the store. In fact, many of the teens create a cyber wish list and “come in with styles they want to try on,” she said.

Henri’s also maintains a dress registry and won’t sell the same dress to two or more girls from the same high school.

For those who can’t make it to one of Henri’s shops, the company ships dresses all over the world. “(Online) is definitely becoming a growing part of the business,” she said.

“We sell dresses to the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia. We do business in South America. It’s international.”

Henri’s carries popular prom lines,

such as Sherri Hill and Jovani, but keeps the inventory diverse with about a dozen different designers, according to Schnader. The dresses start at about $300 and go up to several thousand dollars with an average of about $600.

Perennial favorites like fully beaded evening gowns and princess-like ball gowns are always in stock alongside trendier looks.

“This year, I would say girls are gravitating to really unique pieces, things with feathers or dresses with unique kinds of construction or maybe crazy prints,” she said.

Schnader said about 50 people work at the Minerva store, which can get “pretty busy” on weekends, especially in March and April. Yet, no prom shopper has to go it alone.

Every customer who enters the North Market Street doors is paired with a stylist, according to Schnader, who listens to what she wants in a dress, suggests styles that best suit her body type, pulls designs to try on and “finally helps her say yes to the dress.”

2/28/19 2:54 PM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

RETAIL

The former Kmart store at 14901 Lorain Ave. in Cleveland remains empty a year after its closing.

(Stan Bullard)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Although more Kmart stores have closed, as have Payless Shoes and others, Browning said that creates a public perception worse than that in the trenches of the marketplace amid the rise of online retailing.

“Certain retailers have bankruptcies and restructuring,” Browning said. “The majority of retail sales occur in bricks-and-mortar properties as opposed to online. That is the reality. We tend to forget that.”

For a study in haves and have-nots, zoom in on the 41 trade areas into which CBRE divides Northeast Ohio based on major shopping centers, geographic divisions and other factors.

Some areas have mind-boggling vacancy. For example, the Bedford-North Randall area has 34.9% vacancy in a 2.9-million-square-foot marketplace. Willoughby and adjoining suburbs have a vacancy rate of 28.9% in a market of 2.4 million square feet. The Richmond Town Square area surrounding the mall in Richmond Heights comes in at 28.8% in a market of 1.4 million square feet. The Midway Mall area, covering Elyria and Sheffield Village in Lorain County, has 24.9% vacancy in its 3.6-millionsquare-foot marketplace.

Meantime, the haves in terms of tenants, and their low vacancy rates, are similarly dramatic.

P021_CL_20190304.indd 21 The tiny Broadview Heights-Brecksville retail market of 326,000 square feet has vacancy of just 1.5%. The South Park Mall-Strongsville area has a vacancy rate of 2.7% among 2.5 million square feet of selling space. Summit Mall in Fairlawn and the neighboring suburbs have 3.5% vacancy in a market

of 3 million square feet. The Beachwood area, which includes Beachwood Place in that suburb and nearby suburbs, has 3.2% vacancy among 3.3 million square feet of selling space.

In the largest East Side trade area, the Great Lakes Mall and Mentor area in Lake County, there is 8.5% vacancy in a marketplace of 4.2 million square feet. In the West Side’s second-largest marketplace after Midway Mall, the 3.5-million-squarefoot Crocker Park area consisting of Westlake and Avon has 5.8% vacancy.

New mixed-use projects also opened last year in the Van Aken District of Shaker Heights and Pinecrest in Orange Village with substantial retail components as well as office and apartment space. But they added little empty space to the market due to strong leasing at the planning level or during construction.

Browning pointed out that CBRE estimates the market absorbed about a million square feet of retail space in 2018. He attributes much of that to strong leasing at the new Shaker and Orange projects.

“The days of speculative construction or just throwing it out there without tenants in advance are not going to happen again in retail,” he said. “The developers don’t want to take that risk.

The lenders don’t want to fund it.”

It’s also clear that some market areas would have more dire vacancy patterns had online retailer Amazon not added huge warehouses in the region.

Amazon snapped up the sites of Randall Park Mall in North Randall and Euclid Square Mall in Euclid, removing some 2 million square feet of selling space from the market. A handful of big-box stores also are going to other uses, such as the empty Walmart in Eastlake that will be occupied by the Cleveland-based Jakprints printing concern and the Walmart Supercenter in Bedford that Solon-based Industrial Commercial Properties is marketing for warehouse and manufacturing use. Each quickly reversed a slow-death retail situation.

The new mixed-use developments are only part of the picture, however, as other, new-to-the-area big-box retailers are still entering the region. The area’s first Menards, a retailer of building and associated products, opened in Cuyahoga Falls, and the first Meijer is nearing an opening in Avon.

Both out-of-state retailers have tied up multiple locations in the region that will be opening throughout this year and next.

They likely guarantee two things for the region’s retailers and shopping center owners: more competition for consumer dollars and more change.

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BLOCKLAND CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

What happened to Votem?

Votem was founded in 2015 by Pete Martin, whose goal was to log one billion votes through the company’s platforms by 2025. When Crain’s profiled the firm last spring, it had already managed elements of a variety of elections.

What seemed to get the firm in trouble was its acquisition of California web-based voting business Everyone Counts in October.

Sources say Everyone Counts — which had about $10.3 million in annual revenue at the time, according to Crunchbase — was running low on cash and looking for a buyer when it connected with Votem, which saw an opportunity to expand its customer base, staff and credibility in the voting world. Votem, which reported annual revenue of about $16.4 million, had about 20 people in its Cleveland office at the time and took on roughly 50 more with the acquisition.

Former Votem employees said that in February they were working under the impression the firm had at least enough cash to operate for another four to six months.

On Feb. 15, Martin laid off all staff.

“Everyone was under the assumption we were more financially healthy than we were. I don’t know if it’s true, but it would seem like Pete would have had to have been aware of what the cash situation was,” said one former employee who wished to remain anonymous. “We took on a lot of liability (with Everyone Counts), but with this assumption we had a certain amount of time to try and rectify the problems we identified and smooth out both organizations.”

Martin has declined to discuss details on where Votem stands today beyond saying it is “still operating and working through multiple options to hopefully ensure its longterm viability. We do have employees and are actively supporting many current customers.” He described Votem as being in a period of “restruc-

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

turing and recapitalization.”

Although Martin is in fact working there, it’s unclear whether the firm is servicing clients. Former employees say that’s unlikely unless he immediately hired some people back.

Those people also said the situation would have been better if they were at least informed about the extent of Votem’s apparent issues.

“There was a certain opaqueness to that situation the company was really unaware of,” one person said, noting employees were not paid for the previous pay period when layoffs came down.

The issues with Votem are seemingly about how the company was run, not whether the underlying technology has a compelling use case in voting.

“Like some startups, they grew too fast, made a big acquisition they shouldn’t have, ran out of cash and potentially could crash and burn,” Moreno said. “But it has nothing to do with whether their business model of the underlying tech are good or not.”

Startup struggle Appreciating that some firms will fail is part of switching the culture here.

But there’s also the inherent challenge of building up, supporting and retaining new tech companies, which is ultimately what Blockland is designed to address with its goal of making a splash in the tech sector great enough to alter economic drivers.

Joel Elvery is an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland who’s examined the proliferation of particular industries in certain areas, such as the tech sectors on the coasts. He notes that industries naturally tend to cluster where there’s the most rapid innovation. He pointed to the flood of automakers into Detroit in the early 1900s as just one example, emphasizing how the development of an industry naturally leads to spin-outs, which tend to cluster in the same area, particularly early in the industry’s life cycle.

In the blockchain sector and the overall tech space, the most rapid innovation is in such places as Silicon Valley, New York and Boston. The fact

that other regions are already players in the tech space will make it difficult for Northeast Ohio to create, draw and retain those businesses here.

“It’s going to make it harder for a place like Cleveland to break into because we are in that phase where companies want to stick together,” Elvery said. “And say you do have a successful company in Cleveland, the pressure for them to relocate to an area where they can really benefit from that agglomeration is huge. And even if the firms stay, they may be eventually outcompeted by firms in the more powerful cluster. That makes (retaining tech companies in Northeast Ohio) a really uphill battle.”

Retaining tech companies is something Cleveland has struggled with in the past regardless of the efforts of JumpStart Inc. or North Coast Angel Fund, among others, who have, to their credit, helped keep some firms here.

