Crain's Cleveland Business

HIGHEST-PAID CEOS: Company heads have small compensation gains. PAGES 20-21

BRIGHTER DAYS Signet successfully shifts its e-commerce business. PAGE 5

CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I JUNE 7, 2021

Running back Nick Chubb and the Cleveland Browns are coming off an 11-5 season that was the best for the franchise in 26 years.

Browns’ biz team goes into overdrive to meet demand

SUPER RUN `BY KEVIN KLEPS

JASON MILLER / GETTY IMAGES

THE CLEVELAND BROWNS’ playoff-clinching win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 3 was played before 11,989 fans at FirstEnergy Stadium.

It was the team’s largest home gathering during a season in which attendance was limited by the pandemic.

With a key connection point — games played before, as team executive Dino Bernacchi calls it, “68,000 of our closest friends” — mostly curtailed because of COVID, the Browns’ content and production teams went into overdrive.

See BROWNS on Page 8

GE Lighting flips switch to home automation

FASS Real Estate Services lays foundation for growth Brokerage adds former Forest City executives

BY MICHELLE JARBOE

Fifteen years ago, Akil and Felicia Hameed formed a company to matchmake landlords and tenants in Cleveland and the close-lying suburbs.

From that scrappy start in the couple’s Twinsburg basement, FASS Real Estate Services quietly has become a powerhouse, a rare Black-owned brokerage with 30plus agents on staff.

Now Akil Hameed, 43, hopes to grow the business far beyond sales and management — into development, master planning and other realms with a newly expanded team. A trio of seasoned executives, who all worked for onetime real estate titan Forest City Enterprises, recently signed on to help him realize those plans.

“Commercial real estate in Northeast Ohio, it’s family businesses,” Hameed said during a re-

Company is unveiling ‘revolutionary platform’

BY JAY MILLER

Broker Akil Hameed owns FASS Real Estate Services. | TIM HARRISON

cent meeting at the FASS headquarters in Shaker Heights.

“They’re legacy companies. …

Many of the people that are there See REAL ESTATE on Page 8

To hear Bill Lacey tell it, home automation began when the light bulb replaced the candle. Now, the company Lacey leads as president and CEO, long a name closely associated with the light bulb, believes it’s just taking home automation a big step further.

That company is GE Lighting, a unit of Savant Systems Inc., and on Tuesday, June 8, it will announce

the release of CYNC, which the company calls a “revolutionary platform” that will bring high-end home automation to the mass market. It’s based on software developed by Savant, a 16-year-old Hyannis, Mass.-based company that has been a leader in high-end home automation systems.

Along with the CYNC software, the company is rolling out an See GE LIGHTING on Page 5

NEWSPAPER

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IN THEIR

TWENTIES This year’s class of young professionals are hardworking, engaged, innovative, forward-thinking, altruistic and proactive. MEET THE HONOREES: PAGES 10-19

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EDUCATION

Next Akron schools leader lands ‘dream’ role Fowler-Mack brings familiarity, experience to job

BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY

Education has always been a core part of Christine Fowler-Mack’s identity.

She was the child lining the stairs with baby dolls and stuffed animals so she could hold class for them and her brother. She was a tutor to others.

And, as an Akron Public Schools student, she was part of the advisory team for then-superintendent Conrad Ott. When Fowler-Mack was waiting to be interviewed during Fowler-Mack the Akron Public Schools superintendent search, it was the Conrad Ott conference room in which she sat.

“I took a picture of the plaque. I thought, how poetic for me to be at this place, knowing that I had the opportunity to add my voice to advise him when I was just a high school student,” Fowler-Mack said. “So all along, education has just been a part of my ether.”

Fowler-Mack was named the next superintendent of the Akron Public Schools in April. She’ll join the district full-time on July 1, and her superintendent contract will begin Aug. 1, per state statute, a news release stated.

Fowler-Mack will be the first woman to serve as superintendent in the Akron Public Schools, a 174-year-old school district. She succeeds David W. James in that role.

This is a second homecoming for her. In addition to graduating from East High School, her career began as a teacher in Akron. She also held a teacher-leader role there, working to help her peers strengthen their lessons, before leaving for the Kent city schools. She moved into administrative roles in that district, continuing that path in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district, where she went next. And 12 years ago, she joined the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to work in its then-new office of new and innovative schools. The initial goal was to test new school options and choices, she said. That work became the foundation for the Cleveland Plan, the district’s transformational framework for improving schools.

When the Akron Public Schools superintendent job opened up, it was a “dream opportunity,” she said.

“How many people get a chance to come full circle and contribute and give back to the community that started them on their way?” Fowler-Mack said.

Fowler-Mack will bring years of relevant experience to Akron. In recent years, the Akron Public Schools have introduced the college and career academies and pathways approach to high school, which gives students a career-focused lens for their high school experience. Students connect with local employers and learn skills in career areas that

The Akron Public Schools already have an ambitious strategic plan in place. The educational experience needs to be “motivational,” Chrstine Fowler-Mack said. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Christine Fowler-Mack thinks it’s important to connect college and career pathways to K-12 learning because it gives education purpose.

interest them.

Connecting school to careers helps engage students, Fowler-Mack said.

“It needs to be purposeful,” she said. “There needs to be something

motivational about the educational experience. It’s not just a matter of test scores and the drudgery of compulsory education. We want our students to feel that there is a purpose,

that they understand that what said. She’ll focus initially on building they’re doing now is developing relationships in the community, and them for what they’ll do post their she said her first goal will be to “listen K-12 experience.” and learn.” Education can’t take That’s similar to the work that’s place in a vacuum; it needs the supbeen done in Cleveland, where she’s port of community. currently the chief of portfolio planIt was Fowler-Mack’s “extensive ning, growth and management. The leadership experiences in large urdistrict has been working to improve ban school districts” that made her its academic quality in recent years, the best fit for Akron, board president offering new school models and ca- N. J. Akbar said in an email. She will reer pathways for students. help the district move forward on its Fowler-Mack is a strong strategic AdvanceAPS strategic plan, he said. leader, Cleveland schools CEO Eric The Akron Public Schools has the Gordon said. He’s excited for her to goal of becoming the top urban distake on a new role in Akron and to trict in the nation, Fowler-Mack said, continue to work with her as a peer, but sad to see her “SO ALL ALONG, EDUCATION HAS leave Cleveland, where they’ve worked together for JUST BEEN A PART OF MY ETHER.” more than a decade. In that — Christine Fowler-Mack time, she helped write the original Cleveland Plan and worked adding that she loves that “audacious to implement significant parts of it. type of goal.” They bring excitement She’s developed and led new school and purpose, she said, and she’s models in the district. looking forward to figuring out how “She’s just had a part in nearly ev- to get the district there. erything we’ve done over the last 12 Ultimately, Fowler-Mack said her years,” Gordon said. career has taught her the power of The Cleveland Metropolitan collaboration. A leader can have a viSchool District won’t immediately sion, but the work needs to include hire to replace Fowler-Mack, but it the community. has identified areas of the organiza“The process really needs to intion to take on her work, Gordon clude the voices, the thoughts, ideas said. He expects to hire someone af- of many,” she said. ter the district has looked at how it wants to operate post-pandemic, Rachel Abbey McCafferty: (216) though the role or title may be slight- 771-5379, rmccafferty@crain.com ly different.

In both Akron and Cleveland, the districts don’t just want students to get by; they want them to thrive, for themselves and for their families, ` A May 24, Page 7 story incorrectly Fowler-Mack said. listed a concentration to be removed.

The Akron schools already have a The University of Mount Union is disstrong strategic plan focused on aca- continuing its concentration in asdemic equity and achievement, she tronomy.

Correction

2 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 7, 2021

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RETAIL

Signet Jewelers shines again After some hard years, Akron company rides high on e-commerce

BY DAN SHINGLER

In case you haven’t noticed, Akron’s Signet Jewelers is coming back in a big way, and CEO Virginia (Gina) Drosos says the company plans to get a lot bigger.

“It’s our aim not to be the $6 billion company that we got to last year (fiscal 2020), but a $9 billion company,” Drosos said in a May 20 interview.

It’s big talk, but from a big doer. Drosos already has convinced many analysts and investors she’s unlocked the secrets to Signet’s future success. The company’s stock, after being pummeled down to $6.50 per share in March 2020 over pandemic fears, has roared back to recent prices of nearly $65 per share.

It’s been a period of validation for Drosos, who took over the company in the summer of 2017, when it was in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal and a downward slide.

Signet was an old-school retailer that relied on its brick-and-mortar stores such as Zales, Jared and Kay Jewelers, often in malls, with television advertising to drive sales.

Under Drosos, Signet has left a lot of that behind. It dispatched its negative headlines, in part via a $240 million settlement with shareholders who sued it for allegedly concealing the harassment issues and losses on its customer credit portfolio.

Signet shed much of its former business model and has gained a dominant place in online jewelry sales in its stead via a strategy, dubbed the Path to Brilliance, that Drosos unveiled in her first year at the company. Along that path, the company has closed hundreds of stores, made some key acquisitions and investments in online know-how and technology, and proven that even jewelry, which represents a major pur-

Signet Jewelers CEO Virginia Drosos has made a fan of “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer with her company’s success in online retailing. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Signet isn’t as reliant on sales at Kay Jewelers and other retail locations.

the quarter even as COVID restrictions waned and stores were again open.

Investors now think Signet has, as Drosos says, “unlocked” the secrets to selling online and is positioned to tap further growth.

She seems to have won over CNBC’s Jim Cramer. The online stock picker had said he didn’t think jewelry could be a success online but now says Signet, with its e-commerce strategy, has convinced him he was wrong.

“Boy, is it a savior — and it’s really, really kicking butt now, even though the pandemic is winding down,” Cramer remarked to Drosos during a May 18 appearance on his show, “Mad Money.”

Others agree, including Tim Vierengel, senior research analyst at Northcoast Research in “YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE Cleveland.

Vierengel has A DIAMOND MORE made his investors a of money with CLEARLY ON A COMPUTER lot Signet since putting SCREEN THAN YOU CAN IN a buy recommendation on the compaPERSON.” ny’s stock on Jan. 8, — Signet CEO Virginia Drosos when it was still trading at about $35 chase for customers, can be sold on- per share.

Signet is benefiting from good planline.

“We became much more digital and ning that positioned it well for the panfocused much more on digital market- demic, Vierengel said.

“Everything came together for them ing. We used to be much more of a TV-only marketing company,” Drosos at the beginning of the pandemic, and said. “We also really built our e-com- they were the quickest to react because merce business. When we started Path they had the foundation to react,” Vieto Brilliance, about 5% of our sales rengel said.

A key to that foundation, he noted, were online. Last year, we had more was Signet’s 2017 acquisition of R2Net than 20% or our sales online.”

Total revenues were down for Sig- and its online jewelry retailer JamesAlnet’s 2021 fiscal year that ended Jan. 30. len.com for $328 million — one of DroThe company posted sales of $5.2 bil- sos’ first big moves. That gave Signet lion, compared with $6.1 billion for the the base it needed to build its own prior year. But that downturn was ex- e-commerce business, and its platpected in a year in which jewelers, like forms were then in place across the nearly all retailers, shut their doors for company and ready when the pandemic struck Vierengel said. much of the year.

Drosos agreed the R2Net deal was What wasn’t expected was Signet’s huge surge in online sales salvaging so important, both for the technology and much of its revenues for the year. In its platforms it brought to Signet and for recent fiscal fourth quarter, 23.4% of the people who came with it.

“It was a very strategic acquisition Signet’s total sales of $2.2 billion was from its burgeoning e-commerce busi- for us. We learned a lot, and we continness, as its online sales surged 70% for ue to learn a lot by having a digital

pure-play retailer as part of our portfolio,” Drosos said.

That includes learning what Drosos said she’s found to be the two keys to online jewelry sales: visualization and consultation.

The consultations are delivered via 700 online sales specialists that Signet has trained and employed, Drosos said.

The visualization component is delivered via technologies that Signet has acquired and employed to give people detailed views of the gem they are buying, as well as the ability to see what a ring or other item looks like on them at proper scale.

“You can actually see a diamond more clearly on a computer screen than you can in person, and that has really helped us with visualization,” Drosos said.

Vierengel estimates that Signet now has about 30% of the jewelry industry’s middle market and is likely to only increase that with its dominance online.

Other jewelers who also sell medium-priced jewelry are either disappearing or just not able and willing to make the investments needed to succeed with e-commerce, he said.

“Going forward, you have a huge competitive base that has no online presence and no interest in it really,” Vierengel said. “Against that trend, you have more consumers buying online, and Signet has pivoted the fastest and the hardest (toward online sales).”

But Drosos figures she’s got something else that might be just as important, if not more so, to ensure the company makes good on her $9 billion plan. She said she now has the company’s 23,000 employees engaged and ready to push hard for further success.

“Our strategy choices were very fortunate, yes, and it set up us well for going into the pandemic. But it was really the people that allowed us to not panic and thrive,” Drosos said.

With Path to Brilliance reaching an end as the three-year plan Drosos intended it to be, she said she’s ready to push harder. She’s now unveiling a new plan for the next chapter — this one called Inspiring Brilliance. It will include further online sales and some innovative strategies, such as jewelry rentals, Drosos said.

She’s not worried about Signet’s employees making it work.

“We have a saying coined by our employees that I really like: ‘Pressure makes diamonds,’ ” Drosos said. “Because pressure made diamonds of our people.”

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

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Craig Brodhead, a musician, producer and native of Cleveland’s East Side, said the additional financial aid provided through federal unemployment benefits programs this past year has been a “godsend.”

“I never made a ton of money, but I was doing what I love and still making a living,” said Brodhead, 35, who has been touring nationally as a guitarist with his band Turkuaz for the past decade. “When the pandemic hit, everything stopped. I had no idea what to do. I had no savings.”

The music industry is one of many that has been devastated in the past year due to COVID-19. For artists like Brodhead, cash flow vaporized as events, tours, festivals and other gigs were canceled.

During this period of uncertainty, unemployment insurance has done more than just make ends meet for Brodhead, who did not receive a Paycheck Protection Program loan. With a few extra hundred bucks in each check coming through federal supplemental jobless benefits, Brodhead said he was able to pay down debts, repair his car and fix old touring gear.

However, with Ohio set to end its participation in the enhanced jobless benefits providing an extra $300 to the unemployed on June 26 — 10 weeks earlier than the American Rescue Plan’s Sept. 6 expiration date — Brodhead said he’s weighing moving back home with his folks until his work stabilizes.

He’s working to line up gigs, his main source of income, for early fall.

But shows remain hard to come by.

Bands are all jockeying for space in lineups. And states vary in terms of their COVID-related restrictions, impacting the ability to plan tours.

Small clubs, he said, are offering about half of what they’d normally

A help wanted sign hangs on the window of a pizzeria. | BLOOMBERG

pay. Big shows take months to plan out. In many cases, that planning has only recently begun.

