Cincinnati/Southwest Ohio : Innovation + Job News

Ryan Rybolt started his payment processing company, Infintech, almost eight years ago. As a former banker, Rybolt thought small to medium businesses were taken advantage of and underserved. Today, his business levels the playing field through partnerships with chambers of commerce all over the country.
 
He put together a business plan with a focus on being fair and transparent by not overcharging on credit card processing fees. Rybolt, who was already connected with the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, began to form a partnership five years ago by offering payment-processing rates much lower than other companies. Many chambers offer members discounted group rates on things like offices supplies and health care by leveraging their collective buying power. By doing that with payment processing, Infintech saves chambers and their members around 40 percent on credit card processing costs.
 
“There’s no reason why a business should pay almost twice what it costs to process a payment,” Rybolt says.
 
Infintech provides services for in-store retail, mobile, online and phone purchases. With pre-negotiated rates and no long-term contracts, Infintech gives companies worry-free service.
 
That service won Infintech the endorsement of the state of Kentucky’s Chamber of Commerce Executives three years ago, and the business started serving 90 chambers across the state. Earlier this month, the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, which is a non-profit that helps manage chambers all over the country, announced their partnership with Infintech.
 
“The took notice of our program and approached us about becoming a partner,” Rybolt says. “This will allow us to grow into any markets we want and at a speed we want.”
 
Already, Rybolt says he has been approached by as far away as Anchorage, Alaska. In the past few years, Infintech has grown by 30 percent or more, and Rybolt expects that to be matched again this year.
 
“This opportunity is going to give us the opportunity to serve clients all over the country,” Rybolt says. “We will really be able to control our own growth.”
 
By Evan Wallis

Just six months after moving from Chicago to Cincinnati, mobile coupon innovator Samplesaint continues to catch major consumer brand and retailer attention. The startup's evolving technology is fueling its growth from eight to 25 employees since coming to the Queen City.

“We've had tremendous growth in product development. In terms of hiring, we've brought on a lot of IT and marketing folks. We have 25 employees, but we're not done yet,” says company founder and CEO Lawrence Griffith, a Cincinnati native.

Samplesaint was built on its mobile phone couponing technology that allows coupons to be easily scanned. It bypasses the more cumbersome process of printing digital coupons or requiring retailers to manually enter coupon codes from a phone.

Samplesaint is more than couponing. It offers a range of mobile marketing, consumer insight, research and experience services. Samplesaint's technology also includes access to a database that ties to retailers' point-of-service, allowing then to immediately identify and determine the redemption and expiration dates of coupons.

The company has already worked with major consumer brands, including Lipton, Breyers, Dove, Hellann's and Ragu, Griffith says.

“The integration of three pieces are what companies are most excited about: our ability to acquire content, geotargeting and data collection,” Griffith says. “And we can work within their existing systems.”

Samplesaint, which still has an office in Chicago, moved to Cincinnati after a $250,000 investment from CincyTech. It was one of the first companies that CincyTech investment attracted from out of state, as well as the first African-American owned company in which CincyTech has invested.

Rahul Bawa, director of digital/IT for CincyTech, says the venture development firm recruited Samplesaint from Chicago because of its unique approach to mobile marketing.

“Samplesaint has pioneered innovative mobile technologies,” says Bawa. “The company offers new ways of delivering content for consumer-focused companies and their brands. There’s a growing need in the marketplace for mobile-based marketing, and Samplesaint continues to explore ways to serve it. And with our emphasis on consumer marketing in this region, a company like Samplesaint belongs here.”

Source: Rahul Bawa
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

If you are one of dozens of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky residents heading to the Interactive portion of the huge South by Southwest festival in Austin next month, you’ll find a little bit of home when you get there.
 
Venture development group CincyTech has secured a #SxCincy Haus -- space in downtown Austin for members of the Cincinnati community to recharge themselves and their devices during the interactive portion of SxSW this year.
 
Four local digital pros will speak on panels. Krista Neher of Boot Camp Digital, Jeff Busdieker of Possible Worldwide, Marty Boyer of Possible Worldwide and Glenn Platt, professor of Interactive Studies at Miami University.
 
In addition, CincyTech, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association, in partnership with U.S. Bank in Cincinnati, is helping to sponsor a Startup Bus. Twenty-five to 30 software developers, Web designers and business development folks will ride the bus and work on startup company ideas, which they will pitch to judges in Austin. Find out more and register here: startupbus.com.

Cincinnati is one of only 12 cities across the country hosting the national Startup Bus program.
 
In Austin each day of Interactive, CincyTech will host a #SxCincy Chat featuring a different digital expert from Cincinnati beginning at 4 pm at the #SxCincy Haus. The chats will take place after panels end and before parties begin each day and give SxSW attendees a chance to unwind while networking with other Cincinnati professionals.
 
#SxCincy Haus will be open from 8 am until 8 pm from Friday, March 9, through Monday, March 12. Participants can hang out, get work done, snack and rest up.
 
Additionally, CincyTech will host a #SxCincy Haus Party from 8-11 pm, Saturday, March 10, featuring Cincinnati beer and chili, music from Cincinnati bands and the opportunity to mingle with Cincy’s consumer, brand and marketing experts.
 
On the morning of March 11, founder and CEO of Cincinnati startup Venturepax will lead a kayak and standup paddle board outing on Austin’s Lady Bird Lake. Anyone interested in getting some fresh air should meet at the #SxCincy Haus at 10 am Sunday, March 11.
 
“We’re promoting Cincinnati as a city that understands the future of consumer interactive,” says Carolyn Pione Micheli, communications director for CincyTech. "We have a large number of innovative thinkers at huge corporations, digital agencies and startup companies. SxSW is a great audience with whom to share our story.”


Source: Carolyn Pione Micheli
Writer: Sarah Blazak

Can monsters make kids do chores that parents can’t make them do?

Chris Bergman and Paul Armstrong think they can. Not by frightening kids into action, but rather by encouraging them to collect the cute, funny monsters that these entrepreneurs have created as part of their new mobile app, Choremonster.

The founders of the Cincinnati-based startup are both experienced web designers who were part of the 2011 graduating class at The Brandery, a startup accelerator based in Cincy that helped to launch a dozen new tech businesses in the past two years.

Choremonster is a web-based mobile app that lets parents and kids interact to make chores more enjoyable.  Kids are rewarded for completing tasks by earning real-life rewards from mom and dad. They can also collect cool, virtual monsters from Choremonster that they can play games with online or trade with friends.

Bergman describes the app as “allowance meets Pokemon” and says it’s targeted at kids age 6-12. “The monsters are instant gratification for kids. What kid doesn’t like monsters? It’s worked well in all of our test families.  Kids are really inspired.”

Choremonster recently received a $200,000 investment from CincyTech, a public- private partnership whose mission is to invest in high-growth startup technology companies in Southwest Ohio.  In addition, support from CincyTech has helped to attract angel investors, bringing the total seed-stage funding to $350,000.

“As of 2010, 51 percent of children between 4 and 12 years old had digital devices that could run the Choremonster app, and we know that number is growing,” says Mike Venerable, Managing Director of Digital, Software and Health Technology at CincyTech. “By incorporating a web-based service into its platform as well, Choremonster has a strong market on which it can capitalize.”

Bergman says that Choremonster will earn revenue through selling memberships to a premium version of the program. The company also plans to sell licensed products depicting the app’s monster characters, which include colorful names such as Frank Rumpnoodle and Phil Dustrumple. There are over 250 monsters kids can collect.

Public release of the app is the next step, says Bergman, although he declined to estimate exactly when that would take place.


Source: Chris Bergman
Writer: Val Prevish

For nearly a decade, a quiet but dynamic partnership between the University of Cincinnati and Cincom software has grown in prominence, through a business plan competition that prepares the winner for the international stage.

