Smart Business Magazine, September 2017

28 Smart Business Columbus September 2017 Jennifer Peterson CHIEF EXECUTIVE Easton www eastontowncenter com Since joining the team in 2015 Jennifer Petersons philanthropic leadership has magnified Eastons community oriented initiatives One initiative dear to Petersons heart is the Change for Charity Meter program Each year Peterson and members of the executive leadership team select six organizations from a pool of applicants to receive proceeds from Eastons parking meters and parking tickets She also has boosted Eastons cornerstone events which are hosted by the Easton Community Foundation to help raise funds for institutions focused on family health and advocacy in Central Ohio Some past benefactors include Nationwide Childrens Hospital The Buckeye Ranch The Center for Family Safety and Healing Ross Heart Hospital and OSUCCC James In addition under Petersons leadership nearly 100 students have received renewable two year scholarships estimated at over 300000 2017 Central Ohio Smart 50 Lacey Picazo FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL ZoCo Design www zocodesign com When Lacey Picazo was in two day labor with her first child she led a conference call This is an example of the passion that helped create a career for herself and the ZoCo Design team ZoCo helps prominent groups in corporate innovation including Singularity University in Silicon Valley Rocketspace in San Francisco Cardinal Health and the Royal Bank of Scotland with digital design and branding ZoCos quality of work and client list is impressive but even more notable is the culture In an industry where agencies overwork teams to meet deadlines the ZoCo crew leaves at reasonable hours When excess projects occur Picazo sees it as her responsibility to work 30 hour weekends Picazo also builds educational resources for the community and startups through Lumos the accelerator she co founded Ronald A Pizzuti CHAIRMAN AND CEO The Pizzuti Cos www pizzuti com One of the countrys leading full service real estate development firms The Pizzuti Cos has developed more than 45 million square feet of Class A office industrial mixed use hospitality residential and institutional properties in its more than 40 years in business From the beginning Ronald A Pizzuti focused on bringing his experience in retail merchandizing and a dedication to incorporating quality and aesthetics into development projects This attention to detail and a companywide commitment to create projects that hold their value has served as the foundation for success The company also stays ahead of the curve on changing market demands Long known as a developer of award winning build to suits and industrial and office parks Pizzuti recently has undertaken several hospitality and mixed use projects including The Joseph in downtown Columbus Rich Ritter PRESIDENT AND CEO Retirement Plans Inc www rpi401k com Retirement Plans Inc helps organizations run a successful 401 k plan but Rich Ritters drive stems from a passion for educating people about their plan benefits His perspective originates from his grandmothers reduced standard of living in retirement To achieve this mission Ritter developed a series of educational luncheons the Straight Talk Series in 2013 On a nearly monthly basis RPI hosts sessions that feature Ritter and other experts in law accounting compliance investments and economics who speak on running a 401 k plan or the overall business climate Nearly 750 attendees who dont have to be current RPI customers have benefited from this in the past four years The RPI team also likes to meet with employees one on one to take the discussion to a personal highly relevant level Hiten Shah PRESIDENT AND CEO Marketing and Engineering Solutions MES Inc www mesinc net Marketing and Engineering Solutions MES Inc has grown 60 percent a year increasing team members and adding new suppliers and customers every quarter The full service provider of global manufacturing and supply chain management services has operations and suppliers in China India and Vietnam and customers in the United Kingdom Spain Mexico and the U S Despite many seemingly out of control variables MES has successfully improved its supply chain metrics customer satisfaction rankings and on time delivery MES partly attributes this achievement to its significant involvement in five universities that are leaders in supply chain research Sponsoring a variety of university projects has provided MES with unique opportunities to leverage students talents and capabilities review cutting edge supply chain research solicit and garner counsel from accomplished and discipline leading professors and access state of the art analytical tools Linda Shetina Logan EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Greater Columbus Sports Commission www columbussports org Over the past 20 years Linda Shetina Logan has brought her vision of Columbus as a premier sports destination to life through the Greater Columbus Sports Commission What had always been isolated sports interests operating within their own spheres of influence collegiate amateur professional private city county state has become a citywide mosaic of successful lucrative and diverse sports entertainment With the assistance of Logan and her ever growing passionate staff the GCSC bid on and won more than 400 new sporting events generating an estimated 400 million in visitor spending and contributing significantly to the local economy As one of the first generation of women to work in sports administration she also uses her position passion and ability as a natural connector to empower and mentor women and girls Smart50COL