MORE THAN MONEY Mid-major schools look beyond big salaries to attract, keep top coaches
NOTABLE BUSINESSES: These honorees promote diversity in the workplace. PAGE 12
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CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I DECEMBER 13, 2021
Safety focus for University of Akron E School reacts after three people were shot in September as an off-campus party dispersed
very day Mary Stone finds herself faceto-face with an enemy. It’s a massive eyesore, a hodgepodge of sand, rocks, concrete and garbage in her University Park neighborhood. So notorious is the foe that it’s simply known by three words: The Dirt Pile. The pile’s appearance shifts depending on the vantage point. From Stone’s street, it looks like a vast landfill. Glancing at it from the other side,
near an elementary school, it’s more of a mountain. For the past five, or eight, or 10 years — neither residents nor city officials were able to be definitive — trucks have been zooming in and out of the Dirt Pile. It’s officially a material storage facility owned by the city. Stone feels no one is concerned about the Dirt Pile: “It’s in a neighborhood they don’t care about.” In other words, she said, it’s poor. About
| BY AMY MORONA
7,400 residents are estimated to live there. The median income is $18,128. To her, the Dirt Pile is a symbol, representing neglect, disengagement, despair. She believes the city has turned its back on the neighborhood she’s lived in for all of her 73 years. The University of Akron has, too. The 218-acre campus just blocks from her house feels like a separate city. See AKRON on Page 40
“IF THOSE KIDS HAD SURVIVED, OR JUST BEEN WOUNDED, I DON’T THINK THEY WOULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT.” — Mary Stone, resident
Left: A memorial for Alexander Beasley who was shot at an off-campus party last September. Right: Rentals at the corner of Brown and Thorton Streets near the University of Akron. | GUS CHAN FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
Realty firm stumbles on Oswald Centre BY STAN BULLARD
The 21-story Oswald Centre in downtown Cleveland has gone into foreclosure, a staggering turn of events for a Chicago-area real estate firm that had a long, successful run here, as well as a strong track record in the Windy City.
A run of bad luck at the 1972-vintage building at 1100 Superior Ave. that American Landmark Properties of Skokie, Illinois, has owned since 2007 may account for most of the property’s woes, but it also suffers from the long-term challenges of the See SUPERIOR on Page 40
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VOL. 42, NO. 45 l COPYRIGHT 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Foxconn helps Lordstown Motors end 2021 with plan for the future BY RACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY
Lordstown Motors Corp. has not had an easy year. The electric vehicle startup began 2021 boasting of its high number of pre-orders and sharing plans to complete its first beta vehicles in the spring. By June, the company
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was walking back some of its previous disclosures around pre-orders, saying some had been inaccurate, and its founder and CEO had resigned, setting a comprehensive leadership transition in motion. Production of the company’s first vehicle, an electric pick-up truck, has been delayed until next year. But Dan Ninivaggi, who took on
the role of CEO for the company in August, sees a path forward for Lordstown Motors. Ninivaggi, who previously served as CEO of Icahn Enterprises L.P., declined to comment on the leadership changes that took place before he arrived. See LORDSTOWN on Page 41
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12/10/2021 1:39:13 PM