Crain's Cleveland Business

VOL. 39, NO. 48

NOVEMBER 26 - DECEMBER 2, 2018

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

POWER STRUGGLE

Two new Northeast Ohio industries, cryptocurrency mining and medical marijuana growing, could strain the region’s electricity supply.

Page 29

Entire contents © 2018 by Crain Communications Inc.

Fergs Illustration for Crain’s

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CONTeNT

sPONsOReD By

News AND TReNDs FROm NORTheAsT OhiO’s TeChNOlOgy seCTOR

tECh MAttERS

New city oN the block

BLOCKLAND CLEVELAND RISING

C

ar dealer magnate Bernie Moreno is leading a bold charge to mobilize Cleveland as a nationwide epicenter of blockchain, a technology he sees as about two to three years away from universal adoption. Blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger, used in digital cryptocurrencies, and is increasingly becoming the preferred way of completing contracts and transactions more securely. In May, Moreno and Moreno other leaders formed Blockland Cleveland — which he refers to as a “coalition of the willing” — to transform that ideal into a reality. Crain Content Studio — Cleveland checks in with Moreno on the group’s progress and upcoming initiatives.

What has Blockland Cleveland achieved since its formation? We’ve organized and defined our mission. So far, about 2,000 people are actively involved. Our first deliverable is the conference. We established 10 nodes (or subcommittees in thought leadership, business applications, talent development, political environment, entrepreneurial environment, legal system, philanthropy, place, next gen, and research and innovation) that will have their own deliverables. 2018 was about organizing.

2019 is about implementation.

What does blockchain mean for small businesses? That would be like asking how the Internet, email or social media is relevant to small businesses. Blockchain is the next chain in the evolution of technology. We are encouraging as many

A PRODUCT OF

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businesses here as humanly possible to accept digital currency, which is one form of blockchain. The Cleveland Indians just became the first major league baseball team to accept cryptocurrency.

My dealerships accept it. A local barbershop recently announced it is accepting cryptocurrency.

That creates an ecosystem. We are going to be laser focused about educating the market on adoption.

In one year from now, where will Cleveland be in terms of blockchain? We’ll be No. 1 in the U.S. in blockchain implementation. We’re partnering with Blockchain Research Institute in Toronto and iAngels, an Israelbased angel investor group that invests in blockchain startups. Cleveland will be the U.S. entry place for blockchain.

The tech victory goes to the one who gets there first. Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple have so much power over us. But blockchain technology allows the vision of the internet to come through, which is all about the democratization of our data. I expect in one year, we’ll read an article that characterizes Cleveland as one the top five most relevant tech cities in the U.S., using blockchain as one example, and opportunity zones (which designate investment in low-income areas), as another.

The conference kicks off the activity in 2019. Soon, Cleveland will be taking advantage of the migration from New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle because young people want to be where the job growth and innovation are.

CRAIN CONTENT STUDIO C l eve l a n d

BLOCKLAND SOLutIONS PREVIEw

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lans to establish Cleveland’s first Blockland Solutions Conference were set forth in May and catalyzed into a four-day convergence of blockchain leaders and enthusiasts from here and around the world. The conference, set for Dec. 1-4 at Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, is packed with an agenda that features 135 speakers; case studies; and real-world examples of how blockchain can solve industry-wide business challenges. Between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees are expected. Conference highlights include:

SATURDAY, DEC. 1 n Registration kickoff and experiential programs on learning how to code blockchain.

SUNDAY, DEC. 2 Keynotes from Joseph Lubin, co-founder of blockchain computing platform Ethereum; Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia; and Jeremy Gutsche, author of “Better and Faster: The Proven Path to Unstoppable Ideas.” The day also includes a learn to code blockchain session and a VIP welcome reception.

n

MONDAY, DEC. 3 Keynotes from Bitcoin creator Nick Szabo, KeyCorp CEO and chairman Beth Mooney, and Blockchain Research Institute co-founder Alex Tapscott. The event reaches full throttle, with nearly two dozen sessions

n

that run the gamut on blockchain’s impact on different sectors and issues, including: tech; banking and insurance; health care; economy and smart cities of the future; diversity; manufacturing and the supply chain; music; government; real estate; financial services; legal; insurance; charitable foundations; philanthropy and STEM; smart contracts; colleges and universities; and socioeconomic distribution.

Sessions on essence and impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies also are offered.

TUESDAY, DEC. 4 In-depth programming continues, preceded by that day’s first keynote speaker, Jerry Cuomo, vice president of blockchain technology at IBM. Among the topics tied to blockchain, this day’s sessions include: a state and county government block study; women in blockchain lunch meetup; global regulatory challenges; blockchain’s equity and transparency in the art market; raising money for blockchain startups; legal considerations; digital security; talent development; the future financial system; blockchain and social media; venture capital evaluation; open governance; banking; insurance; Cleveland blockchain’s digital hub; blockchain accelerators; supply chain logistics; and community-centered design. n

For more information about the conference, visit BlocklandCleveland.com.

“The Solutions Conference is unprecedented for Cleveland, and there is risk associated with trying something different. This collaborative approach to a community initiative can help build trust and illustrate that things can be done differently as we seek a better future for Cleveland. The Solutions Conference and the overall effort boil down to economic development and creating jobs and investment here in Cleveland. It’s about acting quickly to be part of what’s next in the world of technology before other cities, states and even countries stake a claim. Making the city the heart of blockchain conversation for a four-day period is one of the most tangible ways to show we are serious about this effort. Bringing people to Cleveland to let them experience the city for themselves has a significant effect on people’s perceptions, and once they’ve been here, we know they think differently about Cleveland. For the locals who attend, in addition to gaining a stronger understanding of or skills in blockchain, we hope they walk away with a deep sense of pride for what has been accomplished in such a short amount of time as we work to move the city and region forward.” — David Gilbert, president and CEO of Destination Cleveland and co-chair of the Blockland Thought Leadership Node For additional business leadership perspective on Blockland Cleveland and the Solutions Conference, visit CrainsCleveland.com.

This advertising-supported feature is produced by Crain Content Studio-Cleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business. The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain Content Studio content.

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SAY YES CITY | A CRAIN’S SERIES

Lessons from Buffalo: Private-sector involvement is critical to bringing down education barriers

By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY rmccafferty@crain.com @ramccafferty

As Cleveland works to become a Say Yes to Education community, it can look to cities such as Buffalo that have already started down that path.

Buffalo was named a Say Yes to Education community chapter in December 2011. The model combines a locally funded scholarship guarantee for graduates with comprehensive social and emotional support services.

Buffalo was at a “critical” moment in its history when it became a Say Yes to Education chapter, said David Rust, executive director for Say Yes Buffalo.

Its challenges were similar to Cleveland’s, as both former industrial bases had experienced economic downturn and population flight. Buffalo was starting to turn a corner, but the community knew the improved economy would lead to an “employment cliff” at some point, Rust said.

“We wanted to meet the opportunity internally,” he added.

In the years since Say Yes to Education was implemented in Buffalo, there have been signs of success. According to the group’s Impact Dashboard, the four-year graduation rate for the Buffalo Public Schools was 49% in 2012. In 2017, it was 64%. The percentage of students enrolling in

“In order for it to work, it has to be a balanced, cross-sector partnership where every sector plays to their strengths.”

About this series Crain’s Cleveland Business took a closer look at the city’s efforts to become a Say Yes to Education chapter. Read it online at crainscleveland.com.

Part 1: A group including the city of Cleveland, the school district and major funders are working hard to meet the Say Yes requirements. And they’re making progress.

Part 2: Say Yes aims to remove student barriers through wraparound services and a scholarship fund. The Cleveland business community is playing a role in both.

Part 3: Cleveland can look to cities such as Buffalo that already have started down the Say Yes to Education path.

postsecondary education the fall after graduation has increased, too, from 57% in 2012 to 67% in 2017.

Buffalo had been pursuing a promise scholarship program before collaborating with Say Yes to Education, said Steve Swift, executive vice president and CFO of BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York. But the community soon realized that it wasn’t enough to provide scholar-

Rust

Swift

Dedecker

ships. The wraparound services Say Yes to Education requires were critical.

BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York has offered students internships and contributed financially to Buffalo’s Say Yes to Education chapter. In addition, Swift is on the scholarship board.

Financial support of the scholarship endowment and participation in its governance are important ways the business community has gotten involved with Say Yes to Education in Buffalo, Rust said. Much of the scholarship fund has come from the private sector.

But the business sector has also played an important role in connecting students with professional work experience and in helping them navigate college. Buffalo offers voluntary mentoring and internship programs for its scholars in postsecondary education. Currently, about 60 employers provide paid internship opportunities to students, Rust said. He’d like to see that in the hundreds.

— Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

Clotilde Perez-­Bode Dedecker, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, doesn’t think the Say Yes to Education model can succeed without strong public-private partnerships.

Say Yes to Education is a “testament to the power of community partnerships,” Dedecker said. In Buffalo, it’s brought together representatives from government, business and philanthropy, as well as K-12 and postsecondary education, a collaboration that didn’t exist before.

“In order for it to work, it has to be a balanced, cross-sector partnership where every sector plays to their strengths,” Dedecker said.

At BlueCross BlueShield, the community-based, not-for-profit plan defines health broadly, Swift said. It’s not just about physical or behavioral health; it’s about the health and well-being of the whole community.

That’s how Say Yes to Education fits into BlueCross BlueShield’s mission.

“At its core, it’s about reforming the education system, but as a businessperson and, I think, as an organization, the way we look at it, it’s beyond that,” Swift said. “It really speaks to improving the economic vitality and development of the greater region.”

Helping with Say Yes to Education allows BlueCross BlueShield to do the right thing for the community, he added, but it’s a workforce initiative, too.

A declining residential or business population ultimately hurts BlueCross BlueShield. The “war on talent is real in Buffalo,” Swift said, so a program like Say Yes to Education is important to ensure the company has an educated workforce on which to draw. And that also means small businesses in the region can find the employees they need to grow and, maybe, become BlueCross BlueShield customers, said Swift.

“So, practically speaking, our ability is dependent upon the success of the community,” he said.

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In an unassuming Eastlake warehouse straddled by trees just off state Route 2, horticulturalists and technicians in tie-dye Crocs are working long hours preparing what will be the first medical cannabis to be sold legally in Ohio.

Beyond the security gate, armed guards and clean room at Buckeye Relief are a series of sophisticated hydroponic grow labs serving as the company’s Level I cultivation operation.

In rooms bright with white light, and as pungently piney as a Christmas tree farm, workers are fussing over a veritable jungle of plants taller than they are that will provide what will be among the first product to hit shelves at Ohio dispensaries. On one dreary fall afternoon in Northeast Ohio, workers were checking on crop quality and tearing out hermaphroditic plants. (Seed-producing male plants are usually destroyed, while seedless females make the final cut for products and clones).

In July, Buckeye Relief became Ohio’s first large cultivator to pass state inspections and plant cannabis seeds. A couple smaller, Level II growers were ahead of it by a couple weeks, including FN Group Holdings LLC of Portage County and Agri-Med Ohio LLC in Meigs County.

But with the state licensing just 13 growers at each level for its medical marijuana program to start, getting the larger facilities — which can be as big as 25,000 square feet in size with up to 75,000 square feet of plant canopy, making them significantly larger than their smaller counterparts’ guildelines of 3,000 square feet of space or up to 6,000 square feet of canopy — running is necessary to meet demand from a patient pool that could be at least 100,000 people strong shortly after sales go live.

“Watching people take advantages of these opportunities, it’s very re-

Young marijuana clones are shown inside the Buckeye Relief facility.

warding,” Buckeye Relief CEO Andy Rayburn says as he walks through the grow house, fist-bumping techs as he walks by them in magenta scrubs and those colorful Crocs.

The firm’s first harvest is expected in coming weeks, and dispensaries aren’t even online yet — so he doesn’t have anyone yet to sell products to. Despite not having any income yet, some of the earliest employees there already are getting raises and promotions, Rayburn said.

That’s thanks to investor capital supporting the business.

When Gov. John Kasich signed HB 523 into law in September 2016, it provided a medical marijuana program to go into effect two years later.

But the program has rolled out slower than expected since hitting some roadblocks along the way to implementation, including lawsuits challenging the way the state scored applicants and allocated licenses to groups like aspiring growers and dispensaries.

While that has delayed the availability of products for patients, the state of the industry today is of little concern to Rayburn.

“We know there is opportunity to grow,” he said. “And our growth should be significant through the next five years.”

From industrial to investment firm to potrepreneur A Cleveland native, Rayburn, 63, never envisioned a future in the marijuana field.

He’s a sports fan with an industrial background who once owned the Daytona Cubs minor league baseball team in Florida. (The team was renamed the Daytona Tortugas after he sold it.)

Rayburn built an industrial distribution company that he took over in 1981 and eventually sold in 1999. The offer was good, and he didn’t want to wait another two decades to see if one of his kids wanted to take the business over.

In 2000, he started up Big Game Capital to reinvest the proceeds of that sale in other things. The firm made between eight or 10 investments over the next 16 years or so, mostly “traditional stuff,” Rayburn said, like real estate.

But he fondly remembers buying the Daytona ballclub, which he did through Big Game.

Rayburn, a self-described “operations guy” at heart, was most in his element working alongside staffers slinging drinks in the trenches.

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

The new-look Indians are moving on from the Chief

By KEVIN KLEPS kkleps@crain.com @KevinKleps

The Indians are introducing a red alternate jersey, along with a blue and red cap, to their uniform collection. (Photo by Dan Mendlik)

The Cleveland Indians didn’t try to oversell the uniform updates they announced on Monday, Nov. 19.

“Bold and simple” was how Bob DiBiasio, the Tribe’s senior vice president of public affairs, described the changes — which included the additions of a red jersey and a blue and red cap.

The step that was much more extensive, and maybe not quite as well-received as the red jersey, was the removal of Chief Wahoo from the

club’s uniforms, as well as banners and signage at Progressive Field.

Wahoo — a depiction of a grinning, red-faced Native American that its many opponents say is racist — is gone, almost five years after it was replaced as the club’s primary logo by a block “C.” In its place is a logo for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, a move that seems even more appropriate, considering baseball’s efforts to convince the Tribe it was time to depose the Chief.

“It is exactly that — it’s a way to move on,” DiBiasio said after the uniform unveiling. “I think there are still fans obviously out there who are bummed that Chief Wahoo is going

away, and there are a lot of fans out there applauding our decision to not have Chief Wahoo on our uniforms.

