Port is riding swell of prosperity

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ER$2.00/APRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2015

Vol. 36, No. 17Entire contents © 2015 by Crain Communications Inc.

Port is riding swell of prosperity Cleveland dockyard to get $8 million in upgrades - including a warehouse - as cargo ship traffic increasesBy JAY [email protected]

With the shipping season off to afast start — nine vessels alreadyhave docked at the Port of Cleve-land in the first two weeks of theseason — the Cleveland-CuyahogaCounty Port Authority is gearing upfor a busier cargo business this yearand beyond.

Last Wednesday, April 22, theport authority’s board of directorsapproved plans for nearly $8 mil-lion in improvements on the docks,

including construction of a ware-house and the purchase of cranesand other support equipment.

Last year at this time, seven shipshad been in and out of the lakefrontdocks, and that was up from four in2013.

“Business at the port is as strongas we have seen in many years, andwe expect it to keep growing,” portauthority president and CEO WillFriedman told the board.

Friedman quoted from an eco-nomic study released earlier thismonth by the American Associa-

tion of Port Authorities that foundthat the economic impact generat-ed by all U.S. ports has increased43% since 2007, a reflection ofgrowing international trade.

A consequence of that robust in-ternational trade though, is conges-tion at the docks on both the At-lantic and Pacific oceans, which isbenefitting the Cleveland port. Be-cause of the heavy volume of shiptraffic on the coasts, and occasion-al work stoppages, shippers can’tcount on predicable movementfrom ship-to-rail, or truck-to-in-

land, destinations.Another part of the optimism

from Friedman is based on the ear-ly returns of an entrepreneurial riskthe port authority took last year.The port agreed to financially sub-sidize regular cargo service be-tween Cleveland and Antwerp, Bel-gium, operated by the SpliethoffGroup, a Dutch shipping line. Itwas the first time in decades thatimporters and exporters of autoparts and consumer goods in Ohioand beyond could count on regu-lar, timely cargo service through a

port on the Great Lakes.Bart Peters, the manager of Spli-

ethoff’s America Service, told theboard last Wednesday that whilethe initial plan had been to put twoships on what is called the Cleve-land-Europe Express this year, pro-viding bi-weekly dockings and de-partures at the Cleveland port, heexpects that because of an antici-pated increased volume of cargo asmany as four ships may be makingthe trans-Atlantic run.

“The market is strong, especially

Athersys stem cellsstill show potentialBy CHUCK [email protected]

There’s still a chance — just achance — that Athersys’ stem celltherapy could turn into a block-buster stroke drug.

The Cleveland company’s Multi-Stem therapy technically failed a re-cent clinical trial: There wasn’t asignificant difference between thestroke patients who received stemcells and those who received aplacebo.

That sounds like bad news forstroke patients, who have very fewtreatment options.

But it’s not the whole story.A subgroup of patients who re-

ceived MultiStem sooner “exhibitedsubstantially better recovery” than

the placebo group, according to apresentation given by Dr. DavidHess of Georgia Regents University.He led the clinical trial.

Granted, the sample size wassmall: The subgroup included just27 of the 65 patients who receivedMultiStem. Even so, a few stock an-alysts and doctors told Crain’s thatthe data look promising.

Investors must disagree: Ather-sys’ share price fell by nearly 55%during the week of April 13. Thestock price — which started slidingwell before the company issued anews release containing data fromthe trial — stood at $1.28 at 2 p.m.last Friday, April 24. The stock’s 52-week high is $3.43.

But do those investors really un-

See PORT, page 28

See ATHERSYS, page 30

Fees from online reservation sites have restaurant owners rethinking use of booking services — P. 5

How Andy Simms went from student to owner of a sports firm that handles 40 NFL players — P. 6

20150427-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 4/24/2015 4:33 PM Page 1

Cheers to Small Business!Celebrating Small Business Week May 4-8

Small Business Matters

Connection Calendar

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April 27

By The Numbers

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Tech school gains from ties By RACHEL ABBEY [email protected]

Ohio Technical College has beenbusy in recent years, by continuingto grow its program offerings andexpanding its collaborations withbig names like Lincoln Electric Co.and Edelbrock LLC.

The programs with companieslike Eaton, BMW and Cummins Inc.serve purposes both practical andpublicity-driven. They lend “instantcredibility” to Ohio Technical Col-lege, as potential students tend toknow the companies that supportthe school better than the school it-self, said president and CEO MarcBrenner.

But the programs also give theschool access to equipment and cur-riculum from the major companiesin the industry, said Tom King, thecollege’s director of enrollmentmanagement. Some of the trainingcenters and academies the schoolhas added in recent years are usedby the companies for external train-ing, but students at Ohio TechnicalCollege also benefit. The school hasintroduced three branded programsat its main campus just since 2012,and King said he expects more tocome.

“The goal is to put out the finesttechnician in the industry,” Kingsaid.

Ohio Technical College is a pri-vate, postsecondary technicalschool in Cleveland. The majorityof the programs in areas like auto-motive technology, collision repairand diesel equipment run for 18months, and associate’s degrees areoffered in some programs. Brennerestimated that the college placesmore than 90% of its graduatingstudents in the field, a figure it hasto track for accreditation purposes.

The college is quite a bit largerthan it was when Brenner’s fatherset up shop as the Ohio Diesel Me-chanics School in 1969. It will haveabout 1,300 students at its Cleve-land location and its PowerSportInstitute in North Randall this fall,down a bit from its peak of 1,500about five years ago, Brenner said.

About 80% of the school’s stu-dents come from out of the county,Brenner said, and about 50% arefrom out of the state entirely, so it’simperative that Ohio TechnicalCollege make a good impression.

“When good things happen tothe city, good things happen to us,”Brenner said, noting that the oppo-site also holds true.

Today, the campus, with officesat 1374 East 51st St., is made up of16 buildings. The college’s Schoolof Classic Car Restoration Technol-ogy, where students learn skills likewoodwork and painting, as well ashow to completely disassemble andreassemble a car, take up a fewbuildings. There’s the building forthe High Performance & RacingTechnology School, as well as ad-ministrative offices and spaces forstorage.

One building will house theSchool of Rod and Custom Tech-nology, where students will get toturn vehicles into “something un-recognizable,” Brenner said. Thatprogram, a new one within the autoservices sector, will begin this fall.

Brenner said he’s also looking toexpand the school’s program offer-ings outside the auto sector, andhas two programs in the develop-ment phase: HVAC, and industrial,residential and commercial electri-cal. The plan is to get those under-way in the next two years. If theschool wants to continue to grow, ithas to branch out, he said.

“We’re getting a different stu-dent,” Brenner said.

The college first broke away fromthe auto sector with its School ofWelding Technology, introduced in2010. The school, which is spon-sored by Lincoln Electric, helps thecompany leverage its position inthe market, said Carl Peters, its di-rector of technical training. LincolnElectric doesn’t want to be a com-petitor with schools offering weld-ing education — it wants to helpthem become better at it, he said.

Peters said Lincoln Electric is in-terested in working with schoolsthat want to do it right, trainingpeople to weld safely and produc-tively. It’s not looking to work witha “puppy mill of welding,” he said.

And Peters praised Ohio Techni-cal College for training in the latesttechniques and philosophies, likethe more comprehensive approachof teaching students to design, cutand weld, instead of skipping to thelast step.

Andy Fiffick, president and CEOof Rad Air Complete Car Cares andTire Centers, said he wishes theschool produced more local stu-dents to help grow the workforcepool in the region. Currently, RadAir employs four of Ohio TechnicalCollege’s graduates.

The company doesn’t officiallysponsor any academic programsfor Ohio Technical College, but itdoes work closely with the school,Fiffick said. Fiffick said he often vis-its to speak to the students, and thecollege even brings students to RadAir’s Cleveland facility to check outthe real-life working environment.The college has good equipmentand up-to-date training programsin a variety of skills, he said.

“Whatever the student is seeking,they offer it,” Fiffick said.

Volume 36, Number 17 Crain’s Cleveland Business (ISSN 0197-2375) is published weekly at 700 West St. Clair Ave., Suite310, Cleveland, OH 44113-1230. Copyright © 2015 by Crain Communications Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland,Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Price per copy: $2.00. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Crain’s Cleve-land Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48207-2912. 1-877-824-9373. REPRINTINFORMATION: 212-210-0750. Subscriptions: In Ohio: 1 year - $64, 2 year - $110. Outside Ohio: 1 year - $110, 2 year - $195. Singlecopy, $2.00. Allow 4 weeks for change of address. For subscription information and delivery concerns send correspondence to Audience Devel-opment Department, Crain’s Cleveland Business, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, 48207-9911, or email to [email protected], or call 877-824-9373 (in the U.S. and Canada) or (313) 446-0450 (all other locations), or fax 313-446-6777.

Due to a computer error, por-tions of the last paragraphs weredropped from two Page One storiesin the April 20 edition.

The final paragraph of “Cleve-land Clinic’s alliances are as heartyas ever” was a quote from Dr. Ger-ald Sotsky, chair of cardiac servicesfor Valley Medical Group. It read:

“Being in this network is not justsomething you do. You’re evaluat-ed.”

You can read the full ClevelandClinic story here:

http://bit.ly/1bkiF3S The final paragraph of “Explorys-

IBM deal is big for both parties” wasa quote from Gary Fingerhut, exec-

utive director of Cleveland ClinicInnovations. The paragraph read:“This is the perfect example of ourcaregivers inventing somethingaround real health care needs,” hesaid.

You can read the full Explorys-IBM story here:

http://bit.ly/1Dt4krU

CORRECTION

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Ohio Technical College President and CEO Marc Brenner said the school has been making a number of upgrades aroundits campus, such as a neighborhood garden and a basketball court. The campus is shown here in July 2011.


APRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2015 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 5

The hidden cost ofonline reservationsFees that can tally in the thousands per monthprompt some restaurants to rethink booking sitesBy KATHY AMES [email protected]

OpenTable has demonstrated its relevance in ourmodern insta-culture.

The online reservation service enables 16 millionmonthly users to make within seconds an e-reservation24 hours a day at participating restaurants, and incen-tivizes users with a rewards-based point system. Dinersrely on OpenTable because it’s free, easy to use andshaves off time from the old-fashioned dial-answer-let-me-place-you-on-hold effort.

But some local restaurant owners have their own reser-vations about whether the service’s cost boosts their bot-tom line.

“It’s one of those love-hate relationships,” says DougKatz, chef/owner of Fire Food and Drink in ShakerSquare. “It’s not good from a cost standpoint, but unfor-tunately, it is an important part of my business.”

Katz estimates it costs $18,000 a year to use OpenTable,including a $1,200 annual fee for a front-of-the-house sys-tem that manages reservations and tracks guests’ diningpreferences.

He pays $1 for each customer who makes a reservationthrough OpenTable, and 25 cents per diner when thatreservation is processed through Fire’s website.

“It’s a major marketing cost,” Katz says.

The monthly expense prompt-ed Karen Small, chef/owner of Fly-ing Fig in Ohio City, to nix the servicein February after nearly 10 years of use.

“The cost of one dollar per reservationwas getting out of control,” she says. “Thosecosts add up to a few thousand dollars a month.When you do the math over one year, that canamount to another employee’s salary.”

You won’t find the indie-neighborhood eatery Momo-cho on OpenTable, either.

“We’re always busy, so I didn’t feel it was a necessaryexpense,” chef/owner Eric Williams says. “We actually en-joy speaking to our customers via the phone. Interperson-al communication skills are a lost art.”

About 200 restaurants in and around Cleveland join theapproximately 32,000 restaurants around the globe thatuse the service. The average revenue per seated diner whomade a reservation via OpenTable is $42.50, said TiffanyFox, the company’s senior director of corporate commu-nications.

Other online reservation systems, such as Table8 andResy, are trickling into the marketplace, attempting to un-seat OpenTable’s dominance in the restaurant reserva-tion space.

Many of those sites service only New York, San Francis-

RNC committee sets sights on rogue hotels

ISTO

CK

By DAN [email protected]

David Gilbert needs about 1,000hotel rooms that he says are beingsold out from under him — andapart from efforts to coordinate the2016 Republican National Conven-tion.

If he doesn’t get them, and soon,he says he won’t hesitate to sue theout-of-state operators of about 10Cleveland-area hotels. Gilbert saysthose operators are reneging onpromises to provide rooms to theRepublican National Conventionwhen it comes to Cleveland in 2016.More specifically, the operators arenot providing the rooms to be as-signed by the Republican NationalCommittee that controls the con-vention, as they previously com-mitted to doing, he said.

Last year, Gilbert, who is CEO ofthe Cleveland 2016 Host Commit-tee — as well as head of the GreaterCleveland Sports Commission andthe tourism agency DestinationCleveland — went to nearly everyhotel within a 35-mile radius ofCleveland. The committee neededand found about 16,000 rooms thathotels said they would have andkeep available if the city won the2016 Republican convention. Near-ly every hotel signed a contract,with most hotels promising to hold90% of their rooms for the eventand to allow the RNC to assign

them guests.Then, Cleveland won the event,

and offers to rent rooms for higherand higher prices began coming in.Some hotels apparently couldn’tresist booking rooms at those rates.

Gilbert said most area hotels areplaying well with both the RNC andeach other, including honoringthose commitments, which theymade last year and early in 2015.But a group of about 10 hotels, all ofthem run by out-of-state manage-ment companies and mostly locat-ed in the suburbs, have been reneg-ing.

He declined to name which ho-tels outside of downtown are creat-ing the problems, however. Hemight never name them, he said —or he might name them all in pub-lic court documents, soon.

Instead of holding their roomsuntil the RNC assigns them andsends guests their way, paying ratesonly a little higher than normal,those hotels have been acceptingreservations from outsiders lookingto book a room, often at muchhigher rates.

“There are in the neighborhoodof about 1,000 rooms (at hotels)that voluntarily signed the agree-ments . . . either they’ve gone aheadand given the rooms to other peo-ple or they’ve said they’re going todo that,” Gilbert said.

He doesn’t want to file suit to getthose rooms back under the RNC’scontrol, Gilbert said — but he also

needs to make sure the offendinghotels know that he’s serious abouttaking them to court if they don’tlive up to their agreements.

“We absolutely have leverage —we have a written agreement. If ittakes legal action, we’re preparedto do that,” Gilbert said. “Our hopeis it doesn’t come to that, but we’reprepared to go to court if we haveto.”

‘It’s just wrong’The situation puts Cleveland in a

possible position of not living up toits promises to the RNC, potential-ly giving both the city and its hoteland tourism industry a black eye inthe process.

“Those contracts were actuallysigned in the middle of last year,somewhere around a year ago,”Gilbert said. “They went in with ourbid to win the convention.”

Not only is Gilbert growing im-patient, but some local hoteliers —those that are working closely andcooperatively with Gilbert and theRNC — are ticked off as well.

“I don’t’ see how you can com-mit to someone for their bid andthen go and contract around it withsomeone else. … It’s just wrong,”said Brenda Goodnight, regionaldirector of sales and marketing forTwin Tier Hotels, which owns the404-room Hotel Indigo in Beach-wood, along with four other subur-ban hotels in the area.

She sees how it can happenthough. She herself gets offers allthe time from out-of-towners whowant to attend the convention andare willing to pay many times thegoing rate to circumvent the RNCin the process.

“A hotel gets a dangle that some-one puts in front of them for a hugerate for three weeks and they takeit,” Goodnight said. “I get them allthe time . . . and they’ll give us a lotof money, but we have to say ‘no.’ ”

Most of those offers have comefrom out-of-state media outlets,she said — likely ones that don’thave a cozy enough relationshipwith the RNC to get rooms throughapproved channels.

Goodnight and most other hote-liers see the RNC not as a one-timechance to fill their rooms at higher-than-usual rates, but as a chance tobuild their brand and business overthe long term. Hotels downtown orin the business-rich area along I-271 near the Hotel Indigo are nor-mally full during the summer any-way, they say.

“We look at it as more an invest-ment in Cleveland and a long-termcommitment to the region,” saidGoodnight, who added that the realpayoff should be increased trafficfor all hotels in the months andyears after the convention.

