Cincinnati : Innovation + Job News

Every hour of every day more information than one company could ever process zooms across the world at the speed of light. That's why Balanced Insight Corp., in Cincinnati, has developed new software that aims to more quickly make sense out of the information most important to businesses.

Balanced Insight's Consensus is designed to help IT departments do more with less. The software more quickly and efficiently allows IT professionals to pull out needed data, arrange it and distribute it, using fewer resources reducing costs in the process.

"The world is becoming a big hunk of data," says Tom Hammergren, founder and CEO of Balanced Insight. "Users want to get better access to this data, and inside of IT departments there are people tapped for repurposing this data. But there are not enough people to fulfill the demand of what users want. Our whole focus is to take that process and really do it better, faster and cheaper."

The product also speeds the data delivery process by speeding collaboration and automating IT data gathering processes.

"When you get into business intelligence there are 10 tech platforms that have to be brought together, and you have to have 10 humans that understand each platform. We move that demand on understanding those technologies out of humans and into the software. We take manual, laborious processes and automate them." Hammergren said.

Consensus is used in a wide variety of industries including financial services, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing and utilities. Clients have included Subway, Nike and Fifth Third bank.

Balanced Insight introduced Consensus in 2008, and is a CincyTech portfolio company. CincyTech has invested $350,000 in it.

Source: Tom Hammergren, founder and CEO of Balanced Insight
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

Cincinnati will be hosting some of the area's leading experts in life science research and entrepreneurship next month, with an eye toward boosting the Ohio Valley's profile in the field.

The ninth annual OVALS (Ohio Valley Affiliates of Life Sciences) conference will bring scientists and research executives from universities of Cincinnati, Kentucky and Louisville, Ohio University and Marshall University together with entrepreneurs and investors to highlight regional initiatives, its success stories and up-and-coming start-ups.

The two-day conference begins April 14 at Cincinnati's Kingsgate Mariott Hotel.

"The conference is a great opportunity to bring together the right mix of scientists and investors," says Dorothy Air, an OVALS chair, associate vice president for entrepreneurial affairs at the University of Cincinnati and vice president of operations with CincyTech. "Networking is a big part of it, but so is just conversation. Scientists and universities don't always know what's going on elsewhere, and how their work relates to others' work."

Speakers include a keynote address from University of Kentucky President Lee F. Todd Jr., a former engineering professor and entrepreneur, along with experts in regulatory issue, clinical trial issues and ushering ideas from the drawing board to the market.

Some of the group's success stories will also be highlighted. David Scholl, president and CEO of Athens-based Diagnostic Hybrids, will talk about those successes as a blueprint for others to follow.

The conference, OVALS' signature event, is expected to draw more than 100 attendees. Since the first conference  was held in 2002, the group has grown from a small network of research and medical universities to include the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, CincyTech, the Bluegrass Business Development Partnership and Cleveland Clinic's Global Cardiovascular Innovation group. Affiliates work together, sharing information and resources and drawing more than $650 million annually in basic and applied research funding to the Ohio Valley.

Source: Dorothy Air, OVALS
Writer: Dave Malaska

CincyTech's $250,000 investment in a Chicago start-up has drawn the company to Ohio, the second such announced move in the last month.

Samplesaint, which has developed a system that allows consumers to redeem coupons online using their mobile phones, will move to Cincinnati this spring, according to a release from CincyTech. The company's Cincinnati operations will include a research and development lab as well as data analysis operation.

CincyTech says Samplesaint's technology allows coupons to be scanned through a checkout system using any mobile device. The company also has developed a data base that connects with a retailer's point of service system, thus allowing coupons to be identified, redeemed and their expiration dates confirmed.

Samplesaint could not be reached immediately to elaborate on plans, but CEO Lawrence Griffith says in a statement March 14 that Cincinnati was attractive as a consumer marketing center.

"With companies such as Procter, Kroger, Macy's and dunnhumby, it is a hub of expertise about the consumer mindset. Samplesait looks forward to finding its place in that ecosystem."

CincyTech's president, Bob Coy notes in the release that the market for mobile couponing is predicted to rise to more than $6 billion within the next three years and says the rise in mobile phone use positions Samplesaint for growth.

CincyTech is a public-private venture development organization that invests in high-tech startups in the Cincinnati area. Earlier this month it announced that a similar $250,000 investment will bring Chicago-based turboBOTZ to the Cincinnati, also this spring. turboBOTZ and Samplesaint represent CincyTech's 20th and 21st portfolio companies, respectively.