So in any discussion of that, you’re going to have people on both sides.”

The Indians were sensitive to each side of the debate, and while the move took much too long for some, a sizable portion of the club’s fans have a sentimental attachment to the Chief because the logo traces back more than seven decades — to the last season in which the Tribe won a World Series.

The 2019 All-Star Game, which will be played at Progressive Field on July 9, and a uniform update that was years in the making proved to be a sensible combination for the Indians to make the long-awaited change.

Wahoo isn’t totally going away, though — not that it could, after being part of the club’s design since 1946. The logo will still be present on items that will be sold at the team shops at Progressive Field, along with retail outlets in Northeast Ohio.

Such a move allows the Indians to maintain trademark rights. That was important to the club, because of the fan connection and because it prevents another party from legally assuming control of Wahoo and using the logo as it sees fit.

‘Very small’ piece of the pie On the same day the Indians introduced their 2019 uniforms, Wahoo items were available on their online shop — most of which were discounted and included an “Almost Gone!” tag. In 2019, such sales will be restricted to local brick-and-mortar outlets.

Thus, while it remains true that any discussion of Indians attire will bring cries from Wahoo loyalists, the Tribe isn’t going to be shopping for another Edwin Encarnacion on the freeagent market because of profits from the Chief.

“Merchandise revenues are a very small piece of the total revenue picture,” Ken Stefanov, the Tribe’s senior VP of finance and chief financial officer, told Crain’s in February.

Various reports have merchandising and licensing revenues accounting for 4% to 6% of the overall pie for an MLB team. For the Indians, with estimated revenues of $284 million, according to Forbes, 5% of the club’s total haul would be $13.6 million.

That’s $62.4 million below Forbes’ estimate for the Tribe’s gate receipts.

The Indians keep the revenues from merchandise sales at the ballpark, but the money is subject to MLB’s revenue sharing system. The club also incurs costs associated with acquiring and selling the product.

“Our ‘take’ from all the merchandise activity, after you factor in expenses and revenue sharing, is very small” when compared to the overall revenue picture, Stefanov said.

The new uniforms — unveiled four days before Black Friday — might give those figures a temporary boost.

But this wasn’t about holiday sales or a small financial bump.

The Chief has been retired.

“It tied to people’s childhoods, right?” DiBiasio said of Wahoo.

“That’s all of us who grew up here. It was part of our childhood. So when you mess with those kind of memories, it becomes truly an emotional response. And we expected it. But it was time for us to do what we did, and now we move forward.”

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MANUFACTURING IS:

Owning your niche

Developer Jonathan Holtzman is constructing the version of City Club Apartments in downtown Detroit. (Contributed rendering)

Michigan developer weighs downtown deal

By STAN BULLARD sbullard@crain.com @CrainRltyWriter

Michigan real estate developer Jonathan Holtzman, who is building apartments throughout the Midwest, wants to construct a mixed-use residential building in downtown Cleveland.

Holtzman, CEO of City Club Apartments in Farmington Hills, described the proposed structure as a “highrise” as he confirmed his interest in downtown Cleveland in an email from his public relations firm.

“We are impressed with downtown Cleveland and the great things that have been taking place over the last several years,” Holtzman wrote. He has experience with the Cleveland market, as his former management company, Village Green, now of Southfield, Mich., manages the Flats at East Bank apartments at Wolstein Group’s Flats East Bank Neighborhood in Cleveland.

Holtzman has even built in the region before. He was partners with the predecessor of Forest City Realty Trust in developing the 360-unit Village Green complex in 1994 in Beachwood.

After several requests through his publicist, Holtzman confirmed he was pursuing as “the best location” the parking lot between the Cleveland City Club Building, home to the well-known City Club of Cleveland speaker venue at 850 Euclid Ave., and the Residences at 668 Euclid apartment building.

“We have begun the process of understanding (that) opportunity,” Holtzman wrote, adding he will share more details later. His focus is known among insiders; three sources familiar with the situation also said the out-of-towner is focusing on the parking lot at 720 Euclid Ave. The site once was the home of the Hippodrome Theater, which occupied part of an 11-story office building that spanned from Euclid to Prospect Avenue, until it was razed in 1980.

The 1907-vintage building was replaced by a five-floor parking garage on the middle of the parcel in 1985, with surface parking lots on the Euclid and Prospect frontage. The sources, who spoke on grounds they not be identified, said City Club Apartments wants to build only on the Euclid parking lot.

If that proves to be Holtzman’s building site, it would accomplish something significant for the city from an urban planning perspective: creating an intact city block on lower Euclid once again.

The property is across the street from The Beacon, a 19-story apartment building under construction at 505 Euclid Ave. Apartments in renovated old buildings also surround the site, from The Garfield and 778 Euclid and the East Fourth neighborhood, which has suites looking out on Euclid, to the Schofield Residences,

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2000 E. Ninth St. Currently, Holtzman and his partner, Canadian real estate developer Alan Greenberg, are undertaking an estimated $500 million in develHoltzman opment. Among those projects are a 17-floor building in Minneapolis and the $70 million City Club Apartments-CBD Detroit, an eight-floor building in downtown Motor City with 288 suites above ground-level retail space.

In an interview with Crain’s Detroit Business last January, Holtzman said his latest concept for apartments is to have them provide “hotel-like” services. The Detroit project will incorporate an outdoor movie theater, valet parking, concierge services and exercise rooms.

It’s easy to see how Cleveland fits the itinerary for development of City Club Apartments. The company said it plans to develop three projects annually and is starting to prospect for locations on the East Coast. Other new communities are under development and construction in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Chicago. Recently completed developments include 800 Tower City Club Louisville and CCA CBD Cincinnati.

Holtzman publicly telegraphed his interest in downtown Cleveland last June as he sold an apartment complex in St. Louis for $48 million. The company issued a news release on the sale, saying it planned to use the proceeds to focus on “several accelerating markets, including Cleveland.”

If it seems City Club Apartments is growing at a prodigious rate, there are several reasons for it.

Holtzman has been building and operating apartments since the 1980s.

A longtime apartment guy, he clearly wants to participate in a big way in a multifamily apartment market driven by low interest rates that is the largest of his working life. He sold the Village Green Management Co. in 2016, but retained ownership of a portfolio of 10,000 apartments that he and his family, which began building single-family homes in 1919, has constructed or bought since the mid-1950s.

Property records show 720 Euclid and associated properties are owned

by GSK 720 Euclid LLC and 720 Euclid LLC. Tax bills are sent to the address of G&B Real Estate Advisors in Beachwood, according to land records. That firm that includes several members of the Goldberg family, previously the owner of Ohio Savings Bank, and partners in multiple real estate ventures.

The managing member of GSK 720 Euclid LLC, according to state records, is David Goldberg, who long has managed the family’s downtown real estate and is a “director emeritus” with Downtown Cleveland Alliance.

Lumitex’s light-based innovations are brightening up multiple industries about internal standards,” Broer says. “If you don’t inThe mission of Strongsville-based Lumitex is simple: crease your quality standards as you grow, you can easily to provide unique, innovative and inspired lighting soludrive off the road.” In general, technology itself advances tions that enhance products and impact life. In practice, rapidly, which also requires Lumitex to be nimble about this translates to a company sparking innovation in the medical, electronics, automotive and aerospace industries. design and execution. “The world develops so quickly,” he says. “You have to not only have your own technology, “The technology has to do with thin, low-profile but you need to understand what’s the best technology for lighting technologies, often flexible, that basically the application in front of you.” bring light into sensitive and hard-to-reach applicaHowever, MAGNET vice tions,” says Lumitex president/ president of operations Mike CEO Peter Broer. “It’s allowed us to “You have to not O’Donnell says that Lumitex has create several industry firsts.” only have your own an advantage due to how well they For example, Lumitex was the first company to backlight a comtechnology, but you know their specific niche: lighting.

“They know certain customer puter keyboard, a feature that’s comneed to understand bases very, very well,” he says. mon in machines these days, and “By focusing on knowing those has developed a variety of custom what’s the best particular customers well, and accent lighting solutions for cars. It’s technology for the then providing them more and also developed several novel medical application in front more different uses of light, they devices — including the BiliSoft can penetrate deeper and deeper, Phototherapy System, an LED-based of you.” — Peter Broer, because they’re not wasting a lot light and blanket system to treat bapresident/CEO of Lumitex of time trying to go out and find bies with jaundice, and flexible surgidifferent markets.” cal retractor lighting that illuminates To that end, Lumitex is spinning off a body cavities so surgeons can see company focused on providing a light-based better. “We have the coolest light that is available in the approach to solving a cancer treatment side market,” Broer says. “We have special ways to prevent effect called oral mucositis, in which the lining of heat from coming down into the cavity.” the mouth deteriorates after radiation or chemoNot surprisingly, Broer says “continuous innovatherapy. Human trials are planned for 2019. “This tion” has helped Lumitex thrive. The company started is one of those opportunities that comes along once with two patents and now has over 80 to 100 patents, he estimates. Plus, they’ve invented new technologies — for in a couple of lifetimes,” Broer says, “that can have example, reconfiguring optical fibers, which are typically a major impact on a debilitating condition that is intractable, and that helps patients with user-friendly, cylindrical, to make them flat — and are modifying easy solutions. existing ones. At the moment, the company is working “Technology is changing, new technologies are with MAGNET to create another form of their lighting emerging,” he adds. “Increasingly, we want to define technology. “That allows us to do different creative ourselves by the industry we’re serving and its direcshapes, which may have interesting applications in tion — and then reach out to find the best technology to automotive and elsewhere,” Broer says. “That has posed (serve) those needs in that direction.” some real industrial challenges.”

Looking for ways to leverage innovation and technology Each of the industries in which Lumitex works also in your business? That’s what we do. Check out MAGNET’s has different challenges to navigate. For example, auto inPower Assessment for ways to make an immediate impact dustry quality and production requirements are governed — fast. Learn more about MAGNET’s Power Assessment by a demanding standard called IATF, while the medical at www.manufacturingsuccess.org/power-assessmentindustry’s standards, ISO, have changed significantly over innovation, or call Linda Barita at 216-391-7766. the years. “Growth is not just about innovation, it’s also

This advertising-supported feature is produced by Crain Content StudioCleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business.

The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain Content Studio-Cleveland content.

11/21/18 12:44 PM

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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APG Office Furnishings, a Cincinnati-based Herman Miller dealer with a presence in Cleveland, likes to make a statement with its operations here.

The office supplier just moved to ground-floor space at The Quarter, the new apartment building and mixed-use project on the northwest corner of West 25th Street at Detroit Avenue, which has an adaptive reuse of the Forest City Office Building on the opposite corner.

The APG office, which opens the first week of December, is a head-turning move. It’s another, newer chapter in the narrative of mainstream Cleveland business embracing the district of brewpubs and restaurants on the edge of a neighborhood that has experienced ups and downs since the Civil War era.

For APG Office, the new environment offers the opposite of what its prior office embodied for the last decade atop the seven-story Tyler Village complex, a conversion of an old industrial building to creative offices and work space at 3615 E. Superior Ave. Paul Johanni, vice president of sales at APG Office Cleveland, said the new office includes street visibility and dedicated, covered parking just outside its new entrance. Just south of the West Shoreway, it’s at a pinch point for downtown commuters, passed by about 15,000 cars daily, according to realty data provider CoStar.

“Before, you had to look for us, and

“This is an innovation center. It’s designed to allow our customers to experience what their new office space would be like.”

— Paul Johanni, vice president of sales at the Cleveland office of APG Office Furnishings

people still did that when they were searching for an Aeron chair,” Johanni said. The firm’s 18 staffers moved in last month, even as construction workers finished putting parts of the suite together.

However, don’t call it a showroom, as the space is a working demonstration of a variety of Herman Miller workstations and conference rooms, including the flexible building sys-

tem called Maars.

“This is an innovation center,” Johanni said, characterizing it that way because parts of the office will house changing displays of Herman Miller products. “It’s designed to allow our customers to experience what their new office space would be like,” he added.

The suite features 15-foot and 19foot ceilings, areas with workstations that can be changed in multiple ways, one conference room showing a Skype-dedicated installation, while another, equipped with some of Herman Miller’s residential-style chairs and couches, serves as a “collaboration room” for more than 10 people.

The jaw-dropper, however, is the firm’s new specification center, where tall windows look out on St. Malachi Church, Veterans Memorial Bridge and downtown Cleveland.

Home to samples of fabric and tomes filled with data on different office systems, the new area is a light-rich contrast to space that was normally relegated to a windowless room at the back of an office.

Ashley Shaw, director of neighborhood planning and economic development at Ohio City Inc., credited real estate developer Peter Snavely Jr. and his team at The Quarter for landing APG Office, but said the nonprofit neighborhood group wants to build on such a win.

“We feel that APG is getting ahead of growing interest in having offices in Ohio City,” Shaw said.

She added that the nonprofit just awarded a $30,000 planning study to prepare demographic and income data to help efforts to diversify the district’s retail offerings beyond food and beverages.

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PA G E 10

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Opinion From the Editor

Not enough women at the table

Editorial

Taking the lead The formation of a group that aims, as its 15 members put it, to “help build trust within the community and develop a shared vision for Cleveland’s future” while simultaneously trying to bolster the region’s economic standing and address economic equality, is a clear indication of what doesn’t often get said but many people feel: There’s a leadership vacuum in town that’s holding us back.

This group, which was announced on Nov. 15 and doesn’t have a name yet, includes some of the region’s most serious thinkers and advocates: Julie Boland, vice chair and Central Region managing partner of Ernst & Young; Dr. Akram Boutros, president and CEO of the MetroHealth System; David Gilbert, president and CEO of Destination Cleveland; Bernie Moreno, president of the Bernie Moreno Cos. and architect of the promising Blockland Cleveland; Jon Pinney, managing partner of the Kohrman Jackson & Krantz law firm, who over the summer delivered a speech at the City Club that called attention to Cleveland’s economic stagnation; and Ann Zoller, senior adviser with Strategy Design Partners.

These and other members of the group are smart people who know the difference between advocating for policies that bring positive change and simply being a booster — telling us that things are getting better when we know, based on all evidence, that the region is treading water economically.

Pinney’s speech was titled “Dead Last: Northeast Ohio’s Economy Is Lagging and It’s Time to Do Something About It.” This new effort, which kicks off in December with a two-day session that plans to convene about 70 participants, including representatives from “a diverse range of companies, organizations and government entities as well as up-and-coming and not-often-heard voices,” is a good start in that direction.

This is a huge task. Cleveland is a city that doesn’t embrace change easily and doesn’t have a good track record of inviting fresh, younger voices to the table — or taking them particular-

ly seriously when they do get a seat.

Crain’s on Nov. 3 ran a package of stories by government reporter Jay Miller that looked at the different economic paths taken over the past few decades by Cleveland and one of its peer cities, Pittsburgh, and asked some tough questions about the nature of leadership in both places that has enabled the Steel City to make economic gains that have eluded us here.

As part of that project, we convened a roundtable of younger local leaders to talk about what kind of leadership the region needs.

Many of their comments were revealing.

For instance, here’s what Baiju Shah, CEO of the BioMotiv accelerator, said about a 2014 effort called the Regional Economic Competitiveness Strategy (RECS), which was designed to set economic benchmarks for the region: “The RECS study was deeply disappointing, frankly. It was basically, ‘We can do incrementally better.’ ... There was nothing that rallied people to respond. So we don’t study regional aspiration. We don’t know what to measure leaders against.”

Jason Therrien, founder and president of integrated marketing firm thunder::tech, said the region needs to get past the “we need new leaders” stage and look at something deeper. “That’s the armchair quarterback response, and I think that’s the problem,” he said. “By what measure are you judging them? And I don’t think a lot of that is transparent.

What are those specific numbers that their organizations should be responsible for, and what happens when they don’t hit them?”

Both are talking about accountability, a key measure of leaders that Cleveland desperately needs, particularly at a time when the state and federal governments are not inclined to offer much in the way of assistance to cities. Cleveland’s not a basket case, economically. Far from it. The city has assets many others envy. But we aren’t thriving, either. We can do better, and we encourage the new leadership group to be bold in advocating for ways to do that.

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

CLEVELAND BUSINESS P010_CL_20181126.indd 10

Managing Editor:

Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)

Contact Crain’s

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Wouldn’t it be great if a decade from now we look back on 2018 as the year Northeast Ohio got serious about finding solutions to what is holding back our region economically?

I posed that question several months ago in a column, after I applauded businessman and car dealer Bernie Moreno for announcing a bold idea to make Cleveland the hub of blockchain technology. That announcement came on the heels of Jon Pinney’s brave speech at the City Club.

The managing partner of law firm Kohrman Jackson and Krantz titled his talk, “Dead Last.”

Something shifted after those events, as more people started talking about strategies and ideas to improve our regional economic development.

Some civic leaders having those discussions, including Pinney and Moreno, Elizabeth formed a group and recently announced McIntyre an effort to advance Cleveland’s economic standing and address economic equality — the formation of which we support in this week’s editorial.

The group, which was described in a news release as “a cooperative, inclusive effort to help build trust within the community and develop a shared vision for Cleveland’s future,” will hold a two-day planning session in December. The 15 members of the unnamed group will be joined by dozens of other community members at the meetings.

Let’s hope a few of those community members are women. Of the 15 civic leaders behind this effort, only two are females. That’s 14.2%.

Not exactly reflective of the demographics of Northeast Ohio, where women make up slightly more than half of the population.

You can’t throw around words like “inclusion” if you aren’t holding yourself to that very standard — and the best place to start is by looking at who is, and who isn’t, seated at the table with you.

This very issue was brought up in the first question asked of Pinney during his City Club speech, in which he named eight people he thought could lead the effort. The questioner pointed out all the people he named were white men.

Pinney agreed that was a problem, saying “that needs to change completely. It needs to be an inclusive process.”

How is it then, fewer than six months later, a group formed partially in response to Pinney’s speech — and which Pinney is a part of — is so lacking in female representation?

The group said it will include representatives at its December planning session from “a diverse range of companies, organizations and government entities, as well as up-and-coming and not-often-heard voices.”

That’s a start, but it feels less than inclusive when the core group — the ones ultimately making the decisions — doesn’t reflect the broader community.

Sure, much has to do with who holds power in our region, and it is overwhelmingly white men. It’s terrific they are willing to serve and to help the region thrive, and I applaud that. And the two women in the newly formed group are dynamic leaders who have much to contribute.

But we can do better. Diversity and inclusion doesn’t just happen. It’s a deliberate commitment to ensuring all voices are part of the mix.

Approaching the economic problems of Northeast Ohio with brainpower, enthusiasm and civic mindedness is essential. And thanks to Moreno and Pinney and other leaders who have volunteered their time and talent, we are starting to have that conversation. If we add true diversity and inclusion, attacking those problems with a representative group of problem solvers, we will increase our chances of success. Diversity and inclusion brings results, statistics show. Let’s start there.

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.

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11/20/18 4:31 PM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 11

Cultivation technician Allison Johnson inspects marijuana plants inside the Buckeye Relief grow facility in Eastlake. (Photographs by Tim Harrison for Crain’s)

MARIJUANA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

It was under his ownership that the team launched a “thirsty Thursday” promotion in which a 32-ounce beer sold for $3.75. He’d regularly ditch his seat to bartend between the third and fourth innings, when there’d be a rush of drinkers coming for a fresh round of beers.

“That was terribly fun,” he said.

“And it was relatively low-priced entertainment for a family evening.”

But then something happened Rayburn wasn’t expecting in between running an investment firm and a minor league team. He got bored.

Rayburn longed to run a company like he used to. Big Game was doing well, but it wasn’t the same as running the distribution company he built up and sold.

That was a couple years ago.

It was also about the time that Rayburn’s close friend, who worked with him at Big Game, succumbed to a decade-long battle with cancer. (Rayburn said he prefers to not name the person out of respect to the family.)

In a conversation shortly before his death, Rayburn heard his ailing friend rave about the relief marijuana provided him.

“He called what turned out to be six weeks before he passed away and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but I smoked marijuana last night. I slept, I woke up with an appetite and I don’t feel miserable for the first time in two years,’ ” Rayburn recalled. “Once I wiped the tears from my eyes, because it was an extremely moving conversation, I decided to look a lot harder at this.”

Rayburn was not a consumer of marijuana himself. And while he looked at the industry as the legal side of the business started gaining traction elsewhere in America years ago, he never gave it much thought — at least not until the revelation his friend shared.

That conversation sparked in Rayburn a newfound calling to support the development of plant-based medicine that could provide relief to others like it did for his close friend.

It was also an opportunity to build a new company, just as Rayburn had longed to do again.

But when asked about Buckeye Relief, Rayburn always ties it back to the medicine.

‘We’re just getting started’ Rayburn declined to say exactly how much was invested in starting

P011_CL_20181126.indd 11

This marijuana plant is about a month away from harvest.

Timeline of medical marijuana in Ohio September 2016: Gov. John Kasich signs HB 523 into law, establishing the Medical Marijuana Control Program and providing for an industry intended to be up and running two years later.

September 2018: Medical marijuana is legal in Ohio, but there’s nothing to buy yet in-state because of delays in the state’s licensing of cannabis cultivators.

December 2018-January 2019: The first batch of medical marijuana flower produced by Ohio growers is expected to hit shelves at state-licensed dispensaries sometime around year-end or early January.

JJThe

Ohio Board of Pharmacy still needs to set up its online patient registry. It’s expected to go live about the time dispensaries open.

Buckeye Relief between him and his team of investors, but it may go above and beyond what other comparable Level I cultivators include.

There are the usual startup costs, which include securing real estate and the requirement for liquid assets, to buffer the company in its first years of business. Then there’s the intensive security measures; Buckeye Relief has at least 200 security cameras that can be tapped directly into by the state.

But Buckeye Relief also has optional accoutrements like a system for capturing plant condensation (the facility runs with 60% recycled water) and special racks for plants that can be moved through the warehouse with the turn of a wheel and expanded vertically in the future if the demand allows it.

With the sheer costs to apply and other expenses that could creep up,

industry sources say marijuana cultivators in Ohio are typically putting up somewhere between $5 million to $20 million into getting a grow op running.

Buckeye Relief also has a space for 1 a a processing lab — shouldUntitled-10 it receive license to run it, which hasn’t happened yet — with room for a kitchen to make THC-infused edibles. There’s even a testing facility that Buckeye Relief chief technical officer Ed Neimeier claims may be the only independent testing lab in the state. Ohio will license its own testing labs, but Buckeye Relief wants to test material on its own before sending products to those groups. This should allow it to always have clean products — which are tested for quality and things like pesticides — as well as help with the firm’s own studying of their plants themselves.

“We’re eager to do things even better, grow things better,” Rayburn said.

“But you have to get a few harvests under your belt first.”

The firm is currently staffing up for its first harvest, which will beef up its permanent employee base from roughly 25 people to 40. A processing lab could easily add another 10 jobs.

The Ohio medical marijuana industry could grow to 250,000 patients once fully operational, according to projections for the state from New Crains-4x4-v1.indd Frontier Data. The firm also reported that Ohio’s medical marijuana market could generate $1.1 billion in annual revenue by 2025.

But projections vary, as they’re based in conjecture and what activity has looked like in markets similar to Ohio’s.

Rayburn knows this and acknowledges that his own projections are often shared with a wink and a nod.

“If you ask firms about projections for the next three years, you’ll get a smile and they’ll give the best they have. We can use other states experiences. But Ohio is a unique state,” Rayburn said, declining to share what his projections look like but saying he expects to see a return on investment by 2020 if patient counts stay strong. “None of us knows exactly what will happen next year. Or the year after. But it makes me feel excited to find out.”

That excitement stems from his personal mission as well.

“It’s really rewarding to know that I’m helping do the same thing that helped my buddy five or six years ago,” Rayburn said. “I’m loving what I do. And we’re just getting started.”

11/19/18 9:48 AM

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November 26, 2018

aSk ThE PROfESSiONal

The reciprocal benefits of donor-advised funds Insights from the Cleveland Foundation

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or many families, the holiday season is the perfect time of year to discuss options for paying it forward through a legacy of gratitude and giving. A donor-advised fund is an ideal charitable vehicle for donors who want to advance those values since it enables them to support their favorite charities. Like a charitable savings account, this popular type of fund grows through investments and new contributions that are then granted out based on the donor’s recommendations — now or in the future.

Donor-advised funds carry tax benefits and are a convenient mechanism for centralizing a donor’s charitable dollars.

Enlisting the professional expertise of an organization such as the Cleveland Foundation can help stretch the impact of a donor’s philanthropic dollars and legacy. In 2017, donor-advised funds at the Cleveland Foundation invested more than $28 million into the Northeast Ohio community and beyond.

“Our donors are very generous and passionate about supporting Cleveland. Every year, they give out twice as much as the required payout for private foundations, with twothirds of their dollars granted to nonprofit organizations in Northeast Ohio, and the other third benefiting national causes and alma maters,” says Kaye Ridolfi, senior vice president of advancement at the Cleveland Foundation. “Donor-advised funds were created so that every person could become a philanthropist, not just the ultra-wealthy.”

Crain Content Studio — Cleveland asks Ridolfi to expand upon the advantages of donor-advised funds, and how they fulfill both the donor’s and community’s needs.

What are the benefits of opening a donor-advised fund?

This fund type offers maximum flexibility for a variety of situations.

Often, our donors have just come into a large amount of money from an inheritance or through the sale of a company, and they are interested in investing their money thoughtfully from a financial, tax and philanthropic standpoint. A donor can make gifts to his or her fund at any time and receive a charitable tax deduction that year. Then at a later time, donors can decide to give to one organization or multiple organizations, and they can change the charities at any time.

Another benefit of partnering with the Cleveland Foundation is access to more than 20 strong investment options. Also, each donor is assigned a dedicated donor relations officer who offers one-on-one expertise and also has deep knowledge of Northeast Ohio’s nonprofit community.

What services does the Cleveland foundation provide to fund holders?

We partner with donors to help them achieve their philanthropic goals by customizing their fund, holding family meetings if desired and crafting philanthropic mission statements.

We assist with designating the fund’s advisor and successor advisors and

planning for the fund’s impact in perpetuity. We create a customized gift agreement for each donor and provide regular fund updates, grantmaking assistance, nonprofit organization research and site visit coordination, if desired. Our donors receive a variety of different communications throughout the year, and we also hold three to four annual events specifically for our donors, which highlight how deeply invested we are in meeting community needs.

What kind of assets can a donor contribute, and is there a minimum or maximum size for the fund?

The minimum investment is $10,000, and we do not have a maximum amount.

Our average donor-advised fund is $400,000, although we also have donoradvised funds in the multi-millions. We often see contributions in the form of cash and appreciated securities, but we also accept more complex gifts such as real estate or life insurance policies.

how can donors involve their family in philanthropy?

There are several ways to promote a family legacy of giving. Donoradvised fund holders may appoint advisors from among their family, friends and other close individuals.

Many name children as the successor advisors, so they can pass their fund from one generation to the next.

We also offer to host family philanthropic meetings, where our donor relations officers sit down with families and review their grantmaking, trends and philanthropic interests. Our staff can also assist with crafting family philanthropic mission statements.

Can corporations and other nonprofits open a donoradvised fund?

We have corporate-advised funds,

which function just like a donoradvised fund, except a corporation or business works with the Cleveland Foundation to manage their charitable assets and issue grants.

Our organizational funds are for 501(c)(3) nonprofits. We have more than 200 of these such funds. This fund type offers several benefits to nonprofits, including realizing stronger returns by being a part of our asset management base. We also offer our assistance with growing their fund through our planned giving expertise. This helps a variety of nonprofits access complex estate gifts, annuities and trusts that they might otherwise not be equipped to receive. Part of our mission is to build community endowment and help other 501(c)(3) nonprofits stay strong financially in terms of their own assets and endowments.

how are the funds invested?

Donors have a choice of about 20 investment options. We have five in-house options, which are managed by our finance team, and we have a pool of donor funds managed by area banks and investment firms.

An investment committee that is composed of members including the Cleveland Foundation’s board of directors provides constant oversight of the funds and makes sure the returns are competitive with market rates.

Does the 2017 tax bill prompt considerations donors should explore to use their donor-advised fund more effectively?

The standard deduction increased to $24,000 for a couple or $12,000 for an individual. Estimates are that 30% of all taxpayers previously itemized deductions. We think that will be closer to 5% to 10% of taxpayers itemizing their deductions now. A donor-advised fund is helpful for donors who don’t itemize every year, but can bunch their charitable gifts and itemize in alternate years or every third year. A donor-advised fund is a perfect vehicle because donors can contribute money when it makes sense from a cash flow and tax standpoint, but they can still make grants to their favorite charities annually so they can keep the charities’ flow of donations steady.

