finance & accounting general management human resources …

C O L U M B U S C . E . O . A P R I L 2 0 1 2 9

BY MICHELLE DAVEY AND JENNIFER WRAY

PHOTOS BY GREG BARTRAM

Central Ohio is home to many businessmen and -women who go above andbeyond to make themselves and their organizations stand out in the crowd.

Columbus C.E.O. honors a handful of these people by dubbing them Superstars. For our seventh annual “Superstars” feature, we solicited nominations

through ballots in the November and December issues and on our website.Dozens of readers submitted suggestions in five career fields: Finance & Ac-counting, General Management, Human Resources, Research & Developmentand Sales & Marketing.

We vetted each nominee before narrowing the list to the 10 men and wom-en—two per category—profiled on the following pages. While they’re a diversegroup, they do share some key attributes: All have management responsibility, aprerequisite for inclusion, and all excel on the job, whether that’s running the en-tire company or overseeing the marketing department.

It would be impossible to tally all the professionals around town who give 110percent, of course. But we do think the 10 people profiled here are among thebest talent around. Do you know a Superstar we overlooked, or think someonedoesn’t fit the bill? Let us know by dropping a letter in the mail or emailing .

★ FINANCE & ACCOUNTING ★ GENERAL MANAGEMENT

★ HUMAN RESOURCES ★ RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

★ SALES & MARKETING

★

©20

12 C

RE

ST

OC

K

Reprinted for online use with permission from Columbus C.E.O. © 2012. All rights reserved.

His field is financial planning, but Scott Everhart, is, in manyways, an educator. “The more informed people are, the better

decisions they make,” says Everhart, president and CEO of Ever-hart Financial, founded in 1995.

“We do a lot of educating of our client base, both individualand corporately. That’s maybe a major differentiator of ours. Wehave a full team that goes out and does personal one-on-ones withpeople who are in these retirement plans,” he says. Everhart Fi-nancial also offers group education for its corporate clients andhas started a quarterly education series for plan participants.

A Delaware native, Everhart graduated with bachelor’s de-grees in finance and business management from Kent State Uni-versity. “Back in 1991, when I got my start, there was this fledg-ling industry called financial planning, and I was able to get in onthe fairly early stages of that, and then my career has developed,”he says.

In the last five years, Everhart has embraced 401(k) work.“That is really the most powerful way to help the most number ofpeople gain financial security, through these corporate retirementplans. … It ends up being financial planning in a ‘mass’ way,” hesays.

Now, about 80 percent of Everhart’s business lies in represent-ing corporate retirement plans for businesses with 20 to 1,200employees. The remainder is individual accounts that come viareferral or from the executives of businesses Everhart representsin its 401(k) work.

The financial planning industry has long been characterizedby the word “obfuscation,” says Jeff Wilkins, the CompuServeco-founder whom Everhart describes as a “one-man board of di-rectors” for the firm. “It’s not very obvious to participants wheretheir money goes, necessarily, and Scott had this idea that the bestway to do the job for clients was to make the process totally trans-parent and then to find the best possible suppliers for their clients.I really liked that idea,” Wilkins says.

Everhart, 45, a Certified Financial Planner and Accredited In-vestment Fiduciary, is a member of the Farmers Citizens Bankboard of directors as well as a member of the Financial PlanningAssociation, Financial Executives International and the DublinChamber of Commerce.

The fee-based Everhart Financial offers 105 retirement plansand manages $500 million in assets on behalf of 8,000 partici-pants, a number Everhart expects to double in the next five years.“In doing so, we think we’re going to be doubling the amount ofpeople who are much more prepared for a secure financial futureand a secure retirement,” he says.

Wilkins praises Everhart’s foresight. “He’s paid a lot of atten-tion to what’s happening in the marketplace, how quickly it’s like-ly to grow, and making sure that the Everhart team has got thebandwidth necessary to maintain the same high levels of cus-tomer service that they always did. ... That’s pretty unusual for asmall business.”

