Page 990 – Soapbox

Mr. Sushi to open in Downtown’s thriving Backstage District

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July 21, 2009

Downtown Cincinnati's newest dining option will be joining the trendy Backstage District this fall when Mr. Sushi opens along 6th Street in the 580 Building.The upscale sushi cafe will seat about 80 to 90 guests and feature a sushi bar within the The restaurant owner has said that Mr. Sushi will be open for lunch and dinner, and will remain open into the late night on weekends to accommodate the crowds leaving nearby bars and nightclubs.Writer: Randy A. SimesPhotography by Scott Beseler

OH Job Creation Tax Credit to create up to 118 jobs at three Cincinnati companies

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Architecture + Design

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July 21, 2009

The Ohio Department of Development announced a round of Job Creation Tax Credits that could create up to 118 jobs at three Cincinnati-based companies that are expanding or relocating.The Cincinnati projects were among 16 across the state that are expected to create up to 1,756 new jobs.“Our state’s strength in major industries such as logistics, biomedical, food possessing, and manufacturing continue to help Ohio compete globally and attract new businesses,” said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Interim Director of the state Department of Development,. “We continue to be a leader in these industries due to our talented workforce and our central location to key markets, making Ohio the perfect location for business investment.” Spear USA, LLC was awarded a 45 percent job creation tax credit for a a five year term for its $1 million Mason expansion project. The $55,461 estimated credit requires Spear to keep operations at the site for 10 years. Spear engineers and supplies labeling systems for the food and beverage industry. The project is expected to create 25 jobs and retain 118.Advantage IQ, Inc. also was awarded the 45 percent job creation tax credit for a six-year term for the company’s $170,000 expansion project in the City of Cincinnati. The $119,573 tax credit requires Advantage to keep operations at the site for 12 years. The company provides energy management consulting services to multi-site locations including utility processing and payment, waste, telecom bills. The project is expected to create 33 positions and retain 65 jobsL-3 Communications Nova Engineering was awarded a 50 percent job creation tax credit for a six-year term for the company’s $2.5 million expansion project at an as-yet undetermined site. The communications company has expanded to include development and manufacturing of wireless data communication systems, including ad hoc mesh network mobile routers, unattended sensor systems, and flight test telemetry devices. The project is expected to 60 positions and retain 142 jobs.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Ohio Department of Development

Ready. Set. Create! InOneWeekend back for 2009, Pixar CFO to speak

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Entrepreneurship

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July 21, 2009

Then Cincinnati’s InOneWeekend at the University of Cincinnati is where you want to be in August.This summer marks the second annual, fast-paced business startup event. InOneWeekend will assemble 100 people for three days, Friday Aug. 28-Sunday Aug. 30 at UC’s Tangemen Center. The event will be kicked off Friday by a to-be-named dynamic, public keynote speaker (last year it was Google’s Roy Gilbert, head of global consumer operations.) The group then will brainstorm business ideas with Jeff Stamp, Chair of Entreprenuership at the University of North Dakota, on “Bold Thinking,” The group will vote on a concept that night.Saturday is set aside for developing a product and business plan and Sunday is product launch.The event is geared toward those in the marketing, design, technology, legal, and business sectors.Last year the entrepreneurial minded group created Lifespoke, an online platform akin to a virtual scrapbook where users can store print, online, digital and other personal media in one spot. Lifespoke also lets users tag, search and display the media. Lifespoke currently doesn’t exist as a company, but a patent has been filed on its core technology: UCTTS “user created tagged timeline search,” said Elizabeth Edwards of Neyer Holdings, a lead event sponsor.Early bird Registration is open for the August session. Go HERE to get your name on the waiting and to get more information. Students can register for $50.“We already have people on the wait list and we’ve created bigger pool of dream team participants from the design, tech and business world. There are startup CEOS, vice presidents, students from DAAP, and developers from companies like Bridge and Share This. We’re really going to have an amazing set of really top talent,” said Edwards, one of the events main organizers.Like last year, participants will have a year of free office space, accounting, server space, and legal help to get the startup off the ground.“That’s growing this year with more in-kind service contributions. They’ll have every single resource to start a company,” Edwards said.Other Sponsors include Neyer Holdings, HCBC, CincyTech, and the University of Cincinnati.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Elizabeth Edwards, Neyer Holdings

