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Vol. 35, No. 12 Entire contents © 2014 by Crain Communications Inc. $2.00/MARCH 24 - 30, 2014

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$2.00/MARCH 24 - 30, 2014

Anti-sin tax group starts to rumble pushed through isn’t right, and if we Coalition proposes alternatives to Issue 7; backers say those options are flawed reject the sin tax this May we will have another year to evaluate alter- By JAY MILLER the sin tax that has paid for the ers and fans of the teams. They say sin tax on the ballot has not consid- natives and to come up with a deal [email protected] buildings that are the homes to Issue 7, the proposed 20-year sin ered other alternatives for financ- that is transparent and fair,” CAST Cleveland’s major-league sports tax extension, has been rushed to ing the repair and upkeep of the chairman Peter Pattakos told about It’s not a big tax and Cuyahoga teams will go down to defeat on the the ballot and they just don’t be- buildings; they also say citizens four dozen supporters at the group’s County taxpayers have been paying May 6 ballot. lieve the sin tax is the best way to need more details about the capital first organizational meeting last it for 19 years. The leaders of the anti-tax group, fund improvements to buildings improvements the teams want be- Wednesday, March 19, at the Mar- But it is a big deal. And if a small, which calls itself the Coalition that are owned by Cuyahoga Coun- fore they approve the continued ket Garden Brewery in Cleveland’s social-media-savvy band of citizens Against the Sin Tax, or CAST, con- ty and the city of Cleveland. spending of public money. Ohio City neighborhood. can sway enough voters, renewal of sider themselves Cleveland boost- They say the process that put the “The way that this has been See GROUP Page 24 Local businesses are slow to buy into Bitcoin’s value Digital currency has been described as just a ‘fad,’ but others believe it’s here to stay

By CHUCK SODER GETTY IMAGES [email protected] IT’S NOT AS EASY AS YOU THINK Frank Revy admits he “might be losing product Crain’s reporter Chuck Soder details his attempt to three dollars at a time” whenever he sells a cup of purchase a cup of coffee with bitcoin. Page 23 coffee to those very few people who pay with bit- coin. His shop, coffeeproper in Lakewood, is one of a price of a single bitcoin blasted past the $1,000 handful of local businesses that have decided to barrier last November, before coming back into accept payments from people who use the contro- orbit. You could buy one for about $590 last Thurs- versial digital currency. day, March 20. Bitcoins traded for almost nothing in 2010, Some merchants, such as The Wine Spot in when computers first started churning through Cleveland Heights, immediately convert any bit- the complex calculations needed to produce coin they receive into cash. But not coffeeproper. them. But that was then: Over the last year, the See BITCOIN Page 23 What is it? How does it work? By CHUCK SODER All those computers form a network that serves [email protected] to confirm transactions made with bitcoin, with- out the help of Visa, MasterCard or your local So, what the heck is Bitcoin? And does it really bank. And the system is set up so that, over time, have a chance to compete against the almighty it becomes harder to produce new bitcoins, which dollar? is intended to keep inflation in check. We’ll start with the basics. Merchants have at least one good reason to ac- Bitcoin is a form of currency that isn’t issued by cept bitcoin: It allows them to avoid paying fees as- a central government. There also is no such thing sociated with credit card transactions. (However, as a physical bitcoin (the concept is capitalized, merchants sometimes choose to pay a so-called the currency is not). Computers are used to create “mining fee,” which tends to be lower than a cred- them. Big computers: It takes a lot of horsepower it card fee, to encourage people in the computer MCKINLEY WILEY to run the complex algorithms needed to produce network to process their transactions quickly.) Frank Revy’s coffeeproper in Lakewood is one of a handful of Northeast Ohio businesses a single bitcoin. Your laptop won’t cut it. See WORK Page 23 that accepts bitcoin. 20140324-NEWS--2-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 2:57 PM Page 1

2 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014

700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 Phone: (216) 522-1383 Fax: (216) 694-4264 www.crainscleveland.com Publisher/editorial director: John Campanelli ([email protected]) Editor: Mark Dodosh ([email protected]) Managing editor: Scott Suttell ([email protected]) Sections editor: Amy Ann Stoessel ([email protected]) Assistant editor: Kevin Kleps ([email protected]) Sports Senior reporter: Stan Bullard ([email protected]) Real estate and construction Reporters: Jay Miller ([email protected]) Government Chuck Soder ([email protected]) Technology Dan Shingler ([email protected]) Energy, steel and automotive Tim Magaw ([email protected]) Health care and education Michelle Park Lazette ([email protected]) Finance Rachel McCafferty ([email protected]) Manufacturing and energy Research editor: Deborah W. Hillyer ([email protected]) Cartoonist/illustrator: Rich Williams Art director: Rebecca R. Markovitz ([email protected]) Events manager: Jessica Snyder ([email protected]) Special events coordinator: Kim Hill ([email protected]) Marketing strategist : Michelle Sustar ([email protected]) Advertising director: Nicole Mastrangelo ([email protected]) Account executives: Dawn Donegan ([email protected]) Andy Hollander ([email protected]) Lindsie Bowman ([email protected]) John Banks ([email protected]) Michael Jansen ([email protected]) Office coordinator: Denise Donaldson ([email protected]) Web Editor: Damon Sims ([email protected]) Digital strategy director: Nancy Hanus ([email protected]) Audience development director: Eric Cedo ([email protected]) Web/Print production director: Craig L. Mackey ([email protected]) Production assistant/video editor: Steven Bennett ([email protected]) Billing: Michele Ulman, 313-446-0353 ([email protected]) Credit: Todd Masura, 313-446-6097 ([email protected]) Customer service/subscriptions 877-824-9373 Crain Communications Inc. Keith E. Crain: Chairman Rance Crain: President Merrilee Crain: Secretary Mary Kay Crain: Treasurer William A. Morrow: Executive vice president/operations Chris Crain: Executive Vice President, Director of Strategic Operations Dave Kamis: Vice president/production & manufacturing Anthony DiPonio: Chief Information Officer Mary Kramer: Group publisher

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4 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 Aclara could fetch $150M SOLD Esco’s annual report for its most Proposed sale follows layoffs at utility tech recent fiscal year, which ended on 12930 DARICE PARKWAY Sept. 30, 2013. STRONGSVILLE, OHIO company; parent to write off sale as a loss A loss in the offing By CHUCK SODER for the parent company. However, [email protected] Aclara employed 241 in Solon when Sun Capital plans to pay $130 it made the announcement last million in cash for Aclara, and Esco Aclara, a provider of advanced spring — meaning it has trimmed has retained the right to another $20 metering technology for utilities, is more than 60 people from its local million in receivables owed to scheduled to be sold for an amount staff. At the time, the company noted Aclara, which had a total of 555 that could reach $150 million, that its office staff in Solon would be employees across its operations as of though its parent company still retained. last September. plans to write down the sale as a loss. Demand for so-called “advanced But Esco had listed Aclara’s value Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Visit Aclara, which has 177 employees metering infrastructure” products is — its assets minus its liabilities — at is pleased to announce the sale TerryCoyne.com in Solon, is expected to be acquired expected to grow over the long term, about $195 million, according to its of the 162,000 SF Multi-Tenant Or Call Terry at by Sun Capital Partners, a Florida but the market for those products most recent quarterly report pub- Modern Distribution Facility at 216.453.3001 private equity firm that among other can be volatile. At Aclara, that volatil- lished in February. Esco said it plans 12930 Darice Parkway in things helps entities within corpora- ity has come in the form of large con- to record the sale as a $50 million tions become separate companies. tracts that can cause big fluctuations loss after the deal closes at the end of Strongsville for $8,125,000. 1350 Euclid Ave, Suite 300 Cleveland, Ohio 44115 In this case that corporation is in the company’s sales. For instance, March. Terry Coyne represented the seller. Esco Technologies of St. Louis. The in 2011, Aclara struck a deal to install Despite the expected loss, Esco diversified maker of engineered fil- advanced metering infrastructure CEO Vic Richey said in a statement Visit 1350 Euclid Ave, Ste. 300 tration products put Aclara up for throughout the territory served by that the sale represents “an exciting TerryCoyne.com Cleveland, Ohio 44115 sale last August, saying that it want- Southern California Gas Co. Now opportunity” for Esco to cut its debt ed to pay down debt, finance acqui- that Aclara is delivering products for and become “a more strategically sitions and focus on higher-margin that contract, its sales are way up: focused, higher-margin business lines of business. Aclara’s revenue jumped to $51.9 with a much steadier and pre- Aclara’s business is a tough one. million in Esco’s fiscal first quarter, dictable growth profile.” The company, based in Hazelwood, which ended Dec. 31, up almost 50% It’s unclear what the deal might Mo., sells meter-reading equipment from $34.7 million during the year- mean for Aclara’s Solon operations: and other technologies that help earlier period. That spike helped Officials from Aclara would not talk Attn: Manufacturers & Warehouses utilities monitor and manage the Aclara move into the black: it earned about the deal, because it has yet to flow of electricity, water and gas. For $3.7 million in its latest fiscal first close. A representative from Sun Tired of costly electric bills years, Aclara has made some of quarter, up from a $7.7 million loss Capital did not return a phone mes- those products in Solon, but last during the like period a year earlier. sage left on Wednesday, March 19. and a poorly lit facility? April it announced plans to lay off But those contracts come and go, The private equity firm apparently about 80 employees and outsource according to Esco’s Lowrey. is OK with taking on a challenge: Sun Join FirstEnergy & ROI Energy to learn how you some of Solon’s manufacturing to its Plus, sales cycles in the utility in- Capital’s website says it “focuses on contractors. dustry are “often unpredictable due companies that are operationally can get a rebate for upgrading your lighting Esco isn’t saying whether any to budgeting, purchasing and regu- challenged, experiencing an industry manufacturing is still going on at latory approval processes that can or business transition, undergoing a • 50% Energy Savings that location, according to Kate take up to several years to com- corporate divestiture, or managing Lowrey, director of investor relations plete,” according to a statement in rapid growth.” ■ • FirstEnergy Rebates • Fast Payback • Brighter lighting • Replace HID high bays Crocker Park hotel in the works • Upgrade T-12 fixtures By STAN BULLARD repaying the bonds. issue bonds “within weeks” for infra- [email protected] Crocker Park’s restaurants and structure for the second phase. Independence, Ohio Thurs., May 15, 9-11:30 a.m. stores can serve as an amenity for However, the city decided it did not Registration limited to first 40 Crocker Park in Westlake is closer the hotel. David Sangree, president want to fund the Union Street addi- $69.00/person to putting a long-sought hotel in the of the Hotel & Leisure Advisors con- tions on Crocker Park’s north side property mix at the retail, office and sultancy in Lakewood, said few hotels with its own bonds, so Stark will take CALL TODAY! Don't miss out! residential complex. in Cleveland’s suburbs have such a that financing component to the Register at www.ROI-Energy.com/seminar or call 330-931-3905 Stark Enterprises, co-developer of mixed-use complex as an amenity, port authority. Crocker Park with the Carney family although it is a common combina- “It came down to the city only of Westlake, this year hopes to start tion elsewhere. wanting to issue $48 million for building a six-story hotel and a 400- “It would be a big competitive Crocker Park and American Greet- space parking garage near Union advantage compared to the other ings,” Clough said. “We opted just to Street between Crocker Road and stop at that level.” He estimated the the complex’s Regal Cinemas and public infrastructure associated with Nordstrom Rack. “Ever since we opened, the hotel, garage and retail space on Steve Rubin, chief operating officer we’ve had people asking if Crocker Park’s northeast corner will of Stark, said the developer plans a we would add a hotel.” require a port bond issue of about $6 limited-service hotel with 112 rooms. million. Stark is in final negotiations with a – Steve Rubin A hotel has been in the game plan lender for the hotel’s flag and with chief operating officer, for Crocker Park since 2005. Rubin lenders for the project, he said. Rubin Stark Enterprises said the hotel originally was going in declined to estimate the project’s on what now will be the American cost, though he did say as many as hotels,” Sangree said. “Guests can Greetings side of the complex. five restaurants also would go into park once and walk to shopping and Instead, the hotel will go in on the retail additions to that area. dining.” north side, closer to the Interstate 90 Stark plans to seek approval soon Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough interchange. from the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County said Stark has been pursuing the hotel Rubin said surveys by Stark’s hotel Port Authority for a bond issue to project separately from the pending consultant show demand for another finance the streets, sidewalks and second phase of Crocker Park on its hotel in the suburb. However, its other infrastructure for that compo- south side. That phase is slated to strongest market survey came from nent of Crocker Park’s expansion. include a new headquarters for shoppers and visitors to the 1 million- The city of Westlake authorized a tax Brooklyn-based American Greetings square-foot property. increment financing agreement as well as more retail space and “Ever since we opened, we’ve had March 10 that would let a portion of apartments. people asking if we would add a the property tax payments go toward The mayor said the city expects to hotel,” Rubin said. ■

Volume 35, Number 12 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly, ex- Subscriptions: In Ohio: 1 year - $64, 2 year - $110. Outside Ohio: 1 cept for combined issues on the fourth week of December and fifth week of December at 700 West year - $110, 2 year - $195. Single copy, $2.00. Allow 4 weeks for St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2014 by Crain Communications change of address. For subscription information and delivery concerns send correspondence to Audience Development Department, Crain’s Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: Cleveland Business, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, 48207- $2.00. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Crain’s Cleveland Business, Circulation De- 9911, or email to [email protected], or call 877- partment, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48207-2912. 1-877-824-9373. 824-9373 (in the U.S. and Canada) or (313) 446-0450 (all other loca- REPRINT INFORMATION: 800-290-5460 Ext. 136 tions), or fax 313-446-6777. 20140324-NEWS--5-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 3:22 PM Page 1

MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 5 Software provider getting plenty of notice ple platforms, agement platform in 2008 — long be- Akron’s Knotice is acquired by N.Y. firm with 350 employees including web- fore the marketing sector understood sites, email and what it was, Deagan said. He cited a By CHUCK SODER nitionOne, a company based in nologies, according to president mobile devices, quote from Amazon founder Jeff Be- [email protected] New York City with about 350 em- and CEO Brian Deagan, who will and analyze zos, who has said that innovators ployees. Terms were not disclosed. continue on in a management role consumer data. need to be willing to be misunder- The 70 people who work for Kno- The deal should give Knotice — with the combined business. The 13-year- stood for long periods of time. tice are now part of another mar- which years ago received financing Only recently has the marketing old company “We were working on something keting technology company, one from JumpStart, a Cleveland non- sector started to understand the grew from nine Deagan that the market wasn’t necessarily that should help the Akron-based profit that provides assistance to lo- potential of Knotice’s technology, employees in ready for, nor did we have the fund- software provider make the most of cal entrepreneurs — the resources Deagan said. The company’s soft- 2006 to 88 by the start of 2012. Howev- ing to change hearts and minds,” a big opportunity. to capitalize on a sudden boost in ware allows marketers to send mes- er, its growth was tempered because Deagan said. Knotice has been acquired by Ig- demand for the company’s tech- sages to consumers through multi- the company created its data man- See KNOTICE Page 6 Garage INSIGHT Case says next door law school provided remains in opening ‘fine shape’ Gent Machine made room for expanding Applications rise business by buying despite turbulence school bus building and another change in dean’s position By RACHEL ABBEY McCAFFERTY [email protected] By MICHELLE PARK LAZETTE [email protected] It took about 18 months, nearly $500,000 and plenty of paint for Though its dean’s resignation this Gent Machine Co. of South Euclid month marked the second time since to turn an old bus garage into a 2008 that a leader of Case Western Re- modern manufacturing plant. serve University School of Law has left Today, instead of school buses, amid some form of conflict, one of the the 10,000-square-foot building school’s now-interim deans sees the houses seven Swiss-style CNC state of the pro- (computer numerically controlled) gram this way: lathes for Gent Machine. The mak- “We’re not the er of screw machine parts had been Cleveland a staple in South Euclid for 70 years Browns.” when it started to outgrow its In making that 15,000-square-foot plant at 445 statement, South Green Road, right next to the Michael Scharf bus garage. means a leader- “It became very apparent very ship change at a Scharf quick” that the company needed law school does- more space, said president Rich n’t have the domino effect that man- Gent, who owns the company with agement shakeups at National Foot- his brother, vice president Adam ball League teams do, as new coaches Gent. and general managers almost always Gent Machine primarily uses hire their own people. CNC lathes and Davenport brand five-spindle screw machines to turn materials such as steel, aluminum INSIDE: A look at the tenures of law and brass into screw machine parts school deans at Case Western Reserve used by automakers and producers University, Cleveland-Marshall College of specialty fasteners. In 2009, Rich of Law and the University of Akron. and Adam Gent bought the 87- Page 14 year-old, family-owned business from their father, who still owns a “At a law school like ours where the minority share. faculty plays such an important role, Rich Gent said the company saw the kinds of continuity we have in our a dip in business during the staff and in our faculty leaders has en- recession, but has been growing abled us to continue to move forward steadily since mid-2009, which led through our leadership changes,” to the need for expansion in 2011. said Scharf, who with Jessica Berg That need intensified in 2012 when went from being acting deans to in- Gent Machine signed a major cus- terim deans when Lawrence E. tomer, which Rich Gent declined to JANET CENTURY Mitchell resigned effective March 1. identify. Gent Machine Co. president Rich Gent, right, said it “became very apparent very quick” that the company needed more Prior to resigning, Mitchell had In 2013, revenue was up 60% space. He owns the business with his brother Adam. been on a leave of absence since last from 2012, and the company added November after he and the universi- 11 jobs. Today, Gent Machine has for new space in and out of South to keep the company — and its jobs share the space for a year, starting ty were sued in October by a law 44 full- and part-time employees, Euclid when the city-owned garage — in the city. But a lot went into in the summer of 2012. The city school professor who said Mitchell not including the owners. Its annu- next door came to mind. Euclid making that happen. agreed to sell the garage to Gent retaliated against him after the pro- al sales are more than $5 million, economic development director Gent Machine and the South Eu- Machine for $200,000, and the fessor reported alleged sexual harass- although Gent declined to be more Michael Love said Gent Machine clid-Lyndhurst schools, which had company quickly got to work trans- ment of women by the dean. Mitchell specific. was one of the city’s longest- been leasing the bus garage from forming the space. had been dean since June 2011. Gent said he had been looking tenured businesses, and it wanted the city, reached an agreement to See GARAGE Page 8 See CASE Page 14 20140324-NEWS--6-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 3:22 PM Page 1

