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BMD’s Jason Butterworth Quietly Engineers Some of Akron’s Most Impactful Projects

Blog Post
May 18, 2022

Jason Butterworth, a team member of BMD’s Business & Corporate practice, focuses his practice on finance, real estate, and tax credit law. 

Few people are aware that over the last six years, Jason has been working to ensure that several of the most impactful projects in the greater Akron-Canton region have been realized. Sometimes directing from behind the scenes and occasionally right out in front – Jason has helped shape the complicated, interesting, politically-charged and emotional backstories of several significant projects you may have seen in the news. 

These projects include the revitalization of The Shorb Neighborhood in Canton and the I Promise Housing initiative, along with East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation (EANDC). 

A major spotlight is on Akron right now and Jason has been an integral part of the process for the past four years. Serving as a community liaison and Akron concierge, if you will, Jason has facilitated communications, connections and partnership between city, county and state governments, the University of Akron and California company, LTA Research and Exploration. The conversation: gain approval from the Development Finance Authority of Summit County to sublease the airdock, a world-class facility unlike any other, from Lockheed Martin. The goal: build full-size airships in Akron again – electric-powered, zero emission ships designed by the U of A’s engineering department.

There were many complex layers to this project, not to mention the nostalgia, history and identity of Akron wrapped up in concept of airships. Jason negotiated the deal to access and eventually acquire the Airdock, and also helped to validate and promote the project as an important investment for Akron. An advocate for Akron, he has helped convince LTA, with its initial operations located in San Francisco, that Akron was the best place to be. And now, this project is coming to fruition in 2023. Last Thursday, LTA unveiled its work on the Pathfinder, the largest airship build in the US since 1932.

The BMD Business Family is honored to call Jason a Member of the firm and is proud of how he has served as an advocate and champion of several noteworthy economic developments for our region.

Read more about this projects in these Akron Beacon Journal articles. Please note that these may require a subscription to view.

See the opinion piece published in the Akron Beacon Journal last year by Gary L. Miller, President of the University of Akron, and Daniel Horrigan, Mayor of Akron regarding the excitement and opportunity around bringing Airdocks back to Akron.

And now, this project is coming to fruition in 2023. Last Thursday, LTA unveiled its work on the Pathfinder, the largest airship build in the US since 1932.

Jason A. Butterworthairdock
Blog Post

Non-compete Agreements are Under Fire: What Employers Need to Know

August 4, 2022Non-compete agreements are an ongoing topic of dispute. Employers and their advocates point to the efficacy of non-competes in protecting proprietary information. Employees and their advocates argue about worker mobility and that employers unduly burden workers’ ability to seek better jobs. The Biden administration has put forth its position, and state legislatures have introduced bills addressing the enforceability of non-competes. Here is what you need to know:Client Alert, Blog Post

Explosive Growth in Pot of Gold Opportunity for Bank (and Other) Cannabis Lenders Driving Erosion of the Barriers

May 13, 2022Our original article on bank lending to the cannabis industry anticipated that the convergence of interest between banks and the cannabis industry would draw more and larger banks to the industry. Banks were awash in liquidity with limited deployment options, while bankable cannabis businesses had rapidly growing needs for more and lower cost credit. Since then, the pot of gold opportunity for banks to lend into the cannabis industry has grown exponentially due to a combination of market constraints on equity causing a dramatic shift to debt and the ever-increasing capital needs of one of the country’s fastest growing industries. At the same time, hurdles to entry of new banks are being systematically cleared as the yellow brick road to the cannabis industry’s access to the financial markets is being paved, brick by brick, by the progressively increasing number and size of banks that are now entering the market.Blog Post

Celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May 1, 2022In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI Heritage Month), Brennan Manna and Diamond is proud to recognize the contributions and achievements of our AAPI members.Blog Post

Fluresh Cannabis’ Bank Loan: Moving Into the Mainstream

April 18, 2022The announcement by Fluresh, a vertically integrated Michigan based cannabis business, of the closing of loans from a federally insured commercial bank totaling almost $50 million represents an important landmark for both Fluresh and the cannabis industry writ large. For Fluresh, perhaps as important as the bottom-line benefits of lower cost financing, the fact that its operations and financials passed muster with a substantial commercial bank can be regarded as an important rite of passage. For the industry, it reflects its inexorable movement out of the shadows and into the mainstream. This substantiates the view that, whether or not any of pending the federal legislation is enacted, bank lending to the cannabis industry will continue to accelerate.Blog Post

Out of the Shadows | An Investor Summit Recap

February 9, 2022After a COVID hiatus of more than 2 years, I rejoined the institutional cannabis investment speaker circuit, offering the closing remarks at the Kahner Global Cannabis Private Investment Summit in Coral Gables, Florida. My remarks addressed how banking developments are increasingly impacting cannabis investment, operating and financial strategies and decisions, for both plant touching and the growing array of ancillary businesses serving the industry.
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