FOCUS | COLLEGE SPORTS Athletic directors at schools large and small are adapting sports programs to blunt pandemic’s pain. PAGE 10
NOTABLE IMMIGRANT LEADERS: 20 who are blooming where they’re replanted. PAGES 13-21
CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I AUGUST 31, 2020
HEALTH CARE
INSURING A NEW MARKET Cleveland Clinic sets sights on employers with Aetna partnership
Since entering the insurance market in 2017, Cleveland Clinic has vastly expanded its offerings.
BY LYDIA COUTRÉ
Following the success of its two other co-branded insurance offerings for individuals and seniors, Cleveland Clinic in August announced it would partner with Aetna, a CVS Health Company, to create another insurance plan, this time for employers.
In addition to launching a co-branded insurance plan, Cleveland Clinic and Aetna are planning to expand their relationship nationwide, form an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model and deploy Cleveland Clinic’s Cardiac Center of Excellence program to Aetna plan sponsors.
Cleveland Clinic first entered the insurance market with a product bearing its name in 2017. That summer, it announced it would offer individual health plans in collaboration with New York City-based Oscar Health. Months later, it announced a partnership with Humana Inc. to offer Medicare Advantage plans.
“The employer group space was one of the large remaining segments of the business that we did not have a co-branded product in,” said Wes Wolfe, executive director for marketing network services at Cleveland Clinic. See CLINIC on Page 23
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
MANUFACTURING
JumpStart to step in for BioEnterprise
Buyers Products doubling warehouse space in Mentor
Nonprofit that supported young biotech firms has scaled back its services BY JAY MILLER
A significant portion of the work of BioEnterprise Corp., the Cleveland nonprofit that has supported young biotechnology companies and that sharply curtailed its services in the spring, is being taken over by JumpStart Inc., another non-
“WE ARE CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THOSE HEALTH CARE ENTREPRENEURS.” — Jerry Frantz, JumpStart’s chief investing and services officer
NEWSPAPER
VOL. 41, NO. 32 l COPYRIGHT 2020 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
profit that supports a broader range of entrepreneurs. JumpStart’s chief investing and services officer, Jerry Frantz, told Crain’s on Wednesday, Aug. 26, that the two organizations have always worked collaboratively — JumpStart actually oversees the state funding of BioEnterprise and other economic development nonprofits — and that JumpStart, and other local organizations with biotech interests, will step in to replace the assistance and advice BioEnterprise offered to young medical and health care businesses. BioEnterprise was created in 2002, while JumpStart started in 2004. “We are continuing to support those health care entrepreneurs,” Frantz said. See JUMPSTART on Page 25
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Truck products company announces plans for 280,000-square-foot, $40 million expansion BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY
CEO Mark Saltzman wants Buyers Products Co. to be the Amazon of its industry, getting the truck products its customers need to them as fast as possible. The Mentor-based company makes products such as toolboxes, salt spreaders and snow plows. The family business has been around since 1946, having gotten its start selling Army surplus products and growing over time to sell other products to its customers, many of whom were making work vehicles such as dump and tow trucks. In
the 1990s, Buyers Products realized it needed to make its own products to really compete nationally, Saltzman said. An acquisition got it started down that path. Today, Buyers Products sells everything from towing products to tarp systems to snow pushers. The company doesn’t share annual revenue, but it employs about 1,100 individuals, about 200 of whom work at its distribution center and company headquarters in Mentor. And the company is embarking on a large expansion there. See EXPANSION on Page 23
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TURNING PASSION INTO PURPOSE W I T H C L EV E L A N D F O U N D AT I O N O R G A N I Z AT I O NA L F UND PA R T NE R S
Investing in our Community’s Greatest Potential ORGANIZATIONAL FUND PARTNER
ARTS & CULTURE Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra Art House, Inc. Artists Archives of the Western Reserve BAYarts Cleveland Arts Prize Cleveland International Film Festival Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra Cleveland Play House Cleveland Pops Orchestra Cleveland Public Theatre Collective Arts Network (CAN) Credo Music DANCECleveland Dobama Theatre Fine Arts Association Great Lakes Science Center Heights Arts MEFGOX - Mid-Eastern Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa) Musical Theater Project Near West Theatre Polish-American Cultural Center Rabbit Run Community Arts Association Scottish-American Cultural Society Singing Angels SPACES The City Club of Cleveland The Music Settlement The Singers’ Club of Cleveland Union Club Foundation Zygote Press
EDUCATION Alpha Omega Foundation America SCORES Cleveland American Orff-Schulwerk Association Andrews Osborne Academy Assad Abood Foundation Bay Village Educational Foundation Bay Village Public Schools Alumni Foundation Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation Breakthrough Schools - Initiatives in Urban Education Foundation Business Volunteers Unlimited Cadiz Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, Inc. Cleveland Hungarian Development Panel Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank Cleveland Leadership Center Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation College Club of Cleveland Foundation Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Early Childhood Enrichment Center, Inc. Esperanza Inc. Euclid Public Library Foundation Euclid Schools Foundation Family Connections of Northeast Ohio Foundation Center Friendly Inn Settlement, Inc. Friends of Breakthrough Schools Friends of Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library
The Cleveland Foundation is proud to partner with the organizations listed here that have established funds to support their long-term mission, enhance our nonprofit landscape and present numerous giving opportunities for caring donors. To learn more about how you can help a nonprofit establish an Organizational Fund, or to contribute to a fund listed here, visit www.ClevelandFoundation.org/OrgFund and follow #CLEFund for updates throughout the year.
Fund for the Future of Heights Libraries Harvey Alumni Association Hawken School IPM (International Partners in Mission) Kiwanis Foundation of Cleveland, Inc. Lake/Geauga Educational Assistance Foundation (LEAF) Leadership Geauga County Mayfield Business Alliance Metro Catholic School National Black MBA Association, Cleveland Chapter Nature Center at Shaker Lakes Northern Ohio International Dyslexia Association Polonia Foundation of Ohio, Inc. Reaching Heights, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Schools Foundation Saint Edward High School Say Yes Cleveland Scholarship, Inc. Shaker Heights Public Library South Suburban Montessori Association Spirit of Geneva Scholarship Fund The Adhesion Society The Andy Nowacki Foundation, Inc. The Educational Gift Fund of the Woman’s Club of Chagrin Valley The Literacy Cooperative The Union of Poles Boosters and Sports Committee Inc. United Macedonian Diaspora Zeta Omega Scholarship Fund Inc
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Adoption Network Cleveland American Society of Andrology Association of Indian Physicians of Northern Ohio Blossom Hill Foundation Circle Health Services Cleveland Eye Bank Foundation Cleveland Rape Crisis Center Cornerstone of Hope Creative Living for Life, Inc. Crossroads Deepwood Foundation Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center East End Neighborhood House Euclid Hunger Center Family Planning Association of Northeast Ohio, Inc. Front Steps Housing and Services Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland & East Central Ohio, Inc. Greater Cleveland Food Bank Hattie Larlham Foundation Healthnetwork Foundation HELP Foundation, Inc. Hopewell Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland Lake County Council On Aging Lake Humane Society Lake-Geauga Habitat for Humanity Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Greater Cleveland Lifebanc Lifeline, Inc.
Linking Employment, Abilities and Potential (LEAP) Long Term Care Ombudsman Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Magnolia Clubhouse Make-A-Wish Foundation of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana MedWish International Medworks Merrick House Milestones Autism Resources NAMI Greater Cleveland New Avenues to Independence New Directions North Coast Community Homes Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buckeye Chapter PeopleBeatingCancer Phillis Wheatley Association of Cleveland Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio Prayers from Maria Foundation Ravenwood Mental Health Center Recovery Resources Red Tulip Project of Geauga Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland Scarborough House, Inc. Shoes and Clothes for Kids Stella Maris Stewart’s Caring Place The Carter Nedley Foundation The Center for Community Solutions The Lakewood Foundation The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness The Salvation Army - Greater Cleveland Area Services The Up Side of Downs Transplant House of Cleveland United Way Services of Geauga County Ursuline Piazza Volunteers of America Greater Ohio Womankind Inc. WomenSafe, Inc. Zonta Club of Cleveland
HISTORY & PRESERVATION Bedford Historical Society Canalway Partners Cleveland Grays Armory Museum East Cleveland Township Cemetery Foundation Geauga County Historical Society Intermuseum Conservation Association Lake County Historical Society Muktabodha Indological Research Institute Siegel & Shuster Society The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad The Lakewood Historical Society Western Reserve Historical Society
NEIGHBORHOODS, COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Bay Village Foundation Bellaire-Puritas Development Corporation Burton-Middlefield Rotary Club Cleveland Metroparks Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority
Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization Downtown Cleveland Alliance Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation Famicos Foundation Foundation for Geauga Parks Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Historic Gateway Neighborhood Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation of Cleveland JumpStart Inc. LakewoodAlive League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland MidTown Cleveland Painesville Community Improvement Corporation Princeton Alumni Association Northern Ohio Project Hope for the Homeless Tremont West Development Corporation Union Miles Development Corporation University Circle, Inc. Western Reserve Junior Service League Western Reserve Land Conservancy Westlake Porter Public Library Foundation
ENVIRONMENT & RECREATION Cleveland Championship 2000 Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park Green Ribbon Coalition Ohio Environmental Council The Great Geauga County Fair Foundation
RELIGION Antioch Baptist Church Bethany Baptist Church Building Hope in the City Cleveland Church of Christ Citadel of Hope Ministries East View United Church of Christ Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America Forest Hill Presbyterian Church Lee Memorial Endowment Incorporated Olivet Institutional Baptist Church Saint James A.M.E. Church St. Paul A.M.E Church Chaplain Partnership The Word Church
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Cleveland Sight Center Dress for Success Forum for Volunteer Administrators Geauga Growth Partnership NewBridge Cleveland Center for Arts & Technology United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland, Inc. Vocational Guidance Services
YOUTH Aiki Extensions, Inc. First Tee of Cleveland Ginn Foundation Girl Scouts of North East Ohio Youth Challenge
To learn more about giving through the Cleveland Foundation, please call 216-685-2006.
HEALTH CARE
Organizations unite to address social determinants of health MetroHealth’s partnership with Unite Us establishes platform to meet ‘unmet needs’ of patients BBY LYDIA COUTRÉ
With so many factors contributing to patients’ health, providers often refer them to various community-based organizations to support their needs around housing, transportation, employment, food access and more. A doctor might offer an after-visit summary with some phone numbers, but the burden to follow up is typically on the patient, meaning many fall through the cracks. With 80% of health determined by factors outside of hospitals and clinical care, MetroHealth wanted a more coordinated way to connect patients to resources. “We really want to be more proactive,” said Brant Silvers, principal, clinical transformation at MetroHealth’s Institute for H.O.P.E. (Health, Opportunity, Partnership and Empowerment.) Earlier this summer, MetroHealth announced it would partner with New York-based technology company Unite Us to implement a platform to connect health systems, social service organizations and government agencies. The platform, Unite Ohio, launches in September and will support a network of referrals not just from the hospital to local agencies, but between all organizations in the network. In addition to facilitating refer-
rals, the platform can also track outcomes and services delivered, measure organizations’ impact and offer a range of data on service delivery. The Institute for H.O.P.E. will help onboard agencies, develop networks and analyze data. Cook “They do phenomenal work, care very deeply about eradicating health disparities and really connecting folks to services that can address those unmet needs,” said Sheeba Ibidunni, director of network development at Unite Us, which supports networks in about 40 states. “They were looking for a solution such as Unite Us to really further the work that they’re already invested in.” Unite Us was selected through a community-wide process led by Better Health Partnership, the Center for Health Affairs, Case Western Reserve University and United Way of Greater Cleveland, as well as other nonprofits and health systems. MetroHealth is currently the sole funder of the network. Its “significant, multiyear” investment — the amount of which the system is not disclosing — will support efforts in Cuyahoga County and make the platform available to local community-based organizations at no cost.
