Category: Business

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Second Sunday on Main: Global Groove

This Sunday is the third of five Second Sunday on Main celebrations in historic Over-the-Rhine. In addition to the regular mix of live music (list below), food, local vendors and art, this month’s event will also feature a high-heels drag race which will start at 4pm.

There will also be a cooking demonstration by Chef Nat Blanford, from Iron Horse Inn, at Falling Wall located at 1419 Main Street at 2:30pm.This month’s Global Groove theme is intended to celebrate many of the local cultures that make Cincinnati special.

The event is free and open to the public and runs from 12pm to 5pm between 13th and Liberty streets along Main Street.

Band List:
Bacchanal Steel Band (Carribean Calypso) – 12pm
Silver Arm (Celtic) – 1pm
Mohenjo Daro (Middle Eastern/Indian) – 2pm
Zumba (Latin American) – 3pm
Baoku Moses and the Image AfroBeat Band (African) – 4pm

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Business News

‘Black Wednesday’ hits Cincinnati hard

Black Wednesday brought massive cutbacks at Cincinnati’s last “local” daily newspaper. The reason I put “local” in quotations is because following each one of these waves the newspaper becomes less local, less intimate and more out of touch with reality as the industry deals with cutbacks in a corporate manner.

There is an estimated 100 people being laid off at the Enquirer with 30 of those being reporters. CiN Weekly is going away, but being “rebranded” into Metromix. Enquirer Editor Tom Callinan tweeted, “Need to clarify: CiN in print and online will continue with Metromix as dominant brand…”

While that is true the CiN Weekly folks are still out of a job, and Cincinnati is seeing one of its weekly entertainment guides be replaced by a template-style national entertainment guide known as Metromix in 37 different cities/regions nationwide.

These layoffs are extraordinarily sad, but at the same time seem to be reflective of an industry that is slowly dying. Yesterday Paul Wilham commented,

Blogs will replace newspapers in the next 10 years. I think you will see a growing professionalism especially among bloggers who cover specific areas.

Currently you can get the vast majority of what is “really” going on in Cincinnnati by folowing 20 or so bloggers, Business news, zoning issues, sports, restaurant reviews, neighborhood news and more.

The first person who can consolidate all that content into a daily digest and can find a way to monetize it with local advertisement and pay the bloggers for their content will put the Enquirer out of business. The Enquirer knows this too!

The thing is that I have never considered myself or my blog as being in competition with a news source like the Enquirer, but what seemed to happen over the years is that newspapers have grown more towards the blog end of things to try to keep up – this is the problem.

People like myself and others are not full-time reporters…heck that’s not even my professional training. Many of the bloggers are doing this as a passion and can not afford to pay themselves to do investigative reporting, extended feature stories and so on. This is where the newspapers should have focused. Instead they went to smaller stories, republication of press releases and a reduced grassroots/local emphasis. It’s not the physical form, but rather then reduced content that has damned the newspaper industry.

We saw the first wave of amazing bloggers born when newspapers began laying off Dining/Food review sections. We now have amazing food bloggers all across the nation and the amazing urbanspoon site that ties it all together in a way the newspapers will never be able to compete with again.

The Enquirer barely boasts a business section as is, and the local urban-focused blog scene is as strong as it is because the Enquirer fails on that front as well. These niches open up as a result of the newspaper letting it happen…they reduce their content and that content goes elsewhere.

The print newspapers around the nation need to start focusing on a new business model that is reflective of the changes taking place in our society…things are more local, more cutting-edge, more focused and more timely. I hope they get it together, because I love reading the newspaper every day. That will not happen by continuing to make cuts and get rid of those who make the newspaper the information source that it once was.

Image (source): Reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein from the Washington Post who helped break the Watergate Scandal to the public.
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Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati selects streetcar development team

Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney announced that the City has selected the Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners as the team that will help finance, plan, design, construct, operate and maintain Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system.

The announcement was made at the new Rookwood Pottery headquarters in historic Over-the-Rhine. The location is at what will be the northern end of the Downtown/OTR circulator which will then head Uptown from there. Rookwood Pottery is an “enthusiastic” supporter of the Cincinnati Streetcar project and was more than happy to welcome the couple hundred people that showed up to hear the news.

City Manager Dohoney with some of the crowd on hand

The crowd (see crowd pictures here) was not only robust, but diverse as well. Representatives from the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, various City of Cincinnati departments, Model Group, Cincinnati Beer Company, Metro, Cincy Energy Alliance, Mercantile Library, Hodges Law Group, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. and a slew of local business owners and investors.

The excitement was notable as Mayor Mallory and City Manager Dohoney arrived. The crowd was buzzing in anticipation of what was to be announced. This excitement continued as a large group of attendees walked over to Market Wines at Findlay Market to continue the conversation.

Development Team:
Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners is made up of 12 companies that each specialize in a different aspect that will help lead to the successful implementation of the streetcar system. The team is made up of local and non-local companies that have been involved with roughly 80% of all recent streetcar and light rail projects in the United States, including projects in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, Portland, Seattle and Cleveland.

