Cincinnati : Innovation + Startup News

Independent media agency Empower MediaMarketing recently created a new Disruptive Media Fellowship at The Brandery, Cincinnati's consumer brand business accelerator.

The $10,000 fellowship will go to a Brandery startup whose idea is most disruptive to the media landscape. The fellowship recipient will be announced later this month, as The Brandery's incoming 2013 class begins, says Empower MediaMarketing's Director of Content Strategy Kevin Dugan.

"It seems that disruptions are taking place almost every day as consumer habits change," Dugan says. "We feel that for companies reacting to that is really more of an opportunity than anything else. If you are helping create the disruptions, it can become a competitive advantage."

Empower MediaMarketing is an independent media agency that plans, buys, creates and proves media impact for its clients. Dugan and CEO Jim Price are also Brandery mentors.

The Brandery launched in 2010 to offer funding, mentoring and partnerships for consumer marketing businesses. Brandery companies receive $20,000 in startup funding, and pitch their companies to potential investors at a Demo Day at the end of the four-month program.

The Brandery is a member of the Global Accelerator Network, and companies from across the country apply to the emerging accelerator. It is annually recognized as one of the elite startup accelerators in the country.

More than 60 mentors work with the companies, which each receive $20,000 in seed money. Leading Cincinnati-based agencies offer free marketing and media guidance to each of the startups.

"As a company, we have been mentoring startups since 2010," Dugan says. "We really enjoy the process and wanted to increase our support (of The Brandery). This allows us to increase commitment and help startups."

By Feoshia H. Davis

Zooted Delivery brings food to your front door from restaurants around the city that don’t typically deliver. While it was only a weekend operation from the beginning, Zooted now offers service seven days a week, with their delivery radius spanning Hyde Park, the downtown business district, the Banks, Clifton and Norwood.

Created by Sheroz Zindani, a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s business program, Zooted Delivery works in conjunction with more than a dozen restaurants to bring their menu items to hungry customers’ homes. 

The company has a recurring message that it reiterates to customers: “You drink, we drive.” This message targets the late night crowd, which is why Zooted Delivery operates until 3 a.m. on weekends.

Registration is not necessary to use the service—you only need to have access to Zooted’s website. The order is placed online, “zooted” to the restaurant automatically, and the customer need only “sign and dine.” Payments can be made with cash or credit cards. The service and delivery fee is nominal and the convenience is unparalleled. 

Offering a broad range of restaurants, this added service is sure to accommodate nearly every type of palate. If not, it’s likely that whatever type of food they would want already delivers directly, so it’s a win-win for homebodies. 

Interview by Sean Peters

CincyMusic Spotlight is a new radio show dedicated to highlighting new and exciting music in the Queen City. Featured on The Project 100.7 and 106.3, the show’s format provides a much-needed outlet for local musicians. Hosted by veteran band promoters and DJs Venomous Valdez and Joe Long, the show’s end goal is to help expose new local artists to the general public.

“The Project already has added a handful of bands hailing from Cincinnati in their established playlist," says Valdez. "If a song does really well on the show, it has the ability to live in regular rotation. The Project would love nothing more than to help break a Cincinnati band."

Valdez, who is known by just about every venue owner as the booking agent and promoter for Wussy and The Sundresses, is a longtime ally to Cincinnati musicians.

“Cincinnati has a deep, rich musical history," she says. "For many generations, this has been a music town, so it’s in our blood. We have more genres available, more venues catering to original music than most cities larger than us. Overall, I think we have a great support system with musicians, promoters, booking agents and venues that encourages and nurtures the creative outlet."

Listeners can tune in Sunday nights at midnight on The Project 100.7 FM and 106.3 FM. Podcasts will be available on cincymusic.com and cincinnatiproject.com.

By Sean Peters

Sports fans all have defining moments in their lives that are linked with a favorite team. What Bobby Goodwin does with Legit Vintage is offer direct links to those cherished memories with his ever-growing collection of classic sports clothing.

