Each year HBS NEO awards the HBS Club of Northeast Ohio Leadership Award. Please plan to join us as we present the 2021 HBS Club of NEO Leadership Award to John Zitzner, President, Friends of Breakthrough Schools.

Award Criteria: A organization leader who is or has been a CEO or chairman of a public, private, or nonprofit organization. Success as a leader in NE Ohio measured by the impact that the leader’s activities will have on the future of NE Ohio. Leadership in fulfilling the responsibilities of a successful organization to its employees, to the community and to society as measured by how these activities will impact the future of northeast Ohio.

Jack Schron, the recipient of the 2020 Leadership Award will also be honored.

Celebrate Life with Chocolate! Join HBS NEO for an evening with Founder and Master Chocolatier from Sweet Designs!

RSVP early and chocolates will be delivered to your residence that you can enjoy while you meet Ines and watch the demonstration.

Ines Rehner – My Story (so far)

Chocolate has been my favorite food for as long as I can remember. Growing up in former Yugoslavia, now Croatia, chocolate was a luxury. My sweet tooth came from my father, who always had candy hidden in his car. I would search and search until I found all of the chocolate.

In 1987, I visited New York City and immediately knew I wanted to live in this country. The opportunities seemed endless. I returned home to finish college but all I kept thinking about was how to return to a place where I could actually have my own chocolate store. By age 24 I had saved enough to fly to America. I started working at a candy store in New York that resold chocolates and candies, but I always knew that the chocolates could taste better. I began experimenting at home and just kept working until I developed my unique blend. I wanted to make great chocolate.

In December 1995, Sweet Designs Chocolatier opened in a small corner store in Lakewood and I continued to perfect my recipes for chocolate. We now offer over 80 different chocolates, from truffles and hand-dipped fruit to nut clusters and caramels. My chocolates are out of this world…literally! They have actually been enjoyed in space by NASA astronauts on the Space Shuttle.

After 10 years of making chocolate, I needed a larger location so I designed my own European Chocolaterie at a new location in Lakewood. Few things give you the pure enjoyment of great chocolate. The wonderful aroma, the smooth rich texture, and the incomparable taste all combine to make great chocolate one of life’s truly satisfying experiences. I hope that you enjoy eating my chocolates as much as I enjoy making them!

Join HBS NEO for our 100th Anniversary Celebration & Champagne Brunch at Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute. 

As the EDWINS empire has evolved and grown, Brandon Chrostowski has found it necessary to develop managers for the various new initiatives as well as to offer opportunities for selected individuals, with an interest in leadership, to develop and expand their horizons beyond their wildest dreams through a management training program.

Through the HBS Club of NEO Fund we have been able to assist with the course work required to develop this next generation of hospitality managers in Cleveland by providing financial assistance for the management training program.

Brandon will bring us up-to-date on the EDWINS empire, his consulting outside of NEO and will introduce us to a few of the graduates from the management training program and we will hear what this program has meant to them.

COVID DETAILS – all state requirements will be adhered to – masks will be required other than while eating and we will furnish a Waiver for your signature following receipt of your RSVP.

In an effort to keep everyone safe, we encourage all attendees to be fully vaccinated in advance of attending.

Please plan to join us as we take a first step beyond COVID.