6 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014

194.67 AC For Sale

90 Concord, Ohio

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: seventy-fifth 75 anniversary Christopher J. Hondlik, SIOR STAN BULLARD 216-861-7200 After spending two years in foreclosure, the Sterling Building was transferred to a lender led by Dallas-based Lone Star www.ostendorf-morris.com global commercial real estate services Funds on March 17. Mark Munsell, one of the building’s owners, said it was the only “amicable solution” he could reach. Foreclosure leads to transfer

who would refinance the property,” properties, he said. COMING APRIL 6 Sterling Building put he said. Munsell said he was attracted to The foreclosure was launched the property because of the presence CRAIN’S WEEKLY REPORT WEBCAST! under lender’s control after the $8 million loan that the on Euclid Avenue of the fiber optic Munsell group had used to buy the lines that tech companies prize. Delivered on Sunday evenings, By STAN BULLARD building in 2001 came due in 2011. When Sterling Telecom bought [email protected] The Cleveland office of real estate the structure from Mony Life Insur- Crain’s Weekly Report is Northeast broker CBRE Inc. took over manage- ance Co. of New York, the 196,000- Ohio’s only weekly online business Bought from a lender 13 years ago, ment and leasing of the building for square-foot building was 90% occu- the Sterling Building in Cleveland’s Lone Star’s asset manager, Hudson pied. However, after the 2001 terrorist news video webcast. Theater District is in a lender’s Americas LLC, when the property attacks sparked a business downturn, hands once again, although it’s a dif- changed hands. occupancy fell to 43% and Munsell’s For sponsorship opportunities, contact Nicole Mastrangelo at ferent lender this time around. company, Munsell Realty Advisors, Real estate owner and developer went into rebuilding mode. 216-771-5158 or [email protected]. Mark Munsell, who led an investor “In today’s financing The building provided Munsell, group called Sterling Telecom Office environment, we could not who primarily owns and develops Building LLC that had owned the find someone who would office buildings in suburban Akron, building at 1255 Euclid Ave., trans- refinance the property.” Cleveland and Dayton, his first ferred it to the lender March 17. access to the downtown market in The move settled a 2-year-old fore- – Mark Munsell Cleveland. Despite the bruises he closure suit in Cuyahoga County real estate owner, developer suffered as he exits the Sterling Court of Common Pleas. Now a Building, Munsell said he considers SALT • SALT • SALT tech-focused office building, the Kenny Coven, CBRE managing downtown a more attractive market structure dates from 1909 and once director for asset services, said the than it was in 2001. was the home of the old Sterling firm’s immediate task is getting its When Munsell’s group bought • Water Softener • Industrial • Food Lindner department store. hands around the building and the property, Euclid Avenue was The new owner is led by Lone Star boosting its 84% occupancy level. described as bedraggled, far differ- • Ice Melt • Sea Salt Funds, a Dallas-based fund that Coven said Lone Star typically ent from its condition today. invests in commercial real estate by sells distressed properties after a pe- “It’s gorgeous now,” Munsell said. Call For Pricing!! buying distressed mortgages. riod of time, and CBRE will handle “I am an opportunist. When an Munsell said in a March 19 inter- the assignment when Lone Star opportunity arises, I’ll consider it.” Minimum Delivery: 1Pallet view he is disappointed with the out- orders that step. Because of its tech Michael Shuster, the Cleveland come, but it was the only “amicable tenants and data center capability, attorney who represented the lender solution” he could reach. the building will garner multiple in the case, declined comment. “In today’s financing environ- bidders as interest in Northeast Ohio Three calls to the new owner were ment, we could not find someone is high among groups seeking such not returned by 1 p.m. March 20. ■

Knotice: New owner plans to grow locally

continued from PAGE 5 used to analyze a lot of the informa- “The JumpStart investment came The market for Knotice’s technol- tion IgnitionOne collects, Deagan at a very important point in the ogy picked up significantly last year, said. growth of the company,” Deagan especially after technology research said. Knotice’s largest shareholders firm Forrester released a report listing Acquiring a culture, too the company among seven of the top are Deagan, chief technology officer data management platform providers Besides Knotice’s technology, Igni- Bill Landers and Jon Grimm, chief in the marketing business. tionOne liked that the company financial officer and chief operating IgnitionOne saw that report, as seemed to have an entrepreneurial officer. did other companies in the industry, mindset, said IgnitionOne CEO Will Deagan said he expects Knotice’s Deagan said. Margiloff. Akron office, which houses more “That put us on the radar of a lot “They’ve built an incredible cul- than 60 people, to serve as a technol- of people,” he said. ture there,” he said. ogy development hub for Ignition- Knotice’s technology should com- JumpStart provided Knotice with One. plement IgnitionOne’s capabilities, $500,000 in financing in 2006. Mid- The office will continue to grow, Deagan said. The acquirer focuses way through 2010, the company fin- Margiloff said, noting that Ignition- more on helping marketers buy digital ished paying back JumpStart’s money, One should be able to help Knotice 1-800-547-1538 advertising and manage marketing with interest. JumpStart’s invest- recruit people. efforts related to display ads, search ment never converted to equity “I think this will maybe raise the Salt Distributors Since 1966 engines and social media. Knotice’s because Knotice didn’t raise outside profile of the company a bit,” he data management platform will be financing. said. ■ 20140324-NEWS--7-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 1:34 PM Page 1

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For more information on PRISM, contact Linda Barita at [email protected] or 216.391.7766 www.manufacturingsuccess.org 20140324-NEWS--8-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 4:12 PM Page 1

8 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 Crain’s wins two Neal Awards Honors were for ‘CLE 2030’ section and commentaries Crain’s Cleveland Business has been honored with two awards in Bennett Dodosh Magaw Miller the 60th annual Jesse H. Neal Awards, a national competition ward. The package was spearhead- other publica- Aggressive Financing up to 10M! staged by ABM, The Association of ed by sections editor Amy Stoessel. tion in Ohio was Business Information and Media Others involved in the project were honored with a Where are you going? Companies, that each year honors reporters Tim Magaw and Jay Neal Award, CBS can help get you there: Jonathan Mokri the best work in business media. 440.526.8700 Miller, freelance writer Dan Mc- and our news- Crain’s won in the category of Best ‡ Commercial Real Estate [email protected] Graw, video editor Steve Bennett room brought Financing (Owner Occu- Cross-Platform Package for its July and freelance photographer Marc home two. That pied or Investment) 22, 2013, special report, “CLE 2030: Golub. says plenty www.cbscuso.com Facing the Future.” It is the second about the work ‡ 3XUFKDVHRU5HÀQDQFH Crain’s also won in the category Stoessel machinery, equipment or straight year Crain’s has won in that of Best Commentary for three edi- being done day ‡ category, which recognizes publica- other capital assets torials penned in 2013 by editor in and day out by our reporters and tions for reporting that combines editors. Our editorial staff contin- SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans Mark Dodosh. ‡ print, online and multimedia com- ues to deliver the outstanding cov- with as little as 10% down In commenting on the honors, ponents of coverage. Crain’s publisher John Campanelli erage our business community de- CLE 2030 analyzed the impor- said, “The Neal Awards, which are serves.” Providing Commercial Loan Financing in Partnership with Area Credit Unions SM tance of the urban core to North- often called the ‘Pulitzer Prizes of Stoessel accepted the awards at a east Ohio and put into perspective business journalism,’ are a true in- March 14 awards luncheon in New various efforts to move the city for- dication of editorial excellence. No York City. ■

Coming Soon! Minority-Owned Business Directory Crain’s Cleveland Business has created this directory to help raise the profile of minority businesses in Northeast Ohio. Companies listed have 51% or greater minority ownership. For more information, contact Deb Hillyer at [email protected]. Don’t forget to check out our other list products www.CrainsCleveland.com/Lists

THERE’S NO BUSINESS JANET CENTURY LIKE YOUR BUSINESS. These retainers fit into automotive applications at Gent Machine Co. in South Euclid.

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease is a full-service corporate law Garage: Company secured county loan ÀUPWKDWZRUNVZLWKDOONLQGVRIEXVLQHVVHVWRKHOSWKHPJURZ :HUHFRJQL]HWKDW\RXUEXVLQHVVLVXQOLNHDQ\RWKHU$QGZKDWD continued from PAGE 5 Gent said. The company put an ad- FRLQFLGHQFH³EHFDXVHRXUODZÀUPLVXQOLNHDQ\RWKHUWRR It painted the building, installed ditional $100,000 in renovations in “Our bread and butter, the new lighting and electrical work the building on top of what the way to advance our and turned a long-empty salt stor- county loan financed. Gent Ma- economy, is in expansion.” age space into a high loading dock. chine also received a traditional Gent Machine also built a hallway loan for the purchase of the build- – Nathan Kelly to connect the two previously adja- ing. deputy chief of staff cent buildings. The school buses Nathan Kelly, deputy chief of to Cuyahoga County Executive moved out last summer, and the ex- staff to Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald pansion officially was complete in Ed FitzGerald, said while attracting December. new businesses to the county gets The building needed a lot of attention, helping existing busi- isting companies. Some of Gent work, Gent said, but he knew stay- nesses expand is critical. Machine’s loan can be forgiven in ing in the same place would help “Our bread and butter, the way to exchange for creating up to 15 jobs, the company save on moving costs. advance our economy, is in expan- Gent said. Higher standards make better lawyers.® And the sale came with two acres if sion,” Kelly said. The brothers expect 2014 to be a For more information, visit vorys.com. the company needs to expand in The loan for Gent Machine came bit quieter than 2013, but Gent said the future. from the county’s Western Reserve he still predicts about 5% growth in Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP Gent Machine was able to secure Fund, a local fund for economic de- revenue. He intends to hire about 1375 East Ninth Street 2100 One Cleveland Center Cleveland, Ohio 44114 a $178,000 redevelopment and velopment launched in 2011. The three more skilled machinists and 106 South Main Street Suite 1100 Akron, Ohio 44308 modernization loan from Cuya- $100 million fund is used to invest plans to focus on becoming more hoga County. When the loan came in entrepreneurship and small efficient in the expanded plant. together and the city agreed to sell, business development, business at- “For us, this is kind of a year to “it started to make financial sense,” traction, and modernization by ex- catch our breath,” he said. ■ 20140324-NEWS--9-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/20/2014 1:39 PM Page 1

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10 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: John Campanelli ([email protected]) EDITOR: Mark Dodosh ([email protected]) MANAGING EDITOR: Scott Suttell ([email protected]) OPINION Let it be he Ohio Department of Taxation describes the state’s Commercial Activity Tax as “an annual tax imposed on the privilege of do- ing business in Ohio.” But with Gov. John TKasich recommending that the Legislature raise by 15% the tax known by the acronym CAT, businesses are likely to feel it’s more a pain than a privilege to do business in the Buckeye State. The CAT was the wise creation last decade of an- other Republican governor, Bob Taft, who sought a more equitable way to tax business in Ohio. Taft FROM THE PUBLISHER convinced the Legislature to phase out the corpo- rate franchise tax and the personal property tax, which hurt manufacturers in particular because the tax applied to tangible assets such as plant and Honesty remains the best policy equipment, and to put the CAT in their place. Taft’s goal was to implement a tax with a low rate ill Ackman scares the JOHN vealed that his fund had short- Regardless of whether Herbalife is ed $1 billion of Herbalife honest or shady, Ackman’s unprece- that would apply to a broad base of businesses. In bejesus out of me. Ackman is a billion- CAMPANELLI stock. dented antics should scare anyone in this way he’d spread out the tax load while keeping I have no problem with business. the tax from becoming burdensome. And so, in aire hedge fund man- Bager. But he also spends part Ackman seeing a potential op- These days, anyone with a grudge mid-2005 began the CAT, which taxes the taxable of his time doing a great im- portunity and shorting a against you or your company — an angry gross receipts from most business activities at a rate pression of Glenn Close in stock. Short-selling is crucial customer, a disgruntled employee, a of 0.26%. “Fatal Attraction.” to the balance and integrity of competitor — can become a nuisance. If Because the CAT is based on receipts, not profits, If you saw that 1987 film you the stock market. But what the grudge develops into a full “Fatal At- it wasn’t love at first sight for businesses that previ- certainly remember it. Ackman has done since gives traction,” look out. All a person needs is ously avoided much of a tax bill because their bot- Michael Douglas plays a suc- me the willies. He’s now made the time and the Internet. tom lines routinely were in the red or marginally in cessful, married lawyer who it his obsession to destroy the So, can we somehow protect ourselves the black. However, the tax steadily has won accep- has a steamy weekend affair company. It’s as if he bet from this kind of sabotage? I asked Scott against a team … and is now working to Chaikin, CEO of Dix & Eaton, who has tance in business circles and even has caught the with Close. He believes it was a simple break the legs of the players. some expertise in crisis communications. eye of other states for possible imitation. fling; she believes it was something more. She then pursues him, and when He has paid lobbyists more than Figure out your vulnerabilities, he Now, Kasich wants to raise the CAT’s rate to he rejects her, she pretty much makes it $260,000 to build a case against Herbal- says, and develop a strategy to shore 0.30% in order to help produce enough new rev- her mission to destroy his life, even boil- ife in Washington. He’s paid civil rights them up. Where are people interacting enue to offset tax money that would be lost if law- ing his family’s pet bunny. organizations (he accuses the company with your company? What’s the experi- makers enact an 8.5% cut he’s seeking in personal Like Douglas’ character, Herbalife, a of targeting minorities) more than ence like? How can it be improved? income taxes over the next three years. An in- $5 billion multilevel marketing company $130,000 to help in the cause. He’s orga- Also, invest in your reputation now. creased CAT would cost businesses another $743 dealing in vitamins and energy drinks, nized letter-writing campaigns and paid Your business should have an honest million in taxes over the next three years, according doesn’t come off as exactly an angel. The activists to attend anti-Herbalife rallies. and authentic story to rally around. You to Kasich’s office. company has been criticized for preying “I am going to personally pursue the should have advocates eager to tell that The move to raise a tax on business might have on its own customers — its “representa- Herbalife matter to the end of the earth,” story at a moment’s notice. tives” — while top management and in- Perhaps most obvious, Chaikin says been expected from a Democratic governor, not a he said. vestors get rich. you need to be able to say that you are Republican such as Kasich. Regardless, the potential Earlier this month, the Federal Trade In late 2012, Ackman called Herbalife Commission announced it was opening running a good, trustworthy business. for a rate hike was a concern back at the CAT’s in- “the best-managed pyramid scheme in an investigation into Herbalife. Its stock That means no pyramid schemes, no ■ ception, according to Greg Lawson, statehouse liai- the history of the world.” He then re- fell 15%. dishonesty and no bunny soup. son and policy analyst for the Buckeye Institute, a conservative public policy think tank. “The whole fear was that because it’s such a small TALK ON THE WEB rate, it’s an extraordinarily tempting target” for an increase, said Lawson, who was a legislative aide Re: Hard Rock Rocksino when the CAT was devised. Reader responses to stories POLL POSITIONS ■ th Kasich talks up Ohio as a business-friendly state, Downtown, Flats, East 4 , Quicken and blogs that appeared on: Loans Arena and PlayhouseSquare are but his actions can be inconsistent with his words. www.crainscleveland.com What's your favorite movie shot all excellent for the greater area enter- or set in Cleveland? Last year, he convinced the Legislature to raise the tainment scene, but for those who do not regressive sales tax a quarter point, which makes care to go downtown but want to see for years. “American Splendor” 6.3% selling anything more expensive. Now he wants to concerts, then the Rocksino offers a good AWWW! Poor Barber. These are sour increase Ohio’s most basic tax on business. alternative. grapes from a worried owner of a com- “The Avengers” 9.4% We might understand the governor’s insistence If it were not for the Rocksino, those petitor, who isn’t even paying attention. on raising taxes on business to cover the cost of re- concert entertainment dollars would The article neglects to mention such A- “A Christmas Story” 28.1% likely go unspent in the local economy. listers as Jennifer Nettles, who is not a ducing income taxes for the third time in 10 years if “The Deer Hunter” 21.9% the public was clamoring for more tax cuts. But no The Rocksino is capably filling a void. “soft ticket act” but has played the such groundswell exists. — Jim Daniloff Rocksino. I’m not sure how many 20/30-some- “Major League” 29.7% Unlike Florida, Ohio won’t get its income tax to ■ In your March 17 story on the Hard thing stars who have “played casinos for zero, and it won’t hold on to wealthy snowbirds who Rock Rocksino, Cindy Barber, co-owner years” are now packing the Hard Rock Other 4.7% head south to escape our winters no matter how low of the Beachland Ballroom concert club that Beachland Ballroom is shrugging top tax rates go. So why engage in this headlong dash in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighbor- about. I am sure things are poppin’ over to cut income taxes at the risk of alienating employ- hood, said the Rocksino seems to be an there in Collinwood for the rock and Vote in the poll each week at ers and losing jobs by raising the CAT? Just let it be. appropriate venue for what she called country music spenders. — IZZN www.crainscleveland.com soft-ticket acts that have played casinos See WEB Page 11 20140324-NEWS--11-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/20/2014 4:01 PM Page 1

MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 11

PERSONAL VIEW FOR SALE 4,160 SF Office Warehouse on 2.06 Acres Proposed tax on miles traveled 8360 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls, OH 44023 by vehicle shouldn’t fly in Ohio SITE

By HOWARD A. LEARNER vehicles, and they are responsible Learner is executive director of the for most pavement damage.” Environmental Law and Policy Center, as tax revenues are declin- CBO suggested that VMT taxes, if ing, as people drive less an environmental and economic adopted, should be adjusted to rec- E. Washington St and more fuel-efficient development advocacy organization ognize weight-per-axle in properly new cars require filling up with offices in Illinois, Ohio and other allocating highway wear-and-tear Gless at the pump. That saves people Midwest states. to the cost causers, which are dis- money, reduces pollution and proportionately heavy trucks and lessens America’s imports of for- who now pay Ohio gas taxes on larger commercial vehicles. *Lines are Approximate eign oil. However, less driving and their fuel purchases while using Third, VMT taxes would penalize t
 
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An tively penalize fuel-efficient cars, Fourth, the current gas tax is sim- onboard vehicle device, using GPS such as Honda Accord hybrids ple and inexpensive to administer or other technology, records the manufactured in Marysville and the at the pump. The system is already distance driven, assigns it to the ap- Chevy Cruzes manufactured in in place. The VMT tax requires that propriate taxing jurisdiction, and Lordstown. fairly costly new technology be in- calculates the tax amount owed. Why should a gas-guzzling Hum- stalled in vehicles, and a new ad- Proposed new federal legislation mer, which causes much more ministrative system be created. The (H.R. 3638) would establish a “Road wear-and-tear on the highways, pay costs of operating and auditing a Usage Fee Pilot Program,” namely the same VMT tax as a lighter, fuel- VMT system are higher than col- vehicle miles traveled taxes. How- sipping car? Will heavy trucks pay lecting gas taxes. ever, this approach doesn’t work their higher fair share? If legislators are reluctant to raise well in practice in Ohio and similar- The Congressional Budget Of- gas taxes, then why would the pro- ly situated states with the interstate fice’s March 2011 report, in compar- posed VMT taxes be any more pop- highways that are the nation’s ing gas taxes and VMT taxes, em- ular with the public? crossroads used by millions of out- phasized the disproportionately The gas and motor fuel taxes are of-state drivers each year. high road wear from cargo trucks both fairer and practically better First, Ohio’s interstate highways compared to what’s recouped by suited to Ohio’s geography and are a crossroads of America — current gas tax levels: “Heavy trucks needs. For Ohio, the proposed VMT that’s different than coastal Ore- travel less than 10% of all vehicle tax for cars is not the right tool to gon. Changing to VMT taxes here miles, but their costs per mile are far address transportation infrastruc- higher than are those for passenger ture funding challenges. ■ WHAT would mean out-of-state drivers IGNITES YOU? Web: CHANGING LIVES, Blazek’s response was ‘small-minded’ EXPANDING continued from PAGE 10 I can’t tell you how repugnant, you won’t be complaining about KNOWLEDGE Re: Kelly Blazek small-minded and selfish Blazek’s school districts needing to increase and LinkedIn response was to that young woman. property taxes? You have no prob- neomed.edu I do detest the stain it leaves on our lem with the roads in horrible con- ■ Those of us who have been using community. We are not all like her! dition? You want a Libertarian/Tea LinkedIn effectively for (in my case — Ron Copfer Party paradise? almost a decade now) years, often Move to Somalia. There’s no gov- get request links from others we do Re: John Kasich, ernment to get in your way there. not know. Most often we share — Tom Burnett some interest or possible opportu- tax shifter nity together. ■ ALL taxes paid by smokers should ■ I am no proponent of further in- • ONE CALL • ONE SOURCE • MANY RESOURCES I do ignore requests from places be used either for Health and Hu- come tax cutting — our schools and like Abu Dhabi when the requestor man Services issues, or to help the city governments have been pun- Joe Thomas only has 10 connections, but would smokers find ways to quit. It is illog- ished enough, but what exactly is never deny a request to someone just ical and ethically wrong for any the uproar over increasing the cig- because I don’t know them! If some government agency to make mon- arette tax? mindful young professional sent me ey off of death. — Jerome Masek Because it unfairly targets those a request for help to connect to with low incomes? So, we should A Trusted Name someone to secure a position, it’s un- ■ Get off it, Kasich. NO NEW take it easy on those who elect to fathomable to me why someone TAXES! — Henry pursue a filthy habit that makes all A Certified Minority-Owned Business Enterprise. would not grant it, especially if they of our health care premiums sky- A Franchisee of the Proforma Worldwide Network claimed to be some sort of superstar ■ To people like “Henry” calling for rocket? We can do better than that. connector on a job board. “NO NEW TAXES:” Can we assume — Jeff Desmond “Helping you to Maintain Brand Integrity & Consistency”

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12 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 Tri-C has high hopes for hospitality program in downtown Cleveland’s Public Incoming associate dean believes college Square, who in December filled the GET YOUR FILL hospitality management program’s Read Kathy Ames Carr’s What’s can be bridge to nation’s top culinary schools newly created role of executive di- Cooking blog at: rector. CrainsCleveland.com laus Tenbergen has a tall KATHYAMESCARR The chef-administrators both order for Cuyahoga Com- plan to further connect the pro- Karen Small (Flying Fig) and Matt munity College’s hospitali- gram, which has about 550 stu- Fish (Melt Bar & Grilled), to do ty management program, dents, with the region and state’s demos and talk about real-life situ- Kwhich he’ll be overseeing as its as- ations so our students know what to tourism, hospitality and culinary sociate dean beginning in June. sectors. According to state employ- expect when they look for a job. “What are the top three culinary ment projections, leisure and hos- Q: Talk about some of the initia- schools in the country?” Tenbergen pitality employment in Ohio will tives you’ve undertaken as execu- asked rhetorically. “Johnson & grow by 4.3% between 2008 and tive director. Wales, Culinary Institute of Ameri- WHAT’S COOKING 2018, behind construction, profes- A: My role is to be the bridge be- ca and I’d say Kendall College. I sional services, and education and tween the program and the com- want people to immediately think health services. munity. I’m of Cleveland” as the heavyweight of no, as director of its culinology pro- Part of bolstering Tri-C’s hospi- working on fur- associate degree programs that gram, which blends the study of tality management program in- thering our part- bridge ambitious students to those food sciences and culinary arts. He volves improving its completion nerships with top-tier culinary schools, he said. earned a bachelor’s degree from and job placement rates, which those in the hos- “We want to build the program Kendall College in Chicago, where both chefs qualify as “low,” though pitality, tourism so its graduates are prepared to ei- he served as department chair of neither they nor the school were CONTRIBUTED PHOTO and restaurant ther continue their education or the baking and pastry degree pro- able to quantify that assessment by Beginning in June 2014, Klaus industries to let able to serve as the next leaders in gram; a master’s degree in manage- deadline. Tenbergen will oversee Cuyahoga them know our any variety of hospitality and culi- ment from Cardinal Stritch Univer- Crain’s asked the chefs to outline Community College’s hospitality students can be Evans nary professions,” Tenbergen said. sity in Milwaukee; and a doctorate how they plan to improve those management program as its associate their next em- The certified master baker and of education from California State rates and expand upon other prior- dean. ployees. We get a lot of requests for executive pastry chef has more than University. ities. program? our students, but we want to focus 30 years of industry experience to At Tri-C, the German-born chef Klaus Tenbergen: A: Not necessarily. There will be a on channeling them to the position prepare him for the task. will join Brandt Evans, chef and co- Q: Do you have any plans to inte- period of evaluating what the needs that best suits them. I’ve had a Tenbergen most recently served owner of Blue Canyon Kitchen and grate your culinology approach into of the students are, the faculty’s ca- handful of meetings with the (gen- at California State University, Fres- Tavern in Twinsburg and Pura Vida Tri-C’s hospitality management pabilities and the industry’s needs. eral manager) of the new 9 hotel (Lodging and) tourism is the pro- who will have a need for 350 em- gram’s smallest degree option (next ployees. If a student has an interest to culinary arts and food service in entering the restaurant industry, management), but has potential to I don’t want to send (him or her) to grow given downtown Cleveland’s a restaurant and that’s it. Their per- In Partnership With: recent economic and tourism sonality may be geared more to- growth. We may establish other de- ward a Dante restaurant or with gree options. Jonathon Sawyer. My connections Q: What are some of your initial with these chefs can help place goals? them more strategically. I’m also fo- A: I want to increase the number cusing on developing our articula- of (partnerships) with other four- tion program by partnering with 8FEOFTEBZ
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t ly with students. Part of this may also witching green lady,” the writer says involve creating an advisory board, of the drink. “I felt buoyed up by the with key players from national food lilting, balanced marriage of what I service providers, sports venues, ho- later discovered to be rye whiskey, tel associations and restaurants as a green chartreuse, lemon bitters and way for businesses to work closely just the barest hint of absinthe.” together and connect students with employment opportunities. ■ Cleveland-based Orlando Baking Brandt Evans: Co. just rolled out two whole grain Q: What are some specific ways in breads under its True Grains product which you’re helping to improve line. The honey grain and purple the completion and job placement wheat raisin breads bear the Cleve- rates? land Clinic’s Go! Healthy mark for A: Our goal overall is completion, foods that meet stringent national completion, completion. Some of nutrition guidelines. The honey our students who come in don’t ex- grain bread contains 24 milligrams cel at math and English, so it takes of DHA omega-3 per serving, which them longer to complete the pro- Orlando says promotes cardiovascu- Supported by: gram. We’re ramping up our num- lar health and brain and eye devel- Tickets on sale now! ber of tutors to help. We also are opment. The purple wheat raisin is a bringing in more big-name chefs, sweet, nutty-tasting low-fat bread from Dante Boccuzzi (Dante), that contains antioxidants. The CrainsCleveland.com/Indians Jonathon Sawyer (Greenhouse Tav- breads are $3.99 per loaf and avail- ern), Doug Katz (Fire Food and able at Heinen’s, Whole Foods, Gi- Drink), Eric Williams (Momocho), ant Eagle and other area grocers. ■ 20140324-NEWS--13-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/20/2014 12:24 PM Page 1

MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 13

TAX LIENS

The Internal Revenue Service filed tax Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 unemployment, failure to file liens against the following businesses Type: Employer’s withholding, Type: Employer’s withholding Type: Employer’s withholding complete return in the Cuyahoga County Recorder’s corporate income Amount: $16,334 Amount: $12,702 Amount: $11,392 Office. The IRS files a tax lien to Amount: $45,243 protect the interests of the federal LD Evolutions Red Fitness 24 7 Maple Heights Techland Research Inc. government. The lien is a public Kelly Restoration 24254 N. Oxford Oval, North LLC 28895 Lorain Road, Suite 201, North notice to creditors that the 2166 Warren Road, Lakewood Olmsted 18605 Detroit Ave., Lakewood Olmsted government has a claim against a ID: 34-1702016 ID: 26-3512949 ID: 46-1665297 ID: 31-1565119 company’s property. Liens reported Date filed: Feb. 13, 2014 Date filed: Feb. 6, 2014 Date filed: Feb, 6, 2014 Date filed: Nov. 22, 2013 here are $5,000 and higher. Dates Type: Employer’s withholding, Type: Employer’s withholding Type: Employer’s withholding Date released: Jan. 8, 2014 listed are the dates the documents unemployment Amount: $14,315 Amount: $12,355 Type: Employer’s withholding, were filed in the Recorder’s Office. Amount: $45,087 unemployment HRC & R LLC Lunas Management LLC Amount: $8,759 Interactive Search Group LLC 16300 S. Waterloo Road, Cleveland 8405 Cherry Hill Lane, Broadview LIENS FILED 35104 Euclid Ave., Suite 303, ID: 27-2628588 Heights Tremont Electric LLC Willoughby Date filed: Feb. 6, 2014 ID: 20-4158678 2379 Professor Ave., Cleveland J & J Enterprise Services Inc. ID: 27-0961280 Type: Employer’s withholding Date filed: Feb, 7, 2014 ID: 26-0316466 6491 Pebblecreek Drive, Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Amount: $13,362 Type: Employer’s withholding, Date filed: Sept. 7, 2012 Independence Type: Employer’s withholding unemployment, failure to file Date released: Jan. 21, 2014 ID: 54-2108723 Amount: $42,892 Field Day Cleaning Inc. complete return Type: Partnership income Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 14713 Granger Road, Maple Heights Amount: $12,316 Amount: $42,120 Type: Employer’s withholding ISG Employment LLC ID: 30-0402503 Amount: $240,400 35104 Euclid Ave., Suite 303, Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Euclid Day Care Academy Corp. Will Repair Inc. Willoughby Type: Employer’s withholding, 567 E. 200 St., Euclid 2901 E. 65 St., Cleveland Handl-It Inc. ID: 45-3274785 corporate income ID: 90-0745959 ID: 34-1577547 5386 Majestic Parkway, Suite A, Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Amount: $13,266 Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Date filed: Oct. 14, 2011 Bedford Heights Type: Employer’s withholding, Type: Employer’s withholding Date released: Jan. 8, 2014 ID: 34-1700605 unemployment Red Fitness 24 7 Willoughby LLC Amount: $11,790 Type: Employer’s withholding Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Amount: $38,633 18605 Detroit Ave., Lakewood Amount: $7,499 Type: Employer’s withholding, ID: 46-1678476 LIENS RELEASED Medicare Transport Inc. unemployment Date filed: Feb, 6, 2014 Yormick & Associates Co. LPA 6100 Oak Tree Blvd., Suite 200, Shree Jagdamba Inc. Foodtown Amount: $208,496 Type: Employer’s withholding 526 Superior Ave. E, Suite 230, Independence Super Market Amount: $12,995 Cleveland Handl-It Inc. ID: 26-4552200 7516 Saint Clair Ave., Cleveland ID: 34-1882937 5386 Majestic Parkway, Suite A, Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 All Nations Deliverance Ministries ID: 20-8002260 Date filed: Aug. 24, 2012 Bedford Heights Type: Employer’s withholding, International Inc. Date filed: July 26, 2011 Date released: Jan. 8, 2014 ID: 34-1700605 unemployment 15715 Libby Road, Maple Heights Date released: Jan. 21, 2014 Type: Employer’s withholding Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Amount: $37,674 ID: 13-4248397 Type: Employer’s withholding, Amount: $18,723 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $201,270 R & L Metal Spinning Inc. 3185 W. 33 St., Cleveland J & J Enterprise Services Inc. ID: 30-051181 6491 Pebblecreek Drive, Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Independence Type: Employer’s withholding ID: 54-2108723 Amount: $37,064 Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Type: Employer’s withholding Interactive Search Group LLC Amount: $153,544 35104 Euclid Ave., Suite 303, Willoughby J & J Enterprise Services Inc. ID: 27-0961280 Jacobs Real Estate Services LLC 6491 Pebblecreek Drive, Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Independence Type: Employer’s withholding, as owner’s representative, is pleased to announce a lease with ID: 54-2108723 unemployment Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Amount: $30,570 Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $114,847 Red Fitness 24 7 Cincinnati LLC 18605 Detroit Ave., Lakewood J & J Enterprise Services Inc. ID: 46-1652521 6491 Pebblecreek Drive, Independence Date filed: Feb, 6, 2014 ID: 54-2108723 Type: Employer’s withholding TIAA-CREF Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Amount: $26,149 Type: Employer’s withholding, unemployment, corporate income ISG Employment LLC at Amount: $87,209 35104 Euclid Ave., Suite 303, Willoughby Ake Environmental ID: 45-3274785 & Construction & Service Inc. Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Two Chagrin Highlands 503 Broadway, Bedford Type: Employer’s withholding ID: 34-1129970 Amount: $23,442 Date filed: Feb. 6, 2014 Type: Employer’s withholding Red Fitness 24 7 Westlake LLC Amount: $75,406 18605 Detroit Ave., Lakewood TIAA-CREF was represented by ID: 46-1664136 CBRE Bidder Transport Inc. Date filed: Feb, 6, 2014 Steve Voinovich 3565 Glen Allen Drive, Cleveland Type: Employer’s withholding Heights Amount: $21,689 ID: 34-1554376 Date filed: Feb. 6, 2014 Red Fitness 24 7 Severence LLC Type: Employer’s withholding, 18605 Detroit Ave., Lakewood unemployment ID: 46-1725770 Amount: $70,787 Date filed: Feb, 6, 2014 Type: Employer’s withholding Practice Management Amount: $19,665 Leased and managed by: Consultants LLC 20006 Detroit Road, Suite 200, Cleveland Stone Corp. Rocky River 4400 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland ID: 75-2995645 ID: 34-1858405 Date filed: Feb. 6, 2014 Date filed: Feb, 7, 2014 Type: Employer’s withholding, Type: Employer’s withholding unemployment Amount: $18,824 Amount: $58,359 Brothers Painting & Decorating Dan Morell & Associates Co. LPA Inc. For leasing information, call 6060 Rockside Woods Blvd., 9319 Bohning Drive, Garfield Heights John Klayman or Cindy Greiner at 440-871-4800 Independence ID: 34-1815287 ID: 34-1732795 Date filed: Feb. 7, 2014 Date filed: Feb. 6, 2014 Type: Employer’s withholding Type: Employer’s withholding Amount: $16,685 www.JRESgroup.com Amount: $49,466 Warrensville Animal Center LLC BTA Collision LLC 4003 Warrensville Center Road, JRES is a fully integrated third-party commercial real estate fi rm providing: 27500 Lorain Road, North Olmsted Beachwood property management • leasing • development and planning • brokerage services • construction management ID: 27-1626005 ID: 27-2430639 20140324-NEWS--14-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/20/2014 4:01 PM Page 1

14 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 Case: University has had considerable growth in law school applications

continued from PAGE 5 cret considering what’s gone on in trouble. Before Mitchell, from 2008 to this year,” Scharf said. “You would certainly like to have DEAN DATELINES 2011, the law school was led by in- Snyder also noted in her email a law school dean that had longer Case Western Reserve ■ 1997-2006: Gerald Korngold that the law school’s overall ranking tenure,” acknowledged Ballard, terim dean Robert H. Rawson Jr., University School of Law ■ was 64th in the U.S. News & World managing partner of the Calfee law 1996-1997: Michael J. Gerhardt who since has returned to the prac- ■ Report list of Best Law Schools firm, where he said one-fifth of the March 1, 2014: Michael Scharf tice of law at Jones Day. Before and Jessica Berg Cleveland-Marshall College of Rawson, Gary J. Simson served be- ranked in 2014. That’s up four attorneys are Case Western Reserve notches from 68th in 2013. graduates. But he maintains it is the now are interim Law, Cleveland State University tween 2006 and 2008, when he re- deans, upon ■ signed amid ragged relations with “The number is far lower than we faculty members who are critical to 2011-present: Craig M. Boise Lawrence E. some alumni and big donors. would like, but does mark the first the student experience. ■ 2010-2011: Phyllis L. Crocker Mitchell’s One source who knows the uni- gain the school has made since “Look at a managing partner at a (interim) resignation. They versity well but asked not to be 2009,” Snyder wrote. law firm,” Ballard said. “If you have ■ had been acting 2005-2010: Geoffrey S. Mearns identified said the concern is that a series of short-tenured managing deans since ■ 1997-2005: Steven Steinglass the turnover at the top could affect partners, it certainly causes some A fatal blow? No disruption among all of the con- November, when the perception of the law school by Mitchell Both Berg and Scharf stressed stituents. But, is that a fatal blow? I Mitchell took a University of Akron outsiders, such as prospective stu- School of Law dents and parents. However, the that the continuity of the law don’t think so. leave of absence. ■ same source doesn’t see systemic school’s faculty and staff is a stabi- “It’s unfortunate that we’ve had ■ June 2011-March 2014: 2012-present: Elizabeth A. Reilly problems within the law school. lizer. Of the 49 full-time faculty, 26 this kind of turnover, but I think Lawrence E. Mitchell (interim) are tenured, according to the uni- what’s more important is the rela- ■ “The fundamentals are in fine ■ 2008-2011: Robert H. Rawson 2008-2012: Martin H. Belsky versity. tionship between students and fac- shape,” he said. “That’s an excellent Jr. (interim) ■ 1995-2007: Richard L. Aynes faculty out there. The student body Scharf and ulty,” Ballard said. “When I was in ■ is strong. Alumni loyalty is very high. Berg have law school, I think I laid my eyes on 2006-2008: Gary J. Simson ■ Sources: The three universities The question is, what effect do the worked under our dean twice.” distractions have on the fundamen- four deans dur- Recent alumna Michelle Reese, really easy to ruin it,” said the for- search committee, interim dean tals? And I have not seen much.” ing their time who graduated in May 2013 and is mer employee, who asked not to be Berg said. There is no timeline for Others familiar with the law with the law now an associate attorney with Day identified. “You have to be smart, the start of the search, according to school concur, and cite recent news school — 13 and Ketterer’s Canton office, echoed and you have to choose people who Berg, who noted that searches for as proof. 15 years, respec- that sentiment. are visionary. deans tend to run on the academic “Personally, I’m not worried In an email sent March 11 to law tively. Asked Berg “Not just Case, but any school cycle, beginning in mid-fall and school alumni, Case Western Reserve whether they about the school,” Reese said. “I that suffers a setback in leadership wrapping up in early spring. president Barbara R. Snyder identi- have perceived instability, Berg feel that the administrative issues has to work extra hard to try to Berg served on the search com- fied what she called a “series of posi- replied, “It’s always hard to predict will always be kept separate from maintain its fundraising and rank- mittees that hired both Simson and tive developments” at the law school. how things might have been differ- the education that the students are ings and morale,” the former em- Mitchell. They include a hefty rise in applica- ent. Through different points, it cer- receiving there.” ployee said. “It’s not clear what we could have tions, which were up 35% compared tainly felt like business as usual. That may be, but interim dean done differently,” Berg said. “It’s to this time last year and already had We’re still doing our work, teaching Money matters matter Scharf noted that the school’s capi- not as though people came and two surpassed 2013’s total by 16%. our classes, moving ahead.” tal campaign was “extremely suc- months later left. They were obvi- That’s double-digit growth at a According to a post in late Septem- While many share that senti- cessful” under both Rawson and ously matches for a period of time, time of double-digit decline, on av- ber by the TaxProf Blog, the average ment, some say the turnover and Mitchell. As of late February, it had and the school accomplished things erage, in law school applications in tenure for sitting law school deans is negative publicity that has come raised $24.2 million toward its $32 in that period of time.” the United States, which as of slightly more than four years, and the with it pose a risk to the school’s million goal. Each of the search committees March 14 were down 10.7% from median tenure is 3.24 years. brand and fundraising. According Still, Barbara J. Danforth said she did extensive background checks on applications in the like period in Brent D. Ballard, who received to one former university employee, is more likely to give her money candidates and gathered input from 2013, according to the Law School his law degree in 1985 from Case Case Western Reserve’s law school elsewhere. As a visiting student who staff, faculty, alumni and students, Admission Council in Newtown, Pa. Western Reserve and sits on the law has made “many poor choices in attended Case Western Reserve law she said. “Right now, this is a really good school’s visiting committee, does- dean candidates over the years.” school for one year, Danforth said “We do our homework,” Berg time in the life of our law school, n’t see the changes at the top every “It’s really, really hard to increase the university solicits her often. said. “We do what we can to get a which I think … is the best-kept se- few years as a sign that the school is the reputation of your school and “We’ve got another new dean good match.” (and) here, after a very short time, Today, law schools seek different he’s gone, and gone under some very qualities in leaders than what they suspicious circumstances,” said sought a decade ago, according to Danforth, a senior vice president Tim McFeeley, a vice president with with Ratliff & Taylor, an executive Boston-based executive search firm search firm in Independence. “Is that Isaacson, Miller. He has conducted where I’m going to invest my money? several law school dean searches, No. There are too many other organi- and is conducting another. zations whose leaders I trust.” Ten years ago, the first priority was finding deans who were world- renowned legal scholars, McFeeley On to the next dean SWITCH FOR OUR COINAGE, said. Mitchell’s resignation brings the “(Today) they’re in financial diffi- number of Northeast Ohio law culty, most of them,” he said of law DOUGH, DINERO, MOOLAH schools that are in some stage of a schools. “They’re looking for people dean search to two. The University who are creative about creating new MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE of Akron expects to name a perma- revenue sources. They want deans nent dean for its law school by July. to find ways to bring in money. Case Western Reserve’s president That’s not that much different (than BUSINESS INTERNET & VOICE and provost are consulting with before) — it’s just that the pressure constituents before they convene a is higher.” ■ $ 99 Apple Growth Partners names Texan its CEO mo* Apple Growth Part- ON THE WEB Story from licly traded media 79 ners, an accounting www.crainscleveland.com company head- and advisory firm with quartered in Dal- offices in Akron and Cleveland, has las, where he served as a corporate + 30-DAY SATISFACTION GUARANTEE a new CEO. officer and a vice president of mar- He’s Harold Gaar, a longtime resi- keting and sales at The Dallas Morn- dent of Dallas who served for eight ing News, Belo’s largest operating years as managing partner of Travis company. Wolff, one of the largest regional “I’ve known Harold through our CALL OR CLICK TODAY accounting firms in Texas. 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IN THIS SECTION ALSO ONLINE ■ Crain’s selects an All-Gateway team of the top Cleveland Go to www.CrainsCleveland.com/Gateway for additional Indians players since 1994. Page 16 coverage, including: ■ We look back at the most memorable moments from the ■ Photo galleries of Jacobs/Progressive Field era. Did the “midges game” (right) Cleveland Indians fans and make the cut? Page 16 some great moments from ■ the Jacobs/Progressive Field Bob DiBiasio, John Hart and Mark Shapiro recall the time in era which former Cleveland Indians owner Dick Jacobs was forced to consider every option — one of which was the possibility of ■ A preview of the 2014 moving his beloved team. Page 17 Cleveland Indians ■ A look at the economic impact of Gateway on downtown Cleveland. Page 18 ■ A history of the Gateway ■ Business owners discuss the impact of Gateway. Page 19 project ■ Jacobs Field broke new ground with the method in which it was designed ■ A look at where some of the key players in the Gateway and the creative way in which it was financed. Page 20 development are now ■ Fans such as Greg Van Niel (bottom right, with three of his souvenirs) ■ A crucial vote for the three major professional sports teams is recall their fondest memories from the last 20 seasons. Page 21 only six weeks away 20140324-NEWS--16-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/20/2014 4:01 PM Page 1

16 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 20 YEARS OF GATEWAY MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 ALL-GATEWAY TEAM

ALEX NABAUM

Catcher ...... Victor Martinez About the starting catcher … made three All-Star teams, won a Silver Cleveland, and Casey Blake, a .266 hitter with First baseman ...... Jim Thome Slugger award and had three .300 campaigns. the Tribe who spent a chunk of his time in e know what you’re thinking: Second baseman .. Roberto Alomar If this was an all-time Indians team, Alomar right field. Where’s Sandy Alomar? The Shortstop ...... Omar Vizquel would’ve been the selection. But since 1994, ■ Sabathia (106-71, 3.83 ERA with the catcher who hit two of the most Third baseman ...... Travis Fryman Martinez has been the most productive Tribe Indians) was selected over Cliff Lee, another Designated hitter .. x-Travis Hafner memorable home runs in Indians historyW (the 1997 All-Star game at Jacobs Field catcher. Cy Young winner who was traded before he Left fielder ...... Albert Belle and against the Yankees in the ’97 postseason) The only other positions that required some hit it big in free agency, Charles Nagy and Center fielder ...... Kenny Lofton debate among the Crain’s staff were second Bartolo Colon. Right fielder ...... Manny Ramirez surely belongs on the All-Gateway team, right? The key words in this discussion: All-Gate- base, third base and the two pitching If we were choosing a five-pitcher All-Gate- Starting pitcher .....CC Sabathia positions. way rotation, we would have probably selected Relief pitcher ...... x-Jose Mesa way, the best players since the ballpark debuted in ’94. ■ Carlos Baerga was good in 1994 and ’95, but Sabathia, Lee, Colon, Nagy and Orel Hershiser. x-Not pictured Three of Alomar’s six All-Star seasons were his best seasons were pre-Gateway. And ■ Mesa had a combined 101 saves from ■ For a preview of the 2014 Cleveland pre-Gateway, and from 1994-2000, he was limit- Robbie Alomar was fantastic throughout each 1995-97, which was enough to give one of the Indians, go to: ed to 93 games per season because of injury. In of his three years for the Tribe. cover subjects of Cleveland’s all-time sports www.CrainsCleveland.com/Gateway that span, he drove in more than 50 runs just ■ The Indians’ third-base situation has been misery the nod over the likes of Bob Wickman ■ For more on the All-Gateway team, once — during his sensational 1997 season. so bleak that the only other players who (the Indians’ all-time saves leader) and Chris read Kevin Kleps’ blog at: Victor Martinez, meanwhile, batted .297 in merited serious consideration were Matt Perez (who made two All-Star teams before he www.CrainsCleveland.com eight seasons with the Tribe. In that span, he Williams, who played all of one year in lost it in 2013). — Kevin Kleps GREATEST GATEWAY MOMENTS