Ibidunni
Silvers
Unite Us hopes to build a network covering the rest of the state with other funding partners in the future. Karen Cook, director of healthy families and thriving communities at the Institute for H.O.P.E., said the goal is to add at least 40 organizations by the late-September launch and grow from there. Silvers said he hopes other health systems will join the network. “MetroHealth is the catalyst in Ohio,” Ibidunni said. “There are other organizations that are very much interested in joining this work as a funding partner and helping to grow and sustain this effort across the entire state.” The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded many of the challenges that individuals face, including safe housing, adequate food, employment, socialization and transportation. “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became that much clearer that we needed some sort of referral
platform like this that could really bring a lot of partners together quickly and coordinate and streamline services,” Silvers said. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank has already signed on as a network partner. Through the platform, staff can identify someone with additional needs, such as housing or transportation, and directly refer them to an agency that can help. “At the food bank, we have said for a long time that hunger is a symptom of another issue,” said Phil Trimble, senior manager of research and program evaluation at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. “So because of that, referrals — both organizations’ ability to make referrals to the food bank and the food bank’s ability to make referrals to other organizations who provide support to people who need — it is incredibly important to our mission and our work.” While at a high level, referring seems like a simple task, the day-today process can be incredibly difficult, he said. Many social service agencies have their own referral forms or information systems. Plus, in the medical world, navigating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act complicates things further. The Unite Us platform will “really
revolutionize” the food bank’s ability to work with hospitals to get referrals, act on them and then let whoever initiated the referral know that the individual received services, Trimble said. Before, the food bank — like many agencies — had no easy way of knowing whether individuals acted upon a recommended referral. The new technology will allow the food bank, MetroHealth and others in the network to “do what they’re best at and provide service” rather than spending time on these administrative functions, he said. As an added benefit, Silvers noted that patients or clients that are receiving support from multiple agencies won’t have to repeat basic information — like address or number of people in a household. Rather, agencies can share that data with one another. Ultimately, the platform will allow MetroHealth and partners to be more intentional with the types of supports it provides, Silvers said. Plus, Cook notes, it can help avoid duplicating services. “We hope that it truly increases our ability to make the right referral at the right time and to have that network of partners in place and ready to take action,” she said. Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre
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TECHNOLOGY
Northeast Ohio’s IT base continues to grow Most jobs are in other industries, but technology is ‘key component to all the growth sectors’ in the region
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Highest share of computer and math occupations, 2019
No one thinks of Northeast Ohio as a tech center comparable to the likes of Seattle or Silicon Valley, but as manufacturing jobs severely contracted in the early 2000s, the region’s economy diversified, and IT was and continues to be an integral part of that change. “As manufacturers stopped producing products here, businesses realized that this is still a really good place to run a company because we have a lot of the wraparound services that make it easy,” said Jacob Duritsky, vice president of research and strategy for Team NEO, a nonprofit economic development organization for the 18-county Northeast Ohio region. “There is a perception that Northeast Ohio does not have an IT base that other markets have, and it’s true that Google is not headquartered here and Twitter is not here, but IT is a key component to all the growth sectors in our region,” he added. According to Team NEO data in a new report, “Navigating the Next Normal: Information Technology Strength,” the IT workforce in Northeast Ohio grew by 18% from 2016 to 2019, from about 39,500 to nearly 47,000. The top five IT positions were not directly related to software or the software development industry and instead were within other industries, including the legal, insurance and hospital sectors. Those jobs make up more than three-quarters of all tech employment overall in the region. “You have these companies whose products may not look like ‘software,’ but they are heavily dependent on technology and IT tools,” Duritsky said. But there is momentum in more purely tech sectors. Duritsky said the “Navigating the Next Normal” report notes that demand for computer and IT workers was second only to health care practitioners in 2019, according to data from Moody’s Analytics. To truly understand the labor market realities in IT in Northeast Ohio, Team NEO and the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s talent arm, RITE, worked collaboratively on drilling down into the specifics of what IT skills companies need — in part by asking what types of projects they plan on investing in over the next few years. A challenge is a dearth of IT candidates, not the type of tech jobs in the region. For the past three years, there have been about 7,700 entry-level IT job openings in the region and only 3,300 people with the appropriate “degree or credentials” graduating from Northeast Ohio’s educational institutions to fill those positions, according to the August 2020 RITE Talent Bulletin published Thursday, Aug. 27, for GCP Tech Week. And Black graduates with postsecondary credentials for computer and IT occupations lag white graduates by a ratio of 13-to-1. “The shortage of IT talent in the region is well known,” said Courtney DeOreo, executive director of RITE and senior director of tech talent at
The 13,300 jobs in the professional, scientific and technical services sector represented more than a quarter — 29% — of the region’s computer and math jobs overall, and 16% of the jobs in the sector. Data processing, hosting and related services Telecommunications Publishing industries Credit intermediation and related activities Hospitals Merchant wholesalers, durable goods Administrative and support services Insurance carriers and related activities Management of companies and enterprises Professional, scientific and technical services 0
2,000
4,000
6,000
SOURCE: TEAM NEO
GCP. “There are skills gaps across the board, but what we have seen more and more is an experience gap.” DeOreo said employers continue to request “quite a bit of experience” when it comes to IT talent. In North-
“THERE ARE SKILLS GAPS ACROSS THE BOARD, BUT WHAT WE HAVE SEEN MORE AND MORE IS AN EXPERIENCE GAP.” — Courtney DeOreo, executive director of RITE and senior director of tech talent at Greater Cleveland Partnership
east Ohio, about 75% to up to 90% of the job openings require three or more years of experience. A pre-COVID-19, RITE/ConxusNEO IT Employer Survey in 2019 showed the region has significant talent deficits in areas of blockchain, the Internet of Things (IOT), development operations and mobile applications — all areas that companies in the region said they plan to
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS GRAPHIC
invest in during the next five years. Companies unable to find local workers with sufficient skills are forced to use more expensive consulting and contractor resources, or look for remote workers. One bright spot, DeOreo said, is that some employers are showing flexibility with strict degree requirements. Team NEO Research Insights found that degree requirements in job postings often are inflated when compared with the degrees obtained by those in the current IT workplace. The vast majority of employers who responded to the 2019 IT Employer Survey indicated that computer science and computer engineering degrees are only somewhat important (63%) or not important at all (21%). “What we are seeing and hearing from the business community is a greater appreciation for the fact that more people are experiencing education in many different ways now,” said Team NEO’s CEO, Bill Koehler. “The business community is more open to different kinds of models, especially in this IT space, and can do a better job of identifying those people with those skills that meet their particular needs.” Employers re-evaluating or relaxing the degree and experience requirement of workers opens up the opportunity for building out an apprentice strategy, with educational institutions or businesses that could help with the skills and experience gap, DeOreo said. “Never before has it been so challenging to predict the future,” she said. “Whether a company is in the business of technology or uses technology to drive its business, it needs to attract the right IT talent.” Kim Palmer: kpalmer@crain.com, (216) 771-5384, @kimfouroffive
4 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | AUGUST 31, 2020
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GOVERNMENT
State employees in Ohio now can opt out of union dues at any time BY KIM PALMER
Organizations looking to curtail mandatory worker representation in Ohio have won another victory in a continued push to defund public sector unions. But organized labor officials contend intensified concerns around employee safety in light of COVID-19 are countering those moves and making unions more attractive to workers. The settlement in Allen v. Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, a case brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, permits state public service workers to opt out of having union “fair share fees” deducted from their pay at any time during the union’s three-year collective bargaining agreement. Before the Allen decision, an employee had to wait for a 30-day window corresponding with the expiration of a three-year union labor agreement to halt dues payments. As a result of the recent settlement, that is no longer the case, and the parties agreed that some of the employees are entitled to refunds. The plaintiff in the case, Jared Allen, sued the union and state of Ohio officials, claiming public-sector unions should refund union dues paid prior to the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which determined those previously mandatory fees were unconstitutional and that government can only de-
National Right to Work Foundation attorney William Messenger addresses the media outside of the U.S. Supreme Court following the 2018 Janus decision, which ruled mandatory union fees unconstitutional. | NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK FOUNDATION
duct union dues or fees with a worker’s affirmative consent. William Messenger, attorney for the Virginia-based National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, considers these mandatory dues an “infringement of workers’ First Amendment rights.” He represented the four state employees in their lawsuit against the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA, AFSCME Council 11) union. “With Allen, anyone can exercise their right to resign their memberships and cut off dues since the Janus decision. Refunds of the dues previously seized from any member’s paycheck, in violation of the Supreme Court decision, will be remitted,” Messenger said. The “win” is one of a handful that organizations like the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation; Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Founda-
tion and the Buckeye Institute, based in Columbus, have had since the Janus decision. After the Janus decision, public sector unions could no longer require workers to pay agency or “fair share fees” as part of the collective bargaining unit. That case upended a previous 1977 decision that said unions could collect “fair share fees” from nonmembers to cover collective bargaining, but not political activity costs. Since Janus, the goal of groups like Messenger’s has been to force unions also to pay back fees collected from nonunion workers. Messenger said about 150 to 200 members of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA) have requested refunds. OCSEA represents about 28,000 state and local government employees, including prison guards and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services employees.
The moves by groups like the one represented by Messenger are a means to “nibble around the edges to defund and defang the unions,” said OCSEA president Christopher Mabe. “We are not seeing a lot of members opting out as a result of this. The number we have hovers around 200 people, which is 0.1%,” Mabe said. “As far as the settlement goes, we see it as just an administrative change.” The OCSEA union members represent state employees in security, regulatory, administrative, direct care, maintenance and customer service. As essential, front-line and first responders, those members are relying on the union to keep them safe, Mabe said. OCSEA has spent about $200,000 on personal protection equipment (PPE) for its essential and front-line members since the COVID-19 pandemic began, he added. The union also bought equipment so members could work remotely and provided 2,000 headsets for workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “We have more people looking to sign up and join the union than trying to get out,” Mabe said. “Now more than ever, workers are seeing the benefit of a union, that we are fighting to make sure people are safe and that contracts are being enforced.” Union membership in the U.S. has been on a precipitous decline. A little more than 10% of all workers belong to a union, down from more than 20% in 1983, according to data from the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, membership rates are considerably higher in the public sector, where more than 33% of workers are part of a union, compared with 6% in the private sector. The highest unionization rates, nearly 34%, are among workers in protective service occupations, like those represented by the OCSEA. Union representation in 2020, before the National Labor Relations Board announced in March that it was suspending all union election activities due to the coronavirus, was actually trending up, with 411 petitions for representation elections filed in the first three months of the year, compared with 324 for the like period in 2019, according to data from the organization. The upswing could just be cyclical, said Ed Morales, a labor and employment attorney who oversaw the collective bargaining negotiations for Cuyahoga County for 20 years. Or, he said, it could be a reaction to expanding workforces in companies where heightened concerns about health and safety may give unions the best opportunity in decades to make inroads with workers. “Unions negotiate hard for safety and welfare issues, and with the coronavirus outbreak, that issue is particularly important to employees,” said Morales, who teaches labor relations at Cleveland State University. Kim Palmer: kpalmer@crain.com, (216) 771-5384, @kimfouroffive
SPONSORED CONTENT
ELITE PROGRAM OFFERS NEEDED BOOST TO MIDMARKET FIRMS BY ANNIE ZALESKI CRAIN’S CONTENT STUDIO-CLEVELAND
Two years ago, when Larry Kidd joined a cohort of London Stock Exchange Group’s ELITE program, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
bring the best experts in to deliver that content to those companies, so businesses that haven’t necessarily had access to that level of expertise previously have now been able to spend two or three hours with a top expert on a particular topic,” Tyler says.
The entrepreneur already had extensive business experience — he had served on multiple boards of directors, including of the nonprofit JobsOhio — and was the founder, president and CEO of a Jackson, Ohio-based staffing company, RSS Staffing. However, Kidd found that the ELITE program’s business development curriculum provided new and insightful perspective on how he could make his company even more successful. “I walked away with quite a bit of good information,” Kidd says. As a result, RSS Staffing embarked on an extensive marketing and rebranding campaign — which included a name change, to :hire — and rewrote its mission, vision and value statements.
“We found this (ELITE) program just to be absolutely wonderful.” Larry Kidd, CEO of Jackson, Ohio-based :hire
THINKING BIGGER Ambitious middle market companies such as :hire are prime candidates to benefit from London Stock Exchange Group’s ELITE program, according to those behind the program. The rigorous initiative not only helps companies streamline and clarify their goals and story — which helps to attract bigger clients and investments, says Thomas Tyler, ELITE’s global head of business development and head of ELITE Americas — but it also enables them to develop a toolkit of skills around talent management, sales and marketing, corporate governance, strategy and innovation. “We are essentially using our convening power to
He adds that while the ELITE program has a time-tested process — and has impressive results to prove it, including $16 billion worth of transaction value — it’s informal enough to be tailored to the individual needs of companies as they expand their network and meet service providers. “It’s symbiotic,” Tyler says. “We’re providing the skills and network at the same time, supporting the companies’ ability to grow as part of ELITE’s global community. Alongside this, of course, is being better able to access capital, if it’s required.”
COMMITMENT TO OHIO London Stock Exchange Group’s ELITE program recently made Cleveland the headquarters of its U.S. arm, which is another boon for the region’s companies. “Having a headquarters here of that caliber just helps in the future as we look to attract more out-of-state — and out-of-country — business growth opportunities to Cleveland,” said Deb Janik, senior vice president, real estate and business development, at the Greater Cleveland Partnership. To that end, ELITE is continuing to recruit Ohio companies, with a Canton cohort currently in progress and cohorts in Cleveland and Youngstown launching in the coming months. Janik stresses that the ELITE program isn’t meant
to supersede the existing regional network of economic development partners, but instead serves as an additional resource to help businesses grow. “They bring a wraparound service to those midmarket companies that gives that next step up in training, business growth and opportunity that we just haven’t had here before,” she says. “We’re not only gaining a headquarters — we’re gaining accessibility to the entire ELITE portfolio and being able to showcase for our Cleveland companies the work they’ve done internationally.” WHOLE NEW WORLD Larry Kidd, for one, found that access to a global network invaluable as he embarked on his own journey of business growth. Prior to officially entering the ELITE cohort, he attended an international meeting of program participants in Milan, Italy.
APPLICATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED Companies that generally perform well in the ELITE program are: ambitious; demonstrate evidence of past growth and future potential; motivated to implement value changes; have desire to obtain funding in the future to accelerate growth; and have credible company management.
While there, he met companies from all over the world that were experiencing the same hiring, funding and marketing challenges that he and other southeastern Ohio companies faced.
ELITE is 12-month engagement during which company leadership (including senior management) make a commitment to participate.
“I thought some of our issues and problems were unique to us, but they truly weren’t,” Kidd says. “They were international.”
ELITE has worked with 23 companies across Ohio, including Jackie O’s Brewery, Big Sandy Superstore, :hire (RSS Staffing), Mee & The Bees Lemonade, The Environmental Flooring Group, Quality Care Construction Inc., Holzer Medical and The ABCD Inc.
Helping middle market companies realize they aren’t alone in facing unique growth challenges might be one of the most important — and valuable — lessons taught by ELITE’s programming. “For startups, there’s government programs, and for larger companies, they have the resources to be able to do what they need to do — or the staff internally to do what they need to do,” Kidd says. “Smaller- (and) medium-sized firms don’t have the capital or the human resources to dedicate to do something like that. We found this (ELITE) program just to be absolutely wonderful.”
Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis for future Ohio cohorts, including in Cleveland and Youngstown. For information, go to www.elite-network. com/ohio/index.html or email eliteusa@ lseg.com.