With his inventory comprised of mostly professional football, baseball, hockey and basketball items, it’s natural for Goodwin to see spikes in particular teams’ sales depending on the season and the success of the teams. For example, right now there are two similar jackets he's offering -- a  Charlotte Hornets and a Cleveland Browns starter jacket. Not surprisingly, the Hornets jacket is five times more valuable.

Starting in March 2012, the 26 year old Miami University graduate has dedicated most of his spare cash to financing his retail venture, which is mostly online for now, though he does sell his wares at events that appeal to his fans.

What makes Legit Vintage a unique retailer is the hand-picked, stylish selections Goodwin himself chooses. His aesthetic makes it very easy to find the perfect vintage piece of clothing—from shoes to hats.

While you can find his inventory on etsy, Goodwin continues to look for a brick-and-mortar site to appeal to casual browsers as well as sports aficionados.

By Sean Peters

Today, it seems that every retailer has a loyalty card leading to wallets stuffed with disparate loyalty cards and the potential for confusion. Local startup LOC Enterprises hopes to replace the need for store loyalty cards with the launch of its LOC Card.
 
The LOC Card is the first truly universal loyalty card that will not only allow consumers to stop carrying around handfuls of loyalty cards, but it will also allow them to manage all of their loyalty programs on one website.
 
While shopping for his now 12-year-old son around Christmas 2011, LOC’s CEO and founder Jack Kennamer realized the hangups of loyalty cards.
 
“I was standing in line at a sporting goods store, and I heard the cashier ask customer after customer if they had the store’s loyalty card,” Kennamer says. “Most people didn’t want one, but one lady decided to sign up for it, and I could see the guy behind her huffing and puffing while she filled out the registration form. And when the guy in front of me was asked if he had the store’s card, he held up his keychain and said ‘No room for you.’ I figured there had to be a better way.”
 
After that experience, Kennamer spent hours researching loyalty cards and programs, and found that there wasn’t a “universal” loyalty card.
 
“Consumers love to feel special and get free stuff and discounts, but it’s getting to the point where they have to work so hard to participate in loyalty programs,” he says.
 
Kennamer’s company developed a 100-percent consumer-centric card that allows consumers to tailor how they want to engage with each retailer. For example, a consumer may want to interact with Kroger one way and Best Buy another, so they can pick and choose which retailers to provide with their email address.
 
When a consumer signs up for the LOC Card, they’ll set up an account online, and anytime they go to a retailer that accepts the card, they swipe it once and they’re enrolled in that loyalty program. LOC’s website manages all of the loyalty programs for the consumer, so there’s only one email address and password instead of 100.
 
LOC is working with the companies that handle the analytic side of loyalty programs to better service consumers. The company is also building relationships with individual merchants and getting great feedback about the LOC Card.
 
The LOC Card isn’t just tailored to large businesses, though. “The problem small businesses have is they don’t stand a chance because they’re so far down the totem pole when it comes to loyalty,” says Kennamer. “With the LOC Card, you swipe your card at the retailer once and you’re signed up for their loyalty program. After that, it’s up to the consumer to come back, and the retailer can reach out and give the consumer personalized offers to start repeat behaviors.”
 
The LOC Card isn’t available to consumers yet, but you can pre-register on LOC’s website.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Greater Cincinnati’s creative community is being called on for a first-of-its-kind design challenge, aimed at flexing the region’s altruistic muscle and branding brilliance.

In partnership with tech entrepreneur Tarek Kamil, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s
C-Change program is requesting proposals from designers from across the region to help craft an unforgettable brand experience for users of the newly launched website, Cerkl.

“This is an ideal opportunity to participate in a high-profile project for one of the largest non-profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati region,” says Kamil, Cerkl’s creator. 

Launched in February, the website expedites serendipitous connections between talented individuals and local organizations that are working to improve Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Its online platform serves as a catalyst for offline community engagement by empowering organizations and individuals to cut through the "noise" from existing networks to easily find organizations and opportunities to give back using time and talent.

