For two years now, we have opened this piece startled by the shake-up of this list.
Last year, we were flabbergasted by the amount of movement up and down the list and the fact that 10 — 10! — new people made the list.
What fools we have been. This year has been a volatile one in many industries, and the list has not only seen power players rise and fall, but 14 new people have earned their way on to the list.
The end result excited and frustrated us, as some new blood jumped way up the list and a few old favorites had to move down. The highlights include some newbies who earned instant high billing — Steve Allen of Nationwide Children’s Hospital broke in at 21 — while others earned their rightful place near the top — The Ohio State University’s E. Gordon Gee jumped from 19 to 4. And a few, like top-ranked Les Wexner, were able to fight off a rough economy and hold their spot.
Overall, dozens of people moved up and down the list to go along with the 14 fresh faces sparkling across these pages. Here is the 2009 Power 100 list of the most influential business, civic and political leaders in Central Ohio as ranked by our editors.
Numbers in parentheses are 2008 rankings.
