20140818-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 8/15/2014 4:53 PM Page 1 $2.00/AUGUST 18 - 24, 2014 SPECIAL SECTION UNIVERSITY CIRCLE COMS is BUILDING A NEIGHBORHOOD sprinting to big gains in software Broadview Heights company has more than doubled customer base since 2013 By CHUCK SODER [email protected] If you’re a nursing home, history suggests that you will quintuple the money you spend on soft- ware from COMS Interactive. And that’s the worst-case scenario, according to ALSO INSIDE customer data generated by the Broadview Heights company. ROUNDING OUT Skilled nursing facilities are flocking to COMS — one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Northeast Ohio — to buy software that helps them take care of patients with multiple medical conditions. A COMMUNITY Today, COMS serves roughly 2,000 facilities, up from 850 in June 2013. The company’s strategy is to get big fast: COMS AREA’S HOME TO MORE THAN INSTITUTIONS is pushing hard to win customers now, while the market is hot, according to CEO Ed Tromczynski. By TIMOTHY MAGAW “For us, it’s a sprint to get into as many places as [email protected] WHO IS LIVING IN, AND we can, as fast as we can,” he said. The 6-year-old company has won over cus- or lack of a better phrase, life’s come full circle — in the Circle — MOVING TO, THE CIRCLE tomers and investors. for Allen Ford. He was born in 1928 at University Hospitals, and PAGE 13 A year ago, COMS — which stands for Clinical F today, the 86-year-old retired Standard Oil exec resides at Judson Outcomes Management Systems — raised a $21 Manor, a senior housing community in the heart of University Circle See COMS, page 7 on Cleveland’s East Side. In between, Ford served on the boards at many of the Circle’s anchor institutions, including UH, Case Western ROLE OF UNIVERSITY CIRCLE Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society. “There’s a lot of happy coincidence there,” Ford said. INC. AND ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS So, Ford saw first-hand University Circle’s transformation into JOBS DOWN THIS MONTH Cleveland’s cultural and medical epicenter over much of the last cen- PAGES 14-15 tury. More specifically, since he moved into Judson a decade ago, he has observed the Circle’s evolution into a more complete neighbor- hood — one ripe with desirable housing stock, a grocery store, mod- ern dining options and a dense enough population to support those DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS amenities. START MOVING UPWARD, OUT But for Ford, what makes University Circle a complete neighborhood isn’t so much the bricks and mortar, but the diversity. PAGE 16 “It’s a marvelous center for several neighborhoods,” Ford said. “It has an incredibly diverse gathering here.” What makes a neighborhood is a bit of a subjective question. Some say it’s the people or a sense of community, while others say it would be the physical infrastructure and the ease of daily living. That said, most people agree that University Circle is a complete neighborhood or at least on its way to becoming one, though perhaps not in the same sense as others in Cleveland. Technically, University See NEIGHBORHOOD, page 19 33 7 REAL ESTATE RISK MANAGEMENT NEWSPAPER By selling most of its Tower City assets, Entire contents © 2014 74470 83781 Forest City Enterprises is attempting to reduce by Crain Communications Inc. ■ Vol. 35, No. 33 0 uncertainty in its $9 billion portfolio Page 5 20140818-NEWS--2-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 8/15/2014 3:33 PM Page 1 2 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM AUGUST 18 - 24, 2014 700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230 Phone: (216) 522-1383 Fax: (216) 694-4264 www.crainscleveland.com Publisher: John Campanelli ([email protected]) Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre ([email protected]) Managing editor: Scott Suttell ([email protected]) Sections editor: Amy Ann Stoessel ([email protected]) CLASS OF 2014 Assistant editor: Kevin Kleps ([email protected]) Sports Senior reporter: Stan Bullard ([email protected]) Real estate and construction tStephen Anway,4RVJSF1BUUPO#PHHT tKevin Patrick Murphy 8BMUFS])BWFSĕFME--1 Reporters: Jay Miller ([email protected]) Government tChijioke Asomugha &3*$0*OUFSOBUJPOBM$PSQPSBUJPO tMichael D. 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Mackey ([email protected]) tMegan Van Voorhis $PNNVOJUZ1BSUOFSTIJQGPS"SUTBOE Production assistant/video editor: tNeema Mayhugh, Ph.D $MFWFMBOE$MJOJD*OOPWBUJPOT Steven Bennett ([email protected]) $VMUVSF Billing: Michele Ulman, 313-446-0353 tNichelle McCall #0-%(VJEBODF ([email protected]) tJose Vasquez 2VF[.FEJB.BSLFUJOH Credit: Todd Masura, 313-446-6097 ([email protected]) tGina Morris %PXOUPXO$MFWFMBOE"MMJBODF Customer service/subscriptions 877-824-9373 Crain Communications Inc. AWARDS PARTY - TICKETS ON SALE NOW Keith E. Crain: Chairman Rance Crain: President Thursday, Oct. 9 | 5:30pm | RED Space at Hotcards Merrilee Crain: Secretary Mary Kay Crain: Treasurer William A. 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