Returning visitors and a bur-nished image of Greater Clevelandgenerally should help accomplishthat, she said.

They’ve got the beatThe big downtown hotels, like

the Marriott, the Wyndham and theRitz-Carlton, also are looking forlong-term benefits. They’re work-ing very cooperatively with theRNC, the local Host Committee andeach other to ensure the event goessmoothly, said Brian Maloney, gen-eral manager for the Wyndham Ho-tel at Playhouse Square.

“The folks that I deal with down-town, we’re all marching to thesame drum,” Maloney said. “Thedowntown hotels are all very unit-ed.”

Gilbert agreed, and said he hashad few if any problems with thebig downtown hoteliers, who obvi-ously have what will be the conven-tion’s choicest rooms.

Things might now be difficult tounravel and reweave the wayGilbert hopes, too. There are likelyhotels that have taken deposits andmade commitments to provideguests with the same rooms thatthey’ve promised to the RNC. Inother words, they’ll either have tobreak their words with newlybooked guests, or risk Gilbert’swrath and litigation.

Goodnight said she too hopesthat the situation can be resolvedwithout it getting ugly. But she’snot particularly optimistic.

“I hate to see it come down tolawsuits, but I think that’s what’sgoing to happen,” Goodnight said.

See FEES, page 29



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THE MAN BEHIND THE PLHow a Cleveland native built a successful business representing pBy KEVIN [email protected]

Andy Simms was still a student atthe Case Western Reserve Universi-ty School of Law when he signed hisfirst NFL draft prospect.

The player, former linebackerChike Okeafor, was selected in thethird round of the 1999 draft, whenSimms was a third-year law student.It was a year before the HawkenHigh School graduate — who says,“I was that guy who had a cell phonein law school” — passed the barexam.

Sixteen years later, Simms is stillgoing strong in a business — repre-senting professional athletes — inwhich it is almost as difficult to suc-ceed as it is for his clients to make itin the most prominent of pro sportsleagues.

The firm Simms founded, Player-sRep Sports Management, now hassix agents who live in four states andcount about 40 NFL players amongtheir clientele. Seven additionalPlayersRep clients are projected as2015 draft picks, and the firm hasadded four assistant coaches (two inthe NFL and two in college) to itsgrowing stable.

Simms, 40, has come a long wayfrom the former law student whowill be “the first to admit I didn’tknow a lot about what the job en-tailed other than watching ‘JerryMaguire.’ ”

At the beginning, Simms wantedto get into the business so badly thathe spent the summer after his sec-ond year of law school traveling tominor league baseball games. Helanded five baseball prospects in1998 — and none of them everreached the big leagues.

“What I realized is you can’t real-ly succeed in business with a bunchof minor league players who at theirbest might be four, five, six yearsaway from getting into the majors.”

He transitioned to football, andwhen Okeafor was chosen 89th over-all by the San Francisco 49ers thefollowing April, Simms had estab-lished a business — albeit a verysmall one.

“I had two draft picks in the yearafter that, which would’ve been the2000 draft,” he said.

“After they got drafted, I rippedup my résumés and didn’t apply fora single job in law. I just said, ‘I’mgoing to do this full-time,’ and thenjust kind of kept building from therepiece by piece.”

Double jackpotSimms, like any agent worth his

license, makes a point of saying hisgroup doesn’t “work any harder” fortheir high-profile clients as they dofor “the guy that went undrafted andis trying to make a team.”

But two players — twins Devinand Jason McCourty — have beenvery good for business.

Prior to the 2012 season, corner-back Jason McCourty agreed to asix-year, $43 million deal with theTennessee Titans. The contract in-cluded a $9 million signing bonusand $17 million in guarantees.

On March 8, two days before thestart of the league’s free-agent peri-od, Devin McCourty, a 27-year-oldwho in 2010 became the first Player-

sRep client to be selected in the firstround of the NFL draft, agreed to afive-year, $47.5 million extensionwith the Super Bowl champion NewEngland Patriots. The $28.5 millionthat is guaranteed in McCourty’sdeal is a record for a safety.

“That was fun,” Simms said witha smile as he was describing theDevin McCourty negotiations,which didn’t involve Patriots coachBill Belichick but Nick Caserio, aLyndhurst native and New Eng-land’s director of player personnel.

“We have great clients obviously,”Simms said. “This whole business isabout getting clients and keepingthem, but all that stuff is predicatedon recruiting the right kind of guys.That’s the biggest thing I’ve learnedover the years. We spent a lot of timegetting into their character — whowe’re going to recruit, their workethic, what they’re like off the field,because that really determines whomakes it and who doesn’t.”

The McCourty twins, by all ac-counts, succeed across the board.

The majority of the PlayersRepstable isn’t as recognizable as thebrothers with contracts that areworth a combined $90.5 million, butthere are some notable names. Run-ning back Stevan Ridley, who leftthe Patriots for the Jets in freeagency earlier this month, is a client,as are Lane Johnson, a tackle select-ed by the Philadelphia Eagles fourthoverall in 2013, Browns defensive

lineman Desmond Bryant and for-mer wide receiver Nate Burleson.

Simms said the standard is for theagent to get 3% of the players’ earn-ings, which include their salaries,signing bonuses and any incentivesthat are included in their contracts.

If the McCourtys play out theirfive- and six-year contracts, thatwould be worth about $2.715 mil-lion to PlayersRep.

Other contracts — such as theones signed during the 2015 offsea-son by PlayersRep clients Ridley(one year, $1.25 million), SterlingMoore (one year, $1.525 million)and Bradley Fletcher (one year, $1.5million) are much smaller, and ob-viously not nearly as lucrative toSimms’ company.

“As a business, you know that’swhere your revenue is generated,”Simms said of the NFL’s free-agentperiod.

“These new contracts, guys thatare hitting free agency, you knowhow important that is not just forbusiness revenue, but for your ownmarketing.”

The players’ ‘voice’Usama Young said there were

“several” agents who approachedhim about representing the safetywhen he was a 2007 NFL draftprospect out of Kent State.

Young said he selected Player-sRep because “it seemed like they

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

NFL agent and Solon resident Andy Simms is shown at Super Bowl XLIX with twoof his clients, New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty, left, and running backStevan Ridley, who has since signed with the New York Jets.


PLAYERSg professional athletes


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were genuine,” and because ofSimms’ knowledge of “the systemand the process.”

Young was selected in the thirdround by the New Orleans Saintsthat year, and he later landed con-tracts worth a potential of $5.9 mil-lion and $2.335 million with theCleveland Browns (he played twoyears of a three-year deal) and Oak-land Raiders (he was released onMarch 6 with one season remainingon a two-year contract).

The 29-year-old defensive backhas had each of his last two seasonsended because of injuries, but hehopes to play in 2015 and has keptbusy rehabbing and working for Be-lieve in U, his youth foundation.

Young said Simms has lived up tohis bargains over the years.

“As my agent, he ends up beingmy voice a lot of times when itcomes to contract negotiations,”Young said.

“I’m not able to be on the phonewith him or in the room when he’smeeting with GMs. He always com-municates with me and seems likehe’s keeping it straight. He’s gen-uine. A lot of agents use jargon andthe players don’t understand whatthey’re saying, and college athletesdon’t know what they’re gettinginto.”

Dave Lee, a Mayfield Village na-tive, joined PlayersRep as an agent in2001, when he said the company had“five or six” clients.

He said Simms has been his men-tor, as well as his “boss, my bigbrother, my teacher — everything inone. He’s been really good to me.”

Simms and Lee are joined by Wes-ley Spencer, who co-founded Player-sRep with Simms, Ken Sarnoff, SamRenaut and Cody Recchion. Simms— who lives with his wife (the formerKatie Pollock, who was a ClevelandIndians reporter for Fox Sports Netin the early 2000s) and 6- and 8-year-old daughters, Jacey and Marley, inSolon — is the only one who lives inthe area. Lee and Sarnoff are in Illi-nois, Spencer and Recchion are inNorth Carolina, and Renaut residesin Arizona.

They travel a lot, especially duringthe NFL season, and today’s always-plugged-in society allows them towork out of their home offices when-ever possible.

PlayersRep’s approach — qualityover quantity — and careful selec-tion of clients has, according toSimms, placed the company amongthe top 15 NFL agencies. And whilethe list of clients on their website,which numbers 41 if you includeBurleson, isn’t overwhelming, it’spretty significant when you consid-er that there were about 810 agentsregistered by the NFL Players Asso-ciation at the start of the 2014 sea-son. There are 1,696 roster spots (53times the 32 teams), plus as many as320 players who can be placed onthe practice squad. That’s 2,016 jobs— or 2.5 per registered agent.

“It can be a very difficult business,obviously,” Simms said.

“We figured out what we’re goodat, and we figured out what we’re notgood at.

“We just try to find the right kindof players who appreciate the kind ofwork that we deliver. That’s the for-mula that works.”

THE NEXT WAVEPlayersRep Sports Management represents seven players who

are projected to be selected in the 2015 NFL draft, which beginsThursday, April 30. The projection listed is the best-case scenarioaccording to two draft sites — NFL.com and NFL Draft Scout.

PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE PROJECTION

Lorenzo Doss CB Tulane Round 4 or 5

Ben Koyack TE Notre Dame Round 4

Tony Lippett WR Michigan State Round 4

Casey Pierce TE Kent State Round 6 or 7

Tyrus Thompson OT Oklahoma Round 3 or 4

Darren Waller WR Georgia Tech Round 3 or 4

Daryl Williams OT Oklahoma Round 3

TWIN HYPETwins Devin and Jason McCourty, who are PlayersRep clients,

both have contracts worth a potential of at least $43 million. Abreakdown of their deals, according to Spotrac.com:

DEVIN MCCOURTY, SAFETY, PATRIOTSThe deal: Five years, $47.5 million(2015-19); $15 million signing bonus;$28.5 million guaranteed

2015: $10 million signing bonus (remaining $5 million is due on March31, 2016), $2.5 million salary,$500,000 roster bonus

POTENTIAL FOR PLAYERSREP:If McCourty plays out the contract, theagency would get $1.425 million (3%)

JASON MCCOURTY, CORNERBACK, TITANSTHE DEAL: Six years, $43.04 million (2012-17); $9 millionsigning bonus; $17 million guaranteed

2015: $6.8 million salary

POTENTIAL FOR PLAYERSREP:If McCourty plays out the contract, theagency would get $1,291,200 (3%)



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Business

By JEREMY [email protected]

Mark Ross returned to his nativeCleveland this year with some aus-picious goals for Pricewaterhouse-Coopers’ Lake Erie market.

Ross wants to double the audit,tax and consulting company’s busi-ness in this market — which com-prises Cleveland, Pittsburgh, andBuffalo and Rochester, N.Y. — by2020.

But how does the world’s sec-ond-largest professional servicescorporation continue such growthat its already massive scale?

It takes it from other companies.“We believe our opportunity to

take market share for audit clientsis going to be a significant growthopportunity for us,” Ross said.

Consistent growth in PwC’s con-sulting and tax practices alsobodes well for the company’sgoals.

Ross took over as managing part-ner of the Lake Erie market in Janu-ary, replacing Bob Saada, who nowis PwC’s managing partner of thecompany’s New York Metro Dealsand Transaction Services practice.

A PwC lifer, Ross started his ca-

reer in Cleveland with the firm’s au-dit practice in 1987 and worked upthrough the ranks, achieving part-ner in 1999.

He eventually took leadershiproles in deals practices in Miami in2006, followed by San Francisco in2011, where he recently left to re-turn to Cleveland.

“I knew I wasn’t going to retire inCalifornia,” said Ross, 50. “This is acity I have an extreme amount ofpride for, and it was time to comehome.”

Ross grew up in Mentor andgraduated from Miami University.He’s preparing to settle in his newhome in Cleveland’s Edgewaterneighborhood.

“Mark has demonstrated atremendous track record of successin every role we’ve asked him totake on for the firm,” said Jay Hen-derson, PwC vice chairman andMidwest Region leader. “Because ofhis success with transaction ser-vices in Florida and San Franciscocombined with his deep roots inCleveland, he’s the ideal candidateto take on the Lake Erie market go-ing forward.”

“There are continued opportuni-ties for growth in the companies in

this region, which we believe arestrong, but the economical riskscould represent an area of head-winds in the future,” Hendersonadded.

Opportunities aheadBut other challenges exist with

capturing market share for a com-pany with an expansive existingpresence.

The only firm with a larger clientbase and revenues in Ross’ region isErnst & Young, which also edgespast PwC globally as the top corpo-ration in the Big Four.

Privately held PwC does not dis-close specific regional finances.Globally, PwC had about $34 billionin gross revenues in fiscal year 2014,about $12.7 billion of which is gen-erated in the United States and theCaribbean.

The overall firm has achievedabout 9% annual growth over thepast five years, Ross said, withabout 8% annual growth logged inthe Lake Erie market. PwC has setthe bar at about 10% annual growthfirmwide.

Ross oversees about 1,000 em-ployees across his market’s four

cities, where the top 200 clientscomprise about 95% of total rev-enue. In Northeast Ohio, PwCserves 80% of the Fortune 1,000companies with a presence here inat least one of its three servicelines.

The consulting side offers someof the “largest” opportunities forus, Ross said, referencing the com-pany’s bolstering of the practicewith last April’s acquisition of NewYork-headquartered global man-agement consulting firm Booz &Co. that PwC has rebranded as“Strategy&.”

Some Strategy& execs are work-ing out of PwC’s Cleveland office,which added 10 partners from Booz& Co. to bring the Cleveland partnerpresence to 45 — a significant hikefrom the 25 partners here just fiveyears ago.

“People think about PwC as anaccounting and tax firm,” Ross aid,“but over 30% of our revenue nownationally is coming from consult-ing.”

The audit and tax practices com-prise about 42% and 27% of PwC’sremaining revenue pie. Those twolines are growing between 5% and10% annually, but the consultingbusiness is growing at a clip of 15%to 20%, Ross said.

Fighting for No. 1The Cleveland office also recent-

ly added M&A tax capabilities withthe first of the year.

“We continue to see stronggrowth in the deals business, andtransaction activity is strong for ourprivate equity clients, too,” Rosssaid. “That will continue to be a fac-tor in the Lake Erie market.”

Beyond finances, Ross aims togrow his market’s total staff, thoughhe would not discuss by how much.

The staff is heavily weighted withyoung people, bringing the averageage of PwC employees to 27, Rossnoted. And while turnover washigher in California, where the firmcompetes against large and lucra-tive Silicon Valley companies, re-tention in the Cleveland market is“extremely” strong. Ross attributesthat to “Midwest cultures and val-ues.”

One effort for drawing talentedyoung people includes promotingwork-life balance and more com-munity service opportunities.

“(Millennials), I think, get a toughrap,” Ross said. “There’s this ideathey don’t want to work as hard, butthat’s not true. They just want towork differently. They want there tobe more focus on purpose thanprofit, to some extent. They want tofeel like they’re associated withsomething that’s adding value tosociety.”

A PwC survey shows the compa-ny expects its staff will consist 80%of millennials, or people born be-tween 1980 and 1995.

“So our mindset has to change tobe more responsive to that genera-tion in general,” Ross said.

With Ross’ plan to double PwC’sLake Erie market business in fiveyears, he’s setting a trajectory to bethe region’s largest professional ser-vice network — an auspicious goalfor the London-headquartered cor-poration that Ross said is already ei-ther first or second in every one ofits 20 markets in the United States.

“And five years from now,” hesaid, “I want us to be the No. 1brand in this market.”

PwC turns regional focus to market share



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Biz is always on the move, constantly growingBy CHUCK [email protected]

Sure, the size of Movable’s cus-tomer base has exploded over thepast two years, but we can’t de-scribe it as “untethered” growth.

Roughly 900 companies andschool districts have distributedMovable’s wrist-worn activitytrackers to their employees andstudents.

That’s up from about 130 twoyears ago — a seven-fold increase.

Not bad. But if anything has re-stricted the company’s growth, it’sall those darn USB cords.

Next month, however, Movablewill release a version of theMovband that doesn’t need them:The Movband 3 will be able to syncwith a computer wirelessly. And itshould help the Brecksville-basedcompany win more large cus-tomers, according to CEO BlakeSquires.

