Crain's Cleveland Business

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I March 22, 2021

CRAIN’S SPECIAL REPORT

WEATHERING THE COVID-19 STORM

Inside: More in this Crain’s special report

Year marked by loss and stress required flexibility, empathy of employers

` The challenges facing schools, and how the pandemic might change education. PAGE 3

The past year was rife with sources of stress and grief.

The COVID-19 pandemic stole lives and livelihood, hampered career and education trajectories, shuttered businesses and upended routines. The killing of George Floyd and months of protests that followed brought new attention to 400 years of structural racism. A presidential election strained relationships and furthered divisiveness.

Virtually everyone experienced the weight of these stressors, even if it was simply a loss of normalcy.

` Struggling arts venues bank on a return to live events. PAGE 4 ` Personal Views: Reporters Lydia Coutré on coping with the toll of loss and Stan Bullard on his brush with COVID-19. PAGES 8-9 ` The pandemic’s impact on the economy. PAGE 21 ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREA UCINI FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

`BY LYDIA COUTRÉ |

NEWSPAPER

VOL. 42, NO. 11 l COPYRIGHT 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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“There’s been a lot of grief, there’s been a lot of fear, there’s been a lot of miscommunication,” said Patty Starr, president and CEO of Health Action Council (HAC), a nonprofit representing midsize to large employers that aims to enhance human and economic health. “And that’s not going away just because someone shows back up in the office or that their project changes. That’s still there until that individual has an opportunity to actually process through what they’re feeling and what those emotions are.”

See PANDEMIC on Page 20

FOCUS | MANUFACTURING  Widening labor gap: Hiring challenges persist as the pandemic stalls programs to build up the workforce. PAGE 10 Pilot program shows promise: Ohio to Work brings manufacturing opportunities to job-hungry residents. PAGE 12

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Taking care of teammates

In a year unlike any other, our company and teammates were called upon to address unprecedented challenges and headwinds in the broader environment, working in support of each other, our clients and the communities where we work and live.

In appreciation of these outstanding efforts, we are recognizing eligible employees with Delivering Together compensation awards. A cash bonus of $750 or additional stock award is the latest step our company has taken to invest in our employees during the health crisis.

We’ve also significantly invested in industry-leading solutions and resources. To help many of our teammates balancing family and work, we provided an enhanced benefit of up to $100 per day for in-home childcare — funding nearly 3 million days of support. And in 2020, we accelerated the move of our U.S. minimum hourly rate of pay to $20, more than a year earlier than originally planned.

Here in Ohio, my teammates and I are here to help. We’re proud of this community and remain committed to making it a better place for us all.

For the fourth time since 2017, Bank of America is recognizing teammates with a special award in cash or restricted stock.

This year, approximately 97% of teammates will receive a Delivering Together award.

These awards are in addition to any regular annual incentives that eligible employees may receive.

Jeneen Marziani Ohio Market President

To learn more, please visit bankofamerica.com/community Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Credit Opportunity Lender. © 2021 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

SPECIAL REPORT: WEATHERING THE COVID-19 STORM K-12 EDUCATION

COVID-19 brought challenges, opportunities to education

More flexibility and personalization could be the lasting impact of a year of learning during a pandemic

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

“Disruption” and “uncertainty” have been the themes of education during the COVID-19 pandemic, said state superintendent Paolo DeMaria.

But the ways educators and administrators rose to the challenge, from getting meals to students to adapting to remote learning, demonstrated their commitment and creativity, he said.

And DeMaria thinks the lessons educators learned about remote or technology-enabled learning have a lot of potential going forward.

The Akron Public Schools had an advantage when the pandemic started, in that the district already had a one-to-one technology program that matched each student with a Chromebook. Because the infrastructure already was in place, the district has seen strong engagement and attendance numbers even remotely, said chief academic officer Ellen McWilliams-Woods.

COVID-19 was a “hardship,” McWilliams-Woods said, but the pandemic also served as an “innovative, positive disruption” for education. This past year was about flexibility from some of the usual institutional barriers, about re-envisioning education.

And that means McWilliams-Woods sees a lot of possibilities from this year going forward. Remote learning could be used to connect students at different buildings, essentially creating a large enough class to fill a particular course. Or high school students participating in internships and job shadowing experiences might be able to use technology to check in with teachers or mentors back at the school building. Scheduling could become less of a restriction.

Remote learning could be a way to

The Akron Public Schools distributed grab-and-go meals daily during the pandemic. | CONTRIBUTED

“WE CAN’T USE AN ALL-ORNONE STRATEGY THAT WE OFTEN LIKE TO AND PAINT THE PICTURE AS UNIVERSALLY BLEAK OR UNIVERSALLY BRIGHT, BUT IN FACT HAVE TO LOOK AT DIFFERENCES.” — Eric Gordon, superintendent and CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District

help address students’ different needs, academically and otherwise.

DeMaria gave the example of a high school student who is responsible for getting their younger sibling to school.

That responsibility consistently makes them late to their own building.

“Let’s accommodate that,” he said.

Instead of framing it as a problem, schools could offer a remote class that the student could take at a time that worked better for them.

DeMaria said the pandemic helped teachers get to know their students better as they worked to personalize the learning experience.

He thinks the governor’s request for extended learning plans, or plans districts can create to help students fill gaps created during the pandemic, will depend on knowing where students are. Those plans can include measures such as a later end to the school year, longer school days or summer programming.

Post-pandemic, students need more time for “rich learning experiences,” said Eric Gordon, superintendent and CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The pandemic has shown that education needs to be more varied and personalized. The district will soon an-

nounce plans for more out-of-school programming designed to give students and their families more options.

The pandemic brought existing problems, like food scarcity and the digital divide, into the light and exacerbated them, Gordon said. These basic needs have to be in place for students to succeed academically.

But in meeting those needs, there have been bright spots, Gordon said.

Every student in the district now has a device; teachers learned new digital skills. And some students have “thrived” in remote learning, he said.

“We have to pay attention to those things,” Gordon said. “We can’t use an all-or-none strategy that we often like to and paint the picture as universally bleak or universally bright, but in fact have to look at differences.”

The pandemic brought some unique challenges to light, as well,

that districts will be addressing in the years to come.

DeMaria said enrollment rates in preschool and kindergarten dropped, which likely will lead to larger classes in the coming year. On the other end of the educational journey, there are a number of factors that have led more high school students to be “disengaged” this year, he said. Some needed to get a job to help support their families after a parent lost theirs; others found themselves as the primary caretaker for siblings. Ultimately, the reasons that usually lead students to drop out were “amplified” during the pandemic, DeMaria said.

Addressing the issues raised by the pandemic will take flexibility. But Gordon said there’s an opportunity to make the system more equitable by meeting students where they are.

At the youngest ages, Gordon said the Cleveland schools plan to offer mixed-age kindergarten so students whose families opted not to enroll them during the pandemic can still get that first school experience.

Breaking down the traditional agegrade boundaries could benefit students in other grades, too. For students who struggled to keep pace during the pandemic, it may be time to look at milestones instead of “time-bound grades,” Gordon said.

And increased flexibility could help the district better serve students who dropped out this year. A credit-based system like those offered by colleges could remove some of the stigma that having to repeat a grade often carries.

“These are places where the adults have to behave differently if we’re really going to serve the young people counting on us well,” Gordon said.

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

HIGHER EDUCATION

Pandemic-related enrollment drops are steep for Black men Several local community colleges experienced declines even larger than the national rates

BY AMY MORONA

Community colleges are the workhorse of many higher-ed systems, attracting students with greater flexibility and lower prices. They also serve people whose lives have been severely disrupted by the pandemic — and that’s led to an enrollment nosedive.

Fall enrollment at two-year public colleges dropped about 10% compared with the year before — nearly five times the shift for four-year public and private universities.

The enrollment of male students, already on the decline, took the brunt of it. Things were especially bad for Black men at community colleges.

Their national enrollment fell 19%.

Only Native American men saw a bigger decrease.

The rates were even worse for some of Northeast Ohio’s institutions. Black male enrollment fell 33%, to about 1,360 students, at Cleveland’s

“STUDENTS SAID, ‘I’LL BE BACK WHEN YOU ALL COME BACK, WE’LL BE BACK WHEN YOU HAVE MORE CLASSES ON GROUND.” — Angela Johnson, Tri- C’s vice president of enrollment management

Cuyahoga Community College. Other community colleges, while enrolling fewer Black men, still saw their numbers fall sharply from the previous year — Lakeland at 26%, Stark State at 13% and Lorain County at 6.5%.

No group of people are a monolith.

But for some Black male students, this past year may turn out to be merely a pause. Yet others, who left because of the pandemic, may never return.

“I think everyone in the higher education sector is worried about what’s being called a lost generation,” said Denise Douglas, Lorain County Community College’s dean of social sciences and human services .

That fear, she believes, centers more on students who typically enroll straight out of high school. The freshmen enrollment of Black male and female community college students fell by nearly one-third nationwide last fall, far higher than the 19% of their two-year peers overall and a 10.5% total drop at public four-year institutions.

Most Black men at community colleges, though, enroll somewhere in their mid-to-late 20s, typically after having a job or joining the military.

That’s according to Frank Harris III, the co-director at San Diego State University’s Community College Equity Assessment Lab. This group may be more likely to return to the workforce instead of taking classes.

“For those students, they’ve already had a taste of what it’s like to make ends meet without college,” he said. “It’s not easy, it’s not desirable, but they have the capacity to do it.”

Harris pointed out Black men also have dealt with barriers to higher education that existed way before the pandemic.

“There are microaggressions, there are stereotypes,” he said. “They are treated as though they don’t belong there.”

Last year exposed more, including a reckoning on race and a pandemic that disproportionately impacted Black and brown communities in many ways, including economically and from a health standpoint.

With the shift to a majority of online classes, the year also further underscored the digital divide. In an April survey of about 13,000 community college students nationwide, nearly half of Black students said they had to share a computer with a

family member. Close to one-third said they lacked consistent internet access. Even though many institutions provided devices and hot spots, the transition was tough.

“Students said, ‘I’ll be back when you all come back, we’ll be back when you have more classes on ground,’ ” said Angela Johnson, TriC’s vice president of enrollment management.

Johnson said the biggest challenge for Black male students who left revolved around finances. Layoff notices came in, hours got cut. Some turned toward Amazon warehouse positions and gig economy jobs. Going to school slid to the back-burner.

“They really had to find opportunities that really could sustain them financially,” she said. “They felt like they had lots of family financial commitments that as a male, they’re the supporter, they are the provider.”

See ENROLLMENT on Page 23

March 22, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 3

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Struggling music, theater venues bank on a return to live events

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Gordon Square staple Happy Dog draws some 75,000 people annually to its bar and the surrounding arts district, but it hasn’t hosted a show since COVID-19 restrictions forced Ohio businesses into lockdown last March.

The space has been mothballed since. Doors are locked. Coolers are unplugged. There are no hot dogs, hamburgers or tater tots in stock.

And the music has died. The indie venue and the neighborhood around it have been largely dormant the past 12 months, like the bar’s now-dim neon lights.

The hope is business begins to return this year in neighborhoods like this as the vaccinated population grows, the pandemic wanes and live events start to come back.

Despite excitement for the world to jolt out of its COVID-induced slumber, however, the reality is the future is anything but certain.

Keeping Happy Dog alive through this downtime has meant continuing to pay rent and utilities despite zero cash flow. If not for stimulus funds and programs — especially CARES Act grant dollars funneled to it through Cuyahoga County — the business would’ve exhausted financial reserves and shuttered permanently in January.

Others across the industry for arts, culture and music are in the same boat.

“As it is, we’re flying the plane on fumes,” said Happy Dog co-owner Sean Watterson.

Watterson also is the Ohio precinct captain for the National Independent Venue Association. The trade group spurred congressional lawmakers to approve more than $16 billion in federal aid for nonprofit and for-profit venues, artists and others in related jobs. The money will come from the Small Business Administration via long-awaited Shuttered Venue Operator Grants, which could become available in April. The massive funding pot amounts to 100 times that of the entire annual budget for the National Endowment for the Arts.

With additional financial relief en route and vaccines gradually becoming more available, Watterson is looking to plot out Happy Dog’s reopening. But with myriad factors to consider when doing so, that remains a confounding task, particularly in terms of booking artists.

He noted Happy Dog is following science and guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when it comes to reopening, not just what the governor might say or permit.

“The (Shuttered Venue) grant will make it possible for us to ramp up safely rather than risking things or delaying until there is no risk,” Watterson said. “There are a lot of people who want to come back, which is awesome. But at the same time, we have to plan for this to take months before we are at a return to normal.”

The pre-COVID-19 Happy Dog was a mainstream draw for the Gordon Square Arts District, but the venue hasn’t hosted a live show since March 2020. | CONTRIBUTED

Making up lost ground “While the timing of return to live (events) will continue to vary across global markets, every sign points to beginning safely in many countries sometime this summer and scaling further from there,” Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino told investors in February.

The size, scale and availability of those events depends on a number of factors, however, said an executive with AEG Presents, who spoke on background because they weren’t cleared to talk publicly. AEG is the No. 2 concert promoter in the world behind Live Nation and co-owner/operator of the historic Agora Theatre and Ballroom.

