Buzz

What's old is new again at the Blue Manatee

Slow Family Living Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Blue Manatee, a local and independently owned bookstore in Cincinnati, created The Blue Manatee Boxes which inspire children and parents to be more creative. The idea is to encourage people to return to the basics and transform what's old to new again.

Read the full story here.

Favorite Cincy Find: Brush Factory

Designtripper Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A Cincinnati couple turned a 120-year old factory in Brighton into a creative workshop for their brand known as Brush Factory. Rosie Kovacs utilizes the first floor for designing and sewing clothing items while Hayes Shanesy refurbishes motorcycles and creates wood objects and furniture for their retail shop in Oakley.

Read the full story here.

Hip Northside makes Cincinnati perk

Columbus Dispatch Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Northside has flourished into a new hot-community with unique attractions, restaurants, and shops for all ages. Music plays a prominent role in the Northside culture with independent record store, Shake It, and many locations that offer live music day and night. Restaurants also offer a variety from affordable meals to vegan and green choice options.

Read the full story here.

Cincy restaurants, hotels win AAA Four Diamond honor

Cincinnati Business Courier Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Six Cincinnati-area restaurants and four hotels received the prestigious AAA Four Diamond rating. All but one of the businesses were repeat winners, with Nicola's Ristorante in historic Over-the-Rhine being the sole newcomer.

Many of the winners were located in or around Downtown, but Oakley, Mount Adams, Over-the-Rhine, Covington were also neighborhood homes for the winners.

The ratings are based on surveys that judge hotels and restaurants on amenities, service and creative menus.

Read full article here.

Hamilton County taxes lower than its peers

PepTalk Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A recent Forbes survey finds that Hamilton County's property tax rate is the lowest, as a percentage of income, of Ohio's six largest urban areas, says Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper.

In his PepTalk blog, Pepper says that there are misconceptions about the county's tax rate, but that it's actually relatively low when compared to other metropolitan areas against which it competes for jobs, businesses, and talent.

The Forbes survey found that Hamilton County's property tax rate as a percentage of income was 26 percent lower than Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), 16 percent lower than Franklin County (Columbus), and 8.5 percent lower than Summit County (Akron).

Hamilton County's sales tax was also the lowest of the top six urban counties, tied with Summit County.

Read the blog post here.

Spohr appointed to direct SW Ohio workforce development

Ohio Department of Development Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Jennifer Spohr has been appointed as the regional workforce director of the Ohio Department of Development's (ODOD) Southwest Ohio office.

In her new role, Spohr will serve as a liaison to state government, local business leaders, elected officials, and economic and workforce development entities to meet the training and talent development needs of businesses throughout Hamilton, Butler, Warren, and Clermont counties.

Spohr joined ODOD in 2005 as coordinator for the Ohio Investment in Training Program and is currently on the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network's Hard-2-Hire Workforce subcommittee.

This year, she received from Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory the 2009 Super Award from the Workforce One Investment Board of Southwest Ohio in recognition for her work with the SuperJobs Center.

Read the full release here.

Ohio's 10 best-kept secrets

Ohio Business Development Coalition blog Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Following a year and a half of talking to Ohio's business leaders and executives, the Ohio Business Development Coalition has compiled a list of the ten best-kept secrets about doing business in Ohio.

Everybody knows about the relatively low cost of living and the advantageous location, but what other advantages does Ohio have?

I'm not going to give it all away here!

You'll have to read the full article here.

Mayor Mallory gets assurances from President Obama

Cincinnati Enquirer Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Following a meeting with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory says that he's assured that Cincinnati will receive its fair share of the $787 billion federal economic stimulus bill.

According to Mallory, the president told the 80 mayors in attendance that stimulus money will be on the streets within six months and is expected to be spent on projects within 18 months.

He was also pleased that $7 billion of the $12 billion set aside for transit projects would go directly to cities, instead of being funnelled through state governments.

"The president stressed several things, that he understands the importance of cities as it relates to stimulating the economy," Mallory tells the Enquirer.

Read the full article here.

Mayor Mallory names new YP Kitchen Cabinet

Cincinnati Enquirer Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A new Cincinnati Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet was announced Tuesday, and already they're charged with working on a major initiative.

The group must prepare a proposal, due this month, to host the 2009 Next Leaders Summit, the largest meeting of young professional groups in the nation.

Mayor Mark Mallory started the advisory group in 2006 in an effort to coordinate the activites of various YP groups throughout the region, with the goal of attracting and retaining young professionals.

This year saw a record number of applicants for the cabinet, Mallory tells the Enquirer.

Read the full article here.

Cincinnati submits $332M stimulus wish list

Business Courier of Cincinnati Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory has submitted a request for $332 million to fund 51 projects as part of the proposed $819 billion federal stimulus package.

The list includes $190 million in water and sewer projects, $74 million for new streets and related infrastructure, and $24 million for public improvements connected to neighborhood economic development initiatives.

Also requested was $12.6 million to conduct an engineering study to determine the best route for an Over-the-Rhine-to-Uptown streetcar connector.

Mallory estimates that more than 3,600 jobs would be created if the list of projects were fully funded.

Read the full article here.

Cincinnati in top 30 most wired cities

Forbes.com Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Cincinnati has ranked as the 28th most wired city in the United States, according to an annual evaluation conducted by Forbes.com.

Forbes measured cities' "wired quotient" by computing the percentage of Internet users with high-speed connections, the number of companies providing high-speed Internet, and the number of public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Placing between Philadelphia and Columbus, Cincinnati received top 20 marks for broadband adoption and Wi-Fi hotspots, but lost ground due to the number of service providers available.

Ohio has invested heavily in providing 100 percent broadband access throughout the state, and the Obama administration and House Democrats have proposed including $6 billion for broadband infrastructure as part of the economic stimulus package.

Read the full article here.

New regional transit agency in the works

Business Courier of Cincinnati Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Cincinnati and Hamilton County have reached an agreement on a new regional transit agency that could give more say to suburban governments - if they are willing to pay.

The Greater Cincinnati Regional Transit Authority would consist of a 13-member board, with seven being appointed by the City of Cincinnati and six from Hamilton County.

Butler, Clermont and Warren counties would be able to directly appoint board members if they formally join the new agency, and could gain a majority of the board seats if they contribute more than 50 percent of the agency's budget.

Both the City of Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Commission are likely to consider resolutions on the matter this month.

Read the full article here.

Cincinnati's library system earns top 10 ranking

WLWT.com Tuesday, October 28, 2008

For the third year in a row, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCHC) has ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Cincinnati placed 10th among 79 library systems in the "Over 500,000 population" category in Hennen's American Public Library Ratings.

The ratings are based on statistics such as circulation, customer visits per hour, and number of volumes owned per capita.

While PLCHC executive director Kim Fender is pleased with the ranking, she tells WLWT.com that "our Library is much more than the number of items on the shelves".

Read the full article here.

Cincinnati USA among 'best in class' of place branding initiatives

Branding Strategy Insider Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Cincinnati USA's branding efforts deliver a consistent and persuasive message, according to the Branding Strategy Insider. Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, writes that it is his belief that place branding is an effective strategy for accelerating the economic growth of a location, either through direct foreign investment or through the expansion of already established companies.

In his opinion, the Cincinnati region does a great job across seven different place branding strategies, making the area even more competitive for capital investment.

But Burghard warns that other cities and states are also in the game, so both the state and the region must continue to push their brand promises while continuing to improve their business climates.

Read the full article here.

Hamilton County in 3rd place in Green Counties Competition

Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Hamilton County is currently in third place in the large counties category in the National Association of Counties' Green Counties Competition.

The competition encourages county employees and residents to take the Energy Star Campaign pledge to save energy and help fight global warming.

By joining the pledge, employees and residents will receive a 10 percent discount on Office Depot's Green Brand Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, and the county with the most pledges will receive 1,000 free lightbulbs.

The competition runs through November 30.

Read the full release here (PDF).

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