Major corporations are oftenwilling to spend more money for abetter product. The Movband 3should fit the bill, Squires said. Inaddition to the wireless capability,it’s also “thinner and sleeker” thanits predecessor, he said. Thus, itcosts $60 — twice as much as the$30 Movband 2, but still less expen-sive than the standard Fitbit and

many other activity trackers.“It was really built to capture

more of an enterprise environ-ment,” Squires said.

Thus, Movable is gearing up togo after those large companies.

That’s one reason why the com-pany hired Jeff Scott at the end ofMarch. Scott, who spent more thana decade working for KeyBank, isMovable’s chief financial officer,but he’s also tasked with helpingthe company sell to large clients.

Movable has been adding more

manpower in other ways, too. Thecompany employs nearly 30 peopletoday, up from about a dozen ayear ago. And in December, it hiredtwo other executives who havehelped it accelerate the develop-ment of the Movband 3.

Squires brought on one of hisformer colleagues, Mike Belsito, tolead product development andstrategy. Belsito is best known forhelping start a now-defunct funer-al home comparison shoppingwebsite called eFuneral. He also

was one of the first employees atFindaway World, a digital audiotechnology company that Squireshelped start in 2004.

Movable also hired chief tech-nology officer Adam Hutcheson.He previously held that title atMongoose Metrics, a local market-ing analytics firm that was acquiredlast year.

Movable needed a CTO. In addi-tion to developing the Movband 3,the company also has been beefingup the software behind it, Squires

said, again citing the company’s ef-fort to serve more large customers.

Movable competes partly onprice, but it also aims to win overbusinesses and schools by givingthem software designed to helpthem manage fitness-related pro-grams and analyze the data collect-ed by their Movbands — and anyother activity trackers they use.

“Movable is really a data compa-ny,” he said.

Administrators can use the soft-ware to build challenges and sendmessages to participants. For in-stance, if someone wearing aMovband has been sitting still fortoo long, the administrator couldprogram the system to send them atext message reminding them to getmoving.

Or if the employee is wearing theMovband 3, the software can tell itto vibrate.

Eventually, Movable will focusmore on selling to doctors’ officesand hospitals. Some doctors al-ready are asking their patients towear Movbands, Squires said, not-ing that doctors can track howmuch exercise patients are doingthrough the software.

“The data will become morevaluable as the Affordable Care Act… becomes more outcomes-based,” he said.

The number of companies using Movable’s activity trackers has increased seven-fold in two years, and a new version is on the way

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

At left, Movable employees have a“stand-up” meeting at the company’sheadquarters in Brecksville. Above,the Movband 2 (left) and Movband 3are shown side-by-side.


Last week, Boston Globe columnist DanShaughnessy, in town for the Cavs-Celticsseries, turned his watch back 40 years andwrote a column bashing Cleveland. Youmight have heard about it.

“Downtown Cleveland is asad space with many vacantbuildings and boarded-upstores.”

“It feels like the local econo-my runs on lottery tickets.”

“Horseshoe Casino … it’snot Ocean’s Eleven. It’s morelike Atlantic City-on-the-Cuyahoga.”

All that was missing was arehash of the “what’s the dif-ference between Clevelandand the Titanic?” joke. (An-swer: Cleveland’s orchestra is better.)

After reading the piece, I felt sick.It wasn’t the column that caused the

nausea. A lazy journalist parroting anoutdated narrative about Cleveland isn’tworth the wasted bile. It was the reactionto the column that sickened me.

Local media outlets fumed. Sports talkradio erupted. Online commentersleaned on the caps-lock button. “DanShaughnessy” began trending on Twit-ter. And, unbelievably, Cuyahoga Coun-ty Executive Armond Budish released a

statement reminding Shaughnessy that,among other things, “our city is tough.”

How embarrassing.An attention-hungry columnist cob-

bles together some tripe about Cleveland— probably minutes beforehis deadline — and suddenlyour top political leaders arescrambling to respond?

As our region ascends into“new Cleveland” — vibrant,exciting, growing — we’re go-ing to need to shed some ofour “old Cleveland” habits.

We’re doing a pretty goodjob reversing the negativity. Arecent survey shows that 54%of Cuyahoga County residentswould recommend Cleveland

as a tourist destination, up a whopping20 percentage points from just threeyears ago.

Our thin skin is a different story.When Johnny Carson cracked jokes

about Cleveland in the 1970s, we jammedthe NBC switchboard and flooded Rock-efeller Center with letters. When Cincin-nati Bengals coach Sam Wyche dissedCleveland in 1989, you could grill muni-lot bratwurst with the fury.

Old Cleveland took insults personally,with hurt and anger. That’s because our

collective inferiority complex made theopinion of others so important. The des-peration in our reaction, to point out ourwonderful assets, to correct the record, tobe viewed as a big-league town — it wasthe exact opposite of big league.

Enough of the wounded and insecureact.

How about a different reaction? Howabout no reaction at all?

Twenty-five years ago when I was atOhio State, a preacher named BrotherJed would set up shop on the Oval onsunny spring days and shout at sinnerstudents as they walked past. Sometimesa kid would stop and try to debate theguy, but it was pointless.

“Never argue with a fool,” Mark Twainfamously said. “Onlookers may not beable to tell the difference.”

Shaughnessy is not much differentthan that apocalyptic preacher, althoughBrother Jed was probably a bettercolumnist.

New Cleveland is about more than ho-tels, development, restaurants, conven-tions, neighborhoods and downtown liv-ing. It’s about a different attitude, a quietconfidence that we all know is the truth:This is a dynamite place.

Budish is right that we are a tough city.Let’s stop bruising so easily.


Same sideGone are the days when working a summer job

during your teen years could earn you enough cash tocover the cost of college. Nowadays, working a summerjob from birth wouldn’t even make a dent in the ever-escalating expense of higher education.

You only need to look at these stats from the CollegeBoard. As a student entering college today, you can expect to pay, on average, for tuition and fees:

$3,347 a year at a public two-year college, up 150%from $1,337 in 1984-85 (in 2014 dollars)

$9,139 a year for an in-state, public four-year institution, compared to $2,810, a 225% increase from30 years ago

$31,231 a year for a private four-year school — an increase of 146% from $12,716 in 1984-85

That doesn’t include boarding and meals, which addmany thousands more on to the tab.

The debate rages as to why college prices have increased at such a rapid pace. Cuts in state funding.Bloated administrations and salaries. Skyrocketing student fees. Overbuilt campuses designed to attractmore students with amenities rather than academics(Look at our private dorm rooms! Our new recreationcenter! Our athletic facilities!)

Gov. John Kasich recognizes the need to rein in thesestratospheric costs. In February, he challenged Ohio’scollege and university leaders to lower costs by creatingan affordability and efficiency task force.

The University of Akron heeded Kasich’s call and recently presented a plan to offer reduced-price generaleducation courses. Akron’s “GenEd Core” program willfeature a dozen introductory courses taught primarilyonline. Tuition for these courses would be $49 per credit hour instead of Akron’s usual $359 per credithour – which the university says is half the cost at areacommunity colleges.

Northeast Ohio community college leaders raised askeptical eyebrow and issued a statement: “While we applaud the University of Akron’s efforts to provide amore affordable educational experience for students, …the idea conveyed by the university ... that this representsthe most affordable rate in the region can be confusingfor both students and their families. When comparing tuition and fees, the community colleges provide thegreater value and financial advantage for the studentspursuing credentials, associate and bachelor degrees.”

This is a fine example of the challenges Kasich’s taskforce faces in getting the parties involved — from statelawmakers to school administrators — to start workingtogether to solve this problem.

Community colleges are clearly part of the solutionand have much to offer, including generally lower tuitions. But it’s not community colleges vs. four-yearuniversities.

All higher education players must cooperate, coordinate and embrace new ideas like Akron’s GenEdCore. Cleveland State University had another good idealast year when it created a tuition-and-books creditprogram for students who have at least a 30-hourcourse load and maintain a 2.0 grade point average. Itencourages a faster, and therefore cheaper, path tograduation.

Efforts to rein in tuition with legislation — the Ohiolegislature is currently hammering that out — will onlygo so far. We need more good ideas, and we need a higher education community willing to embrace them.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

TALK ON THE WEB

Cleveland needs a thicker skin

PUBLISHER:John Campanelli ([email protected])

EDITOR:Elizabeth McIntyre ([email protected])

MANAGING EDITOR:Scott Suttell ([email protected])

OPINION

JOHN CAMPANELLI

Re: After the Garfield Building mess

The city of Cleveland uses housing in-spectors as a political tool to extract con-cessions and donations from any honestbusiness that tells the city it’s building orexpanding.

Instead, why not inspect the buildingswhere the GREATEST DANGER couldarise, like evacuating the Key Tower orthis place falling apart. Instead, smallbusinesses are treated by Father Cleve-land as its little children to be watchedover and certainly not trusted to buildthings right.

Maybe it’s because the big buildingscome with big lawyers, and the city ismore afraid of lawyers than anything

else — including tornadoes, earth-quakes, nuclear accidents, etc.

— ClevelandBill

The practice of requiring inspectionsof homes and businesses is typically re-garded as against the law and an inva-sion of privacy.

But the real issue is that the city doesnot have adequate resources (cash andqualified inspectors), and raising taxesand/or enacting more fees on business-es is (hopefully) a nonstarter.

— dick kocuba

Re: A memorable Rock Hallinduction, but …

Everything I read says the award show

was amazing. While I’m happy Cleveland got to have

the show this year, I’m not happy aboutthe way it’s covered.

All other award shows are broadcaston one of the major networks so all thepeople that either purchase the music orbuy a ticket to a movie get to see their fa-vorites shine in the spotlight (until themusic tells them to move along).

But this award show “sold out” toHBO, and only the people that sub-scribe to it will get to see it sometime inMay.

Seems the artists always have anopinion — I wonder how they feelabout the fans being snubbed for theHBO money?

— Tom


By JACK KLEINHENZ

Northeast Ohio’s economy hasgone through a renaissance, but wemust continue our hard work tokeep our region booming.

In this effort, there is no “silverbullet” to continuing the growth wedesire.

Instead, as we all work towardeconomic prosperity, we must en-courage our elected officials toadopt an array of pro-growth poli-cies.

For example, removing barriersthat do not prioritize innovation isa critical priority to maintain andbuild upon a robust business cli-mate.

Gov. John Kasich agrees and in-troduced language in the proposedstate operating budget (House Bill64) that will encourage the expan-sion of high-speed Internet access— or broadband — to more areas ofOhio. With this important tool, ourlocal businesses and consumershave the opportunity to flourish.

In 2014, I published a study thatexamined where Ohio fell in vari-ous national rankings — reflectingthe policies that need to be promot-ed or restructured to encourageeconomic growth.

In that research — derived fromthe Ewing Marion Kauffman Foun-dation, TechNet, the U.S. Depart-ment of Education, TechAmericaand other groups — I found that theunderpinnings of economic growthare multifaceted, and center onfour key areas: access to a reason-able quality of life, development ofSTEM education, resources to ac-quire early-stage business funding,and access to high-speed Internet,or broadband.

This year, I revisited my studyand made some important updates.

Through my research, I foundOhio ranks in the middle of the 50states on multiple factors for eco-nomic growth with many crucial in-dicators lagging behind otherstates.

In the key area of entrepreneurialactivity, I found that Ohio fell from34th to 39th since my last study. Ad-ditionally, Ohio fell from 12th to15th in the PricewaterhouseCoop-ers Money Tree Venture Capitalrankings in the most recent quarter.

Perhaps the most important,however, is our broadband ranking.Two separate reports, TechNet’s2012 State Broadband Index andthe State New Economy Indexranked Ohio as 39th in broadbandadoption and economic structure.

The question is: Why do I believethat broadband access is vital to thegrowth of our economy?

The answer is clear — the invest-ment the state is making in humancapital, research and developmentand technology entrepreneurship isinterdependent on having the latestinformation and communicationsinfrastructure.

Investment in Ohio’s networkscreates jobs, but also provides bet-ter and faster broadband services tomore businesses, consumers,schools, farms, health care facili-ties, manufacturing companies andvarious other essential engines ofour economy.

We all want to see the continuedgrowth of our economy, and pas-sage of the House Bill 64 provisionsthat reduce impediments and allowfor market-driven incentives toguide private investment in theBuckeye State Broadband networkswill provide a continued boost toour economy in Ohio.


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TALK ON THE WEB (CONTINUED)Re: Armond Budish’sState of the County address

It is refreshing to hear the upbeatand frank discussion in Mr. Bud-ish’s State of the County presenta-tion.

I am particularly intrigued by theconcept of a Silicon Valley in healthcare right here in one of the heavi-est concentration of modern healthcare centers in the country.

Recognizing the stark realities ofpoverty is one thing, but identifyingdiscrete and tangible solutions isanother, and Mr. Budish appears tobe going in the right direction.

— Eli Santiago

Re: The future of mediaIt should not be news to a busi-

ness paper as sophisticated asCrain’s that the outbound mediamodel of one-to-many, which hasbeen typical of the media’s rela-tionship with its readers, has been

changed by the digital revolution tomany-to-many.

This means that dialog in socialmedia confounds control of themessage by traditional mainstreammedia because it cannot control it.The same can be said for the main-stream models of corporate andgovernment public relations.

Media organizations, and thosethat rely on the traditional model,which remain committed to thebroadcast model of one-to-manywill continue to lose ground regard-less of whether they are print or TV.Innovation in engagement of read-ers with the news via social mediawill increase market share, espe-cially with target audiences relatedto the content offered to them.That’s why it is called “social media.” — Daniel Yurman

Re: Michelle Obama tospeak at Oberlin College

So, is this a “trigger event,” andwill there be a safe place for conser-

vatives to go if they feel traumatizedby this liberal agenda?

Or does that only apply whenconservative voices want to beheard?

— Writerjeff

Re: Toronto looks tolearn from Cleveland

Seeing a very diverse city likeToronto following Cleveland’s leadshould send a message to all the lo-cal doubters.

Having spent time in Torontosome years ago and being back inCleveland for the last 20 years, I amexcited about playing a more activerole in continuing to keep Cleve-land in this leadership position.

— Neil Dick

Re: New Team NEO boardchair

Jim Clay will help the idea of re-gionalism for certain.

— Richard B.

Kleinhenz is CEO of Kleinhenz & Associates in Cleveland and an adjunct professor of economics atCase Western Reserve University.

PERSONAL VIEW

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REAL ESTATE REPORT: A weekly guide to real estatenews. Published Monday.

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in the health care industry. Published Tuesday.

MANUFACTURING REPORT: A weekly guide to Northeast Ohio’s manufacturing sector. Published every other Wednesday.

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By JAY [email protected]

Although the March hit was negligible— a loss of 215 jobs — employment inNortheast Ohio continues a slump thatbegan in January, according to the Ahola Crain’s Employment report

“This month’s report shows a slowdown in hiring and reflects that theregion along with the nation have experienced a soft patch in first-quartergrowth,” wrote Jack Kleinhenz, theCleveland Heights economist who created the ACE model.

Total employment dropped to1,160,156 on a seasonally adjustedbasis, from 1,160,371 working peoplein February, according to the regionalemployment model.

Despite the sluggish employmentnumbers, there is optimism that business is improving. For instance, theApril economic outlook from PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reportson a survey of Ohio small and middlemarket business owners and showsthem in an upbeat mood. The surveyshows that 82% of business ownersare optimistic or very optimistic abouttheir businesses’ prospects, and 85%are either optimistic or very optimisticabout their local economies.

“Ohio’s economy will pick up moremomentum in 2015,” PNC economistMekael Teshome reported.

“Manufacturing will remain a primarygrowth driver.”

Hiring, however, is a different story.Only 10% of survey respondents planto add full-time employees in the foreseeable future, and 56% haven’t increased staffing for at least 12months.

But another indicator appears to betelling a more optimistic story.

Simply Hired, an employment website that aggregates job listingsfrom across the web, reported lastweek that the number of job openingsin the Cleveland-Akron metropolitanarea rose 1.98% in March.

The site reported 48,161 job openings in March.

“It’s been a little rocky in Clevelandand Akron since October,” said SimplyHired marketing director Susan Martindill. “But it’s trending upward overthe last couple months. What we see isa bit of a leading indicator because itshows not just the availability of jobsbut also a desire of companies to actively hire.”

The ACE employment numbers arebased on payroll data compiled by TheAhola Corp., a Brecksville payroll andhuman capital management firm.

The figures come from 3,000 employers who use Ahola’s payroll processing service.

Region’s job slumpcontinues in March

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Canton plant closing scrutinizedBy DAN [email protected]

The Worker Adjustment and Re-training Notification Act of 1988 waspassed to make sure employeeswere not blindsided when an em-ployer laid off more than 50 people.

It requires an employer that isclosing a plant or laying off morethan 50 people to give the affectedworkers advance notice of at least 60days. In Ohio, that means filing a no-tice with the Department of Job andFamily Services.

But that’s not how things workedout in Canton recently, when 270employees of Republic Storage Sys-tems in Canton learned on April 10that they no longer had jobs. Thatwas the same day that the companyfiled its notice with ODJFS that it wasclosing the company. Employeesfound out when they went to workthat they had no work to go to.

Now, employees and their union,the United Steelworkers, are tryingto figure out if Republic and its pri-vate equity owner, Philadelphia-based Versa Capital Management,followed the law.

“The International (SteelworkersUnion) is investigating it,” said ChrisDye, recording secretary for USWLocal 2345 in Canton, which repre-sented most of the plant’s workers.

Dye, who said she went to workfor the company straight out of highschool 40 years ago, already was onlayoff from January. But on April 10,she found out that her layoff wouldbe permanent, as she and her

coworkers lost both their jobs andhealth insurance on the same day.

Up until then, Dye said, employ-ees had been told by managementthat the company was being sold toLyon LLC, which like Republicmakes storage lockers for schools,industrial sites and other uses — andthat Lyon intended to keep Republicand its employees in Canton work-ing.

Calls to the number left withODJFS in Republic’s filing went intoa voicemail that indicated it was fulland could not accept messages.

But the company’s letter to thestate of Ohio indicates that it is like-ly relying on a portion of the WARNAct that carves out an exception fora “faltering company,” said Bart Bix-enstine, a Cleveland labor lawyerand partner at the Vorys law firm.

Although he was not familiar withthe Republic case specifically, Bixen-stine said some of the company’sletter to the state of Ohio closely fol-lows what is in the law in terms offaltering companies.

The letter stated that the compa-ny was trying to seek additional cap-ital or financing, which it needed be-cause of “business circumstancesthat were not foreseeable and out-side of the company’s control.”

“This letter is intended to meetany notice requirements under thefederal WARN Act or similar state orlocal laws but the company does notadmit by giving this letter that noticeis required,” the letter also stated.

To close without giving 60 daysnotice, a “faltering company” must

meet four criteria, Bixenstine said. Itmust be activity seeking capital, itmust have a realistic opportunity ofobtaining it, it must seek capital suf-ficient to avoid or postpone a shut-down and, finally, the employermust act in good faith when it saysthat disclosing the shutdown wouldhave hurt its efforts to raise capital,he said.

Whether all of that happenedwould have to be determined with athorough examination, presumablyby the USW. But the situation pointsout how the law and its exceptionscan represent a sort of Catch-22 foremployers and workers alike.

“You see the dilemma here,” Bix-enstine said. “The exception is basi-cally there because companies thatare on the precipice and fighting tosurvive can’t really tell employeesthat (they are about to close) — be-cause everyone will head toward thedoor.”

But now, even if the company isfound to have violated the act, it ap-pears the jobs are gone forever. Lyonwent ahead and bought not thecompany, but most of its equip-ment, and moved it to Illinois, whereit now will make lockers under theRepublic name. Dye said she sus-pects that was the plan all along,though she said she probably can’tcomplain too much.

“I think they wanted to buy us,shut it down and move out to Illi-nois — because we were going to dothe same thing to them when theywent bankrupt in 2013,” Dye said.“It’s bad karma, man.”



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Independence firm sets sights on aging advisersBy JEREMY [email protected]

Joseph Heider isn’t just expect-ing wealth advisers to retire in com-ing years.

He’s banking on it. Heider in January founded Cirrus

Wealth Management in Indepen-dence after demerging his DawsonWealth Management firm in RockyRiver from Rehmann, a Michigan-based financial services company.

At age 60, Heider has no immedi-ate plans to retire. Instead, he plansto use the graying of the wealth man-agement sector’s financial advisersto his advantage by acquiring the

books of other smaller money man-agers to grow his latest business.

Cirrus today has a staff of fivecollectively advising on about $300million for 300 clients, and thebusiness is laying the groundworkto begin acquisitions early nextyear.

Heider said he is in talks withthree groups around Cleveland andwestern Pennsylvania that eachrepresent about $250 million in as-sets.

At 2015’s close, Heider expectsCirrus will make at least $2 millionin revenue.

Cirrus will face strong competi-tion in growing through acquisi-

tions as similar groups across thecountry also set sights on aging ad-visers mapping their way into re-tirement.

Nonetheless, Heider plans togrow Cirrus to $10 million in annu-alized revenue in three to fouryears, anticipating “we will need tobring in six to seven adviser groupsto do that.”

Better off aloneA licensed pilot and self-de-

scribed adrenaline junkie whobungee jumped for his past birth-day, Heider named Cirrus afterclouds suitable for smooth flight.

In the late 2000s, DawsonWealth Management, cofoundedby Heider in 1992, was planningan accelerated growth path.

The company was in talks withprivate equity groups, Heider said.But as those talks fizzled, Rehmannentered the picture looking to repli-cate in Michigan and Ohio themergers Heider’s team had alreadycompleted or had on the radar. Thetwo merged in 2010. Heider joinedas a partner.

“The whole idea was we’d leadthe way in accounting firm mergersand look at wealth management ac-quisitions,” Heider said.

But that relationship didn’t mesh

as envisioned. Mark Bonhard, a 72-year-old fi-

nancial adviser at Cirrus who firstbegan working with Heider at Daw-son and followed him to Rehmann,said Rehmann operated “more like abank.”

The outfit wasn’t suitable for pro-ducing rainmaking advisers. Mostbusiness referrals were coming di-rectly from CPAs.

Meanwhile, Rehmann neverfound a CPA partner in Cleveland asexpected, Bonhard said. Mergers, for“various reasons,” just didn’t hap-pen, Heider added. And the paystructure wasn’t preferred for theformer Dawson team — top-produc-ing advisers had income capped in-side the CPA firm.

“The elements of the cultural mis-match were there,” Bonhard said.

“It was an excellent firm. It justwasn’t a good fit.”

Searching for advisersCirrus is looking for advisers gen-

erating at least $500,000 and abovein revenue who are considering re-tirement.

The firm wants to help those peo-ple craft succession plans for grayingmoney managers looking to gradual-ly work their way into retirement.

“We’re looking for the adviser whostill has a passion for the business,”Heider said, “but … would like toslow down.”

Indeed, the pool of possible acqui-sitions is deep.

According to 2014 research byBoston-based Cerulli Associates,which specializes in global assetmanagement and distribution ana-lytics, almost one-third of advisersplan to retire within the next decadewhile an estimated 200,000 advisersmay retire by 2022. The average ageof advisers is about 50, while 43% ofall advisers are 55 or older.

Many wealth managers are takinga similar approach, creating stiffcompetition for acquisitions.

“As advisers begin to retire, a larg-er number of sellers will enter themarket,” said Kenton Shirk, associ-ate director at Cerulli, in an October2014 report.

“Practices that are heavily weight-ed with older clients are less desir-able because they have less potentialto generate future cash flow. Retiredclients are also inclined to depleteasset balances as they withdrawmoney for living expenses.”

Shirk also notes a trend that advis-ers in many cases are asking fortriple the value of revenue generatedby their books.

Heider is not dismayed by thechallenges.

“I’m still competitive, I still enjoythe game, and I still love this busi-ness,” Heider said.

“I get a thrill out of working withclients directly and running the busi-ness. And I think if you still have thedrive at whatever level you’re oper-ating at and are still enthused by it,then age certainly has a role, but Idon’t look at it as a limitation at thispoint and time.”

“We’re looking for theadviser who still has apassion for the business,but would like to slow down.”

– Joseph Heiderfounder, Cirrus Wealth Management


APRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2015 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 17

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It just doesn’t feellike summer in Ohiountil I get one of thosesticky-sweet lemonshake-ups to carryaround the fair.

Any fair will do.When summer hits, Iwant nothing more

than to be outside, which makes whatever’s in towna great option. There’s usually live music or someother kind of entertainment, cool arts and crafts toperuse and a seemingly endless amount of food tochoose from — the options at most festivals haveexpanded so much in recent years that even alongtime vegetarian like myself has no problemfinding something for lunch.

I have to trace this fondness back to my home-town’s annual festival, which, for three days everysummer, gave my friends and me somewhere towander that wasn’t the mall. Thanks, CortlandStreet Fair.

Seriously, though, in Cuyahoga County, there’s afair for everyone, from those celebrating a particu-lar cultural heritage to the home days celebrationsin the suburbs to the competitive rib burnoffs.

And no list like this would be complete withoutmentioning the Cuyahoga County Fair, which willcelebrate its 119th year this summer. The fair hasbeen a near annual tradition since 1893, missingonly three years in that time: 1932 because of theGreat Depression, and 1942 and 1943 because ofWorld War II, said public relations and media am-bassador Candyce Traci.

The fair is the signature event for the CuyahogaCounty Agricultural Society and raises money for

the upkeep of the 117-acre fairgrounds, Traci said.This year’s fair will be held from Aug. 10 to 16 andwill feature a lot of familiar attractions, includingthe demolition derby, live music and more than100 food stations. And as always, there will bethousands of animals on display — I’m personally afan of the baby goats and the bunnies.

And the fair doesn’t have to just serve as enter-tainment. For families, it can be an educational ex-perience, too. Traci mentioned that a lot of peoplelike to bring their children to the fair to see wheretheir food comes from before it gets to the gro-cery store. (A word of warning to parents, though:if your kids don’t like what they learn, you may endup with a preschool vegetarian on your hands. Iknow from experience.)

One of the other big events at the CuyahogaCounty fairgrounds this year is Berea’s National RibCook-Off from May 22 to 25. And I’d check cuy-fair.com for updates on what’s happening at thefairgrounds in Berea throughout the spring andsummer. The Marc’s Great American Rib Cook-Off& Music Festival also is being held from May 22 to25, but it’s at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica.

There are also a variety of cultural fairs and festi-vals throughout Cuyahoga County this summer, in-cluding the Cleveland Asian Festival (May 16 to17), the Tremont Greek Festival (May 22 to 25),Cinco de Mayo Cleveland (May 29 to 31), the Ital-ian American Summer Festival (June 26 to 28) andthe Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival (July 24 to 26).More information can be found on all of these fairson their respective websites.

I have to admit that I’ve never been to the OhioState Fair, but for anyone up for a road trip, thatwill be July 29 to Aug. 9 in Columbus.

FAIRS & FESTIVALSNo matter how sizzling the heat gets in the summer in Cleveland,

it’s great to go out for lunch downtown.No, I don’t mean the terrific restaurants with ubiquitous patios. Nor

do I mean patronizing trendy food trucks. They’re great, but I am refer-ring to grabbing a sandwich packed at home or quickly buying one.Use those minutes to enjoy the city and soak up what sun this oftencloudy place gets.

Each district downtown has a sound and temperament all its own.After years of working downtown, I’ve still got a few good ones to ex-plore. However, I have some favorites. Most are a short walk fromanywhere downtown.

For an experience somewhat like lunching atop a mountain, try thegrounds of Carl B. Stokes U.S. Courthouse, 801 W. Superior Ave.,next to the Cuyahoga River valley.

Landscaped terraces line the slope between Huron Road and CanalRoad. Benches are located on various levels. The panorama rangesfrom construction of the Innerbelt Bridge to Lake Erie, with river traf-fic to spice things up. Chances are you will dine alone, although theU.S. Marshals Service strolls through.

In the Flats, there’s the east end of the Superior Viaduct, a stub ofan old bridge that serves as a park. On the East Bank, there’s Set-tlers Landing on Old River Road. The riverfront site where the city’snamesake, Moses Cleaveland, came ashore in 1796 is a terrific,grassy park. A close-up look at a passing ship as tall as an officebuilding is the kind of thing people travel for — yet it can be part of aCleveland work day.

Even before the Cleveland Convention Center was finished in 2013,the downtown Cleveland Mall was great. Now it’s even better. Highquality tables and benches replaced the old wood ones. Giving the re-built convention center a Lakeside Avenue entrance also gave the malla grassy slope that produced a promontory overlooking the lakefrontand skyline. Planes landing and taking off at Burke Lakefront Airportand passing ships keep the view changing. Although it seems morepopular than ever, the mall still has lots of elbow room at lunchtime.

Among all these appetizing locations, the dessert is Eastman ReadingGarden. Tucked between the two buildings of Cleveland Public Library’smain branch, 325 Superior Ave., it’s a serene spot that is closed in thewinter. Step inside in the summer and enjoy public art and landscaping.Go early or late, though: seats are scarce at noon weekdays.

There are some drawbacks. Sea birdsnear the lake or river may eye yoursandwich or worse. Sitting near a foun-tain, a brisk wind may give you a show-er. Otherwise, the only thing that damp-ens this summer fun is a downpour.

Even if the temperature spikes toohigh, remember that winter will returntoo soon.

WHERE TO SITSTAN BULLARD, SENIOR REPORTER, REAL ESTATERACHEL ABBEY MCCAFFERTY, MANUFACTURING REPORTER


TIMOTHY MAGAW, HEALTH CARE REPORTER

Some of thesummer’sbiggest tours— The RollingStones, most notably —might beskippingCleveland this

summer, but that doesn’t mean there’s ashortage of fine performances comingthrough the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, particularly at some of Northeast Ohio’s more eclectic venues.

I suppose the One Direction performance at FirstEnergy Stadium (Aug. 27) was poisedto be the must-see show of the summer, butnow that Zayn has left the band, why evenbother? I’m being facetious, of course. This isa city built on serious music, and as Crain’sresident music snob, I can say that there’splenty to take in this summer.

First off, the Beachland Ballroom — thecity’s best venue, in my opinion — has somesolid acts coming through over the next sev-eral months, most notably indie-rockers Ba-hamas (June 17) and The Antlers (May 15).

If you’re looking to take in some good jamsand the region’s (hopefully) great summerweather, look no farther than Cain Park, whichboasts a quaint amphitheatre (think of it as asmaller Blossom with more character) inCleveland Heights. I’ve seen Fiona Apple theretwice — both unforgettable performances onbeautiful summer nights.

This summer, the venue has secured BelaFleck with Abigail Washburn (June 26) andSouthside Johnny (Aug. 15). Don’t forgetyour mosquito repellant, as it can get a littlebuggy. Skip the Beach Boys (Aug. 1),though. Seeing a Mike Love-led “BeachBoys” (the quotation marks are meant tocast sarcasm) lineup is like opting for drink-ing mud out of the Cuyahoga River insteadof one of Great Lakes Brewing Company’sexquisite libations.

Speaking of the river, Jacobs Pavilion atNautica in the Flats is still a fine place to seea show in the summer.

Some of this year’s notable acts includeThe Avett Brothers (Aug. 20) and JacksonBrowne (Sept. 8).

Less notable acts, but likely well-attendedevents, include Third Eye Blind with Dash-board Confessional (May 29) and Weird AlYankovic (May 30). Plus, the performers areusually taken aback by the giant barges thatcoast down the river directly behind thestage, which makes for good stage banter.

For the last few years, the Rock and RollHall of Fame had hosted a superb free con-cert series outside the museum in the sum-mer, but it has recently morphed into its Son-ic Sessions program — for which tickets willcost $5.50.

But if you’re still on the prowl for freeshows, check out Wade Oval Wednesdays, afree evening concert series that kicks offJune 17 in the heart of University Circle.

Patio weather is finally here, so let’s do lunch. One of my favorite things to do when the weather warms up is to dine al fresco. We’ve got five

glorious months to eat outdoors in Northeast Ohio and dozens of open-air eating options. So getout there for lunch, dinner or drinks and enjoy a warm breeze while talking business — or justshooting the breeze. Here are 10 of my favorite warm-weather, open-air dine-and-drink spots inthe NEO, some downtown, some east and west:

MUSICAPRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2015 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 19

DINING AL FRESCO

ELEMENTS2300 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, [email protected] on the campus of Cleveland State University, the Elements patiomanages to feel secluded and urban at the same time.

GREENHOUSE TAVERN2038 East Fourth St., Cleveland, 216-443-0511thegreenhousetavern.comWhether dining on the rooftop deck or the street-side patio, you’re in forsome of the best people watching in downtown Cleveland at Green-house Tavern.

THE HARP4408 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, 216-939-0200the-harp.comThis is the Midwest at its finest — gritty with a side of pretty. Sit on thedeck at this Irish pub and take in Lake Erie, the industrial Flats, down-town Cleveland and the West Shoreway while enjoying lunch a short drive from downtown.

HOULIHAN’S WESTLAKE25651 Detroit Road, Westlake, 440-808-9090houlihans.com/my-houlihans/WestlakeTwenty minutes from downtown, Houlihan’s Westlake offers a suburbanescape with an expansive patio tucked away in a grotto-like setting.

HODGE’S668 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, 216-771-4000thedriftwoodgroup.com/restaurants/hodgesWith an outdoor bar that stretches the length of the restaurant, Hodge’slarge patio sits back from Euclid Avenue and is the perfect gatheringspot for diners looking to meet somewhere in central downtown.

L’ALBATROS11401 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, 216-791-7880albatrosbrasserie.comOne of University Circle’s gems, L’Albatros features a patio perfect for asublime dining experience or a casual cocktail hour with friends.

NIGHTTOWN12387 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-795-0550nighttowncleveland.comThe venerable Cleveland Heights restaurant and concert venue featurestwo partially enclosed outdoor patios, one with a waterfall and the other,a fireplace.

STONE MAD1306 W. 65th St., Cleveland, 216-281-6500Stone Mad’s beautifully crafted stone patio features a towering fireplaceand outdoor furniture made from sandstone. You also have to love anIrish pub that sports a bocce court, a salute to the establishment’s pastas an Italian social club.

PIER W12700 Lake Ave., Lakewood, 216-228-2250selectrestaurants.com/pierHands down, Pier W has the best views of downtown Cleveland, Lake Erieand the glorious sunsets on the North Coast. The rooftop patio, whichopened in 2013, is the latest addition for the 50-year-old restaurant.

PLAYERS ON MADISON14523 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-226-5200playersonmadison.comThe patio doesn’t look like much when you pull into the parking lot, butonce you sit down, you’ll discover a secret garden retreat, albeit a tinyone, in the center of Lakewood.

ELIZABETH MCINTYRE, EDITOR


It was crowded for a weekday. The sun was on its way down, and boaters,friends and friend wannabes had found their way to Whiskey Island from theiroffices, peeled off the jackets and pocketed the neckties, or else they weredecked out casual-sloppy …

Whiskey Island isn’t an island at all; it’s a peninsula, bounded on two sidesby the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie and connected to Cleveland at West54th Street … and got its name way back in the 1830s when a distillerysprang up there. — From “Whiskey Island” by Les Roberts

The distillery, of course, is long gone. Inits place, though, is Wendy Park and theWhiskey Island Marina. The 70-acre spotof green tucked between an ore boat dockand the mouth of the Cuyahoga River havebeen operated in recent years by severalowners under a policy of benign neglect,with ragged gravel roads, unlined parkingareas and the occasional rusting hulk.

Still, it drew crowds of Clevelanders looking for a place to dock aboat, bask in the summer sun, maybe play a little beach volleyball and— some things never change — get a drink.

This year, though, the park and marina at Whiskey Island will be un-der new, more skilled, management.

The Cleveland Metroparks on Jan. 1 took over operation of WendyPark from Cuyahoga County. Long term, the park system is workingon a master plan to guide a $6 million renovation of the park.

For this season, operations will continue as they have in the last fewyears with just a bit of sprucing up. The volleyball courts will be openand the park will be available for rent for special events.

What had been the Sunset Grille, a super casual bar and restaurant,will become the Whiskey Island Still and Eatery under a new operator.Metroparks spokesman Joe Yachanin said that the restaurant and themarina will be operated by FDL Marina, though no opening date hasbeen set. But work is underway to upgrade the property.

“The initial focus will be on bringing the levels of safety and securityup to the standards of the rest of the (Metroparks) properties,”Yachanin said in an email. “The Park District is also planning to repairthe potholes on the gravel service road that runs toward the riveralong the south border of the property.”

WHISKEY ISLANDJAY MILLER, GOVERNMENT REPORTER

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For more information, contact Tom Gatt ozzi or Jim Dixon at 216.830.6830.

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600 Superior Ave. East, Suite 1600, Cleveland, Ohio 44114Phone: 216.830.6830 Fax: 216.830.6807

It was only April 12, and theweather app on my phone said itwas just a couple degrees north of60, but it felt like July.

I took my 6-year-old daughter toher first Cleveland Indians game ofthe season, and she couldn’t have

cared less that the Detroit Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the Tribe that day. She was more con-cerned with a different type of competition — the TribeTracker, which is located in the concourse outside therenovated Kids Clubhouse. It allows youngsters to raceagainst a moving red light that represents the person ormascot (in her case, Ketchup) of their choice.

Inside the Kids Clubhouse, there’s a slide that takes upboth stories of the renovated space, along with interactivegames (the digital locker, a touchscreen display that letskids pick an item and watch as their favorite Indians play-er describes what they’re seeing, is very cool) and plentyof Step2 toys for the toddlers who have grown tired ofwatching David Price take 30 seconds between pitches.

For the adults, The Corner, the new two-story bar in theRight Field District, is an excellent spot to watch the gamein a setting that’s unlike almost any other in the area.

If you’d rather sample some Northeast Ohio staples, afew feet outside of The Corner entrance are Progressive

Field’s five neighborhoods. There’s Great Lakes Brewing,Barrio, Melt, Dynomite Burgers and — my daughter’s fa-vorite — Sweet Moses. The renovated ballpark is idealfor kids, it has social areas that cater to millennials and,for the old-school types who keep score by pencil andnot by staring at their phones, there’s still plenty of greatspots to watch a baseball game. If you’re in the lattergroup, we suggest sitting in one of the three rows ofseats that are in front of the new bullpens in center field.The view of the field is perfect, and you’ll be able to heck-le every Tigers reliever whose turn it is to warm up.

If you, like me, can’t get enough baseball in the sum-mer, we’re also fortunate to have two Indians minor-

league affiliates within a short drive of downtown. TheLake County Captains play at the beautiful Classic Park inEastlake. This year, three of the Indians’ top 10prospects opened the season with Lake County. The ball-park, in its 13th year, has a terrific promotional calendar,which is highlighted by Christmas in July Weekend on July18 and 19, and the seventh annual Cleveland Sports His-tory Night on Aug. 1. The Akron RubberDucks have oneof the best nicknames and logos in all of minor leaguebaseball, and the 18-year-old Canal Park now featuresJobu’s Craft Beers (a 24-plus brew selection in the con-course behind home plate) and White Castle sliders.

Take in a game or 10, and experience so much more.

BASEBALL2200 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM APRIL 27 - MAY 3, 2015

KEVIN KLEPS, ASSISTANT EDITOR, SPORTS



EASY LIVINGDAMON SIMS, WEB EDITOR

I prefer to keep it simpleduring the summer months.

The season should besoothing and relaxing. The ef-fort to enjoy yourself shouldnot feel like a second job.

Fridays after work I enjoyeating sushi and sipping Hon-ey and Hendricks at Sasa on

Shaker Square. If you choose to visit there, try the Fire Rolland the vanilla, chocolate and green tea crème brulee trio,you won’t regret it. On Sundays, after briefly working in themornings, I head to Yours Truly, have a Palermo omelet

and a couple of blueberry pancakes, take a walk and — ifback and knees are permitting — shoot some baskets atthe Metroparks Euclid Creek Reservation. Sundayevenings are reserved for checking out the latest block-buster in theaters. “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “MaxMax: Fury Road” are already marked on my calendar.

Saturday evenings are spent at Legacy Village in Lynd-hurst. The routine rarely changes.

Legacy Village has plenty of family events throughoutthe summer — 5K races, art walks, food truck days —but my favorite no-fuss summer activity is to check outthe small Legacy Live music sets.

This summer the shows are every Friday and Saturdayfrom May 22 through Sept. 26, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thesetting is very informal. The shows are free, parking isfree, and seating on the lawn in front of the stage area ison a first-come, first-serve and bring-your-own-chair basis.

I normally skip the lawn altogether. If flying solo I often

opt to visit Starbucks or Yogurt Vi for a treat, cop asquat on a nearby bench and listen to a few tunes.

If I’m with friends, we grab a patio table at one of therestaurants — Brio, California Pizza Kitchen, Bar Louieor Stir Crazy — order a few appetizers, a few beveragesand enjoy the scene. As for the music, it is about whatyou would expect at a free neighborhood concert.

You won’t find any of the bands playing here on Bill-board’s Hot 100, but they are talented and play a familiarmix of pop, rock, Motown, blues, swing and jazz. Themusical selections are songs that we all know, and wecan’t resist tapping our feet, clapping our hands andsinging along. Think of it as listening to a good to greatwedding band, minus the wedding.

The best part is the flexibility. If you don’t like the mu-sic, it’s not the end of the world. You can still do a littleshopping, get a decent walk in around the complex andstill have the rest of the night free.

Keith E. Crain: ChairmanRance Crain: PresidentMary Kay Crain: TreasurerWilliam A. Morrow: Executive vicepresident/operationsChris Crain: Executive Vice President,Director of Strategic OperationsKC Crain: Executive Vice President,Director of Corporate OperationsDave Kamis: Vice president/production& manufacturingAnthony DiPonio: Chief InformationOfficerThomas Stevens : Chief financial OfficerMary Kramer: Group publisherG.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973)Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996)

Crain Communications Inc.

700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310,Cleveland, OH 44113-1230Phone: (216) 522-1383Fax: (216) 694-4264www.crainscleveland.comPublisher:John Campanelli ([email protected])Editor: Elizabeth McIntyre([email protected])Managing editor: Scott Suttell([email protected])Sections editor: Amy Ann Stoessel([email protected])Associate Editor/Akron: Sue Walton([email protected])Assistant editor: Kevin Kleps([email protected]) SportsSenior reporter: Stan Bullard([email protected]) Real estate and constructionReporters: Jay Miller ([email protected]) GovernmentChuck Soder ([email protected]) TechnologyDan Shingler ([email protected])Energy, steel and automotiveTim Magaw ([email protected])Health care and educationRachel McCafferty ([email protected])Manufacturing and energyJeremy Nobile ([email protected]) FinanceResearch editor: Deborah W. Hillyer ([email protected])Cartoonist/illustrator: Rich Williams Art director: Rebecca R. Markovitz([email protected])Events manager: Jessica Rasmussen([email protected])Special events coordinator: Kim Hill([email protected])Marketing strategist : Michelle Sustar([email protected])Advertising director: Nicole Mastrangelo([email protected])Senior account executive: Dawn Donegan ([email protected])Account executives: Lindsie Bowman ([email protected])John Banks ([email protected])Laura Kulber Mintz ([email protected])Rob Divine ([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: Lana Semaan, 313-446-6091([email protected] )Credit: Todd Masura, 313-446-6097([email protected])Customer service/subscriptions877-824-9373


I eat roughly 13 times as much ice cream as I did 10years ago.

What changed? I met my wife — and her father.I once overheard an employee at the Lakewood

Menchie’s tell another customer about some guy who hadracked up a ridiculous amount of “mySmileage” points.That was almost certainly him (he has $85 worth!).

We join him for countless trips to get ice cream. Or hedrops it off at our house, without warning.

Thus, I am uniquely qualified to tell you that you needto get a chocolate “concrete” with peanut butter saucefrom East Coast Original Frozen Custard. Over the pastsix years, I’ve probably eaten 48 of them, all from EastCoast’s Fairview Park store. Most of them were reason-ably sized “minis.” Some were the “regular” size —which means huge.

Custard ice cream contains egg yolk. Not great foryour diet. Frozen yogurt is (somewhat) healthier. Butthat’s not why I like Menchie’s — an 8-year-old California-

based chain that now has several Northeast Ohio loca-tions. I go there for their cinnamon bun flavor. Be sure toput cream cheese frosting on it. (Side note: Don’t mixchocolate flavors with fruit flavors. I have done that. It isnasty.)

You already know that Mitchell’s Ice Cream produces aquality product. But if you haven’t visited their store onWest 25th Street in Cleveland, it’s worth checking out.Behind the counter, you can see the kitchen whereMitchell’s makes ice cream and other food for all of itseight locations. To their credit, it was immaculate when Istopped by in January. (Yes, I eat ice cream in the deadof winter.)

If you like Belgian chocolate and vanilla from Madagas-car, try Sweet Moses in Cleveland’s Gordon Square ArtsDistrict. Personally, I don’t care for fancy foreign ingredi-ents. I just know that Sweet Moses convinces me to eatlarge quantities of ice cream, piled atop a brownie. Iwould hate myself, if I wasn’t surrounded by such beauti-

ful vintage décor. Next, I’m being told I need to visit Honey Hut. Their first

store in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood used tobe a shoe repair shop. I’m sure it smells much nicer to-day. Only then will I be a true expert on West Side icecream parlors.

However, I will throw a bone to the East Side. Colum-bus-based Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams makes sometasty, creative flavors. And their only Northeast Ohiostore is in Chagrin Falls.

Last but not least, I’ll givea shout out to one Akron icecream parlor: StricklandsFrozen Custard. Our healthcare reporter, Tim Magaw,worked there back in highschool. He recommendstwo flavors: Banana andReese’s Peanut Butter Cup.


CHUCK SODER, TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

ICE CREAM

There’s a video my husband took a few years ago of my daughter and me rid-ing the Little Dipper roller coaster at Memphis Kiddie Park.

I’m a big enough person to admit that it wasn’t my then-4-year-old daughtercausing the ear-piercing ruckus you hear when you watch that footage. It was me.

Memphis Kiddie Park in Brooklyn has been a favorite of Northeast Ohio familiessince 1952. It features a concession stand, miniature golf course and 11 amuse-ment rides for children, including the Little Dipper, which is considered to be theoldest steel kiddie coaster in North America, according to the park’s website.

In my defense, while I used to love going to Cedar Point, the old Geauga Lakeand, yes, at one time Memphis Kiddie Park, it had been many moons since I hadbeen on an amusement ride, even if it was one designed for the toddler set.

So when we visited Memphis Kiddie Park a few years ago, it served as both awalk down memory lane and as a reintroduction to the thrill of roller coasters andother spinny, twisty attractions.

Of course, Memphis Kiddie Park not only gave me a renewed taste for the funof amusement parks, it also whet the appetite of my thrill-seeking daughter.

So, for her 6th birthday last summer, my husband and I decided to give CedarPoint a try.

It had been almost 16 years since I had been to the “roller coaster capital of theworld.” The last time I was there, the park had yet to see the likes of MillenniumForce (2000); Wicked Twister (2002); Top Thrill Dragster (2003); maXair (2005);Skyhawk (2006); Maverick (2007); WindSeeker (2011); and GateKeeper (2013).

Needless to say, I found things had changed a bitfrom the last time I was there.

While Cedar Point offers four children’s areas —Planet Snoopy, Kiddy Kingdom, Camp Snoopy andthe Gemini Midway Area — my daughter set hersights a little higher after squeaking by the more re-strictive height limit.

As a result, she was able to ride some of the big-ger rides, which meant I was able to ride some of thebigger rides, too. Not the really big ones — thank

goodness — but just enough to get me screaming again.With summer on the horizon, she’s already talking about going back to Cedar

Point, and I’ve already started thinking about how much she has grown. Not be-cause I’m getting nostalgic, but because soon enough she’ll be pushing upagainst meeting the next height requirement.

I sincerely doubt we’ll be able to take in this year’s newest Cedar Point attrac-tion, Rougarou (it’s floorless!!), but it won’t be long until we can.

So here’s some advice: This summer, if you have little kids, do yourself a favorand visit Memphis Kiddie Park. It opens for the season May 2.

But, if you really want to get into the action and feel like a kid again, you maywant to head over to Sandusky and take in a day at Cedar Point. It opens for theseason May 9.

You might even get a chance to hear me shrieking. Because with every inchthat my daughter grows, the closer I get to those really big rides again.

AMY ANN STOESSEL, SECTIONS EDITOR

AMUSEMENT PARKS



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The sun. The beach.Temperatures in the 90s.We’re supposed to lovesummer for all thesethings. I dissent. Whoneeds three months ofsunburns, sand in weirdplaces and sweat pouringinto the eyes?

Summer fun to me as a kid, and now as a pushing-50adult, could be found in two places where the sun does-n’t shine — air-conditioned movie theaters during theday, and drive-ins at night.

Drive-in movies, in particular, thrilled me as a child. Itfelt a little transgressive, being out so late, waiting forthe sun to go down so the movie could start.

There was an element of chance, too, in whetheryou’d pick a pole that had a good soundbox to attach tothe car window, or if you’d wind up with one that wasscratchy all night. And it was such a deal — two movies!(If you could stay awake all the way to the end of thesecond one.)

The movies somehow seemed better at the drive-in,too. My favorite drive-in movie was the 1973 sci-fi dra-ma “Westworld,” about a futuristic theme park wherepaying guests can pretend to be gunslingers in an artifi-cial Wild West populated by androids.

What I’m sure was a cheesy movie thrilled and terrifiedme, watching while packed into the car with my siblings.(I’ll bet “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” is more tolerable with acar full of family or friends.)

The economics of the movie business haven’t beentoo kind to drive-ins, but there are still plenty of options,most of which operate April through sometime in Octo-ber.

I went to high school in Geauga County, so I’m partialto the Mayfield Road Drive-In, a single-screen theateropen on the weekends in the spring, then seven nights aweek once summer hits. You can get there at 7:30 p.m.to pick your spot, and there’s room to throw a Frisbeeor football before the movies start, if that’s your kind ofthing. It’s still a deal — $20 a carload. And thosescratchy soundboxes have been replaced with clear au-dio offered via FM radio.

You can bring food, but as a notice on the drive-in’swebsite says, “Theaters make little money on the admis-sion cost because a large percentage has to be re-turned to the film distributors. The drive-in’s main sourceof income is its concession sales. Keep your drive-in inbusiness; visit the snack bar often!”

West Siders might be more partial to NorthRidgeville’s Aut-O-Rama Drive-in, built in 1965 by theSherman family and still owned and operated by third-generation family members. It has two screens, sothere are lots of choices. There’s no outside food orbeverages allowed, so you’ll need to be prepared to hitthe snack bar.

The best movies at drive-ins tend to be loud, with lotsof action and explosions. Hollywood, you will not be sur-prised to know, has lots of those movies for you thissummer.

Among your best options: “Avengers: Age of Ultron”(May 1); “Mad Max: Fury Road” (May 15); “JurassicWorld” (June 12); “Ant-Man” (July 17); “Mission: Impossi-ble — Rogue Nation” (July 31); and “The Fantastic Four”(Aug. 7).

SCOTT SUTTELL, MANAGING EDITOR

MOVIES


As someone who loves road trips and traveling,one thing is a constant. No matter where I end upon vacation, I try to schedule in time to find an an-tique store or flea market to browse. So when Imoved to Cleveland a little over a year ago, I feltlike I had hit the jackpot.

While driving around trying to get my bearings,one of the first things I was struck by was howmany vintage shops line the streets, and how dan-gerous that could be for my wallet. In Lakewood,where I am calling home these days,the shops along Detroit Avenue, fromRoycroft to Edwards, are the perfectplace to spend a Saturday afternoonhunting for treasures.

I’ve found antique teacups, vintageearrings and well-loved cookware thatall had to come home with me whilecombing through the stores that linethose blocks. Another favorite on mylist is Flower Child on Clifton Boule-vard, where I can easily spend an hour after workwalking through the store and admiring the beauti-fully styled vintage displays. What I love most is thatthe helpful staff wraps your purchases in festive pa-per and bags. (My mom has received a fewadorably wrapped sets of salt-and-pepper shakersfor her collection from there over the past year!)

While the abundance of great antique storeswould have given me endless hours of shoppingfun on their own, the list of craft festivals, streetfairs and events make summer an even more excit-ing time for a shopaholic like me.

One of my favorite weekends last year was Lake-woodAlive’s Citywide Street Sale. Browsing neigh-borhood shops, meeting people who live in thesame community and scoring some really interest-ing buys — along with drinking a lot of lemonademade by young entrepreneurs — was a pleasantway to spend part of a beautiful weekend. TamaraRacin, a Lakewood business owner and Lake-woodAlive volunteer who has helped with the streetsale for five years, said it started in 2010 and lastyear more than 30 businesses and 170 residentsparticipated. Racin said this year’s event is sched-uled for June 25-27 and is growing.

“Businesses have sidewalk sales, residents havegarage sales, the community comes together as awhole to make a fun and festive atmosphere. Andit’s not just along Detroit, it is truly a citywide func-

tion that brings everyone together,” Racin said. Another event I was excited to check out last

summer was the ever-growing Cleveland Flea, awell-organized and curated “monthly urban treasurehunt,” as it is described on the website (www.the-clevelandflea.com).

Founded in 2013, the Flea is next scheduled forMay 9. It will boast more than 95 handmade andvintage vendors, and an impressive lineup of morethan 40 food and drink vendors. The Cleveland

Flea runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. andtends to be very busy, so try to goearly.

The mix of vintage finds and well-made crafts make for a diverse mar-ket; I’ve bought jewelry fashionedfrom bullet shells and an antiqueafghan in the same day. And while,being a transplant, my city pridedoesn’t sit squarely with Clevelandyet, for everyone else there was an

abundance of city-themed merchandise, frometched glasses to clothing, which almost had mewishing I rooted for local teams. (Almost.)

There are enough craft shows sprinkled through-out the area during the summer to keep the mostavid shopper happy. And thanks to technology, it isgetting easier to plan for them.

One of the sites I use to find these events iswww.artscraftsshowbusiness.com. I’m also a fan ofthe free iPhone app “Yard Sale Treasure Map,” whichlets you put in a date and a travel radius and then itplots sales in the area on an interactive map.

When my family heads to Geneva-on-the-Lakeeach year for a long weekend, it’s tradition that Sat-urday morning the shoppers among us make ourway through the area armed with a local paper list-ing the garage sales. Last year, we tested out theapp for the first time and it led us to some new lo-cations we had never shopped before (I scored adining room set on this annual pilgrimage, at a salein a barn in the middle of nowhere!).

Being new to the area, I know I have probablybeen missing out on a lot of great places, soplease feel free to point me to some of your fa-vorite shops via twitter (@becaroze) or email([email protected]). And for the fellow antique-loving, junk-hoarding and vintage shopping Cleve-landers out there, may your summer be filled withgood deals and great finds!


WKSU PRESENTS

A DAY WITH THE TAKEAWAY HOST

JOHN HOCKENBERRY

Live broadcast of The Takeaway

at Kent State University

Gold Circle reception at

Greystone Hall in downtown Akron

John Hockenberry on stage at Actors’

Summit Theater in Greystone Hall

Visit: www.wksu.org/hockenberry

or call 330-672-3114

MAY 7, 2015

Kent State University, Kent State and KSU are registered trademarks and may not be used without permission. Kent State University is committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body and workforce. 15-UR-00125-021

REBECCA R. MARKOVITZ, ART DIRECTOR

ANTIQUING

What will be you be doing this summer? Snap a photo and send it to us for our

Summer in the City photo contest!

Starting July 1 and running through Labor Day, readers are invited to send us photos

of their favorite Northeast Ohio summer sights and activities.

Winners will be selected weekly, two of whom will receive grand prizes

at the end of the contest.

Watch in print, online and on social media for more details.



Unlike mystompinggrounds inthe ruralOhio Valley,campingaroundClevelandgenerally is-

n’t as easy as grabbing your tent andpack and trudging into the nearby woods.

But within as much time as it takes toget to Cedar Point, you can find a bevy ofparks around Northeast Ohio to enjoysome overnight stays in the great out-doors.

The Lake Metroparks in Lake Countyopened five rather scenic and secludedsites in 2013, expanding that to sevenlast year because of their popularity.

The Metroparks have logged nearly560 reservations in its first two years ofoffering camping, said Lake Metroparksexecutive director Paul Palagyi. And num-bers are expected to continue an upwardclimb this year, especially with a coupleyear-round sites on the table for wintercampers.

Lake Erie Bluffs in Perry Township of-fers a vista of the lake wrapped by

woods. The site overlooks the 70-foot-high bluffs, providing a cool breeze offthe water in hot summer months and aview that appeals to curious storm watch-ers, Palagyi said.

Baker Road Park in Leroy Township,meanwhile, would likely appeal to moreadventuresome types. The site can bereached by either a good hike or a nearly7-mile canoe trip, depending on how faraway you want to set up camp.

While all are primitive sites, each isstocked with some firewood by the parksand a small toolbox with tinder and a firstaid kit.

When reserving a site at a large, busypark, you’re likely going to share yourgrounds with some neighbors — a peeveof the outdoorsman seeking isolation. ButLake Metroparks’ sites offer some inher-ent privacy by limiting each to one party.You’ll probably encounter raccoons. Youmay even spot a black bear. But you’reless likely to encounter random humanpassersby in your site or hear traffic onroads or trails.

“You’ll be camping here feeling likeyou’re in the middle of nowhere, having itquiet and peaceful,” Palagyi said.

Nightly site rentals there are $10 for

Lake County residents and $20 for non-residents.

Ohio State Parks, on the other hand, of-fer a variety of both primitive sites (nosewer or electricity) and those with moreamenities.

Doug Lyons, Northeast Ohio districtmanager, said upgrades are on tap forseveral sites, including such accommoda-tions as new shower houses, Wi-Fi ser-

vice and electric hookups. The improve-ments underscore an initiative by thestate to draw more casual campers tothe outdoors.

“Today’s campers want flush toilets andfull-service campsites,” said Lyons. “Withour $88.5 million capital improvementscoming to Ohio State Parks, I think we willsee an upswing in our camping numbersbecause we will be able to provide thetypes of facilities our customers wantwhen they go camping.”

If you’re looking for a more casualcamping experience, state campsitesshould be on your map.

There are six parks with general camp-ing open to the public within an hour’s dri-ve of Cleveland: Punderson State Park;Portage Lakes State Park; Findley StatePark; West Branch State Park; GenevaState Park; and Mosquito Lake StatePark.

Other options slightly farther away (be-tween 70 and 100 miles of Cleveland) in-clude East Harbor State Park; MohicanState Park; and Beaver Creek State Park.Nightly costs vary from $24 to $45 anight depending on the park and if yoursite has amenities, like electricity or flush-ing toilets.

CAMPING

PARKS WITH PUBLIC CAMPING

Baker Road Park, Leroy TownshipHidden Lake, Leroy TownshipGirdled Road Reservation, ChardonRiver Road Park, Madison TownshipRiverview Park, Madison TownshipLake Erie Bluffs, Perry Penitentiary Glen Reservation, WilloughbyPunderson State Park, NewburyPortage Lakes State Park, New FranklinFindley State Park, WellingtonWest Branch State Park, RavennaGeneva State Park, GenevaMosquito Lake State Park, CortlandEast Harbor State Park,

Lakeside MarbleheadMohican State Park, LoudonvilleBeaver Creek State Park, East Liverpool

JEREMY NOBILE, FINANCE/LEGAL REPORTER

FAMILY BUSINESSFORUM

PRESENTED BY

TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015

LEARN HOW TO , AND

For agenda information and tickets, visit or contact Kim Hill at [email protected] or 216-771-5182

- Pave the Way - Chart the course and manage the transition/succession to step up or step out

- Communication and Ground Rules – Enhance the family dynamic

- Generational Leadership – Prepare for the next generation for leadership transition

- Key Players – Non-family members who can help strengthen and grow your company

Confirmed Speakers & Panelists

, CEO, The Ahola Corporation

, Advisor and Consultant, Generational Leadership Training

Partner, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis

, Partner & Sr. Advisor, Fairport Asset Management

, Attorney, Cavitch, Familio & Durkin

, President & Managing Partner, HKM Direct Market Communications

, PsyD, Family Business Consultant, BDO

, President, PRADCO

, Co-President, Spencer Products

, Director of Transaction Advisory, Strategic Wealth Partners

Contact Nicole Mastrangelo at 216-771-5158 or [email protected]



NameAddressPhone/Website

Minimuminvestment(thousands)

Preferred projectinvestment(thousands)

Capital undermanagement

(millions)

Allos Ventures4(5��#%63��3,��6!3��((5;��!%!%%�3!��5;5*�(4+��1 (;;(2888,�##'/7�%36.�/,'$

�5�;;; �4�;;; 1�;;; <

Athenian Venture Partners4;��,��3�3��3,��6!3��(40��<3��%/��0;(*1(+�41; ((��2888,�3��%!�%7),'$

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Austin Capital Partners(55��6#!��<7�,��6!3��(�4;��#�7�#�%��((�*5(1+��0 55�2888,�6/3!%�)!3�#)�.3%�./,'$

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Blue Point Capital Partners(50��6�#!��-6�.��6!3��(;;��#�7�#�%��((*5(1+��4� 0;;2888,�#6�)'!%3�)!3�#,'$

�(;�;;; �5;�;;; ��1&,;

Bridge Investment Fund LP((;;;��.�<7�,��6!3��(;;��#�7�#�%��(;1*5(1+�1�� 0;2888,�.!��6%�##,'$

�5�; �5�; (�;;; <

Canal Holdings LLC��;��'$$'%/��'6#�7�.��6!3��(4;��8!%/�6.��;�0*44;+�5� (55�2888,�%�#$�::,'$

�5�;;; �4�;;; ��;;; �4�,;

CapitalWorks LLC4;;;�<6�6.%��.!7��6!3��4;��8''��(55*5(1+�0�( 45442888,�)!3�#8'."/,%�3

�4�;;; ��;;; &�;;; <

Cleveland International Fund(5;��6.'%��'��,��3�,�5;��#�7�#�%��((�*5(1+�5� ;1;12888,#�7�#�%�!%3�.%�3!'%�#�6%�,'$

�(;�;;; �4;�;;; �5;4,�

CoreNetwork4(� ,��6$$!3��3,��6!3��5;;��'#��'�41;*(&+�1&0 &1&12888,'.�%�38'."�6%�,'$

�(;; �5�; ;; <

Cyprium Investment Partners LLC5;;��6�#!��-6�.��6!3��5;5;��#�7�#�%��((*5(1+��4 �;;2888,9).!6$,'$

�(;�;;; �(��;;; 1;�;;; �(�;;;,;

Desco Capital00&��#3'%��."8�9��6!3��(0�� 8�<#��%9�4;�*1(+�� 2888,��/'�)!3�#,'$

�5�;;; ��;;; (��;;; <

Draper Triangle Ventures5(��,��3�3��3,��6!3��55;;��'#6$�6/�45(�*1(+��; 5��2888,�.�)�.3.!�%�#�,'$

��;; �5�;;; �5;;,;

Drive Capital15&� ,��!��3,��13��''.��'#6$�6/�45(� <2�33)�22�.!7��)!3�#,'$

�(;; �(;; �;�;;; �5�;,;

Early Stage Partners LP(�;(��,� !%3��3,��#�7�#�%��((*5(1+�0�( 1;;2888,�/)#),'$

��;; �(�;;; ��1,;

East Central Ohio Tech Angel Fund��!��/��6!#�!%��(&��<3��%/�4;��*1(+��( ;52888,�'3��,%�3

�(;; �;; �5,

Edgewater Capital Partners�;;��'"/!��'��6!3��;��%��)�%��%��(4(*5(1+�5&5 4�4�2888,��8�3�.�)!3�#,'$

