Cincinnati

New brewing HQ expands Moerlein’s, Brewery District’s offerings

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Architecture + Design
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November 20, 2012

As brewery equipment rolls into Over-the-Rhine, the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company is just weeks away from reaching another milestone in reviving the Christian Moerlein and Hudepohl names in Cincinnati. The former home of the Kauffman Brewing Company and Husman’s Potato Chip factory at 1621 Moore Street is nearly converted to brewing headquarters for Moerlein and Hudepohl beers. With this building, “exponential growth is possible,” says Josh Baker, marketing director for Christian Moerlein. The lingering question in many beer fans’ minds, though, is simple. What will be the first beer off the new production line? “Whichever beer we need will be first to be brewed,” says Baker, who hints at a secret ale likely to emerge from the brewing lines soon. While the Lager House at the Banks will continue brewing to fulfill the restaurant’s beer needs, all other brewing will happen on Moore Street. At first, the Moerlein lagers and ales and Hudepohl seasonal beers will be brewed on Moore Street, but eventually all the Hudepohl beers will roll off the lines there as well. Beer won’t be the only focus of the expanded space, Baker says. The location will also feature a banquet hall (in the space that has served as Bock Fest Hall the past few years) as well as a tap room, slated to open next spring. Brewery visitors will be able to purchase their favorite beers in cases, growlers and kegs from the tap room, located in the old Kauffman malt drying room. Since the building was a pre-refrigeration era brewery, it also offers access to lagering cellars, which are currently featured in several Cincinnati tours, including those given by the Over-the-Rhine Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation and redevelopment of Cincinnati’s rich beer brewing roots. Moerlein and The Brewery District are closely tied with Steve Hampton, executive director for The Brewery District and project architect for the new brewery, and Gregory Hardman, CEO of Christian Moerlein and president of The Brewery District. They plan to incorporate tours and history into the new brewery, which allows visitors to simultaneously experience Cincinnati beer, past and present. The Brewery District CURC is in charge of the annual Bock Fest, as well as the seasonal Biergarten at Findlay Market. The nonprofit will be in charge of beer sales at an open house for the brewery from 4 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 21. If all goes smoothly, brewing is set to start “within two weeks after the open house,” says Baker. “People have been knocking on our door wanting to see what is happening. The amount of support and cheers has been overwhelming the past year.” Guests at the open house can enter a drawing to win one of the first 100 bottles off the production line. The bottles will be numbered, signed and accompanied by a letter of authenticity. Registration for the contest will take place until the open house and can be done at Findlay Market or by mail. After the open house, the next brewery-related event will be the Third Annual Hudepohl Thanksgiving Eve Turkey Trot featuring $2 Hudepohl Amber Lagers at bars along Main and Vine streets. By Blaire Mynear Blaire Mynear is an aspiring biologist and a resident of Walnut Hills

Latest in Cincinnati
CoSign brightens Northside streetscapes on Black Friday
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Architecture + Design
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November 20, 2012

This year, Black Friday will be a “Bright Friday” for the community of Northside. Up and down Hamilton Avenue, businesses will unveil fun and funky new signs that bedazzle Northside’s main drag. In an unlikely collaboration of 11 businesses, local artists, several zoning officials and one museum, the CoSign project is now a proven success in creating attractive, cohesive street signage with hopes to shape future signage projects in city neighborhoods locally and across the nation. What started as a broader grant application to ArtPlace America for several city neighborhoods became a personal quest for Northsiders after the city-wide application went unfunded last spring.   Stepping up with funding support, the Haile US Bank Foundation, Northside partners and the American Sign Museum created a pilot project that paired local businesses and visual artists with sign fabricators to design and install a critical mass of new signage along Hamilton Avenue.   With an idealistic launch date of November 23, this year’s Black Friday, Eric Avner knew this would be a challenge. “We wanted to do multiple things at once,” says Avner, vice president and senior program manager of the Haile/US Bank Foundation. “Help the sign museum, help local business districts gain vitality and give the creative sector of Cincinnati more opportunities to make a living.”   The American Sign Museum played a vital role in the project, serving as the primary grant recipient and providing staff as content specialists for the design process. The museum held two August training workshops for artists and businesses, put together a team of professional sign fabricators and installers, and participated in a judging panel to decide upon the best signage proposals from business/artist teams.   “Part of our mission is to educate the public and special interest groups about signs,” says Tod Swormstedt, founder of the American Sign Museum. “The workshops helped to educate the business owners on why signage is so important for marketing, as well as to educate artists about what is a good sign. Artists may create an aesthetically-pleasing sign, but it may not identify the business well.”    The week before their unveiling, the American Sign Museum displayed the signage in its brand-new facility near Camp Washington at 1330 Monmouth Street.   CoSign documented the progress of the project from start to finish with help from The Queen City Project so other communities have the opportunity to replicate the project and broadcast their own creativity and collaborative spirit through signage. And the sign museum plans to go after that ArtPlace grant again - the one it lost just a few short months ago. Says Swormstedt, “The application is much stronger now, given the learning curve we experienced, the lessons learned and the project’s success.”   By Becky Johnson

