Oakley : Innovation + Startup News

Lovers of WWII-era Americana should kick off their shoes and bop to this news: Retrocentric, a boutique that offers the combination of professional salon and photography sessions, also celebrates the glamorous pin-up styles of yesteryear.

The business' all-female staff works to ensure customers, non-models especially, are completely comfortable. All of its “retrofitted” photo sessions include selections from a classic pin-up wardrobe themed around clothing that was popular in the American Midwest during World War II, along with hair and makeup by Eros Salon.   

Founded by Sailor Gruzleski, Retrocentric will be celebrating its first year in Cincinnati later this summer. To help commemorate that achievement, the Retrocentric team is selling a 2013 charity calendar called “Pin ups for Pound Pups.” Featuring pin up girls with rescue dogs from local shelters, the proceeds will benefit Cincinnati’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Living historians like the Retrocentric team help preserve the rosier side of turbulent times in America. While most able-bodied men were overseas, the ingenuity and strength of the women left behind helped stabilize the homestead. By taking on jobs typically held by men, Gruzleski says, women found unique ways to preserve their delicacy and femininity while still struggling under society’s wartime duress. It's an important cultural footnote that's shadowed by the glamorous eye candy of Retrocentric’s portfolio.      

Eros Salon (featured at Bridalrama) is open for non-pin up related appointments inside Retrocentric.

By Sean Peters

Rebecca Huffman’s circuitous route to UC’s Fashion Design program both inspired and informed her non-traditional senior thesis, Design Genius. More methodology than consumer good, Design Genius is a learning module that teaches students the value of education and the building blocks of problem-solving as they design their own products.

Unveiled at UC’s DAAPWorks, Design Genius takes a fresh approach to making learning relevant for kids of all ages, which is exactly what recent grad Huffman, 24, who works for LPK, wanted. 

“I knew that I wanted to do something that would help kids,” says Huffman, who spent a year working as a preschool teacher before starting her design training at DAAP.

As she considered what her culminating project for college would be, she thought back to a studio class in which she’d designed and created a real project, then put it up for sale in real life. Through that process, and its embrace of design-thinking, she saw the value of the disparate classes she’d taken through her academic career, from math to marketing and writing to psychology. And she felt empowered.

Her work as an LPK co-op increased her experience with design-thinking, an approach to problem-solving more often seen in Fast Company than elementary schools. 

“Design Genius is an attempt to solve the problem that our kids are facing by instilling a greater sense of educational purpose,” she says. 

She describes Design Genius on her website as “the culmination of five years of study and extensive research on the Creativity Quotient, Design Thinking in education, the concept of ‘failing forward,’ sociocultural trends impacting Generation Z, and the educational and social development of Tweens.”

What that looked like, in the end, were three, one-and-a-half hour sessions in two schools—St. Ursula Villa and Pleasant Ridge Montessori—in three different classes. Fourth and fifth grade students examined case studies in the form of fictional diary entries. Then, they ideated, revised and designed real products to help solve the problems of their fictional “customers.” 

“They learned everything I was trying to teach them,” Huffman says. “It was amazing.”

The students not only learned from the project, they loved it. Huffman received unprompted thank-you notes and testimonials when the students presented their products. She’s convinced that with a little tweaking, she can develop a fully functional learning module that can help young students not only design products, but create and sell them. 

By Elissa Yancey
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Today, Detroit-based Digerati launches its Intern in Ohio program to the public, which is sponsored by the University of Toledo. Like eHarmony, the program uses an advanced matching algorithm to match students with internship opportunities.
 
Intern in Ohio is free to both students who are looking for internships and businesses who want to post internships. To register, students and employers visit Intern in Ohio’s website to sign up and create a profile or post internship opportunities. Students fill out a short questionnaire about their preferences, and employers share information about the position. The system then identifies the top seven matches for each student, as well as for each position. When the match is made, both the student and employer are notified, and they must show interest before any contact information is shared.
 
“We encourage diverse companies—large and small, for-profit and nonprofit, government and corporate,” says Wendy Pittman, director of Digerati’s Classroom to Career. “It’s a great chance for employers to broadcast their company and internship program across the state and reach a larger pool of applicants.”
 
Only companies in Ohio can post opportunities to the Intern in Ohio website, but all types of internships are welcome. There are posts for marketing, engineering and social media, among others, says Pittman.
 
The program is open to all students who live in Ohio, whether they’re in-state or out-of-state students. Research shows that not only do internships often lead employment offers after graduation, but that students are more likely to remain in an area where they held and internship.
 
“This is the first replication of the Classroom to Career technology from Michigan to Ohio,” says Pittman. “Experiential learning is a game-changer; and we’re looking forward to working with smaller communities to make a difference.”
 
In 2011, Digerati launched its Intern in Michigan program, which has resulted in more than 127,000 matches and introductions between students and employers. Over 1,000 Michigan businesses have posted 4,824 internship opportunities, and 1,049 colleges and universities in the state use the site.
 
Full disclosure: Soapbox’s parent company, IMG, supplies content to Intern in Ohio on a contractual basis.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Going on maternity leave changed Gail Yisreal’s life in more ways than having a new baby to take care of.
 
When she returned to work, Yisreal says she learned her position was no longer there, so she began to look for a different job.

As wife and mother to a blended family of nine children, she might bake up to 11 birthday cakes in a year. But she hadn’t considered turning her knack for kneading dough into earning dough until she baked a wedding cake for a couple from her family’s place of worship. Not only did they like the cake, they suggested she start selling them.
 
Listening to her fans, Yisreal founded A “Mother’s Touch” Cakes with the nurturing tagline, “Making fresh homemade cakes when you don’t have the time.” Celebrating her two-year anniversary as a registered business in August 2012, A “Mother’s Touch” features signature and custom made flavors of fresh, savory gourmet, organic and vegan cakes and cupcakes that are good—and good for you.
 
“I didn’t know anything about decorating, so I took a class to learn more decorating skills," Yisreal says. "And I was shocked to find out that 95 percent of the cakes you buy are box cakes—because everybody wants the decoration. I started doing some research about the trans-fats and artificial ingredients, and I vowed that everything I baked would always be natural and from scratch.”  
 
After working as a waitress for two years and in management at Starbucks for six years, Yisreal developed a love for coffee. She jokes that most ex-Starbucks managers feel they know enough about coffee to create their own line, which she actually did for A “Mother’s Touch.”
 
Having tried organic coffees with weak flavor profiles, she researched and found Dean’s Beans, a fair-trade pioneer that allowed her to design her own custom blends. Her signature A “Mother’s Touch” blend is made with Mexican and Indonesian beans and pairs with her carrot cake as an after-dinner coffee.
 
“I’m really proud of my coffee and the fact that it really was custom blended for what I wanted to complement my desserts,” Yisreal says. And, true to her mission to serve natural, sustainable goods, she says that her blends are 100 percent organic, fair-trade certified and are shade grown.
 
Being on the scene without a storefront hasn’t stopped Yisreal. Instead, she’s building her brand as the “cupcake lady” who networks everywhere and invites people to taste samples of her creations. Yisreal also tapped into hidden markets by hosting deals through social media.
 
“I did a Living Social promotion last year, which was huge,” Yisreal says. “That first day, I think I got 1,500 hits on my website, and probably about 85 deals, which I thought was really good for people who didn’t know who I was.”
 
And even though she sells more cakes today, the ease of transporting cupcakes built her clientele.
 
“When I first came out, because of my financial situation, literally, cupcakes were paying my rent,” she says. After she and her husband separated, she remembers what it was like to go from making an annual salary of $60,000 to less than $20,000 a year. But she doesn’t do it all alone.
 
“I have three almost-teenage girls; 12, soon to be 15 and 17, so they are my preppers,” Yisreal explains. “It’s hilarious because we’ll be in the kitchen and everybody has their big bonnets on, and they’re scraping carrots, mashing fruit, lining the liners. I have a girlfriend who I’ll sometimes sub-contract out to do deliveries. And if it’s a huge event—like for the Autism Foundation, I had to knock out 40 dozen cupcakes—I have two sisters, and at the time I had just split up with my husband so we were in literally an 800-square-foot apartment. The kitchen was all of maybe 150-square-feet, we put out six-foot tables and we were like an assembly line! It was hilarious, but we got it done. It was like an I Love Lucy episode!”
 
By Mildred Fallen

It’s a familiar struggle for those who lay down cash for season tickets to the Bengals or the Reds: trying to sell, donate or give away the extras when you can’t make a game.

Alex Burkhart grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, rooting for Cleveland sports teams. And while falling in love with Cincinnati as a student at Xavier may mean his love of Cincinnati sports is growing, he’s mostly impressed by the city’s budding startup culture.

A Macy’s employee by day, Burkhart won the Cincinnati Startup Weekend competition last November. During the event, individuals pitch startup ideas and form makeshift teams to develop them during a single weekend. Burkhart – who longingly noted that he missed a great Xavier game to do so – grabbed attention and a few helpful connections after he pitched his idea, which is now called Tixers.

Burkhart says the company will provide a new way to buy and sell tickets on an online platform. “Hypothetically, if you can’t go to a Reds game, you can sell the tickets on StubHub at a significantly reduced price, give them away or let them go to waste,” he says.

Tixers aims to even that exchange. Still in its early stages, the platform (likely to be web and mobile) will allow people who have tickets for sporting or other entertainment venues to exchange them for points, which can later be redeemed for other tickets. In other words, no more last-minute emails or tickets gone to waste.

But before all this can happen, Burkhart hopes to connect with a partner who can complement his business acumen with technical know-how. He won the competition just weeks ago, attracting attention from startup accelerators and investors, but cautions, “It’s not a working business yet.”

Still, Burkhart is optimistic that Cincinnati’s sustainable startup culture combined with his education, enthusiasm and upbringing – he’s from a family of entrepreneurs – will soon mean a successful launch for Tixers.

By Robin Donovan

Cincinnati area salon owner Gary Benz took a chance and offered an idea that's grown his own business — New Client Invitation — to his fellow Greater Cincinnati hair care experts.

"I've been invited to try exercise clubs and exclusive country clubs by way of new client invitation," Benz says of the idea behind HairSalonDiscount.com. "If it works for them, it should work for me."

Benz, who, with his wife owns Benzie Salon in Montgomery, has tripled sales since starting the salon in 2004. He attributes part of that success to his New Client Invitation marketing program, expanded online at HairSalonDiscount.com. The targeted programs attract new potential clients with half-off pricing on services. It's similar to popular major daily deal websites, but the salon services are 50 percent off at most, instead of the up to 70 percent at some major daily deal sites.

It's a price point Benz says is both attractive to a potential buyer and to the business owner. Benz works to market the site to certain groups, like new homeowners and people who've moved into target neighborhoods that the salons typically service, which include Norwood, Oakley and Hyde Park.

Benz, who has a background in SEO and web development, also promotes the site through organic and paid online search results, he says.

The deals work like Groupon or Living Social — users go online and purchase a service deal. The deals are marketed as New Client Invitations and Benz says the goal is to attract five new potential clients each week for participating salons.

That's in contrast to the major daily deals sites that market to mass buyers, with deeper discounts. Those sites can bring businesses hundreds of new customers, but often they aren't the repeat clientele that salons seek, Benz says.

"We sold 350 deals (with another site), and a lot of people had no intention of ever coming back again," Benz says. "There are a lot of mass emails through those sites, and the next time another salon has a deal, they're going to hit up another salon."

The site has about 20 salons on its roster so far. While the bulk are from Cincinnati, it has already attracted salons from Georgia, Northern Kentucky and Dayton. He hopes to soon add some Chicago area salons, with an ultimate goal to include salons from every state.

"As long as I stay true to my brand, and to quality, I think it's a feasible business plan," he says.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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Ethan Snider has had a love affair with food for nearly a quarter of a century. Raised on Cincinnati’s west side, he worked up through the ranks at Macaroni Grill, and eventually became an executive chef. In short, it was a dream come true.

Until he hated it.

“The corporate stuff just did not appeal to me,” Snider says. “I was there for less than six months.” He ended up at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2004. After that, Snider moved around a lot. He worked at a tiny Batesville, Ind., restaurant that was run out of a three-car garage and after that, at a fine-dining restaurant in Boca Grande, Fla.

Moving around was great for a while, but Snider eventually grew homesick. “I liked it a lot, but I started to miss being here; I always wanted to make a name for myself in Cincinnati because this is where I’m from,” he says.

After moving back to Cinicnnati, Snider got started with his own food venture at local farmers’ markets because they have low overhead and a home-grown touch. With an eye toward the need for more locally sourced vegetarian and vegan options, Snider launched Summuh (pronounced “SOU-mah”), a specialty hummus shop, first at a farmer’s market in Madeira and, then in Northside and Hyde Park. Most recently, he joined Findlay Market, where he plans to weather the winter months.

Snider calls his wares “the Ben & Jerry’s of hummus,” and promises that “you’ve never had hummus like this.” Two of his core flavors are a chickpea hummus with lemon and rosemary and one spiced with cumin, coriander and cilantro and topped with red onions. There are also 12-15 seasonal flavors, including “Squashbuckler,” which features a butternut squash and navy bean base with ancho chili powder, garlic and a spicy black bean relish on top.

Though his hummus is organic and local, Snider says he’s no food evangelist. “I’m not trying to convert anyone to what I believe in or change the world." he says. "I just feel that if I believe in something, other people will start to believe in what I’m doing, too.”

By Robin Donovan

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

The University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music is one of the first universities to use locally developed web-based software to streamline and manage video applications for creative and sports programs.

Acceptd, co-founded by Don Hunter of Oakley and Derek Brown of Columbus, manages digital applications, making them easier to upload, edit and share. It can be used by potential students and college programs as a central place to communicate.

"With Acceptd, students upload their digital audition, which saves them time and money in travel; and faculty can view and discuss candidates online, which saves them time and resources that could be spent with the most qualified applicants," Hunter says.

CCM, along with The Ohio State University's Department of Dance and Otterbein University's Department of Theatre and Dance, will be part of a pilot that uses Acceptd for their admissions processes this fall.

The founders believe the program is game changer for both potential students and faculty. "It saves the colleges time because universities can be more selective in whom they ask for a live audition," Brown says. "Generally, colleges spend hundreds of hours watching live auditions to select a handful of students. It saves students money, because they will only need to travel to schools where they are a likely candidate for admission."

The program contains a dashboard where applicants can upload their videos and send them to multiple colleges or universities. Students can add their social media pages, bios and more. The social media component also lets students connect through Facebook and see where their friends are applying. Acceptd will notify students by email or text when their video has been received, viewed and commented on.

Acceptd has caught the eye of the state's investor community. The company received a $50,000 TechGenesis grant from TechColumbus, a catalyst for economic growth in Central Ohio, as well as $20,000 from the 10-xelerator, a new venture accelerator designed to attract and retain young entrepreneurs in the state of Ohio.

By Feoshia Henderson
You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

A community of web tech, design and startup entrepreneurs came together last Saturday to share ideas and creative energy at meetup group Continuous Web's second annual Startup Showcase. More than 50 participants, ranging from experienced startup veterans and marketing and design pros to individuals with rough ideas for pursuing new ventures, gathered at Crossroads Community Church in Oakley for a day of seminars and presentations by the people behind some of the area's most innovative web startups.

"Our major objective is to build energy around startups in this community," said Continuous Web co-organizer Joshua Johnson. "It's about inspiration, energy and building a network [participants] wouldn't have had prior to the event."

The day kicked off with a presentation by keynote speaker Todd Henry, creator of Accidental Creative. After offering ideas for finding balance in the busy, overwhelming life of a startup founder, he turned the stage over to speakers from some of the day's featured startups, who updated the audience on their progress.

A series of breakout sessions followed the presentations. Metro Innovation founder Elizabeth Edwards led a session on startup funding, while multiple startup founder Tony Alexander discussed the concept of creating ideas based on one's lifestyle. Johnson led an ideation session, in which participants shared their startup ideas and received feedback from other Continuous Web members. And Queen City Angels member Brian Beeler shared insight on identifying the stages of a startup's life cycle, including exit strategies.

The event's namesake Startup Showcase took place in the afternoon: a group of 10 startup founders presented their projects, and received feedback from the gathered group of like-minded creatives.

Continuous Web co-organizer Chris Costanza said the event was a huge expansion of the previous year's two-hour event. "It's been really great," he said of the meetup initiative's growth. "We're building awareness of, and energy around, the growing startup community in Cincinnati."

Johnson agreed, adding that he's optimistic about what events like the Startup Showcase will do for the startup community.

"We have such good inertia, and it's nice to have this encouragement in a good direction," he said.

Writer: Matt Cunningham

You can't get more local than a map as a way to highlight local businesses and area landmarks. But a new company and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber's YP arm have partnered to create a fun, visually appealing map that personifies its creating company's name:  Distinctly Local.

The first of a series of planned urban and specialty walking maps was unveiled last week at the Red Tree gallery and coffee shop in Oakley. The slick, full-color map outlines the Cincinnati core, as well as Newport and Covington in Northern Kentucky.

The maps are geared towards people in the city during a long weekend or an event, as well as those recently transplanted or planning to move to the city, said Joe Hansbauer, who helped make the map a reality.

"We wanted to create a product that was accessible, and shows the places that give Cincinnati its unique flavor," he said.

The idea for the map came from Hansbauer, Doug Brauch, and John Mark Ouderslyus, friends and members of Give Back Cincinnati. It was designed and illustrated by Standard Design Partners. Plans are to update the map annually, along with support from business sponsors. Distinctly Local plans other specialty maps around events like the Flying Pig or MidPoint Music Festival.

The animated map has traditional street, neighborhood and interstate makers, before delving into more creative territory. It marks neighborhood business districts, locally owned businesses and city landmarks like Findlay Market, Cincinnati Museum Center and the World Peace Bell in Newport.

It also highlights urban places important to Cincinnati's identity like Skyline Chili, Graeters, Paul Brown Stadium and Carew Tower. These places are drawn and named, so users can clearly make out the football and baseball stadiums, see the crown atop the Great American tower and get a tiny glimpse of the Genius of Water on Fountain Square.

And unlike most maps today locations are measured in walk time.

"We were looking for a piece that would really showcase our region, the neighborhoods close to the central core and highlight the cool, unique, independent shops, vendors and restaurants that are all around us," said Jennifer Young, Marketing Communications manager for  HYPE (Harnessing Young Professional Energy).

The map will be included in new hire packets for Chamber members, and will also be distributed at area hotels, convention centers and real estate offices. Eventually the map could be online as well.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Sources: Jen Young, HYPE Marketing Communications and Joe Hansbauer, Give Back Cincinnati

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

Two University of Cincinnati marketing and entrepreneurship grads have created web-based software designed to make it easier for university professionals to manage video applications for creative and sports programs.

Acceptd is nearing the Beta testing stage. Co-founders Don Hunter of Oakley and Derek Brown of Columbus are working with UC, Miami University and other local institutions to test the tool that can be tailored to individual programs and colleges.

"It's designed to be a simple, web-based management tool. It allows the users to screen video applications that are used in performing arts programs or athletic programs where they view highlight reels," Hunter said.

Today administrators contend with a hodgepodge of formats from DVDs to YouTube links. They can be difficult to manage, share and compare, Hunter said.

"This will format all of the videos, and the decision makers can rate them and collaborate with other decision makers in real time. This will streamline the process," Hunter said. Acceptd can be modified for individual college programs.

"Each program will have a public branding landing page, a welcome note from the dean, programs available and requirements for it," Hunter said.

There is also a dashboard for applicants who can upload their videos and send them to multiple colleges or universities. Students can add their social media pages, a bio and more for viewing. The social media component also lets students connect through Facebook and see where their friends are applying. Acceptd will notify students by email or text when their video has been received, viewed and commented on.

Hunter believes Acceptd can be a leader in the emerging video application trend, which is becoming more popular with the ease and ubiquity of recording technology. He and Brown are preparing for a limited fall launch before introducing it to the wider college community.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Acceptd co-founder Don Hunter

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

Reivax Records' local music showcase this Thursday will underscore the success and community outreach of Xavier University's micro-loan concept. Helmed by the University's Entrepreneurial Center, the loan concept kick-starts businesses organized by students no matter what major they're completing. Students are required to create a formal business plan and present to a committee, outlining how they would use the loan and pay it off.

Reivax is a music promotions and booking company comprised of five Xavier students that received a $10,000, interest-free loan from the Entrepreneurial Center, with funding provided by the Coleman Foundation. The Center approved the loan December 10, and now the company has one year to pay back the funding it uses.

Reivax's current roster includes Steve Boller, a music major; marketing interns Jason Furtick and Jake Huhn; graphic design intern Matt Kroeger, and interactive media intern Tom Moskal. They're receiving credit through the William's College of Business.

Boller, 21, formed Reivax two years ago. A singer-songwriter at heart, he started the company to promote student musicians and draw Xavier students to the local music scene.

"I realized that if I wanted it to grow and if I wanted to be sustainable after I graduated, I needed to get involved with the business school," says Boller. "They do so much, and really know how to get things done."

Business professor George Gordon advises the students.

"What I've really enjoyed are the overlaps within the community and Xavier that I keep running into. The community is giving to Xavier because it's providing an opportunity for students to learn a lot. I tell students not all learning happens in the classroom."

Furtick, 20, says the company might use half of the loan for shows and other promotions. "The rest is like a cushion." A fair amount of funds are going to the showcase Thursday at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley. Local indie bands Walk the Moon, The Seedy Seeds and Starfox play with The Pass from Louisville. Reivax is billing the showcase as "Red Shoes/Dance Pants."

"We're just encouraging people to come," Boller says, "and wear crazy pants."

Writer: Rich Shivener

A year ago, Cincinnati Innovates founder and VC investor Elizabeth Edwards vowed to start her own company, and bootstrapped it. Today she wants to help other entrepreneurs do the same.

Edwards, of Oakley, in a style befitting her business advice, just self-published her first book Startup: the complete handbook for launching a company for less. Part how-to, part resource, the book is partially based on her experience starting Metro Innovation, a consulting company aimed at upping entrepreneurial investment across the Midwest and South. She started the company after leaving her job as a Neyer Holdings Venture Capital Investor.

The 400-page book covers cost-effective ways to start a business, including the areas of finance, branding and PR, accounting and law.  She offers readers a comprehensive place to find tools that don't break the bank, but are up to industry standards across business types.

"The cost for starting the average tech company has gone way down. Ten years ago it was $1 million; today it's $65,000. When I started (Metro Innovation), I knew I could do it for less," Edwards said. "I did it for $5,000, and then I wrote a book about it."

The book is geared toward a wide variety of entrepreneurs from freelance writers and coffee shop owners to landscapers and techies.

Current technology geared toward the small business owner drastically has reduced the costs of starting a new business, she said, especially in the important areas of branding and marketing. There are a myriad of tools that can slash the costs of everyday business needs like an office phone line, project management and accounting tools.

"I have a lot of do-it-yourself guides in the book," she said.

The book outlines ways to finance a business including through Small Business Administration loans, investors, grants and more. For those contemplating starting a business, Edwards walks through the questions entrepreneurs should ask themselves before deciding if a business is feasible and has profit potential.

The new author believes the timing is right up for Startup because the economy has forced many people to create their own work opportunities.

"The main inspiration is the economy," Edwards said. "A lot of very talented people, especially recent college grads, in any other job market would be very sought after. They now find themselves out of job and entrepreneurship is a real viable career path."

You can buy the book online here or on Amazon. It will be available in major bookstores and on Kindle in mid-January, Edwards said.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Elizabeth Edwards, author Startup founder Metro Innovation

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

A survey co-sponsored by BlackBook EMG and Cincinnati USA Chamber's HYPE is looking for young professionals to share their work and community life experiences to gauge the risk of the region losing young talent.

The 25-question survey, located here, takes about 10 minutes to finish. It's geared toward anyone who lives in the metro Cincinnati area and is employed. The results will be unveiled at the HYPE talent symposium Oct. 19. The symposium's theme is "Ignite the Fire! Leverage Cincinnati's strengths as part of your recruitment and retention strategies."

BlackBook, whose Compass technology matches employee performance with local events, venues and businesses, has a 2,000-person response goal for the survey. So far, just under 1,000 people have responded, said Carla Messer, Blackbook's senior vice president of operations. To encourage responses, participants can enter to win one of three iPads. Survey results are kept confidential.

The survey asks questions related to the concept of "community embeddedness" or the experiences, people and places outside of work that keep a person in a particular area.

"The survey asks how an employee fits into culture of an organization, and also how people are connected to other people and places where they live. At the workplace you're made to feel like it would be a great sacrifice to leave, but from a community standpoint often things outside the workplace that keep people retained in the organization aren't considered. Things, if you left behind, like a country club, church or neighbors would feel like a big sacrifice to leave," Messer said.

The survey is an effort to drill down into how or even if workers have those outside connections. Under the theory of community embeddedness, the more satisfying community links a person has, the less likely they are to leave a current city or place of employment.

"Companies spend a lot of time and money trying to explain why people leave. We are trying to evaluate why people stay, and create those connections and experiences that get people to stay," Messer said.

The survey is open until Oct. 1.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Carla Messer, Blackbook senior vice president of operations

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites