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Most mornings, long before the Dayton traffic starts to hum, 78-year-old Les Sandler is already settled in behind his desk. His son, Jonah, works right next door. Their offices sit side by side in a quiet building off I-75, the same corridor where so much of their story has unfolded: in coin shops, in subdivisions, in massive entertainment centers, and now, in a plastics manufacturing company.
Together, Les and Jonah have built a family legacy defined not by a single industry, but by a pattern: find the opportunity, take the chance, and build something that leaves people a little better off than before.
Humble Beginnings
Les is the kind of person who’s easy to talk to—soft-spoken, measured in his words, with a wizened face framed by wavy white hair. He carries the calm confidence of someone who has lived several careers in one lifetime: entrepreneur, developer, mentor, father. When he speaks, you can feel the experience behind it—not loud or boastful, but steady, thoughtful, and shaped by years of building things that matter.
If you ask Les where his journey started, he’ll tell you about two boys and a special interest.
“My brother and I had an interest in coin collecting when I was eight years old,” he says. “It started with us selling a couple coins my dad had given us, which got us into collecting.”
Those beginnings grew into Sandler Brothers, a chain of coin and stamp stores Les and his older brother, Randy, established across Cincinnati and later in Chicago. They traveled the world sourcing inventory, met collectors from every walk of life, and eventually sold the shops to some of their long-time employees.
A willingness to follow curiosity and his instinct for people led Les into real estate. Over the decades, he developed 20 subdivisions between Middletown, Franklin, Troy, and Xenia. His retail projects brought the first Panera and one of the first Chipotles to the University of Dayton area. He cultivated a reputation for taking bets on tenants and early-stage entrepreneurs most landlords wouldn’t consider.
Heather Collinsworth, now his executive assistant, first met Les as a salon owner renting space in one of his centers.
“He didn’t have to help me,” she says. “But he became a mentor. If I had questions about my business or real estate, he always took the time. There are so many household-name businesses in this area that wouldn’t be where they are without Les’s mentoring.”
That pattern—identify potential, take a calculated risk on people, stay loyal—would define every chapter that followed.
Scene75: Building Something New
By the early 2000s, Les owned a 160,000-square-foot warehouse near Dayton, right off I-75. Vacant. Visible. Waiting for a purpose.
At the time, Jonah was finishing an MBA at the University of Chicago. The pull to work with his dad was strong, inspiring him to leave his career in management consulting and investment banking.
Together, they imagined something no one else was doing at that scale: a massive indoor family entertainment center: laser tag, video games, food, rides, party rooms, and attractions the whole family could enjoy. They named it Scene75 for the highway out front and as a nod to Les’s daughter’s art company.
Les, his wife, Renee, and son, Jonah celebrating the launch of Scene75 in 2012.
Before they started on the venture, Les and Jonah signed a hand-written agreement. They scraped the usual length and complexity of partnership terms for one, simple sentence and signed: No matter what happens, we’re still father and son.
The first Dayton center grew from a venue with 50 arcade games and a half-dozen attractions into a 160,000 square foot center with 200 arcade games and a dozen attractions, including an indoor roller coaster. Columbus came later with a 225,000-square-foot facility complete with a roller coaster, drop tower, and expansive party space. Eventually, the chain grew to five locations.
Les and Jonah started their journey in the entertainment industry by launching the first Scene75 center in Dayton, Ohio.
Families loved it. The press took notice as their locations won national and even international recognition as Best Family Entertainment Center in the World.
Les, Jonah and Renee accepting their first IAAPA Best Family Entertainment Center award in 2016.
But what people remember most wasn’t the size. It was how the business made a difference in the community.
They created an indoor Halloween tradition that became legendary—lines and traffic jams up and down the highway, candy at every game station, costume contests, and a safe, weather-proof place for kids to trick-or-treat. They hosted monthly free days for children with special needs. They welcomed Big Brothers Big Sisters. They ran charity programs where every drop tower rider generated a donation to the Food Bank.
Les & Renee attending Scene75’s annual Halloween event.
“I’m proud of having a family business that touched a lot of lives,” Les says.
And Jonah? He quietly engineered its success.
With only a $10,000 marketing budget, he used social media to document the behind-the-scenes work that went into setting up the very first Scene75 facility, attracting 25,000 followers on Facebook before the doors ever opened. His approach was so inventive that Facebook invited him to speak at headquarters. He later joined one of their business committees and wrote a book about the strategy.
Jonah’s viral marketing strategy for Scene75 was so successful that it caught the attention of Facebook.
When Scene75 set out to expand, Civista entered the picture as more than a reliable source of capital.
A Different Kind of Banking Relationship
Although Les had banked with large national institutions for decades, working with them often felt rigid.
“Sometimes you can feel banks put extreme pressure on you,” he says. “That wasn’t the case with Civista. They knew our mission and knew what we were trying to do.”
When Scene75 needed financing for a major expansion, Civista stepped in to fund the real estate side of the project.
