ACG Cleveland: Riverfront Redesigned Bedrock Development Panel, Sponsored by Oswald Companies

Deb Janik serves as Senior Vice President, Business Growth & Development Services at the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP). Janik's duties include management of GCP business and economic development programs and as primary liaison for GCP’s regional collaboration efforts.

Janik provides GCP staff leadership for public-private partnership efforts on catalytic business and real estate large scale developments throughout Greater Cleveland. She serves as an officer to GCP's Cleveland Development Advisors affiliate, oversees the Greater Cleveland Civic Connection program and manages GCP's business attraction, retention and expansion efforts.

Janik previously served as Chief of Staff and Chief Development Officer for Mayor Jane L. Campbell at the City of Cleveland. In addition to overseeing the daily operations of all City departments, she led all community and economic development efforts.

Janik has dedicated her entire career to working in Greater Cleveland having served in leadership roles for the Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Neighborhood Progress Inc.(now Cleveland Neighborhood Progress), KeyBank and at the City of Cleveland under both the Voinovich and White Administrations.

She has more than 30 years of public, private, and not-for-profit experience. She is a graduate of Kent State University and holds a Bachelor's of Business Administration degree in Finance with a concentration in Real Estate. She and her family reside in Rocky River, Ohio.

Jeff Epstein is the Chief of Integrated Development for the City of Cleveland as a part of Mayor Justin Bibb’s Cabinet. In his role, he supports equitable community and economic development in the city, overseeing the departments of planning, economic development, community development, and building and housing. Jeff works to advance Mayoral development priorities such as breaking down silos between departments, modernizing City Hall, and advancing growth and equity throughout the City of Cleveland.   

Prior to joining the City, Jeff served as Executive Director of MidTown Cleveland, a 501(c)(3) economic and community development organization that serves the area between downtown Cleveland and University Circle, and director of the

Cleveland Health-Tech Corridor, an umbrella effort to attract innovative health-tech and high-tech businesses to the area.  In his roles with MidTown and the Health-Tech Corridor, he was responsible for marketing, strengthening and redeveloping the neighborhood, attracting and assisting business growth, and connecting the business and residential community.                                                                                                                    

Under Jeff’s seven plus years of leadership at MTC and the Health-Tech Corridor, the neighborhood saw $230 million of transformative real estate development, including the new Dave’s Markets grocery store, The Cleveland Foundation headquarters, Hilton Tru hotel, and market rate and affordable housing projects. During this time, Jeff integrated racial equity principles through all aspects of the organization and refocused MTC’s strategy to comprehensive and equitable neighborhood development. MTC also grew from four full-time employees to fourteen, more than tripled the organizational budget, and substantially increased grant funding and corporate giving.

Jeff joined MidTown and the Health-Tech Corridor from The Coral Company, where he served as Vice President of Development, overseeing residential, commercial, and mixed-use development projects, capital markets transactions, and consulting projects.  Prior to joining Coral, Jeff participated in the Cleveland Executive Fellowship, a one-year civic leadership development program. 

Jeff holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and an undergraduate degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University. Following law school, he clerked for the Hon. Solomon Oliver Jr. on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.