Intuitive tools and search functions allow organizations to find the right people with specific skills - and help individuals leverage their unique talents and engage meaningfully with organizations they care about. Best of all, the site’s tools and platform are completely free. Cerkl is a gift to Cincinnati from Kamil, who while serving in his own community of Madeira saw the need for an online intervention to help non-profits make meaningful connections with their supporters.

But still in its infancy, the website is ready for its brand to be polished.

In step with Cerkl’s mission, Kamil and C-Change are looking to tap engaged design professionals who want to share their talents with their community in a meaningful way. 

“No other city has a higher caliber or concentration of branding and design talent than ours,” Kamil says. “We want to leverage those assets to bring Cerkl to its full potential. When we’re successful, Cincinnati will be home to the go-to tool created to empower non-profits, inspire individuals and improve communities.”

Designers participating in the request for proposals are asked to develop a refreshed visual look for the nonprofit, specifically a new brandmark and homepage redesign. Responses are due by June 21, and finalists will be notified in the beginning of July. 

The chosen designer or team will have the opportunity to establish a working relationship with one of the region’s most successful startup entrepreneurs. The involved parties will actively promote the contracting designer or firm through the website, social media, at events, marketing campaigns, etc. 

The winner of the competition will receive special recognition from C-Change and Cincinnati USA Chamber of Commerce, as well as a year’s subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud service or a $600 DCI (Downtown Cincinnati Inc.) Gift Card.

The digital version of the RFP and brand guidelines can be found at tinyurl.com/cerklproject.

To receive a copy of request for proposal, email your submissions or for questions, email virtual.submission@gmail.com by June 21, 2013. 

By Jenny Kessler

Two companies on opposite sides of the Ohio River collaborated to create an award-winning ink product that's made from recycled materials.

BCM Inks of Blue Ash and Close the Loop of Hebron created a process that turns leftover ink from consumer printer cartridges into an ink that can be printed on cardboard packaging—in industry terms, corrugated printing. The ink is called Post Consumer Recycled Black, and was introduced to the market last fall.

The new product won a gold award at the 25th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation in the Innovation and Sustainability category. Other gold-winning brands in the same category were Campbell’s Soup Company, Heinz, Pepperidge Farm, Unilever and Gillette. The prestigious international award recognizes industry innovation and collaboration.

BCM Inks is a 25-year-old company that provides inks, services and products to the corrugated printing industry. Close the Loop USA recycles toner and ink jet cartridges, and was founded in 2000 in Australia. The Hebron recycling facility opened in 2007.

"When people bring their ink cartridges to be recycled, up to 13 percent of the ink is still in the cartridge," says BCM Inks' Vice President Rob Callif. "Close the Loop was recycling the cartridge but extracting and collecting the ink. They didn't know what to do with it. So we took the leftover ink and developed a way to turn it into a water-based black ink that can be used in corrugated printing."

PCR Black saves over 200,000 ink jet cartridges from the landfill for every 450-pound drum of ink made, Callif says.

The entry was reviewed, judged and selected by a 10-member panel of independent packaging industry experts. The award was announced May 16 at the DuPont Awards Banquet in Wilmington, Delaware.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Northern Kentucky University's Get Engaged breakfast series gives area startups and nonprofits a chance to connect with local business experts and learn about important growth topics.

The series is part of NKU's ongoing effort to reach out to the community and take academic resources outside the classroom. The Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement hosts the free series with different campus partner organizations.

The latest Get Engaged breakfast, "Intellectual Property: Strategizing to Create Value for your Organization," guided participants through basic IP law, protecting IP and potential commercialization opportunities.

"We wanted to help companies who may know the basics of IP, and want to take it to the next level," says Lindsey Jaeger, director of administration for the centers and institutes at NKU Chase College of Law. "They want to leverage what they have and get a return on their investment."