That’s when Les was reconnected with Bob Ward, now a Vice President/Commercial Lender at Civista. Years earlier, Bob had worked with Les in the early 2000s when he was at a different bank, supporting Les’s commercial real estate ventures. Reuniting through Civista meant a familiar relationship with someone who already understood the Dayton market and who already understood Les, now with the backing of a community bank with appropriate capital reserves, financing flexibility, and a number of core values.
As Scene75 expanded, Civista provided:
- Approximately $22 million in real estate financing across multiple Scene75 locations
- Refinancing for the Cincinnati real estate parcel
- Financing for the Cleveland facility
- Restructuring support for the Chicago location
- PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) processing when another bank couldn’t meet the need during COVID
COVID was the greatest challenge. Indoor entertainment evaporated virtually overnight. Payroll for hundreds of employees hung in the balance.
But Civista stepped in quickly.
“You can only imagine having to lay off your whole staff and then start back up again,” Bob says. “Civista processed the PPP money when others couldn’t get it done elsewhere. That helped fill the gap.”
Les didn’t forget it.
“I could pick up the phone and call Bob,” he says. “He’d take care of it.”
The relationship deepened even further after the sale of Scene75 in Spring of 2023. Managing the proceeds safely and intentionally mattered. Les chose to hold significant funds at Civista until tax obligations came due—a gesture of trust that reflected both his comfort and loyalty.
A New Direction
Making the decision to sell Scene75 wasn’t easy.
“I felt remorse,” Les says. “We knew the community and what they needed.” But it was time—for Les, for Jonah, and for the business they had poured a decade into building through a model they essentially pioneered. The family entertainment industry had changed dramatically since they first launched the Dayton location. What began as a joyful, community-centered place for families had slowly become harder to operate, especially as managing public spaces grew more complex.
While the sale in March 2023 marked the end of a chapter, almost immediately, another opportunity emerged.
Through a local accounting firm, the Sandlers were introduced to their soon-to-be partner, Shawn Turner, and to the owners of New Tech Plastics, a respected, 45-year-old manufacturing company whose founders were ready to retire but wanted the company to remain in local, trustworthy hands.
The New Tech Plastics manufacturing facilities.
New Tech Plastics: A New Frontier
What attracted you to plastics?, people ask.
“The deal,” Les says simply. “Nice people. Strong business. And a safe challenge.”
New Tech Plastics, now owned through Flexible Packaging Partners (FPP), manufactures high-performance custom poly bags and blown film products using FDA-approved resins. It serves industries ranging from agriculture to logistics to food processing.
It’s a business built on precision, reliability, and customization and run by 75 dedicated employees, many of whom have been there for decades.
After stepping into ownership, one of the first decisions Les, Jonah, and Shawn made was to offer full health benefits for every employee and their immediate family.
“Some had been there 40 years,” Les says. “When they help us, we help them,” he adds, matter-of-factly.
Les, Jonah and their partner, Shawn Turner touring the facilities of New Tech Plastics.
Civista Bank helped them modernize the financial side of the business from day one. They began by establishing the core structure—business checking and operating accounts tailored to a manufacturing company with steady inventory movement. Civista also worked with the team to set up ACH payment and payroll tools to streamline how funds moved in and out of the business, ensuring vendors, employees, and recurring expenses were handled efficiently. To protect against the growing fraud risk, the bank implemented Positive Pay, a safeguard that verifies every check or ACH transaction before it clears. Through its Treasury Management team, Civista guided the team through onboarding, helping them adopt systems that fit the size and pace of New Tech’s operation.
YES Day & What Really Matters
Even as Les has continued to support New Tech, his heart keeps drifting toward one project that has become deeply personal.
Rooted in his belief that “the only thing you have in life is what you give away,” Les organized the first YES Day in August 2025 for youth affected by the war in Israel. The idea was simple: give kids who have endured unimaginable hardship a full day of joy, freedom, and play.
“I want these kids to be able to forget about the terrible things in the world for a day,” he says.
Les and Renee celebrate the very first YES Day for youth affected by war.
That first YES Day was just the beginning. Les hopes to continue bringing the concept to life in the years ahead to reach even more children who need a moment of hope and fun.
It’s not a business venture. It’s not tied to any financial return. It’s the culmination of everything he’s built and believed across eight decades: If you can help, you should.
A Bank that Supports Entrepreneurs
Ask the Civista Bank team what makes Les and Jonah great clients, and they’ll tell you: They’re thoughtful. They’re resilient. They’re loyal. They get things done. And above all, they care deeply about people.
Those same qualities make them the kind of clients Civista loves working with as they evolve—from coin shops to real estate to entertainment to plastics, and whatever comes next.
For entrepreneurs building, expanding, acquiring, or simply navigating the next chapter, Les and Jonah’s story offers a lesson: Surround yourself with good people—employees, partners, and especially a bank that understands you and what you’re trying to build.
If you’re ready for that kind of relationship, the kind built on trust, responsiveness, and true partnership, the Civista team is ready to help. Whether you're exploring a new venture, expanding an existing operation, or simply looking for a bank that listens first, Civista offers personalized guidance tailored to your goals.
Connect with a Civista banker to learn how their team can support your next chapter.