“I’m really not sure how I’m going to survive these middle months,” Brodhead said. “I just don’t have any solid work coming until September.”

Ohio ending FPUC Gov. Mike DeWine suggests that the extra $300 in federal unemployment benefits disincentivizes many people from re-entering the workforce. He said eliminating that benefit later this month — around half of the United States will stop the additional jobless benefits earlier than the federal expiration date — will help fill open jobs, stimulating the economy.

“The (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation) was designed to supplement unemployment compensation for those whose jobs were affected by us not being able to gather during the pandemic,” said DeWine press secretary Dan Tierney in a statement. “Now that we have the vaccine, the conditions which necessitated the payments have dissipated, and it is appropriate to end participation in this program.

With so many good-paying jobs available in Ohio, we are confident many individuals receiving FPUC will find employment and put money into the economy through that employment.”

Zach Schiller, research director with Policy Matters Ohio, argues eliminating the benefit is a mistake.

“That could cost Ohio as much as $1 billion in federal money coming into the state that will not be available,” he said. “I think on its face, that shows the really wrong-headed nature of this decision.”

Reducing that spending power will have a negative economic impact, he said.

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Brodhead said his situation is more nuanced than this.

Being an artist is his career, and he principally rejects the idea of abandoning his profession for other work.

It’s an option he says he’s afforded by not having a family to take care of.

He also wonders who would knowingly hire him for just a couple months as he looks to bridge a gap from the end of June to September.

“It’s just so offensive to me to say you just want to sit around and not work,” Brodhead said. “I want to work as much as I can. Do I want to stay at home and do nothing, or go out and play music for the same amount of money? How is that even a question?”

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GE LIGHTING

From Page 1

outdoor smart plug and an indoor security camera that can be operated from the CYNC app on a smartphone. Later this summer, the company will introduce a ceiling fan smart switch that can regulate fan speed from the app.

These products are the first in a line of products for do-it-yourselfers.

Until now, home automation systems have been professionally installed, high-end systems, where Savant has been a major player. The purchase, and transformation of GE Lighting, is Savant’s bet that it can be bring home automation products to the Home Depots, Lowe’s and Walmarts of the retail world.

“Not only am I going to do connected and smart lamps, but I think the consumer will trust a GE-branded home camera for security purposes, and that consumer is going to say,

pletely foreign to us.”

Savant had that expertise.

“They have had a ton of investment over a 15-year period in figuring out how to create an intuitive app so that homeowners know how to control their lighting, know how to control their HVAC, know how to control the audio-visual in their home,” said Lacey, who joined GE in its home appliance business in 1992. “And the great news is that we could take the basis of that software app and could, with a little bit of work changing a few of the functionalities, make this relevant for the do-it-yourself, retail space. We had a brand, we had distribution and we know how to do the hardware.”

‘A way into the DIY market’

Most importantly, perhaps, the home automation business, which includes any device that provides automatic control of everything from the thermostat, lighting and home security cameras, is expected to boom over the next several especially ALTHOUGH HOME AUTOMATION WILL BE THE years, as tech-comfortable millennials LEADING EDGE OF THE SAVANT-OWNED move into their BUSINESS, IT’S NOT GIVING UP ON LIGHTING. own homes.

In a recent re‘It makes sense that I buy a GE-brand- port, Statista Inc., a New York City ed thermostat for my home, along market research firm, estimated that with a GE smart lighting switch,’ ” the home automation business will Lacey said. “All of a sudden, that grow from $28.9 billion in 2021 to opened up a whole new universe to $46.8 billion by 2025, a 12.8% annual us. And we knew we had the brand to growth rate. do it. We knew we had a distribution A move into home automation is a to do it. The thing, though, this all dramatic shift for what once was the hinges on having a very strong soft- core of the General Electric Co., ware platform. Now that was com- which was created in 1892 to market

Thomas Edison’s revolutionary incandescent light bulb. While GE was never based in Cleveland, its operation at Nela Park in East Cleveland, which opened in 1912, became home to the lamp business and was a site of many technological advances in the lighting industry. It is now home to GE Lighting. The 92-acre Nela Park is the world’s first industrial park.

The lighting business eventually was subsumed in a multinational conglomerate that became one of the world’s largest corporations, developing information systems, selling appliances and owning the NBC radio and television network, among other businesses. But this century GE began to see its future in areas such as renewable energy, health care technology, aircraft engines and other industrial sectors, and it began selling off consumer-oriented businesses.

The GE Lighting sale to Savant Systems was completed last July. Although no price was disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported that the transaction valued GE Lighting at $250 million.

Ted Green, president of the Stratecon Group Inc., a strategic marketing consultant in Metuchen, N.J., has followed Savant and home automation for a number of years. He said industry leaders such as Savant have focused on the high end of the market.

There, where homeowners may want to raise the temperature in their outdoor pool before they get home from work, systems can run into the thousands of dollars.

“Savant has not been big at going after the DIY market, but maybe that’s the key (to the purchase of GE

Lighting). Maybe this is opening up an adjacent market segment that they haven’t addressed up until now,” Green said. “I guess it’s a way into the DIY market, through (GE Lighting’s) relationships with people like Home Depot and Lowe’s.”

Rebecca Edwards, a safety expert and reporter for Safewise, a Salt Lake City home automation research and reporting service, expects the entry-level market to grow.

“People are going to start with a smart light plug, a smart lock so that you don’t have to drop the keys or drop the groceries while you’re trying to get in the door,” she said. “So where people can test it out on their own, it’s like a higher comfort level. It’s lower risk because it comes with a much lower entry-level price tag, and there’s no long-term commitment for anyone to keep it maintained or upgraded or in working order.”

Although home automation will be the leading edge of the Savant-owned business, it’s not giving up on lighting, where most of that production is now overseas.

“You know, there’s still five billion of what we call Edison sockets,” Lacey said. “So, I suspect that we will be in the light bulb business for a very long time. The reality, though, is that as we transition, as this technology shift has happened, it is probably one of the fastest technology shifts that has ever been seen in industry.”

Smooth transition Part of that technology change has reduced GE Lighting’s role in bulb manufacturing. Instead of the tradi-

tional incandescent, fluorescent and halogen lamps, today’s LED lamps, which use less energy, are where the market is heading. The manufacture of LED lamps largely is in the hands of Asian firms. GE Lighting uses those firms for most of its bulbs, though it retains Ohio manufacturing operations in Bucyrus and Logan. In addition, the light bulb business was based on products that needed to be replaced every 12 to 18 months. An LED lamp’s lifetime is more like 12 to 18 years.

“In a five- to eight-year period, you pretty much saw that technology shift, and that caused the lighting industry to do a 180,” Lacey said. “It impacted every element, every function of the lighting business.”

Merging a business that dates to the 19th century with a 21st century business like Savant can be risky, but Lacey said the transition, and the first year of business, have gone well.

“I feel really good about that first year, but I’m not surprised,” Lacey said. “I’m not surprised because we were very thoughtful and strategic about who we wanted to wed ourselves to.”

It hasn’t hurt that the business did well that first year, though Lacey declined to disclose sales figures.

“Last year was one of the best years we’ve had in recent history,” he said.

“Who knew global pandemics are good for a lighting company? It’s not anything I would want,” he said, but demand for the company’s products has risen as people have spent more time at home.

Jay Miller: jmiller@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @millerjh

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PERSONAL VIEW

Downtown Cleveland: No time like present RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

BY MICHAEL DEEMER

EDITORIAL

Hold your fire L

ast Wednesday, June 2, the day Ohio formally lifted all its COVID-19 health orders, was a milestone, even if it came too late for some residents and business owners frustrated by what they saw as a too-slow pace of fully reopening the state — and too early for others still concerned about the waning-but-ongoing pandemic.

We’re not going to relitigate the timeframe. This has been the worst public health crisis in 100 years, and management of it hasn’t been perfect. But we’re glad life is back to some version of normal. Businesses need it. People need it. Yet we still have other needs. Two big ones: a continued rise in the percentage of Ohioans who get a COVID vaccine, and some goodwill from people toward each other.

The culture war over pandemic accommodations has to end. Politicians can burn masks as political stunts, but there still will be situations where masks are needed. Retailers and other companies where employees are in direct contact with the public may still choose to require (or even just suggest) masks as a precaution. People with weakened immune systems, or those with such people in their lives, need them.

Masks will be around in some form for a while, and it would be best to stop fighting over them.

Similarly, yelling at or mocking the still-unvaccinated doesn’t help, either. Some people in that position are holdouts, but others are held back by work schedules and other commitments. The important thing is to get the number of vaccinated people as high as possible. (There are still three more lottery drawings, folks.)

We’re nearing the finish line on this. A little patience with people will help make it easier to get there.

Youth movement The centerpiece of our print edition this week is 20 in their Twenties, a section that profiles young professionals who are making a big impact in industries and institutions in Northeast Ohio. It’s an impressive group. Think of them, and many others in the region, the next time someone tries to make the misguided argument that today’s young workers don’t have

the drive and dedication of their predecessors.

Younger workers are, though, starting to build their careers in a distinctly different corporate environment, the result of pandemic-driven changes in the way work is organized and carried out. In many fields, a year-plus of people working partly or entirely at home has changed not only employees’ expectations, but companies’ understanding of how to keep productivity strong while offering a better work-life balance.

(A win-win, if you’re OK with that cliché.)

Some new data from the PwC Workforce Pulse Survey underscore important shifts. For instance, PwC found that remote work, and the accompanying savings of commuting time, “is a top priority for young workers,” with 45% of Gen Z workers (ages 18-24) and 47% of millennials (ages 25-40) “willing to give up 10% or more of their future earnings in exchange for the option to work virtually from almost anywhere.” In contrast, 38% of the Gen Xers (ages 41-56) and only 14% of baby boomers said they would accept smaller pay increases.

Also important to younger workers in this environment, PwC found, is company assistance with “softer skills” — problem-solving, adaptability and critical thinking, for instance — to help them increase productivity.

The big takeaway: “Build a culture of flexibility and continual learning.”

Front-line workers in many fields have continued doing their jobs, largely unchanged, throughout the pandemic, and we owe them considerable gratitude. For many other workers and their employers, though, a return to the traditional 9-to5, Monday-through-Friday schedule may not make sense as efficient remote work, aided by broadband technology, becomes the new normal.

The Wall Street Journal took note of a survey of 9,000 workers by Accenture PLC that found 83% of respondents viewed a hybrid workplace — two or three days a week in the office, with the rest remote — as optimal. Companies have a big job ahead to figure out the new expectations of work. There will be trial and error. Much as we urged patience in people dealing with each other post-pandemic, understand that the re-entry to work in some cases will be a little bumpy.

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

The last few weeks have ushered in a new day, and it is time to welcome our community (back) to downtown Cleveland. After a long and challenging year, the city of Cleveland and state of Ohio have lifted public health restrictions, greenlighting the resumption of in-person work, events, full capacity at sporting events and Deemer is the daily life. It is in this moment, as people are interim CEO rediscovering the city center, that we say and president of — downtown Cleveland never left. the Downtown Already this year, the downtown resi- Cleveland dential population has swelled to over Alliance.

20,000 residents. Twenty-one new downtown restaurants and retailers have opened since the start of the pandemic, and they will soon be joined by a long list of new spots set to open throughout the year. The year also began with over $770 million in development projects underway and planned, adding more housing options, retail prospects and office space to the market. The opportunities to welcome tenants, tourists and talent to live, work and play in downtown Cleveland are only growing.

Now is the time to capture this momentum. We must be intentional to bring the workforce back into downtown and support initiatives that add to our economic vitality and livability. Our vision to create a global city that is a beacon for diverse talent is taking center stage. As we enter this new chapter, we are committed to confronting past and ongoing inequity and building a more inclusive and welcoming downtown community.

Employees are already making a robust return to the office, and as they arrive, they are rediscovering why downtown Cleveland is the best place to work. More than 150 restaurants and retailers are open for business, including new and familiar spots for lunch, coffee and happy hours.

Plus, the return of Walnut Wednesday has brought food trucks back to Perk Plaza. The downtown commute is also set to improve this month, as the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority launches the new NEXT GEN RTA bus system, which will increase route frequency and efficiency.

Downtown Cleveland Alliance is capturing the resurgence of interest in place-based work through focused business attraction efforts. We are partnering with Team NEO on a pilot program to market the office spaces and opportunities in the Erieview Historic District, which is the newest historic district among 10 others in downtown Cleveland. We will continue to collaborate with our public and private partners to forward think on attracting businesses, residents and investment to downtown.

In addition to milestones like the return of performances at Playhouse Square, full occupancy at Progressive Field, in-person Take a Hike Tours, and Fourth of July’s Light Up the Lake fireworks, we are looking forward to introducing new events to our portfolio. Through our partnership with Karamu House, Cleveland’s oldest Black producing theater, and Ingenuity Cleveland, we are producing Cleveland’s inaugural Juneteenth Freedom Fest to be hosted on Saturday, June 19. We hope this will demonstrate to the nation how all cities can and should be prioritizing and celebrating Juneteenth.

Our goal was never to get “back to normal.” We have been working all year to build a better downtown: one that is more inclusive, vibrant and ready to welcome the community. Whether you are getting back to the office, moving into an apartment, cheering on your favorite team or just taking a stroll, downtown Cleveland is ready. Welcome back.

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

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

6 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 7, 2021

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OPINION

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lion from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, which will be divided among university and K-12 libraries, prison libraries and public libraries through a competitive grant process. This won’t come close to offsetting the losses resulting from a cut to the PLF. After more than a year of shifting resources, redesigning how we operate, and working in partnership with public health departments and hospitals to serve our community, public libraries should not be subjected to cuts and forced to re-

Through the pandemic, few public and private institutions rose to the challenge as efficiently and effectively as Ohio’s public libraries.

When library buildings closed last spring, staff ensured that public WiFi remained available and Thomas (left) is executive director quickly shifted to curbside service. and CEO of Cleveland Public Library Families at home counted on daily and Strobel is executive director at virtual storytimes to keep children Cuyahoga County Public Library. entertained and free lunch distributions from branches to keep them fed; live online homework help gave support to duce service.

Patrons like Joswen Colon, who visits the South students struggling with remote learning; and oneon-one Zoom sessions with library career coaches Branch of Cleveland Public Library, rely heavily on library services. “I like coming here because I like muhelped the newly unemployed launch job searches.

Even today, libraries are leading our communities sic and hanging out with friends. The library is one of out of the pandemic, helping residents navigate vacci- my favorite places. It gives me an escape for my mind. nation registrations and serving as convenient COVID It’s just a place I can chill,” Colon explains.

His mother, Wendie, agrees. “The library is a true rapid test pick-up locations.

It is now troubling that Ohio lawmakers are consid- gem to the community. It’s just essential that we have ering a cut to the formula for public library funding access to that information and programs,” she said.

