Redwood Living Founder and President Win Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for Northeast Ohio Region

Steve Kimmelman and David Conwill with event sponsors from the Merrill Corporation.

Steve Kimmelman and David Conwill, founding principal and president of Redwood Living were named winners of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year for Northeast Ohio among 26 other finalists at an awards gala held at the Cleveland Hilton Downtown. The Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

“It’s an honor to be recognized among so many talented and well-deserving colleagues,” said Steve Kimmelman who founded Redwood in 1991.

“We would like to share this award with our team of loyal, dedicated and talented employees, who demonstrate Redwood’s commitment to deliver more than is expected, communicate openly and honestly, and exhibit integrity in all aspects of our business.,” added Kimmelman.

“We are thrilled to receive such an honor among such a rich and distinguished mix of Northeastern Ohio entrepreneurs,” said David Conwill, president of Redwood. “The prestige offered by the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards further underscores the value and innovation that our esteemed peers provide this community and beyond,” he added.

Members of the Redwood team together at the awards event.

Redwood began in 1991 with the idea of creating a simpler, more relaxed, and peaceful lifestyle. Kimmelman had a vision to build apartment communities that were more like neighborhoods of single-family homes. This meant providing residents with private attached garages, personal patios, and freedom from noisy upstairs or downstairs neighbors.

Redwood centers on the strategic development of high quality, single-story apartment homes with private attached garages. The company focuses specifically on the single-story, open-floor plan, and attached garage design and believes that the growth of the “renter-by-choice” population demands the qualitative response that Redwood provides, and the success of this approach continues to be validated in new markets. Today, Redwood is a fully-integrated development and management company, with communities in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina and South Carolina.

RELATED: Meet The Redwood Team

Now in its 31st year, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 145 cities in 60 countries throughout the world.  Regional award winners like Kimmelman and Conwill are eligible for consideration for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year national program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Overall National Award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 15 - 18, 2017. The US Entrepreneur of the Year Overall Award winner then moves on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in Monaco in June 2018.

Meet The Redwood Team: Multi-Site Leasing Professional Cara Sample

Join us every week as we get to know a different member of our team at Redwood!

Name: Cara Sample

Job Title: Multi-Site Leasing Professional

Communities: The Hamptons, Redwood at Andover, Templeton Ridge and The Woodlands - all located around Indianapolis.

How long have you worked at Redwood?: Almost 2 years!

What's your favorite thing about working at Redwood?: Getting to know the new prospects and their stories of what is bringing them to us.

What’s your favorite thing about your communities?: I love keeping up with the changes in their lives such as new pets, grandchildren, the next step in their journey.

Related: Explore All Redwood Communities In Indiana

What are some of your hobbies?: Reading a good book on a rainy day and going on a walk with my girls - some special alone time with each of them.

What’s a fun fact about you?: I have traveled to Israel and can speak a bit of Hebrew!

Meet more of our Redwood team!

Holiday Hosting: 3 Steps For Happy Houseguests

I love having my friends and family visit me. It’s exhausting and a bit stressful, but the benefits well outweigh the costs. Since I’ve been living at Redwood, I’ve had several out of town visitors, each with their own special set of circumstances, which made preparing to host them unique. 

My sister and her husband, a sorority sister, and my best friend from college and her two children (with my 8 year old sister added in for flavor), have all come and stayed with me. Having a two bedroom apartment has made hosting each of these guests a ton easier but, I also have a bit of a special circumstance because I use my second bedroom as an office. For me, this automatically means I’m giving up my bedroom for my guests (and sleeping on the couch in my office or the fold-out in my living room). Of course, this is a personal decision; if you’re using your second bedroom in a similar fashion, you shouldn’t feel obligated to give up your bed. I simply find it makes hosting that much easier. In hopes of keeping the guests happy and me sane, I’ve come up with three steps I always follow when guests are coming to visit. 

Step 1: As with airplane air masks, I will advise you to take care of yourself first. 

One of the hardest things about having visitors is that it can throw you off of your regular routine. I’m a very routine person, and tossing the routine out the window, even for a few days, can have lingering effects for weeks. In order to avoid this, I make sure that all of my basics are covered: I
have my morning tea (Earl Grey, every day), my toiletries are moved to the guest bathroom along with a set of undies for each day the guest is staying (saves me from having to raid my closet while they’re sleeping), and my earplugs and charging cables are all set up in the second bedroom. With each of those things taken care of, I can start thinking about my guests, which is of course, the fun part!

Step 2: Think about your guests’ individual needs. 

Every time I have a visitor, I put together a small custom care package. Although I make it suited for the needs of that guest, I always make sure it includes snacks. Most of the people who visit me are driving in from the Midwest and will be arriving at night. I include snacks on the not-so-off chance that they’ll be a little peckish when they arrive.  In addition to the snacks, I also include travel sized bottles of some standard toiletries. I’ve found that when people are visiting friends, they pack differently than when they’re visiting a hotel. This undoubtedly means they’re going to be missing a random, yet essential toiletry item. After the snacks and toiletries are taken care of, I focus on the fun (and variable) stuff: for my sorority sister I added a robe and slippers, for my best friend I added kid-friendly trinkets, and for my sister and brother-in-law I added extra snacks (and we still ended up inside of a store within a few hours of their arrival). I picked something that I thought they’d each enjoy, based on my knowing them all for decades (or forever, in the case of my sister). The care package doesn’t have to break the bank. It’s about making your guests feel welcome, not impressing them.

