Cleveland, OH

Abrupt funding freeze leaves Ohio manufacturing programs with uncertain future

Published

5 months ago

December 14, 2025

Abrupt funding freeze leaves Ohio manufacturing programs with uncertain future

CLEVELAND — On Friday, Ohio’s Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, known as MAGNET, learned that its public funding had been frozen, effective immediately.

What You Need To Know

Funding for Ohio’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership programs have been abruptly pulled, leaving six non-profits without $14.6 million in public funding

MEP programs aim to assist small to medium sized manufacturers grow and remain competitive

The freeze was announced due an ongoing audit, but local MEP programs says they have complied with the audit and the results of the audit have not been made available to them

“I was initially shocked. Immediately after it, it was action mode: how do we get to all the people that understand how important it is and what’s at stake?” said Ethan Karp, President and CEO of MAGNET.

“We help small and medium manufacturers, as a nonprofit, grow,” Karp explained.

The Cleveland-based nonprofit has assisted local manufacturers for over 40 years. This includes helping them implement new technology to stay competitive, providing workforce training to help fill positions in manufacturing, and helping companies create prototypes.

“That’s a start-up who has an idea on the back of their napkin that makes changing air filters easier,” Karp said. “This space we would actually prototype for those companies.”

They get state and federal funding through Ohio’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, or MEP program, which funds six similar organizations throughout the state that aim to assist local manufacturers.

The funding freeze was announced in a letter from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal agency that funds Ohio’s Department of Development. The Ohio Department of Development is the department that runs the MEP program.

In the letter, the NIST cites an ongoing audit as the reason for the freeze.

“Preliminary findings in connection with an active financial assistance audit being performed by the DOC Office of Inspector General (OIG) which identifies various instances of material noncompliance by the Recipient and/or its Subrecipients, several of which were confirmed by the Recipient or the applicable Subrecipient.” – Letter from NIST to Ohio’s Department of Development announces funding freeze

The audit of Ohio’s MEP program started over a year ago, and the results aren’t set to be published until Spring 2026.

The letter specifically cites three MEP programs for misreporting income. MAGNET is not one of the programs mentioned specifically in the letter.

One program that is mentioned is the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT). In the letter announcing the freeze, CIFT states:

“CIFT did not report 2.3 million in unreported program income on the earlier five-year award. CIFT has acknowledged at least 1.8 million is unreported program income.”

CIFT President and CEO Rebecca Singer denies any wrongdoing and says the discrepancy is because of unclear guidelines about what a program should report as income.

“CIFT has fully cooperated with the audit and the statements are misleading and inaccurate,” Singer said in a statement. “Any issues that occurred were administrative in nature and we are prepared to address them once a drafted report is provided. There is consistency in the findings among the organizations further demonstrating lack of clarity and understanding on administrative reporting. Several OIG audits of other state programs have noted under-reporting of program income but they have been given the opportunity to counter findings.”

Singer said that the typical process of an audit has not been followed, and CIFT did not see a draft of the audit and respond, which she said is the standard process for a financial audit.

According to Singer, because of the freeze CIFT lost $1.6 million in public funding and, as a result, they are suspending operations on Monday, Dec. 15. Singer said 13 employees will be affected as well as 22 businesses that rely on CIFT’s mini food processing kitchen, which allows them to make their products to sell at retail outlets.

With the freeze of federal funds, the state of Ohio has also frozen its portion of funding to the MEP program.

In a statement, Mason Waldvogel, the Deputy Chief of Media Relations for Ohio’s Department of Development, explains that the state funding is tied to federal funding.

“The majority of state funding provided to Ohio MEP partner organizations consists of matching dollars, which cannot be spent without corresponding federal funds. Therefore, the Department of Development has suspended the program at the state level.”

The freeze affects roughly $14 million in funds to Ohio manufacturing nonprofits over the next year, with MAGNET receiving $5.9 million of those funds.

Karp said MAGNET has been complying with the audit and is frustrated the freeze was started before there had been communication with the MEP programs about the findings.

“If there is an issue, then you need to tell somebody there is an issue and give somebody a chance to fix it. In this case, there’s nothing for us to fix because we don’t know what, or if, there are findings and a report. That lack of transparency, that lack of process makes no sense,” Karp said.

Karp said the funding cut-off will change how MAGNET functions, prompting decisions to be made about potential lay-offs of their staff of roughly 75 people.