The annual UC Center for Entrepreneurship Spirit of Enterprise Graduate Business Plan Competition kicks off Feb. 23, and is an intense 36-hour contest where graduate students from across the country and Canada have their business plans poked, prodded – and for the best – rewarded.

The top plan wins the $10,000 Cincom Spirit of Champion Award, and earns an automatic bid to the international 2012 Venture Labs Investment Competition, formerly the Moot Corp competition at The University of Texas at Austin.

This year teams from 16 universities will compete at the UC event, which will be held at Cincom Systems Cincinnati headquarters. In addition to UC students, teams from Brigham Young, Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon universities will compete as well, says Cincom Finance Director Dan Vogel.

Vogel, who has served as a competition judge in the past, says the contest is open to any type of business idea. Entries have been varied, from medical devices and software to a new liqueur. In recent years, more of the entries have focused on biotechnology and research-based medical devices.

“We get some partnering of MBA students and the medical research department testing out ideas to see if they are commercially viable,” Vogel says.

The plans represent a shift in Ohio’s economy, one that relied on traditional manufacturing jobs to one that increasingly is turning to innovation, technology and research in job creation.

“In the Midwest in particular we are evolving from an economy based on manufacturing to one that is more services and researched based, and when you look at the number of top research schools in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, a lot of time and money is being devoted to research,” he says. “The universities are fostering that environment and we are trying to jump on board.”

In addition to the Grand Prize, the competition awards $3,000 the first runner up, $2,000 to the second runner up (sponsored by Queen City Angels First Fund) and a $1,000 to the third runner up.  

The team with the top plan will move on to the Venture Labs Investment Competition in May where they will pitch to potential investors from across the globe and compete for a a prize package worth $135,000. The students will compete against 40 teams from more than 12 countries including Thailand, Norway and Brazil.


Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Dan Vogel

As part of a global environmental concern about trash, a University of Cincinnati team proposed the “Renew Trash Compactor,” a new product and service that reduces trash, increases recycling, improves sanitation and generates income for the Padli Gujar village in India.
 
Mark Schutte, Carmen Ostermann, Morgen Schroeder and Autumn Utley, all University of Cincinnati students, headed to Minnesota to present their compactor in the next round of the Acara Challenge.
 
The competition is organized by the Acara Institute and administered by the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, with the mission to mold students into a new generation of leaders by providing them with insight into global issues and how to influence change.
 
The environmental challenge given to students came through “Take The Challenge for Sustainable Design and Development,” a multidisciplinary course offered as part of the University Honors Program at UC. The course is taught by Rajan Kamath, associate professor of management, and Ratee Apana, associate professor-educator of management/international business.
 
“The course encourages students to think boldly and break with convention and rules,” Apana says.
 
First-round winners from all competing universities are fine-tuning business plans in the second-round of the competition, where four winning teams will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship and the opportunity to attend the University of Minnesota Acara Summer Institute in Bangalore, India.
 
The UC team, one of six in the country from colleges such as Duke University, Cornell University, Arizona State University, is paired with industry mentors to create business plans for their ideas.
 
“The compactor was designed to be simple and affordable,” Utley says.“The waste collection service, which accompanies the compactor, will generate 29 well-paying jobs for the community and additional household income.”
 
If the team makes it to the summer institute in India, members will meet with top entrepreneurs and capitalists to further develop their idea and help secure funding.


Source: Ratee Apana, Autumn Utley
Writer: Evan Wallis

Bad Girl Ventures founder Candace Klein, a Cincinnati attorney, is making good on her promise to help small business owners fund their dreams through SoMoLend, a new lending platform.

The web-based, peer-to-peer lending site is designed to offer entrepreneurs a way to raise money for their business ventures from the people they know best: friends and family.

Through SoMoLend, entrepreneurs can borrow up to $35,000 dollars through the secure, patent-pending platform. Borrowers create a profile and loan application through the SoMoLend site. SoMoLend is geared toward small businesses, but will not lend to sole proprietors, Klein said.

