Up until now, you mostly had to be connected to big business — and to Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov Jon Husted — to have a say in how businesses of all sizes are considered in Ohio’s snails-pace reopening.
On Friday, DeWine said the state would begin a phased reopening from the Chinese coronavirus shutdown, The Ohio Star reported. The governor said he is forming a pair of advisory groups tasked with developing best practices for reopening dine-in restaurants, barbershops and salons.
The predecessor of those groups, however, was known as the economic advisory board. On April 2, DeWine named his dream team of business leaders, many of whom enriched him and Husted by at least $750,000 with campaign contributions.
More information about donations by them, their companies and family members is in a file with this story based on filings with the Secretary of State.
The board members are:
- Patrick Bowe, President and CEO, The Andersons, Inc.
- Mike Brooks, Chairman, Rocky Boots
- Brian Burgett, President, Kokosing Construction Company
- Toby Cosgrove, Executive Advisor, Cleveland Clinic
- Sam Covelli, Chief Executive Officer, Covelli Enterprises
- Paul Dolan, Owner, Cleveland Indians
- Jacqueline Gamblin, Founder and CEO, JYG Innovations
- Mike Hennigan, President and CEO, Marathon Petroleum Corporation
- Steven Johnston, President and CEO, Cincinnati Financial Corporation
- Cameron Mitchell, Founder and CEO, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants
- Kelly Moore, Owner, GKP Auto Parts
- Loretta Mester, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
- Dan Pritchard, President and CEO, A.J. Rose Manufacturing Company
- Dwight Smith, Chairman and CEO, Sophisticated Systems
- Frank Sullivan, Chairman and CEO, RPM International
- Mark Smucker, President and CEO, The J.M. Smucker Company
- David Taylor, Chairman, President and CEO, Procter and Gamble
- Vanessa Whiting, President, A.E.S. Management Group
Of all the economic advisory board members, they, their families or companies/employees gave a combined $720,000 to DeWine and/or Husted since 2014, the furthest back the search goes, so this does not consider donations when Husted was speaker of the Ohio House. Twelve of the 18 board members (or companies) are direct donors.
Board Chairman Frank Sullivan, his company and family gave over $150,000.
Those who did not donate are: Cosgrove; Moore; Mester; Pritchard; Smith; and Whiting.
Of all the board members, one has small-business chops — Kelly Moore, owner of an auto parts store in Zanesville and recipient of the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio’s Small Business Champion award in 2017.
Consider several other group members or their large companies:
- Mark Smucker of J.M. Smucker: A conglomerate with $7.8 billion in net sales last year.
- Frank Sullivan, RPM: He is a frequent donor to DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, having donated $42,500 to them since 2014.
- According to the RPM website, the company employs nearly 15,000 people worldwide and operates 156 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 170 countries and territories. Fiscal 2019 consolidated sales were $5.6 billion.
- Cincinnati Financial Corporation ranks itself as among the top 25 property casualty insurers in the nation.
- The Andersons had 2018 revenue of $8.1 billion.
Read the full PDF:
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
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