�(�;;; �1�;;; �((�,;

Edison Partners((;;;��.�<7�,��6!3��(;;��#�7�#�%��(;1*5(1+�1�� 4&1�2888,��!/'%)�.3%�./,'$

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Evolution Capital Partners LLC4444��!�$'%��'��6!3��;��8''��(55*5(1+��&4 ;;52888,�7'#63!'%),'$

�4�;;; �4�;;; ��;;; �0�,;

Fletcher Spaght Ventures(�;��,��.'��3,��6!3��(;��'#6$�6/�45(�*1(+�5& 5412888,��3��./)��3,'$

��;; �5�;;; 1�;;; �(4;,&

Fort Washington Capital Partners Group4;4��.'��8�9��6!3��(5;;��!%!%%�3!��5;5*�(4+�41( 01;;2888,�8�)!3�#,'$

< < �0�&;;,;

Gates Group Capital Partners1(5;��."#�%��#7�,��6!3��5;5��9��#��!��3/�(5*;+�1� &&;;2888,��3�/�.'6)),'$

�(�;;; ��;;; (��;;; �4;;,;

Glengary LLC5�5;;��.!%��#7�,��6!3��4;;��8''��(55*5(1+�40� &5;;2888,�#�%��.9##,'$

�(;; ��;; �(�,;

Impact Angel Fund((1��#�7�#�%��<7�,� ��%3'%�0;5*44;+�454 (�5&

��; �5�; �5,;

Kirtland Capital Partners45;(��%3�.).!/��"89,��6!3��5;;��8''��(55*5(1+��&4 ;(;;2888,"!.3#�%��)!3�#,'$

�(�;;; �5�;;; (;�;;; �(;,;

OHIO PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMSLISTED ALPHABETICALLY

NameAddressPhone/Website

Minimuminvestment(thousands)

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(millions)

Linsalata Capital Partners�*AA��)��3�3++&�30��8�0�:�A� �?��'��%"#84�!!,:!.!!A/�6�!$,!AA7===0'%)4�'�8��-%8�'0�+(

�,�AAA ��:AAAA$9�AAA �66:0A

Max-Ventures LLC9A5**��%)�83��+��;%8��!:��'�<�'�)��!!,:!.!!A/�5:*$,9!��7===0(�>$<�)8;3�40�+(

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MCM Capital Partners:�:A,��#�"3%)��'<�0��;%8��96A��#=++��!!,::.:,6/��,!$,�!A7===0(�(��-%8�'0�+(

�!AAA ��AAA$�AAA �,AA0A

Morgenthaler�%�8#��#%3��)8�3�6AA��;-�3%+3�B<�0��0��;%8��:�AA�'�<�'�)��!!,,!.:,6/�!,6$5�AA7===0(+3"�)8#�'�30�+(

�,AAAA ;-�8+��AAAA �B

Mutual Capital Partners Funds,:*A��44�88��+��;%8��5��'�<�'�)��!!,!�.!!A/�96A$5�6A7===0(;8;�'��-%8�'-�38)�340�+(

�,AAA �9AAA$,AAAA �!,0A

North Coast Angel Fund��5��)��3�3++&�3%<��;%8��::A� �?��'��%"#84!!,:!.�AA/�*5�$��!67===0)+38#�+�48�)"�'�;)�0�+(

��AA ��AA$:AAA �,!0A

North Coast Venture Fund��5��)��3�3++&�3%<��;%8��::A� �?��'��%"#84!!,:!.:,6/�:6:$A!5�

�:�A ��AA ��0A

Ohio TechAngels,:5��%))��3��+��+';(�;4�!9:,:.6,!/�!�5$95AA7===0+#%+8��#�)"�'40�+(

�9:� �9:� �:A09

Peppertree Capital Management Inc.�6��48��80��#�"3%)��''4�!!A::.!!A/��:�$A9997===0-�--�383��-%8�'0�+(

�:AAA �,�AAA ��AA0A

PNC Erieview Capital,*AA��0��%)8#��80�,58#� ++3��'�<�'�)��!!,,!.:,6/�:::$:!*,7===0-)��3%�<%�=0�+(

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Primus Capital Funds�*AA��)��3�3++&�3%<��;%8��:AA��'�<�'�)��!!,:!.!!A/�6�!$59AA7===0-3%(;4��-%8�'0�+(

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Queen City Angels!��&��+3�48�3%<��;%8��6�A��%)�%))�8%�!�:!:.�,9/�959$6*5:7===01��0�+(

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Reservoir Venture Partners59��3�(%��'��;%8��,:A��48�3<%''��!9A�,.6,!/��!6$5:!,7===03�4�3<+%3<-0�+(

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Resilience Capital Partners:�,A,��#�"3%)��'<�0��;%8��9�A��'�<�'�)��!!,::.:,6/�:*:$A:AA7===03�4%'%�)��-%8�'0�+(

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River Cities Capital Funds::,��0��+;38#��80��;%8��:!AA��%)�%))�8%�!�:A:.�,9/�6:,$*5AA7===03��0�+(

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The Riverside Co.�A��;�'%��1;�3��:*8#� ++3��'�<�'�)��!!,,9.:,6/�9!!$,A!A7===03%<�34%��+(-�)?0�+(

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RiverVest Venture Partners,,AAA��3�B<�0��;%8��,AA��'�<�'�)��!!,A6.:,6/�6��$9*�:7===03%<�3<�480�+(

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Rockwood Equity Partners LLC9:A,��)8�3-3%4��&=?0��;%8��95A��#=++��!!,::.:,6/�9!:$,5*A7===03+�&=++��1;%8?0�+(

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Signet Enterprises LLC,*��0��%"#��80�B&3+)�!!9A�.99A/�56:$*,A:7===04%")�8$�)8�3-3%4�40�+(

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Sunbridge Partners96�*��3��)��+��;%8��,AA��#=++��!!,::.:,6/�96A$A,�,7===04�-<�0�+(

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Triathlon Medical Ventures9AA��$�;4%)�44��?��;%8��:AA��%)�%))�8%�!�:!,.�,9/�:!5$6,::7===08(<-0�+(

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Zapis Capital Group LLC:6:A:��83+%8��+��;%8��9AA��48'�&��!!,!�.!!A/��5,$,9AA7===0@�-%4��-%8�'0�+(

��A �B �B

�+;3��)�+3(�8%+)�%4�4;--'%��?�8#��+(-�)%�4�;)'�44��++8)+8��0��3�%)24��'�<�'�)��;4%)�44��+�4�)+8�%)��-�)��)8'?�<�3%�?�8#��%)�+3(�8%+)��)��8#�3��%4�)+�";�3�)8��8#�4�'%48%)"4��3��+(-'�8��+3��;3�8�0��=�'�+(��''�3�4-+)4�4�8+�+;3�'%484��)��=%''%)�';��+(%88��%)�+3(�8%+)�+3��'�3%��8%+)4�%)��+(%)"�%44;�40��)�%<%�;�'�'%484��)��#��++&�+��%484��3��<�%'��'��8+�-;3�#�4��8�===0�3�%)4�'�<�'�)�0�+(0

��B��C��+3�#��0��%''?�3



© 2015 McGladrey LLP. All Rights Reserved.

When you trust the advice you’re getting, you know your next move is the right one.

That’s what you can expect from McGladrey: a team

that can help middle-market executives navigate the opportunities and challenges they encounter here

in Ohio, across the country or around the world.

In other words, anywhere their businesses take them. That’s the power of being understood.

To learn more about how McGladrey can help your

organization, call our Cleveland office at 216.523.1900. Or go to www.mcgladrey.com/growingohio.

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Some people love running —but I’m not one of them. I’m mid-dle-aged and don’t like to get allsweaty-red-faced and out ofbreath. Besides, if you run, youmiss the mushrooms!

What I do like to do, along withmy two dogs and significant oth-er, is hike. Boy, did I pick a greatplace to live.

I don’t pretend that I’ve discov-ered all of the great hikes thatcan be had within a short driveof Downtown Cleveland. I proba-bly have yet to traverse half ofthem, truth be told. But I’ve beendown enough paths in NortheastOhio to know that we have awealth of outstanding trails onwhich to stretch your legs andclear your mind.

You can find one challengingenough to leave you sore or onethat is just a relaxing stroll onlevel ground — and, of course,you can always pick your ownspeed to determine how muchcardio you get. Heck, you caneven run if you want.

So, where to go? There is, ofcourse, the Towpath Trail, whichwinds from Tuscarawas County,through Stark County and theCuyahoga Valley National Parkand almost (and someday entire-ly) to Lake Erie. It’s got 85 milesof trail along the old towpath ofthe Ohio Erie Canal and is devel-oped enough that you don’t evenneed a mountain bike if you’d like

to pedal instead of walk. Justpick one of the 50 trailheads andget going.

Then there is Cuyahoga ValleyNational Park itself — perhapsthe greatest gem in Cleveland’sEmerald Necklace.

Located in southern Cuyahogaand northern Summit counties,the park has more than 125miles of trails. They range fromthe easy and wheelchair-accessi-ble Brandywine Falls trail inBoston Heights, which is onlyabout an eighth of a mile long, tomore challenging trails that willwork out both your lungs andyour calf muscles.

There are also the ClevelandMetroparks themselves — theyall have trails to hike and bike,but my favorite is probably SouthChagrin Reservation out nearSolon and Chagrin Falls.

Last, but certainly not least,there is the Holden Arboretum.

This place is 3,600 acres ofmostly pristine forest, with someoutstanding gardens mixed in.There are more than 20 miles oftrails, too — not that you needto stay on the trails — saysHolden’s public relations manag-er Vicki McDonald.

There is a $10 charge to getin, but for $50 you can join andgo anytime you want — they’lleven give you the secret gatecode to get in at night forstargazing! That membership

HIKING DAN SHINGLER, ENERGY/MANUFACTURING REPORTER

will also get you into 200 othergardens around the country, in-cluding the Cleveland BotanicalGardens.

So, take a hike. And don’t justthink of it as hiking either. Thinkof it as birdwatching, mushroomhunting, geo-caching, leaf peep-

ing, photography or some otheractivity that involves walking.

The woods of Northeast Ohioare full of interesting things tosee, hear and do. It’d be ashame not to get out there andenjoy them.

Happy trails!


the European side,” he told theboard. “Ships on the way (to Cleve-land) are fully booked.”

Inland empireIn its first year in 2014, the port

authority was fully subsidizing theservice Spliethoff was operating —one roundtrip a month — to thetune of $5 million. But this year,Spliethoff will cover the cost of sail-ings beyond that one monthly sail-ing and will share some of that rev-enue with the port authority.

Peters added that the company ishiring a marketing person who willbe based in Cleveland to drum upCleveland-to-Europe business.

In addition, David Gutheil, theport authority’s vice president formaritime and logistics services, saidhe expects the volume of projectcargo, large pieces of machineryand other, specialized high-valuegoods, to grow. Part of that predic-tion is based on two new cus-tomers, for whom an inland portmakes financial and logistic sense.

One is Siemens AG, a Germanconglomerate that late last yearpurchased the Rolls-Royce plc en-ergy products business, which in-cludes a plant in Mt. Vernon, Ohio,that builds gas turbine generators

and compressors. Siemens decidedit makes financial sense to shipgenerators manufactured in Franceto Mt. Vernon where they will be fit-ted with a driver to power the ma-chines and then shipped to cus-tomers in the Middle East, wherethey are used to generate power.

Shipping on water is consider-able cheaper and often faster thanby train or truck, especially for largepieces of equipment like these gen-erators, which can weigh 300,000pounds or more.

“Cleveland provides an excellentcentralized logistics point for in-bound oversized and standard car-go,” said a Siemens spokesman.“The primary advantage is thatshipments through Cleveland —both to and from Siemens MountVernon — reach their final destina-tion more quickly.”

Piping upAnother new customer is a Euro-

pean shipper that is bringing in reg-ular, large shipments of Europeansteel pipe. The port authority did notdisclose the identify of the shipper.

Gutheil said the pipe will be usedto build a natural gas pipeline thatwill begin in the Utica shale coun-try in eastern Ohio. The port au-thority has reclaimed a parking lot

at the foot of West Third Street —typically used by daily public park-ers and Sunday Cleveland Brownsfans — for pipe storage.

To support the anticipated in-crease in cargo traffic, the port au-thority has gathered $7.9 million infunding to purchase two mobileharbor cranes and a new ware-house and related equipment pri-marily to shelter cargo moving onthe Cleveland-Europe Express thatbuilds up and moves out in stages.

Having a storage facility on thedocks allows importers to avoid theexpense of moving inbound cargo toan offsite warehouse before finalshipment to customers, especiallyimportant for just-in-time auto parts.

The Port Authority won a $4.9million federal Congestion Mitiga-tion and Air Quality grant that willcover most of the cost of the cranes,which will replace cumbersome,less energy efficient cranes thatdate to the 1970s. They are expect-ed to be available for use before theend of the 2015 shipping season.

The joint city-county agency alsowon a forgivable $3 million logisticsand distribution stimulus loan fromthe state of Ohio that will pay forconstruction of the new warehouseand for part of the new cranes. Con-struction of the warehouse is expect-ed to be completed later this year.


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PORT

In search of ‘Who to Watch in Technology’ candidatesThe second “Who to Watch” sec-

tion of 2015, “Who to Watch in Tech-nology,” is scheduled for publicationJune 22. It will highlight up-and-com-ers and innovators in technology. Ifyou think you know who will beamong those leading the NortheastOhio tech sector of the future, dropan email to sections editor Amy Ann

Stoessel, [email protected], orcall 216-771-5155.

Send your suggestions no laterthan noon on Monday, May 11.Please include the person’s name,position and a paragraph explainingwhy he or she stands out.

There are no hard and fast require-ments for this section, other than the

candidate needs to exhibit the kind ofpotential that makes him or hersomeone to watch in the technologysector.

Keep an eye out later this year formore of these sections: Who toWatch in Manufacturing, Sept. 28;and Who to Watch in Marketing andCreativity, Dec. 7.


co and other cosmopolitan cities.Reserve, a six-month-old startupavailable in five major cities,charges diners $5 for the “personalconcierge service” that allows formore interaction during the reser-vation process.

That operation plans to expand itscity coverage, but did not return a re-quest from Crain’s Cleveland Busi-ness about whether its foray into newmarkets includes Cleveland.

Downtown Cleveland restaurantslike Pura Vida no doubt will be keep-ing their eye on emerging reserva-tion technologies that can help drivemobile-savvy out-of-town guests totheir establishment.

For now, chef-owner BrandtEvans will continue to process on-line reservations throughOpenTable, an expense of which hefeels is worth the value of drivingtourists and business travelers to hisconvenient Public Square location.He estimates that between 25% and30% of his OpenTable reservationsare out-of-town guests.

“It’s also a great tool to help usrecognize our regulars and rally per-sonalized guest experience,” he says.


When It Gets Down to Business…Solon Gets It!The City of Solon welcomes these new businesses:

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Diamond Nails & Spa, Inc.

DynaInfotech

e-Smart Marketing Solutions

Janda Insurance Agency

Misco Refractometer

Nature’s Way Bird Products

ProNine Sports

VitaMix Factory Store

And thanks these real estate professionals for

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Jeffrey Calig – NAI Daus

Simon Caplan – CRESCO Real Estate

David Hexter – NAI Daus

Eliot Kijewski – CRESCO Real Estate

Rob Namy – Weston, Inc.

Solon’s Got It!Prime industrial, office and retail sites at www.solonohio.org

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Similarly, Hospitality Restau-rants, which operates downtownCleveland’s Blue Point Grille, Del-monico’s Steakhouse in Indepen-dence and five other area concepts,says the service’s primary return oninvestment is being able to acceptreservations 24 hours a day.

“The benefit is tremendous,” saidChris Oppewall, director of opera-tions, who notes that OpenTablebookings represent about one-thirdof overall reservations. “Someonemay want to make a reservation at 8

a.m. while they’re on their way towork, but no one is at restaurant atthat time to take the call. More than50% of our reservations are bookedand confirmed when we are notopen.”

