Crain's Cleveland Business

$2.00/NOVEMBER 19 - 25, 2012

Entire contents © 2012 by Crain Communications Inc.

Vol. 33, No. 45

07447083781

745 INSIDE

NEW

SPAP

ER

Hospitalsfear effect of fall offfiscal cliffReimbursements fromMedicare would dropBy TIMOTHY [email protected]

Should the United States fall offthe so-called “fiscal cliff,” NortheastOhio’s health care providers wouldstomach millions of dollars in revenuecuts their leaders say could gnawaway at their already-slim operatingmargins.

The inability of Congress and theWhite House to hash out a deal totackle the nation’s ballooning deficitwould trigger billions of dollars inspending cuts and tax hikes througha process known as sequestration,which would include an estimated$10.7 billion in cuts to the Medicareprogram next year.

Given Northeast Ohio’s agingpopulation, many local hospitals relyheavily on Medicare dollars to subsi-dize their operations. For instance,43% of the Cleveland Clinic’s patientvolume stems from Medicare patients.Plunging off the fiscal cliff could cost the Clinic — an enterprise with annual operating revenue of about$6 billion — as much as $22 millionin reimbursements.

The impending Medicare cuts account for a mere 2% reduction in thefederal program’s spending in 2013.But because Medicare reimbursements

Union concerns eased, manufacturers again eye OhioBy JAY [email protected]

More manufacturers are returningNortheast Ohio to their list of can-didates when they start shoppingfor a place to build a plant or expand existing operations, as con-cerns ease about the state’s historyof unionized labor and the per-ceived challenges organized work

forces can present for management.“Our business attraction people

said one of the trends they are rec-ognizing is that the union questionis not coming up as often,” saidTom Waltermire, president of TeamNEO, the regional business attrac-tion nonprofit. He said most of thecompanies his staff talks to aboutbringing operations to NortheastOhio are manufacturers.

Ohio is landing on the lists ofmore site selectors, Mr. Waltermiresaid, as manufacturing reboundsand finding skilled or trainableworkers has become harder in manyparts of the country. As a result,

companies that have been wary ofOhio because of its union reputa-tion are returning here and to other unionized states with pools ofmachinists, welders, electricians,plant maintenance workers andothers with related work experience.

“I think it’s not coincidentalthose two things (the return to Ohioand the shortage of skilled labor) sit

See HOSPITALS Page 33 See UNION Page 33

See BIOMOTIV 1

Case Western Reserve Universitylaw school rapidly increasing number of study abroad affilia-tions ■■ Page 3PLUS: MANUFACTURERS TAKE GREATERINTEREST IN MAX HAYES PLAN ■■ & MORE

PAGES F1-F19

BioMotiv aims tohelp drugs crossvalley of deathStartup plans to license compounds trapped in the lab, solve ‘major issue’ in mediciners

By CHUCK [email protected]

Baiju Shah and his colleagues at BioMotivLLC are heading into the pharmaceuticalindustry’s valley of death to rescuesome of the many drugs that lie at the

bottom.If they succeed, they’ll prove there is indeed a

safe way to cross the chasm. And they’ll havecreated a cadre of young drug developmentcompanies in Northeast Ohio, which today hasonly a small presence in the pharmaceuticalbusiness.

INSIDE: Team NEO’s quarterly reportshows overall employment likely won’treturn to peak levels until the end ofthe decade. PAGE 33

20121119-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 11/16/2012 1:55 PM Page 1

With integrated technologies and dedicated doctors, we believe our investment in coordinated care means better

overall health for our members. Perhaps this is why we’ve been ranked “Highest Employer Satisfaction among Fully

Insured Commercial Health Plans” by J.D. Power and Associates. A great choice for your business, and the people

who rely on it.

Learn more at kp.org/ohio

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan received the highest numerical score among fully insured commercial health plans in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Employer Health Insurance Plan StudySM. Study based on 6,571 employer responses measuring seven plans. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of employers surveyed April –May 2012. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

BUSINESS IS THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY. WE’LL HELP KEEP IT HEALTHY.

22 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM NOVEMBER 19 - 25, 2012

REGULAR FEATURES

Best of the Blogs ..........35Big Issue ........................8Classified .....................34Editorial .........................8From the Publisher .........8

Going Places ................10List: Largest savings

institutions ................32Reporters’ Notebook.....35Tax Liens........................7

COMING NEXT WEEKWho to Watch: Law

Audit Bureauof Circulation

Subscriptions: In Ohio: 1 year - $64, 2 year - $110.Outside Ohio: 1 year - $110, 2 year - $195. Single copy,$2.00. Allow 4 weeks for change of address. Forsubscription information and delivery concerns sendcorrespondence to Audience Development Department,Crain’s Cleveland Business, 1155 Gratiot Avenue,Detroit, Michigan, 48207-2912, or email to [email protected], or call 877-812-1588(in the U.S. and Canada) or (313) 446-0450 (all otherlocations), or fax 313-446-6777.Reprints: Call 1-800-290-5460 Ext. 125

Keith E. Crain: ChairmanRance Crain: PresidentMerrilee Crain: SecretaryMary Kay Crain: TreasurerWilliam A. Morrow: Executive vice president/operationsBrian D. Tucker: Vice presidentRobert C. Adams: Group vice president technology, circulation, manufacturingPaul Dalpiaz: Chief Information OfficerDave Kamis: Vice president/production & manufacturing

G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973)Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996)

Crain Communications Inc.

700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310,Cleveland, OH 44113-1230Phone: (216) 522-1383Fax: (216) 694-4264www.crainscleveland.com

Publisher/editorial director:Brian D. Tucker ([email protected])Editor:Mark Dodosh ([email protected])Managing editor:Scott Suttell ([email protected])Sections editor: Amy Ann Stoessel ([email protected])Assistant editor: Joel Hammond ([email protected])SportsSenior reporter: Stan Bullard ([email protected])Real estate and constructionReporters: Jay Miller ([email protected])GovernmentChuck Soder ([email protected])TechnologyDan Shingler ([email protected])Energy, steel and automotiveTim Magaw ([email protected])Health care and educationMichelle Park ([email protected])FinanceGinger Christ ([email protected])Manufacturing, marketing and retailingResearch editor: Deborah W. Hillyer ([email protected])

Cartoonist/illustrator: Rich Williams

Marketing director:Lori Yannucci Grim ([email protected])Marketing/Events manager:Christian Hendricks ([email protected])Assistant Events Manager:Jessica Snyder ([email protected])

Advertising sales manager:Nicole Mastrangelo ([email protected])Senior account executive: Adam Mandell ([email protected])Account executives: Dawn Donegan ([email protected])Andy Hollander ([email protected])

Sales and marketing assistant:Michelle Sustar ([email protected])

Office coordinator:Toni Coleman ([email protected])

Digital strategy and developmentmanager:Stephen Herron ([email protected])

Web/Print production director: Craig L. Mackey ([email protected])Production assistant/video editor: Steven Bennett ([email protected])

Graphic designer:Lauren M. Rafferty ([email protected])

Billing: Susan Jaranowski, 313-446-6024([email protected])Credit:Todd Masura, 313-446-6097([email protected])

RECOVERY TAKES ITS TIMECompensation costs for private industry workers rose 2% from September2011 to September 2012, a sign of economic recovery that nonetheless wasslightly weaker than the 2.1% increase in compensation costs from September2010 to September 2011. Among industries, compensation cost increases forthe 12-month period ended September 2012 ranged from a high of 3.7% in information fields to just 0.8% for leisure and hospitality. Here’s a breakdown ofsome of the data, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

% change in compensation for 12 months endedOccupation Sept. 2012 Sept. 2011

Information 3.7% 2.0%

Trade, transportation 2.5 2.4

Education, health services 2.2 1.5

Average of private industry 2.0 2.1

Construction 1.8 1.0

Professional services 1.7 2.4

Manufacturing 1.6 2.6

Crain’s year-long “Who to Watch” series, which thus far has identified up-and-comers in the technology, finance andhealth care industries, continueswith our list of some of the brightest in the legal field.


sales are expected to hit $42 millionthis year, up from $33 million lastyear — but its ambitions are evenbigger, Mr. Kenty said. The companywants to make acquisitions, sellmore services west of the MississippiRiver and add about 75 employeesnext year, including 40 to 45 inOhio, he said.

WestView will help the companyfinance that expansion, Mr. Kentysaid.

“It’s going to give us a lot of fuelfor growth,” he said.

The private equity firm is looking

to buy other companies that providecomputer hardware maintenanceand to add them to Park Place,which employs about 240, includingmore than 100 in Northeast Ohio,Mr. Kenty said.

Park Place has created a list of acquisition candidates and is in theprocess of vetting them. Park Placeaims to buy at least one company bythe end of 2013, Mr. Kenty said. Andthere are plenty of targets out there.

“It’s a pretty fragmented busi-ness,” he noted.

NOVEMBER 19 - 25, 2012 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 3

INSIGHT

THE WEEK IN QUOTES“You’re really not abletoday to find willingcommercial partnersthat are interested intechnologies at theearliest stages of development.”— Baiju Shah, CEO, BioMotiv.Page One

“There’s a familyprecedent. You have togo outside and bringexperience. ... It’s not afree handout here.”— Matt Hlavin, president, ThogusProducts Co. Page F-9

“I’ve been shovelingcoal on the train engine. … The city isbillowing smoke, andit’s ready to blow. I’mreally glad to be apart of it.”— Rocco Whalen, chef, owner,Fahrenheit, Rosie & Rocco’s,Rocco’s at The Q. Page F-18

“There’s going to be abig turnover in thenext 10 years or so ofskilled people in thetrades, and we’re certainly going to seea fairly large need fornew people.”— Tom Schumann, general manager, E.C. Kitzel & Sons Inc., a Cleveland-based maker ofcutting tools. Page 7

Park Place growth plan gets needed boostPrivate equity firm buys 85% stake; cash will help finance acquisitions

By CHUCK [email protected]

The new owner of Park PlaceTechnologies LLC plans to use itsfirepower to accelerate the company’salready-rapid growth.

WestView Capital Partners ofBoston has bought an 85% stake inthe Chagrin Falls-based company,which helps other businesses main-tain their computer servers and net-

working equipment. The purchaseprice was not disclosed, but the private equity firm opened a termloan and a revolving line of credittotaling $35 million to help financethe acquisition and to support ParkPlace’s growth.

Prior to the deal, John Warcabaand Dan Grajzl, who founded ParkPlace in 1991, owned almost all thecompany’s shares, said Park PlaceCEO Ed Kenty, who owned a small

piece. WestView first bought all ofPark Place’s shares, then the threemen and several key employeesbought back 15% of the company.

The deal didn’t include ParkPlace International, a smaller infor-mation technology consulting firmthat spun off from Park Place Tech-nologies in 2010.

The larger company was lookingfor a suitor: Its revenue has beengrowing by about 25% each year —

Sterling Jewelers goes tocourt over rival’s ‘mostbrilliant diamond’ claimSuit alleges Zale’s ads for Fire jewelry are false By MICHELLE [email protected]

Not all that glitters should be sold,at least not using what a local jewelrygiant claims is false and misleadingadvertising by a competitor.

Akron-based Sterling JewelersInc., a retailer that operates morethan 1,300 stores under severalbrands that include Kay Jewelersand J.B. Robinson Jewelers, has suedrival Zale Corp., which operatesabout 1,870 stores under the Zalesbrand and others. Sterling says Zale’sclaim that its Celebration Fire dia-mond is “the most brilliant diamondin the world” is false and misleading.

“Fire diamonds are not the mostbrilliant in the world, and the research claimed to prove that Firediamonds are the most brilliant inthe world does not and cannot soprove,” Sterling alleges in the law-

suit, which was filed last Tuesday,Nov. 13, in U.S. District Court inCleveland.

The timing of the lawsuit isn’tshocking, according to two local attorneys.

“You’re coming into the holidayseason. People are going to be buying jewelry, making decisionsbased on advertisements,” notedRichik Sarkar, a litigation partner atUlmer & Berne LLP in Clevelandwho is not involved in the case.

Indeed, Sterling’s suit specificallycites claims by Irving, Texas-basedZale in its holiday catalog that onlyits Fire diamonds shine “with morebrilliance than any other diamondin the world, based on independentlaboratory testing.”

A major flaw of Zale’s advertise-ments, Sterling claims, is that it saysits diamonds are superior to all other

See DIAMOND 2

See GROWTH Page 6

FILE PHOTO/RUGGERO FATICA

Case Western Reserve University School of Law dean Lawrence E. Mitchell

CWRU FOLLOWS THELAW — OVERSEAS

Legal student exchange agreements reflect broader international focus

By MICHELLE [email protected]

Very soon, DeanLawrence E. Mitchell’spassport will be so full,it’ll need new pages,

and the law school he leads has arapidly growing study abroad pro-gram to show for it.

By Jan. 1, the number of schoolswith which Case Western ReserveUniversity School of Law will havestudent exchange agreements shouldtotal 19, Mr. Mitchell said, up fromfour when he became dean in June2011.

Mr. Mitchell expects the school’spartnerships to total at least 24 andlikely 27 by the end of the academic

year — and he thinks the latternumber would surpass that of anyother law school in the country.

The exchange agreements allowCase Western Reserve to send up totwo law students a year, for a se-mester each, to the foreign schools

See LAW Page 12

STUDENT EXCHANGEGEOGRAPHY

Case Western Reserve University School of Law dean Lawrence E. Mitchellsaid the school anticipates having 19 student exchange agreements in place bythe end of the year.

Those agreements will include 11schools in Asia, seven in Europe and onein Canada. In the spring, meanwhile, Mr.Mitchell will travel to India, where the topfive law schools have agreed to sign on,he said.


“The rate of our growthwas totally unpredicted,but I was pleasantly surprised.” – George Haritos, dean, Universityof Akron College of Engineering


Delivering resultsKeyBank helps businesses put their assets to work during the highs and lows of the economic cycle. We tailor asset-based loan solutions to meet the evolving needs of middle market companies. Our experienced team focuses on companies seeking capital for a variety of situations: growth, acquisitions, ownership succession, recapitalization, restructuring, refinancing, and more. As your needs evolve, so do the recommendations of our experienced team.

$110 MillionABL Credit Facility

May 2012

Lead Arranger


May 2012

Lead Arranger


May 2012

Joint Lead Arranger


March 2012

Sole Lender


May 2012

Sole Lender

Banking products are offered by KeyBank National Association. All lease and credit products are subject to credit approval.Key.com is a federally registered service mark of KeyCorp. ©2012 KeyCorp. KeyBank is Member FDIC. ADL5621.02

To learn more:go to key.com/businesscapitalcall 1-877-407-2640


September 2012

Joint Lead Arranger


May 2012

Sole Lender


September 2012

Sole Lender

Volume 33, Number 45 Crain’s Cleveland Busi-ness (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, exceptfor combined issues on the third week of May andfourth week of May, the fourth week of June and firstweek of July, the third week of December and fourthweek of December at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2012by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postagepaid at Cleveland, Ohio, and at additional mailing of-fices. Price per copy: $2.00. POSTMASTER: Sendaddress changes to Crain’s Cleveland Business,Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit,Michigan 48207-2912. 1-877-824-9373.

REPRINT INFORMATION: 800-290-5460 Ext. 136

UA expanding private-sector R&DAkron engineeringschool’s rapid growthdraws outside interest

By TIMOTHY [email protected]

The University of Akron is engi-neering something innovative withinits walls, and it appears to be garneringinterest in the business community.

The university last year inked adeal valued at about $5 million withTimken Co. in Canton to collaborateon research and development efforts,and it appears similar arrangementswith other companies are in the

works. As part of their deal, Timkenand the university jointly operate a 6,000-square-foot lab in its engi-neering school’s new $14.8 million,39,000-square-foot research building.

“These negotiations continue,”said George Haritos, dean of the university’s College of Engineering.“At some point, we can announcecollaborations with other companiesto occupy space in our building.”

Dr. Haritos wouldn’t identify thecompanies involved in the discussions,but said their interest was piquedthanks to the explosive growth of theCollege of Engineering and the typesof graduates it produces. The growthrate of the college’s research enter-prise already led the university toconstruct a 10,000-square-foot addi-

tion to the new research building,which is slated for completion thismonth.

While the University of Akron sawa 3.1% decline in its overall enroll-ment, its College of Engineering reported an 8.5% increase in thenumber of students flocking to itsprograms. The engineering college’senrollment nearly has doubled since2004, which makes it the fourth-fastest growing engineering programin the nation, according to data fromthe American Society for EngineeringEducation.

The growth, according to univer-sity officials, is due in large part tothe college’s growing list of partner-ships with and investments from industrial and government partners,as well as an influx of co-op programswith companies. The latter pave theway for post-graduate careers forstudents.

“The rate of our growth was totallyunpredicted, but I was pleasantlysurprised,” Dr. Haritos said. “I amvery happy that we have so manymore students coming to the Collegeof Engineering to be educated be-cause I think we do a very good job.”

Filling an R&D needThe idea behind multimillion-

dollar partnerships such as the onethe university signed with Timken isto allow manufacturers to use theuniversity’s resources for their ownresearch and development efforts and,ultimately, to share in any revenuegenerated by the discoveries.

“There are so many uncertaintiesin almost everything facing tradi-tional companies, and how do youplan five years down the road?” saidGary Doll, who joined the universitylast year as a professor after servingsince 2006 as Timken’s chief tech-nologist of tribology and next-gener-ation materials. “The thing is thatthere’s still a need to do (research anddevelopment), and what better placeto do that than at a university?”

Power generation equipment pro-ducer Babcock & Wilcox Co., whichoperates a research center in Barber-ton, is holding internal discussionsabout how it might be able to form apartnership with the university inthe same vein as Timken, accordingto Jim Tanzosh, engineering managerat Babcock & Wilcox Power Genera-tion Group.

“Our research facility has limitedresources to do frankly everythingwe want,” Mr. Tanzosh said. “It wouldbe convenient if we could collaboratewith the university on some researchprograms and contribute some labequipment, making it easier for themto accommodate our needs.” ■



Congratulations Kristin!As our President, Kristin Tull hasstrengthened PRADCO’s reputation as aleader in Talent Assessment and Coach-ing. Her passion for Women’s LeadershipDevelopment and High-Potential Coach-ing has driven gender and culture basedresearch. Her consulting and speakingengagements have benefitted emergingleaders in many organizations.

Under Kristin’s leadership PRADCO hasbecome WBENC-Certified, developed aLeading-edge Online Assessment process,and expanded our reach to a global scale.Kristin is an outstanding leader. We ap-preciate her exceptional talent and thegreat value she contributes to PRADCOand to our clients!

Honoring 21 Years of Service

Please join us in acknowledging Kristin at this milestone in her career.

www.pradco.com

Where’s the U.S. economy headed?

Come hear an expert opinion at the ...

Friday, Dec. 7, 2012$50 per individual11 a.m. – 2 p.m.Renaissance Cleveland Hotel

Sponsored by:

39th Annual David A. Bowers Economic Forecast LuncheonFeaturing: Professor Sam Thomas, PhD

To learn more or to register, visit: weatherhead.case.edu

Park Place also plans to open a regional operations center in Denver to complement the centersit has in Boston and in AuburnTownship, a few miles east of itsheadquarters. In addition, ParkPlace plans to start hiring more fieldsales representatives, which shouldhelp the company win more cus-tomers in the western half of theUnited States, Mr. Kenty said.

“We want to hit the western regionwith brick and mortar,” he said.

Park Place a few years ago startedbeefing up its sales team in the Chagrin Falls area — an investmentin personnel that Mr. Kenty said is amajor force behind the company’srecent growth. Plus, as Park Placegrows, it is becoming better knownin its field, which has helped it wineven more business, he said.

“We’re more established and better branded,” he said.

WestView’s website says the private equity firm typically investsfrom $5 million to $30 million incompanies that show consistentgrowth, have a “sustainable advan-tage” in their industry and earn between $3 million and $20 millionbefore interest, taxes, depreciationand amortization. The website alsosaid WestView plays no day-to-dayrole in running its portfolio compa-nies.

Mr. Kenty noted that WestView hasno plans to replace any members ofthe Park Place management team, anotion backed up by a statementWestView managing partner RickWilliams made in a news release onthe firm’s website announcing thedeal.

“The Park Place managementteam has achieved impressive results and they represent the type

of proven managers with whomWestView looks to partner,” Mr.Williams said. He did not respondto an email and a phone messageleft with an assistant.

The right chemistryWestView was one of about 15

private equity firms that bid on ParkPlace, Mr. Kenty said. Among thefirms that made the final list of candidates, bid prices varied little,he said. WestView stood out becauseof its experience investing in tech-nology companies, he said. Plus, itsmanagement team seemed to be onPark Place’s wavelength.

“There was a significant amountof chemistry there,” Mr. Kenty said.

The overall market for computerhardware maintenance services isflat, but independent companiesare starting to win more businessfrom original equipment manufac-turers and the maintenance com-panies with which they work, saidChristine Tenneson, a research director for information technologyresearch firm Gartner Inc. of Stam-ford, Conn.

“We are seeing customers of all sizes looking at having a third-party strategy,” said Ms. Tenneson,who focuses on the technology out-sourcing and IT services sectors.

A few other larger independenthardware maintenance companieshave been acquired over the last fewyears, Ms. Tenneson said. And larger service providers are buyingsmaller competitors, which can helpthem add customers, serve new geographic areas and gain expertiseneeded to maintain different prod-ucts.

“There’s certainly some consoli-dation going on,” she said. ■

continued from PAGE 3

Growth: Buyer showsstrong tech background

Solon manufacturer maytake on former Dots site Retailer vacated property in move to GlenwillowBy STAN [email protected]

After three years in darkness, thelights soon may go on again at theSolon building that women’s clothingretailer Dots Inc. vacated after con-structing a larger complex in Glen-willow.

GLT Products, a Solon-basedmanufacturer and fabricator of spe-cialty insulation materials, is takingsteps to benefit from a potentialpurchase of the former Dots prop-erty at 30801 Carter St.

The city of Solon has approved ajob creation tax credit for GLT if it adds 20 jobs on Carter Street, according to Peggy Weil Dorfman,the city’s economic developmentcoordinator. GLT currently is in abuilding at 6810 Cochran Road andplans to remain there, she said.

The Solon income tax incentivewould give GLT a check for 30% ofthe city income tax workers wouldpay, or about $53,000 annually, depending on how many jobs it locates at the property, she said. GLT

said it would use the added buildingfor additional operations, but shedoes not have details on its plans.

“We’re happy they want to growin Solon and make use of an availablebuilding here,” Mrs. Dorfman said.

Land records do not show theproperty has changed hands, as it isstill held by Rag Associates, thesame name as when Dots occupiedthe nearly 96,000-square-foot property. Terry Coyne, an executivemanaging director at NewmarkGrubb Knight Frank brokerage, hasthe listing to sell the building, whichhas an asking price of $2.7 million.

Mr. Coyne declined comment onthe status of the property.

An email to GLT and two callseach to Steven Wake, the company’sCEO, and Marinko Milos, its chief financial officer, were not returnedby Crain’s deadline last week.

GLT, previously known as GreatLakes Textiles, dates from 1956 and sells thermal, mechanical andacoustical insulation products to avariety of industries worldwide, according to the GLT website. ■



TAX LIENSManufacturers widenrole in Max Hayes planDelay of new school allows representativesfrom trades taught there to get more involvedBy GINGER [email protected]

In three years, the new Max HayesHigh School will open its doors to800 students if all goes as planned— though all hasn’t gone asplanned in the past.

The school, initially expected toopen in 2013, already has been delayed two years because of neces-sary infrastructure changes at itsnew site on West 65th Street. The165,000-square-foot building will bea showcase of what training for themanufacturing of today — highlytechnical manufacturing — shouldlook like, according to its planners,which include members of the edu-cation and manufacturing commu-nities.

Manufacturing representatives firstbecame involved with the projectduring the creation of the Take it to the Max strategic plan, which was devised in 2010 by consultants from San Diego-based Big PictureLearning and New Orleans-basedConcordia. Part of the object backthen was to determine the goals forthe new school.

Now, industry leaders are becoming even more active in the future of the new Max Hayes.

Tom Schumann, general managerof E.C. Kitzel & Sons Inc., a Cleve-land-based manufacturer of cuttingtools, is chairman of an industry-laden advisory board being formedto help steer the direction of thetechnical school.

The board, known as the Friendsof Max Hayes, will be comprised ofrepresentatives from each of thetrades taught at Max Hayes who willhelp inform the Cleveland Metro-politan School District of the needsof industry in Northeast Ohio. Theboard won’t have any governingpowers over the school, but insteadwill advise the district on curriculummatters.

The creation of the Friends ofMax Hayes will formalize a partner-ship between the school and industrythat steadily has been strengthening,according to Mr. Schumann, whoalso is the former president of WIRE-Net, a Cleveland-based manufac-turing advocacy group that supportsMax Hayes.