This advertising-supported section/feature is produced by Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business. The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain’s Content Studio content. 6 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | AUGUST 31, 2020
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DATA SCOOP
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At a combined tally of more than $60 million for the 2020-21 season, Kevin Love and Andre Drummond are Cleveland’s highest-paid athletes. | JASON MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
Browns stars Garrett and Mayfield are notable omissions BY KEVIN KLEPS
LeBron James leaving for the L.A. Lakers has resulted in the Cleveland Cavaliers being a top NBA lottery contender in each of the last two years. The move, while far from ideal for Kevin Love from a competitive standpoint, also has cemented the fivetime All-Star’s place at the top of Crain’s annual look at Cleveland’s highest-paid athletes. (Feel free to put that on your résumé, Kevin.) Love — who signed a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension in July 2018, just a few weeks after James exited the Cavs as a free agent for the second time in eight years — is Cleveland’s top-paid athlete for the third consecutive year. The 32-year-old power forward is scheduled to make $31,258,256 in 2020-21, which will be the second season of a deal that runs through the ’22-23 campaign. Andre Drummond, Love’s frontcourt mate, is No. 2 on the list, which ranks Browns, Cavs and Indians players based on their base salaries. Drummond, the Cavs’ big acquisition at the 2020 trade deadline, has said he will exercise a 2020-21 player option that is worth $28,751,775. The 27-year-old center is entering the fifth season of a five-year, $127.2 million deal he signed with the Detroit Pistons. The top 35 salaries that are included in the print version of the list feature 13 Browns players, and 11 each from the Cavs and Indians. The digital version of the list, which is available to Crain’s Data Members, ranks the 49 players who have salaries of at least $1 million in the current (in the cases of the Browns and Indians) or upcoming (the Cavs) seasons. That list has 23 players from the Browns, 14 from the Indians and 12 from the Cavs. The Indians have a pair of players — first baseman Carlos Santana and shortstop Francisco Lindor — in the top four, each with 2020 salaries of $17.5 million. The MLB season was shortened
Is your favorite player on the highest-paid list? Find the list on Page 22. To get the full Excel version, become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data
from 162 to 60 games, however, because of the pandemic. Tribe players, as a result, will receive only 37% of their scheduled play. The reduction means a salary hit of more than $11 million each for Lindor and Santana (those pay cuts are reflected in the “cash received this year” column on the list). Browns receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry check in at Nos. 5 and 6 with respective 2020 salaries of $14 million and $13 million. Browns defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson ($11.9 million), Cavs forward Larry Nance Jr. ($11.7 million), Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (a 162-game salary of $10.25 million) and Cavs guard Dante Exum ($9.1 million) round out the top 10. Some high-profile names aren’t part of the top 49. For some, such as Indians pitcher Shane Bieber, it’s because they have yet to reach their first big contract. Others, such as Cavs forward Tristan Thompson, are due to become free agents and in search of their next jackpot. Then there are those who are making considerable money, but aren’t listed because their 2020 salaries are below seven figures. That group is usually reserved for Browns players, because NFL teams often hand out large signing bonuses in long-term contracts, in an effort to soften the salary-cap hit in the first couple years of the deal. The most notable exclusion is Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who recently agreed to a five-year, $125 million contract extension. Garrett, the first overall pick of the 2017 draft, received a $21 million signing bonus and is now under contract through the 2026 season. The NFL’s top 13 in average annual salary features 11 quarterbacks, followed by L.A. Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa (a former Ohio State
star who recently signed a five-year, $135 million extension) and Garrett. If the Browns, Cavs and Indians players are ranked by cash received in 2020, Garrett, at $21.9 million (his signing bonus, plus a salary of $862,126), would rank third, behind Love and Drummond. The Browns’ biggest signing in free agency last March, tackle Jack Conklin, is fourth in cash received this year. Conklin, who ranks 18th with a 2020 salary of $5 million, received a $15 million signing bonus as part of a three-year, $42 million deal. Also in the top 10 in cash received are Beckham ($14.25 million), Landry ($13.05 million), Nance ($12.7 million), Browns rookie Jedrick Wills Jr. ($12.5 million), Richardson ($12 million) and Browns tight end Austin Hooper ($11.5 million). The drop from 162 to 60 games means there are no Indians players in the top 16 in cash received in 2020. The adjusted salaries for Santana and Lindor are $6,481,481 each. Wills, the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, isn’t in the top 49 because his base salary is $610,000. Hooper, meanwhile, signed the NFL’s fifth-largest deal for at tight end — a four-year, $42 million contract after leaving the Atlanta Falcons in free agency. The athlete in whom Cleveland fans might have the most at stake, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, isn’t on the list. Mayfield, entering the third season of his four-year, $32.7 million rookie contract, has a 2020 salary of $750,000. His pay is boosted by a roster bonus of almost $2.8 million. Cornerback Denzel Ward, selected three spots after Mayfield at No. 4 in the 2018 draft, also didn’t make the top 49. Ward, like Mayfield, has a $750,000 salary this season. The former Ohio State standout is slated to earn a roster bonus of almost $2.5 million as he enters Year 3 of his rookie deal. Kevin Kleps: kkleps@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @KevinKleps
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PERSONAL VIEW
Arts and culture need assistance
RICH WILLIAMS FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
BBY SCOTT MUELLER AND SANDRA MADISON
EDITORIAL
More than a game “W
e are not just a polarized society. We are increasingly a confrontational society.” That’s how Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, described the state of the country to The Washington Post, and regardless of where you fit on the political spectrum, that feels accurate. A summer that started with protests, riots and violence in the wake of the George Floyd killing is coming to an end with more unrest after police shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wis. This time, the protests extended into the big-money world of professional sports, most prominently the NBA, which postponed playoff games as players staged wildcat strikes to call attention to racial injustices. The country needs efforts to unite its citizens — those who are lawfully and peacefully protesting and have deeply held concerns about social issues, and those who are IT WAS MOVING TO concerned about the LISTEN TO MANY BLACK rightly looting and vandalism hurting our cities and curPLAYERS AND FORMER economic opportuPLAYERS LAST WEEK AS tailing nity. There doesn’t have to be an unbridgeable chasm THEY DESCRIBED THE for people of good will. PAIN THEY HAVE FELT, One promising effort is AND CONTINUE TO FEEL. coming from Cleveland, where the Cavaliers, Browns and Indians announced the formation of an alliance “to develop a sustainable and direct strategy to address social injustice facing the city of Cleveland and all Northeast Ohio communities.” The focus will be on “improving the relationship between law enforcement and its citizens, encouraging nonpartisan voting activities and increasing the opportunities for quality education for everyone.” Each team’s general manager and head coach will participate, and players will be invited to get involved “to coordinate activities that invoke a call to action and positive outcomes.” It’s easy to critique athletes as “spoiled millionaires.” But it was moving to listen to many Black players and former play-
ers last week as they described the pain they have felt, and continue to feel. It’s on all of us to find ways to address social ills without violence. The teams deserve credit for trying.
Sign of the times C
OVID-19 changes virtually everything, as our new cliché goes. While some of the predictions about what particular industries will look like in a post-pandemic world are likely to be wrong, there’s a good chance that one sector that will indeed face significant disruption is higher education. Colleges and universities have some brutal math: higher costs to make their campuses safe, declining enrollment, difficulties in attracting international students, potential tuition discounts and an uncertain fundraising environment. Everyone will have work to do to adapt after COVID, but higher education administrators have a particularly long to-do list, and the institutions that fare best will be the ones thinking most creatively about how they deliver education — and control costs. It’s a good sign, then, that Cleveland State University and the University of Akron announced last Thursday, Aug. 27, that they’re exploring the idea of combining their law schools. They have put together a Joint Exploratory Working Group to “determine the feasibility ... and key components of investing in a new operating model” for the law schools. The timeline is quick. Recommendations would go to the university presidents this fall and, if the decision is made to combine the law schools, CSU and Akron would seek American Bar Association and state approval in 2021. The law schools each have a little more than 400 students, and combining them would create one of the largest public law schools in the country. It potentially could serve those students better by giving them access to in-person courses at both locations, while bolstering online offerings through increased collaborations of faculty. Give the leaders of CSU and Akron credit for being bold by considering a regional approach that’s often talked about here but rarely acted upon. The law schools are valuable assets to Northeast Ohio. If the stakeholders think they will be stronger together as one, they should do so, quickly.
Publisher and Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre (emcintyre@crain.com) Managing Editor: Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com) Contact Crain’s: 216-522-1383 Read Crain’s online: crainscleveland.com
As business leaders and community members, we are concerned about the ongoing economic impact facing the arts and culture sector in Northeast Ohio. We are each CEOs of businesses Mueller is the CEO of Dealer Tire that strive to be com- LLC, which he founded with his munity partners while brother, Dean, in 1999. Madison is also facing the massive the CEO and chairperson of RPMI, challenges of 2020. We the first African American-owned recognize the arts and architecture firm in Ohio. cultural sector as an economic engine in its own right, and one that faces unique and daunting challenges as a result of COVID-19. As businesspeople, participants in the Northeast Ohio economy and members of your community, we urge you to help push for better support for the arts and culture sector now. The arts and culture sector is the second-hardest-hit part of the economy in today’s coronavirus-related recession, with only hospitality (hotels, restaurants, and bars) reporting greater losses. A recent McKinsey report ranks arts and culture as the sector that will take the longest to recover to pre-2019 financial health. In fact, in a “muted recovery” scenario, where steps that slow the spread of the virus and address public health are slower, smaller or disjointed, the report estimates that the arts and culture sector may not return to financial health until 2025 or later. By contrast, most other sectors are expected to return to financial health by 2022, and even hospitality and food services are expected to return to financial health by 2024. Our businesses consider arts and culture businesses a vital part of the regional economy. The arts and cultural sector includes for-profit firms working in film, architecture, design and more, as well as nonprofit museums, theaters, music groups, and nature and recreation facilities. Combined, these businesses employ 62,499 individuals, create $3.3 billion in labor income, and create more than $9 billion in overall economic impact in the five-county area. Those 62,499 workers are worried about their futures. Layoffs and revenue losses are reaching levels unseen since the Great Recession. The economic impact is spiraling: the retail, tourism, hospitality and service sectors are all affected by these venue closures and staff losses. Spillover effects of these closures impact other sectors and businesses like ours. Local leadership is critical to ensure the future of the arts and culture sector. A recent Crain’s Cleveland Business story looked at Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the breadth of arts and culture activity across Cuyahoga County, as well as its funding sources. A cigarette excise tax is the main source of public funding for arts and culture in Cuyahoga County, but as Crain’s noted, “As residents act more responsibly for their health, dropping smoking rates, the cigarette tax brings in fewer dollars to support the arts for them to enjoy. The tax, which supplied $19.54 million in 2008, only brought in $13.2 million in 2019, a steady decline over the years.” A regional solution for public funding was needed before COVID-19 reached Ohio’s borders, and now it’s needed more than ever. In Northeast Ohio, there are so many stories of arts organizations and performance venues being supported by the community, just as restaurants and bars have rallied public support. Leaders in the arts and culture sector are marshaling resources every day to serve our community, and our community’s support for those efforts is needed. Let’s make sure we are each doing everything possible to support the arts and culture sector.
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.
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OPINION
the spread of COVID-19
PERSONAL VIEW
Keeping your strength in a COVID-19 world so your boat doesn’t tip over BY FRANCOISE ADAN, M.D.
There’s a comment I keep seeing floating around: “We may be in the same storm, but we are all in different boats.” Very apropos at this time indeed. But as those waves get stronger in the COVID-19 storm, we must navigate the waters strategically so our boat doesn’t tip over. And whether we are in the boat alone, or leading a team of people, it’s critical to preserve our individual strength. Normally, those things that rejuvenate us — family, vacation, social events — are not available to us in traditional ways. In fact, for many of us, the deprivation of social interaction is a very invisible enemy ready to yield destructive impact if we don’t proactively confront it head on. As a practicing psychiatrist for over 25 years, I’ve seen firsthand the toll these “invisible enemies” can take. But I’ve also seen the remarkable resilience people have demonstrated even when faced with the most daunting circumstances. First, it’s important to accept what we have control over and what we don’t, and where we can make changes that will make a difference in those things we can control. For example, I can control how I think, if I’m going to take care of myself, and if I’m going to have a positive attitude and not waste energy on trying to change things I can’t. Second, we have to create new habits that work around the obstacles before us. There are four principles one can embrace to help keep your boat going in the right direction: FOCUS ON SELF-CARE: It’s no different than needing to put gas in your car or following the instruction from the flight attendant who tells us to “put on our own oxygen mask first” before attending to others. Our society, and frankly workplaces in general, need to embrace a culture where taking care of ourselves is allowed, modeled and encouraged. It is simply not negotiable. Self-care means taking care of our basic needs: Getting enough sleep; taking time to relax; eating nutritious food; setting aside time for exercise or movement; seeking out opportunities to be social, even if it’s a Zoom call with a family member or friend, or sitting on your lawn chatting with a neighbor while staying 6-feet apart and wearing a mask. Also, try to avoid negative behaviors like drinking too much coffee or alcohol. BUILD RESILIENCE: Simply stated, it’s the ability to bounce back. It’s not about ignoring trauma or difficulties, but it’s the ability to positively cope with it. Resilience is something that you learn, and the more you practice, the better
you will get. Tools you can use to help you practice include self-compassion and stress management. Self-compassion is the act of “cutting ourselves some slack.” It is treating ourselves with patience and understanding similar to how we would treat a friend. In addition to facing acute and chronic stress, all of us are “grieving” in one Adan is a board way or another because we have lost our “old normal.” It’s well documentcertified psychiatrist and ed that everyone grieves at a different speed, so self-compassion also means director of the accepting the fact we are all going to University Hospitals Connor experience the different stages of grief — denial, anger and sadness — and at Integrative Health Network. different speeds. For stress management, it’s important we make a commitment to practicing gratitude and positivity (learning how to “reframe” a negative into a positive), while participating in mindfulness, meditation or yoga. It’s also important to be mindful of potential stress influencers like news and social media, so limiting the amount of time you spend on those every day will help. Now if all this still doesn’t help and a person is still struggling emotionally, it’s imperative you reach out to someone for help. It’s actually a sign of courage if you do. TRY SOMETHING NEW: Instead of that in-person book club or Zumba class, try a virtual book club or lesson. It’s an optimal time to learn a new language, take up an instrument, learn gourmet cooking, or whatever you have always wanted to learn about but never had the time to do. There are so many instructional offerings now posted online. Celebrate any lessons learned. ESTABLISH A ROUTINE: This also means setting aside a designated space for working if possible so that when you are done for the day, you can move into your “happy place.” Set boundaries too. Take that hour break for lunch or a walk around the block. We all face a fear of some kind at some point in our lives, but how we deal with it determines our ability and speed to bounce back. By using tools as outlined above, we can help modulate our fears. Resilience drives hope, and hope drives resilience. And when that positive upward momentum gets going, it gives us the strength to keep our boats afloat.
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Call for Goodyear boycott shows Trump doesn’t care about Ohio workers Donald Trump has a long history of violating contracts with his contractors and workers when he was running casinos. And now he’s turning his back on Ohio workers because his feelings got hurt. Trump’s tweet about Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., calling for a boycott of a company that has been in business for more than 100 years and employs thousands of workers here in Ohio, is an attack on workers, their integrity, and the good name of Goodyear Tire & Rubber worldwide. I know the Goodyear CEO, Richard Kramer. He is an honorable man, an exemplary leader, and dedicated to Goodyear and the region. He and Goodyear are shining stars in Northeast Ohio. Some in our region may be thinking, well, I’m glad it was Goodyear and not Progressive Insurance, Parker Hannifin, Sherwin-Williams, Cleveland Clinic or J.M. Smucker Co. That’s the problem, though. The next time, it could be Progressive. It could be Procter & Gamble. It could be Jeep. It could be Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. It could be Sherwin-Williams. Somewhere, somebody could fabricate a story on the internet about one of these compa-
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nies, and Trump tweets about it, and boom — a company needs to waste time and resources, and possibly see workers laid off, because of a boycott incited by the president of the United States. The point is this: Donald Trump doesn’t care about blue collar workers in Ohio or any other region. He said it didn’t really matter when General Motors closed its plant in Lordstown, where over a thousand jobs were lost and a community pushed into turmoil. Now, he said it didn’t matter if Goodyear workers lost their jobs because they would be able to find new jobs. How? Where? At what personal cost to these workers, their families and the region? Let’s face it: Trump does not have the best interest of Ohioans at heart. The results of his lack of leadership have resulted in more than 1.5 million Ohioans filing for unemployment since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. His ineptitude as a leader during this crisis has devastated lives and livelihoods. It’s time for Ohioans and the rest of the country to move on. Nicholas R. Santilli Rocky River
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COLLEGE SPORTS
PLAYING (OR NOT PLAYING) THROUGH PANDEMIC PAIN From COVID testing to scheduling dilemmas and mental health, athletic departments attempt to tackle the unknown
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BY KEVIN KLEPS | Cleveland State University director of
athletics Scott Garrett has had at least three or four versions of a return-to-play plan. Michelle Morgan, the senior director of athletics and recreation at John Carroll University, has lost count of the different scenarios that have been proposed. Baldwin Wallace University interim athletic director John Snell has worked in college sports for more than three decades. Dealing with a pandemic was never part of the former football coach’s playbook. “There are just so many things that seem to come up every day that we typically never dealt with in the past,” Snell said. Some are complex, such as NCAA guidelines on COVID-19 testing. Others can feel almost impossible because of the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 crisis. Take scheduling, for instance.
