Crain's Cleveland Business

VOL. 39, NO. 37

SEPTEMBER 10 - 16, 2018

Source Lunch

Akron LeafFilter grows into diverse Kaulig Companies. Page 20

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Finance chair Kevin Jacques, Baldwin Wallace University Page 23

The List Northeast Ohio’s largest caterers Page 19 MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Legal, but no medical marijuana to buy

By JEREMY NOBILE jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

A CUTTING EDGE TEAM-BUILDING EXPERIENCE Cleveland Axe Throwing general manager Matt Dixon demonstrates the proper technique of tossing a steel blade. (Ken Blaze for Crain’s)

Ax throwing allows employees to build trust while bonding over a new skill

By DOUGLAS J. GUTH clbfreelancer@crain.com

Corporate team-building experiences are a mainstay for most organizations, engaging employees in an activity that ideally creates bonds between individuals and departments

alike. Rather than the usual lunch or happy hour event, however, a growing number of Cleveland companies are letting staff toss a sharpened length of wood and metal in the spirit of good-natured, camaraderie-building competition.

Businesses with an ax to grind are realizing their lumberjack dreams at

Entire contents © 2018 by Crain Communications Inc.

Cleveland Axe Throwing, located in an office building in Valley View down the road from the Cinemark movie theater.

Since opening in March 2017, Cleveland Axe Throwing has hosted 90 area companies — including repeat customers Swagelok, Cintas and Hyland Software — for corporate outings. Recently, Phoenix Coffee brought in 40 guests who chucked axes at wooden targets set up at the range’s six chainedoff throwing lanes.

SEE AXE, PAGE 21

On paper, Ohio’s medical marijuana control program began Saturday, Sept. 8, but there won’t be a single bud, tincture or edible sold for at least a few months.

Business owners in the surrounding marijuana industry have been expecting and planning for delays. Other states, like Maryland, have seen setbacks in their own programs for various reasons. Meanwhile, Ohio’s system for licensing cultivators, processors, dispensaries, doctors and testing labs is one of the most rigorous and heavily regulated in the United States and has faced its own setbacks since HB 523, the law establishing the program, was passed in fall 2016.

Cultivation licenses were slow to roll out in 2017. And some aspiring marijuana growers denied licenses have sued the state over its process for scoring applications. All that began pushing back building timelines for grow ops and the licensing of the other operations. Potrepreneurs reading the tea leaves sensed at that time the industry and its supply chain would come together slower than originally anticipated.

“Most of these business owners are sympathetic and have factored those delays into their budgets,” said Kevin Patrick Murphy, a Walter | Haverfield attorney working with several local marijuana enterprises. “In any state that you have ever seen this, you have delays. No one has ever had a process that has adhered to the timeline.”

“But obviously, folks who’ve invested tens of millions of dollars into selling these products are working to make things happen as fast as possible,” said Thomas Rosenberger, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association of Ohio.

SEE MARIJUANA, PAGE 6

Focus: Meetings and events << Event

pros are in demand, but the job isn’t for the faint of heart. Page 12

Unique is key in event planning. Page 14 Q&A: I-X Center executive vice president Lisa Vo Page 16 P001_CL_20180910.indd 1

9/7/18 2:00 PM

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Terves looks to grow as fracking supplier

By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com @millerjh

A young Euclid company, Terves Inc., is looking to grow, and it’s counting on products that dissolve away to make that happen.

A new, $1 million-plus magnesium foundry is under construction alongside Terves' current operations on the site of a former TRW Inc. research center. It will allow the 5-year-old company to expand production of dissolveable, magnesium alloy fracking balls that are used to help oil and gas companies reduce the cost, and speed the extraction, of oil and gas from horizontal wells.

The new foundry also will be used to produce new products for the aerospace, aviation and automotive industries.

“We need to expand to keep up with the demand,” said company founder and CEO Andrew Sherman.

“We do expect our business to more than double between now and the middle of 2019 as we on-board more customers. This will allow us to continue to grow and diversify.”

Sherman made those comments at the Aug. 8 meeting of the Cuyahoga County Community Improvement Corp. (CCCIC), the board that evaluates economic development loans and recommends them to county council.

The CCCIC approved a $240,000 loan that the county economic development department had pro-

“We need to expand to keep up with the demand. We do expect our business to more than double between now and the middle of 2019 as we on-board more customers. This will allow us to continue to grow and diversify.”

— Andrew Sherman, Terves founder and CEO

posed that Terves use to buy the foundry’s equipment. The loan proposal will be before county council for approval later this month.

The company has had an up-anddown financial history. It had sales in 2015 of $14.4 million, according to financial information submitted to Cuyahoga County.

However, sales plunged to $3.7 million in 2016 and $2.5 million in 2017 because of the drop in oil prices and the decline in oil and gas drilling.

Sales have rebounded, and the company reported to the CCCIC revenue in the first half of 2018 of $2.9 million.

That ambitious level of sales growth is not unreasonable, said Robert Brooks, editor of Foundry Management & Technology, a Cleveland-based arm of Informa USA that produces an annual foundry metalcasting outlook.

“The forecast that I’ve seen for oil and gas exploration in the next year would certainly allow them to make

Terves

that projection,” Brooks said. “(Oil and gas drillers) need lightweight materials that are resistant to pressure and magnesium would fit for that.”

Fracking balls are inserted in wells to build pressure in the ground to make it easier to extract oil and gas. Dissolvable magnesium frack balls are engineered to corrode very quickly in various fracking fluids, eliminating the need for more costly removal by drilling or other methods.

“It’s very much like Alka-Seltzer” being dropped into water, Sherman told Crain’s after the CCCIC meeting.

“It’s incredibly ingenious, to get that preferential dissolution of material,” said Tom Dudley, managing director of ASM International, the association of materials engineers and scientists in Geauga County.

Dudley is a former vice president of innovation and technology at Parker Hannifin Corp., where he worked with fracking balls. He's an

admirer of Sherman, a metallurgist who is a member of ASM. “This guy is one hell of a metallurgist,” he said. “He’s absolutely brilliant with some of the stuff he’s doing. There is no question about it.”

In addition to fracking balls, Terves makes a variety of other products used by oilfield equipment and service companies out of its proprietary magnesium alloy, TervAlloy.

Terves also makes similar products out of Elementum, a patent-pending elastomer, or elastic polymer, that is also used in the oil and gas industry.

Terves has borrowed $700,00 from Middlefield Bank for the building. It has another $600,000 lined up for the equipment — the $240,000 Cuyahoga County loan, a $300,000 loan from Fifth Third Bank and a $60,000 equity contribution.

Currently, Terves has 19 employees. The expansion is expected to add 10 employees to that total.

Terves shares space in Euclid, and

ownership by the Sherman family, with Powdermet Inc., a 22-year-old company that its website describes as being a “nanotechnology and advanced materials research and development organization.”

Sherman founded Powdermet in 1996. It has about 20 employees.

In a midyear report to employees, customers and shareholders of Terves and Powdermet, Sherman reported that Terves has at least five new products that will be launched before the end of 2018 and had filed for 11 new provisional and patent applications in 2018, with four more expected to be filed before the end of the year. The applications include technologies for new dissolvable alloys and composites, expandable materials and evaporation-resistant coatings.

It also recently won support from the Missile Defense Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a lightweight, high-strength magnesium for use in a missile body.

“For taking the weight out of spacecraft, magnesium is a much lower cost and more environmentally sustainable alternative than carbon fiber composites, which is our primary competition” in aerospace and automotive uses, Sherman told the CCCIC board. “Magnesium is about one-tenth the cost of carbon fiber. It’s a $3-a-pound material versus a $30-a-pound material. As it becomes more accepted and the engineering is done, we expect a bright future.”

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9/7/18 2:16 PM

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CBRE adds jobs to keep up with growth

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltywriter

CBRE Group Inc. is in expansion mode in Northeast Ohio.

When it comes to a company that already dominates the region’s commercial real estate brokerage and real estate services marketplace by any measure, according to data from the CoStar online real estate reporting service, it makes waves.

CBRE’s Cleveland and Akron offices have added a total of more than a dozen professionals so far this year, according to David Browning, the CBRE managing director who oversees both offices.

“These are all additional positions due to the growth of our practice,” Browning said in an interview.

Among new recruits, which include real estate agents starting their careers, are five well-established professionals from other firms.

Recent additions to CBRE’s office agency team, which primarily includes representing office building landlords, are Andrew Coleman and Alex Jelepis, who became first vice presidents, and Stephen Morris, who became an associate. Coleman and Morris, who exited JLL’s Cleveland office for CBRE, function as a team.

Jelepis joined from Newmark Knight Frank’s Cleveland office, where he primarily represented downtown office building owners.

CBRE’s corporate services team, which provides multiple site leasing, management and related services for corporations and large private national firms, added A.J. Magner as executive vice president. That’s the same area he worked in at JLL’s Cleveland office. “(Coleman) and (Jelepis) are people that we felt would add great depth to our office agency representation business,” Browning said. “Our business is clearly expanding in Northeast Ohio, both through key professionals who are expanding it and others who want to be a part of it.”

He added, “Our corporate services office is a global business that we are running out of Cleveland that is significant. We have a niche in that market and a culture that’s strong. That group was two people five years ago and now is 15.”

Also new to CBRE is Ken Stern, who joined its retail and restaurant practice as a first vice president after 22 years at Beachwood-based real estate investment trust DDR Corp. His last title at the public shopping center company was senior vice president for peripheral development.

Browning said Stern’s DDR background is important because retail real estate brokerage is becoming increasingly national as retailers increasingly want the same brokerage to represent the company in multiple markets.

Neither JLL nor Newmark Knight Frank would discuss the departures or CBRE’s growth in the market.

However, Mac Biggar, president of Cleveland-based Hanna Commercial, said CBRE has had “a lot of success recruiting people who may not be the main rainmaker (at a brokerage) but may be more comfortable in a corporate environment.” He attributes CBRE’s rise to the global company’s servicing national corporations and companies who want to be with a well-known international brand.

“That’s important for companies that want the same brokerage repre-

P003_CL_20180910.indd 3

senting them in several cities,” Biggar said. But he noted that the drawback to such a system is that it first limits brokers to members of the same shop, while Hanna Commercial, part of Pittsburgh-based Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, can tap multiple professional networks for the right broker to help it fulfill out-of-town tasks.

A distinguishing factor that may help CBRE attract other professionals is a variation of a signing bonus that reflects a well-established broker’s prior productivity.

Browning confirmed CBRE has such a practice, which he compared to the type of analysis CBRE applies to deciding what price it wants to pay when acquiring a company.

“Getting someone to join you is not just about the money. It’s about the culture. It’s about the opportunity.”

— David Browning, CBRE managing director

“In our industry, anyone who is making a lateral move is going to have to leave a certain amount of business (such as listings) with his or her prior firm,” Browning said. “They will experience a significant loss in income. So we underwrite that the same way we

would any other acquisition.”

However, he added, “Getting someone to join you is not just about the money. It’s about the culture. It’s about the opportunity.”

Robert Redmond, the Cleveland-based Ohio broker for Mohr Associates, said assignments in Northeast Ohio from out-of-town companies who need an office, retail or industrial property here is a significant source of CBRE’s revenue. The ability to sell properties in Cleveland to out-of-town investors is also important for CBRE, he said, because an out-of-town buyer familiar with the firm can help it win leasing and property management assignments at local properties.

The other factor in CBRE’s growth is its acquisitions nationally of other

companies that produce additional services work in Northeast Ohio and a variety of service offerings such as overseeing construction of new suites for office tenants.

Redmond, who previously worked at CBRE as well as the former Ostendorf-Morris Co. before it was acquired

by Howard Hanna, said the acquisition of Trammell Crow Co. in 2016 particularly helped CBRE expand in Northeast Ohio. That deal brought into the shop Trammell staffers who grew up locally in the business, such as Chandler Converse, now a managing director who runs the Cleveland tenant rep practice. CBRE also grew at the expense of local firms, Redmond said, as they weathered personnel and ownership changes.

9/7/18 2:19 PM

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Life Line Screening has incentive for short move

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Life Line Screening, a mobile medical screening provider, is weighing moving its Independence office to the 6111 Oak Tree Blvd. building from Park Center Plaza, at 6150 Oak Tree.

The two office buildings are separated by just one-tenth of a mile, or about a two-minute walk. However, the Austin, Texas-based company, formerly headquartered at Park Center, has several reasons for moving its staff of 135 there. It also has obtained a $300,000 Retention and Job Creation grant from Independence to sweeten the move for Life Line, which provides community-based, mobile medical screening services nationwide.

For Independence Mayor Anthony Togliatti, it’s a worthwhile offer to keep the company’s current payroll of $5.3 million annually in the suburb, especially as the firm forecasts having 180 staffers and a payroll of $7 million within three months of making the move.

“They are looking at other options outside the city, and this keeps those jobs in the Rockside Road office market,” the mayor said.

The company said it was looking at other sites in Northeast Ohio.

Although the operation is still substantial, it’s not as consequential as when it first moved to Independence in 2008 from Garfield Heights.

At that time, the company’s headquarters and call center were in a 27,000-square-foot suite. However, the company moved its headquarters to Austin in 2014 when Sean Schulz

Life Life Screening is a mobile medical screening provider that has a call center in Independence. (Contributed photo)

became its new CEO. The company later subleased the former executive office but kept about 14,000 square feet for the call center.