■ 1. April 4, 1994: Before a sellout known as midges, the would tie a major-league closers in baseball. All Eckersley crowd of 41,459, the Tribe in extra Indians rallied to beat record and made the could say was “Wow.” innings defeated the Seattle the New York Yankees Indians the first team in Mariners in the first game at what 2-1 in extra innings. The 76 years to overcome a ■ Sept. 8, 1995: The Indians clinch then was known as Jacobs Field. bugs rattled Yankees 12-run deficit. their first division title in 41 years. The Indians won it in the 11th reliever Joba Chamber- when Eddie Murray doubled and lain, who surrendered Honorable mention ■ July 8, 1997: Tribe catcher Sandy then scored on a two-out single the Yankees’ lead. A ■ June 4, 1995: Tribe first Alomar hits a home run to help the from Wayne Kirby. It was the first Travis Hafner single in baseman Paul Sorrento American League defeat the of what would become many the 11th drove in Kenny nails a two-out, two-run National League 3-1 in the 68th dramatic finishes at the ballpark. Lofton for the victory. home run to seal a three- MLB All-Star game. Alomar was run ninth inning, giving named the most valuable player. ■ 2. Oct. 3, 1995: In the first game ■ 4. Oct. 5, 1997: With the Indians a 9-8 victory of the American League Division two outs in the eighth over the Toronto Blue ■ Oct. 11, 1997: The Indians Series against the Boston Red Sox, inning and Mariano Jays. The Tribe trailed 8-0 secure a 2-1, 12th-inning win in Indians catcher Tony Pena Rivera on the mound, it GETTY IMAGES in the third inning. the third game of the American delivered Cleveland its first post- seemed all but certain postseason elimination. League Championship Series season victory since 1948 with a the Indians would be eliminated ■ July 16, 1995: In walk-off when Marquis Grissom steals dramatic 13th-inning home run. by the New York Yankees from the ■ 5. Aug. 5, 2001: The Indians fashion, Tribe outfielder Manny home after Omar Vizquel misses 1997 postseason. That is until rallied to overcome a 12-run Ramirez hits a home run in the a suicide squeeze bunt and ■ 3. Oct. 5, 2007: Amid an Sandy Alomar Jr. homered to tie deficit and defeat the Seattle 12th against Dennis Eckersley of Baltimore catcher Lenny Webster invasion of mosquito-like insects the game and save the Tribe from Mariners 15-14 in 11 innings. It the Oakland A’s — one of the best drops the ball. — Timothy Magaw 20140324-NEWS--17-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 1:35 PM Page 1

MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 20 YEARS OF GATEWAY CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 17 New park helped Indians become hit on, off field By KEVIN KLEPS see the Indians playing in (Cleve- league development team — a de- “From a baseball perspective, it and they drew more than 3 million [email protected] land Stadium much longer than partment Shapiro directed from was a gift,” Hart said of Jacobs fans for six consecutive seasons. 1993),” Shapiro said. “It’s almost 1994 to ’98 — had the Tribe poised Field. “We were able to design all The box-office jolt meant signif- ob DiBiasio remembers impossible to foresee baseball re- for sustained success. of the things you wanted to appeal icantly more money was invested then-Major League Baseball maining in Cleveland. Either the Seven regulars from the 1994 In- to the players. It was sort of a per- in a roster that was loaded with commissioner Fay Vincent team would be moving or there dians’ lineup — Sandy Alomar Jr. fect storm in a positive way.” young talent. sitting in a golf cart at would be a ballpark built some- (28 at the time), Albert Belle (27), The Indians were also able to go The Tribe’s payroll jumped BCleveland Stadium prior to the where else (in the city).” Kenny Lofton (27), Omar Vizquel toe-to-toe with the big boys of Ma- from $18.56 million in 1993 to Cleveland (27), Carlos Baerga (25), Jim jor League Baseball on a level at $30.49 million in ’94, the first sea- Indians’ Glory days Thome (23) and Manny Ramirez which they hadn’t been able to ap- son at the Jake. The payroll in- game against (22) — were either in their primes proach in the past. creased $7.6 million to $38.1 mil- the Toronto Jacobs’ worst fears were never or hadn’t yet entered the primes of “It could be the most significant lion in 1995, when the Indians Blue Jays on realized. their careers. move in franchise history, simply celebrated their first postseason May 2, 1990. “The (sin tax) vote was very The new jewel of a ballpark — because it provided us the econom- berth in 41 years by advancing to Vincent’s close,” Hart said. “Dick was very which opened on April 4, 1994, in ic foundation to compete at the the World Series, and it got as high message to poised and very confident it was a dramatic fashion (an 11th-inning major-league level,” DiBiasio said. as $93.36 million in 2001, the the North- going to go through. When it victory) that would become as an- The Indians’ average attendance Tribe’s second season under the east Ohio media, six days before passed, there was no celebration.” ticipated as a smile from Vizquel per game was 39,121 in the strike- ownership of the Dolan family. Cuyahoga County voters were The parties occurred later, after or a snarl from Belle — was a criti- shortened 1994 season. From 1995 “That wasn’t us acting outside of asked to approve an excise tax on the “perfect storm” struck. cal piece in a near-championship to 2001, they sold out 455 consecu- revenue,” Shapiro said. “That was alcohol and tobacco: If the referen- Hart and the Indians’ minor puzzle. tive games, then a big-league record, us spending revenue.” ■ dum to fund the construction of the Gateway stadium-arena complex failed, Cleveland could lose its baseball team. “There was some seriousness to all of that,” said DiBiasio, the Indi- ans’ senior vice president of public affairs and a 35-year employee of the team. The Indians had long grown tired of playing at the cavernous stadi- um, where they were tenants of Browns owner Art Modell. They played before sparse crowds, they annually had one of baseball’s lowest payrolls, and los- ing was almost as constant as the beat of John Adams’ drum. “It just wasn’t ours,” former Indi- ans general manager John Hart said of Cleveland Stadium. “There was no real charm or magic. No real history.” Hart and Indians president Mark Shapiro, who joined the Tribe in 1992 as an assistant in baseball operations, said Dick Jacobs had no intentions of taking his team elsewhere. “He never once mentioned to me in any conversation, ‘If this doesn’t work, we’re moving,’ ” Hart said. “He didn’t have to.” Proud neighbors of the The unspoken implication: Mov- ing the team was a last resort to which Jacobs never dreamed he would go. “When I first began working here, best sandlot in America. there was some recency to that threat (of the Indians leaving),” Shapiro said. “But it was clear that Dick Jacobs owned the team partly out of a civic responsibility and a civic goal to keep the Indians here. I think that was the goal — that and to We’d like to thank the Cleveland Indians for develop a state-of-the-art ballpark.” all of the memorable moments at Progressive What if? Jacobs, in addition to having Field over the past twenty years. We are Cleveland pride, was a very astute businessman. looking forward to many more. Hart said no matter the result of the sin tax vote in 1990, one thing was clear: “I don’t think Dick would’ve remained a tenant of Art Modell and the Browns. He wasn’t going to be No. 2 to a football club in a football stadium.” But would Jacobs have moved the Indians if the tax hadn’t passed by the slimmest of margins (1.2%)? “I would venture to say that Dick might have given it one more shot (to get funding for a new ballpark in Cleveland),” Hart said. “I don’t know if he had the wheels in place. I had several calls from several cities that were feeling out if the Indians would be willing to move. We were the prime bait for some cities.” At the time, a baseball franchise hadn’t relocated since the Washing- ton Senators left the nation’s capital to become the Texas Rangers in 1972. Ohio’s Health Insurance Choice Since 1934 Minus the sin tax, would the Indi- MedMutual.com ans have joined the list? “It would be almost impossible to 20140324-NEWS--18-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 1:49 PM Page 1

18 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 20 YEARS OF GATEWAY MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 District set stage for development, not job boom

By STAN BULLARD and a handful of wart-like underuti- stead of coming downtown.” [email protected] lized buildings still await their next When Ernst & Young Tower chapter, but the 20 years since Gate- opened a year ago, it was down- all it the Gateway getaway. way opened have been followed by town’s first new multitenant office Chris and Sandy Haas $700 million in property develop- building in 20 years. own a two-bedroom con- ment, according to Historic Gate- Today, Ken Silliman, Mayor do on the fifth floor of The way Neighborhood Corp., a local Frank Jackson’s chief of staff and a CPointe at Gateway, 750 Prospect development corporation serving veteran of the White administra- Ave., to make a weekend of it as the sports complex’s neighborhood. tion, points instead of jobs to the they take advantage of Indians The list of commercial real es- resurgence of the district and the season tickets and Cavaliers and tate developments in the Gateway creation of a neighborhood fabric Browns area is a long one. Central to the like Chicago’s Wrigley Field or suites. area is Cleveland-based MRN Boston’s Fenway Park. “The are- Inc.’s East Fourth Neighborhood, na is out- which includes apartments, Setting the table side the restaurants and entertainment back door. spots that spill onto Euclid from What has happened is that the East Fourth East Second to East Sixth streets. Gateway neighborhood is a central Street is Others include the Hyatt Regency focus of redevelopment that plays near the Cleveland at the Arcade, Radisson a key role connecting disparate front door,” Chris Haas said. “It’s Hotel Cleveland-Gateway, Hilton parts of downtown, from Cleve- so much fun to be in the heart of Garden Inn, the Osborn and other land State University and Play- the action. Then it’s back to reali- apartment buildings and a roster houseSquare to the Warehouse ty.” On Monday mornings, they of eateries and bars. District. It was reinvigorated with make their way home to a house However, that is different from restaurants, apartments and bars on the Avon Lake waterfront and what was pictured by Gateway that attract today’s hipsters as the to All Pro Freight Systems Inc. in backers and city officials in the world’s cities compete for talent. Avon, where Chris Haas is CEO. Mike White administration during Gateway helped set the table for Before Gateway opened in 1994, the 1991 campaign for the sin tax rebuilding that part of downtown there were no condos for sports fa- Market to legacy downtown stores sion during the first Gateway cam- that funded much of the project’s in multiple ways. natics or even apartment rentals for such as the now-closed Goldfish paign in 1990, said, “That area from cost. The central refrain then: For one, the Gateway corpora- young professionals in the area Army Navy Store, hat stores, wig the south side of Euclid Avenue had Gateway would be a job creator. tion itself commissioned an award- south of Euclid to the Innerbelt. The stores, and shoe and clothes stores. not seen a nickel of investment City planners estimated it would winning plan by Sasaki Associates area pre-Gateway was a hodge- Hunter Morrison, director of the since the first World War.” yield 17,000 jobs. with suggestions for capitalizing on podge of buildings from the Central Cleveland City Planning Commis- Today, a plethora of parking lots Morrison, now executive director the nearly $500 million investment of the Northeast Ohio Sustainable in the stadium complex. The plan Communities Consortium non- identified new routes for north and profit, said the jobs estimate was south development at Gateway be- based on the likely mix of office and yond Ontario and East Ninth residential that could go into the streets: today Clevelanders know Health Care and the shadow of the sports complex. them as East Fourth Street between “We were on track through the the repurposed 1890s-commercial construction of Key (Tower) to buildings and what is now the 5th Business of Cancer Care build an average of half-a-million Street Arcades. square feet of office space (annual- The area also benefits from three ly) for a couple years,” Morrison national historic districts that make said. “Things changed when Sohio it easier for old buildings to win cru- (now BP America) merged and cial state and federal tax credits for moved from town and Progressive adaptive reuse projects. Issue Date Ad CCloselose Ma Materialsterials DuDuee Corp. built in Mayfield Village in- See DISTRICT Page 19

April 21 April 10 April 15

This is a look at the business of health care and cancer research and treatment in Northeast Ohio. Cleveland is a home to powerhouses in health care, and there are early-and second-stage companies working on methods of treating cancer.

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MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 20 YEARS OF GATEWAY CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 19

However, ask real estate devel- opers in addition to MRN why they District located projects near Gateway and MORE PERSPECTIVE ON GATEWAY’S IMPACT they speak with one voice. continued from PAGE 18 Landmark RE Management, the ■ Jerry Schmelzer began running “force of habit” and downtown having Toptsidis feels that Gateway has Tom Yablonsky, vice president of Cleveland-based real estate develop- an elevator at the Finance Building, less competition than suburbs over- not been good for small businesses. development for Downtown Cleve- ment firm that helped establish the 750 Prospect saturated with music stores. She had operated her own store, Top land Alliance and executive director Warehouse District as a residential Ave., at age 10 A plus, he noted, is the area has Tailor Shop, on East Ninth Street of the Historic Gateway and Historic area, also led the redevelopment of when his father gained a new sense of community. near the ballpark for six years until Warehouse District Development the one-time Colonial Hotel and Eu- bought the office Traveling rock stars still stop by, he 1991, when sidewalk and street clos- Corp. nonprofits, said the project clid and Colonial Arcades into Colo- building. He re- said, but most working musicians ings for Gateway construction demonstrates that, “If you design it nial Marketplace in a joint venture calls it as a busy can’t afford to live downtown. starved her out. right, you’ll achieve spinoff and a with hotelier Amitel Inc., and the shopping area She reopened in North Olmsted, vibrant neighborhood.” building owner, the Marcus family. serving working ■ Andy Wohlgang’s face and but her mom held on. That store took Real estate developers also had a John Carney, a Landmark princi- people. Over Read’s Jewelers store are familiar to another kick from construction of the lot to work with, although in 1994 it pal, said, “Interest of the group (in time, upper floors of the buildings late-night local TV parking garage for Horseshoe Casino was hard to see behind upper-floor the original development) was high emptied. By the 1970s, people no viewers. He ag- Cleveland; sales still suffer. That is windows caked with dust or walls because the Indians and Cavs were longer felt safe walking after dark. gressively adver- why 2014 may be its last year. covered with aluminum to make cen- basically across the street.” Thanks Then came Gateway. tises the business “The rich benefit and the other tury-old buildings look like 1950s- to its Residence Inn, Colonial Mar- “It has had a tremendous impact,” dating to 1930 ones who survive stay in business,” and 1960s-era office buildings. ketplace just sold for almost $16 mil- said Schmelzer, 76. “If there were no that he has Toptsidis said. But she takes the big “Many of the buildings have in- lion. Today, Landmark is partners in Gateway, I don’t think it would have owned since view: “We needed Jacobs Field. It trinsic value; they date back to the a plan to repurpose the empty May developed the way it has. Before 1971. was good for our city, so we can be Gilded Age when Cleveland was a Co. store’s upper floors to apart- Gateway, this was all bars, wig “I’m in a busi- up there with other cities.” wealthy city,” Yablonsky said. “The ments, but Carney said the project is shops, loan shops and sports shoe ness that, no matter what, people captains of industry traveled designed to meet housing demand. stores. The buzz started as soon as come to me when they need my ser- ■ Adrian Lindsay is operations through Europe and wanted simi- the (sin) tax passed.” vices,” he said of the jewelry store, manager at Stonetown, a soul food- lar things here. That is how you get Mr. Schmelzer ran a public rela- which also operates a gold and dia- fusion restaurant something like the Old Arcade.” Thank goodness it’s not 1984 tions/ad agency in the building until mond-limited pawn shop. that has been at Although its first-floor retail has Fast forward to now, as Streets- phasing it out in the mid-1990s. He’s now at 740 Prospect Ave. His 627 Prospect languished, in 2001 the glass-topped boro-based Geis Cos. recasts the That’s when he oversaw the redo of old location, at 211 Prospect, was Ave. for a year. building was updated in a $60 mil- former Ameritrust Complex at East the building and three adjoining struc- razed to create the parking lot and Owned by a lion project and redone as a Hyatt Ninth and Euclid as The 9 in a tures into Pointe at Gateway, a $12 entrance to the garage serving East Cleveland-based Hotel. mixed-use project with apartments, million retail/residential complex. Fourth Street’s apartments, restau- group with four a hotel, supermarket, restaurants rants and the House of Blues. other locations in and a $200 million price tag. ■ When Mike Rubin bought Wohlgang considers Gateway a big the region, Stone- The go-slow approach Fred Geis, who partners with his Prospect Music in 1982, it had been plus. “Downtown has improved (since town went in near Gateway because it Moreover, the area’s redevelop- brother Greg Geis in The 9, said, “I in the same Gateway), no question about it,” he got an attractive rent at the location ment was incremental; much of it do remember the old area. Gate- place since said. “East Fourth is an improvement.” from building owner K&D Group and led by local real estate developers way is a very important part of 1941. Now at wanted to be part of the downtown’s ■ or property owners. everything we are doing today. If 818 Huron Road, Maria Toptsidis expanding business environment. Ari Maron, spokesman for family- (East Ninth) looked the way it did it is in its third runs her late “This is an event-oriented location,” owned MRN, which produced East in 1984, there’s no way in heck we home since Gate- mom’s Helen’s Tai- Lindsay said. “It’s kind of a challenge. Fourth Neighborhood, remembers would do this.” way went up af- lor Shop and dry Winter is tough but summer and the first time his father, Rick Maron Several elements also went in ter exiting others cleaners, 2121 E. spring are great.” brought his family downtown to Gateway’s favor. as the buildings Second St., as part Games at Gateway account for a look at the Buckeye Building, a The Greater Cleveland Regional became upscale lofts. of her North Olmst- lot of its business, he said; he boosts “My experience is that landlords ed-based Unique staffing 20% if the Cavs are playing building fronting on Prospect with a Transit Authority won federal keep telling you that they want you, Dry Cleaners, but Miami or another contender. The ball- 2082 East Fourth address. funds to remake Euclid as a bus- until they don’t,” Rubin said. she says she might pull the plug on it park provides less bounce. It was 1996, and Ari Maron, a pre- transit corridor that spurred added “There are not nearly the jobs in if sales do not improve. A Warrensville Heights native, Lind- cocious Shaker Heights High School investment. Horseshoe Casino the area that used to be here,” he Toptsidis’s mother, Helen Hatzige- say remembers the neighborhood pri- junior, said, “‘Dad, why did you buy Cleveland added another attrac- said, adding that he considers bene- orgiou, bought the shop in 1972, re- or to the sports complex. “This area this?’ He pointed at where construc- tion. Yablonsky notes that Gateway fits from higher visibility “infinitesi- named it after herself and ran it until would be a mess without Gateway,” tion workers were building the ball- came along just as government, mal.” He remained there due to she died in 2012. he said. — Stan Bullard park and arena and said, ‘It’s going civic and real estate developers to change the whole area.’” learned the tools, from state and Initially, Rick Maron planned to federal tax credits to alternative do one building. After renovating the building codes to redo buildings. second — the Windsor Block, at 322 That set the table for Sandy Euclid — as apartments, Ari Maron Haas, who had suggested to her said his father expected a national husband that they buy a condo af- developer to do the rest of the street. ter a hard-hat tour as the Higbee Instead, MRN wound up doing most Building was being converted to of it. the casino in 2011. WHERE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Critics of stadium and arena-area “I thought, it would be so cool to economic development strategies have a place down here,” she said. often say there is no proof that hotel, “Now we go to (Hilarities) all the retail or office developers put in time after games. We wouldn’t do MEETS THE REAL WORLD their projects because of the sports that if we were driving in for a facilities. game.” ■

