Page 896 – Soapbox

Covington’s TiER1 Performance Solutions acquires Pittsburgh-based Motionplan, Inc

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July 20, 2010

TiER1 Performance Solutions, a custom software management solutions company, is growing. The Covington-based company recently announced the acquisition of Motionplan, Inc., a custom training development company just outside of Pittsburgh, PA."Motionplan's experience and culture are a perfect fit for TiER1," said Greg Harmeyer, TiER1's CEO and founding partner. "We're excited to expand our team with a group that believes in high performance, creating value for clients, building great relationships and having fun." TiER1, founded in 2002, is a provider of end-to-end online learning and knowledge management solutions. The company works to drive efficiencies and performance in five key areas: People, Process, Sales, Leadership and Structure. Clients include commercial, non-profit and government entities including Dell, FedEx, Fidelity Investments, Kraft, Wendy's and Procter & Gamble. Last year the company won a $750,000 research contract from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to develop a training system to detect and prevent insider cyber security threats.Motionplan was also founded in 2002 and has been named one of Western Pennsylvania's Best Places to Work. The acquisition gives TiER1 its second full-service office in addition to its three satellite locations in Lexington, Ky., Columbus, and Colorado Springs, Colo.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Tier1 Performance SolutionsYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiasoapbox

The Christ Hospital Restaurant Partnership offers heart healthy fare at independently owned eateries

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General

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July 20, 2010

Nearly two dozen local restaurants across Greater Cincinnati have teamed up with Christ Hospital to offer easily-identifiable heart-healthy eats on their menus.Part of The Christ Hospital Restaurant Partnership launched in February, participating restaurants are all independently owned, and dishes in the program are made to meet guidelines set by the American Heart Association's Step I Heart Healthy Diet. Each qualifying menu item is marked by the Christ Hospital tower symbol. "We applaud these restaurants for taking an active role in caring for their customers' heart health," said Susan Croushore, President and CEO of The Christ Hospital. "They have created some spectacular dishes that taste great without excess calories, fat and cholesterol."The participating restaurants include Cincinnati Sports Club Deli in Fairfax, Chalk Food + Wine in Covington, Lavomatic Café downtown, Café Bella in Mason and The Polo Grille in Mason. You can find a complete list here. Before displaying the hospital's tower symbol, partnership restaurants must submit recipes to The Christ Hospital for confidential analysis using NutriBase nutrition software. To be considered "heart healthy" each meal must be less than 650 calories, have less than 20 grams total fat, less than seven grams saturated fat, less than 800 mg sodium and less than 100 mg cholesterol."The initial response from local restaurants has been phenomenal and includes a wide range of foods for all kinds of tastes," said Cheri Miller, M.S., coordinator of The Christ Hospital Restaurant Partnership. "As additional restaurants express interest in joining the program, we expect to be able to expand the list of dining options well into the future."Heart Healthy isn't code for bland. Check out these options from one of the newest partner's Andy’s Mediterranean Grille in Walnut Hills: Salmon with Lebanese salad; Tuna with hummus and Lebanese fries; Andy's Vegetarian kabob with rice and Baba Ghannouj, Andy's Greek salad or Lebanese salad; Andy's shish kabob (beef) with rice and Lebanese salad.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: The Christ Hospital

Region’s first consumer marketing startup accelerator The Brandery launches

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Architecture + Design

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July 20, 2010

Dubbed The Brandery, it's the region's first startup company accelerator that will offer funding, mentoring and partnerships around the local consumer marketing businesses. The Brandery's founders are Cincinnati digital marketing executive David Knox, serial entrepreneur J.B. Kropp, and Taft Stettinius & Hollister attorney Rob McDonald."The power of The Brandery is the collaboration between people and companies in our community," said Knox, brand manager of global branded entertainment at Procter & Gamble. "Entrepreneurs will benefit from a wide range of talented people in consumer marketing here as well as globally."The Brandery is looking for consumer-facing businesses such as consumer Internet, media and entertainment companies based on technology platforms.The Brandery will invest in tech-based consumer businesses that rely on the internet, media or entertainment. Companies can begin applying immediately at Brandery.org. Deadline for submissions for this first session is Aug. 11, 2010. Five companies will be selected for the first session which will begin in late August.Each applicant selected for its 12-week accelerated program will receive a $20,000 grant in exchange for equity in the company. Each company also will receive brand identity guidance from leading agencies including LPK, Resource Interactive, Barefoot Proximity, Empower MediaMarketing and Ample. CincyTech, a public-private venture development group, is funding those $20,000 grants through its Imagining Grant funds aimed at growing companies through the investment stage."Our hope is to create a whole new pipeline of startup companies that focus on consumer marketing, to complement our portfolio of companies in information technology, bioscience and advanced manufacturing," said CincyTech President Bob Coy. "Our mission is to grow jobs in thriving industries."In addition to CincyTech and the five creative agencies, support is coming from the Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation and Xavier University’s Williams College of Business, which donated money for operating capital for The Brandery. The Brandery also is endorsed and supported by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Queen City Angels, Hamilton County Development Corp., and other local entrepreneurial organizations.The annoucement of the Brandery follows Gov. Ted Strickland's July 12 designation that the city would be the state's Hub of Innovation and Opportunity in Consumer Marketing. Along with that designation came a $250,000 state grant that will fund a hub director and an incubator that will assist startups and create new business and jobs in the consumer marketing industry.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSources: CincyTech, David Knox, co-founder The BranderyYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiasoapbox

Hamilton County residents can speak out on spending priorities via web survey

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General

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July 20, 2010

The Hamilton County Administrator's office is asking residents to take a few minutes to give thoughtful views on 12 policy issues facing the county, ranging from mass transit to land use.The online survey, which is open to Hamilton County residents, will be located here until Aug. 8. This is the county's second annual community survey. Last year they received 2,000 responses; officials hope to top that number this year. "Too often difficult governance issues are portrayed as easy yes and no questions," said County Administrator Patrick Thompson. With this survey, we are trying to provide citizens with enough background to elicit the more nuanced solutions that agency directors and elected officials have to struggle with every day."Questions take on such issues as the stadium fund revenue shortfall, 911 call center consolidation, drug incarceration policies, election policies, Sheriff’s road patrols, approaches to public health and mass transit, and overall county government reform. And the survey tackles current issues with specificity, including asking taxpayers how county government should work to resolve the stadium development fund deficit. "Sometimes when you ask a tough question, people assume you have an answer in mind, but we have tried to present each issue as fairly as possible, without any presumed course of action," Thompson said.The survey will be part of the information that Hamilton County officials will use as part of the budgeting process. Results should be released in mid-August. In September, the Board of County Commissioners will hold budget hearings and in October public hearing will be scheduled.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: County Administrator Patrick ThompsonYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiasoapbox

Local food blogger launches consulting business Food Speaks

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Entrepreneurship

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July 20, 2010

The blogging community knows everywoman restaurant critic Heather Willard best as The Food Hussy. But when she's not talking about her latest eating adventure in Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky, she's working as an experienced internet and advertising professional.At least she was working until two weeks ago when she was laid off, another casualty of the struggling economy. But Willard didn't fret long, and just last week launched Food Speaks. Food Speaks is a consulting company geared toward independently owned small- to medium-sized restaurants. The company will work with eateries on three fronts, Willard, of Pleasant Ridge, said."I look at 'their voice' how they present themselves, their service, food prices and the entire experience of dining. Then I look at the 'people's voice,' what people are saying about them on sites like Twitter or Facebook and other social media. I also look at their Web site to make sure that its user friendly and can show up higher in search engine results," Willard said.She'd been developing the idea for a few months and has consulted with Café Bella in Mason, but decided to launch the company after losing her job."I've worked for entrepreneurs all of my life. I know restaurants around here need help, and I think I can help them. I look at a lot of their web sites and they're terrible. I want to call them up and say, 'If you do these five things it will be better,'" she said.Willard, a University of Iowa grad, has more than 15 years experience working with local businesses to build and improve their internet presence. She also has radio and television production advertising experience. According to UrbanSpoon.com, a nationwide network of restaurant reviews, The Food Hussy is the most read food blog in Cincinnati.Web and social media is a game changer for restaurants, and can offer smaller ones a competitive advantage if used effectively, Willard said. One the other hand, a few negative online reviews can hurt businesses if not handled properly or ignored, she said."In the old days the only voices were newspaper food critics, and they would review the bigger restaurants maybe once a year. Today everyone with a Twitter or Facebook account is a critic. If they have 500 friends and they have a bad experience at a restaurant everyone sees it," she said. "Most restaurants are in a vacuum and aren't listening to their audience. If they don't listen to their customers they won't have a business."Willard said she'll continue to blog, but will not review places that she takes on as clients.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Heather Willard, founder Food Speaks and The Food HussyYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiasoapbox

Ohio invests $150,000 for minority business organizations

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Cincy In The News

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July 20, 2010

The Cincinnati and Akron Minority Business Development Organizations have been awarded $150,000 in support of initiatives for minority and disadvantaged businesses. These funds will help strengthen minority-owned businesses and create new job opportunities for Ohio's diverse workforce. The two organizations will collaborate with EDGE Mentoring Program in order to promote and foster a healthy business climate for all workers in Ohio. Read the full story here.

P&G one of 40 best companies for diversity

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Cincy In The News

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July 20, 2010

Procter & Gamble was selected by Black Enterprise to this year's list of "40 Best Companies for Diversity." The list was based on four different categories including employee base, senior management, board of directors, and supplier diversity; P&G's strengths included the categories of board of directors and senior management. During the recession, African American and other ethnic groups employment rates have risen but the companies that made the list demonstrated a consistent effort of keeping diversity within their company. Read the full story here.

Ohio Governor grants $250,000 to Cincinnati companies for marketing

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Cincy In The News

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July 20, 2010

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland granted $250,000 to Cincinnati companies to create marketing positions in order to strengthen businesses and generate job opportunities in the area. This grant will help the city recover from the recession by creating 200,000 jobs by 2020 with global brand-building partners such as Bridge Worldwide, Landor, and AC Nielsen/Bizzmetrics. Because Cincinnati is known around the world for its consumer good's corporations, officials hope to attract new talent to the area for growth.Read the full story here.

Pierre Foods unveils new line of more nutritious school menu options for students

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Cincy In The News

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July 20, 2010

Cincinnati's Pierre Foods, Inc. announced its new line of more nutritious school menu options known as Smart Picks that will be ready to serve in cafeterias this upcoming fall. The menu includes a choice of sixty different menu items concentrating on foods with reduced sodium and an increased source of protein. Pierre Foods also plans to work with schools' limited budgets, provide expert advice on how to have better eating in America's schools, and develop products that kids will love.Read the full story here.

Keep America Beautiful launches litter prevention campaign in Cincinnati

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Cincy In The News

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July 20, 2010

Keep America Beautiful and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful launched "Littering is Wrong Too" last week in Cincinnati. The three month pilot program will advertise on radio spots, posters at bars and restaurants, billboards, and online ads. The national campaign is being rolled out in Cincinnati before a national release. Read the full story here.