St. Vincent De Paul teamed up with Toyota's engineers to make their holiday food distribution more efficient. They decided to label food items as well as replacing warn down cardboard boxes with plastic crates. Experts from Toyota's assembly line met with volunteers this year and reduced packing time of individual bags to fifteen seconds. Read the full story here.
With E-books' popularity over hardcover books increasing this past year, engineers at the University of Cincinnati have revealed that paper could be used as a flexible backing for an electronic display. Using paper is a convenient, renewable, flexible, and cheap material that could be used as a platform for electrowetting. Researchers experimented with all sorts of papers, hoping to develop a future device that rolls and feels like paper yet delivers books, news, and video. Read the full story here.
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park received its largest grant - $90,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant will support the final development and production of Behind the Eye and will fund educational activities. Playhouse in the Park is one of two theaters in the country to receive this award. Read the full story here.
The creative team behind popular bar FB's will unveil their next project, a two-story space-themed lounge and nightclub called Lunar, at 435 Elm St. on December 10.They plan to add a restaurant and outdoor concert pavilion to the complex by next summer, one of the owners Bill Foster said.Foster's first foray into the bar industry was with FB's, the richly-decorated downtown Cincinnati lounge that also hosts a basement dance club called "The Rabbit Hole." To open the establishment, he partnered with Cincinnati nightclub veteran Scott Sheridan. Sheridan had developed the concept after years managing local nightclubs including Club Clau and Purgatory. Foster, who has built a national warehousing business from Cincinnati in the last decade, provided the drive to put it into action, he said. "We started out small just to get the kinks worked out, and now we're ready for a larger project like this," Foster said. "We're going to have a whole campus on this block."The men partnered with Ryan Goldschmidt and Ron Goldschmidt, the building's owners, to create the complex. Their fifth partner is Jimmy Gibson, who worked for a decade as a chef for Jeff Ruby. He will design the menu for Lunar Lounge and direct the upcoming restaurant. Lunar's lounge and nightclub will maintain a futuristic, space-travel theme. Foster said bare concrete walls and an expansive lighting system with a liberal dose of LED's and chandeliers will be the defining decorative elements."We're bringing a lot of new technology to the area," he said. Lunar will also blur the lines between social networking and real-live-partying as an employee will scan twitter feeds of Lunar's guests and display them on monitors throughout the bar. The men also have plans for a rooftop bar that would open in about two years, Foster said.The downstairs portion of the bar, called Lunar Lounge, will be open seven days a week, with the larger upstairs portion open Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well as for special events.Writer: Henry SweetsPhotography by Scott Beseler.
Working, living, or visiting in the downtown area and need an open green space to take your dog? The Downtown Dog Recreation Area will be coming to the east end of Downtown soon. The Park broke ground this month after a long and difficult start - the project initially began three years ago with a budget of $325,000, but after the economy faltered the project was put on hold. But a new project manager, Craig Beachler, and a revised budget, have downtown in place to finally get an off-leash dog play area.The recreation area for dogs and their owners has been funded and supported by local companies, residents, and the City. The City of Cincinnati and the State of Ohio donated the land along with ten trees for the park. The new budget of $75,000 has been supported largely by a $50,000 gift from Procter & Gamble, and $7,000 from the private funds of supporters. The Downtown Residents Council raised 76 percent of the park's annual budget but continues to look for funding from local animal lovers. "For me and for the dogs, it is all about raising more money so we can do this right." Beachler said. "The goal is to spread the word and have peoples' love of dogs play out through their financial donations." When Beachler moved to downtown Cincinnati in 2006, he started a pub-crawl, "Bars Around the Block," to spread the word about the recreation area. The pub crawls have raised $7,000 alone -Beachler will host the sixth crawl this February with all proceeds going towards the dog park. Beachler emphasized the importance of liability and trust with the donations. "I publish the results so that the people who come and contribute know exactly where their money goes. I have accountability in terms of the public and getting the project done and spending the money in the right way," Beachler said.Once completed in 2011, Beachler thinks the park will be widely used by new and old residents."We wouldn't do it if we didn't think people were going to use it," Beachler explained. With the help of donations and volunteer labor, Beachler loves seeing people come together with one common goal in order to accomplish something good for the city. "We are helping create a city where people want to live and don't want to leave. It is a part of the rebirth of downtown Cincinnati," Beachler said. Writer: Lisa EnsmingerPhotography by Scott Beseler.