“I think if you talk to most manu-facturers, you’re going to find a lotof them have very similar issues,”such as problems created by an aging work force and a negative perception about manufacturing,Mr. Schumann said.

“There’s going to be a bigturnover in the next 10 years or so ofskilled people in the trades, andwe’re certainly going to see a fairlylarge need for new people,” he said.

Mr. Schumann said he hopes tohelp Max Hayes educate students to meet the needs of companies such as E.C. Kitzel, which deals with precision machining — work thatinvolves mathematical and com-puter skills.

“In my shop, we actually havemore computers than we have people,” Mr. Schumann said.

Out with the old …The new Max Hayes, a $40 million

school at 2211 W. 65th St., will allowfor more technology-based learning,according to Phillip Schwenk, whois principal of the current Max HayesHigh School at Detroit Avenue andWest 46th Street. The existing school— built in the 1950s — can’t supportwidespread Wi-Fi and isn’t set upfor newer technology, he said.

But, even before the new schoolopens in 2015, Mr. Schwenk isworking to change what he can atMax Hayes to better prepare studentsto meet the needs of area manufac-turers. He’s encouraging teachers touse technology whenever they can;to that end, teachers this schoolyear received laptops for the firsttime.

Mr. Schwenk also is working tochange the culture of learning. He’spromoting project-based learning,which involves students workingcollaboratively to solve real-worldproblems rather than learning fromtextbooks. And he’s encouragingmore collaboration with the school’smore than 100 manufacturing part-ners, which include welding equip-ment producer Lincoln Electric,steelmaker ArcelorMittal and diver-sified manufacturer Eaton Corp.,among others.

Through these changes — andthe allure of a new school — Mr.Schwenk plans to boost the enroll-ment at the new Max Hayes to itstarget 800 students — a 33% in-crease from its current 600-studentbody.

The hardest part will be in changingthe perception of manufacturing inthe minds of students and parentsin order to convince them there’s afuture for students in highly technicalmanufacturing.

“Manufacturing is not sexy,” saidMr. Schwenk, who took the helm ofMax Hayes last year.

Cleaning up perceptionsMany people still see Max Hayes

as a trade school and not as a viableoption for students looking to securelong-term careers, said Joe Archacki,president of Mainstreet Growth, an economic development andmarketing organization in AvonLake that is performing marketingservices for Max Hayes.

To combat that perception, MaxHayes plans to take parents ontours of manufacturing facilities toshow them what the manufacturingof today looks like and how it differsfrom the shops of old, Mr. Schwenksaid.

Ashley Parker, media relationsmanager of the Association for Career and Technical Education, anational education association basedin Baltimore, said many career techschools are working with industry toencourage student interest in fieldssuch as manufacturing and tochange the dirty-factory mentality.

“These models — which typicallyinvolve business and industry leaders in the schools as mentors or guest speakers, internship pro-grams with area businesses, fieldtrips to local business and industrysites to see the facilities and workbeing done, etc. — are a great way forstudents to see the real-life possibil-ities for careers,” Ms. Parker said. ■

The Internal Revenue Service filed taxliens against the following businessesin the Cuyahoga County Recorder’sOffice. The IRS files a tax lien to protect the interests of the federalgovernment. The lien is a public notice to creditors that the govern-ment has a claim against a company’sproperty. Liens reported here are$5,000 and higher. Dates listed arethe dates the documents were filed inthe Recorder’s Office.

LIENS FILEDJames B. Solon, D.D.S.4212 state Route 306, WilloughbyID: 34-1743463Date filed: Sept. 11, 2012Type: Employer’s withholdingAmount: $16,767

Anthony Group Inc. Dapper Dans10703 W. Pleasant Valley Road, ParmaID: 20-1291812Date filed: Sept. 11, 2012Type: Employer’s withholding, unemploymentAmount: $16,489

Steel Shearing Inc.P.O. Box 44342, ClevelandID: 34-1373143Date filed: Sept. 7, 2012Type: Employer’s withholdingAmount: $16,251

C & S Door Inc.5639 Porter Road, North OlmstedID: 20-4000968Date filed: Sept. 26, 2012Type: Employer’s withholding, corporate incomeAmount: $16,121

Renaissance Center for Compre-hensive and Cosmetic Dentistry2211 Crocker Road, Suite 110, WestlakeID: 01-0688742Date filed: Sept. 6, 2012Type: Employer’s withholding, corporate incomeAmount: $16,015

Perfection Car Repair Inc.2101 Saint Clair Ave. NE, ClevelandID: 34-1326173Date filed: Sept. 11, 2012Type: Employer’s withholding, corp. incomeAmount: $13,353

GTC Auto Inc. Chernows Automotive Clinic17050 Broadway Ave., Maple HeightsID: 20-0540934Date filed: Sept. 7, 2012Type: Employer’s withholdingAmount: $11,505

Imperial Glass & Door Co.6517 Bessemer Ave., ClevelandID: 34-0858987Date filed: Sept. 26, 2012

Type: Employer’s withholdingAmount: $9,832

Doona Enterprises LLC Stone Mad1306 W. 65th St., ClevelandID: 32-0233883Date filed: Sept. 20, 2012Type: Employer’s withholdingAmount: $9,050

Complete Home Health Services Inc.25000 Euclid Ave., Suite 206, EuclidID: 34-1965686Date filed: Sept. 11, 2012Type: Employer’s withholding, corporate incomeAmount: $8,617

C & S Door Inc.5639 Porter Road, North OlmstedID: 20-4000968Date filed: Sept 27, 2012Type: Employer’s withholdingAmount: $8,010

Hal-Mark Associates Inc. ETs Travel9697 Brookpark Road, ParmaID: 34-1770173Date filed: Sept. 20, 2012Type: Employer’s withholding, unemploymentAmount: $7,810

Grumar Acquisition Co. McDonald Roofing Co.1463 Warrensville Center Road, South EuclidID: 34-1771404Date filed: Sept. 26, 2012Type: Employer’s withholdingAmount: $7,119


really thought the election discus-sion would have died down by now,but it appears — at least early on —that the next term of Barack Obama’s

presidency could begin on the samerocky ground on which it teetered duringthe fall campaign.

And we should all hope and pray thatthis partisan rancor dies down so thatthe two sides can get at the hardwork of making our country morefinancially stable. The marketswant it; the majority of Ameri-cans want it. Now we must con-vince the two parties in thissquabble that they want it, too.

Most people seem to agreethat sequestration — the across-the-board budget cuts mandatedbecause the Republicans andDemocrats haven’t been able to com-promise — is a bad idea. And it stands toreason that a thoughtful approach to cutfederal spending while also raising rev-enue is the best way to avoid sequestra-tion (forever to be known by historiansas “the fiscal cliff,’ as Fed chairman BenBernanke dubbed it).

But our elected representatives are being held captive by ideology and extremism. The GOP, whose agenda hasbeen skewed by the radically conserva-tive Tea Party faction, fights every newsource of revenue. The liberal wing of theDemocratic Party will fight ’til the end toavoid cutting entitlement programs.

Nowhere in that discussion are themoderates from each party, thepeople who thoughtfully con-sider the issues and candidatesand cast their votes accordingto intellect rather than partydogma. You know, the peoplelike Steve LaTourette andOlympia Snowe, who’ve quittheir Washington lives becausethey’re sick of the fighting.

* * * * *THAT FRONT-PAGE HEADLINE in

last Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal wasmeaningful to thousands of Ohioans taking part in, or watching, the earlymega-investments in gas and oil explo-ration along our state’s portion of theUtica Shale. It read: “U.S. Redraws WorldOil Map.”

But it was the second, smaller head-line that hit with greater force: “ShaleBoom Puts America on Track to SurpassSaudi Arabia in Production by 2020.”

Let that sink in for a moment. ManyAmericans can remember the gasolinerationing and other problems foisted onthe industrial world by the Organizationof Petroleum Exporting Countries, aprice-fixing cartel that has managed thespigot on much of the world’s oil.

Improving technology needed to freethe massive deposits of shale gas and oilis changing everything, and Ohio is atthe heart of it all. Which is precisely whyyou will receive — two weeks from now— our first magazine supplement dedi-cated to this booming industry. We planfour more in 2013. It will be distributedto more than 120,000 business readers:every subscriber of Crain’s ClevelandBusiness as well as to readers of threeother Crain publications — Pensions &Investments, Plastics News and Invest-ment News in eight states with majorshale industries.

This is a game-changer, folks, and wewant to be telling you that story. ■


Don’t blow itO

hio voters were right to reject Issue 2, aflawed measure to change the redistrictingprocess in Ohio. However, the 63%-37%vote shouldn’t be viewed as an endorse-

ment of the status quo. Soon after the next sessionof the Legislature convenes, state lawmakers shouldchange the method of drawing congressional andlegislative districts so that the redistricting joke of2010 isn’t repeated in 2020.

The anger that brought Issue 2 before voters wasjustified. Republican control of key statewide officesand the Legislature produced redistricting maps inOhio so skewed that the outcome of this month’scongressional and Ohio Senate races essentially wasdetermined before a single vote was cast.

The lopsided victories that occurred in nearlyevery one of Ohio’s 16 congressional contestsshould be an affront to anyone who ever uttered thephrase, “Every vote counts.” The fix was in as Republicans won 12 House seats and Democratscruised to victory in the other four districts.

The closest race was in the redrawn 16th Congres-sional District, where two current House members,Republican Jim Renacci and Democrat BettySutton, squared off. Mr. Renacci won by nearly fivepercentage points. In only one other district was themargin of victory less than 10 points. The marginexceeded 20 points in eight contested races. Demo-crat Marcia Fudge and Republican House SpeakerJohn Boehner ran unopposed.

The deck also was stacked in the voting for 18expiring seats in the Ohio Senate. Republicans ranunopposed for five seats. They also won another 10seats, with the margin of victory in nine of thoseelections exceeding 15 percentage points. Just threeseats were won by Democrats.

Hence the push for Issue 2, which would havetaken the redistricting process out of the hands ofvarious state officeholders and legislative leadersand given it to an appointed 12-member citizenscommittee. The concept sounds good. However, asthe Ohio State Bar Association noted in opposing Issue 2, the committee selection process wouldhave involved members of the judiciary. Conse-quently, it would have subjected judges — who areelected — to pressure from special interest groupsthat wanted to see their preferred nominees includ-ed on the citizens committee.

With the defeat of Issue 2, legislators have beengiven yet another chance to bring greater fairness tothe job of redrawing districts every 10 years. Theyshouldn’t blow this opportunity.

We still favor a plan first proposed by Secretary ofState Jon Husted when he was a senator. Under thatplan, an Apportionment Board consisting of sevenmembers (the governor, secretary of state, auditor,House speaker, Senate president and minority leadersin the House and Senate) would need a supermajorityof five members to move a redistricting plan for-ward. And at least two of those “yes” votes wouldneed to come from members of the minority party.

Unless they want to risk losing control of the redistricting process entirely, legislators whododged the Issue 2 bullet should act quickly to makeit better.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

BRIANTUCKER

Set aside dogma to avoid fiscal cliff

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR:Brian D.Tucker ([email protected])

EDITOR:Mark Dodosh ([email protected])

MANAGING EDITOR:Scott Suttell ([email protected])

OPINION

AINSLEE JOHNSONClevelandThat’s tough because down-town is so underutilized. If youcan get a couple of companieshere, more will follow becausethere’s nothing that’s reallylacking.

➤➤➤➤ Watch more of these responses by visiting the Multimedia section at www.CrainsCleveland.com.

THE BIG ISSUE

AMY CLUM HOLBROOKCleveland HeightsThe office space in the down-town area has actually gottento be both better aestheticallyand better by price.

RICHARD MANDELShaker HeightsAccessibility. We’re right near anexus of the rail system, ourbus lines run well … (and)there’s plenty of parking. Freeway lines merge here. It’s a good and functionaldowntown.

GRANT RELICBrunswickAffordable rent. Obviously, in these economic times, expenses are pretty important.

If you were trying to lure companies to relocate in downtown Cleveland, what amenity would you promote the most?

I


By STAN [email protected]

Equity Trust Co., an Elyria-basedcustodian of self-directed retirementplans, is pursuing incentives tomove 375 workers to a building inWestlake that investors headed byRichard Desich, Equity’s founderand chairman, recently acquiredfrom the Cleveland Clinic.

Westlake Mayor Dennis Cloughconfirmed his staff is negotiating an incentive package with EquityTrust. The incentives would includeproperty tax abatement and an income tax measure that would allow Equity Trust to receive cityfunds for a percentage of incometaxes paid by the employees thecompany moves to the building at30033 Crocker Road.

If the incentive package satisfiesEquity Trust, it would move a $14million payroll to the suburb bynext fall. The company also plans toinvest $11.3 million in improve-ments to the 30-year-old building,which the Clinic had operated as itsWestlake Family Health Center.

The city is preparing to submit apackage to Equity Trust next week,Mayor Clough said.

Dickering over terms of the package clearly is under way. In itsapplication for incentives, EquityTrust asks for a 75% reduction in thesite’s property taxes for 10 years.The city has proposed a 50% reduc-tion of property taxes paid on improvements to the building forthe same term.

Westlake and Equity Trust officialshave made the rounds at cities thatwould be losing jobs to Westlake inthe move.

Rebecca Corrigan, executive director of the Berea Community Development Corp., said she isworking with Berea Mayor Cyril Kleemon a request for income tax-sharingwith Westlake to soften the blow. Toready a request for Westlake, Ms.Corrigan said, Berea has obtainedcopies of Summit County’s tax-sharing agreement for municipalitiesand another between Twinsburgand Solon it intends to use to craftits proposal.

Mrs. Corrigan said Berea hopedto convince Equity Trust to buildwithin its borders. However, the city

found the company did not want tospend money for a new buildingand that its principal already hadacquired the building in Westlake.

“With about 100 employees here,Equity Trust is one of the top 10 income-tax payers in Berea,” Mrs.Corrigan said. “We’ll not only losethe jobs but be left with their buildingat Bagley Road and Baker Street, whichwill be 80% vacant after they leave.”

Elyria Mayor Holly Brinda saidshe was “obviously disappointed”after hearing about Equity Trust’splans to leave a 20,000-square-footbuilding in Elyria that Mr. Desichowns in Great Lakes Technology Park,which Lorain County CommunityCollege developed. The park wascreated as part of the college’s efforts to help growing companiesand to diversify Elyria’s economy.

“It is so important for our com-munity to grow these opportunitiesoutside manufacturing,” MayorBrinda said. “We’re trying to grownew manufacturing firms but alsofinancial services firms. Keeping afinancial services organization isimportant to our current and futurevitality.”

Mayor Brinda said her last wordto Equity Trust was that she hopedit would give Elyria a look when itneeds space again. She said she doesnot have a head count for EquityTrust’s Elyria headquarters at 225Burns Road.

Coy CEOJeff Desich, Equity Trust’s CEO,

said in a Nov. 9 interview that EquityTrust’s consolidation of operationsin the Westlake building is one alternative the partnership owningthe property might consider for thestructure.

“It’s a prime spot for retail, so obviously there are a few opportu-nities for that site,” said Mr. Desich,who is the son of founder RichardDesich.

Equity Trust is pursuing a new location in order to consolidate its Ohio operations and to provide

“It’s a prime spot for retail, so obviously thereare a few opportunities.” – Jeff Desich, CEO, Equity TrustCo.


IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

DAVID P. O'NEILL, SIOR, MCRManaging Director & Partner216-861-7200david.oneill@omcle.comwww.ostendorf-morris.com

What’s holding you back from selecting a rm to manage your global real estate portfolio?We’d like to know.

SAFETY ◆ SERVICE ◆ CONVENIENCE

216-362-9904 www.FlySkyQuest.com [email protected]

AIR CHARTER SERVICEAIRCRAFT MANAGEMENT

The Sky Quest Travel Experience:◆ Relaxing travel with no waiting in lines, no carrier delays◆ A flight that departs on YOUR schedule◆ A private aircraft with a crew you know and trust◆ Substantial savings over jet card programs◆ One-way flights available with NO repositioning fee

Northern Ohio’s Premier Air Charter CompanyNorthern Ohio’s Premier Air Charter Company

Elyria financial services outfit eyeingWestlake to consolidate 375 employeesEquity Trust, city haggle over tax incentives room for growth. Its tax abatement

application indicates some jobs, per-haps as many as 75, might move toWestlake from Waco, Texas, whereEquity Trust recently acquired a similar company.

“There is the possibility some jobsmay be relocated from Texas, but ourfocus is on consolidating our Ohiooperations and providing for organicgrowth,” Mr. Desich said. He also saidit intends to maintain its Waco opera-tions, where it employs about 120.

Asked if Westlake’s offer of a 50%tax abatement on building improve-ments instead of 75% it sought forthe whole property is acceptable,Mr. Desich said, “We don’t have aposition on that right now.”

Poaching? No, mayor saysBoth Westlake and Berea have

signed Cuyahoga County’s year-oldbusiness development and anti-poaching agreement, which usescounty economic development fundsas a carrot to discourage communitiesgetting into bidding wars for compa-nies.

Mayor Clough said Westlake didnot poach the company; he said Equity Trust informed the city of itsdesire to consolidate in Westlake. Hesaid he worries the company mightyet consider relocating outside theregion, perhaps to Texas, much lessmove to Westlake from Berea andElyria.

“There is no commitment forthem to move here,” Mayor Cloughsaid. He noted he would love to havethe 71,000-square-foot building onCrocker Road occupied again. Hiscity lost income tax revenues afterCleveland Clinic moved its familyhealth center employees to a newbuilding in Avon.

The Clinic on Oct. 15 sold thebuilding to 30033 Crocker LLC, aFlorida corporation which hasRichard Desich as its trustee, for $3.5million, according to CuyahogaCounty land records.

Mrs. Corrigan said Westlake cityofficials have said the building stillmight be put to use as a multitenantbuilding or could house anothercompany, but she wonders, given theownership, if that is really the case.

Equity Trust is best known for providing investors assistance inhandling self-directed IRAs, particu-larly if they involve real estate invest-ments. Its website says it has morethan 130,000 clients in 50 states. ■

Rance Crain newest member of ad HOFRance Crain, Crain Com-

munications Inc. presidentand editor-in-chief of Advertising Age, Crain’sChicago Business, Crain’sNew York Business andTelevisionWeek.com, is partof the American AdvertisingFederation’s 64th class to beinducted into the AdvertisingHall of Fame.

Mr. Crain joins his father, G. D.Crain, mother, Gertrude Crain, andSid Bernstein, the former editor, editorial director and publisher ofAdvertising Age, as hall of fame inductees.

Mr. Crain’s career began as a reporter for Advertising Age’s Wash-

ington bureau, and he later moved to the publica-tion’s New York andChicago offices. He wasnamed senior editor of thead industry’s leading pub-lication in 1965 and lateradded titles of Crain edito-rial director in 1971 andcompany president in 1973.

In his continued role as editor-in-chief of Advertising Age, he writes abi-weekly column.

Mr. Crain founded four of thecompany’s influential titles — Pensions & Investments, Crain’sChicago Business, Crain’s New YorkBusiness and Electronic Media, nowpublished as tvweek.com. He is a

graduate of Northwestern University’sMedill School of Journalism and acharter member of Medill’s Hall ofAchievement.

“Being inducted into the Adver-tising Hall of Fame is a tremen-dously exclusive honor reserved forhighly accomplished individualswho have had a profound impact onour industry and the world aroundthem,” said Laurence Boschetto,chairman of the Advertising Hall ofFame.

The official induction ceremoniesand gala dinner will be held in lateApril in the grand ballroom of NewYork’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. Otherinductees on that evening includeNike founder Phil Knight. ■

Crain


UtrataDuberStokley

JonesTotinoChiricosta


When you need expert advice, quick decision-making, and unwavering attention, you’ll have the full support of an experienced team. Just give us a

call. Any of us. And we can guarantee—you’ve got all of us.firstmerit.com

Member FDIC 850_FM12

P E R S O N A L B U S I N E S S C O M M E R C I A L W E A LT H

Donna DolezalSenior Vice President Commercial Banking

[email protected]

Ronald MajkaSenior Vice President and Manager

Loan Syndications330-996-6446

[email protected]

Steven GareauVice President

Commercial Banking216-802-6514

[email protected]

Michael SommerfeldVice President

Equipment Finance and Leasing216-694-5661

[email protected]

Lisa FoleyVice President


[email protected]

Gregory MulachMarket President

Erie Shores Region440-329-3203

[email protected]

Our team would like to get to know your team.

Starting with our newest members:

Gerald BuckVice President


[email protected]

GOING PLACES

MartinMcKeeNassif

AntonucciJurvaCorrigan

JOB CHANGESAUTOMOTIVEMAYFIELD COLLISION CENTERS:Scott Kimmel to customer caremanager, South Euclid.

FINANCEFEDERAL RESERVE BANK OFCLEVELAND: Jerrold Newlon tovice president, large banking organi-zation supervision. LORAIN NATIONAL BANK: GeorgeNassif to vice president, relationshipmanager, Commercial BankingGroup; Jim McKee to mortgage loanofficer.

FINANCIAL SERVICECAPITALWORKS LLC: W. Todd

Martin to partner; John P. CorriganIII to senior associate. WELLS FARGO ADVISORS: SusanE. Paolo to financial adviser.

HEALTH CAREMETROHEALTH: Robin Blass to executive director of development;Lynn Effron to senior developmentofficer; Julie Jacono to director ofdevelopment; Dr. Ronnie Fass to director of gastroenterology and hepatology and head, Esophagealand Swallowing Center; Dr. JenniferBailit to executive director, Women’sand Children’s Patient Care Unit.

HOSPITALITYINTERCONTINENTAL HOTELCLEVELAND: Sacha Jurva to hotel

manager.

LEGALCALFEE, HALTER & GRISWOLDLLP: Sarah Antonucci, MatthewChiricosta and Salvatore Totino toassociates.JACKSON LEWIS LLP: Doston B.Jones to associate. STARK & KNOLL: David J. Stokleyto associate.

MANUFACTURINGFAIRMOUNT MINERALS LTD.:Daniel G. Schmidt II to director, total rewards and risk. HYDROTEX: Jerry Duber to divisionpartner, Northeast Ohio. SIFCO APPLIED SURFACE CONCEPTSLLC: Nick Utrata to staff accountant. TIMKEN CO.: Paul Henry to directorof manufacturing, small-bore taperedroller bearings; Christopher B.Howes to director of manufacturingadvancement; Michael E. Prengamanto general manager, manufacturingcontinuous improvement.

MARKETINGADCOM GROUP OF COS.: DaleOmori to multimedia artist/director;Kyle Peterson to associate art director; Anna Edwards to productionartist; Darnell Ford to community relations producer; Matthew Met-zger to account executive; Dale Mor-rison to first impression specialist. HOME TEAM MARKETING: RachelAllenick to group director, state associations; Eamon Fitzpatrick toaccount supervisor. MEDIA SYNTHESIS INC.: Matt Gutbrod to sales executive. TRIAD/NEXT LEVEL INTERACTIVE:Michael Zimmerman to director,client services and new business development.

NONPROFITCLEVELAND ORCHESTRA:Michelle Vectirelis to director of human resources.

Send information for Going Places [email protected].



They’ve got a total of $21 millionin their backpacks and hope to raise another $79 million for their endeavors. Their board membersare their guides. Their business planis the map that supposedly chartsthe path through the valley — apath that many other drug develop-ment companies have failed to find.

BioMotiv aims to reduce the costof drug development by licensingthe rights to dozens of drugs devel-oped by research institutions allover the world, then developing andtesting the technology to the pointwhere other investors are willing tobuy the rights.

If that formula works, it will helpsolve “a major issue in Americanmedicine,” said Mr. Shah, who waspresident of BioEnterprise Corp., anonprofit biomedical business accelerator in Cleveland, before becoming CEO of BioMotiv in Sep-tember.

Today, many new drugs are developed in laboratories run byuniversities, disease foundations andother research institutions. Some-times those institutions will test thedrugs in animals, but that’s typicallyas far as they’ll go.

In the past, if a drug appearedpromising, investors and pharma-ceutical companies would pick upwhere the institutions left off:They’d finance human trials andpush the drugs through the lengthyprocess of getting regulatory ap-proval.

However, over the last 10 years orso, investors and pharmaceuticalcompanies have become more reluctant to fill that gap, Mr. Shahsaid. Instead, they’ve focused onputting existing drugs to new usesand investing in the few companiesthat can scrap together financing tomove a drug through early humantrials.

“You’re really not able today tofind willing commercial partnersthat are interested in technologies atthe earliest stages of development,”Mr. Shah said.

Putting money to workBioMotiv aims to change that

situation. Incorporated in Septem-ber, the company in Shaker Heightsserves as the for-profit arm of theHarrington Project for Discovery &Development, which looks to raisea total of $250 million that would beused to help researchers developdrugs and get them to the point wherethey can be handed off to investors.