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20 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 20 YEARS OF GATEWAY MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 Jacobs Field was model many others followed

By JAY MILLER [email protected] TAXING ISSUE SOON WILL HIT BALLOT The question Cuyahoga County gallon of beer, between 64 cents very major league sports voters will be asked on May 6 is not and $1.82 per gallon of wine or palace in the country is whether they want to continue paying mixed beverages, depending on the one-of-a-kind. All have a so-called sin tax on their vices — percentage of alcohol, and $1.70 been custom made for smoking and drinking — for another cents on each pack of cigarettes. Etheir sports teams and their com- 20 years. That will continue to give Cuya- munities. Nor are they being asked to vote hoga County and the city of Cleve- Yet in the recent history of base- to stop spending for the upkeep of land a dedicated revenue stream to ball stadium building, Jacobs Field, Progressive Field, Quicken Loans pay for the upkeep of the buildings now Pro- Arena and FirstEnergy Stadium and used by the Cleveland Indians for gressive turn that financial responsibility over baseball, the Cleveland Cavaliers for Field, the sports teams that use those basketball and the Cleveland Browns stands out sports facilities. for football. as breaking They are being asked only if they If they say no, people who buy new ground want to continue paying a special those products in Cuyahoga County for its sit- Cuyahoga County add-on to what the will still pay tax on them, just not the ing, its de- state calls excise taxes on alcoholic county’s add-on portion, the state tax sign and beverages and cigarettes. on those products will remain. So, in- the creative way it was financed. And they may be asked this ques- stead of paying 34 cents per gallon, “Almost every new sports facility tion a time or two more if civic lead- Cuyahoga County beer drinkers will project looks to Camden Yards or ers don’t get the answer they want only pay the Ohio rate, or 18 cents a Gateway (in Cleveland) as a model this first time. gallon. The state tax on wine will re- for how such a project should pro- If a majority of Cuyahoga County main at between 32 cents and $1.50 ceed,” wrote the Journal of the voters say yes on May 6, the total ex- a gallon, depending on the alcohol American Planning Association in cise taxes they will pay will remain content and cigarettes will be taxed 2004. “Recently opened stadiums where they are — at 34 cents on a at $1.25 a pack. — Jay Miller in Detroit and Seattle, and new arenas in Washington, D.C., and Indianapolis, utilized Camden has become a trendy place to live designed by HOK Sport, now Popu- Yards and Gateway as models, in- and dine out. lous, a Kansas City, Mo.-based divi- fluencing their design, site choice, Chema, who is retiring in June sion of Hellmuth, Obata and Kass- and the inclusion of a variety of after serving 11 years as president abaum. uses within the facility.” of Hiram College, spent his time Gateway’s financing also was pi- They were called “retro” stadi- between Gateway and the Portage oneering. For decades before Gate- ums, and it was the design of County college as a consultant on way, stadiums were financed 100% choice for nearly two decades, cul- stadium and arena building. He with public tax money. minating in the new Yankee Stadi- spread his knowledge of the Gate- Its financing, though, was cob- um that opened in New York in way experience to projects in more bled together out of a mix of public 2009. than 30 other communities, in- tax money, revenue from the ad- They were very much unlike the Some even were domed stadiums. Beginning with Oriole Park at cluding Petco Park in San Diego, vance purchase of luxury seating, “superstadiums” built in the 1970s By contrast, retro parks were de- Camden Yards in Baltimore in Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati property loans and even a $22 mil- and 1980s. There, fans watched signed of brick and steel to blend 1992, and with Jacobs Field two and Canal Park in Akron, home of lion contribution from Cleveland games in sunk-into-concrete into the late 19th or early 20th cen- years later, the retro parks often the Cleveland Indians’ AA affiliate, Tomorrow, a corporate roundtable bowls and surrounded by acres of tury buildings that were their were irregularly shaped to fit onto the Akron RubberDucks. that has since been absorbed by the parking miles from downtown. neighbors in older urban areas. the existing street grid and were Though the retro concept even- Greater Cleveland Partnership. left open to the urban skyline be- tually would lose its freshness, “(Jacobs Field) set the tone for yond the stadiums’ walls. more than a dozen followed Balti- (the financing of) everything that “You wanted those buildings to more and Cleveland, according to came after it, from Coors Field to be in city grids” downtown, said “Big League Parks: The Complete the San Francisco Giants building,” Thomas Chema, who served as Illustrated History,” a 512-page Chema said. “All the baseball parks, Gateway Economic Development paean to ball fields published in but also all the arenas.” Corp.’s executive director from 2009. What has not been duplicated, 1990 to 1995. “(Gateway) jump- Among the followers were Com- though others have tried, is the started a whole set of positive erica Park in Detroit, Coors Field in pairing of a stadium and an arena things for the community, includ- Denver and Pacific Bell (now in a downtown setting, Chema said. ing the Great Lakes Science Center AT&T) Park in San Francisco. All He said several cities, including Bal- and the development of the His- mimicked Jacobs Field, especially timore and Denver would site stadi- toric Gateway Neighborhood.” The its ornate steel light towers. Per- ums or arenas near existing down- science center opened in 1996, haps not surprisingly, all five stadi- town retro ball parks, but none has while the Gateway neighborhood ums, including Jacobs Field, were done them in tandem. “This was the largest public-pri- vate partnership ever in Northeast Ohio,” Chema said with some pride. “And nobody in the country has done a ball park and an arena HGR ... together.” ■ MORE ONLINE Industrial Surplus is what we do. ■ A look at some of the key players in the development of Gateway, such • Used Material as Tom Chema Handling Equipment (right). ■ Some of the • Machine Tools, early plans for new sports facilities Surplus & MRO Items in Cleveland included a dream of a domed stadium that could one day host the Super Bowl. We Buy & Sell ■ More on the sin tax, including why opponents such as ad man and EVERYTHING! restaurateur Alan Glazen feel “we stoop to our lowest ethical levels by www.hgrinc.com/whatwedo making a minority pay for something enjoyed mostly by the majority.” Read the stories at: HGR Industrial Surplus, 20001 Euclid Ave. Euclid (216) 200-4110 crainscleveland.com/gateway 20140324-NEWS--21-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 1:54 PM Page 1

MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 20 YEARS OF GATEWAY CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 21 New facility has helped to create many new memories By TIMOTHY MAGAW seen that were new pretty much Indians fans, particularly those [email protected] looked like flying saucers that land- entrenched in the glory of the CRAIN’S SPORTS SERIES: ed and then they put seats in them. mid-to-late 1990s, still have a hard THE BUSINESS reg Van Niel has wit- But I fell in love with (Jacobs Field) time calling the ballpark by its OF BASEBALL nessed his fair share of immediately. It was a ballpark.” newish name, Progressive Field. memorable moments at For the most part, it’s still The In conjunction with Crain’s “Twenty Progressive Field. The Enduring memories Jake. Shortly after the name Years of Gateway” section, an April Gperennial season-ticket holder Traci Christler is a self-de- change, CLE Clothing Co. — a lo- 16 breakfast at The Collection Auto was there for the electrifying home scribed boomerang kid. She grew cal clothier now with a retail shop Club at Progressive Field will give a opener in 1994 and two World Se- up in Cleveland, but she went to on East Fourth Street — started behind-the-scenes look at the busi- ries berths. school elsewhere and spent more selling shirts that said, “It’s still ness of Indians baseball. Also, last than a decade in Indianapolis. The Jake to me.” It also is an opportunity to year, he Now, the 42-year-old nonprofit “During this time, the Tribe had experience a day in the life of a caught four professional is back in Cleveland fallen from the good teams from major-league sportswriter. foul balls and is an Indians season-ticket the ’90s and all the good times had Attendees will have access to the during a holder with her father, Gary. at The Jake,” said Mike Kubinski, press box and press dining room — single game CONTRIBUTED PHOTO When she was younger, her dad the company’s founder, owner as well as the chance to participate — a Maryhelen Zabas was a regular at would take her to games at the old and designer. “We did the design in a Q&A session with the Indians’ serendipi- Jacobs Field during the 1990s. Cleveland Stadium, and one of her for the nostalgia of the name and top leadership. tous occasion that even landed favorite memories was running up the memories.” The speakers and topics will be: him on “SportsCenter.” and down the stairs of the often ■ Mark But the memory he holds par- MORE ONLINE empty stadium to find the perfect The beat lives on Shapiro, ticularly close to his heart? Last seat. Her dad taught her to keep ■ Check out a photo gallery of fans president, year, when he took his 11-year-old score, and she grilled him about Adams and his bass drum are as enjoying some memorable moments Cleveland daughter, Ella, to the team’s first how John Adams — the Tribe die- permanent fixtures at Progressive at Cleveland Indians games: Indians (right): postseason appearance since CrainsCleveland.com/Gateway hard who has banged on a 26-inch Field as the 19-foot-tall “Little 2007, when the Tribe faced the bass drum in the outfield for Green Monster” in left field or the “Small market, Tampa Bay Rays in a one-game decades — got the “best job on the Bob Feller statue outside Gate C. big competitor: playoff for the American League was impressive, but the renewed planet.” Adams has kept the pulse at Tribe The Business wild card. The Tribe fell short, but hope and energy for a franchise The Tribe’s move to Jacobs games for more than 40 years — of Indians for Van Niel, being able to bask in that hadn’t won a championship Field altered the game-day experi- 20 of which were at Progressive Baseball” the energy of a sold-out ballpark since 1948 was the real story. ence from those early days at Field. ■ Bob DiBiasio, senior vice with his young daughter by his Maryhelen Zabas remembers Cleveland Stadium — all for the Adams characterizes his seats president public affairs, Cleveland side was something to behold. Opening Day in 1994. Zabas — the better, Christler said. Adams, of atop the left-field bleachers as his Indians: “Memories and magic: “It was my daughter’s first play- iconic, cookie-peddling nun then course, was still pounding away in “escape” or “fantasy island.” Loy- Celebrating 20 years of baseball off game, and she was over- known Sister Mary Assumpta — the outfield, but the digs were al? Absolutely. Crazy? Maybe a bit. at Gateway” whelmed,” said Van Niel. “It was often was spotted in the stands nicer and the teams were better. Adams is one of a horde of rec- ■ Brian Barren, executive vice so loud she had to stick her fingers during the Indians’ impressive run The memories with her dad? Just ognizable Tribe fans who’ve at- president, sales and marketing, in her ears. I told her that there in the mid- to late-1990s. She has as good. tended seemingly hundreds of was nothing like playoff baseball.” since left her religious order to “We had this shiny new toy to games over the years. Just for Cleveland Indians: “Marketing a Fans like Van Niel insist it’s pursue a ministry with the dying play with,” Christler said in an in- starters, there’s Jim Stamper and major-league ballclub in 2014” memories like these — not the in Oregon, but she still fondly re- terview shortly before catching a his large sign depicting Chief Wa- Limited space is available for the hulking steel beams that form the members the excitement sur- flight to see the Indians in Arizona hoo flexing his large biceps and event, which will run from 7 to 9:30 ballpark’s shell, the bobblehead rounding the ambitious Gateway at spring training. “At Municipal, Tom “the Hat Man” O’Toole, a a.m. For information or for tickets, promotions or dollar dog nights — project. everything was falling apart. You regular season ticketholder who contact Kim Hill at 216-771-5182 that make Progressive Field such a “It was crazy wild,” Zabas said would get splinters from the would change hats every inning. or [email protected], or go to special place in the city. When it about the ballpark’s opening in chairs. At Jacobs Field, everything “Being a Cleveland Indians fan, CrainsCleveland.com/Indians. opened in 1994 as Jacobs Field, 1994. “Everybody was so excited, was bright and shiny, and then all there is no cure,” Adams said. “But Tickets must be purchased in the park marked a new era for the but I have to tell you, I didn’t want of a sudden we had these amazing there is group therapy. It’s called advance. Tribe. Sure, the physical facility a new ballpark. All the ones I had Tribe teams that were winning.” going to a game.” ■ SWEET SUITES! When morale is high, everybody gets to ride.

