Realm Winter 2024 - The Journal for Queen City CEOs

The Appeal

of Analog

In-person shops thrive in our digital city.

Think differently about your small business health benefits.

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In partnership with Medical Mutual, we are offering an expanded ChamberHealth® program to provide you – our members – with premium health insurance coverage while saving you money through group buying power. Through this partnership, we are now able to offer ChamberHealth insurance plans to businesses from 1 to 500 employees in the state of Ohio – an expansion of the program that was previously only available to companies from 2 to 99 employees.

*ADDITIONAL PLAN OPTIONS INCLUDE:

• Prescription drug coverage

• Wellness programs

• Identity theft resolution and remediation services are offered at no additional cost.

TRADITIONAL COPAY AND HIGH-DEDUCTIBLE PLANS WITH HSA

THE BENEFITS

Through ChamberHealth, small businesses and sole proprietors – a first for the ChamberHealth program – can partake in a self-funded insurance plan. Being self-funded has many benefits, including:

• The ability to keep costs low since MEWAs are not subject to some of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) mandated benefits and taxes

• The cost of benefits reflects the unique health of the company and its employees, recognizing that a healthier team should create a better benefits cost outcome

• All benefit options are tied to Medical Mutual’s large network of doctors and hospitals, including TriHealth, the Christ Hospital Health Network, and Mercy Health

COUNTY

METRO DELIVERED:

7 24-hour routes, plus 24/7

Access Service

Better connections with 7 crosstown routes

Service to over 93,393 jobs

On-Demand Transit with MetroNOW!

Convenience with free WIFI and charging ports on buses, Transit app

Upgraded bus stops, and a New Transit Center

$300 million for improved roads, sidewalks, & bridges for Hamilton County

Driving towards the future with Bus Rapid Transit coming 2028

Ensuring mobility for all with $500,000 annually to low-income riders

THANKS TO YOU, METRO IS LEADING THE NATION IN POST-PANDEMIC RIDERSHIP RECOVERY!

Featuring a 10,000+ person arena, 12,000 square foot banquet room, 5 conference rooms, 5 bars overlooking the arena, a full catering department with bakery, AV, and easily accessible parking.

Conferences

Trade Shows

Awards Ceremonies

School Dances

Weddings

Seminars / Trainings Athletic Competitions Galas

THE JUMP

10 ARTS & CULTURE

BLINK LIGHTS UP THE CITY

The fourth light and public art festival attracted more than 2 million visitors on a beautiful fall weekend

12 TRANSPORTATION

LARRY KRAUTER IS READY TO FLY

Candace McGraw’s successor as airport CEO brings a lifetime of aviation experience to town

14 ARTS & CULTURE

MEANS CAMERON SPREADS A MINDSET

BlaCk OWned’s business refresh adds new coffee shops, clothes,

audiences

16 REAL ESTATE A NEW AGE AT THE OFFICE

Shrinking from seven floors to two, altafiber finds its new open floorplans have appeal

18 PHILANTHROPY CIAO, OHIO! Modula has welcomed its Butler County neighbors with open arms, and vice versa

08 BY THE NUMBERS

Highlights from four economic activity reports released by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s Center for Research & Data in 2024.

DEEP DIVES

“GOOD WARM FEELINGS” MATTER

Small, independently-owned businesses keep the in-person shopping experience going in an increasingly digital world.

50 ASK ME ABOUT

Get to know Peter Adebi of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Darrin Murrin of Cloverleaf, and Camilla Worrell of the Greater Cincinnati Fund’s Women’s Fund

52 PHOTO ESSAY: A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY

Downtown’s iconic member library reopens with a full two floors of reading and meeting space thanks to the Mercantile Building’s conversion from offices to apartments.

IT’S ALWAYS TRAINING DAY

Area companies take it upon themselves to upskill and retrain new hires and existing employees alike.

CHILD CARE HELP TAKES BABY STEPS

Finding and paying for child care is a major workforce challenge today and for the future.

GAMBLING GROWTH IS A WINNING BET

Legal sports wagering has positioned the region to attract the gaming world’s biggest names.

t the start of 2024, the Chamber introduced our new five-year strategic plan focused on growth. We know growing our economy, population, and cultural vibrancy creates opportunity for our region and for all who live and work here, so we felt it was imperative to put that growth at the center of our efforts.

