Community Leader - August 2023

Inside:

+ Are We Shovel Ready?

+ Climbing Seven Hills + JCU: Cradle of Coaches

Shooting Moon

for the

Will the Blue Abyss training facility position us as a leader in the commercialization of space?

The Ohio Aerospace Institute FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Paul Marnecheck, Dr. John Sankovic, Mayor Edward Orcutt

DEPARTMENTS

2 From the Publisher

49 My Life

56 1,000 Words

UPFRONT

4 Get InMotion

A local nonprofit has programs and a mission to help people with Parkinson’s disease.

BY TERRY TROY

6 Lillian Leads

Learn more about Lillian Kuri, the Cleveland Foundation’s new president and CEO.

BY JILL SELL

7 Community Leaders Shine

Cascade’s Michelle Primm, Thompson Hine’s Robyn Minter

Smyers and KeyCorp’s Christoper Gorman earn recognition.

BY TERRY TROY

8 Building Family

Meet an entrepreneur who points to exposure, engagement and empowerment as key.

BY CHRISTINA EASTER

10 Thinking Outside the Big Box

Outdated retail spaces can be transformed to fit current needs if you think innovatively.

BY ZACK MILLER

12 Life of a Football Legacy

John Carroll University’s new athletic director Brian Polian learned the ropes with wellknown family and coaches.

BY BOB SANDRICK

14 Inspired Innovation

The Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Annual Event touted the importance of public and private partnerships.

BY TERRY TROY

COLUMN

16 Lee Fisher

The Cleveland State University College of Law Dean shares tips to approach life and decision making with values.

FEATURE

23 High-Flying Career

Sky Quest helps potential candidates find careers in the aviation field.

BY JILL SELL

24 Competency-Based Education

Cuyahoga Community College introduces a competency-based education program.

BY BOB SANDRICK

26 Better Vibes

A Larchmere coffee house offers a new option and garners community support.

BY RHONDA CROWDER

28 Growing Leaders

McGregor employees are offered ongoing professional growth opportunities.

COVER STORY

18 Is the Sky the Limit?

Local leaders and industry experts work to bring The Blue Abyss Training Facility to Cleveland, potentially making us a player in the commercialization of space.

BY TERRY TROY

23

29 Changing Public Health Perceptions

Baldwin Wallace creates leaders in the health care field.

BY JILL SELL

30 Shovel Ready

Are Cleveland’s brownfields holding back development?

BY JILL SELL

33 Climbing “Hills”

Seven Hills Mayor Biasiotta has a set of priorities for the city.

BY TERRY TROY

34 Creating Affordable Housing Habitat for Humanity works with Cleveland City Council.

BY JOANNE CAHILL

36 Meet the New Queen in Town

BY JOANNE CAHILL

SPECIAL SECTION

38 Women of Distinction

Meet decision-makers, accomplished leaders and doers whose impact means better things for Northeast Ohio.

BY STAFF

44 Meetings and Events

Local experts share advice to plan an event that meets today’s needs.

BY LINDA FEAGLER

Cleveland’s new entertainment cruise ship comes to town.

BY JILL SELL

A Community of Communities

If I am in Cleveland and ask you where you live, chances are you are going to name a suburb. If you are in Chicago and are asked the same question, you are going to say Cleveland. And if you are at a three-day conference in California and are asked the same question, you are going to answer Ohio.

The point is, we have lived our lives understanding that a suburb, a city, a state are communities on a map with clearly defined borders. Or as the Oxford dictionary defines community, we are “A body of people living in one locale.”

However, there are many communities not in one locale. For example, the health care community, the education community, the safety community, the arts community, the business community, the nonprofit community.

So why care what the word community means? Actually, we should care. Because the communities not defined by locale are as important to us as the communities where we live. They are the communities of our vocations — our bread and butter.

For years Cleveland has been known as a community of “eds” and “meds,” world-class communities of education and medicine. Why haven’t we created more world-class vocational communities?

The answer is that Cleveland has rested on its laurels for 20 years, content in its accomplishments in education and medicine. There is no reason why this would not be a good time to create more world-class communities for vocations, communities that begin with students and educate, train and provide jobs in their chosen vocations.

The success Cleveland has had in building what it has in medicine and education should provide all the confidence we need to know that we can create more than two worldclass vocational communities.

Executive Publisher Lute Harmon Sr.

Executive Editor Terry Troy

Managing Editor Jennifer Bowen Sima

Senior Editor Ann-Marie Vazzano

Managing Art Director Rayanne Medford

Art Directors Tom Abate

Stacy Mallardi-Stajcar

Megan Rosta

Contributing Writers Karen Beis

Joanne Cahill

Rhonda Crowder

Christina Easter

Linda Feagler

Lee Fisher

Zack Miller

Bob Sandrick

Jill Sell

Lynne Thompson

Terry Troy

Contributing Artists Kevin Kopanski

Erik Drost

Associate Publisher Denise Polverine

Vice President, Advertising Paul Klein

Senior Account Sarah Desmond Executives Tiffany Myroniak

Account Executive Julie Bialowas

Operations Manager Corey Galloway

Traffic Coordinator Kristen Brickner

Production Manager Alyson Moutz Cowan

Audience and Events Manager Jennifer Roberts

Chief Financial Officer George Sedlak

UPFRONT

NONPROFITS

// BY TERRY TROY

Get InMotion

Next month is your chance to support a totally unique nonprofit dedicated to helping the estimated 35,000 plus people in Northeast Ohio who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD). On Sunday, Sept. 10, InMotion is hosting its signature fundraising event, the 7th Annual Pals In Motion 5K Run/Walk presented by the Allan Goldberg Family at Beachwood High School.

“Parkinson’s disease is now the fastest growing neurological disorder in the world, surpassing Alzheimer’s,” says Cathe Schwartz, CEO of InMotion. “Typically, only people who are 65 or older get it, but there are now a lot of people who also get it when they are quite a bit younger.”

Actor Michael J. Fox was diagnosed at age 29.

“A lot of PD patients are dealing with limited mobility,” says Schwartz. “They may slow down or they may develop a tremor. Their speech is sometimes impacted, and their movements get noticeably smaller.”

While there is currently no cure for this progressive neurodegenerative disease, a growing body of evidence suggests that physical exercise, mindfulness interventions and education can slow the progression of the disease and improve the quality of life.

“At InMotion, a lot of our exercise programs focus on making sure movements are big, steps are big and that you are swinging your arms when you walk,” says Schwartz. “Balance and gait are also affected when you have Parkinson’s, so we work on strengthening the body to deal with those issues as well.”

While many PD patients see a movement disorder specialist and get the medication they need, they often are not getting enough exercise nor the basic day-to-day advice on how to live with the disease, or how to support anybody that is.

“You don’t go to a doctor’s office for exercise, you go for a hard diagnosis and medication,” says Schwartz. “You come to InMotion for exercise.

“Every exercise class we offer at InMotion is evidence-based for people with PD.”

Better Every Day, InMotion’s signature class, helps with balance, gait, movement, amplitude (big movements) and strength. Riding a spin cycle and pedaling at 80 to 90 revolutions per minute can help reduce motor symptoms in people with PD. While InMotion’s Mindful Movement class helps with daily living tasks, balance, strength and stress, there are numerous other exercise and support programs as well.

InMotion was founded in 2015 by Karen Jaffe, MD; Ben Rossi; Allan Goldberg, Lee Handel and David Riley, MD.

“Each of our founders brings a unique perspective to the table when it comes to Parkinson’s,” says Schwartz. “Karen, Lee and Allan are people with Parkinson’s, while Rossi is a wellness athletic trainer, and Dr. Riley is a movement disorder specialist.

“They came together with the idea of creating a center that is open to everyone and that could provide not only exercise, but support and education for people with Parkinson’s as well as their care partners.”

This idea is what makes it one of the most unique PD care facilities in the nation, says Schwartz. And it is totally free. InMotion is 100% supported by philanthropy and never charges its clients.

Discover how you can support a local nonprofit dedicated to helping those suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is now the fastest growing neurological disorder in the world, surpassing Alzheimer’s.”

— Cathe Schwartz, InMotion CEO

Exercising at InMotion’s 20,000 squarefoot facility in Beachwood.

LEADERSHIP // BY JILL SELL

Lillian Leads

Cleveland Foundation’s new president and CEO offers a fresh perspective.

Wade Lagoon is an amazing body of water that has reflected the faces and thoughts of Clevelanders and visitors for more than a century. Standing atop the imposing stone stairs at the original entrance to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Lillian Kuri has a great view of the Fine Arts Garden pond, as well as a slice of the surrounding bustling University Circle.

Kuri, who became president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation Aug. 1, describes an ideal “day off” as visiting the museum’s galleries. It’s not because she’s antisocial but because she can better immerse herself in the artwork. Then she walks around the building to the vintage stairs, descends and begins a long walk that takes her through several parts of the city. It is one of several walking itineraries in Cleveland neighborhoods.

“It’s where I can generate ideas. I see how people are living. I meet people along the way. I love it that I don’t always need my car. I can do most everything by foot,” says Kuri, who lives in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood.

Ideas and progress are important to Kuri, who is the foundation’s 10th president and only woman who has held that position full time. Founded in 1914, the Cleveland Foundation is two years older than the Cleveland Museum of Art. It has assets of more than $3 billion and awards more than $120 million in charitable grants each year. Recipient projects include those in arts and culture, education, energy innovation, economic development and more.

An architect, city planner/designer, community strategist and civic leader, Kuri has been with the Cleveland Foundation for 18 years, most recently as executive vice president and COO.

“I don’t approach the work as an architect or a city planner, but all my training and experiences help me connect the dots and see across things and how everything relates,” says Kuri, who also co-leads the foundation’s financial and social impact investing strategy with its $385 million portfolio. “We cannot

solve complex problems alone, we need to work with partners. I hope that a hallmark of my tenure is seeing all the great leaders of this city work together.”

Kuri, who grew up in Portage County, also believes that being a woman, a mother of two, single parent and daughter of Lebanese immigrants, allows her to bring an additional “different perspective” to her position.

“It’s hard to have work/life balance while raising a family, and I even had help from my mother,” says Kuri. “But through my work, I am hoping other women can see it is possible. Also, as a society, we need to help people age in place and respect the relationship between parents, children and grandparents.”

The CEO says the Cleveland Foundation’s move in May to its $28 million headquarters in MidTown is a reflection of its improved transparency. The building’s more welcoming environment (think community meeting spaces and a cafe) is a literal sign of the foundation’s goal to better address the needs of those residents and communities that historically have not all been recipients of foundation support.

“I really have a deep love for this city, and I have a deep understanding not just of Cleveland, but Cuyahoga County and the whole region. Cleveland is one of the most extraordinary places to live. People don’t realize the quality of life we have here with its natural environment or the cultural opportunities. I feel fortunate to live here.”

Kuri has also discovered kayaking as a unique way to see the region’s “many different landscapes, from old industrial sites to reservoirs to the lake.” But, we should add, Wade Lagoon is off limits to kayakers.

“To me, kayaking is an outlet and an extraordinary way to see how Cleveland is developing,” says Kuri.

We cannot solve complex problems alone; we need to work with partners. I hope that a hallmark of my tenure is seeing all the great leaders of this city work together.”

— Lillian Kuri, President and CEO, Cleveland Foundation

// BY TERRY TROY

Community Leaders Shine

Primm is Proper

Michelle Primm of the Cascade Auto Group has been chosen by her peers as the 2023-2024 chairwoman of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association (OADA), taking over the post from Tim Glockner of the Glockner Family of Dealerships.

Primm has been active with the OADA for many years, serving the last four on the organization’s executive committee. She’s also no stranger to industry leadership, serving as the president of the Ohio Motor Vehicle Dealers Board. Primm has also been a champion of women in business for her entire career, currently serving on the National Automobile Dealers Association’s (NADA) Board of Directors representing all women dealers east of the Mississippi.

Primm is managing partner of the Cascade Auto Group in Cuyahoga Falls alongside her brothers Pat and Mike Primm. The dealership group has served the Cuyahoga Falls, Akron,

Canton, Hudson, Kent and Twinsburg areas for over 50 years.

While she started in the family business at 12, Primm is a graduate of Kent State University with a degree in finance and is also a graduate of the NADA’s Dealer Academy.

Diversity Center Honors Two

The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio will honor Robyn Minter Smyers, partner at Thompson Hine, and Christopher M. Gorman, chairman and CEO of KeyCorp with its Humanitarian Award during its 69th Annual Humanitarian Award Celebration at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in November.

Smyers is a partner in Thompson Hine’s Real Estate, Construction and Corporate Transactions & Securities practice groups, as well as a co-chair of the firm’s Site Selection practice. She also is a member of Thompson Hine’s Executive Committee. She is the immediate past partner in charge of the firm’s Cleveland office and a former chair of the firmwide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative. She focuses

her practice on helping companies find and develop new plants, headquarters and facilities.

Smyers was honored as the 2018 Black Professional of the Year by the Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation.

When Gorman assumed the role of chairman, CEO and president of KeyCorp in 2020, he brought more than 30 years of financial services experience to his role.

Gorman and his team are responsible for $198 billion in assets, more than 17,000 employees and 3.5 million clients.

Previously, Gorman was vice-chairman and president of Banking where he was responsible for KeyCorp’s businesses. He was responsible for leading Key’s integration of First Niagara Financial Group, which was the largest acquisition in Key’s 190-year history.

Gorman is a board member of the Business Roundtable and vice chair of the Ohio Business Roundtable. He also sits on the Executive Committee. He is a member of the Supervisory Board for The Clearing House and is an active member of both the Bank Policy Institute (BPI) and its technology policy division, the BITS Committee.

Gorman is also active in the Cleveland community, serving as a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art and on the board of the University Hospitals Health System, where he also is the Chair of the Audit & Compliance Committee. He is on the Executive Committee of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and co-chair of its Equity & Inclusion committee.

Kudos to Cascade’s Primm, Thompson Hine’s Smyers and KeyCorp’s Gorman.

LEADERSHIP

COURTESY CASCADE AUTO GROUP, THOMPSON HINE, KEYCORP

Michelle Primm

Robyn Minter Smyers Christopher M. Gorman

BY CHRISTINA EASTER

Building Family

Meet an entrepreneur/ mentor who values exposure, engagement and empowerment.

In 2009, Ariane Kirkpatrick started her construction company, The AKA Team. It’s a family affair — titled with her name and the first initials of her children.

“Ali is the chief strategy officer, my other son Kristopher is the chief financial officer, my sister is the chief operations officer, my nephew Jalen Davis is the chief innovation officer, my husband Danny Couch was our

safety director before becoming our evaluator,” Kirkpatrick says. “And my niece Naja Davis does whatever is needed.”