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KATHERINE E. COLLIN

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This advertising-supported section is produced by Crain Content Studio-Cleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business. The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain Content Studio-Cleveland content.

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11/19/18 3:26 PM

CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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PA G E 13

AWARDS

Jane Alexander Page 16

CRAIN’S 2018 C-SUITE HONOREES

Fred Bidwell Page 19

This year, Crain’s Cleveland Business is honoring Northeast Ohio’s executives in a unified program that celebrates the entire C-Suite. From general counsel all the way up to the CEO, it takes an entire team to steer a successful enterprise. After all, a company is only as strong as its top leaders. ¶ This year’s class was selected by a panel of Crain’s editors. In choosing the winners, we looked for not only their contributions to their particular enterprises, but also their commitment to Northeast Ohio at large. ¶ Winners will be honored at a gala on Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Westin Cleveland Downtown. Tickets can be purchased online at www.CrainsCleveland.com/C-Suite.

Akram Boutros Page 14

Richard Cochran Page 16

Robert Davis Page 24

Kelly Manderfield Page 14

John Ensign Page 15

Mark Plush Page 22

Mark Polatajko Page 24

Teresa Hack Page 15

Daniel Walsh Page 18

Jeff Charney Page 19

David Jenkins Page 18

Neil Weiss Page 20

Crain’s Illustrations by David Kordalski

2018 CHAMPION AWARD WINNER

Barbara R. Snyder Case Western Reserve University

B

arbara R. Snyder has led Case Western Reserve University for more than a decade — a long time in the high-pressure world of college presidencies.

But her time horizons are focused forward, not back, with initiatives including the university's Forward Thinking capital campaign, which in September announced a record-breaking $208 million in gifts and pledges, and the receipt in October of a $20 million challenge grant from two anonymous donors that, over time, will give CWRU the opportunity to establish 20 new endowed professorships in engineering and medicine.

"The impact of that ($20 million challenge grant) gift is over decades, at the very least," Snyder said during a phone interview from New York, where she was meeting with donors just prior to Thanksgiving.

Such gifts can be transformational for a university, and Snyder said CWRU is well-positioned to attract top-tier talent for endowed professorships, given its strong financial footing, academic pedigree and the appeal of Cleveland — and University Circle in particular — for people in engineering and medical fields.

The Forward Thinking campaign launched publicly in 2011 with a $1 billion goal, and it hit that target by 2014, about two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule. The goal then was raised to $1.5 billion, and CWRU surpassed that, too; as of Aug. 31, the campaign’s total was at about $1.72 billion.

There's another number at CWRU that's rising, too: the ranks of incoming students.

In August, about 1,390 students officially became members of CWRU's Class of 2022, marking the largest incoming class in the university's his-

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tory. It's a geographically dispersed class. About 18% are from Ohio and 14% are from other Midwestern states, but a strong majority are from well outside the region, including 13% from outside the United States.

Attracting those students is one thing. Making sure they thrive at CWRU is something else.

In fall 2017, the Carnegie Corp. of New York named Snyder one of seven recipients of its 2017 Academic Leadership Award, which recognizes college and university presidents for their vision and a commitment to areas including undergraduate excellence, international engagement and the development of interdisciplinary

programs. The award comes with $500,000 for the recipient to dedicate to academic initiatives on campus.

Snyder in May of this year announced that the money would support CWRU's new Student Success Initiative, which provides academic guidance and mentoring to undergraduates, plus assistance in matters

as diverse as financial aid or figuring out the complexities of a valued study abroad opportunity.

"We're a pretty complex place," Snyder said, and while CWRU students arrive generally well-prepared for college, she added, "It's important to make sure each student has the best chance possible for success."

New building projects completed during her tenure include, in 2014, the opening of the $50 million, 89,000-square-foot Tinkham Veale University Center, and, in 2015, renovations of the Maltz Performing Arts Center ($30 million for phase one) and the Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box]. That $35 million for the entire project gave CWRU what's billed as the "largest university-based innovation center in the United States" and, as Snyder sees it, makes CWRU an important player in being part of Cleveland's efforts to build a more dynamic, entrepreneurial economy.

Such efforts, she said, are "critically important" to creating an environment in which smart, talented students are attracted to Cleveland in the first place and stay here upon graduation because they're able to find good, challenging jobs.

Snyder, though, said buildings don't define a university's greatness; the goal is to "make sure facilities are in place for everyone to be able to do their best work."

She's proud that the university, in partnership with the city of Cleveland and University Circle Inc., has created the Uptown district as a vibrant "live/work/learn" environment.

"We will be right here forever," Snyder said of CWRU's University Circle home. "Our goal has always been to be a good partner with a long-term view." — Scott Suttell

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President and CEO: Akram Boutros

CMO: Kelly Manderfield Cleveland Metroparks

MetroHealth System

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kram Boutros turns bold ideas into reality, laboring with such efficiency that the people who work with him call the experience “Boutros time.”

In “Boutros time,” the nation’s first public high school opened at MetroHealth’s main campus, offering students a health and science curriculum just three months after the idea was unveiled. Boutros also orchestrated the speedy passage of House Bill 111, helping craft legislation that allows MetroHealth to provide care for patients outside Cuyahoga County.

Led by Boutros, the system’s overall “Metro-morphosis” includes a $1 billion transformation of its main campus, exemplified by a new hospital surrounded by green space.

Through this effort, officials aim to uplift the surrounding Clark-Fulton neighborhood, creating an “EcoDistrict” that emphasizes health equity as much as good health care.

According to the nomination, MetroHealth has operated in the black during each of Boutros’ five years as CEO. Revenue over that time has risen 44%, while patient visits are up 40%. In addition to its main hospital, the sys-

tem now provides care at 20 community health centers, four emergency departments, four Discount Drug Mart clinics, five MetroExpressCare locations and nine pharmacies.

Over the last three years, MetroHealth has created 1,000 jobs in Cuyahoga County, with annual operating revenues ballooning from $783 million in 2012 to $934 million in 2015. In 2015, MetroHealth returned $223 million — 24.6% of its operating expenses — to Cuyahoga County in free care and community benefit programs.

A graduate of St. John’s University, SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Harvard Business School’s advanced management program, Boutros views collaboration with other health systems, organizations and local residents as key drivers in fulfilling MetroHealth’s mission of leading the way to a healthier community.

“I’ve never seen an institution the size of ours go from where we were to where we are today as fast as this one has,” board chairman Tom McDonald said in the nomination. “We are a different institution.” — Douglas J. Guth

A

s chief marketing officer for Cleveland Metroparks, Kelly Manderfield covers a great deal of ground — literally.

She leads initiatives across the vast system’s park reservations, golf courses, dining and retail offerings, and nationally acclaimed zoo, overseeing retail, advertising, research, special events, event rentals, corporate partnerships and visual communications.

Manderfield’s purview comprises various large-scale branding efforts, including “Time to Explore,” a three-year campaign that reflects the Metroparks’ core pillars of recreation, conservation and education. She also headed development of the system’s centennial celebration and a zoo rebrand highlighting wildlife conservation. According to the nomination, the zoo campaign resulted in an 82% uptick in positive media stories, as well as a 2% attendance increase and a 25% increase in donations to support wildlife preservation.

Last summer, Manderfield led two first-time events introduced to enhance the guest experience. “Taste on the Lake” at Edgewater Park raised awareness of Cleveland’s culinary, music

and art scenes, while the Asian Lantern Festival gave visitors insight into a colorful culture.

New corporate partnerships and special events have consistently pushed the Metroparks to the highest revenue results on record. Manderfield and her team exceeded $2.25 million in revenue across the marketing department in 2017, a figure projected to increase more than 20% by the end of this year. Her leadership helped the system earn a prestigious “Best in the Nation” gold medal award for parks and recreation management.

When not brainstorming new marketing ideas for the Metroparks, Manderfield participates on the boards of Towards Employment and Bloom Bakery, which empower individuals to achieve self-sufficiency through job opportunities. She also serves on the Burning River Foundation, dedicated to improving the vitality of regional freshwater resources, and is a mentor for College Now of Greater Cleveland.

Prior to joining Cleveland Metroparks, Manderfield was marketing strategist and vice president at KeyCorp, where she oversaw national marketing programs and advertising campaigns. — Douglas J. Guth

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n 2013, Teresa Hack was appointed to her leadership position at Channel Products, entering a tumultuous environment of poor morale and financial stress. Tasked with improving management, product quality and a moribund corporate culture, Hack has transformed the company into a sought-after manufacturer of component systems and technologies for the gas appliance industry.

Hack had been working as a consultant for the Weinberg Capital Group, a private equity firm, when it acquired Channel. After uncovering the problems of a company on the verge of bankruptcy, she instituted a philosophy that emphasizes individual strengths, providing her team a level of autonomy considered risky in the early stages of a turnaround. Hack reconstructed Channel’s cultural foundation, targeting specific purposes designed to make the company a better place to work and to enhance its brand. “(Hack) believes that hiring, equipping, empowering and developing intelligent human capital is key to continual success in any organization,” the nomination said.

President and COO: Teresa Hack

General Counsel: John Ensign

Channel Products

MRI Software

Underscoring culture and sustainability has grown the company’s revenue, margins and profitability, including six new patent applications in 12 months, a 98% performance quality rating, and an employee churn rate below 2%, according to the nomination.

Thanks to Hack’s leadership, Channel has expanded to new customers in Europe and China, and recently moved its corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility from Chesterland to Solon. The new company HQ, located at 30700 Solon Industrial Parkway, features training facilities, an innovation design center, conference rooms and an employee “morale center” complete with an exercise facility and coffee bar.

Hack’s guidance in these endeavors has not gone unrecognized: Earlier this year, Ernst & Young named her an Entrepreneur of the Year regional finalist, while Smart Business magazine awarded Hack a Corporate College Smart 50 award, which lauds regional executives for their ability to lead successful organizations.

In August, Hack was recognized by Crain’s as a “Notable Woman in Manufacturing.”

— Douglas J. Guth

L

ast February, John Ensign, an eight-year member of Solon-based MRI Software’s leadership team, was promoted to president and chief legal officer, a move that added global client support, finance and accounting to his previous management responsibilities overseeing the company’s human resources, legal, facilities and M&A operations.

That’s a lot for anyone’s plate.

For Ensign, it came at a time, as MRI put it when announcing his promotion, when the company was “growing faster than in any other period of its history, having nearly doubled in size through six acquisitions on three continents during the latter part of 2017.”

And it hasn’t stopped.

The company, which provides software applications focused on the residential and commercial real estate industry, has continued to be an aggressive buyer, keeping Ensign and other executives quite busy. Most recently, on Nov. 7, it announced the acquisition of TCAM Asset Management, a Boston company that provides asset management and consulting services to 1,600 properties and 176,000 apart-

ment units across 48 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. That marked its 11th acquisition in 14 months.

In October, it bought Pasadena, Texas-based IPM Software, a provider of similar services focused on the affordable housing industry. That deal was preceded by the summer acquisitions of CML Software, a Reading, England-based provider of residential agency, block management and build-to-rent services for the United Kingdom market, and South African property software provider PropSys. The PropSys deal was MRI’s fifth acquisition in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region since September 2017; Ensign, upon his promotion, was given overall responsibility for that region, which MRI characterized as being “key to the company’s future growth.”

In late 2017, MRI Software embarked on a $5.5 million reconfiguration of its headquarters at 28925 Fountain Parkway in Solon that has doubled the amount of office space available, to about 200,000 square feet. It expects to grow to about 600 people from a staff that, at the time the expansion was announced, stood at about 405. — Scott Suttell

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he best use of digital is to not make you aware of the technology, but to make you aware of the art.”

So said Jane Alexander, the chief digital information officer at the Cleveland Museum of Art and a member of the museum’s executive team, in a CNBC profile of how technology is revolutionizing the consumption of art and is providing visitors with a richer, more immersive and interactive experience.

Alexander, who joined the museum in 2010, is responsible for, as the museum puts it, “creating iterative digital projects that support a vision for innovation, technology implementation and digital transformation best applied to the CMA’s mission.”

Most prominently, she led the reimagining of the new ArtLens Gallery (formerly Gallery One), featuring four central components: ArtLens Studio, which enables guests to create their own digital artwork; ArtLens Exhibition, in which they connect with art through touchscreen-free interactives; ArtLens Wall, offering a visually dazzling display of the museum’s permanent collection with impressively detailed

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million in 2018. Six field offices employing about 45 people comprise the conservancy’s footprint today.

Championing a healthy, flourishing community led Cochran to launch the conservancy’s “Thriving Communities” program in 2011. Originally focused on supporting county land banks, the program currently conducts critical research and property inventories, securing millions in funding for property demolition and tree planting.

The conservancy continues to stand as Ohio’s largest land trust, boasting a skilled staff and diversity of programming headed by a leader keen on tackling all levels of the position, from fundraising to negotiating complex land deals to building relationships with key local, state and federal officials.

“Millions benefit each day from the conserved land, new parks, winding trails, preserved wildlife habitat, revitalized neighborhoods and newly planted trees made possible because of Rich’s strategic, collaborative and tenacious leadership at Western Reserve Land Conservancy,” the nomination said. — Douglas J. Guth

President and CEO: Richard Cochran Western Reserve Land Conservancy

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Cleveland Museum of Art

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ichard Cochran is a mainstay of regional preservation efforts, becoming the first employee of the Chagrin River Land Conservancy in 1996, then orchestrating a merger of the organization and seven additional land trusts to form the Western Reserve Land Conservancy a decade later.

Five more groups have joined the conservancy since that original merger, combining strengths to preserve 44,000 acres of local landscapes, coastlines, forests, farms and public parks, according to the nomination. A nationally recognized conservationist, Cochran oversees 50 to 75 land transactions annually, spearheading numerous collaborative projects, including the creation of 150 public parks and preserves. Prominent parks such as Orchard Hills (Geauga County), Lake Erie Bluffs (Lake County) and Richfield Heritage Preserve (Summit County) are well-loved area assets, thanks in part to his work.

Under Cochran’s leadership, the organization has conserved 715 properties totaling 53,000 acres across Northeast Ohio, growing its assets from $50,000 in 1995 to more than $11

CIO: Jane Alexander

+

scholarly information; and the ArtLens App, though which guests can, among other things, map their visits through the museum using responsive wayfinding technology.

