In October, the city of Cincinnati celebrates the one-year anniversary of the launch of its enhanced recycling program and the implementation of the Recyclebank rewards program. The city of Cincinnati can now boast a 49 percent increase in the tonnage of recyclables collected in the past six months compared with the same period in 2010. Read the full story here.
It turns out that living near Little Miami's Scenic Trail offers more than just natural beauty – it might also improve your home’s value. That’s the conclusion drawn by two University of Cincinnati researchers in a new report. Read the full story here.
The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) launches its 2011-12 Mainstage Series with a powerful tale of a bygone era. This fascinating intertwining of drama and music runs from Oct. 26 through Oct. 30 in Patricia Corbett Theater on the University of Cincinnati campus. Read the full story here.
Two young professionals from Brooklyn and their friend from Philadelphia have relocated to Cincinnati to develop a tool to make it easier for roommates to split their rent. Chris Toppino, Trevor Geise and Ian Halpern comprise RentShare – a Web-based (and soon to be mobile) application that allows roommates to pay rent and expenses seamlessly. The co-founders came to Cincinnati in August to participate in the 12-week Brandery startup accelerator program in Over-the-Rhine. “We began building our platform while we were in New York, but we just weren’t making the right personal connections we needed to propel the business forward,” says Toppino, co-founder of RentShare. “I had read about the Brandery being one of the top 10 accelerators in the country, and we really liked the focus on consumer marketing and branding that the program had to offer,” he says. “Other accelerators don’t have such a strong central focus.” RentShare was accepted to the program, along with seven other startups, and the trio moved to Cincinnati to begin working with the Brandery’s more than 50 influential mentors. “Cincinnati has been so welcoming to us. When we were looking for a place to live here, even the landlords who didn’t have a vacant apartment for us were supportive of our business idea and helped us make important connections to build our initial user base,” says Geise, the Philadelphia co-founder of RentShare. “The city has a contagious passion,” Geise says. “The people who live here want you to be here. They’re so determined to make the city one of the most desirable places for a young professional that I know it will happen. Most places don’t invest this much time and money into cultural and social development.” The guys have enjoyed their time in Cincinnati and plan to keep a base here to be used as RentShare’s hub to the Midwest. While in Cincinnati, RentShare has been able to add a few hundred new users to the site, while honing its marketing plan and technology. The site is now in public beta, so anyone can sign up. “We’re definitely in feedback-mode right now,” says Geise. “We want to know what works and what doesn’t, and we’re happy to have had a lot of great participation so far.” With RentShare you can: • Pay your rent online with a checking account or credit card; • Set up automatic payments, e-mail reminders to yourself and your roommates and only worry about paying your share of the rent; • Split expenses with roommates. You bought groceries this week? Enter the amount and RentShare will adjust rent totals accordingly. • Create a hard-copy record of your rent, utilities and expense payments. Those interested in becoming RentShare renters can sign up for the beta. By Sarah Blazak for CincyTech
This weekend in Northside, there will be giant sculptures by internationally acclaimed artists, cool exhibits inside shipping containers and giant toys. But the inaugural Factory Square Fine Arts Festival also plans a sustainability showcase in the Eco Container, a space designed and sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, The Sustainability Partnership of Cincinnati and the Green Umbrella. “ParProjects wanted to make their site and their festival as environmentally conscious as possible,” says Sustainability Partnership member and realtor Libby Hunter. “They want to be good stewards of the site they are leasing.” The EcoContainer, which like other containers is eight-foot by eight-foot by 20-foot, will feature a demo of a green roof and rain barrels, supplied by Green-Streets LLC. Inside, festival-goers will find materials about a wide range of sustainability initiatives, from geothermal to solar power to LEED-certified real estate. Outside the container, People Working Cooperatively will install its EcoHouse, an eight by 10 foot portable house that features a solar panel and other environmentally friendly elements. In addition, EcoEnvironments will have a truck with a working geothermal unit on-site during the festival. Hunter says ParProjects’ objectives for the festival, and their plans for a community arts center, excited members of the sustainability partnership, a consortium of businesses that focus on initiatives from law to building materials and stormwater management to real estate. “Everybody wanted to be a part of it,” she says. “We’re looking to more permanent and substantial installations for their big opening in the spring of 2012.” By Elissa Yancey
Only a few years ago, Cincinnati, Ohio’s Over-the-Rhine (OTR) neighborhood was known for having one of the highest crime rates in the city. Today, the area—believed to be the largest, most intact urban historic district in the United States—has been transformed into one of Cincinnati’s most vibrant sectors. Read the full story here.