The initiative includes the non-profit University Hospitals Harring-ton Discovery Institute, which plansto award grants to support the development of new drugs and torecruit physician-scientists to UHCase Medical Center. The nonprofitwas seeded by a $50 million donationfrom the Harrington family, whichformerly owned Edgepark MedicalSupplies of Twinsburg. Likewise,BioMotiv raised its $21 million fromUH and the Harrington family.

BioMotiv is starting to put themoney to work: The six-employeecompany has signed an exclusiveoption that gives it first rights tocommercialize a cancer drug devel-oped by an institution in New Yorkstate. BioMotiv also is negotiating tolicense the rights to another cancerdrug from an institution in the western United States and an anti-inflammatory technology createdby an institution in the southernpart of the country, Mr. Shah said,

declining to be more specific.BioMotiv’s plan is to take the

drugs through Phase I clinical trialsand possibly the first part of Phase II trials. The company’s goalis to generate enough data on the effectiveness of a drug to attract investors, who then would pay Bio-Motiv for the right to commercializethe therapies.

Success is by no means guaran-teed, as the valley of death is deep.But Mr. Shah says three factors willhelp BioMotiv make it to the otherside:

■ Whereas startups often are created to commercialize just onedrug, BioMotiv plans to license therights to many drugs. That way, ifone project is failing, the companycan abandon it and focus its resourceson another. Though BioMotiv willform subsidiaries for each of itsdrug candidates, those companieswill employ only one or two peopleat first. BioMotiv will provide somemanagement and back office func-tions, and early stage developmentand testing would be outsourced to the research institution or to con-tractors.

“You don’t need full manage-ment teams around every productor project,” Mr. Shah said.

■ BioMotiv plans to get a lotmore work out of the original teamthat invented the drug than a typicalinvestor would, Mr. Shah said. Thecompany will be able to do so because it plans to provide the research institution with better licensing terms than other investorswould, he said. Plus, BioMotiv plansto make sure that its work comple-ments the mission of the institu-tion.

■ The company plans to sell thetechnologies earlier than a typicalinvestor would. It wouldn’t need tofinance expensive late-stage clinicaltrials or wait until a product hits themarket to make money.

Taking their shotsIt sounds like a “reasonable” idea,

according to Dr. Jon LeCroy, man-aging director and senior analyst atMKM Partners LLC of Stamford,Conn.

Dr. LeCroy, who covers the phar-maceutical industry, noted that it’soften possible to get a drug into earlyclinical trials with a few million dollars, so the $21 million BioMotivalready has in hand could go a longway.

Almost all drugs that make it intoanimal tests, which are called pre-clinical trials, still end up failing.Creating a company that licenseslots of them could be a good way tomanage that risk, Dr. LeCroy said.

“If every drug in preclinical (trials)has a 1% chance of success, it’s really shots on goal,” he said.

Over the last few years there’sbeen an increase in the number ofcompanies formed and projectscreated that aim to bridge the valleyof death, said Melissa Stevens,deputy executive director of Faster-Cures, a Washington, D.C.-basednonprofit that works to improvemedical research and speed the development of new therapies.

The need for a solution is clear,Ms. Stevens said, noting that investors have been scared awayfrom early stage drugs because itcan cost more than $1 billion andtake more than 15 years to bring adrug to market. Ms. Stevens said theBioMotiv model appears to be acapital-efficient, time-efficient way

BioMotiv: Investors typically leery of taking on early stage drugs continued from PAGE 1

to bridge the gap.“There’s probably not a silver

bullet, but we have to do something,”she said.

Pieces of the pipelineBioMotiv plans to license the

rights to about a dozen drugs peryear, Mr. Shah said. The subsidiariesformed to take them into clinical trials all would be based in North-

east Ohio. Those that progress likely would grow to five or six employees before being bought outby investors or a pharmaceuticalcompany.

There’s no guarantee that the acquired subsidiary would stay inthe region. Because they still wouldbe small companies, it might not behard for the new owners to movethem to one of the major centers of

the U.S. pharmaceutical industry,which include New Jersey, Philadel-phia, Boston and the San FranciscoBay area.

Though there are relatively fewpeople in Northeast Ohio with backgrounds in the pharmaceutical industry, the region has built a baseof people who have experiencelaunching other biomedical compa-nies, which could help the regionhold on to some of the new drugcompanies, Mr. Shah said. The regionalso has research capabilities relatedto drug development, he noted.

Plus, local economic developmentgroups and the state of Ohio couldhelp convince the new owners tomake the drugs in Ohio once they hitthe market, perhaps with the help ofincentives, he said.

If the region can hold on to a fewsuccessful subsidiaries, it can start tobuild a base of entrepreneurs andmanagers with industry experience,Mr. Shah said. Then they could startmore companies. And that’s howNortheast Ohio finally can startbuilding a more substantial pharma-ceutical industry, he said.

“We haven’t been able to put thepieces together,” he said. “Thishopefully gives us the opportunity tocreate that pipeline.” ■

FILE PHOTO/JANET CENTURY

BioMotiv CEO Baiju Shah


and to send faculty, too, as the opportunity arises. The foreignschools are welcome to do the same.

Theoretically, if the exchangeprograms materialize and fill up,the school ought to be sending 50-some students abroad per year, Mr.Mitchell said. In comparison, CaseWestern Reserve’s law school sent11 students to five foreign lawschools this year.

“We’re globalizing this lawschool really fast, which is reallygood for Cleveland, too, I think,”Mr. Mitchell said. “It’s really goodpress for Cleveland abroad.

“It would be very hard to be aneffective lawyer in the 21st centuryin almost any practice of law with-out encountering some dimensionof international practice, whetherthat is international law, or clientswith an international problem, orhaving to deal with a foreign lawyerin some context,” Mr. Mitchelladded. “If our students don’t havethe exposure and cultural compe-tence to work in this environment,they’re going to be behind.”

The law school’s focus comple-ments the university’s strategicplan to enhance its internationalcharacter.

The near-term goal, Mr. Mitchellsaid, is to have enough partnershipsso that any student who wants tocan study aboard. The longer-termhope is to have enough agreementsthat Mr. Mitchell can ask the facultyto require a semester abroad of students, he said.

India on the mapBy the end of 2011, Case Western

Reserve’s law school should haveexchange agreements executed with11 schools in Asia, seven in Europeand one in Canada. And, in thespring, Mr. Mitchell will travel to India, where the top five law schoolshave agreed to sign on, he said.

Susan Prager, executive directorand CEO of The Association ofAmerican Law Schools, said she’sheard anecdotally that a number ofschools are expanding or initiatingstudy abroad programs.

The real question, though, according to an official with theAmerican Bar Association, whichaccredits law schools, is how muchactual exchange of students andfaculty will occur.

“It is a lot of formal agreementsto sign, but what I don’t know iswhether anybody is actually going,”Barry Currier, interim consultant

on legal education for the ABA, saidof Case Western Reserve’s growingnumber of exchange agreements.

Mr. Mitchell doesn’t anticipatefull participation right away. But asthose who participate share theirexperiences, the program will grow,he predicts. “This is a new program,and relatively unusual in legal edu-cation,” he said. “All new thingstake time to flower.

“It is also my expectation that, aswe already have, we will begin to attract more students who want toparticipate in this program, and Ithink that’s a very good thing forour law school,” Mr. Mitchell said.

Cost vs. benefitThe ABA’s Mr. Currier agrees it’s

helpful for aspiring lawyers to expe-rience other cultures and legal systems, but said the benefits mustbe weighed against the added costsfor students at a time “when legaleducation is not cheap most places.”

Concerns about increasing students’ costs also were raised byofficials with the University of AkronSchool of Law and Cleveland-Mar-shall College of Law. The Universityof Akron’s law school doesn’t havean active study abroad program atpresent, and Cleveland-Marshall


Take the work out of your company’s voice and data plan.

1-866-791-2688 | coxbusiness.com

+ UNLIMITED NATIONWIDELONG DISTANCE

+ INTERNET SPEEDS UP TO 10/2 MBPS

*Offer valid until 1/1/3. Call the number listed for important offer details. ©2012 Cox Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Cox Business received the highest numerical score among small/midsize business data service providersin the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Data Services StudySM. Study based on 5,143 total responses measuring eight providers and measures opinions of small/midsizebusinesses (companies with two to 499 employees). Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of businesses surveyed in October 2011 and February 2012. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com.

Cox Business Bundle

“Highest Customer Satisfaction among DataService Providers for Small/Midsize Businesses”

Every business has different communication needs.

That’s why Cox Business offers customizable

services that are right for you. Get fast, reliable

Internet and feature-packed digital phone for

a bundle that just makes sense.

$79.99 /MO*


Law: Skeptics raise concerns over students’ costs, time away

suspended its study abroad in Russialast summer because student par-ticipation was lacking.

“We’re operating in a period ofcontracted resources, so we have tobe careful about the way that we’reusing those resources,” said CraigM. Boise, dean of Cleveland-Marshall.

And, he noted, almost every lawschool advertises and offers studyabroad programs to other schools’students — for a price.

“There’s no shortage of opportu-nities for students to go abroad,”Mr. Boise said. “Our concern is howpopular are study abroad programsgoing to be when legal educationsare so expensive and there are fewerjobs available? I think you’re goingto see a decline in demand for studyabroad programs.”

Case Western Reserve studentsaren’t required to add to their debt,though, Mr. Mitchell said. Participa-tion is an option, not a requirement.

“True, students have to buy a

plane ticket, and arrange room andboard, but the latter typically arearranged with the help of adminis-trators at our partner schools and canoften be less expensive than inCleveland,” he said. “So, there is nomeaningful additional cost shortterm, and, we believe, a significantadvantage over the longer term.”

Already, he said, Case WesternReserve’s law school is seeing a return on its investment. It includesan increase in the quality of its foreign graduate students and morerequests from students from otherlaw schools to become visiting students at — and pay tuition to —Case Western Reserve to take advantage of the program.

Also, “there’s reputational ROI,”Mr. Mitchell said.

“We are a well-known quantityamong the top schools in China.That means a lot,” he said. “That’skind of spreading our name and ourreputation around the world.” ■

FILE PHOTO

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law dean Craig M. Boise


FF--22 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS NOVEMBER 19 - 25, 2012

We congratulate

Dalithia Smith,Lincoln Electric’s Director of

Recruiting and Training,

on being selected a

Crain’s 2012 Forty under 40 Honoree

www.lincolnelectric.com

Congratulations to

Colette Jones from

Positively Cleveland!

As a distinguished

member of Crain’s

“Forty Under 40” Class

of 2012, we proudly

celebrate her notable

achievements as

a leader in our

organization and

community.

Colette JonesVice President of MarketingPositively Cleveland

334 Euclid AvenueCleveland, OH 44114216.875.6600www.positivelycleveland.com

MARK ABOODSenior vice presidentChartwell Group ◆ 39

Mark Abood stores threemassive floodlights inhis Tower at Erieview office that he uses to

show properties to prospective buyers. The lights — necessary because the properties’ electricityusually is turned off — are a hallmarkof his niche in commercial real estate: serving as a court-appointedreceiver for distressed buildings.

Today that niche is paying off; Mr.Abood received the NAIOP NorthernOhio trade group’s award as invest-ment broker of the year in 2011.

However, that outcome was lesscertain in 2007, when Mr. Aboodconvinced Chartwell Group to bringhim on board because he believedhis background as a lawyer would

allow the firm to capitalize on astorm brewing in commercial realestate. That storm proved largerthan anyone could have guessed fol-lowing the financial collapse of 2008and ensuing real estate downturn.

“I was never as scared in my life asI was at the beginning at Chartwell,”he said. “It was not a good time to gointo commercial real estate, for tra-ditional property sales and leasingaction were beginning to dry up.”

Slowly, his efforts to meetlawyers and judges to win receiver-ships produced results. He becameChartwell’s top-producing agentfor each of the last two years.

David Wagner, a Chartwell principal, said Mr. Abood’s practiceallowed him to use the brokerage’sassets to full effect, including itsauction division. “He’s sold distressed office buildings, mobilehome parks, yacht club resorts,golf courses and many one-of-akind assets,” Mr. Wagner said.

There is a balancing act Mr.Abood must perform in serving as areceiver. “Your goal is to produce thebest result for the property for thecourt,” he said. “I don’t judge people. I don’t think you are a badperson if you are a defaulted bor-rower. But I also have to show peo-ple they can’t take advantage of me.”

Mr. Abood grew up in ClevelandHeights and attended Chanel HighSchool, where his father was along-serving faculty member andprincipal. He played football atChanel and both football andbaseball for two years at John Carroll University, until he dumpedathletics to hike his grades andgain admission to Cleveland StateUniversity’s Cleveland-MarshallCollege of Law. He has been a solopractitioner and served as presidentof Solon-based Anripar Group, acommercial real estate developer.

Today, he puts his athletic skill towork serving as a coach for his two

sons’ baseball and football teams. Heserved a stint on Brunswick CityCouncil and is active on the parishfinance committee of St. AmbroseChurch in Brunswick. He also hasserved as a bone marrow donor for acancer patient. — Stan Bullard

NICOLE M. BELLExecutive directorThe Presidents’ Council Foundation ◆ 30

Nicole Bell quickly tunedinto the growth potentialof The Presidents’ CouncilFoundation when in 2008

she joined the organization as anexecutive assistant, a title that shesays “meant you did everything.”

The apprentice turned up thevolume when in 2011 she becameexecutive director of the nonprofit,which provides research and entre-preneurial education in NortheastOhio’s African-American community.

Her relatively short tenure so farhas yielded an operating budget in-crease of 45%, to $304,000 this yearfrom $210,000 in 2011, which has

been realized through heightenedengagement and outreach efforts.Ms. Bell is planning for another$100,000 budget increase in 2013.

“When I took over, we made somewonderful and drastic changes,” Ms.Bell said. “We are stepping up ourgame.”

She played checkers with theboard of directors, repositioningcommittee members and evenbringing in new ones whose skillsaligned with their posts.

The nonprofit under Ms. Bell’sstewardship diversified its revenuestreams beyond its steady supporters— the Cleveland and George Gundfoundations — to other entities,such as the Abington Foundation,Council of Smaller Enterprises andJPMorgan Chase, as well as withnew fundraising.

“I’m excited, because we’rerolling out a comprehensive corpo-rate sponsorship program,” whichwas scheduled to take effect in October, and it will support thenonprofit’s emerging entrepreneurs

and scholars programs, she said.Those programs also have re-

ceived fine-tuning — when Ms. Belljoined the organization, the highschool scholars initiative mentored10th-graders for six months. Now,the area scholars are involved in athree-year program that continuesthrough their senior year.

“I was so close to their age when Ijoined the foundation, so I hadmore of a sense as to their goalsand how to communicate with thestudents,” said Ms. Bell, who was 26when she joined the organization.

“The biggest and most importantpart of her contribution has beenher energy and passion around themission of the foundation,” saidBrian Hall, board chairman andCEO of Cleveland-based Innogistics.

Ms. Bell has a master’s in busi-ness administration from ClevelandState University and a bachelor’sdegree in business from BaldwinWallace University. She is active inseveral organizations, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Ameri-can Heart Association, RecoveryResources and Baldwin WallaceUniversity’s Women’s Club.

The North Olmsted resident dedicates her personal time to hersoon-to-be stepson, Ken Jr.; plan-ning a wedding with her fiancé,Ken; working out; reading; cooking;and frequenting Cleveland enter-tainment spots.

— Kathy Ames Carr

STEPHANE BIBIANVice president of engineeringand clinical researchNeuroWave Systems Inc. ◆ 38

The whole premise behindthe technology pioneeredby Stephane Bibian and hiscoworkers at NeuroWave

Systems Inc. in Cleveland Heights isto ensure people are in a deep sleepduring medical procedures.

But when Dr. Bibian, a native ofFrance, talks about the technologyand the role Cleveland has playedin its development, he’s anythingbut a snooze.

“From a biotech perspective, welive and work in an environmentthat is extremely dynamic,” Dr. Bibian said. “If you’re in the field,this is the place to be.”

Dr. Bibian and his wife, TatjanaZikov, designed the algorithm thatfuels NeuroWave’s technology duringtheir graduate studies in Canada.The couple had been in search ofan industrial partner to take theirintellectual property and do some-thing with it, which led Dr. Zikov toCleveland Medical Devices in 2003,with Dr. Bibian following suit twoyears later.

Dr. Bibian said they soon realizedthey couldn’t simply transplanttheir technology into an existingdevice and had to build a new machine from the ground up. In2007, NeuroWave Systems spun offas its own company from CleveMedto do just that.

“Stephane creates something outof nothing,” said CleveMed chairman

See BIBIAN Page F-4


Learn more at mbsprinterusa.com

©2012 Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC *Individual mileage will vary, based on factors including vehicle load, driving style, road conditions and fuel quality. Fuel economy based on the 2500 144” wheelbase Cargo Van at 50 percent load capacity and at highway speeds. Results are based on SAE J1979/J1939 tests as conducted by WinterPark Engineering, LLC. EPA-based fuel economy estimates are not required for vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 8,500 pounds or greater. **Based on Vincentric 2012 Fleet Awards analysis, ¾ ton cargo van segment and the Standard Roof, 144 inch wheelbase trim level.

When it comes to Best-In-Class fuel effi ciency,our competition was fi erce.Able to travel up to 625 miles without refueling, the amazing camel certainly gave us a run for our money. However, when all was said and done,

the 2013 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Cargo Van, powered by BlueTEC technology, delivered up to 24.9 miles per gallon*, outperforming the effi cient

camel by over 20 miles on a full tank. That effi ciency didn’t go unnoticed as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter was awarded the 2012 Vincentric Best

Fleet Value in America and the Lowest Fleet Lifecycle Cost**. Proof from the experts that the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter keeps more money in your

pocket, helping you evolve your business beyond the competition.


Bob Schmidt. “That’s what he does.”The company’s basic product —

NeuroSense — is a monitor thatmeasures and tracks brain functionsfor anesthetized patients. Dr. Bibianis credited with growing the com-pany’s distribution network inCanada, France, Belgium, theNetherlands, Luxembourg and Germany.

“He’s already a world-class guy,”Mr. Schmidt said. “When you gointo operating rooms in Europe,they know who he is. When you go to an anesthesia conference, people know who he is.”

Backed by money from a contractfrom the U.S. Army, Dr. Bibian alsois steering the development of an“autopilot” system of sorts for anesthesiologists: The system auto-matically would adjust drug levelsto maintain sedation, which wouldfree medical professionals for othertasks.

Asked about his interests beyondthe workplace, Dr. Bibian chuckled.After all, he said, it’s difficult to sep-arate work and personal lives whenyou’re married to the company’spresident. But beyond work, he andhis wife enjoy the city’s vibrant artscommunity, including the ClevelandMuseum of Art and the ClevelandOrchestra. — Timothy Magaw


CONGRATULATIONS TO MARK S. ABOOD

40under40

CRAINS CLASS OF 2012

216.360.0009 | www.ChartwellGroup.com

DR. APARNA BOLESustainability managerand pediatricianUniversity Hospitals ◆ 33

As someone raised in theenvironmentally friendlyconfines of Portland, Ore.,the sustainability bug

never really hit Dr. Aparna Bole — ithad always been there.

But as University Hospitals’ sustainability manager, Dr. Bolehas made it her personal mission toignite a similar passion in her co-workers and let them know that be-ing stewards of the environmentdoesn’t only make good businesssense, but is also a good way to improve public health.

“I think sustainability and sustain-able business practices are a really

BIBIANcontinued from PAGE F-2

really had a passion for the sustain-ability space,” said Steven Standley,University Hospitals’ chief adminis-

important public health advocacyopportunity for my fellow cliniciansand something I don’t feel is wellenough recognized,” Dr. Bole said.

Dr. Bole’s superiors credit herwith the launch of the health system’s sustainability program in2010. She had dabbled in some sustainability initiatives during herresidency with University Hospitals,but had an idea about how tobroaden those efforts. Part of whathas made her a good fit for the role,she noted, is that she’s a clinician.

“To be able to have somebody totranslate between the clinical andadministrative sides of the househas helped catalyze change,” Dr.Bole said.

As part of her sustainability role,Dr. Bole leads systemwide efforts inthe areas of waste reduction, energymanagement, sustainable procure-ment and green building.

“She was energetic, smart and

trative officer. “She really helpedramp up that enterprise, and I wastotally blown away.”

Dr. Bole’s sustainability efforts go beyond her work at UniversityHospitals. For instance, she and herhusband, Richard, share a car andregularly use public transit duringtheir commutes from their apart-ment downtown. The couple also isbuilding a home near ShakerSquare that will be ultra-energy efficient and armed with solar power and other energy-saving capabilities.

She’s even chided Mr. Standleyfor his occasional use of a plasticwater bottle.

“She lives it,” Mr. Standley said.“It’s not easy to change a big orga-nization, and it takes a lot of effort. Ithink the fact that we’ve accom-plished what we’ve accomplished isbecause of her and the way she’sdone it.” — Timothy Magaw

CHRISTOPHER A. CHAPMANVice president of global financeDiebold Inc. ◆ 38

As vice president of globalfinance at Diebold Inc.,Christopher Chapman’spassport is filled with

stamps. Yet, prior to joining

Diebold, he never had traveled beyond North America. His first tripabroad — a six-week stay in the Unit-ed Kingdom in 2000 — was for work.

However, Mr. Chapman’s passion

for understanding other culturesstarted long before he crossed inter-national borders. As one of sevenchildren, early on he learned aboutdifferences among people. Pairedwith his love of history and num-bers, international business seemeda natural fit for Mr. Chapman.

Sixteen years ago, armed with abachelor’s degree in finance and anMBA with a concentration in inter-national business, both from theUniversity of Akron, Mr. Chapmanstarted at Diebold.

Since then, he has movedthrough the ranks, taking on newroles and new responsibilities asopportunities arose. In his currentjob, Mr. Chapman has financialoversight of Diebold’s global opera-tions, global supply chain and development and global financialplanning and analysis.

John Kristoff, chief communica-tions officer at Diebold, said one ofMr. Chapman’s greatest skills is hisknack for addressing the elephantin the room during discussions.

“He says what everybody else isthinking but everybody else isafraid to say. He’s fearless from thatperspective,” Mr. Kristoff said.“People know that when he sayssomething it’s pretty accurate. Hedoesn’t dance around issues.”

Mr. Chapman’s willingness toaddress issues head on engenders alevel of trust among his colleagues,who also rely on him to provide aninternational perspective in the

board room. Mr. Chapman visits each of the

company’s international sites atleast once a year, which keeps himaway from home for about a weekevery six weeks to two months.

“You do not get to a role like thiswithout having a very supportivefamily,” Mr. Chapman said.

Outside of work, Mr. Chapmanmakes his family a priority. Heserves as an assistant coach for hiskids’ softball and baseball teams,despite his travel schedule keepinghim from being able to take onhead coaching roles.

He and his wife, Jen Chapman,live in Sugarcreek with their fourchildren — Allyson, Madison, Bren-dan and Grace. — Ginger Christ


NOVEMBER 19 - 25, 2012 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS F-5

would like to congratulate Gretchen L. Schuler on being selected as one of Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40.

Invacare Corporation

©2012 Invacare Corporation. All rights reserved. Trademarks are identified by the symbols ™ , sm and ®. All trademarks are owned by or licensed to Invacare Corporation unless otherwise noted. Form no. 12-544

www.invacare.com(800) 333-6900

MICHELLE COMERFORDManaging director of Austin ConsultingThe Austin Co. ◆ 33

It’s ironic that Michelle Comerford neverreally saw a clear career path for herself,but ended up in a field where she mapswhere others go.

Ms. Comerford, 33, is managing directorof Austin Consulting, the group within theCleveland-based Austin Co. engineering andconstruction firm that advises companies onwhere to locate manufacturing plants.

“I actually never knew that this type of jobeven existed,” Ms. Comerford said.

After reconsidering on her very first day atJohn Carroll University her biology major,Ms. Comerford joined the business schooland discovered the study of logistics.

In 2001, she graduated with a double majorin logistics and marketing. She took her firstjob in the male-dominated logistics field with atrucking company and, following that, joined areal estate company through which she hadher first exposure to site selection consulting.

A consultant with whom she was workingreferred her to Don Schjeldahl at Austin Co.; heultimately became Ms. Comerford’s boss andmentor when she joined the company in 2004.Mr. Schjeldahl ended up recommending Ms.Comerford for the managing director positionhe vacated, which she assumed in 2009.

Site selection work involves communicatingwith professionals, thinking on one’s feet,learning various industries and traveling allover, said Mr. Schjeldahl, who now is site coordinator for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

“She did all those things well,” he said.“Most people will do two or three thingswell, or one thing well. Michelle did it fromday one. It took her no time.”

Today, Ms. Comerford oversees a depart-

ment of seven and the projects they handlefor clients ranging from growing family businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

“I love that every project is different,” shesaid. “With each one, I’m learning somethingnew, something interesting.”

Ms. Comerford and her husband, Jim, live inShaker Heights with their two sons, Jimmy, 3,and John, 1. Ms. Comerford calls her motherher greatest inspiration: Kim Marquette, whopassed away in 2004, volunteered a lot despitebattling a rare lung disease for 25 years.

