Cincinnati suffers from a wide disparity in health outcomes, and poverty and race are among the biggest culprits. Yet a network of local organizations is combating the health challenges facing our city.
To address the physician gap, Cincinnati MD Jobs is attracting health care professionals not only by highlighting job openings, but also by showcasing the Queen City's treasure trove of assets, from restaurants to green space to a variety of living options.
What do a dairy barn in Mt. Healthy and this year's TED conference have in common? A shared love of top-quality coffee from a Guatemalan village that locals know thanks to relationships nurtured with Deeper Roots, a local roasting company and coffee consultancy.
Moving for Love harnesses a trend that arose from the recession’s rising unemployment and job dissatisfaction: people moving to follow their passions, rather than their professions. Owner Robin Sheakley, a third-generation member of the Sibcy family (her dad is Rob Sibcy, president of Sibcy Cline Realtors), created the company. She built on her own 15-year career in real estate and relocation, offering relocation assistance to people moving to follow a partner, a passion or favorite place. “When you deal with a family business, it’s fun to try to put your mark on it,” Sheakley says, citing the growth of super-specialized online dating sites (think dating websites for farmers, for example). “I started thinking there are all these people dating online who may say, ‘You know what, I haven’t found anyone here, but I’ve always wanted to live in Chicago or Miami.’ But what happens if they find someone?” She created Moving for Love to answer that question. The web-based service connects people ready to move with Personal Move Assistant and provides a secure online portal where both parties can upload documents and information from service providers, such as a moving company. The company’s services range from short-term rental assistance and realtor recommendations to moving estimates, cost-of-living comparisons and even personalized reminders, such as suggesting that it’s time to find a local physician to manage a medical condition in the new location. The company is separate from its parent, Sibcy Cline, but shares some resources. However, the marketing budget has been scant since the website launched last July, Sheakley says. “I always like to walk before I run, so we have done no paid advertising. We are strictly organically getting our message out there. It’s been a slow start that we’re going to kick in from the beginning of the [2013].” Moving for Love charges a flat fee, then provides services for up to 12 months, giving passion-prompted movers a chance to compare several potential locations before making their transitions. By Robin Donovan
Graduates of The Brandery, Over-the-Rhine’s popular startup accelerator, have access to a new pool of potential funding, with the recent launch of Vine Street Ventures Fund | LLC, a venture capital firm created by Brandery co-founders Robert McDonald, Brian Kropp and Dave Knox. While Vine Street represents a for-profit reach by the nonprofit’s founders, some of The Brandery’s values have translated to the new firm. “The primary goal is making money for our investors. That said, we expect that the fund will also help the Cincinnati ecosystem by drawing additional top quality companies to Cincinnati and potentially encouraging them to stay,” said McDonald in an email. The fund raised just under $1.4 million, according to an amended U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Dec. 10. Vine Street Ventures reported participation by 42 investors, each with a contribution of at least $15,000. The fund’s initial offering was $2 million. Asked whether the recent addition of new venture capital agencies in Cincinnati made for a competitive atmosphere, McDonald expressed hopes that investors would bolster startups at various stages of development. “To effectively fund a venture track business, we need to have a horizontal offering of funding sources. Vine Street Ventures focuses on the early growth companies coming out of The Brandery, but our portfolio companies will likely need funding all the way from Series A [the initial round of venture funding] through Series ZZ, as the case may be. We are thrilled with the current activity in Cincinnati and welcome any other funds that visit the region.” By Robin Donovan
You may know Duru Armagan as the owner of OTR's Sloane Boutique. This month, she styles Rise of the Cool Kids (ROCK), a projection fashion show and performance that highlights streetwear and Cincinnati's growing fashion scene. She shares the details with Soapbox's Robin Donovan.
