Companiesfor Downtown

While Brian Hock trained for the Louisville Ironman in 2010, he had an idea for a way to stay hydrated along the way. That idea evolved into Simple Hydration, a start-up company with an innovative product that is being manufactured in the US.

Five months ago, David Johnson and his wife Estelle McNair started a branding company together. Today, Johnson-McNair is beginning to gain traction and serve clients all over the country.

Started all the way back in 1937 by Cyrus L. Baxter, BHDP has been creating spaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also focus on the way space interacts with people and drives results.

Coffee Emporium has been open since 1973, but current owners Tony Tausch and Eileen Schwab purchased the Hyde Park-based business in 1996. Since then, Tausch has expanded the company and now provides coffee for dozens of cafes around the area, as well as six of his own.
 

Four long-time friends and a bar in Chicago created the impetus for what is now a business that operates nine bars in the Cincinnati area, with plans for more soon.

David Brecount and Mark Miller started US Digital Partners with a bold vision: they wanted to embrace the way the internet was changing business interaction and help Cincinnati companies develop and market their brands.

Though Kaleidoscope has been around for 22 years, in its last decade, its focus has shifted to four distinct areas of product development. By keeping a clear eye on consumer goods, electronics, healthcare and transportation, Kaleidoscope takes the process from research to ideation.

After performing with national touring bands for a dozen years, Brian Penick decided he could lend a hand to local bands trying to break into regional and national markets. So Penick created the Counter Rhythm Group in October 2010. In one year, the CRG has worked with six bands on seven album releases and countless tours and shows. It all starts with artist development and promotion.

From cutting, to design and through to the manufacturing of custom jewelry, Koop Diamond Cutters does it all from the fourth floor of the Queen City Building in downtown Cincinnati. Cincinnati native Clarence Koop started the business in 1966, and soon after, his son Butch began designing jewelry pieces on an order-by-order basis. Now in its third generation of family ownership, Koop now has a full manufacturing plant and sales center to provide customers with a complete, in-house shopping experience.

Zone Creative Group, a media development and video production company, started with two employees in 2003. Eight years later, Zone CG now has 10 employees, but keeps the same goal owner John Colmar had in mind when he launched.

At first, Jean-Francois Flechet, the city's ambitious waffle entrepreneur, served only waffles in a shared space in Findlay Market. Now, the Taste of Belgium franchise serves crepes, brownies, calzones and espresso drinks in spaces near and far, including a new full-service bistro on Vine Street slated to open before the end of the year.