The shutdown of events at the Agora came less than two years after it unveiled a $3 million renovation. It

“THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COME BACK, WHICH IS AWESOME. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE HAVE TO PLAN FOR THIS TO TAKE MONTHS BEFORE WE ARE AT A RETURN TO NORMAL.” — Happy Dog co-owner Sean Watterson

hosted 125 events in 2019, planned 135 in 2020 and would’ve been on track for 150 this year, said Agora general manager Ryan Neuhaus.

“We had some events in the first two-and-a-half months of 2020, but when COVID-19 started we initially thought this was something that would only last a couple of months, and we could resume business as usual,” Neuhaus said. “As we all know, that was not the case. We lost roughly 120 events in 2020. It was something that no one could have foreseen.”

He continued, “Now we are just hoping the vaccination process combined with safe practices can get us back to having full capacity events in our venues again and praying for a green-lit Q4 to let us make up some lost ground.”

Large concerts and national tours will be the last to come online. Some that remained optimistically planned for this year have already been moved to the 2022 concert season.

Large acts require scale to be cost effective for the artists, venues and promoters. The bigger the production, the longer the time to a return on investment.

While hope is brewing for a return of live events, booking large, country-spanning tours remains difficult with states differing so widely in case counts, restrictions, capacity limits and safe-harbor or liability protections for host venues — something some states, including Ohio, have, but not all.

“When it became clear that the pandemic would render fall 2020 events impossible, artist camps shifted their tours as far out as they thought they could bear and hoped it would allow the whole country to get back on the same page of openness,” said AEG regional marketing director Nick Trentacost. “Without a unified national response to the pandemic, though, each state is opening at various rates, with differing restrictions, which causes a headache for artist camps routing a full-scale tour.”

This is why national tours are unlikely to materialize until populations are meaningfully vaccinated and capacity restrictions are removed. Big acts and their hosts rely on selling out — or coming close to it — venues as part of the business model.

Until that can happen, “it’s fair to say we’re in a holding pattern,” said the AEG executive, who doesn’t expect national tours to launch until coastal markets in California and New York reopen.

“AEG has made it clear that it only makes sense to open our business back up at full capacity,” Trentacost said.

“With limited-capacity events being allowed to take place in various cities, we are cautiously optimistic, but the one thing we learned on the way down feels like it’s the same on the way back up again: Nothing is constant and nobody can make any calls with any certainty about a timeline.”

See VENUES on Page 23

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ADVERTISEMENT

Treasury and Finance Trends for 2021

W

hile much about what 2021 will hold is uncertain, there are a few trends that are easier to forecast. Trends in the payments space are among them.

The digitization of payables and receivables functions has been underway for some time now, and the pandemic has only accelerated this trend. Adoption had been slow, but COVID-19 has served as a seismic wake-up call for the treasury space, spurring the business community to action. A good example of this is the rapid adoption of electronic businessto-business (B2B) payments. A recent EY report found approximately 60% of survey respondents indicated that the adoption of electronic payments is the most meaningful change in the B2B space.1 Over the past few years, digital transformation has allowed treasury professionals to take on an increasingly important role providing invaluable insights into their organization and support for strategic growth objectives. As new innovations continue to reengineer the treasury function, the coming year holds tremendous opportunities for treasury departments to demonstrate further value to the overall organization.

The Evolution of Managed Services for Payment Processes One area that shows real promise for treasury in the near-term is managed services related to payment processes. The overall global managed services market is growing rapidly. Valuate Reports’ recent study suggests managed services will grow from more than $178 billion in 2019 to greater than $309 billion by 2025.2 That’s a CAGR of 9.6%.

“We believe the continued evolution of managed services around the movement of money will be a game-changer for corporate treasury,” explained Bridgit Chayt, Senior Vice President and Director of Commercial Payments and Treasury Management for Fifth Third Bank. “This trend is moving corporates from a transaction processing-centric relationship with banking partners to one that focuses more on back-office integration that delivers invaluable treasury insights, along with greater automation and efficiency.”

As 2021 unfolds, managed services in the cash management space will continue to be seen as a transformational option that enables

treasury organizations to take advantage of the latest cloud-based, digital technologies without having to invest in complex and costly infrastructure. The managed services model means adopters always have the latest version of the technology, thereby reducing reliance on legacy platforms. It also means not having to focus on maintaining the security of on-premises systems.

Innovative managed services are offering on-demand convenience, which is crucial as many job functions have shifted to a remote, work-from-home posture. And these next-generation solutions also provide a seamless user experience that is seen as increasingly vital for keeping today’s digitally-native employees happy. Perhaps most importantly, managed services enable treasury to focus more of their energy on core business matters and strategic imperatives for the organization.

Leveraging New Layers of Analytics to Improve the Treasury Function Many treasury organizations have begun to recognize the potential value of data related to the cash management function.

Emerging technologies are making it possible to leverage this data to power analytics-driven decisions that will dramatically improve treasury efficiency, automation and the customer experience.

“New digital tools are increasingly relying on next-generation technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to analyze patterns, and then factor in policies and risk tolerances to make highly-effective liquidity recommendations,” stated Chayt. “Over the next few years, I think we can expect a much greater reliance on AI, data analytics and robotic process automation (RPA) to help realize tremendous opportunities to achieve straightthrough processing and reconciliation. These technologies will become indispensable to clients as businesses begin to find ways to monetize them as well.”

As more and more of the treasury function becomes interconnected, data and analytics will enable treasurers to add value and make faster, better decisions.

Treasury Will Be Counted on to Deliver Greater Value Ever since the “Great Recession,” the role

of treasury professionals has continued to evolve. Treasury has elevated its stature as a thought-leader within the organization, increasingly participating as a decision-maker at the highest levels. In the years to come, treasury will be relied on for the vital task of managing liquidity, forecasting cash flows, and supporting the bottom line. And the current pandemic has only served to raise treasury’s profile as a vital organizational resource.

To meet the constantly changing demands of the business, treasury will need to continue to build relationships across the organization in order to expand their understanding of company needs and priorities. By partnering with cross-functional stakeholders, treasury can broaden its impact, while increasing its credibility. At the same time, treasury can tap into the deep bench of experience found within banking partners to ensure the organization’s strategic objectives are being fully supported.

Innovation: Driving Tomorrow’s Treasury Today Greater efficiency with less manual intervention will continue to drive advancements in treasury. “Many of these technologies are available today, enabling treasury to manage liquidity more effectively, forecast more accurately, and leverage data and analytics to improve the customer and supplier experience,” concluded Chayt. “In the near-term, we envision new innovations coming as banks, Fintechs, and other thirdparty providers continue to partner, bringing niche solutions to the marketplace to meet the evolving needs of treasury organizations.”

Chayt cites the example of real-time payments, which, in addition to speeding up payment processes, is also delivering critical remittance information that opens the door to advancements in back-office reconciliation. There is also the opportunity to introduce new ways of handling the negotiation of terms and discounting at the time of payment. The efficiencies made possible by these types of initiatives will bring tremendous value to the organization.

As 2021 unfolds, corporate treasury professionals can expect innovation to continue to be the watchword, as they strive to deliver greater efficiency and value to the organization.

End-to-end payment services that are changing the way you do business 53.com/TreasuryManagement

Three ways COVID-19 is changing the payments industry, EY, America’s Payments Consulting Leader. October 1, 2020 Valuates Reports, Global Managed Services Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021-2027 This content is for informational purposes only and may have been derived, with permission, from a third party. While we believe it to be accurate as of the date of publication, it does not constitute the rendering of legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice or other professional services by Fifth Third Bank, National Association or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, and it is being provided without any warranty whatsoever. Please consult with appropriate professionals related to your individual circumstances. Fifth Third Bank, National Association. Member FDIC. 1

2

CS 21-02

REAL ESTATE

Opportunity Zone investors leave $10M in tax credits unclaimed State has shelled out $12.9 million this year, which is well short of the $23.5 million that originally was offered

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

Online map

Investors in Ohio Opportunity Zones left about $10 million in state tax credits on the table this year.

Blame the pandemic, which slowed real estate development, and the recession. The rules of Ohio’s tax credit program, a sweetener for investors in those tax-favored places, also shut out some projects with long gestation periods, consultants said.

And for other investors, perhaps, the incentive wasn’t worth the discomfort of being named in public records — and newspaper articles.

The state has paid out $12.9 million in Opportunity Zone tax credits this year, based on applications filed in January, according to the Ohio Development Services Agency. That’s just over half of the $23.5 million that the agency offered up. Unclaimed, the remaining credits simply will disappear.

Data provided by the state and analyzed by Crain’s show that almost 40% of this year’s awards flowed to investors in Greater Cleveland projects.

All but one of those deals involved real estate. They included apartments under construction in Tremont and Little Italy; land assembly for a mixed-use project, including a Meijer neighborhood market, just south of the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus; new and renovated suburban

 Visit crainscleveland.com to see an interactive map of Opportunity Zone real estate projects in Greater Cleveland, based on the state’s recent round of tax-credit awards.

Public records show that developers Adam Fishman and Randy Ruttenberg of Fairmount Properties made use of the state’s Opportunity Zone tax credit program in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood, as part of land assembly for a mixed-use project just south of the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus. | MICHELLE JARBOE/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

industrial space; redevelopments in Midtown and the Flats; and a planned 870-unit self storage facility in South Collinwood, on Cleveland’s East Side.

One modest expenditure, by Akron-area investor Doug Weintraub, will establish a gateway to a recre-

ational area, with shelters and bathrooms, near the Towpath Trail in Barberton. Another fund, formed by Great Lakes Brewing Co. co-founder Dan Conway, seeded a fledgling software company that’s using technology to link purveyors and distributors of local food.

In 2019, Ohio became one of the first states to create a tax credit for Opportunity Zones, economically distressed areas that received special status from the federal government in 2018. The state’s individual income tax credit is equal to 10% of the investor’s contribution to a project, with a

cap. The maximum award is $1 million, and recipients can claim the credits themselves or sell them to other investors.

State law allows for up to $50 million in credits during each two-year budget cycle. The first group of investors, who applied in early 2020, grabbed just over $26.5 million. The year’s applicants sought less than half of that amount.

Mike Sikora, a Cleveland attorney who has worked on Opportunity Zone transactions across the state, attributed soft demand to the coronavirus, the wobbly economy, tightened lending standards and investor unease. Those factors broadly dampened commercial real estate activity, which is only beginning to recover.

“Equity investors were being very, very careful last year with how they were spending their money,” said Sikora, who predicted an upswing in investments later this year, assuming virus cases continue to fall as more Americans get vaccinated.

See ZONES on Page 19

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6 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MARCH 22, 2021

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REAL ESTATE

Busy ICP revisits Randall Park Mall site for 300,000-square-foot build

Proposed warehouse would be constructed on 23-acre parcel

BY STAN BULLARD

Taking a different tack from its acquisitions the past year, Industrial Commercial Properties plans to return to land at a portfolio property for a site to build a 300,000-square-foot warehouse.

The Solon company plans to construct its latest project on a 23-acre parcel on the Miles Road side of the former Randall Park Mall. The acreage is divided almost evenly between the suburbs of North Randall and Warrensville Heights.

Chris Semarjian, ICP’s owner, said in an interview that the real estate company plans to start the project on a speculative basis, without a tenant committed to the site.

“We hope to get started as soon as we have approval for the incentives from North Randall and Warrensville Heights,” Semarjian said. “We’re going to keep pushing the envelope. We have three to four prospective tenants for this. This building will have 36-foot ceilings and a central location near highways.”

ICP chief operating officer Chris Salata said the company is picking up the pace for construction projects, although about 75% of its activities remain in adaptive reuse of former industrial, office and retail projects for new users.

“We’ve got about 10 ground-up projects under way this year,” Salata said. “It’s a reflection of the growth of our team.”

Those construction projects are across the five states where the company is pursuing projects: Ohio, plus Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Salata added that the company is bidding on land or buildings in new areas as well, including Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The proposed east suburban structure, which ICP calls its “Miles Road Speculative Industrial Building,” will exhaust industrial-zoned land on the former mall site, according to Salata.

Most remaining land will be marketed for retail use, he said.

Although it seems another mas-

Reduce your warehousing costs without sacrificing peace of mind Industrial Commercial Properties of Solon plans to build on the last large, empty industrial-zoned site where Randall Park Mall used to stand. Even with a massive Amazon-leased building on the site, there’s room for a 300,000-square-foot building. It will cost about $20 million to build, based on industry estimates. ICP does not disclose costs. | CONTRIBUTED RENDERING

“WE’RE GOING TO KEEP PUSHING THE ENVELOPE. WE HAVE THREE TO FOUR PROSPECTIVE TENANTS FOR THIS.”

years ago. That building occupies most of the land redeveloped

by ICP in a joint venture with Industrial Realty Group, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer and — Chris Semarjian, ICP’s owner frequent ICP partner.