Brian Conroy, an executive vice president at the JLL brokerage who is representing Life Line, said the company is in a growth mode and now needs to expand the call center to accommodate the company’s expansion. It’s looking at a 30% expansion to 24,000 square feet.

Life Line’s remaining operation also is a call center, so it “needs to be in a different type of space than they are currently in,” Conroy said. “It has options to expand at other locations in Northeast Ohio as well as outside Ohio, but they like Independence and Northeast Ohio and the staff the region provides.”

By different space, that also means less expensive space, though Conroy did not put it that directly. CoStar, the online real estate data service, reports that asking rents average $17 a square

foot at 6111 Oak Tree, compared with $24 a square foot at Park Center Plaza.

Conroy returned calls to Joseph Jahnke, Life Line’s chief financial officer, who handled the firm’s talks with the city. Conroy noted that otherwise he would not have commented on the pending transaction because Life Line and Time Equities of New York City, the owner of 6111 Oak Tree, are in the final stage of lease negotiations.

The city of Independence will pay Life Line half of the $300,000 grant within 90 days after it occupies the proposed office, and the remainder a year after it meets its three-year job growth estimate.

Togliatti said the incentive also is justified because the new landlord and Life Line will spend more than $1 million on improvements to the new office suite and installing furnishings.

“And I’m sure,” the mayor said, “Life Line is leaving behind office space that can be back-filled in their current building.”

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State gives boost to help fill in-demand jobs

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

One way to solve the skills gap?

Help people get the skills employers are looking for.

To that end, the state of Ohio is investing millions of dollars to help individuals earn short-term certificates in in-demand careers.

For fiscal year 2019, the state set aside $5 million for need-based, non-Pell eligible financial aid for students in short-term certificate programs.

So far, about $4.1 million has been awarded to 21 community colleges and five four-year universities, according to information provided by the state. Locally, that includes Cuyahoga Community College, which received $349,400.

and released every two years.

Rice said this is the first time the state has specifically targeted shortterm certificates, which aren’t typically Pell eligible, with this kind of funding. The goal is to increase enrollment in those programs that align with demand in the state.

“We’re trying to close the skills gap in many different ways,” Rice said.

Many of the students Tri-C is trying to serve with these certificate programs come from underserved populations — such as Hispanic or African American students — and struggle to afford the training, Gary said.

“To be able to help students get access to these programs not only benefits Tri-C, but it benefits our community,” he said. “It begins to train

individuals to upskill in order to change their economic status. This is key. We either do this or we continue the status quo.”

And Tri-C is trying to make the state funding go even further. Tri-C has had a workforce scholarship fund since 2005, but it was supported at a lesser level.

Last year, the fund had about $130,000 for scholarships, according to information provided by Tri-C to Crain’s. This year, including the money from the college, the state and the college foundation, there’s more than $500,000 in scholarship support available, plus more that the college has identified if that funding is depleted.

Other schools in Northeast Ohio receiving short-term certificate fund-

ing from the state include Lorain County Community College and Stark State College. Cleveland State University, the only four-year university in Northeast Ohio receiving funding, got $50,000.

Cleveland State named four certificate programs it would want to support in the areas of professional sales, real estate and property management, software engineering and cybersecurity, said Nigamanth Sridhar, dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

Most of the university’s scholarship dollars are tied to degree programs, Sridhar said, so these funds will be a big boost for students in the certificate programs.

Stark State, which is receiving $179,000, applied for funds for a wide

variety of certificate programs, from IT-related programs to commercial driving to pre-radiology. Employers in the region are facing a shortage of workers, said Marisa Rohn, vice president of advancement, marketing and strategic partnerships, and the college is “trying to do everything we can” to meet that demand. Applying for this funding is one approach, while a program it offers to help high school students earn credentials is another.

Rohn said the short-term certificate funding will be a good recruiting tool. Stark State still is working on a recruitment strategy for the program, but Rohn said she was sure the college would reach out to students who had already shown an interest in the eligible programs.

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“To be able to help students get access to these programs not only benefits Tri-C, but it benefits our community. It begins to train individuals to upskill in order to change their economic status. This is key. We either do this or we continue the status quo.”

— William H. Gary Sr., Tri-C executive vice president for workforce, community and economic development

With maximum gifts of $1,000, the state funding could help Tri-C train more than 300 students.

“That goes a long way,” said William H. Gary Sr., executive vice president for workforce, community and economic for development Cuyahoga Community College.

At Tri-C, those state funds will be going to students earning certificates in a wide variety of industries, from truck driving to software development to hospitality management.

Eligible programs must take less than one year or 900 clock hours to complete and be in an in-demand occupation, said Cheryl Rice, associate vice chancellor of higher education and workforce alignment for the Ohio Department of Higher Education.

The state currently lists more than 200 in-demand occupations, from carpentry to financial management.

Rice said the list is reviewed annually by a committee and the list is updated

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Level II cultivator FN Group Holdings LLC of Ravenna was the first grower approved by the state to plant seeds. It received its certificate of operation on June 29.

But Eastlake’s Buckeye Relief LLC was the first large, Level I cultivator — there are 13 Level I and 13 smaller Level II cultivators in the state, including several in this region — to plant seeds in July. That was a pivotal moment for the industry as it hopes to meet demand from a patient population estimated to be 200,000 large by 2021 as large cultivators have more than eight times the growing space of their smaller counterparts.

Buckeye Relief was denied a dispensary license, but it hopes to secure a processing license in the future.

They were followed by Huron Level I grow op Ohio Patients’ Choice, which planted seeds in August at its 25,000-square-foot Venlo Greenhouse. OPC also secured a dispensary license and is hopeful that it will receive a processing license as well — only seven of those licenses have been awarded so far out of a possible 40 because of a lack of satisfactory applications. At the cultivation facility alone, OPC counts about 25 employees today. It expects to have between 50 to 75 once operating at “full capacity,” CEO Jeff McCourt wrote in an email.

Both companies expect to have their first harvests in either late November or early December. It’ll take about three to four weeks for flower to be dried, trimmed and cured, said Leslie Brandon, a spokeswoman for Buckeye Relief. That puts both on track to stock retailers with buds, which can be legally consumed

through vaporizing, in December.

That’s also when processors will have marijuana to make other products, like oils and edibles. But it’ll be a few more weeks for those items to hit shelves.

Dave Neundorfer, CEO of Greenleaf Apothecaries LLC, an enterprise licensed to run five dispensaries in Ohio — the maximum number of retailers one entity can operate today — said he’s shooting to open in December. Neundorfer said Greenleaf’s dispensaries in Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Wickliffe and Columbus are being built out now, though some spaces, like the one in Columbus, need a lot more work than others.

“Whether there’ll be product by December is a whole different story, though,” Neundorfer said. “We’re hopeful, based on the schedule from cultivators, that that should allow for a December opening. But there is a towering stack of things where everything needs to go right.”

Some observers have raised concerns about whether dispensaries will open in a timely fashion all the same.

There’s a sense some of the state’s 56 initially licensed retailers (the state can license up to 60 to start, with up to 18 in Northeast Ohio) may flood the state with requests for inspections — a required step to get a formal OK on their operations — between November and December. That could create a bottleneck that could slow down their respective openings.

Neundorfer said he’s preemptively planning around that, working with the state to handle inspections at his various facilities in the coming weeks and months through rolling deadlines so “come December, with whatever backlog there is to get inspected, we hope to have knocked out some work on the earlier side.”

The delays so far are unlikely to

Ohio CBD products surrounded by controversy and confusion

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no intentions to stop selling CBD until state or law officials explicitly say not to, which may come alongside a fine. jnobile@crain.com “We’ve been here a long time and @JeremyNobile we’ve seen things come and go, like Contrary to popular belief, cannabi- spice (a synthetic cannabinoid), diol (CBD) oils that are widely available which we could sell then we couldn’t, at retailers from health food stores to or clips, or water pipes,” the person head shops to gas stations, are illegal to said. “Where CBD stands all depends sell or possess in Ohio unless acquired on who you talk to.”

Some just have their facts wrong. by a patient with a medical marijuana Laws hold that no businesses in Ohio card at a licensed dispensary.

It’s a shocking development for Ohio besides licensed dispensaries are alretailers selling those products, many lowed to sell CBD products, said Kevin of which have been doing so for years.

Patrick Murphy, a Walter | Haverfield In light of inquiries about CBD attorney specializing in marijuana law. products coming from citizens to li“That’s very clear,” he said.

But the laws are murkier to some censed pharmacists, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy recently issued a state- more than others.

The confusion begins with the fedment emphasizing and clarifying CBD’s status in Ohio. But that’s most- eral Agricultural Act of 2014. The soReuben Gobezie, M.D. called “farm bill” is often cited by ly news to CBD retailers.

Founding Director people, Cleveland Shoulder Institute, “Nobody knows what’s going on various including the CleveGO Ortho, Regen Orthopedics with this. No one has ever said any- land shop owner, as evidence CBD is thing to us about it,” said the owner of legal across all 50 states as long as the a Northeast Ohio smoke shop that be- product has THC levels below 0.3%.

But that’s simply not accurate. gan selling CBD oils a year ago due to The bill actually states that CBD customer demand. The owner didn’t know about the rules until they were produced from hemp in accordance with state laws for the purpose of a explained as part of this interview.

CBD oils can be derived from mar- state program (like Ohio’s medical ijuana or its non-psychoactive rela- marijuana program) or for academic tive hemp, but lack enough THC to research is legal. (It’s unlikely all CBD actually get anyone “high,” regardless products in the U.S. today are made ......................................... of how it’s produced. It's widely used from hemp grown for research.)

That means CBD derived from for its ........................................... other properties, though, ............................. which have been known to treat vari- marijuana or produced for any other ous ailments from arthritis pain to purpose, such as consumption by the general public, is illegal. anxiety to cancer-related symptoms.

Beyond that, HB 523 flatly lumps in The shop owner — who requested Mayorout Martin S. Horwitz 216.292.1901 •Mayor@BeachwoodOhio.com CBD with marijuana, • regardless of the anonymity of concern for ramifications for selling CBD — said there are presence, or not, of THC. There’s no

“We work shoulder-to-shoulder with .

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have any material effects on businesspeople, all of whom (particularly cultivators) are required to have a buffer of liquid assets that could keep them viable for a few years should revenues not flow in as expected.

According to research firm Frontier Financial Group, Ohio’s medical marijuana revenue is expected to grow 55% between 2019 to 2025, when it could reach $1.3 billion. Dispensary sales are estimated to be $154 million in 2019 and $226 million by 2021.

Rosenberger, who likes to cite those stats, said those figures haven’t changed. Stakeholders are confident the industry will grow to at least the size early estimates are projecting even if that’s set back by a handful of months.

Dispensaries are also challenged by the patient registry, which is intended to go live about 60 days before those retailers open. Some people are upset it hasn’t launched yet, Rosenberger said.

Several of the state’s 222 doctors licensed to recommend marijuana — as of August, that list updates the second Wednesday of every month — report that patients are getting their medical marijuana furnished in places like Michigan today or through the black market.

Despite the delays, Rosenberger emphasized that businesses have no interest in dallying. After all, between cultivators, processors, dispensaries and testing labs, he said an estimated $100 million has been invested in Ohio between surrounding project costs and licensing fees already, months before a single sale happens.

“Certainly, some of this will push back our forecast for revenues, but we’ve factored those into our longview capital strategy, so month-tomonth delays won’t cause any undue stress,” Neundorfer said. “That said, we are anxious for the program to launch and get started.”

distinction in Ohio law between CBD derived from hemp versus marijuana.

So anyone who wants to buy a CBD product in Ohio has to do so through one of the state’s licensed dispensaries, and only after they have their state-issued marijuana card obtainable after securing a recommendation from a licensed doctor. That also means, just like marijuana itself, it's illegal to possess CBD products in Ohio without a medical marijuana card.

Ohio requires dispensary products to include a list of ingredients. Many commonly available CBD oils today don’t list contents. But it’s something they’ll need to be sold legally in Ohio dispensaries. So that's a perk of the state's control over CBD for those consuming it. “ … We are focused on establishing a patient-centered and safe medical marijuana program. We wanted to make it clear that if someone purchases CBD oil under (the program), they will know what’s in it, whether there’s CBD in it, how much CBD is in it and that it’s free of any harmful ingredients,” said Grant Miller, a spokesman for the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. “We understand it’s widely available, which is why we’re engaging in an informational campaign to educate the public.”

But retailers don’t seem to have received the memo.

As far as how hard state officials or law enforcement go after illegal CBD, it’s impossible to say at this point.

“The board’s efforts at this time are informational,” Miller said. “If CBD continues to be illegally sold despite entities having accurate information, the board will reassess at that time.”

8/22/18 9/7/18 12:56 2:08 PM PM

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

At the Table

Executive Caterers’ chef hit the road to prepare for job For the longest time, catered affairs were the epitome of predictability.

I’ve had more than my share of experience in this area. I started my career — unwittingly, no doubt about it — at age 16 in a banquet hall.

