NKY thrives is created and managed in partnership by Soapbox Cincinnati, a publication founded in 2008 to serve the Cincinnati region by Issue Media Group (IMG). IMG publications are supported by underwriting and partnerships with local businesses, civic institutions, community funds, nonprofits and foundations that support and expand our coverage of community and economic development, social innovation, city building and place making. Learn more about our underwriting policy here and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion here. Tips, story ideas or feedback? If you have a tip or suggestion for us, please contact editor@soapboxmedia.com.
For more than 150 years, local companies have been creating the flavor combinations that intrigue the senses and please discerning palates. Hidden to most, these companies are providing key ingredients to everyday culinary delights right here in the Northern Kentucky region.
Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia is planning an additional Delta flight to Cincinnati's international airport (CVG) that will begin a trial run beginning July 1 and running through August 17. The new connection will provide improved services for travelers heading out of the Huntington area and will further connect the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport with the nation's sixth fastest growing airport. Tri-State Airport director, Jerry Brienza, hopes that the additional Cincinnati flight will increase enplanements. The new flight will now give travelers a third daily option to fly to Cincinnati and CVG's various popular destinations. Read full article here.
Construction on the highly anticipated Center for Informatics at Northern Kentucky University starts this month with a groundbreaking ceremony 4:30 p.m, May 28 on the Highland Heights campus. The state -of-the-art center, seeks to combine technology, available data and real world application to a wide variety of occupations. NKU’s College of Informatics, the only such college in the state, was created by an act of the Kentucky Legislature. In the fall of 2006, 1,057 entered the college under various disciplines. In addition to new offerings like informatics, the college puts a number of NKU’s existing disciplines under one roof. It includes four departments: Business, Communication, Computer Science and Infrastructure Management. It includes such diverse disciplines as journalism, healthcare, computer programming and research development design. It’s one of less than a dozen such colleges dedicated specifically to informatics study in the United States. “Thursday, May 28, 2009, will be one of the most important dates in the history of our college, now and into the future,” said Douglas Perry, dean of NKU’s College of Informatics. “It is a moment that NKU and our region have been looking forward to for a long time, and we’re very excited to get started on this breathtaking facility.” The event will start in the Student Union Ballroom, followed by the official groundbreaking ceremony outside near NKU’s Parking Lot B. The 110,000-square-foot facility, designed by lead architect Goody Clancy and local architecture firm McGill Smith Punshon Inc., is made up of a central Informatics Common and "digitorium," flanked on two sides by four-story loft-style academic buildings. This space will house a "genius bar" complete with a multi-discipline technology help desk, research flex space, and a café. Within the common is the two-story glass digitorium, the fully reconfigurable technological heart equipped with audio/visual technology using high-quality LED, digital projection, and intelligent digital displays that allow users to watch, interact with, create and share information. The digitorium's transparent skin is designed to reflect the center's purpose by allowing those outside to witness human interaction, the most basic – yet most complex – of information sharing systems. The center will also be the first ‘green’ campus building, designed for LEED Silver certification. The $50.8 million center is set to open in 2010. Writers: Feoshia Henderson and Kevin LeMaster
Two Northern Kentucky University students placed first at the Kentucky Idea State "U" University Undergraduate Business Plan Competition and won a $12,000 prize. Nathan Young and Eric Tanner won the competition by developing a solar hot water system that could save the average family as much as 70% on their water heating costs. The two undergraduate students who had originally entered the contest to get good grades may now have a future in the emerging green technology industry. Read the full article here.
Three local startups get over a half million in Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation FundingLocal startups are getting attention and money from a state agency geared at spurring innovation and development. Three Northern Kentucky startups, Bexion Pharmaceuticals, Edunet24 and Clinical Engineering Consultants, received a total of more than half a million dollars of funding from the Kentucky Science and Technology’s Corporation (KSTC).KSTC is an agency of the Kentucky Cabinet of Economic Development.Bexion Pharmaceuticals, located in Covington, is centered of developing cures for a broad range of cancers. The companies three main development interests are: Oncology therapeutics, Oncology diagnostics and Nucleic acid delivery. The company received at $400,000 matching grant for its “A Novel Biotherapeutic Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer” initiative. The grant will match funds Bexion received from the National Institutes of Health. Clinical Engineering Consultants, Inc., in Erlanger, Ky. received a $30,000 grant for technology management software that will aid nearly 400 hospital, ambulatory surgery center and medical center clients. Clinical Engineering plans to develop the software with Northern Kentucky University’s College of Informatics and University Research Foundation.In the education sector, Edunet24, also in Erlanger, is an online homework help web site aimed at improving student’s performance. The company was awarded $100,000 to develop an integrated competency based learning systems to allow non native English speaking students to improve their English with an individualized plan.The companies were aided in applying for the grants through Northern Kentucky ezone, a division of Northern Kentucky Tri-Ed. The ezone is one of six regional Innovation and Commercialization Centers across Kentucky.“The ezone is an important resource for entrepreneurs and is helping start-up companies access funding opportunities available through the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation,” said Tom Prewitt, head of the ezone Entrepreneurship committee. “We are known as an innovative and supportive region that fosters the growth of these types of companies in Northern Kentucky.” Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Northern Kentucky ezone
The Infrastructure Management Institute at NKU’s new College of Informatics is hosting nearly a dozen professional development seminars for the region’s IT professionals.The training sessions are an effort to keep the region’s IT professionals up to date on the latest changes and improvements in technology during a challenging economic time for companies.These free seminars, which started in May and will continue until the end of August, also provide networking opportunities while highlighting technology topics, issues and trends including open source, security, Web 2.0 and mobile application development.The Northern Kentucky University College of Informatics is one of few colleges in the country dedicated exclusively to the emerging informatics field. Informatics includes information management, infrastructure, processing, presentation, dissemination, design and analysis.Most of the sessions will be held at the NKU Mets Center in Erlanger, just 15 minutes from downtown Cincinnati.Find more information or register for classes at visit http://imi.nku.edu, and click on the “events” page. The remaining sessions are: Thursday, May 21, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. “Cloud Computing” Webcast Thursday, June 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: “Wireless Network Security” & “Web Security” (part of 2009 IMI Speaker Series) Thursday, June 18, 2-3 p.m.: “Mobile Web 2.0” Webcast Friday, June 26, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: “Mobile Innovations Conference” Thursday, Aug. 13, Time TBA: “Business Intelligence” (part of 2009 IMI Speaker Series) Thursday, Aug. 20, 2-3 p.m.: “Next-Generation Web Development” Webcast Thursday, Aug. 27, Time TBA: “Mobility” (part of 2009 IMI Speaker Series) Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Chris Cole, Northern Kentucky University
Strive is in the midst of its own learning period as it carries out the mission of a $750,00 investment that will make Strive a model for four other cities across the nation
Our Partners