Source: CincyTech

Vincent Chou is a rabid video gamer, and it irks him that there's no easy way to find used video games at a reasonable cost. Or to sell a used game for a fair price after the fun has worn off.

So Chou and fellow grad student Pratap Shergill have formed turboBOTZ -- an Internet marketplace that will bring buyers and sellers together to set their own prices.

The company was formed in Chicago but will move to Cincinnati this spring after a recent $250,000 investment by CincyTech, a public-private venture development organization serving southwest Ohio.

Both Chou and Shergill participated in a program offered last fall by The Brandery, a seed-stage consumer marketing startup accelerator in Cincinnati. Chou says the business partners were referred to The Brandery after getting high marks in the business plan competition at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, but failing to meet the criteria for a similar accelerator program in Chicago.

The Brandery, formed last year, helped the pair think about retail strategy and strategic partnerships, according to a CincyTech news release. CincyTech provided $20,000 to support The Brandery's first class of startups and now has made turboBOTZ its 20th portfolio company.

Chou says the $250,000 investment will allow it to operate in its first year. A formal launch of the service is planned within three to four months and the company is currently hiring staff, which Chou expects to total four to five initially.

"We already have one hire from the Cincinnati area," Chou says. "Once we raise a little bit more money, ideally I can see us being a 20- to 30-person shop."

Chou doesn't graduate from Booth until around New Years, he says, meaning some long commutes between now and then. Shergill, however, graduates this summer.

"So he'll be able to spend a little more time in Cincinnati," Chou says.

Source: Vincent Chou, turboBOTZ
Writer: Gene Monteith

Cincinnati creative companies are ready for Austin's South by Southwest Interactive conference tomorrow through March 15, aiming to connect with thousands of participants and fellow professionals. Considered highly influential, the conference is loaded with events on marketing, Web and all things digital. It saw more than 14,000 participants, and the SXSW Music and Film festivals recorded similar numbers.

Cincinnati companies know this year's Interactive will draw big audiences - perhaps bigger than last year's fest.

"We're going to be doing a lot of grassroots marketing strategies - installations, street teams, spreading the word virally," says Josh Heuser, founder of Ionic Collective, which partners with nightlife venues in the Midwest. (Seen the Hoist energy drink? They handle that.) "I went down in January and made a lot of contacts with local resources."

"It's a really important time for Cincinnati to make an impact down there this year," Heuser adds.

Of the companies, Ionic Collective hosts a March 14 showcase featuring local indie-pop band Bad Veins and national bands. The showcase also features Cincinnati company Wearcast, making its debut at SXSW. As co-founder Jaydev Karande explains: "We let people take any thought, statement, expression and turn it into a cool T-shirt � without needing any design skills. It's as easy as updating your Facebook status or sending out a Tweet."

Wearcast started in June 2010. The company was enticed by SXSW's exposure opportunities, Karande says. "The real feedback we're going to get is going to down there. Good or bad -- it doesn't matter. You get it there."

Connecting with local companies bound for SXSW, Karande and Heuser organized a SXSW pre-party at Mainstay Rock Bar downtown Feb. 25 that included reps from Wearcast, Ionic and companies such as Empower MediaMarketing and Crush Republic.

Sources: Kevin Dugan, Empower MediaMarketing, Josh Heuser, Ionic Collective and Jaydev Karande, Wearcast
Writer: Rich Shivener

This story originally appeared in Soapbox.

A newly-launched initiative to create a more robust entrepreneurial American economy has tapped the expertise -- and name -- of Cleveland-based JumpStart.

JumpStart America, a new nonprofit organization also based in Cleveland, is one of 21 national partners announced last week with the launch of Startup America, a private sector answer to President Barak Obama's National Innovation Strategy.

JumpStart America is the only Ohio-based national partner and will draw on entrepreneurial approaches developed by JumpStart, a venture development organization that provides counsel and funding resources to promising new businesses in northeastern Ohio, says Cathy Belk, JumpStart's chief relationship officer. While the two organizations are separate entities, JumpStart America is expected to do nationally what JumpStart has done on a smaller scale, Belk says.

As northeast Ohio's coordinating body for the Ohio Third Frontier's Entrepreneurial Signature Program, JumpStart has invested $20 million in 52 companies, which in turn have raised more than $140 million in follow-on capital and created more than 800 jobs, JumpStart says. As part of that, JumpStart has brought together at least a dozen philanthropic and private industry funding partners, says Belk.

More recently, JumpStart has been sharing some its expertise and experience with organizations throughout the Midwest as part of its JumpStart Community Advisors initiative.

"That is kind of the model of what the JumpStart America work will be," says Belk.

Belk says JumpStart CEO Ray Leach is leading the team that will develop a governance structure for JumpStart America. The process is expected to take three to four months.

Formation of the group will not only benefit the nation but Ohio, Belk says, noting that "it puts (Ohio and northeast Ohio) on the national stage. One of the other great benefits is that national philanthropy will be aggregated in Ohio, and by virtue of Ohio being recognized as offering best practices in this particular area, I think this can be great for the sustainability of the Ohio (entrepreneurial) ecosystem we've been building."

Cincinnati-based accelerator The Brandery was named last week as a new partner in the TechStars Network -- another national partner in the Startup America initiative that operates accelerator programs in New York City, Boston, Seattle and Boulder, Colo.

Source: Cathy Belk, JumpStart
Writer: Gene Monteith

When former ESPN anchor Betsy Ross and partner Jackie Reau co-founded PR firm Game Day Communications in 2002, social media sites like Facebook and YouTube weren't even invented.

Now these networking sites have become a must-have communications tool for businesses. It's also a growing part of Game Day Communications multi-media arsenal in promoting sports and entertainment events for clients across Greater Cincinnati.

That's why Game Day has just launched its latest offering, a Mobile Media Center that provides full-service, on-site traditional and social media management for large sporting and entertainment events. Game Day has done similar work for events like the Flying Pig Marathon in downtown Cincinnati and the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament in Mason.

"Sports fans want to know everything they can about an event, and social media allows us to give them to give them that," said Reau, Game Day co-founder and CEO.

For last year's tennis tournament Game Day dispatched two teams of three that offered real-time media relations services from 9 a.m. to midnight for two weeks. They did everything from responding to Tweets to posting news articles and YouTube videos online. The efforts gave the event social media reach across the world, Reau said.

"We shared 2,000 tweets that were retweeted 29,000 times. A Facebook post was translated into 19 different languages, and videos that we shared over those two weeks had 100,000 views," Reau said.

Game Day Communications has four full-time employees, but works with more than 100 talented communications experts the company taps to work on a wide range of PR projects. Reau previously worked in PR at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Cincinnati's Christ Hospital. Ross worked at ESPN where she anchored ESPN News and Sports Center, and has more than 20 years of experience as a sports and news anchor.

Source: Jackie Reau, Game Day Communications
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites.

Some kids in Over-the-Rhine dream of being a lawyer, barber or construction worker, but a new nonprofit focused on this Cincinnati neighborhood's youth want them to find a bigger dream: one where they own a barbershop, law office or construction firm.

LAUNCHCincinnati is being developed by friends and former colleagues Galen Gordon and Kimberly Smith, who've spent years as youth volunteers. Gordon, who works in the hospitality industry, and Smith, a commercial banker, met when they were selling real estate and found they had a mutual passion for helping young people. LaunchCincinnati is the culmination of their joint passion.

The program, which is set for an official launch in the Spring, has three components. The Young Entrepreneur Program is a classroom curriculum where youth aged 12-18 can learn the ins and outs of operating a small business. The curriculum comes from the Warren Miller Freedom Foundation entrepreneur program in Seattle.

"We have a 10-week curriculum for our kids, who have an entrepreneurial mindset, where they'll learn everything from making a marketing flyer to writing a business plan to owning and operating a business," said Gordon, who lives in OTR. "Our goal is to match the graduates up with a mentor in a like field in Cincinnati, preferably somewhere downtown, where they can do an internship or an apprenticeship."

Supporting that program is LAUNCHCIncinnati's planned Leadership Series and Youth and Finance program designed to educate future leaders who will be confident and competent in handling their money.

The nonprofit is an effort to help youth and families who call OTR home benefit from the ongoing and planned redevelopment in and around this historically struggling neighborhood.

"I live in OTR, and I feel like the youth need positive examples (of entrepreneurship). There is a lot of revitalization going on in Cincinnati, and I want youth who live in the urban core to be part of that," Gordon said. "There is a big concern about people being pushed out of the neighborhood (as part of the revitalization), and we want to give youth the resources to become innovators and entrepreneurs. We can change the dynamics of the urban core."

LAUNCHCincinnati is still seeking volunteers and mentors. The organization is also searching for a permanent place to hold classes. If you are interested in volunteering or offering a space you can reach Gordon by email at [email protected].

Source: Galen Gordon, co-founder LAUNCHCincinnati
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

This story originally appeared in Soapbox.

Engineered Mobile Solutions Inc., a custom trailer and shelter manufacturer, is the first company to move into the old Ford Transmission Plant in Batavia that shuttered in the summer of 2008.

This growing Southwestern Ohio startup was founded in the fall of 2007, just a few short months before the shutdown. Engineers An Nguyen, Bryce Johnson and Lee Ton started the company, which designs and builds trailers, shelters and mobile facilities for the military, broadcast and commercial markets.

"As engineers we started the company as a way to continue working directly with our customers in the industry that we enjoy. We are passionate about designing and manufacturing the best product for our customers," the founders explain on their web site.

The company represents what leaders in Batavia believe will be the future of manufacturing across Greater Cincinnati and Ohio. Engineered Mobile Solutions has 25 employees but expects to grow organically along with the company itself.

The company has leased 58,000 square feet with an option for 27,000 more. Employees are currently making the move into the new space, located just down the street from its current location.

County officials didn't let the building sit empty long. Shortly after Ford left, the county looked for redevelopment opportunities. With incentives offered by The Ohio Department of Development, California-based Industrial Realty Group purchased and redeveloped the large 1.8-million-sq.-ft. space, preparing it for multiple uses. Last year the University of Cincinnati leased 81,000 square feet for its new UC east campus.

"We looked at numerous buildings in the area. None were the complete package that we needed. IRG, the building owner, offered us the flexibility and reasonable lease rate we needed to move forward with our growth plans in Clermont County," says Johnson, company CEO.

Source: Clermont County Economic Development
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

In less than a year, Scott Bailey has seen the germ of an idea explode into an online advertising powerhouse. And it all came from the thought that he wasn't seeing many small business advertisements anymore.

"Newspaper and television advertising was out of the reach of a lot of small to mid-sized companies," says Bailey, the CEO and founder of LocalGreatDeals.com, which began operating last year.  "We started to think about how we could not only grow our business, but how we could help other small businesses do the same."

The website, which began operating in Cincinnati before branching out to other major Ohio cities, offers smaller businesses the chance to get their names in front of local consumers by offering what it calls "a unique and unparalleled local deals/coupons advertising experience." Now spread throughout the east coast and midwest and partnering with local television affiliates websites, Bailey estimates the site has brought more than 500,000 new contacts to its roughly 5,000 clients.

"Consumers go to our website because they can find great deals, and businesses come to us because that's where consumers are," says Bailey.

The website now operates in 25 cities, and expects to expand to 100 by the end of the year.

In October, LocalGreatDeals.com launched sister site DealsThatGiveBack.com. The new site also offers many of the same consumers deals from local businesses, with the added twist that 10 percent of all purchases go to charitable organizations, local schools and churches selected by the consumer. Plans are to launch DealsThatGiveBack in other cities in the near future, following the same footprint of LocalGreatDeals.

Bailey's company continues to grow exponentially, after adding 25 new employees to its Loveland call center in 2010. As both websites expand, so too, will new jobs.

Source: Scott Bailey, DealsThatGiveBack, LocalGreatDeals
Writer: Dave Malaska

With a roster of patents ranging from medical diagnostics, stem-cell research and applied microbiology, NanoLogix has kept a low profile for much of its existence. Its new work, with ramifications for fields as far-reaching as homeland security to food safety, is about to change that for the Hubbard-based tech firm.

Begun more than 20 years ago as Infectech, the company for years focused on research and other endeavors, including alternative energy. But when CEO Bret Barhnizer came on board in 2007, he quickly saw the commercial potential for the company's work in diagnostic technology.

"We had years of work behind the scenes, developing pieces of the puzzle, but hadn't put all the pieces together," he says. "We recognized early on that the company wasn't monetizing its patents, not taking advantage of its expertise."

Re-christened NanoLogix in 2005, the company quickly refocused on rapid detection testing. Using membranes treated through new filtering and staining processes, its Ultra-Fast testing kits are designed to detect the presence of harmful microorganisms, looking for antibody-antigen reactions, in a fraction of the time as traditional petri dish tests.

In the case of anthrax, Nanologix's test delivered results in 2-6 hours, as opposed to the old standard of 24 hours. Its Y. pestis test � for bubonic plague � delivered in 24 hours, rather than 48 hours, the previous gold standard.

"We would go to exhibitions, and the scientists were enthralled by our technology," Barnhizer says.

While the kits continue third-party testing as a prelude to gaining FDA approval for use in other than scientific experiments, NanoLogix has already started reaping the rewards. Last year, it signed a multi-year contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop rapid testing for bacterial threats to drinking water.

The company has also built a 2,800-square foot manufacturing facility in Hubbard to will localize work being done elsewhere, from Cincinnati to Houston.

Source: Bret T. Barnhizer, NanoLogix
Writer: Dave Malaska

SOURCE: SOAPBOX

A former University of Cincinnati architecture student may have graduated in the spring, but his idea to link the university's creative talent to help solve real-world business problems lives on.

Adam Treister, who now works for an Over-the-Rhine real estate developer, is in the process of developing StudentDesigned.com. The social networking website would allow design, engineering, architecture and other creative students to showcase their student work in a central place where business could check it out. Businesses could contact individual students they believe could help them with a project.

"The idea started from a lot of studio projects we'd done. There is a lot of student and professor time, money and resources that go into creating a fictitious product like a building or a clothing line. It's basically an exercise where we practice our skills," and those skills could be put to real life use, Treister said. "The creative studios and companies or government agencies could team up and collaborate on projects."

Treister entered the idea in a couple of entrepreneur-oriented contests, including Cincinnati Innovates, where he came in fourth place just shy of a monetary award. But the publicity that came along with promoting his idea helped move it forward. He's been profiled by several news sites including his hometown paper the Charleston (W.V) Gazette.

He's now working with a well-known software developer, who he asked not be named, to get the site live. He expects it to be off the ground in six to eight months.

"I've already received notices from different companies requesting the help of student architects," Treister said.

In fact, before the site is up Treister may pair up UC students with a West Virginia company looking for a green renovation of an 80,000 sq. ft. building. Such collaboration is a win-win for those involved.

"It's providing a really good opportunity to work on real-world projects and to enhance the education experience," Treister said. "The companies will get an unparallel creative product for an affordable price."

Source: Adam Treister, Student Designed.com
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

Cincinnati entrepreneur Anisha Bradley is coupling business acumen and the convenience of the web to launch a virtual business incubator that will help busy, far-flung professionals.

Bradley, who runs her own financial services firm, just launched Engaged 360, an online company offering easy access to courses designed to help new and established businesses thrive. The company, which went online in November, offers classes in everything from business plan writing to marketing and strategic planning.

Engaged 360 is designed to reach people across Ohio and beyond.

"This saves people a lot of time and money. By being online we can service people worldwide without them having to travel. This is also eco-friendly and helps clients to be eco-friendly as well," says Bradley, who previously worked as a tax consultant for Deloitte and Touche and Ethicon Endo-Surgery. She founded Capital Logic, a financial management company, in 2008.

Engaged 360 charges users an annual fee based on company size and the level of services they require. Membership is open to students, individuals and any sized company. Services offered include live-web based classes, online member forums, complementary marketing, accounting and legal services (at an extra, but discounted rate) and more.

The top membership level features a facilitated in-person networking group that matches members with potential business partners and resources.

"What I find is a lot of businesses don't have a solid foundation on which to build their businesses, whether that's marketing or customer service. So we decided to put this together. It's not just the classes that are beneficial, but it's also getting a chance to network with other members," says Bradley.

Source: Anisha Bradley, Engaged 360
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

As a former high school and college anatomy and physiology teacher, Jason Barkeloo was fascinated by the possibility of synthetically recreating the energy production process within living cells.

His company, Pilus Energy, based in Cincinnati, has found a way to create this process in a "reactor" that can be used to harness energy from organic matter using bacteria to create DC current. In a partnership with Dan Hassett at the University of Cincinnati, the two have pioneered this new green energy that can take organic waste from farms, plant pulps and sewage and make it into electricity.

"We're unlocking another grid," says Barkeloo. "We're providing a de-centralized energy solution that is untapped."

Pilot programs using Pilus' new Pilus Cell "reactor" are taking place at Pacific Gas & Electric in Northern California and at a large agri-business operation, he says. More pilots are in the planning phases as well.

"Our solution is harnessing our genetically engineered bacteria in a microbial fuel cell reactor and harvesting the direct current and hydrogen gas from their metabolism of organic molecules like those found in sewage, farm wastes, river water and plant pulps," says Barkeloo.

Pilus was one of a select group of start-up companies chosen to present their ideas and products at Launch: Silicon Valley 2010 international launch event last June. It was the only Midwest company chosen from among roughly 400 applicants from around the world.

In the next year, Barkeloo says he plans on adding more employees to the four full-time and six part-time consultants he now has, although he declined to project future sales or revenue.

Source: Jason Barkeloo, Pilus Energy
Writer: Val Prevish