The pandemic has caused incalculable losses in that delivers nearly half of all money used to operate lives, in education, in the economy and even in trust public library systems across the state.

According to the Ohio Library Council, reducing among each other. It has amplified inequity and injusthe Public Library Fund (PLF) from 1.7% to 1.66% of tice. It has also given us the opportunity to decide Ohio’s general revenue fund — as is being proposed what we value and what we want to carry forward. Li— will result in a $22 million hit over the next two braries alone cannot solve the great challenges that years. For Cleveland Public Library and Cuyahoga stand before us, but as centers for lifelong learning County Public Library, it will amount to $2.1 million that bridge the digital divide and provide resources that build knowledge, we are an important part of the in lost revenue.

Unlike local governments, public libraries do not solution.

Now is not the time to cut library funding. Rather, it stand to receive direct federal funding through the is a critical time to invest in the resources that bring us American Rescue Plan.

The State Library of Ohio will receive about $4.5 mil- together and lift all of us up.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Stay positive through tough times I’ve had the privilege of working at East Manufacturing, based in Randolph, Ohio, for over 40 years.

The owner has always been hands-on with a passion toward innovation and a better tomorrow. His leadership and way of doing business has grown the company 20 times over the years, and we currently have over 500 employees.

Supporting customers, local schools, government and fellow establishments is all part of what we do. We conduct our business with honesty, integrity, quality and teamwork, helping our customers by meeting their needs to succeed in their business.

Today is not new, we have all been through and overcome struggles, hardships and disappointments. Work-

ing within and through the struggles past and current is what makes us better people and employees for tomorrow’s challenges.

By remaining positive through adversity, we sharpen our skills, influence our response and hone our character. A better tomorrow is something we all look forward to so we continue to fight the fight, persevere and overcome adversity with dignity. The better tomorrow is inside each of us as we interact with one another and go about daily business, striving to treat one another the way we want to be treated.

Gary Brown Senior vice president of operations East Manufacturing JUNE 7, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 7

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REAL ESTATE

From Page 1

grew up in these companies, so there’s long-lasting relationships.

“But none of them look like me.”

‘He’s kind of a natural leader’ A Shaker Heights native, Hameed didn’t grow up dreaming of a real estate career.

Yet he’s found himself sitting on trade association boards and leading regional efforts to change the face of an industry that’s largely white, male and dominated by baby boomers.

“He doesn’t hold back. He’s very open about things,” said Sandy Naragon, CEO of the Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors, an industry organization for which Hameed serves as treasurer. “His willingness to bridge that conversation about diversity and race has gone way back.”

After graduating from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Hameed studied marketing at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. He landed a job as a retail buyer for Neiman Marcus in Dallas.

In 2003, he moved back to Northeast Ohio, where he became the operations manager for the Word Church in Warrensville Heights. Through the church, he reconnected with Felicia, a childhood classmate and mental health counselor. The pair married 18 months later, while Hameed was in the midst of obtaining an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

A financial adviser suggested that the newlyweds invest in real estate.

The idea wasn’t foreign to Felicia Hameed, whose father and grandfather owned and managed rental homes. So the couple began buying apartments.

In late 2006, the pair formed FASS, which started out as a referral business linking landlords and tenants. They named the company after Felicia; Akil; daughter Savannah, then an infant; and forthcoming baby Serene, who

BROWNS

From Page 1

Behind-the-scenes footage featuring the likes of head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry were staples on the team’s social and digital channels. The team created “Browns Live,” a digital show hosted by Nathan Zegura and Joe Thomas that breaks down big events, answers fan questions and includes appearances by players and top executives.

It’s part of what Bernacchi, the team’s senior vice president of marketing and media, said is a marketing approach that has three key pillars: inspiring via the team’s brand, elevating experiences for fans and continuing to innovate.

“It means more storytelling about our team and our teammates with helmets off, what they go through and how they prepare, and just who they are as people in the community and at home,” Bernacchi said. “More than just facts and stats.”

Not surprisingly, the team’s rabid fanbase consumed everything it could during a season in which the Browns won their first playoff game in 26 years.

Video views on the team’s website increased 79% during an 11-5 campaign. Time spent on the club’s website grew 31%, and the team’s social media engagement rose 35%.

was born a few months later.

“Akil’s always the vowel that keeps everybody together,” said Felicia Hameed, who loves acronyms.

When Akil Hameed lost his job, just as the nation slid into the Great Recession, he decided to be his own boss.

Felicia Hameed kept working as a counselor, while her husband built up the business and obtained his sales license. After the births of the couple’s third and fourth children, Seth and Sasha, she stayed home for about five years, making it easier for Hameed to take on board appointments and committee roles as the company grew.

Early on, FASS focused on single-family rentals, owned by far-flung landlords who gobbled up properties on the heels of the housing bust. The work was intense, requiring hands-on labor, long hours and plenty of patience.

“I remember Christmas Eves when we were sitting there, opening gifts, and his phone would ring,” Felicia Hameed recalled. “It was the night service because somebody had a flood.

Or somebody’s roof caved in.”

At one point, FASS managed more than 600 rentals, many of them in or near Cleveland. Gradually, though, Akil Hameed looked to commercial real estate as a more sustainable growth avenue.

In 2012, he joined the first local class of Project REAP, a multi-city program that aims to diversify the industry’s ranks.

That year, he also obtained his broker’s license, which gave FASS the ability to employ agents. And he began to explore more complicated assignments, including management and leasing of distressed properties wending their way through foreclosure.

David Browning, who led CBRE Group Inc.’s Northeast Ohio operations for 33 years, met Hameed through Project REAP. “He’s kind of a natural leader,” said Browning, who immediately noted the younger man’s curiosity, warmth and energy.

As receivership jobs — court assignments to oversee troubled real estate — came his way, Browning partnered with FASS to manage modest buildIn the postseason, when the Browns eliminated the rival Steelers and fell in a tightly contested AFC divisional round game against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, the digital numbers “hit a new stratosphere,” Bernacchi said.

Video views jumped 86% and social media engagement was up 172%.

In March, as the Browns attempted to fortify their defense with a handful of free-agent moves, the club had year-over-year increases of 183% in video views and 59% in website engagement.

“This COVID year has really put into perspective new ways to be flexible and versatile, and to connect fans and keep them feeling like they’re connected to our brands,” said Bernacchi, who joined the organization a week after the Browns closed their offices last March.

Renewed enthusiasm A couple months before Bernacchi, a former chief marketing officer for Mazda’s North American operations, started with the Browns, Mike Mossholder was hired as the chief revenue and marketing officer of Haslam Sports Group.

For a period of time, as businesses were closed and sports were put on hold, the Browns operated as a media company, Mossholder said.

“As difficult as COVID was, there

ings that didn’t make sense for a global real estate giant like CBRE to tackle. He offered advice as Hameed looked for creative ways to broaden the company, from coaching small business tenants to helping nonprofit community development corporations tackle real estate challenges in the city and inner-ring suburbs.

“The beauty of our industry is there’s always room for talented service providers that have quality people and a dynamic value proposition to serve clients. It’s the entrepreneurial nature of the industry,” Browning said. “Akil is one that has taken a very thoughtful approach.

“He could have just kept his head down and said, ‘We’re a brokerage company with residential and some commercial.’ But he’s aspiring to more than that. And that’s exciting.”

‘I see tremendous growth’ Two years ago, FASS’s management portfolio was 70% residential. Now the company is responsible for only 150 or so houses. Commercial real estate generates roughly half of the property-management revenues, Hameed said.

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the company’s transition away from single-family homes and toward shopping centers, office buildings, apartment complexes and homeowners’ associations. A federal moratorium on evictions made it difficult for FASS to collect rent checks and, in turn, to get paid.

“We let about 100 of our managed single-family units go back to owners. … I just didn’t have the staff to chase that many tenants and do workout plans,” Hameed said.

He spent much of 2020 pursuing small business grants and pandemic relief funds that helped to sustain FASS during disruptive times. But he also worked toward longer-term goals.

In March, FASS obtained state certification as a Minority Business Enterprise, a status that will give Hameed an edge in competing for government contracts. The company also is positioning itself to offer counseling serwas some great stories to tell about coach and Andrew and the success that they had in their first year during a COVID outbreak,” the former UFC executive said. “It was an amazing story, and our leadership allowed us to have the type of access to show that.”

Capacity crowds weren’t an option, but the Browns’ playoff run, in addition to all of the digital gains, generated huge local TV audiences.

Fourteen of the top 20 TV broadcasts in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton market were Browns games in 2020.

The team’s regular-season games generated an average local rating of 35.5, which ranked seventh in the NFL, and the postseason contests against the Steelers and Chiefs drew massive ratings of 51.5 and 48.3, respectively.

The Browns, after giving season-ticket holders the chance to receive a refund or opt out and push their commitment to the 2021 season, adjusted their sales cycle during a year in which most fans stayed home.

The team switched to a two-phase renewal process that kicked off in November. That, Mossholder said, is becaxuse the core fan group’s enthusiasm is at its highest during the season.

The club’s timing was pretty good, as the Browns won four consecutive games to get off to a 9-3 start. Deposits for the club’s season-ticket waiting list increased 110% in October and November, and grew 231% in December.

By the spring, the Browns’ sea-

Akil Hameed, center, stands with members of his newly expanded team outside the FASS Real Estate Services headquarters in Shaker Heights. The company is growing beyond brokerage, into development, master planning and other areas. | TIM HARRISON

vices for first-time homebuyers as part of NID Housing, a national network focused on economic growth in minority communities and urban areas.

“It’s important for me to ensure that as I move and grow … I elevate my own people,” Hameed said.

Most of the agents at FASS are minorities. Many of them are women.

Hameed, a leader with Project REAP, has recruited fellow graduates from that program.

But he’s also sought out experience, from people whom he characterizes as “wise counsel.”

This spring, semi-retired executives Emerick Corsi, Alan Schmiedicker and Neal Lader, who each worked for Forest City at one time, transferred their real estate licenses to FASS. They are focused on mentorship and training opportunities. And they’re chasing development partnerships, on projects in the $4 million to $10 million range.

“We’re not that big, so we need to walk before we run,” said Corsi, a former Forest City president who is serving as vice president of development and real estate services for FASS. “I think most of the projects we’re going to try to do are going to be within the city of Cleveland and surrounding suburbs. They’re not going to be big projects. But they’re going to be proj-

ects that, at the end of the day, we will be proud of.”

Schmiedicker, who oversaw malls for Forest City and, later, for Australian investment manager QIC, is now vice president of property and asset management at FASS. Lader, a longtime broker whose resume is full of family-owned employers, retired two years ago from a leasing and development role in the apartment industry.

“With him,” Lader said of Hameed, “I see tremendous growth.”

The old guard in real estate and a new, more heterogeneous wave of talent must collaborate, Hameed said.

“Yes,” he acknowledged, in response to a question from Crain’s, “this industry is white guys in suits. …

But, ultimately, we can coexist together. And that has to be the story.

“That has to be the story, that we coexist together,” he repeated. “That there’s opportunities for everybody, and that the white man in the suit is willing to assist. That has to be communicated, because it’s not necessarily communicated. And then, from my seat, we have to be willing to ask for the help, as well.

“We need to break down those barriers so that we can coexist, together.”

son-ticket renewal rate had topped 97%. The team, entering a season in which it’s viewed as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, again has reached its season-ticket cap of about 60,000, and Mossholder expects the waiting list — which requires a $100 deposit — to exceed 10,000 by the time the 2022 sales cycle begins.

Fans on the waiting list, Mossholder said, are treated “exactly like they’re a season-ticket member, with the exception of getting the ticket.” The group has an early window to purchase single-game seats before the general public, and they receive exclusive content and access to events, just as season-ticket holders do.

“We want to build that relationship now,” Mossholder said.

festivities in Columbus.

With COVID restrictions being lifted, the hope is that the 2021 NFL season will be played at full capacity, and plenty of other events will follow.

Mossholder, who led the UFC’s corporate partnership business for six years and has worked for Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Churchill Downs, said “the avidity” of Browns fans “is unparalleled.”

Bernacchi compared the support to devotees of Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle manufacturer at which he spent almost eight years in top marketing roles.

“The fans are devoted and loyal and love the brand through thick and thin,” the Browns’ senior VP of marketing and media said. “Through any type of situations, they’re fans of that brand.”

In three months, the Browns will kick off the 2021 season at Kansas City, in a game that will be dubbed as a matchup of two of the best teams in the league. Big crowds should again be the norm, and the hype should be the highest since Bernie Kosar was Cleveland’s quarterback.

“We have high expectations, and we have those same high expectations within our group to deliver for the fans that are going to be starved to get back,” Mossholder said.

‘High expectations’ In April, Haslam Sports Group hired Michele Powell, a former Monumental Sports and Entertainment executive, as vice president of event development. Powell will be tasked with boosting the events business of the Browns and the Columbus Crew, a Major League Soccer club that will debut a $314 million stadium in July.

Season-ticket members of the two clubs will get the first shot at purchasing tickets at the football and soccer venues, with Browns fans starting the process for events at FirstEnergy Stadium and Crew backers going first for

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

Kevin Kleps: kkleps@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @KevinKleps

8 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 7, 2021

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HEALTH CARE

ReLink Medical isn’t done expanding beyond Summit County Company plans more facilities nationwide for its equipment-handling business

BY KAREN FARKAS

While COVID-19 upended the operations of reLink Medical, which contracts with medical facilities to sell, recycle, donate or scrap hospital equipment, the pandemic led the Twinsburg Township-based company to develop new services to hospitals and move ahead with plans to grow across the country.

“We’re bullish on expansion,” said president and CEO Jeff Dalton, who co-founded the company with his father, Ray. “The clients are requesting it.”

The company opened a 65,000-square-foot logistics facility in suburban Atlanta on May 1. The site, in College Park, Ga., will allow the company to manage and process inventory in an expansion into the Southeast region of the country.

ReLink plans to open similar facilities in Indianapolis this fall and in either Philadelphia or Dallas in the spring of 2022, Dalton said.

The company, which began operating in 2017, has 70 employees and is actively recruiting to fill 31 open positions at its two locations.

In 2017, it had 20 employees and $10 million in annual sales. Dalton said it is working toward its goal of $100 million in sales.

The average hospital has 10,000 medical devices, and about 10% is re-

moved each year, Dalton said. The reasons include that they are upgraded, unneeded, obsolete or broken.

ReLink said it works with more than 3,000 hospitals and health systems across the country. It brings in about 10,000 items each month on consignment from facilities that have a contract with the company. Items are inspected, cleaned and cleared of patient information. They are put up for sale within 15 days after pickup.

Inventory is gone from the company’s 75,000-square-foot Twinsburg Township warehouse within 120 days via sale, auction, liquidation sales, donation or recycling.

Dalton said the company needed to expand to bring its services closer to the clients.