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22 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 EMPLOYEE BENEFIT SERVICES FIRMS

RANKED BY NUMBER OF AREA PROFESSIONALS(1)

Professional Name of firm employees Total Address employees Clients in NE Top local executive Rank Phone/Website 2014 2013 in NE Ohio Ohio (%) Firm compensation Services Title

Towers Watson 1 1001 Lakeside Ave., Suite 1900, Cleveland 44114 131 114 160 NA NA Benefits, talent management, rewards and risk and Mike J. Turk (216) 937-4000/www.towerswatson.com capital management managing consultant Mercer By project, Retirement and risk management, health and welfare Scott Kiper 2 200 Public Square, Suite 900, Cleveland 44114 110 93 110 NA commissions, fixed benefits, investment consulting and management, work Larry Scherer (216) 830-8000/www.mercer.com fees, hourly rates force communication and change principals Oswald Cos. Employee benefits strategic consulting, group benefits 3 1100 Superior Ave., Cleveland 44114 100 93 243 80 Fees, commissions brokerage, integrated health and wellness management, Robert J. Klonk (216) 367-8787/www.oswaldcompanies.com retirement plan consulting CEO Selman & Co. Administration of life and health insurance programs for 4 6110 Parkland Blvd., Cleveland 44124 78 70 83 5 Commissions and banks, credit unions, affinity groups and insurance David L. Selman (440) 646-9336/www.selmanco.com fees company partners president, CEO Findley Davies Inc. Fee-for-service Health and group benefits, retirement consulting, 5 1300 E. Ninth St., Suite 850, Cleveland 44114 68 64 83 64 based on hourly actuarial services, defined contribution plan Rob Rogers (216) 875-1900/www.findleydavies.com rates recordkeeping, defined benefit plan administration principal, chairman Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. Brokerage and consulting in health and welfare, 6 1100 Superior Ave. Suite 1700, Cleveland 44114 58 50 62 90 Fees and retirement, wellness, human resources, health care Mark F. Alder (216) 623-2600/www.gallagherbenefits.com commissions analytics, benefits compliance area president Alpha Group Agency Inc. Medical, HSA/HRA, dental, disability, life, wellness, Kevin Mackay, John Wain, Jim 7 4200 Rockside Road, Independence 44131 53 51 77 90 NA 401(k), voluntary benefits,deferred comp, executive Schade, Adrienne Vichill, Brian (216) 520-3300/www.thealphaga.com benefits, Claims Advocacy, COBRA administration Spear, principals Tegrit Group (Summit Retirement) 8 13680 Cleveland Ave., Uniontown 44685 51 37 61 80 Fixed fees, project, Actuarial, administration, compliance, consulting, plan Michael M. Spickard (330) 644-2044/www.tegritgroup.com hourly rates design, government filings, benefits outsourcing CEO, chief actuary

The Fedeli Group By consulting services, Employee benefit plan design including consulting, Umberto P. Fedeli 9 5005 Rockside Road, Fifth Floor, Independence 44131 50 40 125 80 commissions, fixed compliance, wellness, self funding and data analytics, president, CEO (216) 328-8080/www.thefedeligroup.com fees voluntary and executive benefits, group purchasing Dawson Consulting Group, an AssuredPartners Co. Industry-specific solutions that enable business owners to 10 1340 Depot St., Rocky River 44116 45 26 65 75 Commissions, fixed attract and retain employees, while growing their James F. Harmon (440) 333-9000/www.dawsoncompanies.com fees business president, employee benefits CBiz Inc. Group health benefits consulting and administration, Michael P. Kouzelos 11 6050 Oak Tree Blvd. South, Suite 500, Cleveland 44131 40 42 171 100 NA retirement plan solutions, payroll, COBRA, flex, property SVP, strategic initiatives, (216) 447-9000/www.cbiz.com and casualty, life insurance and HR consulting COO, employee services CPI-HR Health care reform navigation including pay or play 12 6830 Cochran Road, Solon 44139 37 36 85 80 Consulting fees and analyzer tools, benefit and payroll/HR administration and Jim Hopkins (440) 542-7800 /http://cpihr.com commissions HR assist services for HR departments CEO

CALL THE EXPERTS FOR YOUR EMPLOYEE BENEFIT AUDIT

Contact Chris Villari + [email protected] + 216.363.0100

Employee Benefits International 4700 Rockside Road, Summit One, Suite 505, Fees and Health care consulting, corporate wellness, 401k and Jim Dustin, president 13 Independence 44131 29 24 29 70 commissions retirement planning, worksite marketing and property and Brian Hirsch, COO (216) 264-2707/www.employeebenefitsint.com casulty Huntington Insurance Inc. Consulting and strategic planning in: population risk Craig Mottice 14 200 Public Square, Cleveland 44114 28 32 65 35 Commissions and management, on-site clinics, data analytics and predictive exec. vice president, (888) 576-7900/www.huntington.com fees modeling, results-based wellness and health care reform managing director, Northeast Ohio Aon Hewitt Empowers organizations and individuals to secure a Ryan Black 15 5005 Rockside Road, Suite 1000, Independence 44131 26 26 60 NA NA better future through innovative talent, retirement and partner, market leader, Cleveland/ (216) 573-9700/www.aonhewitt.com health solutions Pittsburgh Trinity Pension Consultants Anthony J. Warren, Kevin A. 16 202 Montrose West Ave., Suite 290, Copley 44321 24 19 28 85 Retainer, fixed fees, Actuarial consulting, administration, plan design, plan Bergdorf, principals; Adam E. (330) 668-3747/www.trinitypension.com by project documents Warren, vp, finance and operations

Vantage Financial Group Inc. Design and implementation of employee benefit Commissions and programs: health, dental, disability, life insurance, William McCormick 16 6200 Rockside Road, Cleveland 44131 24 22 69 95 fees worksite marketing, flexible benefit administration, president, CEO (216) 642-7878/www.vanfin.com qualified retirement plan administration Chapman & Chapman Inc. 2307 E. Aurora Road, Suite B13, Twinsburg Employee benefits strategic consulting, benefits Walter K. Chapman 18 44087-1952 22 20 29 93 Commissions, fees brokerage including voluntary and worksite, retirement CEO (440) 287-7600 /www.chapmanandchapman.com plan consulting, executive benefits Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company By project, John D. Cree 19 925 Euclid Ave., 18th floor, Cleveland 44115 21 21 23 75 commissions, fixed Health and productivity, retirement, communications, principal, (216) 861-9099/www.buckconsultants.com fees, hourly rates compensation, benefit audits, benefit outsourcing market leader DS Benefits Group(2) Innovative, customized insurance brokerage services, 20 3555 Reserve Commons Drive, Medina 44256 20 20 22 97 Fixed fees and including government regulations and compliance, Dino Sciulli (330) 725-0501/dsbenefitsgroup.com commissions strategic planning, benefit design and financial analysis president National Associates Inc. Fixed fees, hourly Actuarial, administration, testing, plan design and 21 20325 Center Ridge Road, Cleveland 44116 17 17 19 90 rates, retainer, consulting services for retirement plans; compliance, Gerrit C. Kuechle (440) 333-0222/www.nainc.net project government filings, employee communication president Britton Gallagher Strategic benefits plan; health care insurance (medical, 22 1375 E. Ninth St., Cleveland 44114 15 16 80 90 Commissions and dental and life), health reform compliance, wellness PJ Insana, executive vice president; (216) 658-7100 /www.brittongallagher.com fees programs and employee incentive programs Dennis Laughlin, president, CEO Hylant 6000 Freedom Square Drive, Suite 400, Cleveland Full-service employee benefit brokerage and consulting Scott Dillabaugh 22 44131 15 9 60 90 Commission or fee services president, Hylant Cleveland (216) 447-1050/www.hylant.com Todd Associates Inc. Health insurance, disability insurance, dental insurance, Edward J. Hyland Jr., president; 24 23825 Commerce Park, Suite A, Cleveland 44122 14 9 52 80 Commission, fixed vision insurance, life insurance, executive compensation Randy Cumley, Tim Fitzpatrick, (440) 461-1101/www.toddassociates.com fee, project based and benefits, section 125 plans executive vice presidents Noble-Davis Consulting Inc. Fixed fees plus Open architecture platforms which allow us to work with 25 30275 Bainbridge Road, Building B, Solon 44139 12 18 19 80 hourly rates for any financial adviser. Balance forward accounting, Jan L. Davis, Pamela S. Noble, Karin (440) 498-8408/www.noblepension.com special projects compliance only services, daily valuation D. French, partners Willis Full-service firm; consulting, program design and 25 1001 Lakeside Ave., Suite 1600, Cleveland 44114 12 13 30 85 Fees and administration, all lines of product placement, audit Casey Petersen (216) 861-9100/www.willis.com commissions services CEO Source: Information is supplied by the companies unless footnoted. Crain's Cleveland Business does not independently verify the information and there is no guarantee these RESEARCHED BY Deborah W. Hillyer listings are complete or accurate. We welcome all responses to our lists and will include omitted information or clarifications in coming issues. (1) Formerly Dorman Sciulli Advisors. (2) Formerly Dorman Sciulli Advisors. 20140324-NEWS--23-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 4:05 PM Page 1

MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 23

process only seven transactions per BUYING WITH BITCOIN PROVES DIFFICULT second, which won’t cut it if the Bitcoin Work technology really takes off. If you own an iPhone and want to actually let people spend bitcoin, cit- “There is so much room and need continued from PAGE 1 buy something with bitcoin, be ing vague legal reasons for the move. continued from PAGE 1 for innovation, especially for the It’s the coffee shop’s loss if Bitcoin warned: It isn’t easy. Anyway, I do have a regular QR As of last Friday, March 21, bit- (the concept gets a capital letter, the I eventually succeeded in buying code reader on my iPhone, so I held end-user experience,” Chand said. coins were trading for about $580 currency doesn’t) plummets in value one $3 cup of coffee with bitcoin, my phone up to the iPad mini and Plus, Bitcoin suffers from a lack of each. However, consumers can buy and turns out to be a total fad. but it took a while. First, I had to get scanned the purchase code, which legitimacy. For one, it was the cur- Many people say it will. Among my hands on some bitcoin. Nikhil produced a giant string of letters and fractions of a bitcoin so that they rency of choice for Silk Road, a web- them are former Federal Reserve Chand, a local Bitcoin consultant, numbers that work like a digital ad- can make purchases using bitcoin site that had been used to sell drugs chairman Alan Greenspan and New told me to open an account on Coin- dress. I copied the characters into without a large initial investment. and other illicit goods. Silk Road York Times economics columnist base.com, a well-known site in the my account on Coinbase so that my Right now, the digital currency hurt Bitcoin’s reputation, even Paul Krugman. world of digital currency. bitcoin would know how to get to cof- appeals to a few niche groups. Need though the government was able to Revy agrees more with some of the So I did. Then, with nothing but my feeproper and then hit the “send to transfer large amounts of money people who’ve made big Bitcoin email address, Nikhil generously sent money” button. But it didn’t work. around the world? Bitcoin can make bets. People such as Marc An- me .0078 bitcoin (which was worth Not sure why. Revy’s theory is that the process easy and fast. No need “There is so much room dreessen, who helped create $5 at the time). I could have bought the purchase code was an older one to wait for bank approval or pay fees and need for innovation, Netscape, the first popular web bitcoin myself through Coinbase, if I from a previous transaction. to Western Union. browser, and the Winklevoss twins, had given the website my bank ac- The next day, after conducting a few Want to gamble online? You especially for the end-user who won a big stake in Facebook af- count number (I’m not ready for that). Internet searches about how to make might want to buy bitcoin if you experience.” ter suing founder Mark Zuckerberg The next day I visited coffeeprop- a bitcoin purchase using an iPhone, I want to ensure that your transac- – Nikhil Chand for supposedly stealing their idea. er, a coffee shop at 17823 Detroit tried again. This time I entered my tion is secure, because PayPal does- founder, CoinNEO Bitcoin backers cite a variety of Ave. in Lakewood. When I went to Coinbase account information directly n’t process gambling transactions, advantages that could help the digi- buy a coffee, co-owner Frank Revy on the iPad mini at coffeeproper. And even in states where it is legal. tal currency become popular with pushed some buttons on his iPad it worked! I spent .004917 bitcoin, and Live in a country such as Cyprus, shut down the online market. mini and presented me with a QR, or received a cup of coffee. people other than tech enthusiasts which last year swiped huge And hackers have found weak- and hardcore Libertarians who quick response, code, which is like a But there was still one complica- amounts of money out of citizen nesses in the technology. One of would rather use money that isn’t bar code for smart phones. tion: Though the iPad mini at coffeep- bank accounts to keep the govern- them contributed to the fall of Mt. controlled by the government. An Android user would be able to roper wasn’t set up to remember my ment afloat? Maybe bitcoin is an al- Gox, a Tokyo-based exchange that One of the main selling points is download a Bitcoin app capable of password, it also didn’t automatically ternative for you. that merchants that accept bitcoin scanning that code and sending the log me out. Scary. recently lost hundreds of millions of don’t need to pay fees associated money straight to coffeeproper. But So, for now, if you love bitcoin, Merchants eventually could offer dollars in bitcoin and filed for bank- with credit cards. Apple recently banned all apps that buy an Android. — Chuck Soder lower prices to people who pay with ruptcy in Japan. As for Revy, the former financial bitcoin, because it costs less to ac- But that problem didn’t touch the cept than plastic. Travel could be- heart of the technology, the “Bitcoin planner said he long has been inter- Motors does, too, as does Richard it cards for such purposes. come easier if bitcoin becomes blockchain,” which records every ested in alternative currencies. He Branson’s spaceflight startup, Virgin About a quarter of Emick’s cus- broadly accepted in other countries. transaction, according to Ari Lewis mainly wanted to be able to offer his Galactic, which just sold two tickets tomers are buying bitcoin as an in- And it would be nice to avoid over- and Sagar Rambhia. customers another way to pay. for a suborbital flight to the Win- vestment, he said, describing a recent The two Case Western Reserve “Maybe we’re way ahead of the klevoss twins. PayPal is thinking deal he did with a woman who bought draft fees and be able to send mon- curve. Or maybe not. Maybe … we’re about accepting bitcoin as well. $2,000 in bitcoins “just to sit on them.” ey to friends via the Internet, know- University students — who have right at the brink of something that The local companies on Coin- On the flip side, a local startup ing nothing other than their email formed an online video game com- could be a new way, or at the very map.org include David’s Grill and Bar company gave away half a bitcoin address. pany, VsMe Gaming, which eventu- least another way of conducting in downtown Cleveland, Underhill’s last week as part of a contest. The But is Bitcoin ready for main- ally plans to let people play against commerce,” said Revy, who started Games, which is a board game store company, VsMe Gaming, is devel- stream adoption in the United each other for bitcoin — aren’t the coffee shop at 17823 Detroit Ave. in Cuyahoga Falls, and Aspire Auc- oping software designed to allow States? No, according to Nikhil among those who like the digital with Bryan Davis last October. tions, a Cleveland company that sells people to play video games online Chand, who recently formed a Bit- currency because the government Perhaps, though as of last art, jewelry and other goods online. for money — in this case, bitcoin. coin consultancy called CoinNEO. has nothing to do with it. They want Wednesday, March 19, only three A test version of the software had For one, it’s not that easy to use, the government to come up with coffeeproper customers actually had players compete against each other especially if you want to pay in per- sensible Bitcoin regulations. paid with bitcoin. True believers playing a classic game called Snake. son with an iPhone (for more on “We want it regulated, because The computer services company That tournament proved popular — how that works, check the other sto- that means the U.S. government Not a groundswell yet in Euclid that Virgin Galactic oper- people played the game nearly ry that starts on this page). Plus, to- thinks it’s legitimate, and it’s here to Another of those three customers ates in his free time is listed on the 12,000 times, according to Ari day, the Bitcoin network can stay,” Lewis said. ■ is Nikhil Chand, a newly minted Bit- website as well, but the main way he Lewis, one of three students at Case coin consultant who recently helped makes money off bitcoin is by trad- Western Reserve University who re- The Wine Spot set up its point-of- ing it. As of March 12, Emick said, he cently started VsMe Gaming. sale system so that the beer and wine had earned about $5,000 by buying They plan to launch the full ver- merchant at 2271 Lee Road could and selling bitcoin, mostly by con- sion of the gaming platform by the start accepting the digital currency. necting with people on a website end of the summer. If Bitcoin be- How Ciuni & Panichi Now Chand and Wine Spot co- called LocalBitcoins.com. comes a fad, that’s bad news for owner Adam Fleischer are talking to Emick said he thinks Bitcoin has VsMe Gaming: The company does- other businesses in the Lee Road a future as a currency. That’s why n’t want to endure the 50-state measures up... area in an attempt to create a desti- he ended up convincing a coffee skilled gaming review that they’d nation for people who want to spend shop in his neighborhood, Lake need to go through to exchange U.S. bitcoin in Northeast Ohio. Some of Shore Coffee House, to accept it. currency securely, via PayPal. those businesses are exploring the A lot of people who buy bitcoin But they’re not worried about Bit- idea, according to Fleischer. from Emick want to use it for gam- coin. 40 years of experience, To Fleischer, the decision to ac- bling online, which is legal in some “We don’t think it’s just a fad,” cept bitcoin “was a no-brainer” once states. Today, it’s tough to use cred- Lewis said. ■ a proven program of he figured out how to do it. With Chand’s guidance, The Wine Spot on-time performance, downloaded a piece of software called BitPay onto an iPod Touch that it already owned, connected the proactive communication, software with the store’s point-of- sale system and trained Wine Spot and superior client employees on how to enter bitcoin payments into the system. service. As a result, the Cleveland Bitcoin group, which was formed last sum- mer on Meetup.com, held one of its Call today to learn how regular meetings at The Wine Spot in early March. we can make a The store also has attracted a few dozen other bitcoin customers, some from beyond Cleveland Heights. It measurable difference helped that both the Sun News and the Heights Observer wrote about the Wine for you. Spot’s decision to accept bitcoin. “They’re coming to us just be- cause we’re accepting bitcoin,” Fleischer said. Coinmap.org lists about 1,500 companies that accept bitcoin in the United States; only 10 are in North- east Ohio. Some of them, such as Chand’s CoinNEO consultancy, are 216.831.7171 run by a single person. Nationwide, the biggest retailer that accepts bitcoin is probably Over- cp-advisors.com stock.com. Electric car maker Tesla 20140324-NEWS--24-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/21/2014 3:23 PM Page 1