10 C O L U M B U S C . E . O . A P R I L 2 0 1 2

F I N A N C E & A C C O U N T I N G

★ SCOTT EVERHART★PRESIDENT AND CEO EVERHART FINANCIAL

Mark Yale comes by his acumen for numbers honestly. “Mydad started in accounting, my brother was an accountant,

and it was just something I was always comfortable with,” he says. Born in Columbus and raised in the Baltimore/Washington,

D.C. area, Yale graduated from the University of Richmond witha bachelor’s degree in accounting. After a decade at Coopers &Lybrand (the forerunner to PricewaterhouseCoopers), Yale, aCPA, joined self-storage company Storage USA.

In 2004, Yale was hired at Glimcher Realty Trust as executivevice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, the same posi-tion he holds today. He’s responsible for the public company’s fi-nancial reporting and lease accounting, its joint venture transa-tions and relationships with lending institutions. Coming to Co-lumbus “was a great move. It’s a really nice place to raise a fami-ly,” says Yale, 46. In addition to his work, Yale serves on the exec-utive committee of the leukemia-fighting nonprofit Light theNight and on the board of Wexner Heritage Village, which caredfor his ailing mother in 2010.

Yale’s tenure at Glimcher, a real estate investment trust that fo-cuses on malls, hasn’t been easy. The years 2008 and 2009 saw itin “survival mode,” he says. The credit markets froze and Glim-cher, despite its assets, had debts, too. Relationships with banksfacilitated access to capital; Glimcher was able to survive through“very little layoffs,” a salary freeze and adjustments to its 401(k)offerings, Yale says. “The good news is it’s all been reinstated.”

Glimcher was able to raise money via the public markets in2009, Yale says, a strategy it soon repeated: Between 2010 and2011, the company generated nearly $500 million though the saleof common and preferred shares. In mid-February, Glimcher re-ported improved store sales, occupancy and growth in compara-ble mall net operating income for fiscal year 2011, but posted anet loss to common shareholders of $5 million, down from $16.4million the prior year. The improvement was due largely to thesale of Polaris Towne Center.

The REIT is now looking to transform “with a real focus onquality,” says Yale. That includes the quality of its staff—it em-ploys 1,000 people nationwide, including 150 at its Downtownoffice—as well as the caliber of its real estate and the condition ofits balance sheet. “We like to make the analogy that in 2008, 2009,we were digging ourselves out of a hole; now we’re climbing amountain. Climbing a mountain can be hard, but it’s a lot morefun than getting out of the hole,” Yale says.

A few years back, Glimcher properties averaged sales persquare foot of $300; at year’s end it stood at $404. With 27 proper-ties, Glimcher is “probably the smallest public mall company outthere. … But we’re large enough to compete,” says Yale, addingthat Glimcher’s size makes it nimble and responsive. It also means“that one or two of the right acquisitions can make a significantdifference in the portfolio of the company,” Yale says.

Glimcher Chief Operating Officer Marshall Loeb calls Yale“steady and dependable, and all the things you would want” in aCFO. Yale takes a measured aproach to projects, yet revels in thesuccesses. “I think Mark really gets as excited as we do about thenew stores and the renovations and things like that,” Loeb says.

★ MARK YALE★EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CFO

AND TREASURER GLIMCHER REALTY TRUST

F I N A N C E & A C C O U N T I N G


Twenty-four years ago, Tom Feeney joined Safelite Auto-Glass; four years ago, he was named its president and CEO.

Since then, he has championed a novel approach that puts thecompany’s 10,000 employees above all else—even Safelite’s cus-tomers.

“In our company, we made the decision that our customersdidn’t come first, our people did. And if you take really good careof your people, they in turn will take really good care of your cus-tomers,” says Feeney, 60.

During the economic downturn, Safelite dropped its 401(k)match and froze wages; both matches and raises have since re-turned. Safelite also bucked the tide by increasing inventories,adding warehouses and stores, and investing in technology. Whilemany companies have turned to automated call centers, Safelitehas staffed itself with customer-service representatives (CSRs)trained to respond with empathy to callers’ issues. After all, notesFeeney, “You don’t wake up and say, ‘I want to get my windshieldreplaced.’ ”

CSRs email customers a confirmation of the repair and ap-pointment details; the day of the work, customers receive anotherconfirmation email, as well as a photo of the technician who willprovide the service. Because repeat customers are rare in Safe-lite’s line of business, referrals and recommendations are para-mount. “We want to deliver a type of service so powerful that cus-tomers want to talk about us,” says Feeney.