This type of complementary support is helping museum attendance surge. The American Alliance of Museums reports that museum attendance continues to climb, hitting about 850 million visits per year. The Cleveland museum, meanwhile, announced record-breaking summer attendance of 305,692 visitors from July 1 through Sept. 30, bolstered primarily by the blockbuster exhibition “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” which attracted more than 120,000 visitors from all 50 states and 23 countries, as well as a variety of FRONT International exhibitions presented at the museum.

The experiences of both shows were enhanced by the museum’s digital offerings, underscoring this comment from Alexander to CNBC: “It’s about better practices and thinking about how can this be a toolset to get people into the collection. How can people use our collection to bring art into their daily lives?” — Scott Suttell

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he Cleveland Browns, as fans know, have not exactly been a picture of stability since they were reborn for the 1999 NFL season.

A major exception to that, though, is David Jenkins, who, in his 15th season with the Browns, was named in May as the team’s chief operating officer.

As COO, he’s in charge of the team’s daily business operations and its long-term vision, “directing all organizational goals related to financial management, revenue generation, stadium operations, legal, information technology, business analytics and administration,” the Browns said in announcing his promotion from executive vice president and chief financial officer. He’s also the team’s face for government relations, working closely with Berea (home of the team’s training facilities) and Cleveland, where FirstEnergy Stadium completed a significant update in 2015 — and more could be on the way.

In a Q&A in August with Crain’s assistant editor Kevin Kleps, Jenkins had this to say about the future of the home of the Browns: “That could be a renovation of the existing stadium that con-

D

aniel Walsh was a veritable real estate rookie upon launching Citymark Capital in 2015, but that hasn’t stopped him from building an all-star private-equity real estate investment fund that today enjoys nationwide scope and respect.

Formerly a regional executive with Huntington Bank, Walsh has filled a local gap in the multifamily apartment space, achieving the type of attention normally reserved for larger metros. Citymark focuses on large apartments in the country’s 50 biggest cities, with most projects ranging from $40 million to $50 million at time of acquisition.

In 2017, Walsh raised Citymark’s first fund, completing six real estate investments totaling more than 1,600 apartment units and a deal flow of $4.9 billion, according to the nomination. Among the company’s investments was River’s Edge, a 100-unit multifamily community in Garfield, N.J. Under Walsh’s direction, Citymark also closed a deal on the Villas of Vista Ridge, a 323-unit complex in Lewisville, Texas. Strong occupancy rates and cash flow on

COO: David Jenkins Cleveland Browns

CEO: Daniel Walsh Citymark Capital

templates no roof or a roof. It could be construction of a new stadium that contemplates those same elements as well. The challenge becomes, if it’s a new stadium, site selection, remediation, stadium design, construction — that’s a longer time frame than being able to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to stay in this building and renovate.’ So we just have to be really well-planned and operate with some sense of urgency.”

That final word — “urgency” — is apt for a franchise that, under the leadership of general manager John Dorsey and with some smart decisions (defensive lineman Myles Garrett, quarterback Baker Mayfield, cornerback Denzel Ward and running back Nick Chubb) in recent drafts, is turning around on the field and reigniting fan passion.

Jenkins, a Baldwin Wallace University graduate who is on the BW board of trustees, is a member of the board of directors for the Cleveland Browns Foundation, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Cleveland Development Advisors. — Scott Suttell

fund No. 1 gave the firm momentum on a second fund with a target cap of $150 million.

Walsh, a native Clevelander, has displayed a devotion to his hometown beyond erecting a flourishing business platform here, the nomination stated. The ex-banker serves on numerous nonprofit boards, including Destination Cleveland, the United Way of Cleveland, and the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s commission on economic inclusion, which champions minority-owned businesses and diverse leadership among Northeast Ohio employers.

As president of Huntington Bank, Walsh repositioned the institution’s regional presence, gaining significant market share and generating strong earnings growth. In 2014, he was named to Crain’s Power 150, receiving additional leadership and humanitarian recognition from the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, the American Jewish Committee and the Centers for Families and Children. Smart Business presented Walsh the 2013 Kent Clapp CEO Leadership award as a top community leader in the Greater Cleveland area. — Douglas J. Guth

Nominate Your Best for the

Recognize the achievements of a top sales and marketing professional with a nomination for the Sales & Marketing Executives of Cleveland’s prestigious Distinguished Marketing and Sales Award (DMSA), the profession’s premier honor to acknowledge excellence and provide community recognition for outstanding sales and marketing achievements.

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Nomination forms are available at SMECleveland.com.

For information, call 216-767-5951.

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nsurance giant Progressive is an aggressive marketer with one of the most recognizable figures in all of advertising — that would be Flo, if you don’t spend much time watching TV — who in 2018 celebrated her 10-year anniversary as a commercial icon.

The company’s chief marketing officer, Jeff Charney, has a big reputation as a forward thinker, and he isn’t about to let Progressive’s hugely valuable asset grow stale.

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal detailed how Progressive is among the companies using artificial intelligence tools to enable companies in retail, finance, insurance, health care and other industries to deploy text-based chatbots “to help customers get quick answers and conduct transactions.” Creating a software bot to talk to customers about insurance meant the company’s programmers “must understand the character that has become synonymous with the brand,” Charney told the newspaper of Flo the bot, which was launched on Facebook Messenger in October 2017.

It’s yet another manifestation of a character that has become synonymous with Progressive,

F

red Bidwell helped make sure Northeast Ohio was front and center in the contemporary art world over the summer.

Bidwell, a former advertising executive and longtime patron of the arts, was the creator and executive director of FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, which from July 14-Sept. 30 featured the work of more than 110 artists at 28 venues across Cleveland and in Akron and Oberlin. He raised about $5 million for the project, which drew considerable (and quite favorable) attention in the art and mainstream press.

Among the most prominent works that enlivened the region: a public space exhibit called “Canvas City” that served as a tribute to one of Cleveland’s most influential artists, Julian Stanczak, by recreating a mural Stanczak made in 1973 for the Cleveland Area Arts Council’s City Canvas program; “A Color Removed,” a participatory work at SPACES Gallery conceived by Michael Rakowitz as a response to the shooting of Tamir Rice by Cleveland police; and “The American Library,” an installation at

CMO: Jeff Charney Progressive

CEO: Fred Bidwell FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art

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which of late has been on a strong growth trajectory. (Fortune magazine, which recently named Progressive CEO Tricia Griffith as its 2018 Businessperson of the Year, noted that the company’s one-year and annualized three-year sales growth were 20.2% and 11.4%, respectively; the stock is up nearly 50% over the past 12 months; and profits have more than doubled.)

Charney has become a leading figure in the marketing industry, sought after for his insights on where the business is going.

Progressive has had its own internal agency for years, and at last month’s ANA (Association of National Advertisers) Masters of Marketing Conference, he served as the opening keynote presenter, where, as Advertising Age put it, he offered a “major high-five” for an ANA report showing that 78% of marketers now have some form of in-house agency, up from just 58% five years ago.

While Progressive uses some external agencies to supplement its internal work, Ad Age (a sister publication of Crain’s Cleveland Business) noted, Charney said, “You can’t over-depend on your agency. They can only do so much.” — Scott Suttell

the Cleveland Public Library created by artist Yinka Shonibare that featured thousands of books wrapped in African wax cloth, their spines emblazoned with the names of first- or second-generation U.S. immigrants and African Americans affected by the Great Migration from the American South.

Bidwell has a longstanding interest in art, having served on the boards of the Akron Art Museum and Cleveland Museum of Art (where he also was interim director in 2013) and on the Visiting Committee of the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin. He founded Transformer Station, a contemporary art venue in Cleveland, and told Crain’s earlier that his hope for FRONT — next edition, 2019 —is to build “the important contemporary art event in North America.”

He also sees it as a community asset, telling The New York Times, “I don’t want to do an elitist international art fair that has no impact on the community. FRONT is really about redefining the city to the world and to itself.” — Scott Suttell

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hen you go to a Cleveland Indians game at Progressive Field, virtually all your enjoyment comes as the result of Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Trevor Bauer or any of the team’s other stars on the field.

But save a little of that enjoyment for someone behind the scenes: Neil Weiss, the Indians’ senior vice president, technology, and its chief information officer.

Baseball’s an old game, but Weiss and his team are responsible for making sure the team operates with modern efficiency both internally and for fans in the stands.

Wi-Fi and cell networks seem better when you’re using your phone at the game? The Indians worked with Major League Baseball to make upgrades at the ballpark. Weiss has been responsible for improvements in mobile ticketing, point-of-sales systems for food and beverage areas, the high-definition scoreboard, the Kids Clubhouse and more.

Weiss was among the executives who were heavily involved in improvements throughout the ballpark, including the Right Field District, that have proved popular with fans.

Using data analytics and staying on top of technology

is crucial, but as Weiss wrote in a piece for CIO Review, the core of the job is “something not new and not revolutionary but very much the most impactful decision any CIO can make — hire, develop and empower the right people. Artificial intelligence is awesome, machine learning is cool and virtual reality is arriving for real, but let us not forget the true engines that drive technology — software engineers, system and business analysts, network engineers, data architects, help desk analysts, project managers, quality-assurance engineers. As fresh new tech revolutionizes what you can buy, build, download and install, a continued appreciation for your people and how you can help them grow and evolve with the times is the best strategy a CIO can employ.”

When it comes to hiring, Weiss wrote, he has learned two important lessons. First, “look for a very wide breadth of knowledge.” Second, “don’t be afraid to hire, and then train, underqualified but high-ceiling individuals,” who often bring a strong “customer-centric focus” to the job. — Scott Suttell

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

C-SUITE

CFO: Mark Plush Ring Beams

congratulations to all of the 2018 crain’s c-suite honorees, including our ceo,

daniel walsh.

M In t e gr i t y | E x pe rt i s e | Re lat i o nsh i p s | E nerg y | Co mmuni t y

Celebrate your Success with Reprints & Recognition Products

VOL. 39, NO. 21

MAY 21 - 27, 2018

FINANCE

SUCCESS IS IN VICTORY’S SIGHT SUCCESS IS IN VICTORY’S SIGHT VOL. 39, NO. 21

We have all channels of communication covered to ensure everyone in your network is aware your firm’s achievement.

For more information contact Laura Picariello, Reprints Sales Manager Tel (732) 723-0569 • Fax (888) 299-2205 • lpicariello@crain.com

MAY 21 - 27, 2018

FINANCE

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 of driven by itsBy JEREMY forgrowth 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 the market Corp a in few 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 David Brown, who joined the firm in next 2004 era while — the headquarters off exTiedeman ness — of which employees own a 35% stake fact for well overlatter’s century, has achieved the stage for its ofsize growth driven bya its plosive growth since a complex management-led and staff it — it’s given Brown and Victory’s board freeit was still a part of Key. Road sits within for KeyCorp multi-boutique model and a consistent acquiequity supported separationThe from Key- simply dom to operate how it likes.

That model, whichsitions truly started to develop atprivate subleases from the company. timing strategy. a few years ago.said, CEO separate from Key,where Victory on an Victory following a management-led buyoutCorp Brown for Victory step out oneventually its Once 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 Brooklyn, OhioNow, to be the owners of Victory (Kenstreak Blaze for acquisition toCrain’s) give it more scale. It’s from Key in 2013, is largely what Brown feels po-what own continue theIPO, work it had been doing for Capital.” something different than wasand happening, based long Victory Capital Management’s parent sitions the firm to flourish as its industry bought companies as Key refocused on other which 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.

Road sits within a complex forand KeyCorp staff it (in was still alooked part of Key. — it’s given Brown 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 That model, which truly started to develop at subleases domevolved to operate how it likes.

“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 felt right, Brown for Victory to step out on its Victory following a management-led buyout Once separate from Key, Victory set out on an something different than what was happening, 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 out 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 said Victory CEO following Crestview is stillthen: a majority owner of the busisitions theand firm to flourish its industry three since 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 — David Brown, who valued joined the 2004 while banking services in those following management the investment business Key’syears “We in eventually evolved to the it Capital (in 2014); Compass Efficient Model Port-own a 35% stake JJSince Road sits within a complex forfolios KeyCorp staff — it’s given known Brown as and Victory’s board freeit was still amore part that ofthan Key. 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 to 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 New York private equity firmVictory the division several years 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 Brown po- in aown JJ The firm about $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 buy back stock, benesimilar moves around that 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 that deal,business. the firm has gone from $18 billion in assets to $60.9 billion, 148 last recession. Key eventuallythat sold still the business 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.

THE CUYAHOGA METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF CONGRATULATE

CHAIRMAN ROBERT E. DAVIS on being selected as Crain’s Board Volunteer of the Year!

ark Plush is a known in industry circles as a fixer and builder, the perfect combination of skills for a startup in need of help.

Plush joined the company then known as Wireless Environment in 2016, having already served on the board in a time of rapid, unsustainable development. Upon taking the helm, Plush instituted controls, contacted service providers and got the Mayfield Village-based LED manufacturer audit-ready within 13 months, according to the nomination.

An administrative cleanup made Wireless Environment’s November 2017 acquisition by Ring possible.

Today, the company — which makes the Mr. Beams line of LED products — is an independent unit within Ring, a California business that sells internet-connected home security products, including a doorbell that can send audio and video to your smartphone.

Along with making the purchase possible, Plush has overseen the firm’s growth from $15 million to $29 million in less than two years.

In the nomination, president and co-founder David Levine said his CFO’s “calm, focus and determination” kick-started one of the fastest-growing businesses in the region.

“Mark is the most dependable, ethical and forward-thinking financial professional that I have observed,” added Levine. “From his first day, he created a 13-week cash flow so we could make the optimal decisions to preserve cash. My relationship with Mark is what I always hoped a CEO-CFO relationship would be. I know with complete confidence that he’s watching the key indicators, freeing me up to sell, hire and market the company.”

Previously the CFO for Keithley Instruments, Plush leads a young team at Ring Beams, impressing upon them the importance of gross margins and the careful selection of customers. Plush is also active in the nonprofit world, serving on the board of University Hospitals with the goal of improving its finances and performance.

— Douglas J. Guth

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

C-SUITE

R

obert E. Davis has a long-standing commitment to community involvement, having served on various boards and committees dedicated to improving everyday life in Greater Cleveland. As chairman of the board of commissioners at the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), his service extends to the bricks and mortar that make housing essential.

Named to the board in 2006 by then East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer, Davis works to create safe, quality and affordable housing opportunities for the neighborhoods CMHA services. To fulfill this quest, Davis is heading the agency’s first strategic plan, a five-year blueprint that focuses on education programming, job training and enhanced digital connectivity for the authority’s 55,000 residents.