Launch Werks prototypes help inventors attract funding
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Architecture + Design
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November 20, 2012

With big names in branding hovering in an around Cincinnati, it can start to seem like the brand is everything, and intangible products are the only thing that can really sell – and scale. However, two industrial designers pairing up in Over-the-Rhine are challenging that assumption, combining their skills in design, engineering, and budding knowledge of manufacturing and sourcing materials at a start-up they call “The Launch Werks.” As the name implies, The Launch Werks not only offers its own, tangible products, but helps small businesses and innovators create prototypes from their ideas. That means doing everything from helping to design prototypes that consumers will rush to engage with to planning the look of the final object, imagining how people might interact with it, and even specifying the materials it should be manufactured from and where to purchase them. Co-founders Noel Gauthier and Matt Anthony met as industrial design students at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) and quickly realized a shared interested in what happens after the design phase of a new product. “The leap it takes to to go from an idea to a real product fascinates us," Gauthier explains. "So much happens when an idea is translated into a made thing. … Having worked in various product design firms around the country, we never had a close connection with where and how the products we designed were being made.” So he and Anthony began to connect Cincinnati-area product development with high-quality manufacturing, filling a niche for companies that weren’t ready for large-scale production, but needed something to show potential investors. Anthony says he sees an opening right now for foodie-friendly items. “I think we’re going to see more local stores and products follow developments in the food movement: making unique products and doing it well. But we want to see some of them scale the way that Jeni’s Ice Cream or Taste of Belgium has.” For a city already big on branding, it might just be a tasty step in the right direction. By Robin Donovan

Madisonville to reveal its Quality of Life Plan
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Arts + Culture
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November 20, 2012

Next Tuesday, Madisonville’s community council will share its Quality of Life Plan with funders, government officials, businesses, nonprofits and surrounding communities. For the past year, Madisonville has been involved in an intensive, community-driven planning process.   It’s the first time in Cincinnati that a citizen-driven, community plan of this type has been developed, although it has been used in 109 communities across the country.   Not only does Madisonville have a strong history—its future looks bright. The neighborhood on the east side of Cincinnati is more than 200 years old. It was established in 1809 and originally called “Madison” after the newly elected fourth President of the United States, James Madison.   Madisonville’s first permanent settler was Joseph Ward and his family. In 1797, they built a log cabin along an Indian trail that is near what are now Whetsel and Monning avenues. About 30 years later, a post office was established and the neighborhood’s name was changed to Madisonville to avoid duplication with Madison, Ohio. It was annexed by the City of Cincinnati in 1911. Today, about 9,000 people live in the neighborhood.   But in the 1970s, about 17,000 people lived in Madisonville. Flight from urban areas in the '70s has yet to be reversed, but there are more residents considering city life.   “Madisonville would be a great place to live because of its closeness to downtown,” says Sara Sheets, a Madisonville resident of nine years and the project manager for the Quality-of-Life Planning Process on behalf of the Madisonville Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation. Residents can jump on Columbia Parkway or I-71 to get to work and events downtown.   Many of Madisonville’s residents moved to the area because they wanted to be part of a racially and economically diverse community. “I wanted to live in a diverse community with a potential for the future,” says Sheets.   The residents of Madisonville really care about the neighborhood and want to see it grow. Last year, Madisonville began the intense process of organizing the community in order to develop a vision for the neighborhood. Six working groups were formed to focus on economic development, health and wellness, arts and culture, education and youth, built environment and community engagement. The groups met six times over the summer to form a specific plan. The Quality of Life Plan will likely take about 10 years to implement, but it’s a roadmap for what the community wants to see happen in the neighborhood, Sheets says.   The Quality of Life Plan focuses on broader change, particularly on the opportunities and quality of life for children and seniors in Madisonville, according to Bob Igoe, who has lived in Madisonville for 12 years and been the community council president for three. A large portion of the Plan is focused on education, from kindergarten on up. For example, the Children’s Home of Cincinnati has made a long-term commitment for the kindergarten-ready program in Madisonville. The program focuses on children ages 0-3 and helps prepare them for kindergarten, both educationally and socially. Not only are there long-term goals for Madisonville, but there are short-term goals, too. One of these is jump-starting the growth of the business district, Igoe says.   Currently, there are about two blocks of vacant property at Madison and Whetsel, in the heart of the neighborhood’s business district. Madisonville residents will ultimately get to decide what will fill those vacant spaces. “We want to develop a mixed-use neighborhood where walking and biking to restaurants, shops and services is easy,” Sheets says. Many residents go outside of the neighborhood to grab a cup of coffee.     Residents also want to add new apartments, condos and houses to the town. Most of the new housing will likely be around the business district to enhance the community's walkability.   The meeting is to begin Nov. 27 at 5:30 pm at John P. Parker School, 5051 Anderson Place, Cincinnati.   By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter

Kilgour School awarded $24K innovation grant to boost tech access, entrepreneurial skills
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Education + Learning
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November 20, 2012

A new financial literacy enrichment course at Kilgour School is expanding, spurred by a $24,000 innovation grant awarded by tech communications company MiCTA. The grant builds on a class that Cincinnati's Partnership for Innovation in Education (or PIE) piloted at the school, called Student MBA: Bringing Business to the Classroom. Mary Welsh Schlueter, PIE's founder and chief executive, developed and taught the five-week class at Kilgour as part of a student enrichment period. Schlueter, a Kilgour parent, modeled the class after a Harvard Business School course. "I taught basic concepts, including the SWOT analysis, the five Ps of marketing and the product life cycle," says Schlueter. Students' tech, financial and entrepreneurial skills were tapped when they were asked to find ways to increase lemon sales. "They developed many new ideas and used lemons in different ways, not just as a food source or cleaning agent," says Schlueter. The project led to the creation of an Android app, a game called Lemon Smash. "The goal of the game is to smash lemons to make lemonade so you can make some moo-lah," its description reads. Proceeds from the 99-cent app go back to the school. The class and app creation brought on some big partners. Sprint donated the technology, UC's Economics Center wrote and compiled all the achievement assessments and NKU’s Center for Applied Informatics helped students design and develop the app. There are plans to make it available for the iPhone as well. "This was a $100,000 project, and all of the work was done pro-bono," Schlueter says. The MiCTA grant will allow the class to continue. It will also fund 20 new handheld tablets for the school's gifted program. NKU will partner with the school to offer an app development class, which will also be available to any Cincinnati Public Schools student who has access to take the class virtually. PIE is looking to expand funding opportunities for the STEM-aligned program using app development and technology to "incubate" students' entrepreneurial efforts and promote across the globe,  says Schlueter.  It's a way to help students learn valuable skills, provide a new revenue stream for schools, and allow deeper tech uililzation for K-8 students and teachers across all subject areas. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Everything’s d’Vine opens for business
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Development News
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November 20, 2012

Marianne Kiely, owner of Everything’s d’Vine, has waited a long time to open her specialty wine and beer shop on Fourth Street. But as of Nov. 9, she is open for business.   Everything’s d’Vine has hardwood floors and exposed brick walls. The walls are original brick, but the floor was replaced when Kiely rented the building. Customers get the feel that they’re in a wine cellar, even though they’re steps away from busy Fourth Street.   Vynebar wine racks line the walls, which Kiely sells in addition to a wide assortment of wines from around the United States and abroad.     There’s also a beer room, stocked with beers from craft breweries across the country. A tasting room, where Kiely hosts samplings twice a week, one for wine and the other for beer, connects the two rooms. The samplings reflect Kiely’s inventory, but there are usually six to eight brands to try, she says. There’s usually a $10-15 cost for the tastings, but the cost depends on the number of pours.   Make sure to check Everything’s d’Vine’s Facebook page for weekly tasting times and costs, along with other events. She also includes inventory updates and seasonal releases on Facebook.   By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter

Launch Werks prototypes help inventors attract funding
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Architecture + Design
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November 20, 2012

With big names in branding hovering in an around Cincinnati, it can start to seem like the brand is everything, and intangible products are the only thing that can really sell – and scale. However, two industrial designers pairing up in Over-the-Rhine are challenging that assumption, combining their skills in design, engineering, and budding knowledge of manufacturing and sourcing materials at a start-up they call “The Launch Werks.” As the name implies, The Launch Werks not only offers its own, tangible products, but helps small businesses and innovators create prototypes from their ideas. That means doing everything from helping to design prototypes that consumers will rush to engage with to planning the look of the final object, imagining how people might interact with it, and even specifying the materials it should be manufactured from and where to purchase them. Co-founders Noel Gauthier and Matt Anthony met as industrial design students at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) and quickly realized a shared interested in what happens after the design phase of a new product. “The leap it takes to to go from an idea to a real product fascinates us," Gauthier explains. "So much happens when an idea is translated into a made thing. … Having worked in various product design firms around the country, we never had a close connection with where and how the products we designed were being made.” So he and Anthony began to connect Cincinnati-area product development with high-quality manufacturing, filling a niche for companies that weren’t ready for large-scale production, but needed something to show potential investors. Anthony says he sees an opening right now for foodie-friendly items. “I think we’re going to see more local stores and products follow developments in the food movement: making unique products and doing it well. But we want to see some of them scale the way that Jeni’s Ice Cream or Taste of Belgium has.” For a city already big on branding, it might just be a tasty step in the right direction. By Robin Donovan

Cincinnati Game and Toy Industry Professionals publish Cincinnati Toymakers Holiday Gift Guide
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Architecture + Design
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November 20, 2012

Once home to iconic companies like Kenner, Cincinnati has a long history of toy making. Though no longer here, much toy making talent remains in the Queen City. That talent joined together through a new group, called Cincinnati Game and Toy Industry Professionals. The group was started by Cincinnati entrepreneur Michelle Spelman, co-creator of the card game Jukem Football. "When we first started promoting the game, we did it all through social media," Spelman says. "A lot of people started contacting me saying, 'I heard about what you're doing. I used to work for Hasbro,' or 'I used to work for Kenner. I'd love to meet you for coffee and pick your brain." After a while, Spelman was getting too much caffeine, and not getting a lot of work done. That's when she decided to create a virtual meeting place on LinkedIn. "I wasn't in a position to help all these people in the way they needed, so I started a social media group," Spelman says. "I thought we'd get 40 or 50 people. We got that in a couple of months. We're now into this two-and-a-half years, and we have almost 300 members." Not all the LinkedIn members are currently in Cincinnati, but they've either lived here, worked here or have ties to the region. Some have founded startups like Spelman, while others head established regional companies or are high-level executives for major brands. "People thought when Hasbro left all the toy makers left Cincinnati, but that's not true," Spelman says. "We have a lot of great talent here. It's really a subculture. Our group provides networking that reconnects this fragmented group and uncovers opportunities. It also provides newcomers to the industry w a place to learn from the veterans and find resources and expertise to further their ventures." In addition to the online meeting spot, local toymakers also come together quarterly for breakfast. At their most recent breakfast, the second annual Cincinnati Toymakers Holiday Gift Guide was released on Slideshare. The toys include familiar favorites like Play-Doh, Sit 'N Spin, original Star Wars action figures and the Magic 8 Ball, in addition to newer toys and games. The catalog also includes a list of independent, locally owned Cincinnati toy stores. "If you want to fill the space under your tree with Cincinnati products this year, you could," Spelman says. By Feoshia Henderson Follow Feoshia on Twitter

InkTank re-emerges, launching reading series in OTR
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Arts + Culture
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November 20, 2012