Though I was hired as a Joe $1.35-an-hour dishwasher, Crea from Day One I was pressed into service to take care of whatever needed to be done. Chop a mountain of lettuce. Garnish the fruit cups. Make sure each brandied peach half was topped with a maraschino cherry.

Times 150 plates. Three hundred plates. Five hundred plates. Over and over ...

Eventually those tasks led to a spot as a line cook and beyond, but that’s a story for another time. My love for hospitality was forged in the fire of making certain that every party was a smash hit, based on the best food we could prepare.

As my professional world expanded, and I witnessed skyrocketing changes in culinary artistry — the past 50 years of American dining truly equates to an unparalleled renaissance — for the longest time it seemed the banquet realm lay fallow.

The only meal more unchanging is Thanksgiving dinner. That’s not really a bad thing, assuming there’s a cook with solid bona fides at the helm. But as a guy who has forced down enough

sawdust chicken and vulcanized beef while seated in a banquet hall to punish a legion of war criminals ...

Anyway, that’s why a guy like James Thornton catches my attention.

You may never come across Thornton, unless you book a party or are invited to attend a soiree produced by Executive Caterers. Although that elite culinary operation stages events at other locales, their bastion — the storied Landerhaven party center in Mayfield Heights — has long been one of Northeast Ohio’s most sought-after venues.

However, a certain kind of predictability can set in at even the toniest watering holes.

That is why Thornton wanted to up his game before he recently took over as executive chef for Executive Caterers, he said.

“A lot of catering IS cut-and-dried,” Thornton admitted. “So Executive tries to bring a very detailed, personal aspect to the events we stage.”

With roughly 60 years’ experience in staging and catering events, Executive Caterers has been able to work out most of the kinks that hamstring less seasoned operators, Thornton said.

With a warehouse full of props accumulated over decades, “we can cater to exceed the client’s imagination,” he added.

James Thornton toured farms and food producers in Europe before starting as executive chef at Executive Caterers. (Contributed photo)

At age 33, Thornton recognizes the liability a static style can pose. So before he joined the team, the young chef took himself on a sabbatical in Europe.

Thornton describes himself as a hands-on learner. A 2003 graduate of John Marshall High School, he didn’t go the culinary school route. Instead, he took odd jobs at area restaurants and worked for free when opportunities presented themselves. By doing so, he gained both experience and perspective, he said.

He gradually worked his way up to

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the position of executive sous chef at Glenmoor Country Club in Canton and at the InterContinental Hotel & Conference Center in Cleveland.

During his eight years at the InterContinental, he served as personal chef to royal families and foreign delegations during their stays at the hotel and conference center.

Before moving to Executive Caterers, Thornton decided to trek through France and Switzerland with his wife, Jessica. They toured farms and food producers, visited professional kitchens and ate in an array of restaurants

— the better, he said, to learn both tradition and innovation from the ground up.

“I want to immerse myself and learn the authentic, correct way to do things. Everyone has their variation on gumbo, but when you learn to make it at least one excellent way, that’s an important lesson.

“Especially in the United States, especially in the top restaurants, a lot of cooking is influenced by the French. For me to experience that cooking firsthand, to be a part of it and actually lay my hands into it — not so much to learn it as to experience it, talking with the farmers, seeing how they cure meat or make cheese — that really affected me.”

Those influences, he said, enable him to better accommodate the growing numbers of clients who seek out-of-the-ordinary approaches to entertain their guests.

The chef has his plate full. In addition to Landerhaven’s multiple venues in its event center, which hosts an array of multicultural gatherings, Executive Caterers also produces private and corporate occasions at the English Oak Room in Tower City and at Cleveland Public Auditorium and Conference Center.

“Executive tries to bring a very detailed, personal aspect to the events we stage,” Thornton said.

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9/6/18 3:36 PM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Hudson’s Yxlon working to make ‘invisible visible’

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

Yxlon helps companies see inside their products.

The maker of X-ray and CT systems is based in Hamburg, Germany, but in the United States, it calls Hudson home.

Locally, the company recently has worked to offer more systems on site and to formalize its inspection and training services. Its customers have been calling for more CT and X-ray services, said Joandre Galarza, director of sales, and Yxlon wants to be able to meet those needs.

Essentially, Yxlon works to make “the invisible visible,” Galarza said.

The company offers digital radiography and computed tomography systems that allow customers to conduct nondestructive testing, such as looking for defects, measuring wall thickness and checking porosity, Galarza said.

Customers can buy the systems for themselves or use Yxlon’s inspection services. This is a service the company has always offered, but Galarza said it was a more informal process in the past. As requests from customers have increased, the company has added a formal inspection services process.

Nondestructive testing is used across industrial sectors, from the amusement industry — such as fair rides — to aerospace to infrastructure, said Dana Sims, public relations and brand manager for the American Society for Nondestructive Testing in Columbus, of which Yxlon is a corporate partner.

Nondestructive testing is critical to ensure the safety of the structure, as well as the people around it, she said.

“It’s counterintuitive to cut something open just to find out, ‘Hey, is this put together right?’ ” Sims said.

There are a variety of methods that can be used in nondestructive testing, from a basic visual test to magnetic particle testing to radiographic testing.

Sims said she believes nondestructive testing will always be in demand, no matter how advanced manufacturing processes get.

“Technology will not displace the necessity of NDT,” Sims said.

Yxlon’s systems are made in Hamburg. The company has about 430 employees worldwide, about eight of whom work in Hudson, according to Galarza.

Yxlon got its start in the United States about 20 years ago in Atlanta, Galarza said. It soon moved to the Akron area after acquiring an X-ray inspection company focused on serving the tire industry, its main area of focus at that time.

In 2014, the company moved to Hudson.

“So we stayed here because we strategically think that the Rust Belt and the automotive industry is one of our main drivers in this area,” Galarza said.

Today, Galarza said the company focuses on serving six markets: electronics; sciences and new materials, which includes medical products; foundries; aerospace; wheels; and tires. Basically, Yxlon’s products can be used in any type of industrial setting; they’re just not fit for living

P009_CL_20180910.indd 9

things.

The market has changed over time, Galarza said. While customers used to check parts before they were machined, now they are also inspecting them when they’re completed.

The growth of additive manufacturing is a good example. Additive manufacturing can offer industry a cheaper and faster prototype, Galarza said, but that also brings risks.

Nondestructive testing lets those customers make sure 3D-printed parts are bonded correctly without having to cut them open.

Yxlon recently has been expanding the capabilities at its Hudson loca-

tion, growing from two systems on site to four.

One of the systems, which can handle larger samples, was recently shipped from the company’s San Jose, Calif., site, as it better serves customers in the Hudson market.

Yxlon’s parent company, the Comet Group in Switzerland, also has been working to increase market awareness by opening a lab in San Jose that brings all four of its business units under one roof.

In general, having more systems available on-site helps Yxlon better demonstrate what its products can do for customers.

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Yxlon makes computed tomography systems.

Contributed photo

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9/6/18 3:38 PM

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Opinion From the Editor

We want to hear your opinion Do you have an opinion about what you’ve read in Crain’s?

Are you noticing trends in your industry or in business that you believe are worth sharing? What do you think about current events?

We want to know.

Crain’s Cleveland Business wants to hear from you, which is why we are inviting thought leaders across industries to join a newly formed advisory panel.

We are asking people, like you, who consume Crain’s content created in Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit and New York to share their opinions with us. That’s why we’ve created the Crain Research Panel to hear what’s on your mind.

We value your time and opinions. By Elizabeth joining the research advisory panel, you’ll McIntyre be able to tell us what you think — about Crain’s Cleveland Business, current events and more. You will also be invited to participate in online surveys targeted to your concerns, interests or professional experiences.

Your participation will give you the opportunity to shape the voice of your industry and potentially influence other decision-makers.

And you will have the chance to be rewarded for sharing your opinion. Online panel participants will be eligible for complimentary tickets to select Crain’s events, cash rewards or gift cards.

To participate, register at crain.com/researchpanel

Editorial

Go forth The confines of Cuyahoga County had traditionally been a life jacket for MetroHealth, which for years struggled to stay in the black largely because of the large swaths of uninsured individuals for which it provided care. Caring for the county’s poor is anchored in MetroHealth’s mission, and the modest subsidy from county taxpayers was in recognition of the system’s role as the area’s safety net provider.

But MetroHealth — and the times — have changed. Now the health system, for the first time in 181 years, is setting its sights on opportunities beyond the county. As Crain’s and others recently reported, MetroHealth quietly lobbied for a change in state law that makes such a move possible. The system reportedly is considering seven locations beyond Cuyahoga County.

Wisely, system officials have been adamant the support it receives from Cuyahoga County taxpayers — $32.4 million, just 2.9% of the system’s operating revenue — won’t be used to care for patients in Summit, Medina, Lorain and Portage counties, for example. The system’s preference is to use existing facilities and spaces rather than building new, which is exactly what the system did in opening two new small hospitals — former HealthSpan outposts — in Cleveland Heights and Parma at the start of this year. It’s worth noting that in 2012, 57% of Cuyahoga County residents were within 15 minutes of a MetroHealth inpatient facility. Today, that number is 84%.

MetroHealth’s quest certainly isn’t unique in health care circles, particularly locally as Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Lake Health all have planted flags well beyond their home bases.

In many ways, MetroHealth’s foray, though not as grand, echoes the Clinic’s global ambitions. Clinic officials, for example, stress regularly that success elsewhere only bolsters — not distracts from — its operations at home. The same could be said for MetroHealth.

MetroHealth is in the midst of an ambitious expansion and transformation project in Cuyahoga County — the jewel of which is a new hospital at its headquarters on West 25th Street in Cleveland. The system plans to finance the $1 billion-plus makeover on its own credit. Bond rating agencies, while re-

maining fairly optimistic about the project, have expressed modest concern over MetroHealth’s rising debt load.

So, it’s fair to question whether going beyond its geographic comforts is a wise use of MetroHealth’s resources in such unpredictable times — particularly in an industry rife with turmoil.

MetroHealth’s response? “Today we have the experience, the capabilities, the capacity to help others. And in the process, to also strengthen MetroHealth and maintain its financial viability,” CEO Dr. Akram Boutros recently told Crain’s. “This is, for me, a win-win.”

So far, we’d tend to agree.

More, please

Business owners and operators face a genuine problem trying to find and retain qualified workers. The problem is biggest in the manufacturing sector, where the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says there are nearly 500,000 open positions nationwide that are in need of skilled labor to fill them.

Too often, the issue is marked by a lot of talk but little or no action. So it’s refreshing to find that a new NAM report shows twothirds of manufacturers plan to increase their training programs in the next year — and that a Wall Street Journal story last week pointed out that one of the most ambitious efforts is in Cleveland.

Lincoln Electric in March opened a $30 million, 130,000-square-foot training center to train new welders and expand the skills of existing ones. The Journal said Lincoln “teaches welders and other workers to program and maintain robotic welding machines that it has designed with retraining in mind.” Gary Konarska, a Lincoln general manager, told the paper, “We’re not sending welders out the door because we are automating. The skills are shifting, and those jobs are shifting.”

Lincoln’s a huge company with resources that few manufacturers can match. But it’s establishing a powerful template for action in identifying trends in its industry and investing in training to produce the required workforce. We need more efforts like it.

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

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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Managing Editor:

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

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Contact Crain’s :

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Letter to the Editor Students win with UA changes As a contract professional on University of Akron’s campus and a part-time faculty member, I am encouraged to see the university aligning its resources where the students will benefit the most.

With the university reallocating funds from the areas with low performance metrics/market interest and investing high potential fields, students are winning. These investments will create and expand their education and ultimately provide career opportunities, achieving one of the top goals and priorities for graduating/graduated students from UA. Ninety-five percent of current UA students are in degree programs identified as performing well with good career demand.

Additionally, 81% of all degrees/degree tracks are performing well in demand, and UA will continue these well-performing degrees and invest in areas of opportunity for the university and for the students.

I have been an active member of shared governance at UA and have served for the past three years on the University Council Budget and Finance Committee. It is important to note that eliminating the low-demand degrees/degree tracks makes for a more effective use of state resources by reducing duplication of degree programs in the region.

In fact, these reallocating actions will further contribute to UA’s future financial stability. Ultimately, the decision made by UA aligns with expectations of the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the Higher Learning Commission, will not change the university in any negative financial ways and will further the career opportunities of many students at our university.

Zak Steiner, assistant director, Scheduling & Events, Department of Student Life; assistant lecturer, School of Communications The University of Akron

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

Sound off: Send a Personal View for the opinion page to emcintyre@crain.com.

Please include a telephone number for verification purposes.

9/6/18 4:45 PM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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By JACKIE STEWART

16-month period from January 2016 to April 2017, surpassing 2016 expectations by more than a million Ted Auch argues in a Aug. 26 op-ed that opponents work hours.

No wonder Columbus Business First released tax data of the Lake Erie offshore wind project should be swayed to support the project by guilt over Cleveland’s last year showing that Utica shale-producing counties reliance on Utica shale natural gas development for have the highest income growth in Ohio. A separate much of its energy needs. His rationale is based on his Consumer Energy Alliance report finds shale-related contention that fracking has made the rural region of industry employment has increased 7.8% since 2011.