According to the nomination, Davis “walks the walk” in providing hands-on leadership for the housing group’s staff, residents, landlords and stakeholders.

“Mr. Davis is passionate about not only being present and engaged at each monthly and

M

ark Polatajko is Kent State’s numbers cruncher, overseeing a budget of nearly $645 million amid an environment of fiscal challenge for all levels of higher education.

He has met this challenge admirably, harnessing his 18 years of fiscal management expertise to help Kent State deliver gains in its mission of educating a diverse enrollment, the nomination said.

Through Polatajko’s work, Kent State has delivered nearly $33 million in efficiency measures. In supporting the institution’s “students-first” strategic plan, for example, Polatajko leads the implementation of numerous learner-friendly programs, including an initiative that freezes tuition and room-and-board rates for eligible undergraduates and transfers.

Polatajko is also orchestrating the first phase of Kent State’s $1 billion, 10-year facilities master plan, set to transform the campus via inclusive living-learning surroundings and innovation spaces. According to the nomination, the plan’s initial $227 million phase utilizes a public/private philanthropy-driven concept created by Polatajko and his team.

committee meeting, but he also finds fulfillment in attending resident events such as award ceremonies, resource fairs and performances,” the nomination said.

A distinguished attorney, Davis has worked as an assistant prosecutor for Cuyahoga County and as a trial litigator in labor and employment law. He is currently head of Robert E. Davis.

LPA in Cleveland. Along with an extensive law background, Davis is a member of the Friends of East Cleveland Library, Black on Black Crime Inc., the East Cleveland City Council Landbank Commission and the East Cleveland School Board Business advisory committee.

Davis earned his bachelor’s degree from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and a juris doctorate from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and a military veteran, having been honorably discharged following service in Vietnam.

“Mr. Davis continues to advocate for residents, engage stakeholders and set ambitious goals to make Cuyahoga County a thriving community,” the nomination said. — Douglas J. Guth

Chairman: Robert E. Davis Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority

As the son of immigrant parents, Polatajko recognizes the educational needs of students new to this country. To that end, he and his wife established an endowed scholarship fund at Kent State and Wright State universities for students of Eastern European descent who demonstrate a financial need.

Polatajko earned his MBA with a specialization in finance from Ashland University and holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Akron. He’s served on Kent State’s foundation board and the Inter-University Council of Ohio.

“Mark’s superlative leadership shines beyond the numbers,” the nomination said. “He provides insightful strategic counsel to members of the board of trustees and the president, and routinely applies principles of design thinking to elevate the university’s financial practices and position. He’s an inspiring model of excellence, with a genuine passion for assuring that Kent State students receive an academically rigorous education, as well as transformative life experiences.” — Douglas J. Guth

Senior vice president for finance and administration: Mark Polatajko Kent State University

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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS

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N O V E M B E R 2 6 - D E C E M B E R 2 , 2 018

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PA G E 2 5

THE LIST

Largest Banks in Northeast Ohio Ranked by local deposits

NORTHEAST OHIO DEPOSITS (MILLIONS) THIS YEAR MAIN LOCAL OFFICE

EMPLOYEES WORLDWIDE 6-30-2018

6-30-2018

6-30-2017

% CHANGE

OFFICES IN NE OHIO

HOLDING COMPANY

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE

1

KeyBank NA 127 Public Square, Cleveland 44114 (216) 689-3000/keybank.com

$19,173.0

$17,322.4

10.7%

119

18,494

KeyCorp Cleveland

Beth E. Mooney, chair, CEO, KeyCorp

2

Huntington National Bank 200 Public Square, Cleveland 44114 (800) 480-2265/huntington.com

$19,152.9

$18,580.0

3.1%

250

15,056

Huntington Bancshares Inc. Columbus

Sean P. Richardson, Cleveland regional president

3

PNC Bank 1900 E. 9th St., Cleveland 44114 (888) 762-2265/pnc.com

$13,537.2

$13,237.8

2.3%

123

53,044

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Pittsburgh

Paul G. Clark, regional president

4

Citizens Bank 1215 Superior Ave., Cleveland 44114 (216) 589-0900/citizensbank.com

$9,548.8

$10,459.6

-8.7%

84

14,851

Citizens Financial Group Inc. Providence, R.I.

Ralph M. Della Ratta, president

5

JPMorgan Chase Bank NA 1300 E. 9th St., Cleveland 44114 (800) 935-9935/chase.com

$8,562.3

$8,158.5

5.0%

88

192,802

JPMorgan Chase & Co. New York

Rudy Bentlage, executive director, commercial banking; market executive, Northeast Ohio

6

Fifth Third Bank 600 Superior Ave. E, Cleveland 44114 (216) 274-5533/53.com

$5,290.8

$5,121.2

3.3%

77

18,125

Fifth Third Bancorp Cincinnati

Joseph D. DiRocco, regional president, Northeast Ohio

7

U.S. Bank 1350 Euclid Ave., Cleveland 44115 (216) 623-9300/usbank.com

$2,707.6

$2,577.4

5.1%

73

72,389

U.S. Bancorp Minneapolis

Alan Zang, president, Northeast Ohio market

8

Home Savings Bank 275 W. Federal St., Youngstown 44503 (330) 742-0500/homesavings.com

$1,802.5

$1,597.7

12.8%

26

500

United Community Financial Corp.

Youngstown

Gary M. Small, president, CEO

9

Chemical Bank 23240 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 600, Beachwood 44122 (216) 706-3709/ChemicalBank.com

$1,404.2

$1,386.9

1.2%

24

3,187

Chemical Financial Corp.

Midland, Mich.

James R. Lynch Jr., regional president, Northeast Ohio

10

Farmers National Bank of Canfield 20 S. Broad St., Canfield 44406 (888) 988-3276/farmersbankgroup.com

$1,378.1

$1,301.8

5.9%

31

420

Farmers National Banc Corp.

Canfield

Kevin J. Helmick, president, CEO

11

First National Bank of Pennsylvania 55 Public Square, Cleveland 16125 (800) 555-5455/fnb-online.com

$1,281.9

$1,103.7

16.1%

28

4,284

F.N.B. Corp.

Pittsburgh

Jeffrey S. Bechtel, regional market executive; president, Cleveland region

12

Middlefield Banking Co. 15985 E. High St., Middlefield 44062 (440) 632-1666/middlefieldbank.com

$865.1

$786.7

10.0%

11

198

Middlefield Banc Corp.

Middlefield

Thomas G. Caldwell, president, CEO

13

Civista Bank 100 E. Water St., Sandusky 44870 (419) 625-4121/civistabank.com

$730.0

$775.2

-5.8%

12

347

Civista Bancshares Inc. Sandusky

Dennis G. Shaffer, president, CEO

14

First Commonwealth Bank NA 1100 Superior Ave., Suite 1365, Cleveland 44114 (800) 711-2265/fcbanking.com

$646.0

$581.1

11.2%

13

1,438

First Commonwealth Financial Corp.

Indiana, Pa.

Jane Grebenc, president George Moy, senior vice president, regional president for northern Ohio

15

Cortland Savings and Banking Co. 194 W. Main St., Cortland 44410 (330) 637-8040/cortlandbank.com

$558.0

$531.5

5.0%

13

159

Cortland Bancorp Cortland

James M. Gasior, president, CEO

16

Wayne Savings Community Bank 151 N. Market St., Wooster 44691 (330) 264-5767/waynesavings.com

$351.3

$350.2

0.3%

10

102

Wayne Savings Bancshares Inc. Wooster

James "Jay" R. VanSickle II, CEO

17

Andover Bank 600 E. Main St., Andover 44003 (440) 293-7256/andoverbankohio.com

$285.2

$286.8

-0.5%

7

86

Andover Bancorp Inc. Andover

Stephen E. Varckette, president, CEO

18

Portage Community Bank 1311 E. Main St., Ravenna 44266 (330) 296-8090/pcbbank.com

$273.8

$272.3

0.5%

2

61

Portage Bancshares Inc. Ravenna

Richard J. Coe, CEO

19

Consumers National Bank 614 E. Lincoln Way, Minerva 44657 (330) 341-8741/consumersbank.com

$230.3

$201.8

14.2%

7

127

Consumers Bancorp Inc. Minerva

Ralph J. Lober, president, CEO

20

Farmers Savings Bank 111 W. Main St., Spencer 44275 (330) 648-2441/fsb-spencer.com

$208.7

$210.1

-0.7%

2

28

None

Thomas W. Lee, president, CEO

21

Peoples Bank NA 24400 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 200, Beachwood 44122 (216) 910-0550/peoplesbancorp.com

$203.4

$189.1

7.5%

5

862

Peoples Bancorp Inc. Marietta

Cindy Crotty, executive vice president, north region president

22

CFBank NA 28879 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere 44122 (216) 468-6113/cfbankonline.com

$190.8

$119.6

59.5%

1

88

Central Federal Corp.

Worthington

Mark Nykaza, Northeast Ohio market president Timothy T. O'Dell, president, CEO

23

Independence Bank 4401 Rockside Road, Independence 44131 (216) 447-1444/theindebank.com

$171.2

$176.6

-3.1%

1

23

Independence Banccorp Independence

Christopher W. Mack, CEO, chairman

24

Sutton Bank 1 S. Main St., Attica 44807 (419) 426-3641/suttonbank.com

$163.8

$164.5

-0.4%

4

94

Sutton Bancshares Inc. Attica

Eric A. Gillett, vice chairman, CEO

25

Hometown Bank 142 N. Water St., Kent 44240 (330) 673-9827/htbnk.com

$162.3

$159.2

2.0%

4

58

Hometown Bancorp Inc. Kent

Howard T. Boyle II, CEO, chairman

26

CNB Bank (dba ERIEBANK) 7402 Center St., Mentor 44060 (440) 205-8100/eriebank.bank

$155.9

$150.4

3.6%

3

508

CNB Financial Corp.

Clearfield, Pa.

Wesley Gillespie, regional president, Northeast Ohio

RESEARCHED BY CHUCK SODER (CSODER@CRAIN.COM)

Get 10 years of local deposit data for all 38 banks on the list. Become a Data Member: CrainsCleveland.com/data

Financial data comes from fdic.gov. This list excludes banks registered as savings institutions. It includes deposits in 15 counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne. Send feedback to Chuck Soder: csoder@crain.com.

P025_CL_20181126.indd 25

11/21/18 9:55 AM

LAST CHANCE TO SECURE

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SPONSORED CONTENT

November 26, 2018

aSk ThE PROfESSiONal

Crafting an executive compensation strategy that is right on the money Insights from the leader of a professional services firm

i

n an economy characterized in part by low unemployment and industry-wide talent shortages, recruiting the perfect executive into your company’s leadership team can be a challenge. Factors such as culture, perks and growth potential all influence a candidate’s interest, but an attractive executive compensation package can be the deciding factor in motivating a qualified leader to pursue an opportunity at your firm or remain at your firm. “One of the biggest reasons key employees leave is the chase for more shiny nickels. That is, more pay,” said Gregory Hubbell, senior vice president of health and benefits at Aon, a global professional services firm.

Aon relies on comprehensive marketplace data and analytics, and deep relationships with its clients to tailor executive benefits packages to meet each client’s specific need. Hubbell is accustomed to helping companies and boards of directors achieve those objectives.

“We spend a great deal of time studying the compensation competitiveness of the firm and looking at what tools are being used to link pay and performance,” Hubbell said. “We work with companies and their boards to institute and deliver a plan that matches an organization’s mission, goals and objectives to their philosophy on executive compensation.”

Crain Content Studio — Cleveland asks Hubbell to outline some of the trends and considerations that shape a quality executive compensation strategy. how does the economy impact an organization’s approach to executive compensation?

high-caliber executives?

The recent uptick in the economy and tightening labor markets propose unique challenges. On one hand, companies’ equity-based awards have increased significantly, and, because of long-term vesting schedules, there is quite a bit of retention through existing awards. However, the tight labor market has made for a limited pool of available talent, and companies have been more willing to do what is necessary to attract high caliber talent.

A sound executive compensation program is critical to address attraction and retention. Can I get your best executive? Can you steal mine?

Companies must ensure that their pay levels are set competitively to attract the appropriate talent. But, the design of the program should be structured in a way that balances long-term retention. Balancing the short- and long-term views of a compensation program can be tricky, but getting it right will help an organization attract the caliber of talent it needs and will help retain them over the long term.

how important is compensation when it comes to attracting

What are some of the most important attributes of a comprehensive and

competitive executive compensation plan?

The most important attributes of a successful executive pay plan are to ensure that the appropriate levels of internal and external equity are in place. From an internal standpoint, a successful program is one where the incentives are aligned to the company’s success and are where the participants have the appropriate line of sight to drive the incentives. From an external standpoint, the successful programs are those that are built upon sound competitive data and provide short- and long-term wealth creation opportunities that are aligned to the competitive market.

Also critical is goal setting. Goals must be stretched but realistic to incentivize key leaders. If there is a chance for a payout, organizations are more likely to retain their executives.

how does your company help a client determine whether its executive pay philosophy aligns with the culture and values of the organization?

First, the company’s pay philosophy should be reviewed every few years to make sure it continues to be appropriately aligned to the company’s culture and values. To do that, it is important to hear from key constituents who oversee the company’s culture and values. In most of our work, that includes discussions with members of the board or compensation committee and senior management. Those key constituents should ensure that the compensation philosophy is structured in a way that delivers the correct level of compensation in a framework that is culturally appropriate.

First, gather the facts. Don’t make knee-jerk decisions. Coordinate the appropriate teams, such as human resources, finance and legal, to understand the implications of the change and how it impacts today’s programs.

Second, determine viable alternatives that address the impact of the change. Think through how the alternatives align to the pay philosophy and the company’s long-term strategy.

Finally, implement the change. Test the impact of the change over time and calibrate as needed. Legislative changes are a constant. Being prepared to address those changes in a timely and thoughtful manner will help your organization mitigate their impact. There is no need to be the first to implement. Be smart about when you make changes.

What are some of the more interesting pay options you’re seeing materialize as organizations look toward the future?

After a period of change earlier this decade, companies’ designs have been stable for the past few years. We have not been seeing new pay options gain widespread attention. We have seen incremental shifts in pay design, largely due to the pressures of proxy advisors, institutional investors and shareholders. Two shifts that come to mind include companies finding ways to deliver more performancebased pay in their portfolios and the still-emerging trend of companies requiring executives to hold equity awards for a period after they vest.