The approach is working. In February, both Feeney and Safe-lite were recognized with the International Service Excellence(large company category) and CEO of the Year awards from theCustomer Service Institute of America.

Safelite, the nation’s largest provider of vehicle glass repairand replacement service, has doubled its business in the last fiveyears. “Along the way, we tripled our profits,” Feeney says. Lastyear, Safelite served 4.4 million customers and brought in $1.1billion in sales (the previous year, sales were about $1 billion); thenext goal is annual sales of $2 billion.

In 2007, Safelite was acquired by London-based Belron Inter-national, which has vehicle glass repair businesses in 32 coun-tries. The relationship, says Feeney, “could be a Harvard Busi-ness Review article.” Belron and Safelite, its largest business,have a common value system and culture, he says. Since 2008,“We have invested back into the business here in the United States… two times what Belron paid for us.”

Safelite gives employees one paid day off a year to volunteerfor the charity of their choice, as well as a half-day to do so in agroup setting. Feeney is himself an active volunteer, includingwith the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio,where he is immediate past board president.

Dee Anders, executive director of the Ronald McDonaldHouse Charities of Central Ohio, says Feeney “just thinks so big”with a vision that spans decades, rather than years. At the sametime, “his true north is to make sure that our families here at theRonald McDonald House are taken care of,” she says.

★ TOM FEENEY ★PRESIDENT AND CEO SAFELITE AUTOGLASS


G E N E R A L M A N A G E M E N T

Patrick Losinski was a young librarian when a mentor told himsomething that’s stuck with him. “She said, ‘The most suc-

cessful libraries are those that weave themselves into the fabric ofissues of the community,’ ” recalls Losinski, now 52 and CEO ofthe Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML).

It is in this spirit that CML has adopted three initiatives: “MyLibrary,” a personalized library experience; “Young Minds,”which promotes children’s learning and growth; and “Life Skills,”aimed at career, health, financial and technological literacy. “Ithink in the Young Minds area in particular is probably where Iwould point to many of our accomplishments,” says Losinski.

Around 2004, a study showed that nearly 40 percent of kinder-garteners entering Columbus City Schools weren’t adequatelyprepared. “We thought two things: This isn’t a school issue, be-cause these kids haven’t even been to school yet. And secondly,we have this large summer reading project, we have preschoolstorytimes throughout. How can we have this great library systemand have those kind of results for our community? It just didn’tmake sense to us,” says Losinski.

Subsequently, CML launched Ready to Read, a program thathelps at-risk parents prepare their children for kindergarten. Inmid-January, President Barack Obama named library staffer Sa-gal Ali a “Champion of Change” for her work in the program.Losinski was recognized in February as the United Way of Cen-tral Ohio’s 2012 Champion of Children for the launch and expan-sion of children’s literary programming.

The library itself has garnered accolades, too, as the 2010 Na-tional Library of the Year according to Library Journal and recipi-ent of a 2011 National Medal for Museum and Library Servicefrom the Institute of Museum and Library Services—the tophonor for community service initiatives in libraries and museums.

In addition to its youth outreach, CML has opened 21 job helpcenters in its libraries, with computers, reference materials,staffers and volunteers available to job seekers. Almost 40,000people have used the centers. “There’s no better feeling in theworld than to know you helped someone who was down on theirluck, and library resources were leveraged to help make them suc-cessful,” says Losinski. Similarly, CML’s homework help centers,which share the job centers’ space, have seen nearly 60,000 visits.

This year, CML plans to open a technology center between itsLinden and Northern Lights branches, which have the highestwait times for computer access. In addition to computers, the cen-ter will be a laboratory of sorts, bringing in technology that “kidsin that part of the city might never see” otherwise, says Losinski.

The nonprofit CML, which has a little more than 600 full-timeequivalent workers and about 600,000 cardholders at 21 branch-es, has a 2012 operating budget of about $55 million, most ofwhich comes from a 2.8-mill countywide ongoing property taxlevy.

CML trustee Cindy Hilsheimer, managing principal of execu-tive recruiting firm SC Search Consultants, says Losinski has po-sitioned the library as a collaborative, innovative community part-ner. “He’s an articulate spokesperson with a great sense of hu-mor,” she says. “And he’s also really a classic visionary leader. Idon’t use those words often, given the work I do in evaluating peo-ple, but he is truly a visionary leader.”