“THERE ARE JUST SO MANY THINGS THAT SEEM TO COME UP EVERY DAY THAT WE TYPICALLY NEVER DEALT WITH IN THE PAST.” — John Snell, Baldwin Wallace University interim athletic director
The Mid-American Conference, a Division I league based in Cleveland, and the Ohio Athletic Conference, a D-III league based in Twinsburg, are among the conferences that postponed fall sports, with the hope that the competitions can be held in the spring. Of the 46 NCAA Division I, II and III schools in Ohio, just one — the University of Cincinnati — is slated to compete in football and other sports that are deemed high con-
tact by the organization that oversees 1,098 institutions in 102 conferences. Twelve other Ohio colleges and universities, all in Divisions II and III, are members of conferences that are allowing schools to participate in the lower-risk sports of golf, tennis and/or cross country this fall. And what about the winter season, when Cleveland State’s signature sport, basketball, would ordinarily be gearing up for a tipoff in
early November? This year, the Vikings’ men’s program was slated to play games at Duke, Kentucky and Nebraska. The matchups were expected to bring in almost $300,000 in guarantees for an athletic department that, like the vast majority around the country, is heavily reliant on school funding. With so much uncertainty, including whether fans will be permitted if there are games at the Wolstein Center, Garrett said the Vikings will “be doing a balancing act for a good portion of the year” when it comes to an athletic budget that has already taken a $650,000 hit because of the pandemic. Tim Gleason, who has overseen the Ohio Athletic Conference as commissioner since 1991, said there are “too many factors at play”
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FOCUS | COLLEGE SPORTS to even look ahead to the winter. “It’s almost like I’m living in a parallel universe, because we’re supposed to be doing certain things on certain days, and we’re not doing any of them,” Gleason said. The OAC in July suspended all sports through Dec. 31. Case Western Reserve University, which is part of the Rochester, N.Y.-based University Athletic Association, also won’t play sports until at least 2021, but the Spartans took it a step further by canceling, with no makeups intended, all of the competitions for their fall programs. Asked how universities can even plan for sports in 2021, Natalie Winkelfoos, the director of athletics and physical education at Oberlin College, said, “It’s impossible because each month feels like it lasts a year.” The Yeomen, who compete in the Westlake-based North Coast Athletic Conference, spent five months plotting out potential calendars once the pandemic hit. They arrived at the same spot at which so many other institutions are: a standstill. “We finally got to the point,” Winkelfoos said, “where it was like, ‘What are we doing?’ ”
‘Prohibitive’ testing costs Also problematic is COVID-19 testing, which is costly, can be difficult to procure in large numbers and brings the need for fast results. The NCAA in mid-July released a “resocialization” plan that features recommendations and best practices for practices and competitions. The guidelines have been updated several times and have caused confusion on what is recommended and what is required. The guidelines say “protocols should be contemplated that include” the testing of student-athletes within 72 hours of competition for football and “within 72 hours of the first of the week’s set of games for other high-contact risk sports.” Testing hundreds of athletes throughout the school year would be an expense that well exceeds six figures, which isn’t “feasible,” Winkelfoos said. The University of Akron spent $50,000 to conduct antigen tests, which use a swab that can produce results within minutes, when the football team started workouts in July. The first 600 tests cost $95 each,
How they stack up: The fall sports plans for Ohio’s NCAA members There are 46 NCAA Division I, II and III schools in Ohio. Here’s where each stands when it comes to fall sports:
DIVISION I (13 schools) Postponed fall sports, with the hope of playing in the spring (12 schools): Atlantic 10 Conference (1): Dayton; Big East (1): Xavier; Big Ten (1): Ohio State; Horizon League (3): Cleveland State, Wright State, Youngstown State; Mid-American (6): Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami, Ohio, Toledo Playing fall sports (one school): American Athletic: Cincinnati
DIVISION II (11 schools) Suspended all sports through 2020 (one school): Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic: Ashland Postponed fall sports, with the hope of playing in the spring (two schools): Mountain East (1): Notre Dame College; Southern Intercollegiate Athletic (1): Central State Postponed high-contact sports until spring (eight schools): Great Midwest Athletic (8): Cedarville, Findlay, Lake Erie College, Malone, Ohio Dominican, Tiffin, Ursuline College, Walsh Note: The GMAC will allow competitions in cross country, golf and tennis, if institutions meet NCAA, national and local health and safety guidelines.
DIVISION III (22 schools) Suspended all sports through Dec. 31 (17 schools): Ohio Athletic (10): Baldwin Wallace, Capital, Heidelberg, John Carroll, Marietta College, Mount Union, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, Otterbein, Wilmington College; North Coast Athletic (7): Denison, Hiram College, Kenyon College, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, The College of Wooster, Wittenberg Canceled all sports through Dec. 31 (one school): Case Western Reserve (part of the University Athletic Association) Postponed high-contact sports until spring (four schools): Allegheny Mountain Collegiate (1): Franciscan University of Steubenville; Heartland Collegiate Athletic (3): Bluffton, Defiance College, Mount St. Joseph Note: The HCAC will allow competitions in cross country, golf and tennis, as long as health and safety guidelines are met. The AMCC is doing the same for golf and tennis. SOURCE: CRAIN’S RESEARCH
“WE FINALLY GOT TO THE POINT WHERE IT WAS LIKE, ‘WHAT ARE WE DOING?’ ” — Natalie Winkelfoos, director of athletics and physical education at Oberlin College
with the price dropping to $40 after the initial threshold was reached, said George Van Horne, Akron’s senior associate athletics director for development and marketing. Other athletes will be tested as they report to campus. The same goes for any athlete who has symptoms of the virus, Van Horne said. The hope, OAC commissioner Gleason said, is that testing will get “more efficient and much less expensive” in the coming months. With no sports competitions scheduled for at least a few months,
local Division II and III schools are taking a university-wide approach to testing. Some institutions are only testing students if they exhibit symptoms. At Oberlin, everyone is tested at the start of a semester and at least once a month once classes begin. Notre Dame College, a Division II school in South Euclid, has almost 700 athletes. The tally, which represents about 60% of the college’s undergraduate enrollment, would make the costs of frequent COVID-19 testing prior to competitions “prohibitive,” said Scott Swain, NDC’s director of athletics. “There are no athletic budgets outside of the Power 5 (conferences) that can absorb those types of expenses,” Swain said.
Anxiety over the unknown As enrollments, revenues and outside funding drop, cutting costs is paramount. But the costs to an athlete’s
“REGARDLESS OF DIVISION, REGARDLESS OF LEVEL, REGARDLESS OF CITY AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION, WE ALL ARE IN THIS TOGETHER.” — Michelle Morgan, senior director of athletics and recreation at John Carroll University
well-being — which go beyond the obvious COVID-19 concerns — are also top of mind for athletic officials. “You’re dealing with a high level of anxiety because of the unknowns involved, and then you transition into anxiety and disappointment over losing seasons, not completely knowing what the plan looks like moving forward, all those types of things,” MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said. Football players could face the
choice of playing in the spring and potentially damaging their NFL prospects so close to the draft. Other athletes fret over lost seasons that they’ll never get back. “For the Division III student-athlete, you’re not going to come back (for a fifth year) and spend another $70,000 to play your last year of volleyball or something,” Case Western Reserve director of athletics Amy Backus said. To fill the void, schools — in addition to holding workouts that are deemed safe and meet NCAA guidelines — are getting creative. A theme at Baldwin Wallace is “innovate to impact,” which involves leadership development and keeping athletes engaged in ways that have nothing to do with their sport, Snell said. Case Western is enhancing programming that focuses on nutrition, mental health, social justice issues and leadership skills. “We’re going to use this timeout to enhance that side of the house,” Backus said. Notre Dame College is encouraging athletes to pick up an extra class. Winkelfoos said Oberlin is making sure athletes feel connected and know they’re not alone. “We will still have individual and small group training sessions on campus, but that seems so minor compared to being able to operate as best as we can,” the Oberlin AD said. “Competition is so far down the list of priorities.” That’s not true everywhere, since larger schools have much more to lose if entire football and basketball seasons are wiped out. No matter how big the difference in athletic budgets is, though, a lot of the issues forced by the pandemic are similar. Perspective, the ADs say, is a must. “Regardless of division, regardless of level, regardless of city and geographic location, we all are in this together,” Morgan, John Carroll’s director of athletics, said. “As competitive people, most administrators, myself included, are former athletes. We’re always wondering what that school is doing, what our competition is doing or how do we stay a leg up? And through all of this, I think we still have to remember that we are all facing the same challenge and we are still under the same stress.”
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AUGUST 31, 2020 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | 11
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FOCUS | COLLEGE SPORTS | Q&A
Mike Parnell Interim athletic director, University of Mount Union Mike Parnell file Last degree: Master of Business Administration, University of Akron. Mount Union ties: Parnell is a 1983 Mount graduate who was a four-year letter-winner in football. High school: The former Garfield High School in Akron. States he’s lived in: Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, plus a brief stint in Washington, D.C. Family ties: Parnell’s son, Matt, is Mount’s assistant director of recreation and wellness. He doesn’t report to his father. “He’s very lucky,” Mike joked.
BY KEVIN KLEPS | Running a university athletic department during a pandemic brings scenarios that can befuddle even the most experienced AD. Combine that with the exit of a Mount Union legend (Larry Kehres, a former Purple Raiders football coach who retired after 35 years as the athletic director in May) and the entrance of a new university president (Thomas Botzman, who started in July), and you could say Mike Parnell is stepping into an unusual situation. And Parnell’s path to the interim AD role is far from typical. Prior to starting at Mount in mid-May, the Akron native had spent four decades in the corporate world. The 1983 Mount Union grad began his career in sales at Goodyear and rose to leadership positions at the tire manufacturer, as well as VP roles with Ryder, Alcoa and Bemis. So how did Parnell wind up being an AD? Even that part is different.
Was the move into athletics something you were looking for, or something that just came about? It was a very unusual circumstance. It started with me on the board of trustees. ... The president (at the time, W. Richard Merriman Jr.) suggested that he wanted to quickly hire a replacement football coach to have that person in place (after the departure of Larry Kehres’ son, Vince), but he felt the AD role was better suited for an interim position, and then let the new president do a search and hire a permanent athletic director. Being on the board and being exposed to what was going on, I volunteered because I was at that time retired. I said, “I’ll do it. I’ve got some time. I love the university.” I volunteered to do it, and they jumped at the opportunity because I had a lot of leadership experience, a lot of
SHE LEADS SOME OF
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WORKERS. C
oronavirus, record unemployment, and a huge dip in volunteering meant more Clevelanders in need of help, and fewer people able to give it. But for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, new challenges just meant they needed new solutions. And with proactive community partnerships, touchless food pickups, and the hard work of dedicated Clevelanders, they were able to support more people than they even expected.
For Kristin Warzocha, President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, giving up wasn’t an option.
“IT WAS NEVER A MATTER OF IF, BUT HOW,” Warzocha said.
The John Carroll University grad has been with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank for 20 years and was named one of Crain’s 2020 Women of Note. JCU solidified her lifetime passion for volunteering when she discovered the difference she could make. She didn’t realize it would shape her future.
“I HAD NO IDEA I COULD TURN IT INTO A CAREER,” she said. Warzocha said her education prepared her to serve and lead—a powerful combination that has allowed her to make a huge impact on Cleveland; working, advocating, and fighting for those whose voices often go unheard.
In 2019, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank served more than 350,000 people in Northeast Ohio. Without the Food Bank, and without Kristin, many Clevelanders wouldn’t know where to turn.
Find her story and others at jcu.edu/humanimpact
BRAVE YOUR QUEST
organizational experience and could bring some stability to the role for however long it was required. So it just all worked out. It’s obviously not the traditional path to the position, but it just happened to be the right place at the right time. So you’re OK with this being a temporary position, or do you see this as a more permanent role for you? No, I’m totally comfortable with the interim status and however long that needs to be. I have a good working relationship with the provost, Dr. (Jeffrey) Breese, and the new president, Dr. Botzman. So however long they want me to manage the organization and put some things in place to make it better for the future, I’m willing to do that. And if it’s 12 months, 24 months or however long, I’m comfortable with whatever that ends up being. You can look at this from a different lens with the career you’ve had. How do you view everything that’s going on now in college athletics? It has a lot of comparison to some of the global roles that I’ve had because there is a lot of uncertainty and a lot of external stakeholders to take into consideration. You have to work within your area of responsibility and learn where you can leverage some strengths and develop some people. Our coaches wear a lot of hats, so me figuring out how to support them is much like running an organization — a plant manager who has many responsibilities that he has to cover. Whatever I can do to help them develop their leadership ability, develop the right kind of culture for their teams, put the right processes in place — all of those things are things that I think are transferable from my corporate role to here. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing. It’s already difficult moving into a new position, but with everything going on because of the pandemic, what’s it been like? It’s been quite the experience. There have been a lot of moving pieces and a lot of things being developed on the fly because, as you can imagine, it’s a very unusual situation. The normal approach to intercollegiate athletics, from a conference or NCAA standpoint, really didn’t apply. It was a quick learning curve, and at the same time, I was trying to construct a plan for the future of athletics. Mount isn’t going to play sports until at least 2021. But how can you even begin to plan for next year with all of the uncertainty caused by the pandemic? It’s extremely difficult. There have been a lot of iterations that we’ve gone through and scenarios that we looked at, in terms of when we can start competition in January or February, whatever it may be. And there are contingencies if things don’t get off to the right start in January. Much like a corporate role, you have a lot of scenarios that you’ve played out and contingency plans to go along with it. We have a plan in place. We’ve released a schedule for the spring — fall sports that we’re flipping to the springtime. So we’re feeling good about the plan we have in place, but we don’t know what the future holds. You’ve got to stay fluid and flexible with whatever happens. That’s the tough part to this situation: The studentathletes, the coaches, everybody wants some type of certainty and they want to be able to communicate some type of plan. But you also have to tell them that it’s subject to change. We’ll keep you informed as often as we can, but you’ve also got to know that given this situation, things can change. Kevin Kleps: kkleps@crain.com, (216) 771-5256, @KevinKleps
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CRAIN’S NOTABLE IMMIGRANT LEADERS
BLOOM WHERE YOU’RE REPLANTED America is a country of immigrants, and their impact can be felt across Northeast Ohio. Just ahead of Welcoming Week 2020, Crain’s Cleveland Business, in association with Global Cleveland, is celebrating our region’s Notable Immigrant Leaders. Global Cleveland’s Welcoming Week, held virtually Sept. 11-18, brings together communities to celebrate unity and the benefits of welcoming newcomers. In the same vein, Crain’s 2020 Notable Immigrant Leaders recognizes 20 immigrant business professionals and civic leaders who have made an impact in Northeast Ohio. This feature honors their professional, civic and philanthropic achievements, while highlighting their social and economic contributions to Northeast Ohio.