Not surprising, considering the state where Utica developAuch misses the mark on his jobs ment has occurred a sacrifice “[F]olks who live near claims, his account of “signifizone rife with economic and envifracking are clearly cantly impacted real-estate valuaronmental devastation. tions,” “common” oil spills, “relaBut Cleveland residents can not embracing tively frequent earthquakes” are rest assured — there is no need to unfounded as well. lose sleep over using natural gas extreme calls from This real-world data explains why produced here in the Buckeye the ‘Keep It in the a recent peer-reviewed study found State, because most people who that those who live close to shale delive along the Ohio River simply Ground’ movement to velopment — and therefore better don’t share Auch’s view on the ban the practice.” understand fracking’s financial benshale development taking place in their corner of the state. If they did, one would think efits and manageable risks — tend to be more supportive “Keep It in the Ground” gubernatorial candidate Den- of fracking. The results of that study and the recent gubernis Kucinich’s “ban fracking” campaign would have natorial primary also show that folks who live near frackcaptured at least 25% of the vote in one of the state’s ing are clearly not embracing extreme calls from the “Keep top-10 natural gas producing counties in the May It in the Ground” movement to ban the practice.

If continued opposition to the Erie offshore wind Democratic primary. But it didn’t. Not even close in those counties. And for good reason — there is also project is any indication, Cleveland residents aren’t simply no factual evidence to support Kucinich and buying what Auch is selling, either. Again, for good reason. Utica shale development has not only benefitAuch’s anti-fracking claims.

For example, Auch repeats the common myth that ed Cleveland, but the Buckeye State as a whole, gener“very few of the jobs in the Appalachian shale fields, or ating $50 billion in total investments while dramaticalpipeline construction sector, go to Ohioans, let alone ly lowering energy costs and allowing Ohio to lead the union members.” But in fact, shale-related activities nation in carbon emission reductions this century, have supported thousands of union jobs in Ohio. As thanks to increased natural gas power generation. Put Ohio Laborers District Council pipeline specialist Ray another way, fracking has been a win-win for the Hipsher recently said, “The shale industry is hiring lo- economy and environment.

The fact is that Auch’s characterization of Appalachia cal workforce. That’s going to keep the money in the community, and the laborers doing the work are going Ohio as a sacrifice zone exploited not only by Utica to take pride and care of the quality of their work, be- shale operators, but urban centers such as Cleveland, couldn’t be further from the truth. The state’s shale cause we are your neighbors.”

In fact, thousands of Ohio operating engineers, la- country actually encourages Cleveland and other Ohio borers and pipeliners worked for almost all the major metropolitan areas to continue enjoying the energy it oil and gas companies operating in Ohio on various produces. After all, it’s not only literally fueling the stages of oil and gas development last year, including Buckeye State economy, but Appalachian Ohio as well. pipeline and natural gas power plant projects.

This was a major reason the Ohio Laborers District Stewart is field director for Energy in Depth, Council reported it had 4.2 million work hours over a Appalachian basin.

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Letter to the Editor Don’t experiment with Lake Erie The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) Icebreaker Industrial Wind Farm Project concerns me because, as Ted Auch says in his Aug. 26 op-ed in Crain’s, this project would be “the first built in fresh water in North America.”

In other words, Lake Erie, and the people and ecosystems that are part of it, would be used as an experiment.

In other domains, we choose whether to participate in experiments. At minimum, we sign a consent form stating our understanding of the risks. But not here.

Auch wrote that those opposing the wind farm suffer from “Not in My Back Yard” (NIMBY) syndrome. As a community rights organizer and activist, I can tell you that most people become activists when their backyards are affected. Good for the NIMBYs who get active and especially for those who learn during the process that simply shifting harms from one community to the next is not a long-term solution.

These turbines are massive pieces of equipment that would be placed in the shallowest of our Great Lakes. Lake Erie is already fragile with open lake dumping of wastes, sewage and fertilizer runoff. Now

P011_CL_20180910.indd 11

we are going to add another major industrial project and claim it will have no impact? I don’t require a Ph.D. to have common sense.

Auch also says the project would benefit Ohioans from the jobs created. This is right out of the oil and gas industry playbook. The promise of jobs and economic growth lulls people into ignoring the tough questions.

It’s a kind of economic black mail.

Eleven million people depend on Lake Erie for drinking water. Shouldn’t we be the ones deciding if this industrial wind project is worth the risk? Instead, the Ohio Power Siting Board has given the project a green light.

Should we sacrifice Lake Erie to even the score for what has been done with natural gas and coal in Southeast Ohio, as Auch seems to say? Instead of helping to fragment the people and communities by echoing the words of industry that has continually exploited our natural resources and communities for profit, why not recognize the commonality of what is wrong and work together to change this destructive system?

— Tish O’Dell, Ohio organizer for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

9/6/18 3:40 PM

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Focus

MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

Starting small can lead to a bigger stage

Event pros are in rising demand, but the jobs are tough

ple who want to work at the Grammys or Oscars immediately,” she said.

“Those jobs are hard to come by. What makes you a professional is knowing the industry from bottom to top.”

Starting small is not just about paying your dues in a crowded marketplace, said event planning experts and educators interviewed by Crain’s. Understanding how a hotel, restaurant or other adjacent business operates is part of an invaluable event management skill set that can only be absorbed on site.

“You can’t learn how to do events on paper, you have to be immersed in it,” said Amy Pappas, owner of AZA Events. “Depending on the project, every day is going to be different.”

By DOUGLAS J. GUTH clbfreelancer@crain.com

Jamie Belkin grew up in the event planning business, learning concert promotion from her father, Jules, co-founder of Belkin Productions.

During those years, the younger Belkin marinated in the industry’s unglamorous aspects — from logistics to permitting to the inevitably unpredictable flow of the events themselves.

Belkin carried those lessons into Jamie Belkin Events, a corporate event company charged with planning 20 to 25 happenings annually.

But as the industry expands around a mushrooming demographic of consumers searching for entertainment outside their homes, would-be event planners must check unrealistic expectations about working high-profile affairs right away, Belkin said.

“It’s frustrating to meet young peo-

‘Know a little bit about everything’

The Cleveland Museum of Art offers an 18-month window to plan events in its atrium. (Contributed photo)

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of meeting, convention and event planners is projected to increase 11% through 2026. Job opportunities are available for candidates with a bachelor’s degree in meeting and event management, hospitality or tourism man-

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER agement — alongside at least some industry experience.

Event planners arrange locations, transportation and other details surrounding an occasion, often traveling to sites and working long hours preand post-event. Pappas, who runs her one-person shop out of a home office in Tremont, plans dozens of private and corporate events each year. Her first duty is managing client expectations and desires, employing people skills sharpened by 17 years in the business.

“What I’m not stressed out about a client may be stressed out about, so I need to be cognizant about that in the planning process,” Pappas said. “I say to my clients that the only constant is change. You have to roll with the punches.”

Keeping an even keel helped Pappas two years ago, when a gala for 1,000 people had to be moved indoors due to high winds. After getting a 4:30 a.m. call from a tent company two days before go time, she spent the next 48 hours shuffling everything into an indoor venue.

“It’s proactive thinking versus reactive,” Pappas said. “You always have to have a Plan B in place.”

Ground-level experience inoculated Pappas against the stressful rigors of the job. In college, she worked for a large catering company, later interacting with board members and volunteers as a special events manager with the American Cancer Society.

“I tell kids to volunteer at nonprofits so they can get exposure and make connections,” said Pappas. “When I was younger and wanted a foot in the door, I did whatever it took.”

Belkin launched her business in 2004, bolstered by the concerts and festivals she worked for her father’s company, along with a stint at a marketing agency that assisted in planning Cleveland’s annual Riverfest during the Flats’ heyday.

Decades in the business taught Belkin the organizational skills and attention to detail inherent to event planning. That means not only finding the best vendors, but ensuring those vendors are delivering their products and services punctually.

“I make sure the food on the table is served on time, served hot, and the staff serving it looks good and acts professional,” Belkin said. “I can’t micromanage every vendor, but I try to align myself with providers and vendors I trust.”

For people new to the industry, Belkin advises starting on the floor of a country club or restaurant to grasp how the front and back of the house fits together. Caterers, florists and other third-party service enterprises can provide additional on-site education, Belkin said.

“It’s good for people in the business to know a little bit about everything,” she said.

Jamie Belkin Events worked on an event for The Gathering Place at Gray’s Armory. (Contributed photo)

In his three years with Tri-C, dean of hospitality management Michael Huff has shepherded graduates of the 12-month program into jobs at local hotels and the Huntington Conven-

tion Center of Cleveland. One student became an event coordinator for restaurateur Michael Symon, while others have started their own catering businesses.

“You need a highly organized and detailed personality for this industry, because the devil is in the details,” Huff said. “It’s a career path that can be glamorous and exciting, but it’s also very hard work. You can work in a highly structured environment or in an entrepreneurial environment where you’re your own boss.”

Huff, a 25-year veteran of the hotel-based food and beverage sector, said event managers need a sophisticated appreciation of food, a departure from the days when chicken and beef selections comprised the entirety of most catering menus.

“A restaurant visit is an event now,”

he said. “Or if you want to draw people to a convention or sales seminar, you have to turn up the excitement level. There’s a greater demand because we as a culture are drawn to specialty dining and events.”

Weddings have become increasingly complex affairs as well, promoting specialty themes or unique locations, noted Mark Lyberger, an associate professor at Kent State University, where students can tie an event planning minor to majors in fashion design, business, hospitality or tourism.

“The demand is for those unique attributes to be accentuated,” Lyberger said. “There are subcomponents that highlight the delivery process, but are still complementing the core event.”

A broadening selection of event requirements can translate to a like amount of work possibilities.

Elizabeth Coughlin is employed by national caterer Bon Appétit at the Cleveland Museum of Art, serving as a point of contact for both the facility and its on-site catering company.

CMA hosts weddings in the Ames Family Atrium, giving clients an 18-month window to prepare for their special day even as the bulk of the planning takes place within three to five months.

Attending a beautiful wedding often belies the meticulous preparation behind the scenes. However, integrating so many moving parts into single a night of fun carries its own joy, Coughlin said.

“I love going up to (the atrium’s) second level to take photos and see the guests experience something we spent months on,” she said. “There’s happiness on the faces of our clients.”

Details, details Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, event planners serve two main market segments — the business/government market and the social market. Encompassing these two segments are five industry sectors, including party and event planners, association planners, and corporate planners catering to the private-sector business community.

Cuyahoga Community College offers a 30-hour certification that takes students through budget creation, customer service and event agendas, preparing them to identify key industry players and giving them tools to market and execute an event.

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

Whimsy dishes, displays are hot

By JOE CREA clbfreelancer@crain.com

“Unique” is the big trend for today’s event planning, say Northeast Ohio caterers.

Owners and representatives for a handful of the region’s most popular event organizations all expressed essentially the same sentiment. Individuals such as brides, parents and others planning once-in-a-lifetime occasions, and companies both small and large, repeatedly express the importance of hosting a memorable occasion that’s anything but cookie-cutter.

“What do customers want? They’re looking for food and events that are cutting edge, trendy, really cool,” said Joan Rosenthal, owner of Marigold Catering in Cleveland. “An afternoon or evening their friends will be talking about well into the future.

“Frankly, Clevelanders want to feel they’re getting New York or San Francisco service in their hometown,” Rosenthal added.

Today’s clients insist on producing a party that reflects their personal style and taste, according to the specialists.

Spice Catering Co. focuses on farm-to-table creations, including this grilled delicata squash salad. (Contributed photo)

Bill Rini, owner of A Taste of Excellence Catering, one of the region’s largest operations, said that for every traditional sit-down affair there are requests for a one-of-a-kind production.

“My average bride is the ‘higher-end’ bride,’” Rini said. “And every one of them is looking for a unique

experience, a customized feel — not just four walls and a buffet line at the Holiday Inn or Hilton.”

Food stations — especially “action” stations where dishes are cooked to-order — have supplanted or replaced the usual chafing dishes and seated service.

More than ever, say caterers, contemporary events call for features that draw guests out of their seats and into the thick of the event. In today’s “foodie” culture, guests enjoy making their own selections, watching food being prepared, moving through the party space and mingling.

“People realize that traditional seating, whether it’s a wedding, a family reunion or a company event, means you’ll be locked-in with the same 10 people at the table,” said Scott Kuhn, co-owner of Driftwood Restaurants and Catering in Cleveland. “With features like ‘action stations,’ where staff prepares food to-order, you’re out and about, interacting and being part of the energy.”

And don’t hold back on the whimsy, the pros are quick to add. Playful touches hold big appeal. Corn-onthe-cob bars, cotton candy or displays of retro-sweets, tiny S’mores made with mini-marshmallows, other shows of offbeat fun all grab guests’ attention — and affection.

It’s those little things that add up to an affair to remember.

Catering by Verba’s www.cateringbyverbas.com “People want good food and they want it to be fun — which makes it memorable,” said Joe Verba, co-owner of Catering by Verba’s, based in Parma.

Although most of the firm’s clients include some kind of full meal — most commonly sit-down or buffet service — Verba said that one of the most-requested “extras” is any of a variety of whimsical stations that are set up later in the evening.

“Our ‘donut wall,’ something we built, goes up nearby our coffee station,” Verba said. “People walk up, take whatever donuts they want, then grab a coffee and take it back to their table to enjoy.”

