Buzz

Six universities have been named as centers of excellence in advanced transportation and aerospace, the Ohio Board of Regents has announced.

Four public universities -- Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Toledo and Wright State University - and two private institutions - Case Western Reserve University and the University of Dayton - were awarded the designation.

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Kevin Czinger, an all-Ohio football player in his high school days at Cleveland's St. Ignatius High School, returned to his home state last month, making as big a splash as he did on the football field, reports the New York Times.

Czinger, the president and CEO of CODA Automotive, announced that his company was planning to build a battery manufacturing plant outside of Columbus, contingent on a loan from the Department of Energy.

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The Ohio Department of Development has found a permanent chief for its small-business help network in the office's interim leader, reports the Dayton Business Journal.

The Development Department named Karen Shauri director of the Small Business Development Centers of Ohio network. Shauri steps into the permanent slot after serving as interim director and assistant division director of the Development Department's Entrepreneurship and Small Business Division.

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The Ohio Department of Development's Energy Resources Division has allocated $10 million in federal funding to its Transforming Waste to Value program and is accepting applications for project funding through Aug. 23, reports Biomass Magazine.

The grant funding is part of $96 million allocated to Ohio through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act State Energy Program.

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July 8, 2010 might go down in history as the day that the long-planned Cincinnati Streetcar project finally became reality, reports Soapbox.

While no construction has begun, city officials did successfully land $25 million through the federal government's Urban Circulators grant program, making the project nearly 90 percent funded.

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A half-dozen entrepreneurial-minded Cincinnatians are joining eco-consultant business Green Irene, saying it gives them a way to quickly start their own businesses and teach others about products that make their space more energy efficient, less polluting and wasteful, reports Soapbox.

Green Irene's business eco-consultant model is similar to Tupperware or Mary Kay because it's based on local relationships and entrepreneurship to sell retail products nationally.

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