WEMUPs untangle web of online entreprenuership

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Entrepreneurship

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July 21, 2009

“Being a hermit does not help you become successful,” said Joshua Johnson, who started Cincinnati’s WEMUP, or web entrepreneur meetup. These face-time events “allow you to connect with others to help you create a web business.” Johnson is the founder and CEO of Mindbox Studios. The pace of a WEMUP is energetic. Sponsors provide coffee for fifteen minutes of networking. A door prize is awarded, usually a business book. Then, participants hold what Johnson calls “a napkin session.” “We pass around a napkin, and in 2 minutes, create a business.” Johnson hopes to start posting these business plans for online voting in October and November. Each month, Johnson and his staff select a Spotlight Entrepreneur. He or she pitches his business or business plan, then asks the others in attendance for help. “It can be anything from creative blocks to looking for partners.” Johnson stressed the organic way WEMUP has grown through word-of-mouth. “We’re doing this for real web entrepreneurs, legit businesses, not opportunists. We want to increase the value in the region and attract new jobs. Three years from now, we’d like to have a WEMUP group at every local university. If we could see funding, patents, and case studies come out of WEMUP, it would be great.” Past speakers at Cincinnati’s WEMUPs include Todd Henry of accidentalcreative.com, with a nationally-ranked business podcast, and Debba Haupert of girlfriendology.com, a popular social networking site. WEMUP’s July 16 meeting featured Bill Cunningham of NKU’s Entrepreneurial Institute, and Rob Daly, CEO of CincyTech’s launch team, a regional venture development organization. Thirty entrepreneurs were in attendance, including fifteen from out of town. Future speakers include Elizabeth Edwards of the Cincinnati Innovates competition and InOneWeekend, an organization for entrepreneurs. WEMUPs take place on the third Thursday of each month, 6:30-8:30 P.M., at Oakley’s Red Tree Gallery. The next meeting is August 20. Lucas Cole, Ford Knowlton, and Jenny Johns also assist with the management of WEMUP. Written by: Elena Stevenson Source: Joshua Johnson, www.wemup.com, www.nku.edu

Letter to President Obama

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Cincy In The News

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July 21, 2009

In light of the recent comments by Georgia Senator Zell Miller, Cincinnati-based The Gorilla Glue Company sent a comical letter to President Obama about their product and its intended uses. The company used the moment to let the leader of the free world know what they advocate and do not advocate for use with their product. Company president Peter Ragland also made sure to indicate that the company has been hiring staff and all of their products are made in the United States. Ragland went on to offer an invitation, to President Obama, to visit the company's Cincinnati facility. Read full letter here.

Local hospitals rank on high-tech list

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Cincy In The News

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July 21, 2009

Several Cincinnati hospitals rank among the nation's most technologically advanced according to the American Hospital Association's Hospitals and Health Networks magazine. In that publication it ranks Mercy Hospital as one of the "100 Most Wired" with its parent organization, Cincinnati-based Catholic Healthcare Partners, receiving the "Most Improved" ranking which also went to Christ Hospital in Mt. Auburn. The rating are based on surveys of hospitals and health care systems throughout the country. Read full article here.

Ohio ranks best in the Midwest for clean energy job growth

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Cincy In The News

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July 21, 2009

A new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts ranks Ohio best in the Midwest and among the top five states nationwide for job growth in a clean energy economy. The Pew study ranked Ohio among the top five nationwide with the most jobs in clean energy (3,653), energy efficiency (5,367) and environmentally friendly production (2,800) with an overall clean job total of 35,267 in 2007. This represents a 31 percent job growth since 1998 and an average annual job growth of .85 percent says the Ohio Business Development Coalition. Read full article here.

Next Generation Consulting ranks hotspots for young professionals to work and live in the U.S.

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Cincy In The News

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July 21, 2009

Cincinnati ranks as the seventh best midsized magnet cities for young professionals to live and work. More than 60 cities were studied on 45 different measures to come up with the rankings. Cities with populations of more than 100,000 people were studied and broken down into three categories - Might Micros (100,000-200,000), Midsized Magnets (200,000-500,000) and Super Cities (500,000+). The study examined the residential and relocation patterns of 20-40 year-olds since 1998 and developed an indexing system that evaluated cities based on the assets that are important to this next generation of workers. Read full article here.

Ohio eyes highway ads to pay for passenger rail

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Cincy In The News

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July 21, 2009

The state of Ohio plans on using some of the revenues generated from a newly renegotiated contract for advertising on blue highway exit signs to pay for some of the $10 million needed to operate passenger rail service. The highway exit signs are used to advertise restaurants, hotels and gas stations off of highway exits and the revenues could be used, in part, to link Ohio's major cities like Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton where roughly 6 million people live. At first the service would be 79 mph trains on existing freight tracks, but could be increased to 110 mph service equal to that on Acela trains running between East Coast cities.Read full article here.

36 Hours in Cincinnati

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Arts + Culture

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July 21, 2009

New York Times writer Kassie Bracken visits Cincinnati and discusses the many things to see and do over the course of 36 hours in the Queen City. "With the quiet momentum of a work in progress, Cincinnati is finding an artsy swagger, infused with a casual combination of Midwest and Southern charm," says Bracken who goes on to discuss Cincinnati's revitalized downtown and the transcending historic Over-the-Rhine. Bracken visits a slew of places throughout the city and hits neighborhoods like Northside, Covington and Newport in addition to Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Read full article here.