Ironically, Salata sive warehouse project could be discussed the use of the last industripushing the limit for what the market al site at Randall Park Mall in the can support, George Pofok, a senior same week ICP closed on the purvice president at the Cushman & chase of yet another mall site for reWakefield Cresco real estate broker- development as a multitenant busiage in Independence, said he does ness park, the Chapel Hill Mall not believe that’s the case. property in Akron.

“We did a recent search for space for Terry Coyne, a vice chairman in a 200,000-square-foot client from the Newmark’s Cleveland office, said East Side to the West Side,” Pofok said. 36-foot-high ceilings are going to be“There was a short list of just about five come typical for large industrial opportunities for a prospect of that size.” buildings of more than 250,000 Multiple brokerage surveys of the square feet. He said the only building Northeast Ohio industrial market put with that height under construction vacancy in the region at about 4%, is a Best Buy warehouse going up in despite multiple sprawling industrial Richfield Township. buildings for distribution use rising Many new buildings are 32 feet or planned throughout the region. tall, he said, while wall heights of 24 “These old (shopping mall sites) feet were the standard more than a are great because they have all the in- decade ago. Taller, although still sinfrastructure available,” Pofok said. gle-story, warehouses can hold more “There is also retail and food service inventory than buildings with shorter nearby for the workers, which also walls because they have more cubic makes them attractive.” space within them than shorter ones.

The bulk of the former Randall Park Mall site is occupied by an Amazon Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, fulfillment center that opened two (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: astoessel@crain.com MARCH 22, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 7

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3/19/2021 12:35:30 PM

FROM THE HEALTH CARE BEAT

RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

‘We are all in the same storm together’

EDITORIAL

Spring forward I

f you’re a baseball fan, this is the time of year to start familiarizing yourself with a new lineup — and convincing yourself this season will be better than the last (and the year before that, and ... well, you get the picture). It doesn’t always work out, but when things go right, the new faces can produce great results.

Fingers crossed that it will play out that way for the Cleveland Indians in 2021. But the city’s leadership structure itself is in the midst of a huge personnel shift, too, and, like ever-hopeful baseball fans, we’re optimistic that new people will provide fresh energy as we chart a post-pandemic path forward.

Among the most notable changes: Baiju Shah, director of the Cleveland Innovation Project and senior innovation fellow at the Cleveland Foundation, takes over April 12 as CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. He’ll succeed Joe Roman, who has led the organization, and done good work, since its inception in 2004.

Shah’s selection to lead the regional chamber has been well-received, and with good reason. He’s a creative thinker — there’s a reason his titles frequently have the word “innovation” in them — and has been a doer in past CLEVELAND’S LEADERSHIP roles leading BioMotiv, the Cleveland company that STRUCTURE ITSELF IS IN works alongside the HarTHE MIDST OF A HUGE rington Project for Discovery & Development, and business PERSONNEL SHIFT, AND accelerator BioEnterprise.

WE’RE OPTIMISTIC THAT Two other key roles in the city’s nonprofit ecosysNEW PEOPLE WILL need to be filled, folPROVIDE FRESH ENERGY. tem lowing recent retirement announcements from Dave Abbott at the Gund Foundation and Joe Marinucci at Downtown Cleveland Alliance. New leaders in both of those positions will be key voices in helping Cleveland drive equitable economic growth, as will Crystal Bryant, who is taking on the role of executive director of Cleveland’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. That position at the local NAACP has been open since 2015, so Bryant has an opportunity to raise the organization’s profile significantly. She appears ready to do just that, noting when she got the job, “For

the first time in decades we are being offered a seat at the table, and we plan on maximizing the invitation. We are responsible for the change we demand.”

On the way later is a new president at Case Western Reserve University, Eric Kaler, who’ll assume the role July 1. He’s the former president of the University of Minnesota, where he earned a doctorate in chemical engineering, and will bring to CWRU (and Cleveland) a focus on research and tech innovation.

All the newcomers will make a relative veteran of Bethia Burke, who became president of the Fund for Our Economic Future in ... March 2020.

Two of the biggest potential changes, though, will be up to voters.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine last week set Aug. 3 as the date for the primary in the race to succeed now-HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, who was an influential voice for Cleveland in Congress. The winner of the Democratic primary, featuring Nina Turner, Shontel Brown and others, almost certainly will win the seat in the general election on Nov. 2. And, of course, there’s a Cleveland mayoral race still waiting to take shape as Frank Jackson considers his future.

Change is good. After the year we’ve had, it’s necessary.

Clinical precision T

he Federal Emergency Management Agency’s COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center has been open less than a week, but it’s already a potent reminder of something all-too-rare: the ability to do great things when people come together for a common purpose.

The Ohio National Guard and Army troops working at the clinic are doing so with remarkable efficiency. Most people are in and out within 30 minutes — and that includes the 15-minute wait time after your shot. Cleveland State has provided many hosts to make sure visitors know where they’re going. The entire process couldn’t be smoother.

The site isn’t the only place you can get a vaccine — get one wherever you can — but it’s the biggest, with the ability to administer up to 6,000 vaccinations per day, every day, for eight weeks. That it came together this fast, and runs this smoothly, is an inspiration, and maybe a symbol of better times ahead.

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

As communities navigate their way to a new post-vaccine normal, they are also grappling with the scars of a year marked with grief, fear and loss.

Some of these losses we can quantify: More than half a million Americans died. Thousands of businesses closed temporarily or permanently. Millions of Americans report their households did Lydia not get enough to eat or aren’t caught up COUTRÉ on rent payments, recent data show.

Other losses are more difficult to calculate: stalled or derailed career paths, education impacts, the loss of understood normalcy.

Their ripple effects will be felt for years to come.

When people fall behind in their education, health and wealth, they’re not taking just one step back, but several, said Dr. Francoise Adan, chief whole health and well-being officer at University Hospitals. Suddenly, people are way behind, and “in this country, it would be really hard to catch up,” she said.

Adan likens the pandemic to a storm at sea.

“We are all in the same storm together, but we are not on the same boat,” Adan said. “And so, let’s face it, some people have incredible hardship right now, between losing jobs, losing businesses, losing loved ones, challenges at home with their kids. I mean, it’s on and on and on. You just wonder, how are they still going?”

The effects have been wide- THE EFFECTS OF spread — virtually everyone THE PANDEMIC HAVE saw change in the past year — but are prevalent among BEEN WIDESPREAD — Black, Latino, Indigenous and VIRTUALLY EVERYONE immigrant households in particular, reflecting deeply in- SAW CHANGE IN THE grained inequities that have PAST YEAR — BUT ARE long existed. This disproporPREVALENT AMONG tional impact poses a risk of increasing the disparities that BLACK, LATINO, exist across gender, class and INDIGENOUS AND race.

When compared with their IMMIGRANT white counterparts, Black and HOUSEHOLDS IN Hispanic Americans are more likely to have experienced job PARTICULAR, and other income losses REFLECTING DEEPLY during the pandemic, according to a poll from The Associ- INGRAINED INEQUITIES ated Press-NORC Center for THAT HAVE LONG Public Affairs Research, which EXISTED. also showed that those who lost income are more likely to have found themselves in deep financial holes.

The pandemic and recession also have had a profound effect on women — especially women of color — as they were more likely to be laid off or furloughed during the crisis. Women often shoulder the majority of family caregiving responsibilities, which were made more difficult with disruptions to day care, schools and other childcare programs.

Women — again, particularly minority women — are disproportionately represented in substantially hit sectors of the economy, like leisure and hospitality.

Earlier in March, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged the pandemic’s “extremely unfair” impact on women’s income and economic opportunities.

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

See COUTRÉ, on Page 9

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

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

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3/19/2021 2:06:29 PM

OPINION

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COVID-19, up too close and personal Nearly 1 million Ohioans have been diagnosed with am sure, needed hospital care more COVID-19. than me.

Stories abound of 95-year-olds beating it, others enFor about two weeks, there were during long hospital stays, and younger professionals several nights that I wondered about getting through it without much trouble. calling paramedics to go to the Add me, thankfully, to the survivors. It’s rare perspecemergency room. A few nights, I felt, tive for me as a journalist to be gripped so personally by might be my last. As I turned off the such a news event. The last time was sweating out the bedroom light several nights, I made lottery draft at the end of the war in Vietnam. mental goodbyes.

Stan This time, the news came in an email from the Cleve- BULLARD As soon as the first cough had land Clinic at 9 a.m. Dec. 10, which gave me the word in surfaced, my wife quarantined me boldface capital letters. I had tested POSITIVE for from herself and our adult daughter naipvc.com COVID-19. who lives with us. Luckily, our daughter never caught For additional details or to schedule a tour contact: The test was an afterthought. An online doc had ad- it. My recovery was slow. Being able to sit up and read Scott Raskow | 330 608 5172 | sraskow@naipvc.com vised that a test was not needed as there had already — that was progress. However, it was weeks before our been a few weeks of hacking and huffing, and I’d already dog got a decent walk.

Stacy Tramonte | 330 590 8248 | STramonte@pvccinc.com exposed others in our quarantine.

How we got the virus remains uncertain. Masks for www.naipvc.com That advice was put aside as my wife needed a test for public trips, followed by showers and clothes changes a different reason. (She also tested positive but fared after any emergency trip to a public place, had been our better.) I needed stronger meds anyway, and a Cleve- standard practice since the pandemic’s inception. Getland Clinic online doctor properly recommended I also ting the virus undercut all those efforts. Yet staving off get tested. So, we managed to get infection was worthwhile. them together.

The downside to sharing my perFOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS, As an asthma sufferer, it had sonal story is that so many have sufseemed a typical cough. At the out- THERE WERE SEVERAL fered so much more. set, it was nothing out of the ordi- NIGHTS THAT I WONDERED The toll in terms of lost income nary. However, thanks to advice and failed businesses around us is from Elizabeth McIntyre, my boss ABOUT CALLING huge. That pales compared to the and executive editor of Crain’s PARAMEDICS TO GO TO THE losses reflected in the unbelievable Cleveland, to get it checked out death count in the U.S. and the grief quickly, I did. Bronchitis was the di- EMERGENCY ROOM. A FEW of the survivors. agnosis, something very familiar. NIGHTS, I FELT, MIGHT BE More illustrative of this crisis are Continued decline with antibiotics the images reflecting its magnitude.

MY LAST. AS I TURNED OFF Refrigerator trucks as morgues. Caswas not.

It became the most brutal bron- THE BEDROOM LIGHT kets lining the floor of a mortuary in chitis bout of my life. Shortness of Italy. Aerial video of a cemetery in SEVERAL NIGHTS, I MADE Brazil with caskets aligned on burial breath would get new meaning.

My lungs became so plugged up, I plots, awaiting interment.

MENTAL GOODBYES. felt there was less than an inch of In my case, months later, each lung capacity. For more than two day continues to be better than its weeks, it felt as if a very plump water balloon had settled predecessor. in my chest. There was also bout after bout of chills.

I’ve gotten the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The secThose weeks were mostly in bed, asleep for most of ond is scheduled for early April. Worries about variants the day. and a second round may be assuaged.

The turning point came when I wanted to watch a litIn an unexpected way, my struggle has been helpful tle TV — and cared about eating. to others.

The next surprise came after taking a short walk or the Any relatives who learned of my COVID-19 encounter stairs. I had to sit down to recover. I did not have the shed earlier qualms they voiced about the vaccine. They shooting pain of pneumonia, which I know firsthand. In got the shot. my judgment, overall, COVID-19 felt far worse. Even so, I am glad that I was spared pneumonia a second time.

Bullard covers real estate for Crain’s Cleveland Business.

Throughout, we debated my going to the hospital. No docs told me to do so. Even though I was in an impaired Stan Bullard: sbullard@crain.com, state, things around the house kept me there. Others, I (216) 771-5228, @CrainRltywriter

COUTRÉ

From Page 8

Previous generations have gone through tremendous loss and grief that impacted society as a whole, such as during World War II, said Dr. Ben Kearney, executive vice president and chief clinical officer of OhioGuidestone.

But most of the people alive today haven’t dealt with anything like the broad impact seen in the past year.

Throughout the year, many people experienced very significant trauma and loss, such as those who lost loved ones, Kearney said.

“We need to think about how we’re going to honor not only people who have experienced real loss and grief, but people who have sacrificed through this,” he said, noting the essential workers who were unable or chose not to work from home, especially health care providers who took on exposure to COVID-19 day in and day out to care for the sickest patients.

In shaping a new post-vaccine normal, acknowledging the lasting pain of the past year is critical — as is recognizing the many incredible efforts in motion to address these challenges and then building on that momentum.

The circumstances of the past year have necessitated a lot of flexibility and grace for one another as comput-

ers offered windows into the homes of friends and colleagues juggling responsibilities.

How we work will be fundamentally different as people’s expectations of their jobs change, Kearney said.

And how people relate to one another has changed as well, with many gaining a greater capacity for gentleness and gratitude.

Failing to recognize those changes would be a disservice to organizations, he said.

“Explore in your workforce what has changed and then celebrate the change, because the change has happened,” Kearney said. “And if you don’t find how people are functioning differently, how people are working differently, how people feel differently — if you don’t find that, you’re missing the option to grab the silver lining.”