Members of the team have also been involved with local projects like Great American Ballpark, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the restructuring of Fort Washington Way that came in on time and under budget.

Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners

One of the companies is Stacy and Witbeck Inc. (SWI) who is considered to be the “premier streetcar and passenger transit rail construction company in the United States.” Their involvement in the Cincinnati Streetcar project will be their first in the Midwest. As a result, SWI will be opening a new office downtown and will be relocating their executives to Cincinnati specifically for this project.

The team will also consist of local companies like Jostin Concrete Construction, DNK Architects, Megan Construction Company, Property Advisors, Wordsworth Communications and G.J. Berding Inc. The Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners will be led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. (PB) who will also serve as the project manager. PB has led several local transit projects in the past and has a sterling record.

Funding:
The City currently has $78 million in requests to the federal government, who City Manager Dohoney says will be absolutely necessary in the implementation of the Cincinnati Streetcar system.

Explore Cincinnati reported in April that millions of private dollars have been raised thus far. According to the City’s Budget Director, Explore Cincinnati also found out that several organizations have been raising private funds that have not yet been deposited into the City’s account for the project.

This revised funding strategy is a response to the national economic downturn say City officials. The City has also established a new and more comprehensive website for the Cincinnati Streetcar that also includes an online location where streetcar supporters can make private contributions to the project.

What’s Next:
The selection of the team that will design, build and operate the Cincinnati Streetcar system is a major step forward for the project.

“The leaders of this city are taking this city’s future seriously,” says program manager Fred Craig who continues, “we are seeing a new generation working to make Cincinnati a better place.”

Craig went on to say that he and the development team welcome community input and emphasized that this is a project that should be driven by the community. Craig went as far as to say that if you have any suggestions regarding the project that you should call him personally and let him know (513-639-2100 – still trying to track down direct phone line).

Mayor Mallory addressing the crowd
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Business News

Burger Beer back in the ‘Nati

The Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. is on a roll lately. Hot off of their Little Kings re-branding, they are now about the bring back one of Cincinnati’s most fabled beers.

On Friday, May 29th Burger Beer will be relaunched at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. The event will go from 6pm to 11pm (short presentation at 7pm) with the first 600 paid admissions ($10) will receive a FREE commemorative Burger Classic Beer Relaunch Celebration/Crosley Field Remembered retro t-shirt.

At the event fans will be able to visit the “Crosley Field Remembered” special exhibit as well as the other permanent exhibits throughout the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, enjoy some Burger Beer and watch the away Reds game (vs. Milwaukee) in the Palace of the Fans Theater beginning at 7pm.

The relaunching will bring back both Burger Classic Beer and Burger Light Beer. The beers will be available throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana for around $5.99 per twelve pack of cans and are considered full-flavored yet light-bodied American styled pilsner beers.

History:
Greg Hardman, president of Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company, has been working aggressively to restore the great Cincinnati beer brands that once made the area known world-wide for its brewing heritage.

Part of that heritage is Burger Beer which was first established in 1880 with the Burger family’s malting business. The family began brewing their own beers in 1934 following the repeal of prohibition and was one of the first brewers in the nation, and first in Cincinnati, to can its beer. Then during World War II, Burger was one of only a handful of brewers selected by the government to supply camouflaged cans of Burger beer to military personnel throughout the world.

Burger Beer was also famous for its marketing slogan, “Vas You Efer in Zinzinnati?” that played off the fondness for Cincinnati’s German Heritage, and was a nationwide hit.

One of the most significant parts of Burger’s past is its relationship with the Reds organization. During the days of Crosley Field legendary Reds broadcaster, Waite Hoyt, during the nearly quarter century that Burger Beer sponsored the Reds radio broadcasts. Hoyt would frequently plug the local beer and would refer to home runs, hit as Crosley, as being destined for the outer reaches of “Burgerville.”

Categories
Business News Politics Transportation

We need Zipcars in Cincinnati

Living car-free anywhere can be a bit of a challenge. It’s even more difficult in Cincinnati where our transit options are limited to bus service.

With that said, living car-free is definitely possible and I know several people that are able to make it work even here in Cincy. One thing that could make living car-free a lot more feasible would be the use of Zipcars.

Zipcar is a carsharing company that allows people to get a membership and use the cars on an as needed basis. Basically what you do is you get a membership (which gets you a Zipcard) and then go and get a car when you absolutely need one. You just walk up to the car, wave your Zipcard over the windshield, get in and start driving (keys, gas card and insurance are all awaiting you).

Presently there is no Zipcar service in any Ohio city (closest locations are Chicago & Pittsburgh), but Cleveland does boast its own carsharing club called Citywheels. The Ohio State University, in Columbus, used to have its own Zipcar service that came to a close in January 2009. It’s about time that Cincinnati get into carsharing and introduce Zipcars to our urban core.