Potential lenders, the borrower's friends and family, can review the business loan application, and if they decide to lend money SoMOLend will facilitate it. SoMoLend allows credit worthy borrowers to bypass the bank and borrow money at as low as 3 percent interest.

"This is all about getting money in small business owner's hands," said Klein, who founded Bad Girl Ventures, a Cincinnati-based micro lending organization for women-owned startups, in 2010.

Klein created SoMoLend following her experiences with BGV, which offers funding through a competitive process that includes an eight-week business course. BGV recently expanded to Cleveland, and is planning to soon be in Columbus.
Since its inception BGV has had 300 applicants, 225 in its classes and 24 businesses funded. But that didn't leave Klein satisfied.

"What are the other 376 doing to get funded? They're probably not getting money from a bank," Klein said.

Through SoMoLend, Klein hopes to help further fill the funding void. The site is up and running, with plans for a mobile version this year. In addition to the peer-to-peer aspect, Klein is working to get banks on board. So far, KeyBank has partnered with the site to lend at least $1 million to small businesses.

Klein is traveling around the state to spread the word about SoMoLend and plans to eventually have the platform available in all 50 states.


By Feoshia Henderson

Source: SoMoLend founder Candace Klein

A Mason-based company that designs and develops conveyor systems and other material handing solutions is doubling the size of its headquarters, creating 200 new jobs.

Founded by CEO Chris Cole and President and COO in 2001, Intelligrated is one of the North America's leading automated material handling solutions providers.  

This fast-growing company has more than 2,000 employees worldwide, including 200 at its corporate HQ in Mason. The company has developed and designed a wide variety of sophisticated automated systems that sort, move, distribute and control packaging and materials. The company's systems are used in the retail, postal, beverage, consumer goods, pharmaceutical and other industries.

Recently, Intelligrated announced it would create 200 new in the next three years and expand its operations in Mason. These tech-based jobs, which include engineering and research and development, will boost the company's plans for continued innovation and growth in the industry.

Intelligrated will also build a new 60,000-90,000-square-foot facility in Mason to support its growth. This new office will house R&D, engineering, sales, general, and administration staff.

Aiding this expansion is an incentive package of around $15 million dollars from the State of Ohio and the City of Mason. Though awaiting final approval, the incentives are likely to include an extension of Intelligrated's existing Job Creation Tax Credit, state and local loans, property tax abatement and a State of Ohio Grant.

“We aim to be the most technologically-advanced player in the material handling industry. To achieve this, we need an operation that houses the best mechanical, software and systems talent in the world. These incentives will directly support these efforts, help us create and keep more high-quality technical jobs in Ohio, and advance Mason as a strategic hub of our nation’s logistics network,” Cole said in an expansion announcement.

Intelligrated has 18 other locations, including key engineering centers in California, Maryland and Missouri, four manufacturing plants located in Ohio, Missouri and Kentucky and regional operations located in Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, California, as well as in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, Mexico City, Mexico and Brazil.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson

Inspired by three daughters, years of amazing experiences and invaluable relationships, DAAP graduate Kristine Sturgeon has set out to break down the culture of average for teen girls.

Sturgeon’s startup, Design My Style, is a Web-based application that engages girls 13-19 years old in the design, sharing, advertising and purchasing of handbags. It allows young women to hone their creative skills while teaching them pertinent business lessons.

“Define My Style is a healthy rebellion against mainstream sameness for young girls,” Sturgeon says. “Young girls should be curious, confident and have a strong voice. We’re building a platform for this with DMS based around everything I want for my own daughters.”

CincyTech just announced it is leading a $690,000 seed-stage round in DMS with an investment of $250,000. DMS also received $100,000 from the Queen City Angels and $140,000 from Tech Coast Angels in Los Angeles. The remaining balance came from private individual investors. The company employs four people at its Mt. Auburn offices

Born in Tipp City, Ohio, Sturgeon moved to Cincinnati to study architecture at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP). Sturgeon credits her education there for giving her both business and creative abilities and sensibilities.

