Smart Business Magazine, June 2017

28 Smart Business Akron Canton June 2017 Matt Fish OWNER AND FOUNDER Melt Bar Grilled www meltbarandgrilled com Matt Fish owner and founder of Melt Bar Grilled has transformed the grilled cheese sandwich into a new product category gourmet grilled cheese bringing it national notoriety He hadnt planned to create a restaurant empire yet Melt Bar and Grilled operates more than 10 locations and the staff who stood by his side from the get go are now managers and corporate executives Being first out of the box has allowed Melt the freedom to experiment tweak and perfect its concept so as to retain its position as the product category leader Growth has been limited to one full service restaurant per year to ensure that quality standards are maintained It has entered into management contracts but did so with consideration to maintaining its image food quality standards and financials Melt encourages charities to schedule events at its locations covers the cost for production of flyers and donates 20 percent of the check subtotals to the charity 2017 Northeast Ohio Smart 50 Mark Fleming VICE PRESIDENT PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING Vitamix www vitamix com Mark Fleming vice president of product management and engineering at Vitamix doesnt want innovation for the sake of innovation He wants innovations that work with consumers to make their lives easier in a real tangible way He had that in mind when he recently led the 96 year old company through its largest most significant product launch in decades the introduction of the Vitamix Ascent Series blenders This initiative represents a complete overhaul of the companys household product line from premium blenders to premium blenders with smart home technology With this introduction Vitamix put itself in a position as the category leader the first among its peers to utilize wireless technology to improve the high performance blending experience The Ascent Series blender launch signifies the biggest product development for the company in more than 20 years The completely new line of blenders represents the next wave of high performance blending and could replace the entire household product offering from Vitamix John Gadd CEO Hotcards www hotcards com John Gadd CEO of Hotcards has created a high tech marketing platform to design and print custom products Despite a challenging business model that doesnt rely on items in stock and ready to ship the company printed more than 5 billion square inches of paper for over 50000 customers in all 50 states in 2016 To support this model Gadd developed a culture of fun and speed He attracts employees through his high enthusiasm and 24 7 work ethic Todays world demands faster turnaround time at economical prices To compete in an industry in which products can be found ordered produced and shipped from all over the globe Gadd has developed a custom graphic design company that can design and produce any type of printed material to help customers get their message out In addition to his entrepreneurship Gadd is well known in Cleveland because of his volunteer activity and willingness to give back to the community David E Gilbert PRESIDENT AND CEO Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Destination Cleveland www clevelandsports org www thisiscleveland com David E Gilbert had quite a year in 2016 The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission GCSC hosted nine major sporting events that grossed 169 million for the Greater Cleveland area This effort was helped by the contribution of more than 40000 volunteer hours GCSC also secured the 2019 Major League Baseball All Star Game and a major international mens soccer tournament At Destination Cleveland which like GCSC Gilbert leads as president and CEO an advertising campaign was able to drive 12 million visitors to Cleveland The organizations website reached 44 million visits in 2016 a 36 percent increase from the previous year As if that wasnt enough Gilbert also found time to serve as president and CEO of the 2016 Cleveland Host Committee for the Republican National Convention Gilberts ability to lead and work toward a common goal of driving economic impact and improving quality of life in Greater Cleveland has produced great results in Northeast Ohio Anne C Goodman PRESIDENT AND CEO Saint Lukes Foundation www saintlukesfoundation org Anne C Goodman shares the commitment to continuous learning that has enabled Saint Lukes Foundation to fulfill its mission of helping people lead healthier lives building stronger neighborhoods and supporting resilient families She has challenged staff members to think differently about how they do their work and encouraged them to collaborate Through her guidance and leadership as president and CEO Goodman has helped her team understand that in order to achieve transformative impact everyone needs to work together Saint Lukes Foundation actively brings individuals together from outside of its target neighborhoods and compels them to help the foundation its grantees and community stakeholders to think differently While conventional wisdom might suggest that these local nonprofit leaders were aware of what their peers were doing Goodman helped them understand that many leaders were in the dark about what was happening outside their own domains She has promoted an environment of collaboration that has helped people across the nonprofit sector build closer bonds Kevin Goodman MANAGING DIRECTOR AND PARTNER BlueBridge Networks www bluebridgenetworks com As Managing Director and Partner of BlueBridge Networks Kevin Goodman works both internally with an expert operations team and externally with vendors customers and business associates to drive development marketing and sales He encourages innovation in a way that empowers employees as it builds demand and revenue Innovative products and services must be continually created and recreated to meet an ever changing IT world Goodman encourages his IT experts to question the status quo and continually search for innovative solutions Recently named Top Midmarket IT Executive by The Channel Company and Midsize Enterprise Summit Goodman has led BlueBridge to double digit growth for the past 10 years Goodman however recognizes that he is only as capable as those around him By surrounding himself with experts in their chosen fields and respecting the knowledge that they bring Goodman has effectively taken the BlueBridge model to industries throughout the region the country and the world Smart50NEO