Covington

This genteel town just south of the Ohio River features a number of charming treasures including the lively MainStrasse district with its trendy bars, pubs and restaurants as well as beautiful homes stretched along the river beneath the strikingly modern architecture of the architectural jewel, the Ascent at Roebling's Bridge, designed by Daniel Libeskind. Covington is experiencing a renaissance with new shops, restaurants and condos opening along Madison and Pike Streets, and a burgeoning Arts District that acts as the cultural glue that binds the city's charm to its proud denizens. Plus, its successful startup scene is attracting entrepreneurs, especially in emerging informatics and data-driven industries thanks to the UpTech business accelerator.

NKY Talent Shines at Cincinnati Innovates

By Newsroom

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Business + Innovation

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October 29, 2010

The second-annual Cincinnati Innovates regional innovation competition concluded Sept. 22 by recognizing 10 winners at a gathering at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Judges for this year's Cincinnati Innovates competition evaluated 301 entries for new company and product ideas to award $80,000 in prizes to the budding entrepreneurs. Northern Kentucky was very well represented in the results. First place winner was Jocelyn Cates, of Burlington, Ky., who created an online event venue booking website application called Venue Agent. Cates won a $25,000 prize sponsored by CincyTech.

Gateway Community and Technical College opens Center for Advanced Manufacturing

By Newsroom

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General

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October 29, 2010

Gateway Community and Technical College, Northern Kentucky's leader in publicly supported career and technical education, threw open the doors of its new Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) on Oct. 29 and invited the public to come look at this gem of workforce preparation and development.Dozens of business, government and community leaders streamed into the sparkling new facility to see firsthand the simulated factory floor, advanced welding lab, mechatronics trainer and other state-of-the-art equipment used to teach advanced manufacturing skills to both new students and those already in the workforce.The center's dedication is the culmination of five years of planning, funding, designing and building. The cement hadn't yet set on Gateway's Boone Campus in 2005 when college officials, community leaders and manufacturers began a joint effort to plan an education and training center to meet the region's needs for skilled manufacturing workers.

Bexion Pharmaceuticals receives another National Cancer Institute grant already

By Newsroom

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General

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October 29, 2010

Bexion Pharmaceuticals has been awarded a $1.5M Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The grant, titled "SapC-DOPS Nanovesicles for Treating Glioblastoma Multiforme," was awarded Sept. 28, 2010, and covers a two-year period. This announcement from NCI follows their Sept. 20, 2010, announcement selecting Bexion for a notable research collaboration with NCI's Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL), part of a major program, the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, to advance the medical applications of nanotechnology.

Chamber hosts first-ever Northern Kentucky Innovation Summit in November

By Newsroom

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General

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October 29, 2010

Chamber hosts first-ever Northern Kentucky Innovation Summit in NovemberIn a sluggish economy, creative thinking and innovation is even more important than usual for small businesses success, said Mackey McNeill CEO and president of Mackey Advisors, a Covington wealth management firm."We are not in good times and you have to be more innovative to compete on a much higher level," she said. "It's a way to say I'm going to thrive during the down turn."That's why McNeill is leading an effort of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce for a first-ever regional Innovation Conference, dubbed BRINK. The conference is set for Nov. 17 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, from 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.

How Do You Fly A Horse?

By Dave Malaska

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General

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October 28, 2010

In a few weeks, more than 500 of the world's top athletes will be flying into the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. During their international flight, they'll travel in first class, business and coach accommodations. They'll be served an in-flight meal and drink service will be generous. The only thing is, they'll have to stand for the entire nine-hour flight. It's okay, though. They're used to it, being horses and all.

United Way, Strive to award $3.5M to nonprofits through Social Innovation Fund

By Newsroom

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General

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October 28, 2010

The United Way of Greater Cincinnati and Strive, a non-profit urban education advocate, have just released a request for proposal (RFP) for its Social Innovation Fund. The Fund will award $3.5 million over three to five years to area nonprofits for their collaborative efforts to address economic opportunities, youth development and school support.United Way and Strive are managing the fund, which was spurred by a $2 million award from the Corporation for National and Community Service, part of President Obama's national call to service initiative. That money was matched dollar for dollar by local partners; $3.5 million of a total of $4 million will go directly back into the community, said Mike Baker, director of the fund and a United Way employee."The purpose of the fund is to identify and support effective and innovative community solutions along the 'cradle-to-career' continuum in Cincinnati, Newport and Covington," Baker said.

The Draw of Northern Kentucky: Strange, Interesting, Quirky … Amazing

By Dave Malaska

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Community Development

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October 12, 2010

Every area has its own identity, fueled by its history, local arts, attractions and favorite hangouts. But it's hard to imagine as diverse a tapestry of influences as Northern Kentucky boasts.

