Soapbox takes a holiday: Happy Fourth
In honor of next week's holiday, we won't be publishing Soapbox the week of July 3. Enjoy your Fourth, and we'll see you the week of July 10 with plenty of stories about what's next in Cincinnati.
Elissa Yancey's Latest Articles
What The New York Times forgot: Our innovative parks
With the Smale Riverfront Park open and Washington Park debuting July 6, we take a closer look at how the Cincinnati Park Board's oft-overlooked innovations move, and in some cases outright push, the city forward.
Soapbox Savings: Symphonic Stylings, June 23
It's part fund-raiser, part art show. Part chamber music concert, part fashion show. Part dance party, part pop-up sale. On June 23, Symphonic Stylings takes over 10,000 square feet in the Bertke Electric warehouse in Northside for an event like nothing you've seen before.
VFA Fellows excited to move to Cincinnati
They are young, high-powered, high-achieving, highly skilled professionals with their sights set on the same thing: success in Cincinnati, start-up style. Read where they are working — and why.
New loan funding helps property owners increase energy efficiency
A $3 million boost from a national foundation may soon help make local church pews and nonprofit offices a lot more comfortable, and a lot more energy-efficient. It's an innovative new approach to making energy-efficient upgrades profitable for both loan recipients and lenders that local leaders hope illustrate that the market for conservation-minded upgrades is both robust and profitable. The effort is a partnership between three nonprofits: Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, the Cincinnati Development Fund, and the Calvert Foundation, which typically invests in real-estate secured loans and has never before invested in Cincinnati. The new initiative, called the Better Buildings Performance Loan Fund, leverages federal and foundation money to offer loans at competitive interest rates; the loans must support building investments that increase energy efficiency, says Al Gaspari, GCEA finance director. While GCEA's focus to date has been on helping homeowners with energy-efficient upgrades, this new initiative expands its role in the region. "We're initially targeting nonprofit organizations and multi-family dwellings," Gaspari says. Churches, arts organizations and schools rank high on the list of prospective loan applicants. He offers a practical example of how the program can work: An inner-city church with a 60-year-old furnace could apply for a loan, invest in a new energy-efficient furnace and save 20 percent on energy costs. In addition to the monetary savings, the new system could make existing spaces accessible year-round--even during hot summer and cold winter months--thus allowing for expanded programs and services. "From our perspective, our grant is not dollar-in, dollar-out," Gaspari says. "The goal of our grant is to get people involved and lower their initial risks." For lenders flirting with the idea of investing in energy-efficiency, the new fund provides a potential sustainable model. "Our overall goal is to show that there is a market for these loans and show that they do perform," Gaspari says. While the new fund is not yet up and running, he says the GCEA expects to underwrite loans, which will be offered through the Cincinnati Development Fund, before the end of 2012. As part of the fund, the GCEA will track the energy savings that improvements allow. For investors at the Calvert Foundation, the forward-focused program offers a chance to invest in a program that ultimately conserves energy, reduces pollutants and saves money. Gaspari and his colleagues see this win-win-win approach as an opportunity to show financiers the wide-ranging benefits of planet-friendly investments. By Elissa Yancey Follow Elissa on Twitter
My Soapbox: Sheida Soleimani, photographer
New college graduate and photographer Sheida Soleimani co-founded Third Party Gallery in Brighton last fall. She opens her second large-scale exhibit, which explores her Iranian-American identity as shaped by political refugee parents, at Prairie Gallery in Northside this week. The ambitious young artist talked with Soapbox's Elissa Yancey about work, school and coming to terms with cultural dualities.
CEOs: City lovers tweet Cincinnati takeaways
Civic urban leaders from across disciplines--educators, executives, entrepreneurs--shared lessons and inspiration in Cincinnati last week, as the city played host to a conference that celebrated good ideas and creative leaders. So what were the takeaways?
RSVP today: GOOD ideas in town this week
RSVP today to attend GOOD Ideas for Cities this Wednesday, May 16, at 6 pm, at the Contemporary Arts Center. Civic-minded designers and their teams present creative solutions to six uniquely Cincinnati challenges that range from education to transportation. Soapbox gives you a sneak peek!
My Soapbox: Kara Clark Williams, Vision 2015
Kara Clark Williams knows about vision. And about the region where she was born, raised and trained to think across state lines. The vice president of Vision 2015, who receives the NKU Outstanding Alumnus Award this week, shares her distinctively regional insights with Soapbox.
The New Revolutionaries: The barnacle that saved Ohio
They break rules. They follow their hearts. They live on shoestring budgets and couldn't be happier. Together, they are filling the empty spaces in Cincinnati's economy. In the process, they may just be changing the face of American design and manufacturing. This week, Soapbox begins its New Revolutionaries series with Tim Karoleff, owner of Ampersand and part of the Losantiville Design Collective in Over-the-Rhine.