Yet, according to Flashstarts, Cleveland also has seen the number of startups launched in Northeast Ohio overall trend downward the past five years as those figures grow elsewhere.

A number of tech companies have weighed moves westward in past years. While some have stayed, others have left.

One high-profile case was the former startup Phenom, which developed a mobile app geared toward young athletes. Its CEO, Brian Verne, told Crain’s in 2016 he was only able to make it into the prestigious 500 Startups accelerator program in Silicon Valley because he moved to San Francisco. Verne said he raised some money in Northeast Ohio, but complained of an overly risk-averse mentality here that made fundraising difficult, something other tech startups here have complained about. (It’s worth noting that Phenom now appears to be defunct and Verne is CEO of another startup in San Francisco called Wave. Verne also spoke with Forbes in mid-2016 about considering a move back to Ohio, although that hasn’t happened.)

“The difference between Silicon Valley and Cleveland is how cynical Cleveland is at times,” said Ari Lewis, a consultant with The Sherman Group

focused on the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors who is also working on establishing a tech venture fund through Grasshopper Capital.

“We need to become more positive.

(Moreno) is doing a good job of that.

But the culture in Silicon Valley is one that celebrates failure. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but I do think Cleveland shouldn’t criticize failure.

There’s a middle ground there.”

Lewis, a graduate of Case Western Reserve University who moved back to New York after college, stressed the importance of Blockland to address the movement of startups and talent out of Northeast Ohio. There are some promising startups here, he said, but there is also “no encouragement” to stay and build in Cleveland.

“If you really want to build a startup community, you need smart young people who are ready to put roots down in Cleveland,” he added.

Coincidentally, Lewis, 24, said he’s working on moving back to Cleveland himself.

“I want to see (Blockland) succeed,” he said, “so I’m putting my money where my mouth is and trying to buy a house in Cleveland.”

Building momentum in 2019 “There are a lot of government-led, foundation-led initiatives,” said Flashstarts CEO Charles Stack. “But a grassroots, volunteer thing bubbling up where people are spending enormous amounts of free, unpaid time to improve Northeast Ohio, it’s just amazing.”

Blockland is not a “top-down initiative,” he said, adding that many local civic leaders are getting involved, as they should, but are also trying “like hell to not get left behind and look stupid.”

The good news is that challenges such as securing funding, and attracting and retaining startup entrepreneurs and workers, are all objectives within the Blockland initiative.

Securing additional funding opportunities is just one of five Blockland goals for 2019, said Stack, noting how Flashstarts launched a $6 million preseed fund for blockchain startups in December. The other goals are: devel-

oping City Block; establishing a “startup package” that includes customers, funding, services and talent; hosting Blockland community events including the second solutions conference; and recruiting a “big tech” company to Northeast Ohio.

Landing that big company is something angel investor Frank Amato — co-founder and head of the London office of Block5, a blockchain capital investment firm — is working on. He said Cleveland is an attractive market for tech companies because of a business-friendly ecosystem and the cheap cost of doing business here.

“We’re hoping to bring companies here who want to access U.S. markets and need a U.S. headquarters,” he said.

“I’m seeing Cleveland as a spot for that.”

Amato wants to draw at least one Fortune 100 company here and said efforts in that direction are being sorted out behind the scenes.

Amato is indifferent to any skepticism about Blockland. He’s also not worried about coastal markets being slightly ahead of Northeast Ohio in their tech and blockchain clusters.

“Fortunately and unfortunately, the U.S. is basically nowhere in all of this,” Amato said.

He pointed to cryptocurrency, which is built on blockchain but sees most of its trading in Asia. On the finance side, companies may feel drawn to Silicon Valley because of the tech industry already there, or to New York because it’s home to the incumbent banking system. He also suggests that the bar is so high to stand out in the more established markets that building in a burgeoning one like Cleveland might be a more enticing play.

“But the bottom line is, from a blockchain perspective, the U.S. is second-tier,” Amato said. “So if companies are going to come here, it’s wide open, in my opinion.”

Efforts like Amato’s help Moreno feel that Blockland’s momentum is picking up. And as far as he’s concerned, it has to or the region’s economy will only continue to fall behind.

“The world is going to be a tech world,” Moreno said. “If we are not part of that tech conversation, we are going to eventually die.”

