In addition to The Dispatch’s 10 civic leaders, four younger Columbus-area executives are playing increasingly large roles in shaping central Ohio.
Brent Crawford
Age: 51
Title: Founder and principal, Crawford Hoying
Affiliations: Columbus Partnership, Center for Real Estate at Ohio State University, Children’s Hospital Foundation
Crawford’s role in developing Bridge Park gives him a platform in development conversations locally and beyond. The development has reinvented one community while dramatically reshaping the discussion of what is possible in the suburbs. As Bridge Park approaches completion (with a possible expansion to the south), many eyes will be watching where Crawford turns next. And as an active speaker and teacher at his alma mater, Ohio State University, Crawford has helped spread the gospel of dense suburban mixed-use “new urbanism” to a younger generation.
Brad DeHays
Age: 44
Title: CEO and President, Connect Realty, Connect Construction, Connect Housing Blocks
Affiliations: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Upper Arlington Rotary Club, Columbus Apartment Association, Collaborative to End Homelessness, Alvis Inc., Young American Leaders Program
DeHays has been instrumental in helping revive several old buildings — and indirectly, neighborhoods — in Columbus including the Power Plant in the Arena District and the Historic Trolley District near Franklin Park. DeHays most recently converted a former Schottenstein’s warehouse on Westerville Road into a factory to make modular housing units called Connect Housing Blocks, reflecting his interest in seeking solutions to the region’s affordable housing shortage and breaking down barriers to the workplace.
Jonathan Moody
Age: 40
Title: CEO, Moody Nolan
Affiliations: Columbus State Community Foundation, Godman Guild, ULI Columbus Advisory Board, Fifth Third Bank advisory board, the American Institute of Architects
As CEO of the nation’s largest African American architecture firm, with more than 350 employees and offices in 12 locations, Moody is active on a national architectural stage, and saw his firm become the first African American-owned company to receive the American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Award. Locally, Moody Nolan has been instrumental in several projects including many at Ohio State University and the proposed new terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport. Outside of the office, Moody has become a quiet leader in minority and underserved efforts, including the Godman Guild, PACT and AEC Unites.
Matt Scantland
Age: 45
Title: Founder and CEO of AndHealth; former co-founder and CEO of CoverMyMeds
Affiliations: Twofold Ventures (dedicated to building technology, health care, and media businesses); the Columbus Partnership; The Columbus Foundation; Columbus Downtown Development Corp.; Innovate Ohio
After CoverMyMeds became the first Columbus startup to sell for at least $1 billion, Scantland founded AndHealth, designed to get patients to address root causes through behavioral changes to reverse chronic health problems. In addition to his involvement on several community boards, Scantland is active in environmental causes. In 2020, he organized The Cenotes of Mayakoba Project to document underwater caves on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico to raise awareness for environmental causes.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Next titans – four names to watch as Columbus grows
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