And what a year for growth it was: From Asian Food Fest to BLINK to highlighting the economic impact of our arts economy with our partners at ArtsWave, and from the Futures Commission to raising visibility for child care and laying the groundwork for a new arena that can bring even more economic activity to our region. There were almost too many “Top 10 City for…” accolades to count, and one of the largest cultural events in the country, the Sundance Film Festival, has named Cincinnati one of just three finalists to host the event.

Our airport expanded, and our region has become a major hub for logistics and transportation. Fortune magazine recognized young leaders here in their annual Under 30 awards. And TQL Stadium will host four group stage matches in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup series. The list goes on.

This winter issue of Realm highlights businesses and initiatives in our region that are also pushing for growth. They include an international company that’s found roots here, an entrepreneur making his mark on Cincinnati’s cultural vibrancy, the community impact of independently-owned retail businesses, a burgeoning gaming industry, and efforts to expand workforce through one of the most meaningful policy levers we have: access to child care.

We’ve got a lot of momentum. Let’s keep it going well into 2025!

BRENDON

CULL

BCull@cincinnatichamber.com

Where Small & Mid-Size Businesses Feel At Home

ALTAFIBER REIMAGINES AND OPENS UP ITS DOWNTOWN OFFICE SPACE.

THE JUMP

Get a jump on news about Modula’s manufacturing prowess in Butler County, Means Cameron’s expansion of his BlaCk OWned brand, and the new CEO at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. And catch up with the good vibes and beautiful scenes from this fall’s successful BLINK weekend.

The Cincinnati Regional Chamber analyzed our 15-county region’s economic conditions, workforce trends, neighborhood development, and the arts sector’s contribution to the local economy in four 2024 reports: The State of the Region, Cincinnati 2024 Summer Labor Market Analysis, Embracing Growth: Cincinnati Neighborhood Profiles, and ArtsWave Economic Impact Analysis. Report highlights below will help shape the region’s response to evolving challenges and opportunities.

YOUNGSTERS ARE MORE DIVERSE

[Cincinnati regional demographics]

LABOR FORCE IS SLOWLY RECOVERING

[Percentage

Statistics provided by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s Center for Research & Data.

McGohan Brabender Mainstreams Mental Health

BLINK AGAIN LIGHTS UP THE CITY

BLINK Illuminated by ArtsWave, the nation’s largest public art event, captivated Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport on October 17-20. The weather and street atmosphere provided a beautiful fall weekend for exploring the urban core.

FEET ON THE STREET

BLINK 2024 attracted more than 2 million visitors, according to estimates from the Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s Center for Data and Research. The Chamber produced the event in partnership with the Haile Foundation, AGAR, Cincy Nice, ish, and ArtWorks.

BIGGER, BETTER

The event footprint expanded again this year, encompassing Newport for the first time with art and light activations at Newport on the Levee, Ovation, and nearby locations. More than 80 individual installations stretched 30 blocks from Newport and Covington up to northern Over-the-Rhine above Findlay Market.

ON PARADE

Thursday’s opening night parade, organized again by the community engagement organization ish, featured more than 3,000 participants, including over 100 bands, walking clubs, floats, and other groups.

WALLS FOR ALL

BLINK’s ongoing legacy includes the creation of permanent outdoor murals, which contribute to Cincinnati’s notoriety as one of the country’s most exciting cities for public art. This year’s event was responsible for 15 new murals that can be enjoyed daily while awaiting BLINK’s return in 2026.

HE’S READY TO FLY

LARRY KRAUTER BRINGS EXTENSIVE AVIATION EXPERIENCE TO TOWN AS THE NEW AIRPORT CEO.

—SARAH M. MULLINS

When Larry Krauter was 11 years old, he made the early decision that he’d attend Ohio State University and study aviation. His childhood experiences watching his father’s business travels influenced his interest in aviation and sparked a fascination with airports that would later shape his career. “I was also able to fly with my dad from time to time on some of his trips,” he says. “I recall being brought up to the cockpit of an Eastern Airlines 727 to meet the flight crew and receive my plastic wings.”

Fast forward 36 years: Krauter has spent his career in aviation and is preparing to take the reins at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) as its new CEO, succeeding Candace McGraw, who is retiring after 15 years at the helm. Krauter comes to the region from Spokane’s Airport System, where he served as CEO since 2011.

This new chapter marks a significant transition for CVG, which has grown to become a major player in both passenger and cargo operations. “I am humbled and excited to join the CVG team,” says Krauter. “I look forward to working with the board, staff, and community to continue to build on the outstanding progress that CVG has made as a regional economic engine and as an organization known for innovation and customer service.”

CVG board chair Lisa Sauer says the search committee’s goal was to find a seasoned aviation professional for the next CEO. “We found that in Larry Krauter,” she says. “Candace McGraw has led this organization to new heights, and the transition to Larry will ensure that we continue to meet our mission to elevate and redefine the role of our airport.”

Krauter takes over a CVG that’s been flying high for years. McGraw has improved economic activity at the airport by reducing airfares, luring low-cost airlines, diversifying revenue streams through cargo carriers DHL and Amazon, and

developing vacant land. CVG welcomed 8.7 million travelers in 2023, a 15 percent increase from the previous year. The airport currently offers flights to more than 55 nonstop destinations via 14 airlines, including transatlantic flights to London and Paris, and is North America’s sixth-largest cargo airport with two global air hubs.

Krauter views airports as more than utilities and believes innovative transportation and logistics solutions are driven by airports and their business partners, leading to increased economic development for the surrounding region. He sees even more opportunities for growth here.

He will assume the CEO role in March while working alongside McGraw during a transition period to ensure leadership continuity. “I am eager to join in these efforts and to work hard toward achieving our collective vision to grow existing businesses, recruit new business, fuel the talent pipeline and promote tourism,” he says.

“I look forward to building on the outstanding progress CVG has made as a regional economic engine and as an organization known for innovation and customer service.”

SPREADING A MINDSET

BlaCk OWned’s business refresh adds new coffee shops, clothes, and audiences.

–CARRIE BLACKMORE

BlaCk OWned’s fall and winter collection of sweatshirts, hoodies, and jackets might blend the grit of the streets with the soul of hip hop, but the clothing line, like everything Means Cameron makes, carries a deeper meaning. “Someone wearing our products is saying, I believe that Black ownership, Black success, Black excellence adds value to us all,” he says, sitting inside his other business, BlaCk Coffee Lounge, near City Hall downtown. “And there are a lot of people who would agree with that sentiment.”

Fifth Third Bank, for one, had BlaCk OWned design a Juneteenth T-shirt for employees last year. Cincinnati Metro ordered 50th anniversary shirts the year before. BLINK collaborated on 2024 merchandise. Three years since Joe Burrow walked into a post-game press conference in a BlaCk OWned bomber jacket, the brand has designed apparel for the entire Bengals team, FC Cincinnati, the University of Cincinnati, Aiken High School, and others.

“I went into designing with no background, just Google and my gut,” Cameron says. “I think we just wanted to have impact. The beauty of our brand is at the root. It was us wanting to have change.”

“Us” were a bunch of guys Cameron hung with, influencers in the downtown hip hop scene before there were influencers. The first piece of apparel he sold was in 2011, a run of black Hanes sweatshirts bought from Target imprinted with the original BlaCk OWned logo. Cameron sold them out of the trunk of his car at clubs and at gas stations.

Cameron grew up in the West End with a mother who always worked two to three jobs to raise him and his three siblings. “We didn’t have a lot of money,” he says, “but what we always had was a mom who always told you, You can do this. And she believed that we could. There’s energy in a person’s eyes when they mean it.”

His love for fashion stemmed from his early love of hip hop music, and Cameron became a performer. He also won a scholarship to Miami University to study business and earn a degree in marketing. He moved to New Orleans for two years after graduation but returned to Cincinnati with the idea for BlaCk OWned. “I believe in representation,” he says. “I think when people see things they can dream about it, a dream turns into an action.”

By spring, his staff should be serving BlaCk Coffee inside UC Medical Center, and about a year from now he expects to open a coffee shop—this time with a kitchen—in Covington. He’s also expanding into waiting- and break-room coffee service and recently secured a coffee account with Mercedes-Benz in Ft. Thomas.

“Thirteen years later, it feels like a refresh,” says Cameron. “This chapter is about us going from just being a creative entity to being a producing entity, and that means developing our inventory, developing our wholesale strategy, and expanding into new markets.”

YOURSELF CINCY Expand & Grow with

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A NEW AGE AT THE OFFICE

Shrinking from seven floors to two, altafiber finds its new open floorplans have appeal. —BILL THOMPSON

It’s not often that anyone discusses the benefits of the COVID pandemic. One of the tragedy’s disruptions, however, changed the way we work, and for some companies that’s turned out to be a net-plus.

Patrick McDonough, vice president for business operations at altafiber, the former Cincinnati Bell, manages the company’s seven floors of office space in the Atrium 2 building on East Fourth Street downtown. “We always had a bit of excess space, so the concept of subleasing some of it had been out there,” he says. “When the pandemic hit, we contemplated a hybrid work environment, so we decided to pare our space to two floors.”

McDonough was tasked with two challenges: Design those two floors to help entice employees to return to the office at least on a part-time basis and sublease the extra space in a local commercial real estate market with a 25 percent-plus vacancy rate. “We had offices around the perimeter in the old design, and all that drywall blocked views of the city, and in particular the stadiums and the river,” he says.

“We blew all of that out and put workstations toward the perimeter, lowered the walls, and put soft seating in between. We also leased a parking garage at the corner of Main and Third streets and subsidized it for employees.”

The resulting office layout offered a welcoming environment for altafiber staff to come back into the office. “When you see people only on video screens, it’s hard to build camaraderie, which helps people work together effectively,” says McDonough. “We have about 450 people who work out of this office in corporate functions such as accounting, finance, IT, and marketing, and we peak at about 280 on any one day. Inertia is a powerful thing to break, but we seem to have done that. The vibrancy has exceeded my expectations.”

personal chores, while others enjoy the social atmosphere among colleagues. It also helps that C-Suite executives sit among the masses.

“(CEO) Leigh Fox was adamant about the fact that everybody was going to get a workstation,” McDonough says. “That was helpful to me because every time somebody would ask for an office, I could say, Well,Leigh doesn’t have an office. (Laughs). But we do have private areas for conversations, phone calls, and things like that.”

“When you see people only on video screens, it’s hard to build camaraderie.”

The egalitarian environment has been so popular that McDonough remodeled another half-floor for more workstations. While he oversaw that project, he managed to sublease the company’s remaining footprint, no easy task in a still-volatile commercial market. “We were fortunate, and we worked hard,” he says. “Just a couple of months ago, I subleased the last excess square footage. So while the Cincinnati region is at 26 percent vacancy, we’re at 0 percent.”

Employees aren’t required to work in the office, but not everyone is wired the same. Some thrive at home where they can multitask with

The renovations were finished in November 2023. To celebrate altafiber’s physical makeover, new signage featuring its distinctive white-andblue logo was added atop the south-facing wall of Atrium 2.

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CIAO, OHIO!

Modula has welcomed its Butler County neighbors with open arms, and vice versa.

–ELIZABETH MILLER WOOD

For seven years, the 240,000-square-foot building that once housed The Dayton Daily News printing plant was a vacant eyesore along I-75 between Dayton and Cincinnati. Modula moved in in 2020, and the 50-acre complex blossomed back to life.

Pronounced MOD-u-la, the Italy-based company is an international leader in largescale, automated vertical lift storage units for factories and warehouses. When launching a second U.S. plant, the company’s choice of Franklin made sense on multiple levels.

First, Ohio is centrally located and offers excellent logistical infrastructure to much of the continental U.S. Second, employment resources like Jobs Ohio and REDI Cincinnati are famously friendly to large employers seeking to set up shop. “Ohio is really easy to work with,” says David Lind, director of sales. As an added perk, “Ohio has a really long tradition in the metal fabrication industry,” he says, so using the vacated space as a manufacturing hub felt like an honorable nod to the state’s roots.

Globally, Modula boasts 1,500 employees, produces $350 million in revenue, and has subsidiary offices in 12 countries, including Colombia, Germany, Australia, and Singapore. The Franklin site, one of four manufacturing hubs, employs about 150 positions from fabrication to finance and everything in between.