Only about 20% of its e-reserva-tions are made through the OpenTable website. The remaining OpenTable reservations are securedthrough Blue Point Grille’s site.

“Truthfully, when our bill (fromOpen Table) arrives, the bigger it is,the better for us,” Oppewall said.


derstand the data? Jason Kolbertdoesn’t think so.

Kolbert, a biotechnology stockanalyst for Maxim Group in NewYork City, still is telling investors tobuy Athersys stock.

Sure, there were only 27 patientswho received MultiStem early.Alone, that wouldn’t make for alarge clinical trial. But they recov-ered well, compared to the placebogroup: The subgroup generally per-formed 15% to 20% better on threestandard stroke tests used duringthe trial.

The most impressive statistic:18.5% of those patients achievedparticularly high scores on all threetests — up from 2% in the placebogroup.

Kolbert doesn’t think that’s luck.He thinks that Athersys could

run another trial that would repli-cate the results they achieved withthe 27-patient subgroup, all ofwhom received MultiStem between24 and 36 hours after suffering anischemic stroke — a common formof stroke caused by a blood clot.

It makes sense that patients whoreceived MultiStem later wouldn’tdo as well, according to Kolbert andothers who spoke to Crain’s. Strokepatients are harder to treat as timegoes by, they said. Consider tPA,the only drug that’s proven to helpischemic stroke patients: It onlyworks if patients get it within threeto five hours after the stroke.

Thus, Kolbert thinks Athersys setitself up for failure when it set upthe trial, which treated patients 24to 48 hours after they’ve had astroke.

“That made the goals of the trialan uphill battle,” he said.

Ready for feedbackPiper Jaffray made similar com-

ments back in February in a re-search report about Athersys. Theinvestment banking firm had beentelling the company’s sales forcethat the clinical trial had a 75%chance of missing its target, ac-cording to Ted Tenthoff, a seniorresearch analyst at Piper Jaffray.

Still, the firm recommended thestock then, and it still recommendsit now. However, Piper Jaffray didlower its 12-month price target forthe stock from $4 to $2. Given thatthe clinical trial missed its maingoals, Athersys will probably haveto conduct a follow-up Phase IIstudy, which means it will probablytake longer for the stroke therapy toget to market — maybe an extratwo years, according to Piper Jaf-fray.

The company might be able torun a relatively small follow-upstudy in Japan, Tenthoff noted.There, regulators have eased re-strictions on stem cell therapiesthat have proven to be safe, andMultiStem hasn’t shown any safetyissues. Plus, Athersys already hasan ally in Japan who could helpfund such a study: It struck a licens-ing agreement with Chugai Phar-maceutical Co. earlier this year.

Athersys has had “very construc-tive conversations” with Chugaisince the data was released, ac-cording to Athersys CEO Gil VanBokkelen. The Cleveland companyalso could conduct a larger Japan-ese study or an international study,he said. First, however, Athersyswill need to get feedback from reg-ulators, he noted.

Any new study would focus onpatients treated within the first 36hours after the stroke — whichwould still dramatically expand thewindow for treating patients, VanBokkelen said. He wouldn’t saywhether the company would con-sider treating patients earlier than

24 hours after the stroke. Why nottreat them as soon as possible? Do-ing so during a clinical trial couldmake it harder to screen out peoplewho immediately recover from astroke or crash dramatically, VanBokkelen said.

Some doctors have told him thatthey see potential in MultiStem,given the new data and its overallsafety profile. A few have even saidthey’d want to be treated with it, henoted.

Data drivenDr. Larry Goldstein probably

wasn’t one of those doctors. The di-rector of the Duke Stroke Center atDuke University Medical Centertook a look at the publicly availabledata and sent Crain’s an email re-sponse.

The subgroup data is “interest-ing,” but a lot of Phase II stroke tri-als produce interesting data, Gold-stein wrote.

He then pointed to a study stat-

ing that many Phase II stroke trialshave produced positive data thatcouldn’t be replicated in largerPhase III trials. That study was pub-lished by Experimental & Transla-tional Stroke Medicine in February2014.

“The bottom line is that the(Athersys stroke) trial did notachieve any of its primary or com-ponent secondary endpoints,”Goldstein wrote.

Dr. David Hooper was more pos-itive. Hooper, the senior scientificadviser at Clinical Research Man-agement, a Hinckley-based compa-ny that helps researchers conductclinical trials, wanted to see moredata than what Athersys published.And he noted that the company’sfollow-up analysis excluded pa-tients who had been treated withboth tPA and a clot-removalprocess called mechanical reperfu-sion.

That move “seems reasonable,”but Hooper said such adjustmentsleave room for bias to creep into

data. (Van Bokkelen noted thatthose patients were removed fromthe MultiStem subgroup and theplacebo group because there was acluster of those patients in the post-36 hour placebo group — and theyperformed exceptionally well.Without them, the post-36 hourplacebo group looked almost iden-tical to the pre-36 hour placebogroup.)

Overall, however, Hooper saidthe data look “somewhat promis-ing.”

Dr. Stanley Turhim had a similartake. The director of the StrokeCenter at Mount Sinai Hospital inNew York City noted that the sam-ple size was small and could beproducing “a chance finding.”

But the results seem “plausible,”and Athersys might be able to repli-cate them in a follow-up study, hesaid while speaking to investorsduring a Piper Jaffray conferencecall last week.

“It would be a shame not to ex-plore that further,” he said.


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ATHERSYS


Two-year wait on drinkingbill is pause that refreshes

Shaker Heights may be a key beneficiaryof changes to a bill that will allow cities tocreate districts where open containers of al-coholic beverages will be allowed. In otherwords, people can carry a beer from a bar orcarryout and mingle with other revelers in apark or other public space.

The bill that passed the Ohio House ofRepresentatives would have allowed onlycities with a population of 35,000 or more tohave these entertainment districts.

But the Ohio Senate would extend re-freshment areas to communities of 25,000 to35,000 two years after the legislation issigned into law.

Shaker Heights Mayor Earl Leiken hadtestified in favor of the bill in the House,hoping for the lower population threshold.He told Crain’s Cleveland Business that hewould like to be able to make the under-re-construction Van Aken District into whatthe legislation formally calls an “OutdoorRefreshment Area.”

With several years of roadwork and con-struction ahead, the two-year wait isn’t aproblem for Leiken and his city of 27,935.

— Jay Miller

Start looking early forthat apartment downtown

The rapid pace that new apartment devel-opments in downtown Cleveland fill isshowing no sign of slowing.

The last tenant at Residences at 1717 —the 2014 conversion to apartments of the

old East Ohio Gas building — is scheduledto move in this week.

Moreover, the 223-suite project namedafter its East Ninth Street address has a 70-person waiting list for when suites becomeavailable, according to Doug Price, CEO ofbuilding owner K&D Group. The $60 millionproject opened in July 2014.

The tight central city apartment market —98% occupied, according to DowntownCleveland Alliance — is starting to changethe way some prospective tenants seeksuites, Price said.

“We’re seeing people looking for apart-ments nine months to a year ahead,” Pricesaid.

“They understand the situation.”Among K&D’s four downtown apartment

buildings, Price said, it has 25 units left torent over the next three months.

However, other developers have moresuites on the way, such as the Flats At EastBank Apartments that Iris and Scott Wol-stein and Fairmount Properties will open inJuly. — Stan Bullard

Everything comes upRoses at retail site

The big hole left in Cleveland’s Slavic Vil-lage by the closing of its Silverman’s storeearlier this year has just been filled by a Ros-es Express, a junior department store con-cept of Henderson, N.C.-based VarietyWholesalers Inc. that is new to NortheastOhio.

Roses Express stores are 25,000 squarefeet in size, while Variety’s other four Rosesdiscount stores in the region are more thantwice its size, said Wilson Sawyer, chief op-erating officer of the privately owned chain.Merchandise is the same, he said, althoughmost of its departments, except for house-wares, are smaller. Sawyer said his compa-ny decided to open in Slavic Village becauseof the area’s population density and a voidof similar retailers. Variety sized up the Sil-verman’s store for one of its brands beforeSilverman’s shut, he said.

“We really liked their stores. They had agreat concept in neighborhood retailing,”Sawyer said.

No other Roses Express stores areplanned for Northeast Ohio, but the compa-ny continues to look at opportunities here.Variety’s first Roses store here was openedin North Randall three years ago; it now hasfour in the region. The company does notbuild new stores he said; it only occupies ex-isting retail space.

Although Variety will celebrate the open-ing of the Roses Express at 6601 HarvardAve. with fanfare at 9 a.m. Thursday, April30, the shop has been open since April 16. Sofar, he said, the Slavic Village store’s saleshave pleased the firm and exceeded its ex-pectations. — Stan Bullard

MILESTONE

COMPANY: Kastner Westman &Wilkins LLC, Fairlawn

OCCASION: Its 15th anniversary

The boutique labor and employment lawfirm, which represents management exclu-sively, celebrated its 15-year milestone byunveiling a new logo and moving into therenovated first floor of the former A. Schul-man corporate headquarters in Fairlawn.

The new office, 3550 West Market Street,is about 13,500 square feet and “significant-ly increases” the firm’s physical footprint,according to Kastner Westman & Wilkins.

The firm began operations in 2000 withsix founding partners. It has since grown to12 attorneys, nine office staff and Of Coun-sel affiliations with national firm FordHarri-son LLP and Douglas B. Brown LLC. KastnerWestman & Wilkins said it represents orga-nizations “of all types and sizes around thestate and beyond, from Fortune 500 compa-nies to smaller, regional businesses, institu-tions and public sector entities.”

Shareholder James P. Wilkins said in astatement that the new office “will accom-modate our projected, continued growth, aswell as give us additional space to serve ourclients in new and better ways.”

Among the features of the new space is ahuman resources training center confer-ence room that the firm will use to hostmonthly continuing education credit semi-nars for HR professionals.

For information, visit:www.kwwlaborlaw.com.

REPORTERS’ NOTEBOOKBEHIND THE NEWS WITH CRAIN’S WRITERS


BEST OF THE BLOGSExcerpts from recent blog entries on CrainsCleveland.com.

Hail competitionOhio is just about the best state in the

country if you’re looking for cheap auto in-surance.

Insure.com reported that it costs, on aver-age, $843 per year to insure a car in Ohio.That’s the nation’s second-lowest rate, best-ed only by Maine’s $805 average. (The sitecompiled rates from six large insurance car-riers in 10 ZIP codes in every state. The rateswere for the same full-coverage policy for thesame driver — a 40-year-old man with aclean driving record and good credit.)

By contrast, in neighboring Michigan, theaverage cost for auto insurance is morethan three times higher, $2,662, accordingto Insure.com.

The reason for the Buckeye State’s greatrates?

“Fierce competition leads to affordablerates in Ohio,” according to Insure.com.The Ohio Insurance Institute says 671 autoinsurance carriers do business in the state— more than in any other state except Illi-nois.

Jeannine Giesler, president of the Profes-sional Independent Agents Association ofOhio, told the website, “It boils down to theclimate for insurance. Ohio continues to bea strong advocate for its citizens and has astrong insurance department that stays onthe forefront as times are changing. It’s pos-sible to get from independent agents ratesthat are very competitive.”

Insure.com said Ohio “has consistentlyranked as one of the least expensive statesfor car insurance since Insure.com beganconducting its annual state-by-state premi-um comparison.

Nowhere to go but upThere have been a few not-so-great de-

velopments of late for Aurora-based light-

ing company TCP.A February lawsuit by the company’s gen-

eral counsel led to CEO Ellis Yan announc-ing April 16 that he would leave that post af-ter his contract expires on June 30.

Now, TheStreet.com crunched somenumbers on the five worst IPO performersof the last 12 months, and TCP was there, atNo. 5. The $79 million IPO last June was of-fered at $11 per share. The first day closewas $10.43, and the close on April 15 was$3.04 — a 72.4% decline since the companywent public.

Growth industryOne more reason to be in favor of mari-

juana legalization: It fosters innovation inthe lighting industry, including at a Cleve-land company called iGROW.

“With new greenhouses and growingspaces come purchases of new grow-lights,an essential tool for a robust cannabis crop,and startup lighting companies are re-sponding to the need with innovative prod-ucts,” Forbes.com said. New companies de-veloping alternative technologies “aregunning for lower heat output, lower costand best light spectrum emission.

Ari Seaman, an owner of iGROW, an agri-cultural lighting manufacturer companythat began operations in 2009, toldForbes.com, “The right light can make acannabis crop mature ten days faster, andthat means more money for growers whocan get that investment sold faster.”

Forbes.com noted that iGROW agricul-tural light “delivers the full spectrum of col-ors of the sun, fine-tuned to the needs ofcannabis plants.”

iGROW posted sales of $500,000 in 2012.This year, the company expects to sell $20million worth of lights. Its customer basealso has changed substantially.

“Eighty percent of our first-year saleswere to non-marijuana growers,” Seamantold Forbes.com. Now more than half of allsales go to marijuana growers.

THE WEEKAPRIL 20 - 26

The big story: A push for change at Associ-ated Estates Realty Corp. led to the biggestchange of all — a sale of the RichmondHeights-based real estate investment trust. As-sociated Estates on April 22 said its board of di-rectors approved a deal to be acquired byToronto-based Brookfield Asset Managementfor about $2.5 billion, including the assump-tion of debt. Brookfield will acquire all Associ-ated Estates shares outstanding for $28.75 pershare. Last year, Stamford, Conn.-based Landand Buildings launched a campaign to changethe composition of the Associated Estatesboard.

Clash of the titans: The U.S. Departmentof Justice sued Quicken Loans Inc., allegingthe Detroit-based mortgage lender founded byCleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert im-properly originated and underwrote federallyinsured mortgage loans. The government al-leges that Quicken originated hundreds of Fed-eral Housing Administration-insured loansbetween September 2007 and December 2011that were not eligible for the federal program.The lawsuit came a week after Quicken suedthe DOJ and the U.S. Department of Housingand Urban Development. Quicken said it wasleft no choice after “the DOJ demanded Quick-en Loans make public admissions that wereblatantly false, as well as pay an inexplicablepenalty or face legal action.”

It’s getting reel: Avon landed a big fish inthe sporting goods retail world — Cabela’s Inc.The company, which bills itself as “the world’sforemost outfitter of hunting, fishing and out-door gear,” said it expects construction on the81,000-square-foot Avon store to begin laterthis year, and it anticipates a fall 2016 opening.It will be the first Cabela’s in Northeast Ohio.The store will be off Exit 153 of Interstate 90near Chester Road. Jacobs Real Estate ServicesLLC is the developer. Cabela’s expects to em-ploy about 225 full-time, part-time and season-al employees at the store. It will be the fourthCabela’s store in Ohio.

Bet on it: ThistleDown Racino began con-struction on a $70 million upgrade. Included inthose new amenities are a 1,000-space parkinggarage; a high-limit gaming and VIP lounge;the addition of 250 Video Lottery Terminals tothe existing 1,283; a 150-seat restaurant; and anew lobby that will connect the gaming floorwith the parking garage. Construction is ex-pected to be completed by April 2016. Thistle-Down will remain open 24 hours a daythroughout construction.

In transition: Economic development orga-nization Team Northeast Ohio has a newchairman — Jim Clay, chairman and CEO ofWestfield Group, an insurance and bankinggroup of businesses headquartered in MedinaCounty. Clay succeeds Ward J. “Tim” TimkenJr., the chairman, president and CEO ofTimkenSteel Corp., and David T. Abbott, exec-utive director of The George Gund Founda-tion, who served as interim co-chairs duringthe organization’s transition to begin to imple-ment a new regional economic developmentstrategy.

Get it started: The Flashstarts business ac-celerator aims to create a $15 million venturefund with help from one of LaunchHouse’s for-mer leaders. The Cleveland-based acceleratorhas hired Shannon Lyons to lead the effort. Shepreviously was in charge of business develop-ment at LaunchHouse and ran its business ac-celerator program. The venture fund is de-signed to complement Flashstarts’ StartMartplan. The accelerator said it aims to convertone or more buildings in Cleveland into a“mixed-use Mecca for startups of all kinds.”

STAN BULLARD

The Residences at 1717 building.


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