“I aspire to be as good of a mother, friendand worker as she was,” she said.

Ms. Comerford recently was elected to thenational Site Selectors Guild — becoming oneof only three women elected to the young or-ganization — and joined the board in October.

A former collegiate volleyball player, Ms.Comerford also serves on the executive com-mittee for the Blue Gold Club, which raisesmoney for John Carroll University athletics.

— Michelle Park

CHAD DAVIESPartnerGrant Thornton LLP ◆ 38

Those weekends that a young ChadDavies spent helping his grandfathercut the grass and pull weeds in hisduties as the maintenance man for a

bank were Mr. Davies’ first lesson in the im-portance of doing things right the first time.

“The one thing I was always taught wasyou do things right or you do nothing at all,”Mr. Davies said. “It was more work for him ifI didn’t do it right.”

That doesn’t mean Mr. Davies rules with aniron fist at Grant Thornton LLP, the accountingfirm for which he’s worked since 2002. Quitethe contrary, it seems.

“Chad likes to have a good time, and helikes to facilitate other people having a goodtime,” said Thomas P. Freeman, tax practiceleader for Cleveland for Grant Thornton.“He’s always the life of the party … alwayssort of the first one to say, ‘Let’s go do a happyhour. You guys have been working hard.’

“Chad is a leader,” he said. “He has devel-oped a state and local practice that I think isone of the best in the firm. He’s a great judge oftalent, and he’s a great developer of people.”

At age 38, Mr. Davies is a partner overseeing10 people in the state and local tax servicepractice in this market for Grant Thornton,which has 56 offices in the United States.

Mr. Davies and his practice help clients ina variety of industries navigate the complextax world and tax controversies that are resulting from more state audits.

The Strongsville native always found thatmath came easy, and in what he calls a natural progression, he studied accountingat what now is known as Baldwin WallaceUniversity. Right out of the gate, he workedfor Arthur Andersen LLP in 1996.

While Mr. Davies is proud of making partner

at Grant Thornton last August, he talks moreabout helping the firm’s other people grow.

“Our people are critical to the business,”he said. “You’ve got to understand they’regoing to make mistakes, and you’ve got tolearn that those are teachable moments.”

Mr. Davies, it seems, is returning what wasdone for him when a tenured partner tookMr. Davies under his wing at Arthur Andersen.

“This profession is more than aboutknowing the tax law, knowing the tax code,”Mr. Davies said the man told him. “It’s beinggenuine and taking an interest and getting toknow (clients) on a personal level, not just abusiness level.”

It’s clear Mr. Davies lives that lesson in the“very strong rapport” Mr. Freeman said hebuilds with clients.

Mr. Davies lives in Medina with his wife,Jennifer, their 9-year-old son, Evan, and 5-year-old daughter, Lauren. He is chairmanof the board for Mental Health Services forHomeless Persons Inc. — Michelle Park



STEPHANIE DORSEYDirector of strategic initiativesForest City Enterprises Inc. ◆ 32

Stephanie Dorsey became aresidential real estate agentfor Smythe, Cramer Co. —now Howard Hanna —

because she loved real estate andthe flexibility the job provided.

However, she decided after beingthe Rocky River office’s “Rookie ofthe Year” in 2003 that she could dothat job at any time in life and coulduse an MBA instead. A Case WesternReserve University professor suggest-ed she interview at a company sheknew little about — giant developerForest City Enterprises Inc.

One of her interviewers, and a laterboss, was Emerick Corsi, Forest Citypresident of real estate services. Hesaid he was puzzled by her résumé,which showed her $2 million in gross

JAMES P. DOUGHERTYPartnerJones Day ◆ 38

As soon as Lyle G. Ganskemet James P. Dougherty,he knew he had to hirehim.

“He was extraordinary,” recalledMr. Ganske, who today is managingpartner of the Midwest region forJones Day, which employs thelargest number of attorneys inNortheast Ohio. “I cannot sayenough good things about James. Icall him ‘The Solution’ because ifyou have a problem, he is the solution. He’s been a complete superstar since the moment heshowed up.”

Mr. Dougherty, 38, advises publicand private companies on mergersand acquisitions, corporate gover-nance and takeovers. A practicingattorney for nearly 15 years, Mr.Dougherty regards last year as a

MEGANN EBERHARTManager of government affairsGreater Akron Chamber ◆ 37

When Megann Eberhartmade her first trip toColumbus, whileworking to get Bob

Taft elected governor in 1998, shemet Elizabeth Dole, a prominentRepublican politician. Mrs. Dole,who was considering a run for thepresidency (she later won a Senateseat from North Carolina in 2002),asked Ms. Eberhart if she wouldever consider running for politicaloffice.

“No, I just want to work behindthe scenes and get other peopleelected,” Ms. Eberhart responded.

That, apparently, wasn’t the answer Mrs. Dole was seeking.

“‘What do you mean?’ Mrs. Dolesaid. ‘We need more women in pol-itics,’” Ms. Eberhart recalled.

Though she really didn’t see herself as a politician, Ms. Eberhartwas a little shaken after her encounterwith one of the most visible womanpoliticians in the country. “Why didI insert my foot in my mouth?” sheasked herself.

Last fall, Ms. Eberhart, who for

sales volume in her second year inbrokerage was the same amount asher first year. Ms. Dorsey’s answer:The first year she worked full time,but the second year was part time,because she was in graduate school.

“I thought, ‘Wow!’ She came in

“career year.”In 2011, he was the lead attorney

for a number of multibillion-dollar,headline-making deals, includingCliffs Natural Resources’ $4.95 billion acquisition of Canada’sConsolidated Thompson IronMines Ltd.; Lubrizol Corp.’s sale toBerkshire Hathaway Inc. for nearly$10 billion; and Goodrich Corp.’ssale to United Technologies, valuedat more than $18 billion.

“There are very few people in thecountry who are fortunate enoughto say, ‘Yeah, I’ve worked on an $18billion deal; here’s how we handledit,’” he said.

“Those are the kinds of deals thatyou want to do when you’re in thispractice,” Mr. Dougherty said.“They’re that much more exciting.There’s a lot more at stake.”

A Brooklyn, N.Y., native, Mr.Dougherty received his law degreefrom the University of California,Los Angeles, and worked for theprominent New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP,

the last five years has been managerof government affairs at the GreaterAkron Chamber, was elected to theBarberton school board.

It’s a start. And it’s a long wayfrom civil engineering.

Ms. Eberhart, a Cleveland native,started college at the University ofAkron as a civil engineering major.Then she took a required govern-



1.500%1, 1.598% APR

1 1.500%, 1.598% APR with a 1% origination fee. The initial annual percentage rate (APR) may vary. The interest rate adjusts monthly based on the one-month LIBOR as published in The Wall Street Journal, plus a margin of 1.25%, and may increase. Rate and margin are current as of 11/6/12. Rate and margin are subject to application of standard underwriting criteria and may change without notice. For a $600,000 purchase of a primary residence, with a 20% down payment and a $480,000 mortgage, 120 monthly interest-only payments of $600 are followed by 180 monthly amortizing payments of $2,980, assuming interest rate remains constant throughout the adjustable term of the loan. Payments do not include amounts for taxes and insurance premiums. The actual payment obligation will be greater. When deciding whether an adjustable-rate mortgage is right for your situation, you should consider the potential risk of rising rates and payments and such factors as how long you plan to own your home. This is an interest-only mortgage that allows you to pay only the interest on the money you borrow for a certain number of years. If you pay only the amount of interest that’s due, once the interest-only period ends, you still will owe the original amount you borrowed, and your monthly payment will increase—even if interest rates stay the same—because you must pay back the principal as well as interest. You should ask what the payments on your loan will be after the end of the interest-only period. If you are considering an adjustable-rate mortgage, ask what your payments can be if interest rates increase. Visit our Web site at www.merrillhomeloans.com for more information about the risks of interest-only mortgages.

Merrill Lynch Home Loans™ residential mortgage programs are offered and funded by Bank of America, N.A., 4804 Deer Lake Drive East, Jacksonville, FL 32246-6484; toll-free telephone: (800) 854-7154.Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, 4 World Financial Center, New York, NY 10080, toll-free telephone: (800) 338-2814, Member, Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), does not make commitments for or fund loans.Residential mortgage programs, options and property types are not available in all states and jurisdictions and are subject to change without notice. Loans are offered on properties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Additional terms, conditions, restrictions and costs may apply. Bank of America Corporation, its subsidiaries and their employees may receive compensation for its products and services.Merrill Lynch Wealth Management makes available products and services offered by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, a registered broker-dealer and member SIPC, and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation (“BAC”). Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A., and affiliated banks, members FDIC and wholly owned subsidiaries of BAC.Investment products:

Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value© 2012 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.AD-08-12-0118 ART1Y0Y0-08-12 Code 439404PM-1112

AN ADVISOR WHO OFFERS FLEXIBLE

LENDING OPTIONSTO FIT YOUR NEEDS AND YOUR FINANCIAL STRATEGY.

Jon E. Lawrence

MARSHALLEMERSON IIICo-founder, CEOI Can Schools ◆ 38

Serious learning was not onMarshall Emerson’s mind inhigh school.

“If I couldn’t dunk it, I didn’t really care,” he says.

That attitude has changed.After getting his degree at Xavier

University in Cincinnati, the Detroit native figured he had twochoices. Like his mother, he couldgo to work for one of the auto companies. Or he could follow inthe footsteps of his father, who wasan elementary and middle schoolteacher.

He chose education and hasbeen a leading figure in the charterschool movement in Ohio for morethan a decade. Through three charter school organizations — including his current venture, the ICan Schools — his schools’ studentshave scored highly on stateachievement tests. He is co-founderand CEO of I Can, which now oper-ates four schools in Cleveland.

He started in a traditional schoolclassroom, teaching fifth-gradersfor three years in Pontiac, Mich.Then, in 1999, came a call from

and never looked back,” Mr. Corsirecalled. “She had a real thirst forknowledge. Sometimes I’d give hersomething to do that should take aweek. She came back in two hourswith it done.”

Today, Ms. Dorsey serves as Forest City’s first director of strategic initiatives to carry outCEO David LaRue’s commitmentto put the company’s 2012-15strategic plan to work.

“A big part of what I do is help incommunications as departmentsput together their action plans underthe strategic plan,” Ms. Dorsey said.“The role I really play is takingthose big-picture ideas to thestrategic and tactical level. What Ilove is that my days are so varied.”

Ms. Dorsey moved into her current role from working as thecontact person between the company’s internal strategic plancommittee and its outside consul-tant. Before then, she was a devel-opment associate in Forest City’scommercial group. A key project

for her was working on Village ofGulfstream Park in Hillandale, Fla.,as the 1 million-square-foot prop-erty with retail, office, residentialand casino facets went from ideato operation.

While such a task could be nebulous, Ms. Dorsey said her major in entrepreneurship at Miami University’s business schooland master’s in organizationalchange management at CWRUgave her the tools to tackle it.

“I’m a planner,” she said, notingthat helps in her home life, as sheis the mother of 2-year-old twins.

Although Ms. Dorsey spent sixyears growing up in Chicago, shecounts herself a Northeast Ohionative and graduated from OrangeHigh School. She and her husband,Tim, live in Avon Lake, whichstems from a choice to become aWest Sider as she returned toNortheast Ohio to get a changefrom growing up in MorelandHills.

— Stan Bullard

before joining Jones Day in 2004. He made partner in 2008 and for

three years also has been the hiringpartner for the Cleveland office.

Mr. Ganske says Mr. Doughertyhas “extreme maturity for a lawyerof his vintage.”

“Typically, people … don’t hittheir stride until they are muchmore senior than James,” he said.“He hit his stride several years ago.It doesn’t hurt that he’s shockinglysmart and has tremendous judg-ment.”

Mr. Dougherty aspires to growJones Day’s presence in the Midwest and to mentor the firm’syounger associates as he’s beenmentored.

“My goal is to be able to leavethis place … 10 times stronger thanit is today,” he said.

Mr. Dougherty and his wife,Janelle, live in Shaker Heights withtheir three children, Connor, 6;Aidan, 5; and infant daughter,Blake. He spends a lot of his freetime with his children, and alsoplays league or pickup hockey (heplayed in college) and golf.

Mr. Dougherty also is a trusteefor the Cleveland Leadership Center and volunteers for UnitedWay of Greater Cleveland.

— Michelle Park

ment course. And then another.Soon, she was a political science

major with an emphasis on publicpolicy and volunteering on the Taftcampaign. After a stint in the OhioDepartment of Development’sCleveland regional office, she took ajob with the Cleveland-based Fundfor Our Economic Future, helpingto solicit public opinion on regionalissues for the fund’s Voices andChoices program.

She joined the Akron chamber in2007. In her job, she represents thebusiness community on local, stateand federal public policy issues thatimpact business. In particular, shehas focused on talent development.

“Megann goes above and beyondto ensure that the voice of businessis heard and acted upon,” said Rebecca Guzy Woodford, the AkronChamber’s senior vice president forcommunications. “And she has taken her passion for growing acompetitive work force for businessto a personal level.”

Ms. Eberhart was the top vote-getter in the race among four can-didates for three Barberton schoolboard seats.

“I have all this knowledge duringthe day here at work and so, crazyme, I said, ‘There are openings onthe (Barberton) school board, whynot throw my hat into the ring,’”she said. — Jay Miller

To read prior Forty Under 40 cov-erage from Crain’s, visit our FortyUnder 40 home page at www.crainscleveland.com/section/40under40.

There, you’ll find past editorialcoverage, slideshows from previousevents, videos ofpast honoreesand more.

That includeslast year’s 20th

anniversary coverage, inwhich we caughtup with 60 of ourpast honorees.That group includes FredNance and Umberto Fedeli(pictured), nowthe ClevelandBrowns’ generalcounsel andfounder of theFedeli Group, respectively.

Check www.CrainsCleveland.comthis week for coverage of thisyear’s awards reception, to be heldtonight, Nov. 19.

PAST FORTYUNDER 40 COVERAGE

Wilson Willard, a college friend whowas opening a charter school inCincinnati, the W.E.B. DuBoisAcademy.

Mr. Emerson spent five years atW.E.B. DuBois, running operationsand doing everything, including attimes cleaning the school buildingat night.

“It was a mess year one; we hadno idea what we were doing,” he recalled. “I see a lot of people with

the right heart and the right inten-tions, but they have no idea whatthey are getting into.”

But the DuBois Academy startedto work. By the 2003-04 school year,its sixth-graders posted high scoreson state proficiency tests. But afterMr. Emerson left, Mr. Willard wascharged with and pleaded guilty tomisappropriating funds, and studenttest scores later declined.

“I’ve learned all the good and allthe bad,” Mr. Emerson said ruefully.

In 2005, Mr. Emerson was intro-duced to John Zitzner, a one-timeCleveland software entrepreneurwho had started an after-schoolprogram for inner-city kids, E City.He was preparing to launch a charter school, E Prep, and hewanted Mr. Emerson to run it.

“He has a total personal commit-ment to educate underserved kids,”said Mr. Zitzner, now president ofThe Friends of BreakthroughSchools.

The school opened in the fall2006 and produced dramatic results. Today, E Prep is a part ofthe Breakthrough Schools, a groupof nine strong charter schools.

But Mr. Emerson and a partnerJason Stragand, another E Prepalum and now I Can’s chief academicofficer, were ready to go it on theirown. Mr. Zitzner was supportive.

“I told him, ‘Go for it,’” he said.— Jay Miller


injury and wrongful death firm typically represents people hurt at work, injured in some sort of accident or victims of medical malpractice. When matters go totrial, Mr. Gallucci wears the simplegold chain his father received fromhis own parents.

Mr. Balmert says Mr. Gallucci has“a network that is beyond descrip-tion,” and that it’s hard to findsomeone Mr. Gallucci doesn’tknow. He also says Mr. Galluccipossesses “the best sense of humorI’ve ever come across.”

“He is a very generous person,”he added. “He became aware of mywife’s fascination with and love ofthe Cavaliers and one day, wefound tickets to floor seats in themailbox.”

A resident of Cleveland’s LittleItaly neighborhood, Mr. Gallucciloves food and cooking and enjoysshopping at the West Side Marketand at his family’s Italian importsshop, Gallucci’s, in Cleveland. Healso likes to travel.

Mr. Gallucci is slated in 2015 tobecome president — the youngestever — of the Ohio Association forJustice, an organization of claimantand plaintiff attorneys. He alsoserves on the board of the Cleve-land-Marshall Law Alumni Associa-tion. — Michelle Park

FRANK L. GALLUCCI IIIManaging partnerPlevin & Gallucci Co. LPA ◆ 37

Even F. Daniel Balmert, whohas defended companies inlawsuits and claims broughtby Frank L. Gallucci III, will

tell you that Mr. Gallucci is fair, yetfirm — “the consummate profes-sional.”

“Frank Gallucci is significantlymore mature in his practice thanhis same-aged peers,” said Mr.Balmert, managing partner of theAkron office of the law firm Vorys,Sater, Seymour & Pease LLP. “Manylawyers function by rote, do thingsthe same way time after time. Frankis high energy and is consistentlythinking of ways to do things differ-ently and better.”

Mr. Gallucci, 37, entered the lawfirm business earlier than expectedwhen his father, Frank Jr., passedaway in 1996, leaving an uncertainfuture for his workers’ compensationlaw firm, then known as Frank L.Gallucci Jr. Co. LPA. Mr. Gallucciwas 20 at the time.

“If I had to guess, I would say Iwould have become a lawyer” regardless of his father’s death, Mr.Gallucci said. “His passing solidi-fied the thought in my mind. At hiswake, 100 clients drove from allover the state to talk about what hehad done for them.

“It just weighed heavily on methat what you do in this capacity really does impact people in a waythat they never forget,” he said.

So, a trust structure was createdto keep the firm running while Mr.Gallucci triple-majored at BostonCollege and worked toward his lawdegree, which he earned in 2000from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. While in law school, Mr.Gallucci ran the firm from a businessstandpoint.

Mr. Gallucci, now managingpartner, has been running the firmfor 16 years and practicing law for12. Following a partnership withLeon Plevin in 2005, the firm became Plevin & Gallucci Co. LPA.

The Cleveland-based plaintiffs’

“Frank is high energy and is consistently thinking ofways to do things differently and better.” – F. Daniel Balmert, managing partner, Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease LLP’s Akron office


As a Jesuit Catholic university, John Carroll inspires individuals to excel in learning. leadership, and service.

Mark S. Abood ’95Mary S. Marita ’95

Michelle Comerford ’01

Warmest congratulations to all the “Forty Under 40” rising stars,

especially our alumni:

Largest national staffing firm headquartered in North East Ohio

www.nescoresource.com www.talentalley.com

Medical BillingOil & Gas talent

EngineeringAccounting

Finance

Non-ClinicalLight Industrial

ClericalIT & Technical

RPO/VMS/Onsite

REGAN FITZPATRICKCo-founderHome Team Marketing ◆ 38

Regan Fitzpatrick gets a dailyreminder of why the com-pany he, two of his brothersand a friend founded in

2001 has been successful: His father,Tim, sits right outside his door inHome Team Marketing’s office inthe Caxton Building in downtownCleveland’s Gateway District.

Tim Fitzpatrick, Regan said, taughthis sons how to do things the rightway, and Regan hopes it’s reflected inthe way Home Team does business.The company assists high schoolsand high school associations nation-wide with sponsorship and revenueopportunities, selling national andlocal companies on the benefits ofadvertising on the local level at highschool sports events.

“We knew the only way to workwith them was that every programhad to benefit the school,” ReganFitzpatrick said.

And business these days continuesto grow. The company now employs25 locally, and last year expanded itsspace in the Caxton Building to ac-commodate its continued growth. Itnow works with more than 6,000 highschools nationwide and has given$17 million to high schools. (A high

school receives half of every sponsor-ship deal Home Team sells.)

Now, Mr. Fitzpatrick said, thecompany is in new business devel-opment mode, a luxury afforded bythe growing client list and the subsequent roster growth. Insteadof simply selling sponsorships andincreasing revenues, the companyis analyzing ways to employ its connections and brand recognitionto save schools and school districtsmoney on bulk equipment or supply purchases, for instance.

“There’s still room for growth inthe original model,” he said. “Thereare 18,000 schools out there, nearly

an endless inventory, and we’veperfected the local approach to it.”

That’s reflected in the companysucceeding in a space in which noteven media giant ESPN could.ESPN in June closed its high schoolunit, which it dubbed RISE. That included ESPNHS.com, and twoprint publications, the shuttering ofwhich cost 75 people their jobs.

Mr. Fitzpatrick said Home Teamreached out to sponsors that hadbought time with ESPN, and theystill wanted to be prominent in thehigh school sphere.

“It was just too local for (ESPN),”he said.

Home Team’s new neighbor in theCaxton Building, Phizzle, partnerswith the company to handle mobilemarketing features such as QR (quickresponse) codes at games that fanscan scan with a smart phone for asponsor coupon. Jeff Ryznar, vicepresident of marketing at Phizzle,said Mr. Fitzpatrick’s approach tobusiness led the two firms to pair up.

“He appreciates what you wentthrough, the long hours, to get towhere you are,” Mr. Ryznar said.“That makes you want to do businesswith him and it’s one of the reasonswe’re happy to be partners with him.”

The 38-year-old Mr. Fitzpatrickand his wife, Shane, have four chil-dren: Mairin, 7; Kelsey, 6; Regan, 2;and Bobby, 8 months.

— Joel Hammond



www.forestcity.net

to Stephanie Dorsey and the entire

Forty Under 40 Class of 2012.

Congratulations

ALEX GERTSBURGFounderThe Gertsburg Law Firm ◆ 37

Alex Gertsburg doesn’t practice criminal law. Ordeal with divorce cases.

So what does he focuson? Everything else.

“Sometimes it’s easier to saywhat I don’t do,” he said with alaugh.

Late last month Mr. Gertsburgleft a position as in-house generalcounsel at digital phone serviceprovider Broadvox to form TheGertsburg Law Firm, where heplans to provide similar services tovarious companies. Broadvox is hisfirst client.

Starting his own firm will allowhim to apply the broad set of skillshe picked up at Broadvox “to helpcompanies across Cleveland andreally beyond Cleveland,” he said.

Mr. Gertsburg was the only attorneyat Broadvox, which has about 80employees in Cleveland, when hewas hired in 2005. Until then he focused almost exclusively on liti-gation. At Broadvox, Mr. Gertsburgstarted practicing law related tocontracts, employment, collections,regulations and whatever else camehis way.

Turns out, he liked the variety.Plus, joining Broadvox gave him thechance to create the company’s legal department, which now has

five employees.“I could build a department, and

I could grow with this company,”he said.

Mr. Gertsburg had wanted to be alawyer ever since he watched ArnieBecker work a courtroom in TV’s“L.A. Law.” But after graduating fromBrush High School, he enrolled inthe U.S. Army Reserve and joinedthe Reserve Officers’ TrainingCorps. That helped him pay for college, but it also furthered his education in another way.

In January 2003, he was called toserve in Iraq. Morale was high whenthe 160 soldiers in Akron’s 762nd

Transportation Company left forFort Knox, but it degraded as theyspent the next four months stuck inKentucky, waiting to ship out. Itwas up to Mr. Gertsburg and threeother officers to keep their spiritsup, which meant getting to knowindividual troops, he said.

“If you don’t recognize the humanside of the people you’re in chargeof, you’re not a good leader,” hesaid.

Mr. Gertsburg is “a no-excusesbusinessman and a no-excuseslawyer” who knows how to analyzeproblems systematically, saidBroadvox co-founder Eugene Blumin.

“He’s taught us to be more patient, less impulsive, to analyzebefore jumping into deals,” Mr.Blumin said.

But Mr. Gertsburg might have afew rule-breaker genes in his DNA:He’s writing a yet-to-be-titled bookabout how his grandfather escapedfrom the Soviet military in 1941 andfled to the United States — only tocome back and help his family escape from Moldova, which waspart of the Soviet Union.

In addition to writing, Mr. Gerts-burg likes running, hiking and biking. He lives in Chagrin Falls withhis wife, Inna, and their sons, Ethanand Jake. They have a dog namedMiles Davis and a cat named Dude.

— Chuck Soder

GERALD HETRICKChief operating officerVox Mobile ◆ 32

Alaminated piece of paperchanged the course of Gerald Hetrick’s life.

And it wasn’t a diplomaor a degree.

During the summer of 1997, oneof Mr. Hetrick’s colleagues atDreher Business Products Corp. inStrongsville gave him an unofficialcertificate designating him the“Part-Time Employee of theMonth.”

The recognition meant a lot toMr. Hetrick, who had just graduatedfrom Cleveland’s John MarshallHigh School. That’s when he startedthinking that he might have a futureat the company, which resold com-puter equipment to businesses andhelped them install it.

“I just decided, if given an oppor-tunity, I’ll stay,” he said.