ReLink initially focused on contracts with medical facilities within a 10-hour driving radius, generally east of the Mississippi, but demand increased beyond that scope. Employees would fly out to facilities, load equipment onto a truck and drive back to Twinsburg Township, Dalton said.

And buyers who purchased equipment from reLink had to either drive to the warehouse or pay for shipping, he said.

The facility in Georgia was established because of reLink’s contracts with Emory University and the Pied-

mont Healthcare, he said.

In addition to handling excess medical equipment, reLink also offers new services that were established because of COVID. When hospitals developed their COVID responses in the spring of 2020, officials were not concerned about disposing of equipment and would not allow reLink, or anyone, inside, Dalton said.

Initially, the company was swamped with requests to buy desperately needed items, including ventilators, infusion pumps and patient monitors, he said.

Team effort Hospital officials then called to ask if reLink could retrieve and store equipment from patient floors that were being transformed into COVID units.

“We would bring in a team that would remove existing equipment and help them set up COVID units,” Dalton said.

Employees wore full protective equipment and everything brought out was sanitized, he said.

As COVID hospital admissions increased, reLink was asked if it could move equipment from one location to another to meet patient needs.

“For example, UH Parma had medical equipment that was needed for a

Ray and Jeff Dalton founded reLink Medical to help hospitals and health systems sell, recycle, donate or scrap hospital equipment. | FILE PHOTO

patient in the downtown main campus,” he said.

As COVID hospitalizations decreased last fall, reLink began removing hundreds of medical devices that were no longer needed and returned patient room equipment that it had stored.

“It was almost like a light switch between March to October and November until now,” he said. “Hospitals now have an incredible amount of excess equipment they need to get rid of.”

The company will continue to offer what it calls “storage for surge-related

needs” and “move management.”

Dalton said no matter how large it grows, reLink will continue to follow the three tenets established when it began operations.

“We determined we need to say ‘yes’ every single time,” he said. “We are not just an online resource — we have the trucks and infrastructure to handle the request. And we have a tech solution for hospitals to manage the process and let them see the data.”

Contact Karen Farkas: clbfreelancer@crain.com

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JUNE 7, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 9

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON MILLER

IN THEIR

TWENTIES

IF THE 2021 CLASS OF CRAIN’S 20 IN THEIR TWENTIES is any indication, Northeast Ohio is in good hands for years to come. These young professionals are hardworking, engaged, innovative, forward-thinking, altruistic and proactive. They care about their work and their communities. This year’s class members hail from vocations that represent Northeast Ohio’s diverse community of companies and organizations. They are lawyers who are helping immigrants and doing pro bono work to represent tenants. They are entrepreneurs making a name for themselves in marketing, tech and e-commerce. They are members of nonprofit organizations who are planning neighborhoods and training our workforce. And they are so much more. Their future, and, in turn, that of Northeast Ohio, is bright.

Nichole Davis, 23

Neil Chavan, 23

Juliana Petti, 24

CLINICAL RESEARCH COORDINATOR, Cleveland Clinic

CONSULTANT, Newry Corp.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Alliance for Working Together

N

EIL CHAVAN believes that business and commerce can be powerful levers to create social change.

Through his work as a consultant at Newry Corp., Chavan is applying that same strategic thinking to fuel community growth on the West Side of Cleveland.

Chavan graduated summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in 2019, transitioning a chemical engineering degree into uncovering marketplace opportunities for Fortune 500 clients in the chemical and materials sectors.

Overcoming a steep learning curve led to a pair of promotions in 2020, highlighting a journey of personal growth that includes a recent appointment to the Lakewood Community Relations Advisory Committee THE CHAVAN FILE (LCRAC). With the committee, Chavan serves as a liaison beChildhood ambition: tween Lakewood residents and Architect city council on matters of diversity Pandemic distraction: and equality.

Chavan currently is spearChavan started fostering heading a survey to track resikittens through the dent needs, with a particular emHumane Society phasis on marginalized groups Last book read: impacted by the pandemic. Re“Freakonomics” sults will inform future initiatives that directly affect the people of LinkedIn profile: Lakewood. tinyurl.com/NeilChavan “At Newry, I’m using my business skills to further the good of my community and those around me,” Chavan said.

Days at Newry are spent interviewing subject matter experts and researching clients and marketing trends. Chavan expanded his engineering knowledge into the business realm, requiring what he calls “bigger-picture thinking” while still focusing on a client’s technical capabilities.

“The transition for me was slow. It took awhile to break out of that engineering mold,” Chavan said. “But I’ve learned how to reframe some of my thinking.”

David Wylie, vice president at Newry, was part of the hiring team that brought on Chavan. Wylie said the young applicant’s technical background and surplus of intellectual curiosity made him an ideal fit for the company.

“Neil is totally unafraid to dive into the details of any project, or any kind of problem we have,” said Wylie. “And he’s very good at using those skills to develop a strategy for a client. He’s a dedicated and driven individual — the kind of person you can always count on.”

Chavan plans to further hone both his business and civic engagement capabilities, even as the pandemic showed him the difficulty of planning ahead.

“COVID has altered my viewpoint of the future,” Chavan said. “I want to grow within Newry as a strategist and thought leader, and within the community to help move along the initiatives I’m working on.” — Douglas J. Guth

N

HE ALLIANCE for Working Together Foundation in Mentor has long focused on the K-12 education pipeline to manufacturing.

When Juliana Petti took on the role of executive director, she knew she wanted to maintain that. But she also felt it was important to expand the organization’s focus to include more training for adults. That’s important for individuals, but the impact to change lives is broader, she said, as those trainees might have children who will be affected, too.

Petti took on the role of executive director in October 2019. In 2020, despite the pandemic, AWT launched its new apprenticeship program.

Petti understands the value of training and career exploration firsthand. She had a variety of THE PETTI FILE jobs and internships throughout high school and college, trying on Giving back: different industries.

Petti volunteers with “I was just always really interTorchlight Youth Mentor- ested in finding out what I really ing Alliance, which used truly loved,” she said. to be part of Big Brothers When she learned about AWT, Big Sisters. she thought the workforce develWhat she wanted to be opment-focused nonprofit really combined her interests in manuwhen she grew up: facturing and in supporting Speaker of the House. young adults. She joined AWT as Pets: A dog, five cats an engagement manager while and 11 chickens. attending graduate school. A few months later, the executive direcLinkedIn profile: tor role opened up, and Petti aptinyurl.com/JulianaPetti plied. She got it.

Petti said in her role, she gets to “work with everyone,” from CEOs to junior high school students. She helps the former identify the needs in their businesses and plays with the robots created by the latter.

She thinks her biggest accomplishment so far is the new apprenticeship program, which launched in August 2020.

When Petti sets goals, like the apprenticeship program, she works hard to accomplish them, said board member Roger Sustar.

“I think the world of her,” Sustar said.

The foundation will launch its third cohort this summer.

By 2023, AWT expects to have trained almost 300 apprentices, Petti said.

During the pandemic, AWT served as a source of information for its manufacturers, many of which pivoted to make PPE components to serve the health care industry.

“We really became a matchmaker in a lot of ways,” Petti said.

And under Petti’s leadership, AWT announced that it’s building a new training center in Mentor, which will respond to company needs and offer training in areas such as CNC machining. Construction is expected to be complete by February 2022, with all equipment in by the end of that summer, Petti said. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty

ICHOLE DAVIS puts patients first.

“She has an appreciation for what people go through,” said Fielding Epstein, one of her mentors who works as the administrator at the Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute.

It’s a skill Davis honed over the years she’s spent in various health care settings, including while working full-time and earning her bachelor’s degree in health sciences from Cleveland State University.

“When I was working in the emergency department, I was seeing that there were a lot of patients that for the first time couldn't afford their medications, or they didn't really understand instructions that were given to them by their providers,” she said.

THE DAVIS FILE The experience made her realize, she said, that things need to be Favorite CLE hangout: fixed.

Playhouse Square. “I’m a “I was able to see from a non-clibit of a theater buff.” nician view how broken the sysPandemic distraction: tem was,” she said.

In the future, she’s determined Finding and trying new to help patients both by treating recipes. them clinically and advocating for Motto: Vision without them. She’s currently earning her action is just a daydream. master’s in public health through a remote program at Baylor UniverLinkedIn profile: sity while working full-time on a tinyurl.com/Nichole multiple sclerosis clinical research Davis study at the Cleveland Clinic’s Mellen Center.

Davis said she was the only full research member of her team who continued to work on-site during COVID-19. Her duties handling enrollment for the biobanking portion of the study continued.

Juggling that job plus her schooling amid the pandemic was a lot, Davis admitted. But she stays motivated by thinking of the changes she can help implement right now through various volunteer groups as well as the impact she wants to make in the future.

“I'm very passionate about legislative advocacy,” she said.

“Just trying to advocate for marginalized demographics, patients and people who are very poor and very sick.”

That passion is fueling her next move, too. Davis thinks there’s a step to take to have her advocacy work make an even bigger splash. She’s currently studying for the MCAT exam and wants to enroll in a joint MD/JD program next fall.

Davis is still looking at potential offerings across the country. But if she ends up leaving Cleveland to attend school, she hopes to come back for her residency. She grew up in South Euclid and graduated from Lutheran East High School. This region is home.

“I really do care about this community and these patients,” she said. “And there's so much work to be done here.” — Amy Morona

T

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20 IN THEIR TWENTIES 2021

Nathan Sundheimer, 27

THE

PROGRAM MANAGER, Plug and Play Cleveland

N

ATHAN SUNDHEIMER says he’s an “ecosystem builder” at Plug and Play Cleveland, where he is program manager for the digital health accelerator and lead of U.S. health care partnerships.

“It’s a really unique opportunity to lend my scientific technical expertise along with the business acumen I’ve developed in the last couple of years,” he said. “It is a lot of fun to be in this space.”

Sundheimer found his niche after majoring in neurobiology at the College of Wooster but then deciding not to pursue a career in medicine.

He enrolled in the MBA program at Case Western Reserve University and discovered his passion was with working with startups and entrepreneurs in bioscience.

Sundheimer honed his skills researching bioscience grant opportunities at G2G Consulting, as a graduate intern at Cleveland Clinic

Ventures, and as a business development associate at BioEnterprise.

He joined Plug and Play in February 2020. Plug and Play, a startup accelerator based in the Silicon Valley, established an accelerator focused on biotech and digital health innovation in Cleveland in 2018.

Sundheimer connects digital health and health IT startups to investors, mentors and global corporate partners for business development and investment opportunities.

“We truly work on a global scale,” he said. “We work with partners from coast to coast and international partners.”

Among his accomplishments, Sundheimer developed a top accelerator program among all Plug and Play programs across North America.

“Nathan’s passion for innovation, curiosity for knowledge and allaround energy make him a valuable and versatile team member of Plug and Play,” said Jennifer Thomas,

Rachel O'Neill, 28 THE

LAND SCAPE

A CRAIN’S CLEVELAND PODCAST SPONSORED BY

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ty, telling the story and showcasing the value of the software.”

Sales engineering differs from sales, she said. For one thing, there’s no cold calling prospects, something she said Segmint doesn’t really have to do anyway.

Whether they came to Segmint via referral, word-of-mouth or some other reason, the potential customers O’Neill deals with all have one thing in common: They’re already interested in Segmint’s products and capabilities, she said.

“They basically tell me what their needs are, and I tell them how the product can be used to solve their problems,” she said.

She makes her job sound simple and easy — and for O’Neill, it seems to be just that. But she does a whole lot more for Segmint, too, said Rob Heiser, Segmint co-founder.

“She’s just different,” Heiser said.

Jeffrey Stern, 27

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“I found myself worried that rushing to specialize in a known career track would have forced me to pursue a job for this future version of myself who I did not yet really know, in this world I didn’t have any experience in,” Stern said.

Venture for America brought him to Cleveland in 2016. Stern joined Votem as the election services company’s first employee.

After Votem essentially came to an end in 2019, Stern was looking for his next opportunity. That led him to Axuall, which aims to simplify and speed up health care credentialing with a national data network.

Lakshman Tavag, vice president of engineering and co-founder at Axuall, got to know Stern at Votem. When Tavag started working at Axuall, he and another co-founder knew they wanted someone passionate with a good work

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PRODUCT MANAGER AND CO-FOUNDER, Axuall Inc. HEN JEFFREY STERN, product manager and co-founder of Axuall Inc. in Cleveland, graduated from college, he knew he wanted to make a difference. He didn’t want to just show up, work and go home.

“I really wanted that accountability and ownership, and responsibility of building and growing something that I felt would have a positive impact,” Stern said.

Stern grew up in New York City. After graduating from Cornell University, where he studied information science and economics, he joined Venture for America, which pairs recent graduates with startups. He knew he could either take a more conventional path in something like investment banking, or he could take a leap into entrepreneurship. He decided to take the riskier path.

Favo Sols

THE

SALES ENGINEER, Segmint AINESVILLE TOWNSHIP native Rachel O’Neill just couldn’t stay away from Cuyahoga Falls-based Segmint, the data-analysis company that helps banks and credit card companies better understand and serve their customers.

“Collectively, I’ve been there for seven years,” O’Neill said. “I left for a year and was at another local software company and came back.”

She came back because of Segmint’s success and entrepreneurial spirit, but also because doing so afforded her the opportunity to do what she likes best — working directly with customers, explaining and demonstrating Segmint’s products and technology.

“I was in a marketing role and decided I wanted to make a change and be in sales engineering,” O’Neill said.

“It’s more about demoing the proper-

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THE SUNDHEIMER FILE Top of his travel bucket list: Antarctica Favorite spot in Northeast Ohio: The Solstice Steps at Lakewood Park Secret skill: Can name every offensive and defensive starter on Ohio State University’s football team since 2002, the season the team won a national championship LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/ NSundheimer

managing director of Plug and Play Health, via email. “He has expertly run our accelerator program for the last year, developing high-quality programming for the global digital health startups selected to join, and has helped us grow our network of startups, corporations and VCs.” Sundheimer said he is committed to volunteering his skills to local startups and helps them find funding and other opportunities.

In addition, he offers his time as a startup mentor across the country

through KidsX, XLerate Health, Gener8tor and FedTech’s NASA Startup Studio.

He was a speaker during Ohio’s Global Entrepreneurship Week and will participate as a panelist in this fall’s Global Cleveland Sister Cities Economic Mini Summit.

Sundheimer also is enrolled in a master’s degree program in health care systems engineering at Johns

Hopkins University and plans to graduate in 2023.

“We have so many diverse systems — government systems, insurance systems, health care systems, and medical and pharmaceutical companies that all operate independently,” he said. “I am trying to understand how to leverage and manipulate all the pieces in the big massive puzzle of health care.”

—Karen Farkas

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THE O’NEILL FILE Big brood: She has a large extended family thanks to her father, who was one of 10 children.

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CLE ties: Her mother spent her career at Parker Hannifin, and her dad is a longshoreman at the Port of Cleveland.

