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NKY students win scholarships to Gateway through new UpTech program

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Three Northern Kentucky high school students won scholarships to Gateway Community and Technical College through an innovative new UpTech program that challenges students to apply advanced manufacture learning through competition.

Eleven Kenton County high schoolers competed for the scholarship earlier this month. Competitors were sophomores and juniors who have been taking college courses while still in high school. The scholarship pays for up to 24 credit hours at Gateway.

UpTech is a new business informatics incubator launched by several Northern Kentucky institutions, including Northern Kentucky University, Tri-Ed, e-zone and Vision 2015. The intense, six-month accelerator program includes $100,000 in funding.

This latest scholarship program reaches into the advanced manufacturing area, which is a strong source of Northern Kentucky job growth. Called mUpTech, the program seeks out area talent at the high school level, and encourages learning through competition and college aid.

"mUpTech, was born out of our region’s need to stimulate interest and innovation in our manufacturing industry,” says UpTech co-founder Casey Barach. “Over the last 12 years, over 300 companies have used the e-zone, and only three were in the manufacturing industry.”

This year, all competing students came from the newly developed Kenton County School District’s Academy of Innovation and Technology. The high school houses six academics that focus on real world learning, including biomedical sciences, engineering and high performance production technology.

As part of their learning, academy students must complete and present a project related to their learning. Divided into two-person teams (one student competed alone), students from the high performance production technology academy presented their projects and participated in the mUpTech competition. It was held at the Gateway Center for Advanced Manufacturing.

Winners were juniors Matt Flanagan and Austin Ernst, who developed a speedy tractor lift, and sophomore Wendy Webster, who created a window heater.

"Their families were really floored," says Academy director Francis O'Hara. "This will be a life-changing experience for them."

mUpTech’s partners include Gateway Community and Technical College, Tri-ED, ezone, Vision 2015, UpTech and Duke Energy Foundation. Plans in the next year are to expand the program into Boone and Campbell counties, and to include more of the region's advanced manufacturing business community in judging, Barach says.

By Feoshia H. Davis
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

HCBC opens new CoWorks space for entrepreneurs, startups

Tuesday, March 05, 2013
The Hamilton County Business Center is Cincinnati's oldest incubator, and has evolved over the decades as the economy has changed.

Startups are leaner and meaner now than ever before, and HCBC is piloting the region's latest coworking space, where small businesses can get many of the benefits of being in an incubator without the higher overhead.

HCBC's CoWorks had a very quiet launch late last fall. With three businesses in the space, which is located in Norwood, Executive Director Pat Longo is now getting the word out about HCBC.

"This has grown out of our affiliate program," Longo says. "There were companies that weren't yet ready to apply for the incubator but they wanted to be around it."

HCBC has recently upgraded its conference room space, which has been attractive to small companies like SCORE, SBDC and Meetups that want to present themselves more professionally, says Longo.

HCBC has 45 companies that last year generated over $18 million in revenues, accessed over $8 million in capital and created nearly 50 jobs.

Renting CoWorks space on a month-to-month basis starts at $75 per month, and includes:
  • 24-hour, 7-day-a-week access
  • WiFi
  • Concierge and receptionist services
  • Free parking
  • Fax, scanner and copier services
  • Kitchen
  • Up to four hours per month of conference room use
  • A mailing address
"We talk about having an entrepreneurial ecosystem, but I like to think of (HCBC) as a coral reef," Longo says. "We have a lot of life, people can grow, there is lots of nourishment and places to go and hide if you need a quiet place to work."

CoWorkers will have access to the incubator entrepreneurial atmosphere, programming and resources. Some are free, while others have a fee attached.

"They'll get the benefits of being a client," Long says. "And we hope when they are ready, they'll move into the incubator."

Currently, there is space for about 12 companies, with potential room to grow. Interested businesses can find out more on the CoWorks website, where interpreters can fill out an application.

By Feoshia H. Davis
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Sweaty Bands kick knockoffs to the curb in Linwood

Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Donna Browning was a fitness teacher with an annoying problem: hair in her face and headbands that would not stay put. Today, she’s selling her solution to that problem, dubbed “Sweaty Bands,” to women who’ve embraced her company’s tagline: “OMG…they don’t slip!”

An endorphin addict—she’s taught everything from Pilates and yoga to sculpting classes and cardio sessions—Browning loved to exercise but hated hair accessories that didn’t work with the microphone she wore to teach.

Sure she could solve the problem, she borrowed a sewing machine from a friend, grabbed supplies from a craft store and churned out headband after headband until she found an adjustable, elastic band that stayed in place.

Soon, she was toting a bag full of the headbands in her gym bag and selling them to friends at the gym. After driving up to Cleveland for some training from Ladies Who Launch, an organization that helps women become entrepreneurs, she launched Sweaty Bands.

“I didn’t want it to be a preppy ribbon-in-the-hair thing," Browning says. "I wanted it to be a kick your butt, sporty accessory." With a range of styles, including custom options, she says the company’s product has become so popular that now they’re noticing knockoffs popping up.

Still, Browning says, few competitors rival her team of in-house designers: “We’re constantly meeting, looking at magazines, going to the mall, and checking out upcoming trends so that what we have, nobody else will have.” These days, she’s focusing on custom orders for clients as large as John Freida, Pantene and Skinny Girl—or as small as a single headband.

By Robin Donovan

Vegan Roots translates Cincinnati’s culinary favs

Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The hardest thing about being vegan, according to Caitlin Bertsch, isn’t figuring out where and what to eat; it’s other people’s reactions. “They’re worried I’m judging them, or think they don’t eat correctly.”

Bertsch, the founder of Vegan Roots, launched her business with the creation of a vegan goetta that has garnered a lot of incredulous responses, but, Bertsch says, is loved by vegans and omnivores alike.

“What I’m trying to do with Vegan Roots is to address that and say, 'Hey, there’s a lot of good stuff out there that can be made vegan.' Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it’s not tasty.”

Bertsch is a Xavier University grad who studied math and sociology before earning her master’s degree in anthropology. A travel addict, she’s studied abroad and worked in international development overseas and in Washington, DC. When she moved back to Cincinnati and settled down in East Walnut Hills, she set out to find a job locally.

“It’s hard to find international-related work in Cincinnati, so I needed to find another creative outlet,” Bertsch says. She enrolled in ArtWorks’ Springboard program, which helped her settle on goetta as her first product. She’d developed the recipe by gathering pork-based recipes, raiding her spice cabinet for just the right combinations and testing, testing, testing. When she brought her final creation in for Springboard classmates to taste, the vote was nearly unanimous: this could be the foundation of her business.

Bertsch hopes to expand her footprint, and is anxiously searching for rentable, commercial kitchen space that would allow her to crank out larger batches. She currently supplies vegan goetta to the Brew House in Walnut Hills, which offers it as a salad topping, and Bella Vino in West Chester, which plans to add mini vegan goetta sandwiches to its menu.

By Robin Donovan

Red Brick builds foundation for best college fit

Tuesday, February 05, 2013
“Helicopter parents are very apparent—no pun intended,” says Jessica Donovan*, founder of Red Brick College Consulting. “A lot of parents tend to be that way, but there are some on the other end of the spectrum as well. I get both.”

According to Donovan, anxious parents often relax once they see a plan and a timeline for their child's college planning. Once everyone is comfortable, she turns her attention to each student’s strengths and weaknesses, and helps suss out which college might truly be the best fit.

“A big part of consulting is getting the parents and the students to talk to each other,” she says. “Mom and Dad have an expectation and Sally or Joe has a different expectation.” In these cases, Donovan says she’ll help students identify their strengths and goals, then give them data to discuss with parents.

A former assistant dean at the University of Cincinnati, Donovan launched Red Brick last October to advise students and parents during their college search. Donovan, who is “part student advocate, part counselor, part admissions guru,” meets first with students and their parents to identify broad goals and gather ideas. After that, she keeps in touch with students in person or via Skype— and both parties leave each meeting with homework.

For Donovan, having an academic background sets her apart from her peers, many of whom have guidance counseling or psychology backgrounds. Her services range from evaluating academic records and course schedules to recommending co-curriculars and test-prep services. She offers services bundled as a package deal, a la carte or hourly, including timelines, preparation for college visits, essay critiques and even detailed lists of scholarships by institution.

Still, when it comes to completing applications, Donovan says she expects students to take the lead. “I don’t write the essays, fill out the FAFSA or fill out the application. The student owns that process.”

Donovan says students as young as middle school age can start taking the steps toward finding the right college for them. Although she says a student’s sophomore year is an ideal starting point for her services, she’ll work with students, including transfer students, at any point in the process.

Donovan is currently accepting students for her fall caseload and advises families to begin their work with her during the summer months.

By Robin Donovan

Body Boutique fitness classes pump up Hyde Park

Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Candice Peters doesn’t reach for platitudes when asked what she wishes women knew about working out. Her goal is simple and straightforward: “That they can lift heavier!” The trainer and founder of Hyde Park Body Boutique has carved out a niche just a few miles north of downtown with her women-only workout facility.

Unlike the typical gym, there are no ellipticals and no treadmills; the primary services offered are various workout classes, as well as in-home personal training provided by Peters and her staff. It can be hard to identify the most popular class because they’re usually booked with young professionals in the evenings and, often, new or stay-at-home moms in the mornings, but Peters says TRX and Spincinnati (think of a spinning class with light weights and pumped-up music) classes fill up quickly.

“We cater to women of all ages,” Peters says, noting a concentration of young professionals ages 25-34, especially those who recently got married or plan to have kids soon. Still, she adds, “We have athletes, we have people who haven’t worked out in years and we have people who are looking to lose 150 pounds.”

Peters’ staff comprises an office manager and five part-time trainers who help local ladies get stronger. Peters isn’t a proponent of crash dieting or even protein powder in particular, and she says that she reminds all of her clients that 80 percent of their fitness is due to nutrition, not working out. 

Another 80/20 rule she follows is her advice about effort levels. “In general, if you have to be doing great things 80 percent of the time, the other 20 percent of the time you can slack off. You have to give yourself a break.”

She should know; Peters works an 80-hour work week, and plans to launch Over-the-Rhine Body Boutique in June. Along with her training and teaching, she’s fundraising with SoMoLend and planning a social media campaign to raise crowdfunding for new equipment. For a woman on the move, it's just one more way to stay active.

By Robin Donovan

Inna's Harmony assuages mid-life health woes

Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Although Inna Aracri describes herself as “a regular person” in her health coaching work—she is not a nutritionist or a dietician—her approach to coaching incorporates techniques that might puzzle a mainstream medical practitioner.
 
Ukraine-born Aracri is the proprietor of Inna’s Harmony LLC, a health consultancy that takes a holistic approach to improving people’s overall wellbeing. The bulk of Inna’s Harmony clients are looking for help with common problems such as losing weight or improving energy levels, but what sets Aracri apart is her approach, which mixes nutrition, general health counseling and spirituality.
 
So, while Aracri might spend the bulk of her time teaching people how to eat healthy and prepare nutritional meals, she also offers crystal healing and reiki along with raw food training, recipe tips and cooking demonstrations.
 
"If people are open to the alternative modalities, I always offer energy healing as a part of the package,” says Aracri, who offers package deals to encourage clients to try her other services. “People are more familiar with health coaches or food counselors versus energy healing. But by learning how to deal with their body—there’s more to it than muscles and tissues and bones—they open new doors to learn how they can help themselves through spiritual development.”
 
For Aracri, advising her clients means not only talking about healthy eating habits, but also teasing out the reasons they’re not thriving. For some, she advises more time outdoors; for others, she discusses the importance of healthy relationships.
 
And while she’ll work with people of almost any age, Aracri says she sees lots of people in their 40s. “They have family, career, finances, but they’re not happy because they don’t feel good,” she says. “They neglect their bodies because they feel fine when they’re younger, but when people reach their 40s, they may start not feeling good. The body can only serve so long without breaking down on the wrong fuel that you put into it.”
 
By Robin Donovan

Private-session Pilates in Mt. Washington appeals to all ages

Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Nancy Trapp has very few excuses for not getting in regular workouts. The Pilates instructor and owner of Studio NT works from her home, which is equipped with mats, machines and plenty of space to stretch.

Trapp grew interested in Pilates after lower back and hamstring tension left her seeking a fix. Yoga didn’t work, but she found relief with classical Pilates. After six weeks, she says, “I was standing up taller. My husband didn’t have to remind me not to slouch anymore.”

Trapp’s typical session lasts 55 minutes and she recommends clients come twice a week. She offers group mat classes to supplement individual sessions. She earned her certification from the Pilates Method Alliance after completing a 600-hour training program in May 2012.

Pilates (and especially classical Pilates) is different from yoga in that it focuses not just on mat exercises, but also involves a range of equipment that facilitates exercises promoting core strength, balance and stability. Some modern Pilates instructors offer mat-based classes for practical reasons, but Trapp, who often works with clients one-on-one, prefers the mental work of figuring out which exercises best fit each individual.

“I have a client who is 75 and has never exercised in her life who comes two days a week," says Trapp. "Now, she says, ‘I can’t miss a day because I feel great.' " 

And the senior client is not alone. “I’m loving my older clientele, my 60s, 70s and older. I’m getting some more referrals for people that age. I like to teach everybody, but they can feel the difference quicker than somebody who might be doing all different types of [exercise].”

For Cincinnatians looking to stretch themselves in a new way, Studio NT may be just the place to start.

By Robin Donovan

Etsy success spurs event planning business

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Rachel Murphy grew a fan base by launching an Etsy store for her jewelry and décor, such as personalized wire letters, hair accessories and wedding favors while she worked full-time at a consuming nonprofit position. When she launched Rachel Lynn Studio, an event planning business, she decided to try to join the two customer bases.

“I don’t do catering, entertainment or photography, and I don’t rent out facilities,” she says, but it takes her a minute to come up with that list because there are so many services she does provide.

Unlike a typical event or wedding planner, Murphy will not only meet with individuals or groups to choose a theme, set colors, coordinate vendors and be there on the big day, she also makes many of the props and decorative elements these events require. Murphy offers her services a la carte—think bouquets or centerpieces—or at a flat rate for corporate events, weddings and other happenings.

Murphy says she enjoys working with couples who don’t want a cookie-cutter event. “I wish people knew that anything is possible,” she says of wedding planning in particular. “People get so nervous they’re not going to fit a certain mold of what they expect to see at traditional weddings.”

One tip Murphy says she offers for weddings and corporate events alike is to create a schedule that keeps moving and isn’t expected. Getting married at 6 p.m.? Offer a cocktail hour before the ceremony, or even some live music and dancing. “Make sure there’s not time when people are just standing around waiting,” she says.

To keep a wedding’s timeline flowing, Murphy advises couples to take pictures before the wedding, which she says limits the pre-dinner lull. “It can also take away some of the nerves to see each other beforehand,” she says.

And while she can craft invitations, bouquets and centerpieces, Murphy doesn’t shy away from special requests. For example, when a lesbian couple wanted a wedding with only vendors open to their relationship, Murphy vetted each one. Whether she’s designing earrings for the bride, running the show or tracking down vendors, there are few tasks this planner won’t tackle.

By Robin Donovan

No-show Keysocks keep feet happy in heels

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Shelby McKee had had it with the bulky shoes and socks that cold Cincinnati winters require. Heading out to a Bengals game one crisp evening, she reached into her husband’s sock drawer and nabbed a pair of dress socks. With a pair of cute flats in mind, she cut oblong holes in the tops of the socks that revealed just the tops of her feet when she slipped on her shoes.

Mike Crotty, a family friend who has been in the textile business for years, was able to source out Keysocks in China, and help McKee find the right factory. “We probably had 45 prototypes made in all, and all the factories were puzzled, wondering, ‘What do you mean? A sock with a hole in it?’” McKee says with a laugh.

Several years later, with her multi-talented family and friends helping out with everything from IT to PR to sourcing a manufacturer, McKee’s Keysocks—a name coined by her friends at the Bengals game—are hitting retail shelves.

The business earned an early, fortuitous bump in sales when the product was featured in Real Simple, a consumer magazine that offers hip ways to make life easier. Today, the product is in about a dozen retail stores, mostly small boutiques. “The reason why we didn’t go straight to retail like Target or department stores yet is because no one has ever seen this product before, and if it sat on a shelf, nobody would know what it is,” McKee says. “We started with the Internet and getting it out on social media.”

Although the socks were designed not to show, their open-foot design has spread in popularity from women, like McKee’s friends, to girls, who started asking for fun colors and patterns. Currently, Keysocks are available in black and nude hues. Brown is on its way, along with turquoise-and-gray stripes. Girls' socks in turquoise and a navy/raspberry stripe are also in the works.

Like some small businesses, McKee doesn’t take returns, but she doesn’t do it to save money. In fact, McKee says she encourages any unhappy users to pass along the product, figuring it will easily find a happy home: “I just want everybody to be comfortable!”

By Robin Donovan

Alex Burkhart of Tixers

Tuesday, January 15, 2013
How did you start your business?
Competing in and winning Cincinnati Startup Weekend helped jumpstart the concept and aligned me with the right people to help get me started.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I’m an avid sports fan who grew up traveling to every Major League Baseball park. The idea hit me this year, when I went to three major sporting events in a 24-hour time span: a Notre Dame football game, an Indianapolis Colts game and a Cincinnati Bengals game. I also work in loyalty marketing at Macy’s and wanted to tie in that concept with sports. 

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?
I took advantage of the rapidly growing startup community in Cincinnati. It first started with Cincinnati Startup Weekend, but it has grown through relationships established from the competition, mainly from organizers and judges of the competition. Chris Ridenour and Tim Metzner (organizers) and Tarek Kamil (judge) have been instrumental in this. Chris also organizes a tech Meetup in town called Cincinnati Web/Tech Drink Up, which brings many people in the startup scene together once a month. 

Also, the events and opportunities offered through the Brandery and Cintrifuse have been a huge help. The innovation culture and community they are creating is on the verge of exploding. In addition, I am a graduate and a current MBA student at Xavier University and their entrepreneurship department has been a great resource. 

What inspires you?
Passion and purpose. I am currently in the corporate world, but startups and innovation really invigorate me. I want to build something that I have passion for. My current venture, Tixers, really combines my passion for sports, marketing and entrepreneurship. I want to wake up every day knowing that I was able to create something that not only creates value for my customers (sports fans), but also to those of us who work to create this. 

A great book written by the CEO of Zappos, Passion, Purpose, and Profits, is an example of a medium that really inspired me to become an entrepreneur. 

What’s next for you and your company?
The next steps are finalizing the team that can really take this concept to the next level and working with those people (mentors, technical services, potential investors, etc.) in the startup community who can help me do this. I’m also continuing to build out the website and/or app, and plan to launch in the near future. 

Interview by Robin Donovan

At Cinsational, corporate know-how spells sweet success

Tuesday, January 15, 2013
It sounds like a trick question. How can you be a fitness model and the owner of a successful small bakery at the same time?  

Jenn Hardin does just that as the proprietor of Cinsational Sweet Treats. She wakes up between 3:30 and 4 a.m. to measure, mix and sample sparingly. She bakes until dawn, shipping out a fresh batch of scones and other treats to Nordstrom, her largest client, six days a week.

Because Hardin uses the same base for her muffins, she’s able to taste sparingly. “I love cupcakes, and when I make them I’ll eat one, but I also compete in fitness bikini pageants twice a year, so I eat very, very healthy,” she says. “I go to the gym four to five times a week. I have a 4-year-old, so I have to keep up that energy!”

In fact, keeping to a strict diet is what helped news of Hardin’s skill in the kitchen spread. As an IT recruiter, she’d bake late at night and take the treats into her office or to small functions. People began requesting donations for small events, and, eventually, asked her how to buy her product. “It truly started out of my own kitchen,” Hardin says.

Local investors have latched on to this energetic baker, and Hardin has already turned down offers to supply Nordstrom eateries in Columbus and Pittsburgh until she has a retail space. Meanwhile, she’s growing her bottom line with private events.

Hardin’s IT recruiting background isn’t divorced from her current success, either. The same skills she used to match job hunters with employers came into play when she won her pivotal wholesale account with Nordstrom by proving she was a match for the store’s clientele.

“I use all natural, though not organic, high-end ingredients," she says. "A higher-end clientele will pay for that and appreciate it." She offered to present her product to visiting higher-ups with a personalized touch, and helped managers streamline invoices by reducing the number of vendors who supplied their café, helping sweeten the both the store's menu items and their bottom line.

By Robin Donovan

Tixers hopes to score points with season ticket holders

Tuesday, January 15, 2013
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 events 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

Moving for Love fuels those who move for passion, not profession

Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Moving for Love harnesses a trend that arose from the recession’s rising unemployment and job dissatisfaction: people moving to follow their passions, rather than their professions. Owner Robin Sheakley, a third-generation member of the Sibcy family (her dad is Rob Sibcy, president of Sibcy Cline Realtors), created the company. She built on her own 15-year career in real estate and relocation, offering relocation assistance to people moving to follow a partner, a passion or favorite place.

“When you deal with a family business, it’s fun to try to put your mark on it,” Sheakley says, citing the growth of super-specialized online dating sites (think dating websites for farmers, for example). “I started thinking there are all these people dating online who may say, ‘You know what, I haven’t found anyone here, but I’ve always wanted to live in Chicago or Miami.’ But what happens if they find someone?”

She created Moving for Love to answer that question. The web-based service connects people ready to move with Personal Move Assistant and provides a secure online portal where both parties can upload documents and information from service providers, such as a moving company. The company’s services range from short-term rental assistance and realtor recommendations to moving estimates, cost-of-living comparisons and even personalized reminders, such as suggesting that it’s time to find a local physician to manage a medical condition in the new location.

The company is separate from its parent, Sibcy Cline, but shares some resources. However, the marketing budget has been scant since the website launched last July, Sheakley says. “I always like to walk before I run, so we have done no paid advertising. We are strictly organically getting our message out there. It’s been a slow start that we’re going to kick in from the beginning of the [2013].”

Moving for Love charges a flat fee, then provides services for up to 12 months, giving passion-prompted movers a chance to compare several potential locations before making their transitions.

By Robin Donovan

Ignite connects philanthropists, benefactors

Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Susan Ingmire is frank about the type of philanthropists she works with. “The vast majority would not be a good fit.” As president of Ignite Philanthropy Advisors, a “niche player,” Ingmire works with individuals and organizations who need help giving money away.

Some have inherited money and want to do a good job giving it away charitably. Others want help identifying their priorities, then mapping out a strategy that allows them to give according to certain goals, such as promoting education or supporting the arts. “It’s sometimes hard for people to say no when asked to give. If you have a strategy, then you can say we give in the areas of arts, education or health care. It’s how people learn to say no, or we say it for them,” Ingmire says. She teaches these investors to decide what to give and to whom, and even how to research organizations that pique their interest.

The firm mainly works on a retainer basis with Cincinnati-area clients giving away at least $25,000-$50,000 a year and up, with her smallest foundation gifting about $100,000 annually. Most business comes through referrals, especially from local attorneys and accountants. They provide advice, demystify the giving process and even offer administrative support, such as preparing agendas for foundation board meetings, writing checks and processing mail.

Ingmire started in the field as a serial volunteer, working as a foundation volunteer, mentor and with arts and housing programs. She also spent a decade with Fifth Third Bank’s trust department. And her idea of doing “less than I used to” means staying involved with the YWCA, Social Venture Partners Cincinnati, United Way and her church. And after spending so much time in the trenches, she embraces the joy in helping others support nonprofits. “When we can call up somebody and say, you’re getting $30,000 and here’s why, it’s a real joy.”

By Robin Donovan

For-profit Vine Street Ventures to fund top Brandery grads

Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Graduates of The Brandery, Over-the-Rhine’s popular startup accelerator, have access to a new pool of potential funding, with the recent launch of Vine Street Ventures Fund | LLC, a venture capital firm created by Brandery co-founders Robert McDonald, Brian Kropp and Dave Knox.
 
While Vine Street represents a for-profit reach by the nonprofit’s founders, some of The Brandery’s values have translated to the new firm. “The primary goal is making money for our investors. That said, we expect that the fund will also help the Cincinnati ecosystem by drawing additional top quality companies to Cincinnati and potentially encouraging them to stay,” said McDonald in an email.
 
The fund raised just under $1.4 million, according to an amended U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Dec. 10. Vine Street Ventures reported participation by 42 investors, each with a contribution of at least $15,000. The fund’s initial offering was $2 million.
 
Asked whether the recent addition of new venture capital agencies in Cincinnati made for a competitive atmosphere, McDonald expressed hopes that investors would bolster startups at various stages of development. 

“To effectively fund a venture track business, we need to have a horizontal offering of funding sources. Vine Street Ventures focuses on the early growth companies coming out of The Brandery, but our portfolio companies will likely need funding all the way from Series A [the initial round of venture funding] through Series ZZ, as the case may be. We are thrilled with the current activity in Cincinnati and welcome any other funds that visit the region.”

By Robin Donovan

Openfield Creative keeps an eye on escalating mobile use

Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Brian Keenan can describe a lot of projects he’s willing to take on as co-founder of Openfield Creative, but traditional advertising isn’t one of them. With the various skill sets in the air at Openfield, it’s probably not because the team couldn’t tackle that type of project, but with a growing demand for mobile-friendly websites, he and his team focus on web and mobile design with an eye to brand identity.

Like so many Cincinnati creative firms, Openfield was founded by DAAP grads; co-founders include Josh Barnes, Brandon Blangger and Keenan. The firm typically steps in once an overarching brand strategy has been defined, helping to roll out brand concepts across websites, mobile apps and more. That may mean crafting large graphics, video or digital design for landing pages or app interfaces, those so-called touchpoints consumers use to interact with a given company or brand.

The Openfield team also creates logos and other brand-based design elements and design standards and that define, for example, how photography is used with a particular brand, or specify unique design elements that set a company apart for a cohesive, branded look on company materials.

“We’re not an ad agency,” Keenan says. “We’re a design partner who gets in with our clients at a high level, understands the nuances.”
 
The company also offers staff-to-client interaction with anyone from their firm working on a project, rather than farming out interfacing to an account manager or other key staffer.