The facility regularly hosts public workshops, tours, and internship programs. A designated culture committee seeks partnerships with local charities and fundraising events. “Modula is big about opening its door to the community,” says

Lind, adding that as a champion of modern, cutting-edge manufacturing technology, the company is also a morale-boosting symbol that “Ohio’s got a foot in the future.”

Though Modula was founded 35 years ago in Italy, the company’s innovative technology was brand-new to the U.S. when it opened a plant in Maine in 2015. Ideal for businesses that store large quantities of multiple products or parts, the company’s automated, vertical storage systems put overhead “dead space” to use, improving warehouse capacities by 90 percent and cutting down product-retrieval inefficiencies by 99 percent. “The name of the game in

logistics and supply chain is efficiency and optimization,” says Lind. “That’s what everybody’s trying to do. And Modula nails those two.”

While other automated vertical storage companies have entered the U.S. market since Modula’s arrival, the company continues to be a pacesetter. Its entire product line is proudly American made, and it’s the only company that can guarantee a 12-week delivery time. Dealers and distributing partners are “hand-picked” for quality, says Lind, and customer service functions are run entirely stateside.

Each unit is user-friendly and compatible with subsequent units. Because the ROI for a single Modula product is just nine to 15 months, repeat customers are the norm. Companies such as VEGA, Emerson, and Johnson & Johnson are among Modula’s happy customers in this region.

As Modula expands its American footprint, it continues to welcome customer feedback and adapt its services accordingly to meet evolving needs. “Where we can innovate, we do,” Lind says.

The definitive guide to living well in Greater Cincinnati

The city’s most respected and award-winning magazine, highlighting the region’s most interesting people, cultural issues, food, arts, fashion, and history.

The Value Proposition of Good Warm Feelings

The outsourcing of retail exchanges from real-life experience to internet transaction is nothing new. Fast delivery, no-hassle buying, unlimited options, and 24/7 access all appeal to busy 21st century consumers. According to Capital One Shopping Research and U.S. Census Bureau data, e-commerce sales increased 15.2 percent in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023 for a total spend of $320 billion.

One thing the Amazon delivery truck can’t bring to your doorstep, however, is community—and that’s increasingly in demand. Locally owned brick-and-mortar stores attract shoppers to neighborhood business districts, creating activity and community, and offer person-to-person contact in a world that increasingly dehumanizes retail transactions. Think of them as analog survivors in the digital landscape.

“We try to treat everyone who comes in here like they’re our friend,” says Suzy King, co-founder and co-owner of Handzy Shop + Studio along with friend Brittney Braemer. “That’s the vibe we’re going for. It’s a friend-based business.”

Braemer echoes her sentiment. “We want our customers to feel that we are professional and knowledgeable but also approachable and able to give advice,” she says. “I hope when you come in here you don’t just feel sold to.”

Friends since their design school days at DAAP, the pair launched Handzy as a design studio where they could create together, before officially opening as a retail storefront in Covington in 2016. The store stocks a variety of goods primarily catering to women, including greeting cards, clothing, earrings, candles,

ENGAGED OWNERS KEEP IN-PERSON ANALOG BUSINESSES THRIVING IN OUR INCREASINGLY DIGITAL WORLD.

BY LEYLA SHOKOOHE PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW DOENCH

HELPING HANDS

Suzy King (left) and Brittney Braemer say their Handzy Shop + Studio makes customers feel “like they’re our friend.”

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS GIVING

Handzy’s Covington shop offers intimacy and joy, which online shopping is unable to replicate.

kitchen items, and more.

Handzy was an in-person-only shop initially, but they eventually added online shopping. “That was always our vision for Handzy, being an in-real-life place,” says King. “Our strengths lie in placemaking and hosting a space.”

Handzy offers creative workshops and in-store events that emphasize the in-real-life shopping experience. The business added a coffee bar called Goose Girl inside the store and recently merged its kid-friendly wing, Gumdrop, into the store proper. Taken together, these elements create the pair’s differentiating factor: intimacy.

“The idea we always talk about is tangible sources of joy to wear and share,” says Braemer. “From the very beginning, we liked the idea of gifting or growing or maintaining relationships through gifting, or sentiments like that. Gifting is both of our love languages. That’s just innate within us.