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First gig: Making hair accessories for other college students at Kent State University.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/ RachelONeill

“She’s extremely positive, she speaks well, she represents herself well, but what I like about her the most is she holds us accountable.

Typically, it’s the boss who’s down for holding people accountable, but she’s not afraid to hold her bosses accountable. … And she’s a team builder. When you think about building a great team, she’s the one you pick first.”

Heiser said he met O’Neill when

Call For Pricing!! he was an adviser at Kent State University, her alma mater. He said a faculty member told him, “I have a superstar and you need to talk to her.”

That person was right, he said.

Her work at Segmint also has furthered her education beyond her degrees in marketing and entrepre-

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neurship, she said.

“I’ve supported investor presentations, done research and prepared presentations myself. … You learn about that educationally in the entrepreneurship program … but it’s much different at the scale of Segmint,” she said.

—Dan Shingler

THE STERN FILE

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Local exploration: To keep busy during the pandemic, Stern went on motorcycle rides through the Metroparks.

No place like home: Stern thought home ownership was a “foreign concept” growing up in New York City, but he quickly realized it was a possibility in Cleveland. He now owns and rents out property.

PRIVATE SCHOOL PLANNER

First career dream: Astronaut.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/ JeffreyPStern

ethic, and Stern fit the bill. They brought him on even before completing the seed funding.

“We weren’t sure exactly what role Jeff would play, but we knew that he’s just a force,” Tavag said. “We wanted to get him into the organization.”

Axuall began pilots at the end of 2019 and is now beginning to enter the commercial market, Stern said.

“There’s a lot of room for us to grow

in the next few years just in the health care credentialing space,” Stern said.

And Stern sees opportunities to scale the process Axuall is using in health care to other industries.

Outside of work, Stern kept busy in 2020 by launching a podcast. When he had been looking for his next opportu-

T RTAN IMPDOATES 0 UG. 3

Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland will publish a Private School Planner exploring the array of private education options in Northeast Ohio.

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6 E DA nity after Votem, he realized there was ISSU OSE: JULY AD CL : AUG. 16 an “incredible amount” of entrepreLY 19 E AD DU NT DUE: JU neurship activity in the region, but he E T ON PRODUCED BY: ILE C didn’t think there was a good resource PROF Grimm spring in mix 05-04-20.indd 1 for founders, investors and more that space to share their stories. So he started one with “The Lay of the Land.”

Information and pricing: mike.schoenbrun@crain.com —Rachel Abbey McCafferty

4/28/2020 1:25:01 PM

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20 IN THEIR TWENTIES 2021

Bradley Ouambo, 29 ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY, Frantz Ward LLP

B

RADLEY OUAMBO had participated in and coached mock trial teams for years but was excited when he walked into a courtroom for the first time as an attorney to represent a defendant in a civil jury trial.

“I was surprised at how similar it actually was (to a mock trial competition),” he said. “There were some differences, but I was prepared.”

And he won. The jury ruled in favor of his client, who had been accused of cutting down his neighbor’s tree.

Ouambo is using skills honed in acting showcases when he was young and his mock trial experience to succeed as an associate in Frantz Ward’s nationally recognized construction practice. He has experience in contract review in construction, transportation and real estate cases.

Ouambo was born in Cameroon and moved to the U.S. at age 4. He moved to Cleveland at age 11 when

his mother was in a residency program at MetroHealth Medical Center.

While many in his family were doctors, he wanted another career and realized he could use the skills he gained in acting as an attorney after participating in St. Edward High School’s mock trial team.

“It was a creative outlet and introduced me to the law,” Ouambo said.

He joined the mock trial teams at Miami University and at Case Western Reserve University’s Law School, which he chose because he wanted to return to Cleveland.

In 2014, CWRU undergrads sought him out to coach their mock trial program, which was foundering. He has helped countless students develop teamwork, critical thinking and trial advocacy skills. The program is now thriving and this year a team earned a bid to the national championship tournament for the first time in 10 years.

Benjamin Collinger, 25 PROGRAM MANAGER, Greater Cleveland Partnership

B

ENJAMIN COLLINGER is not a Cleveland native. He grew up in St. Louis and went to school in San Antonio, Texas.

But since he took a job as program manager of Greater Cleveland Partnership's Equity & Inclusion division, he’s made it a point to learn about the city’s long social and economic history.

“I've been working on a podcast series called ‘61,’ which commemorates the Greater Cleveland Roundtable's 40th anniversary. The Greater Cleveland Roundtable was one of the predecessors of the Greater Cleveland Partnership,” Collinger said. “It was founded in 1981. The podcast is called ‘61’ because I'm asking, ‘How far have we come since 1981? And where we might be in 2061?’ ” Collinger studied history and international studies at Trinity University in San Antonio and came to Cleveland as part of the Venture for

America program, which recruits and trains recent college graduates with jobs at startups, entrepreneurship-adjacent organizations and early stage companies.

When he started the Venture for America fellowship, he initially thought he would join a startup, but he came to Cleveland because he was “really interested in the intersection of business and public policy, and specifically how to make that work toward making an impact on racial inequity in places like Cleveland.”

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs — his parents and grandparents were small business owners — Collinger believes that entrepreneurship is something that should be accessible to more people.

“Obviously, entrepreneurship is not a panacea,” he said. “But to have a prosperous city and prosperous country, more people need to access those opportunities.”

David Davis II, 21 PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, Shadowbox Media Co. and ConsiderCLE

D

AVID DAVIS II’S e-commerce roots trace back to the age of 13, when he would buy and sell sneakers.

As a high school student at University School in Hunting Valley, Davis ran a business that was generating “tens of thousands” in sales, leading him to ponder what would happen if he devoted most of his efforts to the venture.

“He knew what he wanted to do, and he understood it,” said Benjamin Malbasa, the director of the annual fund and the head football coach at University School.

Davis left US in the second semester of his senior year. A year later, he started Shadowbox Media Co. In 2020, its second year in business, the digital asset management firm tallied almost seven figures in revenue.

The company’s revenue is generat14 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 7, 2021

ed by Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) stores. In some cases, Shadowbox acts as the broker, with Davis connecting a store owner with a big-money buyer who believes he or she can turn a six-figure business into something much larger. On other occasions, Shadowbox will buy the online business, build it and sell it for a sizable profit.

Asked what the general sentiment at US was for a senior who was going to leave school, skip college and launch an e-commerce company, Davis said, “They thought it was a horrible idea.”

Malbasa got to know Davis at US. As an attorney, Malbasa continues to provide guidance and said Davis “has some really sharp ideas.”

“The fact that he claims I’m a mentor is crazy in the sense that he had a vision of what he wanted to accom-

Br

THE OUAMBO FILE

IMM

Favorite local restaurant: Siam Cafe.

It had been the Greenhouse Tavern, which closed in 2020.

E

Best pandemic activity: Rewatching all 23 Marvel movies in order of their plot timeline (not release date) and ranking them.

Reading choice: Fantasy novels and enjoyed Joe Abercrombie’s “The First Law” trilogy.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/ BradleyOuambo

Ouambo is well suited for the construction group because it handles every aspect of the construction industry, including litigation, said Michael J. Frantz Jr., a partner in the firm.

And Frantz, who moved back to Northeast Ohio 10 years ago after practicing law on the East Coast, said he is pleased that someone with Ouambo’s leadership skills is committed to the city.

“Brad is one of the people that make me optimistic about the future of

Cleveland,” he said. “He has a vision for the future that I think a lot of people can get behind and work toward.”

Ouambo said he is seeking ways to help the community. He participated in the most recent OnBoard Cleveland class for early career professionals.

“It introduced us to a lot of the nonprofits that tackle some of Cleveland’s biggest issues,” he said.

He said he just joined the board of Cleveland Christian Home, which offers programs for children, youth and families struggling with mental illness, abuse and neglect.

“I love working with students and wondered where else could I be of assistance to help someone who is less fortunate,” he said.

—Karen Farkas

the influx of federal stimulus dollars, will be a tremendous opportunity for the region to deploy those resources “in an inclusive way and in a way that makes it easier for people to grow businesses” and “come out of this better than we were before,” Collinger said.

Gina Cheverine, managing vice president, inclusion and strategic partnerships at GCP, said, “When

you look at the gender and racial disparities that have been exacerbated

by COVID-19, he's done a great amount of not only research on the issue, but research on the resources to address some of those issues.

“He has an incredible passion for what he does and very convicted in doing what he can to help close racial disparities in our region.”

—Kim Palmer

that COVID created, a lot of people in coastal cities realize, ‘Wow, I’m making $150,000 in San Francisco, but I’m also paying San Francisco living expenses,’ ” Davis said.

This year, Shadowbox could triple its revenue. The company is lean, with just four employees. Tim DiSte-

fano, Davis’ best friend and high school classmate, is the firm’s chief operations officer.

“I probably have more virtual assistants than I do actual administrators right now because of how we operate,” Davis said.

—Kevin Kleps

THE COLLINGER FILE Cleveland sports fan: A Cleveland transplant, he is now a Browns fan and often has his mom routing for the team.

College extracurriculars: “I started a journalism publication in college to help empower collegiate journalists to report on local news and to fill in for some of the news deserts that have been created as a result of the huge business model transformations of the news industry.”

Hobbies: Hiking, taking photos and coaching his former high school debate team via Zoom.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/ BenjaminCollinger

His work with GCP this year has been heavily focused on the “respond and relief effort” for local businesses. Collinger was part of the organization’s Business Growth Compass, which is a sort of online catalog of resources for those looking for assistance.

The post-pandemic period, with THE DAVIS FILE Your move: Davis said he’s “kind of a nerd” — one who plays a lot of chess.

Bleeding brown and orange: He’s a diehard Cleveland Browns fan.

Put me in, coach: At US, he was a football team manager then joined the squad as a senior.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/ DavidDavisII

plish,” Malbasa said.

That vision also includes Cleveland as a more inclusive startup community — one that in Davis’ mind isn’t as reluctant to take on risk and isn’t as tied to “old money.”

Earlier this year, Davis founded ConsiderCLE, a nonprofit that hopes to sell entrepreneurs on all Cleveland has to offer. That task, Davis thinks, is easier now as more people have learned they can work from anywhere.

“With the remote environment

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Brandilyn Cook, 29

Joshua Berggrun, 29

IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY, Lorenzon Law

ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY, Calfee Halter & Griswold LLP

E

VERY TIME Brandilyn Cook can help reach a successful outcome for one of her immigrant or refugee clients is a reminder of why she dedicates her career not just to law, but to helping other people less fortunate than herself.

“We are here only a short amount of time on this earth,” she said. “So the more I can leave a positive impact on clients regardless of the outcome of cases, as long as they know I tried my best and was there to fight for them, that’s completely validating.”

Cook, a bilingual immigration attorney at Lorenzon Law, comes from a Honduran mother who emigrated to America in her 20s. The first-generation American eventually gravitated toward immigration law. Cook studied criminal justice as an undergrad but wanted to understand such “criminals” from the “other side,” she said.

What would be a defining moment in her career came during an internship at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic.

“It really opened my eyes to the world of inequities many people face when locked up in our justice system,” Cook said. “The lack of fairness is an unfortunate reality many people face if they don’t have the funds to afford counsel.”

These motivations spur Cook to donate her time outside of her firm, helping clients through nonprofit groups such as LegalWorks and The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. Driving her is a motivation to help the people she so closely identifies with and who, had fate played out differently, might be her.

“Brandilyn is just a brilliant young lady,” said Robert Drucker, a recently appointed federal im-

S

THE COOK FILE If not in law, what?: Running a breakfast cafe Pandemic distraction: Indoor gardening Dream guest at a cocktail party: John Lennon LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/BrandilynCook

migration judge in New York for whom Cook interned in Cleveland via his solo firm. “She’s very smart, she writes well, she’s charismatic and caring. She is just the complete lawyer package.”

With a spotlight shining even brighter in recent years on racial injustice, immigrants and refugees, Cook’s work to help people find justice in an oft-unfair system feels all the more critical.

“I just hope we’re able to foster a more collaborative environment to discuss the issues facing our communities and tease sustainable solutions for the future,” she said. “And maybe then we can achieve comprehensive immigration reform.”

Until then, Cook aims to fight for the displaced people and immigrants who can’t fight for themselves. “I think every day I have, I am more and more in tune with my purpose,” she said.

—Jeremy Nobile

PORTS POINTED Joshua Berggrun toward a career in law, but it was a passion for real estate that helped him blossom in his legal practice.

Had his path not veered toward real estate law, Berggrun — an advocate for Stonewall Sports, a sports league for LGBTQ individuals and allies — would probably be either a pro tennis player or sports agent. With few sports agent jobs around, and his family being heavily invested in apartments, Berggrun felt a calling to work in an industry familiar to him.

Berggrun is an associate attorney in the real estate practice at Calfee after recently moving from McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman. In his young career, not only has he negotiated transactional deals for buyers and sellers, but he has regularly seen some through from start to finish.

That’s something much more common for veteran attorneys who’ve been in this game longer.

“The variety of work is super cool I get to deal with here in Cleveland,” Berggrun said. “What drives me is really the local stuff, helping a family-owned business or guys owned by private equity find their spaces.”

He added, “But being able to run a whole deal is just super satisfying.”

The only thing more satisfying is when his hard work yields referrals.

“I think that goes to show I’m earning the trust of brokers and their clients,” he said.

Ken Liffman, president and chairman at McCarthy, said, “He is a bright, capable, driven guy. He’s very interested in the community.”

Balancing the grind with leisure is crucial to

THE BERGGRUN FILE Something people might be surprised to learn: He has hiked some “crazy” mountains, including Mount Fuji in Japan.

New pandemic hobby: Horseback riding Dream guests at a cocktail party: Gus Kenworthy, Roger Federer and Elon Musk LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/JoshuaBerggrun

performing at a high level. For Berggrun, an avid traveler, that comes from immersing himself not just with team activities but in a world he yearns to explore.

Yet what might be the most pivotal moment for this rising attorney is coming out as gay during law school, he said. He only wishes he had done so sooner.

“Once I came out, I became so much more confident in myself and conversational and personable,” he said. “It has completely helped me grow into my business development role as well.”

His career advice is simple: Be yourself and make time for experiences outside the office.

—Jeremy Nobile

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20 IN THEIR TWENTIES 2021

Jordan Rodriguez, 26

Martine Wilson, 28

An

FINANCIAL ADVISER, Wernick Spear Wealth Managers

ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY, Thompson Hine

CHI Spit

J

ORDAN RODRIGUEZ graduated from the University of Wisconsin four years ago, but the learning didn’t stop there.

“It's hugely important to be a student of whatever industry that you're in,” he said.

For him, that’s financial services. He works as a financial adviser at Wernick Speak Wealth Managers and assists clients with a wide range of services, ranging from retirement planning to tax investing.