“We’re going to have to structurally make huge changes at MAGNET to continue at a much smaller scale,” Karp said.

According to Karp, approximately 35% of their budget comes from state and federal funding. The rest is from a private industry that pays for MAGNET’s services. However, Karp said they can only provide many of those services because of their public funding.

“Helping people understand that the investment that the state and federal governments have been making for 40 years, this is a 40-year partnership — shouldn’t be turned off at a moment’s notice, depriving all these people and companies of necessary support.”

This funding freeze could impact the manufacturing sector in Ohio.

“We’re saying we want to restore manufacturing? Well this is not how you restore manufacturing. This is not how you bring jobs back from overseas; we are actually going to be cutting Ohio jobs as a result of this decision,” said Jack Schron, President of Jergens Incorporated, a Cleveland-based manufacturer.

Schron sits on MAGENT’s board and has used its resources to test out Jergens products.

Micheal Canty, president and CEO of Alloy Precision Technologies, said the freeze will impact small and medium-size companies the most.

“I think it will be devastating to manufacturing,” Canty said. “If MAGNET and all the MEP’s are gone, then a lot of those projects to develop and promote smart manufacturing and manufacturing in general go away.”

Karp said the irony is that MAGNET’s goals align with the current administration’s efforts to make U. S manufacturing more competitive.

“I desperately want tariffs to help companies. Every single day I am out there talking about how we need to compete against international sources and how our companies need to be the most technologically advanced in the world. It is the same thing the Trump administration says, and we are totally aligned. So it is ironic that this is happening to us now,” Karp said.

Source link

Click to comment

Cleveland, OH

Paint the Town: Sherwin-Williams Opens Massive 36-Story Headquarters in Cleveland – Scioto Post

Published

8 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

Paint the Town: Sherwin-Williams Opens Massive 36-Story Headquarters in Cleveland – Scioto Post

CLEVELAND, OH — Governor Mike DeWine joined city leaders and executives today to officially cut the ribbon on the new Sherwin-Williams global headquarters, a project that literally changes the skyline of downtown Cleveland.

The grand opening coincides with the company’s 160th anniversary. Founded in Cleveland in 1866, the paint giant is doubling down on its Ohio roots with a sprawling, one-million-square-foot campus.

By the Numbers: A New Hub for Talent

The new headquarters is more than just an office—it is a massive economic engine for Northeast Ohio:

36 Stories: The main office tower now stands as a prominent feature of the downtown landscape.
3,000+ Employees: The tower will house thousands of workers, bringing consistent foot traffic back to the city center.
$37.5 Million: The investment committed by JobsOhio to ensure the project stayed in Cleveland.
1 Million Square Feet: The total size of the campus, which includes a two-story welcome pavilion and a multi-level parking garage.

“Sherwin-Williams has called Northeast Ohio home for 160 years, and today is a celebration of their longtime commitment to Ohio,” said Governor DeWine during the ceremony. He noted that the state-of-the-art facility is designed to keep Ohio’s “best and brightest” students in the state after they graduate.

Investing in the Future

The headquarters is the second half of a two-part expansion. In September 2025, Sherwin-Williams opened its Global Research and Development Center in Brecksville, which currently houses 900 employees. Between the two sites and various other operations, the company now employs more than 6,500 Ohioans.

To keep the “talent pipeline” flowing, JobsOhio is also backing the “Create Your Possible” Career Accelerator at Baldwin Wallace University. The program provides mentorship and internships specifically for STEM and business students, creating a direct path from the classroom to a desk in the new 36-story tower.

Source link

Cleveland, OH

What’s it like being a news anchor at Cleveland’s ABC Channel 5

Published

20 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

What’s it like being a news anchor at Cleveland’s ABC Channel 5

Note to readers:

The following item is a written record of the Ward 2 council community meeting from April 29, 2026, compiled by Akron Documenter Wittman Sullivan. It is not a reported story.

Documenters are residents who are trained to observe and document local government meetings. Their notes are edited before publication for clarity and accuracy — unless quotation marks are used, all text is paraphrased.

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalakron.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

Summary

Tessa DiTirro, an anchor and reporter from Cleveland television station News 5 (WEWS), talked with community members about local concerns, including traffic issues and community events. She lives in West Akron and graduated from Firestone High School and Ohio State University.
Multiple community events are coming up in Ward 2, including the Ward 2 Baseball Game in July at 7 17 Credit Union Park in downtown Akron and the annual Ward 2 Community Cleanup led by Keep Akron Beautiful at the Patterson Park Community Center on May 9 at 8:30 a.m. Sign up here.
A community member spoke with Ward 2 Council Member Phil Lombardo about traffic safety concerns on Cuyahoga Street, saying his concerns about crashes have been ignored.