Panini bars (offering a selection of hot, pressed sandwiches, usually offered with “shots” of tomato soup), pomme frites stations (including a variety of toppings, like melted cheese sauce for dipping or gravy, a la French-style “poutine”) and an array of other surprises.

“They usually get set up after 10 o’clock. We typically plan on about half the number of invited guests, but hosts know their crowd. Many of the older guests will leave early, and the younger ones want to stay and party — and eat,” Verba added.

A Taste of Excellence www.taste-food.com “You know, everything has been done,” said Bill Rini of A Taste of Excellence Catering in Strongsville.

“Granted, you still have your tenderloin entrees and those traditional sitdown dinners — but one-of-a-kind events are more and more important.

One of the easiest ways to put a spin on traditional service is duo- or trio plates, Rini said.

“We’ve created eight custom ‘trifecta plates’ — say, a petite filet (accompanied by) sauced halibut and maybe some chicken. They get the best of all worlds, and it’s not the ‘same old.’”

Sushi-rolled-to-order is an increasingly popular station — “not something you see at each and every event,” Rini said. Small plates featuring fusion-style mash-ups like beef sliders paired with Cuban-style pulled pork are in growing demand.

So are custom martini bars or specialty bourbon selections.

P014_P015_CL_20180910.indd 14

“And though the thought of old is a beautiful wine paired with each course, those tastes are changing, too,” said Rini, who’s opening a brewery this fall at his new party center.

“With today’s tastes, we’re aiming different beers with each course — say a pilsner, an IPA and a dessert beer.”

Driftwood Restaurants and Catering www.thedriftwoodgroup.com Today’s guests like to move around, get involved in their selections and have an opportunity to mingle, said Scott Kuhn, co-owner of Driftwood Restaurants & Catering based in Playhouse Square.

“That’s why ‘action stations’ are a big deal for clients hiring Driftwood,” he said. “Hanging bread displays, traditional charcuterie, dessert stations, interesting coffees or other drinks ... People are really into that. People will always be into good quality, ‘a la minute’ stations — dishes prepared to-order.”

Driftwood, Kuhn said, “is pretty much a blank slate. Between the diversity of our restaurants (which include Cibreo, Welshfield Inn, Washington Place and Bin 216) there’s nothing we can’t or won’t do. And today’s event planners and brides really want that blank slate.”

Cocktails are another opportunity for hosts to put their mark on an event, Kuhn added.

“Because people are looking for originality, signature cocktails are an easy way to do that. So when we sit down with a bride and ask ‘what are you thinking about for food?’ we might ask, ‘well, what is your mom’s or dad’s favorite dish? Or what was your brother’s favorite drink?’

Marigold Catering www.marigoldcatering.com Not long ago, customers were leaning toward a more rustic look in staging their events, said Marigold Catering owner Joan Rosenthal. That’s over.

Seafood carts, mini-gyoza (Asian dumplings) and sushi are popular among the firm’s clientele, she said.

“Today clients are looking for a ‘clean’ setup, more contemporary.

They’re not interested in those big, sprawling plates anymore,” Rosenthal explains. “In the past you’d pile food on the plate, albeit set up artistically.

Now they want to offer small portions

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of really interesting, delicious foods.”

Imaginative and often quirky presentations bring huge appeal to modern service. Rosenthal and Marigold’s executive chef, Jason Quinlin, try to keep things lively.

“What we find to be exciting for the client are these traveling carts, with a server going through the event — and with multiple carts going through the party,” Rosenthal explained. One conceit: roaming soup carts, offering a variety of soups served in Campbell Soup cans.

“Clients are blown away by that,” she says. (They also love silly treats such as chocolate bark studded with brightly colored cereals, mini-bags

Rolled-to-order sushi is becoming an increasingly popular offering from A Taste of Excellence.

(Contributed photo)

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is raising their family on a working farm in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. At least 85% of the products used in the Gordon Square neighborhood company comes from within 150 miles of Cleveland, added Missy Chambliss, spokeswoman for the group.

“People choose us because we reflect their values and try to tell their story through what we serve,” Chambliss said. “Food is life-giving.”

In keeping with the company’s casual vibe, Spice tows a smoker and grill to events, which chef Ben Bebenroth then cooks on.

“It’s another way for the guests to engage in the meal,” Chambliss said.

Variety is an important part of the “uniqueness” element virtually every caterer expresses, Chambliss said.

Striving for creativity that accommodates individual clients’ tastes led to one of Spice’s most popular selections.

“We affectionately call it the ‘triotrio-trio,’” Chambliss explained. “It’s a three-course menu, with three different salads, three different (miniature) tacos with a seasonal side dish, then three mini-burgers — maybe one with pulled pork, another containing fish, and a bacon cheeseburger. All come with house cut fries.

“We work with the clients to create something they like to eat,” she added.

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By JEREMY NOBILE jnobile@crain.com @JeremyNobile

VOL. 39, NO. 21

MAY 21 - 27, 2018

The largest money manager in NortheastFINANCE Ohio, which has been quietly amassing Byrather JEREMY NOBILE size for well over a century, has achieved explosive growth sincejnobile@crain.com a management-led and private equity supported separation from Key@JeremyNobile Corp a few years ago.

Now, following a recent IPO, Brooklyn, Ohiobased Victory CapitalThe Management’s parent largest money manager in Northeast company, Victory Capital Holdings, is setting Ohio, which has been rather quietly amassing NOBILE the stage for its next size era offorgrowth driven by itsBy JEREMY well over a century, has achieved exmulti-boutique model and agrowth consistent acquiplosive since a management-led jnobile@crain.com and sitions strategy. private equity supported separation from Key@JeremyNobile CEO David Brown: “We eventually evolved to the point where it just didn’t make sense for Key “We saw an opportunity market Corp a in fewthe years ago.to do to be the owners of Victory Capital.” (Ken Blaze for Crain’s) something different than what was happening, following a recent IPO, Brooklyn, OhioNow, which was our integrated, multi-boutique no animosity there.

The relationThat was nearly five years ago. And while The There largestwas money manager in Northeast based Victory Capital Management’s parent model that we havecompany, today,” said Victory CEOOhio, ship between Keyrather and Victory is still strong, in Crestview is still a majority owner of the busiwhich hassetting been quietly amassing Victory Capital Holdings, is — the headquarters off exTiedeman ness — of which employees own a 35% stake David Brown, who joined the firm in next 2004 era while fact for well overlatter’s century, has achieved the stage for its ofsize growth driven bya its growth since a complex management-led and staff it — it’s given Brown and Victory’s board freeRoad sits within for KeyCorp it was still a part of Key. multi-boutique model andplosive a consistent acquiequity supported separationThe from Key- simply dom to operate how it likes. subleases from the company. timing That model, whichsitions truly started to develop atprivate strategy. a few years ago.said, CEO separate from Key,where Victory on an Brown for Victory step out oneventually its Once Victory following a management-led buyoutCorp David to Brown: “We evolved to the point it set justout didn’t make sense for Key “We saw an opportunity in felt theright, market to do following a recent OhioNow, to beBrooklyn, the owners of Victory (Kenstreak Blaze for acquisition toCrain’s) give it more scale. It’s own continue theIPO, work it had been doing for Capital.” from Key in 2013, is largely what Brown feels po-what something different than wasand happening, based long Victory Capital Management’s parent sitions the firm to flourish industry bought companies as Key refocused on other whichas its was our evolves. integrated,somulti-boutique There wasstrategies. no animosity there.

The three relationThatsince was then: nearlyMunder five years ago. And while company, Victory Capital Holdings, is setting management business Key’s investmentmodel 2014); Efficient Model Port- owner of the busi“We eventually evolvedbetween to the point it Capital that we have today, ” said CEO Keyitswhere and Victory is still (in strong, inCompass Crestview is still a majority the stageVictory for its next era ofship growth driven by that eventually became Victory was more thanthe firm folios (in 2015), which became known as CEMP; just didn’t for—Key be the owners thetolatter’s David Brown, who joined in 2004make whilesense multi-boutique model andfact a consistent acqui- headquarters off Tiedeman ness — of which employees own a 35% stake a century old as theitcompany to shedsitions RS Investments 2016).

It also took and a mi-Victory’s board freeof Victory Capital,” Brown said.within a complex forand Road sits KeyCorp staff it (in — it’s given Brown was still alooked part of Key. strategy. the division several years ago.

CEO David eventually to the point where it just didn’t make sense for Key fromtothe TheBrown: timing“We simply domevolved to operate how it likes.

That model, which truly started to develop at subleases “We saw an opportunity in the market docompany. to be the owners of Victory Capital.” (Ken Blaze for Crain’s) Many banking conglomerates were making something different than what was happening, felt right, Brown for Victory to step out on its Once separate from Key, Victory set out on an Victory following a management-led buyout Victory Capital at a said, glance similar moves around thatKey time, shedding theirwhich There wasbeen no animosity The relationwas our multi-boutique years acquisition streak toThat givewasit nearly more five scale.

It’sago. And while continue the work it had doing for there. from in 2013, is largely what Brown feels integrated, po- own and J JVictory Capital spun KeyCorp a management-led, private equity-supportmoney managers to cut costs focus on coreas ship Key and Victory bought is still strong, incompanies model that weevolves. have today, ” long saidout Victory CEO following Crestviewsince is stillthen: a majority owner of the busisitions theand firm to flourish its industry three Munder so asof Key refocused onbetween other strategies. ed buyout at firm $246 million in 2013. the point latter’swhere headquarters off Tiedeman ness — of which employees fact — who valued joined the 2004 while banking services in those following management theDavid Brown, investment business Key’syears (in 2014); Compass Efficient Model Port-own a 35% stake “We in eventually evolved to the it Capital Road sits a complex forfolios KeyCorp staff — it’s given known Brown as and Victory’s board freeit was still amore part that ofthan Key. JJSince deal,just thedidn’t firm has gone from $18 billion assets to $60.9 billion, 148it which last recession. Key eventually sold the business that eventually became Victory was (in 2015), became CEMP; make sense for Key towithin bein the owners employees totruly 300,started 18 investment to 72 andthe five franchises to nine, plus a dom to operate how it likes. from company.

The timing simply model, which to developstrategies at subleases to Victory employeesa—century there were at Thatlooked old about as the148 company to shed of Victory Capital,” Brown said. and RS Investments (in 2016). It also took a misolutions VictoryShares.

Once separate from Key, Victory set out on an followingplatform, a management-led buyout felt right, Brown said, for Victory to step out on its the time — and Newthe York private equityyears firmVictory division several ago. acquisition streak to give it more scale. It’s and continue the work it hadThat beencapital doing for from Key in 2013, is raised largely what po- in aown JJ The firm aboutBrown $140feels million recent IPO (NASDAQ: VCTR). will help Crestview Partners for Many $246 million. bankingProceeds conglomerates were making Capital glance sitions the firm toits flourish as itsVictory industry evolves. bought three companies since then: Munder so long asat Keyarefocused on other support eventual separation from Crestview Partners, the New Yorkstrategies. private equity firm of Key’s sale were used to buymoves back stock, similar aroundbenethat time, shedding their investment business Key’sthat “We eventually evolved to the point where it Capital (in 2014); Compass Efficient Model Portstill holdsmanagement a majority stake in the business. fiting shareholders. money managers to cut costs and focus on core JJVictory Capital spun out of KeyCorp following a management-led, private equity-support-

SUCCESS IS IN VICTORY’S SIGHT

that eventually became Victory was more than

just didn’t make sense for Key to be the owners

folios (in 2015), which became known as CEMP;

ed buyout valued at $246 million in 2013. banking services in thosea years following the century old as the company looked to shed of Victory Capital,” Brown said. and RS Investments (in 2016). It also took a milast recession. Key eventually sold theseveral business the division years ago.JJSince that deal, the firm has gone from $18 billion in assets to $60.9 billion, 148 employees to 300, 18 investment strategies to 72 and five franchises to nine, plus a to Victory employees — thereMany werebanking about 148 at conglomerates were making Victory Capital at a glance solutions platform, moves around shedding their VictoryShares. the time — and New Yorksimilar private equity firmthat time, JJVictory Capitalinspun out ofIPO KeyCorp following a management-led, JThe money managers to cut costs J and focus onraised core about firm $140 million a recent (NASDAQ: VCTR).

That capital willprivate help equity-supportCrestview Partners for $246 million.

Proceeds ed buyout valued at $246 million in 2013. support its eventual separation from Crestview Partners, the New York private equity firm banking in those years following the of Key’s sale were used to buy backservices stock, beneholds a majority stake in the JJSince last recession. Key eventuallythat sold still the business that deal,business. the firm has gone from $18 billion in assets to $60.9 billion, 148 fiting shareholders.

to Victory employees — there were about 148 at the time — and New York private equity firm Crestview Partners for $246 million. Proceeds of Key’s sale were used to buy back stock, benefiting shareholders.

employees to 300, 18 investment strategies to 72 and five franchises to nine, plus a solutions platform, VictoryShares.

JJThe

firm raised about $140 million in a recent IPO (NASDAQ: VCTR). That capital will help support its eventual separation from Crestview Partners, the New York private equity firm that still holds a majority stake in the business.

filled with cheese popcorn or caramel corn, and Pop-Tart skewers.)

