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HCBC News

Private Health News offers timely service, creates relationships with healthcare providers (March 2010 - Soapbox article)

Like any business, hospitals look for ways to engage people, promote their own brand and forge relationships with the public. And a local company has found an innovative, and effective way to do that through specialty e-mail newsletters. Dan Ansel has built a thriving business around the concept that has caught the eye of healthcare providers across the country.

Ansel, Private Health News' co-founder, developed the idea of offering hospitals a health-focused news service in 2002 after working for three decades in hospital communication and administration. He launched the company in 2003, and now is linked with more than 150 healthcare related web sites in 30 states, including Tri-Health locally.

Click here to read more

Greater Cincinnati Venture Association Update - How to Raise Money in Cincinnati (February 2010)

The Greater Cincinnati Venture Association's (GCVA) monthly luncheon focused on the status of early stage and venture capital available to local entrepreneurs. Jack Wyant of Blue Chip Venture Capital was the moderator. In his introduction, Jack made mention of the vast assistance and capital opportunities in the Greater Cincinnati marketplace and he said that there is one organization that has been around for 25 years that has walked the walk of helping entrepreneurs find money. He said the phone number is 631-8292 and its HCDC.

Patrick Longo, Vice President of Entreprener Assistance at HCDC, said, "It's an honor to have Jack Wyant of Blue Chip recognize the efforts of HCDC. We've worked for 25 years to make entrepreneurship better in this community and its great to have this positive feedback from an individual as credible as Jack Wyant!"

Here are the five take aways from the February GCVA luncheon as posted on Doug Bolton's Blog:

To read more, click here

HCBC Adds Graduate Facility (February 2010 - Soapbox Article)

Like the start ups that have grown out of its incubators, the Hamilton County Business Center is expanding services, offering office space to companies that want to stick around after their incubation phase ends.

HcBC is leasing space at its 1775 Mentor Ave. building in Norwood to growing companies. The 1775 building is just across the street from HCBC's main building. So far, three companies are currently in the building: Sheet Dynamics, MobileTEK Consulting, and Transmissions LLC.

To read more, please click here

DotLoop Enjoying Unexpected Sales Boom (February 2010 - Business Courier Article)

The growth isn’t happening as predicted at DotLoop Co.

“It’s faster than we expected,” said Austin Allison, a founder of the Blue Ash-based software firm that helps real estate agents process contracts online.

Just a few months out of beta testing, DotLoop now has 500 agents registered to use its system and contracts with 30 brokerage firms representing more than 3,000 agents. It’s been named an approved vendor by Keller Williams, a real estate franchise company with 73,000 agents nationwide. And it’s working on similar deals with Prudential (60,000 agents) and ReMax (120,000).

Incubation Nation (February 2010 - Soapbox Article)

In the early 1990s Eric Collins and Robert Gray had a business idea they were tinkering with in Collins' garage.

Both engineers at GE Aviation, the government contract they were working on was about to end, and their names were on a list of employees to be laid off.

"Rather than take new jobs we knew we wanted to go into business," says Collins. But the logistics were tricky. The composite material they were developing for the aviation industry would take months of testing before it could be marketed and the men needed a location to work from that wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg while they applied for research grants to complete their testing.

They found the lifeline they needed in the newly created Hamilton County Business Center, one of the area’s most successful business incubators, which opened in 1989.

To read more, please click here

Bootstrapping Small Business (February 2010 - Cincy Magazine Article)

General Electric. Microsoft. CNN. All three corporate giants were founded in the midst of U.S. economic crises.

We don’t know yet which entrepreneurial ventures will emerge successful from the current recession, but Hamilton County Development Co. President David Main has a feeling this recession will mimic the past and create some large multinational corporations of its own.

While a future Microsoft may or may not be in the works in Greater Cincinnati, one thing is for certain: A company could get a lot closer to corporate greatness with the help of the HCDC.

To read more, please click here

Innovative Digitize-n-Organize Changes Scanning Services (January 2010)

If the idea of sending a priceless photo to another continent isn't your speed, perhaps a trip to your own driveway is in order. Digitize-n-Organize Mobile Digital Archiving Service will come to your home and scan photos and important documents with their onboard equipment.

Like many business models, Digitize-n-Organize started during the search for a better way. CEO Ted Rudolph is a Cincinnati native, but lived in Oakland, CA at the dawn of the digital boom. He became a ".pdf guru" at Stevens Engineering - a controls engineer who moved company records to a digital library. Scanning businesses sprung up on the West Coast, promising to convert fade-susceptible photos to durable digital files. But they outsourced the scanning to India. "If I had my last pic, it'd be tough to mail it," said Rudolph.

To read more, please click here.

Ohio Third Frontier Fuels High Tech Job Growth (January 2010)

The Ohio Business Roundtable recently released a new study reporting a 22 percent annual return on investment and supporting renewal of the Ohio Third Frontier, an unprecedented and bipartisan commitment to create new technology-based products, companies, industries and jobs in Ohio. The study, scheduled for presentation to the Ohio Third Frontier Advisory Board and Ohio Third Frontier Commission at a joint December 17 meeting, reports that 50 percent of Ohio Third Frontier investment has already been repaid in sales and income taxes – with the investment forecast to be completely repaid by 2014.

The Ohio Business Roundtable’s study reports that employment growth supported by high-tech business development has created faster technology jobs growth in Ohio—the eighth-fastest pace of growth in the nation—than in nearly any other Midwest state, creating opportunities for Ohioans across all work backgrounds, at double the pay of non-tech sectors. The study reports that Ohio Third Frontier has been responsible since 2005 for adding direct employment of 8,527 Ohioans, and for a total of 48,239 jobs – more than halfway toward the Ohio Third Frontier’s goal of creating 96,000 new jobs for Ohio workers.

HCBC is an active participant in the Third Frontier Project via its relationship with CincyTech.

Here are some of the finding from the report:

Ohio Third Frontier has attracted $3.2B in follow-on dollars on top of the $473M it has expended through June 30, 2009 on technology-based programs
Product sales from OTF funded projects have grown to $440M per annum and are estimated to total at least $900M by 2013
The return on investment has averaged 22% per annum over the life of the OTF
50% of the OTF investment made to date has been repaid through tax receipts with the entire OTF investment forecast to be repaid by 2014
Employment in high tech in Ohio has grown significantly over the period 2004 through 2008, and in particular, it has grown faster than almost all other Midwest states
Employment growth in the five target high-tech clusters has been much faster than for the US over that same period
Venture capital investment growth in Ohio has outpaced the U.S., growing 20.4% versus 8.6% per year since 2003
Licensing income earned by Ohio’s leading research institutions has more than doubled from 2002 to 2007, rising from $16M to $40M

To read the report, please click here

Company helps People Tell Stories (January 2010)

Business owners Jennifer Sauers and Kristine Woodworth said everyone has a story to tell. Our job is helping people to tell those stories," said Woodworth. Woodworth and Sauers founded Beyond the Trees in 2007. The company helps people write their memories and gather information for publication.

To learn more, please click here

Ohio 11th-Best For Small Business (January 2010)

Ohio rates as the 11th-best state for small businesses, according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s “Small Business Survival Index 2009.”

In addition, the Buckeye state ranks tops in the Midwest.

The index ranks states based on their public policy climate for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

The Ohio Business Development Coalition — a nonprofit that markets the state for capital investment — said the ranking shows Ohio’s efforts to redesign its business climate have paid off.

“Businesses of all sizes continue to discover the benefits of investing in Ohio. And small businesses in particular are increasingly important to the state of Ohio, helping create jobs for Ohioans, enhance our local communities and foster innovation in business,” Ohio Department of Development Director Lisa Patt-McDaniel said in a news release.

The small business survival index is a comprehensive measure of states and how friendly they are to businesses, based on taxes, various regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, and health care and energy costs.

Ohio’s corporate state taxes are on track to be the lowest in the Midwest for companies making new capital investments. As of 2010, Ohio businesses will have seen a up to a 63 percent reduction in tax burdens.

Location also plays a role, as Ohio is recognized nationally and worldwide as a business location with access to Midwestern, Central Canadian and Mid-Atlantic markets. It also has strong transportation infrastructure. Ohio is within 600 miles of 60 percent of the U.S. population and 50 percent of the Canadian population.

“Ohio’s recognition and continued improvement are evidence that our economic development strategies for creating a healthy business climate are working and further prove that Ohio should be on every CEO’s list of location options,” Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, said in a news release.

South Dakota was ranked No. 1 on the list, while New Jersey was ranked No. 50.

Indiana was No. 15, Kentucky was 22nd and Michigan was 23rd in the council's ranking.

Business Courier "Fast 55" Results - Hamilton County leads the Pack (December 2009)

Once again, the majority of the fastest growing companies in Greater Cincinnati reside in Hamilton County. The Cincinnati Business Courier posts its list of the 55 fastest growing companies in the Tri-State every December. The results are in and HCBC is excited to share them with you.

Hamilton County, OH - 34 Companies

Warren County, OH - 5 Companies

Clermont County, OH - 5 Companies

Butler County, OH - 4 Companies

Campbell County, KY - 4 Companies

Brown County, OH - 1 Company

Kenton County, KY - 1 Company

Boone County, KY - 1 Company

HCBC had a graduate company make the list this year - Sant Corporation (#27).

2009 Tenant of the Year - Emersion Design (November 2009)

Emersion Design is an up-and-coming architectural, engineering and interior design firm comprised of a team of individuals who are driven by a passion for exceptional designs that advance their clients and society. The company joined HCBC in 2007.

Growing strong relationships with their clients is the core of what Emersion Design does. Their award-winning LEED CI Platinum workspace is open and informal - full of the energy that comes from the productive exchange of ideas. Their tools are deep curiosity, analysis and strategic, technical problem solving. Emersion Design understands that the built and the natural environment are inextricably and vitally linked.

During Emersion Design’s tenure at HCBC, amazing growth has been achieved. In the past 12 months, Emersion revenues have grown by more than 215 percent. The company is already a member of HCBC’s Seven-Figure Revenue Club. It started with four principals and has grown to a diverse team of 22 talented staff members.

Steve Kimball, Simon Sapsford, Alan Hautman, Jim Cheng, Mark Stedtefeld, Roger Curran and Chad Edwards are the principals leading this fast-growing company. The leaders of Emersion Design have been seekers of information to grow their business since day one in the program. HCBC visualizes Emersion Design as a company with quality output, talented staff, and a very bright future.

Due to its strong sales, employment growth and excellent attention to client needs, Emersion Design is the latest recipient of the HCBC Tenant of the Year Award.

2009 Business Incubation Achievements & Highlights (November 2009)

The Business Center was awarded a $475,000 State Of Ohio Edison Innovation and Technology contract to further our mission to assist entrepreneurs and provide business incubation services for innovative and scalable clients in Southwest Ohio.

Our relationship with C-Cap, a regional early-stage capital hub, allows the Business Center to gain access to the resources of the Queen City Angels, an angel investment group.

At year-end, we had 45 Business Center tenants, who employed 152 with a total annual payroll of $7.4 million. We signed 10 new tenants during the year. Tenant revenues exceeded $18.6 million.

More than $13.75 million in early-stage capital was awarded by investors to our tenants and one Small Business Innovative Research grant was awarded by the state for $600,000.

Three start-ups graduated from the Business Center, all relocating to Hamilton County.

The Business Center welcomed its 249th client, Beyond the Trees LLC.

Eleven companies that worked with us secured early-stage capital from seed funds, angel investors, banks or government entities.

Our Morning Mentoring program assisted 36 ventures by providing access to early-stage capital, networking and business coaching.

The Business Center expanded its expertise into three surrounding counties with the launch of the Outreach program. We continue to provide business coaching, connections, and strategic planning assistance in Clermont, Butler, Warren, and Hamilton counties in partnership with CincyTech’s Entrepreneurial Signature Program.

HCBC Celebrates 20th Year as being an Business Incubator (September 2009)

One of Greater Cincinnati's largest business "incubators" turned 20 this month, and celebrated by getting three more new companies off to a good start. The Hamilton County Business Center, which aids entrepreneurs and small start-up companies, has now helped more than 120 businesses and created 1,500 new jobs and $200 million in annual revenue. The business center is Hamilton County's main funnel for $475,000 in annual state funding from the Ohio Edison Technology Program.

"To us, it means we're stable, and that we've done exactly what we've been asked to do for the last 18 years - graduate companies," said executive director Pat Longo, who has run the Norwood-based program for 13 years. "There have been so-called incubators that have come and gone, but we're still here. And as a longevity number, it's pretty cool."

To read more, please click here

Ausio Pharmaceuticals featured in Ohio Edison Incubation Newsletter (August 2009)

Every quarter, Ohio's Edison Incubation Program features several success stories involving early stage ventures in Ohio. One of this quarter's success stories is Ausio Pharmaceuticals. Here is the story that was written about HCBC's latest success story...

Ausio Pharmaceuticals, LLC., a global biotechnology development company committed to cultivating key partnerships with the goal of advancing medicines for an aging population, has moved through preclinical and two Phase 1 safety studies involving its pharmaceutical formulation called Aus-131. This formulation is being evaluated for a wide range of indications, including menopausal symptoms, benign prostatic hyperplasia, osteoporosis, and topical applications.

Phase 2 clinical trials to assess the efficacy of AUS-131 for the relief of menopausal symptoms and BPH are on schedule to begin September 2009.

Ausio Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2006 based on technologies licensed from the Australian Health and Nutrition Association Ltd, NSW, Australia and Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Richard Jackson is the serial entrepreneur leading Ausios efforts. Ausio has raised significant angel and venture funding to undergo the necessary preclinical and drug evaluation processes.

To learn more about the exciting market opportunities for Ausio Pharmaceuticals and its drug, Aus-131, please click here.

2 HCBC Graduate Companies make Inc 5000 List (August 2009)

Throughout the years, several of HCBC's clients and graduates have been fortunate enough to make one of Inc Magazine's illustrious lists. This year is no different. On Inc's 5000 Fastest Growing List for 2009, you will find The Matrix Companies (#2213) and The Sant Corporation (#3079). Both of these companies successfully graduated from HCBC's business incubation program.

Congratualtions to The Matrix Companies and The Sant Corporation on achieving revenue growth significant enough to be recognized by Inc Magazine.

HCBC to Celebrate 2009 Graduation on September 11, 2009 (August 2009)

For the past 18 years, HCBC has celebrated the successful graduation of an early stage company from its business incubation program. 2009 will be no different as HCBC will celebrate the successful graduation of SDL, Transmissions LLC, and Works International dba Public School Works. The graduation will be held on September 11, 2009 beginning at 11 am in HCBC's Large Conference Room (76-160). After the graduation, all attendees are invited to participate in HCBC's Annual End of Summer Picnic.

To RSVP, please click here.

HCBC wishes to thank the following Graduation & Summertime Picnic Sponsors:

Ohio’s Thomas Edison Program

Neyer Management
Cooney Faulkner & Stevens, LLC
Schiff Kreidler-Shell
SwindonSpringer & Co.
Frost Brown Todd, LLC
Keating Muething, Klekamp
Lafkas Patent, LLC
Kinker Eveleigh Insurance Agency
PNC Bank
Paycor
Hamilton County Commissioners

Cincy Incubators Win Ohio Edison Funding (August 2009)

Three Cincinnati business incubators and technology centers have received funds from the Ohio Thomas Edison Program to help grow and sustain innovative companies in the state.

The grants were part of $9.6 million in economic development grants announced by Gov. Ted Strickland.

Local organizations receiving funding include:

• $230,000 for BioStart in Avondale, which houses biomedical and biotechnology startup firms;

• $475,000 for the Hamilton County Business Center in Norwood, a general business incubator;

• $2.1 million for TechSolve in Bond Hill, which focuses on helping manufacturers adopt new technology.

“Supporting innovative startup companies is critical to our efforts to create new Ohio jobs and grow the economy,” Strickland said in a news release.

Eight organizations across the state were awarded grants, which are administered by the Ohio Department of Development.