“I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur; I just didn’t know it was called ‘entrepreneur.’ I just knew I wanted to be a business owner.”

Her road to success includes family members, mentors and unforgettable experiences that impacted her worldview — she grew up near 100th and Cedar, surrounded by Blackowned businesses.

At 17, she was a vendor at the Labor Day picnic and sold her poetry book or gave it

Left to right: Kristopher Kirkpatrick, Ariane Kirkpatrick and Ali Kirkpatrick

to customers who made a basketball shot. When computers became fashionable, she opened her first brick-and-mortar print and design business, A Better Kopy. Next she opened Corned Beef Warehouse, a restaurant in Maple Heights. Then she pivoted.

Her first attempt to get into construction was during college prep when she took drafting.

“I liked construction and architecture and always wanted to do something in those areas,” Kirkpatrick says.

It was a gift Kirkpatrick and her sister had, “and I don’t know where we got that from,” she says. “I just remember it looked like a program that I wanted to do, and when I talked to the teacher, he said, ‘You may want to look into it.’”

The AKA Team started out building residential rehab and commercial storefront renovations. It was ready when the opportunity surfaced to work on the Cleveland

Museum of Art’s $385 million renovation around 2009.

“Helen Forbes-Fields, president and chief executive officer of YWCA, was on the museum’s board at the time, and she was very instrumental in ensuring there was diversity and equity on the project,” Kirkpatrick says. “Helen made the difference, because this opened the door for companies such as mine.”

Kirkpatrick considers Vanessa Whiting, owner and president of AES Management, a mentor. And Whiting sees Kirkpatrick as a valuable and accomplished peer.

“You need people you can bounce things off of and share experiences with, because this is a data point that can be used to move forward,” Whiting says.

Phil Kerber, senior vice president of Whiting-Turner, formed a mentor-mentee relationship with Kirkpatrick in 2012 as part of Cleveland Clinic’s mentor-protege.

“Phil is a big reason for growth over the last 10 years,” she says. “They helped with talent acquisition, construction delivery, training and growth of our construction management team.”

Through it all, Kirkpatrick uses a creed she calls the E Thing: exposure, engagement and empowerment. Family, extended and all, have helped make her ventures a success. And she wants to pass that same energy back into the community.

“I love to mentor, and I think it’s important for me to tell my story so that others can see it and learn,” Kirkpatrick says.

Give to the ZooFund

At the Cleveland Zoo Society, we are resourceful, dedicated, and forever passionate about what we do. The value of supporting the Cleveland Zoological Society is immeasurable. Every donation helps create a better Zoo for our community. Please help us reach our goals by donating to the ZooFund today.

ClevelandZooSociety.org/Donate

I love to mentor, and I think it’s important for me to tell my story so that others can see it and learn.”

– Ariane Kirkpatrick

// BY ZACK MILLER

Thinking Outside the Big Box

It’s time to consider an innovative approach to reusing outdated retail.

Cleveland, we need to address something.

As wonderful as it is to see new development in the region, we must also grapple with our existing building stock. We’re a shrinking city with vacant structures that lay dormant across northeast Ohio. We need to rethink their respective purposes.

I’m talking about the ugly stuff. Architectural junk. The vacant strip malls. The rusting warehouses. The boarded-up fast food joints. The vacant big-box retail stores. The stuff with no character or personality. What do we do with that? I believe we must begin to rethink these spaces — or else we will continue an unsustainable cycle of new

construction and outgrowth — contributing to Cleveland’s sea of vacant structures.

During my graduate architecture degree program, I asked this question: How could we possibly imagine reusing buildings labeled as ugly and unimportant? Firstly, I thought about how to categorize these buildings. You know, the kind of “pass-through” buildings that you utilize only for practicalities — typically just large boxes of open space for various commercial tenants to rent.

Renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas wrote about this very concept in his 2002 article, Junkspace: “If space-junk is the human debris that litters the universe, junk-space is the residue mankind leaves on the planet.

The built product of modernization is not modern architecture but Junkspace. Junkspace is what remains after modernization has run its course or, more precisely, what coagulates while modernization is in progress, its fallout.”

In non architectural-jargon terms: The market creates such a fast turnaround for new space and architecture that there’s a sort of “fallout” that occurs in the process — which is “junkspace.” The demand for

Zack Miller COURTESY ZACK MILLER

new, ground-up space is higher than the rate of occupying existing ones.

I decided to do something about this. During graduate school, I created a proposal to turn a vacant big-box store in Cleveland into affordable housing. It almost seems ironic, maybe even impossible: Big-box stores are infamous for large, open parking lots; open spaces atop concrete floor slabs and little architectural detail outside of large signage.

How can housing be retrofitted into an existing environment like this?

Let’s start with structure. Superstores are typically just concrete floor slabs with four walls and steel trusses running atop the high ceilings. Any sort of redevelopment needs to be economically feasible.

Housing should embrace the existing structure. It should really stay true to its superstore surroundings. It should act like the rows of merchandise shelving that typically occupy spaces like this, able to be constructed directly atop the store floor and be organized in an aisle-like manner. It should use those existing

roof trusses as a framework for installing new skylights. It should use the long, boring exterior facades as a backdrop for new, simple, fun cladding systems.

A new housing typology, even whole neighborhoods, can be carved out of what was once an endless expanse of concrete and cash registers. We can and should conceive of new ways to rethink and redevelop our existing buildings.

These spaces have so many benefits. They are usually in desirable locations, are up to date regarding mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and they can be avenues to produce new space in a cost effective manner. This project could provide housing in a nice and modern environment but streamlined at a lower cost.

If we embrace the idea that big-box stores don’t have to be big-box stores, and parking lots don’t always have to be parking lots, I think we can inch closer to creating a better and more convalescent built environment for all of us — in Cleveland and beyond.

An artist’s rendering of big-box retail transformed into living and lifestyle space.

ATHLETICS // BY BOB SANDRICK

Life of a Football Legacy

Brian Polian, John Carroll University’s new athletic director, might have received his greatest lesson in leadership after the 2016 college football season when he was hired as special teams coordinator for the University of Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish had won only four games in 2016. Head Coach Brian Kelly faced criticism, but instead of turning defensive, he sat down with his older players and asked them how he had fallen short. As a result of those conversations, Kelly built stronger relationships with his players, and he identified and nurtured leaders among them.

The new approach paid off. Notre Dame went 55-9 over the next five years and made the college football playoffs twice. Kelly had realized that his Generation Z players were different, that he needed to connect with them personally before making demands of them on the field.

“I watched one of the winningest active coaches completely reinvent himself and have the humility to do that,” Polian says. “He recognized that our student athletes were changing, and their needs were changing, and that he had to evolve.”

Polian certainly played a role in Notre Dame’s football success when he was there from 2017 through 2022. His special teams squad consistently ranked in the top 20 among all college teams. Some of the players he recruited to Notre Dame ended up in the National Football League.

After Notre Dame, Polian followed Kelly to Louisiana State University, where he was both special teams coordinator, then associate athletic director and general manager of football.

So why would Polian leave the spotlight of Division I football at Notre Dame and LSU and accept the athletic director position at John Carroll, with its Division III sports programs, in University Heights? For one thing, Polian is a 1997 John Carroll graduate. He played for the Blue Streaks football team.

“I always knew I’d be back here at some point, but I didn’t know when or in what capacity,” says Polian, 48. “I love that John Carroll is a private, liberal arts, faithbased school.”

Polian adds that John Carroll’s athletes and 24 varsity sports teams are underrated. The Blue Streaks have won seven straight Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s All-Sports Trophies.

“There’s a misconception,” Polian says. “People might think we have just a robust version of intramurals here, but that’s not what John Carroll is. The young people who come here play to compete.

“Maybe we don’t have the God-given physical abilities to compete against The

John Carroll University’s new athletic director brings with him strong leadership and love for the game.

People might think we have just a robust version of intramurals here, but that’s not what John Carroll is. The young people who come here play to compete.”

— Brian Polian, John Carrol University, Athletic Director

Ohio State University, but that doesn’t mean these kids don’t value the competition and get amped up for it,” Polian says.

John Carroll might also serve as a steppingstone someday for Polian into NFL coaching or upper management. Over the years, dozens of former Blue Streaks players and coaches have made the leap to the NFL as coaches, general managers, scouts, front office personnel, medical staffers and communications specialists and media.

Polian says he hasn’t ruled out that possibility, although he’s now focused on John Carroll and, with his wife Laura, raising two children — Aidan, 14, and Charlotte, 10 — in a relatively stable community.

Football Family

Polian, a Buffalo native, grew up around football. His father, Bill Polian, is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, having rebuilt the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts. Those teams appeared in five Super Bowls.

“While other kids were working at PuttPutt or mowing lawns, I was ball boy and equipment assistant for the Buffalo Bills, standing next to (head coach) Marv Levy, (quarterback) Jim Kelly and (running back) Thurman Thomas at practice,” Polian says. “I also learned that life doesn’t always go the way you want it to. We lost three Super Bowls, and I watched my dad’s heart break and saw what it did to the city.”

Polian knew as a high schooler that he wanted a career in coaching. At John Carroll, he initially was a linebacker, but then a young man named London Fletcher showed up to play the same position. Fletcher would go on to play for the St. Louis Rams, Bills and Washington Commanders (formerly Redskins).

“I’m the son of a Hall of Fame personnel evaluator, so it didn’t take me long to realize that London was a whole lot better than I was,” Polian says. “So, I became a special teams player and took a ton of pride in that.”

Two weeks after graduating from John Carroll, Polian landed a job as graduate

assistant football coach at Michigan State University under Nick Saban, now head football coach at the University of Alabama. Then came stints at the University of South Florida and the University at Buffalo.

Polian’s first experience at Notre Dame came as a staffer and recruiter from 2005 through 2009. ESPN and Rivals, which cover all college sports, named Polian one of the top player recruiters in the United States.

From 2010 to 2012, Polian was special teams coordinator at both Stanford and Texas A&M universities. He was also recruiting coordinator and safeties coach at Stanford and tight ends coach at Texas A&M.

“Special teams coordinator was a great training ground for leadership and head coaching,” Polian says. “It’s not dealing with one side of the ball or position group. You’re involved in coaching the entire team. It taught me to see the big picture.”

Before heading back to Notre Dame, Polian was head coach of the Nevada Wolf Pack from 2013 to 2017. He led the team to two bowl games, winning one of them. He mentored future NFL players, including Browns guard Joel Bitonio.

“I would love to tell you that I had a ton to do with Joel’s development, but he was pretty much the finished product,” Polian says. “He was a joy to be around.”

The Pipeline

It remains to be seen whether Polian will enter John Carroll’s NFL “pipeline” — what the university calls its uncanny tendency to send alumni, along with former Blue Streaks football players and coaches, to NFL jobs — but it wouldn’t be surprising. Even Polian’s brother, Chris, is a 1993 graduate of John Carroll and former general manager of the Indianapolis Colts and current director of pro personnel for the Washington Commanders.

Seven John Carroll alumni and one former coach went on to coach in the NFL. They included Hall of Famer Don Shula, a 1951 graduate who was head coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins and won two Super Bowls with the Dolphins.

Today, 11 John Carroll alumni and six former coaches are coaching in the NFL, including graduate Josh McDaniels, head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, and Brandon Staley, former Blue Streaks defensive coordinator and now head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

In addition, 10 John Carroll grads and three former coaches are general managers, scouts and executives with nine NFL teams, including the Browns, where alumni Scott DiBenedetto is scouting assistant and coaching analyst and Joe Dever is Mid-Atlantic area scout. Meanwhile, John Carroll grads Tom Telesco, Nick Caserio and David Ziegler are general managers of the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Los Vegas Raiders, respectively.

Finally, 14 John Carroll graduates have NFL jobs as front-office personnel, medical staffers, communications and media specialists and certified agents. Allison Likar is executive assistant with the Browns.

John Carroll associate business professor Andy Welki, an expert on John Carroll’s NFL pipeline, says the university has other underpublicized pipelines to other professions.

“We get a great bunch of hardworking people here who tend to check their egos at the door,” Welki says.

Polian says John Carroll sets a high standard, similar to the NFL.

“If you enter the NFL and you came from John Carroll, there is an expectation you will meet that standard,” he adds.

Andy Welki

WORKING

THE ROOM

// BY TERRY TROY

Inspired Innovation

GCP’s Annual Event shares insight on the importance of public and private partnerships in moving Cleveland forward.

The gorgeous atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art was the perfect backdrop for Greater Cleveland Partnership’s (GCP) Annual Event, which hosted more than 1,000 Greater Clevelanders earlier this summer.

Carrying the theme of “Inspired Innovation,” the event featured a full slate of speakers and panelists who shared their insights and ideas on how public and private partnerships can move our region forward.

GCP Partnership Board Chair Paul Dolan opened by challenging the crowd.

“What if we constantly think bigger, act bolder and move forward with confidence? What if we embrace innovation and strive for excellence? What if we endeavor for impact on a global scale?” Dolan asked.

“In the last year, we have set our ‘All In’ vision and plan for Greater Cleveland to once again become one of the great regions in the Great Lakes. The foundation for our success is our ‘All In’ values, which start with being inspired and end with always acting in unity, for the community’s benefit.”

GCP’s “All in Vision for a Great Region on a Great Lake” has five key priorities: dynamic business, abundant talent, inclusive opportunity, appealing community and business confidence.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted delivered the keynote address, which focused on the importance of innovation for statewide growth.

“Innovation has been the key to progress for all of history,” Husted said during the address, not that innovation and “tech supremacy” are essential to Ohio and

COURTESY MICHAEL COLLIER

GCP’s Annual Event was held in the atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

America’s security and progress. More specifically, he spoke to the potential of Intel’s $20 billion investment outside of Columbus to impact the state and called on civic leaders to stop “putting up barriers.”

Husted also spoke about the benefits of Ohio’s TechCred workforce development program, which helps Ohioans learn new skills while helping employers build a stronger workforce with skills needed in a technology-based economy. He also cited the promise of Cleveland’s Innovation District.

“Ohio is a state on the rise,” Husted noted, identifying 48 companies that have recently moved here from the coasts.

Other speakers included GCP President and CEO Baiju Shah and Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) Executive Director Megan Kim.

“It is fitting to be talking about being inspired here at the Cleveland Museum

of Art — a globally renowned museum and home to so many inspired artworks,” said Shah. “The museum was founded in 1916 by civic-minded business leaders, and more than 100 years later, their legacy of a museum ‘for the benefit of all people, forever’ endures.

“The spirit of business leaders engaging and advancing our community is at the core of the Greater Cleveland Partnership,” he added.

COSE’s Kim focused on entrepreneurs in the small business community in her remarks.

“The risk takers, the rebels, the innovators… the people who decided to follow their passion, those who dug their heels in, went against the grain and became the boss of their own destiny,” Kim said. “Those who define Greater Cleveland’s small business community, make it

stronger, more diverse, more accomplished and more impactful.”

The evening concluded with the Shatten Award Presentation, given in honor of Richard Shatten, the late leader of Cleveland Tomorrow. GCP presents this award annually to recognize nonprofit professionals who have had significant impact while exhibiting qualities reminiscent of Richard Shatten’s spirit.

This year’s honorees are from the Cleveland Foundation: Ronald B. Richard, former president and CEO; Lillian A. Kuri, president and CEO; and India Pierce Lee, former senior vice president, programming.

“Throughout their time together, they have provided leadership on key civic priorities, leveraging their platform to convene the community, catalyze initiatives and drive impact that is felt throughout our region,” said Dolan.

Attendees were treated to a full slate of speakers and panelists.

The atrium proved to be an excellent venue to socialize and network.

This year’s Shatten Award Winners included Cleveland Foundation’s Ronn Richard, Lillian Kuri and India Pierce Lee.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted delivered the keynote address.

GCP CEO and President Baiju Shah addressed the crowd.

COMMUNITY // BY LEE FISHER

Remember Your Why

Each August, as dean of Cleveland State University College of Law, I welcome our first-year class of law students and share some thoughts…

Today, I want to share three pieces of advice as you embark on this next chapter of your life.

Lean into uncertainty. We live in a VUCA world — volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Life is often about making sufficient conclusions from insufficient information. Get comfortable with no clear answers. Rarely, if ever, are there just two choices. The best decision makers stay flexible and adaptable and create multiple options and paths before solving a complex problem.

Lean into uncertainty with the resilience and optimism you displayed during the pandemic. There are times in every lawyer’s life when, despite their best efforts, they come up short. You may provide sound advice to a client only to have the client ignore it. You may write the perfect motion only to have the court deny it. The true measure of your success in law school will be how you learn from your mistakes and setbacks by adapting, changing and improving.

Recognize that the law, like life, is complex and full of shades of gray and contradictions. Many of our historical figures after whom institutions are named led contradictory lives that serve as a constant reminder of our nation’s contradictions. The lives of many of our nation’s founders hold multiple truths — that they did truly great things and they did reprehensible things that we should condemn and never excuse. Our Constitution is one of the greatest documents ever written and has stood the test of time because of its core values of democratic governance and safeguards of liberty, but it was deeply flawed. The preamble’s first three words, “We the people,” did not include the majority of America’s citizens — women and Blacks.

Seek first to understand. We need leaders who recognize the value of asking rather than telling, of listening rather than jumping to conclusions. As Steven Covey notes in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

At a time when political polarization has reached new heights and political discourse has reached new lows, it’s never been more important to have the courage and skill to listen, learn and understand before you speak, advocate and lead.

Question assumptions. Doubt what you know, be curious about what you don’t know and be open to changing your mind. As Adam Grant notes in Think Again, “If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.”

Stop seeing what you want to see and hearing what you want to hear because everything you perceive has a way of confirming whatever you believe.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion means that we must protect the expression of all views, even those we disagree with. We must create a learning environment that both respects freedom of speech and ensures that we support all of our diverse community members on their path to becoming lawyers.

First-year law students and all of us can benefit from these tips to approach life and decision making with values.

Remember your why.

Two bricklayers were asked: “What are you doing?’ The first, exhausted and unhappy, said, “I am laying bricks.” The second, energized and in good spirits, said, “I am building a cathedral.”

There will be days when it will be difficult to see beyond the bricks. Beyond the stress of today’s challenging reading assignment, tomorrow’s possible cold call in class and next week’s final exam. But in those most challenging moments, I ask you to remember your why.

You have decided to study and work for the next several years like most people won’t, so you can learn law and live justice like most people can’t.

As our nation becomes more diverse, we can find the shared values and common ground that make us all human and connected, or, by our silence and inaction, we can allow demagogues to exploit our differences that divide and separate us. We need leaders who know how to discern

what is true and what is not by examining facts and evidence — and have the courage to speak up when our democracy and rule of law are threatened.

My friend Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, in The Bill of Obligations, argues that while the Bill of Rights is at the center of our Constitution, we should also have a bill of obligations to which good citizens commit in order to heal our divisions and to safeguard democracy.

Similarly, with your law degree will come obligations. Among them is to know that even as you zealously advocate for your clients, you must remain committed to the ethical practice of law and civility, and to use your law degree not only to make a difference for your clients but to make a difference for people you may never meet.

Fidelity to the rule of law does not mean that the law is always just. It is not. We all have work to do in making it better. But when our nation has achieved anything of consequence, it has done so most often

through civil debate, mutual respect and measured compromise. We are at our best when we are showing humility, listening to other views, respectfully debating differences and building consensus.

So think of yourselves as more than aspiring lawyers. Think of yourselves as future custodians of civility, defenders of democracy and guardians of justice.

The world needs you more than ever.

Lee Fisher is Dean and Joseph C. Hostetler-BakerHostetler Chair in Law at Cleveland State University College of Law. He is the former Ohio Attorney General, Lt. Governor, Director of the Ohio Department of Development, Chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, State Representative, State Senator, Chair of the Cuyahoga County Legislative Delegation, President/CEO of the Center for Families and Children, and President/ CEO of CEOs for Cities. In November 2022, Dean Fisher was inducted in the Cleveland Magazine Business Hall of Fame.

Sky Limit? the Is the

The Blue Abyss Training Facility Could Position Us as a Leader in the Commercialization of Space.

By Terry Troy

We had it. We lost it. Will we ever get it back?

Our city has a checkered past when it comes to space and aviation. We’re not referring to the checkered flags that once greeted Jimmy Doolittle as he flew around pylons at breakneck speeds during the Cleveland National Air Races back in the day.

At one time, our city was on the cutting edge of aviation and flight technology. Now, more than a century later, there’s a new project coming to Brook Park that could firmly place us on a leadership path once again, at the very precipice of an exciting new age.

In terms of its immediate business impact, the new Blue Abyss space and deep-sea training facility in Brook Park looks like just a small step. But it could be a giant leap for the business economy of Northeast Ohio.

The year is 1918. The first World War is over, and business is booming. Due to its position on the New York to Chicago rail and highway corridor, and with enthusiastic support from our Chamber of Commerce and local business groups, Cleveland is chosen as the first stop on an airmail network that runs from New York to San Francisco.

In 1925, Congress passes the Kelly Act (Air Mail Act) recognizing the role of the postal service in the financial development of commercial aviation. Airlines will receive 80% of the revenue for the mail they carry.

If the act wouldn’t have passed, commercial aviation, as we know it today, would not exist.

That same year, Cleveland city officials and Army Air Service personnel select 1,040 acres at Brookpark Road and Riverside Drive, and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is born. It is the birth of successful commercial and civil aviation.

Less than four years later, Cleveland’s National Air Races become a major American event, promoting air travel and advancing aircraft research and development. Companies like Thompson Products (later TRW) and Bendix Corp., sponsor eponymous air races that, at least on the surface, cement our city’s future as a pioneer in flight and aviation.

Then, at the brink of World War II, local authorities and military officials choose Cleveland as the site of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’s (NACA) new research laboratory. More than 80 years later, known today as NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center, it is one of 10 centers and still a leading economic contributor to our economy in Northeast Ohio. It employs more than 3,000 people — both civil servants and contractors, many at very high-paying engineering positions.

The number of technological advancements pioneered at Glenn Center and the contributions made to aerospace engineering and space flight are too numerous to list.

“But we really haven’t benefited economically from the technology that was developed here,” says Dr. John Sankovic, president of the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI), who also had a distinguished 30-year-plus career at

NASA. “A lot of the economic benefit happened in Alabama, California and Florida, but it didn’t really happen here.”

But that hasn’t stopped Sankovic from being a champion of the aerospace industry, NASA Glenn Research Center and all of Ohio, especially our region.

“Most people don’t know that we have a tremendous aerospace industry in Ohio,” he says. “We have research and development not only at NASA, but also down at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base with the Air Force Research Laboratory.”

But have we made the most of it?

“At my last job at NASA, I would look outside my window and see the Shuttle Centaur rocket engine,” says Sankovic. “That hydrogen/oxygen rocket technology was pioneered by Abe Silverstein, who I believe was a greater rocket scientist than Wernher von Braun.

“We developed that technology, pioneered it. But when I picked up my eyes and looked across the fence and all around the airport region, there were not that many jobs that came from it.”

That could all be in the past. Sankovic and the OAI recently played a

key role in inking a deal with Blue Abyss Diving Ltd., for what amounts to a $250 million astronaut/deep sea diver bootcamp. It will be used to build a training facility for microgravity environments that offer an augmented reality of space in a 164-footdeep pool. The facility will also be used to train offshore maritime divers by creating practical human interfaces with autonomous robotic technology for offshore and underwater commercial and defense projects.

The project has been reported to be nearly identical to a similar major facility Blue Abyss is building in the United Kingdom in the County of Cornwall in Southwest England. Ours is expected to come online in 2025.

“The pool will have currents that simulate a deep sea environment or lighting that mirrors what an astronaut might see in terms of the stars, sun and moon,” says Richard Tanner, maritime leader for Blue Abyss.

— Richard Tanner

Dr. John Sankovic

There are a lot of companies that want to put space stations up there, and the testing of the equipment and the human element will be what the Blue Abyss Brook Park facility will handle.

Richard Tanner

Left: An artist’s rendering of the Blue Abyss facility in Cornwall. Above: An overhead shot of where the Blue Abyss facility will be located in relation to Cleveland Hopkins Airport (in the red outline).

In terms of deep sea, “a facility like this is well overdue.

“When you are dealing with research and development, especially with robotic, offshore, autonomous underwater vehicles, you can’t put your units in a small pool or the pond on an industrial site, and then go out to Lake Erie or the Atlantic for the actual job. That’s a big jump in terms of making sure your equipment is right for the job or whether or not you are able to train the human interface.”

Obviously, there is a growing demand for deep sea training and the testing of underwater vehicles worldwide.

“Just look at the growth of offshore wind farms,” says Tanner, who is a veteran of the British Royal Navy Submarine Service. “That industry alone is causing a huge increase in the need for autonomous underwater vehicles for repair and servicing.”

For marine and offshore industries, the facility is sure to attract interest from companies that design and build robotic devices and autonomous vehicles, including robotic arms, 3D autonomous cameras or the actual robots that will be doing the underwater work, most of which need to be controlled from a mother ship on the surface. And there are literally hundreds of different companies that are involved in their manufacture from smaller companies all the way up to Tier One suppliers, says Tanner.

The other, and perhaps more compelling use of the facility, will be to train astronauts and space workers who will pioneer the future exploration and commercialization of space.

“I suspect that we will eventually have to build more than one pool because we are seeing such an increase in both space tourism, but also the commercialization of space,” Tanner says. “Remember all the space walks happen underwater first before they happen in space. You really need to train for that weird environment, especially when it comes to commercialization.”

There are a lot of companies that want to put space stations up there, and the testing of the equipment and the human element will be what the Blue Abyss Brook Park facility will handle. Training in a pool offering an augmented reality that mirrors space is practical, “because once you’re up there, if you make a mistake, you’ve had it. You can’t just call a taxi and head back down,” says Tanner.

Another element of the facility will be a hotel that caters to space tourists on the

high end all the way down to contractors who are hired to work in space and might live in a more frugal environment.

When paired and partnered with the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and Sandusky and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, the new facility will create a nexus of training that simply can’t be ignored by the aerospace industry and academia. It will also likely be a key economic driver for the aerospace industry and avionics engineering.

The commercialization of space could grow into a trillion-dollar-plus business, thanks to the new commercial U.S. space race that includes companies like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

According to Sankovic, that race could further grow what is already a very healthy industry in Northeast Ohio, which has major companies and suppliers that stretch out from Cuyahoga well into Lake and Lorain counties.

“Just look at some of the aerospace companies we already have, like Component Repair Technology (CRT) machine shops like Fredon and PCC Airfoil or Parker Hannifin with its gas turbine division making fuel injectors,” says Sankovic. “We have approximately 165,000 people employed in the aerospace industry in Ohio alone.

“It’s also very important to our area in terms of our global exports. The No. 1 business export from Ohio to the U.K. is aerospace,” adds Sankovic. “I would have thought it would be soybeans or corn, or even automotive parts. But aerospace is No. 1, and it is by a factor of three to the No. 2 business, which is automotive. Aerospace is also our No. 1 export to Australia.”

“The No. 1 business export from Ohio to the U.K. is aerospace. I would have thought it would be soybeans or corn, or even automotive parts. But aerospace is No. 1, and it is by a factor of three to the No. 2 business, which is automotive. Aerospace is also our No. 1 export to Australia.”

— Dr. John Sankovic

John Vickers, chief executive of Blue Abyss, inks the deal as Mayor Edward Orcutt looks on. Paul Marnecheck is at left, while Thomas Chema of Gateway Consultants is at right.

So how did the Blue Abyss deal happen? Let’s just call it the science of the schmooze.

According to John Vickers, founder and CEO of Blue Abyss, the company’s site selection effort started over a year ago, with two London-based folks: David Townsend of the Value Partners Group and Howard Goulden of Howard Kennedy LLP, who were advocates of locating a research facility in Ohio. Townsend is a long-time supporter of doing international business in Ohio, while Goulden found the idea of a possible Ohio location as increasingly compelling.

“They reached out and we made a connection,” recalls Sankovic. “They told us they had a company that wanted to help train astronauts, so I met their CEO [John Vickers] on a Zoom meeting. They were all set to go to Houston, but they were also very respectful of my background. I told them we were right next to NASA. We have a connection to industry and academia. And we graduate 12,000 engineers a year, so why don’t you consider Ohio? Cleveland is a cool place because we are a big city. And we are also close to a Great Lake.

“Then I ran some of our microgravity activities by them, including the flights we have out of Cleveland.”

You might have seen these on the news or heard about them through other media. In the vernacular of the peasantry, the flights are sometimes referred to as the “vomit comet.”

During a parabolic or zero-gravity flight, the pilot will make a specific maneuver — the parabolic maneuver — several times to recreate the state of weightlessness inside an aircraft for 22 seconds.