Graduating in ’96 with a bachelor’s of architecture, Sturgeon has spent the better part of the last 15 years working in strategic marketing and communications out of Chicago. Her experience in creating customer value, mutually beneficial relationships and learning what consumers need and want has given her a great understanding of both the business process and consumer desires.

The idea for DMS came to Sturgeon in autumn 2007, when her oldest daughter was getting ready to head back to school. Unable to decide on a school bag that gave her the functions she needed and was a design she loved, Sturgeon’s daughter was at a standstill. She knew exactly what she wanted out of a product – as most consumers do – but brands sold commercially weren’t interested in listening to her desires. Sturgeon saw a business opportunity.

With a sketchbook and a PowerPoint, Sturgeon created the first DMS beta and tested it with 23 overachieving, involved, young girls. The test group included the daughters of powerful U.S. executives, two girls from China, two from London and one from Italy.

It was evident the beta was a success when Sturgeon began hearing stories of how her product had inspired the young girls to be confident in the identity and designs.

From that point forward, Sturgeon spent nights and weekends developing the web application, investing more than $320,000 of her own money into the company. Today, the DMS site has nearly reached 50,000 members and recently launched a new product line – laptop sleeves and cases.

DMS is one of the first companies to establish the trend of individual branding with consumers wanting increasingly more control of their purchases in everything from handbags and shoes to cars and homes, says Sturgeon.

“No one is allowing complete consumer design collaboration on the web, and especially not for teenage girls.”

Define My Style is the 29th investment for CincyTech, a Cincinnati-based seed-stage investor focused on information technology, Web-based consumer services and life sciences/biotech companies.

By Sarah Blazak

(Courtesy sister publication SoapBox Media, Cincinnati)

As Ben Haggerty sweeps up from a weekend night’s business at his Bellevue bar, the B-List, he doesn’t act the part of an eco-warrior. But one conversation makes it clear that Haggerty not only knows the ins and outs of water conservation, he has a great appreciation for businesses working to preserve the environment.

From the time his father first built a rain barrel with him as a child, Haggerty recognized the importance of water. Today, he promotes those childhood values through his second business, Green Streets, LLC.

After getting the B-List up and running, Haggerty looked around the community, driven to make a positive impact on the city. His knack for rain barrels made their production and sale a natural choice for his burgeoning green initiative, a construction company.

With its focus on storm water mitigation, Green Streets works with clients who wish to install sustainable options in their homes and businesses. Haggerty works to meet every client at his or her level of commitment to sustainability. He believes every action towards sustainability is a good one.

“If I can get 1,000 people to take two steps I think it will have a bigger impact than getting 10 people to take 10 steps,” Haggerty says.

From a small installation of a rain barrel to a larger project of a green roof, every individual green decision, big or small, can have an impact for both the user and the environment. A rain barrel attached to the gutter system of a home conserves water for use on a dry day, making it possible to water a lawn and garden without using any new water. A green roof reduces run–off and insulates homes. “There is no limit to what you can do to utilize rain water," Haggerty says.

Green Street’s most public project was the installation of a green roof, watering system and rain containment system on City of Cincinnati’s City Hall in 2010. The vision began with Mayor Mark Mallory, who wanted to set to an example of sustainability for the city. Green Streets was subcontracted for the project and City Hall’s roof was transformed into an eye-appealing and water-conserving masterpiece that the public can view from upstairs windows of City Hall. 

More things changed within City Hall during that project than just the roof’s landscape. Outdated construction codes restricted redirection of water from a downspout to anything other than the sewer. They made it illegal to reorganize the gutters to flow into a rain barrel. City officials amended the rules to allow a more modern sustainable construction method for City Hall and paved the way for future water conservation initiatives. 

As he started Green Streets, Haggerty saw an opportunity to do even more. So he formed The Sustainability Partnership of Cincinnati (TSPC) to help consumers learn about investing in sustainable options and strengthen the Cincinnati’s “green” business community.

“It can be pretty confusing on what is going to be the best use of people’s money, whether it solar, geothermal or new insulation and so on,” Haggerty says. “So we have joined forces with locally owned and operated companies that are invested in the community, and we are able to help people navigate sustainability.”

Haggerty praises the growing network of people with similar goals in and for Cincinnati. One of the first green relationships he created was with Libby Hunter, an eco-broker for Comey & Shepherd. At the time she was known as Cincinnati’s only green realtor.

“It makes a lot of sense, particularly in this economy, to band like-minded businesses together to draw from their collective experience and resources,” says Hunter. “Working together helps each member of the TSPC continue to grow their own business under the support and guidance of the bigger partnership, as its recognition and reputation expands.”

Currently, Green Streets is looking forward to its newest project. Mackey Advisors, a wealth Advocate Services Company in Independence that was named Green Business of the Year of Covington in 2010, hired Green Streets to transform an historic building in Bellevue into its new headquarters.

“It will be the first true TSPC project,” Haggerty says. “We will be saving a historic structure in Bellevue Ky., and adding additional office-grade space, all with an eye for sustainable practices.”

Successful projects demonstrate Haggerty’s passion about making Cincinnati a sustainable city.

“Ben is incredibly knowledgeable,” Hunter says. “It comes from a deep conviction that we need to be re-considering how we live in our homes, how we manage our resources and water usage and waste.”  

By Erin Leitner

Erin Leitner, a new graduate of the University of Cincinnati, completed this story as part of a Journalism Seminar focused on Communicating Sustainability. Look for more stories from this class in Soapbox and around the city.

(Courtesy sister publication SoapBox Media, Cincinnati)

Cincinnati-based Procter and Gamble (P&G) recently announced the launch of PGT Health Care, a joint venture between P&G and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of Jerusalem, Israel. The unprecedented partnership will allow two powerhouse corporations to expand into China and other burgeoning foreign markets.
 
“Together we’re better and have a larger geographical footprint,” says Tom Milliken of Global External Relations with P&G and PGT. “We’re combining two companies’ core strengths to more effectively deliver health care products to more customers.”
 
The alliance between the world’s largest consumer products maker and the world’s largest generic drug maker will allow PGT to reach consumers in emerging market countries such as Peru, Hungary and China. Strong consumer appetite for new products in such countries is fueling P&G’s domestic growth, Milliken says.  
 
“As a company with global headquarters in Cincinnati, this is important for us,” he says. “It will fuel our pipeline for over-the-counter drugs for many years ahead.”
 
Approval this month from anti-trust regulators in the U.S. and Europe paved the way for PGT’s rollout. Company officials say the new unit is expected to have revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, with the potential to reach $4 billion by the end of the decade.
 
Teva and P&G were thought to be a good match because of their complementary product lines and geographic footprints. PGT may now decide to combine P&G products such as Vick’s Cough Medicine with Teva supplements such as allergy medications, thus creating a new, blended product line to sell to consumers. Some of PGT’s new products will also be available in the U.S. and Canada.

Cincinnati-based Global Cloud is changing the way nonprofits raise money by harnessing the power of social networking to turn a $50 donation into $5,000.
 
DonorDrive, the software as a service tool that Global Cloud launched more than three years ago, has become a competitive product in the world of nonprofit development, where tapping into new sources of funding is a driving necessity during a slow economy, said Global Cloud founder Todd Levy.
 
“We saw that it was underserved and that we could compete,” said Levy. “We see a huge market potential.”
 
Levy said DonorDrive takes current donors and turns them into developers by allowing an individual volunteer to set up an event, such as a walk-a-thon, and create a DonorDrive page that describes the event and is easily forwarded to social networking contacts who can then give online. All the money collected goes directly to the nonprofit, reducing costs by eliminating mailings and promotional expenses.
 
“This makes it possible to hone in on (social) networks and take a $50 donation and turn it into $5,000,” he said. “A single donor becomes a network of donors.”
 
Global Cloud began as a website design company in 1997. Levy and co-founder Paul Ghiz had many nonprofit clients and eventually began filling requests for custom software applications for them. One of those software programs was for online donations.
 