Cincinnati residents looking to enhance the greenness of their green thumbs will soon have a new - and well-funded - resource. The Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, an Avondale-based non-profit organization that provides horticultural education to individuals, students and community groups, is receiving substantial support for The Green Learning Station, its environmentally oriented education program. While the Civic Garden Center has offered gardening courses for to the community and supported more than 47 active gardens in the city, the Green Learning Station takes its educational programming in a new direction. The station's courses, seminars and very construction will provide both training and research opportunities for those interested in sustainability through horticulture.The Ohio EPA likes the idea; it recently awarded the Civic Garden Center a $50,000 general grant to fund field trips - including supplies and bus fees - for 60 middle school and high school classes."It has been our hope to be able to provide this hands-on, real world field trip and curriculum free of charge, and to provide funds for students to actually make a change at their schools," says Ryan Mooney-Bullock, program manager for the Green Learning Station.She explained that while the station's courses on gardening, green roofs and rainwater harvesting have significant value for gardeners, the hope is that they could sprout a grassroots solution to one of Greater Cincinnati's larger environmental problems: uncontrolled rainwater runoff that overflows sewers and dumps pollution into the region's waterways."We have all this water running off. If we can plant more gardens and bioswales, we're not only creating beautiful spaces, we're solving the rainwater problem," she says.This falls hand-in-hand with the goals of the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati's Project Groundwork, a multi-year series of projects aimed at modernizing the area's runoff management system. In fact, the MSD is funding a series of sustainable control projects at Green Learning Station. The efficacy of the projects will be measured, with the data made available to students and researchers investigating these green solutions to runoff problems.Environmental quality organizations are not the only funders of this major educational initiative. The Greater Cincinnati Foundation is providing $50,000 to fund digital signage at the station, making its educational displays and information more accessible to the community."We funded the Green Learning Station not only because it is an innovative and collaborative project but it also gets the broader community involved in addressing the issue of storm water runoff," says LaToya Moore, associate program officer at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.The Green Learning Station's facility is under construction at the Civic Garden Center's facility on Reading Road, with funding support from PNC Bank, Social Venture Partners and a growing list of local and regional foundations. If the support continues, Civic Garden Center officials say they hope to open the Green Learning Station, and begin spreading the knowledge that could support grassroots sustainability in Cincinnati, in April 2011.Writer: Matt CunninghamPhotography by Scott Beseler.
Cincinnati retail will receive an innovative twist this holiday season with the opening of the region's first pop-up shop in Over-the-Rhine on November 26. As a short term, high profile retail venue, pop-up shops offer customers a new way to experience local businesses and products, and offer an ideal way to find unique goods. This year, holiday shoppers downtown will be able to visit the temporary location and buy products from a variety of locally owned businesses. Pop-up shops have gained in popularity in large cities such as New York and Los Angeles, and are benefitting from holiday foot traffic in walkable neighborhoods across the country. They have proven to be perfect destinations for smaller vendors who might otherwise find the cost of a traditional storefront prohibitive, and also encourage a more interactive shopping experience. Over-the-Rhine has proven to be the perfect spot for independent business opportunities, and the pop-up shop will add another dimension for the discerning holiday shopper. Local patrons of the already bustling retail community in Over-the Rhine as well as first-time shoppers will be pleased to see products ranging from the hand-crafted truffles of Chocolats Latour to rock posters designed by Newport's Powerhouse Factories. Locally produced clocks, coasters, and magnets will be available from Studio Vertu, and the design duo behind Artfully Disheveled will offer a selection of accessories for the well-dressed man. Colin Groth, co-owner of Cincinnati-themed apparel company Nati Evolvement, sees their involvement in the pop-up shop as a way to bring energy and excitement to the downtown area during the holiday season. "The pop up shop is a fantastic addition this year and a great chance to showcase small and locally owned businesses who may not have a retail presence of their own," Groth said. "This is a great chance for Nati Evolvement to have a single retail location that showcases all of our products. Our company is all about the Cincinnati community so we also hope to use our portion of the space to highlight some of the other great initiatives and start-ups that our group is involved in, and to get people engaged even after they get home."The pop-up shop will run for nine days over four weekends through December 19th, and will be located at 1213 Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. More details, as well as hours for the shop, can be found at www.otrgateway.com/popupshop.Writer: Kelly CarpePhotography by Scott Beseler.
The 3C passenger rail plan would link Ohio's major cities and provide connections to regional hubs in Chicago and on the East Coast, but Ohio's next governor doesn't want it. How about you Cincinnati?
Meet the creative minds behind Hebron-based ZoomEssence, a nimble research and development firm, working to make over the powder flavor industry.
The Circuit, Greater Cincinnati's IT Association, has a new partner in online market research that allows the region's consumers to give product opinions, earn dollars and give back to their favorite nonprofit.The Circuit recently partnered with Op4G (Opinions for Good) a national, online market research company that gives members cash for their feedback. Op4G also helps fund nonprofits by requiring members to contribute at least 25 percent of those earnings to their favorite nonprofit.Op4G is working with The Circuit's membership to get Cincinnati area opinions, but the site is open to anyone interested in the market research program. This is the first time The Circuit has worked with a market research company. As a nonprofit itself, The Circuit also benefits from the partnership, said President Jim Cunningham."We're promoting it to our members, and we can make money off it. Op4G will pay the individual who takes the survey, then part of it goes to a nonprofit like us. We're also interested because it's an IT-based business," Cunningham said. Op4G's panel is comprised of non-profit supporters and organization from across the country, including alumni groups, civic organizations, charities, and others. Organizations needing consumer insight to improve their marketing decisions turn to Op4G to conduct research among Op4G's members who have agreed to donate a minimum of 25 percent of their compensation to their choice of non-profits."We are always looking for ways in which our organization and members can make positive contributions to our communities, and Op4G provides a simple and effective program that can serve as a catalyst for fund-raising efforts for The Circuit and a variety of local non-profit organizations," said Cunningham.The Circuit is the information technology association for the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region and is dedicated to raising awareness for the region’s growing IT community by providing support and services for local technology professionals, companies and institutions. The association’s growing membership consists of a variety of professionals and organizations representing all areas of information technology.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSources: Jim Cunningham, The Circuit and KWPR You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites
Our Partners
Common Ground Is Brewing
Support local stories and receive our signature roast straight to your door when you join at the Standard level (or above).
Drink Better, Read Local