This unprecedented year of immense loss has given people a chance to examine what they value in and outside of work. The pandemic forced an inherent shift in perspectives and understanding. How we build on this, and how — and how much — leaders are able to begin addressing these changes and the inequities will ultimately shape our new normal.

Coutré covers health care for Crain’s Cleveland Business.

Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre MARCH 22, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 9

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3/18/2021 2:54:35 PM

PILOT PROGRAM MAGNET, Ohio to Work bring manufacturing opportunities to job-hungry residents. PAGE 12

MANUFACTURING

Hiring challenges persist for manufacturers as pandemic stalls programs to build up workforce BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY | Manufacturers have been working hard in recent

The company worked to mitigate that challenge with its internal training programs, educating entry-level workers for more skilled positions. Currently, it has nearly 80 employees. Compton said the company also has been working to increase its online and

years to dispel the idea that their industry is an old-fashioned one, full of dust and dirt and closed-down shops.

In reality, the factories of today are high-tech, and the sector is going strong. But many companies would be doing even better if they could only find more employees.

The labor gap has been an issue for manufacturers for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into many of the programs com“IF YOU DON’T COME IN AND SEE WHAT MODERN panies have been using to build employee pipelines.

MANUFACTURING LOOKS LIKE, THERE’S A LOT OF At Automation Tool and Die Inc. in Valley City, the MISCONCEPTIONS THAT WE HAVE TO OVERCOME metalformer has been working to build such a pipeline in WHEN IT COMES TO OUR CANDIDATES, OUR recent years. Human resources manager Jennifer CompSTUDENTS OR THEIR PARENTS, OR THE ton said the company had started to make real progress COMMUNITY, THAT WHEN WE’RE STIFLED FROM in its relationships with local high schools and technical centers prior to the pandemic. Schools going remote, and BEING ABLE TO OFFER THOSE TOURS, WE’RE DEFINITELY AT A taking career fairs and summer camps off the table, put DISADVANTAGE AT THAT POINT.” that progress on pause.

— Jennifer Compton, Automation Tool and Die inc. human resources manager 10 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MARCH 22, 2021

social media presence, and it participated in a virtual career fair.

Those types of activities could “augment” Automation Tool and Die’s traditional workforce pipeline work going forward, but they’re difficult as standalone efforts without in-person components, she said.

“If you don’t come in and see what modern manufacturing looks like, there’s a lot of misconceptions that we have to overcome when it comes to our candidates, our students or their parents, or the community, that when we’re stifled from being able to offer those tours, we’re definitely at a disadvantage at that point,” Compton said.

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FOCUS | MANUFACTURING

Mahoning Valley looks ahead to an electric future

Youngstown State, BRITE Energy Innovators among collaborators on Energy Storage Training and Innovation Center

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

The Mahoning Valley had long been known for steel — and, nationally, as an example of what happened to regions when steel left.

But in recent years, the region has been rebuilding. It’s seen growth in additive manufacturing with the creation of national institute America Makes and the local industry that followed.

And, more recently, the loss of General Motors has led to investment in the electric vehicle space.

It’s that space that’s driving a new collaborative training initiative in the region. The Energy Storage Training and Innovation Center is still in the planning phase. Initial work includes assessing the existing and planned “energy storage ecosystem” in the region, as well as figuring out what skills individuals will need to work in those jobs, said Jennifer Oddo, executive director for the Center for Workforce Education and Innovation at Youngstown State University.

This work is bringing together a broad range of partners, including Youngstown State, Steubenville-based Eastern Gateway Community College, the BRITE Energy Innovators incubator in Warren and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

“The model that we’re putting together is just a collaboration and collective thinking, and the work that we’re doing with these employers is something that I haven’t really seen a lot of as I’ve worked within industry,” Oddo said. “So I really have to commend the leadership of the college and the university that have really helped bridge us together to make sure that we are driving collectively

Lordstown Motors, which recently unveiled its electric truck, is among the companies in the Mahoning Valley that are driving the new Energy Storage Workforce Innovation Center in the region. | BLOOMBERG

“THE MODEL THAT WE’RE PUTTING TOGETHER IS JUST A COLLABORATION AND COLLECTIVE THINKING, AND THE WORK THAT WE’RE DOING WITH THESE EMPLOYERS IS SOMETHING THAT I HAVEN’T REALLY SEEN A LOT OF AS I’VE WORKED WITHIN INDUSTRY.” — Jennifer Oddo, executive director for the Center for Workforce Education and Innovation at Youngstown State University

the outcomes that we need to for the industry and for our stakeholders.”

The Mahoning Valley has seen growth in the energy storage and electric vehicle space as of late. Lordstown Motors is working to make electric trucks in the old GM plant in the village it’s named after; General Motors and LG Chem are building battery-maker Ultium Cells LLC in the village, too. In nearby Warren, mobility technology company Aptiv has a location.

Even before Lordstown Motors, the region had a lot of people working “in the direction of what the future might look like,” said Rick Stockburger, president and CEO of BRITE Energy Innovators.

Much of the existing energy storage supply chain is located in China, so the work in the region offers an opportunity to create a domestic supply chain for these products, Stockburger said.

Oddo said part of the planning for

the Energy Storage Training and Innovation Center will aim to assess the nation’s energy storage needs, so the Mahoning Valley can be a critical part of the national land- Stockburger scape. She expects the planning portion of the project to take the remainder of 2021.

The initial work of the Energy Storage Training and Innovation Center is being supported by $1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as by funding from General Motors.

After closing its Lordstown facility, GM came to an agreement with the state of Ohio to invest $12 million in the Mahoning Valley, some of which is going toward the new center.

Youngstown State president Jim Tressel said that, going forward, the project could bring in new public-private partnerships or grant opportunities.

This center is just the latest collaborative project for Youngstown State.

About six years ago, the Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Consortium brought together the region’s institutions of higher education, career tech centers, incubators and industry to look more closely at what was needed. At the end of March, the university will open a new Excellence Training Center, which will offer training in everything from CNC machining and additive manufacturing to industrial maintenance, Tressel said. The energy storage center will complement that.

“This is just one more step,” Tressel said.

In general, today’s manufacturing is a “different type of manufacturing,” Oddo said.

It’s more digital and more skilled Tressel than in the past.

The university and the community college need to be proactive in their training to make sure potential workers have the skills they need for these jobs.

Both Eastern Gateway Community College and Youngstown State University are working to offer more micro-credentials. Oddo said the institutions want people to see there are different career and educational pathways they can choose. And they want industry to start thinking differently, too, so companies are engaging people at different stages of life.

It’s not just about training for the new energy storage jobs in the region right now. The goal is to “build a stronger region,” said Arthur Daly, senior vice president at Eastern Gateway Community College.

“When we have these innovative companies coming, and we’re doing the proper training to be the feeder systems for these industries, now we don’t lose our populations to other regions,” Daly said. “Now we have people that want to come to the region, move to the region. We no longer have a brain drain. We have a brain gain as we talk about this as we go forward.”

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

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Ohio to Work brings manufacturing opportunities to job-hungry residents MAGNET helps facilitate pilot program to boost career resources, training

BY DOUGLAS J. GUTH

The economic impact of the pandemic may not be fully realized for years, but there is no questioning the struggles Northeast Ohio workers faced as the virus proliferated. In April 2020, about 1 in 4 people in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County were unemployed, according to a report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

Citing the downturn, JobsOhio — in partnership with ODJFS and an array of network partners and employers — launched Ohio to Work, a pilot initiative providing out-of-work Cuyahogans with advanced career resources, coaching and industry-targeted training in sectors such as health care, tech and advanced manufacturing.

Cleveland’s Manufacturing Growth Advocacy Network (MAGNET) was part of the pilot that ran from September until December. Ohio to Work entered 2021 connecting residents to local in-demand jobs, with manufacturing comprising about half the companies involved in the initiative.

The pilot placed around 400 individuals into new jobs, while another 100 people utilized the program’s reskilling and training opportunities.

On the manufacturing side, big-ticket enterprises such as Swagelok and Lincoln Electric are joined by lesser-known firms seeking qualified candidates for sustainable-wage jobs and careers.

“Smaller companies are committed to the concept,” said Adam Snyder, managing director of the Workforce Connect Manufacturing Sector Partnership at MAGNET. “Alloy Engineering is not as widely known, but they’re doing some great work and have skilled jobs available. Avalon Castings and Mace (Security International) don’t have the volume of big companies, but they have good jobs.”

Cleveland’s existing workforce development environment — alongside pandemic-driven economic woes — made the city an attractive choice to pilot the program, Snyder said. JobsOhio, the state’s private nonprofit economic development corporation, is spearheading the program with network allies as well as MAGNET, the Ohio Development Services Agency, OhioMeansJobs, Urban League of Greater Cleveland, Tech Elevator and the local chapter of Goodwill. Amplifying area support services will ideally continue to curtail the region’s historically high job displacement.

“JobsOhio embraced our local knowledge and partnerships,” Snyder said. “How do we come in and

bolster these systems and processes?

A good relationship formed because we know the players and understand the nuances of the local ecosystem.”

Into the fold MAGNET acts as local operations manager for Ohio to Work, coordinating education and training while working with service providers on virtual career fairs and other employee engagement activities. Last year, employers from high-demand industries took part in three online meet-and-greets that drew a total of 1,200 would-be workers.

Rapid reskilling in machining, welding and industrial maintenance can translate into strong entry-level positions with advancement opportunities. Companies using robots, 3D printers and artificial intelligence need talent as well — more than 2,000 modern manufacturing positions are available in Cuyahoga County alone, according to MAGNET. “Bringing in those employers was the most important piece of the program,” Snyder said. “There’s a great collaboration among all these entities to reach out and tell employers to lean into this.”

Frank Brickner, interim CEO of

community for CNC operators and other jobs people may not know about.

We need to say how a candidate’s skills may translate to other careers.”

Outreach is taking place on social media, through the email and on site at OhioMeansJobs’ Carnegie Avenue headquarters, which welcomes about 4,000 job seekers annually. About 20% of the organization’s clientele is planning on careers in manufacturing.

Mace Security International in Cleveland is one such company looking to hire on skilled new talent.

Mace, maker of safety and security products like pepper spray, has 55 employees working in shipping, warehousing and assembly. Via Ohio to Work, Mace brought in a fill-room worker who operates an aerosol canning machine, a job that necessitates two months of training.

Company officials were thrilled to take part in virtual career fairs, considering 30% to 40% of candidates contacting the company through job sites don’t even bother showing up for an interview.

“When the coronavirus happened, our job projections went out the window,” said Mace executive chairman Sanjay Singh. “But the virtual fairs gave us access to people in a seam-

“WHEN THE CORONAVIRUS HAPPENED, OUR JOB PROJECTIONS WENT OUT THE WINDOW. BUT THE VIRTUAL FAIRS GAVE US ACCESS TO PEOPLE IN A SEAMLESS FASHION. ” — Sanjay Singh, Mace executive chairman

OhioMeansJobs, said the employment-centric effort also links participants to funding for career training.

Though OhioMeansJobs already assists job candidates in finding these sources, Ohio to Work is like a bullhorn that shouts the message to an even wider audience.

“Software coding can be $15,000 at some schools,” Brickner said. “We have federal funds to assist with training, but that cost can still deter people from entering the program.”

COVID-19 harmed industries across the local and national landscape, displacing a million workers and disproportionately impacting minorities, the formerly incarcerated and other vulnerable populations.

Fast-tracking folks into high-demand manufacturing positions requires, in part, a myth-busting effort among community stakeholders.

“Manufacturing is different now; these aren’t dirty, grimy jobs,” Brickner said. “There’s ample opportunity in the

less fashion. These are people desiring employment. We also have one person in HR, so when Ohio to Work came around, we jumped on it.”

In early February, Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said Ohio to Work would share in a $15 million workforce commitment to expand the initiative statewide. Snyder of MAGNET said increased project scope is vital to filling a manufacturing skills gap that has only widened during the pandemic.

“Five or six years ago, the ability to attract talent was third or fourth on the list in terms of hampering growth,” Snyder said. “It’s No. 1 with a bullet now. Plus, there’s a growing need to prepare the workforce for retirement, and we’re going to need that bench strength. With Ohio to Work, we’ve laid the groundwork for bringing job seekers into the fold while demand remains.”

Contact Douglas J. Guth: clbfreelancer@crain.com

12 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | MARCH 22, 2021

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FOCUS | MANUFACTURING

LABOR GAP

From Page 10

Solving some of the issues that contribute to a lack of ready manufacturing workers — like awareness of the industry as a viable career option — will take a long time, said Adam Snyder, managing director of the sector partnership at MAGNET in Cleveland. And a marketing campaign won’t fix that, said Ethan Karp, MAGNET’s president and CEO. People need to see manufacturing in action, and that’s been particularly challenging during COVID-19.

High school-focused outreach saw some hurdles during the pandemic, but interest in apprenticeships grew, said Brianna Schultz, vice president of workforce development at Manufacturing Works. And the economic development organization had its best year in terms of helping companies with recruitment and placement needs. Though there were layoffs and furloughs, on the balance, more manufacturers were hiring, she said.