The course also counted toward one hour of general Continuing Legal Education credit in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

Todd Bailey, counsel with Frost Brown Todd and clinical lecturer with Miami University Farmer School of Business, led the IP presentation. A panel discussion included representatives from various college departments, including Chase College of Law's Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic, the Intellectual Property Awareness Center at Steely Library, Chase College of Law and the College of Informatics.

If you missed the last event, another one will be held from 8 to 10 a.m., Aug. 1. It will spotlight the Chase College of Law and Small Business & Nonprofit Law Clinic. Launched last year, the law clinic provides legal services to local entrepreneurs, small businesses and nonprofits that would otherwise be unable to hire outside counsel.

For more information or to register for the August breakfast, contact Collette Thompson, civic engagement coordinator, via email or (859) 572-7847.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Greener Portions Aquaponics, Cincinnati’s newest source of locally grown produce using aquaponics, is now open for business in Covedale.

Aquaponics is a growing method that utilizes, in Greener Portions’ case, channel catfish to produce nutrient-rich byproducts that are circulated through the plant’s root systems to be filtered out and pumped back into the fishtank. The circular cycle has been used longer than any of us have been around.

Started by Mary Ann Brinkmeyer and her fiancé Casey Miller,  Greener Portions not only has the capability to provide fresh, locally grown produce on a regular basis, but will occasionally have fish on the menu once they need to change the ranks, so to speak.

Produce will be available for purchase on both individual and wholesale scales.

At this time, Greener Portions has a 2,000-square-foot growing operation, where they are currently growing heirloom tomatoes, coastal star romaine lettuce, bell peppers, wheat grass, cilantro, Genovese basil, parsley and more. Future plans are to harvest strawberries, cucumbers, kale and heirloom orange tomatoes.

The business started as a hobby for the couple, but they quickly realized it  had potential far beyond feeding themselves. With a grand opening  now under their  belts, Greener Portions is confident business will grow as steadily as their produce.

Find out more about Greener Portions Aquaponics here.

Students at 10 Cincinnati area high schools are earning college credit through a new dual enrollment program at the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Applied Science.

It's the first step in a wider plan that will allow incoming UC engineering majors to complete their freshmen year of college before high school graduation.

The dual credit program grew out of a longer collaboration between CEAS and area schools that started in 2007. That's when CEAS began offering an introduction to engineering course to high school seniors. The course is offered through an educational video platform called Mediasite, which is designed specifically for educational use.

That collaboration started with four schools—Harrison, Mother of Mercy, Mt. Notre Dame and Princeton high schools—and now more than 13 participate (howerver, not all offer the dual credit option). The 2012-2013 school year was the first that students could take courses for credit at UC, says College of Engineering Academic Director Eugene Rutz.

Not all students take the class for dual credit, but out of the 500 who did, about 140 of them earned credit, Rutz says.

UC faculty and the high school teachers work together to deliver the course. UC provides lessons via videos, which students can watch from home. In the classroom, high school teachers assign projects that require students to find solutions to questions by creating an engineering-based solution that builds on what they learn in the videos.

"They build a prototype for the solution, test it, report it and defend," says Rutz. "There's a verbal presentation of it as well."

During the school year, students complete several projects—some could take a week, some could take a month. The focus is on applied learning.

"This is a course that helps students see and appreciate why they learn math and science," Rutz says. "They are also learning critical thinking, and that there are multiple ways to solve problems."

CEAS plans to add more high schools to the program next year, and add an additional engineering course, says Rutz.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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The Kenton County School District is one of 17 districts across Kentucky applying to become a "District of Innovation," whic is a new designation that allows districts to waive some established education statutes. It's part of an effort to push educational boundaries and reimagine education.

State lawmakers enacted the innovation program in 2012, and school districts should know if their applications have been approved by early June.

If approved, Kenton County could speed up work already begun through its Kenton County Academies of Technology and Innovation, where high school students study informatics, media arts and the biomedical sciences in-depth. This is the Academies' first year.