“We must have done over a thousand of those parabolas out of Cleveland,” says Sankovic. “We also have a drop tower and have developed other microgravity experiments for the Space Station.”

As they continued to talk, Sankovic could sense a rapport.

“We talked about the historical work that NASA has done in microgravity research going all the way back to the ’60s, and I told them that NASA also has another facility near Sandusky,” he says. “They were also interested in Ohio because Columbus had Ohio State and the Dayton region had all it has to offer with Wright-Patterson.”

This includes its involvement with Aerospace Medicine and the large centrifuge that NASA uses, says Sankovic

That meeting convinced Vickers and others at Blue Abyss to come to Ohio for an 11-day whirlwind tour last year. They went to Sandusky, where they toured the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility (formerly known as Plum Brook Station), a 6,400-acre remote test installation site that contains the world’s largest Space Simulation Vacuum Chamber.

Measuring 100 feet in diameter and 122 feet high, it was used for testing the Mars lander systems and International Space Station hardware. The facility is also home to the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility, the world’s most powerful acoustic test chamber, which can simulate the noise of a spacecraft launch up to 163 decibels (as loud as the thrust of 20 jet engines). Its Mechanical Vibration Facility is the world’s highest capacity and most powerful spacecraft shaker system, subjecting test articles to the rigorous conditions of launch.

The facility also houses an In-Space Propulsion facility, the world’s only facility capable of testing full-scale upper stage launch vehicles and rocket engines. The Combined Effects Chamber simulates a space environment where large scale liquid hydrogen experiments can be conducted safely.

“We then drove down to Dayton and toured the facility at Wright-Patt, made it to Columbus for a few meetings, and I had them back up to the Union Club by 10 p.m. the same day,” Sankovic recalls. “We spent the whole week, and every day was pretty much the same way.”

Then came the meeting at OAI headquarters, where Brook Park Mayor Edward Orcutt and Paul Marnecheck, commissioner of economic development for the city, were in attendance.

“So Paul and I were there listening to the presentation by Mr. Vickers, and during the presentation he mentioned that they needed at least two criteria to be met,” says the mayor.

The first was that they wanted to be close to a major NASA research center like John Glenn.

“So right away we could check that box,” says Orcutt. “The other was that they needed to be next to a major urban airport because part of the training would involve going up in a plane to simulate microgravity. That’s when I raised my hand and said, ‘I want you to know that we have 18 acres right outside the gates of NASA and right across the street from the airport that we would like to show you’ — and we did it that day.

“Seven and a half months later, and here we are.”

For Blue Abyss, it was a dream come true.

“Working alongside both the Ohio Aerospace Institute and the City of Brook Park has been an absolute pleasure,”

Mayor Edward Orcutt

Paul Marnecheck

John Vickers

Both Mayor Orcutt and Paul Marnecheck, the commissioner of economic development, have been the perfect model of support, efficiency and the epitome of the sort of folks you would hope were helping bring new businesses to an area.”

— John Vickers

says Vickers. “Both organizations have been superb. The OAI in setting up the idea of us coming to Ohio and the introduction to the mayor and commissioner of economic development for Brook Park, plus their ongoing and unstinting support for our business plans.

“And the City of Brook Park — well, from our very first meeting, the mayor told me he knew where we would be sited!”

For his part, Orcutt offers a lot of credit to the work of NASA, the OAI and the various levels of federal, state and city governments.

“Obviously NASA is funded by our federal government, but we also worked with our representatives like Senator Sherrod Brown and house representatives Max Miller and Shontel Brown,” he says. “They sent a letter to President Biden requesting more funding, and it was put into the budget.”

“Both Mayor Orcutt and Paul Marnecheck, the commissioner of economic development, have been the perfect model of support, efficiency and the epitome of folks you would hope were helping bring new businesses to an area,” adds Vickers. “They have been a pleasure to deal with, great advocates for Brook Park and the wider Cleveland Northeast Ohio areas, plus just fantastically committed and driven to their utmost for both us and their city.”

It sounds like Blue Abyss is sold on our area.

“We already have plans for expansion and look forward to beginning the educational and community outreach we discussed with the mayor when we first met with him,” Vickers adds.

In the years ahead, space commercialization will expand from operating in the lower orbits just 250 miles above the earth to orbits that go all the way up to and beyond the moon.

That’s a lot of infrastructure, most of which will be developed by commercial space companies that will have to test their equipment designs and train their personnel right here. Hopefully, the new training facility has made Northeast Ohio a player in what may grow to be a trillion-dollar-plus industry.

What is the OAI?

The Ohio Aerospace Institute was founded in 1989 as a joint initiative of the NASA Glenn Research Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory at WrightPatterson Air Base, the state of Ohio and 10 public and private universities granting doctoral degrees in aerospace-related engineering disciplines, as well as numerous companies engaged in aerospace activities.

The organization encourages companies to partner with it on contracts with NASA, the Department of Defense and others as well as to build collaborative teams with other industries, government and academic partners. It is also actively involved in obtaining grants funding and assistance in business planning.

The OAI is a 501c (3) not-for-profit organization. Dr. John Sankovic is its fifth president and CEO.

FEATURE FEATURE

HIGH FLYING CAREER

Sky Quest offers candidates the chance to rise up. By Jill Sell

You know that dream some people have about working in a restaurant, being discovered by a famous Hollywood director and then becoming a big star? It wasn’t exactly like that, but Lorain resident Steven Herrera shares a similar experience.

Herrera was 16 years old, a busboy at a busy restaurant and flying around the dining area cleaning tables. He had no idea he was being watched by Corey Head, founder, president and CEO of Sky Quest, Northeast Ohio’s largest managed fleet of private jets, catering to business and leisure travelers.

“That was just my high school job, but Corey told me he liked my work ethic and that I had a good hustle,” says Herrera, now 20. “The next time he came in, Corey gave me his business card and told me to email him if I was interested in working in aviation, starting in ground support. I didn’t even have a high school diploma yet.”

After about two years of cleaning aircraft and client cars at Sky Quest, Herrera, nearing his high school graduation, was asked by Head if he was interested in becoming a pilot or mechanic. Having always enjoyed working on cars, Herrera chose the second. Sky Quest, located in Cleveland, then paid two-thirds of Herrera’s fees to attend an FAA-certified aviation maintenance technician school in Youngstown.

“Steven drove an hour and a half to

Youngstown and then an hour and a half back five days a week for a year, and for months he worked here at Sky Quest on weekends,” recalls Seth Spitale, vice president/director of charter sales. “He’s a special guy with a great attitude, personality and work ethic who fits with our culture. I think Steven reminded Corey of himself at that age — always positive, always working. If you are willing to put the effort in, Sky Quest will reward you, regardless of your age.”

given me. In 10 years, I hope to really move up here.”

Spitale, a 10-year Sky Quest employee, says the company does not have a formal apprenticeship program. But each individual selected to be supported by Sky Quest on his or her way to a pilot or mechanic’s license is given guidance. The flexible schedule and agreements benefit both the company and the employee. Since 2019, Sky Quest has supported about five individuals in their path toward a career in aviation.

Today Herrera is a certified airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic who performs and conducts preventative maintenance and repairs. According to the National Aviation Academy, an A&P certification covers “everything from a hot air balloon to a wide body jumbo jet.” Mechanics are responsible for pre- and post-flight work as well as documentation.

“Steven went from washing planes to inspecting them to fixing them,” says Spitale. “That’s a pretty cool progression.”

“It takes a lot of time and effort to get certified, but it’s a great career,” says Herrera. “Anyone can change brakes on their car, but not airplane brakes. I know what a world of opportunity this company has

“Another one of our employees started out washing cars. We helped him get some pilot ratings (requirements toward a license), and now he is one of our pilots,” says Spitale.

Sky Quest has about 140 employees, including pilots, mechanics, ground support personnel, scheduling and accounting staff. The company manages 24 private jets, ranging from the smaller Beechjet to the large Gulfstream jet.

“Also, we have employees who have retired from different kinds of jobs. One is a former IT professional with a large company. He wanted to continue working, but not at a stressful job. So he’s here washing airplanes and loving it,” says Spitale.

“Anyone can change brakes on their car, but not airplane brakes. I know what a world of opportunity this company has given me. In 10 years, I hope to really move up here.”

— STEVEN HERRERA

COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION

Tri-C will introduce an experimental program this semester. By Bob Sandrick

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) will introduce a new type of learning this summer that may someday give students in any course of study an alternative way to earn a degree or certificate.

It’s called competency-based education, or CBE, and it will allow students to learn at their own pace and in their own time, outside the traditional brickand-mortar classroom. They can speed through classes in which they already know the subject matter — if they can demonstrate mastery of the material — and take more time in classes where the material is less familiar.

Tri-C will launch its CBE experiment in the fall semester, starting Aug. 28, with a post-degree professional certificate program in cybersecurity. The program will

run for two 16-week semesters, although some students might finish in less time, perhaps even in one semester.

Charles Dull, dean of Tri-C’s Center of Excellence in Information Technology, which includes the cybersecurity program, says CBE isn’t for everyone.

“It’s all about what fits you,” Dull says. “Some people need little instruction because they can work with videos or software and do a live demonstration of their abilities online. Or they just need a question answered by email. It’s really about a person’s learning style.”

CBE is new to Tri-C, but not to the world of education. Dull says CBE is already an option at colleges like the University of New Hampshire. Western Governors University, based in Salt Lake City, offers nothing but CBE programs.

Meanwhile, the Aurora Institute, which advocates for advancements in education, reports that CBE has made inroads in K-12 schools in nearly every state in the country.

Dull says if CBE in cybersecurity is successful, Tri-C will next bring CBE to its programing and development design and data analysianalyticss courses. It’s possible that one day CBE alternatives will be available in every course and educational program at Tri-C.

“I’m not sure we’ll get there, but that would be the ideal,” Dull says.

CHARLES DULL

A Logical Match

Tri-C’s first incursion into CBE is in cybersecurity partly because it’s a rapidly growing profession. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of cybersecurity jobs was expected to grow by 35% from 2021 through 2031.

Worldwide, about 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs remain unfilled, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. In the United States alone, the number exceeds 660,000, Cyberseek reports.

The job growth is occurring because cybercrime is on the rise. Dull says banks now have separate cybersecurity departments where information security analysts do nothing but monitor their computers all day, looking for the next threat or hack.

Tri-C is providing a CBE cybersecurity option at the post degree graduate level (you only need an associate degree to get into the program) to appeal to students who are already in the profession and need updates in their education, or to those who are switching careers and might have cybersecurity knowledge.

“One of our first students who enrolled in CBE has a master’s degree but needs to upskill,” Dull says. “They can finish some cybersecurity classes in a couple of weeks, which is something this person liked about the CBE program.”

Another reason cybersecurity was chosen for the pilot CBE program was simply that Tri-C is outstanding at teaching cybersecurity. In 2018, the college placed a team in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and took first place in Ohio. The victory came just one year after Tri-C launched its traditional cybersecurity program.

Dull says the process of creating the CBE cybersecurity program took two years. First, faculty attended a summer camp organized by the Competency Based Education Network, or C-BEN, a network of educational institutions, corporations and service providers that promote CBE.

Tri-C’s cybersecurity instructors, through the summer camp and other training conferences, became experts in CBE. The college assembled a cross-

functional team of faculty, financial aid advisors, academic counselors and enrollment and registration workers to determine how CBE would work there.

Stepping into CBE

At Tri-C, prospective CBE students will initially meet with counselors to watch an orientation video and determine if the program is appropriate for them.

“Counselors can advise students and know whether they are a good fit for CBE or the traditional cybersecurity program,” Dull says. “The counselors almost have to know as much about CBE as the faculty teaching it.”

Students deemed good candidates for CBE will make an educational plan with their counselors and work with an assigned faculty member in person and through email and online meetings, whichever combination works best.

In CBE, students will watch snippets of video instruction. They might create their own security systems in virtual machines. Group projects are a possibility, depending on the number of students in the program and whether they are on the same level.

“We want to make sure we’re simulating a cyber environment as closely as possible as students move through the program so that it gives them an idea what to expect in the work environment and the knowledge they need to get to that work environment,” Dull says.

Dull says it’s now possible to build an entire cybernetwork in a virtual world. That kind of technology wasn’t available five or six years ago and might be adapted for the CBE program.

“It’s the first time we’ve done this, so we will provide a lot of

hands-on services to see what their needs are, both students and the faculty,” Dull says. “We will learn more along the way.”

As for evaluating student performance, Dull says the CBE program will likely utilize several different assessments. Students might be assigned a project involving a series of activities to see if they gained the competencies they need. In some cases, they would have to show 100% competency.

“The cybersecurity course might even revert to old-fashioned tests because there is a high degree of knowledge involved, and you have to score very high to pass,” Dull says.

Tri-C will also evaluate CBE itself throughout the school year. Obviously, C-BEN believes the method works. However, a study published in the Journal of Competency-Based Education says results have been mixed.

Dull says any form of online education isn’t the best choice for all students, as shown during the COVID-19 pandemic, when K-12 schools across the county reverted to online and hybrid classes, only to see students falling behind and angry parents complaining at school board meetings.

“With CBE, you have to manage your time really well,” Dull says.

“We want to make sure we’re simulating a cyber environment as closely as possible as students move through the program so that it gives them an idea what to expect in the work environment and the knowledge they need to get to that work environment.”

— CHARLES DULL

BETTER VIBES

Timing is everything. Just ask Mellissa Garrett-Hirsch, owner of UnBARar, located at 12635 Larchmere Blvd. in Cleveland.

UnBARar opened in the summer of 2019, just as Dewey’s, the former go-to coffee house for members of the Larchmere/Shaker Square community, was closing. Many of Dewey’s regulars wondered where they would go until they got wind of UnBARar. Karen Watson, a daily stalwart nicknamed the Mayor of Shaker Square, was among them.

“I told Melissa I would be here every day to support her,” she says. And Watson has kept her word. Garrett-Hirsch calls her the “community observer,” as Watson keeps an eye on UnBARar for cleanliness and other necessities such as

restocking the restrooms. It’s a coffee shop but also more than that. It’s a vibe. Garrett-Hirsch, a corporate technology strategist, says she’s always had an entrepreneurial spirit — just not for food and beverage.

While working at American Greetings, the time came for her to care for her aging mom, so she decided to take a buyout. Wanting to provide a healthy social life for her mom and engage in some of her interests, she considered creating a space where she could host poetry nights. At the same time, her then 36-year-old son, Rorry Garrett II, struggled to find employment. That’s when a thought came to mind.

“I figured we can make this a family thing,” she says. And thus, the birth of

A Larchmere coffee house offers up the “un” expected. By Rhonda Crowder

UnBAR began. She hired a cafe consultant to help turn her concept into cash flow. The consultant helped with everything from the decor to training the baristas.

UnBARar did better at the beginning of COVID; people needed somewhere to go. But, because UnBARar had just opened and had no financial history, Garret-Hirsch couldn’t qualify to receive any COVID relief funds. Therefore, she returned to work and maintains full-time employment to fund UnBARar, which employs three to five people. And, every time Garrett-Hirsch feels the pinch — like she might be entering into a crisis state — a blessing comes through, like a grant from the St. Luke’s Foundation.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” she says. “My son is the backbone. He carried the concept through COVID and created the menu. He handles all of the daily operations while I manage the business.”

Her corporate background helps.

“I love UnBAR,” says a gracefully-aged Ovetta Bass while sitting at an umbrella table in front of UnBAR on a gorgeous, sunny late-May morning. She lives in the neighborhood and comes to UnBAR daily.

Watson says Dewey’s was fine, but with UnBAR, it’s the vision, the mission and the tagline, “Feel Better… Be Better… Think Better…” that draws people to the establishment. She says that over the last three years she’s been coming to UnBAR, she’s grown spiritually — there

are even classes that teach spiritual growth and guided meditation.

Garret-Hirsch says her business model is designed to convene folks.

“I’m always thinking of ways to gather and engage people,” she says. “It’s always about what I sense the people want.”

UnBAR hosts poetry nights, Tai Chi and Zumba. People come in to play chess. Couples come for game date nights. Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival (GCUFF) hosts its Black Cinema Cafe at UnBAR. There’s Hip-Hop and Coffee on Thursdays with DJ Step One and Karaoke for seniors. Wanting to support other local entrepreneurs, UnBar carries local wares on consignment and in pop-up shops. But there’s more.

UnBARar occupies an adjoining space where meetings are held; ECDI (Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI)), a top U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) micro-lender, is subleasing the area to help its product-based clients test the market.

“It’s the people’s place,” says Garrett-Hirsch. “You’ll hear people having philosophical conversations. All the CDCs [Community Development Corporations] use UnBAR for their meetings.”

Some people come in and hang out, not buying anything.

Garrett-Hirsch knows that’s unsustainable, but instead of running them off, she’s constantly thinking of creative ways to better engage them. If she realizes some just don’t have the means, she offers a free coffee. In addition to coffee, tea, smoothies, and bottled beverages, UnBAR serves light fare with several vegan options.

The vegan Polish boy has become very popular, while the vegan chili is the newest addition to the menu. All food is made fresh. Garrett-Hirsch also partners with Edwin’s for baked goods and other food-service owners such as Squash the Beef, and she always identifies where the items originate. Plus, she’s not serving up just any ole’ drip.

“I’m like the Black Starbucks,” she says. “Starbucks has a cappuccino. I have a cappuccino.”

Leah Lewis lives around the corner and comes in daily for Alkaline water.

“I love the diversity of events that occur here,” she says.

At 57, Garrett-Hirsch sees UnBar as her retirement plan and envisions franchising. She has growth ideas brewing in her head. This is her time.

“We’re a village here,” she says, just as her husband Roderick enters to clean the lobby. “It’s a community. I’ve been blessed.”

“I love the diversity of events that occur here, all grounded in becoming a better human being. It’s essential.”

— MELISSA GARRETT-HIRSCH

GROWING LEADERS BUSINESS

By Joanne Cahill

Although the COVID-19 emergency is officially over, Ohio’s senior health care facilities continue to face worker shortages, employee burnout and challenges filling the pipeline with new talent and leadership. At the same time, the region’s senior population continues to grow. At McGregor, a nonprofit provider of a full spectrum of services for seniors, employees are offered a variety of ongoing professional growth opportunities that the organization’s leaders believe is helping them attract and retain staff.

“We invest in our employees at all levels,” says Jennifer Hayes, CFO. “We always take a step back and make sure people are improving.”

One program that McGregor recently developed is its Leadership Academy, which is designed for new managers

to gain training. Hayes, along with her colleague, Tangi McCoy, CEO of McGregor’s PACE homecare program, are the two trainers for the Leadership Academy program. Now in its second year, the six-month program aims to promote excellent workers to leadership positions who do not have any previous management experience.

“We had multiple opportunities to promote employees from within who were great employees but who did not have management experience,” explains McCoy. “We chose to train them to be great managers and leaders.”

The Leadership Academy is just one of the ways McGregor invests in employees. Tuition reimbursement after one year of employment, setting developmental goals, seminars, computer training and payment for earning professional certifications are also available.

“The Leadership Academy is just another chance to grow. We try to make it easy for employees to take advantage of learning,” adds Hayes. “With all these options, it makes it hard to not improve and grow your skills each year. People like opportunities for learning.”

A recent McGregor staff survey bears this out. Employees across the board

from support staff to aides, nurses and social workers overwhelmingly indicated that continuing training and growth opportunities were a top workplace priority. There was so much interest that the organization is planning to offer additional sessions, and development of that coursework is currently underway.

The Leadership Academy provides unique on-the-job training. Participants take part in a classroom curriculum and receive at-work “homework assignments.” In one assignment, for example, they are asked to provide two new ideas to help their departments run better.

Participants must collaborate with their teams and report back to the class with action plans for two new strategies. As a group, the new managers share feedback, give advice and critique these real-life scenarios.

“Our participants get to utilize what they are learning immediately,” adds Hayes. “It’s reinforced right away. Their homework is on-the-job learning. When you can’t apply it to real life, it can be more difficult to retain the strategies.”

Hayes says that staff development is improving employee retention and reports that rates have significantly increased over the last four years. But ultimately, she says the employee training programs benefit the seniors McGregor serves and drive the organization’s primary goal of providing excellent care.

“I think the training opportunities engage the managers more with McGregor’s culture, creating a more inviting environment,” she says. “When employees are happy where they work, they create a welcoming environment for the residents and participants in our programs.”

McGregor offers professional training and advancement opportunities.

“We invest in our employees at all levels.”

— JENNIFER HAYES

CHANGING PUBLIC HEALTH PERCEPTIONS

BW dedicates efforts to educating and creating tomorrow’s leaders.

For much of its history, public health was primarily thought of as a focus on chronic diseases, a way to help people deal with heart disease, obesity or diabetes, says Emilia Lombardi, Ph.D., chair and associate professor in Baldwin Wallace (BW) University’s Department of Public Health and Prevention Science.

But the pandemic changed people’s perception. Public health and infectious diseases suddenly became top-of-thehour news and on everyone’s mind. We needed answers to how we could prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, how people could avoid exposure to COVID-19, and how to encourage more vaccinations, according to Lombardi, who has been with BW since 2012.

“What we need now is preparedness — how we can best prepare for these kinds of surprises,” says Lombardi, whose own research also involves preparedness among the LGBTQ community and how members can “face marginalization during times of disasters.”

Public health education has broadened to include teaching individuals to deal with a variety of situations and concerns, including gun violence, active shooter scenarios and drug overdoses, according to Lombardi.

“In public health, we want to understand how things such as economic issues, employment, neighborhoods and communities, as well as access to food and medical care, can shape people’s health,” says Lombardi. “Public health is trying to understand how these larger community activities may have a positive or negative effect on people’s health. Then we can try to make decisions and policies that can benefit people.”

BW’s Department of Public Health and Prevention Science is educating and creating leaders in this growing career field who will take their places in many diverse specialties and locations.

The school’s public health major is one of only three undergraduate public

health programs in Ohio. Program concentrations are designed for students who plan careers as physicians/nurses, public health educators/administrators and epidemiologists. U.S. News College Compass lists public health as a top 10 college major leading to employment.

This is the third year for BW as an AmeriCorps host institution. The school will train 12 students and community members in its CHANGE, INC. program that supports public health, according to Laura Hopkins, Ph.D., assistant professor, Public Health and Prevention Science.

“We built our AmeriCorps program with students in mind to give them experiential learning opportunities to address a grave need in Cleveland,” says Hopkins.

Recently, BW received additional grant funding from AmeriCorps to expand part of its public health work and partnerships with northeast Ohio communities to tackle food security and health issues. Established partners include: MetroHealth Institute of H.O.P.E., Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation and MetroWest Community Development Organization. New partners for the fourth year of the program include Cleveland Metropolitan School District, OSU Extension Cuyahoga County, the BW Brain Center for Community Engagement and Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

“Our work with the brain center addresses food insecurity on the college campus, which 22% of college students experience,” says Hopkins,

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Jill

Sell

also a registered and licensed dietitian nutritionist who trained as a public health nutritionist.

But improving access to quality food and the prevention of nutritional-related diseases is not the only focus of students enrolled in BW’s public health education and AmeriCorps.

“All students are charged with addressing food security, but they each bring their own work and passions. There is a flexibility that allows them to follow what interests them,” says Hopkins.

She points to a former public health BW student from a small, southeast Ohio community and who is now in medical school at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. The student’s BW AmeriCorps experience in northeast Ohio allowed her to see the differences and similarities of food security in urban versus rural areas.

“The student said she would become a better physician by seeing a variety of situations,” says Hopkins.

COURTESY BALDWIN WALLACE

“We built our AmeriCorps program with students in mind to give them experiential learning opportunities to address a grave need in Cleveland.”

— LAURA HOPKINS BW Assistant Professor, Public Health and Prevention Science

AmeriCorps members working with MetroHealth, one of BW’s partners in the Department of Public Health and Prevention.

SHOVEL READY

Are Cleveland’s brownfields holding back development? By

You can look at the entire City of Cleveland as a brownfield,” according to Jeff Epstein, the city’s chief of integrated development.

Brownfields mostly have negative environmental and social connotations. The sites may be contaminated by toxic chemicals in the soil, asbestos and leadbased paint and include unsafe, crumbling buildings and litter.

Epstein’s description of Cleveland was a purposeful exaggeration, of course, and he didn’t mean that the entire city would meet the official criteria to be classified as a brownfield. Also, that wide coverage he points to comes with an asterisk.

Like Epstein, Bryce Sylvester, senior director of site strategies for TeamNEO,

Jill Sell

“Over 10 to 20 years we could put more clean and productive land in the city back into use and create 40,000 jobs.”

believes brownfields are “part of the area’s manufacturing legacy.”

“I say that proudly. Our history of manufacturing has been one of our great strengths for a very long time. That means we have more challenges related to brownfield remediation. Dealing with some remediation on site is just a fact of development in Cleveland. But each site

is different. Some sites need very little work, others have more intense remediation issues,” says Sylvester.

The question some community developers, investors, the public and other city stakeholders ask is if Cleveland is doing enough and doing it fast enough to remain competitive for attracting new development.

— JEFF EPSTEIN

Local governments, economic development corporations and other groups have partnered with the state of Ohio, JobsOhio and others to lure companies to the state. But locally there have been some disappointments. Are brownfields to blame for companies choosing Ohio cities other than Cleveland?

In 2019, Intel broke ground on a $20 billion construction project for semiconductor chip manufacturing in Licking County, outside of Columbus. The site will hire 3,000 employees. Cleveland cried. But our loss was not related to brownfield remediation, insists Sylvester. Intel needed 1,000 acres and Cleveland “has been built out approximately 50 years in advance of Columbus,” he says. It was more about “historical land use than brownfields.”

OK, but what about Google? In 2019, the company broke ground in New Albany for a $600 million data center. This past May, Google announced two more data centers for Lancaster and Columbus to be built on a former snake oil farm.

“You have to give Columbus credit for really having a dedicated strategy and a focus on certain development,” admits Sylvester. “Google went into an industrial park that caters to data center development. But it’s also still about the readiness and location of the land.”

Off the record, some players say we are digging and cleaning as fast as we can when considering red tape and other challenging factors. Others blame everyone from state and local politicians to environmental watchdogs to the uncertain real estate market for slowing things down in Northeast Ohio.

Jenny Carter-Cornell is the senior consultant-funding specialist for Verdantas, a national environmental and remediation firm with six offices in Ohio, including Cleveland and Columbus. Verdantas (formerly Hull & Associates LLC) was a pioneer in the Ohio

Voluntary Action Program (VAP) and previous state brownfield funding programs. The company continues to “address property challenges, oftentimes through transformative brownfield revitalization projects,” according to Carter-Cornell, a brownfield expert since 1998.

She is quick to defend Cleveland’s track record on brownfield cleanup.

“Most urban communities in Ohio are pretty successful at addressing brownfields and have been working on these sites for decades. So they know what to do,” says Carter-Cornell. “But Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are not only leading communities in Ohio, they are also considered leaders in the nation as having successful approaches to brownfields.”

Carter-Cornell believes stakeholders here know how to leverage a lot of money, and have cooperative, knowledgeable staff from the public and private sectors who tackle brownfields together. At national brownfield conferences, she says featured speakers are often from the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and Cuyahoga Land Bank.

Cleveland Brownfields: Past, Present and Future

What does this area’s past, present and future look like when it comes to brownfields? A quick look:

Collinwood Yards is the 47-acre site that contained underground storage tanks and heavy oils in its soil and groundwater. Six miles east of downtown Cleveland, it was first considered too cost prohibitive to clean the blighted property for redevelopment.

But later environmental assessments and grants from the state and Cleveland’s Neighborhood Development Investment Fund allowed Hemisphere Development and others to give the property its life back. Think jobs and surrounding development.

Collinwood Yards’ remediation efforts were heroic enough for the project to be recognized as a finalist in the 1999 Phoenix Award competition for the best brownfield project in the U.S., EPA’s Region 5.

Baiju Shah, president and CEO of Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP), points to the more recent Forward Innovation Center conversion of former Ford Motor Company property in Brook Park, as well as the redevelopment of the former Chrysler plant in Twinsburg as “significant examples of brownfield remediation.” The Brook Park site will be a manufacturing and distribution hub of 12 buildings with 3 million square feet of offices, warehouse space and industrial areas.

“It will bring Brook Park back,” says Mayor Edward Orcutt. “We were successful in 2022 in securing a $10 million grant for brownfield remediation, which will be used at the 208-acre development. At one time (Ford) had over 15,000 workers. Now they are down below 2,000. Obviously, our economy has struggled because of that, and our revenue stream is down with income. Forward Innovation Center is an opportunity for bringing in more jobs and more revenue.”

A second brownfield remediation is planned for the former Ford Stamping Plant in Walton Hills, which opened 1954 and was once the largest employer in the area. This will be another Forward Innovation Center.