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SOURCE LUNCH

J.R. Campbell Executive director, Kent State University’s Design Innovation Initiative The goal of Kent State University’s new Design Innovation Initiative is to connect students from different disciplines and get them thinking about solving problems in new ways. ¶ J.R. Campbell was named the first executive director of the initiative last year. He came to Kent State in 2009 from the Glasgow School of Art to lead the Fashion School, where he started a textile lab modeled on his work in Scotland that combined research, commercial work and teaching. ¶ The Design Innovation Initiative connects university resources, like the textile lab, that are open to all, not just students in a particular discipline. ¶ Plans are underway to renovate the university’s old art building to serve as a new “DI Hub.” And the initiative will soon be offering courses that are explicitly designed to stand alone, instead of becoming a new degree program. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty

The Campbell file Recent read “Dream Teams: Working Together Without Falling Apart,” by Shane Snow

Favorite Cleveland locales The art galleries, like SPACES

Cool Kent spots 101 Bottles and Venice Cafe

Music he listens to Campbell is a big fan of David Bowie.

Lunch spot Treno Ristorante 152 Franklin Ave., Kent 330-676-5139

The meal One tomato cremoso soup and a Treno salad, and one porcini ravioli with a Treno salad, both with waters

The vibe The space housing Treno has long been a staple in downtown Kent, first as a train depot and then as the Pufferbelly Restaurant.

The bill $22.52, plus tip

What is the benefit of creating standalone courses, instead of a new degree?

So, going back to what I was talking about, the isolation of students, the kind of siloing of disciplines and of all these resources, is almost antithetical to what we should be doing in academia, right? We want to address cross-disciplinary collaboration in teams to help our students build the muscles, essentially, to seek out those kind of really diverse teams as a means for how they would tackle any problem and to really think across the disciplines. So, to understand the discipline that they’re coming from but to be able to communicate what they know across disciplines. And honestly, I don’t think many universities actually do very well at that right now.

Why was it important to have its own building?

Own building, not tied to any discipline, not tied to any degree program. It’s also why it is — so basically, it’s something that’s not existed in the university before and nobody understands it. How are we going to create this thing and fund it, if it doesn’t fit any of the existing paradigms, right? That is the challenge that I’m now tackling with this large group of leaders from across the university is how do we really build this ecosystem? Because we actually believe it’s part of the nature of this university anyway.

Why is Kent a good spot for this?

It is part of what attracted me to Kent State. It has a very entrepreneurial spirit. I think the scenario here for me, and for many of us, has been if you have a great idea, people

are like, yeah, let’s try it. And if we fail at it, we fail fast and we move on and figure it out. And that is a pretty refreshing perspective to have for an academic institution. And not all research universities have that approach.

What do you think students are going to gain from having this on campus?

Every academic institution right now is thinking about how do we help to create graduates of the future that are — I’ll use the phrase robot-proof.

When we understand the concept of machine learning and AI is going to change the way we work, what is it that’s distinctly human that we know we can educate toward and that will benefit them? On top of that, I think, we see it’s clear that we’re moving more toward a project-based economy. And so this competency and skill set to have some deep disciplinary knowledge, but also to automatically, to make it natural, for our graduates to seek out people who are unlike them to address the next problem, the new project they’re going to work on. And then, when they’re done with that, to move on and meet a new team and constantly seeking diversity. It’s a leadership quality, but it’s also an innovation quality.

So how far along is everything?

We’re piloting some courses. We just got approved, officially, to have a suite of courses that we can offer.

The hub, the design phase has been completed or is nearly complete, and then construction starts in April.

Lots of demolition right now. The hub should be done in August of 2020, so within a year. We hope to launch, or

pilot at least, the design innovation fellows program that I was talking about starting in the fall semester, and then scaling it as fast as we can, depending upon funding. And we also have already received some great pledges from a donor to create endowments for a design innovation fellows program and for a designer-in-residence program. Part of our goal is to bring in an outside designer as a catalyst to help to facilitate some of the projects. And then our next goal will be to really investigate and think about what would be the best method for — now we’ve created an opportunity for some sequencing for students to work through a sequence of experiences that might lead to this capstone-style experience. How can we translate that into a form of distinction? Our goal is to, by the end of 2020, have that model figured out and figure out a way to get it transcript-able, let’s say, for students that are graduating.

