Entrepreneurship : Innovation + Startup News

MakeupHaulic puts all the best beauty tips in one place

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Go to YouTube, eHow or the Facebook pages of major beauty brands, and you'll find thousands of videos featuring everything from how to apply crackle nail polish, use an eyelash curler or apply mascara. There are no shortages of product reviews, either..

These video blogs, or vlogs, help many women decide whether or not to purchase a new product, and how to use something new or unfamiliar, explains Brinda Chattergee, a Cincinnati entrepreneur.

"It's mostly young women who are sharing information about purchases, and coming together around information," she says.

Chattergee, who has a graphic design background, discovered the beauty vlogging world while researching product design for a beauty product. During her research, she thought it would be great if there was a site dedicate to the best of the videos, both professional and amateur, where people could quickly find and create the type of content they wanted.

That's the idea behind her new website, MakeupHaulic. Chattergee describes the site, which is not yet public, as a curated destination site for all things beauty. In addition to featuring existing content, the site will also offer tutorials for those who want to become beauty vloggers. She plans to feature some sponsored content as well.

"It will feature a blend of normal folks as well as professionals," she says. "It will be very democratic. Anyone can participate."

MakeupHaulic is one of eight companies chosen for UpTech, a new business informatics incubator launched by several Northern Kentucky institutions, including Northern Kentucky University, Tri-Ed, ezone and Vision 2015. It's an intense, six-month accelerator program that includes $100,000 in funding. Companies selected to participate will also be working with students and faculty at NKU's College of Informatics.

During her time in the incubator, Chattergee plans to launch the site and rework its design or the user experience in response to user feedback.

"The launch is pretty immediate at this point. We'll be taking it to the next level in response to feedback. It's a very important phase and an exciting time for all of us involved," she says.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

CitiLogics, selected by UpTech, grows, adds partner

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

CitiLogics is growing, along with its software designed to help city governments and public utilities better manage water infrastructure. Founders Jim Uber and Stu Hooper have added a third partner, and CitiLogics is one of eight companies picked for Northern Kentucky's inaugural UpTech accelerator program.

CitiLogics is working on a modern solution to a modern urban challenge. The company's Polaris is a real-time forecasting platform that uses existing water management data to help utilities better control their water distribution systems.

The software will allow utilities to better pinpoint leak sources, and improve water quality in the distribution system, among other things. It will also forecast how a particular part of the infrastructure would hold up in an emergency or a heavy use period. The software then allows departments to share that information easily.

"We've been focusing on software development and fundraising, and we're excited to get started with UpTech," says Uber, an environmental engineer. "We've been working with our utility partners to prove the business case for our software."

Sam Hatchett, a mechanical and environmental engineer, decided to join the company as a partner because he believes in the work and is looking for a challenge.

"I know myself and my character," Hatchett says. "I was not going to fit into a large corporate environment."

The company, founded in 2009, will be moving from the Hamilton incubation County Business Center, to offices in Newport as part of the UpTech program.

UpTech is a new business informatics incubator launched by several Northern Kentucky institutions, including Northern Kentucky University, Tri-Ed, ezone and Vision 2015. It's an intense, six-month accelerator program that includes $100,000 in funding. Companies selected to participate will also be working with students and faculty at NKU's College of Informatics.

The company is meeting with municipalities for potential early sales, and the software is being tested through a pilot at the Northern Kentucky Water District.

The company believes UpTech will be a springboard to increased financing and more software development.

"There is a lot of open space in the area of business analytics in the water utility industry, and we want to fill that space in a valuable way," Uber says. "We definitely don't plan on being the Stu, Sam and Jim show forever. We plan to take this across the county and across the world."

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Student Designed tech solution garners more university interest

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Student Designed, a web-based program that allows businesses and students to collaborate on real-world design challenges, has taken yet another step forward as a winner in Northern Kentucky University's inaugural UpTech class.

UpTech is a new business informatics incubator launched by several Northern Kentucky institutions, including Northern Kentucky University, Tri-Ed, ezone and Vision 2015. It's an intense, six-month accelerator program that includes $100,000 in funding. Companies will also be working with students and faculty at NKU's College of Informatics.

This follows Student Designed winning Xavier's Launch-A-Business competition in 2011.

"One of my biggest barriers was getting a relationship with schools," says Adam Treister, a University of Cincinnati grad who developed Student Designed in 2010. "Now I'll have a strong tie with NKU and the College of Informatics, and it's great to be involved with the innovative part of the school. I look forward to working with students to test the platform."

Student Designed allows design, engineering, architecture and other creative students to showcase their student work in a central place where businesses can check it out. Businesses could contact individual students they believe could help them with a project. University professors could also connect with businesses and use their design projects as teaching tools.

"Businesses are always looking for ways to more efficiently complete projects. Many have had the idea before to work with students, but there has been no clear way to do that very easily," Treister says. "Professors like the idea of giving students access to real-world projects, and this is also a way for students to get their foot in the door with companies that could hire them."

Student Designed is currently in Beta, and Treister hopes to have a more responsive and functional site designed during his time with UpTech.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Cincinnati Innovates competition adds consumer products category

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

In a city that's home to branding, retail and consumer powerhouses like Procter & Gamble, Macy's Inc., LPK and Nielsen, it's natural that Cincinnati Innovates would add a consumer products category to the annual invention competition.

"Being such a cool consumer marking town, we have a ton of consumer product ideas. We want to help people with ideas get their product on the shelf," says Cincinnati Innovates founder Elizabeth Edwards.

Edwards, CEO of Metro Innovation, launched Cincinnati Innovates in 2009 to spur investment in innovative products and services across Greater Cincinnati. Since its founding, several similar contests have sprung up across the region to drive dollars to ideas.

Cincinnati Innovates competitors this year will vie for $100,000 in cash prizes and awards. This year's contest runs until July 15, with a $1,000 early bird prize up for grabs May 30. To enter to contest, go the the Cincinnati Innovates website. Winners will be announced Aug. 16 at Northern Kentucky University.

Cincinnati Innovates entries have been heavy on software, medical and web-based ideas, but the contest always saw a fair share of consumer products. By creating a new category for these products alone, Cincinnati Innovates' partners hope to better nurture those ideas.

CPG Strategies will award $25,000 in services to a consumer product seeking retail distribution. In addition, a new class will be added to Cincinnati Innovates' annual lineup of complementing entrepreneurship courses. The course will be based on the book CPG 101: Strategies to Get Your Consumer Product to Market, by CPG founder David Towner.

Since 2009, Cincinnati Innovates winners have earned $250,000, and have leveraged an additional $5 million in investments.

Other prizes include:

A $2,000 HYPE Community Choice Award
Two commercialization awards of $25,000 and $10,000 from CincyTech
$10,000 in branding and design services from LPK
A $5,000 video production award from 7/79

video

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Freelance developers create Gaslight Software

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Developers at Gaslight Software have done what many just daydream of doing. The young software development company was forged by freelancers, many of whom left corporate life.

"We were independent contractors. Most of us met at what's now called Cincinnati Agile Roundtable," says Gaslight developer Doug Alcorn. "After a few years, we decided we could do better if we worked together instead of on our own. We have no titles, no boss. This is 100 percent team-driven."

A dozen developers work in Gaslight's Blue Ash office, helping clients develop mobile- and web-based applications that improve efficiencies and promote business growth.

Gaslight works with growing companies and startups across the country. Among applications they've developed are Tweethopper, which allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts; WebPulp.tv, a video podcast that explores the inner workings of scaling a web ap; and Vendor Wizard, which securely automates the tracking and management of vendor relationships and documents.

"We want to make an impact, and work to benefit our clients in tangible ways. We want to feel we're part of their team in developing software and not just a vendor," says developer Peter Kananen.

Gaslight works to cultivate a culture of community and teamwork that carries into the wider Cincinnati tech community. The company participates in a number of local developers' groups, including Cincinnati Ruby Brigade and Cincinnati Lean Startup Circle. They're also the lead organizer of the first Queen City Merge web conference May 10 and 11.

"There's a lot of talk about brain drain in the city. It's a constant battle. We want to highlight tech in this city, get people together and have them look around to see what's going on around them," Alcorn says.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

TEDxCincy explores the intersection of technology, artisianship

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

The First TedxCincy, in October of 2010, presented inspiring speakers from varied career paths talking about their passions. On May 10, the second TedXCincy event explores the theme: "Plugged and Unplugged: The Crossroads of Technology and Artisanship."

"It's always nice to have a topic that has some kind of friction or tension," says David Volker, TedxCincy organizer. "We wanted to come up with something that shows the entire spectrum of Cincinnati."

The search for speakers starts with the organizing team's personal networks and then grows from there. The team consists of Volker, Emily Venter and Michael Bergman, all from LPK, and Mary Riffe of Procter & Gamble.

"We try to search through our networks and find people who are off the beaten path," Volker says. "A lot of times, conferences focus on the cool, new, tech-based things, but we want to also explore what people are creating with their hands."

Volker and the rest of the team are bringing in artists like Jesse Mooney-Bullock, a puppet maker from Northside, Renee Koerner, a local caviar producer, Queen City Project, a group of photographers and designers showing Cincinnati through a different lens. Also on the schedule are Christopher Erb, vice president of brand marketing for EA Sports, and Steve Fulton of GE Aviation. Soapbox Managing Editor Elissa Yancey will kick off the afternoon of talks.

"We work really hard to uncover some of the gems in the city that may be otherwise passed over," Volker says.

While there will be videos, swag and other activities for attendees, Volker says that the speakers make the event what it is.

"We work really hard to make it a diverse line up of speakers," Volker says. "There will be over 500 attendees and we want to have at least one speaker that connects with each person that attends."

By Evan Wallis

NKU brings home entrepreneurship awards

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

In a recent entrepreneurial competition, Northern Kentucky University brought home four of the nine total awards.

The fifth annual Idea State U, which is hosted by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, showcased 24 new business ideas, which were competing for a total prize purse of $100,000. More than 70 students made up the 24 teams, all from Kentucky public universities. The reason for NKU's success, Fifth Third Entrepreneurship Institute director Eileen Weisenbach says, is the work the students do outside the classroom.

"We're an institute, which means we have a lot of things outside the curriculum that we use to develop students into entrepreneurs," Weisenbach says. "We include our students in the development of things like school-wide competitions. These kinds of events create the spokes that make an environment that is energetically pursing innovation."

Three out of the four teams that represented NKU were given awards. Social Circles was awarded the second largest prize of $24,711 for their social networking platform that provides recommendations based on past activities and interests. Inxpression, a business that allows customers to design their own shirts in a matter of minutes, was awarded the third largest prize of $11,533. Inxpression also took home the Governor's Innovation Award, a prize that goes to the most innovative thinking in a business plan. Line Scout, a cloud-based software application that streamlines restaurant management, was awarded $1,583.

"It's easy to get stuck in a rut as a student," Weisenbach says. "This kind of competition allows students to get that external validation and really work for something."

The prize money must be used for business expenses and to incorporate businesses in the state of Kentucky. Inxpressions has already used their prize money to hire a patent attorney and get a design patent for their unique machine.

Weisenbach contributes much of the success of the students to the staff at NKU. "We have a faculty that really tries to connect with students on a one-on-one basis," she says. "Everyone invests in their students, and it really shows."

While Weisenbach believes the success at Idea State U will bring recognition and attention to NKU, she also knows the competition is good for students throughout the state.

"This kind of success really helps us in three ways," she says. "We can recruit more students, get more state funding and get more lenders and employers to come check out our school when they see the caliber of students we have."

By Evan Wallis

Global 2 Local blends translation and technology

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A Cincinnati-based interpreting company has been providing translations and interpreting service to companies worldwide, and recently won a contract from the City of Cincinnati to provide interpreter services for all of the Health Department locations in the city.

Global 2 Local Language Solutions was founded by Grace Bosworth back in 2009, but she didn't really start working on her company full-time until November of 2010. G2L specializes in technical document translation, which is possible through their database of over 300-400 interpreters and translators.

After helping another woman start a language service business out of a house, and eventually broke off of the company to travel for a year, and upon returning to Cincinnati, she founded G2L. With previous experience starting a similar type of business, Bosworth was able to hit the ground running.

G2L provides service including everything from website localizations, meaning the website is designed and programed in several different languages to technical document translations to in-person interpreting.

"Translators and interpreters are special people," Bostworth says. "They have to have a complete grasp of both languages they area working with as well as a background in the specific matter they are translating."

Besides the translation and interpreting services, G2L also provides web design, graphics and database administration. This blend of technology and translation is a departure from what many language service businesses offer. One major hurdle G2L faces is finding new clients. Bosworth started 2012 with the goal of gaining 25 new contracts, a large number for a company with only four full time employees.

"Finding new clients is one of our biggest challenges," Bosworth says. "Gaining contracts like this one with Cincinnati is a great way for us to bridge the gap to bigger contracts. You can't get experience until someone let's you have it."

With the momentum of winning the contract from the City of Cincinnati, G2L is now in the running to win a larger contract to provide interpreter services for all of the hospitals in Dayton.

Business will continue to grow for G2L as they obtain more clients and Bosworth believes more people will see the need for providing their services to a non-English speaking customer base. The Ohio Department of Development has a grant right now that gives companies money towards developing their website and marketing materials into other languages in an effort to increase exports from Ohio.

"Sometimes people don't think about it, but if you want to get your product out to other languages you need to make marketing materials in other languages as well as get your website available in other languages," Bosworth says. "We are able to do all of that for companies."

By Evan Wallis

Startup event highlights investment in region

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Local startups raised nearly $67 million in seed- and venture-capital funding in 2011 – a 26 percent increase over 2010.

David Willbrand, a partner at Thompson Hine and chair of the firm’s Early Stage and Emerging Companies practice, will speak about the increase in startup activity and investment in the region at the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association’s State of Startup Investment luncheon, Wednesday, April 25.

The luncheon also will feature three short startup pitches, a keynote talk and a panel discussion by local investors on the state of startup investing in Greater Cincinnati. The event is being held from 11 a.m. until 1:45 p.m. at Mainstay Rock Bar, 301 W. Fifth St. More information and a link to register can be found here.

A total of 29 startups received venture investments in Cincinnati last year. The majority – 41 percent – of deals made in Southwest Ohio last year were in information technology companies, including batterii, Blackbook HR, Define My Style, Ilesfay Technology Group and ThinkVine.

The other leading category was health care/bioscience. One new health-care startup was Airway Therapeutics, a company based on 10 years of research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center that is developing proteins that significantly improve lung development in premature infants. Another was eMerge Health Solutions, which automates documentation during treatments at ambulatory surgery centers.

eMerge is a software-as-a-service provider. Other startup companies in this sector that received initial investments last year include SoMoLend, a social and mobile peer-to-peer lending technology. Balanced Insight, which provides business intelligence software to help other companies improve collaboration and productivity through intelligent data-driven decisions, received a follow-on round.

A trend that seems to be growing is investment in social-sharing startups – companies that provide content based on a user’s interests and location that the user in turn shares via his or her social networks. The three companies in this sector that received investment in 2011 were Girls Guide To, VenturePax and VenueAgent.

By Sarah Blazak

Public Allies grows local leaders

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Mildred Fallen is something of a Cincinnati historian. A local journalist, you can often see the product of her verbal explorations of Cincinnati's hip-hop scene in the pages of CityBeat and other publications. Her pieces often reflect something that's been lost to time or merely overlooked. And it's with this perspective that Fallen approaches her other, newer calling: social work.

In fall of 2011, Fallen joined Public Allies, a non-profit organization under the umbrella of AmeriCorps and a program of the local nonprofit Bridges for a Just Community. Allies' goal is to turn socially driven, passionate people into the next generation of leaders. Allies partner with other non-profits in Cincinnati to help with programming, training and community building.

"I had never heard of the program," says Fallen, who joined in 2011. But she was swept up in the movement. "They believe in enticing young people to approach leadership in their own way. It's not a cookie cutter or corporate way."

Fallen was placed with two non-profits after joining Public Allies — The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Bridges. She splits her time between the two groups, focusing her energies on engaging the broader community. She manages social media, like the organizations' Facebook and Twitter accounts, blogs for both organizations and circulates information to demographics that could benefit from the organizations' resources.

Fallen also is a natural master of the "teachable moment." After the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teenager killed in February 2012, she helped organize a race forum at Woodward High School called "What's Race Got to Do With It?" that allowed residents to have a broad discussion about race and class in America. Fallen says that by engaging the region, you develop a more just community.

"People talked about how violence affects people like Trayvon, but also other people in Cincinnati as well," Fallen says.

During her tenure at the Freedom Center, she also has helped organize a capacity event with activist and author Angela Davis that attracted nearly 800 people — 600 in person and another 200 tuned in on UStream. She also pioneered a blog within the Freedom Center called "Queen City Conductor" that explores the little-known accomplishments of Cincinnatians of color.

Fallen says she wouldn't have been able to accomplish what she has in the last year without Public Allies. "The biggest component that people don't know about Public Allies is the training we receive," she says. "This is the first time I've really had a lot of peer support. I'm looking at myself professionally. I've been able to do a lot in a short amount of

time."

Fallen also is part of a community service project in partnership with the Strive Partnership. For the last two years, Cincinnati has won the America's Promise Alliance award, which means that the city in considered one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People. Together with her team, she is hosting community conversations to find out the public's opinion about Cincinnati's accountability in areas where we were noted as being excellent.

Fallen's term of service with Public Allies ends June 30, and her experience has given her a lot for look forward to when she moves on. She says her experience leading up to and throughout Public Allies has made her want to be a social historian of the city while maintaining service projects and engaging the larger community.

"I can actually say things like I have time management skills," Fallen says. "I'm successful at completing these projects. I'm confident that once I leave Public Allies, these are strengths I can really be excited about sharing."

By Ryan McLendon

HCBC partners with Product Development & Management Association

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Hamilton County Business Center (HCBC) has partnered with the Product Development and Management Association, (PDMA), Cincinnati Chapter, for a new workshop series aimed at would-be entrepreneurs not quite sure if their ideas are ready for prime time.

This hands-on series, Commercialization Best Practices for New Business Development, helps budding entrepreneurs and innovators flesh out their ideas, and find the best ways to bring them into the marketplace.

"It's a few steps earlier than the business plan process," says HCBC director Patrick Longo. "This will help people who are thinking of getting into the marketplace. It's all about, 'How do I develop a product, and what kind of market can I serve?' "

HCBC is a local, technology-focused incubator. The Product Development and Management Association is a global professional trade association.

The five-part series starts April 13 and ends June 1. It will be held at the University of Cincinnati College of Applied Science. Sessions run from 1 to 5 p.m. and the series' cost is $199. Registration is available online.

HCBC and PDMA representatives will lead the workshops, which will include out-of-classroom work. Each session is designed to build on the one before it, Longo says.

The scheduled workshops are:

April 13 Session: Introduction to the Front End of Innovation. Introduction to the overall series design and work flow (pre-work, in-session exercises, and homework). The Stage-Gate® process will be used to outline the key elements of successful new product development. Creative problem solving will be used to ensure that the new business idea solves an important customer need in a way that maximizes economic value.

April 20 Session: Assess the Landscape. Outlines the six key focus areas required to build a compelling business case appropriate for passing the Idea Gate of the Stage-Gate® process. For each focus area, participants will assess the readiness of their business-building ideas by answering typical stage-appropriate questions. Participants will identify gaps in their own knowledge and potential killer issues/barriers in their business case and leave with an action plan to complete a landscape assessment for their own business ideas.

May 4 Session: Intellectual Property. Reviews the basic principles of intellectual property protection, addressing both patent-based and non-patent-based strategies. This session will share best practices for maximizing IP productivity and protection during Front End of Innovation (FEI). Participants will leave with an action plan to maximize the effectiveness of their interactions with legal counsel.

May 18 Session: Bringing Your Idea to Market. An overview of the end-to-end supply network required to get a
new business idea to market. Consideration of raw material sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution may uncover potential pitfalls to be addressed in the Front End. Participants will leave with an action plan to evaluate potential barriers and complete a preliminary competitive response analysis.

June 1 Session: Finance 101. Focuses on building the final business case prior to the "Money Gate," where the rate of spending (time, money and resources) increases dramatically. Participants will complete a more detailed financial analysis of their business idea (NPV, ROI, cash flow) and leave with an action plan to explore funding options and cash management resources.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Etsy anthropologist headlines local web confab

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A local software development company is behind an innovative web marketing and development conference coming in May.

Queen City Merge: Social media, marketing, design, development & winning, aims to give a 360-degree view of the latest web marketing and development trends, with an impressive lineup of speakers, including LB Denker, anthropologist of developer culture at Etsy.

"We've got lots of very talented individuals and companies right here under our noses, and I'm not certain we appreciate or even understand that fact," says developer Chris Moore of Blue Ash's Gaslight Software, the main organizer of the conference. "Our goal is to connect these folks so that we can help improve the local tech and startup communities."

Queen City Merge targets anyone who makes a living from the web: designers, developers, social media and marketing professionals and investors. The conference is less tech-oriented and more about creating inspiration and developing interaction among people, he says.

"Queen City Merge will be a Wifi-free zone," Moore says. "If you're coming, plan to leave your computer at home. We want you to hang out with lots of smart folks and enjoy conversation. You'll have time to update Twitter and Facebook when you get home, or if you must, there's still SMS. We want attendees to be engaged and conversant. We're all building solutions with technology across many platforms, but we don't connect as often as we should. We're out to fix that."

There will be two days of sessions, including "Top Ten Mistakes that Kill Companies" by Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP attorney Rob McDonald, Cheap and "Easy Customer Support" by CoSupport founder Sarah Hatter and "Design for Developers" by Relevance Web/Interface designer Jen Myers. There will also be sessions on responsive design and Denker, of Etsy, will speak on building online communities.

Other event sponsors include Ample LLC, Engine Yard, The Brandery, Rockfish Interactive and Cincy Coworks.

Queen City Merge takes place Thursday, May 10 and Friday, May 11 at the Contemporary Arts Center. After the Friday session, sponsors will treat everyone to the Reds vs. Nationals game at Great American Ballpark. Early Bird pricing (which ends April 14) is $199; standard pricing is $249. Organizers plan to make this an annual event.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Ilesfay receives interest, funding

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Ilesfay Technology Group LLC has closed an oversubscribed seed-stage investment round of $615,000, led by CincyTech with $250,000 and completed by Douglas Groh, Steve Turnbull and other private investors.

Ilesfay was founded in 2009 and provides real-time, cloud-based synchronization services through its proprietary PointToCloud™ and MatchMaking™ software. Ilesfay’s technology replaces the slower, expensive point-to-point system of replicating data by storing project information in the cloud and transferring only data that changes between sites.

Chris McLennan, James Taylor and Joe Kramer started Ilesfay with a combined 30 years of engineering experience. They had seen their clients at A&A struggle with information exchange while working on large projects.

For example, teams of people around the world can be contributing to the same project. Every time a small change is made to an engineering design, the teams have to exchange huge amounts of data – measured in terabytes. (For a bit of context: One terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes. An average Blue-ray disc contains about 50 gigabytes). Right now companies transmit the data by leasing expensive fiber-optic lines or using virtual private networks (VPNs), which are not only also expensive but require a lot of manpower.

Ilesfay uses a cloud-based service to replicate the data.

Ilesfay aimed to raise a seed round of $500,000 but was met with such great interest that the round oversubscribed by $115,000.

“The oversubscription confirms our interest and eagerness for Ilesfay’s technology to come to market,” CincyTech senior investment analyst Justin Thompson says. “The company’s patent-pending technology could drastically improve the way that multi-nation companies exchange information. This software will be a key investment for PLM and vaulting companies.”

Ilesfay has been piloting projects with Procter & Gamble since its formation.

By Sarah Blazak

Uptown Consortium boosts business retention through quarterly seminars

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

After visits to dozens of uptown businesses, the Hamilton County Development Company (HCDC) has launched a series of seminars designed to meet the immediate needs of local businesses.

It's part of the Consortium's business retention efforts. The first workshop, on business redesign, came after one-on-one meetings in Clifton, Mt. Auburn and Clifton Heights, University Heights and Fairview (CUF). The Consortium will meet with business owners in Avondale and Corryville, says Janelle Lee, director of business and community affairs at Uptown Consortium.

"We've decided to hold quarterly workshops on different topics, based on our meetings. Our next one is on marketing, and how to best reach your customers. What keeps our communities thriving, safe and clean are our small businesses, and we want to keep them in business," she says.

The Uptown Consortium is a non-profit community development corporation supported in part by some of Uptown's major employers, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, UC Health, TriHealth, the University of Cincinnati the Cincinnati Zoo. Those organization employ more than 50,000 people and have an annual economic impact of $3 billion.

HCDC is nonprofit business incubator and economic development agency aimed at retaining and creating jobs.

The design workshop featured local expert Andrew McQuilkin, chief strategic design efficer at BHDP Architecture, which specializes in retail design, store planning and branding. He was joined by Diane Agricola, an experienced interior redesigner and owner of Agricola Redesign LLC.

"They gave tips and trends on revitalizing your storefronts and entrances, and making small changes like updating hardware or painting. They also talked about branding concepts, or changing your awnings or windows to attract customers," Lee says.

Afterward, a local business, jewelry store D Raphael in Clifton, was chosen for a free redesign. The redesign took an afternoon and gave the business a more updated, sophisticated look, which better highlights owner David Raphael Brine pieces, he says.

"I've been in the store for so long that I no longer had a good perspective, and I was willing to trust in them to change things for the better," says Brine, who has been in is current location since 1981. "Right away people who owned stores nearby told me how great it looked, and another young man on his way to a yoga class came in specifically to tell me how much he liked it. It was totally unsolicited and gratifying."

To find out more about the outreach, go the the Uptown Consortium website.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter.

KnowledgeWorks works to change education system

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

What started 10 years ago as an effort to increase educational opportunities has grown into a national enterprise that has helped open up 35 small high schools and showed countless students the benefits of continued education after high school. For their decade of work, the University of Cincinnati's Economic Center has awarded KnowledgeWorks with the 2012 Community Service Award.

KnowledgeWorks joins the ranks of Duke Energy, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport as recipients of the award. The award is give to organizations that make a, "important local impact and a deep commitment to supporting economic research that guides policy or business practices."

“We are honored to be recognized by the Economics Center as we strive to improve education not just in our community, but throughout the United States,” says Brian Ross, KnowledgeWorks president and CEO. “As education budgets constrict, it’s important that school districts are able to identify ways to operate more efficiently without impacting the quality of learning for students.”

KnowledgeWorks uses three main ideas to create a complete overhaul of today's education, starting with access for children everywhere, creating better schools and transforming education from schooling to learning. One main contribution to the award was the work of KnowledgeWork's subsidiary, Ohio Education Matters (OEM). With OEM's Ohio Smart School Initiative, the organization presented more than $1 billion in savings in many different areas. With the idea of doing more with less, KnowledgeWorks knows it must plan for educational system that will be much different in coming years.

Not as a way to predict the future, but as a way to guide what will happen in the future, KnowledgeWorks created the 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning. The forecast highlights six major areas of change -- altered bodies, amplified organizations, platforms for resilience, a new civic discourse, the maker economy and pattern recognition. While the forecast is difficult to sum up in few words, it does integrate everything form technical advances, to citizen responsibility, to utilizing local resources.

By Evan Wallis