VOL. 37, NO. 42 OCTOBER 17 - 23, 2016 Business of Life Source Lunch Felton Thomas talks about the importance of libraries. Page 24 Johnnyville is quite The List the location for fans CLEVELAND BUSINESS Largest foreign-owned of mementos. Page 23 companies. Page 27 By KEVIN KLEPS [email protected] @KevinKleps he Cleveland Indians have had two raucous on- eld and lock- Ter-room celebrations in the last three weeks. Both occurred on the road — after a Sept. 26 win at Detroit, which clinched the Tribe's rst American League Central Division champion- ship since 2007, and on Oct. 10, when the Indians completed a three-game sweep of Boston in the AL Division Series. Entering the AL Championship Se- ries on Friday, Oct. 14, the Indians were eight wins away from the big- gest ceremony of all — downtown Cleveland's second championship parade of 2016. e Tribe's business team has had a few reasons to pop the bubbly of late, too. Since the division-clinching victo- SPORTS BUSINESS ry at Detroit, the Indians' ticketing and digital numbers predictably have soared. From Sept. 26 to Oct. 13, the club's unique users and impressions on Tribe, fans Facebook nearly doubled from the previous 18-day stretch, and its shares on the social platform rose 63.1%. e Indians' snarky Twitter are soaking account had 44 million impressions from Sept. 26 to Oct. 13, a rise of 58.9% from the previous 18 days. Page views on Indians.com post- in success clinch also almost doubled, and unique visitors increased 66% from Jason Kipnis sprays celebratory the previous 17 days. champagne following the SEE TRIBE, PAGE 26 Indians’ sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. (Dan Mendlik/Cleveland Indians) FOR A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE TRIBE’S SUCCESS, SEE PAGE 26 GOVERNMENT SPORTS BUSINESS Key zoning issues up for vote Cleveland’s Veritix By JAY MILLER some things at the bottom of the ticket land Hills are important but appear o ce is key for AXS — zoning issues — that have a direct headed for passage. [email protected] impact on your life or your business. But a few are hot-button issues in By KEVIN KLEPS month after the merger was an- @millerjh ere are an even dozen zoning is- their communities, and none are nounced. sues on the ballot in the seven counties hotter than in Solon, in eastern [email protected] at’s anything but the case, AXS e top of the ballot — the presi- of Northeast Ohio. Some seek modest Cuyahoga County. e city has two @KevinKleps CEO Bryan Perez told Crain’s. dential race — is sucking up most of changes in zoning codes. A Brecksville issues on the ballot next month. And “ at o ce is one of our technolo- the oxygen this election season. ballot issue, for example, would allow in Solon, that means those develop- A lot has changed at Veritix since gy hubs — Los Angeles and Cleve- But if you live or do business in a cluster homes on land now zoned for ers face what’s called “ward veto.” the digital ticketing company’s merg- land,” Perez said. “ e team that is handful of Northeast Ohio communi- single-family homes on half-acre lots. Traditionally, zoning code chang- er with AXS was nalized a year ago. there is really core to our ticketing ties, you may be paying attention to Issues in Fairview Park and More- es were handled by a community’s Many key leaders have left, includ- platform operations.” city council, after review by a plan- ing Sam Gerace, who had been the The AXS CEO said that’s because Entire contents © 2016 by Crain Communications Inc. ning commission. But that has been CEO since Veritix was founded as all of the reasons for optimism at changing, and now about half of the Flash Seats in 2006. All of Veritix’s the time the deal was struck — mar- states, including Ohio, allow com- digital branding now has the rying AXS’ major-venue access and munities to put zoning changes on more-recognizable AXS name. costumer-focused platforms with the ballot for voter approval. at e changes — considering Los Veritix’s paperless ticketing tech- means that before allowing a devel- Angeles-based AXS is operated by nology and increasing reach in the oper to consider turning a piece of AEG and has o ces in Charlotte, sports industry — have proven to land the community has earmarked Dallas, Denver, London and Sweden, be true. for single-family homes into, say, in addition to L.A. and Cleveland — e L.A. o ce (AEG has relation- condominiums or an o ce building, might seem ominous for the Cleve- ships with more than 100 major ven- it must go before voters. land branch of Veritix, which had 54 ues) has the “consumer-facing SEE ZONING , PAGE 22 full-time employees as of July 2015, a SEE VERITIX , PAGE 21 ixcenter.com One I-X Center Drive IX CENTER 216.265.7000 Cleveland, OH 44135 Discount Drug Mart, the Official Ticketing Retail Sponsor of FALL 2016 EVENTS Select I-X Center Shows. Purchase discount tickets at select Discount Drug Mart store locations. ♦ Super Saver Tickets available at Giant Eagle & Giant Eagle Market District locations. November 4–6 November 11–13 ♦ November 11–13 November 18–20 Crown Classic Dog Shows December 8–11 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS | OCTOBER 17 - 23, 2016 | PAGE 3 JobsOhio is adding recruiting to portfolio Six of its regional partners, including Team NEO, will help companies attract and train talent By JAY MILLER “We would sit down land’s Silverlode Consulting, a ate the custom programs. Hay said cently the director of human resourc- site-selection consulting rm, said JobsOhio expects to begin oering es in Atlanta for two businesses of the [email protected] with that company and one of his clients was looking around the programs by the rst of next year. Audia Group, a polymer company. @millerjh understand the number the country for a place to open a sec- Hay couldn’t say how much the Stanton, who joined Team NEO in ond location for a sophisticated as- service will cost JobsOhio, since each July, said he is laying the groundwork Companies are making the avail- of occupations, the sembly operation and considered project will be designed to meet the — developing recruitment software, ability of the right kind of talent an type of skills they need, Louisiana. needs of the target company. partnering with workforce progams increasingly important factor when “e company was concerned Among the key partners will be the — for the four services JobsOhio has they evaluate locations for new busi- as well as the culture fit they wouldn’t be able to replicate state’s community colleges, which outlined, and will focus in particular ness operations. what they had (in New England) to oer many targeted job-training pro- on trying to woo Northeast Ohio na- So JobsOhio, the state’s nonprot they are looking for, and do the (assembly) process,” Weitzner grams, and Ohio Means Jobs, the tives back to the region. business attraction organization, is we would tailor a said. “Louisiana recruited and state program that online and at its “I was human resources manager turning that need into an incentive. trained people on this production local oces, matches employees of a plastics rm. We did an expan- It is creating what it calls a talent ac- program around that line. All on the state’s dime. It was re- with employers. sion project and I was on the receiv- quisition service that can be used as scope of work.” ally remarkable.” To handle the local end, Team ing end of this type of service,” he an enticement to woo companies to JobsOhio will have Hay and a small NEO has hired Michael Stanton as re- said. “What’s going to make us Ohio. rough its six regional eco- — Cheryl Hay, JobsOhio’s director sta guiding the program in Colum- gional talent manager. Stanton, a unique is that we are going to tailor it nomic development partners, includ- of talent acquisition bus, but its regional partners will cre- Northeast Ohio native, was until re- to each company we work with.” ing Team Northeast Ohio, JobsOhio will oer a target business — and will fund as an incentive to bring a new operation to Ohio — a custom pro- gram that will attract the kind of tal- ented job candidates the company will need, then screen and train them. 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