Decisions guided by data With access to the world’s largest repository of risk and insurance data, we help firms relieve the tension between benefits and budgets by providing fact-based insights to guide buying decisions.

For more information on how Aon can empower results for your organization, visit aon.com or contact Greg Hubbell at 216.623.4126 or gregory.hubbell@aon.com.

how does state and/or federal legislation drive executive compensation strategies?

Legislation is a constantly changing variable in executive pay design.

The most recent example is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which changed the rules around tax deductibility for senior executive pay for many organizations. Our approach to change can generally be categorized in three steps:

This advertising-supported section is produced by Crain Content Studio-Cleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business. The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain Content Studio-Cleveland content.

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AKRON

Hazel Tree is bolstering Incubator to help Akron’s artisan economy food entrepreneurs

By JUDY STRINGER

get started, grow

clbfreelancer@crain.com

By BETH THOMAS HERTZ

Karen Starr launched Hazel Tree Design Studio in 2010 with a focus on bringing local art and craftsmanship into homes, businesses and public spaces all over Greater Akron.

Eight years later, that unique approach has landed Starr her biggest and most high profile gig yet: the interior design for the Bounce Innovation Hub’s first-floor makeover.

The vision for the downtown incubator’s first floor, named The Generator, is “an exciting, fun, bustling, yet functional and comfortable space with an Akron-centric focus,” according to Bounce CEO Doug Weintraub.

“To us, that meant hiring someone from Akron who possesses the talent to design the space we envisioned, as well as knowledge of and connection to local artisans to help bring it to life,” he said. “We asked around and one name kept coming up: Karen Starr and Hazel Tree Design.”

Starr grew up in Stow, graduated from Archbishop Hoban High School and has spent all of her “adult life” living in Akron’s Highland Square and West Hill neighborhoods, she said. After apprenticing under noted residential designer Joel Wolfgang at Studio W Interior Design Group in Bath, Starr started her own design firm, Karen Starr Redesign, in 2009.

The home-based business specialized in encouraging clients to reuse and repurpose interior items they already owned before acquiring new ones. And when they did buy, she helped them pick materials that were “as green possible,” Starr said, and in many cases locally sourced.

That is where Starr established relationships with a cadre of local artists such as North Akron painter Lizzi Aronhalt and custom furniture and fixture makers such as Dominic Falcione of Krunchworks Design + Build, Doug Meyer from Cuyahoga Falls-based Rustbelt Rebirth and John Strauss Furniture Design in Canton. She also forged relationships with regional manufacturers such as Norwalk Furniture.

When she and her husband, picture framer Jon Haidet, in 2010 combined their burgeoning businesses into a 140-year-old West Market Street storefront and renamed the blended company Hazel Tree Design, locally made became a centerpiece in the portfolio. The 2,600-square-foot design showroom highlights not only Hazel Tree Design’s capabilities, but also the work of local artists.

“We use it to sell ideas of what might be possible from an artist or a maker,” Starr said. “We also still do a lot of repurposing as well. We will work with local artisans to take relics or heirlooms from our clients, for example, and turn them into other things, which have function in their living spaces or just add visual appeal.”

Starr is reluctant to release revenue numbers but said that since opening Hazel Tree Design, “each year has been better than the last.” In 2015, the four-person firm partnered with the Akron Art Museum to create a temporary “Living with Art” exhibition, in which Starr married pieces of

clbfreelancer@crain.com

P028_CL_20181126.indd 28

Karen Starr, owner of Hazel Tree Design Studio, stands in the Bounce Innovation Hub’s first floor, which is being renovated into a space called The Generator. Starr’s firm is leading the design. (Shane Wynn for Crain’s)

“It’s incredible to have someone like Karen (Starr) with a big reach, through her work and social media, be such a supporter of the local art scene.”

— Lizzi Aronhalt, North Akron painter

art from the museum’s collection with locally sourced furniture, lighting and accessories with the help of John Strauss of Strauss Furniture and Kevin Busta, a Cleveland-based artist and furniture maker.

In 2017, Akron entrepreneur A.C. Evans hired Starr and her team to design the North High Street headquarters of Drips, his text telemarketing startup. When Evans had an idea to fill a glass conference room table with all sorts of antiquated communication devices, she called on Cleveland fabricators Freddy Hill and Derek Gelvin to help design the piece. They also created other furniture items and a custom executive desk for Drips.

In between, there have been kitchen and living room redesigns in homes ranging from historic farmhouses to new condos, as well as renovations in offices and public spaces, with Starr “sourcing locally and supporting our artisan economy” whenever feasible, she said.

Casting a net Aronhalt is one of the first local artists to be picked for the Bounce project. She will paint an abstract mural of the former B.F. Goodrich factory — smokestacks and all — on a café wall in the Generator space, paying homage to the industrial roots of Bounce’s current home.

“Right now, I do mostly smaller paintings of cityscapes and buildings,” Aronhalt said, adding that she has sold “several pieces” to Starr’s clients over the past 18 months and has been featured in the Hazel Tree Design showroom.

“It’s incredible to have someone like Karen with a big reach, through her work and social media, be such a supporter of the local art scene,” she added.

Starr said calls for additional local artists will come soon. She envisions the design of the 27,000-square-foot Generator incorporating muralists, photographers, sculptors and lighting and furniture makers.

In addition to original artwork, artisans will be needed to transform “artifacts,” which she and her team salvaged from the B.F Goodrich factory’s old steam and power plant building, into décor or furnishings.

Some of those makers might come from Hazel Tree’s established network or artists, but Starr said she hopes to discover some new creatives, too.

“This is a big opportunity of our city’s and our region’s artisans, and we should be casting that net as widely as possible,” Starr said.

Entrepreneurs who want to start or grow a food business will be able to utilize a certified commercial kitchen in Akron as soon as renovations are complete at a former church on East Market Street that is now owned by The Well Community Development Corp.

The 100-year-old building is already being used by The Well for multiple initiatives designed to help bolster the surrounding Middlebury neighborhood, including the Compass Coffee shop. The organization has spent the past six months securing the funding to rehab the building’s kitchen to become Akron Food Works, an incubator for food entrepreneurs of all stripes: small catering businesses, food truck operators, bakers, hobbyists who want to sell their goods at a local farmers market and more. It hopes to have the kitchen upgraded, compliant with public health requirements and ready for business in the first quarter of 2019, said Curtis Minter Jr., The Well’s operations director.

He said the need for a facility that cuts the “red tape” for food business owners is clear.

“I have spoken to many entrepreneurs who have had to drive to Cleveland and Youngstown, for an hour or more, to produce their food product.

Sometimes they have to transport special equipment, but they have done whatever is necessary to keep their businesses afloat,” Minter said.

“So this will surely be an advantage for local food entrepreneurs in and around the city of Akron.”

Before that can happen though, the 960-square-foot kitchen needs upgrades in its electrical service, flooring, walls, lighting, ceiling and hood. The space is also being redesigned to allow for use by multiple people at the same time.

“In its current layout, we would not be able to do that, as it is sort of congested,” Minter said.

Five other spaces in the building that were previously classrooms and storage are also being renovated to create designated areas for dry goods storage, a cooler and a freezer.

The renovations, being designed with Payto Architects of Cleveland, will cost about $180,000. Funding is coming from several sources, including about $105,000 that The Well received from a grant obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

by Asian Services in Action Inc. (ASIA), which operates a weekly farmer’s market on The Well’s property in the summer.

In a news release announcing the grant, ASIA’s outgoing CEO, Michael Byun, called Akron Food Works a “solution that is community-specific and community-responsive.”

“The ultimate goal is to empower our small businesses, the engine of our local economy, and to accelerate the economic revitalization that is already well underway here,” he stated.

Minter said that he cannot praise ASIA enough for its help and willingness to partner to obtain the grant.

“This project would not come

Curtis Minter Jr. is the operations director of The Well Community Development Corp., which is building a food incubator.

about had it not been for their graciousness to us,” he said.

The eBay Foundation, which has an initiative to support local businesses in Akron, also contributed $50,000, and several private donors have contributed, too, he said.

Gifts from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, GAR Foundation and the Akron Community Foundation will help cover first-year operating costs for the kitchen, including the salary for a kitchen manager, whom Minter hopes to hire by January.

Vendors will pay hourly rates to use the facility, which will be higher during daytime but lower in the evening and even lower overnight.

They will be able to take classes there as well. Minter said a course for people looking to start a food business will probably be offered quarterly and be held over the course of a few weeks. He said a second one on how to grow an existing food business will focus on aspects such as connecting with a mentor and gaining access to local retailers.

In an increasingly entrepreneurial economy, food incubators have increased 50% since 2013 to about 200 facilities across the United States, according to a survey conducted by Econsult Solutions Inc., American Communities Trust and Urbane Development.

Minter said that there have been at least two efforts to bring about a shared-use kitchen in Akron in the past decade that did not succeed.

“I’ve had the privilege to sit down with those folks, and they gave us their blessing. With the funding we have secured, this project is now sure to come to life next year,” he said.

The Well is already reaching out to local food entrepreneurs, with Minter saying he’s been in contact with more than 50. The Well also held a meet-up event recently at the Countryside Public Market in Akron to learn more about what they want and need to succeed.

“We want to meet food entrepreneurs right where they are,” Minter said.

“I think that what is most special about this project is the opportunity to cultivate the idea of food entrepreneurship and to give people permission to believe in themselves, and whatever they might produce,” he added.

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Electric utilities bracing for a heavy load Pot growing, cryptocurrency mining pull a lot of power — FirstEnergy and others want to be ready

By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com @DanShingler

Northeast Ohio might be about to amp up its electricity consumption.

The cannabis and cryptocurrency mining industries are both big power consumers, and their emergence could mean lower bills … or power disruptions for everyone else, depending on how it goes.

“Both of them are energy-intensive industries,” said FirstEnergy Corp. spokeswoman Jennifer Young.

The dominant local electric company wants the new distribution business, but it doesn’t want disruptions to its network or the grid and is concerned about how these new customers come onto its lines. Its system already has seen three outages in Valley City from cryptocurrency mining.

“If you’re interested in doing this kind of thing, work with us early in the process and we can help best-site something for you,” Young requested. “Our economic development team is more than happy and anxious to work with people on these sorts of things. … Where it becomes problematic is when one comes online without that coordination.”

So far, operations here have been in the single-megawatt (MW) class.

Young said FirstEnergy has had discussions with much larger mining operations about setting up shop here, and so far none has come to fruition. However, it’s preparing and looking for sites for them, she added.

If they come online in an orderly fashion, the mines could help lower utility bills for everyone, she noted, by helping to pay for things like grid modernization riders spread out over the user base.

Crypto-currents In terms of power consumption, cryptocurrency mining, like some other blockchain processing, is the jaw-dropper of the two industries.

“The (worldwide) bitcoin-mining industry was using more power than the country of Ireland at one point — and that was several months ago,” said David Croft, a partner at Cleveland’s Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis law firm. Croft counts both cannabis growers and cryptocurrency miners among his clients and will be speaking at the Blockland Solutions conference Dec. 1-4 in Cleveland.

He said he thinks more mining and other blockchain activities are coming here and supports efforts by auto dealer Bernie Moreno and others who are hoping to put Northeast Ohio at the forefront of the new industry. In addition to tracking and managing (mining) bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, blockchain has applications for tracking things like medical records, insurance information and the supply chains of manufacturers and food producers, they say.

The Valley City mining operation continues, run by Medina County’s Ethode. CEO Joshua Holmes says it could use 100MW of power if he could get it, but so far he has only a portion of 2MW. What’s a megawatt? Normally, it would be enough to power about 1,000 homes, Young said — or about 2,500 people, based on the national

P029_CL_20181126.indd 29

Electricity represents a major cost for Ohio’s medical marijuana growers — grow lights, heating, cooling, drying systems and other essentials to the industry all require substantial power. (Tim Harrison for Crain’s)

how to watch and manage their power consumption and costs.

“We’re going to put solar panels on our roof … to minimize our draw on the grid as much as possible,” said Geoffrey Korff, majority owner and CEO of Galenas LLC, a cannabis grower in Akron.

Amping down

Ethode’s Valley City data center is one of the many crypto mining facilities already drawing power in Northeast Ohio. (Contributed photo)

home-occupancy rate. Put another way, she said a large glass-manufacturing plant — operating three shifts, 365 days a year — uses about 5MW. Big crypto mines can use more power than even an electric steel mill, which sucks up to 125MW of power, Young said.

The next facility here may be a mine planned for the west side of Cleveland (the specific site is a secret) by Hayden Gill, a Lakewood entrepreneur who sells mining equipment and consulting services to firms such as the cryptocurrency company Arbitrade. He wants all the power he can get, he said, because in mining, every dollar spent on power represents a dollar and change generated in the form of bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency, paying miners to do its ledger work.

“They have a 9MW service there that we’re trying to get access to … but there’s still the question of can we get the power,” said Gill, adding that he’ll build his own substation to handle the power.

Young said that with advanced planning FirstEnergy can generally deliver about 2.5MW to a single site.

Even Gill’s mine is a small one.

Both he and Croft said they’re working with developers in other parts of the country to build facilities that consume up to 200MW of power — enough to power the homes of half a million people.

Right now, the price of bitcoin is

low compared to its historic highs.

Experts say that’s holding back activity. However, if the price rises, larger mines will pop up here and elsewhere.

Timing their usage is another important thing both crypto miners and cannabis growers can do to keep their costs down and help keep the lights on around them.

They can consume power when others are not using it and avoid times of peak demand like hot summer afternoons, when the grid is often strained and rates are highest.

“We’re going to be running our lights to get them as far away from peak demand as we can. I think the plan will be that we won’t have the lights on in the afternoon and all work in the grow room will be done

early in the day,” Korff said, echoing what several other growers also said.

On the crypto side, Young said FirstEnergy is asking miners to agree to slow or shut down at the request of the utility and to not operate at full power during times of peak demand.

Some miners, including Gill, said they do that anyway since the cost of power goes up during peak hours and that means they have a smaller margin or could even operate at a loss.

None of this has gone unnoticed by the folks who broker or sell power, or who consult with users on how to minimize their costs.

Matt Brakey, president of Brakey Energy in Chagrin Falls, said he’s starting to see growers and miners among his usual clientele of foundries and other large industrial power users. He counts two growers and at least one prospective cryptocurrency mine here among his clients.

