Oakley

Cincy restaurants, hotels win AAA Four Diamond honor

Six Cincinnati-area restaurants and four hotels received the prestigious AAA Four Diamond rating.  All but one of the businesses were repeat winners, with Nicola's Ristorante in historic Over-the-Rhine being the sole newcomer. Many of the winners were located in or around Downtown, but Oakley, Mount Adams, Over-the-Rhine, Covington were also neighborhood homes for the winners. The ratings are based on surveys that judge hotels and restaurants on amenities, service and creative menus. Read full article here.

WEMUPs untangle web of online entreprenuership

“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

Soapicks May 26-June 1

Summer is the season when Cincinnati gets serious about its fun and this week is no exception with the kick off of twelve days of the sixth annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival featuring over 300 local, regional, national and intervational artists getting to know why art is important to the Queen City. Lokua Kanza arrives from the Congo to perform a benefit concert while Summerfair takes hold at Coney Island.

Issue 9 debate engages local businesses one month before the November vote

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's biggest event of the year takes place on April 25 with a kickoff in College Hill, and the organization could use your help.Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest community improvement project with an estimated 2.8 million volunteers, is aimed at boosting the quality of life in neighborhoods by planting flowers and trees, picking up litter, collecting discarded tires, painting façades, landscaping, and recyclingBecause of the massive amount of work to be done, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful program manager Josman Rodriguez says that volunteers are very much needed.Just last year, 8,352 volunteers collected 406,460 pounds of litter and debris; planted 13,500 flowers and bulbs; cleaned 578 miles or roads, streets and highways; and recycled more than 40,000 plastic bottles and more than 2,500 scrap tires."We're expecting 10,000 volunteers beautifying 90 communities, 25 parks, and 30 schools," Rodriguez says.He also says that Give Back Cincinnati, community leaders, and Cincinnati council members plan to participate, and that United Dairy Farmers is serving as a co-sponsor.To volunteer, contact Liz Bowater at (513) 352-4380 or at liz.bowater@cincinnati-oh.gov.Writer: Kevin LeMasterSource: Josman Rodriguez, project manager/public awareness, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful

Focus on environment garners planning award for Green Cincinnati plan

Qualls pushes council to make streets ‘for people, not just cars’

Cincinnati City Councilmember and chair of the Vibrant Neighborhoods Committee, Roxanne Qualls introduced a resolution supporting the federal Complete Streets Act of 2009, a piece of legislation meant to encourage streets that are safe for all forms of human transportation.Sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and introduced earlier this month, the legislation promotes the design of streets that are safe for motorists, bus and transit riders, pedestrians, bicyclists, and people with disabilities by directing state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to adopt and implement complete streets policies for federally-funded transportation projects.It would also update the current federal code on pedestrian and bicycle accommodation and authorize research, data collection, technical assistance and dissemination of best practices.Qualls' resolution is currently in council's Economic Development Committee, which next meets on April 7."We actually put funds in the biennial budget to develop a complete streets program," Qualls says.  "So the city has already recognized the need to design streets for people, not just cars.  Ultimately, the goal is to make our streets multi-modal."According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, more than 5,000 annual fatalities and 70,000 injuries occur to pedestrians and bicyclists because of inadequate sidewalks and crosswalks, space for bicyclists, and room for transit riders.Locally, the city's Department of Transportation and Engineering has been working with the Mount Washington Community Council to retrofit a portion of Beechmont Avenue that has seen an increase in speeding and accidents since a road widening project in 2004.Residents of Westwood have also requested traffic calming measures for a mostly residential – but busy – section of Montana Avenue."Our competitive advantage is in our neighborhoods, and our quality of life is dependent on our streets," Qualls says.  "If we look at our streets as our largest public spaces, then the quality of those spaces is critical to economic development."Qualls says that complete streets is one of many strategies that cities are using to become more walkable and mixed-use, pointing out that more than 80 state and local governments already have passed complete streets policies."It's a matter of changing how we think about streets," Qualls says.  "What we recognize is that if you design streets for cars, you get cars.  If you design streets for people and alternative modes of transportation, that's what you'll get."Writer: Kevin LeMasterSources: Roxanne Qualls, Cincinnati City Council; Jennifer O'Donnell, assistant to Councilmember Qualls

Hamilton County taxes lower than its peers

A recent Forbes survey finds that Hamilton County's property tax rate is the lowest, as a percentage of income, of Ohio's six largest urban areas, says Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper.In his PepTalk blog, Pepper says that there are misconceptions about the county's tax rate, but that it's actually relatively low when compared to other metropolitan areas against which it competes for jobs, businesses, and talent.The Forbes survey found that Hamilton County's property tax rate as a percentage of income was 26 percent lower than Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), 16 percent lower than Franklin County (Columbus), and 8.5 percent lower than Summit County (Akron).Hamilton County's sales tax was also the lowest of the top six urban counties, tied with Summit County.Read the blog post here.

48 Hours in Oakley

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Spohr appointed to direct SW Ohio workforce development

Jennifer Spohr has been appointed as the regional workforce director of the Ohio Department of Development's (ODOD) Southwest Ohio office.In her new role, Spohr will serve as a liaison to state government, local business leaders, elected officials, and economic and workforce development entities to meet the training and talent development needs of businesses throughout Hamilton, Butler, Warren, and Clermont counties.Spohr joined ODOD in 2005 as coordinator for the Ohio Investment in Training Program and is currently on the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network's Hard-2-Hire Workforce subcommittee.This year, she received from Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory the 2009 Super Award from the Workforce One Investment Board of Southwest Ohio in recognition for her work with the SuperJobs Center.Read the full release here.