Imagine the work that goes into a batch of cookies: mixing, rolling, baking, decorating and washing. Now imagine baking 1,000 cookies a month. That’s how many Debbie DeGeer typically creates at Mt Lookout Sweets, a bakery she runs from her Mt. Lookout home – complete with a commercial kitchen in the basement – each month. That’s 12,000 cookies a year, but DeGeer isn’t counting. Baking helps keep her hands busy and her creative mind active while she cares for her aging mom, who helping instill in DeGeer a love of floury hands and blustery ovens. Because DeGeer’s mom lives with Alzheimer’s, the duo spend their share of quiet nights at home. Baking started as “a kind of therapy,” and DeGeer often arrived at Comey Shephard, the real estate agency where she works, laden with cookies. Her creations with the company logo on them were particularly popular for the real estate company’s open houses, and from there, the requests grew. DeGeer specializes in hand-decorated sugar cookies that are part art and part dessert, and she has a design for everyone. When Keidel, a Cincinnati-based plumbing, cabinetry, appliance and lighting contract, celebrated its 100th anniversary, DeGeer created confections in the shape of bathtubs, light bulbs and even toilets. “I never thought in my life I would make a cute toilet, but I did,” DeGeer says. Active with other cookie pros, dubbed “cookiers,” on Facebook, DeGeer has about 1,200 Facebook fans for her business, and says it’s a top source of referrals, along with word-of-mouth. Mt. Lookout Sweets averages three to four orders per week, with her capacity filling up quickly around the holidays and in late spring or early summer as couples plan their weddings. DeGeer typically requests a week’s notice for each order and more during busy seasons. By Robin Donovan
Ethan Snider has been carrying out a love affair with food for nearly a quarter of a century. Raised on Cincinnati’s west side, he worked up through the ranks at Macaroni Grill, eventually becoming an executive chef. It was dream come true. Until he hated it. “The corporate stuff just did not appeal to me,” he says. “I was there for less than six months.” He ended up at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2004. After that, he moved around, working at a tiny Batesville, Ind., restaurant run out of a three-car garage and, later, at a fine-dining restaurant in Boca Grande, Fla. That worked for a while, but Snider grew homesick. “I liked it a lot, but I started to miss being here; I always wanted to have a name for myself in Cincinnati because this is where I’m from,” he says. Local farmers’ markets with low overhead and a home-grown touch seemed like a good way to get started. With an eye toward the need for more locally sourced, vegetarian and vegan options, he launched Summuh (pronounced “SOU-mah”), a specialty hummus shop, first at a farmer’s market in Madeira and, later, in Northside and Hyde Park. Most recently, he joined Findlay Market, where he plans to weather the winter months. Snider calls his wares “The Ben & Jerry’s of hummus,” promising “you’ve never had hummus like this.” Three core flavors include a chickpea hummus with lemon and rosemary and a hummus spiced with cumin, coriander and cilantro, topped with red onions. There are also 12-15 seasonal flavors, including “Squashbuckler,” which features a butternut squash and navy bean base with ancho chili powder, garlic and a spicy black bean relish on top. Though his hummus is organic and local, Snider says he’s no food evangelist. “I’m not trying to convert anyone to what I believe in or change the world." he says. "I just feel that if I believe in something, other people will start to believe in what I’m doing, too.” By Robin Donovan
“It’s a two-hour tour, so it’s a long walk,” says Scott McHenry of his company’s photo tours in Over-the-Rhine. “Every time, something different pops up.” The founder of Cincinnati Photo Tours found himself inside a church he’d been curious about during his last tour; one of the brothers happened to be on the sidewalk as his group approached. Another time, he found a group of kids playing volleyball on Race Street, and photographers snapped shots of the children leaping through the sand. McHenry says interest in his tours is growing thanks to his Facebook presence, which he uses to drive traffic to the main website of his eponymous photography business. McHenry first grabbed a camera to escape fellow soccer parents at his son’s games (he coached for years), and ended up selling shots of high school athletes to the Community Press. During the next nine years, he expanded his skills, joining the Professional Photographers of America and widening his scope to include portraiture as well as weddings. He also has a flair for fine art; you may have seen his works on display at downtown’s Coffee Emporium during two recent stints as an artist in residence there. These days, McHenry is leading groups of 5 to 12 people through Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati’s burgeoning historic district. He’s also planning a new tour that will transport his students among the various hilltops in the city. “With all the hills surrounding Cincinnati, there are a lot of great photographic viewpoints.” McHenry says a photo tour he researched while traveling to New York City sparked the idea of offering a similar tour here: “There’s so much interest in Over-the-Rhine with the revitalization of Washington Park.” By Robin Donovan
Four local artists who maintain Etsy shops take very different approaches to the online craft megasite. Each small business owner has a plan, but the role Etsy plays depends on products, time and long-term goals.
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