If you must hire a lawyer, you want to make sure you have a good one when you do. But how do you find the right one for you? In this inaugural feature, we list 852 of the state’s best lawyers in 100-plus categories to help you find the lawyer that best suits your needs. To create this list, registered lawyers throughout the state of Ohio were invited by Ohio Business Magazine to submit ballots nominating the best among their colleagues. Results are fact-checked and approved by an advisory board. Self-nominated lawyers are not included. Votes from lawyers in the same firm carry less w ..read more

Akron’s tech hub designation advances sustainability, technology and business By Terry Troy When the Polymer Industry Cluster of the Greater Akron Chamber (GAC) received its designation as both a national Tech Hub and a recipient of a Strategic Development Grant last October, it really came as no surprise to industry insiders. After all, the Greater Akron area has been a world leader in the polymer industry and the development of new technology for well over 100 years. What is transformative is how much impact those two awards will have on our state’s economy, especially in those 18 counties s ..read more

Staying ahead of our world adversaries is essential By Terry Troy While there have been a few articles on the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) since the advent of programs like ChatGPT, AI technology has been around for decades, enhancing our lives while offering improved safety for both civilian and military populations. One Ohio 501(c)(3) nonprofit research institute working in this space is Parallax Advanced Research in Dayton. We interviewed some of their experts in AI and got a glimpse into three ways their work is making an impact on national security. AI Use Cases, from ..read more

Battery plant brings new jobs to Northwest Ohio By Terry Troy An industry leading Tier-1 automotive supplier plans to build a new electric vehicle battery assembly plant in Northwest Ohio. Mobis North America, a Tier-1 automotive supplier, is investing $13.8 million to locate a new manufacturing plant in Toledo that will assemble battery systems for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Mobis expects that the plant will create 185 manufacturing jobs. Construction is already underway on the new plant, with production planned to start in August 2024. The investment in the new state ..read more

Company raises venture capital for women-owned businesses By Terry Troy Any entrepreneur will tell you that starting a business is a challenge. Raising venture capital to fund that business takes the whole process to another level. Now add into the equation that it’s a women-owned business, and the task seems almost impossible. But that could be changing. Accelerating Angels is a new Columbus-based business designed to give women entrepreneurs a path to hard-to-access capital. Co-founded by Cindi Englefield, a self-described serial entrepreneur, and Mary McCarthy, the co-founder of the Women’s ..read more

Dateline: Cleveland – GCP hosts nation’s largest public-private sustainability summit By Terry Troy It might have been the heart of a cold dark winter, but the attendees’ minds were all green. The Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) hosted more than 850 sustainability leaders, CEOs, students and community stakeholders at its second annual Sustainability Summit at the Huntington Convention Center, which was billed by keynote speaker Kaitlin Bergan, head of Sustainable Client Solutions for the Americas at BlackRock, as “the largest civic-private event like this in the country.” During her keynot ..read more

Basement business builds into a national brand By Terry Troy When Don Hermann decided to experiment with making his own pickles in a Garretsville farmhouse back in 1967, it was born of tragedy. Pat Viancourt “Don Hermann had been raising chickens, but a disease wiped out his entire flock, as well as a turkey farm just up the road,” says Pat Viancourt, president and CEO of the Hermann Pickle Company, who owns the company today along with his brother, Tim. “So, Don and his wife started making pickles in the basement of the family farmhouse.” On Saturdays, the couple would drive their sons to Heb ..read more

Letter from the President & Publisher, Eric Harmon By Eric Harmon Many of us, including me, are always striving for success. Our annual Ohio Success Awards provide me with the opportunity to learn about other organizations, but it also gives me time to consider the meaning of success. Yes, growing in revenue and employees are of course markers of success. But our winning companies show there are many other ways to define success, from how a company creates a quality work environment to the impact of the organization on the surrounding community. Success can be defined in many ways, and eac ..read more

Ohio’s Guide to Colleges & Universities: University of Akron offers incarcerated population hope By Terry Troy For those who participate and complete the program, it could be the next step toward gainful employment, self-reliance and re-assimilating in our state’s society. For participating companies, it helps fulfill a very real workplace need. Through a new initiative from The University of Akron (UA), Ohio’s prison system is offering incarcerated individuals an opportunity to receive an associate degree, which could lead to an employment opportunity once they have served their time. The ..read more

High school students grow food, business knowledge By Terry Troy Talk about an educational “twofer.” High school students from Cleveland suburbs Euclid, Wickliffe and Mentor are growing crops in a unique environment that teaches them about the future of high-tech farming, while offering insight into modern agriculture business. The technology is already enjoying commercial success on a national level by a company headquartered in Cincinnati called 80 Acres Farms, which recently expanded its partnership with grocery giant Kroger to deliver fresh produce. You may have read about that company in ..read more