And he did remain with the company, in a roundabout way: Mr.Hetrick in July was promoted tochief operating officer at Vox Mobile Inc., an Independence company that helps other businessesdeploy and manage their smartphones and tablet computers. VoxMobile is a spinoff of Cleveland-based MCPc, a technology resellerand systems integrator that itselfwas spun off from Miami ComputerSupply Corp. of Dayton, which hadbought Dreher in 1998.

Mr. Hetrick has come a long waysince his days moving boxes in and out of the lab where Dreheremployees worked on computers.For instance, soon after joiningDreher full time — he dropped outof John Carroll University to takethe position — he was tapped toopen a new equipment configurationlab focused exclusively on one customer, FedEx. Later, at MCPc,he led the creation of a businessunit focused on licensing out

Microsoft products.When Vox Mobile was created in

2008, CEO Kris Snyder recruitedMr. Hetrick to become its chieftechnology officer. Since then, hehas helped refine processes used invarious Vox Mobile departments.

Mr. Snyder described his col-league as a “constant learner” who“has natural instincts when itcomes to leadership.” He’s also particularly good when things get alittle hectic.

“He almost expects the chaos,”Mr. Snyder said.

Mr. Hetrick enjoys followingCleveland sports teams, tailgating,reading — he tears through one ortwo novels per week — and spendingtime with friends. Many of thosefriends work at Vox Mobile, theHinckley resident said, noting that Mr. Snyder and a few otheremployees were in his wedding thispast summer. His wife, Julie, worksin the company’s accounting department.

“I love working with people Ilike,” he said.

— Chuck Soder

MATT HLAVINPresidentThogus Products Co. ◆ 37

Matt Hlavin grew up in afamily of entrepreneurs.

The president ofThogus Products Co., an

injection molder in Avon Lake, Mr.Hlavin was taught the entrepre-neurial spirit early in life.

By age 8, he was performing oddjobs for his neighbors — cuttinggrass, shoveling snow, deliveringnewspapers. He idolized his grandfather, Jack Thompson, aWorld War II veteran, who startedthe company after serving in themilitary because he didn’t want towork for someone else.

“He was a great person willing toput it all on the line to create a greatlifestyle,” Mr. Hlavin said. “When Iwas young, I wanted to work for mygrandfather. I wanted to own andrun Thogus one day.”

But doing so wasn’t as easy ashaving the right genes.

“There’s a family precedent. You have to go outside and bringexperience,” Mr. Hlavin said. “It’snot a free handout here.”

Thus, he started at Thogus in1996 as a sales manager while stillin college, majoring in communica-tions and minoring in business and

English at Cleveland State University.From the bottom up, he learned thecompany before taking the reins.

He now works at Thogus with histwo younger sisters, one of whomworks in operations and the otherin human resources.

“We believe that to truly be successful in growing a family business you have to set the tone,”Mr. Hlavin said. “This is not a third generation that’s here to live off thefruits.”

Since becoming president inSee HLAVIN Page F-10


2009, Mr. Hlavin has tripled thecompany’s business. He also hasstarted two sister companies —Rapid Prototype and ManufacturingLLC, a product development company, and Jalex Medical, a bio-medical consulting firm.

Deb Mills-Scofield, owner ofOberlin consultancy practice Mills-Scofield LLC, of which Thogus is aclient, said Mr. Hlavin has a fore-sight not many professionals possess, regardless of age.

“Matt is a very innovative creativethinker. He doesn’t think based onwhat has happened. He thinks onwhat is possible more than what isprobable,” said Ms. Mills-Scofield,who met Mr. Hlavin during a LorainCounty Manufacturing Councilmeeting on innovation at whichthey both were speaking. “That’snot saying he’s unrealistic, just thathe will look at all of the possibilities.”

She characterized Mr. Hlavin as a passionate leader, one who main-tains command while fostering acollaborative and innovative workenvironment.

Mr. Hlavin lives in Westlake withhis wife, Denise, 8-year-old daughter,Alexis, and 10-year-old son, Jack,whose baseball, basketball andfootball teams he coaches.

— Ginger Christ


CONGRATULATIONS!

Jason Radcliffefounder of 44 STEEL

and the rest of the honorees of the 2012 class of Forty under 40

Your friends and family atBerrington Pumps & Systems, Inc

andCleveland Pump and Supply, LLC

44STEEL.COM • 440.821.8495

TED HOFFMANVice president of facilitiesand support services, chiefsustainability officerLake Health ◆ 39

Ted Hoffman admits his career path wasn’t what hehad in mind. After all, hewanted to be a helicopter

pilot and never thought he’d windup running hospitals.

But over the last nine years, Mr.Hoffman has risen through theranks at Lake Health — Lake Coun-ty’s largest health care provider —from an intern to vice president of facilities and support servicesand chief sustainability officer.

“I wish I could say it was by design, but I fell into it,” Mr. Hoff-

HLAVIN man said. “But it was the best thingthat ever happened to me.”

Mr. Hoffman’s foray in healthcare was a six-year stint as an engi-neer with the U.S. Army MedicalCorps, where he focused on hospitalfacilities management. It wasn’twhat he originally wanted to do inthe military. But, Mr. Hoffman noted,“Each year that went by, I saw whata wonderful career I was in.”

“We’re providing healing in times of need,” he said. “We’re notchurning out widgets. We deal inthe people business.”

After his military duty ended, Mr.Hoffman landed at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers in Washington, D.C., as ahealth care consultant. He returnedto his native Northeast Ohio twoyears later to earn his MBA from CaseWestern Reserve University.

During his time at CWRU, Mr.Hoffman through a mutual friendmet Lake Health president and CEO

Cynthia Moore-Hardy, who imme-diately was struck by how “bright,energetic and resourceful he was”and hired him as an intern.

“What really stands out is his focus and discipline,” Ms. Moore-

Hardy said. “He understands whatneeds to be accomplished and is ableto do it. If he has to take a different route to achieve it, he’s ableto do that.”

As an intern, Mr. Hoffman was involved in the initial site selectionprocess for Lake Health’s $155 million TriPoint Medical Center inConcord that ultimately opened in2009, replacing Lake East Hospital inPainesville. As his role progressed, hetook on greater responsibilities withthe planning and construction of thenew hospital.

Lake Health has provided Mr.Hoffman with more than a career;it’s also where he met his wife, Laura, who worked in the healthsystem’s marketing department until late last year, when she took ajob with the Cleveland Clinic.

The couple lives in Concord Township with their children, Teddy,3, and Alexis, 1. — Timothy Magaw

JED HUNTERArea vice president, dealer principalPenske Automotive Group Cleveland ◆ 38

continued from PAGE F-9

Jed Hunter is most definitely“Penske material.”

Mr. Hunter is area vice presi-dent and dealer principal for

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based

Penske Automotive Group, for whichhe oversees eight local car dealersselling vehicles ranging from Toyotasand Smart cars to Porsche and Mercedes Benz luxury rides. It’s a job

he loves, but also one that fate seemsto have directed him toward.

In 1998, Mr. Hunter was set to takea job at General Motors, probably designing engines. He had a degreefrom Vanderbilt University in mechanical engineering, some workexperience as a jet engine design en-gineer at Pratt & Whitney, and a wifepreparing to enter business school inMichigan. Then GM workers went onstrike, and the job evaporated.

He went, instead, to work for Deloitte Consulting in Detroit,where he worked as a consultant andlearned about business modeling,forecasting and capital structures.

But when he and his wife movedto Chicago five years later, Mr.Hunter made a big career switch.Preparing to attend business schoolhimself, instead of looking for an-other consulting job, he took a gigas a salesman for a Chicago BMWdealer. It was close to home and hewas, after all, a longtime car buff.

“I rode my bicycle to work and soldBMWs all day; it was a blast,” he re-calls. “And I had the luxury of know-ing I was going to business school.”

He almost went back into financialconsulting, and entered an internprogram at Morgan Stanley briefly in2002. But some contacts at Deloitteintroduced him to executives atPenske, who hired him in 2003.

He quickly began growing thedealerships he managed. In 2007,Penske tapped Mr. Hunter to takeover its Northeast Ohio operations,

where he’s been buying, rebuildingand growing the company’s dealer-ships ever since. Since his arrival, Mr.Hunter has guided Penske throughthe acquisition of two Audi dealer-ships and three Porsche outlets. All ofPenske’s local dealerships also areundergoing remodeling and updating under his leadership.

Mr. Hunter’s rise in the car busi-ness is no surprise to those whoknow him — including MartyMullen, general manager of Penske’sHonda dealership in Mentor.

“A lot of times, the guys put intothese positions have never done thejobs we do — they’ve never been asales manager or worked in a store.Nothing could be further from thetruth with Jed,” Mr. Mullen said.

— Dan Shingler



University Hospitals congratulates

Aparna Bole, MD, as a

40 Under 40 honoree.

© 2012 University Hospitals COM 00204

Aparna Bole, MDSustainability Manager University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s HospitalAssistant Professor Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

In recognition of your remarkable achievement.

MICHAEL T. JEANSDirector of business banking, regional market directorUrban Partnership Bank ◆ 38

he says led by example, taking him to her nightclasses as she worked to further herself.

In the next few years, Mr. Jeans aims to leadUrban Partnership Bank not only to make animpact through accounts opened and loansmade, but also by having its bankers becomemore active in schools and at charity events.

Mr. Jeans’ own charitable work has notgone unnoticed.

“I always admire people … like Mike: He hasa healthy family, and yet he still donates histime and his money and his effort to people with disabilities,” said Gary Bauman,vice chairman for Our Lady of the Wayside,where Mr. Jeans previously served as a “veryyoung” board president.

“I always just marveled at how mature hewas,” Mr. Bauman said.

Mr. Jeans still is involved with Our Lady ofthe Wayside and also is on the board of theCleveland Rape Crisis Center.

He lives in Grafton Township with hiswife, Areli, and their children, Nia, 10, andIsaiah, 7, and plays competitive volleyballand golf. — Michelle Park

land in 2009 and in 2011 joined the class ofCleveland Bridge Builders, the developmentorganization for young leaders. There, shecame to realize that what she really wantedto do was market Cleveland.

Before too long, the marketing job openedup at Positively Cleveland.

“I feel so passionate about Cleveland andmy background is in brand managementthat after meeting (Positively Clevelandpresident) David (Gilbert), it was like themoon and stars truly aligned,” she said.

Mr. Gilbert said Ms. Jones’ background in consumer products marketing “has been important in our strategy to view the community as a product for which we want consumers to sample and become repeatcustomers.”

What would Ms. Jones like to be doing if shewasn’t promoting her hometown? “I’d reallylike to have my own business again and beteaching at the university level,” she said. “I’vealready done some work at John Carroll Uni-versity, teaching consumer behavior.”

— Jay Miller

Initially, banking was not on Michael T.Jeans’ radar.

By the time he was a sophomore atAshland University, Mr. Jeans was super-

vising seven Papa John’s stores as generalmanager and area supervisor.

Then, upon earning his business adminis-tration degree, he worked for KPMG forthree years before doing three years of investment work for Morgan Stanley.

“It wasn’t until well after college that I realized the real impact of the banking system on the community, and I wanted tobe a part of that,” he said.

Mr. Jeans had seen firsthand how muchPapa John’s relied on banks to open newbranches and to manage cash flow, and later,witnessed the importance of banking on hisclients’ wealth.

So he joined KeyBank, where he becameone of the top performers before leaving inApril 2011 to lead all the banking activities inCleveland and Detroit for Urban PartnershipBank, a community development financialinstitution focused on underserved urban areas.

Mr. Jeans, 38, oversees nearly 20 people asdirector of business banking and regionalmarket director. According to a bankspokesman, he is the youngest to lead geo-graphic markets for the Chicago-based bank.

“To be responsible for (the role the community bank has in a community) intwo different markets, but in the market thatraised me, if you will, it’s an honor, it’s aprivilege and it’s a responsibility that makesgetting up every day exciting,” Mr. Jeans said.

Mr. Jeans grew up in Shaker Heights, the sonof Yvonne Jeans, a single-mother chemist who

COLETTE JONESVice president of marketingPositively Cleveland ◆ 38

Colette Jones is a boomeranger — oneof those people finding their wayback to Northeast Ohio.

Now, she can’t stop talking aboutthe city’s virtues and attractions. Of course,if she did, she no longer would be the rightperson for her job as the head of marketingof Positively Cleveland, the nonprofit withthe mission of extolling the community’svirtues and attractions.

“We are getting good news about Cleve-land in front of millions of readers nationally,”Ms. Jones said. She adds with pride that herseven-person department had counted1,500 articles published around the countryabout Cleveland and its events and touristopportunities this year by mid-Septembercompared with 1,110 all last year.

Born and schooled in Shaker Heights, Ms.Jones in 1993 began her odyssey at MiamiUniversity in Oxford, Ohio. She started a career in banking for KeyCorp in Cincinnatibut soon discovered she preferred marketing.So, she went back to school at Ohio State.

After earning her MBA, she worked as aproduct manager and then a brand and marketing manager in Chicago, first at ConAgra and then with chewing gum makerWm. Wrigley Jr. Co. When she was downsized,her thoughts turned to consulting. At the sametime, she came across an article talking upCleveland as a place for entrepreneurs.

“You know if I’m going to start a smallbusiness, it’s looks like Cleveland is the placeto be,” she recalled thinking. “I ran the numbers and found that my savings couldlast a lot longer in Cleveland and there wasmore support for entrepreneurs.”

So she moved her consultancy to Cleve-


“If I could have 100 moreof him, I’d love it. His staris still rising...” – Anthony Manna, chairman and CEO, Signet Enterprises


In addition to Ursuline’s evening and executive MBA, the College proudly announces the launch of a new online MBA. For more information call 440 646 8119 or visit us online.

ursuline.edu440 646 8119

JEREL KLUEPrincipal, vice presidentSignet Enterprises ◆ 35

When Jerel Klue realizeshe doesn’t knowsomething, his firstinkling is to delve into

the subject and soak up as much information as he can.

That’s what led the NorthRidgeville native from a career inthe private sector to one in the public sector, and then ultimatelyto Signet Enterprises, a prominentAkron-based real estate developerand private equity firm, where hecan blend the skills he’s learned inboth worlds.

Despite a career first at theCleveland office of Arthur AndersenLLP and then the finance departmentfor The Limited — the Columbus-based parent company of Victoria’sSecret, Bath and Body Works andother retailers — Mr. Klue opted tomove to New York City to earn hismaster’s degree in American poli-tics from Columbia University.

“I was really unhappy with thetrajectory of my career, and I knewthat I had to better understand howgovernment and politics worked tobe successful long term and havethe career that I wanted,” he said. “Itook a huge risk by moving to New

ERIC AND HALLIEBRAM KOGELSCHATZFoundersTEDxCLE ◆ 31, 29

Working late on Fridaynights at a marketingfirm in Boston, Ericand Hallie Bram

Kogelschatz used to talk about howthey missed the Midwest — andwanted to help rebuild it. Or perhaps rebrand it.

So the husband-and-wife duomoved back in 2009. But beforethey even packed their bags, theystarted thinking about how theycould help the region create a newidentity.

The result is TEDxCLE. Duringthe annual event — a local versionof the popular TED (which standsfor Technology, Entertainment andDesign) conferences — people givepresentations describing whatthey’re doing to change the world.The event has sold out three yearsin a row.

Mr. Kogelschatz said starting aTED event in Cleveland seemed likethe best possible thing they coulddo to improve Northeast Ohio’s image.

“Our audience was the world.Our product was Cleveland,” hesaid.

The Shaker Heights couple metin Boston, working for a marketingfirm called Modernista! They bothwere doing well professionally,managing marketing campaigns forCadillac, the NFL and Napster, butsomething was missing.

When Ms. Kogelschatz left OrangeVillage to attend Emerson Collegein Boston, she thought she’d nevermove back to Northeast Ohio. Butlike her husband, who had grownup in Detroit, she wanted to helpthe region turn itself around. Shealso realized it wasn’t as bad as shethought.

“Cleveland has all of the thingsthat I love about big city living at afraction of the cost,” she said.

Mr. Kogelschatz is director ofstrategy and insights at marketing

firm Arras Keathley of Cleveland.He specializes in digital marketingand analytics. He also plays drums,saxophone and clarinet.

Until recently he worked for The Adcom Group in Cleveland, asdid Ms. Kogelschatz, who now ismarketing director for Saks FifthAvenue’s Beachwood store. In addi-tion to fashion — “Clevelanders geta bad rap for not knowing how todress,” she says — she enjoys music, theater and cooking. Herhusband refers to her as “the organicMacGyver.”

They’re cooking up other civicprojects, too. For instance, they’vehelped the Kent State UniversityUrban Design Collaborative withstrategic planning and other initia-tives. They’re also conducting surveys of Northeast Ohioans togenerate data that could be used topromote the region. — Chuck Soder

DAVE LAZORPresident, majority ownerLazorpoint ◆ 39

Dave Lazor started writingsoftware at age 8. He applied to join the U.S.Naval Academy and

thought about becoming a NavySEAL. He started an informationtechnology consulting company.And he loves helping other entre-preneurs.

A common thread runs throughmany of the things Mr. Lazor does.

“They’re all in that ideal of tryingto do something great,” he said.

Mr. Lazor is president and majorityowner of Lazorpoint, an IT consultingfirm he started 15 years ago. Todaythe Cleveland company — whichhelps its clients create IT strategiesand manage their computer systems— has more than 20 employees, andits sales exceeded $3 million in 2011.

If Mr. Lazor decided to stopthere, he’d be betraying his person-ality. He’s all about achieving hisfull potential and helping others dothe same, be they employees,clients or other entrepreneurs.

One of the first big events thatput him on the path to self-actual-ization happened when he was 8:

His dad, who was in the IT systemsmanagement field, bought an IBMpersonal computer. Young Davidtaught himself how to program,wrote a piece of educational soft-ware and thought about selling it.

From there, it was clear what hewanted to do for a living.

He learned a few more lessons asan undersized left guard on theLakewood High School footballteam. That team was the first inschool history to go to the playoffs,

York and throwing myself into thepublic sector. It could not havebeen more foreign.”

Mr. Klue’s first incursion into thepolitical realm was as an unpaid intern with Democratic New YorkCity councilman Eric Gioia. Heswiftly rose through the council-man’s organization, eventuallyserving as chief of staff and one ofhis top aides. But upon learningthat Cleveland had been namedone of the nation’s poorest metro-politan areas, the allure of the BigApple started to wear thin.

“The truth is that I felt somethingwhen I saw that,” he said. “I lovedNew York and loved being there,but I felt like I could do somethinggreat at home.”

Riding off the success of theDemocrats in the 2006 congressionalelection, Mr. Klue landed a gig orga-nizing U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton’s district office. Shortly thereafter,however, he met Anthony Manna,Signet’s chairman and CEO,through a mutual acquaintance.

Mr. Manna had been looking fora project manager to join the Signet

team, and Mr. Klue had all the qual-ities even the most experiencedheadhunter couldn’t find in a jobapplicant — persistence, tremen-dous communication skills and ahard-charging persona. Mr. Kluetook the job, rose through the ranksand now serves as one of the princi-pals and vice president of theSignet operation.

“If I could have 100 more of him,I’d love it,” Mr. Manna said. “Hisstar is still rising, and he’s one ofthese guys in Northeast Ohio you’regoing to be reading about for manyyears to come.” — Timothy Magaw

See LAZOR Page F-17



With $2 billion in visitor-

related infrastructure

development,

Cleveland is becoming a

dynamic meeting destination.

Jack Schron, president of

locally owned and operated

Jergens, Inc., will showcase

Cleveland by bringing his

company’s 2013 national

meeting home. And, Positively

Cleveland is here to help.

Whether you’re a professional

who has a hand in your

organization’s meeting

planning or you’re simply

a resident full of civic pride,

Positively Cleveland can

support you – and even reward

you – for bringing a meeting

home to Cleveland. Visit

ClevelandChampions.com.

If you can help bring a meeting to Cleveland, we’d like to meet you.

“Why not Cleveland?”

- Jack Schron, president of Cleveland-based Jergens, Inc.

We specialize in everything from corporate events to social gatherings and will customize our services

to meet your needs. Whether you need drop-off service or a fully catered affair, we are ready

to help you celebrate the holidays.

Please call Katie Klonowski 216-987-0100 or visit www.puravidabybrandt.com

170 Euclid Ave. on Public SquareDowntown Cleveland

Proud to serve only sustainable and local fare.

Add S parkle toYour Holiday Season

MAJEED G. MAKHLOUFDirector of lawCuyahoga County ◆ 35

As the first Cuyahoga Countylaw director hired by thefirst county executive, Majeed Makhlouf is very

cognizant that whatever he does,and the way he conducts himself,will set a pattern for law directorswho follow him.

“I hope that the culture I createremains,” he said. “I hope what weare building here doesn’t get lost after I leave.”

The new county government,with a single elected county execu-tive, replaced an elected countycommission and a handful of otherelected officials in January 2011.County Executive Ed FitzGeraldnamed Mr. Makhlouf his chief legalcounsel in March 2011.

But first, the Bay Village residenthad to wait for a ruling on what hisduties would be.

The new county charter eliminatednine elected offices and replacedthem with the single county execu-tive. But it also retained the electedcounty prosecutor, dividing respon-sibility for the county’s legal affairs.Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWineresolved the situation in favor ofcounty prosecutor Bill Mason, rulingthat only the prosecutor — not thenew law director — can representthe county in both criminal and civillitigation.

Muddled government situationsare nothing new for Mr. Makhlouf.He grew up in Ramallah, a Palestin-ian town near Jerusalem that wasunder Israeli administrative author-ity.

The son of the Greek Orthodoxpriest of Ramallah grew up thinkinghe would follow his father’s experi-ence and further his education inFrance. But an offer of a scholarship

for international students to HiramCollege brought him to NortheastOhio.

His family soon would move to theUnited States, and Mr. Makhloufwent on to law school at Ohio StateUniversity.

He never thought he would prac-tice law, but then he got an intern-ship with the Roetzel & Andress lawfirm in Akron. He found himselfwriting briefs and liking it. He joinedthe firm after law school. A few yearslater, he moved to the Cleveland office of Taft Stettinius & HollisterLLP and began advising local com-munities on zoning and other mattersand handling business litigation.

Then came the offer from Mr.FitzGerald.

“He was somebody who wasknown in legal circles as a lawyer’slawyer,” Mr. FitzGerald said. “He’sthe perfect embodiment of what wewant in county government.”

Mr. FitzGerald said Mr. Makhloufhas played a key role in building thecounty’s ethics policy, in establishinga new system of handling contractingand in collective bargaining talks.

Mr. Makhlouf expects to returnto private practice.

“I look at myself as a transitionalperson, to build the law departmentand then pass the torch to someoneelse,” he said. — Jay Miller

MAURA DAVIDMARESHDevelopment director, associate counselHemingway Development ◆ 29

At the end of the first weekin 2010 that Maura DavidMaresh spent on the job atHemingway Development,

a property development unit ofGeis Cos., her boss, Fred Geis, gother into the seat of an excavator.

Ms. Maresh extracted the firstbucket of dirt at the site of what became the MidTown TechnologyPark, a much-ballyhooed officecomplex in MidTown Cleveland.She was sold after that.

“I knew that every day would bedifferent,” she said. “And terrific.”

She works on duties from plan-ning to meeting potential tenantsfor Hemingway projects, primarilyfrom a third-floor suite in the Officesat the Agora, the famed Clevelandconcert hall that Hemingway is redoing for offices and entertain-ment uses. She also works at theStreetsboro offices of Hemingwayand Geis and assists the company’scounsel with legal work.

Ms. Maresh’s job brings her intocontact with Hemingway’s otherprincipals and staff as well as city of

Cleveland offices, from economicdevelopment to planning commis-sion.

“She was uniquely qualified tojoin us,” Fred Geis said of Ms.Maresh. That’s because she has alaw degree from Cleveland-MarshallCollege of Law and a master’s in urban planning from ClevelandState University with a certificate inreal estate finance.

“I love working with young peoplebecause they want to try new things,”he said, and because they undertakework more experienced real estatepros might consider too difficult.

Ms. Maresh landed at Geisthrough simple channels. Hercousin, Christina Martini, an interiordesigner at Geis, suggested she talkto Fred Geis about an opportunity.It turned out Mr. Geis’ expandingurban ventures called for morehelp.

“(Fred Geis) always points outthat the company had been in development since 1967. It’s onlythe last few years it had in-housecounsel, and now it has two,” Mr.Maresh said.

The Pickerington, Ohio, nativemajored as an undergrad in criminalstudies at Bowling Green State University because she wanted todo criminal defense work. An intern-ship with a Washington, D.C., crim-inal defense firm changed her mind.

“Everyone was divorced or drank,”she said. Her course was set whenshe found she enjoyed law schoolclasses in the vagaries of real estatelaw, which led to the dual major.

Ms. Maresh and her husband,Chris, were recently married at St.Stanislaus Church in Slavic Village.They are decorating their first homein Strongsville and just got a puppy.The couple enjoys the city’s nightlife as well as biking on the OhioCanal Corridor’s towpath.