Keenan says the company name draws on a core value: Anyone (and everyone) is a creative, no matter what their background. Whether it be working with a new client or casting an eye toward the future, each member of the staff is expected to be ready to brainstorm.

“Immediately in front of us, we see a lot more mobile work as clients understand that their audiences are adopting global usage at an incredible rate,” Keenan says, noting that Openfield is creating more mobile apps than ever before. 

But he’s more proud of his company’s ability to learn and change than its current skill set. “For all we know, we may not design websites in the future, but we’re confident that there’ll always be a digital experience component. We’ll always have a place using design and smart technology to put together what our clients need.”

By Robin Donovan

Architectural renderings add dimension to design

Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Graeme Daley officially launched his business, Daley Renderings, two months ago, but says, with a laugh: “It’s not launched until somebody knows about it.” The Indian Hill native is offering estate, urban and graphic design with a focus on 3-D renderings.

He first got into design and renderings playing a game on his grandfather’s computer.

“At the time (1995) it was intensely crude, really just geometry," he says. "With technology over the past 10 or 15 years, you can now do almost anything you can imagine. The program I use is the same program Pixar uses to make their box office movies and the same program that’s used to make Halo."

Daley focuses on architectural renderings and targets clients, such as architects and real estate agents, whose larger projects won’t find the expense of such a rendering prohibitive. “The ideal person for what I do could either be an architect that’s come up with a showcase design and wants a presentation that conveys that, say, if you’re proposing a new tower or university building and want something to roll out to the public.”

The role of his renderings is to help take 2-D plans and drawings and enliven them. He illustrates with computer-generated videos of his 3-D renderings exactly how a project will look from various angles. Or, as in a recent case, in which Daley was hired by a local real estate firm, he can show different ways a project could appear. In this case, Daley created four potential uses for two adjacent lots, showing how driveways could be curved for privacy and even demonstrating how both houses could be replaced by a single mansion.

Because Daley went through what he calls “the nine-year Bachelor’s plan,” he has some experience in mechanical engineering and industrial design, as well as architecture. (He eventually graduated from the University of Cincinnati's College of DAAP, by the way.) And while he says he might make more money in other states with more new builds, he’s sticking close to home, and enjoys watching Cincinnati grow and improve.

By Robin Donovan

Simple Portrait Project captures personalities in 30-minute sessions

Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Commercial photographer Jonathan Robert Willis shares an almost stereotypical weakness with some fellow creatives: he hates artificial deadlines.

“I’m really good with hard, fast, we-need-it-yesterday commercial deadlines,” he says, describing the focus of his self-named photography business. When friends and family nagged him for photos, he launched The Simple Portrait Project, which mixes the speed of commercial work with traditional group portraits.

In sessions held once or twice a year, Willis gathers dozens of families or small groups, shooting each in the same space with the same prop. He spends just 30 minutes on each family from start to finish. “It’s great because it’s just enough time to get the best out of the kids before they melt down, and it’s short enough for dad who doesn’t want to be there to begin with in many cases,” Willis says.

That means that the family comes in and is posed, photographed and advised about prints, all in a half hour. For the last few minutes, Willis turns a critical eye to each set of photographs, helping subjects select a handful of the best photographs.  Still, he compares the sessions to a marathon, admitting: “It’s literally nonstop from about 9 am until 8:30 pm. I’m a little intimidated by it.” 

The project turns the angsty hair-pulling of traditional family photography on its head and, as it happens, yields eye-catching photos. The families don’t look like a J.Crew catalog, but they don’t look scruffy, either. Not everyone beams, and not everyone is even looking at the camera; Willis says his goal is comfortable, natural poses.

There’s one simple rule for participants: no matching clothes. “I can’t think of a single image where I’ve seen everybody in the same sweater where I’m like, ‘Wow, that was a great idea,’” Willis says. “You have to trust that I’m going to make something great, but you’ve also got to do your part, which is following that rule.”

Willis’ final session for the project in 2012 is Saturday, Dec. 8, with the potential for Sunday sessions depending on demand. He hopes to schedule the first session of 2013 around Easter.

By Robin Donovan

Trend Boutique flaunts affordable fashion in Oakley

Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Although she has a background in finance, and experience sussing out business plans during a career launched at IBM, Stephanie Rozanovich says she was surprised by some intial costs at her Oakley-based Trend Boutique. 

One thing she didn’t want customers to be worried about?  The cost of clothing at her boutique. Tired of the equation of “boutique” with “expensive,” she now offers most of her items for $100 or less.

The demographic for her store is roughly women 25-45. Rozanovich, herself 37, says she looks for designers that offer a young, contemporary look and whose fashions “don’t look like the stuff you see in chain stores.”

She takes buying trips each year, traveling to Chicago, New York and as far as Las Vegas, but stays focused on clothes that will work in the Midwest. Compared to, say, Los Angeles or New York, Rozanovich says her picks are a touch more conservative and take Ohio’s cold winters into account. “A lot of the designers in Los Angeles can do lighter knit year ’round, whereas we need warmer stuff in the winter, like coats that are a little bit thicker.”

“I start out honestly buying things I like because I don’t feel comfortable selling [clothing] to people if I don’t like it, I don’t like the fit, I don’t like the brand,” Rozanovich adds. She chose her Oakley space for its proximity to her east-side home and the area’s up-and-coming vibe. After weeding out a few out-of-town landlords – she was concerned they didn’t havea vested interest in the neighborhood – she found a local landlord whom she liked and who serves on an area community council.

Today, Rozanovich employees three part-time staffers and spends time on the sales floor as well. The Trend Boutique is open seven days a week on Oakley Square and online.

By Robin Donovan

Launch Werks prototypes help inventors attract funding

Tuesday, November 20, 2012
With big names in branding hovering in an around Cincinnati, it can start to seem like the brand is everything, and intangible products are the only thing that can really sell – and scale.

However, two industrial designers pairing up in Over-the-Rhine are challenging that assumption, combining their skills in design, engineering, and budding knowledge of manufacturing and sourcing materials at a start-up they call “The Launch Werks.”

As the name implies, The Launch Werks not only offers its own, tangible products, but helps small businesses and
innovators create prototypes from their ideas. That means doing everything from helping to design prototypes that consumers will rush to engage with to planning the look of the final object, imagining how people might interact with it, and even specifying the materials it should be manufactured from and where to purchase them.

Co-founders Noel Gauthier and Matt Anthony met as industrial design students at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) and quickly realized a shared interested in what happens after the design phase of a new product.

“The leap it takes to to go from an idea to a real product fascinates us," Gauthier explains. "So much happens when an idea is translated into a made thing. … Having worked in various product design firms around the country, we never had a close connection with where and how the products we designed were being made.”

So he and Anthony began to connect Cincinnati-area product development with high-quality manufacturing, filling a niche for companies that weren’t ready for large-scale production, but needed something to show potential investors.

Anthony says he sees an opening right now for foodie-friendly items. “I think we’re going to see more local stores and products follow developments in the food movement: making unique products and doing it well. But we want to see some of them scale the way that Jeni’s Ice Cream or Taste of Belgium has.”

For a city already big on branding, it might just be a tasty step in the right direction.

By Robin Donovan

Rhinehaus sports bar targets OTR locals, soccer fans

Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Aaron Kohlhepp and Jack Weston were two single guys on a mission: to find a place to watch March Madness in Over-the-Rhine. What started as a joke over drinks about starting their own bar will soon launch rhinehaus, Over-the-Rhine’s newest sports bar.

The venue will launch in mid-December at the corner of 12th and Clay streets, not far from Japps. Kohlhepp and Weston both have generous employers who will let them cut back to from full- to part-time positions at local financial institutions; Kohlhepp works in corporate marketing, and Weston works in accounting.

Kohlhepp says that discussions turned to concrete planning once they found their current space,an OTR building constructed in the late 1800s has hardwood floors and exposed brick. “We found that space and just thought it was a good spot on the main cooridor between Main Street and everything that’s going on on Vine.  Eventually the streetcar will go right past us if it ever happens, and the casino [that opens next spring] is just a couple blocks away.”

The rhinehaus name is a play not only on the bar’s local digs and Cincinnati’s German roots, but also its former occupant, Rhino’s Bar. Currently, renovations in the space include replacing the storefront and adding floor-to-ceiling glass
windows.

Because both Kohlhepp and Weston are soccer fans, their first order of business will be to broadcast English Premier League soccer games on weekends. They’re also wading through the process of getting a liquor license and brainstorming ways to partner with other locals.

One hurdle the duo has faced is the fact that while the bar has 18 taps, it doesn’t have a kitchen. “We’ve reached out to a couple of the food trucks and we’re going to talk to more of them in the coming weeks. … We want people to be here three-plus hours to watch games, so we’re going to try to feed them,” Kohlhepp says.

By Robin Donovan

Instagram-inspired Booth FX launches in O’Bryonville

Tuesday, November 13, 2012
“A digital spin on the traditional photo booth” is Kelley Andersen’s super-short explanation of Booth FX Photo Booth Company, which she launched with her partner, Allison Gates, last month. The pair built the idea for their company on a love of photo booths, two creative personalities and their vision for a photo booth that was more than a traditional, space-limited box.

“We first looked at the booths you can buy, and they were nice, but not what we were looking for," Andersen says. "We wanted something that was more digital. I love Instagram, and was trying to figure out how we could do that as a photo booth."

The booth they custom-built  – “with a lot of time and a lot of mistakes,” Andersen adds – measures 1.5 ft. by 1.5 ft., is 5.5 feet tall and incorporates software that allows photos to be viewed, edited and shared.

Rather expecting participants to hop inside, the booth houses the photography equipment. Participants gather in the space around the booth to snap a photo in front of customized backdrops the women create for each event with input from hosts.

Features of the booth include a wireless remote and a touchscreen for viewing images on the back of the booth. That allows attendees to view photos, use filter effects (much in the same way as one would with Instagram) and upload images to social media immediately. The co-founders provide wireless internet with a mobile hotspot.

Booth FX launched last month, and both founders still have full-time day jobs, Gates as a designer and Andersen as an insurance analyst. So far, they’ve been commissioned for fundraising events and they plan to reach out to local brides- and grooms-to-be to expand their business into weddings.

By Robin Donovan
 

Lisnr app connects artists, fans with exclusive extras

Tuesday, November 06, 2012
The initial concept for Lisnr came from Rodney Williams, but it came alive through a team of five co-founders on the Cincinnati StartUpBus en route to South by Southwest last March. “When I got on the bus, Lisnr didn’t have name, but within two hours, we had a presentation, and within another two hours, we had more things, and by the time we got to Austin, we had a working product,” he says.

Lisnr creates interactivity with songs and albums by packaging exclusive content created by musicians with music files. For example, say that an artist announces her next album will be Lisnr-enabled. This means you can buy a music file from any source and listen to it anywhere. With the Lisnr app running in the background, you receive exclusive content via automatic notifications based on the Lisnr-enabled tracks.

This content, which can be anything from a tour of the artist’s house to a peek at the song’s inspiration, comes from the artist. Backstage video, unreleased tracks, lyrics or artist interviews are other possible extras.

As you listen, the Lisnr app downloads content, saving it to your device. “An average fan will unlock many pieces of content throughout the day,” explains Williams, Lisnr’s CEO.

His co-founders – including Chris Ostoich, business; Chris Ridenour, tech; Nikki Pfahler, design; and Josh Glick, mobile – still form Lisnr’s team, and Williams says two new hires are on the way.

Since (and during) SXSW, Lisnr garnered support from the music industry; Williams has strategic advisors from cable station MTV, publishing and management firm Primary Wave Music and the Grammy-nominated artist Nas. For these bigwigs, Lisnr represents an unprecedented connection between artists and fans. The app also tracks listener behavior, such as where, when and how often a song is listened to.

According to Williams, Lisnr plans a full-scale launch in mid-2013. The company is currently supported by Cintrifuse, a non-profit startup accelerator based in Cincinnati, and the CincyTech accelerator.

By Robin Donovan

Cormier Creative crafts logos for budding businesses

Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Some people work four 10-hour days for perks like saving on gas and three-day weekends. Others, like Sara Cormier (pronounced “cor-me-YAY”), cram in a second job on the side.

Until last April, Cormier was juggling a design gig with Cincinnati Magazine and healthy freelance traffic. When her daughter, Carmen, entered preschool, however, she decided it was time for a change. “I was kind of going crazy,” she says, noting that she doesn’t regret those hyper-scheduled days: “At least for me, I couldn’t quit my job without having built [my business] up. I wasn’t financially in a place to do that.”

Cormier, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning in 2002, launched Cormier Creative in April, and specializes in helping small businesses with branding, logos and promotions. Her services can help young companies, or those without a budget for an in-house designer, she says.

“I’ve always really liked working with a business that’s just getting off the ground and starting from scratch. Once they invest in that initially, then they’re really excited about how their stuff looks,” Cormier says. She encourages businesses not to wait to start branding themselves. “You need a logo right off the bat. It doesn’t take long to get one, and I think the sooner, the better.”

Because she’s worked with so many newly launched businesses, Cormier has curated a few tips for proprietors, too.

Along with advising that any business that is doing business needs a logo immediately, she advises businesspeople to find a designer they trust and then relinquish control. “You’re not hiring a professional designer to recreate your sketch so much as to help you with the entire identity.”

Cormier offers custom design services for all sizes of businesses as well as custom stationary – she calls herself “a paper snob” – that’s popular among local brides. Her design aesthetic favors clean lines and clever graphics.

"I love all my brides, they’re really really fun," Cormier says. "We try to come up with something really custom."

By Robin Donovan

Misfit quilt sparks an Etsy hit

Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sarah DeMoss’ Etsy startup story is almost too simple. She created a quilt for her living room, but found that it didn’t quite fit her décor once it was sewn. Because so much work had gone into the piece, she couldn’t bear the thought of not using it, and decided to post it on Etsy. DeMoss Designs was born.

The first quilt sold quickly, DeMoss began creating new quilts and other items on request. Each time an item was requested, she’d add it to her store, figuring that what one customer wanted might please another, too.
Sarah DeMoss’ Etsy startup story is almost too simple. She created a quilt for her living room, but found that it didn’t quite fit her décor once it was sewn. Because so much work had gone into the piece, she couldn’t bear the thought of not using it, and decided to post it on Etsy. DeMoss Designs was born.

The first quilt sold quickly, so DeMoss began creating new quilts and other items on request. Each time an item was requested, she’d add it to her store, figuring that what one customer wanted might please another, too.

Two years later, DeMoss still sells lots of quilts, but you can also find flag banners (photographers love them for birthday photo shoots with kids), pacifier clips, headbands, coasters and onesies for infants.

Quilts remain at the heart of the business, however. “Every time I make a quilt, it’s my favorite,” DeMoss says. “I have stacks of unfinished quilts. It seems like every time I list one, I sell it.

DeMoss watches changes to the Etsy site closely, tracking forum conversations to keep up with changes that might influence when and where her products show up in site searches. The site frequently changes the way products are emphasized, she says.

“Right now I’m selling a lot of quilts and pacifiers clips; six months ago I was selling a lot of baby lovies and headbands. I don’t know why it happens the way it happens. I think a lot of it has to do with Etsy and how they emphasize items … A lot of it has to do with search engine optimization and just keeping yourself relevant.”

She also reports a fair amount of direct traffic, or site searches for her shop name as her wares become more well-known. And even her husband has jumped into the Etsy shop recently, pairing with her to sell woodworking items.

By Robin Donovan

Two years later, DeMoss still sells lots of quilts, but you can also find flag banners (photographers love them for birthday photo shoots with kids), pacifier clips, headbands, coasters and onesies for infants.

Quilts remain at the heart of the business, however. “Every time I make a quilt, it’s my favorite,” DeMoss says. “I have stacks of unfinished quilts. It seems like every time I list one, I sell it.

DeMoss watches changes to the Etsy site closely, tracking forum conversations to keep up with changes that might influence when and where her products show up in site searches. The site frequently changes the way products are emphasized, she says: “Right now I’m selling a lot of quilts and pacifiers clips; six months ago I was selling a lot of baby lovies and headbands. I don’t know why it happens the way it happens. I think a lot of it has to do with Etsy and how they emphasize items … A lot of it has to do with search engine optimization and just keeping yourself relevant.”

She also reports a fair amount of direct traffic, or site searches for her shop name as her wares become more well-known. And even her husband has jumped into the Etsy shop recently, pairing with her to sell woodworking items.

By Robin Donovan

Sprout Insight hones in on multi-ethnic consumers

Tuesday, October 30, 2012
“People always say, ‘Be careful working with your best friend,’ but we’ve never had those negative experiences. Our relationship and the way we know each other has been such a strength,” says Lisa Mills, a psychologist, and co-founder of research consultancy Sprout Insight, of her 22-year friendship with co-founder Kathy Burklow.

Mills and Burklow became friends as graduate students in psychology, working together first at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In 2006, frustrated by the disconnect between scientific advancement and community engagement, they left Children’s to launch Harmony Garden, a nonprofit community research center focused on improving the health of Cincinnati girls.

Building on the idea of helping community members be heard and understood, the duo pivoted last February, launching Sprout Insight, a market research and insight consultancy. These days, the leverage decades of clinical and research experience while work closely with companies, hospitals, nonprofits and branding firms that target African American, Latino and Asian shoppers.

“Unless [companies] get better at collecting information about racial and ethnic minorities, they’re going to continue to miss opportunities in their industries,” Mills says. “There are a lot of consumer insight and market research companies, but very few are looking at consulting with businesses and corporations about gathering insights from racially and ethnically diverse populations.”

Accordingly, the women help organizations identify what types of data they need and how to gather it, both quantitatively through customized surveys and qualitatively, often through focus groups that allow the pair to gain deeper insight into consumers.

In practice, that might look like tweaking an existing survey to avoid leading questions or to gather more specific data. It could also mean setting up focus groups at a church or recreation center (rather than the typical observation room) to allow meaningful feedback and insight to flow. “Taking [people] out of their community, you may get answers, but they may not be relevant answers,” Mills says.

And so Mills and Burklow keep bringing new voices to the conversation between companies and consumers, hoping for the same goal sparked their friendship decades ago. “Kathy and I are really about the bridging of the gaps,” Mills explains.

“For our society to work together, everybody needs to be knowledgeable on some level so that they can sit at the table, and communicate.”
 
 By Robin Donovan

Sugar cookies from Mt Lookout Sweets match any occasion

Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Imagine the work that goes into a batch of cookies: mixing, rolling, baking, decorating and washing. Now imagine baking 1,000 cookies a month. That’s how many Debbie DeGeer typically creates at Mt Lookout Sweets, a bakery she runs from her Mt. Lookout home – complete with a commercial kitchen in the basement – each month.

That’s 12,000 cookies a year, but DeGeer isn’t counting. Baking helps keep her hands busy and her creative mind active while she cares for her aging mom, who helping instill in DeGeer a love of floury hands and blustery ovens. Because DeGeer’s mom lives with Alzheimer’s, the duo spend their share of quiet nights at home. 

Baking started as “a kind of therapy,” and DeGeer often arrived at Comey Shephard, the real estate agency where she works, laden with cookies. Her creations with the company logo on them were particularly popular for the real estate company’s open houses, and from there, the requests grew.

DeGeer specializes in hand-decorated sugar cookies that are part art and part dessert, and she has a design for everyone. When Keidel, a Cincinnati-based plumbing, cabinetry, appliance and lighting contract, celebrated its 100th anniversary, DeGeer created confections in the shape of bathtubs, light bulbs and even toilets. 

“I never thought in my life I would make a cute toilet, but I did,” DeGeer says.

Active with other cookie pros, dubbed “cookiers,” on Facebook, DeGeer has about 1,200 Facebook fans for her business, and says it’s a top source of referrals, along with word-of-mouth.

Mt. Lookout Sweets averages three to four orders per week, with her capacity filling up quickly around the holidays and in late spring or early summer as couples plan their weddings. DeGeer typically requests a week’s notice for each order and more during busy seasons.

By Robin Donovan

Westside chef creates 'the Ben & Jerry's of hummus'

Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Ethan Snider has been carrying out 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, eventually becoming an executive chef. It was dream come true.

Until he hated it.

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

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

Local farmers’ markets with low overhead and a home-grown touch seemed like a good way to get started. With an eye toward the need for more locally sourced, vegetarian and vegan options, he launched Summuh (pronounced “SOU-mah”), a specialty hummus shop, first at a farmer’s market in Madeira and, later, 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,” promising “you’ve never had hummus like this.” Three core flavors include a chickpea hummus with lemon and rosemary; a black bean hummus spiced with cumin, coriander and cilantro, topped with pickled red onions; and an organic navy bean and seaweed hummus with sesame chile oil. 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

WooWho gives singles a dating site to cheer about

Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Terrible first dates come in many flavors. There are bad friend dates, bad blind dates and the ever-unpopular no-show. And then there are internet first dates, those frustrating, sometimes creepy, sometimes fun meetups that – almost impossibly – seem to be leading to marriages more and more often.

But what if you could take the creepy factor out of online dating? What if there were no detailed online profiles, no website-based inboxes, no carefully arranged you-might-be-an-axe-murderer first dates?

The founders of WooWho – Andy Zhang, George Lin and Sean Wen -- say they’re offering just that. A trio of bilingual kids who met in the 90s, they combined backgrounds in C++, JavaScript, server-side work, Python and Ruby on Rails, with some graphic design thrown in to launch the online dating site, starting with individually approved participants.

WooWho, a new graduate of The Brandery, started a private alpha two months ago and launched a private beta a month or so ago. With feedback from a few early users, they’re currently refining the final site. Users who accept an invitation (available on request) submit a biographical blurb and small photo, and submit an age range, gender preference, location and scheduling availability.

People are matched based on basic preferences, not availability. Like Amazon’s recommendation engine, the WooWho suggests matches based on the preferences of users who have similar interests. This technique, loosely deemed “clustering,” is different from basic categorization.

“If you ask people what they like [in a potential match], they don’t tell you very accurately. What we’ve learned from observing other sites is that categorization is exceptionally difficult for these types of things … clustering tends to be more reliable in real life; it’s also something that machines are really good at,” says co-founder Andy Zhang.

So, rather than creating a complex profile and emailing a potential fit, you simply select a friendly looking local and request a date. If the person accepts, WooWho automatically sets up a time and local business based on your scheduling preferences.

The site is free to join, and there is no cost for the first three dates, with a $5 charge per set-up after that. The idea is not to have folks linger on the site, Zhang says. “We want to get people off their computers and out meeting people. We think a great way to do it is to discover and enjoy the other local small businesses out here.”

By Robin Donovan

Ample developers focus on responsive design

Tuesday, October 16, 2012
When Josh Fendley and four tech-savvy friends left their digital agency to launch a smaller venture, they were looking for a business name that would convey their small staff’s concentrated experience. Ample fit the bill, and is still a point of pride because one of the firm’s selling points is its size.

"Clients realize that if I’m the one selling them on doing the work, they’re going to be working with me the entire time if they choose to engage us," Fendley says. "When we left our last agency, we were all directors of this and that, but decided we wanted to get back to doing work instead of just managing it."

Fendley says the trick of being small is to carefully select experienced employees, with an eye to maintaining company culture. “We have only one relatively young employee, and we belabored on whether or not we should do that,” he says.

Recently, Ample has been pivoting away from marketing to focus on building websites and developing strategic, creative digital projects, including video and websites that easily scale down desktop applications for mobile interfaces and apps. 

"All the sites we create automatically scale and reformat," Fendley says. "Not a lot of people are actually doing that." 

Ample also developed its own content management system.

Along with size and experience, Ample’s culture is shaped by its brainy core. "We love being presented with something we don’t know how to get through. We love to figure out how to do it," Fendley says. 

Ample is primarily a Ruby on Rails shop, but also offers help with strategic planning.

So, when Ample got a call from a New Jersey nonprofit seeking to outfit students with disabilities with human-read audio books, its developers created an iTunes-like app compatible with a variety of devices.

"A lot of our long-time clients pay us to think for them, and I think that’s where we’re most successful,” Fendley says, noting that new business largely comes from referrals, and the team is turning away prospective clients.“Clients are your best salespeople. If you do well by them, them will typically give you some good karma back."

By Robin Donovan

FENNOfashion founder tackles many roles

Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Megan Fenno doesn’t just have a radio spot, a jewelry business and a running writing gig with the CincySavers website. She also has a few tips for women looking to stay on trend this fall.

“Anything that’s glitzy and has a shine to it, that’s really popular right now,” she says, noting that sparkly rhinestones are trendy. Color blocking with deep hues such as navy or burgundy set against brighter accents (think bright yellow), she says, is also popular this fall.

A Cincinnati native, Fenno moved to Tallahassee, Fla., as a teen, then attended the Savannah College of Art and Design. She moved to Austin, Texas, after graduation, where she launched, FENNOfashion, which features vintage-inspired necklaces, bracelets and jewelry. “I loved Texas, but nowhere is home like Cincinnati,” she says.

Her collection this season highlights a few of her own favorite design elements, especially a vintage “found” look, and antiqued gold. Fenno says that sites like Pinterest have led to such a surge in popularity of stacked bracelets, sometimes cheekily called “arm candy,” that she’s having trouble keeping them in stock.

As much as Fenno is an accessories designer, she’s also something of a free spirit, and encourages others with creative startups to resist the urge to plan each step, or stick rigidly to a business plan.

“Five years ago, I had no idea that I’d be back in Cincy working on my favorite radio station, but that all derived from starting my own business," she says. "It’s OK. Opportunities present themselves throughout your business career that you can’t predict.”

By Robin Donovan

Tongue-in-cheek T-shirts delight Cincy sports fans

Tuesday, October 02, 2012
After moving to Dayton, Ohio, with his family in 1992, Doug Aldrich experienced the first tug of community – and the Cincinnati sports scene – traveling south for Bengals and Reds games, and soon became a loyal fan.

The problem? A graphic designer by training and a marketer by trade, he grew tired of commercialized fan gear. Instead, he wanted a shirt that would be a nod to local sports, without over-the-top branding. Soon he had drawn up pages of his own designs, and had a couple printed for himself.

“I like the experience of the game and experiencing the community of Cincinnati, but I didn’t want to wear a big brand logo on my chest,” he explains.

