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WEEKLY FOCUS: TECHNOLOGY, Page 10 VOL. 40, NO. 11
MARCH 18 - 24, 2019
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Akron Zips are losing a heavy hitter in polymer research. Page 16
Middlefield Banc Corp. president and CEO Thomas Caldwell Page 19
CLEVELAND BUSINESS
The List Largest local software developers Page 15 SPORTS BUSINESS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Next AD is crucial hire for Vikings
THE AMAZON INCENTIVE
By Kevin Kleps kkleps@crain.com @KevinKleps
gave them six weeks to reply. Since its eight-page request for proposals asked communities to “think big and creatively,” and have their responses in the Seattle-based company’s hands in only six weeks, it gave Northeast Ohio’s public and private development operations a need to work well collaboratively, something that hasn’t always been easy to achieve here. It even looked at first like the community might not come together. Shortly after Amazon made its announcement, Crain’s reported that there were several groups in the region preparing separate proposals. Though only one proposal ended up in Amazon’s hands, the possibility the region could produce multiple bids reflected the discord that existed among organizations.
Harlan Sands’ Twitter account shows a flurry of activity — on and off campus — that suggests a hectic first nine-plus months on the job as the president of Cleveland State University. One of Sands’ key duties, however, is taking place behind the scenes, Sands as the Vikings search for a new director of athletics. The role has been vacant since Mike Thomas resigned late in 2018, not even 22 months into a five-year contract. Sands said he’s looking for “a partner” — someone who can help to elevate the profile of the university through athletics, which he describes as “the front door” of an institution such as CSU. “This is a program that has incredible potential, and we need to find the candidate that has the right mix of the typical athletic director know-how, but also a business sense,” Sands said. The CSU president hopes to hire Thomas’ replacement early this spring. The new appointee is going to have a lot on his or her to-do list, from managing a budget that is heavily reliant on school funding, to the future of the 28-year-old Wolstein Center and a men’s basketball program that has averaged only 10 wins per season in the last four years. Sands — who was a chief financial officer, among other duties, in stops at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Louisville prior to being hired by CSU — is “a finance guy.” There’s a tendency, he said, to look at the AD position from a “revenues-and-expenses” perspective. That, for a midmajor university such as CSU, isn’t all that enthralling, since 86% of the Vikings’ 2017-18 athletics budget of $13.7 million was paid by student fees and other school funds.
SEE AMAZON, PAGE 18
SEE CSU, PAGE 19
Properties in the Amazon HQ2 pitch Initial build-out Full build-out Amazon Villages Additional development
Long-shot HQ2 bid taught NEO’s public and private sectors to work collaboratively By Jay Miller jmiller@crain.com @millerjh
Entire contents © 2019 by Crain Communications Inc.
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Convincing Amazon.com Inc. to bring a major company headquarters operation to Northeast Ohio may have been wishful thinking. In fact, it probably was wishful thinking for all but a few of the 238 communities that responded to the online retail behemoth’s request for bids, Cleveland included. On Sept. 1, 2017, Amazon announced that it was searching for a location for its second headquarters. The retailer said its new headquarters would come with 50,000 new jobs and a $5 billion investment in the new home city. It asked for proposals, bids really, from communities that wanted Amazon to come to town and
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