Departments
Ups and downs
By Dustin S. Klein
Smart Business Cleveland | February 2002
(Ups) to Jane Campbell. Cleveland's first woman mayor hit the floor running by announcing new initiatives to push technology in Northeast Ohio and foster new business. Apparently, Mayor Campbell's not awaiting any sort of honeymoon on the job. What more can you ask from a new leader?
(Downs) to everyone involved in the Enron mess. In what may turn out to be the biggest business blunder of the last half-century, this fiasco could tarnish accounting giant Andersen's reputation as well as become the Bush Administration's scandal to remember. As it unfolds it will become the story of 2002.
(Ups) to Royal Appliance. CEO Mike Merriman's formation of LaunchPad Partners provides a new vehicle for investors and start-up consumer product ventures. Another success like the TeleZapper would give Northeast Ohio something to cheer about.
(Downs) to Ford Motor Co. employees. We understand the need to rein in hard costs, so it's hard to fault the auto giant for trimming 35,000 jobs. What we find strange, however, is how Ford's board of directors let ex-CEO Jacques Nassar lead the company into such troubling, debt-filled waters. Let's just hope those employees who lose their jobs don't find themselves in Enron's ex-employees' boats, crying for help.
