Northern Kentucky Buzz

Kentucky to leverage nearly $155 million in small business loans

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September 30, 2011

Governor Steve Beshear announced a major small business initiative that will provide Kentucky's small businesses with access to nearly $155 million in new loans to help with job creation across the state. The Kentucky Small Business Credit Initiative involves three new small business programs implemented by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development to facilitate increased private lending to Kentucky’s small businesses. The programs include: the Kentucky Capital Access Program; the Kentucky Collateral Support Program; and the Kentucky Loan Participation Program. "This program is great news for the Commonwealth and another critical step in the right direction toward improving the Kentucky economy," Gov. Beshear said. "We want all of our families working, and we know small businesses are incubators for new jobs in our state. The small business credit initiative gives these small businesses an easier path to create those new positions. Economic development officials and business leaders deserve credit for working closely to establish the overall program." Read the full story here.

Latest in Northern Kentucky Buzz

Party Source plans to add bourbon distillery

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September 30, 2011

The family that operates The Party Source liquor and party-supplies store in Bellevue is preparing to build what it promises will be a world-class craft distillery when it opens in Newport around the end of 2012. "When we finish our distillery, at that time it will be the nicest craft distillery, the most sophisticated, and - I hate to say it - the most expensive craft distillery in the United States," said longtime Party Source owner and President Ken Lewis of Louisville. Read the full story here.

Kentucky gets workforce development grant

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September 30, 2011

Kentucky was one of 10 states to receive a federal grant for exceeding work-force investment performance goals, Business First of Louisville reported. Kentucky will receive $964,785 through the Workforce Investment Act fund based on its 2008-09 performance, according to a news release from Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's office. The state has received a grant for the program in seven of the past 10 years, totaling $9.8 million. The grant will be used to fund programs that encourage Kentuckians to pursue post-secondary education and provide career counseling and transition services for adults. The programs will be overseen by the Kentucky Department of Workforce Investment, which is part of the state's Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education's Kentucky Adult Education System. Read the full story in the Business Courier.

Vision 2015 links with University of Kentucky to help reshape NKY

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September 30, 2011

Nearly two dozen University of Kentucky College of Design students will team up with Vision 2015 and the Catalytic Development Funding Corporation to study Northern Kentucky’s buildings and neighborhoods. Northern Kentucky was chosen as the newest addition to UK’s College of Design’s River City Initiative program. The program is a multi-year research and design project that pushes students to work directly with neighborhoods and local governments to create projects that will directly impact the cities. Other cities, such as, Louisville and Paducah, have already seen the benefits, which include forming a 100-year plan for the growth of a gas diffusion plan in Paducah that was scheduled to be shut down. Students will spend time at both UK’s campus and in Northern Kentucky developing projects in Covington and Newport. The students will create a planning study of the entire area the first semester and focus more on specific projects in the second semester. Vision 2015 welcomes the students and their ideas, which falls in line with its own 10-year plan to raise economic vitality and living standards in the area through six main focus areas and connecting local organizations. Bill Scheyer, president of Vision 2015, hopes that the partnership will bring fresh ideas to the already flourishing Vision 2015 program. “We are really excited to see what they can bring to the table,” says Scheyer. “It’s always good to see new ideas, and students are great at that.” Besides getting a fresh set of eyes trained on the area, Vision 2015 hopes that students will solidify a partnership with UK. Vision 2015 helped create the Northern Kentucky Education Council, another avenue for extended connections between campuses across the state and their northern neighbors. “We find the most powerful tool to implement elements of the community’s plan is through collaboration and cooperation,” Scheyer says. “We try to pull in as many people as we can to help make Northern Kentucky a better place to live.” By Evan Wallis

CSN to open Hebron center this fall

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August 26, 2011

Online retailing company CSN Stores will open a new distribution hub in Hebron this fall. The distribution center will create up to 105 new jobs in the Northern Kentucky region over the next few years. The 155,370 square-foot facility in Boone County represents a $7.7 million investment and is expected to open this fall.CSN, which is based in Boston, offers more than 3 million items from 5,000 brands at its 250 specialized online stores. Read the full story here.

Florence lands pharmacy company

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August 26, 2011

HealthWarehouse.com Inc., a mail order pharmacy company, is moving to Florence. The transition has already started and will continue over the next several months.The company also on Thursday announced a $1.5 million investment from venture capital firm New Atlantic Ventures, which is based in Northern Virginia and Cambridge, Mass, and which makes seed and early stage investments.HealthWarehouse.com fills more than 3,000 prescriptions a day. It is licensed in all 50 states to sell prescription medication.Read the full story here.

TMC celebrates Chapel groundbreaking

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August 26, 2011

Students, staff, faculty, friends and donors of Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky., gathered on Aug. 2 to break ground on the College's free-standing chapel project. The College met its goal of raising $3.5 million to build the Mary, Seat of Wisdom Chapel earlier this spring. Construction bids are still out through the end of the month. Official construction will begin in September, with anticipated completion of the project in early fall of 2012. The chapel is being designed by Northern Kentucky-based architects Robert Ehmet Hayes & Associates PLLC.The decades-long dream of building a chapel became a determined quest in 2009, when President Sister Margaret Stallmeyer, C.D.P., with the support of the Board of Trustees, launched an official fund-raising campaign to make that dream a reality. The Diocese of Covington, under the guidance of Bishop Roger Foys, led the donor list with a multi-year $500,000 pledge, and soon parishes and other donors joined in the effort. A capstone gift from John and Juanita Griffin and family allowed the College to meet the goal this March. Read the full story here.

NKU makes Forbes ‘America’s Best Colleges’ list for third consecutive year

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August 26, 2011

For the third consecutive year, Northern Kentucky University is ranked among the nation's top higher education institutions in Forbes magazine's America's Best Colleges 2011 list, which was released this week.The list features 650 public and private universities from across the country. Only about 20 percent of America's undergraduate institutions make the rankings, which are exclusively prepared for Forbes by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington D.C. think tank. Rankings are based on five categories: student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student debt, four-year graduation rate and competitive awards. NKU ranks No. 644 on the list and No. 204 in the South region.Read the full story here.

Northern Kentucky in line for 100+ jobs

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August 26, 2011

Three out-of-town companies are considering new or expanded operations in Northern Kentucky that could create more than 100 manufacturing jobs.Magna-Tech Manufacturing Corp. of Muncie, Ind.; Columbus-based Core Molding Technologies Inc.; and Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls Inc. have received preliminary approval from Kentucky economic development officials for projects that would represent a total investment of $30 million.Read the full story here.

Artist Opportunity: Seeking submissions for commissioned project

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August 26, 2011

The First Annual Celebration of Service, an event to commemorate student service in Greater Cincinnati, will take place at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center on September 27, 2011 and is presented by Vision2015 and Agenda360. Children Inc., UGive, United Way, and the Northern Kentucky Fund of Greater Cincinnati are also partners in this event. The purpose of this event is to give regional recognition to schools, businesses and non-profit agencies that embrace student service as part of their organizational culture. 'Student Service' can be defined as student-led initiatives that identify challenges and create solutions within their community. Examples might include: a high school class understanding environmental pollutants in our area and organizing a recycling program at school; a first grade class learning to read a book and creating an audio tape of that book for children who are blind; business partners who not only fund these opportunities but contribute a substantial amount of time to student-led initiatives; non-profit agencies are recognized for organizing and opening their doors to these student initiatives. Request: The Event Committee is looking to commission a Professional Artist(s) to create 17 individual award sculptures that will be given to those who are recognized for their efforts at this event. These sculptures must represent the ethics and values that are being celebrated, as well as achieve a high quality of aesthetic and workmanship. All mediums will be considered, however, there is a preference for a high professional finish to the pieces. Mixed media collages are not discouraged provided they consider the audience and environment in which they will be displayed. The same medium should be used in the entire collection and all pieces should reflect a collection. All submissions must be received by no later than Friday, August 26 at 5 p.m. Qualifying artists must be available for interviews Saturday Aug. 27 through Monday, Aug. 29. Final Notifications will be given by Tuesday, Aug. 30. Completed work is due by September 20, 2011; there are no exceptions to these dates.For more details, including submission instructions, click here.