Rodriguez prides himself on keeping up with both current and future trends, encouraging others to do the same.

“Don't just read up on the subject matter that you need to be a professional and service your specific client base, but make sure you understand the ins and outs of the industry that you're in and maybe where it's headed as well,” he said.

And as that industry transitioned to relying more on technology amid the pandemic, Rodriguez helped his colleagues adapt. He collaborated with them to figure out how to make sure clients still felt an interpersonal connection even through Zoom. Plus, he expanded the firm’s digital footprint by assisting with a website build-out and heading up a podcast series.

“I'm a pretty even-keeled person,” he said.

“Whether it’s pre-COVID or post-COVID, I think a big role of mine is to be a calming presence with everybody on the team.”

That calmness is also accompanied by a great sense of humor and good listening skills, according to his mentor, Tom Littman. The president and managing partner of Kirtland Capital Partners has known Rodriguez since he was in kindergarten.

A

O

THE RODRIGUEZ FILE Favorite CLE hangout: Astoria Pandemic distraction: “I caught a really bad case of the golf bug. Playing it, watching it, everything.”

First jobs: Paperboy at around 11 or 12, followed by working in the bag room at Hawthorne Country Club.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/JordanRodriguez

“His people skills are sort of off the charts,” Littman said of Rodriguez.

As for his personal life, Rodriguez enjoys cooking and is a big Cleveland sports fan. He’s active in the community, serving on the associate board of Recovery Resources, a nonprofit focused on mental health and substance abuse.

He and his wife, Kaylee, recently bought a home together in Chagrin Falls. They're committed to Northeast Ohio for the long haul. “Cleveland is where we're both from, where we both plan on staying for the rest of our lives,” he said.

—Amy Morona

NE OF THE TENETS of a Jesuit education is cura personalis, or “care for the whole person.” Martine Wilson, a graduate of Fordham University, has taken this bit of Latin to heart.

At Thompson Hine, Wilson is an associate with the firm’s business litigation group, where she focuses on commercial matters in a variety of industries. On any given day, the Cleveland Heights resident may be involved in a white-collar criminal defense or investigating eminent domain as part of a contract dispute.

“I’ve been able to optimize my education and experience (at Thompson Hine),” Wilson said. “What I learn in one sphere of the practice I’m able to apply to the rest of my work.”

Wilson has transferred her litigation skills to pro bono work, representing tenants at Cleveland Housing Court in eviction cases and other landlord-related disputes. The COVID-19 pandemic did not slow Wilson’s pace as she defended disadvantaged clients in numerous virtual court appearances.

Previous experience as an EMT in the Bronx exposed Wilson to an array of social ills, demonstrating the need for legal advocacy. Living in a New York apartment without much money emphasized the difficulties underrepresented populations endure, whether during a pandemic or otherwise.

“There’s a level of understanding you feel when someone’s home is at stake,” Wilson said.

“I’m coming to you as a person first, and then as your representative. ” “Poised” and “professional” are just two words of praise Thompson Hine partner Robyn

THE MARTINE FILE Favorite author: Maya Angelou Last book read: “The Song of Achilles” Favorite quote: “You do not write your life with words. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”

– Patrick Ness, “A Monster Calls” LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/MartineWilson

Minter Smyers has for Wilson. As Smyers’ “absolute go-to rising attorney,” Wilson instills confidence in clientele no matter a case’s complexity.

“Lots of lawyers her age haven’t even been in the courtroom,” Smyers said. “It can be difficult to extemporaneously argue and advocate in that setting, but Martine is a quick thinker and skilled at putting arguments together. She’s a hard worker committed to her craft.”

Wilson is also a dedicated community leader, serving on the board of Karamu House to reinvigorate the estimable African-American theater’s arts education platform.

—Douglas J. Guth

He's accomplished so much already. There's no telling how much more he can do.

Africa born. Cleveland bred. And a legal star in the making. With his leadership, energy and dedication to his profession and community, Brad Ouambo has demonstrated just how far someone in their 20s can go. Congratulations Brad, and all of the Twenty in Their 20s recipients.

Bradley N. Ouambo 16 FW204_CrainsCameroon_10.25x7_052121.indd | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 7, 20211

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ly-o It show Th est m at th Y on t How man only iden "Th Spit Th at it. volit Fo grou an a son niza insu mar H and Spit staff keep to, stor

Andrew Spitzer, 29

Alexander Previts, 25

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, Spitzer Auto Group

SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST, Project Management Consultants

A

A

ith k is o.”

bsoonfixity. n in cult e in and e’s a

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Guth

NDREW SPITZER hosts an annual whiffle ball contest for friends and, now that he's in management and chief operating officer of family-owned Spitzer Auto Group, some staffers.

It's for fun. As the game proceeds, Spitzer shows he's in it to win it.

That competitive streak distinguishes the latest member of the family to assume leadership at the auto chain now in its fourth generation.

You might recognize him. He now appears on the 18-dealership chain's TV commercials.

However, when he spent six months as a salesman at a dealership, he introduced himself only as Andrew. He left it to someone else to identify him as a Spitzer.

"That was his decision," said his father, Alan Spitzer, company chairman.

The younger Spitzer sold 100 cars and excelled at it. Likewise, he joined the company of his own volition, same as his sister Alison, president.

For Andrew Spitzer, his first job at the auto group was at 10, washing cars. When he joined as an adult, he wanted to take a turn as a sales person because, in the end, he said, it's a sales organization. He also helped launch the company’s insurance division and led an effort to measure marketing efforts, according to his nomination.

He assumed the COO job as the pandemic and its recession gripped the nation in 2020.

Spitzer set the tone for the company to keep staffers and customers safe, and to find ways to keep sales moving. He and Joseph Mastrodonato, the group’s chief financial officer, brainstormed and came up with the idea of texting

THE SPITZER FILE New dad: Spitzer and his wife, Veronica, are expecting their first child in August.

Shoe collector: He likes wearing sneakers because they are conversation starters. A room at his Avon Lake home is devoted to his collection.

His drive: The vehicles he drives vary because they are demonstration models. He’s currently driving a Honda Timberline truck. He owns a 2020 Dodge Charger Daytona Edition, of which only 500 were made.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/AndrewSpitzer

prospective buyers.

Post-pandemic, the company intends to be more focused on digital marketing, said Spitzer.

The auto group bought three dealerships last year, and the COO said to look for more to come.

For his part, Spitzer said he tells himself, "Don't screw this up." Many mom-and-pop dealerships are going away, and he sees that as an opportunity for his family's business to grow.

—Stan Bullard

LEXANDER PREVITS knows, in some sense, that he has a legacy to uphold.

His grandfather is Gary Previts, a renowned accounting professor at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

Now working in the industry in which his loved one excelled, the younger Previts is continuing the family accounting tradition while pivoting it more toward the economic development space.

“I love my team at PMC and hope to continue to grow here and have more responsibility,” said Previts.

Recently promoted to senior financial analyst, Previts helps identify, secure and manage public and private financing opportunities for corporate construction projects. A typical workday may find him repurposing a greenfield or advising a developer on what to do with a former shopping mall site.

Recently, Previts organized incentives for a pair of technology companies — BrightEdge and Fathom — considering an expansion of their Cleveland presence.

Previts also leads financial structuring for redevelopment of the former Geauga Lake amusement park site, counteracting myths about CPA work being staid or boring, or so he hopes.

Witnessing first-hand the tangible impact his work has on Cleveland is nothing less than a thrill.

Ryan Sommers, managing director of financial services at PMC, is happy to have Previts on board during this transformative time for the city. Sommers’ young charge boasts not only a strong accounting and tax background, but an

THE PREVITS FILE Drink of choice: Jim Beam Old Tub bourbon Pandemic distraction: Watching movies Dream vacation spot: New Zealand LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/APrevits

ability to solve complex problems as well.

Sommers said, “All of our projects have a financial gap, and clients come in to close that gap, or the project isn’t going to move forward.

Alex is very pragmatic and thinks on his feet.

Our clients are appreciative of the different perspective he brings.”

Previts started college at Case Western as an engineering student, transitioning to accounting upon guidance from grandad. Gary Previts furnished his grandson with another vital piece of advice, one that has served the young professional in his early career.

“He said, ‘If you’re passionate about this work, do what makes you happy, because that’s what’s most important,’ ” said Previts.

—Douglas J. Guth

JUNE 7, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 17

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20 IN THEIR TWENTIES 2021

Ryan Sowers, 28

Lizzie Sords, 29

Sa

DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, CORPORATE RELATIONS, University Hospitals

MANAGER OF URBAN FORESTRY, Western Reserve Land Conservancy

NEI COO

I

N HIS FIRST SEVERAL MONTHS as University Hospitals’ development officer for corporate relations, Ryan Sowers eased into his new role, dealing with sponsorships and event engagements.

When the pandemic hit, his work changed dramatically overnight.

“It went from me casually taking some folks out for coffee or lunch to nonstop phone calls both internally and externally starting at 7 a.m., sometimes going all the way to 10 p.m.,” Sowers said.

Fundraising had been an undercurrent throughout his life. Community members in his hometown of Cincinnati raised about $40,000 through a Beanie Babies auction in the late 1990s to buy his family a handicap-accessible van. A full-ride scholarship supported him through college at Bowling Green State University, where he studied education before realizing in his final semester that he wanted to work in philanthropy.

“My entire life has been characterized by paying it forward,” he said.

He’s one of several front-line fundraisers at UH and the only one focused specifically on the corporate sector. When he joined the system in 2019, he aimed to expand UH’s network of corporate donors.

“As a system, we have hundreds of vendors and partners that have never been given the opportunity to give back,” he said.

The pandemic ultimately helped Sowers forge strong relationships with a wave of generous companies, foundations, community members and others who came together from all corners to offer their support for UH. Sowers coordinated with businesses and companies that offered emergency funding, food for caregivers, masks and more.

“All of the sudden, I was kind of thrust into the spotlight to connect with all of these com-

S

L

THE SOWERS FILE Unique skills: He took five years of Latin and led a band in college: Ryan Sowers and the Up and Up. Favorite movie: “Big Fish” or “GoodFellas” Best piece of advice: The meaning of life is to find your gift; the purpose of life is to give it away.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/RyanSowers

panies, which I think relationships like that forged in such a tough time are extremely strong,” Sowers said.

In 2020, he raised more than $3.7 million for UH, a portion of which Sowers attributes to the community response to COVID-19.

Simon Bisson, UH vice president of institutional relations and development, said Sowers is a high-energy, fast-paced thinker and mover with “unparalleled” results. Typically a talented person in that role would hit $1 million in a year, but Sowers more than tripled that and is on track to exceed that number this year, which is “quite remarkable,” Bisson said.

“He follows every lead. He’s enthusiastic, eager to learn and has quickly gained respect, and built a lot of credibility within our system,” Bisson said. “We are just thrilled with everything he’s been doing here at UH.” —Lydia Coutré

IZZIE SORDS has always loved trees.

She just didn’t initially realize she could make a living at them.

“My mom says I was always climbing the magnolia tree in our yard to find a place to read my book,” Sords said.

Today, she’s working so that more kids have the same opportunity that she did, especially in cities such as Cleveland, where the canopy cover from trees is not where it should be. It’s about 18% but should be 35% or higher, Sords said.

Her job as manager of urban forestry at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy in Moreland Hills is to help Cleveland and other cities improve that number.

She does it through outreach and education, both to policymakers and the public, she said.

To no one’s surprise, she uses trees to get her message across — that includes giving trees away and teaching their new owners how to best plant and care for them. Every time she gives away a tree, she thinks she gets a new ally, too.

“I see those plantings as a way to teach somebody how to plant a tree and to talk to them about why trees are important,” Sords said.

But a big part of the challenge is to get people to think about trees differently and to plan accordingly, she said. A lifetime for a human being might be a short period of time for a tree, she said, because trees and humans operate on different time scales. That means humans need to plan better if they want trees to improve future living conditions.

“People will say, ‘The sycamore tree is ripping up the sidewalk.’ But that sycamore tree probably was there before the sidewalk. So, is it the sycamore tree? Or is it that someone didn’t consider how big that tree would become when they put in the sidewalk?” Sords said.

Western Reserve Land Conservancy president and CEO Rich Cochran said Sords has the

Congratulations Jordan Rodriguez for being named

THE SORDS FILE Musical family: Her brother is a concert violinist, and Sords still occasionally plays the French horn.

Back home: She grew up in Shaker Heights, moved to Portland but came home to work as an arborist.

Best trees in Northeast Ohio: South Chagrin Reservation, Mentor Marsh, Rocky River Reservation and, best of all, Lakeview Cemetery.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/LizzieSords

perfect skills set for her job, including, first and foremost, her ability to work with people.

“She is, of course, really knowledgeable and effective as an arborist, but what sets her apart is her ability to work with people to make it all happen,” Cochran said. “She is diligent, passionate and simply wonderful to work with. For a community forester, it is the soft skills that often make all the difference.”

—Dan Shingler

React less. Plan more.

Let your goals be your guide Ruggiero Wealth Management UBS Financial Services Inc. 600 Superior Avenue East 27th Floor Cleveland, OH 44114 216-736-8317

Modesto “Moe” Ruggiero Managing Director– Wealth Management Senior Portfolio Manager Wealth Advisor modesto.ruggiero@ubs.com

ubs.com/team/ruggiero

The recognition is well deserved!

Your passion, knowledge, and a genuine interest in achieving the best for clients is what makes you a truly professional Financial Advisor.

-Your Colleagues at

As a firm providing wealth management services to clients, UBS Financial Services Inc. offers investment advisory services in its capacity as an SEC-registered investment adviser and brokerage services in its capacity as an SEC-registered broker-dealer. Investment advisory services and brokerage services are separate and distinct, differ in material ways and are governed by different laws and separate arrangements. It is important that clients understand the ways in which we conduct business, that they carefully read the agreements and disclosures that we provide to them about the products or services we offer. For more information, please review the PDF document at ubs.com/relationshipsummary. © UBS 2020. All rights reserved. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC. CJ-UBS-2031105874 Exp.: 10/31/2021

3401 Enterprise Parkway, Suite 220 | Beachwood, OH 44122 | www.wswealthmanagers.com Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Wernick Spear Wealth Managers, a Registered Investment Advisor. Wernick Spear Wealth Managers and Cambridge are not affiliated.

18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 7, 2021

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Samira Malone, 26

Anthony Milia, 27

NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING PROJECT COORDINATOR, MidTown Cleveland Inc.

OWNER, Milia Marketing

A

S

AMIRA MALONE once thought she’d change the world by going into constitutional law.

Instead, she’s reshaping the city around her.

Malone is a neighborhood planning project coordinator at MidTown Cleveland Inc., a nonprofit organization that serves a swath of the East Side. Her work touches everything from a tree-planting initiative to public art, including an effort to document graffiti inside the vacant Warner & Swasey Co. complex at East 55th Street and Carnegie Avenue.