Step 3: Clean, clean, clean. 

Once the care package is complete, I move on to the pre-arrival apartment prep/cleaning. My dog, Louie, contributes a lot to my life, most of that contribution being dog hair. When I’m expecting guests, the cleaning routine includes three steps: Declutter, Replace, Clean. First, I declutter every surface (I’m a stacking/piling person, so this step takes time). Second, replace all of the towels and sheets with fresh linens (don’t forget to replace the toilet paper with a new roll). I also do this in the kitchen, putting out a clean table cloth and napkins, as well as clean dish towels. Finally I clean. I leave the cleaning for last because the other stuff can’t/shouldn’t be skipped (fresh towels and all that). Start by cleaning the spaces your guest’s bedroom (in this case, the master bedroom). Clean top-to-bottom, starting in the bathroom, ending with the vacuum. From there, clean the kitchen (including a dishwasher cycle). Lastly, hit the living room. If your guests arrive early or you run out of time, you can continue cleaning the living room while they’re putting their things away in the guest room. Plus, for most living rooms, the decluttering is the most important thing, that’ll make it feel clean, even if it isn’t.

If you follow these three steps, hopefully you’ll find hosting your family & friends as easy and delightful as I do. 

*Written by Lindsay S.

Meet The Redwood Team: Community Manager Tina Staggs

Join us every week as we get to know a different member of our team at Redwood!

Name: Tina Staggs

Job Title: Community Manager

Community: Milltown Villas by Redwood in Wooster, OH.

How long have you worked at Redwood?: 7 years and 4 months - proudly!

What's your favorite thing about working at Redwood?: Everything. I love the fact that as we have grown that we are all still a great family and team. We can reach out to our corporate office and they will help us without an issue.

What’s your favorite thing about Milltown Villas by Redwood?: I Love the Milltown Villas community. I have a beautiful property even though it is 12 years old it is wonderful. We have a real family feel here and the residents know that I will always go above and beyond. That's what keeps them here!

What are some of your hobbies?: I love to read mystery books and I love going out on the Harley on Sundays with my hubby. I love to ride, it so refreshing. I also love to bake!

What’s a fun fact about you?: I am a practical joker.

Meet more of our Redwood team!

5 Creative Recipes For Breakfast At Home

Meeting friends out for brunch on the weekends is great, but having room to entertain them at home is even better. Whether you're cooking for one or for a group, here are a few unique breakfast recipes to try.

1. Cloud Eggs

Photo Credit: Happy Foods

You've probably already seen these featured on your Facebook feed and wondered - are they actually good? Cloud Eggs take under 10 minutes to make and leave you with a perfect yolk surrounded by fluffy, beaten egg whites. They may seem like a new craze, but our French friends have been making Oeufs à la Neige, or Eggs in Snow, for centuries.

The recipe is simple - why not see what all the fuss is about for yourself? Try this one from Happy Foods.

2. Hash Brown Waffles

Photo Credit: Yellow Bliss Road

Here's one for hash brown lovers who prefer their plate of shredded potatoes nice and crispy. Put your waffle iron to good use and fill it with a mix of potatoes and your favorite fillings like cheese and chives. Press and get ready to top with sour cream!

Try the recipe from Yellow Bliss Road.

3. Bacon & Egg Breakfast Muffins

Photo Credit: RecipeTin Eats

Egggs...INSIDE a muffin? Surprise your brunch guests by hiding their breakfast favorite in moist, muffin-y goodness. These leftovers are perfect for your mornings on-the-go, too!

RecipeTin Eats is the genius behind this custom recipe, try it here.

4. Pizza For Breakfast

What's better than pizza? Pizza...for breakfast! This popular recipe from TipBuzz takes only 20 minutes to put together and doesn't require a DIY dough.

Swap your toppings and get creative, or try this recipe from TipBuzz.

5. Bagel Bombs

Photo Credit: Host The Toast

It takes a bit of time to get a bagel bomb formed and stuffed with your favorite fillings, but the reward of watching an ooey-gooey breakfast explosion seems worth it.

Using pre-pizza dough, these freezer-friendly bombs are great for groups or on-the-go. Try Host The Toast's recipe here.

See more creative breakfast ideas at our Breakfast At Home board on Pinterest!

Meet The Redwood Team: Community Manager Kristen Meadows

Join us every week as we get to know a different member of our team at Redwood!

Name: Kristen Meadows

Job Title: Community Manager

Community: Devonshire by Redwood in Dayton, OH.

How long have you worked at Redwood?: 1.5 years

What's your favorite thing about working at Redwood?: I love working for a company whose core values align perfectly with my personal values. I also appreciate that they allow their employees to be entrepreneurial and run their properties as their own business.

What’s your favorite thing about Devonshire by Redwood?: Since I came to the property shortly after the start of lease up I feel like I have been able to form bonds with most of the residents. I have helped all of them find their home!

Related: Explore Devonshire By Redwood in Dayton, OH

What are some of your hobbies?: I have 2 daughters that are 5 & 7 so most of my hobbies revolve around their activities. They are both in dance, Girl Scouts and soccer. When I am not doing something for them I enjoy spending time with my husband of 11 years, friends, and family.

What’s a fun fact about you?: I grew up on an Ostrich farm! 😊

Meet more of our Redwood team!