If approved, the district could move more quickly to allow students to do more work outside of the classroom, including internships and project-based learning, without asking for state waivers, says Superintendent Terri Cox-Cruey.

"Some of what we're doing was not envisioned when the statues were written—for instance, project-based learning is based more on demonstrating mastery of a subject than sitting in a seat for a certain number of hours," she says.

The district has 18 schools, including three high schools. Next year, two of the academies of innovation will be at the former J.D. Patton Career and Technical Center in Edgewood. The remaining two will be at Simon Kenton High School and Dixie Heights High School. It's expected that 400 high schoolers will be accepted into the academies this year through an application process.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Three Northern Kentucky high school students won scholarships to Gateway Community and Technical College through an innovative new UpTech program that challenges students to apply advanced manufacture learning through competition.

Eleven Kenton County high schoolers competed for the scholarship earlier this month. Competitors were sophomores and juniors who have been taking college courses while still in high school. The scholarship pays for up to 24 credit hours at Gateway.

UpTech is a new business informatics incubator launched by several Northern Kentucky institutions, including Northern Kentucky University, Tri-Ed, e-zone and Vision 2015. The intense, six-month accelerator program includes $100,000 in funding.

This latest scholarship program reaches into the advanced manufacturing area, which is a strong source of Northern Kentucky job growth. Called mUpTech, the program seeks out area talent at the high school level, and encourages learning through competition and college aid.

"mUpTech, was born out of our region’s need to stimulate interest and innovation in our manufacturing industry,” says UpTech co-founder Casey Barach. “Over the last 12 years, over 300 companies have used the e-zone, and only three were in the manufacturing industry.”

This year, all competing students came from the newly developed Kenton County School District’s Academy of Innovation and Technology. The high school houses six academics that focus on real world learning, including biomedical sciences, engineering and high performance production technology.

As part of their learning, academy students must complete and present a project related to their learning. Divided into two-person teams (one student competed alone), students from the high performance production technology academy presented their projects and participated in the mUpTech competition. It was held at the Gateway Center for Advanced Manufacturing.

Winners were juniors Matt Flanagan and Austin Ernst, who developed a speedy tractor lift, and sophomore Wendy Webster, who created a window heater.

"Their families were really floored," says Academy director Francis O'Hara. "This will be a life-changing experience for them."

mUpTech’s partners include Gateway Community and Technical College, Tri-ED, ezone, Vision 2015, UpTech and Duke Energy Foundation. Plans in the next year are to expand the program into Boone and Campbell counties, and to include more of the region's advanced manufacturing business community in judging, Barach says.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Lovers of WWII-era Americana should kick off their shoes and bop to this news: Retrocentric, a boutique that offers the combination of professional salon and photography sessions, also celebrates the glamorous pin-up styles of yesteryear.

The business' all-female staff works to ensure customers, non-models especially, are completely comfortable. All of its “retrofitted” photo sessions include selections from a classic pin-up wardrobe themed around clothing that was popular in the American Midwest during World War II, along with hair and makeup by Eros Salon.   

Founded by Sailor Gruzleski, Retrocentric will be celebrating its first year in Cincinnati later this summer. To help commemorate that achievement, the Retrocentric team is selling a 2013 charity calendar called “Pin ups for Pound Pups.” Featuring pin up girls with rescue dogs from local shelters, the proceeds will benefit Cincinnati’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Living historians like the Retrocentric team help preserve the rosier side of turbulent times in America. While most able-bodied men were overseas, the ingenuity and strength of the women left behind helped stabilize the homestead. By taking on jobs typically held by men, Gruzleski says, women found unique ways to preserve their delicacy and femininity while still struggling under society’s wartime duress. It's an important cultural footnote that's shadowed by the glamorous eye candy of Retrocentric’s portfolio.      

Eros Salon (featured at Bridalrama) is open for non-pin up related appointments inside Retrocentric.

By Sean Peters