Soapbox

Hebron's Pomeroy IT Solutions, an IT services and solutions provider, is hiring 30 full-time service desk positions.

"We are pleased that our clients continue to count on us to perform important Service Desk support for their business operations and IT environments," said Chris Froman, Pomeroy IT Solutions President and CEO. "In a time when many companies have hiring freezes in effect, the addition of these new positions is great for our company and our community."    

The Northern Kentucky company's global service desk has more than 300 workers who take more than 1.8 million calls per year from customers in 65 countries in 9 languages. Clients include Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics, Jefferson County Public Schools, Harlan Independent Schools and MidAmerican Energy Company.

These new jobs will support a new multi-year outsourcing contract and the expansion of work for existing clients.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Pomeroy IT Solutions Communications
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The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is expanding the region's economic worldview, with a first-time, Chamber-led trip to Beijing and Shanghai this summer.

 

The Tourism and Trade Mission Tour mixes business and pleasure in a single trip. 

 

"It’s for both tourism and business purposes. Last year Chamber President Steve Stevens went on this trip with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and it was a great experience for him. That's why we decided to offer it," said Kelly Jones, Northern Kentucky Chamber coordinator of business development and international trade.

 

The trip will be Sept. 11-19 and is open to both Chamber members and non-members. The tour's business portion will include a trip to the 2010 World Expo business and culture event, and networking with Chinese business with help from the Kentucky Economic Development Office in Beijing.  The Tourism portion will include visits to the Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and a boat cruise. 

 

Those taking the business tour can participate in some of the tourism events. The business tour is limited to 25 businesses, while the tourism portion has a flexible number of spots, Jones said.

 

"We're investing so much time customizing each trip for the businesses that we had to limit it," Jones said. Business owners will be able to meet up with potential partners in China, one of the world's emerging economic powers.

 

"This could be an untapped market for some companies, and this is a great way to make connections," Jones said.

 

The all-inclusive trip, including Four- and Five-Star accommodations, is $1,999 per person for chamber members and $2,199 per person for non-members. Find out more here. Interested? There will be a free, pre tour briefing at Oriental Work in Fort Mitchell on Feb. 18

 

Writer: Feoshia Henderson

Source: Kelly Jones, Northern Kentucky Chamber coordinator of business development and international trade

A Northern Kentucky company has introduced technology that could impact everything from air travel and ground transportation to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Covington-based Valley Forge Composite Technologies just completed Thor LVX, an explosive detection system that performs a direct chemical detection of narcotics and explosives inside sealed containers.
The technology can be used to scan luggage at airports, sealed containers at borders and cargo ports and even to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in war zones. IEDs, also known as roadside bombs, are responsible for large numbers of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan and are difficult to detect and disarm.

The technology can also penetrate barriers, such as metal plates, that are often used to shield detection.
"People may not focus on this technology today, but as soon as it becomes available, it's a game changer," said Louis Brothers, president of Valley Forge Composite Technologies. "It's the biggest piece of equipment to hit the market since 9/11."

Read the entire article here.

Tax incentives offered by Newport and the state helped entice a company to locate a call center in the Newport Shopping Center.

Indianapolis-based Defender Direct Inc. has announced it will open the call center by the end of January and will eventually employ 100 people full-time.

"We think that region right there has great sales people," said John Corliss, chief operating officer for Defender Direct. "That is a reflection of our northern Cincinnati site. That is a really strong location for us."
Defender Direct distributes and markets products for ADT Security Services, Dish Network and General Electric Security Services.

Defender Direct's choice to locate in Newport comes on the heels of both the city and state approving a 10-year payroll tax incentive for the company. Newport City Commission in November agreed to lower the city payroll taxes for the company from 2.5 percent to 2 percent for each Kentucky resident employed at the call center. The state agreed to lower its payroll taxes by 1.5 percent for Kentucky residents employed there. At the time, the company was interested but hadn't committed to Newport.

Read the entire article here.

A deal to bring a new manufacturing facility to Boone County is practically in the bag.

Coating Excellence International, a Wisconsin-based flexible packaging company, plans to open a facility on Aviation Boulevard in Hebron early next year. The company will manufacture bag liners for pet food at the plant.

"It's a good location for us," Mike Nowak, the company's president, said. "We have customers all over the Southeast and we can get to almost all of the locations we need to in one day."

Coating Excellence International was awarded a $1 million Kentucky Industrial Development Act (KIDA) incentive earlier this year and was recently offered an economic development bond of $250,000, which would be deducted from the original incentive.

KIDA incentives are usually recouped through a waiver of state corporate income tax liability or the retention of 3 percent of the gross wages of new employment generated by the project. The bond offer allows the company to use funds immediately to defray costs associated with opening the new facility.

Read the entire article here.

Undergrads from Northern Kentucky University, University of Cincinnati, Xavier, University of Dayton and Miami will compete in the first ever NKU business plan competition.

The "Reality Check" Undergraduate Business Plan Competition will pit eight teams against each other for $10,000 in prizes. The first-place team will get an invite to the prestigious national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Celebration in June.

"Building entrepreneurial culture is critical to the health of our regional economy and all of the universities involved have collaborated to promote a spirit of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in our collective programs," said Bill Cunningham, director of the Fifth Third Bank Entrepreneurship Institute at Northern Kentucky University.

In keeping with the "Reality Check" theme of the contest, well-known in the web, tech, and social media worlds, Alltop.com founder Guy Kawasaki will give the keynote  - via SKYPE -  on the realites of launching a startup in the current economy. Alltop.com is a new sharing and aggregation site.

The competition has been funded by the Griggs Family Foundation, in Union, to encourage entrepreneurship at NKU and in the region.

First prize is $5,000, second prize is $2,500 and third prize is $1,000. There's also a $1,000 elevator pitch prize. Prize money will be divided among the students.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Bill Cunningham, director of the Fifth Third Bank Entrepreneurship Institute at Northern Kentucky University.

The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission has been inspired by its neighbors in the  Covington Art District. The Commission, which provides emergency housing, education and other services to low-income families in eight Northern Kentucky counties, has now devoted the first floor of their administrative services center at 717 Madison Avenue, to the NKYCAC Art Gallery.

"It's a natural extension of the all the art galleries in Covington," said NKYCAC public information officer Karen Bishop. "We’re just across the street from the Madison Theatre and the artists on Madison and Pike Streets, and decided to put an art gallery in our lobby downstairs to be a part of it."

The gallery opened in October 2007 with an exhibit by Duvenek Center art students. Five artists' work will be on display through December 23rd in the "The Holiday Presence" exhibit. Most art is for sale and proceeds from this and other exhibits go to both the artists and the Commission.The gallery's works rotate every two months, and will promote local artists in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati.

The gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 p.m. Local art district fixture Arlene Gibeau, former director of the Northern Kentucky Arts Council, is the curator. The gallery is also part of the Covington's First Friday Gallery hop, on the first Friday of each month.

Current showcasing artists include:Jane Bresser, Porcelain; Richard Overman, Ceramics;
Diane Kruer, Jewelry and Photography; Rena Gibeau, Fabric and Crochet, and Amy Weber, Fabric and the Needle.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: NKYCAC Public Information Officer Karen Bishop

Covington-based TiER1 Performance Solutions won a $750,000 research contract from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to develop a training system to detect and prevent insider cyber security threats.

Insider cyber security threats are considered one of the highest threats to U.S government and business data security. TiER1, founded in 2002, is a provider of end-to-end online learning and knowledge management solutions. Other clients include FedEx, Fidelity Investments, Kraft, Wendy's and Procter & Gamble.

"Our solution will provide a comprehensive training delivery platform that employs serious games and instructional support features for supervisors to practice skills in cyber threat detection," said Terence Andre, Principal Consultant for TiER1.

The Phase II funding Small Business Innovative Research award is a first for the company and a growth area for TiER1. "Winning this highly competitive award provides a strategic entry into the fast growing field of Cyber Security, and positions TiER1 as a leader in training solutions required to combat these threats to our national security," said Normand G. Desmarais, TiER1's Co-Founder and Chairman.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: TiER1 Performance Solutions

Casey Barach, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Northern Kentucky ezone, announces the creation of some new jobs in the region.

Watch the video here.

If you want to make your pockets jingle with more money for the holidays, GSI Commerce in Richwood wants to hire you and more than a hundred others.

"We're looking for probably an additional 175-200 seasonal associates right at the moment," said Paul Chisholm, vice president and general manager of GSI Commerce, which ships packages to online consumers for companies such as NASCAR and Dick's Sporting Goods. "We're doing on-the-spot interviewing and hiring, and we do on-site drug testing to try to make it pretty painless for folks."

Someone who interviews Thursday and passes a background check can be working in the highly automated facility as soon as Thursday night, if they're interested in working evening hours, or Friday if they prefer working through the day, he said.

Read the entire article here.

The goal would be ambitious even in the best of economic times. In the worst of times, it appears virtually insurmountable: Create 200,000 jobs in little more than a decade.

Yet that's what local business and community leaders say they're committed to accomplishing. The goal isn't just aggressive, they say, it's essential to transforming the region into one of the nation's leading metropolitan areas.

The job-growth objective is a cornerstone of the Agenda 360 communitywide plan for growth. Unveiled in February, Agenda 360 was the product of two years of community meetings led by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. From more than two dozen meetings involving 1,500 people, organizers identified goals to guide their efforts and those of other organizations around the region through 2020. To measure progress, three simple but lofty goals were laid out, the most audacious being the plan to create 200,000 jobs by 2020.

Read the entire article here.

The best businesses grow where desire meets need. Jennifer Mitchell, owner of Superb by Design, began designing websites for fun in 1997. She never guessed that her hobby would carve a new path for her career.

Last November, Mitchell was laid off from an HR job in downtown Cincinnati. A friend, whom Mitchell had helped with a corporate website, encouraged Mitchell to craft websites as a full-time vocation.

"I started networking in January, just to find out if there was room for another web design firm in Cincinnati," said Mitchell. She built her clientele while sending out resumes, but soon became confident that Superb by Design could create the lifestyle and job satisfaction she craved.

"I love what I do. Being my own boss is wonderful, and you meet some really great people."

Mitchell builds up her contacts with online and face-to-face networking. She is director of the Cincinnati chapter of Like Minded Moms, a women's business community, and leads an online business group on Meetup.com. Mitchell also attends Women's Idea Network, New Media Cincinnati, and several business collaboratives.

Web design has seen a lot of change since 1997, providing Mitchell with challenges and chances to grow.

"Many people are still designing websites the same way we were eight years ago - before BlackBerrys. Today's small businesses need a site that's accessible no matter what platform you use - from a cell phone to a three-monitor station. YouTube is now the second largest search engine. With people wanting video on their sites, I've had to learn more about incorporating it."

Superb by Design currently operates in Mitchell's Florence home, though she's considered opening a separate office as the business expands. She subcontracts with a photographer, a graphic artist, and a copywriter, and may hire administrative help in the next year.

Writer: Elena Stevenson

Source: Jennifer Mitchell, Owner, Superb by Design

Two Northern Kentucky startups, with help from the Northern Kentucky ezone, have been awarded a total of $630,000 in Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation grants.

TiER1 Performance Solutions and Verst Group Logistics were the only Northern Kentucky companies named to the Inc. 5000 for 2009.

The Inc. 5000 lists the fastest-growing, privately owned companies in the U.S. in terms of revenue growth from 2005 through 2008.

“We congratulate TiER1 Performance Solutions and Verst Group Logistics on their success and inclusion in the Inc. 5000 list,” says Dan Tobergte, President & CEO of Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation (Tri-ED).  “Both companies are led by an energetic and aggressive team of executives.  It is exciting to watch them grow and succeed in Northern Kentucky.”

Tier1 Performance Solutions, in Covington, a leading provider of end-to-end online learning and knowledge management solutions, helps commercial, non-profit and government organizations implement effective, efficient knowledge management solutions.  Some of their clients include Federal Express, Luxottica, Kroger and the U.S. Air Force. The companies ranking improved from 3,351 in 2007 to 2,848 in 2009. TiER1 ranked number 33 in the “Education” industry.

Verst Group Logistics, in Walton, the premier provider of warehousing, transportation and logistics services, ranked 3,255 on the Inc. 5000 list and number 82 in “Logistics & Transportation.”  The company has been included on the Deloitte Cincinnati USA 100, a list of the region’s largest privately held companies, in 2008 and nine additional years.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Cheryl Besl, STRATA-G COMMUNICATIONS