In the Red Zone? Cincinnati-based Allostatix's Test Looks at Health Present, Future (August 2009)

We all want good health, but knowing exactly what that means is not easy.

Doctors can offer a vast array of tests, for everything from cholesterol to kidney function. But such a piecemeal approach doesn’t tell a patient much, said Gordon Horwitz, CEO of Cincinnati-based Allostatix.

His company is marketing a test he says sums up your health – and predicts its future. It measures a factor called allostatic load, which is a way to look at how stress affects the body’s systems.

Horwitz said the test can predict the health trajectory and the likelihood of illness over the next three to five years.

To read more, click here

Giving Rural America a Competitive Edge (August 2009)

Derek Gleim, a 28-year-old computer programmer, was pleasantly surprised when he landed a project manager job at Rural America Onshore Sourcing, a Cincinnati , Oh.-based IT company that provides business process outsourcing services using professionals who telecommute from rural areas.

"American talents can be hired at a good price these days," said Christopher Hytry Derrington of Rural America. "I hire people with different capabilities with five to 15 years of experience for $20 an hour." That's still higher than wages in India, but Hytry Derrington said such rates are cheaper than the overall cost of using India, China or Eastern Europe outsourcing destinations.

To read more, click here

Look Who's Talking - Transmission's Olivier Fischer (May 2009)

Getting the fine print, instructions and other text accurately onto product packages can be laborious and time-consuming. Olivier Fischer developed two software systems that streamline the process for consumer products companies. Working from the Hamilton County Business Center, his firm, Transmissions LLC, won an Emerging Technology Award from the Ohio governor's office in 2005 for his first product. He's now at work on a second, related product and company.

To read more, please click here.

Mindbox Studios featured as "Growth Company" in Soap Box Media (May 2009)

But after a few years of growing pains and hard work, Mindbox Studio’s success outpaced Johnson’s wildest dreams. The company now employs six full-time workers who offer web design and customer software services. And under the Mindbox banner, Johnson and his partners have started several emerging web-based spinoff companies.

"Mindbox is now this umbrella over multiple companies we’re creating. A lot have social impact as an underling theme, but some of them don’t. It’s just good software helping people,” Johnson said. “Our niche has been in finding clients like us, web entrepreneurs and people who are passionate about what they are doing.”

Click here to get the rest of the article!

Peak 10 offers free tech services for 30 Cincinnati companies (May 2009)

Young companies can get free space in a high-end data center for up to a year.

Peak 10 Inc., a data center operator and managed services provider that recently expanded to the Tri-State, is offering the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton Technology Assistance Program to local technology and business associations.

The first 30 companies accepted will receive cabinet space in the company’s West Chester data center, enhanced power for client hardware, redundant Internet access and IP addresses to run their equipment in the center. Peak 10 will waive one-time or monthly recurring costs for 12 months – a value of up to $5,000.

“Certainly the economy has hit both established companies and startups,” said Ernest Leffler, general manager of Peak 10 Cincinnati. “This allows a smaller company not to have to spend money on this type of service but still get the same type of capability that a more established competitor might have.”

Collaborating partners include the Hamilton County Business Center, the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association, BioStart, and, in Dayton, the Entrepreneurs Center. They will engage eligible businesses through their member networks and help with the qualification process.

HCBC graduate company, Thinkronize, to add 25 jobs and grow into the 8 figure range! (April 2009)

Thinkronize is going strong.

The Sharonville-based educational content Internet services company has just been approved for a job creation incentive from the State of Ohio to create 25 new jobs and reach a $10 million sales mark by 2012.

This is no surprise considering INC Magazine twice recognized Thinkronize as one of the fastest growing companies in the country.

Since graduating from Hamilton County's Business Incubator eight years ago, Thinkronize went on to develop an award-winning suite of internet search products used by over 12 million students in all 50 states.

"We are very proud that they started with us and have continued to keep Hamilton County as their headquarters," says Patrick Longo, Director of the Hamilton County Business Center. "They are by far, one of the fastest growing ventures we have graduated from our incubation program."

To learn more about Thinkronize's growth, please click here