They began testing DonorDrive in 2008 and have since rolled it out to hundreds of clients throughout the United States and Canada.
 
Levy said DonorDrive has been experiencing triple digit growth in sales over the past two years. DonorDrive will go from roughly 50 percent of Global Cloud’s business to at least 90 percent, he said, adding he plans to expand his staff of 24 by about 20 percent to accommodate the growth.

Conservation has always been a major concern for zoos, from habitat conservation to protecting animal populations with dwindling numbers. Two Ohio zoos, though, are leading the way into another branch of conservation--energy conservation.
 
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens and the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium have both made headlines in the last two years for their green technology efforts, investing millions while enlisting help from the state's green industry to become leaders in the field.
 
Over the past five years, the Cincinnati Zoo has invested $1 million in energy improvements, upgrading 73 buildings--including elevating five to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and other initiatives like switching to energy-saving LED lights for its annual holiday display.
 
The biggest splash in the Ohio zoo green movement is just starting to pay off, though. Earlier this year, the zoo completed construction on an $11 million, four-acre, 15-foot high "solar canopy" that covers 800 spaces in its parking lot. The system, billed as the largest, publicly accessible urban solar array in the country, consists of 6,400 panels that generate 1.56 megawatts--providing nearly 20 percent of the zoo's energy requirements.
 
Along with saving the zoo millions in energy costs, the project also includes education benefits. It funds 10 scholarships at Cincinnati State's Green Workforce Development Program and includes an onsite kiosk that shows the array's performance and extolls the virtue of solar energy. The zoo began using the array in April, soon after completion.
 
Melink Corp., owned by green technology activist Steve Melink, designed the structure and served as developer. It also secured the financing for the array, and will operate the array for the zoo. The Milford-based company jumped onto the "green bandwagon" early, specializing in high-efficiency restaurant exhaust systems since 1987 before moving into solar projects over the past decade.
 
Thane Maynard, executive director of the zoo, said there was no better place to showcase solar technology.
 
"As the greenest zoo in America, there is no better place to showcase this technology and to help the public understand that not only is this technology the right thing to do for our energy future," he said, "but it makes absolute financial sense as well."
 
The Cincy Zoo might have a battle on its hands for the "greenest" title, though.
 
Just up I-71, the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium announced in October plans for a solar array to surpass its Cincinnati counterpart. Construction starts next year. 
 
"We're excited about the solar array," says zoo director of planning Barbara Revard. "Everything's still in the planning stages, but I think we're comfortable in saying that we think it will be somewhere between a 2.5-to-3 megawatt system."
 
Taking the lead in the project is Athens-based Third Sun Solar, one of the state's fastest-growing solar firms. Founded in 2000 by the aptly named Geoff and Michelle Greenfield and operating out of the Innovation Center at Ohio University, the company has become a regional leader in implementing solar technology. It's been named to Inc. magazine's “Inc. 5,000" for three years in a row.
 
The planned solar array isn’t the only trick in Columbus zoo's green hat, however. Three years ago, it opted to utilize geothermal technology in another of its projects, the Polar Frontier exhibit. Opening this past May, the $20 million exhibit circulates 300,000 gallons of water to a tank that serves as home to polar bears. The mostly underground system keeps the water at a constant chilled temperature, using a fraction of the energy of other options.

The zoo has also "gone green" in other areas, from pioneering use of new Flux Drive pump products that have led to a 40 percent reduction in energy costs, to recently installing "smart skylights" in one of its buildings.
 
The skylights, produced by Ciralight Global out of Corona, Calif., consist of motorized mirrors and sensors that rotate the mirrors to catch sunlight and reflect it inside, where its needed. The result is an electricity-independent, natural light source that provides better light at less cost.

"We joke that we're finding things in the warehouse that we didn't even realize were there," says Revard.
 
Columbus-based Energy Solutions Group worked with the zoo on bringing the "flux drive" and skylights into the fold.
 
