MANUFACTURING: MVP Plastics looks to grow through diversification. PAGE 4 MVP president and CEO Darrell McNair
SOURCE LUNCH Meet Mike Conley, the Cavs’ chief information officer. PAGE 46
CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I NOVEMBER 4, 2019
GOVERNMENT
BEER
Gauging tax abatements’ true impact
SOMETHING NEW IS BREWING
With reauthorization looming, program’s effectiveness raises hard questions
Mark King, Great Lakes Brewing’s new CEO, says change is on tap
BY JAY MILLER AND KIM PALMER
KEN BLAZE FOR CRAIN’S
Residential tax abatement, which allows anyone who builds a new home or substantially renovates an older home in the city of Cleveland to avoid a sizable chunk of the home’s property taxes, has since the 1980s helped springboard a residential
BY JEREMY NOBILE
Great Lakes Brewing Co. has never had an identity problem, but it’ll need to reinvent itself for consumers to replicate its successes of the past. That’s where newly installed CEO Mark King comes in. “At the end of the day, beer is a consumer product. So the brand promise has got to be there. Great Lakes is all about quality, and that’s the DNA of the brand,” King said. “But we are not the latest thing or the flashiest. And while you can’t be all things to all people, you can have something for everybody. Our ability to be a bit more progressive in what we’re offering could be a big opportunity, if we do it right.”
NEWSPAPER
VOL. 40, NO. 44 l COPYRIGHT 2019 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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This perspective is steering GLBC to refocus on beers, product innovation and its existing taproom to grow revenue and enhance market share, all of which should come before an expansion of the physical footprint that's sure to come. Times have changed since GLBC founders Pat and Dan Conway planted their flag in a run-down strip of Ohio City in 1988. For American craft brewers back then, quietly playing in the shadow of dominant brands, simply existing was progressive. That’s certainly true for Northeast Ohio’s oldest continuously operating brewery, which designed craft lagers decades before they were tru-
FOCUS | BUSINESS INCENTIVES Do tax breaks and other tools serve as a carrot for businesses, or a stick to the communities that dangle them? PAGE 12
ly in vogue, pioneered the modern brewery/restaurant concept in this market, and introduced Christmas Ale to the Midwest, inspiring a cult following for the holiday brew and spawning countless copycats. “This was all a lot easier before there were this many breweries,” said Bob Sullivan, a craft beer industry consultant and president of Sullivan Sales and Marketing Solutions. “Great Lakes is kind of a victim of its own success because it was so easy, relatively speaking, in the early days when they were the only game in town.” See GREAT LAKES on Page 44
“THERE IS A NEED TO SERIOUSLY START THINKING ABOUT STRUCTURING THE INCENTIVES ... TO GET INVESTMENT DOLLARS INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT NEED IT MOST.” — Michael Norton, chief policy analyst at Reinvestment Fund
building boom in neighborhoods that, like the city as a whole, were losing residents. But with the expiration of the legislation, last renewed in 2005, and a reauthorization on the horizon, questions are being asked about the program’s long-term impact. The city of Cleveland and City Council members, in partnership with state and local groups, are spearheading an in-depth market study of the city’s housing history, with the ultimate goal of creating a more equitable housing plan citywide. “There is a need to seriously start thinking about structuring the incentives — not just an abatement for abatement's sake, but trying to get investment dollars into the neighborhoods that need it most and that are most poised to respond positively,” said Michael Norton, the chief policy analyst at Reinvestment Fund, a Philadelphia-based firm picked to conduct the historical analysis. See IMPACT on Page 45
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