The Forward Innovation Center hubs are the creation of Weston Inc. (a privately held commercial real estate company headquartered in Cleveland), DiGeronimo Companies (a national real estate company headquartered in Independence) and Scannell Properties, an international development and investment company with nine offices in the United States.

BRYCE SYLVESTER

BAIJU SHAH

JENNY CARTER-CORNELL

“On a smaller scale, Cleveland’s remediation of the former Midland Steel site led to the redevelopment as an Amazon distribution center,” says Shah. “Several sites along the Health Tech Corridor were former brownfields, including Dave’s Supermarket, University Hospitals Rainbow Center for Women & Children and the Link59 and Midtown Tech Park mixed commercial development.”

Link59 is an 11-acre site at Euclid Avenue and E. 59th St. that was once home to buildings owned by Ohio Knitting Mills, founded in 1927. The city of Cleveland acquired the property plus adjoining land and remediated the brownfield.

Are brownfields a true disadvantage to development?

The examples show that brownfields do not have to be seen as a “competitive disadvantage” for a city, according to Sylvester. He believes “the marketplace handles it fine” if there are no unexpected results.

“The issue of brownfields comes up when you don’t have answers. It’s not that a site is contaminated. Companies looking for sites to build on aren’t necessarily afraid of remediation,” says Sylvester. “Companies are most interested in speed and risk reduction. It’s what they don’t know about a site and its remediation that must be addressed.”

Sylvester says TeamNEO knows the importance of Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments, but also Phase 2, which, among other responsibilities, communicates any issues to the marketplace. There is a need to know the history of a site, a cleanup timeline and what expectations are realistic, he says.

“If a company sends out a lead that they are considering your state or region for a project, they are demanding due diligence on that site. If you don’t have that information and analysis ready, you have a lower probability of staying in the game. You want to stay as long as you can and be the last one standing,” says Sylvester. “Time kills deals. You are in a competitive market all the time. If there is another site that is more ready than yours, you will probably lose out.”

Of course, brownfield conversions can be complex and don’t happen overnight. Shah sees several challenges to remediation within Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, the first being site access.

“Many brownfield sites are owned by nonoperating entities that can be difficult to track down. Sites may also have tax and other liens or encumbrances that can make securing titles a challenge,” says Shah. “And there is uncertainty. Even after doing a thorough site assessment, remediation can still contain surprises that lead to additional costs. Also, there’s ROI. Remediation costs are all incurred prior to getting a property to a developable standard. There is no return on these costs, thus it’s difficult for the private sector to absorb significant costs.”

Epstein says the goal is to prepare a site to be “as near as possible to any greenfield we have to compete with.” But he also sees advantages for employers looking at newly cleaned sites in the Cleveland area. Those include proximity to various forms of transit, a talented workforce and a wealth of universities and other educational institutions.

The EPA says that typically brownfields “are centrally located in metro areas with good connections to local infrastructure, including roadways and stormwater utilities.” Being able to reuse existing infrastructure is an important advantage to brownfield redevelopment “because this saves on infrastructure expense and prevents additional environmental degradation from building on greenfields,” according to the EPA. Of course, a city needs its infrastructure to be in good shape to handle any development — new or remediated.

In February, Cleveland City Council approved earmarking $3.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds (COVID-19 recovery funds) to match an additional $3.5 million from JobsOhio’s Ohio Site Inventory Program grants to remediate brownfields in Opportunity Corridor.

“Every economic development professional said it was a great idea to make an intervention where the market is not working to help bring jobs into

the city. Over 10 to 20 years we could put more clean and productive land in the city back into use and create 40,000 jobs,” Epstein believes. “These would mostly be manufacturing and industrial jobs. But we are looking for businesses that pay good wages, provide opportunities for advancement and have a high density of jobs in a building or site.”

“The region needs a portfolio of fully ready commercial sites from urban and suburban sites of 10 to 100 acres and mega sites of more than 500 acres,” notes Shah. “Ready sites should be in every city’s or county’s plan if they are interested in business expansion.”

The Ohio Brownfield Remediation Fund is expected to provide $350 million in funding available for this fall and a second round in summer 2024. Carter-Cornell says Cuyahoga County received a whopping $90 million for its almost 50 brownfield projects in 2022.

“Some of those are smaller projects, but several are $10 million cleanups,” says Carter-Cornell. “The Greater Cleveland area should be so proud of public and private organizations and nonprofits working on those projects and others. My impression is that brownfield redevelopment is a very high priority for the city of Cleveland and other local organizations.”

Everyone wants a piece of the pie, and competition for cleanup money is fierce. In addition to the usual players, environmentalists, safety forces, medical professionals and families also know what is at stake.

Brownfield eradication is vital for economic development. But there is also a human, more personal, more immediate issue. Brownfield sites are often located in underserved communities and near homes, schools and small businesses. Vandals set fires; drug deals go down. Blowing winds pick up toxic particles from damaged buildings and contaminated soil and carry those into the community.

The EPA says 11% to 13% of jobs and housing growth expected between 2013 and 2030 in this country could be supported on brownfield sites. Will Cleveland be ready?

CLIMBING “HILLS”

Seven Hills Mayor Biasiotta takes the next steps up.

As leader of a key Cuyahoga County suburb, Seven Hills Mayor Anthony Biasiotta knows how to set priorities.

“Growing up, I was always told that you have to clean your house before you invite people over for dinner,” Biasiotta says. “As a city, we are at the point now where a lot of projects have been completed or in action. It is a new day in Seven Hills. Today, we have some of the best parks and recreation offerings in the entire area.

“Now, we need to communicate that. We need to re-educate people so they can reimagine what it is to be a part of a great community like Seven Hills. We’re only about 10 minutes from Progressive Field and downtown. We offer some amazing advantages.”

For both residents and businesses that choose to locate in this suburb located in south-central Cuyahoga County, it’s easy to see. But perhaps more importantly, Biasiotta is taking Seven Hills to the next level, where it will play a prominent role (along with other suburbs) in transforming Cuyahoga County and creating a more regional focus.

By Terry Troy

“As a community, we have something very unique to offer,” says the mayor. “We are one of the Top 20 safest cities in Ohio. We have great fire protection, which is rated in the top 14% of fire departments nationwide.

“We have a close-knit community and events and amenities that you might find in a small town. But we also offer all of the advantages of being a partner in Cuyahoga County — minutes from downtown, Ohio City and Playhouse Square. A world-class orchestra and nationally recognized museums are at our fingertips. And we just happen to find ourselves at a very important area of Greater Cuyahoga County.”

Since his election over three years ago, Biasiotta has keyed on developing important partnerships with the county.

“Partnerships are especially important,” says the mayor. “We realize we are a part of a much larger community. We have fostered great relationships and working

partnerships with many surrounding government entities, and probably at the top of that list is Cuyahoga County.”

Seven Hills utilizes some county services for its human resources. It also works with the county on block grants, sewer resources, “and many other things,” Biasiotta adds. “They also have subject matter experts we can leverage.

“We have found out that we don’t have to do everything ourselves, because the county has some very good programs that we can participate in, and that helps to build a sense of regionalism. We send fees their way, which helps us because we don’t have the expense of doing all these other things in-house.”

It also helps that Biasiotta is on the same page as Chris Ronayne, newly elected Cuyahoga County Executive.

“We are on a similar path with Mr. Ronayne,” the mayor says. “We share a lot of the same vision. It also helps that we both come from a nonprofit background — his in his career and mine is a passion.”

While Biasiotta is setting an excellent example of both community and regional leadership, he is also quick to credit a new generation of leaders and politicians who are focused on the Northeast Ohio region.

“Rarely do we look at political or geographical boundaries on paper and say, ‘I am the mayor of Seven Hills,’ or ‘I am the mayor of Parma.’ We are all a part of Greater Cleveland. We are all in this together,” he says.

“Mayor Bibb even sends a representative to the meetings of our Association of Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers. You have leaders coming up now who don’t care who gets the credit — they only want to see that the job gets done,” he adds. “And that is the way great things happen.”

ANTHONY BIASIOTTA

CREATING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Cleveland City Council and Habitat for Humanity team up.

By Joanne Cahill

The goal of home ownership may be a little closer for many local families thanks to the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity and Cleveland City Council, which recently allocated $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the nonprofit organization. The purpose of the grant is to increase access to affordable home ownership in historically underserved areas of the city of Cleveland.

“This is the single largest gift or grant in our history,” says John Litten, president and CEO of Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. “We will leverage these funds toward our overall strategic fundraising goal of $32.5 million to benefit more than 400 households.”

Funds raised not only help build new homes but also support rehabilitating

existing homes and improving neighborhoods.

“Making minor improvements to a street, like building new steps on a house, can complete a street,” explains Litten. “These small fixes have been proven to increase home values and bring down crime in a neighborhood.”

Applicants for a new home complete a rigorous home ownership program.

To qualify, they must have an annual household income between 30% and 80% of the area median. Families also

must prove a need for improved housing, have the ability to pay for an affordable mortgage and agree to volunteer hours of “sweat equity.”

They must also attend workshops covering financial literacy and home safety and maintenance. Families are sold a home with a 0% mortgage, and in lieu of a down payment, they contribute 200 to 300 volunteer hours.

According to Litten, all this results in providing the homeowner with a safe, quality, generational asset.

“We are helping build generational wealth in neighborhoods with a history of generational poverty,” he explains.

Beyond the recent funding from the city of Cleveland, Habitat also works with many other local foundations, businesses and private donors. Some of their other major supporters include the Cleveland Foundation and St. Luke’s Foundation, as well as the Cleveland Cavaliers, Quicken Loans and Rocket Mortgage, to name a few. The organization’s three ReStore home improvement thrift stores also provide a significant stream of income.

In addition to the allocation through the city of Cleveland, the Habitat organization recently gained access to another large ARPA pool of funding. Funds from a $25 million grant to the Habitat for Humanity of Ohio are also available to all the local outfits throughout the state. The funding, which was announced in January, is earmarked for new home construction and home rehabs, as well as critical home repairs for seniors and people with disabilities. The Ohio allocation was the largest ARPA commitment for affordable housing in the country.

Litten never loses sight of the mission to bring people together to build homes, community and hope.

“It is a blessing to move into a new home,” he says.

“We are helping build generational wealth in neighborhoods with a history of generational poverty.”

— JOHN LITTEN

MEET THE NEW QUEEN IN TOWN

Book

Her arrival looked effortless. A boatload of enthusiastic well wishers greeted Lady Caroline at her new home on the Flats West Bank on May 8. Her owner, Jacobs Entertainment CEO Jeffrey P. Jacobs, and his daughter, Caroline (the boat’s namesake), welcomed their newest vessel with a bottle of christening champagne, while the city of Cleveland Division of Fire rescue boat provided a water welcome. Dignitaries on the dock were all smiles knowing how much having a dining cruise ship on the Cuyahoga River

and Lake Erie means to Clevelanders and tourists.

The 120-foot-long, 15,000-squarefoot, four-deck Lady Caroline had actually arrived during the night in Cleveland a number of hours before the official welcome. But when she did, it was the end of a 25-day, 2,100-nautical-mile journey, and Lady Caroline (and her transit crew) were discreetly tucked (as much as you could do that with a ship that size) into a Cleveland marina slip to rest and freshen up. A lady always wants to look her best, of course.

Lady Caroline’s journey from Chelsea Piers in New York City began November 9, 2022, and was completed in two phases. There were no disasters — no icebergs, no leaks that had to be patched with duct tape, no Bermuda Triangle disappearances. But with some weather

complications that caused a three-day sailing delay, additional foggy days, some wildly fluctuating tides and a ton of maritime regulations to obey, the journey was much more complex than most landlubbers realize. To get to the St. Lawrence Seaway and access to Lake Erie and then Cleveland, the boat had to follow an elaborate and involved itinerary.

“It was actually a more challenging journey than going trans-Atlantic because then you just have to follow currents and the weather. This way all sorts of accommodations in the United States and Canada have to be made to make the trip happen,” says Captain Nicole Christie, an independent, multi-licensed and certified ship’s captain from Marysville, Michigan, hired to bring Lady Caroline to Cleveland. This was her fourth St. Lawrence Seaway delivery.

Lady Caroline replaced the 42-yearold Nautica Queen earlier this summer. Its captain, Scott Pearson, helped with the initial preparation for the Lady Caroline’s departure in New York, but returned to northeast Ohio to pilot the Nautica Queen’s last official public cruising days from the Nautica Waterfront District.

Lady Caroline, formerly named Aqua Azul, a luxury rental yacht used for weddings and other New York and New Jersey coastal events, first headed out of the New York Harbor on her way to Ohio. She navigated the Hudson River, the tricky Hell Gate (a narrow tidal strait in the East River), Long Island Sound and arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, November 11, 2022, where she overwintered. Starting her journey late in the season, Lady Caroline (and other vessels with Great Lakes destinations) had to wait because the St. Lawrence Seaway locks were closed for the winter. She was ready to begin phase two of her journey April 15.

“We struck gold in New Bedford. There is a big maritime industry there with tons of commercial boats with fishermen, lobster men and passenger boats,” says Christie. “Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Before we departed, the marina and townspeople held

your ticket to climb aboard Cleveland’s newest dining and entertainment cruise ship. By Jill Sell

a blessing ceremony for us and recited a fisherman’s prayer. It was beautiful. Then they played ‘Sweet Caroline’ for us, and we all danced and sang.”

During her passages, Lady Caroline’s log recorded stops in towns that included: Bridgeport, Connecticut; New London, Connecticut; Clayton, New York; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; and Port Colborne, Ontario. Names on a map became part of the crew’s experience, such as Cape Cod Canal, Welland Canal and the Strait of Canso, a long, straight, very deep channel in Nova Scotia.

The crew saw amazing sites — a pod of endangered North Atlantic Whales, Perce Rock in Quebec (one of the world’s largest natural arches over water near New Brunswick, Canada) and the Wood Island Lighthouse in Maine. They ate fresh seafood, including “amazing” crab from local restaurants and sometimes obtained straight from fishing boats whenever they could.

But this was no Carnival Cruise. Multiple stops for minor repairs, supplies, fuel, pump outs, immigration and custom checks and more were required. The crew did daily routine maintenance and cleaning, meticulous recordkeeping and turns at overnight watch. A few crew members fought a bit of a minor, but unpleasant stomach bug.

The journey was delayed for three days in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, because

of inclement weather. But if you are going to be stuck on a ship for a while, it’s not a bad place for that to happen.

“Yarmouth is a friendly fishing town, and everyone who lives there wants to see what boats are in town,” recalls Christie. “The piers are just parades of cars. And so many people stopped to talk with us and even the fisherman came over to meet us. It was another good memory for history of the Lady Caroline.”