“I used to think of moving backto Columbus,” Ms. Maresh said.“Not anymore. Cleveland’s home.”

— Stan Bullard



In the past 12 months, Marcus & Millichap Cleveland has closed 40 retail transactions valued at more than $120 million.

Offices Nationwide www.MarcusMillichap.com

To Access the Investment Market, Contact the Market Leader.

BELOW IS A SAMPLING OF OUR RECENT LISTINGS

Exposure Expertise Results

Fairlawn, OHGhent Road Plazas

33,253 sf | $4,295,000Agents: Craig Fuller,

Erin Patton, Scott Wiles

Alliance, OHWestwood Square

77,570 sf | $6,990,000Agents: Craig Fuller,

Erin Patton, Scott Wiles

Scott WilesVice President Investments

(216) [email protected]

Michael L. GlassVice President/Regional Manager


John TalbotAssociate


Craig FullerSenior Associate(216) 264-2043

[email protected]

Dustin JavitchAssociate


MARY S. MARITAVice president of campus developmentBenjamin Rose Institute on Aging ◆ 39

There’s never a dull momentin Mary Marita’s work at theBenjamin Rose Institute onAging in Cleveland, and

that’s why she’s chosen to, as shecharacterized it, “embrace thechaos.”

In her work, she’s constantly balancing the needs of her staff, theorganization’s budget and, mostimportantly, the seniors the agencyserves — the people who she saidmake her job so rewarding.

Ms. Marita last spring put the finishing touches on a 36-apart-ment addition to Margaret WagnerHouse, the agency’s assisted-livingcomplex in Cleveland Heights. Theresidents’ appreciation for her andher staff’s hard work made the grueling task of renovating a 50-year-old building worthwhile.

“The people I love to interactwith the most are our residents, ourtenants,” said Ms. Marita, the orga-nization’s vice president of campusdevelopment and chief operating of-ficer for its property LLC. “To seethe appreciation for the home that

we have there for them and thesmiles on their face lets you knowyou’ve done something good.”

Ms. Marita signed on with Ben-jamin Rose in 1999 as the assistantadministrator of Kethley House, theorganization’s 184-bed nursing facility. She was promoted to theexecutive administrator post in2001 and ran the nursing home until the organization’s board optedto shutter the facility in 2006 and

lease much of the space to KindredHealthcare of Louisville, Ky.

Last spring, Ms. Marita was instrumental in negotiating the saleof the 144,000-square-foot KethleyHouse to Kindred for $17.4 million.At the same time, she led the devel-opment of Benjamin Rose’s new31,000-square-foot, $7.5 millionheadquarters off Fairhill Road inCleveland, which should be com-pleted by early next year.

Part of what has made Ms. Maritasuch an asset to Benjamin Rose isher ability to learn new skills on thefly, according to Richard Browdie,the organization’s CEO. For one,she went from managing the dailyoperations of a nursing home tomanaging multimillion-dollar construction projects.

“She’s not a high drama kind ofperson,” Mr. Browdie said. “She’squiet until there’s something sheneeds to say. Mary speaks forcefullybut selectively, so you really need topay attention when she says some-thing.”

Ms. Marita and her husband, Brian, live with their 7-year-olddaughter in Westlake. They enjoytaking their daughter to ClevelandIndians games, orchestra concertsand to the West Side Market.

“It’s fun to watch all the thingsour city has to offer through achild’s eyes,” Ms. Marita said.

— Timothy Magaw

BILL MATHEWSChief technical officer and co-founderHurricane Labs LLC ◆ 39

On Dec. 19, 2003, Bill Math-ews quit his job as an information technologyconsultant at a local com-

pany. That afternoon, he startedworking for himself.

“I was unemployed throughlunch,” he said.

A few weeks later, Mr. Mathewsand longtime colleague GlenBrzuziewski incorporated HurricaneLabs LLC, an IT security servicesfirm in Independence.

Both men previously had workedfor two now-defunct IT services companies — they jokingly refer tothe firms as “they who shall not benamed” No. 1 and No. 2 — run bypeople who were untrustworthy andtreated customers poorly, Mr. Math-ews said. Those early experienceshelped shape Hurricane Labs’ unoffi-cial philosophy: “Don’t be a jerk.”

“We basically wanted to build acompany that had nothing to dowith the way they did business,”Mr. Mathews said.

It has worked pretty well so far.Hurricane Labs today employs 30people. Its sales have grown by 60%to 70% annually since the companystarted, Mr. Mathews said, thoughhe would not give dollar figures.

Mr. Mathews serves as HurricaneLabs’ chief technical officer. The rolelets him focus on what he enjoys:writing the code behind the com-pany’s security software tools. Hehelps manage the company and itsemployees, but he admits that he’snever been big on telling other people what to do.

Even so, people like to work forhim, said Mr. Brzuziewski, managingpartner at Hurricane Labs.

“On the engineering side, he’schallenging people. He’s into it,”Mr. Brzuziewski said.

Mr. Mathews’ affinity for buildingthings started taking hold when hewas 7. With the help of the manualthat came with his family’s newCommodore VIC-20, he learned to program the computer to runcalculations and create games.

After earning his diploma in 1991 from the Cleveland School ofScience, Mr. Mathews spent twoyears as a political science major atCleveland State University, thinkinghe might become a lawyer. He sayshe left out of boredom, but by thenhe’d started helping companies man-age their computer networks.

He does help out current collegestudents, though: Hurricane Labslast year hosted a “HackademicChallenge,” where it asked area college students to hunt for “flags”in a computer network. The company has hosted other similarevents, including one that raisedmoney for the Cleveland Foodbank.

Mr. Mathews enjoys comicbooks, video games and spendingtime with his wife, Courtney, andtheir dogs, Darby, Pistol and Armstrong. — Chuck Soder



VLADIMIR NOVAKOVICProject directorPerspectus Architecture ◆ 39

Much of the work VladimirNovakovic has done withthe Cleveland Clinic —which now numbers 45

projects — has been behind thescenes.

It’s involved incredibly detailed,intensive projects such as installingmagnetic resonance imaging andcomputed topography (CT) machinesin various areas within the Clinic.His efforts include developing themaster plan for the hospital’s elec-trophysiology department in theClinic’s Cardiovascular Institute.

His latest project, as Perspectus’project director and lead architectof the Clinic’s $75 million, 135,000-square-foot Pathology and Labora-tory Medicine Institute at East 105th

Street and Carnegie Avenue, hasplaced a more visible face on thework for which Mr. Novakovic hasbecome known.

“I have always loved the idea ofcreating places where people are,places they experience,” he said.

Born and raised in Cleveland after his parents emigrated fromSerbia, Mr. Novakovic has been withPerspectus since 2004. He earnedhis bachelor’s and master’s degreesfrom Kent State University’s highlyregarded School of EnvironmentalDesign, where he also served as anadjunct professor for 10 years afterearning his master’s degree.

As both an undergrad and gradu-ate student, Mr. Novakovic studied

abroad in Florence, Italy, a regionfamed for its architecture. He saidhe looks most fondly on the timesafter his studying ended when heand friends backpacked across Italyand other parts of Europe.

Back home, he’s been most involved with the Clinic. However, healso has worked closely with QualityElectrodynamics, a growing MayfieldVillage company that makes coilsthat go into MRI machines, on itsnew ultra-high-tech facility. HiroyukiFujita, Quality Electrodynamics’CEO, said Mr. Novakovic “was verydedicated and is a very reliable individual with a positive attitude.”

Mr. Novakovic remains active in what he calls a “very strong” Serbian community, including asvice president of the Serbian SportsClub Karadjordje, a youth soccerclub in Broadview Heights.

He remains active in his church, St.Sava, and coaches his son, Mihailo, insoccer. He and his wife, Danica, alsohave a 2½-year-old daughter, Teodora. — Joel Hammond

AMY PAUSCHEExecutive directorThe Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ◆ 32

Amy Pausche runs her nonprofit like a business,but the numbers on whichshe is focusing aren’t

merely losses and gains. The numbers represent people.

The executive director of theLeukemia & Lymphoma Society’sNorthern Ohio chapter views thenonprofit’s 33% organizationalbudget growth over the last twoyears as a victory for individualsand families affected by cancer.

Despite a challenging fundraisingenvironment, Ms. Pausche hasoverseen an increase in the non-profit’s budget from $1.73 millionto $2.3 million, which funds researchthat is accelerating the developmentof new therapies and treatments forblood cancer patients. She is fore-casting a 2013 budget of $2.5 million.

“Behind every number is a person,” she said. “Our critical research is changing lives aroundthe world. You see the blessingsthrough the diagnosis.”

Ms. Pausche has been affiliatedwith the nonprofit for about sixyears, first as a coordinator from2003 to 2006 and again as executivedirector since 2009. She oversees800 volunteers, and about 32 staffand board members.

Her application of business prin-ciples and strategic thinking hasenabled the chapter to raise aware-ness about the organization’s mis-sion, capture additional funds andrestructure its board of directors.

“You don’t want to put the catcherin the outfield, and the pitcher onfirst base,” Ms. Pausche said. “You

put the pitcher on the pitcher’smound,” and appropriate the otherplayers accordingly.

The nonprofit under Ms. Pausche’sleadership has hit the majority of itsthree-year strategic plan goals within two years, she said.

Board member Kevin Goodmansaid in his nomination that he hasobserved Ms. Pausche over the lastthree years effect meaningfulchange, from both a personal andprofessional standpoint.

“She speaks with Fortune 100CEOs and the cancer patients andtheir families, and consoles the griev-ing as well,” he said. “Amy’s profes-sionalism and drive brings additionalcredibility to the mission. … She is auniquely empowered individual.”

Ms. Pausche also is a member ofthe Union Club’s Cleveland BusinessLeaders Committee, and is a boardmember of the restaurant advocacygroup Cleveland Independents. Shealso has been a 16-year marketingand event coordinator for the Cha-grin Valley Hunter Jumper Classic.

The Brecksville resident devotesher personal time to her husband,Brad, and their three children, aswell as cooking, wine tasting andrunning. — Kathy Ames Carr

JASON RADCLIFFEOwner, founderForty Four Steel ◆ 36

Jason Radcliffe had been toolingaround with industrial furniture-making when a friend whoowned a furniture shop volun-

teered Mr. Radcliffe to design astainless steel glass-top table for aninterior design client.

The customer loved his product,but it would be four more years before Mr. Radcliffe’s designs received the type of reception thatconvinced him that he could makea living off his work.

His minimalistic stainless-steeltable and other items generatedabout a dozen orders at the 2009International Contemporary Furni-ture Fair in New York City, at whichhe was the only Cleveland participant.

“Now I have a nice base of archi-tects and designers who are clients”based in New York, along withpieces displayed at two Manhattanstores, said Mr. Radcliffe, owner ofForty Four Steel.

His momentum continued thatyear when he co-founded the f*sho,a contemporary furniture show thateach year showcases Cleveland’sdesigners and makers.

“(The business) has just kept going from there,” he said.

His year-over-year sales havedoubled since then; in 2009, hebrought in about $22,000. This year,Mr. Radcliffe is on pace to cross thesix-figure mark and is planning totransition the business from hisRocky River home into a new space.

Closer to home, Mr. Radcliffe’swork can be found primarily at top-notch restaurants, with La Strada’sreclaimed wood railing and Lola’sstools and bathroom markersamong the customized creations.

Mr. Radcliffe now journeys toNew York’s annual furniture fairwith a couple other local fabricators,whose displays are branded with aCleveland logo designed to empha-size the city’s place in the larger

design community. “Jason really has his finger on the

pulse of the bigger picture,” saidFreddy Hill, owner of Cleveland-based Bomb Factory Furniture.“He’s not so much concernedabout how much we make on a certain piece, but how we can collaborate and build up the Cleve-land design community.”

Messrs. Hill and Radcliffe fre-quently collaborate on projectssuch as wood tables and cabinets,accented with steel shelves orbases.

“I think we’ve designed every-thing but beds,” Mr. Hill said. “He’smy amigo.”

Mr. Radcliffe describes his workas clean and simple, with the mate-rials sourced from local steel sup-pliers and the reclaimed wood frompartners such as A Piece of Cleveland.

The inspiration for his personalbusiness venture stems from hisfamily’s Avon-based BerringtonPumps & Systems Inc., a pump distributor that he still manages.

When he isn’t there or hammeringout sleek furniture pieces fromscrap, he’s bound to be mountainbiking, fishing, skiing, paddle-boarding or engaging in any otheroutdoor activity.

“You name it,” Mr. Radcliffe said.“I’ve been traveling to Hawaii andCosta Rica the last couple of yearsto surf.” — Kathy Ames Carr



Congratulations Michael T. Jeans and to all the “40 Under 40” honorees Your commitment to building strong, vibrant communities is making a difference.

Join us as we work to make a difference in Cleveland.

216.681.8941 | upbnk.com

Michael T. Jeans, Market Director, Business Banking Urban Partnership Bank

Congratulationsto Ted Hoffman and all the 40 Under Forty honorees.

ILYA ROMANOVPresidentAmerican Heelers Inc. ◆ 29

Need a lift? Ilya Romanovcan give you one — andno, he isn’t a cab driver.

Mr. Romanov is the sonof a cobbler who moved here fromRussia with his family in 1989,when he was 6 years old. After earning a business degree fromOhio State University in 2005, hespent a brief period working as a financial analyst. Then, to his father’s surprise — and, at the time,chagrin — Mr. Romanov quit.

“One day, he said, ‘Dad, I can’t sitin a cubicle,’” his father, Alexander,recalls.

So the younger Mr. Romanov began focusing his efforts on theshoe-repair business and started acompany called American Heelers,in Beachwood.

With the number of cobblers in theUnited States dropping from 70,000

to less than 5,000 over the last 75years or so, he figured he could leverage the power of the Internet toconnect customers with his fatherand others in the shoe repair business.

It worked, he said, but along theway he also found something elsethat worked even better.

In addition to requests for shoerepairs, Mr. Romanov was gettingrequests for lifts to be built into shoes.The customers weren’t usually folkstrying to add an inch or two to theirheight, but people who had one legshorter than the other, often olderfolks who had had hip surgery.

It was a better business, he figured, because as people livedlonger, the market was growing,and lifts brought in $80 to $100 pershoe, while new heels and solesmight bring in $40 to $50 per pair.And shops that could make lifts wereeven harder to find than cobblers.

By 2010, American Heelers was doing only lifts. Today, it employs sixpeople who build about 150 shoes aweek. The business is growing,

seen the tip of the iceberg so far.”Mr. Romanov markets the busi-

ness online and through doctorswhose patients are likely to needlifts. Most of his business is fromthe United States, but he also hashad orders from 15 other countries.

Most of his customers come backfor more. He pauses during a conversation to talk to a womanfrom Baton Rouge, La., who needsone shoe made an inch thicker. After discussing her needs for a fewminutes, he gives her instructionson how to print a mailing label.

“I get about five to 10 calls likethat a day,” he said. “If she does sendme a shoe, she’ll probably becomea three-time-a-year customer.”

He might have even convinced hisfather that he made the right move.

“I didn’t want him to go into thisbusiness — it’s a hard business,”Alexander Romanov said. “But I’m soproud of my son. … I wanted him toget a law degree here and then get aRussian law degree. Instead, he said,‘Dad, the lawyers are going to workfor me.’” — Dan Shingler

GRETCHEN L. SCHULERVice president of insurancerisk management and technical documentationInvacare Corp. ◆ 38

Gretchen Schuler may notbe a house cat trainer —her childhood dream —but she is good at her job.

And, as a bonus, she owns a catnamed Poppins.

Ms. Schuler, vice president of insurance risk management andtechnical documentation for In-vacare Corp., is “the kind of personwho’s such a valuable individual

and Mr. Romanov said he aims to increase sales by about 50% nextyear, as he did this year. He hopes toget his volume up to more than 1,000shoes a week, and revenues up toabout $500,000 a month.

“I don’t see why we can’t do 1,000a week,” he says. “I think I’ve only

performer, she becomes indispen-sible,” said her boss, Gerry Blouch,president and CEO of Invacare.

Over Ms. Schuler’s 14 years atInvacare, Mr. Blouch progressivelyhas given her more responsibilitiesand made the job more of a chal-lenge. She now manages Invacare’sglobal insurance, technical writing,product liability litigation and riskmanagement services.

“It’s never boring because what Ido does have some variety to it,”Ms. Schuler said.

Despite her added duties, Ms.Schuler maintains the same poiseshe exuded on her first day on thejob, Mr. Blouch said.

“She gets involved in a lot ofthings that have a certain amountof stress associated with them,” he

said. “She’s never flustered. Whereshe calls upon that energy, I’m notsure. That’s what sets her apart.”

Ms. Schuler now has 15 peoplereporting to her, including interna-tionally based employees of theproducer of wheelchairs and homehealth care equipment.

“This is the first year I’ve hadpeople outside North America, sothat’s been a challenge, a goodone,” Ms. Schuler said.

Ms. Schuler graduated in 1996from what was then Mount UnionCollege with a major in history anda dual minor in political science andGerman. She completed graduateschool at Cleveland State Universityin 1998 with a degree in history.

She said she has appreciated hercompany’s willingness to give her

new opportunities and responsibil-ities and to show confidence in herabilities, especially because shedoesn’t have a legal background.

“I’m lucky I’m allowed to growinto the opportunity,” she said.

In addition to her work responsi-bilities, Ms. Schuler is active in hercommunity. She is a member of theKiwanis Club of North Olmsted andhelps with its Scholarship Founda-tion and is a trustee of the NorthOlmsted City Schools’ EducationFoundation. — Ginger Christ

DALITHIA C. SMITHDirector of recruiting and trainingLincoln Electric Co. ◆ 37

Dalithia Smith attendedcollege intending to become an engineer.

The problem was thatdealing with numbers wasn’t theright fit for the Cleveland native.

By her sophomore year at OhioUniversity, Ms. Smith had swappedher engineering major for one inmarketing, a decision that ultimatelywould lead her to welding equip-ment maker Lincoln Electric Co.Ms. Smith now is the director of recruiting and training for LincolnElectric, where she has worked forthe last five years.

“I love sales,” Ms. Smith said.“When you’re recruiting, you’re essentially selling the company tothe candidate.”

After receiving her MBA fromCleveland State University, Ms.Smith worked in sales at banks andpharmaceutical and accountingcompanies before moving to Lincoln Electric, where she feels shehas found a good fit. An essentialpart of her job is interaction withothers, and she gets a sense of reward for doing her work.

“I love the feeling of giving thatperson the job offer,” Ms. Smith said.“It makes me feel like I’m helpingsomeone start the next chapter.”

It is because of that concern forothers that Ms. Smith often servesas a mentor to young professionalswithin the organization. While therelationship is informal, many naturally turn to her because of herwelcoming demeanor and willing-ness to share lessons she haslearned from her own mistakes.

But what makes her stand out inthe company is her willingness totake on new responsibility and herability to master those new chal-lenges, said Gretchen Farrell, seniorvice president of human resourcesand compliance at Lincoln Electric.

“She has some of the broadestshoulders that you can imagine,”said Ms. Farrell, who is Ms. Smith’ssupervisor. “I’m amazed every timewe heap more stuff on her to do. Shetakes it and exceeds expectations.”

During her time at Lincoln Elec-tric, Ms. Smith has expanded herposition from one of recruiting to


an achievement he attributes togreat coaching.

He didn’t get into the U.S. NavalAcademy, so instead he studiedelectrical engineering at the Uni-versity of Michigan. He spent twoyears in Warren, Ohio, working forElectronic Data Systems, whichthen was part of General Motors,and another year at Intel in Portland,Ore., before he decided to moveback to Northeast Ohio to start afamily with his now-wife, Mary.

They have four kids: Julianne, 12;Allison, 11; David, 8 and Andrew, 4.Mr. Lazor enjoys reading and helping other business owners via the Cleveland chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization andthe John Carroll University Entre-preneurs Association.

Mr. Lazor is an honest, level-headed businessman and a greatstudent, according to family friendand mentor Dave McKee, whofounded and sold interior land-scaping firm Interior Plant Special-ists of Cleveland. The two men havebeen regularly meeting for coffee todiscuss business ideas since the late1990s.

“When he focuses on what hewants to do or needs to do, he reallyfollows through with it,” Mr. McKeesaid. — Chuck Soder


one involving training and develop-ment. Now, she is responsible forglobal oversight of both those areas.

“My mantra is, always strive to dobetter than you did yesterday,” Ms.Smith said.

Ms. Smith has revamped LincolnElectric’s college recruitment efforts. Rather than trying to have a presence at 50 schools, as in thepast, she now has developed relationships with 23 targetedschools. Lincoln Electric now is at those schools year-round, and employees from various parts of the company are involved in the recruitment process.

Yet, despite her success at work,Ms. Smith’s “pure life and joy” isher 10-year-old daughter, Jordyn.

“She just makes you have fun,”Ms. Smith said. She said she alwaysstrives to set the same good exam-ple as her mother, who also is asingle mom.

— Ginger Christ

DANNY SPITZCEOEverStaff International ◆ 37

Danny Spitz was working for the world’slargest staffing firm,Robert Half International,

when he developed his own globalpoint of view on meaningfully connecting with industry clients.

At age 26, he addressed that vision by forming in 2001 EverStaff, afirm that aims to provide more spe-cialized services to clients by actingas a staffing provider and consultant.

“We aren’t just a vendor ofstaffing services but a partner toour clients,” Mr. Spitz said. “Wewant to know their business insideout, and we work closely with man-agement teams to create customizedsolutions that exceed their goals.”

The Independence-basedstaffing outfit 11 years later hasgrown from one location to 13branch offices, serving about 500active clients in 24 states and Canada.EverStaff internally employs 45, although the number of individualson its payroll exceeds 1,000.

“We’re looking at becoming aleader nationally,” Mr. Spitz said.“We’re planning to add locationsand expand our presence on theWest Coast and South.”

The staffing firm for three con-secutive years has been recognizedon the Inc. 5000 list as one of thefastest-growing private companiesin the U.S. Its 2012 ranking lists theoperation’s three-year revenuegrowth as 419%, from about $3.5million in 2008 to about $18.4 mil-lion in 2011. The firm is on track togenerate about $25 million this year.

EverStaff also has been a three-

time recipient of the Weatherhead100 award, which honors NortheastOhio’s fastest-growing companies.

“In my three years of workingwith him, I’ve never experienced amore driven, hard-working individ-ual than Danny,” said Ray Johnson,a controller at EverStaff. “Our suc-cess rate is unbelievable.”

Among other contributions, Mr.Spitz helps mobilize students tobattle childhood obesity throughthe American Heart Association’s“healthy heart” program. Each year,the group partners with a profes-sional sports team — including in2011 the Cleveland Browns and thisyear the Lake Erie Monsters — toorganize an event that teaches stu-dents the benefits of eating healthy.

EverStaff participates in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure,and Mr. Spitz’s company and hisfamily each year sponsor underprivi-leged individuals as a way of givingback and helping the community.

The Orange Village resident’shobbies include sports and spend-ing time with his family: his wife,Wendy; and his children, Tyler, 9;and Haley, 7. — Kathy Ames Carr

THOMAS P. STRAIN JR.Manager of applicationsOEConnection ◆ 35

Tech guru Thomas P. StrainJr. was climbing the corpo-rate ladder until late September, when he

jumped off — which is good newsnot only for his family, but probablyfor his new employer as well.

Mr. Strain had been a technologyleader at PerkinElmer in Akron,where he was director of health informatics and technical supportfor the company, which amongother things makes health care diagnostics equipment.

“He did great. We loved his project management experienceand his attention to detail,” saidDarren Hudach, Mr. Strain’s boss atPerkinElmer and the man whohired him. Mr. Hudach says Mr.Strain left in September on amicableterms and still has friends at his oldcompany.

“We’re friends as well,” Mr. Hudach added, “I had lunch withhim yesterday.”

But Mr. Strain, married since2005 and with a 6-year-old daughterand 3-year-old son at home, wasgrowing tired of spending nearlyhalf his life on the road and awayfrom his family.

So when an opportunity came upto become manager of applicationsat Richfield-based OEConnection,Mr. Strain took it.

The job not only afforded himthe opportunity to be home more,but it also would use some of theskills Mr. Strain learned while

working at one of his first profes-sional jobs, in information technol-ogy and manufacturing systems forGeneral Motors. OEConnectionprovides specialized software thatautomakers and suppliers use tomanage their parts inventories andsupply chains.

Being with his family is whatdrove Mr. Strain to even entertain ajob jump.

“To be honest, that was a big reason for the career move,” Mr.Strain said, “I wanted to be homemore.”

Mr. Strain will be managing customized software used by Fordand General Motors — the biggestclients in the automotive world —as well as software used by dealers,repair shops and other originalequipment maker customers.

It will be a big switch from healthcare information technology, butMr. Strain seems apt to handle it.

“He’ll work his way up to speedat OEConnection, I’m sure,” Mr.Hudach said.