When friends saw him wearing the whimsical T’s, they wanted shirts of their own, and after having a handful printed, Aldrich designed a logo and website, and Cincy Clothing was born.

Despite Aldrich’s insistence that his lovingly drawn designs are “pretty simple,” they feature custom, hand-drawn fonts and graphics and tongue-in-cheek text (one reads “Keep Rolen,” another “One Dey”) that makes a statement.

“I wanted to create something that’s on the fringe of the brand, basically,” Aldrich says. “For instance, Mr. Redface is really an homage to the Andre the Giant graffiti -- it’s sort of a take on that. I wanted more of a fan’s perspective in the graphics.”

Aldrich launched Cincy Clothing less than a month ago and has a small, but steadily growing fan base of his own, with four hand-drawn designs available. They’re currently available at Prep Clothing in Dayton and online; Aldrich hopes to win a street vendor’s license soon.
 
By Robin Donovan

Cincinnati Photo Tours take aspiring artists through OTR

Tuesday, October 02, 2012
“It’s a two-hour tour, so it’s a long walk,” says Scott McHenry of his company’s photo tours in Over-the-Rhine. “Every time, something different pops up.”

The founder of Cincinnati Photo Tours found himself inside a church he’d been curious about during his last tour; one of the brothers happened to be on the sidewalk as his group approached. Another time, he found a group of kids playing volleyball on Race Street, and photographers snapped shots of the children leaping through the sand.

McHenry says interest in his tours is growing thanks to his Facebook presence, which he uses to drive traffic to the main website of his eponymous photography business. McHenry first grabbed a camera to escape fellow soccer parents at his son’s games (he coached himself for years), and ended up selling shots of high school athletes to the Community Press.

During the next nine years, he expanded his skills, joining the Professional Photographers of America and widening his scope to include portraiture as well as weddings. He also has a flair for fine art; you may have seen his works on display at downtown’s Coffee Emporium during two recent stints as an artist in residence there. 

These days, McHenry is leading groups of 5-12 people through Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati’s burgeoning historic district.
He’s also planning a new tour that will transport his students among the various hilltops in the city. “With all the hills surrounding Cincinnati, there are a lot of great photographic viewpoints.”

McHenry says a photo tour he researched while traveling to New York City sparked the idea of offering a similar tour here: “There’s so much interest in Over-the-Rhine with the revitalization of Washington Park.”

By Robin Donovan

Medacheck app aids in medication compliance

Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Dawn Sheanshang, a pharmaceutical sales rep, became sick of medications one day. Despite her insider knowledge, she couldn’t handle the medication regimen of a loved one who’d recently been discharged from the hospital.

Determined to help, Sheanshang searched online for solutions but found no easy answers. Out of her frustration, MedaCheck was born. With the help of startup acceleration Innov8 for Health, and a partnership with Jeffrey Shepard, a self-described “serial entrepreneur with a Ph.D.,” this high-tech health startup – and its eponymous app – were born.

“More and more today, medication regimens are extremely complicated, with many different drugs and people’s changing presciriptions," Shepard says. “People are using mobile devices for a slew of different things. We wanted to target our product around medication adherence – ensuring they’re taking the right pill at the right time, in the right amount and having it set up with a system to ensure they’re actually doing it.” 

Instead of simply placing a reminder on your phone, this app works with the pharmacies, utilizing frequently updated, high-resolution images of the approximately 16,000 medications catalogued by the National Library of Medicine. 

When it’s time to take a medication, a user can click on the pill box to open it, then view their medications using photos and bulleted lists of pertinent details: medication name, dosage, etc. Reminders, including a phone-call reminder if a dose is missed, are also built in.

The challenges of developing such an app include the necessity of HIPAA compliance and generics that constantly change. 

“The challenge is making sure that you’re not making specific claims around medication consumption,” says Shepard. “We don’t give anybody advice or share any information about any specific individual.”

The company is running a pilot of the app in November in collaboration with Cincinnati-based Kroger, with the hopes of making the app public in mid-November. Users will pay a small fee to download the app, which will be available through their pharmacy.

A web-based app as well as native apps for mobile devices is available.
 
By Robin Donovan

Family historians help preserve memories of a lifetime

Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Kristi Woodworth and Jennifer Sauers tell stories for a living, but they’re not performance artists or members of the media. In fact, they’re licensed oral historians. The business they launched together, Beyond the Trees, offers design and printing services for small runs of books, many of them celebrating milestone accomplishments or memories of a lifetime.

“You get really close to people,” Woodworth says, describing how she becomes enmeshed in family stories while working with groups of people to compile photos and written memories. 

“It’s sort of a privilege for us to be that close to the lives of these people, because what they’re doing with these books is creating a gift of love to honor the people in their life, and it’s a thrill to help them do that.”

Moving to the Norwood-based Hamilton County Business Center in 2009 helped grow the budding business, says Woodworth. “We could kick ideas around more easily,” she says. The duo also received business coaching in speed sessions during morning mentoring sessions at the HCBC.

The women are currently working on products that will allow people to complete their own projects, such as legacy letters to one’s descendants, or other projects. The company offers Cincinnati-based workshops, for example, and skills taught in these classes are now being leveraged into products that anyone can use, regardless of their location.

Services provided by Beyond the Trees include tribute books that can be purchased as gifts for milestone occasions, such as graduations, birthdays or anniversaries. 

The company issues invitations by email or standard post to friends and family of the honoree, then compile the resultant memories and photos into a bound book. Beyond the Trees also provides self-publishing services for authors who want to print and sell books of prose, poetry or other creative work.

Woodworth says the trend she sees now is how much easier it is to self publish. When the company began, it was something of a novelty, and Woodworth’s partner, Jennifer Sauers, took materials to Staples to have them printed, then downtown to be hand-bound. Still, the family cookbooks she produced were a smash hit, and, soon, other people were asking about having books made.

“What we’re adding to it is the value of the service. We are adding the advice and the guidance through it and the design of the product,” says Woodworth. 

By Robin Donovan

Funky Artsy jewelry makes a bold statement

Tuesday, September 18, 2012
According to Kirstin Eismin, jewelry artist and owner of Funky Artsy, there is no such thing as a piece of jewelry that is too big. 

Eismin travels three to four weekends a month to attend art shows in the Midwest or along the East coast, creating most of her pieces in her rare free time; she works full-time as a social worker, in addition to spending nearly 40 hours per week on Funky Artsy in her Pendleton studio.

Originally from Lafayette, Ind., Eismin attended Purdue Universty, majoring in sociology and minoring in art and design. These days, she sees jewelry making as a way to help women explore their self-identity and have fun.

“I try really hard to create pieces that showcase women and their independence and their beauty," she says. "For me, it’s about finding something that will highlight some sort of color or inspiration that may come from the earth or that individual person.”

She frequently alters her pieces on the spot for shoppers and meets with women to sketch commissioned items in front of them after gathering information.

Her colors and materials' palette includes metals with natural accents, such as gemstones, shells, rocks, and, occasionally, found objects, such as antique broaches. As far as size, she says, “My big funky pieces are the large ones you can see from 100 feet away, and then I’ll do small simple, elegant petite pieces that still have some funk to them, that speak to a woman’s personality.”

The fun of owning Funky Artsy, Eismin says, is watching women take a risk on bold, oversized necklace and discover that their new look works. 

“It’s really important for women to try new things, go outside their comfort zone and see that there are things that can brighten up an outfit or themselves. … They don’t have to wear just the classic pearls.”  

Earrings, necklaces and other jewelry items and accents are available at Oakley’s Trend Boutique and via the Funky Artsy website and Etsy shop.

By Robin Donovan

Adding patients to healthcare's IT equation

Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Steve Deal has one problem with the infusion of technology into today’s healthcare model: it leaves out the patient. “We have the government pouring money into health IT on the providers’ side, but patients don’t have anything,” he says.

Along with co-founders Rene Raphael Vogt-Lowell and David Pingleton, Deal launched IFG Health, which is now in the beginning stages of launching a host of apps aimed at helping patients and families work more efficiently with their physicians and other healthcare providers.

Their first app, the IFG Provider Journal is available in web and mobile versions, and has a Facebook-like interface that allows users to track vital statistics, such as height, weight or blood pressure, record details of care plans during appointments and note progress via text and photos.

In many ways, the app is an electronic version of the notebook many people take to their physician’s office, and may be especially useful for caregivers who help a loved one manage complex conditions. 

Unlike a physical notebook, the app has search and sort functions for ease. Deal says that having information available – even basics that should be in a provider’s electronic medical record – helps appointments flow smoothly when time is limited. Also, not every physician or nurse is comfortable with EMRs, Deal points out.

A video on the company’s website says physicians wait an average of 10 to 15 seconds for the answer to a question before they move on, with or without the necessary information. 

Deal has experienced this firsthand as a caregiver for his father and mother-in-law, but doesn’t fault physicians. Today’s primary care providers, he points out, “go from one life crisis to another every 15 minutes,” facing burnout along the way. 

He hopes that organized patients will be able to partner better with their doctors, and plans to unveil a host of new web and mobile apps to help.

By Robin Donovan

Guerilla marketer helps small-budget companies

Tuesday, September 11, 2012
When Cheryl Walters was laid off from her corporate marketing gig last February, she was a victim of the same mindset she describes as the most common misconception about her field: thinking it’s not important.

Marketers, Walters says, are often first to be cut in rounds of layoffs. Yet, “You don’t need to do big branding campaigns like [Procter & Gamble] to be effective.  You do need to do something,” she says. After the layoff, she launched her own marketing firm, CheronaWorks, to address the marketing needs of smaller companies in a variety of industries.

She specializes in budget-conscious work; many of her clients are just starting out, like Walters herself, or don’t have a marketing staff. “I respect that clients don’t want to spend a lot of money,” she says. “I make sure I don’t give them any costs they can’t handle, and I’ll be honest if they do something and I think it’s a bad investment; I’ll tell them not to waste their money.”

CheronaWorks offers marketing services from direct response mailings to websites and email campaigns. Like so many startups, Walters is currently finding new clients through referrals and, of course, marketing herself. She says she uses social media to connect with local companies with marketing needs – and frustrations.

“When I’ve had to do marketing to drum up business, I’ve had luck with social media.  I look for people who are looking for help or seem frustrated or are just blatantly posting that they need something,” she says.

Walters says her most common requests are designing logos and websites for new businesses or those “ready to move beyond their WordPress site.”

By Robin Donovan

Nurse expands medical skin care startup

Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Pellé Medical Skin Care products aren’t prescription strength, but neither are they drugstore pick-up items. They have a higher level of active ingredients than drugstore brands, and must be sold from a physician’s office, but no prescription is required.

Chris Klueh, who co-founded the business with partner (and fellow nurse) Debbi Gittinger, says Pellé’s products cost roughly the same amount as department store cosmetics, but are formulated to penetrate deeply into the skin, addressing issues like dryness, acne, premature aging, rosacea and even skin damage caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Klueh says she always recommends three core products: a vitamin-C serum to protect skin, a sunblock to moisturize and prevent sun damage and a retin-A cream for nighttime use. She also offers treatments, sometimes called “peels,” though she warns the term is misleading; most of her treatments require little time away from the sun or normal activities.

“We have a microexfoliation treatment that can be done every five to six weeks, and that’s what patients mostly come in for,” she says.

Nurses at Pellé schedule consultations for patients, keep track of appointments and recommendations on medical charts, and often refer those in need of additional help to local dermatologists. Because her services are cosmetic, they are not covered by standard health insurance plans, but the staff treat consultations like any other medical appointment and maintain charts to track patients’ progress.

“We see so many people get frustrated with the way their skin looks. It looks dull or they don’t like the crepe-y skin around their eyes,” Klueh says. “The beauty of medical skincare is that we can correct the premature aging process. Everyone’s going to go through the natural aging process, but we can correct some of the early onset wrinkles and damage.”
 
By Robin Donovan

BANDI takes style for a run

Tuesday, August 28, 2012
It’s a familiar problem for runners, especially distance runners. You’re about to embark on a long run, and you want your credit card, a tissueor a house key. But with your arms swinging and feet slapping the pavement, where exactly is this stuff supposed to go?

Women tend to tuck small items against their back, held in place by a sports bra, and both genders can be observed tugging damp, just-in-case cache out of sweaty socks.

Cliftonites Bev Perrea and Beth Koenig, chatting at their sons’ sports events, decided there had to be a better way for athletes to carry essentials. Starting with the fanny pack in mind, they came up with a few ground rules: no zippers, no Velcro, no trim. In other words, a more chic way to carry essentials while working up a sweat.

The pair launched BANDI, offering its signature sleek, stretchy brands without Velcro, zippers or trim to ladies (and some guys) on the move. “We were determined not to have any of those bulky, cumbersome trims on our product, and we wanted something very low profile," Perrea says. "That’s what makes our product so unique.”

The product – now available as a waistband or headband in a number of solid and print patterns --  took some 18 months to develop, including sourcing a manufacturer. 

“We had looked in many different places,and we had found somebody in New York who would work with us. She sent samples out to the Dominican Republic, and we had some samples sent to China and different places in the U.S., but when it came down to it, we got the best price and quality here in our backyard,” Koening says, reporting that BANDI is fabricated at a factory in Kentucky.

BANDI is currently available online, as well as at Findlay Market on Saturdays, and during the 2012 Columbus, Ohio and Chicago marathons.

By Robin Donovan

Developers outsource server headaches with Modulus

Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Charlie Key has one question for software developers: “How do you want to spend your time?” 

A developer himself, he discovered there wasn’t a good place to gather information about apps that he built while creating a Facebook game with his college roommate and co-founder Brandon Cannaday. Key’s brother, Richard Key, is the business’ third partner.

This trio of techies is trying to help software developers spend less time messing with servers and more time building applications. They built their company, Modulus, on Amazon’s cloud to offer scalable, reliable hosting for developers.

While the company’s services are almost business-to-business – developer to developer, if you will -- they nonetheless attracted the attention of The Brandery, an Over-the-Rhine start-up accelerator.

“We’re different from the other companies at The Brandery," Key says. "We’re very technically heavy, and I think they were interested in looking at companies like us because they’re getting so many consumer products companies coming in – people who make iPhone apps, for example. Modulus presented a different challenge for them.” 

The company helps developers follow time-consuming best practices they might otherwise skip, such as tracking analytics for usage and information requests and alerting developers if a site starts to misbehave.

Modulus is built on Node.js, a JavaScript platform whose self-defined function is “easily building fast, scalable network options.” In lay terms, this means that when you access a site like LinkedIn on your smart phone, a server running on Node.js acts as a link, transferring data from the website to your mobile app.

For developers who make living writing code, having a fast, functional way to track this transfer of information (and what happens when it’s not transferring) is critical to keeping clients happy.

But with such a technical product, where do clients come from? “Grassroots marketing,” says Key, who attends conferences about cloud computing and Node.js, and even launched a Node.js Meetup group. “We found that actively getting out there and helping people learn is the best way to find new customers.”

By Robin Donovan

Cybervise fixes web development impasses

Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Small businesses looking to maximize their marketing often invest in professional web development. But what happens when the developer steps away and the business takes over? 

All too often, it’s complete inaction, says Carmen Krupar, web developer and founder of Cybervise. (She advises revisiting your website content at least quarterly, by the way.)

Before the launch, Krupar was working with a company that rolled out website after website, shrugging off client requests for ongoing maintenance and updates. Krupar began doing the work herself, first during the evenings after work and, later, out of her Hamilton County Business Center office, where she says she already networks enough each month to cover the rent -- and then some.

Cybervise fills the gap between the creation of a website and the ongoing maintenance needed to keep it ranking well on search engines and up-to-date for clients and customers. Sometimes, this means creating new pages or reorganizing a site, but it might also mean simply fixing glitches left behind by other web developers. It can even involve some interpersonal work.

“Folks that call us have an existing website, but their web developer has let them down,” Krupar explains. “Usually, the project’s taking too long to finish; they’re at an impasse where nobody can compromise – everyone’s stuck on their own idea of what the website should be, or they’ve lost touch with developer. We’re doing things like updating information, fixing broken functionality and creating graphics (like buttons added to the site), as well as code cleanups for search engine optimization.”

Krupar, who is available on retainer, says the best way to avoid needing her services is to build your initial site with room for expansion, and to avoid free, quick-fix tools. Her favorite content management system is WordPress, though her team can handle nearly any system, she says, noting that most people with computer skills can learn to use it, and it’s search-engine friendly. 

“Ranking for search engine optimization is hard enough -- don’t make a site that search engines aren’t going to move through easily,” she says.

By Robin Donovan

Lifelong Reds fan creates Lineup app

Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Like many Gen Y Cincinnatians, Hendrixson remembers when the Reds grabbed a World Series title in 1990. Today, his company’s (Blue Seat Media) signature Cincy Lineup app delivers Reds’ batting and pitching lineups as they’re posted, typically three to four hours before each game.

“It’s interesting to know who’s leading off and who’s sitting that day,” says Hendrixson, who describes the lineup as a trailer for the game. 

“The Reds have had some injuries lately -- Scott Rolen has been in and out of the lineup -- so it’s always interesting to me to see if he’s playing that night, who’s catching and who might be playing in his place.”

Beyond fandom, Hendrixson says he’s inspired by companies like Apple and Pixar whose seamless marriage of tech functionality and intuitive design create products that seem “magic.” When he’s not at the ballpark, he works to create apps that leverage these same strengths.

“Developers are a unique breed just like designers are a unique breed,” he says. “I have a place in my heart for this idea of designers and developers working together really efficiently; it's not something many companies do well.”

Hendrixson is also the founder of the tech development company Inkdryer Creative.

By Robin Donovan

Camp Washington artist salvages, creates stained glass

Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Whether you realize it or not, Cincinnati is full of stained glass. It's part of our German heritage, says Gillian Thompson, the proprietor of Gillian Thompson Glass.

She meets with property owners throughout the Cincinnati area, restoring old glass designs, repairing age-damaged leading and designing new stained glass projects.

Stained glass can encompass either colored or clear designs and projects can be artistically complex or as simple as a clear patterned glass that provides privacy.

Repairs to stained glass are typically needed to salvage old pieces or repair cracks. After decades, window bowing, called deflection, can occur as the soft light between glass disintegrates as it is exposed to moisture. Thompson says this deflection can be mistaken for an artistic style; actually, it's just damage.

Thompson began her career as an apprentice for Architecture Art Glass in Pleasant Ridge (now located in Milford) and worked her way up, eventually launching her own studio a little more than four years ago, when a Camp Washington studio space opened up. She says the neighborhood's old factory buildings offer her the perfect combination of natural light and space.

"My style is all over the place," she says. "I really love traditional styles, but also have fun with contemporary work."

Although Thompson took advantage of a SCORE mentor, she raves most about the entrepreneurial support she gained through the SpringBoard program.

"Springboard focused me," she says of the ArtWorks-sponsored business development program. "(What) I really got from them, was learning to turn on the knowledge base in my community, just looking around at the people I know. Through friends, I've just got a web developer.”

Her next stop, she says, is using that website to grow her client base.

By Robin Donovan

Gigit’s local job search targets tech-savvy creatives

Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Jay Hopper originally got involved in web design through a journalism job in the newspaper business. He eventually left his career as a newsman to join a local startup, Trivantis, as a web editor. He eventually became the company’s vice president of product management. Then, he launched a social network for automotive enthusiasts before finally deciding it was time to get what he calls "a real job."

After failing at the traditional avenues, like Monster, CareerBuilder and LinkedIn, and doing some networking, Hopper says, “I just found that process really frustrating. I was looking for companies that would fit my skill set, passion and personality. I just started thinking, ‘Where are all these companies – the agencies, the software companies, the tech companies?’ I wished there was one place I could go and see all that.”

He set out to create a website to meet those needs. The result, Gigit Jobs, lists tech, start up, creative and design job openings in the Cincinnati, Dayton Northern Kentucky and tri-state regions.

The Gigit team manually reviews jobs that are posted, and while any company will be considered, positions posted must either come from a company that fits Gigit’s criteria or be a good fit in themselves. That means a web design job at the bank could work just as well as a business development position with a creative agency.

The site is aggregator-friendly, which means that jobs posted there will also show up in job-search aggregators. The site's landing pages are currently active, with a full launch planned this fall.

Hopper says he hopes the site will encourage techies and creatives to stay in Cincinnati rather than flee to stereotypically tech-friendly locales on either coast.

By Robin Donovan

Cake pro leaves banking for baking

Tuesday, July 31, 2012
When Torie Hancock applied for a job bagging groceries in high school, she didn’t get it. Instead, she settled for a bakery job, where she bagged bread and prepped customers’ orders. Bored, she soon turned her attention to cake decoration.

“I’d watch the cake decorators, and then go in and practice after they left. When I got the hang of things, I’d decorate the cakes and cookies for display cases,” she says.

Despite attending college and entering the a career in banking, she never stopped decorating cakes, and eventually earned a degree in baking and pastry from the Art Institute of Cincinnati. “I learned a lot more than I thought I would – basic cooking skills, chocolates, sugars. The hands-on experience was priceless,” she says.

On July 1, Torie quit her finance gig to develop her business, Go Ahead Bake My Day, full time.

Cake is Torie’s specialty, and she says she’ll create nearly any design or flavor, with cakes, cupcakes and cake puffs (similar to a cake lollipop) her most commonly requested items.

“I make everything myself at home,” she says, noting that her next step is growing her business and moving into a storefront.  

Although she honors requests for gluten-free, vegan and other specialty cakes, Torie says she most commonly creates sugar-free confections, and even has a neighbor unofficially assigned to test her new recipes.

When she’s not baking, she enjoys Cincinnati’s foodie scene, and can be found sampling local fare at Roc-A-Fella’s Pizza, Sammy’s Gourmet Burgers & Beers, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen or Kabuto.
 
By Robin Donovan

For C’est Cheese, MoLo, new locations spell opportunity

Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Two local start-ups, the C’est Cheese grilled cheese truck, and mobile keepsake digitizer Memories of Loved Ones (MoLo) are celebrating new digs this month.

C’est Cheese, whose founder, Emily Frank just completed the Bad Girls Ventures program, is putting the tires to the pavement with a new food truck that made its first appearance at the City Flea on July 14.

C’est Cheese’s menu features 19 grilled cheese sandwiches – up to six available on a given day – and two soups, including the obligatory tomato, and a selection of homemade, flavored pickles.

Frank says finding the truck was a matter of patience and perserverence. “It was just spending hours and hours and hours every day searching online through several different sites to find the right vehicle. I ended up finding one in Chicago where I had just moved from. It was a former chocolate burrito truck painted with this crazy spray paint. With a little TLC, she has come a long way.”

Meanwhile, formerly mobile-only MoLo moved into a permanent – and stationary – office space at 6020 Harrison Ave., while keeping its RV for home visits. The keepsake digitizing services, which prepares posters, photo books and more for funerals, special events and celebrations, needed more space, says founder Katy Samuels.

“Over the past two years, we’ve had more celebration orders; now,  we can be a one-stop shop for everything people need,” she says.

The company now offers an extended suite of services for weddings and other events, including creating logos, invitations, programs and even websites, as well as reception displays and guest books.  

Up next for these two companies on the move?  “Getting people to know us,” Samuels says. “That’s the challenge.”

By Robin Donovan

Local entertainers launch talk-variety show

Tuesday, July 24, 2012
You might not know Dean Miuccio’s face, but you might just recognize his voice. The longtime Warm 98 DJ was laid off during recent economic troubles. Instead of sending out job applications or cruising toward early retirement, he gathered other, newly unemployed, local entertainment personalities and launched Cincinnality, a Cincinnati-based talk show.

The show is filmed Friday nights at a studio at Newport on the Levee, and airs Sundays at 11:30 p.m. Miuccio says the show was conceptualized as an hour-long, daytime talk program and hopes it will find a weekday home on Fox19 soon.

Miuccio, who seems almost embarrassed by the attention given to radio and television personalities, says his idea harnesses the power of familiar faces in the Cincinnati entertainment scene.

“Look, talk shows have been around. I got the idea because my radio partner and I were downsized from Warm 98. I knew other people who had been let go from their TV or radio shows, and what better what to start a new talk variety show than with people Cincinnatians might already recognize or be familiar with?”

To that end, he paired with Amanda Orlando, former host of a B105 morning radio show, and Randi Douglas, a fellow Warm 98 morning show host.

Because it’s not syndicated, production costs for Cincinnality have been a challenge, Miuccio says. Syndicated shows, which run on multiple networks, are easier to fund because each station pitches in a fraction of the cost.

Still, the show’s mix of mix of music, news items, hot topics and local points of interest caught Fox19’s attention shortly after its pilot was released.

When he’s not working on Cincinnality, Miuccio is a videographer and producer through his company, Dean Miuccio Productions, LLC. Tickets for Cincinnality tapings, held Fridays at 7 p.m., are available from cincyticket.com.

By Robin Donovan

Photo-sharing site launches at Bunbury Music Festival

Tuesday, July 24, 2012
College students are known for a variety of photo-worthy road trip experiences, but not all of these images are intended for future employers. At this summer’s Bunbury Music Festival, a new website, Capstory, launched with the promise of creating a safe online space for group photo sharing.

The website was created by Mason native Suprasanna Mishra and his Ohio State University roommate, Dustin Studer, after their own road trip to California.

Mishra and Studer are slated to be juniors at OSU next year, though they’re considering taking time away from school to work on their business full-time. They’ve already received an Imagining Grant from CincyTech and a round of funding.

Unlike many cell-phone-driven products aimed at millennials, Capstory doesn’t require a smartphone. Mishra says this is a nod to groups of students, not all of whom can afford higher-priced data plans.

Whoever creates a Capstory capsule must log-in to the company’s website and create a temporary password. From there, other participants are notified via email or text message, and can contribute photographs to the capsule simply by texting them in.

Later, users log-in to the website to see the compiled media. Best of all, “the only people who can see it [the capsule] are whoever you invite,” says Mishra.

Capstory is currently in beta testing after sparking interest at the Bunbury Music Festival, where a public capsule was set up to show attendees how the website works. Mishra says the product’s target demographic is college students, so he and Studer plan to keep Capstory free to end-users; a plan to monetize the website without charging users is under development.