That’s good for his business, but he said he’s also starting to be concerned for his existing clients, who could face higher rates due to miners and growers.

“It’s to the point that I’m thinking about advising clients to buy (longterm) power now in anticipation of all these new loads,” Brakey said. “If these (new mines) come in, you’re going to have like a terawatt of new demand almost overnight,” he added, which could affect rates everywhere.

Others are hoping to sell power to the new users, including Dublin-based IGS Energy, which sells retail electricity and natural gas.

IGS sales manager and consultant Maha Kashani said she’s working with one crypto miner and several growers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois already.

Her company sees both industries as a significant source of potential new revenue and is chasing them hard.

“We’re being proactive,” Maha said, especially on the cannabis front.

“It’s really the most energy-intensive industry per square foot that we’ll see in Ohio,” she predicted.

Lower-powered pot Compared to crypto mining, marijuana growing is, well, green.

It requires far less power than mining, but most in the industry say they don’t know yet exactly how much because it’s still so new.

Yet, already, power is a major cost that growers know they must manage. Some say it will likely exceed their personnel cost once lights, heating, cooling, ventilation, carbon dioxide systems, computer controls, security systems and other things are added to the mix.

“It’s definitely a big deal. It’s probably the biggest deal when it comes to cannabis production today — or, for that matter, for any indoor vegetative process,” said Paul Brentlinger, CEO of Lodi-based CropKing, which now counts marijuana growers among its customers for hydroponic systems, lights and other equipment used to grow plants indoors.

He predicts lower crop prices in the future would only make power costs more important.

“That’s the problem with agriculture: It always becomes commoditized,” Brentlinger said.

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At the Table

Hidden Backyard opens in long-vacant North Royalton spot Anyone who’s driven through the state Route 82 stretch of North Royalton during the past decade or so has noticed a shuttered building at 7375 Royalton Road.

That space had long displayed a sign for Tonight, Joe Tonight restaurant and ban- Crea quet hall — a long-defunct, sprawling 13,000-square-foot venue in an area where few restaurants serve a growing residential population.

That changed on Nov. 1, when the Hidden Backyard opened with a ribbon cutting attended by the city’s mayor. Excitement goes beyond a new eatery in one of Cuyahoga County’s southernmost suburbs. The new enterprise is the first business venture for owner Rose Price and her three daughters.

“Oh, we were definitely nervous,” said Price, 50. “What gave us the confidence was each other.”

That includes Price’s daughters: Nicole Price, 31; Ashley Price, 28; and Amber Price, 26.

“Plus we have great friends, great family and everyone came on board, and we each did what we could,” Rose Price said. “And now we’re up and running.”

What’s on the menu is homemade fare with an array of dishes. Hidden Backyard’s menu ranges from meatloaf, Salisbury steak and stuffed cabbage to sauerkraut, kielbasa and pierogi. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Monday through Friday, the spot offers an all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar for $8.95. (It also offers an all-youcan-eat brunch starting at 9 a.m. Sundays, $12.95.)

“We want a place that’s reasonably priced, comfortable and casual,” Price said of her main dining room and lounge, which seat 85 and 40

guests, respectively. An adjoining banquet room can accommodate an additional 85 diners.

Plans are underway for the building’s lower level, which can hold 200 more guests. Soon after the first of the year, the space will be open for bigger events, and the family plans to create a comedy club.

“Is it scary? Sure,” Price said. “But we’re having a good time — and sure, you get a complaint here and there, but overall the outpouring has been just great.”

Check out the offerings at hiddenbackyard.com.

Omizu opens in Parma Meanwhile, a strip center across from Target and The Shoppes at Parma has a new Japanese restaurant that’s being warmly welcomed by locals. Omizu Sushi Bar & Grill, 6843 Ridge Road, is a stylish entry into the

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Southwest suburbs.

A massive aquatic “bubble wall” divides the restaurant’s bar and sushi bar from Omizu’s main dining room.

Decor is minimalist but lovely: simple pendant lighting, small prints, a wall of Asian fans and tasteful touches of bamboo.

The food is quite good, too. Before settling on a pair of the restaurant’s bento boxes, my wife and I decided to start out with one of Omizu’s specialty sushi rolls. We doted on the Moonlight Roll ($10.95), a substantial and spicy creation consisting of shrimp tempura, avocado, spicy crunchy crab and a zesty sauce.

When the bento boxes arrived, we were already ready for to-go boxes.

The dinner-sized bento are large affairs. They start with the conventional green salad and a bowl of miso soup and go from there — composed of eight pieces of fresh-tasting Cali-

fornia roll, three pieces of fried shumai, vegetable, a big mound of steamed rice, and wedges of sweet orange, plus the entree. My wife’s teriyaki chicken box ($12.95) offered a generous amount of chicken with broccoli; my shrimp tempura box ($14.95) included three large skewers of panko-encrusted shrimp and an array of crisply fried sweet potato, broccoli, zucchini and more.

By the way, we went in thinking that Omizu was a spin-off of Mizu Japanese Sushi Restaurant, another well-regarded Japanese spot at 10219 Brookpark Road, Parma. They’re not related. However, Omizu is, to add to the confusion, part of a group that sports a pair of Mizu Restaurants in Niles and Boardman.

Sort them out online: mizu-oh. com (the Ridge Road restaurant) or mizusushiparma.com. Having visited both, I’d say they’re each worth a nosh.

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SOURCE LUNCH

Nathan Kelly Managing director,

CLEVELAND BUSINESS

Cushman & Wakefield/Cresco Real Estate Nathan Kelly spent more than a decade as a public economic development official — first, beginning in 2008, as director of planning and development for his native Lakewood. In 2011, Kelly followed Lakewood Mayor Ed FitzGerald, who was elected Cuyahoga County’s first executive, and served as FitzGerald’s deputy chief of staff for development. There, he mobilized the public sector to help entrepreneurs build businesses and helped developers build and redevelop buildings in downtown Cleveland and around the county. Then, under FitzGerald’s successor, Armond Budish, Kelly served as director of innovation and strategic initiatives, where his responsibilities included evaluating the future of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center and re-energizing the county-owned Global Center for Health Innovation. At the beginning of 2018, though, he switched sides. Now, as managing director of Cushman & Wakefield/Cresco Real Estate, he helps developers and entrepreneurs connect with the public sector’s business development resources. — Jay Miller

The Kelly file Book he’s reading “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,”

by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Favorite summer activity Going to a performance of “Hamilton.” “The soundtrack played nonstop for a year at home, so we surprised our girls (ages 10 and 11).

Enjoying something with them that they introduced to me made the experience even better than the performance,” he said.

Lunch spot Noble Beast Brewing Co. 1470 Lakeside Ave., Cleveland 216-417-8588

The meal Smoked turkey sandwich with chips and a Diet Coke; grilled ham and cheese sandwich with French fries and water.

The vibe It used to be an auto-repair garage, and there's still a glass-paneled garage door that's opened in good weather. Inside, brewing equipment dominates the story-and-a-half, exposed-brick space.

The bill $35.74 with tip

You spent a long career in the public sector, usually doing some kind of economic development, and now you’re in the private sector. How has that transition worked out for you?

When I was in the public sector, I was very passionate about the work that we were doing and it was important to me. In making the shift to the private sector, I went to an environment where that passion didn’t go away. I wanted to find a team that was passionate about Cleveland and their work. I’m fortunate that I found that. This (Cushman Wakefield/Cresco) was the team that made sure the Terminal Tower was purchased (in 2016) by a local team that bled Cleveland the same way I did — Karen Paganini and Doug Price of K&D Group. The firm made sure the community got a great user in Topgolf (a golf entertainment complex on a 16-acre site) at Interstate 480 and 77. And we worked with a team converting an abandoned theater into a terrific redevelopment site in Richmond Heights. These are the kinds of problems we would be looking at in the public sector. I’m still able to do that. I do want to continue to work on behalf of the city of Cleveland.

That’s why this opportunity was so great. This team shares a commitment to Cleveland. Now, instead of being on the side of the table where things are brought to us, now I’m able to pursue opportunities, through Cushman & Wakefield’s global clients who are looking for space here or elsewhere. We get leads for global clients looking for space, and we’re able to pop our

heads up and say, “We’re working for Cleveland — come here.”

You sound as enthusiastic about the community as you did when you were a public economic development promoter.

It’s why I’m still on the board of Destination Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Land Bank and the HELP Foundation and the Cleveland Sight Center. I really dig it.

Day to day, how is it different working in the private sector than it was working for Lakewood or Cuyahoga County?

Here, our mission is clear. It’s to serve our clients and our community through real estate. Our charge is given to us by our clients, and also internally, and we deliver. What I found here is it’s easier to build consensus because the mission is clear. In government, there are so many opportunities, such diversity of things you strive to do during a term.

You define what you want to do and it can be changed by current events.

What I was doing in economic development was challenging because there is no unified definition of what economic development is in government. Is the mission to provide jobs for people? Is it to provide services? Is it a safe jail? If it were 10 years ago, is it to build a convention center? There are so many possible challenges and solutions to those challenges.

You’re not a real estate broker.

What is a managing partner?

We have a couple dozen real estate brokers. We cover from Youngstown to Akron to Toledo. Part of my charge

is balancing completing the transaction with encouraging the decision-making to be in the best interests of the region. What I saw in the public sector was that the easy transaction was the one that was fast and low-cost. The result has been the spreading out of where businesses locate, which increases the cost of maintaining a spread-out infrastructure, and that makes access to jobs difficult for many people. As best we can, we encourage our clients to identify those sites where they already have access to workforce — or maintain their current workforce — where the transportation infrastructure is already there.

That’s good for the client and it’s good for the community.

I imagine, too, you have less bureaucracy to deal with.

Government is process driven, and here we’re outcome driven. In the public sector, optics play a more significant role because all of your cards are face-up. Here, we are still ethics-bound and have a lot of transparency into our operation. But here we want to know, “What is the goal and are we achieving it?” Then, “Let’s do it.” In the public sector, there is, justifiably, a lot of emphasis on the process because you have to make sure that there is transparency and equality of opportunity. So when you look back on the outcome it is defensible. Here, nobody is saying after the transaction is done, “Do you have minutes for all of the meetings? Did everybody get to have their say and was this a fair process to all of our competitors?” Instead, it's, “Job well done. Let’s go on to the next one.”

700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310 Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 Phone: (216) 522-1383 www.crainscleveland.com Twitter: @CrainsCleveland Publisher/editor Elizabeth McIntyre Group publisher Mary Kramer Managing editor Scott Suttell Sections editor Michael von Glahn Creative director David Kordalski Web editor Damon Sims Associate editor/Akron Sue Walton Assistant editor Kevin Kleps Senior reporter Stan Bullard, Real estate/construction Reporters Jay Miller, Government Dan Shingler, Energy/steel/auto/Akron Rachel McCafferty, Manufacturing/ energy/education Jeremy Nobile, Finance Lydia Coutré, Health care/nonprofits Senior data editor Chuck Soder Cartoonist Rich Williams Events manager Ashley Ramsey Marketing coordinator Megan Lemke Integrated marketing manager Michelle Sustar Managing editor custom/special projects Amy Ann Stoessel Director of advertising sales Lisa Rudy Advertising sales manager Steve Copley Senior account executive Dawn Donegan Account executives Laura Kulber Mintz, Loren Breen Office coordinator Denise Donaldson Pre-press and digital production Craig L. Mackey Media services manager Nicole Spell Billing Peter Iseppi Credit Rod Warmsby Crain’s Cleveland Business is published by Crain Communications Inc.

Chairman Keith E. Crain Vice chairman Mary Kay Crain President KC Crain Senior executive VP Chris Crain Secretary Lexie Crain Armstrong CFO Robert Recchia G.D. Crain Jr., Founder (1885-1973) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr., Chairman (1911-1996) Reprints: Laura Picariello, 732-723-0569 or lpicariello@crain.com Customer service and subscriptions: 877-824-9373 Volume 39, Number 48 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, except for the last week of December, at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230.

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LIST ANALYSIS

Crain’s now providing historical data from its lists

By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com @ChuckSoder

You see the Banks list on Page 25?

Crain’s Cleveland Business has been collecting data for lists like that for decades.

But, for the most part, after publishing a list, we’ve squirreled away the historical data in our database, where only we can see it.

That is changing.

Now Crain’s Data Members will get 10 years’ worth of local deposit data when they download the full Excel version of our Banks list. Same goes for our Savings Institutions list, which was published on Nov. 12.

P031_CL_20181126.indd 31

Find this week’s list: The list of Northeast Ohio’s largest banks, ranked by local deposits, is on Page 25

In the future, we’ll also offer historical data in many other list downloads.

But these lists were good ones to start with: Both the Banks list and the Savings Institutions list are ranked by deposits held in Northeast Ohio. And we’ve been collecting that data, which comes from the Federal De-

posit Insurance Corp., in the exact same manner since 2009.

The Excel version of those lists also now includes three years of institution-wide deposit, asset and employment data.

So now Crain’s Data Members can get a quick sense of which banks have been growing and shrinking and how they’ve faired locally over the past decade.

Though that data is exclusively available to Data Members, here’s a quick taste: The 38 banks on the full digital list held $90.1 billion in deposits in the 15-county Northeast Ohio area as of June 30. That’s up 3.8% since June 30, 2017. Those dollar totals don’t include the 13 thrifts on our Savings

Institutions list. They held $14.3 billion as of June 30, which was a 2.2% increase year over year.

As you might expect, most of the institutions on our Banks list had much lower deposit totals several years ago — but not just because of inflation.

The fallout from the Great Recession caused combined local deposits for banks on the list to drop in the years ending on June 30, 2010, and June 30, 2012. But they more than recovered in recent years and in some cases grew through acquisition.

This year’s total got a big boost from KeyBank, which saw its local deposits jump 10.7% in the 12 months ending June 30 — enough to retake the No. 1 spot from Columbus-based Huntington National

Bank, which acquired FirstMerit Bank of Akron in 2016 and jumped into the top spot on the list in 2017.

Speaking of that deal, Pennsylvania-based First Commonwealth Bank entered the local market in 2016, when it bought 13 FirstMerit branches that Huntington shed to appease antitrust regulators. It saw its local deposit total grow 11.2% on this year’s list.

CFBank posted a huge 59.5% increase. The Columbus-based bank didn’t respond to a request for comment. Its deposits have been growing companywide, mainly because of growing certificate of deposit account balances, according to quarterly reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

11/21/18 12:38 PM

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