Darrell McNair, president and CEO of MVP Plastics Inc. in Middlefield, had to lay off a full shift of workers during 2020 but now has expanded the workforce back to pre-pandemic levels. Currently, MVP employs about 60 in Ohio and about 30 in Texas. McNair said he’d like to see up to five more employees at each of the company’s locations.

It has been a challenge to find all of the skilled workers the company needs, so McNair said he’s been of-

Karp

The pandemic made it challenging for Automation Tool and Die Inc. in Valley City to connect with young adults in the employee pipeline it’s worked to build in recent years. | PAUL MOSKOWITZ, AKRON VIDEO MAKERS

fering overtime to employees to make up the difference. Long-term, McNair said, he’s trying to train people from within for those skilled positions.

Jack Schron, president of Jergens

“YOU DON’T TAKE SOMEBODY TO RUN A MILLION-DOLLAR PIECE OF MACHINERY THAT DOESN’T HAVE EXPERIENCE.” — Jack Schron, president of Jergens Inc.

Inc. in Cleveland, said his company also has been using the pandemic to continue training individuals and participating in different programs to that end. But the importance of experience can’t be discounted, particularly when companies like Jergens are making fasteners and other products with tight tolerances and exacting specifications for industries such as aerospace.

“You don’t take somebody to run a million-dollar piece of machinery that doesn’t have experience,” Schron said.

But the labor gap isn’t just about finding skilled employees.

The

ROI

McNair

Alloy Engineering in Berea, which has about 70 employees, makes large, highly engineered components for industries ranging from automotive and aerospace to powdered metals.

It’s pretty “old school manufacturing,” said president and CEO Lee Watson, and, before the pandemic, the company struggled to find skilled welders and mechanics. But lately it’s been difficult to bring in entry-level employees, possibly because the unemployment benefits are higher, he said.

The companies MAGNET works with have been hiring through the pandemic, Snyder said. Many have been growing due to diversification but have struggled to hire even with higher unemployment numbers.

A lot of people point to unemployment benefits as the reason for that mismatch, Snyder said, but he sees other issues. A lot of the people who were out of work were caring for children or opting to stay home out for fear of getting sick, he said.

Even once those challenges end with the pandemic, solving the larger problems contributing to manufacturing’s labor gap will take time and

effort. Many training programs were put in place before the pandemic for different populations: high school students, the formerly incarcerated, workers looking to upskill. These will still be important, but the pandemic also has shown some new ways companies might be able to connect.

For example, though workforce remained one of the top issues for Manufacturing Works members, Schultz said, the economic development organization struggled to implement trainings for companies this past year. Manufacturers said they couldn’t find time to commit to long programs during the workday. So Manufacturing Works is looking into revamping its existing programs to fit into fewer hours in a day over a longer period of time.

Snyder of MAGNET said the current desire for virtual and digital content, like recorded plant tours or guest speakers, could be beneficial going forward. In-person events are impactful, he said, but the virtual components are more easily scaled.

Ultimately, the labor gap in manufacturing has never been about numbers, Karp said. It’s awareness, it’s transportation — all the issues that were creating a gap before the pandemic are still there.

“I think that when you had 8%, 10% unemployment and still saw thousands of open manufacturing jobs, it shows how systemic and deep the workforce issues are,” Karp said.

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

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PLANNING FOR YOUR FUTURE SPONSORED CONTENT

March 22, 2021 S1

Taking a nimble, proactive approach to lifelong well-being

Considering the long view

Long-term care insurance options that address financial needs now and in the future

By ANDY BASZUK

L

ong-term care can be an emotionally charged topic during retirement planning.

It’s understandable that most people do not want to think about themselves or a spouse as ever being unable to live independently. Given the daunting cost of assisted living and how quickly costs continue to rise, it’s an important topic.

Long-term care insurance should be carefully considered when thinking about protecting assets in retirement and accumulating wealth for the next generation.

Basic long-term care insurance covers nursing home and assisted living needs, but this type of insurance often comes with a very

high price tag. The high premiums and knowledge that the insurance may never be needed can cause people to think that self-funding is a smarter way to go. While it’s true that the insurance can be very expensive, the potential cost of care can be even more so. There are certainly cases where self-funding may be doable and advisable, but for most, it creates a potentially significant risk to portfolio assets, which limits the ability to leave a legacy.

Within the next decade, 10,000 baby boomers will reach age 65 every day, and seven out of 10 of those individuals will require some type of long-term care, according to a Genworth 2020 study. This means that, unfortunately, many of us will be faced with paying for these services in one way or another. Although the cost of care varies across the country, Genworth calculates the average national monthly cost of a private room in a nursing home to be $8,821 in 2020.

Typically, the average length of stay

is 24 to 48 months but for cognitive illness, the length of stays can increase significantly.

The good news is there are now alternatives to traditional long-term care insurance with more flexibility, making them much more attractive.

It is no longer simply a decision limited to buying traditional insurance or shouldering the risk yourself. Instead, a great alternative is a hybrid long-term care policy.

This vehicle generally creates more outcome certainty than traditional long-term care policies. Premium payments are guaranteed, so the spouse or children will receive a death benefit if the long-term care feature is not used. The benefits are tax efficient. Hybrid policies require an initial planned (single or multiyear) premium and offer a monthly care benefit that increases with inflation and, importantly, a return of premium feature and a death benefit.

Another option is a survivorship universal life policy with a long-

term care rider. This type of policy requires structured and predetermined premium payments and offers the ability to surrender for cash value with the protection of the long-term care rider, if needed, along with a highly leveraged death benefit. While traditional long-term care policies do not guarantee level premiums, both hybrid life/longterm care policies do, which can be an advantage.

People tend to begin this decision-making process while looking at their overall financial plan for retirement, often in their 50s or 60s. However, these policies are available at any age. Most products tend to be more competitive if set up when the insured is younger. Also, many insurance carriers offer a price break for couples that apply together.

Each type of long-term care insurance involves its own level of underwriting to qualify for coverage.

While some require a full exam and medical records review, others simply require a short questionnaire

or brief telephone interview. Once the policies are in place, the insured would receive a claim if diagnosed with an eligible cognitive impairment or if the insured cannot perform at least two of the six Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) without assistance.

Everyone is different, but the best way to consider your long-term care risks is to consider your asset base today and its ability to fund a longterm care stay. Would that impede your wealth transfer goals or the assets’ ability to also support other family members either while you are sick or after you are gone? Despite it being an uncomfortable topic, taking the time to consider your options in this space could make a momentous impact to you and your loved ones. Compare your options, make the best choice for your own circumstances and be prepared.

Andy Baszuk is vice president, Insurance Services at Ancora. Contact him at 216-825-4000 or abaszuk@ ancora.net.

The age of innovation

By KATHY AMES CARR Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

H

ealth care and hospitality are common denominators in the formula for providing quality of life in senior living communities. From the types of services and amenities offered to the variety of residential options available, senior living continues to evolve to cater to the needs of individuals as they progress through different life stages. The pandemic illustrated why technology must be a driving factor in the way communities integrate, market and deliver innovation in health care and hospitality.

“The pandemic has changed how senior living communities prioritize creative aging,” said Lee Ann O’Brien, chief marketing officer at McGregor. “We have been increasing the use of technology in promoting health and wellness.”

A survey conducted in 2018 by the International Council on Active Aging showed that most senior living communities are shifting from a care-first model toward an approach that prioritizes wellness lifestyle with options for care available. About 60% of the respondents predicted that by 2023, their retirement communities would be based on a wellness lifestyle, with

wellness programs defined as: • Education and lifelong learning • Exercise (led by both instructors and technology) • Health education and disease management • Food and nutrition education and preparation • Intergenerational programs linking youth and older adults.

The pandemic illustrated that technology must have a prominent and comprehensive place in senior living wellness, O’Brien said.

“2020 was the age of technology, and residents were challenged with integrating technology into their lives,” she said. “The average age

A McGregor resident utilizes a tablet for communication and to access information. During the pandemic, McGregor helped residents learn how to use a variety of digital tools to remain connected with loved ones. of our residents is between 83 and 85, and they were not tech savvy.

Innovation means being forwardthinking, and for us, this means

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

finding new ways to address and service needs for our residents and (Continued on next page)

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their families. We trained residents on using texts, composing and receiving emails, and learning how to use virtual chatrooms to communicate with loved ones.

Remaining connected with loved ones during isolation was critical to maintaining health and wellness.”

A FOCUS ON ACCOMMODATIONS Similarly, the implementation of new technology and equipment contributed to the safety of residents and staff throughout the pandemic, including new air handling and ventilation systems, automated COVID-19 visitor screening technology and the use of iPads to keep residents connected to family members, said Lisa Brazytis, chief marketing officer at Jennings.

“Throughout Jennings’ residences, when we were unable to host communal activities, our closedcircuit TV channels provided technology for staff to broadcast information and activities to residents, such as fitness classes with staff, games, contests and lifelong learning programs,” she said.

Jennings’ innovative spirit extends beyond its responsiveness to acute needs, Brazytis added, pointing out that Jennings was a founding member of LeadingAge Ohio, which advocated for quality standards in nursing homes, and was one of the first in the area to provide fully private residential suites and a decentralized

floor plan. Ceiling-mounted resident lifts provide comfort and dignity for individuals who require assistance with transfers and alleviates the physical pain from caregiving staff who are required to assist with lifting. Fall protection flooring helps minimize falls and injury.

Additionally, “Jennings has created small house assisted living residences – a nationally renowned lifestyle for individuals to live together as a household and direct their daily routines,” Brazytis said.

During the pandemic, Eliza Jennings installed a UVC PureLight 360 A Jennings resident participates in a virtual fitness sanitizing system that class led by Jennings staff member Wendy Kakou eliminates more than via the facility’s closed-circuit TV channel.

99% of SARS-CoV-2 in a 30-foot-by-30in the strategic and development foot room in under 10 minutes. discussions about how to improve This technology also is effective the quality of senior living in eliminating other harmful throughout its campus, he said. pathogens.

“We are undergoing a massive “We were one of the first senior restructuring of our campus in living providers to do so, and I’m Olmsted Township,” said Boyson, proud to say we’re COVID-19 free,” referring to its 100-acre Renaissance said Richard Boyson, president and Retirement Campus. “Our plans CEO. involved board leadership, the frontThe application of innovation line staff and more than 20 residents, is as much a practical endeavor some who had architectural and as it is a philosophical approach. engineering backgrounds —in what Eliza Jennings continuously amenities and innovations should engages its stakeholders, including be part of the new assisted living residents, their families and staff, campus.”

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Managing the expectations of paying for health care

By KATHY AMES CARR Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland

T

he idea of retirement is appealing. Decades of living by alarm clocks and logging long workdays yield to unscheduled days of quality time with loved ones and indulging in leisurely pursuits.

It is all well and good to muse about one’s desired retirement reality, but just make sure that vision addresses appropriate health care financial management, financial planners and industry professionals say.

“Health care is part of our goalbased conversations with our clients,” said Vanessa Mavec King, vice president, financial planner at Ancora.

Planning for retirement often begins with conversations about how to build enough wealth to comfortably finance one’s lifestyle during retirement and sustain a legacy for loved ones in perpetuity. However, since health care accounts for one of the largest expenses in retirement, forecasting one’s anticipated health care needs during this life stage must be a key part of the financial planning discussion, King said.

“We break out health care as its own separate goal during our discussions of financial planning for retirement,” she said. “We provide an analysis of insurance option benefits versus self-fund planning.”

According to Fidelity, the average couple will require $295,000 in current dollars to pay for medical expenses in retirement, excluding long-term care. Different factors

contribute to the anticipated outlay.

Unlike previous generations, today’s and tomorrow’s retirees may not have access to employer- or union-sponsored retirement health benefits. The average retirement age of 62 is three years before an individual is eligible to enroll in Medicare.

Additionally, health care continues to outpace the rate of general inflation.

The current general inflation rate is 1.4%, compared with a 1.9% rate of health care inflation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The gap has been much wider in recent years. In 2019, for example, the health care inflation rate more than doubled the general inflation rate.

“We are aggressive in terms of forecasting the anticipated costs of health care according to inflation trends,” King said. “This way, we can help our clients make sure they have enough assets in place to pay for health care during retirement.

The data show that it is never too early to begin financial planning for retirement. We often find ourselves working with Generations 2 and 3 as we work with our clients.”

For those pre-retirees whose employers offer a health savings account-eligible health plan, King suggests individuals enroll and max out their health savings account. The HSA enables an individual to save pre-tax dollars, which can grow and be withdrawn tax-free if used for qualified medical expenses.

“HSAs are a triple tax win,” King said.

Various insurance products also can help offset the cost of health care

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during retirement, including longterm care insurance and a hybrid long-term care policy, she said.

AGE-OLD QUESTIONS AARP, a nonprofit interest group for individuals age 50 and older, recognizes that a significant share of its constituency still is in the workforce.

As such, it is facing critical questions from its membership about how to adequately plan to pay for their planned and unplanned health care expenses in retirement, said Jason Smith, interim state manager of advocacy at AARP Ohio.

“These are especially challenging times, with the rising costs of health care and the pandemic hitting some individuals’ savings pretty hard,” Smith said. “The pandemic has shown how important it is to have savings for unplanned events.”

