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ANNOUNCING CLEVELAND'S SMART BUSINESS DEALMAKER AWARD WINNERS AND 2024
DEALMAKERS HALL OF FAME CLASS

By SBN Staff on June 13, 2024
Cleveland Dealmakers

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The Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards recognize exceptional
individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in Greater
Cleveland.

In addition, The Cleveland Dealmakers Hall of Fame recognized a class of
dealmakers that has made an often-groundbreaking impact on their organizations,
industries and the region over the course of decades in business.

We celebrated the accomplishments of the 2024 class of winners June 13 at the
Cleveland Smart Business Dealmakers Conference. Together, they provide a strong
picture of the Greater Cleveland business community.

 

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Dealmaker Of The Year Honorees

 

Cal Al-Dhubaib is the founder and CEO of Pandata, which develops artificial
intelligence design and services which cater to high-risk industries such as
health care, defense and energy.  The company was recently acquired by Further,
an Atlanta-based AI, data and analytics company. The acquisition solidifies
Further's commitment to providing privacy-first cutting-edge AI and machine
learning solutions to their portfolio of 100+ Fortune 500 clients.

 

Shane Bigelow is the CEO and co-founder of Champ Titles, which has developed a
digital title and registration suite that digitizes the process of vehicle
titling. Bigelow and his team recently raised an $18 million Series C round,
which was led by Point72 Ventures, the bicoastal venture capital firm owned by
Steven Cohen, the hedge fund manager who also owns the New York Mets baseball
team. Among existing investors in the recent round were W.R. Berkley Corp., Eos
Venture Partners, Guidewire Software and Rev1 Ventures.

 

Constantine Elefter is a partner and MPE Partners, a private equity firm focused
on lower middle-market leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, and build-up
investments with entrepreneur- and family-owned businesses and corporate
divestitures. MPE Partners, along with portfolio company 80/20 LLC, recently
acquired Flexpipe, which allows 80/20 to offer a new product line, expand into a
new geographical market, and create additional channel customers.

 

Wendy Jarchow is the Chief Investment Officer of River SaaS Capital, which
provides venture debt financing to growing SaaS businesses that prefer
non-dilutive working capital to expand their customer base. The firm also
provides alternative financing models, entrepreneurship mentoring, and a
partnership approach to early-stage SaaS companies. Jarchow and her team
recently launched equity fund, TruWest Fund I, which provides follow-on capital
for those who have taken venture debt to maximize their growth potential while
optimizing their fundraising capabilities.

 

Brian Leonard is the Managing Partner, CFO and CCO of Edgewater Capital, a
private equity firm that seeks to invest in specialty industrials, life science,
advanced materials, and specialty chemicals businesses. As last year drew to the
close, Edgewater closed a $330 million private equity fund — Edgewater Capital
Partner Fund V. The fund exceeded its target, with strong support from a
diversified base of returning and new limited partners. ECP V was designed to
continue the strategy deployed in Edgewater’s four predecessor funds, targeting
partnerships with performance product and services companies. Most recently, in
April, one of Edgewater’s portfolio companies, Luxom Solutions, acquired Inrad
Optics in a deal worth close to $20 million.

 

Charlie Lougheed is the CEO of Axuall, which has developed a workforce
intelligence network for health care that streamlines workforce deployment,
drives efficiencies, and maximizes revenue. The company recently closed a $40+
million financing round that included $7 million of Series B1 venture funding
from Frist Cressey Ventures on in July 2023, and a $20 million of Series B
venture funding in a deal led by Noro-Moseley Partners in May 2023.

 

Ed Weinfurtner is the executive chairman and co-owner of Great Day Improvements
and Michael Hoy is the company’s CEO. Great Day is a fast-growing, tech-enabled,
vertically integrated direct-to-consumer home improvement business that serves
homeowners nationwide in 128 U.S. markets and more than 230 locations. Great Day
is best known for its popular brands: Patio Enclosures, Champion Windows, and
Universal Windows Direct, and has grown from $70 million in 2019 to more than
$1.2 billion today. In the fourth quarter of last year, Great Day acquired K
Designers, a home Improvement business based in Sacramento covering 12 locations
in Pacific Northwest, and Home Performance Alliance, a home improvement business
based in Tampa with three locations in Northern Florida.