G E N E R A L M A N A G E M E N T

★ PATRICK LOSINSKI ★CEO COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN LIBRARY

From age 14, Craig Mathes has always held one job or another,whether busing tables or serving as director of human resources

and safety at Team Fishel. Perhaps the hardest and most influential wasas a roadie for the Toll during the band’s 1989 worldwide tour.

“I feel like I’ve been in human resources all my life because I thinkI’ve worked almost every job imaginable. … I did get my work ethicfrom working with a rock ‘n’ roll band,” Mathes, 44, says. “I’m cer-tainly not the brightest or most intelligent guy on the team, but I’m apretty resourceful guy and have a really good sense of intuition on howto get things done in a practical way.”

Mathes earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Ohio StateUniversity in 1991 and taught high school for three years in ColumbusPublic Schools before being laid off with 100 others teachers in 1995.That summer, he worked as a laborer for Corna & DeCesare Construc-tion Company. The leadership team recognized his work ethic andasked him to design training programs. Before he departed in 2000, thecompany had been acquired by Kokosing, and Mathes had been pro-moted to director of human resources and safety.

He joined Team Fishel, a utility construction and network installa-tion company, as director of HR; he acquired safety responsibilities in2005 when that director retired. “We added that to his plate and he’shelped us get a lot better than we’ve ever been from a safety stand-point,” says John Phillips, president and CEO of Team Fishel. “For

years, we never had a human resources department. We started one andthe first person did an OK job. Since we’ve had Craig, he’s just ampedit up several notches.”

In the past five years, Team Fishel has made progress toward thegoal of being an accident-free workplace, decreasing both its Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administration recordable injury rate andnumber of auto accidents. “I think a lot of construction companiesstruggle with the concept of being accident-free. I truly believe thatwe’re in the pursuit of perfection in maintaining a risk-free environ-ment for our teammates,” Mathes says.

On the HR side, Mathes is most proud of two initiatives: the JeffKeeler Leadership Academy and the company’s wellness program.The academy, now in its second class, cultivates leaders throughcoaching, class participation and assignments. “We’re intentionalabout developing them for other opportunities,” Mathes says. Threeparticipants have been elevated to a higher level of management.

HealthCheck 360˚, the wellness program, requires enrolled em-ployees to undergo a health screening and risk assessment and discussfindings with a health coach. “There are always at least three or fourteammates who we identify as being at risk right now, and there’s an in-tervention that occurs to make sure they get that addressed,” Mathessays. In one case, an employee found a health problem through thescreening and underwent open heart surgery a week later.

Before implementing the wellness program, just 18 percent ofTeam Fishel’s employees got annual physical exams. “If we want,long-term, to control our health-care costs, we need to get healthier asa population. If only 18 percent of our teammates even have a clue ofwhat their health status is, we need to raise the level of awareness,”Mathes says.


★ CRAIG MATHES★DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

AND SAFETYTEAM FISHEL

H U M A N R E S O U R C E S

Posters hanging throughout the headquarters of Elford outlinethe century-old company’s mission statement: be trustworthy,

build lasting relationships, build community, work hard, worksmart and keep learning.

“My job is to perpetuate those values and make them morethan just words on a wall, but make it how we live and work, howwe make decisions, how we interact both inside and outside thebuilding with anyone we view as a customer,” says Colleen Rains,the construction company’s director of human resources.

Rains, 57, worked in retail management before earning dualassociate and bachelor’s degrees from Columbus State Communi-ty College and Franklin University in business management andhuman resources, respectively. After graduating at age 40, sheworked as regional human resources manager for ConsolidatedStores, now known as Big Lots, until joining Elford in 1999.

Throughout Rains’ tenure, retention has been above 90 per-cent—most recently at 96 percent—in part due to the company’smentoring program. Starting its seventh class this year, the pro-gram includes a three-year commitment by young professionalswho are paired with a member of the senior leadership team.

“We were seeing some migration away from the organizationat year two or three. Our belief was that if somebody was an em-ployee with us for a year and then got the opportunity to be a partof the mentoring program with us for three years, we’ve got thempast the danger zone and we would be able to retain them andbuild their skill set faster to make them even better contributors,”Rains says. Of the participants who have completed the program,85 percent were promoted.

Rains also oversees a wellness program, which rewards em-ployees with contributions to flexible spending and health savingsaccounts, earned through corporate challenges and sponsorshipof community events such as Race for the Cure and Pelotonia.

“Our employees are taking full advantage of the FSA andHSA accounts by either a combination of wellness dollars andputting in payroll deduction dollars. That combination is increas-ing,” Rains says. Elford employs 104 core staff members, but theoverall number of employees fluctuates between 150 and 300 de-pending on what projects the company is working on.

Rains also is committed to diversity, says Tammy Evans, pres-ident and CEO of Human Resource Assistance. “We do [Elford’s]affirmative action plan and she is dedicated to having a diverseworkforce, equal opportunity employment and equal treatmentwithin the workplace. She takes it seriously and practices it dailyand implements practices through her management team thatmake a difference throughout the community and her workplace,”Evans says.

“I really enjoy the role of being an internal consultant,” Rainssays. “To be able to be viewed as someone who can collaborateand come to a great solution. It can be big stuff, it can be littlestuff, but the role of being able to be a partner in those conversa-tions is very rewarding to me.”

Outside Elford, Rains shares her HR acumen as arrangementsmanager for the Human Resources Association of Central Ohioand a résumé writing expert for Franklin University. She’s also avolunteer stage manager for the Dublin Irish Festival.


★ COLLEEN RAINS★DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES ELFORD

H U M A N R E S O U R C E S

Chad Bouton’s no mind-reader—but a device he helped design is.Among the projects he has tackled in his 15 years at Battelle,

where he works as a research leader, was BrainGate, aneurorehabilitation program that uses an implant to decode the brainsignals of people paralyzed through Lou Gehrig’s disease, spinal-cordinjuries or stroke.

Medical research was not the most obvious work for the Texasnative, 41, who studied electrical engineering as an Iowa StateUniversity undergrad and engineering mechanics as a master’s studentat ISU. But when he came to Battelle, he was told that he might beasked to work in the medical area. “First day on the job, I loved it. Itwas just the things we do—the variety is amazing,” Bouton says.

He works with biosensors, neurotechnology, brain implants andthe like, “really decoding different signals from the body,” he says.“We get involved in surgical devices and systems, what we call‘ambulatory sensors,’ just when somebody’s walking around, we try tomonitor different physiological conditions.”

The idea behind BrainGate, he says, was to place an implant inpatients’ motor cortex to “see if you could have patients imaginedifferent movements—in this case, arm and hand movements,because we were in that part of the motor cortex—and then see if wecould decipher, could we recognize any of the signals and actually

figure out what they’re literally thinking about.” Bouton and a team of researchers helped Cyberkinetics

Neurotechnology Systems, the company developing the BrainGatetechnology, make improvements. Eventually, researchers were able todecode 14 arm and hand movements. “That opens up all sorts ofavenues,” Bouton says. For instance, a person with an implant couldcontrol a robotic arm for assisted feeding or control a cursor, pointingand clicking around the computer screen. One patient demonstratedher ability to maneuver an unoccupied wheelchair using thetechnology.

In addition to BrainGate, Bouton’s work has included supportingCleveland-based Neuros Medical in a project to help amputees relievephantom pain via a stimulator; he also worked with ColumbiaUniversity to see if patients’ epileptic seizures could be predicted oridentified early.

Bouton holds 67 patents worldwide. In 2010, he was namedBattelle Inventor of the Year for his body of work. “I was veryshocked, but pleasantly surprised” by the recognition, he says.

Mike Fritz, who worked with Bouton at Cyberkinetics, saysBouton possesses “kind of a rare combination of advancedengineering knowledge and upper echelon communication skills. He’sgot managerial presence, but he’s got top-tier scientist-engineerpractical skills.” No matter the size of the budget, Chad was able todeliver research of value, says Fritz, who says he could see Boutonachieving success as a chief technology officer at a venture-backedstartup: “I think that would be a great role for him. Hopefully one I’mworking in, because I know it’ll be successful.”