24 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 Group: Pro-tax coalition says multicounty vote isn’t ‘realistic’ continued from PAGE 1 be on recess this summer — would one cent per glass of wine, one- though, are scoreboards. Cavaliers Proponents of the tax, working “Adding $5 to every ticket, pass any such piece of legislation in and-a-half cents per bottle of beer, and Indians executives told Coun- through a group called the Coali- including ‘Disney on Ice,’ time to allow a multicounty vote $3 per gallon for liquor and about ty Council that upgrading score- tion for Greater Cleveland’s Future, will mean fewer people (approval of which would be far five cents per pack of cigarettes. boards at Quicken Loans Arena and are wary of any effort against the from guaranteed) before the tax ex- The extension would continue tax Progressive Field to high-definition sin tax. Their concern is that a fail- attending games, which pires in 2015,” Lesic wrote. collections until 2035 and raise standards would cost $9 million ure to extend the sin tax will start a would result in fewer She also argued in her email that about $260 million over its lifetime. and $14.5 million, respectively. cascade of events that will cost the people frequenting any ticket surcharge would have its The Browns have begun spend- Issue 7 opponents object to city one or more of its big league flaws, too. ing $120 million on desired up- spending public money on what teams. downtown businesses, etc.” “Any such increase, whether it be grades and necessary maintenance they see as advertising boards that Pattakos, a Cleveland attorney, – Nancy Lesic the admissions tax, facility fee or on FirstEnergy Stadium. The city of will generate revenue for the teams. and businessman Alan Glazen, an- spokeswoman, pro-sin tax coalition other such surcharge on every tick- Cleveland owns that stadium and State Sen. Shirley Smith, D- other anti-sin tax leader, don’t see et, will have the same result — will pay $30 million of the cost Cleveland, singled out the score- a defeat of Issue 7 as something Cleveland will be less competitive in spread out over 20 years. The city boards when she announced her that would lead the teams to look approach as a good way to promote attracting events and fewer people and the county are considering opposition to the sin tax extension for new homes in new cities. regionalism. will come downtown,” she wrote, paying for additional repairs out of in January and offered a new twist “I just find it impossible to be- CAST also suggests what it calls a noting that Cleveland’s admission sin tax proceeds. — a guarantee of sorts of winning lieve that would happen,” Pattakos “facility fee” of $3 to $5 on every tax is the highest in a region that in- In January, the Cavaliers and In- teams. told Crain’s after the meeting. seat sold at the three buildings. cludes Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Colum- dians gave County Council item- “Before tax dollars are doled out “There are only so many cities with That fee, it says, would cover the bus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, ized lists of desired repairs, updates for state-of-the-art scoreboards the infrastructure and fan base to costs of improvements and would Louisville and Detroit. and improvements at the buildings and other stadium improvements, support a big-league franchise.” put the cost where it belongs, on “Adding $5 to every ticket, in- they occupy. taxpayers have a right to see a re- Should the tax extension be de- people who patronize the facilities. cluding ‘Disney on Ice,’ will mean The Cavaliers’ list includes replac- turn on their investment,” Smith feated, CAST wants the teams and fewer people attending games, ing a number of 20-year-old struc- said in a prepared statement. “This which would result in fewer people tural elements as well as a replace- concept of performance-based public officials to sit down and over Not so fast the next few months review the sit- frequenting downtown businesses, ment of the roof, heating and cooling metrics is not uncommon when tax uation with the sports facilities for Nancy Lesic, spokeswoman for etc.,” Lesic wrote. systems, seating and windows. The dollars are invested in other private voters. First, it wants the teams to the pro-tax coalition, said in an team estimated the cost of its wish businesses, so why should profes- email that the tax on the ballot list, which it would like to complete sional sports teams be any differ- do a better job of justifying the Trolling for dollars money they want to see spent on makes more sense than CAST’s al- over the next decade, at between $55 ent?” the buildings. Then it wants them ternatives. The three teams — the Cleveland million and $65 million. If voters reject the 20-year exten- to find a better way to pay those For one, Lesic noted, state law Browns, Cavaliers and Indians — The Indians’ list also includes sion of the tax on May 6 and no al- costs. currently does not allow for taxes began formal conversations about heating and cooling system com- ternative is approved by the time It is offering two alternative fi- across county boundaries. She said building improvements with city ponents, plumbing fixtures and the sin tax expires in July 2015, the nancing proposals. proposing a multicounty tax may and county officials about a year pumps, concession stands and city and the county, as landlords, The first is a multicounty 0.1% “make for a good sound bite, but ago. seating at an estimated cost of $60 could be forced to cover the costs of sales tax levied on purchases in it’s a very simple-sounding propo- The revenue from a 20-year ex- million to $70 million. major repairs on the three build- Cuyahoga County and as many as sition for a very involved and com- tension of the sin tax would pay for ings for 20 years. The money would plex issue.” a round of capital improvements come from their general funds and 10 nearby counties, the residents of The score on scoreboards which attend games or watch them “It’s not realistic to expect that on three buildings approaching could siphon dollars away from at home on television. It sees this our state legislature — which will middle age. The tax works out to The lightning rods on both lists, other city and county services. ■ CLASSIFIED Phone: (216) 522-1383 Fax: (216) 694-4264 Copy Deadline: Wednesdays @ 2:00 p.m. Contact: Denise Donaldson E-mail: [email protected] All Ads Pre-Paid: Check or Credit Card

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MARCH 24 - 30, 2014 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 25 THEINSIDER REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOK THEWEEK BEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS He was never happier Learning to hack Wired to spend cash MARCH 17 - 23 to see a line in his life for a good purpose in a wireless world Stopped in its tracks: National Interstate Ah, there’s the beef. Case Western Reserve and Cleveland A private equity firm in Chagrin Falls has Corp. won the battle to maintain its indepen- You might think I was disappointed when State universities hope to turn a handful of committed $80 million to a newly formed st dence as a publicly traded company. American I arrived at the corner of East 31 Street and students into top-notch hackers. Boston-area firm that is focused on develop- Financial Group Inc. said its Great American St. Clair Avenue in Cleveland, hungry and Starting this fall, both universities will of- ing and managing wireless infrastructure, Insurance Co. unit dropped its tender offer to with only 10 minutes to fer courses in a new such as cell towers, in an increasingly digi- buy all the shares of National Interstate it spare, preparing to get my- curriculum where tal world. self a Slyman’s corned beef doesn’t already own in light of an announce- undergraduate engi- Peppertree Capital Management Inc. has sandwich. ment by the U.S. District Court for the Northern neering and com- been here 19 times before: Including this The line was out the District of Ohio that it would grant a motion for puter science stu- most recent investment of equity and debt door of Slyman’s Restau- a preliminary injunction enjoining completion dents will learn how financing in Blue Sky Towers LLC, it has rant and down the block. I of the tender offer. American Financial already to break into — and founded or invested in 20 tower companies. would have no time to get owns about 52% of National Interstate, a then protect — The need for more wireless infrastructure a copy of Cleveland’s is clear, said Ryan D. Lepene, managing di- provider of specialty transportation insurance in hardware, software finest sandwich (if not its rector of Peppertree Capital. Richfield. Alan Spachman, the founder of and data. Re- best meal, generally — “Every one of the sites that you build is ca- National Interstate, had opposed the tender of- searchers at both hey, this is a notebook, not pacity-constrained,” he said, citing how the fer of $30 a share because he believed it universities teamed an unbiased story!) number of people using wireless devices has undervalued the company. up to develop the I was overjoyed. That’s because my last curriculum, which they say is among the surged. few trips to the famous eatery, though ad- first comprehensive cyber security educa- “As more users demand more from their Positive vibe: Positively Cleveland president mittedly months apart, caused me great tion programs in the country offered to un- phones, that means they’re pinging the tow- and CEO David Gilbert unveiled a new travel concern. dergraduates. er more,” Lepene said. “The carriers can’t and tourism campaign that he hopes will bring Business had been slow and tables readi- Cleveland State and Case Western Re- solve their network issues fast enough.” at least 4 million more tourists annually to the ly available — not something I was used to serve also plan to offer versions of the cours- Blue Sky, founded by Tom Remillard and region in five years. Gilbert told civic leaders how seeing. The loss of Midtown businesses, es to graduate students. Jim Rech, who together have roughly four his organization, the area’s convention and vis- changes in eating habits, more restaurants decades of experience in the wireless busi- itors bureau, will “change the narrative about downtown — these and other factors all im- The team of researchers spearheading the project are Swarup Bhunia, associate pro- ness, aims to provide wireless carriers — for Cleveland” with the branding campaign. He also pacted Slyman’s, servers and owner Freddie example, Verizon and AT&T — and their real fessor of electric engineering and computer told Crain’s that Positively Cleveland will spend Slyman told me on several occasions. estate vendors with “unparalleled real estate science at CWRU; Chansu Yu, chair of elec- $1.5 million a year over the next three years to But two things were buoying recent sales, access,” using Remillard’s “proprietary data- trical and computer engineering at Cleve- target convention and meeting planners and I was also told this week — St. Patrick’s Day base of cell site-friendly landlords.” land State; and Sanchita Mal-Sarkar, associ- leisure visitors in a region that includes Buffalo, kept the place busy for nearly three weeks, Read: Blue Sky has access — through li- ate lecturer of computer and information Columbus, Detroit, Erie, Pittsburgh and Tole- and counting, while the new casino was censing of that database — to people in ma- do. sending customers there. science at Cleveland State. jor metropolitan markets across the coun- I can only hope those trends will sustain The researchers received a total of try, and quickly can use it to find tower and Capital bonanza: Gov. John Kasich is recom- the iconic deli until my next visit. $200,000 in grants from the National Sci- rooftop sites when a carrier comes calling in mending the Legislature allot nearly $130 mil- It was the only way I could get to sleep. ence Foundation to support the courses. need of improved coverage in an area, Lep- lion to capital projects in Northeast Ohio. His bi- — Dan Shingler — Timothy Magaw ene said. — Michelle Park Lazette ennial capital budget shows $98.2 million going to the region’s state universities and $31.6 mil- lion to parks and community projects. The ren- WHAT’S NEW BEST OF THE BLOGS ovation of the Cleveland waterfront was a win- ner, though not to the extent local boosters had Excerpts from recent blog entries on surance and the affordability of some op- hoped. The budget shows the state kicking in $5 CrainsCleveland.com. tions on ObamaCare’s marketplaces.” million toward the $47 million needed for a The ads, which also will air via music pedestrian bridge to connect the Lake Erie wa- Learn from Cleveland streaming service Pandora, are targeting Cleveland as well as Houston, Dallas and terfront with the rest of downtown, and $3.5 mil- ■ A trip to Cleveland helped convince a Fort Worth, Texas. lion to help pay for a $16.7 million riverfront Lansing, Mich., city council member that Organizers with Planned Parenthood “are park on the east bank of the Flats. her city should pursue a downtown grocery preparing to hold more than 500 enrollment store. events in eight states before March 31, along Prime time to buy: A new study by real es- Lansing’s Fox TV affiliate reported that with sign-up drives specifically targeted at city and economic leaders “are in the early tate website Zillow of the nation’s 35 largest the Latino community in 15 cities,” includ- stages of developing a plan” to recruit a metros ranks Cleveland the top buyers’ market PRODUCT: SprayLube 990 ing Cleveland, according to the story. in the country. Buyers’ markets tend to have lots downtown grocer. of inventory, steep price cuts and homes that COMPANY: Buyers Products, Council member Kathie Dunbar, who is By the numbers linger on the market. The Cleveland-Elyria-Men- spearheading the effort to put together a Cleveland ■ tor MSA is above Philadelphia, Tampa, Chicago comprehensive recruitment package, says TheAtlanticCities.com examined “U.S. and Pittsburgh on the list of top buyers’ markets. Buyers Products, which makes products it’s about time. mega-regions,” a concept that dates back to for the mobile equipment market, aims to “This is not a new concept; this is some- 1957, when the economic geographer Jean Gottman coined the term “megalopolis” to Up with downtown: Downtown Cleveland keep things moving with its new SprayLube thing residents downtown, business own- describe the emerging economic hub that Alliance, which oversees marketing, mainte- 990, a lubricant with hundreds of uses. ers, anybody involved in urban revitaliza- stretched from Boston to Washington, D.C. nance and safety in downtown Cleveland, has The new SprayLube 990 “penetrates and tion has been talking about,” Dunbar said. “The term came to be applied to a num- retained the Cleveland Urban Design Collabo- loosens rust and corrosion on metal-to-met- The story noted she is “modeling her ber of regions, including the vast Midwest- rative and Denver-based Progressive Urban al parts,” the company says. It’s formulated ideas off two urban stores she recently vis- ern megalopolis that extends Management Associates to produce a five-year with corrosion inhibitors and “protects sur- ited in Ohio.” faces as well as lubricates and displaces east from Chicago through strategy plan by June for the central business After researching moisture,” according to Buyers Products. Detroit and Cleveland and district. “We’ve had record investment in down- and visiting The Hills SprayLube 990 is designed for lubricating south to Pittsburgh, which town Cleveland. Our job now is to keep the pos- Market in Columbus and protecting a variety of parts, including Gottman dubbed ‘Chi-Pitts,’ itive momentum going,” said Joe Marinucci, and Constantino’s pintle hooks, drive train sprockets and door and many more across the president and CEO of the alliance. Market in Cleveland, hinges. Dunbar said she be- United States and around the “The 15-ounce can of SprayLube 990 con- world,” TheAtlanticCities.com Short subjects: For the second time in less came convinced a tains 28% more lubricant at one-third of the Lansing store would said. than two years, Westfield Bank is acquiring a cost of other lubricants,” says Brian Smith, The website looked at North America today Northeast Ohio institution — this time, Valley be successful. marketing manager at Buyers Products. “It’s “The statistics they used for market and says there are a dozen distinct mega-re- Savings Bank, a two-branch institution based in an ideal solution for use on moving parts on analysis to open both those businesses had gions — mostly in the United States, but Cuyahoga Falls … Cleveland Play House’s 99th trucks, trailers and other equipment.” lower occupancy rates, lower density and spilling into Canada and Mexico, too. season, the first scheduled by artistic director Buyers Products was founded in 1946. It lower income than what we have in Lansing Northeast Ohio continues to be part of Laura Kepley, will feature a classic Lillian Hell- also makes truck accessories and equipment and those stores are thriving,” Dunbar said. “Chi-Pitts,” which extends north and west man drama and the world premiere of a come- including its SnowDogg line of snow plows, from Pittsburgh through Cleveland, Detroit, dy from Cleveland playwright Eric Coble … ScoopDogg line of snow pushers, SaltDogg Indianapolis, Chicago, and Minneapolis, Jonathon Sawyer, chef and owner of The Green- line of salt spreaders, DumperDogg dump in- Ads enter the stream taking in more than 50 metros. house Tavern and Noodlecat restaurants in serts and a line of toolboxes. ■ Cleveland is one of four markets targeted Our mega-region is home to 41.8 million Cleveland, was named a finalist in the James For information, visit: by new Planned Parenthood ads designed to people and generates $2.3 trillion in output. Beard Foundation Awards for 2014. He’s a final- www.buyersproducts.com. promote ObamaCare with young women as “Its economy is just a bit smaller than the ist in the category of Best Chef: Great Lakes, the law’s first open enrollment nears its close. United Kingdom’s, about the same size as which encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Michigan Send information about new products to TheHill.com reported that the group is Brazil’s, and bigger than all of Russia’s — and Ohio. managing editor Scott Suttell at airing new radio ads in English and Spanish equivalent to the world’s seventh-largest [email protected]. “highlighting the importance of health in- nation,” the story noted. 20140324-NEWS--28-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 3/20/2014 12:20 PM Page 1

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