To that extent, AARP offers a number of tools and resources for both members and non-members to help improve their financial position for retirement, including how to save money and pay down debt such as

student loans, lingering medical debt and credit card debt.

“You don’t want an albatross around your neck during retirement,” Smith said.

About 55 million, or nearly half of Americans, have no access to a retirement plan through their employer, according to AARP. “Americans faced a retirement crisis before COVID-19, and we don’t know what the implications are post-pandemic,” Smith said. “In Ohio, 64% of residents work for a small business and do not have access to employer-sponsored retirement plans.”

Lee Ann O’Brien, chief marketing officer at McGregor, said that senior living provider coordinates communication and logistics on behalf of its residents and their families to help support individual health care considerations, which is especially beneficial for the low-income and financially challenged population.

“We work with a lot of elder care attorneys, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry and the Legal Aid Society

of Cleveland to implement estate plan needs, including how to pay for medical and senior living expenses,” she said.

The staff at Eliza Jennings recognizes how important it is to individualize each current and interested resident’s financial considerations with their current and anticipated health care needs.

“Our sales counselors do an excellent job in having an honest dialogue with individuals and their families about what an individual’s health care needs are today and what they may be seven or 10 years and even longer into the future,” said Richard Boyson, president and CEO of the senior living provider. “We help break down the all the costs and demonstrate what maintenance-free living at our Renaissance Retirement campus looks like from a financial and well-being perspective, and how our campus features different residential solutions to help someone transition between different stages of life depending on their health care requirements.”

A non-profit organization serving Northeast Ohio seniors since 1942

Whether you seek independent or supported living— or services to help you remain at home—Jennings has the choices you need across a whole continuum of residences and services. Choose an engaging, worry-free residence, designed for your lifestyle and interests. Explore the balance of privacy, friendly neighbors and choices in activities to enjoy life the way you choose.

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AKRON | TECHNOLOGY

2020 brings some unexpected twists for area broadband providers Both residents and employers needed to boost their bandwidth

BY DAN SHINGLER

Never have so many people who weren’t going anywhere clamored to go faster than they did in 2020.

Such was the effect of the pandemic on the Akron area’s broadband industry, which local internet service providers say was a year like they’d never seen.

“It’s certainly been unique,” said Will Ersing, chief broadband officer for the city of Hudson, which runs its own broadband internet provider called Velocity.

Velocity is concentrated in Hudson’s business districts. It still has fairly limited availability in the city’s residential areas, covering only about 12% of the city’s footprint, Ersing said. But it’s still seen a big jump in business over the past year. Velocity’s current customer count is 384, up 31% from the 293 subscribers it had at the end of 2019. About 75% of them are business customers, Ersing said.

The calls for residential service have been on the rise to about 30 a week, compared with fewer than 10 pre-COVID, Ersing said. That’s been driven by the obvious reason — more people working from home and wanting more bandwidth to do it, and do it quickly, he said. Velocity only offers one residential package — one-gigabyte symmetrical service for $68 a month, Ersing said.

A symmetrical broadband connection allows users to upload data as

quickly as it allows downloads, while an asymmetrical system, like those found in most homes and many businesses, allows for fast downloads but much slower uploads.

But why are businesses driving demand for Velocity’s bandwidth? With all of their employees using their own internet service, companies that employ those working from home must not need nearly as much bandwidth, right?

Wrong. They need more. At least they often do at big companies, said Ersing and Fairlawn public service director Ernie Staten, who runs that city’s FairlawnGig broadband provider.

While Hudson has taken a phasedin approach to expanding Velocity’s service, Fairlawn took more of an allin strategy and covers the entire city.

But Staten said both cities have the same goal: to make themselves more attractive to businesses by giving them fast, top-notch broadband.

Just as in Hudson, Staten said, Fairlawn has seen demand for more bandwidth from businesses, especially those with large, work-from-home payrolls. They learned they have to communicate with all of those people and expand corporate networks, or provide workers virtual private networks to communicate and transfer files, he said. That all takes bandwidth.

“They needed an uplift of their own in order to push out all their information to employees,” Staten said. “If you’re all within your building, you only need a

certain amount of bandwidth to handle that, but if you go outside you need more bandwidth because now you’re pushing it all out over the internet. Quite a few of them increased their service.”

Many smaller firms did need less bandwidth and often had less or no money to pay for it, so Fairlawn carried many of them for part of the year, Staten said. They all eventually made good on past bills, too, he said.

A lot of smaller, rural companies, even those doing well, also found they lacked the bandwidth they needed, especially if they had asymmetrical service that lacked upload speed, said Alex Desberg, sales and marketing director of Ohio.Net, a private broadband provider in Doylestown. Ohio.net does business across Northeast Ohio, mostly with small and medium-size businesses “from Ashtabula, down to Mohican” in Loudonville, he said. The company doesn’t disclose exactly how many it serves, but Desberg said it now counts its commercial customers in the “thousands.”

“All those users went home and now they have to access the office, and it’s changed from heavy download traffic to heavy uploads for businesses,” Desberg said. “It’s almost like when tidal rivers change direction.

We’ve seen that in the internet business. It’s gone from everything being pulled into the office to now everything is being pulled from the office.”

There was a time early in the pan-

Desberg

Gage

demic when many broadband providers were struggling to get materials, too. Just as new customers were clamoring for service and existing ones were asking for upgrades, equipment became hard to find, said Ersing.

“We actually experienced a lot of supply chain issues with our suppliers,” he said. “It’s a lot of electronics and a lot of the modems and stuff comes from China. … We couldn’t get them. Our lead times went from three to four weeks to 18 weeks or more.”

That was last spring and summer, though, and those problems have mostly gone away, but not completely.

“They’re not back to where they were, but they’ve definitely started coming back,” Ersing said. “We’re still looking at two to three months of lead time on some materials, but it’s not six months anymore.”

Meanwhile, some of those worst affected by the pandemic — including many low-income and minority residents — continued to suffer from less access to bandwidth. They often needed to be online more than ever to seek health care, jobs or un-

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employment benefits.

But a blessing in disguise of the pandemic might be that it has expedited some changes to address that digital divide, said Brian Gage, executive director of the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA), which has 40 properties in the city that 4,000 residents call home.

Thanks to federal money provided by the CARES Act and other federal funding driven by the pandemic, AMHA has been able to begin installing internet in six of its buildings. Two are wired up now, two are in progress and two more will be done this year, Gage said.

He’s not sure when the authority will get all of its buildings done. AMHA could hook up all of its residents for about $2 million, Gage said, and new federal programs would pay for all or most of their monthly service fees.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have $2 million,” he said.

But he’s become more hopeful. Activity around increasing broadband services to people in subsidized housing and to other overlooked populations took a bigger jump in 2020 than he’s seen in years, if not ever.

“This is happening much faster than what we had hoped,” Gage said. “I think it’s been expedited by the heightened need for people to work from home and children to be educated from home. So that’s been helpful in decreasing the digital divide, even going forward.”

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

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3/19/2021 2:06:57 PM

ZONES

From Page 6

It’s unclear how the overall volume of Opportunity Zone investment changed in 2020, since there aren’t federal reporting requirements. The state’s data offers a limited lens into an otherwise fairly opaque system.

“We think that there obviously was a lot more Opportunity Zone investment in Ohio and that some folks didn’t want to avail themselves of the state program,” said a spokesman for the development agency.

‘Meat on the bones’ Critics point to a lack of transparency as a flaw in the federal program, which offers investors short-term tax deferral and long-term tax savings for redeploying gains from other investments, such as stocks, in low-income areas. Opportunity Zones also have been derided as an anti-poverty effort only in concept, not in practice.

In downtown Elyria, a U-shaped Opportunity Zone Census tract that hugs the Black River piques developers’ interest, said Mayor Frank Whitfield. But it’s not enough to make real estate projects happen in the city of 54,000, which has grappled with disinvestment for decades and where rents are too low to justify construction costs.

Last fall, a local developer did use Opportunity Zone equity to purchase two prominent buildings on Broad Street, as part of a larger downtown revitalization effort that could take three to five years to play out. City officials are searching for every possible economic development tool at the local and state level to push projects forward.

“I just think that we need to revisit Opportunity Zones altogether and put the meat on the bones so that it actually does have some incentives that the everyday person could benefit from,” Whitfield said. “It’s a very small group of people in the country who actually have the capital gains to be able to look at this.”

The largest single investment in

A rendering depicts the Waterford Bluffs apartment project at the western end of the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, in Cleveland’s Duck Island neighborhood. Equity investors in the project took advantage of the federal Opportunity Zone program and the state’s companion program. | VOCON

this year’s successful state tax credit applications came from a Florida-based family trust, which put $38.7 million into Waterford Bluffs, an apartment development just outside downtown Cleveland.

The 241-unit building, in the Duck Island enclave at the western end of the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, is a financial oddity. The $60 million-plus project will involve only $15 million in debt, said Rick Cavenaugh, president of Illinois-based developer Stoneleigh Companies. And the only reason Stoneleigh is taking out a loan is to lay the groundwork for bonus depreciation on the real estate.

“We didn’t raise any outside money. This is all Stoneleigh affiliates, and they had some large capital gains that they wanted to defer,” said Cavenaugh, adding that the investors spread about $100 million in equity across two projects to minimize transaction costs, fees and risk.

The group’s second deal is an apartment development in St. Paul, Minn.

The federal Opportunity Zone program brought Stoneleigh to Cleveland, to a 4-acre site a short walk from the West Side Market and a Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority train

“YOU’VE GOT TO FIT INSIDE A PRETTY SMALL BOX TO MAKE THESE OPPORTUNITY ZONES WORK.” — Jason Laver, a senior vice president with Cushman & Wakefield-Cresco Real Estate

station. The developer purchased the land a year ago and broke ground late last year. Waterford Bluffs, predominantly studios and one-bedroom units, is set to open by the fall of 2022.

Ohio’s tax credit was a bonus for investors, Cavenaugh said. But it wasn’t as important for the project as city tax incentives tied to new housing and other site improvements.

“It’s a benefit to, I think, investment in Ohio,” he said of the state program. “I think if all the states had it, or more states had it, it would help drive investment.”

Still hungry Opportunity Zone investors pulled back during the spring and summer of 2020, but they never entirely lost their appetite, said Angel Rice, a senior tax

manager at accounting firm Cohen & Co.’s Cleveland office. The IRS’s decision to give investors more time to place their capital gains — an extension that runs through the end of this month — also impacted deal flow.

And Rice had clients who didn’t fit the confines of the state program, which requires investors to put their money into an Opportunity Fund, and that fund to allocate that money to a project, in a single calendar year.

Some deals that spilled over from 2019 to 2020, or from 2020 to 2021, didn’t qualify.

“It was just a holdup for people that were doing good projects,” she said.

A state development spokesman said that officials are always looking at ways to improve the program. The agency expects to solicit applications for the next $50 million bundle of credits in early 2022, unless the General Assembly changes the landscape.

Ohio’s program has no sunset provision, but some investors predicted that applications gradually will decline as the benefits of the federal program — which offered the greatest tax savings to people who jumped in early and who plan to hold onto

their new investments for at least a decade — diminish.

Willoughby-based builder and developer Adelbert “Chip” Marous Jr. received $470,497 in state tax credits this year for money he spent buying a 600-slip marina in Sandusky and investing in a nearby office building that’s being transformed into apartments. The Opportunity Zone designation didn’t lure him to the deals, but it’s making the residential conversion much more feasible.

He sees additional potential for taking advantage of the federal and state programs, particularly at the marina, where Marous Development Group is planning a mixed-use project.

Closer to home, real estate broker Jason Laver and various partners made use of the state program while investing in two turnaround plays.

On Richmond Road in Bedford Heights, he and other investors bought a vacant industrial building last year with plans to renovate it. In Cleveland, he’s wrapping up a gut-rehab of a once-downtrodden office building at East 55th Street and South Marginal Road.

“You’ve got to fit inside a pretty small box to make these Opportunity Zones work. And the stars really need to align,” said Laver, a senior vice president with Cushman & Wakefield-Cresco Real Estate.

His Cleveland project also involved a state grant and a city loan.

Now the 40,000-square-foot building is 90% full, anchored by Concentra Urgent Care and home to office tenants including a coding bootcamp, tech startup MedPilot and a company that makes bespoke suits and custom dress shirts.

Laver wasn’t surprised that the state tax credits weren’t used up.

“The money’s still out there because it’s hard to find these projects that make economic sense,” he said.

“You’ve still got to have the fundamentals of a good deal. … The state tax credit isn’t the silver bullet.”

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

THE WEEK UP TO THE MINUTE: Minute Men Staffing Services, a human resources business in Cleveland’s Midtown neighborhood, plans to double the size of its headquarters on Carnegie Avenue. The family-owned company, one of the nation’s largest staffing firms serving private employers, has been looking for a larger real estate footprint for years. Now a document submitted to the Cleveland City Planning Commission shows that Minute Men is opting to grow in place, through a three-story, 45,000-square-foot addition to its longtime offices. Designs prepared

by AoDK Architecture show that the addition will rise just west of Minute Men’s existing, 38,066-square-foot headquarters, at 3740 Carnegie Ave. The structures will be linked by a glassy, three-level connector flanked by courtyards. The new space will include offices, meeting rooms, training facilities, a café and storage.