 

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Dealmakers Hall of Fame

  

Rocco Di Lillo was winner of the Ernst & Young, NASDQ and USA Entrepreneur of
the year in 1997. His distinguished career spans the fields of advertising, the
development of hydroelectric energy, corporate housing, manufacturing in the
construction industry, marina development and philanthropic development. Di
Lillo has operated 12 companies in his career, seven he founded and five he
acquired. He founded his first company, City Visitor Inc., in 1980 with the
mission of serving travelers and the businesses that serve them. City Visitor
published relocation books, visitor guides and specialty publications for Sea
World, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Six Flags, and numerous museums. But that was
just the start. Fast-forward to today and Di Lillo’s latest development is
Habacoa, an Iconic Real Estate and Marina in South Abaco, Bahamas. When
completed it will be the largest marina in North America and the newest luxury
residential community in the Bahamas.

 

David Heller is the president, CEO, and Co-Founder of The NRP Group. Over the
past 30 years, The NRP Group has emerged as one of the largest multifamily
development, construction, and property management companies in the United
States. Since its inception in 1994, The NRP Group has developed over 50,000
apartment homes and currently manages more than 26,000 residential units across
15 states. The NRP Group is renowned for its expertise in developing both
affordable and market-rate communities on a national scale. Personally, Heller
is deeply committed to community service and has held numerous leadership
positions in civic organizations. Among them, the United States Holocaust
Memorial Council, the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund Board, the National
Association of Home Builders, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland
Neighborhood Progress, Case Western Reserve University, and the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee.

 

Ansir Junaid is the founder, CEO, and chairman of SupplySide Group, a
privately-held conglomerate where Junaid oversees a diverse array of industries
focused on full-service supply chain solutions and sustainability. His expertise
has propelled the SupplySide Group to serve hundreds of customers, including
Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Target, UPS, Home Depot, and Lowe's,
particularly excelling in logistics management and packaging services. Junaid
also serves as co-founder, principal, and senior adviser at Morningside Group.
Over his career, he has become known for transforming fragmented markets into
sustainable growth engines through innovative techniques and technology
integration. Junaid has redefined traditional supply chains to foster new
relationships between large retailers and suppliers across Asia, Dubai, and
Africa. He also collaborates with private equity firms to convert fragmented
businesses into valuable acquisition targets with a national presence.

 

Matt Kaulig is the executive chairman of Kaulig Companies Limited. Kaulig
Companies is known for offering a diverse spectrum of businesses, which includes
sports and entertainment, marketing and events, and private equity and real
estate. Kaulig’s sports ventures include Kaulig Racing, which is a multi-car
NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series team, and he is minority owner of the Cleveland
Guardians baseball team. An award-winning entrepreneur, business owner, and
philanthropist, Kaulig is best known as the founder of Leaf Home, a contractor
business he started out of his home in 2005, and today is one of the largest
direct-to-consumer home products companies in the United States and Canada.
Kaulig’s philanthropy work is also notable, as he has been a major contributor
to the Cleveland area since his college days when he led the University of Akron
football team at quarterback. He is the founder of Kaulig Charitable Giving
Programs, which has over 300 nonprofit partnerships that focus on children and
families in need.

 

Stephen McHale’s mission is founding and building data and technology companies
that transform industries. In 2009, he co-founded Explorys in partnership with
the Cleveland Clinic. McHale led the Explorys team as they invented and brought
to market a big data solution to improve health care outcomes. Explorys amassed
the world’s largest clinical database, spanning hundreds of thousands of health
care providers and more than 60 million patients in the United States. The
company was acquired by IBM in 2015. Prior to Explorys, McHale founded and led
Everstream, a media analytics company acquired by Concurrent, an Atlanta-based
publicly traded company. And, the first company he founded, USConnect, a North
America-focused systems integration company, was also acquired by a publicly
traded company. Since 2021, McHale has dedicated his experience and resources to
building his fourth company, UnifyWork, a platform company delivering AI
technology that transforms work.

 

Ronald E. Weinberg is the founder of the Weinberg Capital Group and remains
actively involved as both an investing partner and in managing portfolio
companies, frequently serving as the liaison between the board and management.
Weinberg collaborates closely with management teams to identify new business
opportunities and to establish strategic direction and financial objectives.
Previously, Weinberg co-founded and served as chairman and CEO of Hawk
Corporation, a leading manufacturer of specialized brake materials for the
aerospace, industrial, and specialty consumer markets. Under his leadership,
Hawk Corporation expanded from a single plant generating $19 million in sales to
16 facilities worldwide, with revenues surpassing $400 million at its peak. A
prominent figure in the Cleveland business and civic community, Weinberg is a
member of the board of directors of the Cleveland Clinic, where he chairs the
Research and Education Committee. He and his wife, Terri, recently made a
significant donation to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to enhance its research
capabilities. Weinberg is also the past Chairman of the board of trustees at
Cleveland State University and a former board member of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.

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