Spice Catering Co. www.spicecaters.com Party planners come to Spice Catering Co. because they support the firm’s straightforward mission: locally sourced ingredients prepared in a simple yet sophisticated manner.

Owners Jackie and Ben Bebenroth play a key role in that equation. In addition to operating Spice the couple

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Q&A: Lisa Vo Executive vice president, the International Exposition (I-X) Center

find show con buil prod We d prod help show

Lisa Vo is fast approaching her 30-year anniversary at the I-X Center, having worked in nearly every operational capacity since she joined the organization in 1990. In 2016, Vo became executive vice president, responsible for day-to-day business at the Riverside Drive facility, which has endured from its roots as a World War II-era tank plant into the ninth-largest convention center in the world with more than 1 million square feet of exhibition space. In her tenure, Vo has seen lots of changes in the event industry and at the I-X Center in particular.

Recently, her team announced it would begin allowing certain show producers to bring in their own contractors — primarily decorators — reversing a longtime policy requiring customers to contract those services to the I-X Center.

— Judy Stringer How many events are held annually at the I-X Center?

We hold about 40 to 50 annually. It’s a pretty solid calendar in the winter from January until about May and gets busy again in the fall, like October and November. That is core of our business and includes a combination of consumer shows, trade shows and our I-X produced shows, of which we are currently doing four. Those shows are the I-X Trick or Treat Street, I-X Christmas Connection, I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama and I-X Indoor Amusement Park. This is actually unique to Cleveland. You don’t go to convention centers elsewhere and

Hav I-Xyea Yes, Pist an e peo show corn the the wide as C is m for s Pist

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MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

er find out they produce their own shows. Most of the time a convention center is an empty building and a company comes, they produce their show, and they leave.

We do things differently, where we produce some of our shows and we help other companies produce their shows as well.

Have you seen growth in your I-X-produced shows over the years?

Yes, we have. I often joke with the Piston Powered show, that if there is an empty corner of this building, people will put a car in there. That show is the biggest; it’s in every corner of our building. But, not just the size of the shows, we try to see the reach of the attendees be even wider too. We used to look at these as Cleveland events. Now our reach is more regional and even national for some of the bigger events like Piston Powered.

Are there plans to add to the I-X produced schedule of shows?

No. We have learned that we can do these four really well, and we would rather make these shows bigger and better and the best produced shows that we can. But, we are always looking for a new opportunity and keeping our eyes open and wouldn’t pass up the right opportunity if it came along.

each opportunity, we would customize the agreement so it works best for us and the promoter of that show. So far, we have had some interest. The thing about the trade show business is that it looks out such long term, like we are looking at shows in 2021 and 2023, so these things take time. Maybe you won’t see immediate reaction to those rules, but we definitely think it is making a difference.

There is lots of competition in the event planning/convention industry, to what do you

attribute the I-X Center’s staying power?

Our business is definitely more on the consumer side. People know us for the auto show and Christmas Connection and the I-X Indoor Amusement Park. We like to say we provide experiences. You know when you are in Cleveland in the winter and it is cold, you want to get out, you want to do something. Why not come to this big building that is decorated like a winter wonderland to do your Christmas shopping or ride a roller coaster indoors when it’s spring break and you are locked

up in the house with nothing to do with the kids? We provide those experiences for people, which we not only produce ourselves, but also help other companies produce. I think that is what has kept us going.

What needs to be done next to keep the facility competitive?

What makes us most competitive today is that we provide the best customer service. The ease of moving a show in and out is a major advantage here. This is a big empty brown box and when we open these doors up, we can move shows in and

out in manner that still amazes me after being here for 30 years. I sit up there and I watch cars driving in unloading and driving out.

Customers are happy. They are not complaining; they are not getting frustrated because it is taking up another whole day. You can’t get that just anywhere. People build these new convocation centers in areas where it is pretty, and they are state-of-the art, but there is something about this big box that makes it so much easier to do these shows. That makes us pretty competitive right there.

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S

Have you seen the event planning/convention industry change over the last few years?

For Cleveland's convention industry in particular, with RNC being here a couple of years ago, Cleveland is back on the map again and it looks like business is really picking up for our area. That is something we have witnessed ourselves and Destination Cleveland could probably attest to as well. The current market looks good for us.

How has the I-X Center responded to trends in technology use?

Just a few years ago, we installed a whole new wireless system in the building, where we have roughly 500 access points so we can provide wireless internet services anywhere on the show floor to anybody that needs it, whether that be the promoter, the individual exhibitor or Wi-Fi to the attendees. We also installed these large video screens throughout the building. Some of them are stationary and some are movable, and customers can rent them and put them near a booth or use them to direct traffic to certain areas of the show. We also sell advertising on them to sponsors and outside companies.

Recently the expo center announced it would open up to outside contractors. What was the impetus behind that decision?

This new rule is really for new business. We need to stay competitive, obviously, in this industry and a lot of these trade shows have long-term relationships with their contractors and they would not even consider coming to I-X Center because at one time we had exclusivity on those contracts.

So we decided to open that up and see where it leads us. We will take it on a case-by-case basis, and for

P016_P017_CL_20180910.indd 17

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9/6/18 5:26 PM

PA G E 18

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S E P T E M B E R 10 - 16 , 2 018 |

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

MEETING AND EVENT PLANNER

Adviser: Robert MacDonald

Art of storytelling: Make your next event memorable Imagine you are attending a largescale corporate event for employees.

You aren’t sure what to expect. You brought a notepad to jot down some notes, something you can glean from the speech and take with you. The lights dim and the speaker takes the stage. A story ensues — one that is memorable and is already leaving an impression on you. You find yourself entranced, hanging on every word, identifying with the story and nodding in understanding of the message. It’s transparent at first, but slowly you realize that the lighting and set create a visual that fills the

MacDonald is president of Impact Communications, a full-service multimedia production company headquartered in Cleveland.

stage and extends into the room.

With impeccable timing and in concert with the story being told, the

Expert meeting and event producers understand how to create the full experience for attendees and work with their client to tell a story that inspires. graphics are working with the storyteller to turn the pages. It’s theatrical — a true work of art. You take out your phone to capture the moment.

This, you think to yourself, is about as “Instagram-worthy” as it gets. You click “post” just as the story ends. You find yourself ready for the sequel.

Whether targeted toward employees or external stakeholders, corporate meetings and events should always have the same end goal in mind: Make it memorable. Speakers should always be working to leave an impression, and the best way to do this is to tell a story. Hiring talent helps to

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achieve this goal through theatrics. A coordinated visual component (think large-scale video behind the speaker) adds yet another layer to complete the story. These additional elements make it that much more relatable and engaging for the audience.

So, how can corporations achieve these “social media-worthy” moments?

For a large-scale meeting or event, companies often elect to outsource event planning to a full-service production company to achieve that lasting impression. More than booking a caterer and ensuring the logistics like tables and chairs are all in order, meeting and event producers become a true extension of that company and handle everything from scripting speakers and directing the talent to designing the space and producing the visuals. Expert meeting and event producers understand how to create the full experience for attendees and work with their client to tell a story that inspires.

How can a third-party production company achieve results?

As a first rule of thumb, for an event to truly be considered a success, the production team must understand the audience and the objective.

It is important to ask who the audience is, where attendees are coming from, what is their perspective, and most importantly, what do we want them to think or feel differently once they step away from the meeting or event? Answering these questions all starts with listening and relationship building. Taking the time to build a true rapport with clients is what makes meeting and event production companies most successful in telling the story. Invest time with your client on the front end to meet, share and get to the root of their ultimate vision and end goal. It is during this process that a third-party production company gains the ability to relate as an insider and execute a successful event as such.

What does listening really mean?

Tuning into the natural cadence of voice, taking in phrases that are often used, and nuances that come through only during those initial in-person meetings. Incorporating these seemingly minor pieces into a script is what personalizes the experience and really allows the audience inside. Once scripts have been developed and edited, it is time to support those words with the right visuals to add another layer.

Event producers should encompass the unique ability to take these various components and package them up in such a way as to create a natural rhythm that pulses through the event from start to finish. A tempo that keeps attendees seeing and hearing something fresh — a new chapter of the story, and always craving more.

Every successful meeting or event starts with a theme. Engaging stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Meeting and event producers look at the entire event as a single story to be told. In the end, it is important to pull it all together with a single call to action. The result is that attendees take what they have experienced and apply it to their life and to their day-to-day jobs — that the experience leaves an impression and moves them to take action.

8/8/18 12:39 PM 9/6/18 3:57 PM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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S E P T E M B E R 10 - 16 , 2 018

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PA G E 19

THE LIST

Caterers

Ranked by full-time equivalent catering employees in Northeast Ohio

THIS YEAR

COMPANY

LOCAL STAFF 6-30-2018 CATERING/ TOTAL

MAX OFFER OFFSEATED SITE PARTS OF REGION GUESTS PER EVENT CATERING? SERVED

CATERING SPECIALTIES

OTHER SERVICES

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE

All

Locally sourced and organic food, freshly prepared custom menus

In-house rental equipment and linens, unique venues, event planning and execution

Christopher Winter, vice president William Rini, president

1

Taste of Excellence 16888 Pearl Road, Strongsville (440) 845-0800/www.taste-food.com

150 200

3,000

2

Levy Restaurants 1 St. Clair Ave. N.E. / 601 Erieside Ave., Cleveland (440) 928-1518/www.levyrestaurants.com

80 100

3,500

In-house only

Corporate conference, gala and wedding

Catering only

Matthew Del Regno, regional general manager

3

Holiday Inn Cleveland South 6001 Rockside Road, Independence (216) 524-8050/www.hirockside.com

45 100

1,000

In-house only

Corporate meetings, trade shows, banquets, weddings

360 overnight guestrooms, event planning, audio visual equipment-technical support

Tom Moore, vice president

4

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

42 (1) 96

1,240

In-house only

Fundraising galas, weddings, corporate events, bar/bat mitzvahs, holiday parties

Event planning, meeting planning, audio visual

Emily Wassink, Jaclyn Hererra, Melissa Szeghy, catering managers

5

Normandy Catering Inc. 30310 Palisades Parkway, Wickliffe (440) 585-5850/www.NormandyCatering.com

40 40

2,000

•

Cleveland, Ashtabula, Akron, Canton

Full service catering, deliveries, school food, corporate catering

Equipment rentals, tables, chairs, plates, flatware, event planning

James C. Carmigiano, CEO

6

Lago 1091 W. 10th St., Cleveland (216) 862-8065/lagoeastbank.com

40 N/A

600

•

Cleveland proper and surrounding suburbs

Specializing in full service event catering and production with fine dining restaurant quality food

Event planning, lighting, design, decor, audio visual

Nicole Salerno, owner

7

Executive Caterers at Landerhaven 6111 Landerhaven Drive, Mayfield Heights (440) 449-0700/www.executivecaterers.com

30 50

10,000

•

Entire region; Cleveland Public Auditorium, English Oak Room

Weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, corporate events, social parties, kosher catering

Event planning, wedding cakes, floral, decor, linens, lighting, audio visual

Harlan Diamond, president

8

Driftwood Catering 27840 Aurora Road, Solon (440) 567-2386/http://thedriftwoodgroup.com

30 150

5,000

•

All

Gourmet food, hospitality, unique menu design

Event planning, rental coordination

Chris Hodgson, owner

9

Tangier Banquets and Catering 532 W. Market St., Akron (330) 376-7171/www.thetangier.com

25 25

1,000

•

Summit County

Mediterranean cuisine

Event planning, private rooms, audio visual equipment

Angelica George, general manager

10

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

15 35

800

•

Cuyahoga County

Multicultural events, wedding receptions, corporate, social and family events

Event planning, audio visual and lighting and decor options

Sarah Zoker, general manager

10

Marigold Catering 3901 Lakeside Ave. E., Suite 100, Cleveland (216) 566-5400/www.marigoldcatering.com

15 70

800

•

All

Weddings, benefits, life cycle events, intimate home parties

Event planning, rentals and serving staff

Joan E. Rosenthal, CEO, founder

12

Spice Catering 5800 Detroit Ave., Cleveland (216) 432-9090/http://spicecaters.com

15 35

400

•

All

Local, seasonal, outdoors, experiential dining

Event planning, consulting, rentals, staffing

Jess Edmonds, catering director Ben Bebenroth, chef

13

DoubleTree By Hilton Cleveland-South Independence 6200 Quarry Lane, Independence (216) 447-1300/clevelandsouth.doubletree.com

15 50

300

In-house only

Corporate and association events, weddings, reunions

Event planning, guest rooms, pool, audio visual, free parking

Jason Elo, general manager

14

Brennan's Catering and Banquet Center 13000 Triskett Road, Cleveland (216) 251-2131/BrennansCatering.com

12 12

1,000

•

Cuyahoga County

Weddings, luncheons, breakfasts, corporate and social events, barbecues, clambakes, holidays

Catering only

John Brennan Jr., president

15

Bubba's Q-World Famous Bar-B-Que and Catering 820 Center Road, Avon (440) 937-7859 x1/http://bubbasqdining.com

11 20

1,000

•

All

Barbecue, patented boneless ribs, corporate events, wedding rehearsals, birthdays, graduations