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THIS PAGE
Cal Al-Dhubaib, Pandata Oren Baratz, Jewish Federation of Cleveland PAGE 14
Pierre Bejjani, Profile News Ohio; Diversity Advertising Agency Dmitriy Berkovich, Apple Growth Partners Dr. Akram Boutros, MetroHealth System PAGE 15
Ingrida Bublys, IB International Inc. Sara Elaqad, Minds Matter; Cleveland Metropolitan School District Board of Education PAGE 16
Ansir Junaid, SupplySide Group PAGE 17
Wael Khoury, Marymount Hospital; Cleveland Clinic Cardiology Margarita Krncevic, Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff Omar Kurdi, Friends for Life Rehabilitation Services PAGE 18
Raisa Maimin, Cuyahoga County Public Library Majeed Makhlouf, Berns, Ockner & Greenberger, LLC Joe Marinucci, Downtown Cleveland Alliance PAGE 20
Jaywant Masurekar, KeyBanc Capital Markets Sonia Elizabeth Monroy, Cleveland City Council Marcia Moreno, AmMore Consulting LLC PAGE 21
Radhika Reddy, Ariel Ventures LLC Margaret Wong, Margaret W. Wong & Associates LLC Julie Zhao, The University of Akron
Cal Al-Dhubaib
Oren Baratz
Title: Managing partner, Pandata
Title: Senior vice president of external affairs, Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Latest degree earned: Bachelor of Science in health care data science, Case Western Reserve University
A 2018 Crain’s Twenty in their 20s honoree, Cal Al-Dhubaib has launched two companies since immigrating to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. Pandata, his latest company, is about providing clients with ethical and humane artificial intelligence solutions and cultivating a pipeline of data science talent. Another core value at Al-Dhubaib’s company is diversity and inclusion, because, the nomination said, it’s important to value diverse perspectives to defend against unintended consequences. These standards have helped Al-Dhubaib grow company revenue 60% in 2019. “Moving to the states on his own to attend school was a very courageous thing for (Cal) to do. He seized this opportunity and, as a result, has created opportunities for others by starting his own business,” said Darlene Campagna, president and CEO of Direct Opinions and president of the 4“A huge part of Cal’s success is the result of his ability to connect with people. He is an advocate in our community to create opportunities for others and is sensitive to peoples’ need to feel included and connected. I continue to be impressed with Cal and his ongoing successes.” Al-Dhubaib is chair of Inclusion for EO Cleveland and serves on the Outcomes Committee of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and the Industrial Advisory Committee of Cleveland State University. He also has served as a member of BioEnterprise’s HealthIT in the CLE workforce development initiative. — Leslie Green
Latest degree earned: Executive MBA, Northwestern University and Tel Aviv University
Compassion and a keen ability to distill issues and develop plans that move projects forward make Oren Baratz a valuable part of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland team, according to the nomination. He presides over international operations, government and community relations, the volunteer center, community security and a budget of $65 million. Baratz, who moved from Israel in 2004, implements STEM programs in Israel and cultivates cooperative programs between Israel and Cleveland. He also connects members of different religious and cultural groups to job opportunities and to one another through Global Cleveland, an organization that welcomes immigrants and migrants to Northeast Ohio. His goal is to help newcomers succeed so they cannot only create good lives for themselves, but also become leaders who contribute to the community’s economic, civic and personal well-being, the nomination said. “Oren has been the most valuable mentor that I have had in my 40-year career,” said Amy Kaplan, vice president of external affairs and government relations at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. “He has taught me how to achieve better results in my work, how to mentor those with whom I work and how to be a more collaborative colleague. As an immigrant, he brings a newcomer’s perspective that often forces me to see things differently, and that has helped me broaden my own view of issues and led me to question time-worn assumptions.” — Leslie Green
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CRAIN’S NOTABLE IMMIGRANT LEADERS
Pierre Bejjani
Dmitriy Berkovich
Dr. Akram Boutros
In
Title: Managing director and executive editor, Profile News Ohio; senior partner, Diversity Advertising Agency
Title: Principal, tax senior manager department, Apple Growth Partners
Title: President and CEO, MetroHealth System
Title
Latest degree earned: Bachelor of Science in civil engineering, Ohio State University
Lastest degree earned: Bachelor of business administration, Cleveland State University
Lastest degree earned: Advanced Management Program, Harvard Business School
In addition to running the Arabic/English newspaper Profile News Ohio, Pierre Bejjani actively works in local Middle Eastern communities and others to educate the public on the importance of diversity within our cultures. Bejjani, who is a native of Lebanon, serves as president of the Cleveland American Middle East Organization, a nonpartisan political action organization, and is founder and chair of the American Lebanese Community Council, which promotes Lebanese heritage and traditions. He’s also a member of the advisory board for the U.S. Army Grass Roots Recruiting Battalion of Northern Ohio. As a supporter of Cleveland’s arts community, Bejjani is on the advisory board for the Cleveland Museum of Art and the advisory committee for Cleveland Public Theatre, which created its first Arabic theater, Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi, in 2018. His activism captured the attention of Gov. Mike DeWine. DeWine appointed Bejjani to the Governor Commission and the Board for the Census 2020 in 2019 and to the restaurants and bars Committee to Re-Open Ohio earlier this year. — Leslie Green
The world of corporate taxation places a premium on strategic thinking. Dmitriy Berkovich demonstrated that at a relatively young age. After moving to the United States from present-day Ukraine and attending Cleveland State University, Berkovich, an international chess master, paid his tuition by teaching chess at 10 different schools, according to the nomination. Berkovich worked for 20 years in public accounting with SS&G Financial Services and joined Apple Growth Partners in December 2018, “providing an instant wealth of knowledge to our tax department,” the nomination stated. He was a part of Apple Growth’s tax reform team that did research and provided training to firm employees on the intricacies of federal tax reform. In March, Berkovich helped form the firm’s COVID-19 Response Team “and was the key point of contact on the Main Street Lending program for small business owners and nonprofits,” as well as immigrant business owners, according to the nomination. Effective July 1, he was promoted to principal at the firm. “He is seen as a role model in the tax department, along with the firm’s management team,” according to the nomination. Christine Waltjen, director of tax at Apple Growth, said in a statement that Berkovich “comes to work every day with an upbeat attitude. He is friendly and approachable, a quality for both staff members and clients. He provides exceptional client service, always looking out for the best for his clients. Dmitriy is quick to share his vast knowledge with his co-workers, including answering questions and providing education on the latest tax changes.” He is currently a board member and treasurer for DanceCleveland. Berkovich has been a coach for soccer teams in South Euclid and Cleveland Heights and has continued to teach chess. — Scott Suttell
Dr. Akram Boutros operates on what those around him call “Boutros time” — the incredible speed at which he can turn a bold idea into reality. The Lincoln-West School of Science and Health, the high school inside MetroHealth, could have taken years, but in “Boutros time,” students were in classes in a matter of months. The school — where more than 40% of students come from homes where English isn’t the first language — is among some of Boutros’ most significant accomplishments in creating opportunity for immigrants, according to the nomination. In seven years, Boutros, an Egyptian-born doctor, has not only dramatically transformed the public health system (including a monumental financial turnaround and a nearly $1 billion campus transformation currently underway), but he has also championed true inclusion in the workplace and beyond. As leader of the anchor institution of a neighborhood with a significant Hispanic population, Boutros works to boost the community through several initiatives to address unique challenges immigrants face. He raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour, adopted the mentorship initiative Open Table and supported the creation of the Latino Construction Program, which offers training to Hispanic workers interested in working in trades and connects them with jobs. Many graduates of the program are working to construct MetroHealth’s new hospital — another hallmark of Boutros’ tenure thus far. “Dr. Akram Boutros is a unique force, a blend of charisma, kindness, vision and resolve,” according to the nomination. “His leadership has energized not only the MetroHealth System, it has energized community and business leaders, policymakers, legislators and health care leaders around the country.” — Lydia Coutre
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14 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | August 31, 2020
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Ingrida Bublys Title: President, IB International Inc. Latest degree earned: Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and mathematics, Ursuline College
Ingrida Bublys is passionate about finding solutions and overcoming differences. As president of IB International, she facilitates manufacturing trade and investment relationships between the United States, Baltic States and surrounding countries. An active member of the community, Bublys serves on the board of trustees of the Cleveland Rotary International Club and is honorary president of the Rotary Club of Cleveland. Through volunteerism, she also builds relationships between immigrants from her homeland of Lithuania and the communities in which they live, the nomination said. “When her family fled occupied Lithuania on foot, we were truly blessed they ultimately ended their journey in Cleveland. … When Lithuania ‘became free,’ Ingrida was the first of 23 honorary consuls appointed,” said Beverly Ghent-Skrzynski, past Rotary District 6630 Governor of Northeast Ohio. “Ingrida … is committed to fostering world understanding and peace.” Bublys helps Lithuanian immigrants assimilate while remaining connected to their birth cultures. For example, she collaborated with the Lithuanian Rotary Club to create a citizenship room — with computers funded by Cleveland Rotary Foundation — that helps get immigrants more involved in government in general and voting specifically. The Lithuanian Community Greater Cleveland Chapter named Bublys as one of 100 Lithuanian women worldwide of whom Lithuania is proud. In 2019, she was inducted to the Cleveland International Hall of Fame and in 2018 received the Rotary Club of Cleveland’s International Service Award. — Leslie Green
Sara Elaqad Title: Executive director, Minds Matter; member, Cleveland Metropolitan School District Board of Education
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Lastest degree earned: Juris Doctor, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Sara Elaqad gives more than she takes. Croation-born Elaqad, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Bosnia when she was just 7 years old, spends her time giving back to her adopted country and helping those who need a boost up the ladder of success. As the executive director of Minds Matter in Cleveland — a role she once described to Crain’s as “more than a job, it’s my being” — Elaqad oversees three staff members and an organization of 170 volunteers. The group works with high-achieving, low-income high school students, preparing them to gain acceptance to college and succeed there. She also works with Cleveland’s Refugee Response, which offers tutoring for youths and adults, workforce training and direct employment at the organization’s Ohio City Farm. Elaqad also serves on the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Board of Education, which nominated her for this recognition. The nomination stated that her attitude and abilities have been especially helpful during the COVID-19 crisis. “Her tireless devotion to helping others achieve their dreams brought hope to the Cleveland Board of Education at a time when Cleveland’s immigrant and refugee population was experiencing tremendous fear and isolation under increasingly discriminative national policies,” the nomination states. She is an “outspoken advocate for equity in the workplace and in the community, and a tireless advocate for amplifying the voices of Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), women, and youth.” — Dan Shingler
Congratulations Dr. Julie Zhao on being named one of Crain’s Cleveland Notable Immigrant Leaders DR. JULIE ZHAO Assistant Dean, Recruitment, Retention and Marketing College of Engineering and Polymer Science
At The University of Akron, we value creating an environment of inclusion for underrepresented students and actively work to ensure their seat at the table as future leaders. Dr. Zhao fosters a sense of belonging, especially for students of color and immigrant students. Thank you for your extraordinary leadership and commitment to your students — you are the best of the best!
Congratulations to Dr. Zhao and all of the 2020 recipients.
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CRAIN’S NOTABLE IMMIGRANT LEADERS
Congratulations Sara Elaqad
Crain’s 2020 Class of Notable Immigrant Leaders
Dd With gratitude for your service to the children of Cleveland at a pivotal time for our schools, our city and our nation. Students, Staff and Board Members Cleveland Metropolitan School District
Ansir Junaid
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Title: Founder, CEO and chairman, SupplySide Group
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Lastest degree earned: Bachelor of Science, Cleveland State University
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Ansir Junaid knows the supply chain — he’s built his portfolio of companies on it. And that knowledge and experience allowed him to step up when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Junaid, who immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan, started his career in procurement and later founded Prime Woodcraft, a pallet management service provider. From there, the entrepreneur’s endeavors expanded, with Prime growing into PWC Group, a group of companies encompassing a range of enterprises, including warehousing, pallet management, packaging supplies, recycling and transportation. Junaid renamed the portfolio SupplySide in 2020. When the COVID-19 outbreak emerged, Junaid tapped into his knowledge of procurement and delivery — and collaborating with state and local government leaders and civic groups — to source personal protective equipment to area hospitals and essential businesses. SupplySide is also a partner in Destination Cleveland’s Clean Committed program to bring thousands of PPE kits to area offices. Junaid also donated $100,000 to the initiative. Junaid’s impact reaches far beyond his companies. He’s worked with government leaders in both the U.S. and Pakistan to support economic growth and elevate the status of Pakistan as a valuable trade partner. He’s also served on several corporate and civic boards, such as Rand Corp., the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Medina Creative Housing. Junaid is driven, starting with nothing and building a multifaceted business, the nomination said. But he is also a giving person, having helped people of all backgrounds, including immigrants in the community and those working at his companies. — Sue Walton
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Omar Kurdi
Title: Head of cardiology, Marymount Hospital; staff, Cleveland Clinic Cardiology
Title: Of counsel, Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff
Title: CEO, Friends for Life Rehabilitation Services
Latest degree earned: Doctor of Medicine, University of Damascus
Last degree earned: Juris Doctor, Cleveland State University, Cleveland Marshall College of Law
Latest degree earned: Master of Public Administration, Indiana Wesleyan University
Wael Khoury, who hails from Syria, completed his cardiology fellowship at Case Western Reserve University in 1981 and began heading Marymount’s cardiology department in 1982. He’s also director of Marymount’s Cath Lab and Congestive Heart Failure Clinic. Khoury strives to make a reality his vision of Northeast Ohio as a place where immigrants from different cultures can celebrate their heritages with fellow Clevelanders, the nomination said. He has done so by spearheading the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation’s campaign to construct a new Centennial Peace Plaza. He is founding president of the Syrian American Cultural Council, a member of the Cleveland Committee on Foreign Relations and a member of the American Middle East Institute Board, which builds business, educational and cultural ties among the U.S. and Middle Eastern countries. Further, Khoury was twice elected chair of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, where he led the initiative to provide global competency training to help immigrants better acclimate to the U.S. and help established Americans have more successful interactions with people of different cultures. “Wael … has been a driving force in working to inspire every Clevelander to focus on international issues and to welcome the world into their homes. He believes deeply in the importance of educating the next generation of globally minded citizens in Northeast Ohio,” said ambassador Heather Hodges, president and Ambassador-in-Residence, Cleveland Council on World Affairs. — Leslie Green
Margarita Krncevic is a labor and employment attorney who advises employers on complying with federal, state and local laws in taking workforce actions, from hiring to terminations. In addition to representing clients in workforce disputes at trials and other proceedings, the immigrant from El Salvador is active in business aspects of immigration law and, most importantly, assisting individuals who need representation as the U.S. has taken a hard-line approach on immigration. This environment has put her skills to the test as she has had to find innovative legal approaches to represent people jailed by the feds and facing deportation. According to the nomination, Alan Rothenbuecher, a Benesch partner, said Krncevic is “one never to say no to a plea for help. She fights on their behalf until she can fight no more.” The mother of three daughters, Krncevic took time off from her career to care for them as children. She has also served as associate general counsel at Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C. At Benesch, she is a member of its diversity and inclusion committee and spearheads an initiative to help minority law students find opportunities in law. She is also a Eucharistic minister at St. Clement Catholic Church in Lakewood and is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar and the American Immigration Lawyers associations. She also volunteers at the Lakewood Catholic Academy. — Stan Bullard
Omar Kurdi has been leading Friends for Life, a daycare and support services organization for adults with developmental disabilities, since 2017. At the same time, Kurdi, who immigrated to the U.S. from Amman, Jordan, is a founding member of Cleveland Public Theatre’s Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi. Through Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi, Arabic-speaking communities in the city can create and perform plays that are relevant to their heritage and can help shed stereotypes. Kurdi also works with Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi’s advisory committee, whose members work to build partnerships within the community, the nomination said. “Omar’s artistry, leadership, drive and commitment to community have fundamentally transformed the trajectory of Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi over the past three years,” said Raymond Bobgan, executive artistic director of Cleveland Public Theatre. “His commitment goes beyond stewardship on the board to his ongoing work as an artist, sharing his story and the stories of others on our stages.” In addition, Kurdi lends his voice as a business leader and immigrant as a member of Ideastream’s Community Advisory Board. Ideastream is a multimedia site with combined resources from WVIZ/PBS and WCPN FM/90.3. — Leslie Green
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CRAIN’S NOTABLE IMMIGRANT LEADERS
Raisa Maimin
Majeed Makhlouf
Joe Marinucci
Title: Teacher of ESOL and citizenship for the Aspire Greater Cleveland program, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma
Title: Managing member, Berns, Ockner & Greenberger LLC
Title: President and CEO, Downtown Cleveland Alliance
Latest degree earned: Bachelor of Arts in arts management and Associate of Applied Arts in music education, University of Wisconsin
Last degree earned: Juris Doctor, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
Last degree earned: Bachelor’s degree in political science, Cleveland State University
Raisa Maimin, an immigrant from Russia, raises the bar when it comes to teaching English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and helping students pass their citizenship exams. For the latter, she has a 100% first-time pass rate, according to the nomination. “Every Aspire ESOL instructor should aspire to be as engaging as Raisa Maimin is,” said Aspire Greater Cleveland director Terry Echols. Maimin “possesses not only the tranquil ease for the students but she also has the emotional intelligence to empathize with (them) as they improve their quality of life throughout Greater Cleveland,” the nomination said, adding that she provides outstanding leadership. Maimin also helped grow the library system’s program through her exceptional teaching skills, diligence in seeking out financial grants and research into ways Aspire can provide additional resources to local immigrants. When the COVID-19 pandemic closed classrooms, Maimin took the lead in developing and implementing remote-learning platforms for Aspire students. She also works to recruit students into the programs. In addition to her classroom work, Maimin looks for greater opportunities for immigrants in the community and is active within Solon’s Ukrainian community. — Leslie Green
Majeed Makhlouf is the first vice president of the nascent Arab American Bar Association of Ohio. The group officially began operations in July, the result of years of Makhlouf’s advocacy for more diversity and inclusion for Arab Americans — a passion that goes back to his days in law school. Born in Jerusalem, Makhlouf came to the U.S. in 1993, went to Hiram College for his undergraduate degree and then Ohio State University for law school. While at OSU, he persuaded the law school administration to modify admissions policies and recognize Arab Americans as a minority group, something he advocated for again for purposes of federal and state contract awards when he led the Cuyahoga County law department, according to his nomination. As Cuyahoga County’s first permanent law director following a 2010 comprehensive government overhaul, Makhlouf remade the department, recruited a diverse, 20-person staff and was committed to workplace equality and sought diversity from the firms looking to do business with the county, the nomination stated. Before leaving public life for private practice at Beachwood’s Berns, Ockner & Greenberger, Makhlouf even persuaded the county to submit an amicus brief in 2015 to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of marriage equality. “Majeed has devoted significant time and energy to mentoring and advancing the careers of immigrants,” his nomination stated. “He has worked tirelessly to get more Arab Americans involved in politics.” As a Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association board member and head of the organization’s diversity and inclusion, Makhlouf is advocating the Ohio Supreme Court to make diversity and inclusion training a required continuing legal education course. — Kim Palmer
Joe Marinucci was a toddler when his family emigrated from central Italy to the United States, where they settled in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood. From that foundation — an Italian-speaking household in an Old World pocket of the city — he developed a career in building up his adoptive home. Since 2006, Marinucci has led the Downtown Cleveland Alliance as its CEO and president. His resume spans four decades of economic development work in the nonprofit and public sectors, from a real estate role at Playhouse Square to city- and state-level positions. His broad experience on industry and civic boards includes a trustee seat with Global Cleveland, a newcomer-focused nonprofit that highlighted Marinucci’s story last year as part of a campaign designed to showcase the city as a welcoming, multicultural place. As part of the same effort, Global Cleveland recognized the alliance as a global-friendly employer. The nonprofit, dedicated to improving the central business district, has roughly two dozen professional staffers but also fields a heterogeneous crew of 100 or so ambassadors who patrol and clean up Cleveland’s streets. In nominating Marinucci for this award, his staff described him as “increasingly mindful” of bringing diversity to the organization. The nomination portrayed him as a leader with deep knowledge — and with the humility and awareness to share that expertise in an accessible way. “Cleveland’s history is told by the immigrants that came and built the city around us,” Michael Deemer, the alliance’s executive vice president of business development, wrote in the nomination. “Joe recognizes the value in that and works to put us in a position where we build upon it going forward.” — Michelle Jarboe
You inspire us to greater heights. Congratulations Jay Masurekar on being recognized as an honoree for the Notable Immigrant Leaders Class of 2020. Your professional, civic, and philanthropic achievements and contributions have made an impact on Northeast Ohio in major ways. We are proud of you and your accomplishments.
