Akron companies ranked by trade publication [The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio]

Dec. 31--Akron companies were sprinkled atop lists in many industrial and business sectors in newly compiled rankings of employers, companies, governments and other entities by the trade publication Crain's Cleveland Business.

The Crain's Book of Lists 2012, just published for the biweekly period of Dec. 19 to Jan. 2, sells for $44.95. The website is www.CrainsCleveland.com/lists.

The weekly publication's surveys and research include rankings for private businesses, nonprofits, colleges and medical institutions.

Summa Health System of Akron was listed as the city's top employer, according to Crain's, with 8,000 workers. In Northeast Ohio, Summa ranked sixth, behind the Cleveland Clinic, the federal government, University Hospitals, grocer Giant Eagle, based in Pittsburgh, and Mayfield Village-based insurance company Progressive Corp.FirstEnergy Corp. was Akron's second-highest listed employer, at No. 15, with 7,717 workers.

Crain's said it based the research on employers in the following Northeast Ohio counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne.

The Akron-Canton area had three of the top five largest companies in Northeast Ohio that are foreign owned.

They were:

No. 1 -- Sterling Jewelers Inc. of Akron, a unit of Signet Jewelers Ltd., based in Bermuda.

No. 4 -- Bridgestone Americas Inc. of Akron, a unit of Bridgestone Corp. of Tokyo.

No. 5 -- Republic Engineered Products Inc. of Canton, a division of Mexican steel maker Industrias CH SAB de CV.

Four companies with area headquarters made the top 11 among largest publicly traded firms based in the region: No. 5 FirstEnergy (Akron utility); No. 7 J.M. Smucker Co. (Orrville food company); No. 10 Timken Co. (Canton steel maker); and No. 11 Goodyear (Akron tiremaker).

Three companies were listed among the region's top 10 largest privately owned firms: No. 4 Westfield Insurance (of Westfield Center in Medina County); No. 8 Carter Lumber Co. (a Kent building materials firm); and No. 9 Davey Tree Expert Co. (Kent tree services).

Ranked by number of area employees, Timken, Goodyear and Babcock & Wilcox Co. were among the top 10 manufacturers in the region. Timken was No. 2 (behind General Motors), Goodyear was No. 6 and B&W (Barberton maker of industrial power systems) was No. 8.

FirstMerit Bank, based in Akron, was the fourth largest among Northeast Ohio banks ranked by deposits, trailing KeyBank, PNC and Huntington.

Here are highlights of other economic sectors in the Crain's report:

Credit unions

Three Akron credit unions were among the top six listed, based on 2010 assets: No. 3 Firestone Federal Credit Union; GenFed Federal Credit Union at No. 5; and BFG Federal Credit Union at No. 6.

Business insurance agencies The largest Akron-based agency was Seibert Keck Insurance, with 55 licensed employees, at No. 10.

Law firms

The largest Akron-based firm was Brouse McDowell LPA, with 71 local attorneys, at No. 13.

Accounting firms

The largest Akron-based firm was Bruner-Cox LLP, with 50 local certified public accountants, at No. 13.

Public relations firms

Hudson-based Akhia Public Relations & Marketing Communications was ranked No. 3 with 27 employees and Highland Public Relations in Akron was No. 10 with six employees.

Marketing firms

Akron-based WhiteSpace Creative was ranked No. 8 with 23 employees and OuterBox Solutions Inc. of Akron came in at No. 9 with 22 employees.

Ad agencies

Hitchcock Fleming & Associates Inc. of Akron was the second-largest advertising agency based on full-time employees with 86. Innis Maggiore of Canton was No. 6 with 34 employees, 9Threads of Akron was No. 7 with 28 employees and WRL Advertising was No. 8 with 25 employees.

Architectural

Tied for seventh largest were three Akron firms: Braun & Steidl Architects Inc., Domokur Architects and Hasenstab Architects Inc., all with 16 architects. GPD Group of Akron ranked No. 10 with 15 architects.

Engineering

GPD Group was ranked fourth largest, with 62 registered engineers.

Nonprofits

Ranked No. 13 was Oriana House Inc. of Akron, based on 2011 expenses of $38.8 million.

Foundations

The Timken Foundation of Canton was rated sixth with grants totaling $7.4 million in 2010. The highest-ranking Akron grant maker was the Akron Community Foundation at No. 10 with $6 million.

Private schools

Two Summit County private schools made Crain's top five listing: No. 2 Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy of Cuyahoga Falls and No. 5 Western Reserve Academy of Hudson. The rankings were based on fall 2011 enrollment. CVCA's enrollment was listed at 855 and Western Reserve was listed at 402.

Colleges

Based on what was called 2011 full-time equivalent enrollment, Kent State was No. 1 (30,520 students), followed at No. 2 by the University of Akron (23,219).

Career and vo-ed schools

The Medina County Career Center ranked No. 1 with 2,222 enrolled in fall 2011. The Medical Technology Education Center Inc. of Fairlawn, with 1,200 enrolled, was No. 4. Wayne County Schools Career Center in Smithville ranked No. 7 with 825 students and Akron Institute of Herzing University ranked No. 9 with 615 students.

Hospitals

Summa Akron City Hospital and Summa St. Thomas Hospital were put together in this category, ranking fourth largest in the region, based on revenue of $646 million. Akron General Medical Center was sixth ($428 million) and Akron Children's Hospital, seventh ($424 million). Summa Barberton Hospital was 21st ($156 million).

Commercial real estate brokerages

NAI Cummins Real Estate of Akron ranked No. 10 with 14 agents/brokers.

Commercial contractors

The Ruhlin Co. of Sharon Center (Medina County) was ranked No. 4 with 2010 local revenue of $166 million.

Industrial parks

The Crain's listing showed six area parks, ranked by acres, among the top seven in the region.

They were Liverpool Industrial Park, in Valley City (Medina County); Twinsburg Industrial Park; Akcan Industrial Park in Green; Interstate Commerce Center in Streetsboro; NEOCOM I in Massillon; CAK International Business Park in Green; and Midway Industrial Park in Twinsburg.

Shopping centers

Chapel Hill Mall was No. 9 in the region, ranked by square feet. The Strip in North Canton was No. 11 and Summit Mall was No. 13.

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(c)2011 the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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