Now for the courses, are you hiring faculty?

The rule for a DI (Design Innovation) course, like what we just got approved, is that every DI course that’s offered will always be co-taught by at least two people, two faculty existing from different departments or disciplines. And part of the rationale and philosophy there is that, one, we’re talking about the intersection between disciplines, but it’s also about how we mentor and model agreement and disagreement and communication with the students. So that they’re seeing that nothing that we’re trying to work on is set in stone or has one definitive answer or perspective.

CLEVELAND BUSINESS 700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310 Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 Phone: (216) 522-1383 www.crainscleveland.com Twitter: @CrainsCleveland Publisher/editor Elizabeth McIntyre Group publisher Mary Kramer Managing editor Scott Suttell Sections editor Michael von Glahn Creative director David Kordalski Web editor Damon Sims Associate editor/Akron Sue Walton Assistant editor Kevin Kleps Senior reporter Stan Bullard, Real estate/construction Reporters Jay Miller, Government Dan Shingler, Energy/steel/auto/Akron Rachel McCafferty, Manufacturing/ energy/education Jeremy Nobile, Finance Lydia Coutré, Health care/nonprofits Senior data editor Chuck Soder Cartoonist Rich Williams Events manager Ashley Ramsey Marketing coordinator Megan Lemke Integrated marketing manager Michelle Sustar Managing editor custom/special projects Amy Ann Stoessel Associate publisher/ Director of advertising sales Lisa Rudy Senior account executive Dawn Donegan Account executives Laura Kulber Mintz, Loren Breen Office coordinator Denise Donaldson Pre-press and digital production Craig L. Mackey Media services manager Nicole Spell Billing YahNica Crawford Credit Thomas Hanovich Crain’s Cleveland Business is published by Crain Communications Inc.

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THE WEEK Thinking big Cleveland Clinic plans to double the number of patients it treats in just five years, Clinic president and CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic announced Feb. 27 in the State of the Clinic address.

Mihaljevic wants the Clinic to see more than 4 million patients annually by 2024. Digital health will be a major driver in reaching that goal, as well as population health and the opening of Cleveland Clinic London in 2021.

In 2018, the Clinic posted $266 million in operating income — down 19% from the year prior — on $8.9 billion in operating revenue, up 6% from 2017.

CEO search Westlake-based Nordson Corp. is looking for a new CEO. The maker of precision dispensing

P023_CL_20190304.indd 23

At the State of the Clinic address, Dr. Tom Mihaljevic announced the health system expects to see more than 4 million patients annually by 2024.

(Photo by Yu Kwan Lee, Cleveland Clinic Center for Medical Art & Photography)

equipment said Michael F. Hilton plans to retire after nine years leading the company. Nordson’s board “has initiated a search of internal and external candidates for his successor,” the company said. Throughout that process, Hilton will remain in his current roles “to ensure a smooth transition.”

by the car dealer to create a 2.7-acre site. Last November, the firm proposed building 275 suites in two buildings on the south side of Detroit between Wyandotte Avenue and Bunts Road.

Wanting more

The Cleveland area has two semifinalists for the 2019 James Beard Awards, the Oscars of the culinary world.

Cleveland’s Larder Delicatessen and Bakery is a semifinalist in the national Best New Restaurant category.

And in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category, one of the semifinalists is Jill Vedaa of Salt+, in Lakewood. Vedaa also was a semifinalist on the 2018 list.

The Beard Foundation will announce lists of finalists on March 27, then winners on May 6.

Jerome Solove Development Inc. of Columbus plans to undertake a second major real estate development on Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, this time targeting the former Steve Barry Buick car dealership site on the suburb’s western end.

The firm wants to add two midrise buildings with a total of 158 apartments and 5,000 square feet of commercial space. That would encompass four parcels formerly occupied

Eat up

3/1/19 11:05 AM

!

E T A N I M O N LAST CALL TO

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR

Crain’s Cleveland Business will single out 20 up-and-coming professionals who haven’t turned 30 yet. While their names might not be top of mind and they likely haven’t made their first million yet, there’s no denying these young professionals are making a mark on Northeast Ohio.

DO YOU KNOW A 20-SOMETHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT? NOMINATION DEADLINE: MARCH 11 ISSUE DATE: JUNE 24

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