John Nottingham
About this Executive:
Name:
John Nottingham
Company:
Nottingham-Spirk Design Associates, Inc.
Interview Topics:
Industrial Design
Region:
Region 8 - Northeast Ohio
John R. Nottingham is the co-founder and co-president of Nottingham-Spirk Design Associates, Inc., one of the leading new product and package innovation groups in the US with over 500 commercialized patents to date. Nottingham-Spirk product innovations have helped to create jobs and growth for Ohio companies and throughout the US for over 35 years. Notable design support projects include Crest SpinBrush®, Swiffer SweeperVac®, and Sherwin-Williams Twist & Pour® paint container.
The Nottingham-Spirk Innovation Center is a nationally recognized historical landmark overlooking the University Circle area of Cleveland. This world-class facility is one of the most complete, vertically-integrated product development centers in the US, combining product invention, design and engineering with rapid prototyping, structural packaging, graphics, new media, consumer research, quality control and sourcing of manufacturing.
John Nottingham received his industrial design degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art. He received honorary doctorate degrees from New York College of Health and Cleveland Institute of Art. He serves on the Boards of Trustees for Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Institute of Art, University Circle, Inc. and several private equity companies. John is married with three children and lives in Bratenahl.
Q: What are the top three things that Ohio uniquely offers that you feel have helped make your business successful?
A: First, our University Circle location gives us ready access to world-class academic and medical facilities. Second, Cleveland has a diversity of established businesses and suppliers that we rely on for our type of creative activities. Third, Ohio provides the potential for our associates to obtain great balance in their lives while achieving professional success without sacrificing personal dreams. Only in Ohio can you strike that perfect work:life balance.
Q: John, as a Cleveland Institute of Art graduate, what alliances have you created with Ohio academic institutions that have served your business well?
A: We recruit our talent from the fields of product design, engineering and marketing, and Cleveland is fortunate to have top tier colleges for all of these fields. We also have an internship program that ensures we hire the best from each field so that we see if their abilities and "chemistry" fits in with our culture. For product design, there simply isn't a better school than the Industrial Design Department at the Cleveland Institute of Art. For engineering we recruit from the renowned Engineering School at Case Western Reserve University. We also recruit marketing talent from Case's Weatherhead School of Management.
Q: In your experience, what should a trailing spouse consider when evaluating Ohio as a home for their family?
A: An executive recruiter here once told me that his second biggest challenge was to get job candidates and their spouses to consider coming here. Then he said that his biggest challenge was getting them to leave, once they relocated here. This may tell you everything that you need to know about evaluating Ohio for relocation.
Q: Real estate professionals often say location, location, location. What are your thoughts on Ohio's location and logistics capabilities?
A: If you look at a U.S. map, Ohio is centrally located to the vast majority of population centers. In fact we can typically make a day trip to anywhere in the US except the West Coast. Cleveland does not have the kinds of traffic jams that plague other metropolitan areas such as Chicago or New York. The fact that we can go from place to place often in less than half an hour is unheard of in other cities.