In Quebec, Lady Caroline also was subject to a ballast inspection from government officials, even though the boat was built without — and doesn’t need — ballast tanks. The procedure is to “confirm that the vessel was not holding any seawater ballast that would contaminate the seaway by cross contaminating,” according to Christie. (Think invasive species hitching a ride.)

“This was a long trip for this boat,” says Christie. “So every 24 hours we would shut the boat down, check the oil and other things and make sure all the systems were

good. My grandmother, Caroline, came over on a boat from Europe. She was the best person to me in my whole life. I couldn’t believe the ship was renamed Caroline. This trip was meant to be for me. Lady Caroline did well, and so did the crew.”

Lady Caroline, built in Palatka, Florida, entered the first of 15 locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway on May 1. She arrived in Cleveland a week later where Cpt. Christie passed the helm to Cpt. Pearson.

Before his position as captain of the Nautica Queen, and now Lady Caroline, Pearson was a ship captain for the Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry Co. in Michigan, a position he began in 2022. He has been a yacht pilot since 1986 and became a licensed yacht captain in 1989, piloting ships in the Caribbean, Key West, East Coast, Mexico and the Midwest. He now lives in Westlake with his family.

“There aren’t really any navigation challenges here with the Lady Caroline,” says Pearson, who also has experience in yacht repair. “We don’t travel more than a mile from shore and we stay within the harbor. Also, the Cuyahoga River is wide. Compared to what I’ve experienced, piloting her is a walk in the park.”

The ship went into service in mid-June after about $250,000 in renovations, including new paint, signage, HVAC systems and a sound system, as well as interior design and galley changes, according to the boat’s director of operations, Ellen Kelley. It will also receive other accessible changes to make her more code compliant. Kelley describes the boat as “light and bright with big windows.”

“I’m really looking forward to seeing all the smiles on people’s faces when they first walk on board,” says Pearson.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing all the smiles on people’s faces when they first walk on board. Everyone will be blown away by this boat.”

— CPT. SCOTT PEARSON

The Transport Crew included: Mark Cline, ships engineer, Mike Robinson, delivery captain, Spencer Beallas, delivery captain and Nicole Christie, lead captain, with her company

Fanger

Mike Belkin Belkin Productions (posthumous)

More than ever, women are not only in the mix of what’s going on in our communities — they are leading the charge. They are making big decisions and they are doing the hard work to make things happen every day. But they are also our mentors, cheerleaders and confidants. From the front office to the front lines to the family front, they inspire us. Read on to learn more about some of the women who are making their own marks at business and at home. Their impact has and will mean better things for Northeast Ohio, and we can’t wait to see how they keep leading the pack.

PHOTOS BY JEANI BRECHBILL

“

Early on in my career, someone commented that I approached my work with a sense of urgency. As I go further on in my career, I understand how important that is.”

— KYLE DREYFUSS-WELLS

Front Row (left to right): Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells (Chief Executive Officer), Cathy Glisic Back Row (left to right): Kathryn Crestani, CarrieAnne McConnell, Kate Rybarczyk

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells has a deep commitment to the public sector and making sure public services work for the public, whatever those public services may be. “In my case it happens to be wastewater treatment and stormwater management, but ensuring that those systems provide comprehensive public services, that’s one of my touchstones,” she says. “My leadership philosophy is that you need to keep things moving forward so other people can do their work. This means making decisions and being clear in your thinking, your leadership and your strategy, and having a sense of urgency to your work.”

Assistant Superintendent, Westerly Wastewater Treatment Plant

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

Naturally inclined to fix things, solve puzzles and troubleshoot, Kate Rybarczyk was drawn to the skilled trades and eventually became the district’s first female mehanical maintenance manager before being promoted to assistant superintendent. “I lead with more of a coaching style,” she says. “It’s very important to get consensus and buy-in from your team, especially if you want to implement any initiative.”

Assistant

Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

Enterprise Biosolids and Residuals Superintendent

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

Kathryn Crestani says the most important thing in her daily work is fostering and supporting a team environment and ensuring her team has the resources it needs to do the work in the fast-paced, high-automation specialty of incineration and power generation. “The team is stronger than just one. You can have some star performers, but a star performer can only do so much.”

Making it a priority to spend time with interns and entrylevel employees, Cathy Glisic embraces a servantstyle leadership listening and learning about her team members. “I value their input. I encourage everyone to give their opinions and then we all collaborate amongst ourselves here at the plant, and then also with other departments in our organization. I’m committed to helping my team members grow professionally”

CARRIEANNE

Superintendent, Westerly Wastewater Treatment Plant

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

CarrieAnne McConnell worked her way up through the wastewater industry from her early days picking up gravel with her brother when they went to work with their father, who was the superintendent of the wastewater plant in Wellington. “I have a really holistic view of wastewater, of what we do protecting this jewel that we have up here on the North Coast. I have fantastic people who work here with me so I focus on providing them the resources and space to do all the things they can do.”

KYLE DREYFUSS-WELLS Chief Executive Officer

KATHRYN CRESTANI

KATE RYBARCZYK

CATHY GLISIC

Superintendent,

MCCONNELL

Leading a thriving solo dental practice and heading a household as a single mom with four active children, Dr. Niki Cochran not only sets the bar high, she’s able to balance it, too. A native of Cleveland who has spent 23 years in the profession, Cochran knew she wanted to be a dentist since she was 10. “I’ve always been interested in people’s smiles, making people smile and making people comfortable,” she says. “It’s a little bit more of a challenge because most people have a lot of anxiety when coming to us, but with our calm attitude and compassion we are able to really exceed in our patient care.”

President

A first-generation college graduate from her working-class family, Melissa Gallop attended commencement from Youngstown State University on a Saturday, punched in for her last day at Starbucks and started at a Big Four accounting firm within days of each other. This hard-driving, down-to-earth approach is what she offers when mentoring her colleagues and advising her clients. “When I’m giving somebody advice, I’m giving them advice for them. It’s not about how it’s benefiting me or benefiting the firm. I believe if the advice that is being given has their best interest in heart, that it’s going to be best for everybody.”

“

It always made me happy if people are smiling. Through our smile makeovers and cosmetic procedures, we help people feel comfortable in their own skin and enjoy their smile again.”

DR. NIKI COCHRAN

Dentist

CLE Smiles by Dr. Niki

“ I wore many hats before I entered the professional world, which I think kind of gives me a different perspective.”

MELISSA GALLOP Vice

Meaden & Moore

Always strong in math, it wasn’t until Michelle O’Gara encountered the accounting professors at Bellarmine University that she got excited about the profession, the influence she could have, and all the strategy and analysis behind the numbers. After graduating, she spent 10 formative years at a firm in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, before moving to Cleveland to marry her husband and blend their family of five boys ranging in age from 8 to 15. “I’ve

Karin Spoerke was in middle school when her career aptitude test predicted her professional future as either a teacher or an accountant. As a director in the Assurance Services Group, Spoerke melds both. “Working for a public accounting firm is the best of both worlds. It’s a collaborative environment where everyone works together to provide the best advice to our clients. It allows me to utilize my accounting and teaching skills daily being a dedicated advisor to our clients and when developing and mentoring our staff,” says Spoerke, who has been at the firm for almost 24 years — since she was an intern. “Building long lasting relationships with clients and my colleagues as well as providing exceptional client service is what it’s all about for me.”

MICHELLE O’GARA

Vice President Meaden & Moore

“ Early on, I realized I didn’t need to have all the answers — I needed to know how to get the answers.”

KARIN SPOERKE Director Meaden & Moore

“

It’s easy to get overwhelmed in this profession. It’s impossible to know everything. You need to learn what your strengths are and play to those strengths.”

been very fortunate to have amazing role models who believed in me and knew how to motivate and inspire me to get me where I am today.”

TIME TO PLAN

BY LINDA FEAGLER

Great meetings and special events don’t happen by chance. It takes planning, preparation and a talent for making them proceed without a hitch.

Here, experts share sage advice for success.

Colleen Horan, general manager of Woodside Event Center, takes pride in ensuring guests make memories they’ll treasure.

“We host events here almost every day,” Horan says. “They range from 50-person corporate meetings to weddings for 400 guests.”

No matter the size or occasion, Horan and her staff make it a point to offer peace of mind to all who enter the Broadview Heights venue.

“We’re a sensitive bunch who serve as part counselor, part life coach and part therapist to our customers,” she says.

“Event planning can be very stressful. We guide them every step of the way.”

That may mean tweaking the menu offered by Catering By Verba’s, located onsite, to include a special dish or being honest about your ideal gathering space.

“It’s important to remain flexible and make sure our customers know their ideas are being heard and valued,” Horan says. “For example, if a CEO suggests having a coffee break for 150 employees in a space that holds only 30, we discuss the problems that may result, and gently suggest a larger space here that will be more comfortable.”

“We’re very sensitive to the fact that when our customers hold an event here, they’re investing their time and money with us,” she adds. “We’re dedicated to establishing a trusting relationship that will continue for years to come.”

Gregg Mervis, president and CEO of Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau, and his team are no strangers to simultaneously handling or helping with itineraries and logistics for a variety of events. They’ve ranged from a PBS “Antiques Roadshow” episode filmed on the grounds of Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens to an Ohio High School Athletic Association Girls Softball Tournament at Firestone Stadium as well as the State Baseball Championship at Canal Park.

“When it comes to keeping track of multiple events, a spreadsheet is one of the [most important tools],” says Mervis, whose organization encompasses 31 municipalities in Summit County, along with neighboring and regional communities.

And, he adds, formulating contingency plans is a must, especially when it comes to relying on weather and IT.

Follow local experts’ advice to create an event your attendees will talk about.

“If you’re not prepared, rain can throw a golf outing or outdoor reception into a tailspin,” Mervis says. “And if the technology doesn’t work, it can certainly throw a kink into any program. It’s always wise to have an expert technician nearby and, if all else fails, have printed copies of your presentation on hand.”

It’s tempting to take a well-deserved break once the event is over. But before kicking back, make it a priority to promptly follow up with attendees via email or social media to demonstrate — and share — your success.

Anne Thompson, manager of group sales and private events at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, attests to the importance of sending a post-event survey. It’s a must for the museum’s staff, who host more than 150 events a year spanning the gamut from corporate and public events to weddings, bar mitzvahs and social celebrations.

“It’s super important to express your gratitude to your sponsors, your volunteers and your attendees to make sure they know you appreciate their participation and support,” she says.

How to Gain Sponsors

Horan understands the challenges of fundraising and finding corporate sponsors. A former event planner, she recommends beginning the process as early as possible.

“Whether it’s a monetary donation or items for auction, many organizations require written requests for procuring

REMEMBER TO

Negotiate: Don’t hesitate to ask vendors if there’s room for negotiation. (When you determine your budget before meeting with a vendor, be sure to leave enough room in it for unforeseen costs that may crop up.)

support,” she says. “Since the process can be a lengthy one, it’s important for those planning the event to make that connection a priority.”

To Mervis, preparing a list of potential sponsors for upcoming events encompasses much more than dollar signs.

“Partnerships can also be built by utilizing the assets of one organization to benefit the assets of another,” he says. “Everyone looking to sponsor an event is looking for something different.”

One company might have a larger bandwidth of social media assets they can offer to drive attendance. Another might have talent they can lend — a pop culture celebrity who agrees to be the keynote speaker or a business icon who can give the welcoming address.

“Those are resources,” Mervis adds, “that you just can’t put a dollar amount on because often they can do more than a check can.”

How to Drive Attendance

When it’s time for him to spread the word about an upcoming event, Mervis, makes it a point to do so in ways guaranteed to attract the demographic he wants to reach.

“It’s key in today’s market to be very intentional about who you’re marketing to and who you want your guests to be,” Mervis says. “A boomer certainly receives information differently than a Gen Z does, and a millennial certainly receives information differently than a Gen X.”

He adds that generating excitement about the event with descriptions, words

Create a Shared Document: In order to keep everyone on the same page, create a central manual or document detailing all facets of the event — including vendor contracts, attendee information and the floor plan. With a shared document, everyone on your team can refer back to it if they’re unsure and can spot if something is out of place.

Do a Run Through: If possible, about two weeks before the event, rehearse the entire event process. Organize a meeting with your team and mentally walk through all aspects, from initial set up to the follow-up process. It will give everyone involved the opportunity to anticipate and solve complications that may occur, and time to correct them. Repeat the process several days before the event.

Photograph Everything and Post It: Posting positive images is an excellent way to share your success. Be sure to include a variety of shots to ensure you cover all phases of the event — from a full house to event branding to participants enjoying themselves.

and images will also attract sought-after attention.

“In driving attendance, you also want people to be energized before heading to your event,” Mervis says. “I recommend teasing them with facts: What kind of event is it going to be — one that sizzles or one with a lower-key educational focus? The interest in locally sourced food and wine is also a popular attendance driver these days.”

Mervis avidly advises having someone who’s savvy with social media create eye-catching content and images.

“They go a long way toward getting people to click on the enter, attend or purchase button,” he says.

On any given day, there could be a multitude of events simultaneously taking place throughout the 18 reservations in Cuyahoga County and Hinckley Township comprising Cleveland Metroparks.

“We might be holding our own program or hosting guests and clients for a corporate meeting or after-hours event at one of our clubhouses or golf courses,” says Kelly Manderfield, Cleveland Metroparks chief marketing officer. “Many personal gatherings — from weddings at Stillwater Place to family reunions and birthday parties in our various shelters — might also be going on. We truly have a venue and an experience for every occasion.”

To ensure success, Manderfield and her team have honed in on the importance of conducting research that’s guest-focused.

“It’s important to know your audiences and what resonates with them,” she says. “When we’re preparing to launch a new event or make changes in an existing one, we often ask our guests what they’d like to see and measure their interest level — including how much they’d be willing to pay for admission and the amenities they’d like to experience.”

One of the Metroparks’ most effective ways of reaching target audiences is the Community Pulse Panel featured on

the organization’s website. To date, more than 3,000 members have joined the platform and are invited to anonymously share their thoughts about programs they’ve attended or would like to see.

“We issue several surveys a month asking for ways to re-innovate or enhance our experiences,” Manderfield says. “Within a day, we get hundreds of responses. We love the ongoing feedback, and it’s proved to be so valuable to our success.”