Away from work, Mr. Strain plansto use his additional time at hometo be with his family, improve histechnical skills and probably engagein a little e-commerce or websitedesign.

“The work-life balance is importantto me,” he said.

Family has always been importantto him, said the former baseball andfootball team captain from Girard,who grew up in a house with foursiblings. Mr. Strain’s father, a mechanic, gave him the advice heneeded to find his present career.

“He always told me, ‘You want towork where you don’t get yourhands dirty — work with yourmind, not your hands,’” Mr. Strainrecalls.

— Dan Shingler

LAZORcontinued from PAGE F-12

“(My father) always toldme ... ‘Work with yourmind, not your hands.’”– Thomas P. Strain Jr.



Congratulating ourfriends and colleagues

on theircontinuing achievements:

Frank L. Gallucci, IIIJed Hunter

Gretchen L. Schuler

Professional -- HonestTo The Point

• Executive Search• Professional Placement• Consulting

Action Management ServicesEarning the trust of Northeast Ohio professionals

for over 30 years.

6055 Rockside Woods Blvd. Cleveland, OH 44131216-642-8777

www.actionmgmt.com

TAKE ACTION TODAY!

ACTIONManagement ServicesACTION

JENNIFER STULLVice president, director ofbusiness development andadministrationOsborn Engineering ◆ 37

Jennifer Stull thrives in a domain where she still canclaim firsts for a woman — and someone who is not an

engineer.She is a member of the board of

directors of Osborn Engineeringand both the first woman and firstperson without an engineering degree to serve in such a capacity at the high-profile, 120-year-oldCleveland engineering and archi-tecture firm.

The international business majorand one-time cell phone salespersonis responsible for sales, marketingand administration at the firm.

“Since joining the firm in 1999,(Ms. Stull) has been on the fast

track for success,” Osborn CEO LeeHooper said. “Her fresh ideas anddiverse background have broughtmarketing and business relationshipsto the forefront. She is also theyoungest member of the board.”

Ms. Stull credits leaders at Osbornwith her success because they werewilling to hire someone who wasnot an engineer. She manages amarketing coordinator and overseesthe firm’s website, works on itspitches and engineered the firm’srebranding, which in part involveddropping the word “architects”from its name while adopting theOSports name for its stadium andrecreation work.

The presence of “architects” inthe name had cost Osborn businessfrom architects who could haveused its engineering services, Ms.Stull said matter-of-factly.

“When I was coming up at Osborn, they were looking for afresh approach. They were veryopen to trying new things,” shesaid.

A poster-size photograph of the

Osborn board, including her, ispasted on the ceiling above herdesk at the Penton Media Building.A fellow board member put it thereas a joke to let her know they are

watching her, she said.However, when Ms. Stull discusses

her goals at Osborn she puts her future plans simply: “My goal is tomake my principals successful,”she said of the firm’s ownership,adding, “I never imagined being ata professional services firm. I loveworking here.”

A competitor and colleague, BrettNeff, who also does business devel-opment at R.E. Warner & Associatesof Westlake, said Ms. Stull “has abubbly personality and is one of themost outgoing people in our busi-ness.”

“She certainly understands ourindustry,” Mr. Neff said.

A single mother with two daughters, 4, and 7, Ms. Stull said,“I work hard for my children.” Shesaid Osborn has assisted her as aparent by being flexible, particularlyas she is active with multiple tradegroups. Her big outlet is running ona treadmill in the morning beforeher girls get up, and she loves vacationing in Hawaii.

— Stan Bullard

KEN SURATTChief financial officerBreakthrough Schools ◆ 39

One of Ken Suratt’s dreamjobs is to run a barbershop. In the meantime,Mr. Suratt, who has an

MBA from Duke University, isworking as chief financial officer ofthe Breakthrough charter schools.

“For black men, the barber shopwas kind of where they grew up andlearned about manhood, especially if,like me, they grow up in a house withall women,” he said. “Why can’t abarber shop be formalized as a placefor mentoring? It could have comput-ers for kids whose parents work late.”

Mr. Suratt returned to Clevelandto help fulfill another dream —playing a role in rebuilding hishometown, as well as the Glenvilleneighborhood where he grew up.

For him, working for a nonprofitthat manages charter schools is away to repay a debt to his parentsand an aunt. (Charter schools areprivately run but get some publicfinancing.)

Education always was of the utmost importance to the Surattfamily. Despite losing their parentsat an early age, an aunt who raisedthem made sure Mr. Suratt and histhree siblings got good educations.

Mr. Suratt entered the businessworld first at Arthur Andersen LLPand then at IBM Global Services,after earning his MBA in 2001

following his graduation from University School and the Univer-sity of Virginia. Mr. Suratt changedcareers in 2006, taking a job withthe KIPP Foundation, a San Fran-cisco nonprofit that operates char-ter schools as well as a program totrain charter school leaders.

From there, he moved to Stanford University, where he wasassistant director of the Center forResearch on Education Outcomes,or CREDO, which produced a studyin 2009 that offered ways to measurethe effectiveness of charter schools.

He left CREDO in 2011, returninghome to Cleveland, to be chief financial officer of the Break-through Schools, a group of ninecharter schools, including E Prepand the Intergenerational School. “Two, 2½ years ago, I decided I

wanted to get back to Cleveland,”he recalled. “My aunt was gettingolder, (and) my oldest niece went to college. Where did the years go? I’dbeen in California for seven years; Iwanted to get closer to home.”

By that time he had met PerryWhite, founder of Citizens Academy,another Cleveland charter school,and heard about a job opening atBreakthrough and about its effortsto build a group of strong charterschools.

“A kid from Cleveland who wantedto come back — a brain gain,” saidJohn Zitzner, president of TheFriends of Breakthrough Schools,and a founder of E-Prep, now one ofthe Breakthrough schools. “He’sbeen a great help; he brings a realknowledge of the business side.”

— Jay Miller

ROCCO WHALENChef, ownerFahrenheit; Rosie & Rocco’s;Rocco’s at The Q ◆ 35

Cleveland is defined by thepeople who’ve built thiscity. They are the laborers,the artisans, entrepreneurs

and innovators. Rocco Whalen is allof the above — a representation ofthe hard-working, unstoppable andcreative force that drives the city’sethos.

“I bleed orange, brown and red,” said Mr. Whalen, referring tohis passion for the Browns and hishometown Mentor Fighting Cardi-nals.

The chef of Fahrenheit has beensteaming ahead, with the introduc-tion this year of Rocco’s Nachos &Tacos at Quicken Loans Arena andRosie & Rocco’s at the HorseshoeCasino Cleveland and ClevelandBrowns Stadium. Mr. Whalen ispredicting his 60-employee opera-tion this year will more than doublelast year’s sales, to $5 million from$2 million.

“I’ve been shoveling coal on thetrain engine,” he said. “The city isbillowing smoke, and it’s ready toblow. I’m really glad to be a part ofit.”

Mr. Whalen has been cookingsince he graduated at age 19 fromthe Pennsylvania Culinary Institute.

BRAD WIANDTPresidentMadison Electric Products Inc. ◆ 38

The son of a first-generationAmerican, Brad Wiandt always has been taught tothink big.

His father moved to the UnitedStates from Hungary as a child, yetmanaged to learn the native tongueand eventually land a job as associatecontroller at the University of Akron.

“It was instilled in me that youcould do big things,” Mr. Wiandtsaid.

At age 38, Mr. Wiandt already ispresident of Madison Electric Products, a 40-person electricalproducts manufacturer in BedfordHeights. Since assuming the top jobless than four years ago, he hastransformed Madison Electric froma commodity-driven business to aforward-thinking manufacturer, according to Rob Fisher, its vicepresident of marketing.

After graduating in 1996 fromthe University of Akron with a



A C O M PA N Y B U I LT O N D E L I V E R I N G R E S U LT S , N O T E X C U S E S TM.

Michelle Comerford

6095 PARKLAND BLVD. CLEVELAND, OH 44124 440.544.2600 WWW.THEAUSTIN.COM

The Austin Company congratulates all of the 40 Under 40 Award Winners. We are extremely

proud to honor one of our own,

Managing Director of Austin Consulting, a nationally-known Site Selection Firm

Congratulations

S I T E S E L E C T I O NFavorable Area IdentificationSupply Chain AnalysisLabor Market StudiesDue DiligenceIncentives Negotiation

D E S I G N ArchitecturalMaster PlanningProgrammingInteriorSpace Planning / Layout

E N G I N E E R I N GProcess IndustrialStructural / CivilMechanical Electrical

C O N S T R U C T I O NDesign-BuildConstruction ManagementGeneral ContractingEquipment InstallationStart-up and Commissioning

Founded in Cleveland in 1878, The Austin Company is one of Cleveland’s oldest businesses and is known as one of the world’s leading designers, engineers and constructors of commercial and industrial operations.

The Austin Company is thankful to be a part of Cleveland community and we wish all the best to this prestigious list of winners.

“I’ve forgotten everything aboutPittsburgh except the techniquesI’ve learned,” the chef joked.

He then hit the fast-forward button on honing his culinary skillsby toiling about 19 hours a day forfive years at Wolfgang Puck restau-rants out west.

Mr. Whalen returned to Cleve-land in 2001, where he worked atBlue Point Grille before unveilingFahrenheit in 2002. He also pavedthe way for the city’s food truckbusiness when he rolled out in 2007his ShortRib1 mobile bistro.

His efforts have earned him aJames Beard Rising Star nomination,and he has been recognized locallyand nationally for his cuisines.About 20 charity events also are on Mr. Whalen’s books each year,including those that benefit AutismSpeaks and the Cleveland Foodbank.

Meanwhile, the chef has tackleda recent lifestyle 180-degree turnwith a will of iron.

He competed on the Food Net-work’s “Fat Chef” series that airedthis year; when filming began, hetipped the scale at 343 pounds.

A rigorous workout and strictmeal plans prompted about a weekof vomiting several times a day before his body adjusted. Mr.Whalen dropped 85 pounds in 16weeks.

“I crush green, leafy vegetables,”Mr. Whalen said. “I kill kale.”

Dan Bednar, co-owner of FitnessRevolution and Mr. Whalen’s

personal trainer, said he believesthe chef has transformed hislifestyle for good.

“He was so gung-ho about making his weight goals. He’d runthrough a brick wall if he had to,”Mr. Bednar said. “He’s one of mymost talented boot-campers.”

Indeed, the chef has a renewedsense of purpose, though he’s pausing for a bit before embarkingon any new ventures.

“I promised my wife I wouldn’tdo anything until the end of calen-dar year 2012,” he said. “Jan. 3,2013, it’s on.”

— Kathy Ames Carr

degree in marketing management,Mr. Wiandt held a number of marketing roles before being identified in 2008 by a headhunteras a good fit for Madison Electric.

Mr. Wiandt is considered youngamong his peers, many of whomare in their 50s and 60s, Mr. Fishersaid. Because of his age, Mr. Wiandtis able to understand the needs ofmillennials, yet he still respects thetradition of the older generation, hesaid.

“A lot of people in the electricalindustry know him from when heused to be a rep,” Mr. Fisher said.“They’re always impressed butthey’re never surprised.”

Mr. Wiandt in 2009 launched the

Sparks Innovation Center, an Inter-net-based product developmentprogram through which the companypartners with electricians and contractors to develop their productideas. Through Sparks, MadisonElectric already has brought six newproducts to market.

“He definitely empowers individ-uals. He encourages them to takerisks, which I think is very importantwhen you’re trying to grow a busi-ness,” Mr. Fisher said.

It was the sense of empowermentMr. Wiandt bestows upon his employees that made the decisionto work at Madison Electric an easyone for Mr. Fisher, who has workedwith Mr. Wiandt for eight years —at two different companies.

“In any given room, I’m probablynot the smartest person in theroom and that’s OK,” Mr. Wiandtsaid. “I’m not a manager or a president who has to have all of theideas. I realize in many cases Idon’t. I have ideas come from thebottom up.”

Mr. Wiandt lives in Concord withhis wife, Gina, and their two children:Bradley, 7, and Annamarie, 5. Hevolunteers as an assistant denleader for his son’s Cub Scout troopand is an avid golfer.

Professionally, he serves on theboard of the National Electric Manufacturers Representatives Association and is involved in various industry associations.

— Ginger Christ

COMING UPCrain’s Ideas at Dawn business breakfast series

BRYAN P. ZABELLSenior vice president of anchor store leasingDDR Corp. ◆ 35

Bryan Zabell tracks 30 retailerswith Google alerts on hisiPhone but waits until afterhis two young children are in

bed to plow through the dozen retailand shopping center trade maga-zines he follows. There is no time forthe trade pubs during the day.

Both cell phone practices reflectlife for the head of a seven-personunit that oversees anchor-storeleasing at shopping center giantDDR Corp. The job includes workingwith tenants of more than 20,000square feet that account for 80% ofthe square footage in the real estateinvestment trust’s portfolio.

During a fast rise at the company— the Ohio State University businessgrad was part of its first recent collegegraduate training class in 2001 — Mr.Zabell has worked in the last fewyears to find tenants to fill large vacancies created by retail bankrupt-cies and shutdowns since the 2008 financial collapse. He also has servedwith corporate counsel on creditorcommittees for some of the majorbankruptcies of the past few years.

“It was unfortunate to lose so

many companies,” Mr. Zabell said.“It was not just losing retailers butdoing so as the debt markets wereclosed. It was a very interestingprocess.”

His team filled vacancies createdby the disappearance of retailerssuch as Borders, Steve & Barry’s,Circuit City and Linens ‘n Things.

“His performance as a groupleader and a deal maker are a significant part of our success andour resurgence,” said Dan Hurwitz,DDR president and CEO, in an interview about Mr. Zabell, whoconsiders him a mentor. “We lostnumerous locations and they are all

about 98% leased.”Mr. Hurwitz interviewed Mr.

Zabell for entry to the then-nascentinternal DDR training program in2001. “He is highly intellectual. Hehas a charismatic personality. Thatis a strong combination. I knowwhat it takes to be successful andhe had that,” Mr. Hurwitz said.

Moreover, Mr. Hurwitz said Mr.Zabell excelled because, no matterwhat the topic, “You never need toteach or tell (Mr. Zabell) anythingtwice.”

In the training program, newhires do stints in various jobs tofind their niche. Mr. Zabell foundhis in leasing.

“I enjoy the negotiating,” Mr.Zabell said. “I like the personal aspects of it. There is a certain excitement to it because we areclosing deals fast.”

Mr. Zabell also lives the dreamfor many area college grads. TheCleveland Heights native wanted topursue his career in Cleveland to benear his family. He also wanted toget his feet wet in business ratherthan pursue law like many membersof his family.

Today, he lives in Beachwood, acouple minutes from DDR’s head-quarters. Despite a demanding travelschedule, he is a coach for his daugh-ter’s soccer team and a member ofBeachwood’s planning and zoningcommission. — Stan Bullard

Crain’s Cleveland Business’ annualpanel discussion series continuesnext month with two new topics.

On Dec. 4 and Dec. 6, panels ofexperts will discuss health care reform in the aftermath of thismonth’s presidential election. Thefirst event will be held in Akron andthe second in Cleveland.

In between, another panel will tackle sustainability in the supplychain, which can help can maximizeprofitability and minimize environmen-tal impact.

For more information on theseevents and to register, visitwww.CrainsCleveland.com/breakfast.



LARGEST SAVINGS INSTITUTIONSRANKED BY NORTHEAST OHIO DEPOSITS(1)

Deposits Non-performing loans

Rank

Company nameHeadquarters addressPhone/website 6-30-2012 6-30-2011 % change

2012 entiremarket share

%(2)Total assets($millions)

$ millions6-30-2012

% of grossloans

6-30-2012

Netincome

($millions)Top local executiveTitle

1Third Federal Savings & Loan7007 Broadway Ave., Cleveland 44105(216) 441-6000/www.thirdfederal.com

$6,162.5 $6,156.4 0.1% 7.2 $11,451.8 $157.2 1.5% $2.4 Marc A. Stefanskichairman, president, CEO

2Ohio Savings Bank, A Division of New York CommunityBank1801 E. Ninth St., Cleveland 44114(216) 588-4100/www.amtrust.com

$1,997.1 $1,947.0 2.6% 2.3 $40,811.6 $570.4 1.9% $248.7Jon Baymillerpresident, CEO,NYCB Mortgage Co. LLC

3Dollar Bank FSB1301 E. Ninth St., Cleveland 44114(216) 736-8900/www.dollarbank.com

$1,718.8 $1,654.1 3.9% 2.0 $6,556.9 $41.7 0.8% $19.8Andrew D. Devonshirepresident,Ohio banking region

4First Place BankP.O. Box 551, Warren 44482(330) 373-1221/www.firstplace.net

$1,522.1 $1,575.7 -3.4% 1.8 $2,639.0 $135.7 6.8% $17.7 Albert P. Blankpresident, COO

5Home Savings & Loan Co.275 Federal Plaza W., Youngstown 44503(330) 742-0500/www.homesavings.com

$1,196.6 $1,236.9 -3.3% 1.4 $1,909.9 $114.5 8.9% $4.1 Patrick W. Bevackpresident, CEO

6First Federal Savings & Loan Assoc.14806 Detroit Ave., Lakewood 44107(216) 221-7300/www.ffl.net

$1,154.2 $1,154.9 -0.1% 1.3 $1,349.4 $20.5 2.0% $3.9 Gary R. Fixpresident, CEO, managing officer

7Park View Federal Savings Bank30000 Aurora Road, Solon 44139(440) 914-3900/www.parkviewfederal.com

$697.4 $688.5 1.3% 0.8 $805.5 $24.8 4.3% $1.0 Robert J. King Jr.president, CEO

8Westfield Bank FSBTwo Park Circle, Westfield Center 44251(800) 368-8930/www.westfield-bank.com

$479.4 $436.4 9.8% 0.6 $591.5 $8.5 2.1% $2.1 Timothy E. Phillipspresident

9First Federal S&L Assn. of Lorain3721 Oberlin Ave., Lorain 44053(440) 282-6188/www.firstfedlorain.com

$359.0 $356.1 0.8% 0.4 $487.3 $10.7 3.2% ($0.1) John R. Malanowskipresident, COO

10Wayne Savings Community Bank151 N. Market St., Wooster 44691(330) 264-5767/www.waynesavings.com

$310.7 $305.4 1.7% 0.5 $409.1 $5.4 2.2% $0.8 Rodney C. Steigerpresident, CEO

11Geauga Savings Bank10800 Kinsman Road, Newbury 44065(440) 564-9441/www.geaugasavings.com

$240.4 $261.0 -7.9% 0.3 $402.5 $18.5 9.0% $1.1 Allen S. Lencioni Sr.president, CEO

12Hometown Bank(3)142 N. Water St., Kent 44240(330) 673-9827/www.homesavingsbnk.com

$129.2 $124.5 3.7% 0.2 $155.9 $1.8 1.4% $0.5 Howard T. Boyle IIpresident, CEO

13North Akron Savings Bank158 E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave., Akron 44310(330) 434-9137/www.northakronsavingsbank.com

$114.7 $106.4 7.8% 0.1 $158.2 $1.3 1.1% $0.2 Stephen D. Hailerpresident, CEO

14CFBank2723 Smith Road, Fairlawn 44333(330) 666-7979/www.cfbankonline.com

$113.4 $149.0 -23.9% 0.1 $224.0 $6.4 4.6% ($1.2)Timothy T. O'Dell, CEOThad R. Perrypresident

15Valley Savings Bank140 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls 44222(330) 923-0454/www.valleysavingsbank.com

$93.6 $90.6 3.3% 0.1 $112.3 $0.6 0.6% $0.4 Ann H. Durrpresident, COO

16Conneaut Savings Bank305 Main St., Conneaut 44030(440) 599-8121 /www.conneautsavings.com

$70.0 $70.3 -0.4% 0.1 $84.0 $0.4 0.6% $0.1 Philip Heffelfingerpresident, CEO

17Home Federal Savings & Loan Association of Niles55 N. Main St., Niles 44446(330) 652-2539/www.homefedniles.com

$62.2 $61.5 1.2% 0.1 $105.8 $1.7 6.7% $0.2 Lawrence Safarekpresident

18Northwest Savings Bank2 Liberty St., Warren, Pa. 16365(814) 723-9696/www.northwestsavingsbank.com

$59.4 $59.8 -0.7% 0.1 $8,054.1 $117.3 2.1% $33.1Thomas Stantonvice president, Crawford, Lawrence,Mercer and Ohio district manager

19Pioneer Savings Bank6701 Detroit Ave., Cleveland 44102(216) 961-0422

$14.2 $14.0 1.4% 0.0 $30.9 $0.5 3.4% $0.1 Virginia C. Barsanpresident, CEO

20First Federal Bank of Ohio140 N. Columbus St., Galion 44833(419) 468-1518/www.firstfederalbankofohio.com

$4.3 $4.2 1.3% 0.0 $252.5 $3.7 3.3% $0.0 Thomas L. Moorepresident, CEO

Source for financial data: Thomson Reuters Bank Insight. NA=Not available. Crain's Cleveland Business does not independently verify the information and there is no guaranteethese listings are complete or accurate. We welcome all responses to our lists and will include omitted information or clarifications in coming issues. Individual lists and The Bookof Lists are available to purchase at www.crainscleveland.com.(1) Deposit information includes branches located in Ashland, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull andWayne counties, as of June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2011. All other numerical data is institution-wide as of June 30, 2012.(2) Includes all financial institutions in the 15-county coverage area.(3) Previously Home Savings Bank.

RESEARCHED BY Deborah W. Hillyer

diamonds in the world when it lim-ited its lab study to diamonds fromselect national jewelry store chains.

“Zale’s claim that it has proven itsFire diamonds to be more brilliantthan any other cut of diamond inthe world can be true only if its Firediamonds have been tested againstevery other cut of diamond in theworld,” the lawsuit alleges. “Zale’sadmission that it has tested only a‘select’ subset of round-cut diamondsrenders this claim false.”

Sterling is seeking an injunctionrestraining Zale and its people fromengaging in future acts of false advertising and ordering removal of

all of Zale’s false ads. Sterling alsoclaims it is entitled to recover fromZale damages sustained by Sterlingas a result of the false claims, thoughit said it “is at present unable to ascertain the full extent of the mon-etary damages.”

Zale Corp. spokeswoman RoxaneBarry said Zale officials believe thelawsuit is without merit and “an attempt by a competitor to distractconsumers from our terrific prod-ucts.”

“Our advertising was based ontesting by an independent laboratory,and our ads make that fact clear,”Ms. Barry said. She declined toidentify the lab.

Puffed up claims?

Though he noted it’s his company’spolicy not to comment on legalmatters, David A. Bouffard, vicepresident of corporate affairs forSignet Jewelers Ltd., the parentcompany of Sterling Jewelers, wrotein an email: “It’s important to notethat the brilliance of a diamond is arecognized property within theglobal jewelry industry and amongjewelry consumers. It is not a state-ment of subjective opinion but iscapable of being systematically, re-liably and scientifically measured.”

The likely reason for the company’sdelineation is that the law recog-


Diamond: Brilliance a measurable quality nizes that some advertising claimsare “puffery,” or subjective hyperbole,and others are so-called establish-ment claims said to be factual.

David Cupar, who co-chairs theintellectual property practice groupat McDonald Hopkins LLC in Cleve-land, says it’s pretty clear that Zale’sclaims are not puffery claims.

“They’re coming out to say, ‘Wereally are the most brilliant diamond,’”said Mr. Cupar, who is not involvedin the case. “They really go out oftheir way in a small paragraph (atthe bottom of their ad materials) toidentify that they’ve performed in-dependent lab testing and that thatindependent lab testing finds (theirsto be) the most brilliant.”

Conversely, an example of apuffery claim would be a sandwichshop saying it has the best-tasting

sandwiches in the world and leavingit at that, Mr. Cupar said.

Both Mr. Cupar and Ulmer & Berne’s Mr. Sarkar agreed: The crucial answer the judge in the casemust unearth is whether the labtests that were conducted wereenough for Zale to make its claims.

“Does it, in fact, support Zale’sclaim, or are there significant holesthat could really undercut its adver-tising there?” Mr. Cupar said.

That said, Zale need not test itsdiamonds’ brilliance against that ofevery diamond in the world to makethe claim, Mr. Cupar noted.

“Just because you’re consideredthe fastest person in the world doesn’tmean you have to race everybody inthe world,” he said. “But you wantto race the world-class runners, soto speak.” ■


already fall short of covering thecost of providing care, hospital officialssay any cuts to the program — nomatter how small — provoke fur-rowed brows.

“I don’t think it matters how youmeasure, $22 million is a lot of money,” said Clinic CFO Steve Glass.

Northeast Ohio health care leaders have built the potentialMedicare cuts into their budgetingmodels for next year. Individually,none would say the cuts would leadto layoffs or massive cutbacks inservices, and instead suggested they’dtrim costs elsewhere. For instance,Mr. Glass said the Clinic would con-tinue the “process improvement”initiatives it has employed in recentyears, including the consolidationof certain services at one locationrather than spreading them outthrough the system.