Documenter follow-up questions

What is the exact criteria that determines the order of house demolition in Akron?

Ward 2 City Council Member Phil Lombardo started the meeting at 6:01 p.m.
- Ward 10 City Council Member Sharon Connor and Akron Public School Board Member Nathan Jarosz were also present.
- Lombardo said his campaign manager helps to schedule meetings.
Lombardo said the Ward 2 baseball game will be in July at 7 17 Credit Union Park with $8 seating in line with third base and a free hot dog. The first 1,000 fans will get a free Jose Ramirez bobble head.
- Keep Akron Beautiful is looking for a volunteer for a month to water a flower bed at the corner of Dan Street and Glenwood Avenue in North Hill.
- The annual Ward 2 cleanup is May 9 at 8:30 a.m. at Patterson Park Community Center, led by Keep Akron Beautiful, to make “this place look sparkling despite the orange barrels.”

Channel 5 anchor graduated from Firestone High School

DiTirro said she graduated from Firestone High School, Akron School for the Arts Visual Art program, and participated in choirs and musicals. She studied TV Broadcasting at Ohio State University and has worked in broadcasting in Wheeling, Cincinnati, Grand Rapids and now in Cleveland since July 2023.
- She said she has long ties to Akron and lives in West Akron, her parents live in West Akron, and she loves Dontino’s in Akron.
- She hosts Good Morning Cleveland on Channel 5 on Saturdays at 8 a.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m. Stories come from her listening to residents and reading social media, the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron posts. She works with a photographer and producers to write 90-second to two-minute segments. Lombardo gives her some stories, she said, like the street light outage story.
- She works from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesday through Friday and 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends.
Lombardo asked if she works on investigative or feel-good reporting
- DiTirro said News 5 has an investigative team that she’ll sometimes pass ideas to. Still, she has the freedom to focus on community stories and accountability pieces as a morning news anchor.

Join the movement for transparency

Civic power can start with you! We train and pay Documenters to take notes at local government meetings and share them here. Learn more about becoming a Documenter.

DiTirro fields questions about news decisions

A community member asked her to cover the National Night Out against crime on Aug. 4.
A community member asked what her favorite story has been.
- DiTirro said in 2024, they covered the recycled Cleveland E-Scooters that were refurbished at Summit E-Waste Recycling (the company no longer rehabs scooters), which led to people across the country buying all of them.
Lombardo asked how hard it is to switch between sad and feel-good stories.
- Ditirro said, “It is tough,” but her producer helps her write a balanced show with smooth transitions.
A community member asked if she goes to churches and communities that read to children.
- DiTirro said she goes but doesn’t usually make stories out of it.
A community member asked how community concerns turn into a story.
- DiTirro said she’ll take larger community concerns to a team of producers and executive producers. Stories come from curiosity usually, but timely news such as crime usually takes precedent. She said the E-Scooter story came from curiosity.
A community member asked her to cover speed tables.
Connor asked how community members can spread good news.
- She said that community members elevating good news to her helps.
A community member with Progress Through Preservation said they need more time to find investors to save Firestone Plant #1. She said Tony Troppe hasn’t been given enough time for projects like saving St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in University Park.

🗓️ New events calendar! From block parties to concerts and kids’ activities, find fun around Akron and Summit County all year long. Dive into the calendar and start planning.

Residents raise concerns about Cuyahoga Street safety, vacant houses

A community member asked for a plan for Cuyahoga Street and asked why Sackett Avenue has a speed trap trailer.
- Lombardo said it was added after resident requests.
- The community member said his 31 calls have been ignored even after a family was killed on the 1600 block of Cuyahoga Street. He said he’s been asking for help since 2025, and a dead-end road got action before a street with an issue of head-on collisions and deadly speeding issues.
- An Akron Police Department (APD) officer said there were multiple resident complaints on Sackett.
A community member said they are putting a permanent speed table next to his house on Gorge Boulevard and said people will speed after passing it.
- Lombardo said the maintenance with the rubber tables is too much, but if anybody has concerns about asphalt speed tables, they can speak to the city council on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. during the public comment period.