She grew up in the city’s Central neighborhood with the language of urban planning in her ears. Her mother, Carol, studied planning in college but ultimately became a public school teacher instead of a practitioner.

“I don’t think too many 5-year-olds wake up and think, ‘I want to be an urban planner one day,’ ” Malone said, laughing. “It was something that I was always familiar with, but I didn’t look at it as a career path.”

Her perspective began to shift during her senior year of high school, when she landed an internship with Burten, Bell, Carr Development Inc. “That’s where I got a tangible understanding of what planning is, what it looks like,” she said of the community development corporation.

After graduating from East Technical High School, she began a pre-law track at Cleveland State University. But she swiftly realized that political science wasn’t her passion.

So Malone changed her major to planning, obtaining first a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree, plus a certificate in geographic information systems.

During graduate school, she secured a public service fellowship through the Cleveland Foundation and found herself at MidTown.

That yearlong assignment led to a full-time job

THE MALONE FILE Ice time: Malone was a competitive figure skater as a child.

Pandemic distraction: Making floral arrangements.

Aspirational list of travel destinations: Athens, Greece, and the Seychelles archipelago.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/SamiraMalone

in a field that she hopes to make less enigmatic for city residents and young people weighing their futures.

“I would like to be part of creating a more direct pipeline for Black and brown students into planning,” Malone said. “One major barrier is just educating people, and specifically Black and brown folks, on the field of planning. Planning is one of those things that is sort of mystified.”

One of Malone’s greatest strengths is her willingness to listen — and to heed what she hears, said Joy Johnson, executive director of Burten, Bell, Carr.

“Even still today, if I give her advice or ask her to participate, she jumps on it and just adds so much value,” Johnson said. “If I reach out to people and say, ‘We need help with this’ — and I may cast it to my entire network — Samira’s on it. Samira’s going to take those opportunities.

And the people are better because Samira is a part of it.”

—Michelle Jarboe

NTHONY MILIA is the first person from his immediate family to attend and graduate from college. He paid for his own education, working multiple jobs while going to school full time at Kent State University.

“None of my family members have ever been to college,” Milia said. “It was kind of frowned upon for me to go off to college because my parTHE MILIA FILE ents did not understand the value behind it, and they saw it more as a risk than in the reward Jobs during college: Car wash salesman, bar for future opportunities.”

After graduating with a degree in entrepre- bouncer, an internship with the Department of neurship and marketing, he started working for Commerce and car detailer. a family-owned business as an export manager Post-pandemic travel: Yellowstone National Park until he got the chance to attend Lehigh University’s Iacocca Global Village for Future Leaders, Famous people he’s met: 50 cent, Ja Rule, life an intensive, five-week program for students coach and author Mel Robbins and Daymond from around the world that teaches business, John of “Shark Tank.” entrepreneurship and leadership skills.

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/AnthonyMilia It was a big leap for the self-proclaimed introR A I N ’ S C L E V E L A N D B U S I N E S S | S E P T E M B E R 3 - 9 , 2 018 | PA G E 21 vert to step out ofChis comfort zone.

“I just felt like this was my opportunity to do firm that works with Ritz-Carlton, Chick-fil-A, something,” Milia said. “I was not good at pub- Starbucks and John Robert’s Spa, refers to Milia lic speaking. I had to get in front of 90 people as his “external chief marketing officer.”

“The highest compliment I could give Anthofrom other countries who spoke multiple languages. I had to lead teams while I was there. I ny, besides he's one of those young marketing had to dance in front of people, all things that minds that you need in his field, is that so many of our employees from across our brands thinks introverts don’t do,” he said.

The experience had such a profound effect he works at our company,” DiJulius said.

DiJulius appreciates Milia because he brings that two days after he returned from the program, Milia quit his job and started his own dig- the “best of both worlds” to his work in the rapidly changing world of marketing. ital marketing business.

“He has the professionalism of an adult and “It all clicked for me. I was 22 years old, and it was the best time for me to start a business, to fail yet the understanding of someone not old,” Difast,” he said. “I quit with the intention of starting Julius said.

Milia doesn’t restrict his work to his busimy marketing firm and not having a plan B, beness, either. He serves on the board of directors cause I knew if did I would not work as hard.”

It will be five years in September since he of the Twinsburg Chamber of Commerce. He started Milia Marketing. The company’s grown also has been involved in Project Learning significantly with a client base that includes For- Around the World and with the Young Entretune 500 companies. Client Jason DiJulius of the preneurs Institute.

—Kim Palmer DiJulius Group, a customer-service consulting

Maria Paparella, 23

Advertising Section

CLASSIFIEDS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Chair-ity Inc.

F

OR MOST HIGH SCHOOL students, it’s enough to have to worry about juggling schoolwork, classes and extracurriculars.

But Maria Paparella in high school started an initiative that’s now a full-fledged nonprofit and her life’s work. She runs Chair-ity Inc., which provides furniture and household goods to youth who age out of foster care.

Chair-ity provides services in six counties to young people who often have little to no support system other than social services. The nonprofit’s goal is to ease the transition and create a place called home.

Paparella’s vision for Chair-ity was born during her childhood. She grew up in Akron as an only child but surrounded by a large, loving extended family. She longed for a sibling, so her family began thinking of adoption. They began following an agency’s website that highlighted kids who needed homes. There, Paparella found who she thought would be a “perfect sister.” In the end, though, her family decided to remain a unit of three. Still, Paparella never forgot the girl, often checking the website for her status.

As years passed, Paparella started to think about the bigger picture: What would happen when the girl reached 18?

Not satisfied with the answers her parents provided, Paparella, then a teen attending Western Reserve Academy, reached out to Summit County Children Services. From them, she learned that social services help aged-out foster kids find jobs and apartments, but youth often need support with furniture and setting up a place to live. Without the help of groups like Chair-ity, youth often live in empty apartments until they can afford to buy furniture.

“At the end of that meeting, I decided I need to do something about this,” Paparella said.

Still in high school, she got to work. With help from Chez-Del, a furniture store in Akron that provided storage and trucks, she started to get things off the ground.

“We just started collecting things. Once I had enough where I thought that this could get off its feet, I got back in contact with Summit County Children Services … and we

To place your listing in Crain’s Cleveland Classifieds, contact Ainsley Burgess at 313-446-0455 THE PAPARELLA FILE

or email ainsley.burgess@crain.com

First concert: Zac Brown Band at Blossom.

Quote: “Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Manufacturer Tube Cut-Off For Sale Sales $8.0M Turnaround mike@empirebusinesses.com www.empirebusinessecom 440-461-2202

Hobbies: Cycling, running or hiking on any of the Metropark trails and trying restaurants around Cleveland with friends.

Vacation spot: “I have some family in Italy, who live in a small town called Minturno.”

LinkedIn profile: tinyurl.com/MariaPaparella

started a referral process,” she said.

After graduating Kenyon College, Paparella decided to jump into the endeavor full time. Chair-ity so far has outfitted more than 140 clients and hopes to bring its work to every county in Ohio. Chair-ity also has expanded to offer job training by hiring aged-out youth.

Those who know Paparella, who maintained Chair-ity through her schooling, applaud her dedication.

“Her passion is palpable. You can see it in her face and in her eyes,” said Cheyenne Boyd, Chair-ity board member.

And Paparella’s “perfect sister?” Paparella was able to help her when she aged out of foster care, though the girl never knew she inspired Chair-ity’s path.

“We were able to serve her. And that was such a special experience,” Paparella said.

—Sue Walton

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING

LIST YOUR AD TODAY

JUNE 7, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 19

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6/4/2021 11:48:45 AM

CRAIN'S LIST | HIGHEST-PAID CEOS Ranked by 2020 total compensation COMPANY NET INCOME (MILLIONS)/ 1-YEAR CHANGE

EXECUTIVE TENURE AS CEO

2020 TOTAL COMPENSATION/ 1-YEAR CHANGE

SALARY/ BONUS

STOCK AWARDS/ OPTION AWARDS

NON-EQUITY INCENTIVES/ PENSION VALUE CHANGE

1

KEVIN M. STEIN/TransDigm Group Inc. April 2018 - present

$22,060,463 67.9%

$991,563 —

— $7,460,000

— —

$13,608,900 1

$699.0 -21.46%

2

THOMAS L. WILLIAMS/Parker Hannifin Corp.

February 2015 - present

$18,862,861 8.0%

$1,159,375 —

$5,350,280 $2,992,950

$3,230,087 $5,986,427

$143,742

$1,206.3 -20.23%

3

C. LOURENCO GONCALVES/Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. August 2014 - present

$18,511,405 15.2%

$1,810,016 $3,800,000

$4,127,534 —

$7,472,000 $684,898

$616,957

($122.0) —

4

CRAIG ARNOLD/Eaton June 2016 - present

$17,473,747 -12.5%

$1,116,346 $1,080,000

$8,514,256 $2,517,413

— $4,082,258

$163,474

$1,410.0 -36.23%

5

RICHARD J. KRAMER/Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. April 2010 - present

$16,003,113 -5.7%

$1,218,750 —

$1,757,495 $1,970,000

$6,156,200 $4,777,795

$122,873

($1,254.0) —

6

JOHN G. MORIKIS/The Sherwin-Williams Co. January 2018 - present

$15,323,284 3.2%

$1,339,000 $0

$5,742,396 $3,904,509

$3,776,000 $0

$561,379

$2,030.4 31.73%

7

S. TRICIA GRIFFITH/Progressive Corp.

July 2016 - present

$15,220,523 8.4%

$980,770 —

$9,500,037 —

$4,707,694 —

$32,022

$5,704.6 43.68%

8

BETH E. MOONEY/KeyCorp May 2011 - May 2020

$11,512,891 19.1%

$455,366 $833,000

$9,599,972 —

— $2,746

$621,807

$1,343.0 -21.78%

9

RICHARD G. KYLE/The Timken Co. May 2014 - present

$11,264,263 -5.2%

$843,093 —

$4,421,376 —

$974,914 $4,448,000

$576,880

$284.5 -21.43%

10

MARK T. SMUCKER/The J.M. Smucker Co. May 2016 - present

$10,728,961 33.2%

$1,004,616 $20,200

$3,333,129 $1,111,000

$1,295,325 $3,898,568

$66,123

$779.5 51.54%

11

CHARLES E. JONES JR./FirstEnergy Corp.

January 2012 - October 2020

$10,066,956 -31.4%

$944,997 $0

$6,028,833 —

$0 $2,988,951

$104,175

$1,079.0 18.31%

12

FRANK C. SULLIVAN/RPM International Inc. October 2002 - present

$9,183,765 9.4%

$970,125 $0

$3,899,620 $2,876,000

$1,075,000 $171,397

$191,623

$304.4 14.19%

13

DAVID R. LUKES/Site Centers Corp.

March 2017 - present

$8,555,564 28.8%

$865,128 $972,000

$6,013,999 —

$648,000 —

$56,437

$35.7 -64.53%

14

SCOTT W. DRAKE/ViewRay Inc. July 2018 - present

$7,141,971 28.6%

$725,000 —

$5,735,856 —

$677,989 —

$3,126

($107.9) —

15

CHRISTOPHER L. MAPES/Lincoln Electric Holdings December 2012 - present

$7,077,536 1.4%

$1,000,000 —

$2,583,316 $1,333,335

$1,868,760 $100,170

$191,955

$206.1 -29.68%

16

ROBERT M. PATTERSON/Avient Corp.

May 2014 - present

$7,009,374 14.8%

$1,084,615 —

$1,732,974 $1,401,423

$2,654,640 —

$135,722

$131.6 -77.64%

17

WALTER M. ROSEBROUGH JR./Steris October 2007 - present 2

$6,485,640 8.4%

$915,000 —

$1,388,688 $2,579,110

$1,558,947 —

$16,895

$407.6 34.06%

18

MATTHEW E. MONAGHAN/Invacare Corp.

April 2015 - present

$6,460,240 -22.5%

$906,127 —

$4,310,468 —

$1,200,280 —

$43,365

($28.3) —

19

CHRISTOPHER M. GORMAN/KeyCorp May 2020 - present 3

$5,890,655 18.2%

$927,692 —

$2,879,987 $320,000

$1,710,000 $25,425

$27,551

$1,343.0 -21.78%

20

STEVEN E. STRAH/FirstEnergy Corp.

October 2020 - present 4

$5,792,232 -4.0%

$776,058 $0

$1,614,667 —

$852,146 $2,527,603

$21,758

$1,079.0 18.31%

21

PETER T. THOMAS/Ferro Corp.

April 2013 - present

$5,424,152 8.9%

$1,000,000 —

$2,336,544 $1,003,200

$825,000 $74,570

$184,838

$42.8 608.83%

22

SUNDARAM NAGARAJAN/Nordson Corp.

August 2019 - present

$5,350,475 251.1%

$882,692 —

$2,092,522 $1,628,219

$353,077 $290,917

$103,048

$249.5 -25.97%

23

GERRARD B. SCHMID/Diebold Nixdorf Inc. February 2018 - present

$5,312,150 -17.8%

$950,000 —

$1,629,598 $1,543,755

$1,133,160 —

$55,637

($269.1) —

24

ROBERT G. RUHLMAN/Preformed Line Products Co. July 2000 - present

$5,155,604 7.5%

$925,008 —

$2,433,539 —

$1,017,509 —

$779,548

$29.8 27.89%

25

MATTHEW V. CRAWFORD/Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.

May 2018 - present 5

$5,154,783 -21.4%

$437,500 $300,000

$3,182,660 $0

$1,132,917 $15,908

$85,798

($4.5) —

26

MARC A. STEFANSKI/TFS Financial Corp.

1998 - present

$4,729,853 -0.4%

$1,500,000 —

$798,304 —

$1,875,000 $282,237

$274,312

$83.3 3.84%

27

NEIL A. SCHRIMSHER/Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. October 2011 - present

$4,707,804 4.8%

$864,275 —

$2,131,751 $609,782

$942,921 $0

$159,075

$24.0 -83.3%

28

JEROME P. GRISKO JR./CBIZ Inc. March 2016 - present

$3,788,636 -1.5%

$884,375 —

$934,339 $934,339

$810,648 —

$224,935

$78.3 10.73%

29

JONATHAN M. PERTCHIK/TravelCenters of America Inc. December 2019 - present

$3,740,875 524.9%

$300,000 $1,600,000

$1,690,300 —

— —

$150,575

($13.9) —

30

WADE D. MIQUELON/Joann Inc. February 2019 - present 6

$3,732,918 —

$825,000 $337,261

— $90,012

$2,475,000 —

$5,645

($546.6) —

RANK

OTHER

S&P Global Market Intelligence (spglobal.com/marketintelligence) and Chuck Soder (csoder@crain.com) | Net income is income attributable to ordinary shareholders. Pension value change figures include nonqualified deferred

compensation. To appear on this list an executive must have served as CEO of a local public company at some point during 2020. NOTES: 1. In 2020 TransDigm awarded large dividend equivalent payments to executives, which appear in the "Other" column. TransDigm makes those payments to optionholders whenever it declares a dividend. 2. Rosebrough is scheduled to step down as CEO on July 29, 2021. 3. Gorman previously served as president and chief operating officer as well as chairman and CEO of KeyBank, the company's banking subsidiary. 4. Strah served as acting CEO from October 2020 to March 2021. He previously served as president. 5. Crawford added the title of president in June 2019. 6. Miquelon was named interim president and CEO in October 2018.

Get all 52 CEOs and historical compensation data in Excel. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data 20 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | JUNE 7, 2021

P020_CL_20210607.indd 20

6/4/2021 12:44:31 PM

DATA SCOOP

Local CEOs got smaller raises, if any, in 2020

BY CHUCK SODER

their total compensation.

But CEO pay increases were still 2020 was not a year of big pay in- muted in 2020, even when you take crease for CEOs of local public com- out those outliers. Median compensation grew by 3.15% in 2020 for panies, no matter how you slice it.

And we sliced it a few different CEOs serving through both 2019 and 2020, which by a thin margin is ways.

Total compensation for the 52 the smallest increase since at least chief executives on the full digital 2016, when Crain’s started compilversion of our Highest-Paid CEOs ing median compensation data from list grew a mere 0.3% in 2020, and it previous versions of the list. Average actually fell 1.9% when you narrow it compensation grew by just 1.28%, down to the 41 CEOs who held the which is by far the smallest increase position through both 2019 and during that time.

CEOs in other parts of the country 2020. That same group saw a 16.7% had a better year, at least at larger pay increase in 2019.

Granted, combined compensa- firms.

The average CEO on the S&P 500 tion statistics from this list, which is saw total compensation rise 5% in 2020, accordTOTAL COMPENSATION FOR THE 52 ing to the annual Equilar | AP CEO Pay Study, CHIEF EXECUTIVES ON THE LIST which looked at 342 exGREW A MERE 0.3% IN 2020. ecutives who served for two consecutive years. built with data compiled by S&P They received less in the way of salaGlobal Market Intelligence, can fluc- ry and cash bonuses in 2020 but tuate quite a bit from year to year, in more than made up for it in other some cases because a few highly payment categories, such as stock paid executives saw huge changes in and stock options.

Annual pay change for CEOs of local public companies Median

Average

Combined compensation

40%

30

20

10

3.2% 1.3%

0 -1.9% -10

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

NOTE: INCLUDES CEOS SERVING THROUGH LISTED YEAR AND PREVIOUS YEAR. SOURCE: S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Although CEOs on our list didn’t quite keep up with their counterparts elsewhere in 2020, they still make a good living, especially the ones near the top of the list.

In the top spot is TransDigm

Group CEO Kevin Stein, who brought in $22.1 million in 2020, up 67.9% from 2019. What caused that jump? In January 2020, before COVID-19 started wreaking havoc on the economy, the aerospace

parts manufacturer paid out the biggest special dividend in company history. That gave Stein an extra $13.6 million in the “Other” category.

The pandemic had a more direct impact on other executives.

For instance, Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman saw his total compensation fall 67.1% in 2020. It could’ve been worse, though. Like some companies, Cedar Fair altered its executive compensation program in response to the pandemic, which forced its amusement parks to close and made its original performance goals “impossible to achieve for reasons unrelated to management’s performance,” according to the company’s 2021 proxy statement.

Thus, Cedar Fair established a new stock award program designed to encourage executives “to preserve liquidity, manage cash burn and position the company for postCOVID-19 success and long-term sustainability,” the proxy stated.

Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com, (216) 771-5374, @ChuckSoder

THE WEEK LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: Bedrock, the Detroit-based owner of the shopping mall at Tower City, is marketing “pop-up experiences” at the vacancy-plagued property. A flyer distributed to retail brokers this month promotes leasing opportunities tied to the upcoming Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions in October and the NBA All-Star Game, set for February.

Both events will take place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which is linked to the mall by an indoor walkway. The pitch, long on promotional language but short on details, is raising questions about Bedrock’s broader strategy for the mall. Sources confirmed to Crain’s that Ken Till, hired in early 2018 to oversee Bedrock’s projects in Cleveland, is no longer with the company. And the status of CityBlock, a proposed reimagining of the mall as an entrepreneurship hub, is unclear.

Bedrock would not answer questions about Till’s departure, the pop-up retail promotion or its overarching vision for the mall and riverfront land behind it. A spokeswoman for the company, part of billionaire Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures family of businesses, also declined to discuss the roles that a Florida-based retail leasing coach and a Massachusetts real estate developer are playing in the project.

CHANGING HANDS: Streetsboro Crossing, a Portage County shopping center anchored by a Giant Eagle store, changed hands in a $10.5 million deal. JLL Capital Markets announced the sale on Tuesday, June 1, but did not name the buyer.

The all-cash transaction, involving a Delaware Statutory Trust investment structure, didn’t show up immediately in public records. The seller was an affiliate of Pine Tree, a Chicago-area retail landlord that had owned the property for only two years. Pine Tree paid $7.9 million for the property in May 2019, records show. Located at 1280 Ohio 303, Streetsboro Crossing spans 89,436 square feet and is nearly 94% leased,

according to JLL, which represented the seller.

DISCOUNT PRICE: In a transaction that says much about hotels starting to shake off pandemic woes, the 147room Four Points by Sheraton Cleveland Airport, located at 4181 W. 150th St. in Cleveland, sold for $3.8 million, a 21% discount from the $4.8 million price the seller paid for it six years ago, according to Cuyahoga County land records. NexGen Hotels, an Itasca, Ill.based hotel owner and operator, announced on Wednesday, June 2, that it had made the Sheraton hotel the 11th property in its portfolio. The full-service hotel with a restaurant, meeting space and 147 rooms attracted NexGen because of its location near the regional airport, an I-71 interchange and downtown attractions, the company said. The seller, Cleveland Star Real Estate Investment LLC, based in Schaumburg, Ill., acquired the hotel in November 2014, county records show. The hotel was renovated recently. Cuyahoga County assigned the building a market value of $4.8 million for property tax purposes.

TEAMWORK: Two Akron institutions are teaming up for a new scholarship program. The Goodyear Foundation is awarding $1.6 million to the University of Akron to launch what has been dubbed “The Driving Opportunity Scholars Program.” The money will support 15 full undergraduate tuition scholarships over the next three years.

The first group of five freshmen will begin this fall. Officials said students selected for the initiative will “represent a wider range of underrepresented communities in the workplace.”

Some of the factors that will be considered in the application and award process include a preferred 3.0 or higher high school GPA, being a first-generation college student, and coming from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background. Applicants also will have to submit an essay and a one-minute video, along with completing an interview.

Solon High School received a 2021 Gold Medal National Ranking and ranked #1 in Greater Cleveland and Top 5 in Ohio.

NestleUSA Research & Development Center

Parks and Recreation 10 tennis courts, 4 pickleball courts, 10 baseball fields, playground areas, two sand volleyball courts and a full-sized basketball court. Additionally, the Park offers a walking path/fitness trail and a large pavilion. Plus, 1,200 acres of Cleveland Metroparks.

Theatrical and orchestral performances and theater, art, dance and musical programming and exhibitions.

Community Center

Indoor and outdoor pools, gymnasium, jogging track, meeting and banquet rooms, aerobics studio, free weight room, rock climbing wall and a fitness area.

Solon Business Community Home to 900 businesses from large corporations to our favorite mom-and-pop shops and 60 restaurants that cover every craving. Solon’s economy is perfectly suited for new and expanding businesses. Contact ashaker@solonohio.org for business development needs.

VISIT

W W W .S O LO NO HIO .O R G JUNE 7, 2021 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 21

UNEMPLOYED

From Page 4

Policy Matters reports that 80% of unemployed Ohioans re-entered the workforce before exhausting unemployment benefits in the fourth quarter of 2020 — suggesting most Ohioans choose to work when good work is there.

Studies show those who have left the labor force since the pandemic have done so for reasons including issues with health or due to caring for children, elders or the sick. Others, like those in service industries laid off during the pandemic, have taken to work in other fields.

The idea that jobless individuals are simply not working because of an additional $600 or $300 in unemployment benefits has been disputed in research from Yale University and The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, among others.

Bill Adams, a senior economist for

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine | COLUMBUS DISPATCH

PNC Financial Services, said there is “no simple” answer to the question of whether the economy benefits more or less from the additional unemployment benefits.

Mark Votruba, chair of the economics department at Weatherhead School of Management, expressed a

similar position.

On one hand, unemployed individuals will have $300 less in their pocket each pay period. On the other, he said, there are “macro-level multiple effects” that come with those people working instead of collecting unemployment.

“When a worker goes back to their job, the full value of their productivity isn’t just the amount in their paycheck,” Votruba said. “They are contributing to the success of the business, which is creating profits and revenue for other people.”

This position may assume there are jobs the unemployed are willing or able to take. Some argue there is not a labor shortage, but a good jobs shortage.

‘A lifeline for many Ohioans’ Data show there was a surge in new business startups in several states as these additional unemployment benefits and other federal stimulus programs have been available during the

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

pandemic, according to the National Bureau for Economic Research. That surge was strongest in Black communities.

As for Ohio itself, according to figures from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, there was a 31% increase in new business filings in 2020. That’s a notable spike from previous years, which saw annual increases in total filings of 4.3% in 2019 and 6.6% in 2018.

Ohio also surpassed 20,000 new filings in April (22,176 in total) for the first time in state history.

These filings do not guarantee a newly filed business entity will begin or has begun operations, be profitable or create jobs. Yet, it’s the best read for now on what new business activity might look like.

Rob Nichols, spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State, said the office does not have a position on whether unemployment assistance or federal stimulus programs have played a role in those increases.

Groups such as the Ohio Organiz-

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

ENGINEERING / CONSULTING

NONPROFITS

NONPROFITS

thunder::tech

Technical Assurance

thunder::tech is proud to welcome Kate Pixler as Senior Account Manager.

Kate brings decades of experience marketing in the institution, tourism and nonprofit sectors and most recently helped grow Imagination Station in Toledo to a top Northwest Ohio entertainment destination. Her years of experience building brands and adapting them to a connected world will help thunder::tech’s clients accelerate their growth. Kate will remain based out of Toledo while managing clients nationally.

Technical Assurance, Inc. hired Kurtis Taylor, PE as Director of Building Envelope Engineering Services and as a member of the Company’s Leadership Group. Kurtis brings 14 years of structural engineering experience and value to our building envelope consulting team. He is a licensed professional engineer and will be responsible for leading Technical Assurance’s vertical façade and parking garage service delivery teams.

Community Assessment & Treatment Services

First Year Cleveland, a program of Case Western Reserve University

Jeremy Bell joined Tober Building Company in 2021 and serves as an Asst.

Superintendent on $15MM+ projects. He has fifteen years of experience as a Carpenter and Foreman.

He leads through experience, overseeing projects, analyzing blueprints, managing material and teams, and working with project executives. Jeremy specializes in installing interior systems, complex ceiling grid patterns, and barrel ceilings along with key knowledge with concrete formwork, framing, and general trades management.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Ancora Ancora is happy to announce that Mr. Matt D’Anniballe, CPA has joined the firm as Controller. Matt will be responsible for the planning, directing and coordinating of all day-to-day accounting functions. Prior to joining Ancora, Matt served as an accounting manager at The Siegfried Group after beginning his career at Plante Moran in 2011. Matt earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting as well as a Master of Science in Accounting degree, both from The University of Toledo.

Community Assessment & Treatment Services (CATS), a Cleveland based, nonprofit substance abuse & mental health treatment Ensley facility, has promoted Gregory A. Ensley to the position of CFO. Greg has more than 20 years of accounting experience specializing in small businesses & nonprofits and has been with the agency since 2018. Gregory is a graduate of Alabama State University & has spent the past year mentoring under CEO, John Scalish to prepare for his promotion.

Brigitte Fields, MBA, M. Ed has been promoted to Director of Human Resources at CATS after serving as HR Manager since Fields 2019. She brings 20+ years of experience in HR, focusing on nonprofits. Brigitte has an MBA from Meyers University, an M.Ed. from CSU and is a dynamic addition to the agency.

NOMINATIONS OPEN

Katrice Cain, MA has been named First Year Cleveland’s Interim Executive Director. She has been instrumental in leading efforts and expanding partnerships to improve birth outcomes in Cuyahoga County. With over ten years of experience in addressing health disparities, she has led the design and implementation of research, programs, and educational tools. Katrice is pursuing a Doctor of Public Health degree, with a concentration in Health Equity and Social Justice, at Johns Hopkins University.

Crain’s Sept. 27 print

NEW GIG? Preserve your career change for years to come.

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

Advertising Section

ADVERTISING / MARKETING

CONSTRUCTION

ing Collaborative are fighting for the Buckeye State to continue providing the federal jobless benefits through at least September because of the challenges many unemployed still face and the economic good supporting them may bring.

“The $300 benefit has been a lifeline for many Ohioans, particularly Black and brown people, putting much-needed money in their pockets so they can provide for their families and help keep the economy afloat,” said OOC unemployment coordinator Kalia Johnson in a statement. “We are far from recovered from the COVID-19 recession. Pulling the unemployment compensation supplement ignores the challenges thousands of Ohioans still face, when there’s more than 295,000 fewer jobs in the state, people still waiting for child care to become available, and the only jobs available are low wage.”

NOMINATION DEADLINE:

JULY 1

Laura Picariello Reprints Sales Manager lpicariello@crain.com (732) 723-0569

te

ina

nom m/

co nd.

la leve c s in

cra

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Every year, Crain’s Cleveland Business salutes a group of inspiring women whose dedication and achievements enrich Northeast Ohio, its institutions and its people. This year, join us virtually as we celebrate and learn from the extraordinary female business leaders in the 2021 class of Women of Note!

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Publisher Mike Schoenbrun (216) 771-5174 or mike.schoenbrun@crain.com Executive editor Elizabeth McIntyre (216) 771-5358 or emcintyre@crain.com Group publisher Jim Kirk (312) 397-5503 or jkirk@crain.com Managing editor Scott Suttell (216) 771-5227 or ssuttell@crain.com Assistant managing editor Sue Walton (330) 802-4615 or swalton@crain.com Web editor Damon Sims (216) 771-5279 or dasims@crain.com Assistant editor Kevin Kleps (216) 771-5256 or kkleps@crain.com Senior data editor Chuck Soder (216) 771-5374 or csoder@crain.com Cartoonist Rich Williams REPORTERS

INTRODUCING THE 2021 WOMEN OF NOTE! Ayonna Blue Donald

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Associate Director, Associate Professor Case Western Reserve University, Center for Community Health Integration

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President and CEO East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp, member of Cuyahoga County Council

Director, Department of Building and Housing City of Cleveland

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