20160208-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 2/5/2016 3:45 PM Page 1 VOL. 37, NO. 6 FEBRUARY 8 - 14, 2016 MANUFACTURING: Outlook Business of Life It’s a mixed bag for industry in 2016 P. 6 Ice wine How frozen grapes SPORTS: Arena football become a sweet drink Cleveland is rare AFL success story P. 20-21 P. 8 The List FOCUS: Middle Market CLEVELAND BUSINESS Heinen’s downtown move paying off NEO’s largest software developers P. 15 P. 27 A to Z podcast making a mark BY KEVIN KLEPS frequent inquiries led to a partner- ship that really helped the podcast [email protected] take off. @KevinKleps Zac Jackson casually tells a re- Here to stay porter that he didn’t get an iPhone “I bugged them for a long time,” “until like a year ago.” said Grzegorek, the editor-in-chief of Andre Knott, his best friend and a pair of alternative weeklies, Cleve- podcast partner, immediately land Scene and the Detroit Metro chimes in, “And he still doesn’t know Times. how to use it.” Grzegorek said he would call Jack- The scene was a Panera’s in North son “at least once a month” and ask Olmsted, but it might as well have him if “it was time for us to have a se- been one of the undisclosed loca- rious conversation.” A display of tions (Jackson and Knott prefer to Late last summer, Scene made an LED technology keep their audience wondering) at offer — it would pay Jackson and at GE Lighting’s which the two record their increas- Knott a fee for the podcast, which ingly popular A to Z podcast. would be streamed on the publica- Nela Park They like to say they’re “just two tion’s website (in addition to iTunes campus in 2015 fat kids from Akron,” but that’s more and the hosts’ atozpodcast.com), of a self-deprecating bit than it is an and they would share the revenue REBECCA R. MARKOVITZ accurate description of their appear- from any podcast sponsorships. ance. It’s all part of the fun that is A Jackson and Knott committed to to Z — two 30-somethings with full- producing a couple podcasts per time jobs who decided to turn their week, and Scene’s sales team got to all-the-over-place conversations work on selling the podcast after its into what might be the most popular late-September relaunch. By Janu- Cleveland-centric sports podcast. ary, the podcast’s downloads had Jackson, a writer for Pro Football Shakeup at jumped 50% and three sponsors, in- Talk, and Knott, the Indians on-field cluding a presenting sponsor and a reporter for SportsTime Ohio, be- social media sponsor, had come came friends while working for the aboard. Cleveland Browns for the majority of “In a very short time, it’s turning a the 2000s — Knott as the sideline re- profit,” Grzegorek said. porter for the team’s radio network Jackson said the hosts have rein- and Jackson as a writer for the vested all of the money they’ve made GE Lighting Browns’ website. from the podcast into recording “We’re out boozing one night with equipment, their new website and our friend, just being ourselves,” such expenses as paying a designer Jackson says of a night he estimates (another friend of Jackson’s) to illus- Unit gets new CEO, igniting more sale rumors was in 2005, “and our friend says, trate a logo for the show. ‘When are you guys going to get a “We’re in this for the long haul,” BY CHUCK SODER Boston, and some will continue show?’ He says, ‘We already got the Jackson said. “Some day, this is what working from GE Lighting’s head- name, A to Z.’ ” we’d like to do. In the meantime, we [email protected] quarters in East Cleveland, according In 2014, after a couple of failed tri- are having fun with it.” @ChuckSoder to a statement from the company, al attempts, the A to Z podcast de- The often-hilarious nature of the which wouldn’t say how many people buted at 603brown.com, a website podcast — Knott once played parade GE Lighting is undergoing major work for Current or GE Lighting. run by Mike Burgermeister, a friend music while Jackson went on a rant changes — just like the rest of the The company also wouldn’t com- of Jackson’s. After a year of doing the about Browns fans celebrating little lighting industry. ment on a recent Bloomberg article podcast basically just for fun (there victories such as on-field progress by General Electric cut the business stating that GE is open to the idea of were no sponsors), Jackson, 36, and