The 2013 Class of Power Players in Cleveland
We would like to recognize The 2013 Class of Power Players in Cleveland. This yearlong luncheon series featured the most influential business leaders in the region sharing their perspective on why Cleveland is such a great place to live, work and visit.
Jim Bennett
senior vice president
Merchandise Mart Properties Inc.
Bennett joined Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. in 2012 after a 40 year career that included 30 years with McKinsey & Co., three years as senior executive vice president with KeyCorp, and a decade serving as a senior management consultant for major corporations and as a director and CEO for several early stage Internet businesses.
He serves as senior vice president at Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., a leading owner and operator of integrated showroom, office building and trade show facilities that was the founding partner for Cleveland’s Global Center for Health Innovation.
Bennett is also director and client developer at Within3, an Internet firm he helped launch in 2005, and managing director of the Bennett Group LLC, a senior management consulting firm.
Joe Cimperman
councilman
Cleveland City Council
Cimperman is currently serving his seventh term on Cleveland City Council, representing Ward 3. One of the most diverse wards in Cleveland, Ward 3 includes the neighborhoods of St. Clair-Superior, Tremont, Ohio City, Duck Island, Old Brooklyn, Brooklyn Centre, the Flats and downtown. Cimperman is chair of the health and human services committee and is a member of the legislation, public parks, property, recreation, and community and economic development committees on council. Since being elected in 1997, he has focused his efforts on community revitalization. He also spearheaded Cleveland’s nationally recognized urban agriculture scene.
Terry Davis
president and CEO
Our Lady of the Wayside
Davis grew up in Cleveland and attended Cleveland Public Schools. Professionally, he has held multiple positions working with children and adults with developmental disabilities including Medicaid consultant, youth counselor, behavior specialist, habilitation manager and director, and group home administrator. Davis was first introduced to Our Lady of the Wayside in 1991 as a consultant to assist the agency in obtaining Medicaid certification and took on the role of president and CEO in 1993. In 1991, the agency consisted of three homes and 87 residents. Today, the agency operates 52 homes throughout Northeast Ohio and provides support and service to nearly 500 consumers.
Adam Fishman
principal
Fairmount Properties
Adam Fishman has more than 27 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Prior to joining Fairmount Properties LLC, he served as market leader for Trammell Crow Co.’s Cleveland and Columbus operations. He then served as president and managing partner of Cleveland Real Estate Partners, an international corporate real estate consulting and advisory firm.
In 1999, Fishman negotiated the sale of Cleveland Real Estate Partners to Deloitte & Touche, and joined Deloitte & Touche as a partner in the management solutions and services group, providing national real estate consultative services.
Fishman joined Fairmount as co-principal just prior to the firm’s first anniversary and oversees the firm’s financial, operational, construction, entitlement and planning activities.
Sam McNulty
entrepreneur and owner
Market Garden Brewery & Distillery/Nano Brew/Bar Cento/Speakeasy/bier markt
McNulty has created 160 jobs and a great place for beer lovers of all kinds to congregate in Ohio City. It began with McNulty’s Bier Markt in 2005, Ohio’s only Belgian beer bar serving over 100 Belgian and American craft beers along with more than 30 rotating drafts. Bar Cento opened in 2007 and offers a creative European-inspired menu focused on regional and sustainable ingredients from local farms and purveyors. Then it was the prohibition-era themed Speakeasy in 2009, Market Garden Brewery & Distillery in 2011 and Nano Brew Cleveland in 2012. Located next to the West Side Market, it all meshes to create Cleveland’s first American Beer Garden.
Patricia Nobili
president and CEO
Achievement Centers for Children
Nobili became president and CEO of the Achievement Centers for Children in 1994. She is responsible for planning and overseeing the administration of the fiscal and programmatic components of the organization’s three facilities.
The Achievement Centers for Children serves more than 3,900 children with disabilities and their families every year. Over the past 15 years, the agency has experienced unprecedented growth, more than quadrupling in size.
This growth has led to the organization building a new, larger, state-of-the-art facility in Highland Hills. It also moved to a larger renovated facility in Westlake, and made improvements to Camp Cheerful, located in Strongsville.
Achievement Centers for Children helps children and their families through therapy, education, family support, recreation and the River Rock Adult Day Program.
Chris Ronayne
president
University Circle Inc.
Ronayne was named president of University Circle Inc. in 2005. University Circle Inc. is a nonprofit community service corporation responsible for the development, service and advocacy of University Circle as a world-class center of innovation in healthcare, education, arts and culture, and a premier urban district.
As University Circle Inc.’s seventh president, Ronayne developed a dynamic and aggressive agenda to leverage the institutional assets of University Circle’s anchor, “Eds, Meds and Arts” organizations, and transformed it into a vibrant mixed-use district.
Ronayne and his staff partner with more than 40 member institutions to oversee the growth and direction of Ohio’s fastest growing employment district, with UCI providing community planning, development, education, marketing, police and other shared services.
Before joining University Circle Inc., Ronayne served the City of Cleveland as the planning director, chief development officer and chief of staff.
Kevin Schmotzer
executive for small business development
City of Cleveland
Schmotzer has been employed in the city’s department of economic development since 1998. He works with government agencies and local banks to provide financial assistance for commercial, retail, industrial and technology businesses to help them remain in or relocate to Cleveland. In his current role, Schmotzer focuses specifically on the growth and expansion of small businesses within the city. Prior to working for Cleveland, he worked for the City of Avon Lake in the planning department where he helped secure and administer an $820,000 grant for the design of a $1.1 million bicycle/pedestrian trail system throughout the city.