N/A

Brittani Bo Baker, catering manager; Tammy Woodrum, catering supervisor

16

Old Carolina Barbecue Co. 5757 Mayfair Road, North Canton (330) 289-7046/http://oldcarolina.com

10 75

5,000

•

Within 30 miles of our locations

Weddings, meetings, parties, reunions, corporate events

Event planning

Brian Bailey, cofounder

17

Special Moments Catering 9127 State Route 14, Streetsboro (800) 562-0595/SpecialMomentsCatering.com

10 20

1,000

•

Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake, Geauga, Stark, Medina and Portage counties

Off-premise catering

Event planning, rentals, bartending

Stephen Kolar, owner

18

Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park 10777 Northfield Road, Northfield (220) 908-7771/www.hrrnp.com

10 992

500

•

20-mile radius

Corporate, social and networking events, trade shows, receptions, mixers, galas, conferences

Event planning, audio visual, lights, in-house production

Mark Birtha, president

19

Fire Food and Drink 13320 Shaker Square, Cleveland (216) 921-3473/firefoodanddrink.com

9 30

500

•

All

N/A

Event planning

Douglas Katz, owner, executive chef

20

Crowne Plaza Cleveland at Playhouse Square 1260 Euclid Ave., Cleveland (216) 615-7500/crowneplaza.com/clvplayhousesq

8 90

320

In-house only

Customizable catering menus available for any event

On-site audio visual; dedicated on-site catering specialist and meetings director

Gayle Zdanowicz, director of sales

21

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

8 58

250

In-house only

Customized menus available, focus on Southern-inspired dishes

Live entertainment, in-house audio visual

Scott Kapp, general manager

22

Michaud's Catering & Event Center 16808 Pearl Road, Strongsville (440) 238-7078/www.michaudscatering.com

6 8

2,000

Drop off - Cuyahoga and surrounding areas

Weddings, receptions, buffet, sitdown, family style, hors d'oeuvres, cater-out, take-out

Linens, uplighting, pub tables, audio visual, decorating, indoor/outdoor wedding site

Chuck Cooke Jr., head chef Donna Michaud, vice president Doris Cooke, sales manager

23

Hilton Garden Inn Cleveland Downtown and Gateway Conference Center 1100 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland (216) 658-6400/clevelanddowntown.gardeninn.com

6 55

400

In-house only

Corporate, social and nonprofit events; weddings

Event planning, audio visual, dedicated sales contact

Joel Hoffmaster, general manager

24

Stancato's 7380 State Road, Parma (440) 886-6242 x5/stancatos.com

5 N/A

3,000

•

1.5-hour radius

Large variety of pasta, pizza, chicken, complete meals

Restaurant, lounge, pick up and private dining

Perry P. Stancato, president

25

Zack Bruell Events 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland (216) 231-4600 x3372/ http://zackbruellevents.com

5 10

600

•

Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Summit counties

Chef Zack Bruell cuisine

Catering only

Zack E. Bruell, chef owner

26

Del's Catering 472 Preserve Lane, Macedonia (216) 780-0723/www.delscatering.com

5 5

500

•

All

Corporate catering

Event planning, room transformation, cooking demonstrations

Del Stephens, chef, owner

•

•

RESEARCHED BY CHUCK SODER (CSODER@CRAIN.COM)

This list is not comprehensive. To submit your firm, visit bit.ly/2LiNaIP

Companies with the same number of local full-time equivalent catering employees are then ranked by the maximum number of seated guests they can serve per event. Information is provided by the companies. Send all feedback to Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com (1) full-time only

P019_CL_20180910.indd 19

9/7/18 2:09 PM

PA G E 2 0

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

AKRON

From gutters to NASCAR, Kaulig races ahead

By JUDY STRINGER clbfreelancer@crain.com

Matt Kaulig says he’s not a big fan of numbers, but the former University of Akron quarterback has no trouble letting the figures fly when it comes to the emergence of his Hudson empire.

Kaulig opened his first LeafFilter dealership in his basement — in Stow, at the time — in 2005. With only two employees, he sold $350,000 worth of gutter protectors that year.

In 2007, he moved the business to a 2,500-square-foot office on Hudson’s Georgetown Road and finished the year with $1.75 million in revenue.

By 2010, he’d doubled his Hudson presence and opened six satellite locations. By then, Kaulig said, his firm had grown into LeafFilter’s largest distributor “by far” and he leveraged his buying power to secure the North American marketing rights to the brand.

In 2015, Kaulig acquired LeafFilter outright. The company had been based in Plainwell, Mich., where it still manufactures its products.

This year, LeafFilter will pull in $330 million and has 2,000 employees at 51 locations as the flagship business of Kaulig Companies, according to Kaulig, a Chicago native.

His organization now comprises financial, media, and sports and entertainment divisions, including its own NASCAR team — all housed in four (soon to be five) buildings on Georgetown Road.

“It’s crazy just to talk about it,” Kaulig said. “We are the fourth-largest remodeling company in the country, and we don’t even remodel.

We do gutter screens.”

Kaulig’s journey from Zips quarterback to business tycoon was not without its trials. As a student in the early 1990s, the Akron graduate switched his major from business to psychology to rid his college schedule of mathheavy courses such as microeconomics and accounting. When a counselor told him he’d have to go to graduate school to earn any money with a psy-

University of Akron grad Matt Kaulig’s LeafFilter business has grown to $330 million in annual revenue, and it’s helping to drive the overall growth of its parent company, Kaulig Companies. (Contributed photo)

Matt Kaulig, left, and his race team’s crew chief, Chris Rice, attend a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

(Contributed photo)

chology degree, Kaulig reverted back to the business school his senior year, doubling up on coursework to make up for the lost time.

He joined Erie Construction after college, selling remodeling products out of its Akron office for eight years

before a former colleague introduced Kaulig to LeafFilter.

“I thought it was such a phenomenal new technology product that I quit my job and started selling the gutter screens out of my house,” he said.

Kaulig was able to scale the business easily, having perfected the home visit pitches and standardized processes for ordering and installation early on. His first offices outside of Hudson were in Toledo, Pittsburgh and Columbus — strategically placed in 2008 so that he could get to any one of them within two hours.

Just four years into his fledgling business, however, the economy collapsed. Home improvement spending was among the markets that took the biggest hit, but Kaulig refused to give into the gloom and doom.

“I was like, ‘How bad can it be?’ ” he recalled. “Trees are still growing, and they are not going to stop dropping leaves just because banks are failing.”

Kaulig created what he called the “LeafFilter economy,” barring employees from watching, listening or reading news during the workday, holding conference calls daily to talk strategy and keeping his marketing budget intact.

“Everyone was talking about not marketing and waiting to see what happens, but I sincerely believed, still do, that if you don’t spend money, you don’t get leads, then nothing is going to happen,” the LeafFilter owner and CEO said.

Kaulig also acted on a tip he’d heard once that claimed when the economy is bad, government jobs are good. He opened offices in Manassas, Va., and Baltimore to cater to federal workers with more disposable income.

In the heart of the recession, “We went from $5.4 million in 2008 to $11.6 million (in sales) in 2009,” he said.

The experience is quintessential Kaulig, according to longtime financial adviser Tim Clepper.

“He has the attitude toward business like a quarterback has an attitude on the football field,” said Clepper, who is president of Kaulig Companies. “It’s all about being unstoppable and being positive, and figuring out solutions to win the game today.”

By 2015, Kaulig was ready to diversify his holdings. LeafFilter had been advertising with NASCAR for about six years and — much like his experi-

ence at Erie Construction — Kaulig had studied the business and decided he could do it himself. He hired a general manager, researched cars, opened a NASCAR shop in Welcome, N.C., built out a Chevrolet Camaro and christened it with No. 11, the number on his Zips jersey. The car is currently driven by Ryan Truex in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series.

That same year, LeafFilter took its first outside money infusion, inking an investment deal with Gridiron Capital of New Canaan, Conn., and Kaulig, with the help of Clepper, founder of Ellsworth Private Wealth Management, launched the parent company, Kaulig Companies. Kaulig Capital, which handles Kaulig’s money and investments, and Kaulig Media followed in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Kaulig and his wife, Lisa, also operate the Kaulig Foundation, the charitable arm of the organization.

Just last month, Kaulig finalized the purchase of Ellsworth Private Wealth Management, adding advisory services to the business holdings.

Clepper said the brands are intended to feed off each other.

“We build other businesses and invest in businesses that help (the existing businesses) be better, and we get the profit from that along the way,” he said.

The media division, for example, produces all of the print promotion, graphic design, web development and digital marketing for Ellsworth as well as other Kaulig businesses, he said, but it also provides those services to outside companies.

Kaulig Companies’ meat and potatoes, however, remains gutter screens, and that main course is keeping the business well-fed. Clepper said that this year alone, LeafFilter has added 12 new offices and 800 new jobs, many of those in the Hudson offices where it houses operations and a call center.

“We went from $180 million (in revenue) in 2017 to $330 million in 2018,” Kaulig said. “Who does that, 14 years in and without acquisitions?

It’s crazy.”

ITEC helps to keep Akron on the tire industry map

By SUE WALTON swalton@crain.com @SueWalton_Bolts

The tire factories might be long gone from the Rubber City, but Akron still is a hub for members of the tire manufacturing industry, at least every other year.

That’s when the International Tire Exhibition & Conference (ITEC) convenes. This year’s installment runs from Tuesday, Sept. 11, through Thursday, Sept. 13, at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron, with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. CEO and president Richard Kramer as keynote speaker.

ITEC — organized by Rubber & Plastics News, a sister publication of Crain’s Cleveland Business — expects about 1,500 attendees from all over the globe.

“It’s the biggest tire manufacturing conference in North America,” said David Zielasko, the publisher of Rubber & Plastics News, adding that attendees from about 20 countries al-

P020_CL_20180910.indd 20

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. president and CEO Richard Kramer is the keynote speaker of the International Tire Exhibition & Conference in Akron.

(Contributed photo)

ready had signed up.

Not only does ITEC give attendees chances to network and visit a show floor with 86 exhibitors specializing in machinery, products and services

for the tire manufacturing industry, it also features an extensive technical program, according to Zielasko and Brent Weaver, Rubber & Plastics News’ sales manager.

“This year, we’ll have 50-plus technical papers and a panel discussion.

We go in-depth. And it’s important that this is a technical conference. It’s dealing with issues from raw materials to equipment to testing. The whole gamut, really, of tire manufacturing,” Zielasko said.

Attendees aren’t coming for just the exhibit hall, but they’re coming for that knowledge, he said.

ITEC got its start in 1994 in Akron and has been going strong biennially ever since. After a short foray to Cleveland and a tweak to the show setup in 2010 and 2012, ITEC returned to Akron because that’s what attendees wanted, Weaver said.

After the 2012 show, organizers presented attendees with a survey.

“People said overwhelmingly, ‘Hey, we want to be at the Knight Center. We think it’s a great venue.

Akron (is) the birthplace of tires,’ ”

Weaver said, adding that new amenities, such as a hotel and restaurants, in downtown Akron make it a fun place to host the conference.

Plus, Akron is still drivable for folks coming from places like Canada or the Southeastern U.S., which is home to several tiring manufacturing plants.

While many of the tiremakers may have moved their manufacturing facilities from Akron, the city is still a center for tire innovation, with at least 11 tire tech centers in the region and a lot of suppliers to the industry, Zielasko said.

Of course, Goodyear has a big presence in Akron, with its headquarters and technical center still in the Rubber City.

Kramer will speak to some of that technology in a talk that focuses on “the New Mobility Ecosystem.” It will address how new ways of mobility — whether autonomous vehicles, fleets or ride-sharing — are also shaping the tire industry.

Hosting the show every other year is intentional so that organizers can keep

an eye on trends that affect the tire, automotive, trucking and fleet industries, according to Zielasko and Weaver.

“As those industries change, then our industry changes,” Zielasko said.

“The tire industry has to change with it.”

Conference chairs Walter Waddell, retired from ExxonMobil Chemical Co., and Larry Evans, retired from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, planned the technical conference presentations, which span the three days of the conference. They step in for Harold Herzlich, who stepped down after running ITEC’s technical programming since the conference’s inception.

In addition to Kramer’s keynote, Michelin North America research engineer Stephen Cron will be honored at ITEC with the Harold Herzlich Distinguished Technology Medal. Cron is co-inventor of the Michelin Tweel, a nonpneumatic tire/wheel combination.

“We’re really excited about this year’s conference. We think it’s going to be really strong,” Zielasko said.

9/7/18 2:21 PM

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PA G E 21 PA G E 21

AXE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“It’s not hard to find a business that wants to do a team-building activity,” said Cleveland Axe general manager Matt Dixon. “You’ve just got to sell the uniqueness of the activity. You could do go-karting, or just do a professional lunch, but that doesn’t give your team a chance to bond over a new skill.”

Ax throwing is certainly gaining popularity nationwide. The National Axe Throwing Federation, for example, formed in early 2016 to represent the burgeoning sport and standardize a rule system for competitive leagues.

“The axes aren’t razor sharp. They’re just sharp enough to stick in the wood.”

Throwing an ax is safe, Cleveland Axe GM Matt Dixon says.

— Matt Dixon, Cleveland Axe general manager

Plus, Cleveland Axe’s parent company isn’t the only company making inroads in the Ohio market. All American Axe Throwing boasts locations in both Akron and Canton. The Backyard Axe Throwing League — a Canadian ax-slinging juggernaut with U.S. ranges in Chicago, Nashville and Michigan — is considering Cleveland for a location, according to a company representative.

Ax throwing involves tossing a foot-and-a-half-long ax — the kind used to chop down a small tree, according to Dixon — in head-to-head matchups or a team setting. Every 90-minute session is preceded by training from on-site “axeperts,” who teach participants how to safely handle an ax while throwing it with precision and accuracy.

Ax throwing involves tossing a foot-and-a-half long ax — typically the kind used to chop down small trees.

Anyone 15 and older can play — the facility even hosted a 95-year-old. (Photographs by Ken Blaze for Crain’s)

SEE THROWING, PAGE 22

REAL ESTATE

CLASSIFIED

AUCTION

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While hucking a sharp object around sounds off-putting, ax throwing is no more physically strenuous than darts, cornhole, bocce or other target sports, Dixon noted.

“Anyone age 15 and up can play — we had a 95-year-old doing it,” he said. “Once you know what you’re doing, it’s just like bowling. The first time or two you won’t be good, and you’ll need someone there to show you how to do it.”

Throwing an ax is safe, allowing for common sense and participants following instructions, Dixon said. Players are prohibited from passing axes to one another, and are advised to watch themselves around throwing lanes when another participant is about to let fly. Jeans and a T-shirt are acceptable ax-tossing wear, but closed-toed shoes are a must in case a hard-thrown ax bounces off the target.

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Sports Business -- Real Estate -- Health Care Manufacturing -- Small Business People on the Move -- Middle Market Contact Kate Rozek at 216-771-5276

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THROWING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

Guests are allowed to bring their own snacks and drinks — even alcohol. However, anyone appearing to be intoxicated will not be able to toss axes.

“The axes aren’t razor sharp.

They’re just sharp enough to stick in the wood,” Dixon said. “Ranges are separated by dividers and there’s netting overhead.”

Cleveland Axe Throwing is owned

by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, which runs nine additional throwing ranges nationwide, including one in Cincinnati, along with haunted house and escape room attractions.

The 6,000-square-foot Cleveland location shares a home with Great Room Escape, drawing bachelor/bachelorette parties, birthday get-togethers and league-based tournaments. Depending on the season, company events comprise up to 30% of the business.

Cleveland’s long winters tend to bring in a corporate crowd hungry for a new interactive experience.

“Most of our marketing is guerrilla and grassroots,” Dixon said. “The

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

games we offer encourage cooperation and competitiveness. Everyone’s starting from square one, so people work together to figure out strategies. That’s where the team building comes in.”

Out of your comfort zone OverDrive, a Garfield Heights-headquartered creator of a digital book lending system, usually leans toward what director of talent management Cortney Marchetti calls “traditional” — if perfectly acceptable — team-building activities such as cooking classes and bowling.

Ax throwing is an innovative means of taking people out of their comfort zones, Marchetti said, fostering conversations among departments that could translate to closer relationships back at the company HQ. “Team-building is about accountability and trusting one another,” she said. “If you know someone on a personal level, you’re going to hold yourself more accountable for your work. Ax throwing is an automatic conversation starter.”

Bruce Geier, CEO of RMS Investment Group, brought 16 employees to

Cleveland Axe general manager Matt Dixon says most of the company’s “marketing is guerrilla and grassroots.” (Ken Blaze for Crain’s)

ADVERTISING SECTION

To place your listing, visit www.crainscleveland.com/onthemove or for more information, please call Debora Stein at (917) 226-5470 or email dstein@crain.com.

Mallory Frantz Director

The Siegfried Group Mallory Frantz was recently promoted to a Director for The Siegfried Group. She will continue to passionately serve as a Leadership Advisor for Siegfried’s clients and will focus on business development and building meaningful client relationships in and around Cleveland, OH. Frantz joined Siegfried in 2013 and has served in various roles since then. She earned her Bachelor of Science in accounting and her MBA from the University of Dayton, and began her career at EY.

MBA

WEATHERHEAD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

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ACCOUNTING

Cleveland Axe Throwing in late August, creating a four-on-four round-robin tournament with help from Dixon, the general manager. Some of Geier’s staff were nervous about their ax-tossing ability, a worry put at ease by meticulous axepert training.

“By the end of the session everyone was throwing and making an impact,” Geier said. “It was incredible to watch that stress and tension level go away.”

Teams were divided among members of different departments, a purposeful decision on Geier’s part.

“Having departments work together (at ax throwing) can help break down territorial boundaries that exist within the office,” Geier said. “I was watching people high-five each other who normally didn’t interact voluntarily.”

Dixon said ax throwing is an equalizer that puts C-suite officials and their staff on the same level, effectively humanizing everyone involved.

“People like it when they see their bosses as people,” he said. “It’s rare in a corporate setting when you get to interact with higher-ups in a manner that isn’t 100% professional. It creates an open environment where it’s easier to talk.”

BANKING

weatherhead.case.edu

ENGINEERING & CONSULTING

Newton S. Kimberly Private Banking Relationship Manager

First Federal Lakewood Newton S. Kimberly Jr. brings more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry to his position as a Private Banking Relationship Manager at First Federal Lakewood. Newt uses his broad background to provide clients with the guidance and information they need to make the right decisions for their financial needs, while providing them with the exceptional personalized service of a strong community bank.

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Dana Buchholzer

Leslie G. Wolfe

Melissa Santee

Director of Underground Services

Associate of Counsel

Chief Advancement Officer

Safety Controls Technology Safety Controls Technology (SCT) proudly announces the hiring of Dana Buchholzer as Director of Underground Services, and the merging of Midwest Underground Services with SCT. Buchholzer’s cutting edge training programs have provided critical instruction for the construction, industrial, utility, municipal and emergency services industries. With 40 years of instruction experience, Buchholzer’s training programs are considered the most advanced and complete in the nation.

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP Leslie G. Wolfe has joined Dinsmore as an associate of counsel. Wolfe will practice out of the environmental and litigation practice groups. Previously, Wolfe practiced at Walter Haverfield LLP as an environmental attorney and litigator and represented individuals and entities in civil and criminal environmental enforcement actions.

Wolfe currently serves as the legal counsel for the Construction and Demolition Association of Ohio and represents numerous landfill operators.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History The Cleveland Museum of Natural History appointed Melissa Santee as Chief Advancement Officer. Santee returns to Cleveland from Mount Pisgah Christian School in Georgia, where she led a $20 million recordsetting campaign. From 2001 to 2010, Santee held various fundraising and senior leadership roles at Case Western Reserve University. A graduate of the University of Toledo, she is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

TECHNOLOGY Rich Garcia Chief Financial Officer

OEC Rich Garcia joins OEC as its new Chief Financial Officer.

Previously, Mr. Garcia was CFO at Koroseal Interior Products, LLC. He has also held top leadership roles at Avtron Holdings, LLC, Wastequip, Inc., and Nacco Industries.

Mr. Garcia holds a Master of Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Major Accounting from Kent State University. He passed the Certified Public Accountant exam in 1983.

P021_022_CL_20180910.indd 22

KNOW SOMEONE ON THE MOVE? For more information or questions regarding advertising in this section, please call Debora Stein at (917)226-5470 or email: dstein@crain.com

9/7/18 2:12 PM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Source Lunch Kevin Jacques

Boynton D. Murch Chair in Finance, Baldwin Wallace University Kevin Jacques, an associate professor and Boynton D. Murch Chair in finance at Baldwin Wallace University, stands out in this market and across the U.S. for his experience in federal banking policy. Prior to joining the education system, Jacques dedicated 14 years of his career to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he had most recently served as senior financial economist responsible for advising the George W. Bush administration on policy issues surrounding the U.S. banking and financial system. ¶ We decided to sit down with Jacques to get a fresh sense of his views on Fed policy today as the country heads toward what is likely to be the third and fourth interest rate hikes of 2018, but also to chat a bit about how his college’s finance department has revamped some of its curriculum in recent years. — Jeremy Nobile

Five things Something people don’t know about you In my teens, I was a workout partner for a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Barry Clemens. We played one-on-one basketball against each other.

Did you ever beat him?

Never. Not even close.

Favorite book I have re-read "Black Swan" by Nassim Taleb every summer in a row so many times I’ve lost track. My kids make fun of me for re-reading it so much.

If not in education, what would you be doing today?

I’d be a financial planner. I love picking stocks and developing stock portfolios.

If you could have a beer with any famous person ...

Bernie Kosar

Lunch spot The Cornerstone Brewing Co. 58 Front Street, Berea

The meal Chicken quesadilla with cheddar and provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, onions, hummus, spinach, sour cream, pico de galo and avocado. And the turkey and spinach salad topped with sliced turkey breast, diced apples, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, shredded parmesan cheese and honey mustard.

The vibe The brewpub near Baldwin Wallace University manages to feel quaint and modern between its open kitchen, walls with stone and brick, and the columns by the bar that stand out from the rest of the space.

We skipped beers, but I look forward to trying some on a return trip, like Sandstone, their German Marzen style beer.

The bill $22.12, plus tip

P023_CL_20180910.indd 23

So what’s special about the finance department and its curriculum today? It sounds like there have been a few changes you’re particularly excited about.

First of all, we have the Bloomberg room. Now what happens is, if you come to Baldwin Wallace and major in finance, you’re going to work on some of the very same Bloomberg terminals the Wall Street professionals use. Furthermore, before you get out of school, you’re required to be Bloomberg certified. So not only do our students have experience using Bloomberg terminals, they’re certified in it, and they’re Excel certified. And we’ve added some brand new courses.

For those not familiar with it, the “Bloomberg room” is what?

We call it a Bloomberg Research Center. There are a series of Bloomberg terminals that access the same financial data that Wall Street experts use when they analyze financial markets and news and activity. So the kids see stock, financial analysis of companies, data and technical tools they can use like Wall Street professionals can use.

They’ve got the tickers, whiteboards and two terminals at each desk.

From the Bloomberg room to the new course, what predicated these things?

Back around 2012 we went to a little over two dozen high-level finance executives in the Cleveland area and said hey, help us out. What should we be doing with our finance program that we’re not? It was along the line of better skills, classes, the whole gamut. We now have a capstone course on financial modeling in Excel.

So if you’re a finance major at BW, before you ever get out of our program, you’ve already got financial modeling skills. That’s one of the big things the executives have said they wanted. So our kids are coming out with more skills than ever before.

And I understand the investment club is killing it right now, right?

The college has given us a portion of the college endowment. It started out in 2006 at $160,000. The college is hands off and said, students, you run this money that belongs to the college. They basically gave them the keys to the car and said here, drive.

The students are the money managers and have to follow the college’s risk investment policy because this is the college’s money. So the kids have

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MARKETING, ADVERTISING & EVENTS INSIGHTS.

Today’s Tip: Content can help an event have a long-lasting impact.

been managing that money for 12 years now and have turned it into slightly more than $600,000.

I’d be remiss to not talk about Fed policy with you. What do you think of the approach to interest rates?

The only thing I think that’s changed since the spring is that this is more of a balancing act. If you look at some of the economic indicators out there, they say inflation is running about 2%. Others say it’s about 3%. That makes a difference because what the Fed is doing right now is looking for what I call the neutral rate. It’s a Goldilocks kind of policy right now.

So, something not too hot or cold, but just right.

What they’d like to do is normalize interest rates but in a way that the economy doesn’t grow too fast and inflation reignites. But they don’t want interest rates too low, to accelerate the economy and possibly cause bubbles in financial markets. They don’t want interest rates too high because that would slow down the economy, and you’ve got some uncertainty out there surrounding things like tariffs. So they want to get monetary policy back to a more normal level, but find out what is that neutral rate.

If some measures of inflation are 2%, and others are 3%, then what really is that neutral rate?

That’s the question. Financial markets are in this kind of guessing game, trying to figure out how far the Fed is going to go to find that neutral rate and how fast is it going to get there.

No one really knows what that rate is, making it this Goldilocks rule: not too fast and not too slow, but this just right point. And there’s just a lot of divided opinion on what that rate is, how far away it is from where we are now and how fast we get there.

That’s all going to be Fed policy, and that’s what markets are desperately trying to figure out.

A third interest rate hike seems to be a given. Do you think we get a fourth rate hike later this year?

You know, if you asked me earlier in the year, I’d say we’d have three. The third will occur at the next meeting.

At that point, they’ll read the tea leaves and worry if the economy is growing too fast or not enough and look at inflation.

If you were placing bets now?

I’d put my money on a fourth rate hike.

Stories, photos and video not only can capture the important information shared at your event, they can be used to spread the message – and your brand -- beyond the audience who was in attendance.

Amy Ann Stoessel Managing editor, custom and special projects Crain’s Cleveland Business astoessel@crain.com

How Crain’s can work for you: CRAIN CONTENT STUDIO - CLEVELAND Crain Content Studio-Cleveland, the custom publishing subsidiary of Crain’s Cleveland Business, not only can provide writers, photographers and videographers to chronicle your event, it will work with you to determine the best avenue with which to distribute the content, whether it’s in print, online or via email.

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