Bradley Stone features an extensive array of stone and tile for floors, walls and countertops

EVENTS BY THE NUMBERS

203 meetings

Cleveland hosted 203 meetings and conventions in 2022, representing more than 201,000 room nights at area hotels

Nearly 300,000 people visited Cleveland for meetings and conventions in 2022

The city’s two primary convention venues (Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland and the I-X Center) offer a combined 1.5 million square feet of event space and a combined 71 meeting rooms

(with more to come thanks to the renovation of the Global Center)

— Courtesy of Destination Cleveland

Creative Approaches to Involvement

No matter the event, Thompson suggests brainstorming ways to tailor the itinerary to attendees’ interests.

“For example, you may want to provide opportunities for networking and participation in interactive sessions,” she says. “Here at the museum, you can take advantage of what our location offers, perhaps adding a planetarium show or live encounters with our animal ambassadors. These activities encourage team building,

and we can definitely help with that.”

Manderfield stresses the importance of making sure corporate sponsorship includes creative, integrated approaches to the experience.

“It’s not just about hanging up banners or putting up a pop-up a booth,” she says. “When we talk with corporations about supporting an event, we discuss their goals at the onset. Then, we develop an activity or create a dimension of the event they own that also delivers value to the guests in attendance.”

Learn

My Life

By Lynne Thompson and Terry Troy

Serving Wine with Barbecue

Yolanda Albergottie observes that most wine lovers revert to serving their favorites with barbecue. And that may not be the best choice.

the watermelon,” Albergottie, the sommelier at Chuck’s Fine Wines in Chagrin Falls, says. “When you put that all together, that’s a lot of different flavors. There are some wines that pair better with that combination than others.”

Yolanda Albergottie

“When I think of barbecue, what I think of is more like the whole scene of it all: the ribs, the chicken, the burgers, the hotdogs, the potato salad, all the other salads,

My Earth

Her top picks for pouring with anything that might end up on a backyard barbecue plate are:

Chateaumar Cotes du Rhone Rose 2022 ($17.99). “You want a wine that’s able to stand up to the spiciness of a barbecue sauce but still not overpower potato salad,” Albergottie

Reducing School Lunch Waste

says. “And the one wine that can do that beautifully is rose.” Her favorites are made of or ganic syrah, gren ache and/or mourvedre grapes grown in the Rhone Valley of southern France. “They make roses that are full, yet crisp, with minerality, flavors like strawberry, sometimes watermelon. If you’re looking at a fuller-bodied [rose], you can even get some of the berry notes.”

Santinori Assyrtiko 2021 or 2022 ($30.99). White wines made from assyrtiko grapes grown in the emerging wine region of Greece “are some of the best wines for any type of meal you could imagine,” Albergottie raves. “The acid level is great, so it cuts through the fat of pork. It’s very crisp, mild in flavor [with a] dry finish, very mineral. All of those things make it a great food wine.”

Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel Blend 2019 ($31.99). As a hostess, Albergottie always chooses a full-bodied red or blend of zinfandel, petit sirah, syrah and/or cabernet sauvignon. This one is “always full, rich, little bit of spicy, little bit of smoke” — characteristics that complement rather than contrast the flavors produced on the grill or in the barbecue pit. —LT

Fill insulated bottles rather than buy juice boxes and bottled waters.

Carin Miller

Back to school means back to packing lunches. Carin Miller, an education specialist with the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, says, “there’s definitely room for improvement” in reducing the trash they generate. And her tips for doing so can pay for themselves over time.

Ditch the brown bags. Contrary to what many people believe, only clean, dry brown paper bags are recyclable.

Miller suggests checking out the wide range of reusable lunch bags. “[There are] lots of fun ones for kids, kind of like the old lunch boxes, with characters from different cartoons, popular shows,” she says. Many are insulated and come with a reusable ice pack. “Pick something durable that’s easy to wipe down or wash,” she advises.

Replace plastic bags/foil/ waxed paper. Miller notes that there’s a reusable plastic or steel container for anything anyone might want to carry. Insulated containers keep yogurt, applesauce and cottage

cheese cool and soups steaming hot. For those who prefer zipper-type bags, she recommends switching to the silicone ones now on the market. “They are dishwasher safe,” she says. “And you can put anything in there.”

Washable fabric bags lined with plastic and secured with Velcro are another option.

Create single servings from full-size packages. Buying a family-size bag of, say, popcorn and divvying it up into one of the aforementioned containers can eliminate days’ worth of individual bags, along with the box and/or plastic in which they are sold. Miller’s recommendation extends to beverages.

Use utensils from the kitchen cutlery drawer. High-quality plastic knives, forks and spoons can be hand-washed and reused. “Eventually, things will break, and you’re going to have to replace them,” Miller says. —LT

WHO’s Recommendation on Non-Sugar Sweeteners

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent guidelines advised against the use of all synthetic and naturally occurring or modified non-sugar sweeteners such as acesulfame K (Ace-K), aspartame (Equal or NutraSweet), advantame, cyclamates (Sucaryl), neotame (Newtame), saccharin (Sweet’N Low), sucralose (Splenda), stevia and stevia derivatives. Aspartame has been declared

a possible carcinogen.

The recommendation is based on a review of available evidence that suggests the use of these sweeteners does not provide a long-term benefit in reducing body fat — and “that there may be potential undesirable effects from long-term use … such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults.”

The WHO states more research needs to be done. But Dr. Michael Roizen, Cleveland Clinic chief wellness officer emeritus, cites a pair of small Israeli studies,

randomized and controlled, in which researchers gave subjects a given sugar substitute to consume, then studied their gut microbiomes, uptake in metabolism and insulin resistance. Both found an increase in insulin resistance.

“When you eat something, your bacteria [in your gut] metabolize it or react to it,” he explains. “You can change not only your genes by what you eat, but you change the gene functioning of the bacteria inside you. And that gene functioning changes the compounds — the proteins those bacteria produce from the food they metabolize. What we know is those proteins inhibit the functioning of insulin in getting glucose into cells in these studies.”

Dr. Roizen adds that the result of this impediment to

tioning is more glucose in the blood. High glucose levels increase the chances of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The WHO’s advisory does not include low-calorie sugars or sugar alcohols. But a recent Cleveland Clinic study showed an association between higher blood levels of erythritol, a compound made by all of the body’s cells as part of energy production as well as a sweetener made by fermenting corn, and an elevated risk of experiencing a major cardiac event such as heart attack, stroke or death. — LT

Covia is a leading provider of minerals and material solutions that improve daily lives. We believe in the power of long-term partnerships – built on integrity, reliability and an innovative solutions mindset – to deliver shared success.

Dr. Michael Roizen

My Home

Organizing for School Success

Searching for that shoe or book that mysteriously goes missing.

Discovering a child can’t find the supplies to complete an art or science project the night before it’s due.

Those aggravations can be reduced with organization, according to Cleveland native Sandi Einstein, whose now-San Diego-based e=mc2 organizing and coaching consultants continues to virtually coach Northeast Ohio clients as well as individuals across the country. She

advises taking these steps to ensure calmer school days.

Clean closets and drawers. Now is the perfect time to go through kids’ clothes, determine what still fits and what should be purchased, donated or pitched. Einstein equipped her school-age granddaughter’s closet with shelves where folded shirts are stacked by sleeve length and rolled leggings are grouped by cropped or full-length legs.

Create a dedicated workstation. Einstein notes that a child’s bedroom may not be the best place for it. “Younger kids usually like to be in the kitchen near their parents,” she says. She maintains a cart

that can be wheeled to any spot in her home when she’s helping care for her granddaughter. The open shelves are stocked with supplies the child typically needs.

Set up an “action file.” It could be a decorative box, a slotted vertical file that sits on a desk, whatever works best, to keep study guides, homework assignments, current projects, etc. organized and within easy

reach. Einstein notes that some children may benefit from printing out digital communications, assignments and study materials. “They have all these portals,” she observes. “And not everything is in the same place. So when they have to look at more than one place, it’s difficult.”

Get a calendar. “[Kids] have a calendar on their phones, but they don’t always look at it,” Einstein says. She likes the large month-bymonth calendars that double as a desktop blotter and/ or wall-hung erasable calendars. Younger children may need help maintaining it. “It takes some planning, and it takes some doing,” she acknowledges. “But those are the kind of life skills that prepare you for going off on your own.” — LT

Sandi Einstein

Is Your Property Fall-Ready?

One thing that shouldn’t be overlooked this time of year is lawn care. Here are some great back-to-school yard tips from the experts at the Ohio Valley Group in Chagrin Falls.

Not only will they give your property a fall facelift but also provide you with a clean slate for the new school year. It’ll also simplify the maintenance you’ll face in spring. It’s easier to work with your yard in the late summer and fall because the soil is still dry and warm.

The soil’s light texture makes it easier to rejuvenate the earth than it will be when your ground is wet and

heavy from a hard winter. The ideal time to start this prep work is about six weeks before the first freeze, which will vary by region, but typically lands around the beginning of the school year.

Check for hanging limbs. These may have been dis placed by summer thunderstorms. These limbs should be removed, as they can be dangerous during after school playdates.

The same goes for branches

protruding from plants or creeping close to windows and entryways. These outof-place limbs and branches should be removed for safety and appearance, but also because they can trap moisture and invite termites into your home.

Clear flower beds. When the larger plants are cleaned up, check for debris in your flowerbeds. After a long hot summer, annuals will likely die and could act as a breeding ground for harmful insects that may spread disease in the spring. And while perennials should last

from season to season, their stems need to be cut within an inch or two of the ground for prosperous growth in the coming year. To protect the remaining plant, you can mulch your flowerbeds to act as a barrier.

Mulch will also protect flower bulbs, which are another great way to plan for a fresh and colorful spring. It’s best to plant bulbs in the fall

before the ground freezes, so they can settle in and prepare to bloom at the first signs of warmer weather.

Close crop your lawn. While it might be painful to cut your beautiful green grass any shorter than necessary as the summer closes, your lawn should be mowed with the blade on its lowest setting (usually one inch). This helps more of the individual blades’ surface area to ab sorb the sun’s rays and store more food in the roots, keeping them healthy and prepped for spring.

While sunlight will help produce food to get your

grass through the winter, there are additional nutrients that can be added to maximize the pH and nutrient levels during the colder months. The Ohio Valley Group team can recommend the fertilizer best for your climate, which will encourage blade development straight from the root when it starts to grow again.

Add leaves. Another way to enrich the soil during its winter rest is by adding a layer of leaves to the surface once the trees in your yard are bare. A two to fourinch layer of shredded leaves acts as a natural compost and

protective barrier to fend off snow and frost and keep weeds at bay.

Early fall is also the best time to get rid of those weeds and take steps to stop them from grow ing back in the spring. Spreading weed preventer or pre-emergent herbicide while the ground is still warm and moist will allow it to penetrate the soil’s surface to minimize the number of unwanted weeds that pop up in the spring.

Like weeds, vines can be unwanted and overwhelming when they’re not kept under control. Vines are known to trap

moisture against the house, causing the mortar between bricks to break down. They also act as a bridge for unwanted insect visitors to get quick access to your windows and doors, and eventually inside your house. As the seasons change, so will your preferences. Once your yard is refreshed and ready for the school year, the Ohio Valley Group can help you adjust the color scheme on your property to match the cooler temps and vibrant colors that come along with a brand-new start.

Getting Ready for the Road

Between hitting Northeast Ohio’s famous potholes and dealing with construction on I-480 this summer, your vehicle deserves a good checkup. Here are some tips from Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association (GCADA) to help with getting your ride ready for fall.

Tip #1: Check the oil. Double check the date of your last oil change. If it was a while ago, even if you haven’t hit the mileage threshold, taking a look at the dipstick is a good idea. Intense weather conditions of any kind (wet, hot or cold) can put extra demands on your oil and oil filter, so if the level is low or

the color is off, it might be time for a change.

Tip #2: Check other fluids. Check your coolant, brake, transmission and power steering fluids to be sure they are at the correct levels, as well. Coolant fluid is an especially important one to keep an eye on. Don’t forget the windshield wiper fluid, too.

“If you’re not comfortable, or unsure where to find the various fluids when under the hood, stop by your local franchised dealership,” says Barry Axelrod of Axelrod Buick GMC in Parma. “For example, newer models may have sealed automatic transmissions without a dipstick,

or electric power steering that may not use fluid.”

Tip #3: Check the alignment. If your car pulls to one side, your steering wheel vibrates or your steering wheel isn’t centered when you’re driving straight, get your vehicle’s alignment checked out. Proper alignment can help extend the life of your tires and even save you a few bucks on gas. Alignment can be thrown off by general wear and tear, as well as run-ins with rough roads, potholes and curbs.

Tip #4: Inspect your tires. That includes the spare if you have one. Tires lose or gain pressure daily, depending on the outside temperature. Check each tire’s pressure when the car has been idle and tires are cool. Inflate as needed to the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended pressure — you can find that on the sticker inside the driver side door jamb. Insert a quarter upside down into grooves to check tire tread. If you see the top of George Washington’s head, it’s time for new tires. — TT

Holmes County Amish Country

With summer’s end on the horizon, it’s time to plan that last road trip. Or perhaps plan for one as the leaves begin to turn.

Ohio Amish Country in Holmes County is a quick day trip, but it’s also a tourist destination for people across North America. You can get there in fewer than two hours on major Interstates like 71, 77 and 271, but if you want to take in some great scenery, chart a course on some of the lesserknown state highways and “blue” roads that cut directly through bucolic settings.

You’ll find a life at a slower pace here. While some of

the local attractions might seem a little kitschy, like the World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock in Sugarcreek or the Amish Country Theater in Berlin, the overall experience takes you back to a simpler time.

The shopping is great (think homegrown, homemade and handmade). And the food, whether it’s from a store or a restaurant, is nothing short of fantastic. In fact, it’s a great idea to take along a cooler and head back with some goodies.

Here are two of my favorites:

Guggisberg Cheese, particularly the Baby Swiss, is

among the very best cheeses in the world. It’s located in Millersburg. One taste of this firm-textured but creamy-tasting cheese, and it’s easy to see why there is no cheese like the Original Baby Swiss.

Cheese aficionados are quick to agree. Winner of the Ohio Grand Champion Cheesemaker title numerous times, Guggisberg currently holds the 2019 United States Grand Champion title of the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest. This Baby Swiss is recognized as the “best cheese in the country.”

Troyer Trail Bologna. Buy some local, homemade bread, and pair that cheese with the Troyer family’s genuine

Trail Bologna, a unique bologna produced at the family’s factory on Route 515 in Dundee. It’s been sold directly across the street in a small store since 1912.

If you’re a heathen and can’t help yourself, dollop on some Bertman Ballpark mustard. I prefer mine with just the bread to let the flavors of the bologna and cheese meld together. — TT

My

Edgewater Beach draws recreational boaters who like to anchor by the Lake Erie shore.

By Erik Drost

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