Most of all, says Mishra, “We hope our demographic finds Capstory useful and easy.”

By Robin Donovan

Laser-cut jewelry line draws interest from museum gift shops, boutiques

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
As an architecture student at the University of Cincinnati’s prestigious College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP), Alicia Kravitz interned in Chicago at the famed Skidmore, Owings & Merrill – a firm known for designing Chicago’s Sears Tower and John Hancock Center.

She gained a strong start as an architect, but couldn’t overcome her post-graduation dread of entering the field, especially with scant job offerings. Instead, she used a skill learned as an intern – operating a laser cutter –  to launch her jewelry and home décor company, Dulcet Design.

Her lightweight, architecturally inspired jewelry line follows her own simple, elegant, minimalist style. Aimed at women looking for something different and design-inspired, her easy-to-wear pieces are typically made of laser-cut acrylic, which is an inexpensive material that emerges from her machine looking sleek and high-end.

She learned about creating her own business as a student in Springboard Cincinnati, the popular low-cost training program offered by ArtWorks that gives artisans tools to become business owners.

As she travels the country to attend wholesale craft shows, whose sole attendees are retailers and retail buyers, she says, sometimes, she’s the only Ohioan among hundreds of sellers and crafters.

“What I am continually thinking when I am at these national shows is that I am always the only person representing Cincinnati," she says. "With how centrally located we are, we can easily compete due to our reasonable cost of living.”

Kravitz’ work is available at art-friendly locales, such as museum shops and boutiques around the country. Typically, she works with retailers to develop a line that fits their brand aesthetic, whether that means a subtle, sleek earring with a single bead atop a piece of black acrylic, or a turquoise and gold piece for a gallery at an boutique near Yellowstone National Park.

Her target audience is fairly wide, and usually encompasses people who love good design.

Kravitz says, “Everyone has their silver hoops, their hammered sterling; I target people who like simple jewelry but are always looking for something new.”

By Robin Donovan

BudgetSketch charts projected expenses to tame overspending

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
“If you’re not paying for a service, then you’re the product,” says Bill Barnett, founder, BudgetSketch.

He should know – his product, which he describes as the antithesis of the popular budgeting website Mint, helps people plan spending in advance, rather than tracking dollars spent after the fact.

Like many of today’s lean startups and lean programmers, Barnett created the cloud-based BudgetSketch program for himself first, and tested it by rolling it out as soon as possible, then tweaking features and design for a layout that, he reports, currently gets rave reviews.

But why use BudgetSketch instead of the larger, more feature-heavy Mint?

“Most financial tools on the web are backward looking: what you’ve spent, what you’ve done, your history,” Barnett says.

He cites American consumers’ habitual overspending as evidence that tracking money spent doesn’t work. Instead, his program helps consumers shift their focus to planning future spending; if you don’t plan to spend money in a given category, you don’t spend it that month.

Talking to Barnett, it’s clear that he’d be a good financial advisor if he hadn’t chosen software programming as his second career (he was a mechanic for Delta Air Lines in years past).

He hates to watch today’s “get it now” spenders rack up extra expenses by purchasing over-budget items, and says he’s changed his own spending habits, driving older cars while saving enough to purchase new vehicles outright.

His advice for today’s hardship-driven spenders is offered in earnest.

“The solution to your problems lies in the future. If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve always gotten. Change your future behavior you’re going to end up in a different place and, hopefully, a better place.”

By Robin Donovan

Unstoppable Software helps manufacturers harness document creation, collaboration

Tuesday, July 10, 2012
If you’ve ever experienced the frustration of wading through a documents folder on your computer, then you have a small idea of what manufacturing companies experience. Typically dealing with thousands of documents at once, these firms can cut costs significantly just by making documents easier to find, fix and share.

Manufacturing companies, industrial services firms and biotechnology organizations all function within regulated environments. Companies must prove that they are following industry standards for training, testing and manufacturing processes, often in great detail.

Sam Schutte, founder of Unstoppable Software, says some start out trying to track everything using Excel spreadsheets, only to get bogged down by thousands and thousands of documents. Advances in technology mean that the price of managing documents efficiently is less than the cost of time spent juggling them without an organized system in place.

“In businesses today, especially research companies, a huge proportion of knowledge workers’ time is spent dealing with documents: hunting to find them, working together to update them or generating them manually," he says. "Those are time-intensive problems we can help fix, so they can collaborate more easily.”

The company often works with existing programs, such as SharePoint, to create customized, out-of-the-box software for manufacturers and industrial services companies that help them add more functions to a program. 

Some work almost like a plug-in: they can be “bolted” onto existing software to add functionality, such as creating contracts or service records, which can then be shared and tracked.

Unstoppable also addresses workflow, security and keeping track of documents for regulation agencies. The company also automates some tasks, such as generating AutoCAD documents on the fly from various data sources.

Quality management and regulatory systems require strict adherence to certain standard operating procedures.

“It’s all about being able to say you’re a high-quality vendor," Schutte says."You’ve got to come up with a plan and stick to it, then you have to show what your plan is, how it’s been revised and prove that everyone read it and was trained on it.”

Unstoppable offers cloud-based and software programs, with varying levels of customization.

By Robin Donovan

App eases the headaches of instrument repair

Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Here’s the more-than-horrifying process of a musician’s typical instrument repair: damage instrument, worry, call repair shop, drop off instrument for repair, wait an indefinitely, leave a handful of messages for the repairer and, finally, pick up instrument.
 
Because musical instruments under warranty must often be sent back to manufacturers for repairs, music shops face the unenviable task of serving as the liaison between the instrument owner and the manufacturer.  With many instruments out for repair at the same time, and no industry standards on repair tracking (or even how long a repair will take), there’s plenty of room for frustration.
 
Cue Stephen Cook, who’s experienced this problem many times as the owner of Cook Instrument Repair. After years of headaches, he tackled the problem himself, launching InstrumentLife and its eponymous app, which connects instrument owners to their maintenance records, and provides a link between repairers and worried instrument owners.

The program is accessible online, where musicians can log-in, upload sales receipts, find retailers or repair shops and even play a game. Retailers and repair shops can log-in to the same interface, and create listings. And each instrument is assigned an identification number, so that repair and maintenance can be tracked over time. "InstrumentLife addresses some current inefficiencies in the industry by allowing shops to track instruments as they move through the repair process," Cook says.
 
More social functions are on the way, including a game and a platform which allows musicians to upload gig information. "What we’re tyring to do is make playing music cool again," Cook explains. "We’re trying to create an environment that makes playing music fun again and cool, so students get to celebrate their experience with the instrument."
 
The app is mobile-friendly; it’s currently compatible with the Android operating system and iPhones.
 
By Robin Donovan

(ei) design launches living jewelry line

Tuesday, June 26, 2012
It turns out that the longest amount of time a tiny, succulent plant can live in an equally tiny light bulb is about two years, according to David Nebert. The local artist’s company, (ei) design, specializes in nature-inspired jewelry and housewares, and the tiny terrariums that hold super-small plants are available as pendant necklaces. They’re also among his most popular wares.

While a DAAP student, Nebert was drawn to create his own designs, along with what was assigned in class. His pieces started bigger, as decor pieces, and were scaled down to jewelry when he discovered the tiny light bulbs. The resilient plant he uses is called Mother of Thousands, Alligator Plant or Mexican Hat Plant, among others.

"There are existing terrarium necklaces that one can find, but most often it's not an actual living plant, it's just dried moss or something," he says.

The biggest challenge, he says, is not over-watering the plant, which can cause it to outgrow its makeshift home quickly.
Nebert describes his overall aesthetic as "simple elegance," explaining, "I strive for a very simple design, using celebrated objects that one can wear and stick to one or maybe two pieces. It's not too busy, so the eye can focus on that beautiful object."

Instead of envisioning his final product, he finds items that inspire him, gravitating toward natural seeds, leaves and basic materials such as clear glass, raw metals and stone in hues ranging from blues and grays to earthy reds and browns.

While his dream is to create a retail space that would combine art installation and product design, Nebert says he also plans to expand his work into lighting.

The terrarium jewelry and housewares are currently for sale at Fabricate and on specified dates at Crafty Supermarket; Nebert says he hopes to expand to more venues in Over-the-Rhine, downtown and the Gateway District soon.

By Robin Donovan

Birth photographers share the emotions of labor

Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Lifelong west siders Melanie Pace and Kelly Smith may have grown up in the same neighborhood, but the two photographers met online. After realizing they lived only about a mile apart, the two met in person, and found themselves chatting about natural lifestyles, yoga, raising kids and their work.

They didn’t decide to open Beautiful Beginnings Birth Photography on a whim. Rather, after photographing the births of friends and family members, they started receiving requests from friends of friends. The business idea suggested itself, and with the help of referrals from a local OB/GYN office, the Bowen Center, they now accept up to five clients at a time.

Women typically contact Pace and Smith when they’re between six and nine months pregnant. After an in-person meeting, they’ll update the duo on their progress, typically texting when they go into labor. “We typically go to the hospital when she’s pretty well-established in labor, and is about 6 centimeters dilated,” Smith says.

And if the phrase “birth photography” conjures nudity or gore, consider that almost all of the photographs are modest enough to share with children. “It’s more about the emotion and the experience,” Smith says. Sample photographs on the Beautiful Beginnings website depict moms stretching, hugging friends, squeezing a spouse’s hand and, of course, snuggling newborns.

Melanie agree. “People think birth is bloody and icky and painful, and to some moms it might work that way, but if you understand how your body works and that it was designed to do this, it’s beautiful.”

Beautiful Beginnings charges by the session, which typically lasts about six hours. 

By Robin Donovan

CCM Link coordinates patient care on the cloud

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
So, you’ve put on a few pounds.  At first it was a little extra chub here and there, and then a new pants size and now your annual physical always comes with a reminder that you could use to lose a few pounds.  You expect to walk away from the appointment with a slap on the wrist, at worst and, predictably, don’t lose weight.

But what if your employer offered you an incentive to lose weight?  How much information would you be willing to share?

Perhaps more than you think, according to Jerry Felix and Bill Nadler, co-founders of the Connected Care Management Link, or CCM Link. The duo developed this cloud-based program to cut costs and help patients manage chronic conditions, by, for example, tackling obesity or monitoring an elderly parent with dementia.

“It seemed that everyone that we talked to who had struggled caring for an aging parent or a chronic patient agreed that communication and tracking was an issue,” Felix says.

The product is timely, with Medicaid getting ready to cut reimbursements to hospitals for patients readmitted within 30 days. Frequent readmissions can be a symptom of poor follow-up or inadequate at-home care.

CCM Link allows patients, medical practitioners and family members to maintain separate accounts and log-in from any computer to access and add information about medication schedules, physician orders, progress reports and even data tracking for, say, blood pressure readings. Each user can set up a notification schedule. For example, adult children might receive a message if a diabetic parent fails to log blood sugar levels, or if medications are changed.

The company is currently focused on its business-to-business product, which is targeted to businesses looking to cut healthcare expenses by encouraging health lifestyles. A business-to-consumer model is set to launch in July.

Our first customer group was a local hospital group. They’re working with a set of employees. They also provide insurance for other employers. They’ve identified their high-cost users. These might be employees or family of employees. They’ve put case managers working with these employees to try to impact their health care to cut down costs.

CCM Link has already received funding from start-up accelerator Innov8 for Health and employs 10 people full time. Felix and Nadler have leveraged resources from their IT management company, EC Link, to get CCM Link running, and say they have spoken with approximately 500 potential clients to date.

By Robin Donovan

Batterii software powers business creativity

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Chad Reynolds is an idea man. The DAAP graduate specialized in branding and design strategies as owner of design innovation agency Crush Republic, which is just one of many start-ups he’s been behind. If your company needed an infusion of creativity, he was the guy you’d hire.

Soon enough, he realized that what companies needed most wasn’t an innovation consultant, but a way to harness their employees’ creativity. Reynolds launched Batterii two years ago and the company which started as “just me in a room,” soon drew in co-founder and programmer Nick Franceschina. 

The company’s first client was Nike Inc., and Batterii now employees 18 staffers and has raised $800,000 in seed funding from CincyTech, company executives and an undisclosed investor. Mike Venerable, CincyTech’s managing director of digital, information and health technology, explains, “Batterii’s approach gives companies wanting to innovate an entirely new tool for broad engagement in the development of new products, new markets and improved internal processes.”

Batterii, in short, is a web-based, social-media-like, software as a service offered to businesses small and large. Having already tapped Silicon Valley executive Kevin Cummins to serve as CEO earlier this year – Cummins invested $250,000 of his own money into the venture – Reynolds says he also hopes to lure companies from Cincinnati’s burgeoning portfolio of tech start-ups.

“What we’re doing is taking the creative energy of employees and giving them an opportunity to build their passion and personal interest into something that helps the company succeed,” Reynolds says.

The platform is also a way of conserving employees’ creative energy. Instead of locking a designated creative team in a conference room, companies can sign up all of their employees, create measurable, goal-driven challenges and pull points of interest and inspiration from staff and consumers (think social-media charged focus groups).

So, if a company’s goal is to develop a new product, it can present this as a challenge, and use employee-gathered points of interest (which can be loaded as photos or tagged online) to define its next steps using a community-driven approach.

By Robin Donovan

Behind SEO success, a 'knuckle down' approach

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
“About every web company says they do search engine optimization,” says Allison Kulage, who is often the person these companies call when they need a subcontractor. As the founder of Bare Knuckle Marketing, she works with businesses directly, helping them identify and meet marketing goals with SEO.

Kulage, who has a marketing communications background, looked for marketing jobs after graduating from college, but found that many of them were little more than commission-based sales positions. After leaping from one job to the next, she discovered a talent for search engine optimization, or SEO – a practice of organizing web content to be friendly to search tools like Google.

After more than a decade working with SEO, Kulage grew tired of watching web marketing companies charge clients for search engine optimization that amounted to little more than adding tags to a WordPress site, to keywords to a meta header (part of a website that tells search engines what it’s about) or – at worst – nothing at all.

With SEO, Kulage says, there are no immediate or automatic fixes. “One day, I just said to myself, ‘You gotta knuckle up and work hard at this stuff! The gloves are off. It's competitive and the only way to win is do honest, hard work by creating good content that users want.’ "

With the help of Bad Girl Ventures, where she took classes in business management, a SCORE mentor and practical training from the American Small Business Centers, she was able to quit her full-time job to launch Bare Knuckle Marketing in just two months.

These days, Kulage advises companies to diversify their online traffic sources, so that if and when Google changes its algorithm, they’re still getting website hits from other sources, such as other search engines, social media sites, blogs and more.

“People focus too much on how they rank in search engines," she says. "For years, Google has personalized search results, which means you and I can search for the same thing, but get different results based on our search history. You may be number one [in a Google search], but you may only be number one on your own machine. There’s too much focus on rankings, and not enough focus on real metrics -- not just traffic, but traffic that’s converting.”

By Robin Donovan

Allostatix takes aim at chronic illness before symptoms appear

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
“I have no medical or scientific background at all,” says Gordon Horwitz, CEO and founder of Allostatix. “My background is entrepreneurial; I’ve built three or four successful companies in my life by looking for a need that needs to be fulfilled.”

In this case, that need was his own.

Horwitz, who was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in 1992 despite an active lifestyle – he’s even a spinning instructor – was feeling “just lousy.” Like many chronic fatigue patients, his blood work and physical exam were normal. Still, day-to-day his energy lagged.

With the help of Robert Ludke, a public health expert from the University of Cincinnati, and statistician Ken Rothe, Horwitz fueled the creation of a simple blood test that may predict the development of chronic health issues and malaise in seemingly healthy people. 

The test involves measuring biomarkers in a blood sample to measure allostatic load. Allostasis is the body’s adaptive response to stressors, and it’s driven by the nervous system. Exposure to constant stress threatens internal balance, and can wear on your body. Allostatix’s tool measures this wear and tear with the hopes of alerting even asymptomatic people that their body is under stress.

By delivering a custom report to physicians, the tool helps identify which specific actions, such as meditation or dietary changes, might best address the specific biomarkers measured, lower the allostatic load and prevent trends from turning in to trouble. “We’re trying to drive costs out of the system by intervening early,” Horwitz says.

His next goal? To make his company’s allostatic load testing as ubiquitous as cholesterol screenings, especially for people 65 and older, who often receive annual screenings. He also hopes to further partnerships with research universities – the company is already collaborating with scientists at the Ohio State University -- for ongoing product development.
 
By Robin Donovan

Fitness guru offers bad backs a non-surgical way to heal

Tuesday, June 05, 2012
“People who are in pain are often afraid of making things worse, and that fear prevents them from really doing things on their own,” says Mary Beth Knight. The founder of Oakley-based Revolution Fitness and the newly launched Get Your Back on Track program, Knight was once “rescued” from a car-accident-induced back injury, and never forgot the favor.

After losing 65 pounds and developing her strength and flexibility, she became an aerobics and fitness instructor, opening her health center in 1999. One of her clients was John Tew, a local neurosurgeon who came to the gym for personal training.

After watching Mary Beth work with Revolution Fitness members suffering from low-back pain, Tew began referring his non-surgical patients to her. Soon, she was too busy to take new referrals. That's when she embarked on her second company, the Get Your Back on Track program.

Designed to bring Mary Beth’s expertise to people she can’t squeeze into her training schedule, the program’s kit includes a foam roller, two massage balls, a yoga strap and a yoga mat, as well as an instructional DVD. Knight developed the program under Tew’s tutelage, joining him to observe patient consultations. “I’ve really had a spectacular education in a very hands-on manner,” she says.

Knight’s program takes people through three levels of trigger point release, stretching and strengthening. She says releasing trigger points – small bundles of painfully knotted muscle fibers – are critical to a fixing painful backs. Her DVD provides 35- to 40-minute videos designed to make it easy for adherents to stay motivated and perform the exercises correctly.

While the program is designed to be temporary, Knight cautions her clients to exercise regularly, and continue to practice the exercises once a week.

By Robin Donovan

Place Workshop creates spaces where users can linger

Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Contrary to what you may think, a landscape architect is not a landscaper. Ken O’Dea, who is the primary environmental designer and landscape architect for the newly minted Place Workshop, specializes in creating parks (yes, some landscaping is included), planned communities, wayfinding systems, academic and business campuses, recreational areas and gathering spaces. In other words, he designs different kinds of connections between built structures.

After 14 years of environmental design work for Vivian Llambi & Associates, Inc., O’Dea launched the Place Workshop to fulfill his dream of designing urban spaces that encourage visitors to stop, look and enjoy.

“Sometimes with projects, there’s an emphasis on LEED certification or green infrastructure, or there’s a very specific budget you need to hit," O’Dea says. "I also think landscape is, at times, more at the forefront than the design of an exterior space. I want to make sure all those things come together, so that the final product is a space designed to be a comfortable place for people to linger.”  

He weighs environmental, financial and aesthetic concerns, determined that no single aspect will tip the project’s scales. While his peers insist upon native species for greenery, O’Dea rejects such stipuations. “We can over-think these elements, and that can be a weak part of a design," O'Dea says. "If a plant is a beautiful addition to a space, then use it. This is really for the end user -- that’s where we came up with our name.”

With his penchant for urban parks and plazas like Fountain Square, O’Dea calls downtown’s Lytle Park “a hidden gem," and has his eye on the new Smale Riverfront Park.

The design pro also appreciates another local favorite. “This is kind of a cliché, but I think Findlay Market is fantastic," he says. "It’s a perfect example of a place a landscape architect or urban designer would design. It just really functions well.”  

By Robin Donovan

Roadtrippers' curated tips take travelers off beaten paths

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
When James Fisher says his travel experience is rooted in road-based travel, he’s not talking about multi-day trips, but road trips spanning weeks and months. “My family used to organize huge road trips through Africa. We’d spend seven months in the back of a truck with a bunch of sweaty Australians, driving from Morocco to Cape Town, then fly back to England, build another truck and do it again,” he explains.  

This newly minted Cincinnatian was born in England, but recently relocated to Cincinnati launch Roadtrippers, a curated, travel-planning website. His co-founder and fiancée, Tatiana Parent, is a history buff and the brains behind the site’s content strategy.

Roadtrippers is a tablet-friendly website designed to be used first at a computer, where most travelers conduct the bulk of trip-planning these days. Fisher says a mobile version is in the works, so that travelers can plan trips at home, then download directions and points of interest for on-the-road reference.  

After logging in, the website has a map interface similar to MapQuest or Google maps. Once endpoints are selected, further menus list attractions by type and distance from the route. The difference between this website and apps like Foursquare, however, is that Roadtrippers' content is hand-selected and curated for specific audiences. If you want to find wineries suitable for motorcyclists or the best drive-in diners, you can. The site only lists venues designed to delight, rather than the comprehensive listings compiled elsewhere. “It’s just the awesome places,” Fisher says.

As former Lonely Planet aficionados, Fisher and Parent spent many long hours road tripping in the U.S., visiting friends and family. Faced with stacks of printouts, unwieldy guidebooks and impossible maps, the two grew frustrated during their search for one-of-a-kind hotspots and hideaways.  

Finally, “we actually just hired a programmer who started building this thing for us because we needed a better tool,” Fisher says. “We were frustrated with trying to navigate around on our own.”

Soon, they realized the tool they’d built for themselves could help other frazzled travelers, and they began looking for seed funding to launch the company. When they secured a spot at The Brandery, Over-the-Rhine’s startup engine, they moved to Cincinnati, which quickly became home.

“I’ve never seen the momentum of community development that I’ve seen here,” Fisher says. “The seed of the tech community is sprouting here, and I’d rather be part of something growing than go somewhere like New York or San Francisco where the rules have already been written. Here, we get to define our own path a bit more.”

Roadtrippers currently generates revenue through its hotel booking services, and recently expanded its team to five employees, including a marketer and two developers.

By Robin Donovan

Chef concocts healthier feeding-tube recipe

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
“Something tells me that pouring high fructose corn syrup into someone who’s dying is not a good idea,” says Robin Gentry McGee, and it’s hard to disagree with her. Yet she says feeding chronically, even terminally ill people feeding-tube formulas high in sugars, oils and synthetic vitamins is a common practice.

When McGee’s own father suffered a traumatic brain injury and required tube feeding, she thought little of the recommended products, despite her training as a whole foods chef. One day, out of sheer boredom, she read the ingredients on a can of feeding-tube formula and discovered it was high in sugar, oils and chemicals. “I was frantic,” she says.

With the help of her father’s medical team, along with nutrition professionals, she poured over medical nutrition resources, eventually tailoring a recipe based on healing, whole foods for her father. He was able to stop taking all but one of his 17 medications after the dietary change.

“Getting the texture right was the hardest part because my dad was also on fluid restriction,” McGee says. “He was only allowed to have four cups of food a day. The reason those [commercial] formulas are on the market, I think, is because almost the only way you’re going to get calories is from fat and sugar."

Soon, she had a formula that worked.

Inspired to offer others the same product, McGee returned to school, studying holistic nutrition, and developed a line of organic, nutraceutical products she describes as “food as medicine.” Her feeding-tube formulary project, dubbed “Functional Formularies,” won a $25,000 loan from Bad Girl Ventures, and was funded by the Innov8 for Health Business Concept Expo, among others.

Today, McGee faces a number of hurdles: high shipping costs for the formula, the enormous expense of clinical trials (which will make it hard to ever take the product into mainstream medicine) and manufacturing headaches. Still, with her father’s memory in mind – he passed away three years after his injury – she feels that these are small challenges.  

McGee’s not trying to replace commercial formulas. Instead, she points to 150 emails in her inbox at any given time from families looking for better nutrition for their loved ones, or people interested in her food-as-medicine concepts and products.

After some final tweaks in the manufacturing process, such as ensuring proper consistency and texture, McGee will offer the formulary to patients and physicians willing to test it for 30 days, tracking the results through bloodwork. She continues to raise funding for an official product launch.

By Robin Donovan

Kennel-free Dogtown offers 24-hour care for local pets

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
"There’s a lot of people who, if I turned them away, would not have anywhere to take their dogs, and I would feel terrible turning them away," says Megan Gourlie, who runs Dogtown Cincinnati, a pet daycare and boarding facility in Mount Auburn. "I’m really close to my customers and for the most part know everybody by name."

The facility already has plans for expansion, and its employees have cared for as many as 90 dogs at once, with about one handler per every 25 to 35 dogs. This number varies based on how many rooms are in use and the time of day. Because the Dogtown is a 24-hour facility, the business offers both daytime and night-hour staff.

Gourlie’s pretty well-connected to her customer base.  After all, she was once a frustrated pet owner herself.

After rescuing a dog who, it turned out, "couldn’t be left alone with having a total breakdown," Gourlie struggled to find care for him during the day. She didn’t want to leave the Weimaraner puppy in a doggie daycare that used kennels, kept dogs indoors most of the day or would drain her wallet with extra fees for walks or administering medications. Eventually, she sat down and did some research.

It turned out that there were plenty of people looking for the same thing: a kennel-free, 24-hour facility where dogs would have plenty of time to roam freely, play and nap. When she opened Dogtown Cincinnati, second-shift workers finally had a place to leave their pets overnight in a "homelike environment," and Gourlie even worked out a way to introduce new dogs slowly to smaller packs so new dogs felt comfortable.

These days, pet owners can watch their dogs and cats (there’s a separate area for felines at the facility) online through 15 live webcams, as well as periodic photos posted on Facebook.

"We are the place that allows you to have a dog if you couldn’t have a dog before," Gourlie says. "A lot of people are actually getting dogs because we’re here. In college I could never have a dog because I didn’t have the time and resources. We cater to second shift. We love second shift people; we’ll do overnight; and we’re really good for business travelers who don’t want to kennel their dogs."

By Robin Donovan

StoreFlix app helps retailers, designers track merchandising efforts

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Shoppers who file purposefully down store aisles may think they’re on a personal mission: bread, juice, tissues, bananas.  In fact, retailers design their spaces to remind patrons that while they only need one thing, it wouldn’t hurt to grab a few extras along the way.

So, visual merchandisers and store designers lay out grocery stores with essentials like produce and dairy along the perimeter; convenience stores line checkout lines with candy and gum; and clothing stores use mannequins to display the latest trends.