Issues with vacant houses, potholes also raised to council member

A community member asked Lombardo about a vacant corner house in the community.
- Lombardo said the house should have come down. He doesn’t know the schedule since about 50 homes are demolished annually, but the city can’t schedule them since fire-damaged homes always take top priority.
- He said when he was riding with the police once and they checked on a vacant house at 857 Gorge Blvd., and when they knocked on the door, they were greeted by a squatter who had removed the condemnation sign.

Go deeper: Read our full explainer on how Akron decides which derelict houses to tear down next.

A community member said panhandlers near state Route 8 are getting close to cars.
- An Akron Police Department officer said they need a vendor’s license and may not go beyond the curb, but people shouldn’t pay them because it will be spent on drugs.
- A community member said people could give out “blessing bags” with toiletries and basic needs.
A community member said kids have been hiding money in hole in a rotted tree in her yard. She asked when the city would remove the tree.
- Lombardo said there isn’t a schedule, but if he gets an address, he can check with the municipal arborist.
- A community member said it can take up to six months to remove a tree.
- A community member asked why the city removes devil strip trees.
  - Lombardo said it is usually a disease or sidewalk damage.
- A community member asked who’s liable for damage if a devil strip tree falls on their house.
  - Lombardo said that is what home insurance is for.
A community member said a pothole keeps reopening near North High School on Tallmadge Avenue.
- Lombardo said they are looking for repaving grants in 2027, but it also needs utility work.

May speaker will be Akron Chamber of Commerce president

Lisa Mansfield from Vantage Aging said the Senior Summit Expo on May 6 at St. George’s Fellowship Hall in Fairlawn will have more than 75 vendor booths.

Lombardo said Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce President Steve Millard will be the meeting guest in May, WAKR will be at the meeting in June, and University of Akron President R.J. Nemer will be a guest speaker in July or August.

The meeting ended at 6:54 p.m.

Find your neighborhood news: See all of our reporting on Ward 2 neighborhoods North Hill, Merriman Valley, and Chapel Hill in one place.

Akron Documenters trains and pays residents to document local government meetings with notes and live-tweet threads. We then make those meeting summaries available as a new public record.

Cleveland, OH

Dorothy Tomazic Obituary – Mentor, OH (1936-2026)

Published

1 day ago

May 10, 2026

Press Room

Dorothy Tomazic

OBITUARY

Dorothy Tomazic, age 89, passed away peacefully on January 12, at Hospice of the Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, surrounded by her loving family and a lifelong sports fan.Born on May 16, 1936, in Cleveland, Ohio, Dorothy was a lifelong resident of Mentor, Ohio, a community she loved and called home for all her years. She was a woman of quiet strength, lifelong curiosity, and gentle generosity, and she will be fondly remembered by all who knew her.Dorothy was a proud graduate of her beloved Ohio University and dedicated her life to education. She began her teaching career at Collinwood High School before earning her master’s degree in Elementary Education. She later taught at Huntington Elementary School, where she nurtured young minds with patience, kindness, and a genuine love for learning. Teaching was more than a profession to Dorothy’it was a calling.Outside the classroom, Dorothy found great joy in reading and gardening. An avid reader, she was rarely without a book and often had three or four books going at once. She also loved tending to her garden and especially enjoyed visits to Pettiti’s Garden Center. A lifelong sports fan, Dorothy cheered for her favorite Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar and followed basketball star Caitlin Clark.She was preceded in death by her father, Anton Tomazic; her mother, Sophie (nee Walland) Tomazic; and her brother, Raymond Tomazic.Dorothy is survived by her loving nephews Raymond (Sandra) Tomazic and Anthony (Natalie) Tomazic, and her sister-in-law, Rita Nucciarone. She was a cherished great-aunt to Blaise (Hayley), Tyler, Mitchell (Julianne), Ashley (Rick), Nicki (Matt), and Leah (David), and a devoted great-great aunt to Braylen, Aubrey, Fitz, Miley, and Mia, all of whom brought her immense pride and joy.Dorothy’s gentle spirit, love of learning, and deep devotion to family, books, gardening, and sports will live on in the hearts of those who were blessed to know her.A Memorial Mass for Dorothy will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026, at 11:00 AM at St. Gabriel Catholic Church, 9925 Johnnycake Ridge Road, Concord Township, Ohio. Followed by a Celebration of Life at 12:30 PM at the Redhawk Grille, 7481 Auburn Rd. Concord Twp. OH 44077.

Source link