Chamber hosts first-ever Northern Kentucky Innovation Summit in November

By Newsroom

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General

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October 5, 2010

In a sluggish economy, creative thinking and innovation is even more important than usual for small businesses success, said Mackey McNeill CEO and president of Mackey Advisors, a Covington wealth management firm."We are not in good times and you have to be more innovative to compete on a much higher level," she said. "It's a way to say I'm going to thrive during the down turn."That's why McNeill is leading an effort of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce for a first ever regional Innovation Conference, dubbed BRINK. The conference is set for November 17 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington. BRINK is geared to small and medium-sized businesses which don't have their own employee or department devoted to innovation. The conference is designed to build specific innovation skills through workshops and a community problem solving challenges, McNeill said."The purpose is very specific. We want to inspire people and teach them the tools of innovation," she said.Session topics include "Teaching the Innovation Process with Dr. Drew Boyd, a retired Johnson & Johnson employee and Executive Director of the Master of Science in Marketing Program and Visiting Assistant Professor of Marketing and Innovation at UC. Thomas D. Kuczmarski, founder, senior partner and president of Kuczmarski & Associates, an innovation consulting company, will lead the Managing & Strategizing for Innovation session.The Chamber's goal is to attract at least 300 people to the Innovation Summit.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Mackey McNeill CEO and president of Mackey AdvisorsYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

United Way, Strive ready to award nearly $3.5 million to nonprofits through Social Innovation Fund

By Newsroom

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Education + Learning

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October 5, 2010

The United Way of Greater Cincinnati and Strive, a non-profit urban education advocate, have just released a Request for Proposal for its Social Innovation Fund. The Fund will award $3.5 million over three-to-five years to area nonprofits for their collaborative efforts to address economic opportunities, youth development and school support.United Way and Strive are managing the fund which was spurred by a $2 million award from the Corporation for National and Community Service, part of President Obama's national call to service initiative. That money was matched dollar-for-dollar by local partners, and $3.5 million of a total of $4 million will go directly back into the community, said Mike Baker, director of the fund and a United Way employee."The purpose of the fund is to identify and support effective and innovative community solutions along the cradle to career continuum in Cincinnati, Newport and Covington," Baker said.The fund will go toward programs that target low-income communities in one of the following areas: Kindergarten Readiness, Fourth Grade Reading, High School Graduation and College Preparedness, Postsecondary Enrollment and Completion, and Sustained Employment.Grants will go to programs that have been proven to be successful, Baker said.Five-to-10 local organizations or collaborations will be awarded dollars through the Social Innovation Fund. The RFP was released Oct. 1. Strive and United Way will also lead an information session on the fund including the nuts and bolts of applying for program funding on Oct. 11. The session will be 10 a.m. to noon at Xavier University's Cintas Center. RSVP by Oct. 8, by email to rsvp@strivetogether.org. Other funders include The Thomas J. Emery Memorial, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, KnowledgeWorks and The P&G Fund.The grant for Cincinnati was part of a larger $50 million awarded to organizations that demonstrated innovation in developing community solutions in the areas of economic opportunity, health and youth development. More than 60 organizations applied for these grants, and the Cincinnati area joins the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, the National AIDS Fund, and Venture Philanthropy Partners in Washington D.C., which also received funding.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Mike Baker, director of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Social InnovationYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

NKY Chamber job board sees uptick, nonprofit, sales and marketing growing fast

By Newsroom

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General

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September 14, 2010

Looking for a job? Northern Kentucky might have what you're looking for. The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's online job board has recently seen an uptick in postings.In August, there were more than 70 postings, with several employers looking to hire for multiple positions. The sectors seeing some of the largest growth are nonprofit, sales and marketing. Currently there are just over a dozen nonprofit postings including listings from Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati and the American Red Cross. There are at least eight marketing and 14 sales listings.The job board has been around since 2002, and has served as a place where Chamber members, and other area employers, can post jobs for free, said Nancy Spivey, the Chamber's senior vice president, Workforce, Education & Health Care Solutions."We have been averaging about five new job postings daily, although I spoke with an employer (recently) who is sending me a posting and that employer needs several hundred workers," Spivey said.There are nearly two dozen job categories on the board, ranging from education and construction to manufacturing and administrative work. There are also part time listings.The Chamber job board is more than just an online classified department. There's also a student section with internship and co-op postings, information from local employers who offer education assistance, job fair notices and more.Another handy service the Chamber offers through the site is a resume blast. The Chamber has a relationship with dozens of regional companies who have signed up to receive resumes from potential employees on a regular basis. Job seekers send their resumes to the Chamber, which in turn, sends them along to the companies. This service is also free."We find this especially helpful for individuals who may be moving to our region, for those who are seeking a general opportunity (in customer service, retail, etc.), and for employers who hire for various positions on a regular basis," Spivey said.Both job seekers and employers who want to be included on Resume Email distribution should contact resume@nkychamber.com. You can see the most recent list of interested employers here.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Nancy Spivey, NKY Chamber senior vice president, Workforce, Education & Health Care SolutionsYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites