cincinnati/southwest ohio : Innovation + Job News

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

Greenwood Fuels has decided to expand from its home base in Green Bay, Wis. First stop? Ohio.

The alternative fuels company has announced plans to build a new fuel pellet fabricating plant near Hamilton in southwestern Ohio.

Rolando Sanz-Guerrero, vice president of sales and marketing, says the company is working on a short-list for a new site. When operational -- no definite timetable has been announced -- the facility will employ 35 to 40, Sanz-Guerrero says.

The move to Ohio effectively doubles the size of Greenwood Fuels, which has been manufacturing fuel pellets from waste paper since 2009.

"Everything we use is paper that would not be able to be recycled for one reason or another," Sanz-Guerrero explains. The resulting fuel pellets can be used in any solid fuel furnace and is a cost-competitive, high-BTU and environmentally friendly alternative to coal, he says.

"Plants don't have to do a lot of capital investments. They can simply take the pellets as they are, use them in their boiler to produce either steam or power, and off they go."

Greenwood currently produces 125,000 tons of pellets a year in Green Bay; the goal is to increase that volume to 150,000 tons a year at each facility as the company expands to other states.

The company's choice of Hamilton was influenced by its relative proximity to Wisconsin, the company's good relationship with customer SMART Papers there, plus "we liked the city of Hamilton, we liked the economic development group, we liked a lot of things about what they could bring."

Source: Rolando Sanz-Guerrero, Greenwood Fuels
Writer: Gene Monteith

Devicor Medical Products CEO Tom Daulton says his company is striving to be a "big little corporation."

Two years since it's inception, it's been just that -- though it shelled out a quarter billion dollars to buy a well-known product line and spun it into its own company, Devicor hasn't garnered much media attention.

The medical products company earned a spattering of headlines last summer when it purchased the Mammotome breast biopsy product line from Johnson & Johnson for $250 million, then set up its headquarters in the Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville. Already, it's committed to $60 million in research and development spending as the new company expands beyond the current Mammotome product line.

With aid from an Ohio Department of Development grant and state job creation tax credits, it also plans a $250-million expansion, including the construction of an engineering center, product engineering lab and repair center at its Sharonville site, along with an additional 150 high-tech jobs to staff them.

"I think people saw this guy coming in, saying he was going to buy and build a new medical tech company, with maybe 1,000 employees globally, promising a half-billion dollars in revenue... it probably sounded too good to be true," says Daulton. "People are getting excited, finally."

Daulton founded Devicor as a holding company in 2008. With more than 35 years of experience leading other medical companies, he envisioned building his firm through acquisitions and tapping into unused product lines. Devicor immediately set its sights on Mammotome and finalized its purchase in July. Since then, the company been working on regulatory approval in each of the 50 countries where Mammotome has a presence. It's also stepped up development its product line, with major launches planned this year and next.

Then, Daulton says, the company will "catch its breath and look to see what's next."

Source: Tom Daulton, Devicor
Writer: Dave Malaska

Students at St. Martin-based Chatfield College  have begun registering for a new, free 15-week course and six-week summer practicum in sustainable energy made possible by the Duke Energy Foundation.

The course will cover current forms of energy used in the U.S. and around the world, as well as what to do on a personal level, according to instructor Eric Davenport.

"We will also be researching specific subjects that involve potential projects to reduce energy consumption at the St. Martin campus. This is important primarily for the follow-up course offered in the summer of 2011," says Davenport, who adds he has been talking to students about sustainability for years.

This course "is important to most of us in a variety of ways from saving money on utility bills to those who follow the 'green movement' to the very letter. It is a wonderful opportunity to be able to inform and assist those who want to know more to improve their own lives and directly/ indirectly improve the health of the environment at the same time," he says.

Chatfield, a private, Catholic, liberal arts college, hopes to expand the course to the Cincinnati campus next year.

The Duke Energy Foundation awards grants for projects that address the environment and energy efficiency, economic development and community vitality. It also gives money to employees and retirees who volunteer in their communities; matches 50 cents on the dollar for all employee and retiree contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations, and matches dollar for dollar for all educational institutions.

Source: Britney Grimmelsman, Chatfield College
Writer: Gabriella Jacobs

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

By the fall of 2004, it was clear to Vince Broerman that mobile phone owners were beginning to use their devices for things other than voice services. At the same time, it was also clear that a sea change was taking place within print media as newspapers gained online readership and continued to lose print subscribers.

By the spring of 2005, he had formed a new company: ZebraMobile.

Housed in the Hamilton County Development Center, ZebraMobile today provides a service that has allowed hundreds of newspapers to push content out to readers through its Just For Me application.

"It beautifully renders content on more than 11,000 different mobile devices," says Broerman. "And that is the foundation of any other products that we have since built."

While Broerman built the business around Just For Me, he's most excited these days about the potential of Ferg.it, a direct mail application that allows mobile device users to receive promotional offers tailored to their specific interests.

"As a consumer, you get all this crap in the mail," Broerman explains. "How much do you look at? What if you could receive a coupon book which is totally personalized, based on your interest, that is based on businesses you've tagged as favorites, and so it's filled exclusively with coupon offers and promotions from your favorite retailers, restaurants, so forth?"

The company has steadily grown, Broerman says, with a ten-fold growth in revenues since coming the Hamilton incubator. It employs six to 10, depending on product needs, he says.

Along the way, the company has benefited from investments by North Coast Angel Fund, Ohio TechAngels and the CoreNetwork in Toledo. ZebraMobile also has been awarded up to $1.25 million through the Ohio Third Frontier's Innovation Loan Fund.

Source: Vince Broerman, ZebraMobile
Writer: Gene Monteith