The problem is, after a store is laid out – particularly stores with multiple brands available – it can be hard to monitor product presentation. The bright pyramid of oranges that was so enticing last week all too quickly becomes a haphazard pile.

After more than two decades in the packaged goods industry, Phil Storage wanted a better way to help manufacturers, brokers and sales teams, and retailers monitor visual merchandising plans.

“Historically, they wouldn’t be able to visually see anything,” he explains. “Brokers would go into stores … and they would get no visual verification that anything had actually been in compliance [after they left]. They would wait four weeks, and they’d get a report from Nielsen.”

Storage’s company, StoreFlix, addresses this problem with a cloud-based, mobile-friendly app that works as well for retailers and designers as it does for brands themselves. Basically, brokers who visit stores or retailers themselves snap photos or videos of product displays on a smart phone or tablet, upload the photos and share them on team-based walls. Tagging allows photos to be sorted and categorized.

“They love being able to share successes, big ideas and best practices with their teams in a millisecond,” Storage says. “Historically they wouldn’t be able to share any successes at all until they had a sales meeting a month later.” 

In some cases, retail chains use StoreFlix to ensure compliance with company-wide visual display plans. In other cases, manufacturers check the app to make sure their products are on shelves.

“Whenever you have folks capturing information for a manufacturer, they’re sharing it amongst themselves, but they’re also sharing it with retailers,” Storage says. “We’ve solved a huge problem in this business, which is visual verification for compliance issues and monitoring.”

By Robin Donovan

Boostchatter incentivizes social media interaction

Tuesday, May 08, 2012
When Jason Haines and Tommy Tayman were pulling all-nighters at Centre College, they figured it as a temporary, college-only experience. Little did they know that, years later, they’d be driving across the state, locking themselves in a shared office and cranking out code until the wee hours of the morning.

These days, the pair is looking for a little more than good grades. Their new company, boostchatter, is a social rewards program that allows businesses and other organizations to incentivize social activity on Facebook and Twitter.

“It gives businesses or organizations a way to reward customers for being active on social media – it could be commenting, liking stuff, checking stuff, tagging, retweeting," Haines says. "Any of the social actions you perform as a user, you can incentivize users for doing them."

For a small retail shop, that might mean free coffee, a t-shirt or a coupon. For awareness groups or nonprofits, it could be a trinket for some type of medical awareness or a chance at earning points to redeem for merchandise. Basically, the business or organization can set up its own rewards that make sense to its own users.

Boostchatter isn’t the first post-college project the two have collaborated on. In 2004, they partnered to form Optimle, a custom application and web development firm headquartered in Cincinnati.

So, when Haines packed his bags and drove down to Knoxville, where Tayman lives, at the end of last year (typically a slow time for web developers), it wasn’t unusual for them to spend 10 or 12 hours – or more – each day hashing out ideas for boostchatter. A private beta for the project is currently in the works.

By Robin Donovan

Mamadoc eases pregnancy, nursing pains with physician-approved products

Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Although most moms will say the discomforts of pregnancy are well worth a happy, cooing baby after nine months, the physical toll of having a child doesn’t end when the baby is born. Breastfeeding can cause skin irritation, such as cracking and bleeding. When new moms decide to wean their babies, the pain of engorgement (which occurs when milk is not expressed), can be, quite literally, a pain.

While weaning her third child, Dr. Somi Javaid, a local obstetrician and gynecologist, knew there had to be a better way or prevent this discomfort. And on a walk around the soccer field with fellow mom Kim Howell, the pair realized they could combine Howell’s marketing prowess with Javaid’s medical know-how. Together, they launched Mamadoc.

“In the past, there was a a pill that would make a mother’s milk milk dry up,” Howell says, but this medication is no longer FDA approved. Physicians like Javaid typically recommend breast binding, sports bras and even cabbage leaves to ease discomfort, but these methods leave a lot to be desired.

Javaid began developing a lactation compression bra, which the pair named “Nox.” Along the way, the business partners fell in love with bamboo fabrics, whose antimicrobial and antifungal properties made them an ideal fabric for Mamadoc products.

Today, Mamadoc-branded products include the Nox compression bra, Belly UpIt (a back support band designed to ease pain during pregnancy), PregHose compression stockings and ice/heat packs designed for use with the Nox bra. A dual-purpose hospital gown and nursing garment, the Blossom Gown, is in the works. The jersey garment looks like a dress, but opens in the back, is designed without metal closures for operating room compatibility and has shoulder snaps for easy-access nursing.

So, if you’re a mom in need, Howell says Mamadoc products can be purchased locally at the Christ Hospital gift shop, Boutique 280 and Blue Cocoon, as well as online.

By Robin Donovan

Artist brings passion for glassblowing to OTR

Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Amanda McDonald has an unusual problem for an artist: she has too many interested buyers and not enough pieces of her work. Her newly launched company, Goose Alley Glass, harnesses her love for glass blowing, but lacks one important component of the craft: a standalone studio.

Currently, McDonald rents space from other studios by the hour, but her first order of business is to open her own studio.
“The initial start-up cost is pretty high, which is why a lot of glass artists travel,” she says, pointing out that she’ll need a furnace, which must run 24 hours a day, in order to work.

She maintains a temporary showroom at Findlay Market, but has no regular hours because, well, it’s hard to be at an offsite studio and in a shop at the same time. Still, she arranges tours and sells commissioned pieces on request.

As a painter, McDonald was drawn to the strong, bright colors created when sunlight pours through stained glass. In fact, it’s how she got into glassblowing. “Today, stained glass is made from mass-produced, flat-sheet glass, but originally, it was blown,” she explains. “As soon as I got interested in that, I started working in a gallery attached to a glass blowing studio, and the owner started teaching me to blow glass. I fell in love with it, and 10 years later, I’m still doing it.”

Her work is a combination of personal style and function. She wants people who come to her studio to have the same experience she did: seeing the glass blowing process alongside finished pieces. The challenge, she says, is creating glassware, jewelry, servingware, lighting and interior decorating items that people will choose instead of mass-produced glass. 

“For functional glass items, why wouldn’t you just get something off the shelf at Target?” she asks. “We work hard to provide unique, contemporary work that will have a style of its own.”

Working with one other artist, McDonald says her priority right now is keeping enough glass on the shelves to entice shoppers. Her dream? To create a space where “anyone will be able to walk away with a memory,” she says. She hopes to have her studio open by next spring.

By Robin Donovan

For businesses, QuickBooks help at intersection of accounting, IT

Tuesday, May 01, 2012
As a double major in business and business informatics at Northern Kentucky University, Katie Bunschoten isn’t a typical student. Along with raising her daughter and going to school part-time, she also runs KHBOffice, ltd., a company that helps businesses create more efficient and affordable accounting and data tracking processes.

Much of what Bunschoten does is education about Intuit’s accounting software, Quickbooks. This can mean anything from teaching a business how to use the software to helping a business owner integrate a CRM (customer relationship management software) with it.  

After freelancing in Quickbooks advising for several years, Bunschoten knew many local businesses had a need for affordable integration of accounting functions and operational software, such as plug-ins used to track sales, leads or customer support.

These days, she gets calls with requests ranging from, “I’ve had Quickbooks for a month just sitting on my desk,” to “I’ve been using this for a few months, but I’m not sure what to do with it at this point.”

“We want to be really good at bookkeeping, and we want to keep it affordable,” Bunschoten says. “A lot of people who use the software [Quickbooks] would be put off by a CPA’s high rates.” Accordingly, she says she often helps entrepreneurs understand how to be more strategic about using their most important resource: time.

Bunschoten is also quick to say that she’s not a replacement for a CPA. Instead, she says, “We try to be an avenue of communication between people and CPAs. We want to have a CPA in the project as well, but we don’t want them to spend their time on a lot of minutiae we could be taking care of.”

So, how does someone with a family, a job and a university course load manage her own time? “My three-year-old daughter, Abby, tells me when it’s time to shut down,” Bunschoten says. “Ice cream time at the end of the day is mandatory.”

By Robin Donovan

Amy Elisabeth finds unusual inspiration behind the lens

Tuesday, April 24, 2012
While the rest of us were shopping for chocolates, stuffed animals and red Mylar balloons for Valentine’s Day, Amy Spasoff grabbed a bag of conversation hearts. She wasn’t sure what they’d be good for, exactly, just that they seemed like the right thing to grab at that moment.

Spasoff’s newly launched photography studio, Amy Elisabeth Photography, showcases these little moments of inspiration. And if Spasoff’s not always sure why she’s picking up a vintage hat here or a never-to-be-eaten bag of candy there, it all finds a permanent home eventually.

In the case of the candy hearts, Spasoff poured them into a wine glass, crafting a close-up for a young model, whose portfolio – and that photo in particular – recently won her a coveted agency booking in New York.

“I love when a girl will smile on camera or laugh, so I really think that my specialty is getting a clean, beautiful, happy and fun photo -- the kind of photo that you look and makes you smile,” Spasoff says. She recently signed on as a photographer for a local talent agency, has worked with many young women just breaking into modeling.

Spasoff started photography as a hobbyist, but when a friend insisted on paying her to photograph an event, she realized snapping photos could be a full time job. When she was laid off from a writing position, she decided to pursue her passion full-time.

That meant some serious time behind the lens and in the classroom. Spasoff is currently a Bad Girls Ventures finalist, so in between bookings, she’s attending classes through BGV, learning to be a businessperson and a creative. The result? A lot of questions.

“I just completed my marketing plan and that’s in full effect. I’m also working on my business plan … I literally sit in these classes and I’m like the obnoxious kid sitting in the front of the class asking a million questions. I’m really just trying to take it all in,” she says.

By Robin Donovan

A homecoming, a food truck and a grilled cheese for any occasion

Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Emily Frank hasn’t been to culinary school or worked fancy restaurants. She hasn’t even worked in the restaurant business much. After moving to Boston and Chicago, she worked in the print industry for 15 years, slowly building up a catering business on the side. That side business evolved into a portion-controlled, fresh-to-order meal delivery service.

“That was when I really discovered that I loved cooking and was good at it,” Frank says. “I’m not trained by any means professionally, but it’s just something I picked up and enjoyed doing.”

Frank’s latest venture, C’est Cheese, is a labor of love that celebrates her close family (who inspired many menu items), her love of cooking and the budding Cincinnati food truck movement. C’est Cheese, which isn’t yet cruising the streets, does have a menu ready to go. That menu is pretty simple: grilled cheese in 20 varieties, tomato soup and a seasonal soup.

Frank especially recommends two sandwiches on the menu, including the Hollywood, which comes with grilled hot dogs, American cheese and pickled vegetables. Frank admits it “sounds so bizarre,” but has been a focus-group favorite. The Bad Girl (three cheeses, a drizzle of honey and homemade raspberry sauce on French bread) is another favorite, and honors Frank’s current status as a finalist at Bad Girl Ventures.  

Until the truck is ready, Frank is serving sandwiches for special events, parties, focus groups, office get-togethers and anything and everything else. Her only regret is that she didn’t come home sooner.

“It was a big change. I resisted it for a long time, but now I’m kicking myself. I have a 20-month-old nephew that was a catalyst for me coming back,” she says. “I knew that if I wanted to start my own business, I could afford to do that a little easier in Chicago or Boston where I was before, but it’s also important for me to play an active role in my community, and it was easier to do that in Cincinnati. After 15 years, I was ready to come home.”

By Robin Donovan

Stress-free registry allows friends, family to send cash for wish-list items

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The striking difference between in-store (and even some online) registration systems and Tony Alexander’s latest company, SimpleRegistry, is that gift givers on the website aren’t actually buying a tangible gift.  After registrants create an online compendium of desired items, friends and family members are invited to donate funds toward all or part of each item.  

For one couple, the cost of an expensive SLR camera was divided into 10 chunks, each sponsored by a different friend or family member, which allowed the couple to purchase the camera themselves, using the money donated by their loved ones.

Women in their early-20s to mid-40s make up the bulk of SimpleRegistry users. The service can be used over and over for events from weddings and honeymoons to baby showers, anniversaries, parties and other celebrations.

Fees associated with the site generate profit, but can be varied based on individual need. For example, couples can choose between a 3.5 percent transaction fee deducted from cash gifts they receive (which covers the cost of accepting credit cards) or pass the fee along to the gift giver, so that a $100 gift costs $103.50. The site also offers a one-time, $35 charge designed to reward repeat customers.

“If someone signs up but never receives a gift, we don’t make any money at all,” Alexander says, pointing out that the company barely breaks even on credit card transaction fees.

Right now, Alexander says, registrants tend to be concentrated along the east and west coasts, where people tend to be most tech savvy. However, he emphasizes that SimpleRegistry is not an alternative registry system. “If you can go to Target and register, you can put the exact same things on your registry on SimpleRegistry.”  In other words, it’s for everyone.

By Robin Donovan

MoLo Mobile digitizes keepsakes on the fly

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Among the many tasks plaguing families during funeral preparation is trying to create posters and photo-display boards, which often is time-consuming and damages precious photos of loved ones. Online services abound, but Katy Samuels and her brother, Scott, wanted to bring the process closer to families.

The siblings, along with a talented extended family, launched Memories of Loved Ones, affectionately dubbed “MoLo,” in late 2009.

They’ve received as few as 40 up to as nearly 400 photographs in preparing for funerals and celebrations, often graduation parties and the like. Turnaround times are quick; Katy says her team once created nine collages and a 40-minute DVD from 395 photos in less than 24 hours.

MoLo also has a very visible presence: a 35-foot, green and purple RV that houses their camera and scanning equipment, as well as seating and snacks for families who climb aboard with photos, trophies, stuffed animals, quilts and other memorabilia in tow.

Katy says the RV offers a handful of advantages, “When we go meet a family, they’re making a ton of decisions in a short amount of time. We don’t want people to feel like they have to pick up for us.” Families also don’t have to worry about photos being damaged or lost, as all the scanning is done before they leave.

Once inside, family members relax while Katy and the MoLo team get to work photographing and scanning each item. With three-dimensional things, such as medals or knitting, they typically photograph the item, and use image-manipulation software to create collages. For example, a favorite quilt may be photographed while draped over a blank poster board. In a final collage, the quilt will be digitally placed so that it “hangs” over a photo.

MoLo isn’t a service just for funerals, either, as Katy and Scott field requests for everything from graduation parties to nonprofit awareness events. They donate services regularly for anyone who dies in the line of duty, whether that be as a firefighter, police officer or military serviceperson.

A 60 to 90-minute scanning process usually evolves into much more than that; Katy says she’s even received standing ovations from families as she delivered collages and poster boards. Somehow, in between scanning, chatting, snacking and sharing, a bond forms.

“Most people will tell us it’s the best experience because they get to remember, tell stories and laugh. That’s the fun of going through pictures, and it helps you go through the grieving process,” Katy says. “We go from meeting a perfect stranger to feeling like we’re a part of the family.”

By Robin Donovan

Air Corks releases a better way to preserve wine

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
There’s something inherently sad about uncorking a bottle of wine, only to realize it’s turned to vinegar. Maybe it’s the wasted money or the expectation of a pleasant post-workday buzz gone bad. Whatever it is, Eric Corti hates it.

As Corti points out, even if you drink cheap wine, it hurts to waste it. He’s not a big fan of vacuum-pump devices, either. “You put the stopper in the top, you pump the heck out of that thing almost until you can’t anymore, but I would set the bottle on the counter and think, ‘I just did that, but I still see a lot of air coming in contact with my wine, so I don’t really understand how that’s working or why that’s any better.’”

Starting with toy balloons, he began experimenting with another way to keep air away from wine.

The resulting product, dubbed “Air Cork,” comprises a hand-operated pump and inflatable balloon that fits inside wine bottles. An independent sommelier who reviewed the product found no residual flavors from the balloon and, in fact, said the product was more effective than corking alone at preserving wine.

Designed for affluent imbibers as well as those seeking a lower-priced product, Air Cork works equally well on all types of wine, according to Corti, who notes, “The goal is the same whether you have the $20 bottle or the $200 bottle. It’s not an expensive device; if you manage not to throw out two half bottles of $20 wine, you’re going to pay for it.”

So, where does a practically minded wine lover in Cincinnati buy a bottle or savor a glass? Corti and his wife frequent Piazza Discepoli in Glendale and West Chester’s Little Sonoma with friends.

By Robin Donovan

LSP Ware's cloud-based scheduling, billing lessen hassles for linguists

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Many entrepreneurs have been advised to launch their companies with the urgency of someone whose house has gone up in flames. Phyllis Smith had the misfortune of experiencing this situation more literally – as her nonprofit employer underwent a merger, and she was about to launch her own company, her home burned to the ground.  

Smith and her husband, Doug, spent more than 18 months haggling with their insurance company, which delayed the launch of LSP Ware, a cloud-based program that matches linguists with organizations that need a translator or interpreter.

LSP Ware was written by Doug, founder of the software development company Xseena Group, to replace an older system with a trio of hassles: cumbersome paper bills generated for language-service providers, mystery checks mailed to interpreters and administrative exceptions created by scheduling.

The program allows organizations to log in online, post jobs or search for providers. Meanwhile, interpreters log in separately, and can search for and accept jobs online, or even connect to the site with a mobile device to find directions to the jobsite. To date, Smith’s clients seem glad to have tried the program – one even wrote to thank her for a well-organized bill.

Already developing a plan to nationalize LSP Ware’s user base, Smith also hopes to expand to users in other industries, which may one day include salons or other service providers. For the moment, however, she’s intent on cornering “a very niche market.”

“There are about 2,000 language service providers in the U.S. as of the 2007 economic census,” Smith says. “A lot of things are done very manually in this business – we’re trying to change that.”

By Robin Donovan

Planting local roots helps advice website blossom

Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Brette Borow hasn’t been home in days, weeks, oh, who’s counting? Although she technically lives in Los Angeles, her business, GirlsGuideTo, planted roots in downtown Cincinnati, too. These days, the advice website aimed at women 18 to 35 is taking off, and Borow is "pretty much living out of a suitcase," as she expands her staff, works on a redesign and conducts the perpetual business development every startup demands.

Although Borow grew up in Chicago and now lives in Los Angeles, she set up an office in Cincinnati to tap into the region’s Midwestern roots and the concentration of colleges in and around the city. "Our [readers] are very much your everyday girl and our audience is really the girl next door. She’s relatable and I think that the Midwest is a prime example of that," Borow says.

Despite her own marketing background, Borow has a small marketing budget: “There are ways to grow your audience without spending millions and millions,” she says, noting GirlsGuideTo’s continuing rise in reader engagement and traffic.

GirlsGuideTo started off as a website whose content was mostly created by website visitors who asked and answered questions amongst themselves. With the recent addition of a Cincinnati-based editor, Katie Ostoich, the site is shifting to primarily editorial content focused on popular topics.

“I wanted to make sure GirlsGuideTo wasn’t just a place where women came when they had a problem, but a place they were coming on a daily basis, basically getting the information and advice they needed whether or not they were actually asking a question,” Borow says. By providing a safe place for women to ask questions, seek advice or simply read, she may be doing just that.

By Robin Donovan

Energy auditor matches property owners with funding, services

Tuesday, April 03, 2012
When she’s not giving public presentations about energy efficiency, Toni Winston, founder of Tiburon Energy & Construction is trying to convince wary homeowners that making their homes more efficient doesn’t require a large outlay of cash up front.

Winston and her company offer energy audits – comprehensive whole-house inspections to determine the efficiency of the house as a system – and recommends ways you can save money on your utility bills by making your home more efficient.  She’ll even do the work for you. “We do everything except equipment replacement. We don’t replace heaters and air conditioners; we bring in subcontractors,” she says.

Most of Tiburon Energy & Construction’s business comes from homeowner-to-homeowner referrals and, in general, the older the home, the more the potential savings. Some businesses also take advantage of Tiburon’s services. Unlike private homes, businesses typically see the best return on investment from lighting improvements.

One problem, Winston says, is that people simply don’t know that there are government funds available for these types of home improvement and even for assessments. She works closely with the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, a steward of federal funds which helps connect qualified homeowners with up to $4,200 for energy conservation improvements.

In addition, “Hamilton County has a wonderful property improvement program, which buys down home equity loans by 3 percent; the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance also has a financing component called the GC-HELP Loan,” she says. So, if you, like Winston, have been dreaming of green roofs, urban agriculture and long-term community sustainability, it may come with a very reasonable price tag.
 
By Robin Donovan

StyleZen launches customizable "feed of fashion"

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
“To paraphrase Amy Scalia of CincyChic, StyleZen is like Pinterest and Pandora got married and started taking steroids,” says Michael Wohlschlaeger of StyleZen. A self-described “boring, successful corporate-finance junkie,” Wohlschlaeger left a thriving career to reconnect with his passions for analysis, style and startups.

StyleZen’s website, which will launch in early April, offers a customizable feed of fashion, in the same way Pandora offers a customizable music feed. Users can add apparel to customizable collections, interact with products by “liking” or “disliking” them, and use the tool to get ideas or even plan purchases.

Wohlschlaeger says that he and his wife, Megan, are somewhat shopping obsessed, if not traditionally stylish. “While we may not be described as quintessential fashionistas, we have always been voracious consumers of clothing and fashion,” he says.

Collections consist of virtual pinboards, populated by clothing, shoes and accessories each user selects. For example, a user could create a collection of clothes suited to going out, hitting the gym or buckling down at work.

Sound complicated? Don’t worry: StyleZen offers a quick tutorial for users and its almost-obsessive update schedule of new products means users are free pin, dream and, ultimately, strut their stuff.
 
By Robin Donovan

VenueAgent trades cool spaces for hard cash

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Jocelyn Cates wants your house and your office. But don’t worry, she’s willing to take it over when you’re away, and she might just pay your mortgage or rent in return. As the founder of VenueAgent, Cates is always on the lookout for unconventional spaces to turn into event venues.

Cates’ company, VenueAgent, matches available spaces, including bridal shops, art galleries, design studios and coffee shops, with event hosts in the area. “Just about anything could work,” she says. So, if you have a house that overlooks the Ohio River, or a sweet loft downtown, or just a big office or warehouse space that’s frequently unused, VenueAgent wants your property as a listing.

Cates herself is something of a networking wizard. She credits Joshua Johnson of Mindbox Studios, a local web design and development company, with helping her start thinking of herself as a web entrepreneur. She’s also participated in startup groups and incubators like Continuous Web, the Hamilton County Business Center, and has aligned herself with the startup-development powerhouses including the Brandery and CincyTech, a venture-development organization.

Today, she’s using those network skills to find new spaces that could fuel the success of VenueAgent. "One of our listed venues, 915 Monmouth, told me just last week, ‘We don’t have to worry about our rent or other overhead from month to month now. The events that we are hosting in our off hours more than make up for those expenses,’” she says. "That’s inspiring to me, and that sums up my vision for the future." The site currently has more than 30 available venues.
 
By Robin Donovan

Solar Earth helps consumers cash in on energy credits

Tuesday, March 20, 2012
One thing Jennifer Wolford learned after about 10 years in the construction industry was if you’re not selling solar, you’re losing out. While putting together proposals for a construction company, she noticed more and more requests for solar-panel installation, a service her company didn’t offer. 

Solar panels used to be too expensive for most consumers – except those willing to pay extra to spare the environment -- to justify. At least, that’s what Wolford’s friend, Julie Jones, told her. Jones worked for an alternative-energy department at Cinergy (which was later bought out by Duke Energy), where she figured out ways to use power more efficiently and sustainably.

Wolford and Jones launched Solar Earth LLC last November to address the growing demand to retrofit homes and businesses with solar panels. The pair is planning their first installations as this article goes online.

Today, plummeting upfront costs and increasingly efficient panels have made solar a worthy option for consumers. Government tax credits have helped, as has the fact that local energy companies are required to support or generate green and renewable power; if they don’t meet their requirements, they pay a penalty. One way to avoid this? Buying solar renewable energy certificates, or SRECs, from local solar consumers. There are even websites that have sprung up to help solar users sell their credits as soon as they accumulate them.

In Ohio, buying solar panels will also net you a 30 percent government tax credit. By combining tax benefits, SREC sales and other savings, Jones estimates that her customers will earn a 6 to 8 percent return over the panels’ lifespan (they’re usually guaranteed for 25 years and last up to 40 years). A self-proclaimed “tree-hugger,” Jones couldn’t be happier: “I’ve always been a solar geek and always thought it was the right way to go.”

Bringing clean, haute cuisine to the streets

Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Jason Perkins would like to park in your neighborhood. His new truck, which houses EAT! Mobile Dining, is bring fine dining to Cincinnati roadways.

Perkins spent a number of years in working in the flavoring industry, developing those mysterious natural and artificial flavors added to so many foods. There, he says, he cemented his obsession with cleanliness. His website details food storage temperatures and checks, sterilization codes, and even his process for cleaning the basins he uses to wash produce.

Along with this upscale attitude toward cleanliness, Perkins leans toward bistro-style appetizers and entrees; his menu lists pan-seared scallops, tamari almonds, grilled-paneer sandwiches, and a must-try, day-after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich.

EAT! takes requests, so you can contact Perkins and ask him to come to your office or near a favorite late-night venue. He’s still figuring out his regular schedule, but tends to be downtown Tuesdays and Thursdays, sometimes on Court Street.

“I’m still looking at Blue Ash,” he says. “I’m trying to be in markets that are underserved as far as food-service options go, like Reed Hartman Highway.”

While training clientele unused to food trucks is a challenge, Perkins points to a handful of already-loyal downtowners with hope. “Downtown’s nice,” he says, “because people get used to seeing you. Food trucks are still very new in this part of the country.”
 
By Robin Donovan

Fashion-forward website connects bloggers, readers and brands

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Erin Flynn is a fashionista on the mission. Starting as a fashion blogger herself, she quickly discovered a problem in the fashion blogosphere. Advertising and public relations firms were spending long hours trying to match their clients with fashion bloggers who could review products and increase brand awareness. Meanwhile, bloggers struggled to increase their readership.

Erin found a solution for this problem and, in the process, co-founded Righting Style: Expose Yourself, an online fashion hub that forms a symbiotic relationship between fashion bloggers, readers, and brands.

Perhaps the only thing Erin is more passionate about than fashion is the success of her company. She and her husband, Colin, moved to Cincinnati from Scranton, Penn. (yes, the fictitious setting of The Office) to take advantage of Cincinnati’s wealth of startup resources. Along with her husband and sister-in-law, Amy Flynn, she hopes to launch the website within the next few months.

Erin explains, “Our democratic, online community identifies the best fashion blog content, which makes it easy for readers and brands to find blogs that match their style interests.  With top content gaining more and more exposure, fashion bloggers will finally have a way to get continuous feedback on their writing and will have an interested and engaged audience just waiting to read their best content.”

Righting Style will host fashion blogs, using an algorithm to determine most popular and useful content, which will populate a leader board on its homepage. A paid subscription service will match advertising agencies and PR firms with interested bloggers. Finally, fashion-hungry readers who visit the site will be able to search the site’s content using tags and filters. Erin hopes the site will be just what its tagline promises: “A New Fashion Democracy.”

By Robin Donovan

Leap app helps heath-minded competitors stick to goals

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
James Dickerson, Nick Cramer and Ryan Tinker live together, true startup style, near Ault Park. Right now, they’re tackling the Paleo diet, a tough-to-follow way to eat as our Paleolithic ancestors did, which basically means avoiding dairy, grains and processed foods in favor of produce, nuts, fish and meat.

When one of the guys eats a meal -- say, baked fish, a handful of nuts and a salad -- they snap a photo and upload it to Leap, a mobile app they launched this year on Leap Day (Feb. 29). As competitors in their own challenge, the guys win points if their meal fits the rules they set, or get a foul if it includes a forbidden food. Challenges in the app are designed by participants and proven by photographs.

“The idea was born from our own competitive nature and our interest in healthy habits,” Dickerson says. “I think all of us are really inspired by taking risks, doing really interesting things and not really going by the norms of society. We really want to do our own thing.”

Leap was built through trial and error. Dickerson found that people wanted an app that let them define their own goals (healthy or not) and compete with friends. Recently featured by Apple’s app store, the free app was downloaded more than 3,400 times in the first 60 hours it was available. After only six days, Leap had 10,000 active users.

The Leap team hopes to monetize the app by allowing companies to sponsor a challenge. For example, Chipotle might challenge its Facebook fans to burrito-eating contest, handing out swag to whoever eats the most. Or, a CrossFit gym could sponsor a diet challenge for its athletes.

“Leap is a product that people can use to try to push their friends to try new things and lead more interesting and fun-filled lives,” Dickerson says, explaining that the app can be used for any life-enriching goal, big or small. “I think our own goals and the lives we want to live are reflected in our product enabling others to do the same.”

By Robin Donovan

Founder profile: James Dickerson, Nick Cramer and Ryan Tinker, Leap

Tuesday, March 06, 2012
How did you start your business?
I [James] first had an idea for a company called “Wellthy” based around corporate wellness challenges that I started about a year ago. I built the team and we took the company through the Brandery, which gave us some great resources to help us get going.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?
We built our first app and tested it with companies, but learned that people didn't want to do corporate wellness challenges. They wanted to compete with their friends around their goals and interests. So, with about a month before the Brandery demo day, we changed directions to Leap.

Leap is the first mobile app for social group challenges. It lets users create challenges with their friends and compete by snapping photos from their phone. For example, you could create a challenge to see who could eat a healthy breakfast each day of the week, or meet the most people on a Friday night and prove your progress by posting pictures and earning points.

What inspires you?
The Brandery was a huge help to us. It helped us get connected to mentors that gave us some very valuable advice on topics from fundraising to product development. We were also one of five startups in the country invited to pitch at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago. We were able to validate what we were working on and it gave us a big confidence boost.

Our vision is that challenges are the best way to push people to try new and interesting things in their lives and to capture fun experiences with the people that you care about. This has inspired our team to build Leap, and we hope people use our application in a really positive way.

What’s next for your company?
We launched our app on Leap day, Feb. 29. We're focused on gathering feedback from early adopters and using it to build the best possible product. We’re also talking to investors to raise a seed round for Leap.

By Robin Donovan

Founder Profile: Amanda Voss, Constance Depler and Friends

Tuesday, March 06, 2012
How did you start your business?
The images I use are all my mother’s [Constance Depler’s] artwork. Her work had been reproduced in the past and I decided we could do it instead of just licensing it out. At first, I tried just starting a website, but I spent a lot of money, and it didn’t work great. Then, I took the Bad Girl Ventures classes and was a finalist. Ultimately, we decided to focus on my mother’s 1950s work, the bar hounds, reindeer and a lot more. Right now, we’re at the point of reconstructing the website and starting with web-based sales, with a plan of going into wholesale retail next year.

How did you come up the idea for your business?
It was a mutual decision between my mom and I; she’s thrilled and loved that I’m doing it.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?
Bad Girl Ventures helped me form connections with business people and mentors. It also forced me to to sit down and do the work I don’t like: financials, business plans, and just really studying what a business entails. Connections I made through Bad Girl have been great for finding people who would work with me on marketing and design; it helped me make my support team.

Overall, I learned to go slower and really take the time so that things aren’t rushed and everything we put out looks great. That lesson helped me: slow down, think it out, you don’t have to do everything at once.

What inspires you?
When I tell people about the store and the artwork, they love it and they love the look of the pieces. Also, keeping a support system around me helps. My mother, who’s really interested, still lives on Milton Street here in Cincinnati. She’s 85, still painting, still working, and still doing the pet portraits she’s known for. Personally, I’m excited about getting more involved in the design aspect of what we’re producing, which is a part of myself I haven’t tapped into yet.

What’s next for you and your company?
We’ve switched our focus to the 1950s genre of my mother’s work. Our immediate next step is to have a new online store by April, and the next big goal is to have a new product line coming out. The first year we’re starting with products like purses and kindle covers – things with a flat image on them. Hopefully, by September, we’ll bring out barware and then develop into products like candlesticks, figurines, corkscrews and other items that we’d need to have molded.

By 2013, we plan to have a full-fledged product line for the wholesale and retail market.

By Robin Donovan

Nurse offers compassion and clean-up to grieving families

Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Heidi Lamkin admits her work is “a job most people couldn't do.” She recently launched Absolute Bio-Recovery Service East, a small company that offers bio-recovery, or cleanup, of crime scenes and bio-hazards.

“We do crime and trauma scenes like murders, and I've done some suicide cleanups," Lamkin says. "We also do hoarder houses and unattended deaths."

By “do,” she means “clean-up after,” a job that can involve anything from carefully cleaning a car’s wiring to removing bloodstained floorboards. On the mundane side, she offers deodorizing services to families caring for a sick loved one at home or in a hospice setting.

Because Lamkin is an ICU nurse, she’s not bothered by most jobs, many of which are no more stomach-turning than what she’s encountered in hospital settings. In addition, she and her husband have been trained through the American Bio-Recovery Association to safely clean up crime scenes, bio hazards and other waste that poses a health risk to the average person. They’re even certified in meth lab cleanup.

Although some larger bio-recovery companies market and advertise heavily, Lamkin sees advantage in her experience. “They’re [some larger companies] not emotionally or technically trained to do the work,” she says. “To me, training in dealing with people, being compassionate and truly caring is huge. All of these situations are cases in which people have been devastated.”  

Because a coroner would typically remove a deceased person before Lamkin arrives, she's not as directly exposed to death as she could be. However, she says that finding personal items -- glasses, a cane, dentures – is moving and saddening.

Still, Lamkin takes comfort in knowing that she's sparing grieving families an unenviable task. She says her nursing background helps her relate to traumatized families. “I’m helping people achieve a new normal,” she says, “And I’m showing them that there are truly compassionate people out there.”

By Robin Donovan

Live Well Chiropractic Center focuses on young patients, moms

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
If chiropractors make you think of arthritis, car accidents and old, achy spines, you’re not alone, but chiropractic care can start much sooner in life than when grey hairs appear.

Kim Muhlenkamp started seeing a chiropractor as a baby when torticollis, a painful condition causing muscle spasms in the neck, made it painful to lift her head. For Muhlenkamp’s family, regular chiropractic care was simply normal and “part of our everyday lifestyle.”

Today, Muhlenkamp, who goes by “Dr. Kim,” has her own chiropractic practice, the Live Well Chiropractic Center, which opened last April in Mason. She sees all ages of patients, but focuses on relieving pain in kids and expectant moms. One of her specialties is the Webster technique, an adjustment designed to balance the pelvis and allow breach babies to be born naturally by giving them space to position themselves head down in the womb.

Muhlenkamp, who sees a chiropractor weekly herself, says pregnancy doesn’t have to be painful. She points out that chiropractic adjustments can relieve the pain of sciatica as well as discomfort in the lower back, ribs and pelvis that women often experience during pregnancy.

Children require a much lighter, gentler technique Muhlenkamp says, which is what makes her expertise so important. After all, she says, “The birth process can have a huge impact on the spine and neck. Even a little misalignment can affect things down the road.”

She’s also passionate about helping kids avoid pain and injuries later in life. “The reason we develop arthritis and imbalances, well, let’s just say it’s not just something that happens overnight. It’s something that starts with a fall or an injury in high school, something that happens early on. When it goes untreated, our bodies compensate, and we develop issues down the road. The importance of keeping everything aligned from the early stages on is huge.”

By Robin Donovan

Scent of a cell phone offers new business opportunity

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Any woman who has broken a bottle of perfume knows the headache: glass everywhere and, worse, a supercharged dose of scent that’s hard to shake. Rosalie Giesel, 26, took this “why me” experience and used it as motivation for scented cell phone accessories sold by 346 Stanley LLC, a company she launched with a trio of classmates from the University of Cincinnati.

The company’s signature product, Akscentz, is a line of scented cell phone cases targeted to teen girls and young women. Akscentz is the outgrowth of a class project; when tasked with inventing a product and a business plan to sell it, the women wowed their professors, who encouraged them to make the product a reality.

Giesel’s partners include Stephanie Albers, Breeana Dixon, and Krista Streckfuss.  Streckfuss, a biology major, graduated late last year. The others are on the cusp of completing the College of Business’ entrepreneurship program, but plan to stay in Cincinnati and collaborate on the launch. Giesel is unfazed by the possibility that her co-founders may move, pointing out that any relocation is just a chance to focus on a new market.

While Giesel admits that the company’s youthful leadership is a challenge – she describes the business’ manufacturing side as “pretty terrifying.” Still, she says the group is well-aware of competing products marketed by well-established competitors.  And, she explains, “We’re starting out, we’re motivated, and we really want it, and our drive makes up for expertise. In the areas that we lack, we’ll learn or we’ll consult. I think being young, fresh, and motivated is one of our main advantages.”

It doesn’t hurt that Giesel, Albers, Dixon and Streckfuss are part of the demographic they’ll target with Akscentz, either. Right now, Giesel says they’re focused on graduating so they can devote more time to the company.

By Robin Donovan

Profile: Rosalie Giesel of 346 Stanley

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
How did you come to be an entrepreneur?  

It started with a project in one of our entrepreneurship classes at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Business. We had to come up with an idea for a new business, product, or service and build a business plan around it. Although the class ended in December 2011, we felt that we had a marketable product and decided to continue on with its development by founding 346 Stanley LLC.

How did you come up the idea?

Some of my favorite perfume leaked from the bottle and onto my cell phone. I found that I loved smelling it every time I used my phone and even continued to spray it on the case when it began to wear off. That’s where the idea was born. I should mention that our original name for the product was Tek-Tak but when our lawyer researched it, we found that the name was already in use. We have since changed the product name to “Akscentz.”

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?

We’ve had some great help from professors in the College of Business; they are all very supportive of us going forward and taking our product to market. Also, we’ve consulted with lawyers and professionals with expertise in launching new products.

What inspires you?

The thought of coming up with our own idea and actually taking it to market and making it a success inspires us. Seeing the hard work and passion of other entrepreneurs who have taken their ideas and turned them into something real; that is truly inspiring.

What’s next for you and your product?

Right now we are consulting with some experts who have experience in launching new products. We want to learn the best way to produce and market Akscentz.  

By Robin Donovan

Resource: CincyTech

Tuesday, January 31, 2012
CincyTech is a public-private partnership whose mission is to invest in high--growth startup technology companies in Southwest Ohio.  This is done through management assistance, seed-capital investments and connections to partners who share our mission.

CincyTech is supported by the State of Ohio's Third Frontier Project and by corporations, foundations and research institutions in Southwest Ohio. Its work focuses on opportunities in information technology and life sciences. 

CincyTech provides the following services:
  • Connections to a network of resources for assistance.
  • Management assistance provided by a team of executives-in-residence and investment associates to help accelerate the growth of promising technology companies.
  • Seed-stage investments through a $10.4 million seed fund.
  • Capital formation assistance provided by an investment development director, who works with clients to access follow-on rounds of capital from angel and private-equity investors regionally and nationally.
  • Imagining Grants to prove the potential of technologies developed at regional research centers to be commercialized by startup companies. Grants also will be available to launch new companies based on orphaned technology at established regional companies.
Since it began investment activity in May 2007, CincyTech has:
  • Considered more than 1,800 investment opportunities.
  • Provided substantive advice to more than 421 companies.
  • Invested $5.3 million in 17 companies -- 11 in information technology, five in bioscience and one in advanced manufacturing.
  • Helped local startup companies raise $89 million from seed- or early-stage venture investors.
Through September 2010, CincyTech's portfolio companies have created 250 jobs at an average annual wage of $61,000. At this rate, those companies are on track to produce up to 1,000 jobs over the next eight years. At the same time, the partnership will have expanded the region's entrepreneurial class with a new cadre of successful business leaders with the capacity to launch new firms, support the arts and other philanthropic activities, and assume civic leadership responsibilities.

DIY crafts, sass make 'Housewife' popular

Tuesday, December 13, 2011
No matter thunderstorm, stifling heat or Cleveland snow storm, the craft show must go on.

That’s the way Martha Latta, the 30-year-old do-it-yourself crafter extraordinaire behind Sunday Afternoon Housewife, sees it, anyway.

“Always bring an extra pair of socks and T-shirt,” Latta, who lives in north east Indianapolis, says with a laugh. “Be prepared for everything.”

Sunday Afternoon Housewife, a moniker that Latta picked up in 2004 when she and a friend started a zine, now represents a blog of “handmade goods and unsolicited advice” and her business.

Latta, a part-time instructor at a local community college who travels around the country to sell her goods at craft shows, also sells her Scrabble tile pendants on her website. The tiles each have a vintage-inspired image on the blank side of the tile with the Scrabble letter visible on the back. The image is coated in resin to give the necklace a shiny, glass-like appearance. She’s also the force behind a growing Indiana-centric T-shirt business.

The necklaces and T-shirts, which are also sold in stores from Cincinnati to Dallas, are the latest in a line of creating that started when Latta was in high school. She’s experimented with wood burning, leather work, beading, paper making, photography, embroidery and sewing.

The skills, she says, she inherited from her mother and grandmothers.

“One is a really good quilter and cook – I get all of my cooking skills from my dad’s mom,” Latta says. “My other grandma, she does beautiful needlework, cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting and crochet. My mom never settled on one thing. … She’s on a mosaic phase now.”

For the month of December, Latta is working a pop-up shop at a gallery in Indianapolis that features work from 45 different artists. She’s using it to “get my toes in the water of retail” although she isn’t committed to opening her own shop just yet.

Next for Latta? Who knows, she says.

“I don’t know that I’ll be making necklaces for the rest of my life,” Latta says. “I’m doing really well with the T-shirt line and thinking that in the next year I’ll be expanding that, doing more things that are general instead of city-centric.”

Interested in her work? Latta has her goods on sale in at least two Cincinnati boutiques; Fabricate in Northside and Red Tree Gallery on Madison Road.

By Taylor Dungjen

Whirlybird launches line of local granola

Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Research the history of granola and a couple different accounts surface. Who thought of it first—a health spa owner or John Harvey Kellogg? From healthy snack to diet staple, granola’s popularity gives it staying power beyond its early “hippie food” advocates.

For Mariemont’s Christy White, 27, the love of granola reaches beyond yogurt topping and trail mix. She’s taken her passion for local ingredients and entrepreneurial spirit and launched Whirly Bird Granola in April 2011. After seeing granola for sale at local flea markets, she spend six months testing and perfecting her recipes for three signature varieties: original, chocolate and vanilla berry.

One of White’s main focuses while testing recipes was finding a local, high-quality maple syrup. The name of her company evolved directly from the sugar maple tree’s seed, which many people refer to as “whirlybirds” or “helicopters.” She settled on Ohio’s Snake Hill Farm. “They produce organic maple syrup and it was delicious,” White says. “It is family-run and the people were amazing. We wanted to support such a great family with a great product.”

WhirlyBird is all-natural, and 40 percent of its ingredients are organic. White uses dried cranberries, dried blueberries, flax seeds, sunflower seeds and more. “I’m trying to get as many organic and local ingredients into my recipes,” White says. “Sometimes it can be hard because of cost.”

Currently, White, has only sold her granola at the City Flea. She’s in the process of finding a certified kitchen so she can expand beyond her Mariemont home and make larger quantities.

White also takes orders by email and even delivers them to customers around the city.

“I’m trying to meet what every customer needs,” she says. For now, that includes a special gingerbread-flavored granola for the holiday season.

By Evan Wallis

Local woman makes lifelong hobby her business

Tuesday, December 13, 2011
With a lifetime of experience making jewelry, clothing and purses for herself, Kelly Lehman, owner and operator of Flora Sun Jewelry, is following a lifelong dream.

Flora Sun launched in 2008 and Lehman decided she would focus only on jewelry.

“There are a lot of distractions,” Lehman says. “I decided I needed to focus on just one aspect of things I make so I can stay on target.”

With a degree in fine arts and interior design from The College of Mount St. Joseph, Lehman had taken classes in everything from metalworking to pottery.

“I’ve always received compliments from friends, family, even strangers,” Lehman says. “People started offering to buy stuff from me. That’s when I thought I could make this into a business.”

Before launching Flora Sun, Lehman worked as a project manager at an architecture firm for four years. Today, she freelances for production companies and runs Flora Sun.

“I left that job to do something more arts-based,” Lehman says.

Making her jewelry out of her basement studio in her house in Bridgetown, Lehman began to attend any local craft show she could find. The wide variety of materials that she buys or finds serves as her inspiration when she makes jewelry.

“I use whatever catches my eye,” Lehman says. “I never know what I am going to make when I start.”

From coral to semi-precious stones to metal, Lehman hand-makes one-of-a-kind earrings, necklaces and bracelets that sell well at craft shows like the City Flea and the Hyde Park Art Show. Sometimes she has even wiped out her inventory on her Etsy site. Since June of this year, Lehman has participated in eight different art shows around the city.

With business going well, Lehman has thought about opening a storefront, but plans on continuing to work out of her house for the next couple of years.

By Evan Wallis

Startup Such + Such builds collective design future in OTR

Tuesday, December 06, 2011
After graduating from DAAP and having experience co-oping with large design firms, three UC alums set an ambitious goal: start their own business and do it right here, in Cincinnati

Starting out of Losantiville Design Collective at 1311 Main Street in Over-the-Rhine, the team at Such + Such is perfecting design and woodworking skills while working with neighborhood businesses and creating handmade furniture products. The company’s own line of products is available at Losantiville and on Such + Such’s Etsy site. Such + Such also provides design services – founders recently helped create the build-out for Sloane Boutique.

The Losantiville Collective was formed to give creative types a place to share rent, tools and ideas. All the tenants pay rent, and the leftover money is invested in tools and an effort to  find a larger space than can hold more tenants.

After graduating in June 2010, Alex Aeschbury, Zach Darmanan-Harris and Mike Nauman started Such + Such in March 2011. From clocks to tables to coat racks, all of Such + Such’s work is crafted in OTR. The trio’s eye for beautiful craftsmanship, along with their  manufacturing skills honed in years of DAAP studio work, allow them to make simple, but eye-catching, products.

At Such + Such, every day offers a new learning opportunity. One day found the three start-up founders creating a four-foot-long spork to be used in an online video.

“We wanted to be in charge. Between us, we had worked for 18 different companies while on UC co-ops. And we knew what we didn’t want and that was to have a small part of a task, product, branding or packaging project. We wanted to dictate the direction of an entire company, from capital investments to the finish on screws,” Aeschbury says.

Such + Such founders want to expand their product line and find shops around Cincinnati and Colombus to sell them. The trio is working hard each day on learning business skills and handling a growing number of projects. But in the end, they are living their dreams and enjoying ever-changing workdays.

By Evan Wallis

Resource: Miami University Institute of Entrepreneurship

Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Miami University’s Institute of Entrepreneurship has branched out into the growing field of social entrepreneurship, but this isn’t about making the next great plug in for Facebook or Twitter.

In building one of the nation’s first such programs that concentrate on undergraduates, Miami is looking to apply entrepreneurship principles and practices to social problems and challenges such as inner city poverty, increasing education levels and environmental issues.

The Institute for Social Entrepreneurship was started several years ago by Brett Smith as a branch of the school’s overall entrepreneurship. Smith, an associate professor of entrepreneurship, is also now the director of the overall program – which has been around since 1992.

Since it started, it has helped create flywheel

Smith says the social aspect is one of three areas of emphasis for the program. The other two concentrate on teaching startup entrepreneurship as well as corporate entrepreneurship. The program was recently ranked 15th nationally among undergraduate focused programs by the Princeton Review. And earlier this year, the program was named as an Ohio Center of Excellence by the Ohio Board of Regents – meaning it could be in line for more funding and programming from the state and its Third Frontier program.

The center is also available for consulting work for those looking for help starting up a business or even with a corporation.
 “We have a lot of momentum right now,” Smith says. “We are trying to connect deeply with the entrepreneur ecosystem in the Cincinnati area, and we are doing work with The Brandery and CincyTech.

“What we really are trying to do is both contribute to and benefit from that ecosystem. And we feel that we are doing a good job – more than half our students come from beyond the business school.”

For more information:

Institute of Entrepreneurship

Institute of Social Entrepreneurship:
Contact: Sue Rude, 513-529-1221

By James Pilcher

Resource: Northern Kentucky University Fifth Third Bank Entrepreneurship Institute

Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Northern Kentucky’s Fifth Third Bank Entrepreneurship Institute may be one of the newest among regional universities and colleges, but it is starting to make a name for itself.

“We think that there is a huge untapped resource here,” says program director John Clarkin, an associate professor for entrepreneurship at NKU. “We really cater to the students from outside the business school.”

“We really think that distinguishes this program from others in the country.”

Clarkin helped build the program over the past 10 years ago after running a similar program at the College of Charleston (S.C.). He is the process of handing over the reins to a successor that hasn’t been picked yet. But he thinks the program is on the right track.

“The goal is to make sure the students come through program and go out into community and have a much smoother transition from college life into real life,” Clarkin says. “And I think we’re getting there … and that’s why I feel I can step away.”

In addition, the institute works very closely with the NKU’s Small Business Development Center, which provides free or low-cost consulting or project work for regional businesses. And the entrepreneurship program specializes in placing interns with area companies.

And the institute also brings students and area business leaders together at least twice a year for major conferences and speeches, such as the one coming up on Tuesday, Nov. 16 featuring Dan Meyer and Richard Palmer of Nehemiah Manufacturing Company – who will speak on “building brands, creating jobs, and changing lives in our community.”

“At any given time, there are a lot of students learning about entrepreneurship all over our campus, and you can’t ask for much more than that,” Clarkin says.

Information about the NKU Fifth Third Entrepreneurship Institute.

The Nov. 16 speaker.

Information about the Small Business Development Center at NKU.

By James Pilcher

Resource: University of Cincinnati Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research

Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Want to learn about making music, and then how to sell it?

The University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music and the Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research have just the program for you.

The directors of both programs came up with a combined major for commercial music production – realizing the need for both musical and start-up business skills.

And it is this kind of cross-campus partnership that entrepreneurship center director Chuck Matthews says is the program’s strength.

The program has been around since 1997, and Matthews has been there every step of the way. Now, the center routinely consults with area businesses, and has about 125 students majoring in entrepreneurship.

“But entrepreneurship can come from anywhere,” says Matthews, a  professor in entrepreneurship and strategy. “Entrepreneurship is nothing more than an economic phenomenon combined with a certain set of tools. And you don’t need to be a business major to learn those skills.”

In addition, Matthews has been director of UC’s Small Business Institute since 1982. He says the institute has done over 500 faculty-guided student based consulting projects for local businesses, and the results have created a 99 percent customer satisfaction rating.

“And 80 percent of our companies will implement at least one of our recommendations within the first few weeks,” Matthews says, adding that the services are free (although he is considering a sliding-scale fee model).

And finally, the center is heavily involved in research. The UC entrepreneurship center is a Division I Carnegie-funded doctorate program as well as teaching undergraduates. That means that UC routinely publishes both theoretical and applied research in academic journals.

Information on the UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research, 513-336-7133

By James Pilcher

Profile: Chris McLennan of Ilesfay Technologies

Tuesday, November 08, 2011
What do the Scottish bagpipes and cloud computing for multinational corporations have in common?
Chris McLennan of Ilesfay Technologies, for one.

McLennan is the founder of the Blue Ash-based company that allows workers of a company access and edit large amounts of data from different locations – with that data stored in a central location in the Internet “cloud.”

But if it weren’t for a previous entrepreneurial foray into internet commerce based on another of his passions, the firm may never have come about.

“Yes, I play the Highland bagpipes and I have since I was 11 years old,” says McLennan, 39 of Sycamore Township. “A few years ago, I wanted to tune up my instrument for a competition, the bagpipes aren’t something that you can use an inexpensive tuner based on air pressure to tune.

“So one crazy nights when my ears were all messed up and tired, I came up with the idea of creating a software program to do this.”

That led to selling the product online at www.pitchpipetuner.com and McClennan’s foray into owning and operating his own business.

“I always had profit and loss responsibility for the engineering group that I had, but doing that project gave me a great exposure into the whole life cycle of a business, from marketing to distribution to the product itself,” McLennan says.

Fast forward a few years, and McLennan had another light bulb go off. In his previous position as a software engineer for a specialty engineering firm, he realized that advances in cloud computing were making it possible for multi-site companies to deal with just one set of data.

“After doing data analytics myself, it really all hit me that this is a major problem to have your data off in one spot being consumed by distributed work groups other spots,” McLennan says. “This issue has plagued data intensive operations forever.

“Now, each site only needs to be connected to one central location, instead of all having servers connected with each other,” McLennan says. “This is not just about servers talking to the cloud, but simplifying the entire IT environment for a company.”

Ilesfay (which is Pig Latin for Files), officially started in 2009 with the help of two of McLennan’s former co-workers. They landed Procter & Gamble as a launch customer a year later, and have been growing ever since. This summer, the company received the first half of a $500,000 round of funding from CincyTech, the downtown based public/private tech investment firm.

And McLennan says he is working on closing the rest of the round, hopefully by early 2012.

“I found that my previous experience really helped encourage my other entrepreneurial bents and really prepared me for this,” McLennan says.

By James Pilcher

Resource: Kentucky Small Business Development Center

Friday, October 14, 2011
The Kentucky Small Business Development Center has been assisting the Commonwealth’s small business community for more than 25 years. With 15 service centers statewide and an experienced and knowledgeable staff, KSBDC provides unparalleled consulting and training services that help existing business owners and potential entrepreneurs succeed. Services include: one-on-one management consultations, training workshops, market research, loan packaging help, assistance with financial projections and information needed to make informed business decisions.

The Center's network is a premier provider of business services that empower entrepreneurs with practical information, skills, and strategies that make measurable, positive impact on the performance of their businesses and, by extension, on the communities in which they work.  Kentucky Small Business Development Center strengthens Kentucky’s economy through the delivery of high quality, in-depth and hands-on business consulting to existing and start-up businesses, creating both wealth and jobs.

The center's new business offerings include gaining access to experts on funding sources and options, decreasing risk due to extensive research and analysis and saving time collecting and compiling resources. KSBDC is co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is administered by the University of Kentucky in partnership with regional universities, community and private colleges and the private sector.  


Resource: Northern Kentucky ezone

Friday, October 14, 2011
The Northern Kentucky ezone, a division of Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation, provides a support program for businesses ranging from start up entrepreneurs to established companies commercializing a new product, technology or process. Support includes early stage capital in the form of grants, loans, forgivable loans and equity investments through the Kentucky Enterprise Funds and the Kentucky Department of Commercialization and Innovation.

Since the program began in 2001, the ezone has assisted over 191 companies that have brought more than $116 million in investments to Northern Kentucky. Clients have achieved 44 awards from state funding sources.

Programs available to assist in growing high-potential businesses include:

Support Program

Funding
Discover new sources of capital, including Kentucky Enterprise Funds, Venture Capital and others.

NKY Entrepreneur Community
Register to stay informed on a variety of items including current funding opportunities, local and state issues pertaining to your business, issues/opportunities facing other entrepreneurs and client success stories.

Resource: Queen City Angels

Friday, October 14, 2011
The Queen City Angels (QCA) is the first group of experienced, accredited investors committed to accelerating the growth of outstanding early-stage businesses in the Cincinnati area and the surrounding region, via smart investments capable of producing a substantial return.

The Angels currently include a substantial number of business leaders from the region, counting many former CEOs and founders of successful companies as investors. QCA members are eager to apply their talent and expertise to mentoring and coaching as well as to funding the right ventures.
 
Operating with administrative assistance from C-Cap, the region's capital resource hub, QCA can provide vital guidance for its portfolio companies. Our experienced members assist with business development, strategic planning, capital raising, management team building and more.

QCA is interested in funding ventures of promise across a spectrum of industries, building the best new ventures through intelligent investment in the region's future.

The group specifically looks for:
  • Potential to become a high-growth enterprise with annual revenues of $10 million or more within a reasonable timeframe.
  • Location within a 150-mile radius of Cincinnati.
  • An entrepreneur who is open to mentoring and coaching.
  • A strong, if not complete, management team to execute the business plan.
  • A reasonable valuation that reflects the risk/reward expectations of Angel investors.
  • A credible exit strategy for investors.
  • A need for capital in the range of $200,000-$1 million.
  • Proprietary technology, early market lead or other strong barriers to competition
QCA is interested in funding ventures of promise across a spectrum of industries, building the best new ventures through intelligent investment in the region's future.

Resource: TechSolve

Friday, October 14, 2011
Over the past 25 years TechSolve has helped small to mid-sized companies implement business-building process improvement solutions that deliver measurable, top-line and bottom-line results. TechSolve consultants have in-depth business and engineering experience across a wide range of industries (manufacturing, healthcare, aerospace, etc) that enable them to identify and quickly prioritize the best improvement opportunities. TechSolve's work is celebrated by large OEM’s and supply chain programs that have worked closely with TechSolve to optimize their supply chain and we are unique in having an Advanced Machining Lab on site and machining consultants on staff. 

TechSolve, formerly the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences, Inc. (IAMS), was founded in 1982 by the City of Cincinnati, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the University of Cincinnati and large manufacturers in the region with the objective of assisting local manufacturing suppliers to improve efficiency in the newly competitive global market. TechSolve continues to serve the manufacturing community and has a third party measure the impact of our results ensuring that our results return significant ROI for our clients. 

In 2005 the group began offering consulting services to the Healthcare community. Its services continue to be in high demand across a wide range of hospitals who have seen the dramatic results our experts, process and tools can have. Unlike other consulting firms that seek to dominate organizations, TechSolve’s approach is dramatically different-- by working collaboratively and teaching teams how to implement the improvement tools and processes for themselves.

Resource: Vora Technology Park

Friday, October 14, 2011
Vora Technology Park provides Class A office space, a secure state-of-the-art data center, and a professional incubator wing for the use of both established and burgeoning high-technology companies, thereby according our partners and tenants the opportunity to exponentially grow their businesses.

Vora Technology Park is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vora Group - a Cincinnati based private equity group that specializes in building innovative IT companies worldwide.  Founded by high-tech industry veteran Mahendra Vora, theVora group portfolio consists of 12 ventures in the software, services and infrastructure solutions space, with annual revenues over $100 million (profitable), employing over 2,100 people worldwide.

Vora Ventures leverages its huge global resource pool and state-of-the-art infrastructure for its portfolio companies. Vora Ventures also provides management of financial and compliance processes and systems, strategic mergers, acquisition and recapitalization services to its companies. The group offers unique benefits to its portfolio companies by sharing a tremendous pool of Intellectual Property and proven, experienced management.

Leading US investment firms such as Blue Run Ventures, General Atlantic Partners, Blue Chip Ventures, River Cities Capital Funds, and strategic partners like Cincinnati Bell and others have successfully partnered with various Vora companies.

Built over 21 years, the Vora Group has an impeccable reputation for its integrity, quality, business savvy, and speed of execution. Through its hard work, the group has a maintained a 100% track record of success with all of its IT ventures to-date.

Resource: University of Cincinnati's Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research

Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research, established in 1997, seeks to create a world-class center for entrepreneurship education, research and service. The center's vision and mission is to provide a state-of-the-art entrepreneurship curriculum not only for potential entrepreneurs, but also for people in the many organizations that interact with small, entrepreneurial and family owned businesses on a daily basis. Located in the Department of Management in the College of Business, the Entrepreneurship Center seeks collaborative efforts between students from across the University.

The Entrepreneurship Center's main mission is to “…remove barriers and create gateways,” for all entrepreneurs – especially student entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Center programs and initiatives, including its Small Business Institute and rigorous curriculum and competitions, among others, facilitate the entrepreneurial journey.

The Center's activities include: (1) a faculty-guided, student-based field case study program which provides consulting services for local businesses (Small Business Institute Program), (2) the Young Entrepreneurs Seminar (YES), a day-long event for high school seniors to meet and exchange ideas with local entrepreneurs, (3) the UC MBA Business Plan Competition, (4) the UC Spirit of Enterprise Graduate Business Plan Competition, (5) CEO Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, (6) the Cecil Boatright Field Study Business Plan Case Competition for undergraduate students, (7) Bearcat Bridge Fund and (8) Bearcat Launch Pad. The University is also affiliated with two local incubators, The Hamilton County Business Development Center and BioStart Technology Incubator.

The University of Cincinnati Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research is actively engaged in developing a collaborative effort with other colleges of the University, such as Engineering, Medicine, Law, and Design, Art, Architecture and Planning in order to advance the role of technology and entrepreneurship. Other future activities planned include: development of high-tech commercialization with undergraduate student teams and courses for executive education.

Resource: Hamilton BizTech Center

Tuesday, October 11, 2011
BizTech is Butler County's one-stop small business incubator with programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services. The center is different from research and technology parks in its dedication to startups and early-stage companies by offering free business assistance services.

The Biz Tech Center provide resources, shared services, business counseling, training, networking opportunities, conference and meeting rooms, technology, equipment and office space. Successful completion of startup programs increase the likelihood that companies will stay in business. To see what program the center offers, check out the registration site.

Located in downtown Hamilton OH, BizTech is well on its way to continue impacting the Hamilton / Butler County economy with its mission of assisting small businesses to create jobs and graduate successful companies. In five years, 40 companies have created 150 jobs, generating approximately $3.8 million with an economic impact of about $5.6 million for the local economy.

Profile: Stacey Shiring of Bridal Divas Ink

Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Founder Profile: Stacey Shiring of Bridal Divas Ink

Why did you start your business?

I wanted to build a company that blends community with commerce to address the $12 billion US stationery market. Bridal Divas Ink allows local stationery stores and graphic artists to bring their designs to the online shopper, without the expense and time to run an ecommerce store. Our only requirement to submit your designs on our site, besides great design, is that each local artist must do volunteer work in the community.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?

We moved in the Hamilton County Business Center (HCBC) in July and they have been a great resource for providing business counseling and affordable studio space. There are many different types of companies in the HCBC which gives you a chance to learn from other entrepreneurs outside your market. Each business owner and the mentors at the HCBC are incredibly supportive and open to share their experiences with you.

Where did you find your first employee?

My degree comes from the University of Cincinnati’s- Design, Architecture, Art and Planning and my co-op experiences were valuable to my career. I knew that I wanted to be able to give a student the opportunities that I was given and have had two talented digital design students from the DAAP program as interns.

What advice would you give to someone starting a company here?

You must find a good network of people to support you and who you can support. A friend had sent me a link to Bad Girl Ventures and attending their classes was a turning point for my business. Their curriculum, advice and support has improved Bridal Divas Ink's path to success, and I could never thank them enough for helping me turn business challenges into successful opportunities.

What’s next for you and your company?

I see Bridal Divas Ink as a national brand that will build a community of consumers, artists, local business and charities that realize the importance of buying online from their neighbor. We are excited to be expanding our stationery offerings into holiday cards this month and will be having an Opening Party on Oct. 18 from 5-7:30 p.m. Mark your calendar and we look forward to helping you support your local artists and charities!

Profile: Noel Gauthier of Losantiville

Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Founder Profile: Noel Gauthier of Losantiville

How did you come to be an entrepreneur?

To fulfill a need. Upon graduation my partners and I wanted a place where we could run our individual business, yet maintain a collaborative atmosphere where we could pool our resources. We had seen models like this work in other cities and felt Cincinnati presented a great opportunity to start one here. Most of us have backgrounds in Product Design, the majority of those graduated from the DAAP program at UC. We wanted to build a space that would attract those wanting to strike out on their own, whether that be their own consulting work or furniture brand, but was low risk enough to accommodate the shoestring budgets of aspiring entrepreneurs.

What was the biggest surprise in starting your business?

Making it past our first year. We knew there was a need, but we had to feel our way around to find the solution. As designers we have a tendency to try and solve every potential problem could imagine, so we had to learn to focus on the problems we actually had. After that first year we expanded into a bigger space and accepted more members. After our second year we were faced with the exciting problem of how best to continue to grow.

What are some of the advantages to doing business here?

Cincinnati is a great place to be a startup. The combination of great talent from surrounding universities, the concentration of global companies downtown, and a strong manufacturing base make for an area where you really can find whatever resources you may need. There is also an emphasis on entrepreneurship here that is very exciting to be a part of. Receiving a Commercialization Award from the first Cincinnati Innovates helped me decide to start my own business here in the city. Several of our members have benefited the ArtWorks Springboard classes, we were even honored to show National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman the space.

What inspires you?

Seeing our members succeed. Design is a very competitive field and it takes a lot of personal risk to strike out on your own. By working cooperatively our studio can overcome obstacles or pursue opportunities we would not be able to do individually. When that translates into success for our studio and members, we know we are doing something right.

What companies or founders do you admire and why?

I am pretty mesmerized by Saul Griffith. The breadth and brilliance of his work impress me every time I see his next new thing. I also pay a lot of attention to Jason Fried of 37signals, his recommendation to be "bootstrapped and profitable" has been a mantra at Losantiville since day one.

Profile: Suprasanna Mishra of StageShark

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Founder Profile: Suprasanna Mishra of StageShark

How did you come to be an entrepreneur?

It all started in high school when I learned how to create websites on my own. From there, I did a few sites for friends and family and that's when I really began to learn it in-depth. I reached out to small businesses and eventually grew it out to my current web design firm - Kite5. This experience gave me the entrepreneurial experience to start venturing out into new things. My latest such venture is Stageshark. It's been a crazy ride so far, and I'm thankful for all the people I've met who have helped me go from knowing nothing to knowing just a little more than nothing about what it means to be an entrepreneur. I know I have a long way to go, and I'm excited about that journey.

How did you come up with the idea?

It all started when one day I logged into Facebook to find tons of pictures of a Coldplay concert that had just happened that past night here in Cincinnati. Coldplay is one of my favorite bands and they don't tour often in the United States, much less to Cincinnati. You can imagine that I was pretty mad that I missed it. It was then that I started thinking about a solution -- what if there was an application that would let you know when your favorite bands were in town? This was the thought that Stageshark was born out of, and that is the problem it will solve.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?

There's no way I could have made my idea a reality without support from the local business community. Specifically, the Cincinnati Innovates competition gave me a way to raise an initial round of funding to take the thought of Stageshark to a functional application. After receiving funding from them, it was invaluable working with CincyTech USA to gain more feedback and advice on everything from hiring to application development. I can't tell you how much I've learned just talking with the people who work there. I would argue that advice from those who've done it before and funding itself are equally important -- it would have been difficult achieving my goals for Stageshark without both.

What inspires you?

I keep up to date on what goes on in the world related to tech startups and youth entrepreneurship. It serves as little reminders to me that there's other people going through what I'm going through, and that in itself is humbling and inspiring. Reading about those who have been though the cycle and have succeeded fuels my motivation to make Stageshark the best it can be.

What's next for you and your company?

Look for the application release at the beginning of October this year. We're releasing it to be completely free and completely ad-free. After our release date, we'll immediately be working on the next version and adding in more features - we've got a long list of ideas that we want to pilot test first and then implement if it seems useful to our users. If the idea sounds interesting to you, head to http://stageshark.com and drop us your email. We'll let you know when we launch.

Profile: Joshua Johnson of Mindbox Studios

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Profile: Joshua Johnson of Mindbox Studios

How did you come to be an entrepreneur?

It probably all started at home for me. My parents inspired me to think beyond just being employable by the way they approached their work. I saw them start four or five businesses over my childhood, and so I guess I was sort of nurtured into it. When I became an adult, like everyone else, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. I didn't have too much time to think, however, within a two year period I was married, expecting a child and building my first startup, Mindbox Studios.

Why did you start your business?

I wanted to be in the business of ideas, period. I loved helping others take an idea and bring it to life. I especially love building my own ideas too. Technology is really a by-product of that core desire. Most of the ideas I saw making a difference in our world was centered around some sort of technology. It seemed* like a lower barrier to entry, too. It could be as easy as a server, some HTML files, a database, and some user experience and someone could have a business off the ground fairly quickly. This was very attractive to me, because, although my family started some companies when I was younger, we were far from rich. And, even though my family was a huge help early on, I really needed to make it on my own, one project, one idea at a time.

* I was delusional. It was much harder to have an idea, execute an idea and then make a business out of it. You know, where you actually make money? Not many people talk about that part.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?

First, my family. I had support from my wife, my parents and even extended family and friends all over. For some reason, they believed in a kid with no experience, who had a laptop, Converse All-Stars and a bit of passion. Outside of that, there were a plethora of other resources that made a huge difference in the Mindbox story.

HCBC: Pat Longo and the crew at the Hamilton County Business Center was a very early backbone that helped my partner, Lucas Cole, and I sink our teeth in the startup world, and most importantly, learning how to build a sound business.

The "Cunninghams": I'm talking about none other than Bill and Jim Cunningham. They aren't related, but their passions certainly are. Bill is Mindbox Studios' wise uncle, and Jim loops us into things like Morning Mentoring and the Startup Bootcamp. These guys should be paid by the City of Cincinnati for all they do to inspire young companies.

What advice would you give to someone starting a company here?

Do everything you can to get hooked up to the larger startup ecosystem as soon as possible. Make yourself available for all of the GCVA, Metro Innovation, Continuous Web, Circuit and C-CAP events. Then find which sub-groups provide your specific company or idea the most nourishment and get rooted in those networks.

What inspires you?

Being around people that love life, play hard and work hard.

Profile: Mike Fry of DraftOpt

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Profile: Mike Fry of DraftOpt

How did you come to be an entrepreneur?

I, and my partners, all have fairly technical training with PhDs in either engineering or computer science. However, I ended up taking a job as a professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Business just after finishing my PhD. Teaching MBAs and being around other business faculty showed us that there were opportunities to take our technical research, combine it with an interest in sports, and develop something that was commercially viable. Being an entrepreneur has also forced us to learn about many of the other functional areas of business in more depth which greatly helps our teaching in the classroom.

How did you come up with the idea?

I got my PhD from the University of Michigan. One of my classmates and good friends was Jeff Ohlmann, now a professor at the University of Iowa. We shared some common research interests in developing models for stochastic, sequential decision models. We also shared a passion for sports - in fact Jeff was the first die-hard Cincinnati Bengals fan I ever met... even though he has no geographic or family ties to Cincinnati. We realized that a sports draft is a perfect example of many of the esoteric research models we were studying. It's sequential since each team picks in turn. It's stochastic (fancy word for "uncertain") because you have no idea how the players will actually perform on the field or who the other teams will pick during the draft. It's an exceptionally hard problem to model and solve, but we had the tools to apply to it and the persistence to keep working on it. Once we had the mathematical models in place, we saw that they actually worked very well. We first developed some software for our own fantasy football leagues and then decided that there was a much larger market for similar software.

Why did you start your business?

One of the things that we are encouraged to do as professors is to bring our research into the real world. Many of the mathematical models we work on can be quite complex. However, the University of Cincinnati has made it a priority for us to work on real problems that have an impact on society and local businesses. Now, some might question the impact of software for fantasy sports leagues, but the truth is that fantasy sports are now a multi-billion dollar industry with millions of players in the United States alone. It has completely changed the way sports are covered (for instance think of the "fantasy tickers" used by ESPN and all other networks during NFL games) and it has resulted in hundreds of associated companies providing content and support services to fantasy sports players.

Where did you find your first employee?

We are very lucky that as professors we have access to some of the best and brightest young minds available. Our first employee was Matt Gibson, who is also now a full partner in our company. Matt was a PhD student at the University of Iowa in computer science that Jeff knew. Similar to Jeff and me, Matt has a very technical background and a huge interest in sports. He has become our main programmer and does the heavy lifting to make our algorithms a reality. Other part-time employees have been our web designer, who I met through a local running group, and a graphic artist who was a friend of Matt's.

What’s next for you and your company?

We were very lucky to be one of the winners of the CincyTech Commercialization Awards at this year's Cincinnati Innovates competition for our smart-phone application for fantasy drafts, DraftOpt. This award will allow us to continue to develop some new technologies such as expanding our software applications to the Android smartphone platform. Right now, our software is only available for Apple products through iTunes. We will also be developing additional software applications that can be used during the fantasy sports season, such as TradeOpt, a tool that players can use to evaluate potential trades for their fantasy teams. But, perhaps the biggest next step for us is to ramp up our marketing. We've been very careful to focus on product development before spending dollars on marketing. While we have our products available through iTunes, we have done no other marketing. We see our current sales as the best way to get actual user feedback and continue to improve our product (which is why we offer our current products at a very discounted price). Now we feel that we are about at the point where we can start to market heavily and grow our sales.

We're very excited about the future opportunities!

Profile: Brian Turner of TileDIY

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Profile of Brian Turner of TileDIY

How did you become an entrepreneur?

Basically by necessity. In England, I was the MD ('89/'92) of Vitrex, (manufacturer of tiling tools), one of a group of companies that was publicly auoted on the FTSE. Vitrex Ltd had developed a small business in the Sstates with Ace and The Cotter Company (True Value). I persuaded the board to allow me to start an American company, Vitrex Inc., to service the growing business. It was agreed, and in 1992, my wife and I moved here. Two years later, the parent company was bought out by a French company who wanted to service the US from England, and we were cut loose.

I had some ideas of what I wanted to make and contacted the U of Kentucky and the Robotics Department who helped me with some of my ideas. I took those ideas to many different metal stamping companies and eventually found one who would work with me. This all took about five to six months. I then went to NKU, where I was fortunate enough to meet a wonderful gentleman called Sutton Landry. He basically settled me down and Americanized my English business plan, which led to a partnership and the capital needed. The designs of my new tile cutters were made, the first time a product like this was made in the US, and we secured the Home Depot business from a Chinese manufacturer. We had the business for 10 years. That same design has now been copied by all manufacturers and sold around the world.   

How did you find your first employee?

My first employee was my wife. Well, maybe not, as she never got paid. Later we did advertise and found a very good young lady married with two kids who managed the eventual 22 employees like a compassionate drill sergeant.

Why did you start your business in the US?

The advantage (and disadvantage when you lose them) is the customer base and size of the market.

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

Know your market, believe in what you are doing, have good products with unique selling features and benefits. Start small, stay local and maintain low overheads. Have enough money for cash flow after your initial expenditure.

The most amazing thing for me was when applying to become an American citizen. I had to pay to advertise my job as president of Nattco in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and one other newspaper, and if the attorneys who were assigned to the project found an American with the same qualifications I was out of a job. Fortunately for me, manufacturing of tiling tools was done in China.

What inspires you?

Finding a need and filling it. Making something better -- hence TileDIY LLC and the new TI-ProBoard.

What founders do you admire?  

Richard Branson of the Virgin Group and Bill Gates, both knew what they wanted, achieved it, and millions have benefited in the case of Bill Gates.

What is next for you and for your company?  

My goal is to grow TileDIY LLC and TI-ProBoard so everyone can have access to the benefits of a tiled deck.

Profile: Steve Denison of Plan B Flights

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Profile: Steve Denison of Plan B Flights

How did you come to be an entrepreneur?

I have always had an entrepreneurial itch to scratch. I spent 25 years working for others in commercial real estate and finance. In 2008, I struck out on my own forming Roundhill Capital, a development and investment firm specializing in industrial and office properties. I stumbled into Plan B Flights by accident, or more accurately, by cancelation!

Why did you start your business? 

I had an idea in an industry I knew nothing about, in a medium about which I knew nothing. We've all had ideas like this, but I said to myself, if I don't do this and someone else does without me even trying, I would never forgive myself... so I jumped!

How did you come up with the idea? 

Like a lot of things, Plan B was born out of a bad experience. My wife and I were headed to Napa Valley to meet a lot of friends for the weekend. We were headed out the door when the airline called saying our flight was canceled! Not happy with the alternative the airline offered, we took things into our own hands and went to the airport to figure out a way to get there, and thus the seed was planted for Plan B Flights. We knew there had to be a better way.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help? 

The start-up community in Cincinnati is amazing. I've participated in the Entrepreneur Boot Camp, Continuous Web and others. The resources available to start-ups in Cincinnati take a back seat to no one.

Where did you find your first employee? 

Haven't yet... looking for people as crazy as me!?

What advice would you give to someone starting a company here? 

Don't be afraid...
to chase your dream...
to ask for help...
to risk it all. 

By trying, you win. Our community is so willing to help.

What inspires you?  

Great ideas. Being around creative people who think “I can” when others think otherwise.

Resource: NKY Rekindle Micro-Enterprise Program

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Resource: NKY Rekindle MicroEnterprise Program

The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission has launched a new micro-enterprise program called Rekindle, a new self-sufficiency initiative designed to assist aspiring entrepreneurs in eight Northern Kentucky counties (Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen and Pendleton).

"Starting a business requires a great deal of organization and many steps," says Robert Yoder, the Business Development Director of the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission. "Before you jump in head first, learn about how to avoid common mistakes made by many people considering small business ownership. These basics include an overview of business plan development, legal entities, business tax and licensing issues and financing options."

The Rekindle Micro-Enterprise Development Program consists of three parts: business development training, on-going mentoring and access to funding assistance.

Micro-Enterprise Business Development Training

Northern Kentucky University’s Small Business Development Center provides the initial Pre-Business Orientation Workshop. The first workshop is Thursday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m., at Covington Artisan Enterprise Center, 25 W. Seventh Street in downtown Covington, Kentucky. To register, call Yoder at 859-655-2946 or e-mail him at rekindle@nkcac.org.

Mentoring and On-going Support

After the introduction workshop, participants are invited to apply for Rekindle Micro-Enterprise Development Program. As part of the program, participants will attend six weekly seminars to their business plans and cover topics involved in opening and operating a Micro-Enterprise.

After working on developing the business plan, Rekindle coaches will work with the participants in accessing funding and maintaining a relationship as the business launches and grows.

Access to Funding Assistance

Rekindle Micro-Enterprise Development Financing is available for low-income individuals who want to start or expand their businesses. Eligible participants are able to apply for up to $5,000 in Rekindle low-interest financing.

Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission helps low income individuals and families develop the knowledge, opportunities and resources they need to achieve self-reliance. For more information about the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, visit www.nkcac.org.

Cincinnati Innovates announces winners

Cincinnati Innovates Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Twelve new local innovators  will collectively save stroke victims from brain damage and death, save travelers from missed flights, keep firefighters safe in the line of duty, help parents get kids to chores and help fantasy sports fans draft better teams thanks to support from the Cincinnati Innovates Awards Celebration.

More than 250 people turned out to see the third annual Cincinnati Innovates Awards Celebration at Northern Kentucky University, where winners received $115,000 in grant awards.

In the past three years more than 1,000 entrepreneurs have participated in the Cincinnati Innovates competition. Since the competition's inception, 100,000 votes have been cast and the world is paying attention. Online, Cincinnati Innovates has received almost 1 million page views from more than 50 countries. A total of $250,000 in grants have been awarded to local entrepreneurs in the past three years through the generous support of 23 sponsors.

Past winners have gone on to raise over $3.5 million in follow-on capital, have been featured in national media and are changing the world with their ideas.

The 2011 Winners include:

CincyTech Commercialization Awards:
$25,000 ChoreMonster
$25,000 Acceptd
$10,000 DraftOpt

Taft Legal/Patent Awards:  
$10,000 Ischiban
$5,000 Plan B Flights

LPK Design & Branding Award:
$10,000 SmartyTags

Round Pixel Web Development Award:
$10,000 Simple Golf Outings

Northern Kentucky Vision 2015 Award:
$5,000 Ischiban

7/79 Video Award:
$5,000 FoxFire

Northern Kentucky ezone Award:
$2,500 All Decked Out

Cooney, Faulkner & Stevens Get Started Award:  
$2,500 SavingsMatic

HYPE Community Choice Award:
$2,000 WantBug

GCVA Partner Participation Award:  
$1,000 UC DAAP Industrial Design Program

Cincinnati Innovates is made possible through the generous support of The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, The Health Foundation, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Fort Washington Capital Partners, CincyTech, Taft, Soapbox Media, LPK, 7/79 Video Production, Northern Kentucky Tri-Ed, Round Pixel Studio, Bare Knuckle Marketing, Vision 2015, the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association, HYPE, the Northern Kentucky eZone, Cooney, Faulkner & Stevens, and the Cincinnati Inventor's Council.

By Elizabeth Edwards

John McIlwraith named Investor of the Year

GCVA Tuesday, August 30, 2011
"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do."

Starting with this quote from Andrew Carnegie, Bob Coy of CincyTech presented the 2011 Greater Cincinnati Venture Association Investor of the Year Award to John McIlwraith of Allos Ventures.  John was honored in front of a crowd of over 250 attendees at Northern Kentucky University, where he teaches and serves as president of the board of the Entrepreneurship Institute.

"This is a well-deserved honor.  John is a key player in the venture community in the Midwest and his leadership has resulted in tangible growth for our local economy," says Elizabeth Edwards, fellow board member of the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association.

John, who is well-known in Cincinnati as a managing director at Blue Chip Venture Capital, started Allos Ventures in 2010, during one of the most difficult fundraising environments in venture capital history.

2011 has been a big year for John.  Just after launching Allos Ventures with partners Dov Rosenberg and Don Aquilano, John helped close a $11 million Series B round from Sequoia Capital and Claremont Creek Ventures for local Cincinnati portfolio company AssureRx, where he serves as Chairman of the Board.

"This is one of the largest investments we've seen in the Midwest in recent history," says Bob Coy of CincyTech.

John started his career as a corporate lawyer at Jones Day, where he co-founded the Private Ventures group after determining that the firm needed a better way to serve the needs of early-stage companies and venture capital/private equity investors. After several years of representing VC firms, like Primus and Morgenthaler, and early-stage technology companies, he decided he was jealous of how much fun his clients were having, and that he wanted to go down a more entrepreneurial path.

Although he achieved success as an attorney, he knew that to succeed as a venture capitalist he would need operating experience. So, he joined Quantum Health Resources, a provider of drugs and related therapies to patients with rare, chronic diseases, as SVP of business development. While there, he was able to gain insights into the healthcare industry, including through being involved in the launch of a mail-order specialty pharmacy and several new products. In 1997, shortly after Quantum was sold to Olsten Health Services, John was recruited by Blue Chip Venture Company to join the firm as its third partner.

John’s investment experience includes software, business services, and healthcare companies, such as Bluegill Technologies (sold to Checkfree), Sircon (sold to Vertafore), Medhost (sold to HealthTech Holdings), Healthscribe (sold to Spheris), and Renal Solutions (sold to Fresenius). He is still a managing director with Blue Chip, and is responsible for its investments in Blue Chip Surgical, Endocyte, Inspiris, and Nine Sigma, among others. He is also active with Blue Chip's Validation Fund, which invests in seed-stage technology companies in Ohio.

John has been involved in a variety of early-stage venture initiatives throughout the region. He was involved in the formation of Gazelle TechVentures, where he served on the executive and investment committees.  He is a founding member of the Michigan Venture Capital Association board of directors and serves on the board of the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association.

Profile: Jason Heikenfeld of Gamma Dynamics

Jason Heikenfeld Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Founder Profile: Jason Heikenfeld of Gamma Dynamics

How did you come to be an entrepreneur? 

As a grad student in engineering I was always very applied in my research. My research was successful enough that my Ph.D. advisor at the time (Andrew Steckl) and I started a company right after my graduation. Now I am a professor at UC, where I am involved in novel device technologies, with focus on industry-partnered research and new entrepreneurial ventures.

Why did you start your business? 

There are many reasons to start a business. For me it is about the potential for local job growth and the chance to introduce disruptive technologies that beat out the new technologies in development by the electronics giants like the Samsung's of the world. I guess I am a big fan of the 'underdog' startup that takes on the world (foolishly, or not).

How did you come up with the idea? 

Through partnership with industry (Sun Chemical, here in Cincinnati) and PolymerVision (The Netherlands). We did NOT start out with the invention, rather, we started by all parties defining the problem and the opportunity. About one year of discussion with industry experts led to my invention of the electrofluidic display.

Where did you find your first employee?  

People at UC were after me to get involved with a second startup for some time, but I would not do it until I felt I had a good jockey (team) to run the horse (the company), since I love my day job as a professor. I was lucky to be in constant communication with two display industry experts/veterans, John Rudolph (Corning/3M) and Ken Dean (Motorola), and then in 2009 the timing was right for the both of them.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?  

The University of Cincinnati has been a terrific supporter of Entrepreneurship, IP development, R&D and Tech Transfer. Budgets are tight, and UC IP and commercialization office is running on a budget which is far lower than what it should be, but they have an incredibly dedicated and hard-working set of folks doing everything they can to support entrepreneurial efforts at UC.

Profile: Alex Frommeyer of Inven

Alex Frommeyer Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Founder Profile: Alex Frommeyer of INVEN LLC
 
How did you come to be an entrepreneur?
 
I have always been very independent. As soon as I began interning while an engineering student, I realized that I wanted to be in the driver's seat of a business, not somewhere in the back row.
 
Why did you start your business?
 
My co-founders, Dan Dykes and Alex Curry, and I were working in healthcare/medical devices and saw a disparity in the technology available in medicine versus the tech used by dentists and oral care professionals. Our mission continues to focus on bringing innovative products and technology to oral care.
 
What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?
 
Being a Kentucky company, we have leaned heavily on the Innovation and Commercialization Center (ICC) to help guide our initial business development. The 2010 Cincinnati Innovates contest was a catalyst for us, as we won the Northern Kentucky Commercialization Award and gained incredible exposure for our company.
 
Where did you find your first employee?
 
Interestingly, my partners and I are all from Northern Kentucky though we did not find one another until we started our engineering program. In fact, Alex Curry and I lived right next to each other in our dorm as freshman.
 
Can you share a funny or amazing entrepreneurial experience with our readers?
 
Our company won a new high-tech business award earlier this year and we were to be recognized as part of a breakfast event. The venue for the event was right next door to medical device business that our company did some consulting work with, so I thought nothing of it to park in one of their reserved spaces as we always did on visits to them. Unfortunately, the building owner was on alert that morning because of the event next door and towed all unauthorized vehicles from the lot. We came out two hours later with award in hand…and no ride home.
 
What inspires you?
 
My partners. We had no idea what we were getting into when we started our business, but they have continued to make the sacrifices necessary to have great success. It is very difficult to find two brilliant young engineers willing to forgo other opportunities and pursue a new business venture; especially when they also happen to be two of your best friends. I am a lucky guy.
 
What companies or founders do you admire and why?
 
In my mind, few well-known entrepreneurs have ridden the roller coaster like Steve Jobs. Apple is a tech leader today, but has gone through some tumultuous times. Jobs was voted out of the company he started by his own Board, only to get bought back in with an incredible twist of fate. Couple that with some major health issues, and Steve deserves every entrepreneur's respect for his sheer guts, creativity, and commitment to clearly doing something he loves — no matter if you own a Mac or not!

Event: Cincinnati Innovates Awards August 25th

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Cincinnati Innovates Awards This Thursday

The third annual Cincinnati Innovates Awards Celebration takes place this Thursday at NKU. The competition, which awards more than $100,000 in grants to entrepreneurs each year, will honor 12 startup companies for their innovations. More than 200 local entrepreneurs and inventors entered the competition. The competition was open to anyone with an idea or an invention who has a connection to the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky MSA.

"The purpose of Cincinnati Innovates is to identify high-potential entrepreneurs and technologies and connect them with more than 50 local resources for entrepreneurs," says Elizabeth Edwards, former venture capital investor and founder of Metro Innovation, a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship. The competition was produced by Metro Innovation, with partners Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm and public-private venture capital firm CincyTech. 

Winners of the previous two competitions have gone on to raise more than $3 million in follow-on financing and include growing companies like Gamma Dynamics, VenueAgent, and VenturePax. New winners will be announced at the awards celebration and 12 startups will have the opportunity to give two-minute elevator pitches at the event.

"This is the first time where we've had the winners actually pitch their ideas to the crowd. Some of these technologies are truly impressive, and I'm looking forward to seeing them present," says CincyTech President Bob Coy.

The event will be hosted by Northern Kentucky University's Entrepreneurship Institute on Thursday, Aug. 25 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. "The new Student Union Ballroom is a fabulous venue for an event like this.  We're looking forward to showing off the recent changes to campus," says Director John Clarkin.

"We were very impressed by the applicants this year," says Bill Scheyer of Vision 2015, one of the major award sponsors of the competition.

Tickets are available at http://cincinnatiinnovates.com/pages/events

Over $100,000 in awards will be presented, including:

CincyTech Commercialization Awards: $25,000, $25,000 and $10,000
(sponsored by CincyTech)

Taft Patent Awards: $10,000 and $5,000
(applied toward patent applications and prosecution, sponsored by Taft Stettinius & Hollister)

LPK Design & Branding Award: $10,000
(sponsored by LPK)

Round Pixel Web Development Award: $10,000
(applied toward web application, sponsored by Round Pixel Studio & Bare Knuckles Marketing)

Northern Kentucky Vision 2015 Award: $5,000
(sponsored by Vision 2015)

7/79 Video Award: $5,000
(sponsored by 7/79)

Northern Kentucky ezone Award: $2,500
(sponsored by the NKY ezone)

Cooney, Faulkner & Stevens Get Started Award: $2,500
(applied toward business accounting and advisory, sponsored by Cooney, Faulkner & Stevens)

HYPE Community Choice Award: $2,000
(sponsored by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber's HYPE program)

GCVA Partner Participation Award: $1,000
(sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association)

2011 Enquirer Media Investor of the Year
The Greater Cincinnati Venture Association will honor one of its own active angel and venture investors for outstanding service to the venture community.

Resource: Morning Mentoring at HCBC

HCBC/C-Cap Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Resource: Morning Mentoring at HCBC

Need a mentor for your startup? Help is on the way. Morning Mentoring is an entrepreneurial coaching program that leverages the Queen City Angels, C-Cap, the Hamilton County Business Center and local professional advisors for the benefit of Greater Cincinnati's entrepreneurs.

Each month, Morning Mentoring accepts four companies to participate in this networking and mentoring session. The format of the event allows each of the selected companies to make up to a five-minute overview presentation about their company. The angels and professional advisors then have the opportunity to ask clarifying questions about the company's market, product or service, business model, stage of development and management team.

After all the presentations are completed, companies have the opportunity to have one-on-one 45-minute mentoring sessions with a participating angel from the Queen City Angels and a knowledgeable business service professional. Each company rotates to visit with two local angel investors from the Queen City Angels.

Morning Mentoring is an opportunity to present, network and receive excellent feedback and is open to those seeking equity investment as well as entrepreneurs just looking for a place to get good free advice. Entrepreneurs are also welcome to come watch the company presentations and network. 

To apply for one of the four monthly spots, fill out a simple online form. 

Upcoming Morning Mentoring dates in 2011:
    •    August 26
    •    September 23
    •    November 4
    •    December 1 (Thursday) 

Profile: Paul Brinker of Inkdt.com

Paul Brinker Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Why did you start your business?

I started Inkdt.com because music and art are my two biggest passions and I have always been looking for an opportunity to combine them. Guitar skins is an exciting way to do this, which I also believe helps benefit musicians like myself, to further express our own creativity.

How did you come up with the idea?

I saw the emerging technology/market of skins for cell phones, laptops, & wall graphics. and thought, "Why can't something similar be applied to my guitar?"

What is the biggest surprise in starting your business?

The biggest surprise in starting my business is how quick, easy and affordable it is to start an online business these days.

What inspires you?

Music is what inspires me the most. It is ever-changing, evokes energy, emotion, culture and style all at the same time.

What company founders do you admire and why?

Johnny Cupcakes. He has a very personal story and an exceptionally branded business. He has always stayed true to who he is and is openly connected to his customers.

Profile: Joe Sprengard of General Nano

Joe Sprengard Tuesday, August 16, 2011
How did you come to be an entrepreneur? 

By accident. I met two inventors at the University of Cincinnati who were faced with a decision to either license their nanotechnology to a company in Seattle, or create their own company. Their desire was to keep the technology local, but they needed a business person to help. I happened to be in the right place at the time. 

Why did you start your business?

Because of the United States Air Force (USAF). They wanted to see if our technology could solve specific aerospace problems, and there was no way of knowing without starting a company and competing daily in the marketplace. The Department of Defense knows that America will be at a competitive disadvantage if we can't manufacture nanomaterials for next generation aerospace applications. For the founders of General Nano, the USAF encouragement was all we needed to make the leap from the 'known' (our current jobs) to start what was, and is, largely 'unknown' – a commercially viable nanomaterial for aero/defense applications.

What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?

1.    DoD SBIR program - General Nano has secured seven SBIRs in 36 months
2.    CincyTech – imagining grant program; helped tremendously in defining our business model and vertical markets.
3.    Ohio Third Frontier – General Nano won $2M from the Advanced Materials Program; $1M allocated to UC to expand the Nanoworld Lab; fosters a fluid pipeline of IP. 
4.    Hamilton County Business Center (HCBC) – our home away from home. 

Where did you find your first employee?

University of Cincinnati. Lucy Ge Li joined our company immediately after graduating from UC, where she studied for three years alongside the inventors of our technology. UC's Nanoworld Lab pipeline of talent is a tremendous asset for General Nano. If not for our company, Cincinnati would have lost Lucy and others to companies not in our region.

What advice would you give to someone starting a company here?

Surround yourself with the best people. Products and services change – people don't. 

Can you share a funny or amazing entrepreneurial experience with our readers?

If you're married and have a six-week old son, it's probably not the best time to seek your spouse's blessing to leave your job and start a venture. Thankfully, I have a true companion and a son who reminds me that work does not define my value.

What inspires you?

Our employees. Management has an obligation to take care of their people. Management eats last; employees eat first. 

What companies or founders do you admire and why?

Joe Hayden and his son John, both former chairmen and CEOs of The Midland Company, have been my business idols since I was 16 years old, and strangely, it is not because of business. I had the good fortune of benefiting from the youth baseball program they created, sustained, and have grown for 40-plus years. I dream someday of giving back they way the Hayden family does.

Profile: Tom Walsh of TUSL.com

Tom Walsh Tuesday, August 16, 2011
How did you come to be an entrepreneur? 

I didn't like being an employee. I worked for a bunch of different banks and financial organizations before I got the guts to start my own business.

How did you come up with the idea?

While chairing the organizing committee for the NCAA hockey championship in 1996, I traveled to Albany, NY, to attend the regional tourney. While there, I visited the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. It was during this trip that the idea for The Ultimate Sports List, TUSL.com, a checklist of the world's greatest sporting events, was born.

Can you share a funny or amazing entrepreneurial experience with our readers?

Upon arriving at the US Open Tennis Championship last September, I plopped down on a bench in the south plaza under the shadows of Arthur Ashe Stadium to get my bearings. Within minutes, I saw a familiar face walking towards me: it was tennis legend Bud Collins, with his trademark wild pink plaid pants, selling his new book, The Bud Collins History of Tennis. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet Bud. A quick conversation revealed Bud's mom is from Cincinnati and he is quite a big fan of our city. We took a quick picture for the website, and I got an autographed copy of his book.

What companies or founders do you admire and why?

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Each is a modern-day pioneer who literally changed the world with his vision.

What's next for you and TUSL? 

We will soon add a mobile app, allowing fans to check-in and upload their pictures and comments from the events while they attend. We will also upgrade our forums, tying them into all social networks to make our website the place for fans to go to share their insights and experiences about the world's greatest sporting events.

Resource: QuickLaunch Legal for Startups

Thompson Hine Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Entrepreneurs want to know exactly what's necessary from a legal standpoint and how much it costs. And attorneys are notoriously bad at providing that kind of information. Enter Thompson Hine's new legal resource for startups: QUICKLaunch.

"Entrepreneurs are the business equivalent of artists - and often starving artists," says David Willbrand, partner at Thompson Hine and chair of the Early Stage & Emerging Company Practice.
 
QUICKLaunch packages the typical legal services required by startup companies into a low fee that is spread over time, helping entrepreneurs finance their legal needs.

The QUICKLaunch program provides filing of articles of organization with the state to form an LLC, a tax ID from the IRS, a nondisclosure/confidentiality agreement for use with third parties, an operating agreement for governance, documentation of founders equity, documentation of employment and contractor relationships (including compensation, equity, non-competition, etc) and a high-level trademark search.

The bottom line: for $3,000 ($500 paid up front and $2,500 when the company has financing or revenue), startups get all the initial legal help they need.

"I love working with startups because I love the passion of entrepreneurs," Willbrand says. "They are fully committed. It's not just a job. When you work with people who care so deeply about what they are doing, who are living it and breathing it, you can't help but get swept up by that energy. It's awesome."

 

Resource: HCBC Startup Incubator

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Hamilton County Business Center, Inc. (HCBC) is an entrepreneurial assistance hub for entrepreneurs, early stage growth businesses, inventors, researchers, spin-offs, and startups in Southwest Ohio.

HCBC is a nationally-recognized business incubation program that helps Greater Cincinnati entrepreneurs launch and build successful companies. HCBC's incubation program caters to entrepreneurs who are starting up innovative and growing businesses.

HCBC's incubator is roughly 70,000 square feet and houses, on average, 50 startups at a time, including companies like Zebra Mobile, a mobile content distributor, Seven/Seventy Nine, a film and video producer, and General Nano, a manufacturer of carbon nanotubes.

Since 1989, HCBC has been the home to 260 business start-ups. HCBC provides entrepreneurs flexible space, administrative services, and business coaching in a vibrant atmosphere. "Unlike any other program in Greater Cincinnati, HCBC accelerates the growth of entrepreneurial ventures through knowledgeable planning and implementation, while continually reviewing the results and
assisting in adjustments to aid our clients growth opportunities," says Patrick Longo, HCBC vice president and director.

HCBC has successfully graduated 110 businesses to the Southwest Ohio marketplace. HCBC's success rate is nearly 70 percent -- more than five times the national average.

"HCBC was the perfect segway from a coffeeshop office to a legitimate brick and mortar as we were growing in the early years," says Joshua Johnson, CEO of Mindbox Studios and a 2009 graduate of HCBC. "The best value, besides the affordable office space, was the time Pat Longo personally spent with my partners and me. He was an invaluable source of information and the sounding
board for many of our crazy ideas."

HCBC also offers programming to entrepreneurs in the region including Morning Mentoring, SoundingBoard and Regional Entrepreneurs Forum.

HCBC is affiliated with HCDC and the State of Ohio Thomas Edison Technology & Innovation Program.

For more information, visit http://www.hcdc.com/incubation.

By Elizabeth Edwards

Resource: GCMI Micro Loans

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative (GCMI) provides low-interest micro loans and small business loans ranging from $500 to $50,000 to all types of startups and small businesses. GCMI also helps business owners prepare loan packages for financing through traditional lenders as well as the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the City of Cincinnati.

GCMI helps entrepreneurs of all economic backgrounds secure financing for their business. GCMI's professional staff of mentors provides free business education, coaching, technical assistance, business plan evaluation, loan package preparation and cash flow analysis.

Since 1998, GCMI has served more than 300 businesses and secured $1,137,698 in financing for entrepreneurs.

For more information, visit http://www.gcmi.org.

Foxfire helps firefighters with smoke vision

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Former Eli Lilly sales manager and volunteer firefighter Zachary Green started MN8 Products, which makes Foxfire high intensity photo luminescent (glow in the dark) coatings and products for firefighters, in 2010.

Green, a Marine Corps veteran, worked in the corporate world for 18 years, first for SAP and then later for Eli Lilly. He had been at Lilly for eight years when the economic recession hit. His choice: move to Indianapolis or take a corporate buyout during one of the worst recessions in history.

"I'm not the type of guy that's meant to be in a cube," says Green. 

As a volunteer firefighter, Green saw an opportunity to use the glow technology to coat equipment that firefighters use in the dark. "I had put the coating on my helmet and then used it in a fire," he says. "The other firefighters were amazed at how effective it was and wanted to use it on their helmets. I knew we were on to something."

Three of the top risks faced by firefighters are visibility, accountability and disorientation. Foxfire illumination helps firefighters keep track of their tools and each other in a dark, smoky fire. The turning point for Green was the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, the largest conference and tradeshow for firefighters, which welcomes 34,000 firefighters every year.

"We were the busiest booth in the tradeshow," Green says. "We ran out of product samples three times and had to send people back to Cincinnati to get more." That month, the company received over $85,000 in orders, beginning a trend that hasn't stopped.

The new challenge is managing a startup that is growing really quickly – and keeping enough cash in hand to turn around orders. Green has self-financed his company and has used a line of credit to manage the time between manufacturing product and getting payments from customers.

"My training from the Marine Corps taught me to always plan for the worst case scenario, so I had contingency plans for how to manage large, unexpected orders," Green says.

Despite the anxiety that comes with starting a new company in a down economy, Green has no regrets. "I'm having the time of my life."

By Elizabeth Edwards

Chandler adds insight to elevator pitches

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Matt Chandler's journey from the corporate world to the startup world should come as no surprise.

"Entrepreneurship runs in the family — it's only recently that I started to appreciate how much it's a part of me," he says. "I was always doing something creative — I was in a band in college and I always had something going on."

The founder of Elevator Insight, Chandler now helps startups and large brands alike distill their elevator pitch into an entertaining two-minute animated video. The videos are being used by startups such as Plan B Flights, Acceptd and Time Timer — and word is spreading. So far, all of Elevator Insight's business has been through word of mouth.

Chandler went to work for BASES when he graduated from Miami University, working in consumer market knowledge and analysis. "It was a great experience," he says. "I was exposed to both the analytical and creative sides of the business."

Chandler left to become a freelancer and producer at Crossroads, where he is now the Director of Communications. He leads an internal creative agency at Crossroads, creating communications, web content and the well-known and memorable weekly signs at the corner of Ridge and Madison Roads in Oakley.

"Finally, I identified what I'm really good at — and that's leading creative teams," he says. "That's what I get to do now at Elevator Insight. I spend time with startups and larger brands, helping them distill their pitch into a succinct two-minute video, which we then animate."

One of Chandler's many creative talents — as a voice-over artist — led him to create Elevator Insight. When Chandler's dad needed a video for his dental product company, Chandler volunteered to help him create an animated video. Soon, he started getting calls from other startups.

Elevator Insight's videos are priced for small to medium-sized businesses and their entertaining portfolio of work can be viewed here.

By Elizabeth Edwards

Deadline for $90,000 in grants for entrepreneurs: July 15

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Cincinnati Innovates, the region's third annual online innovation competition, is heating up, with more than 120 aspiring entrepreneurs already competing for almost $90,000 in grant awards and a top prize of $25,000. The competition accepts entries online until July 15, 2011, and is open to anyone in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana.

"We are seeing some really interesting concepts and ideas this year," says James Zimmerman, partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister, a sponsor of the event.  

Entries include products, web and mobile applications, technologies, medical devices, tools and toys. A few examples:

• Vendi is a filling station for reusable bottles: an environmentally friendly alternative to bottled beverages and vending machines.

• SimpleRegistry is an online gift registry for life events that provides the flexibility of receiving cash gifts.

• Hepato-Seal is a multifunctional laparoscopic medical device for liver resection.

• WantBug is a reverse auction for cars. Car buyers place a "want" listing for the car they want to buy, then WantBug sends the listing to hundreds of local dealers who bid on the opportunity to sell the car.

• ChoreMonster is a suite of mobile applications that helps parents get kids to do their chores.

• Inkdt guitar skins offers an easy and affordable way to add custom artwork to any electric, acoustic or bass guitar.

• Acceptd is a web-based tool that simplifies the video application process for university programs and saves time and money for both applicants and program directors.

The goal of Cincinnati Innovates is to connect entrepreneurs to all the resources our region has to offer: incubators, angel investors, banks, mentors and experts. Past winners have received national media attention and have collectively raised more than $3 million in follow-on financing. 

The competition is open online at www.cincinnatiinnovates.com. The entry process is simple requires only a short description of the concept. Photos, videos and other media are also accepted and materials can be submitted confidentially to the judges. 

"My company has come such a long way in the last year, and much of that is thanks to winning Cincinnati Innovates," says Jocelyn Cates of VenueAgent. Cates, a marketing professional, proposed a wedding and event venue booking website that took the top prize of $25,000 last year.

Cincinnati Innovates is sponsored by CincyTech, Taft, LPK, Vision 2015, the NKY eZone, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and 20 other regional sponsors.

By Elizabeth Edwards
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