Students at Northern Kentucky University no longer have to worry about running out of juice before they run out of class. This fall, NKU became as the first college in the nation to install free cell-phone charging stations on campus. The initial 17 goCharge kiosks get plenty of action already, and senior network manager Bob Weber has already fielded requests for 12 more that he hopes to add in the next few months. With the capacity to charge all cell phones, tablets and mp3 players, the goCharge stations make it easy for students to stay connected while they stay on campus and do the work they need. Already popular in airports, bars and even casinos, free charging stations for electronic devices seem like a natural fit for cell-phone-toting college students who often spend long hours on campus. “There has been an overwhelming response from students and staff who have taken advantage of this free benefit,” according to Weber. By Elissa Yancey
A festival without music may not sound much like a festival, but a new offering focusing on Cincinnati architecture may make you reexamine the way you look at the city. ArchiNati is a weeklong tour of Cincinnati that includes walking tours and excursions to specific sites and film screenings. But this architecturally focused festival isn’t for architects, it’s geared toward giving all citizens new insights into the buildings around them. “We tried to find places that would spark an interest in architecture for people,” says Mercedeh Namei, co-director of ArchiNati. Organized by the Young Architect’s and Intern’s Forum, the young professional committee of the Cincinnati Chapter of the AIA, festival planners hope to form a critical mass of people for the tours. “We want to increase awareness in the general public,” says John Back, co-director of ArchiNati. “We want people to come and say, ‘Wow, there are incredible places in Cincinnati.’ ” Modeled after Open House New York, the tour will take visitors from Brazee Street Studio, a sustainable art studio in Oakley, to the High Steel Tour at Union Terminal. Both old and new will be featured with a specific goal of spotlighting spaces the public may not know about. At the end of the week, several offices in the Eight Street Design District will open their doors so visitors can see exactly what architects and designers do. While many of the ArchiNati tours are free, specific ones like the High Steel Tour do have a fee, but organizers insist the trip is worth the cost. Union Terminal tourists will climb 300 stairs and ladders to the steel trusses which support one of the largest half domes in the world. The fee isn’t intended to make a profit for the festival; the only goal is to promote Cincinnati. “People leave, but what some leave behind is architecture,” Namei says. “We can save it and teach people about good architecture.” By Evan Wallis
Entrepreneurs, mark your calendars. A two-day intensive workshop, sponsored by CincyTechUSA, is scheduled for Oct. 26-27 at the Ft. Mitchell Country Club. It will cover all aspects of preparing a competitive SBIR/STTR proposal from strategic planning to proposal writing, submission and post-submission follow-up. When it comes to strategic planning, doing your homework in advance makes a major difference. The workshop guides you to learn how to research SBIR/STTR program details and Technological Innovation and Commercial Merit, develop strategies to help your proposal meet agency requirements and do intelligence work before you write your proposal. In addition, you’ll learn how to craft a fundable proposal, including gathering the right tools, understanding the review process and following step-by-step instructions. You’ll even get a glimpse into common errors and pitfalls so that you can avoid them. The workshop also features chances to learn about how to submit government grants, from the NIH to the DoE and DoEd. For more information or to register: Call or email Dorothy H. Air, PhD, 558-7339, or dorothy.air@uc.edu. By Elissa Yancey
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