Cincinnati : Featured Stories

A home office offers freedom and flexibility. But it can also lead to isolation, tedium and that gotta-get-out-of-here feeling. For on-their-own Ohioans yearning for professional companionship, coworking may be the answer.

Whether he's on Cincinnati televison, a national late night show or on public radio's The 90-Second Naturalist, Thane Maynard is the public face of the Cincinnati Zoo. Personable and passionate, the longtime zoo director is an advocate for wildlife and natural preservation. That makes him the perfect spokesman for the Zoo's ongoing quest to be The Greenest Zoo in America.

When Joe Pantuso was a boy, he learned all the usual things in school -- spelling, math, history. His lessons, however, did not include the word that would come to define him most: entrepreneur.

In August, we told you about The Brandery, a Cincinnati accelerator that wants to give entrepreneurs technical assistance and $20,000 in startup funding in exchange for a 6 percent equity stake in their new companies. SOAPBOX provides an overview in this video.

Paul Havasi of Cleveland gets a lot of stares from fellow drivers on his way to work. His three-wheeled electric NmG is a rare sight. But laugh all you want; his choice of transport is the way of the future, according to the many businesses and researchers in Ohio developing technology and products for hybrid and electric cars.

As president of TechSolve, Gary Conley knows what it takes to go from concept to commerce. His organization -- part of the NIST Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a national network of affiliated manufacturing extension centers and field offices serving small manufacturers -- is also one of Ohio's seven Edison Technology Centers. Lately, Conley has been incubating an idea for improving the exchange of a wide array of valuable information to help manufacturers throughout Ohio. It's OMNI: the Ohio Manufacturing Network of Innovation. hiVelocity caught up with Conley to ask him about the concept.

If home really is special � offering a combination of the personal and professional fulfillment you crave � one day you'll come back. These entrepreneurs did.