Both the Cincinnati and Columbus zoos are leaders in implementing green technology, but they're far from alone. Every few months, representatives from all Ohio's zoos get together to talk about moving toward more environmentally friendly initiatives. The group, called the Ohio Zoo Green Consortium, consists of about 30 representatives from around the state, said Revard.
 
"The fun thing for us all is working together and talking about what we're doing, what's working well and what's next," said Revard. "It's our hope that we can not only share that information with other zoos in Ohio, but also serve as a model to zoos outside the state."

Damaged roads with gaping potholes from freezing winter time temperatures--that later thaw in springtime and crack when they expand--are a billion dollar problem for both local and federal government agencies. Not to mention the annoyance and money spent by any Ohioan who’s ever hit a pothole and damaged a tire from the dreaded concrete pits.
 
But help is on the way, according to Dr. Sang-Soo Kim of Ohio University, who thinks he’s come up with the solution that he now sells commercially through his company EZ Asphalt Technology LLC, founded in 2007.

Kim, an associate professor of civil engineering at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, has developed a method of testing asphalt binder--the sealant used to help repair highways that is highly susceptible to cold weather--called Asphalt Binder Cracking Device (ABCD). The device can be used by highway engineers to more accurately determine an asphalt’s cracking temperature, leading to stronger roads that don’t need repairs as often.

“People like this because it is a simple process,” says Kim of the commercially viable testing device that will give the asphalt industry a new standard for testing road surfaces.

The testing works by placing asphalt binder material in the ABCD ring and then cooling the device in a refrigerator chamber. A computer monitor attached to the ABCD ring shows the exact temperature where the binder begins to crack, giving accurate measurement of how it would perform on a real road, says Kim. The knowledge would lead to improved pavement structure that would help lessen the number of potholes in the road.

Kim worked with Enterprise Appalachia to bring his idea to market after receiving a grant from the Federal Highway Administration.

He estimates that his company will grow rapidly as it reaches out to 2,500 potential customers in six market segments in both the U.S. and Canada.

In a world were banks charge you to receive paper statements and stores ask for your email to send you a receipt, a programmer from Columbus decided to change the way receipts are used.

After a few months of sitting at the Brandery with two monitors and bottle of single malt scotch at his desk, Kevin Pfefferfle created Receept, a website geared toward both customers and merchants.

The idea is to give customers a place to store receipts easily with simple export tools so that you can print them you need for expense reports or taxes. While other similar services exist, many of them charge fees. Pfefferfle wouldn't pay for that service as a consumer, so Receept will be free for consumers.

Merchants that have partnerships with Receept will be able to send a receipt directly to a user-created Receept account. If a customer doesn't have an account created, an email will be sent with information to sign up. For merchants that don't have a partnership with Receept, customers will be able to snap a photo of a receipt or forward an email receipt to their account, which will then be stored and organized. You will also be able to share receipts with specific people. You can categorize and share all personal purchases with a spouse, or all business purchases with your boss with a simple click.

To keep the service free for cutomers, Pfefferfle is working with merchants to give them consumer data. While specific data on what and how much a customer buys will not be shared, visiting habits and numbers will be. It will give merchants true data. In other words, when a customer fills out a survey or answers questions, vendors get an idea of spending habits, but Receept will be able to give merchants exact habits.

"We could tell Kroger, 'People who shop at your store once a month also tend to shop at these other types of places,' " Pfefferfle says. "We can say that in a general sense and not violate anyone's privacy."

Receept is also working with the computer science department at Ohio State University to eventually be able to scan receipts for character recognition and create pie charts and graphs to see how and where you spend your money.

The next step for Pfefferfle is to partner with merchants, which he may be able to do at the iMedia Breakthrough Summit in Las Vegas this week. Receept is one of nine finalists at the summit that is recognized as a innovative conference for what's next in the digital marketplace. Pfefferfle has confirmed meetings with representatives from Coca-Cola and American Express, among others.

Source: Kevin Pfefferfle, Receept
Writer: Evan Wallis

This story originally appeared in sister publication Soapbox.