KeyBanc Capital Markets is a trade name under which corporate and investment banking products and services of KeyCorp® and its subsidiaries, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, and KeyBank National Association (“KeyBank N.A.”), are marketed. Securities products and services are offered by KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. and its licensed securities representatives, who may also be employees of KeyBank N.A. Banking products and services are offered by KeyBank N.A. ©2020 KeyCorp. 200819-859092
18 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | August 31, 2020 Job No.: 859092
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Desc.: KBCM Congratulatory Ad
Size: 10.25” x 7”
Color: 4c
Designer: Ann McNeeley
8/27/2020 3:15:47 PM
Immigrants reinvigorate a community with new ideas and boundless energy. They see with fresh eyes what works and what doesn’t. What’s just and what’s not. They challenge us to live up to our ideals as Americans. And they remind us that to enrich the table, everyone needs a seat and an invitation. For seven years, our President and CEO, Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE, has brought that immigrant spirit, that quest for justice, to The MetroHealth System. Inspired by this Notable Immigrant Leader, we’re transforming our culture, our campus, our approach to health care and, most importantly, our community. Thank you, Dr. Boutros.
CRAIN’S NOTABLE IMMIGRANT LEADERS
Jaywant Masurekar
Sonia Elizabeth Monroy
Marcia Moreno
Ra
Title: Managing director and head of gaming and travel investment banking, KeyBanc Capital Markets
Title: Community engagement coordinator for Ward 14 Cleveland City Councilwoman Jasmin Santana
Title: President and founder, AmMore Consulting LLC
Title
Latest degree earned: MBA, University of Maryland
Latest degree earned: High school diploma, North Olmsted High School
Latest degree earned: Master of applied communication, Cleveland State University
Jay Masurekar began his KeyBanc career as an associate and has since earned three promotions. Now, he leads the gaming and travel investment banking practice. Under his leadership, his team has generated more than $40 billion in capital for companies around the world. Masurekar, who immigrated to the U.S. from India in 2005, reaches out to and helps develop other immigrant professionals at Key, the nomination said. He helped develop the company’s Asian KBING network, which has been sponsoring the Cleveland Asian Festival since its inception. “Beyond Jay’s professional contribution, his success can be measured by his dedication to helping other people,” said Amy Carlson, executive vice president and head of Debt Capital Markets Group for KeyBanc. “As a result, I asked him to join me on the Cleveland Advisory Board of Facing History and Ourselves. His commitment to the organization’s mission is unparalleled, and he is a true champion of equality, diversity and inclusion within Key and in the community.” In addition, Masurekar has been helping immigrants address issues related to immigration paperwork, community assimilation and career development. He is a past president of Northeast Ohio Marathi Mandal, an affiliate of the Federation of Indian Community Association that promotes cultural, literacy, educational and religious activities affiliated with the state of Maharashtra, India. — Leslie Green
Getting around a new country — not just a new neighborhood or a new community — can be a challenge. Sonia Elizabeth Monroy works hard to make sure new arrivals get the help they need. Monroy blends her “day” job on the staff of Cleveland City Councilwoman Jasmin Santana with her volunteer community work. According to the nomination, as a member of the Ward 14 council office, Monroy does her best to advocate and give a voice to people in the community who may otherwise not have access to political leaders or know how to access the bureaucratic city systems that are foreign to many immigrants. “Our community is truly blessed to have Sonia,” Santana said recently. “They trust her.” As a volunteer, Monroy serves as chair of the fledgling Northeast Ohio Association for Hispanic Health. NOAHH helps newly arrived Latinx and Hispanic individuals navigate the complex Northeast Ohio health care system. She’s working to qualify the organization for nonprofit status. In the same vein, Monroy is one of the leaders of SEEDS, which stands for Support, Empower, Engage, Develop and Sustain. It, too, is a young organization and was initiated by Santana to help Spanish-speaking women improve their lives and their neighborhoods. For example, Monroy recently helped a woman, newly arrived with four children from Puerto Rico, find housing and food, and then connected the family to as many community resources as possible. “Her knowledge of the community is invaluable and was able to help this family plant roots in Cleveland,” the nomination said. “Her selflessness and willingness to give serves as a great example.” — Jay Miller
Marcia Moreno’s consulting firm helps organizations develop long-term strategies and programs that attract more Latinx workers and better support the Latinx community. In the two years since Moreno founded AmMore, the company has supported 20 organizations, the nomination said. For example, her company has been integral to JumpStart’s Latinx market research project, targeting the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. The work will help JumpStart, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurial businesses, develop more equitable services and economically transform communities. A Chilean immigrant, Moreno is a mentor at College Now Greater Cleveland and an instructor who manages Cleveland State University’s First Year Experience program. The curriculum, which provides freshmen with the tools they need to succeed in college, focuses on understanding cultural differences. Moreno also has spearheaded valuable initiatives through her work as second vice president of the Young Latino Network. She was key to the launch of YLN’s Latinx Women Who Coffee and to a webinar series that addresses the mental health toll COVID-19 can take on the community. She is also Hispanic Star Ambassador for the We Are All Human Foundation, which collaborates with local organizations that support Latinx businesses and individuals. — Leslie Green
20 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | August 31, 2020
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Title: Founder and partner, Ariel Ventures LLC
Title: Founder, president and managing parter, Margaret W. Wong & Associates LLC
Title: Assistant dean for recruiting, retention and marketing, College of Engineering, University of Akron
Last degree earned: Juris Doctor, University at Buffalo School of Law
Latest degree earned: Doctor of Philosophy in electrical engineering, University of Akron
To Margaret Wong, America is the greatest country in the world. That’s why she fights for the rights of others to live their lives here. Born in Hong Kong in 1950 amid Chinese civil war, Wong came to the U.S. for a job in credit analysis with Central National Bank, eventually earning her law degree from University at Buffalo School of Law. But being a Chinese immigrant and female lawyer in America in the 1970s was anything but easy. Working in insurance as a young lawyer at a Cleveland firm, her duties included menial tasks like listening to the wives of senior partners talk about how to order their spouse’s lunch. Wong would try to hold back her accent lest she be treated differently. She recalled crying in the women’s restroom over how she was treated and men barging in to mock her. She didn’t think about discrimination. She was just happy to have a job. But her attitude would grow to change. Focusing on immigration law, Wong hung her shingle in 1977, launching a firm that has since grown to nine offices with 80 employees. Author of “The Immigrant’s Way,” Wong does Chinese and Spanish radio talk shows during which she answers callers’ legal questions for free. She also mentors and provides scholarship funds to first-generation and law students. Wong’s work in immigration is driven by a calling to help others realize a fair, equitable future like what she’s spent decades fighting to craft for herself. — Jeremy Nobile
Julie Zhao, who immigrated from China, creates new programs for global education and international partnership, improves employee morale, increases enrollment, enhances student success and helps to create a more diverse and inclusive college environment. “The world needs more people like Julie,” said Drake Smalley, a 2017 graduate now working as an engineer at Johnson & Johnson, in the nomination. As the past director of the university’s Increasing Diversity in Engineering Academics (IDEAs) program, Zhao created an on-campus community for students of color that includes a study room, workshops and other programming. The IDEAs program supports underrepresented students in engineering through STEM outreach events, scholarship and internship opportunities, peer mentoring and organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Her work has garnered honors such as the university’s Outstanding Service Diversity and the Women Trailblazers awards and the Women in STEAM Academy of Leaders Award from the Akron Urban League. Zhao also manages the college’s international initiatives, which include partnerships with 19 foreign universities. Zhao is working with the International Center and the graduate school to establish special academic programs at the College of Engineering for students in South Korea and China. The programs would allow students to complete their undergraduate degrees at the institutions where they reside while starting master’s degree courses at the University of Akron. — Leslie Green
Last degree earned: MBA in finance and MIS, Case Western Reserve University; master’s in accounting/taxation, Cleveland State University When Radhika Reddy started her own consulting business in the mid-1990s, she didn’t expect it to lead to the development of an events center or a hotel. But she’s taken chances over the years that have let her career grow and change. “I’m a serial entrepreneur,” she said. “I’m always open to opportunities.” Reddy came to the U.S. from India while pursuing her MBA at Case Western Reserve University. She was supposed to just spend a year in the states on a scholarship, but she fell in love with the area. In 1995, she received a green card, “which opened up a lot of opportunities,” she said. She started her own international consulting business that same year, drawing on her international banking background and skills as a turnaround manager. Reddy said she wanted the chance to run a business her way, with a socially conscious focus. In 2001, that company became Ariel Ventures LLC, shifting focus from international consulting to economic development and real estate finance. Specifically, Ariel Ventures specializes in new market tax credits. And in 2003, Reddy and her partners, alongside the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, established their own community development entity. By 2011, Reddy said she and her partners were “debating whether to retire or make a difference.” As an immigrant, she had long dreamed of creating an international center for events and programs and wanted to invest in low-income communities. That led to the creation of the Ariel International Center. More developments, including an event center in Old Brooklyn and a hotel in Lorain, soon followed. — Rachel Abbey McCafferty
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CRAIN'S LIST | HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES Ranked by base salary for current or upcoming season RANK
NAME, AGE 1
TEAM
BASE SALARY 2
TOTAL SALARY (SIGNING BONUS AMORTIZED) 3
CASH RECEIVED THIS YEAR 2
TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE
CONTRACT LENGTH (YEARS)
CONTRACT EXPIRES 4
POSITION
YEAR ENTERED LEAGUE
COLLEGE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 34
KEVIN LOVE, 31
Cavaliers
$31,258,256
$31,258,256
$31,258,256
$120,402,172
4
2023
forward
2008
UCLA
ANDRE DRUMMOND, 27
Cavaliers
$28,751,775
$28,751,775
$28,751,775
$127,171,313
5
2021
center
2012
University of Connecticut
CARLOS SANTANA, 34
Indians
$17,500,000
$20,833,334
$6,481,481 5
$60,000,000
3
2020
first base
2010
NA
FRANCISCO LINDOR, 26
Indians
$17,500,000
$17,500,000
$6,481,481
$17,500,000
1
2020
shortstop
2011
NA
ODELL BECKHAM JR., 27
Browns
$14,000,000
$14,250,000
$14,250,000
$90,000,000
5
2023
wide receiver
2014
Louisiana State University
JARVIS LANDRY, 27
Browns
$13,000,000
$14,550,000
$13,050,000
$75,500,000
5
2022
wide receiver
2014
Louisiana State University
SHELDON RICHARDSON, 29
Browns
$11,900,000
$13,666,666
$12,000,000
$37,000,000
3
2021
defensive tackle
2013
University of Missouri
LARRY NANCE JR., 27
Cavaliers
$11,709,091
$12,727,273
$12,727,273
$44,800,000
4
2023
forward
2015
University of Wyoming
CARLOS CARRASCO, 33
Indians
$10,250,000
$10,250,000
$3,796,296
$47,000,000
4
2022
pitcher
2009
NA
DANTE EXUM, 25
Cavaliers
$9,100,000
$9,600,000 6
$9,600,000 6
$33,000,000
3
2021
guard
2014
NA
CEDI OSMAN, 25
Cavaliers
$8,840,909
$8,840,909
$8,840,909
$31,120,000
4
2024
forward
2017
NA
JOEL BITONIO, 28
Browns
$8,500,000
$9,000,000
$9,000,000
$51,164,777
6
2022
guard
2014
University of Nevada
BRAD HAND, 30
Indians
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$2,592,593
$19,750,000
3
2020
pitcher
2011
NA
OLIVIER VERNON, 29
Browns
$6,750,000
$11,000,000
$11,000,000
$11,000,000
1
2020
defensive end
2012
University of Miami
DARIUS GARLAND, 20
Cavaliers
$6,720,720
$6,720,720
$6,720,720
$13,121,640
2
2021
guard
2019
Vanderbilt University
JOSE RAMIREZ, 27
Indians
$6,250,000
$6,650,000
$2,314,815
$26,000,000
5
2021
third base
2013
NA
CESAR HERNANDEZ, 30
Indians
$6,250,000
$6,250,000
$2,314,815
$6,250,000
1
2020
second base
2013
NA
JACK CONKLIN, 26
Browns
$5,000,000
$8,000,000
$20,000,000
$42,000,000
3
2022
offensive tackle
2016
Michigan State University
COLLIN SEXTON, 21
Cavaliers
$4,991,880
$4,991,880
$4,991,880
$13,825,440
3
2021
guard
2018
University of Alabama
MIKE CLEVINGER, 29
Indians
$4,100,000
$4,100,000
$1,518,519
$4,100,000
1
2020
pitcher
2016
Seminole Community College
J.C. TRETTER, 29
Browns
$4,000,000
$9,975,000
$8,350,000
$32,550,000
3
2022
center
2013
Cornell University
ROBERTO PEREZ, 31
Indians
$3,500,000
$3,625,000
$1,388,889
$9,000,000
4
2020
catcher
2014
Florida Gateway College
KAREEM HUNT, 25
Browns
$3,259,000
$3,259,000
$3,259,000
$3,259,000
1
2020
running back
2017
University of Toledo
OLIVER PEREZ, 39
Indians
$3,000,000
$3,000,000
$1,111,111
$5,500,000
2
2020
pitcher
2002
NA
TERRANCE MITCHELL, 28
Browns
$2,500,000
$2,466,666
$3,000,000
$10,000,000
3
2020
cornerback
2014
University of Oregon
KENDALL LAMM, 28
Browns
$2,250,000
$2,650,000
$2,350,000
$4,500,000
2
2020
offensive tackle
2015
Appalachian State University
CHRIS HUBBARD, 29
Browns
$2,150,000
$5,587,500
$4,487,500
$36,500,000
5
2021
offensive tackle
2013
University of Alabama at Birmingham
DYLAN WINDLER, 23
Cavaliers
$2,137,440
$2,137,440
$2,137,440
$4,173,240
2
2021
forward
2019
Belmont University
LARRY OGUNJOBI, 26
Browns
$2,133,000
$2,378,391
$2,133,000
$3,907,264
4
2020
defensive tackle
2017
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
KEVIN PORTER JR., 20
Cavaliers
$2,033,160
$2,033,160
$2,033,160
$3,324,120
2
2021
guard
2019
University of Southern California
SANDY LEON, 31
Indians
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
$740,741
$2,000,000
1
2020
catcher
2012
NA
DELINO DESHIELDS JR., 28
Indians
$1,875,000
$1,875,000
$694,444
$1,875,000
1
2020
center field
2015
NA
DAVID NJOKU, 24
Browns
$1,763,877
$3,030,714
$1,763,877
$9,525,095
4
2020
tight end
2017
University of Miami
ALFONZO MCKINNIE, 27
Cavaliers
$1,762,796 7
$1,762,796 7
$1,762,796 7
$7,338,954 7
47
2023 7
forward
2017
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
JORDAN BELL, 25
Cavaliers
$1,762,796 7
$1,762,796 7
$1,762,796 7
$1,945,911 7
27
2021 7
forward
2017
University of Oregon
Researched by Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com | Numerical data from spotrac.com. Additional information from espn.com and league websites. Players with the same base salary are ranked by total salary, including bonuses. NOTES: 1. This list includes fewer NBA players than it otherwise would have due to delays in the free agency process and a delayed NBA draft. 2. Indians players received significantly lower salaries than the amount listed in the base salary column due to the season being cut from 162 games to 60. Adjusted salary figures were used to calculate figures in the "cash received this year" column. 3. Total salary figures include only a portion of signing bonuses, which are typically amortized over multiple years for the purpose of calculating salary caps. 4. Represents the final season the player is under contract. NFL contracts technically don't expire until March of the following year. 5. From Baseball Prospectus 6. Includes $500,000 incentive bonus 7. Non-guaranteed
Get all 49 athletes in the Excel version of this list. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data
22 | CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | August 31, 2020
P022_CL_20200831.indd 22
8/28/2020 12:39:18 PM
EXPANSION
From Page 1
About 20 years ago, the company built its existing warehouse in Mentor with the goal of processing orders faster and speeding up shipping time. Today, more than 90% of the orders Buyers Products receives can be shipped within 24 hours, Saltzman said. But volume orders have “increased dramatically,” he said. That means the company’s existing warehouse is filling up and, consequently, slowing the flow of business down. And customers’ expectations are greater now, too, since the introduction of Amazon into the market. People want to receive their orders as soon as possible. That means Buyers Products doesn’t wait for orders or take a justin-time approach to manufacturing. “We’re not afraid of inventory,” Saltzman said. For example, it starts building salt spreaders up to a year in advance, spending January to July building inventory that then ships from July through December, Saltzman said. The planned expansion at 9049 Tyler Blvd. will add 280,000 square feet — and 20 docks — to the company’s warehouse, a news release stated. The warehouse is currently 250,000 square feet. The company also is adding 17,500 square feet of office space. Additionally, Saltzman said, the expansion will be 67 feet tall, about 20 feet taller than the existing building. That allows for even more products to be stored. The company is investing about $40 million in the physical expansion, which includes the building and related technology. And the expansion in Mentor is likely not the last for Buyers Products. It’s already looking to grow one of its manufacturing sites. And much of the company’s business is
CLINIC
From Page 1
“And Aetna certainly helps us fill that gap in a way I think we feel like is advantageous to both parties in the relationship and also certainly our patients,” Wolfe said. For the more than two decades that Minnesota-based health care consultant Allan Baumgarten has been studying the Ohio market, there’s been speculation about whether the Clinic would want to own its own health plan someday, he said. “And I think based on these three partnerships or joint ventures, the answer is they find that the joint venture strategy or the partnership strategy is preferable for them than taking on the risk associated with owning and operating your own health plan,” Baumgarten said. The Aetna Whole Health – Cleveland Clinic co-branded commercial plan will be available this fall for fully insured and self-insured employers in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit and Tuscarawas counties. The plan aims to provide positive clinical outcomes, improved experience and reduced total cost of care. “When I think about the focus and the deep commitment that both Aetna and Cleveland Clinic have, it is really to truly deliver a differentiated experience that at end of day is going to continue to bend the health care cost trend and help the focus on — not just for an employer, but really for the consumer — delivering a better overall experience and total cost of
Buyers Products is adding 280,000 square feet and 20 docks to its space at 9049 Tyler Blvd. in Mentor. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
“WE’RE FORTUNATE IN THAT WE HAVE THE MARGINS TO BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THE 1,100 PEOPLE THAT WORK FOR US. AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES ME MOST PROUD.” ——Mark Saltzman, Buyers Products president and CEO
Buyers Products president and CEO Mark Saltzman speaks at a groundbreaking event for the planned expansion.
“west of the Mississippi,” Saltzman said. Its West Coast distributors want their products within a day,
too, but that’s not feasible from the Ohio site. So after this expansion, Buyers Products plans to look at set-
care,” said Angie Meoli, senior vice president of network strategy and provider experience for Aetna. The Clinic has roughly 11,000 lives in its Oscar plan (about half of which are in Cuyahoga County) and about 7,500 members in its Humana offering. Both were initially offered in a few Northeast Ohio counties and have since grown their geographic footprint and market share, with particular success in the Medicare Advantage market, according to a Clinic spokesperson. “I think we’ve seen really positive
with all different types of risk factors. “It’s a little bit more complex from that standpoint, and a little bit more of a challenge,” said Tom Campanella, health care executive-in-residence at Baldwin Wallace University. “They’re taking steps in the right direction to provide, again, more optimal care and incent the hospital to break down internal silos and focus more on process improvement, and efficiencies, which could then carry over to other customers, too, or other patients.”
“WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE FOCUS AND THE DEEP COMMITMENT THAT BOTH AETNA AND CLEVELAND CLINIC HAVE, IT IS REALLY TO TRULY DELIVER A DIFFERENTIATED EXPERIENCE ... DELIVERING A BETTER OVERALL EXPERIENCE AND TOTAL COST OF CARE.” ——Angie Meoli, senior vice president of network strategy and provider experience for Aetna
success in both of those plans, both from a growth perspective in terms of membership, but also in terms of being able to focus on certain segments of the population and partner with the plans around plan design that encourages engagement in wellness and care-gap closure kinds of activities,” Wolfe said. “So we’ve been able to move the needle on quality as well as membership in both of those plans.” While the Oscar individual offering and the Medicare Advantage offering with Humana each in their own way served a focused population, working with employers will mean a broader member population
The Oscar and Humana plans were direct-to-consumer sales, an important distinction from the Aetna offering, which will be sold to employers, said Meghan Cassidy senior director of sales and product development at the Clinic. The Clinic began hearing from employers large and small the same day the plan was announced. “We’re going to be working with employers to help understand what their challenges are and figure out how to deliver the best patient experience and member experience for that,” she said. Hospital systems have increasingly shown interest in deeper, more for-
ting up a satellite warehouse and, potentially, some manufacturing in the West, Saltzman said. The company held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Mentor project on Aug. 18. Buyers Products historically wouldn’t have held such an event, Saltzman said, as the company has traditionally operated a little bit mal collaborations with health insurance, including co-branded plans. Many systems think that if they controlled more of the premium dollar, they could more effectively manage care, keep more of that money and reinvest it in improving care, Baumgarten said. But they’ve also seen various hospitals start new health plans that have failed. “Forming a joint venture is a way to mitigate some of the risk — both the financial risk and other kinds of risks that are involved in starting a new health plan company,” Baumgarten said. “It also gives you sort of a boost or a head start, because when you’re working with a company like Aetna, it’s got all the administrative machinery in place for running a new health plan. It’s got all the marketing and product development expertise and resources needed to launch a new health plan.” Partnerships also can mean mitigating financial losses associated with starting a plan by sharing that risk with an insurance company, he said. Campanella called the arrangement a win-win situation. There has long been a recognition that payers and providers need to collaborate more, and formal partnerships like this can help incentivize that collaboration as they work to make a product successful in the marketplace. Through the partnership, the Clinic is able to extend the reach of its brand, while Aetna can align itself with the Clinic’s strong reputation. “To the extent that these health systems carry a certain amount of cachet or a certain amount of prestige,
under the radar. But it’s working to raise its profile now in the interest of attracting talent. And that applies to all levels of jobs available at the company, from the custodial staff to the engineers to the sales force. “I want the best people at every level,” he said. To attract and keep that talent, Saltzman is willing to spend some money. For example, the company has offered profit sharing to its fulltime employees for the past 50 years. And about a year ago it opted to raise its minimum wage. On the latter measure, Saltzman said it was becoming increasingly difficult to find entry-level labor. He learned that comparable jobs were paying, on average, $12 to $14 an hour. So he raised the starting wage at Buyers Products to $15 an hour. “We’re fortunate in that we have the margins to be able to take care of the 1,100 people that work for us,” Saltzman said. “And that’s what makes me most proud.” The competition for employees in Mentor, especially along Tyler Boulevard, is strong, said Kevin Malecek, the city’s director of economic development and international trade. He has seen companies offering more competitive wages and trying different recruiting techniques. Buyers Products is one of Mentor’s largest employers in the manufacturing and distribution sector, which is an important industry for the city, Malecek said. Their investments over the years, including this most recent one, demonstrates the company’s commitment to Mentor and Mentor’s commitment to the business community. Saltzman said the company hopes the expansion is up and running by July 2021. Rachel Abbey McCafferty: (216) 771-5379, rmccafferty@crain.com that’s a little bit of a halo effect coming back to the insurance company — in this case, Aetna,” Baumgarten said. Through Cleveland Clinic’s Cardiac Center of Excellence program, the organizations also are offering Aetna plan sponsors across the country access to cardiac care at the Clinic. The program aims to achieve improved clinical outcomes and help patients return to work and other activities faster. “For over 10 years, we have sold directly to employers our Cardiac Center of Excellence program,” Cassidy said. “And so we have teamed up with Aetna so that they can offer that to their entire employer group offering, too.” Ultimately, the Clinic will draw on its experience with the Oscar and Humana plans as it works with Aetna to begin offering the new plan this fall. “I think one of the things that we’ve learned is the ability to sit down with a health plan on the front end and help design the product benefits in a way that encourages appropriate kinds of utilization: engagement with the primary care physician, engagement in wellness activities, etc., as opposed to penalizing those and maybe just looking to hope that no one shows up in the ER,” Wolfe said, adding that “we can together with the plan help influence customer and patient behavior in a way that’s beneficial not just to the patient but to the system as a whole.” Lydia Coutré: lcoutre@crain.com, (216) 771-5479, @LydiaCoutre
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AKRON GOVERNMENT
Akron and Cuyahoga Falls increase collaborative efforts Merriman Valley development, Gorge Dam project prompt cities to work together more BBY DAN SHINGLER
Summit County’s two largest cities, Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, have stepped up their efforts to collaborate at a time when both say they see more things requiring their combined efforts. With looming projects ranging from the removal of the Gorge Dam to planning for the likely inevitable development of Merriman Valley, which the cities share, civic leaders say there’s never been a better time for their communities to work together. “We try to look out for the broader picture for the communities. … I just think that’s beneficial — not to say anything about what came before,” said Akron Mayor Don Horrigan. What came before wasn’t necessarily an environment of animosity, but the two cities had a rivalry going back to their very beginnings in the early 1800s, when Cuyahoga Falls was named the seat of Summit County in 1840, only to have Akron take it away the following year via a popular vote. Yes, they’ve both been around that long. Actually, Cuyahoga Falls was established in 1812, which was 13 years before Akron was a city. In more recent years, the two competed against each other for development and businesses — perhaps most visibly when Cuyahoga Falls’ only professional sport team, the Cuyahoga Falls Cougars of the International Basketball League, became the Akron Cougars in 2009, though that wasn’t a
Many current home sites in the Merriman Valley look like they’re a lot further out in the country, rather than along the border of two cities. | DAN SHINGLER/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
huge bone of contention. While the cities weren’t enemies by any means, officials say a cooperative dialogue was often lacking — but not anymore. “We joke that it’s nice to finally talk to each other,” Akron’s director of planning and urban development, Jason Segedy, said, noting that these days he’s in regular contact with his counterpart in Cuyahoga Falls, Fred Guerra.
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One of the first and perhaps most important places the two cities will need to discuss further is Merriman Valley, where they share a border that snakes along the bucolic basin on Akron’s north side, along the Cuyahoga River. The valley is emerging as a hot spot for residential development, as more people want to live near the increasingly popular Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Sand Run Metro Park and local attractions such as Blossom Music Center. Ryan Homes is already in the midst of constructing more than 100 new homes on the former Sycamore Valley Golf Course on Akron-Peninsula Road, and more development appears likely. The city of Akron recently put out a request for proposals for residential developers to buy and build on 45 acres of land it owns in the valley, and other parcels are coming online as well. “I’ve seen a lot of for-sale signs go up just in the last year — a lot of the golf courses are going under. You’ve got Sycamore across the street and Riverwoods (a former golf course) right behind us … and that land’s for sale,” said Michael Allio, vice president of Mascot Workwear USA, which moved in across the street from the old Sycamore course in 2018. Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters said Riverwoods, which has been tied up in probate court, is already attracting the attention of residential builders. “There are many developers that are interested in building townhomes there,” Walters said. But, he added, “Many residents are against more housing in the valley.” That’s why planning will be critical, Walters, Horrigan, Segedy and others said. They say they know that neither existing nor future residents want to see the valley become filled with traffic and sprawl. It needs to be a place that retains its natural beauty and improves its role as a connection to the local parks, while still supporting inevitable development, they said. “We can make changes now that are going to dictate what (the valley) looks like for the next 50 years,” Walters said.
To do that, the two cities said they’ll likely soon bring in a third-party consultant to provide recommendations for how development should take place, from which they hope to draw coordinated development plans. “It’s not 100% official yet. But I just talked to Fred (Guerra) yesterday, and we will most likely be putting out a joint RFP to bring on a consultant to do a strategic plan,” Segedy said in an Aug. 26 interview. The two cities have already shown the ability to collaborate in the valley.
low it to cut back on some requirements of its $1.2 billion, federally mandated sewer overhaul so that it can focus more of its efforts on the dam’s removal, Horrigan and other city officials said. Walters said the collaboration on the dam is something he’s most proud of, in terms of his city’s relationship with its neighbor, as both have been focused on the common good. “As long as we can get the funding, clean that up properly and get rid of the dam, we’ll all benefit. … The final outcome was, ‘Who cares whose dam it is?’ ” Walters said. But while the valley and the dam might be the most high-profile examples of common interests for both cities, there are many others, the mayors said. It’s often infrastructure-related, they said, involving water and sewer services to areas along the border, agreeing on street and traffic plans that impact both cities, as well as bigger road construction projects. Horrigan said the cities will likely need to collaborate soon on the replacement of the high-level bridge, locally known as the Y Bridge, that crosses their border as it connects North Main Street in Akron to State Road in Cuyahoga Falls. “Almost all of it is in Akron, but you can’t cross the bridge without being in the Falls,” said Horrigan, who added that the two cities will begin a planning effort for the bridge this fall. The project will be done by Summit County, Horrigan said, “but they
“WE TRY TO LOOK OUT FOR THE BROADER PICTURE FOR THE COMMUNITIES. … I JUST THINK THAT’S BENEFICIAL — NOT TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT CAME BEFORE.” ——Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan
“AS LONG AS WE CAN GET THE FUNDING, CLEAN THAT UP PROPERLY AND GET RID OF THE DAM, WE’LL ALL BENEFIT. … THE FINAL OUTCOME WAS, ‘WHO CARES WHOSE DAM IT IS?’ ” ——Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters, on the Gorge Dam
The Sycamore development was only made possible when Akron agreed to provide water and sewer services for it, which is in Cuyahoga Falls. Doing that just makes sense, said Horrigan, because Cuyahoga Falls gets new tax dollars while Akron gets new utility revenue and can leverage the investment it’s made expanding the capacity of its water and sewer systems in recent years. Another project Akron and Cuyahoga Falls agree is important and have made a priority is the removal of the Gorge Dam on the Cuyahoga River on the cities’ border. Doing that, which both cities hope will occur sometime before the end of 2024, will open up and improve the health of the river in Akron, while doing the same and producing first-class whitewater kayaking sites in Cuyahoga Falls. Akron will soon ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to al-
have to work with both of us fairly significantly in the planning process and to manage traffic.” The cities have also begun talking about how to handle redevelopment on and around the site of struggling Chapel Hill Mall, which is also near their border on the Akron side, Horrigan said. Horrigan and Walters predict cooperation will only increase, because it’s become more and more of a necessity as the two cities continue to change. They have far more in common than anything that makes them different, Horrigan said. “We both have a very healthy respect for the jobs we each do on a daily basis — we go through the same things together,” Horrigan said. Dan Shingler: dshingler@crain.com, (216) 771-5290, @DanShingler
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JUMPSTART
From Page 1
“We’ve always worked as a collaborative, so, as (BioEnterprise) may be changing their activities moving forward, (we will be) working without interruption” for companies in an important sector of the regional economy, Frantz added. Frantz said JumpStart will share the role of assisting startup and early stage biotechnology companies with several other area organizations with biotech interests, including the Cleve-
She said that only BioEnterprise’s incubator is currently operating. “We’ve been looking to retain the key aspects of BioEnterprise, particularly the incubator function,” Davis said. “It’s a transition from the larger footprint that included providing executives-in-residence (who advised entrepreneurs) to a much more limited, incubator function.” BioEnterprise owns two floors of the four-story building at 11000 Cedar Road that bears its name. (Case Western Reserve University owns the other two floors). Nearly a dozen rent-paying, startup biotech busi-
| CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
role as manager of the Global Center for Health Innovation after two years managing the building on Cleveland’s Mall that began life as the Medical Mart. The building has struggled since its opening in 2013. BioEnterprise said it would move its 20 staff members working in the building back to the organization’s University Circle home by the end of the year. Before the month was over, however, both the Cuyahoga County Convention Facilities Development Corp. (CCCFDC), the county agency that oversees the Global Center and
“WE’VE BEEN LOOKING TO RETAIN THE KEY ASPECTS OF BIOENTERPRISE, PARTICULARLY THE INCUBATOR FUNCTION. IT’S A TRANSITION FROM THE LARGER FOOTPRINT THAT INCLUDED PROVIDING EXECUTIVES-INRESIDENCE (WHO ADVISED ENTREPRENEURS) TO A MUCH MORE LIMITED, INCUBATOR FUNCTION.” ——BioEnterprise board chair Dr. Pamela Davis, dean of the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University
land Clinic, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals. In early June, BioEnterprise announced that Aram Nerpouni, BioEnterprise’s president, and 14 other employees had left the organization at the end of May, leaving the nonprofit with four employees. An emailed statement indicated that the board had “begun an assessment of our strategic options due to ongoing operational and financial considerations and the economic uncertainty that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic.” BioEnterprise’s demise is the result of a series of very public missteps, in particular investigations by Cuyahoga County that focused on the questionable spending of public money. The BioEnterprise board has never made clear what role the county investigations have played in those departures. BioEnterprise board chair Dr. Pamela Davis, dean of the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, said last Wednesday that future meetings of the 14-member BioEnterprise board have been canceled but that a small group of board members meets regularly to plan the organization’s future.
nesses are using the space to get their businesses off the ground. Frantz said that his organization, despite its own pandemic-related staff cuts, and others with interest in advancing the region’s biotechnology businesses will work more collaboratively. “What we do have is a good deal of adaptability and flexibility in terms of being able to bring in contractors,” or people from its collaborators, he said. “What’s happening is the level of engagement that’s happening in terms of sharing resources and working with new innovations is going up.” Frantz added that entrepreneurs with ideas for businesses still will be able to be introduced to subject matter experts, who could be advisers at one of the partner organizations, such as a hospital. “The more we share the assets, I think the stronger the region can be,” he said. The BioEnterprise board has never made clear what role the county investigations have played in the staff departures and the downsizing of the organization. In early November 2019, BioEnterprise announced that it would end its
the adjacent Huntington Convention Center, and the office of the Cuyahoga County prosecutor began to question expenses submitted by BioEnterprise to CCCFDC for reimbursement. Those investigations continue. At about the same time, the Ohio Third Frontier program — through which the state funds its technology-based economic development initiatives — and JumpStart, which oversees Third Frontier grants to Northeast Ohio entrepreneurial businesses and entrepreneurial service organizations like BioEnterprise, ended a key part of BioEnterprise’s funding. A JumpStart statement in June said that “BioEnterprise was not included in the newest three-year ESP (Entrepreneurial Services Provider) grant agreement, due to an ongoing investigation. This decision was made in order to maintain public confidence in the program.” An email to the Ohio Development Services Agency, which is home to the Third Frontier program, was not returned by Crain’s deadline last week. Jay Miller: jmiller@crain.com, (216) 771-5362, @millerjh
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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND LOOK BACK | DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND LIVING
Apartment boom was decades in the making Scanning Cleveland’s skyline, you will find the 34-floor Lumen perched at Playhouse Square. Amid the clutter of lower Euclid Avenue buildings, there is now the 29-story Beacon apartment building, distinguished by its textured metal skin. Further west, you’ll find the seven-story Flats at East Bank Apartments in the Flats. They are in their way exclamation points to the city’s new look, testaments to the central business district’s transformation the last 40 years. Along with new sports venues, a convention center and rehabilitated theaters, the city has garnered a downtown residential population pushing 20,000. The foundation for these and other ground-up construction projects was set by putting lofts in old dime and department stores and office buildings across downtown — even in part of the iconic Terminal Tower office building. — Stan Bullard
``THE HISTORY Suburbanization, flight from crime, racism and other factors cost the city thousands of residents since the 1950s, but more was at play downtown. Ironically, the 52-story Terminal Tower was part of the Cleveland Union Terminal project that displaced 20,000 people from a corner of Public Square in the 1920s. Other city renewal and beautification efforts displaced more people. By the 1980s, downtown population dwindled to 9,000. That’s when the idea of boosting population to revitalize downtown took hold, first to occupy empty warehouse buildings and later to replace obsolete office space. A handful of people had taken up residence in The Bradley Building in the 1970s to make it the first residential loft between New York and Chicago. In 1987, an affiliate of Independence-based Dalad Group installed 30 suites in The Hat Factory, 1235 W. Sixth St., to take renovations to a grander scale. However, turning visions of downtown living into reality took creating a track record. Bob Rains, a partner with the Carney family in downtown apartment concern Landmark Management, recalled the difficulties in 1992 when it undertook its first rehab project, converting three buildings into the Grand Arcade, at 408 W. St. Clair Ave., which is now condominiums. “No one wanted to make the loan for the project,” Rains said. “No one wanted to buy the equity for the federal historic tax credits.” Breakthroughs came from several quarters, such as the carpenters union pension fund, and redirecting funds from unused federal Urban Development Action Grants helped finance pioneering projects. Patience paid off. “Once we had 200 units downtown, it took off,” Rains said.
``IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“There are forests in these buildings.” ——Jonathan Sandvick, Cleveland architect, historic preservation and adaptive reuse expert, arguing for benefits of converting old buildings to new uses
“Historic character is what Cleveland offers. If you want new, if you want plastic — that’s in the suburbs.” ——Willis Boyer, city and suburban real estate developer, discussing a report for DCA predecessor Euclid Avenue task force study, “New life for Millionaire’s Row,” about converting old office buildings to housing in February 1994
The 29-story Beacon apartment building, distinguished by its textured metal skin, stands on Euclid Avenue near East 4th Street. | DAVID KORDALSKI/CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
``WHY IT MATTERS TODAY The results of those efforts shaped a downtown that’s distinctly Cleveland and revitalized the city’s street life. A total of 62 adaptive reuse projects shape the city from the Flats to Cleveland State University, according to Tom Yablonsky, executive vice president of Downtown Cleveland Alliance, who has played docent to downtown deals for decades. “The result is that this is a unique place. It has its own authenticity,” Yablonsky said. “It has character and scale that goes along with other parts of downtown living.” Those moves, along with other city incentives such as property tax abatement and tax increment financing, readied the city for the next phase of apartment deals: the low
interest-rate era, which makes apartment development more doable than it had been for years. However, construction costs continue to rise, and rents in Northeast Ohio lag what it takes to support new developments. Yvette Ittu, president of Cleveland Development Advisors, a local economic development fund, said local projects still need aid to close the gap, but more developers with equity and lender backing are at work in town. The city’s focus through four mayors, from George Voinovich to Frank Jackson, plus collaboration from multiple sources, went a long way toward remaking the city and helping slow population loss. The skills of professionals who produced the projects are continuing to shape the city and the region’s economic development.
“Since January (1994), I’ve been saying to anyone who will listen that we can’t have a viable downtown without more housing by the year 2000. Ten thousand is a good number, a great goal, but it’s whatever number that it takes to add vigor to downtown.” ——Mayor Michael R. White, discussing a goal that Downtown Development Coordinators, a DCA predecessor, set for downtown housing. As of June 30, 2020, downtown had 7,842 units.
“We have to turn over every rock for funding.” ——Kathleen Crowther, executive director, Cleveland Restoration Society, on the preponderance of city federal historic tax credit projects in 2017
THE WEEK JOINING FORCES?: Cleveland State University and the University of Akron formed a Joint Exploratory Working Group that will look into the possibility of a partnership between the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and the University of Akron School of Law. A joint operating model between the schools “would potentially create the largest law school in Ohio and one of the largest public law schools in the country,” the schools said. The two universities would jointly own and operate the law school, and students could take in-person and online courses from both locations.
The law schools at Cleveland State University and the University of Akron are exploring a partnership. | CLEVELAND-MARSHALL COLLEGE OF LAW WEBSITE
CENTER OF THE ACTION: University Hospitals plans to participate as a study site sponsored by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE to test an investi-
gational COVID-19 vaccine. UH will be one of about 120 clinical investigational sites worldwide that will in total enroll up to 30,000 par-
The health system said the vaccine is “one of the most advanced candidates” in the BNT162 program currently being evaluated in the United States and Germany.
ticipants in the Phase 2/3 global study of the investigational vaccine, BNT162b2, against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
DOUBLE TIME: The Flats East Bank in downtown Cleveland could be one of the first real estate projects in Ohio to take advantage of a recent change in state law that lengthened the potential lifespan of a key tax incentive for major developments. City officials are considering a proposal to double the term of tax increment financing on the Flats, a 23acre, mixed-use development where construction began in late 2010. The Flats project is 11 years into a 30year TIF agreement with the city and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
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Crain’s Cleveland Business is published by Crain Communications Inc. Chairman Keith E. Crain Vice chairman Mary Kay Crain President KC Crain Senior executive VP Chris Crain Secretary Lexie Crain Armstrong Chief Financial Officer Robert Recchia G.D. Crain Jr., Founder (1885-1973) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr., Chairman (1911-1996) Editorial & Business Offices 700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 (216) 522-1383 Volume 41, Number 32 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, except for the first issue in January, July and September, the last issue in May and the fourth issue in November, at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2020 by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, OH, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: $2.00. Postmaster: Send address changes to Crain’s Cleveland Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, MI 48207-2912. 1 (877) 824-9373. Subscriptions: In Ohio: 1 year - $64, 2 year - $110. Outside Ohio: 1 year - $110, 2 year - $195. Single copy, $2.00. Allow 4 weeks for change of address. For subscription information and delivery concerns send correspondence to Audience Development Department, Crain’s Cleveland Business, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, MI, 48207-9911, or email to customerservice@crainscleveland.com, or call (877) 824-9373 (in the U.S. and Canada) or (313) 446-0450 (all other locations), or fax (313) 446-6777.
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Getting more masks to where they’re needed most Across the country, Bank of America continues to work with local organizations to provide critical resources to vulnerable and underserved populations hardest hit by the coronavirus. To support the safety and health of those most at risk in our community, we are partnering with local leaders and organizations to distribute PPE masks here in Ohio. This is in addition to the four million masks we donated earlier this year in cities across the country — and part of our ongoing commitment to provide millions of masks to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Together, let’s work to help Ohio recover.
Jeneen Marziani Ohio Market President
76,000 masks distributed to our neighbors here in Ohio. We’re partnering with: Cuyahoga Community College YWCA Cleveland Hunger Network
To learn more, please visit bankofamerica.com/community. Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender
© 2020 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
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