In a more dramatic assessment ofthe situation, the Ohio Hospital Asso-ciation, a statewide lobbying group,said the Medicare cuts could lead toa loss of 31,163 jobs in the state.

“In this environment, everyone isthrowing up their hands,” saidMatthew Albers, an attorney in thehealth care group at Vorys, Sater,Seymour and Pease LLP in Cleve-land. “It’s the Wild West right now. Wedon’t know what’s going to happen.”

Cut with careDuring the contentious president

election, both President BarackObama and his Republican chal-lenger, Mitt Romney, agreed on theneed to reform Medicare so thepopular health care program couldremain solvent for generations tocome. Health care providers areconcerned, however, that lawmakerswill continue to punt major reformsdown the road and instead continueto siphon the amount of money theproviders are paid for services.

“Arbitrary, across-the-board cutsundermine our ability to care forour patients,” said Heidi Gartland,vice president of government rela-tions at University Hospitals. “Werecognize the country faces a loomingdeficit, and we all know we have topartner to come up with the right solutions. But we’re looking for solutions that make sense for thecountry’s finances (and) for providinghealth care to its citizenry.”

Marty Hauser, chief governmentrelations officer for Summa HealthSystem in Akron, likened what’s occurring in health care to the oldadage “death by a thousand cuts.”He cited Medicare reimbursementreductions rolled into PresidentObama’s health care overhaul, as wellas continued financial pressuresfacing the Medicaid program — ahealth care program for low-income people — caused by Ohio’sown budget woes.

Summa officials pledged last yearto cut nearly $1 billion out of its system over the next decade by con-solidating services, negotiating better contracts and using a limitednumber of layoffs to prepare forwhat they expect will be steep reim-bursement cuts for years to come. Ifthe automatic Medicare spendingreductions take effect at the start ofthe year, Summa is slated to lose be-tween $3.5 million and $4.5 millionannually over the next nine years oras long as sequestration is in play.

In Mr. Hauser’s view, deficit

reduction “can’t just be born on thebacks of the providers.”

“There has to be a rational andreasonable approach to moving forward with transforming healthcare,” said Mr. Hauser, who alsoserves as CEO of SummaCare, thehealth system’s insurance arm.

Close to the lineWhile all expressed severe unease

about the potential Medicare reduc-tions, Northeast Ohio’s largesthealth care systems, such as theCleveland Clinic, Summa or Univer-sity Hospitals expect to absorb theblow without much, if any, blood-shed.

For one, their revenue streamsare more diversified than those oftheir smaller counterparts such asParma Community General Hospital— an organization that boasts amodest annual budget of about$183 million compared with theClinic’s staggering $6 billion.

“In most cases, spending cuts always impact smaller, independentproviders more immediately andmore directly than a large system,”Vorys’ Mr. Albers said. “Their payermix is skewed more heavily towardgovernment payers.”

About 60% of Parma Community’svolume is comprised of Medicarepatients, according to hospitalspokesman Mark White. If they’retriggered and as long as they’re inplace, the sequestration cuts are ex-pected to cost the hospital roughly$2 million each year.

“Parma Hospital has prepared inthe sense that we have calculatedthe potential impact, and if the cutswere to stay in place for a materiallength of time it could be significantfor us,” Mr. White said in an email.He added, however, there wasn’t aspecific “action plan” that will gointo effect if the cuts occur at thestart of the year.

Similarly, Southwest GeneralHealth System in MiddleburgHeights — a roughly $300 millionoperation loosely affiliated withUniversity Hospitals — boasts aMedicare payer mix that hoversaround 55%. The sequestration cutswould cost the system about $2.5million a year, according SouthwestGeneral CEO Thomas Selden.

However, Southwest General’s finances have fared well in recentyears and the system in the midst ofan ambitious $128 million expan-sion project. Mr. Selden expectsSouthwest to finish the year withmore than a 6% operating margin.Expecting lawmakers “won’t gettheir act together” to stave off theMedicare cuts, Mr. Selden saidSouthwest is aiming for a 4% oper-ating margin next year.

“There are other people operatingmuch closer to the break-even linethan us,” Mr. Selden said. “If theydon’t figure out how to budget wisely, who knows what could hap-pen?” ■

“There are other peopleoperating much closer tothe break-even line thanus. If they don’t figureout how to budget wisely,who knows what couldhappen?” – Thomas Selden, CEO, South-west General Health System


Hospitals: Providersbear brunt of deep cutscontinued from PAGE 1

Union: Skill sets take more importanceside by side,” Mr. Waltermire saidwhen he met last week with a groupof Crain’s reporters and editors todiscuss his group’s third-quartereconomic report.

A key forecast in data supplied byMoody’s Economy.com, a leadingeconomic forecasting firm, is opti-mistic about the growth of manufac-turing in Northeast Ohio betweennow and 2020.

From 2012 to 2020, Economy.comis projecting a 23% increase in grossregional product within the manu-facturing sector. GRP is a widely ac-cepted measure of the value of goodsand services produced in a regionaleconomy.

Underlying that forecast, Mr. Waltermire said, is a recognition thateven unionized companies in the region, notably steelmaker Arcelor-Mittal and the automobile compa-nies, are able to operate their plantshere profitably and at high levels ofefficiency.

The prospects for manufacturingin the state also reflect a kind of sur-vival of the fittest.

“The base we have now is healthier,”Mr. Waltermire said. “The weakeroperations have faded away andeven some of the traditional thingsare back at a (higher) productivitylevel.”

That improvement gets back tothe union issue — unionized plants areshowing high levels of productivity.As a result, Mr. Waltermire said, “it’shard to find a productivity penalty inthe unionized areas; if (productivityissues) were there, they generallyhave died.”

Hiring won’t match outputWhile the Team NEO report fore-

casts growth in manufacturing GRP,it isn’t forecasting matching growthin manufacturing employment.Rather, it expects manufacturingemployment to remain flat — astrong indication that most of thegains in manufacturing will comefrom efficient and productive manu-facturers that invest in automation.

While Team NEO’s experiencewith site selectors may be encouragingto those who are rooting for a manu-facturing renaissance in the region,other observers say the attitude to-ward the state only may be changingin certain manufacturing sectorsthat are accustomed to a unionizedlabor force and among companiesthat need workers with hard-to-find

Team NEO’s quarterly economicreport makes the case for steadyprogress toward recovery, thoughoverall employment in the 18 countiesthat comprise Team NEO’s servicearea won’t return to peak employ-ment levels of the early-1990s untilthe end of the decade.

The data, supplied to Team NEO by Moody’s Economy.com, a leading economic forecasting firm,project that the number of peopleemployed in the region by 2020 willrise by 169,000 jobs, or 8.7%.

“That would put the region backto the 1990 level,” said Jacob Duritsky, director of business attrac-tion at Team NEO.

Employment began decliningsteadily in the 1990s and then tooka deep dive at the end of 2008.

The growth is forecast to come inhealth care (40,000 jobs), construc-

tion (12,000 jobs), professional andtechnical services (12,000 jobs),and finance (8,000 jobs). The report estimates the number of people currently employed at 1.95 million,compared with 1.96 million in 1990.That total is forecast to grow to 2.1million in 2020.

In the short term, Team NEO reports that the manufacturing sectorhas been the fastest-growing sectorover the last year, adding 7,000jobs, a 3.1% increase from the endof the third quarter of 2011. Thatwas offset, however, by a decline ingovernment employment of 8,000jobs over the same time period.

Also, regional unemployment atthe end of third quarter of 2012 was7.0%, similar to the statewide unem-ployment figure of 6.9% in Octoberbut lower than the U.S. unemploymentof 7.9% last month. — Jay Miller

Employment back to peak by 2020continued from PAGE 1

skills.Many companies still focus their

site selection on so-called “right-to-work” states that have laws thathamper the ability of unions to operate. State right-to-work lawsgenerally allow employees to opt outof union dues while they maintainthe pay and other advantages thatcome with union organizing. Sup-porters say right-to-work laws createa business-friendly environment,which brings jobs. Union leadersbelieve the legislation is designed toweaken labor unions.

“There are people for whom the right-to-work dimension is veryattractive,” said Richard Vedder, aneconomics professor at Ohio Uni-versity.

Haul out the dataDr. Vetter said he recently was in

Indiana and heard from govern-ment leaders there who say manu-facturing is booming as a result ofits new right-to-work law. Gov.Mitch Daniels signed the state’sright-to-work law earlier this year,making Indiana the 23rd state — andthe only one in the Midwest — topass such a law.

Dr. Vedder was an advocate forIndiana to become a right-to-workstate. But he also acknowledges thatthe right-to-work advantage may benarrowing.

“The evidence you’re picking uphas some validity to it,” Dr. Veddersaid of Mr. Waltermire’s belief that theavoidance of Ohio is diminishing. “Ican understand the nature of the labor force does make a differenceand you could have labor forceneeds that are of a certain naturewhere having the skill set is moreimportant than worrying aboutwhether workers are unionized.

“As the percentage of the workforce in unions has declined, the issue is less on the radar screens thanit was a decade or two ago,” he said.

Michelle Comerford, managingdirector of Austin Consulting, saidshe believes communities must beable to show data to companies andtheir site selectors that backs upclaims of available skilled labor andhigh labor productivity to sell theregion. Austin Consulting is a unitof the Cleveland-based Austin Co.that is a site selection consultant tobusinesses.

“We usually advise communitiesand regions to combat (concernsabout the union labor environment)with data — how many places areunionized, the history of strikes —along with productivity data,” shesaid. That kind of information canback up an argument that a regionwill be a comfortable place for anonunion company, Ms. Comer-ford said. ■

CWRU med school effort gets $10M moreUniversity now halfway to goal of $50 million she has a heart as big as all out-

doors.”Per the Browns’ wishes, the admin-

istrative suite in the new facility willbe named in honor of Dr. Davis.

“I am overwhelmed, both by Jimand Connie’s personal tribute, andthe level of support they have shownfor this important capital project,”Dr. Davis said in the release. “Withtheir gift, the School of Medicine willsoon enter a new era of technology-enhanced medical education.”

The Browns’ gift follows a history-making donation announced in Sep-tember by the Cleveland Foundationand Mr. Sinai Health Care Founda-tion, which each pledged $10 million.This fall, CWRU alumnus Dr. MichaelD. Eppig and his wife, Ruth, committed$1.5 million to the project. ■

By TIMOTHY [email protected]

Case Western Reserve Universityhas landed what it characterized asanother “significant” gift to supportthe construction of a 160,000-square-foot, $50 million building for itsmedical school on the site of thenow-defunct Mt. Sinai Medical Cen-ter on East 105th Street in Cleveland.

Per the donors’ wishes, universityofficials did not disclose the size of the gift from longtime health care philanthropists Constance andJames Brown, but noted it brings theuniversity halfway toward its $50million fundraising goal for the new

building. Mr. Brown is chairman of Tailwind Technologies — theholding company of Hartzell Pro-peller in Piqua, Ohio.

The Browns, of Chagrin Falls,made the donation in honor of themedical school’s dean, Dr. PamelaDavis, who has treated their grand-daughter, KC Bryan White, for cystic fibrosis for decades.

“Dean Davis has been her princi-pal caregiver for 30 years — throughchildhood, adolescence, marriageand motherhood. So we know thedean well,” Mr. Brown said in anews release. “We have learned toadmire her without reservation.And above all, we have learned that



AUCTIONS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

LAND

OFFICE SPACE

OFFICE/WAREHOUSESPACE

REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIEDPhone: (216) 522-1383 Fax: (216) 694-4264

Contact: Denise Donaldson E-mail: [email protected] Deadline: Wednesdays @ 2:00 p.m.

All Ads Pre-Paid: Check or Credit Card

S1462B 7/11

It’s Your Career,Own ItBring us your motivation and entrepreneurial spirit and in turn you will get:

Competitive compensation with bonus opportunities and incentives.

A team of experienced professionals committed to your success (like dedicated underwriters, local sales support and risk control consultants).

Award-winning claims service.

Financial assistance to start and grow your own agency.

The strength and assurance of a Fortune 500 company ranked A+ Superior by A.M. Best Company and recognized by the nation’s largest group of independent agents.

A limited number of appointments are available, so call or visit our site today: BecomeAnErieAgent.com.

Auto Home Business Life

all of Northeast Ohio.

1-800-362-6541

Take control of your career and your future with Erie Insurance, a leading regional insurance carrier. We’re seeking sales-driven, independent agents in

Real Estate Auctions

Bambeck Auctioneers Inc.Call Dave 330-260-0192

www.bambeck.com

Bambeck Auc t i oneers Inc .

Nov. 27 • 11:00 AM On-Site

Nov. 27 • 2:00 PM On-Site



3-Unit Office Bldg., Akron

2 Commercial Properties, Medina

Commercial Property, Wickliffe

Former Corlett Lumber Real EstateWarrensville Heights

See Web Site For Details

NOTECLASSIFIED ADVERTISERS

Due to the Thanksgiving HolidayNovember 26 issue woll close on

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Please call Toni Coleman at216.522.1383

Warehouse/Industrialstorage facility

Cuyahoga Hts., OH.Heated, 1M 2M 5M sq. ft. spaces

available. Short or long term.Offices available. I77 & Grant Ave.

Local pickup and delivery alsoavailable from warehouse.

Cargus LLP. Carrie or Don216-901-0970

PRIME OFFICE SPACECommerce Park in

Beachwood3 office suite and single office

available with/withoutwarehouse/storage space

Completely renovatedand updated.

Gas, electric and cleaningincluded.

Great Rates. 6 to 36 month lease.Available Immediately

with/without furniture.216.595.9828

Adam x105 or Steve x114

Residential LotMacedonia, approx.1/2 acre lot,

beautiful view, close to recreation,shopping, interstates etc. Ideallocation for your dream home.

Priced to sell, 90’s.

440-655-3647

EMPLOYERS:Reach the most qualified workforce.Advertise your open positions here.

SPECIAL RATES AVAILABLECall Toni Coleman at 216-522-1383

JOB SEEKERS:We now post POSITIONS WANTED

in the Classified section of CrainsCleveland.com at

NO CHARGE.(Up to 150 words)

E-Mail info to [email protected]

ATTENTIONBUSINESS SERVICE OWNERS!

Submit your business card to promote your service and receive a

SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNToff your ad price.

To find out more, contactDenise Donaldson at 216.522.1383

DON’TFORGET:

Crain’s Cleveland Businesson-line @

CrainsCleveland.com

For all the latest businessnews...online

The promise of shale drilling. The power of Crain’s. Powerful solutions for companies in the Utica Shale play

For advertising and sponsorship information, contact Nicole Mastrangelo at 216-771-5158 or [email protected]

Launching 12/3/2012 Published quarterly in 2013 February 5, 2013 Ongoing – call for

details


Job cuts cut in half as aid comes to Legal Aid■ The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland laid offeight staff members on Nov. 9, reducing itsstaff by 10% to 70, but eight positions werespared, thanks to the generosity of others.

The cuts weren’t as significant as officialsearlier this year expected they might be, given the budget challenges Legal Aid facesas revenue derived from interest on lawyers’trust accounts has plummeted.

In a letter dated Nov. 16 and posted onthe organization’s website, Colleen M. Cotter,executive director, said Legal Aid officialsthought they’d need to lay off up to 16 peo-ple, or 20% of the staff. In the end, increasedgrants and philanthropy enabled Legal Aidto limit the cuts, Ms. Cotter wrote.

Individual giving and giving via UnitedWay were up 35% over last year as of mid-November, reaching $412,000 comparedwith the year-ago number of $304,000. Plus,foundation giving increased 13% — $500,000compared to $439,000 this time last year.

The cuts that Legal Aid did make willmean fewer people are served by the non-profit moving forward, Ms. Cotter noted. —Michelle Park

As a film character oncesaid, ‘Get in my belly’■ There’s a new landmark coming to down-town Cleveland — a “smart” trash can from aMassachusetts company called BigBelly Solar.

The city of Cleveland is bringing a modularpair of high-tech green trash containers to

the corner of West Third Street and SuperiorAvenue for a trial run. Not only does thecontainer separate recyclables from othertrash, it compacts the waste and wirelesslysignals the city’s department of publicworks when it needs to be emptied.

BigBelly Solar is donatingthe equipment for the trialrun. The city’s commissionerof waste collection, RonOwens, said the demonstrationwill allow the city to see if itmakes sense to buy the units,which cost about $9,000 each.

Mr. Owens said the city has afull-time crew cruising thestreets and emptying trash cansdaily. He hopes this new kind ofcontainer can cut the cost and environmentalimpact sufficiently to justify the expense.

“We’re running this test to see how it affects our bottom line — saving dollars inlabor, fuel consumption and emissions,” hesaid. — Jay Miller

Give them credit for protecting this credit■ More than 30 real estate developers,lawyers, architects and consultants tied toredevelopment deals associated with theFederal Historic Tax Credit met last Thursdaynight, Nov. 15, for cocktails and appetizersat Terminal Tower’s famed Greenbrier Suite.

The reason: Two executives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation madea pitch for lobbying dollars to keep the 20%credit on qualifying redevelopment expenses

in place as Congress and President BarackObama turn their attention to the fiscal cliff.

Within the dark wood paneled walls of thedowntown apartment, David Brown, thetrust’s chief preservation officer, said it is rais-ing money for a three-year-drive to maintain

the credit in the face of calls to elimi-nate or halve it. Long term, the trustwants lawmakers to broaden it.

Thomas Cassidy, the trust’s vicepresident for government rela-tions, said in current budget-cut-ting discussions, the credit is “atgreat risk.” The trust wants toemphasize to federal legislatorsthe role the credit plays not onlynationally but in their districts

and regions. To do so, the trust iscreating reports at the congression-

al district level as well as local governmentlevel about projects to show legislators.

In Cleveland’s case, the trust said the credit has helped fund 86 projects from 2001through 2011 that represent a $923 millioninvestment in the city. Moreover, in Clevelandthe credit created 6,450 construction jobs and8,690 permanent jobs, the trust said.

Ronald Ratner, a Forest City EnterprisesInc. board member and CEO of the company’sresidential group, told the assembly that ithas pledged “a small amount” to the cam-paign. He noted that rehabilitating historicbuildings is essential in creating excitingplaces to attract people to urban areas.

“We could find a lot of real estate to dowithout the credit,” Mr. Ratner said, “but itmakes it a lot more interesting and exciting.”— Stan Bullard

MILESTONE

THE COMPANY: Osborn, ClevelandTHE OCCASION: Its 125th anniversary

The supplier of surface treatment productsand high-quality finishing tools got its start in1887 when John J. Osborn launched a busi-ness that made horse and butcher blockbrushes as well as street cleaning brooms.

Today, Osborn has more than 10,000standard finishing products and more than100,000 customized products for customersin about 120 countries.

Osborn’s product lines include metal finishingproducts, maintenance tools and Load Run-ners rollers. The company serves customersin markets including metals processing, manufacturing, pipeline and energy, welding,construction and maintenance.

Throughout its history, Osborn has maintained headquarters in Cleveland whileadding locations in 15 countries to betterserve its global customers.

In celebration of its 125th anniversary, Osborn has published the company’s historyin a coffee table book. The book “captures avaluable piece of brush making history andtakes the reader from the company’s begin-ning to present day,” Osborn says.

For information, visit www.Osborn.com.

Send information about significant corporateanniversaries to managing editor Scott Suttellat [email protected].

REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOKBEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS

THEINSIDER

THEWEEK NOVEMBER 12 – 18

The big story: After a nearly year-long search,the MetroHealth System’s board of trusteesnamed Dr. John Brennan, chief executive at

Newark Beth Israel MedicalCenter in New Jersey, as itsnext president and CEO. Dr.Brennan, an expert in emer-gency medicine, will replaceMark Moran, who joined thesystem in 2008 and last winterannounced plans to step down.Dr. Brennan will begin his new role Jan. 1. He will earn anannual salary of $685,000 —

$135,000 more than his predecessor. The valueof Dr. Brennan’s total compensation packagewill hover between $750,000 and $1.1 million.

Covering more of the earth: Sherwin-Williams Co. is expanding its North Americanoperations by agreeing to acquire ConsorcioComex of Mexico City for $2.34 billion. Comex,founded in 1952, is privately held and has oper-ations in Latin America, the United States andCanada. It had sales last year of $1.4 billion.Christopher M. Connor, CEO of Sherwin-Williams,said the deal “will significantly increase our pres-ence in markets where our store count is low.”

Change at the top: James Kirsch, chairman,president and CEO of Ferro Corp., resigned Nov.13, less than three weeks after the specialtychemicals maker posted a third-quarter loss of$316 million as it absorbed charges related inpart to its beleaguered solar pastes business. Mr.Kirsch had been with Ferro since 2004 and heldthe company’s top positions since 2005. PeterThomas, Ferro’s operating vice president ofpolymer and ceramic engineered materials, willserve as interim president and CEO. Board mem-ber William Lawrence will be acting chairman.

Another change at the top: Ramon LugoIII will be leaving his post as director of NASAGlenn Research Center at the end of the year.The federal space agency has announced that hewill be replaced by the deputy director of NASAGlenn, James Free. NASA headquarters describedhis departure as “retirement,” but NASAWatch.comin August reported that the agency planned toreplace Mr. Lugo and two other NASA center directors. In the news release announcing Mr.Lugo’s departure, NASA also said one of the othertwo directors would be replaced. Mr. Lugo hasworked at NASA for 37 years. He became directorof NASA Glenn in March 2010.

Going with the flow: Parker Hannifin Corp.bought Houston-based PGI International, amaker of high-pressure flow control compo-nents and systems for use in the oil and gas, agri-culture, and petrochemical markets. Parker didnot say what it paid for PGI, which has annualsales of $100 million and 550 employees.

In control: Johnson Controls Inc., a maker ofenvironmental and operating controls for build-ings, will be a tenant in the new medical mart.The Milwaukee-based company will take a largespace on the third floor of the four-story buildingunder construction on Cleveland’s Mall. MMPIInc., the Chicago company that is developingand will manage the $465 million conventioncenter complex that includes the medical mart,has designated the third floor for “clinical spaces.”

Shape up: Welding equipment maker LincolnElectric Holdings Inc. acquired the Kaliburn,Burny and Cleveland Motion Control businessesfrom ITT Corp. Kaliburn makes shape-cuttingproducts, Burny produces shape-cutting controlsystems and Cleveland Motion Control makesweb tension transducers and engineered ma-chine systems. All three businesses are in Lad-son, S.C. Their combined sales in 2011 were $35million.


BEST OF THE BLOGSExcerpts from recent blog entries onCrainsCleveland.com.

After auction, Cleveland’sart museum is in the Monet■ In an otherwise lackluster recent sale ofImpressionist and modern artat Sotheby’s, a Monet soldby the Cleveland Museumof Art emerged as astandout.

Reuters reported thesale of Impressionist andmodern art totaled$163 million, below itspre-sale estimate of$170 million.

However, a Bloombergstory characterized theCleveland museum’s sale of an1881 Monet landscape, “Champ de ble,” asone of the evening’s big successes.

“Estimated between $5 million and $7million, it went for $12.1 million after pro-longed bidding,” Bloomberg reported. Thesale will raise funds for future acquisitionsat the Cleveland museum.

It took some persistenceto get ‘Somm’ uncorked■ The New York Times profiled a Clevelandfilmmaker, Jason Wise, whose new movie

“Somm” had its pre-miere Nov. 7, at theNapa Valley FilmFestival in Napa,Calif.

The film “followsfour promisingyoung sommeliers

as they mount anall-out effort to attain the highest distinc-tion in their field: the title of master somme-lier,” the newspaper reported. “Standing

between these men and that goal is a test so difficult that fewer than 5 percent of allcandidates who have ever taken it havepassed. It takes applicants an average offour attempts to pass.”

Mr. Wise told The Times that when he firstapproached the Court of Master Somme-

liers, the chief examining body forwine service professionals,

headquartered in London,they were a little appre-hensive.

“Imagine you are this prestigious organi-zation that gets a lot of respect around the

world, and are worriedabout your image,” he

says. “And this first-timefilmmaker from Cleveland, Ohio,

comes up to you and says, ‘I’m not asommelier. In fact, I’m not in the wine industry at all, but I’d like to make my firstmovie about you guys and what you do.’”

These numbers are a homerun (if they’re true)■ Home prices nationwide are up 7.6%from a year ago, according to a report fromthe National Association of Realtors.

The Wall Street Journal said third-quarterprices rose in 120 out of 140 metro areasfrom the like quarter a year ago. The nationalmedian price of an existing single-familyhome was $186,000 in the third quarter, up7.6% from $173,000 in the third quarter of2011. That’s the strongest year-over-yearprice increase since the first quarter of 2006,the newspaper reported.

Akron posted a whopping — and, truth betold, a little hard to believe — 26.9% gain, toa median price of $118,800 from $93,600 ayear ago.

The Cleveland market gained 5.5%, to$119,800.

Brennan


Crain's Cleveland Business

Documents

Transcript of Crain's Cleveland Business