★ CHAD BOUTON★RESEARCH LEADER BATTELLE

R E S E A R C H & D E V E L O P M E N T

It was a picture book, read when she was 8, that helped setNatacha Ruiz, 41, along the path she travels today. The story, she

recalls, is about a child skipping school, climbing a tree, falling—cutting himself in the process—and washing his wound in a“nasty” pond. “So then you see the bacteria, they were like thismonster coming in, and you see how the body starts to combat thisinfection that this kid has. I was totally fascinated by that.”

Ruiz, a native of Spain, spent her junior year of high school asan exchange student in Kansas and returned to the Sunflower Statefor college. She graduated from the University of Kansas with abachelor’s degree in microbiology and chemistry before going tograduate school at Washington University in St. Louis, where sheearned a Ph.D. in molecular microbiology and microbialpathogenesis. Next up was Princeton University, first as a post-doctoral researcher, and then as a research molecular biologist.

In 2010, she came to Ohio State University, where she serves asan assistant professor in OSU’s Department of Microbiology. Ruizsays she left the research-only tenure-track position at Princetonbecause she wanted to teach. Columbus was a draw bothpersonally, in terms of the lifestyle and amenities the city had tooffer, and professionally. “I liked dealing with undergraduate

students,” says Ruiz.At OSU, Ruiz is continuing the work she began at Princeton,

using genetics to ask fundamental questions about bacteria.“Basically, in a big-picture setting, we want to know, ‘How does abacterium build itself?’ What we’re looking at is the equivalent tothe ‘skin’ of it,” says Ruiz.

For those rusty on their high school biology, bacteria generallycan be divided into two classes: gram-positive or gram-negative.Ruiz and her researchers are using Escherichia coli, better knownas E. coli, as a model organism for all gram-negative bacteria. E.coli has two membranes, with a mesh layer called peptidoglycanbetween them. Ruiz and her research team hope to discover how toinhibit the formation of the outer membrane, which would allowantibiotics to penetrate the bacteria and wipe out the foodborneillness. “That’s how antibiotics, you know, work, some of themanyway, by preventing an essential process from happening,” shesays.

Ruiz, says Tina Henkin, a professor and chair of OSU’sDepartment of Microbiology, is “attacking a question which hasbeen open in the literature for a very long time, and no one has beenable to get to the answer, so it’s a somewhat high-risk project in thatsense. But I think if anybody’s going to do it, she’s going to do it.She has great training and willingness to go after hard problems.”

In February, Ruiz’s research got a shot in the arm when she wasnotified that her grant application to the National Institutes ofHealth for peptidoglycan research had qualified for funding. As ofearly March, a funding amount had not yet been determined.


★ NATACHA RUIZ★ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY

R E S E A R C H & D E V E L O P M E N T

‘Ihave the best job in the world because I get to tell the story,”says Tina Badurina, vice president of marketing and commu-

nication for the YMCA of Central Ohio. “I get to tell the story ofan organization that touches people’s lives every single day: theletters, the testimonials, the support, how people see us as theirsecond home and second family. Being able to express thatthrough what we do in marketing and communication is priceless.”

The YMCA of Central Ohio handles its own marketing andcommunications, including its website and collateral materials.Badurina also does consulting work for the YMCA of the USA’snational strategic marketing and communication plan.

“She’s able to reach out and help other YMCAs build their ca-pacity for marketing and communication, specifically in helpingthem to develop marketing and communication plans so that theycan better serve their community,” says Pattie Griffin, senior re-source specialist in marketing communications management withYMCA of the USA. “Tina is very knowledgeable. She always de-livers the work that she does in a very caring way.”

Badurina, 50, graduated from the Columbus College of Art &Design in 1984. She worked in production for Federated Depart-ment Stores in Columbus, then as an art director in the advertisingdepartment in New York City. She joined the YMCA’s staff in2001 after working as a volunteer at the Grove City location andnow heads a five-person staff.

One of her biggest undertakings was the YMCA of CentralOhio’s 150th anniversary in 2005, which included publication of abook, YMCA of Central Ohio: A History In Pictures. “We spent al-most two years just digging through the archive and pulling outthose special moments that needed to be commemorated throughthat book,” Badurina says.

As a nonprofit, the YMCA is supported through funding fromthe United Way, government grants, membership dollars and itsown philanthropic efforts. Working on a limited budget oftenforces Badurina’s team to think outside the box. For the anniver-sary celebration, that meant partnering with the Ohio HistoricalSociety on a display and asking community leaders, including for-mer Ohio State University football star Archie Griffin, to do pub-lic service radio announcements.

Those efforts have seen results, Badurina says. “Marketing hasa very definite place at the table and its importance can never be di-minished. Our association has grown exponentially since I’vebeen here,” she says. The YMCA of Central Ohio has opened fivenew locations, tripled its workforce to 1,800 and boasts more than75,000 members.

Besides the fitness services it has become known for, the YM-CA is a major provider of housing, sheltering 400 young men inthe Downtown headquarters alone. The Y is also the largestprovider of child care in Central Ohio, with 50 sites for preschooland infant care. “We have all these little nuggets in the community,so we’re proud to bring these things forward,” Badurina says.

Badurina’s department has received two Hermes CreativeAwards from the Association of Marketing and CommunicationProfessionals, as well as several best practices awards from YM-CA of the USA.


S A L E S & M A R K E T I N G

★ TINA BADURINA★VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING AND

COMMUNICATION YMCA OF CENTRAL OHIO

Retailers and real estate developers looking to do a market in-troduction in Columbus would be wise to put Hinson Ltd.

Public Relations at the top of their call list. “Because of my background in retail and my background in

Easton, we’re specialists in those areas,” says company PresidentLisa Hinson. “We understand retail, we understand real estate andwe’re able to provide them with that insight.”

The 46-year-old Hinson graduated from Ohio State Universityin 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in communication. An internshipat Limited Brands her junior year eventually turned into a full-time position. Hinson worked in public relations as a coordinator,manager, government relations coordinator and, for her last fiveyears, the director of PR for the company, known then as TheLimited Inc. She also was very involved in the development ofEaston Town Center, the brainchild of Limited Brands founderLes Wexner. “I like to say I grew up there,” Hinson says. “I got thebest training somebody in my profession could ever hope for. Itwas a really exciting, fast-paced environment.”

After two difficult pregnancies, Hinson started her own firm in1999, hoping that would provide her with more flexibility. How-ever, success quickly put an end to the notion of more downtime.“The work, thankfully, came so fast and there were so many excit-ing things going on that I was a part of here that it was a completedisconnect between goal and reality,” Hinson says.

Today, clients include Easton Town Center, the New AlbanyCompany, M/I Homes, Giant Eagle and the local Panera Breadrestaurants. On the nonprofit side, Hinson works with the GirlScouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, New Albany Community Founda-tion, New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix & Family Dayand the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation.

Juggling 14 to 20 clients at a time can be challenging for afive-person firm, but Hinson has no interest in building a biggershop. “I never wanted an agency of 100 people, because I alwayswanted to be doing the work more than being a CEO. I wanted tofocus on direct client service,” she says. Hinson still handlesmuch of the legwork herself, whether it’s arranging a media inter-view or running the band schedule at the New Albany Classic.

Recently, Hinson helped Panera start the Step Up For Stefanieevent, which raised $100,000 for the Stefanie Spielman Fund forBreast Cancer Research. “We figure out how to help retailers andrestaurateurs do things in the community and increase awarenessand drive brand loyalty,” Hinson says. “If you look at Easton, forexample, anyone who has come here, it is a very rare case that wedidn’t do their market introduction.”

Jack Kessler, co-founder and chairman of the New AlbanyCompany, says Hinson is well-respected “because she’s good. Sheknows the media well, they respect her and she’s very professionaland does a good job for her clients.”

Hinson sits on the boards of the James Foundation, Experi-ence Columbus, Columbus School for Girls and the ColumbusFoundation, where she serves on the Donor Development Com-mittee. She is also co-chair and co-founder of the Girls with Gearspeloton, which raised $50,000 last year for Pelotonia. Her awardsinclude the Bob Crane Sr. Young Philanthropist Award from theUnited Way of Central Ohio, received in 2006, and being named aYWCA Woman of Achievement in 2010.


★ LISA HINSON★PRESIDENT HINSON LTD. PUBLIC RELATIONS

S A L E S & M A R K E T I N G

finance & accounting general management human resources …

Documents