It turns out that tech startups aren’t the only people who know how to pivot. When InkTank, a nonprofit focused on literacy development and creative writing shut down in 2011, citing funding issues, its writer’s salon survived and continued to meet, but the occasional readings (and other services) it provided seemed lost. Now, the free, bimonthly InkTank Reading Series promises to change that. Despite losing its former Main Street location, “we kept talking about doing something, but we didn’t really have a direction or location,” says Seán Dwyer, one of six core members of the group. He helps organize the series and attract the talent: emerging authors from the Midwest. The InkTank salon paired with 1215 Wine Bar and Coffee Lab in Over-the-Rhine to host the readings, which will feature a published regional author preceded by two emerging, local voices. The first event, which will be held Nov. 27 at 8 p.m., will host Cincinnatian Ian Stelsel, a graduate of the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop and husband of a former salon member. Stelsel plans to read from a collection of short stories set to publish in 2013. There’s been no trouble attracting authors to read at the gatherings, according to Dwyer. “We’ve got enough authors for about 10 months. We’ve actually stopped asking [for authors to read] because we want to see how [the series] goes and where it goes.” In the coming months, authors will include Phoebe Reeves, a poet and professor at the University of Cincinnati’s Clermont College; Don Peteroy, a Ph.D. candidate at UC; and Jacinda Townsend, who teaches at Indiana University. The 1215 venue is open to patrons of all ages. The InkTank Reading Series will feature prose, poetry, creative nonfiction and plays from published authors, as well as book signings and question-and-answer sessions, on the last Tuesday of every other month. Do Good: • Ask a question about the series by emailing InkTank. • Attend the first reading on Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. at 1215 Wine Bar and Coffee Lab. • Learn more about upcoming, featured authors from INKTank.   By Robin Donovan

BRIDGES looks forward to bridge-building in Queensgate
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Diversity
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November 20, 2012

Seeds of change are stirring for human relations organization, BRIDGES for a Just Community. At the end of December, the organization will move its offices from the fourth floor of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC) to 644 Linn St. in Queensgate near the West End. Operating since 1944, the non-profit’s inclusion work centers around equipping people with ways to engage and develop relationships that transform the region into a more equitable and just community. BRIDGES’ CEO and President, Lynnette Heard, believes that strengthening community linkages with neighboring areas—Price Hill, Western Hills and West End, urban hubs with many schools, religious centers and other non-profits—will help the organization carry out its mission more effectively. “We see some synergy connecting with our non-profit neighbors to help continue to build capacity,” says Heard. “We think that this is a great opportunity to operate fully our educational programs with BRIDGES, as well as our Public Allies program in one location where parking is free, the location is on a bus line and it is located nearby an area that we are very supportive of serving and having a presence.” For Heard, BRIDGES’ strengthened presence means being responsive to inequality issues. She intends to direct energies toward youth, citing that between grades 3 to 6 is when many children experience barriers to success. “One of the barriers that we have found has been children not learning effectively in an environment,” Heard explains. In BRIDGES’ 2012 Human Relations Progress Report only 11 percent of respondents said Cincinnati was welcoming and inclusive. “We still have gaps in reaching a variety of individuals who don’t necessarily feel that they are a part of everyday life in this community,” Heard says, “so what we look to do is to reach out to synagogues, to mosques, to temples, to churches, to schools and other non-profit organizations to say, ‘What can we all do working together to include everyone at the table of opportunity?’” For the past 20 months, NURFC (which merged with the Cincinnati Museum Center in July) was BRIDGES’ home. Both organizations say they will remain close partners and collaborate on future programs. “BRIDGES pursues an important mission, and we are pleased they found a new location to suit their purposes,” says Elizabeth Pierce, vice president of marketing and communications for CMC and NURFC. “As the Freedom Center continues on its path toward financial sustainability, it became necessary to identify new ways to increase revenue.” In April, BRIDGES hosted a race forum in response to Trayvon Martin’s death and violence directed at African-American males. Heard says BRIDGES will revisit the topic in early 2013 and continue to host community dialogues. “We want to be relevant, we want to evolve and we want to make certain that as an organization we are tapping on the pulse of the city—knowing that as issues arises, BRIDGES is there to help respond.” Do Good: • Like Bridges on Facebook. • Find out more about the Public Allies program that BRIDGES administrates. • Keep up on the latest news by signing up to get the organization’s free newsletter. By Mildred Fallen

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