Johnny Manziel — has contributed into two parts last fall, which sparked selling its retail lighting business. Knott, 37, took a brief break from the to its growing appeal. Another key a shakeup at GE Lighting and reignit- The article cited “a person famil- podcast prior to the 2015 football factor for two guys who still work ed rumors that it might be sold. iar with the company’s thinking.” season. part-time at a pair of Cleveland radio For one, it has a new CEO. But one GE executive — Lacey’s It was then that Vince Grzegorek’s SEE PODCAST, PAGE 23 Bill Lacey, who previously served new boss — did reveal some of her as chief financial officer, has re- thinking in that Bloomberg article. Entire contents © 2016 by Crain Communications Inc. placed Maryrose Sylvester. She re- From Bloomberg: “The lighting cently moved to Boston to lead Cur- industry has become somewhat rent, the new business unit that GE commoditized,” said Beth Com- carved out back in October — a unit stock, vice chair and head of the tasked with commercializing some business innovations unit that in- of GE Lighting’s biggest ideas. cludes lighting. Bill Lacey, CEO, GE Lighting And she’s not the only GE Lighting “We like where we are, but the fo- employee who has joined Current. cus on our future really is on the lighting and the sale of incandescent On LinkedIn, it’s not hard to find smart, connected, commercial space bulbs and other traditional light former GE Lighting employees who for lighting.” sources. now say they work for Current. Some GE Lighting is in charge of the oth- Two of three industry insiders of those employees will move to er part of the business: Consumer SEE GE, PAGE 26 20160208-NEWS--2-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 2/5/2016 8:53 AM Page 1 20160208-NEWS--3-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 2/5/2016 2:18 PM Page 1 Really hard to get into. Really easy to get into. NEW 2015 SAVE OVER CLASSIC LEXUS LX570 AWD Plus tax, title, license and 3TO doc. fee. $10,000 CHOOSE OFF MSRP FROM! It’s easy to get into these savings, too. LEXUS LEXUS LEXUS 2016 ES350 2016 NX200T 2016 IS300 AWD MONTHLY LEASE $349 MONTHLY LEASE $349 MONTHLY LEASE $349 36 Month lease requiring $1,999 Cash or Trade 36 Month lease requiring $3,249 Cash or Trade 36 Month lease requiring $2,649 Cash or Trade due at signing. 10,000 miles per year and 25¢ due at signing. 10,000 miles per year and 25¢ due at signing. 10,000 miles per year and 25¢ charge per mile over. Plus tax, title, license and charge per mile over. Plus tax, title, license and charge per mile over. 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Please call for details. 20160208-NEWS--4-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 2/5/2016 1:43 PM Page 1 PAGE 4 z FEBRUARY 8 - 14, 2016 z CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS SOLD Employers could foot bill If HB 394 passes, companies’ unemployment taxes would increase 1111 EUCLID AVENUE CLEVELAND, OHIO BY JAY MILLER The key cut would be a reduction in employee base rate, according to a the maximum number of weeks an calculation by Cohen & Co., a Cleve- [email protected] individual can receive unemploy- land accounting firm. @millerjh ment benefits from 26 weeks to a A debt of $775 million to the fed- range of 12 to 20 weeks, depending eral system remains. As long as In an effort to right the finances of on circumstances. some portion of the debt is out- the state unemployment trust fund, Federal and state taxes support the standing, the federal government the Ohio House of Representatives is unemployment insurance system raises the amount employers pay for considering a bill that would reduce with the federal system also acting as the federal share of unemployment benefits to unemployed workers and a financial backstop to the state pro- insurance until the debt, with inter- temporarily raise the unemploy- grams. The federal government also est, is repaid. While the raising of the Newmark Grubb Knight Frank ment insurance tax on employers. can extend benefits nationwide, at a state tax rate to employers would be is pleased to announce the HB 394 is being pushed to solve a cost to the federal government, in temporary, the bill currently being $6,000,000 sale of 1111 Euclid Ave., Visit long-standing problem — the times of high unemployment.