In celebration of Dayton’s heritage of business accomplishments, Dayton Magazine created the Dayton Business Hall of Fame to recognize the rich tradition of success and civic involvement of the region’s business community.
The Dayton Business Hall of Fame honors men and women who have made a lasting contribution to the community in economic, cultural and civic endeavors. Inductees were honored at the eighth annual Dayton Business Hall of Fame event Feb. 6 at the Presidential Banquet Center in Dayton. The event was sponsored by The Dayton Foundation, and the nonprofit partner was the Therapeutic Riding Institute. The media sponsor was WDTN, and the event was catered by Kohler Catering.
Posthumous Inductee Ric Moody
Managing Broker & Auctioneer, Coldwell Banker Commercial Heritage
Ric Moody, who passed away in 2024, was many things—a commercial real estate developer, broker, investor, auctioneer, Ohio State alum and fan, community leader, father and grandfather—but now his family can add one more thing to the list: 2025 Dayton Hall of Fame inductee.
“My father’s career spanned seven decades,” says Allison Moody, Ric’s daughter and a commercial realtor. “All that time he helped so many people, and it’s not just the buildings that he built that will be here long after he’s gone. It’s really all the people that he helped and inspired, and their work in this world is going to outlast him for centuries.”
Ric grew up in the commercial real estate business and was proudly a self-described “sob”—son of boss. In 1979, Ric inherited his family business from his father, starting a real estate career that would span more than four decades. He would own his company—Dayton Commercial Realty—and then transition to managing broker for Coldwell Banker Commercial Heritage.
“My father had an incredible gift,” says Paul Moody, Ric’s son and a commercial realtor. “He could drive up and down almost any street in Dayton and tell you what was at that corner, what business thrived there and why they mattered. But he didn’t just dwell on the past. He used that knowledge to understand the present and anticipate the future. His deep understanding of Dayton’s business landscape allowed him to predict what could come next, shaping opportunities for growth and success.”
Those who worked with him cite his passion for real estate and Dayton, his deep knowledge on many topics and his positive outlook as traits that helped him succeed.
“I met Ric initially over 20 years ago when I was a paralegal, and he was a client of my law firm,” says Laurie Westheimer, a residential/commercial realtor. “Over the years, I’d run into him multiple places. And eventually, when I became a realtor, he ended up being one of my primary mentors. One of the great things about Ric was no matter how busy he was, no matter where he was in the world, whether he was walking on the beach or laying in a hospital bed after surgery, he would always answer the phone, He was just the happiest, most cheerful person I ever met.”
Adds Allison, “My father was brilliant. He knew a lot of things about a lot of things. He was often the smartest person in the room, but he would never let onto it. And he never made anybody else feel dumb. He always explained his knowledge from a place of experience, and he always had the best stories to tell of how he got that experience. He had a vast amount of knowledge and not just knowledge. He had the ability to apply it into real day situations and come up with creative solutions that benefited everybody involved.”
John North
President & CEO, Better Business Bureau of Dayton and the Miami Valley
John North, an inductee into the 2025 Dayton Business Hall of Fame, sleeps, eats and breathes Dayton.
“I was born in the Valley and I never lived more than 10 minutes from the Valley. I’m proud of Dayton’s rich history of inventors, entrepreneurs and businessmen who got their start here in Dayton,” says North.
After working in the health and human services arena for almost 20 years, North joined the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Dayton and the Miami Valley as CEO and president in 2007. He proved to be a transformative leader from the start.
“When he joined the BBB as the president and CEO almost 20 years ago—that’s when I first met him—the BBB was struggling,” says Dave Donaldson, president and CEO of the Springboro Chamber of Commerce. “Membership was down. They were having financial issues and honestly struggled to meet payroll. John stepped in, took over the reins and told the board and the team that we are not participating in the Great Recession. We’re going to move forward. We’re going to focus on the community, focus on our mission. And he did. And now this BBB outperforms BBBs in much larger markets.”
Today, the BBB has supported over 25,000 local businesses and more than a million consumers annually, creating a marketplace built on trust, ethics and mutual confidence.
In addition to growing the BBB, North has invested his time in the community as a past member of the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area board of trustees and campaign cabinet and as a member of the Human Services Levy Campaign cabinet.
He has also invested in the region’s young professionals, including Maha Kashani, senior C&I sales manager at IGS Energy and current chairwoman of the BBB.
“I’ve known John since I graduated from college at a very young age. I think John saw my passionate excitement for the business community and became one of my early-on mentors,” says Kashani. “I loved how practical he always was. I love how positive he always was, and I really loved that he enjoyed investing in young talent. He saw these young businesspeople in this community and really believed in showing them the way, bringing them into the BBB, sponsoring some events that we were doing in the community and just helping young people thrive.”
Sheri Sword, vice president of communications for the BBB and executive director of the BBB’s Women in Business Networking, credits North’s success to his ability to empower others.
“He really has encouraged our team to take risks, to help take the organization to the next level,” she says.
Adds North, “It’s really the people that make a difference. We work with many businesses and many consumers, and the Better Business Bureau is able to offer a bridge to success for both businesses and consumers. I love standing shoulder to shoulder with the businesses that we have in this area, the relationships that we’ve developed and those businesses that really see the value in the Better Business Bureau.”
Sandy Gudorf
Former President, Dayton Downtown Partnership
If you’ve spent time in downtown Dayton over the last couple of years—whether to work, live or play—you’ve felt the lasting impact of Sandy Gudorf, one of the 2025 inductees into the Dayton Business Hall of Fame.
Gudorf stepped down from the Dayton Downtown Partnership (DDP) after 30 years with the nonprofit organization in 2023. Sixteen of those years were as president, making her the organization’s fourth president and longest serving one.
The mission of the DDP, according to its website, is to “energize this city’s inventive spirit to address our downtown’s challenges and capture transformative opportunities through commerce, community and culture.”
Gudorf and her team used the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, a community-driven plant to strengthen Dayton’s urban core, to do just that. Since the plan’s inception in 2010, more than $2 billion has been invested in the greater downtown area. The DDP has also led the charge in filling empty buildings and spaces downtown and created successful programs like the pop-up shop program.
“I know she spent countless hours off the clock working to make downtown a better place. Her way of connecting with business owners and property owners was really special. And I think all of them would also agree that she cared deeply about their success as much as downtown success,” says Laura Woeste, director of Strategic Partnerships at the DDP. “She was instrumental in leading many large development projects downtown and was a strong collaborator on many other projects. I think a lot of people would agree it’s hard to say no to Sandy Gudorf when she asked you to do something, and she had a magic way of getting things done.”
Dr. Mike Ervin, the former co-chair of the DDP, says Gudorf’s collaborative spirt is what made her able to accomplish so much during her time at the nonprofit.
“She got the business community to work with the public sector, and by public sector, I mean the city, the county, the RTA, all the public entities along with all of us businesspeople,” he says. “And she was really the one that got a lot of things done, whether it was bringing baseball to Dayton or starting the bike program or opening many businesses. She worked tirelessly to help small businesses get off the ground and worked with big businesses.”
For Gudorf, it’s been a pleasure to see how far the community has come.
“I have worked with the Downtown Dayton Partnership for over 30 years, and to see the progress that our community has made has been incredible,” she says. “And I know there are still more challenges ahead, but it’s been such a joy to see people come together working together for that common goal. And the goal is to make our community, our downtown, a place for all people so they can enjoy a place where businesses want to locate and expand. People want to call home and just come downtown to have fun, go to a Dragons game, or just enjoy the incredible downtown that we have. And it’s been such a joy to see our progress and just working with so many people to make it happen.”