CHALLENGING THE FEDS: Ohio sued the Biden administration over a provision in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief law that bars states from using stimulus money to reduce taxes, claiming the rule illegally restricts the state’s power to change to its tax structure and economic policy. The lawsuit, filed March 17 against the U.S. Treasury Department, seeks to bar enforcement of the so-called tax mandate that Ohio At-

A rendering submitted to Cleveland’s planning department shows Minute Men Staffing’s plans to expand its Carnegie Avenue headquarters by constructing a new building, at right, next to its existing offices. The project will more than double the size of the staffing firm’s space. | AODK

torney General Dave Yost claims was added at the last minute to the stimulus plan, which includes more than $195 billion in aid to struggling states.

“The federal government should be encouraging states to innovate and grow business, not holding vital relief funding hostage to its preferred protax policies,” said Yost, a Republican, in a statement, adding that Ohio is due to receive $5.5 billion in stimulus money.

ON BOARD: FirstEnergy Corp. on March 16 entered into an agreement with Icahn Capital to add two new members to the Akron company’s board of directors in an agreement

that states activist investor Carl Icahn and his associates “will not exercise substantial influence or control over FirstEnergy or any of its subsidiaries.”

The move will bring FirstEnergy’s board to 14 directors. Under the agreement, FirstEnergy will appoint Andrew Teno and Jesse Lynn, both of whom are employees of Icahn Capital, to FirstEnergy’s board, effective March 18. FirstEnergy also agreed to include Teno and Lynn on its recommended slate of nominees for election at the company’s upcoming annual meeting. The appointments are subject to regulatory approval and until then, the two Icahn Capital employees will not have voting rights.

LACK OF PROGRESS: The state revoked a $4.2 million historic tax credit award for the Ohio Bell Building in downtown Cleveland, where a planned hotel conversion stalled out last year.

In a letter dated Feb. 19, the Ohio Development Services Agency notified Todd Interests that it had rescinded the award after the Dallas-based real estate company failed to show progress. The highly-sought-after credits, which the state doesn’t pay out until projects are complete, will go back into a pool for future preservation-minded applicants. Todd Interests planned to acquire portions of the 22-story building, at 750 Huron Road, through a condominium arrangement. But that purchase, from longtime property owner AT&T, never happened. The sale was expected to occur in early 2020, just before the pandemic dealt a brutal blow to the hospitality industry. The project’s apparent collapse raises questions about the future of the Art Deco tower, a prominent fixture on Cleveland’s skyline since 1927.

ON THE GROW: University Hospitals revealed details of a $236 million Phase 2 expansion for its Ahuja Medical Center that will open in 2023 and create an estimated 1,000 jobs. A 216,000-square-foot hospital tower addition and a 78,000-square-foot sports medicine complex will expand

the medical center in Beachwood by more than 68%, UH said. Ahuja has 1,087 employees at present, so the expansion will roughly double the medical center’s headcount. Architects for the expansion project are HKS Inc., designer of the initial hospital buildings at Ahuja, which opened in 2011. UH said a formal groundbreaking ceremony will be announced later this year.

HOTEL REPRIEVE: The Westin Cleveland Downtown won’t close after all, now that a court-appointed receiver has taken control of the 484-room hotel and the company behind it.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams signed off on the receivership March 17 after the hotel’s operator and lender — who are mired in a foreclosure fight — reached an agreement. The deal paves the way for an infusion of cash into the property, which was on the precipice of shutting down. Attorneys for Westin operator Optima 777 LLC protested outside intervention in court filings late last week. But on Wednesday, they conceded, leading to hours-long negotiations over the wording of a court order that put local attorney Tim Collins in charge. As the receiver, he took command not only of the building but also of the limited liability company.

March 22, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 19

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SPECIAL REPORT: WEATHERING THE COVID-19 STORM

PANDEMIC

From Page 1

Organizations have a responsibility to show empathy and provide tools and resources for employees dealing with the pain of the past year without dwelling on it, she said.

After an extraordinarily challenging year, the light at the end of the pandemic grows brighter, and a new normal becomes bit clearer with every vaccine administered.

Managing excitement for this alongside the lingering fear and grief, while navigating a transition to a post-vaccinated world, is a delicate balance.

“It seems like it’s going to be a dance that we’re all going to have to learn, and it’s a new dance that nobody really has actually even taught us yet,” said David deBardelaben-Phillips, operations leader at HAC and founder and president of the private practice Energetic Awakenings, a coaching, counseling and consulting firm. “So it’s going to be a collaborative learning process.”

The new reality everyone was thrust into last March necessitated great flexibility and forced many organizations to shed long-held, rigid views of work. The pandemic demanded and proved possible a new way of work that isn’t as tethered to strict hours or locations.

As organizations evaluate both the successes and breakdowns of the past year, there is an opportunity to build a more flexible workplace culture in collaboration with employees, said Dr. Ben Kearney, executive vice president and chief clinical officer of OhioGuidestone, who wrote a book, “Building Together,” about working to build community.

“People are different, they will be different, their expectations of work will change, their expectations of their job will change, and we need to spend the next year really as organizational leaders (examining) what has changed,” Kearney said.

The value of listening is one of the main lessons for employers in the past year, Starr said. Previously, there has been some “tug-of-war” between employees and employers, but the common experience of the pandemic in some ways brought people together.

“I think pre-pandemic, both employers and employees wanted the same thing — both wanted to be successful, both wanted to be heard,” she said. “I think that there was, in some cases, a different language that each was using.”

She expects this new appreciation for listening and understanding to be built into employee cultures moving forward through a “total culture shift,” she said.

“I think that there’s a gentleness that employers can bring forward that aligns with empathy, recognizing that although we’re coming through the pandemic together, each and every one of our experiences are different; and how we internalize the pandemic is totally different,” Starr said. “But we’re able to achieve different learnings from that. And how do we bring those learnings forward?”

HAC consulted with advisers — including Kearny and deBardelaben-Phillips — and launched an ebook, “Reboarding II, Understanding

ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREA UCINI FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

the Wiring of the Human Brain and Moving Forward” to discuss adjustments to lessen the negative impact of reboarding employees. It delves into psychologically balancing the transition back to work.

People with existing mental health issues may have seen their conditions worsen; others have new onsets of anxiety, depression or other diagnoses, said Dr. Francoise Adan, chief whole health and well-being officer at University Hospitals. Plus, many people whose symptoms might not qualify for a pathology or disease still

experienced grief, loss, worries, sadness and stress.

The hardships people faced in the past year vary greatly, and those more impacted often are less privileged. Adan didn’t get to travel or see her loved ones over the holidays, which she would have loved to do.

But others who suffered hardship

will face long-term consequences. In the past year, many people have lost health, wealth and/or education, threatening to widen troubling disparities, she said.

Adan keeps this in mind when she discusses the silver lining of the pandemic, noting that she mentions the bright points with a respect and love

“I THINK THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR BEING IN PERSON, AND YET, WE ALL SEEMED TO FIGURE OUT OVER THE LAST YEAR WAYS TO SUBSTITUTE FOR BEING IN PERSON.”

for those who have had tremendous losses. Overall, people have learned the importance of self-care and how to treat themselves and others. They have learned what is and isn’t important and been able to focus on that, she said.

Adam Siegal, vice president of corporate marketing at the NRP Group property management firm, said meetings in the past year have integrated business updates with personal check-ins. Rather than in a separate dedicated event, the firm merged these conversations — much

— Michael Goldberg, a faculty member at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University 20 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | March 22, 2021

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

COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS

The recovery is underway, but economic metrics show just how far we have to go `BY MICHELLE JARBOE | From mid-March to mid-April of 2020, employment in the Cleveland area tumbled nearly 24%.

Once-stable jobs evaporated overnight. Hotels shut down, furloughing thousands of workers across the state. Restaurant dining rooms went dark.

As the pandemic pushed the nation’s economy into a recession, white-collar workers retreated to their home offices.

Women, hard-hit by layoffs and juggling child care and remote learning responsibilities, disappeared from the labor force at striking levels. Scads of small businesses quietly closed their doors.

Now, many economists say the recession is just about over. COVID-19 cases are falling. In Ohio, more than 20% of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine. Job postings and business reopenings are rising. The housing market remains red hot.

Still, many economic metrics haven’t rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. The recovery is fragile, tempered by fears about virus variants and political fights over reopening schedules. It’s also lopsided, leaving some sectors and families behind.

The start of this year was particularly bleak for small hospitality and leisure businesses in the Cleveland area, for example, according to an economic data tracker created by Opportunity Insights, a nonprofit organization housed at Harvard University.

And low-wage workers, who experienced a 37.6% drop in employment roughly a year ago, still have the steepest hill to climb.

Here’s a snapshot of where the Cleveland metropolitan area stands, compared with where it was at the beginning of 2020:

Employment

8.8%

` Decrease in overall employment, through early 2021.

16%

High-wage employment has largely recovered, but low-wage workers are suffering The employment rate in the Cleveland metropolitan area has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels for workers who make more than $60,000 a year. That’s not the case for workers who earn less than $27,000.

5%

` Decrease in employment for workers who earn less than $27,000 a year.

0

7%

-5%

` Decrease in employment for workers making $27,000 to $60,000 a year.

-10% -15%

3.2%

` Decrease in employment for workers making more than $60,000 a year.

6.6%

` Increase in local job postings that require little education, from January 2020 to March of this year.

58.7%

` Decrease in local job postings with the heftiest education requirements.

Sector impact

32.7%

Employment rate

like the way the world merged home and work. Having a common struggle in the pandemic unlocked vulnerability, he said.

“It allowed new sensitivities, new realizations about how work and life fit together, and how they can fit together,” Siegal said. “By increasing communication and increasing dialogue, it increased trust, because we realized that each person is going to absolutely get their work done, and they’re going to find a way. And we just have to help each other help each other.”

To continue what has become a culture shift, Siegal said the company is leaving return to work and what it looks like as an open issue, rather than being prescriptive about it. Leaders will “cherry-pick” what worked in the past year and roll it forward.

As employers figure out how the pandemic has shaped and will continue to shape their culture, they’re also dealing with more practical questions about how and how much to continue the flexibilities of the past year as they bring employees back into offices.

“If you have an employer who’s willing to be more flexible and understand those dynamics, you don’t have employees making up excuses of why they can’t be at work. Instead, they get creative about how they can be at work,” deBardelaben-Phillips said. “If we can actually be up front and say here’s what’s happening, here’s the flux shift that I’m planning to work today, it just makes it better for everybody.”

Across industries, many believe in the power of face-to-face meetings, whether it’s for an investment, sale, partnership or other connections, said Michael Goldberg, a faculty member at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University who runs the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship.

“I think there’s no substitute for being in person, and yet, we all seemed to figure out over the last year ways to substitute for being in person,” he said.

In the near-term, he said, people are starting to understand one another’s comfort levels for meeting in person again, even once fully vaccinated.

“Perhaps it’s like the art of understanding — whether it’s your customer, whether it’s your partner — how they feel,” Goldberg said.

As people are excited to reunite, there’s also some trepidation on whether to do so, and how to communicate ongoing health and safety concerns.

Because people haven’t yet mastered navigating new social norms, workplaces need leadership and agreement on how to function. Some may be eager to return, others are apprehensive, and some would rather remain home, having flourished in the past year. With that range of responses, there will be tensions and awkward conversations, Kearney said.

“So this really requires that we be gentle with each other and understanding with each other and be proactively relational to each other,” he said. “Find out where and how people were affected by this and how they were impacted by this. And have quieted conversations after we unify, but we will. We will all tell our stories.”

-20%

High-wage worker employment rate

-25%

Middle-wage worker employment rate Low-wage worker employment rate

-30%

Total employment rate

-35% -40% Jan 14 Feb 1 2020

Mar 1

Apr 1

Spending

12.3%

` Increase in Cleveland-area consumer spending from pre-pandemic levels, as of late February.

54%

` Increase in retail spending by Cleveland-area consumers.

35.5%

` Decline in small business revenue through early March.

61.1%

` Revenue decline for small leisure and hospitality businesses.

Jun 1

Jul 1

Aug 1

Sep 1

Oct 1

SOURCE: OPPORTUNITY INSIGHTS, DRAWING ON DATA FROM EARNIN, INTUIT, KRONOS AND PAYCHEX. FIGURES ARE NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED.

` Decline in the number of small businesses open, as of early March.

That’s an improvement from April 2020, when small business operations were down by 49.5%.

` Decrease in the number of small leisure and hospitality businesses that are open. That’s a near-record low, a decline even from March and April of 2020.

May 1

49.1% 72.9%

` Decrease in spending on entertainment and recreation.

11.3%

Real estate

Nov 1

Dec 1

Jan 1 Jan 20 2021

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS GRAPHIC

COVID-19 relief

9.9%

$541.4 million

` Decrease in the total time Clevelanders are spending away from home, as of early March.

` Estimated amount of money that the city of Cleveland will receive, over a two-year period, from the latest federal relief package.

46.7%

` Decline in the number of homes listed for sale in the Cleveland metro area from early 2020 to early 2021.

12.8%

` Increase in the median sale price for a home in the Cleveland metro area from early 2020 to early 2021.

` Increase in spending on groceries. A year ago, as schools closed and businesses shut down across the state, grocery spending jumped by 72.9%.

$153.4 million

` Estimated amount of money that the city of Akron stands to receive, over two years, from the coronavirus relief package.

$239.5 million

` Cuyahoga County’s estimated two-year share of the federal relief package approved this month.

11.8%

` Share of Cuyahoga County residents who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

33%

` Drop in spending on restaurants and hotels.

6,000

` Number of COVID-19 vaccines expected to be available daily at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland.

37.8%

` Decrease in health care spending.

SOURCES: OPPORTUNITY INSIGHTS; AFFINITY; WOMPLY; BURNING GLASS TECHNOLOGIES; EARNIN; INTUIT; KRONOS; PAYCHEX; GOOGLE COVID-19 COMMUNITY MOBILITY REPORTS; REDFIN; U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM; OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.

March 22, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 21

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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

CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTION

LAW

LAW

LAW

Marous Brothers Construction

Marous Brothers Construction

Marous Brothers Construction is pleased to welcome Carla Croyle as an Estimator to our Multi-Family Housing Group. Carla will be an integral part of our preconstruction efforts in both our affordable and market-rate housing projects. We are excited to have her as a part of our estimating team.

Marous Brothers Construction is pleased to welcome Annie Justmann as Executive Assistant to the Vice President, Operations. Annie will act as the point of contact between the VP and internal or external colleagues and will assist him by managing his schedule, preparing for presentations and recording meeting minutes.

Annie will also assist the company by working on different committees, policies, and event planning. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 2015 with a Degree in Nutrition.

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Alan DiGirolamo is returning to Partner status after a brief hiatus as Of Counsel.

He has been with Buckingham for more DiGirolamo than 30 years. He is a creditors’ rights and bankruptcy attorney and an experienced litigator, representing clients in collections, creditor bankruptcy matters, general commercial litigation, real estate and construction, arbitration and mediation.

Buckingham welcomes Matt Smith as an Associate in the Litigation practice area. Matt works Smith closely with businesses and institutions in Northeast Ohio through intricate legal matters and transactions, finding resolutions to complex issues for clients.

Buckingham welcomes Chris Niekamp as a Partner in the Litigation and Business groups. He has a diverse commercial/ Niekamp corporate law practice and represents national and local banking institutions, large corporations and small businesses, debtors and creditors in bankruptcy and collection matters, from start-up through dissolution, employment issues, collection, real estate litigation, real estate acquisition, mergers & acquisitions, and shareholder disputes.

Buckingham welcomes Tjaden Justin Tjaden as an Associate in the Litigation practice area. Justin handles a wide array of business-related civil matters such as breaches of contract and non-compete agreements, and tries cases in municipal, state, and federal courts, including the court of appeals.

Buckingham welcomes Thomas Delventhal as an attorney in the Business and Litigation practice areas. Tom is a seasoned business Delventhal and finance attorney with a wide range of experience both as an in-house counsel and in private practice, with a strong background in real estate transactions and finance. He works closely with business teams to structure complex loans, workouts and commercial loan proposals.

Buckingham welcomes Wade Doerr as an Associate in the Doerr Litigation area who focuses on commercial real estate and banking law in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. His practice includes asset liquidation, trial and appellate work, litigation, contract negotiation, and loan document preparation for banks and small businesses.

LAW

LAW

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

LAW

Buckingham welcomes Stephen Jett as a Partner in the Litigation practice area. Steve has three decades of complex Jett commercial litigation and administrative appeals experience. He represents various industries, including technology, manufacturing, healthcare, commercial real estate, financial institutions, business owners and owners of significant properties.

Buckingham welcomes Carolyn Soeder as an Associate in the Litigation practice area, focused on Soeder domestic relations.

Carolyn advocates for clients in all aspects of family law including dissolution, divorce, child custody, parenting time, preparation of antenuptial agreements, child and spousal support, trial work, appellate work and all aspects of postdecree modifications.

Buckingham welcomes Stephen Pruneski as a Partner in the Litigation group. He specializes in complex civil litigation matters Pruneski including real estate, zoning, construction, business disputes, securities, discrimination and personal injury. He has tried many jury and bench trials, including cases before State and Federal Courts as well as Ohio and Federal Courts of Appeal.

Buckingham welcomes Carmen Roberto as an attorney in the Litigation group.

Carmen engages in Roberto courtroom hearings and trials and complex civil and criminal litigation. He handles zoning and administrative cases before federal, state and local agencies, such as the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Engineer’s Board, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

CONSTRUCTION

Marous Brothers Construction Marous Brothers Construction is pleased to welcome David Hanson as a Project Manager to our Construction Management Group. David brings 34 years of construction experience to our team. He will be working on the Memphis Towers project for our client, Millenia Housing Group. We look forward to the experience and work ethic that David will be bringing to enhance our team.

CONSTRUCTION

Marous Brothers Construction Marous Brothers Construction is pleased to welcome Seth Klco as Project Engineer to our Multi-Family Housing Group. Seth is starting his first big project in New Orleans on a major interior and exterior renovation of an affordable housing apartment building for seniors and disabled persons.

Seth will assist our Project Manager and Superintendent with drawing reviews, submittals, pay applications, and day-to-day project oversight.

CONSTRUCTION

Tober Building Company

CONSTRUCTION

Marous Brothers Construction Marous Brothers Construction is pleased to welcome Kori (Chapic) Jesenovec as Business Development Manager.

Kori will be working alongside MBC’s current Business Development Director, Arne Goldman, as she will continue to enhance the company’s current market segment specialties and gain traction into new and upcoming market areas.

Michael Shea joined Tober Building in 2021 as Director of Business Development. He has 20 years of experience in real estate development, regional planning, and architecture, while also initiating new subsidy models with public-private partnerships and mixed finance. He is involved in the first Rental Assistance Demonstration project in OH, along with developing a strategy for CMHA’s portfolio, and panel seats on groups like CLPHA and NAHRO. He is also a board member of Village Capital Corp.

22 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | March 22, 2021

Buckingham welcomes Marcus Robertson as an Associate in the Business practice area.

Marcus supports privately-held Robertson companies and close corporations as they navigate commercial transactions, mergers & acquisitions, and general corporate law matters such as entity formation, contract negotiations, and corporate governance issues.

Buckingham welcomes Ryan C. Robinson as an Associate in the Business practice area.

Ryan provides clients with guidance in the Robinson areas of corporate law, real estate & construction law, and mergers & acquisitions. He represents individuals and small businesses to ensure their protection, growth, and success when handling complex legal issues.

SPECIAL REPORT: WEATHERING THE COVID-19 STORM

VENUES

From Page 4

What about theater?

In the city known for hosting the first rock concert nearly 70 years ago, a thriving music scene has been in a COVID-induced coma for mostly a year.

But it’s not just music venues waiting anxiously to host shows at full capacity.

It was a year ago this month Playhouse Square CEO Gina Vernaci announced the coming season’s KeyBank Broadway Series. The theater boasted the largest base of season-ticket holders in North America at the time.

“Ten days later, we were out of business,” Vernaci said. “That was just a body blow that no one could have anticipated.”

Since then, Playhouse has postponed or canceled about 1,100 events and performances.

“It was like death by 1,100 cuts,” she said.

The nonprofit laid off or furloughed nearly 200 employees shortly after lockdowns started. Revenue dropped between 35% to 40% by the end of its fiscal year ending June 30.

It’s currently projecting a $7 million budget shortfall for fiscal 2021.

“We’ve never faced this kind of loss before,” Vernaci said.

Donations have helped keep the organization together through this downtime, which Playhouse Square has filled with some virtual events and educational programming.

In-person live events, and the cash flow they bring, can’t come soon enough, though.

C R A Playhouse I N ’ S C L E VSquare E L A N Dannounced B U S I N E S Slast|

ENROLLMENT

From Page 3

Last fall, challenges seemed to keep piling up for Quantez Spears, 25, a Lakeland Community College alum who’s working toward his bachelor’s degree through a partnership between the college and Franklin University.

His roommate tested positive for the virus at one point. It forced him to quarantine and miss shifts at his job.

No work meant no money. The semester’s financial aid had red tape around it he had to figure out, too. It all felt overwhelming.

DJ Steve Aoki is shown at a March 11, 2020 show at The Agora Theater and Ballroom. It was one of the last events held at the venue before the COVID-19 lockdown. | SAM SKAPIN

“WE JUST AREN’T REALLY MAKING ANY MONEY BECAUSE WE STILL HAVE TO PAY A LOT OF EXTRA COSTS BECAUSE WE NEED EXTRA PEOPLE, AND YOU STILL HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE BAND. IT’S A BALANCING ACT.” — Beachland co-owner Cindy Barber

week that on June 11 it will host its first live performance since the pandemic hit. The show, “The Choir of Man,” will have a 35-performance run with safety precautions and limited capacity.

Playhouse Square will announce fall shows planned for its Broadway Series on April 7.

Vernaci is optimistic pent-up demand for live theater will bring guests back out in droves.

“We see there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Vernaci said, “and the tunnel is starting to look a little shorter.”

Playhouse Square’s reopening will huge for Sbe EPT EMBE R 3surrounding - 9 , 2 018 |businesses PA G E 21

‘Watching what happens’ Across venues, events are more likely to occur this summer and fall as evidenced by Playhouse’s anticipated Broadway Series and The Agora’s plans for hosting Dinosaur Jr. in October — a sign the venue is expecting to operate at full capacity by then.

Increased but partial capacity will be meaningful for stadiums and their sports teams. But for smaller venues,

“WHEN YOU TALK TO AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE STUDENTS, THAT SENSE OF RELATIONSHIP, THAT SENSE OF ENGAGEMENT, THAT SENSE OF REACHING OUT, CONNECTING, BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS IS SO HUGE. YOU LOSE A BIG PART OF THAT WHEN YOU MOVE TO THAT ONLINE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.” — Gary Carrington, psychology professor at Tri-C

“As a Black man, I’m not sure if it’s a cultural thing, but asking for help or getting the right help is a problem, or the fact that you don’t know exactly

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where to go is a problem,” he said.

Spears tapped into the relationships he built on campus. The student government association gave him money for books. He talked with his peers in the Pathfinders organization. It’s the college’s professional development group for African American male students.

He said the support was vital.

Jeffery Linn Thorpe Jr. knows the feeling.

The Tri-C student, 41, prefers hands-on learning. Last year, after struggling through an online math class, he said he considered quitting.

Family support and those he connected with through one of the college’s TRIO programs, part of a federal initiative aimed at helping first-generation and low-income students, really helped.

“They stayed in my ear, ‘Don’t give up, keep going, you’re doing good,’ ” he said.

Those connections are especially important for vulnerable populations who may need additional support, said Gary Carrington. He’s a member of 100 Black Men of Greater

it’s of marginal help at best.

Happy Dog doesn’t intend to reopen until capacity restrictions are completely lifted because the space is too compact to allow effective social distancing.

The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, however, is planning some small indoor shows, and possibly some outdoor events. Other small venues are doing the same.

The Beachland’s They Might Be Giants show originally planned for 2020 is now on target for April 2022. But a show with singer/songwriter Keller Williams is planned for late October this year.

During shows this past year, the Beachland has adhered to capacity limits by placing tables on the ballroom floor and installing barriers between the artist and the crowd.

Standing room in the Ballroom is 500, though. With the socially distanced tables, attendance caps at just 15% of that. The layout is such that’s about the max the venue can accommodate under current guidelines. If the Beachland sells every table and every guest has a decent bar tab, the venue should about break even.

“We just aren’t really making any money because we still have to pay a lot of extra costs because we need extra people, and you still have to take care of the band,” said Beachland co-owner Cindy Barber. “It’s a balancing act.”

She added, “We are starting to have some bigger shows line up in late August, and it picks up in September. But we’re just trying to keep going, keep a little bit of money coming in and keep people employed.

We’re just taking this very, very slowly and watching what happens.”

Jeremy Nobile: jnobile@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @JeremyNobile Cleveland and created a mentoring program in conjunction with the group called the Collegiate 101.

“When you talk to African American male students, that sense of relationship, that sense of engagement, that sense of reaching out, connecting, building relationships is so huge,” said Carrington, also a psychology professor at Tri-C. “You lose a big part of that when you move to that online learning environment..”

Local campuses have outreach efforts. Next month, Tri-C is hosting its first virtual Black and Brown Male Summit. Lorain County Community College officials said continued work with community organizations like the Urban League and Black churches is critical.

Stark State wants to develop a new college version of its Focus on African American Men in Education, or FAME, offering. The current iteration offers mentorship opportunities and helps with test preparation for high schoolers.

And as campuses look ahead, San Diego State’s Harris said he hopes this time gives community colleges a chance to reflect as well.

“Nothing is wrong with the students,” Harris said.

Instead, the problem Harris sees is that colleges aren’t traditionally structured to meet students’ needs.

“How do we conform to what works and fits into the lives of students?” he asked.

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

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