We’re trying to create a space for people who also embrace those feelings.”

GROWING A CUSTOMER BASE

FERN, A PLANT SHOP

on Hamilton Avenue in College Hill, started with a similar concept as Handzy. “I really just wanted to be a design space where people were intentionally buying plants to bring into their home, but then also like a really trustworthy resource for providing care information for plants,” says founder and owner Megan Strasser.

The store opened in 2014 with a focus on arid and tropical indoor house plants. There were far fewer options for buying houseplants in Cincinnati back then, mostly big garden centers like Home Depot or Lowe’s or other national chains like IKEA. Instead, Fern offers a personalized

plant attention not found with those large retailers.

“The benefit of buying plants from us is we handpick,” says Strasser. “We are examining leaves and soil of every plant we bring into the shop, hoping that we’re not going not bringing pests into the store. So when customers come in, they aren’t buying plants that are already compromised or in some amount of distress.”

Plants range from ficus trees to philodendrons to succulents to ZZ plants, and the store also carries handmade ceramics, small-batch home goods, candles, cards, and more.

“Plants make people happy,” says Strasser. “There’s a lot to say about having something you’re caring for and the challenge of success with it. It’s why I say the plant care component is so important. People come in and they say, like, I kill everything. I don’t have a green thumb. I’ll tell them, You just don’t have the right plants. Let’s

find out what will work in your space and work with your lifestyle. That’s really rewarding when it’s done right and done well.”

When COVID struck, Fern had a fire sale of every plant in the shop. Times were uncertain, but Strasser found that plant sales remained steady. Research from the National Gardening Association found that total spending on indoor houseplant gardening increased by $360 million, from $1.31 billion to $1.67 billion, between 2019 and 2020. That number grew to $2.17 billion in 2021.

“We made a decision to open a second space in Walnut Hills due to this postCOVID plant boom, because we were like, This is a great direction,” says Strasser. “It was the right space offered to me, and I liked the Walnut Hills neighborhood because it was similar to College Hill. And then the market corrected a little bit.”

Fern’s second location, with more staff and a higher overhead, struggled during the pandemic recession and eventually closed. Handzy faced a similar experience running storefronts in downtown Cincinnati and in Norwood at Factory 52 in addition to the original Covington shop.

Handzy’s Fourth Street location downtown opened at the beginning of 2020 but closed in 2022. The owners exited Factory 52 in June 2024 after just one year there. They’ve rolled with the economic punches, refocusing efforts on their flagship store.

“Why spread ourselves thin when we can go deeper here in Covington and kind of dig our heels in and grow roots in the place where we live and have been successful from the very beginning?” Braemer asks.

Strasser made the best of her stressful situation as well. She was able to pivot the

REWARDING WHEN DONE RIGHT

Fern owner Megan Strasser enjoys helping non-greenthumb customers find plants for their homes.

model of her Walnut Hills location to a different passion, focusing on gatherings and event hosting and aptly naming it Hoste. The original Fern location remains focused on plants.

FINDING A NICHE

JOY AND MATT’S BOOKshop also focuses on one product—in their case, books. The shop opened in 2021 at 1515 Vine Street before moving to a larger space at 915 Vine in 2024. There are more than 5,000 books on the shelves in a wide variety of genres. The staff scour reviews and read galleys to select books, order directly from publishers,

and occasionally purchase used books.

“It’s a labor of love,” says Matt Stonecash, who opened the store with partner Haixia “Joy” Niu. “Being able to advise people and kind of untangle the massive mess of books that comes out every year and help them navigate what’s good and what makes sense for that person is how we measure success.”

In the larger space, Stonecash and Niu are able to host more book-related events, like readings and book discussions by authors. They have a number of regular customers and, in order to meet demand, added new shelves in the summer.

“There are people who come into the store and know exactly what they

want,” says Stonecash. “There are people who talk about all the books, and then there are people who want to be left alone. You want to leave the door open to all of those people and whatever experience they’re looking for. We always try to just greet people and make sure they feel welcome.”

And while Amazon may have a 67 percent market share when it comes to selling books, Stonecash and Niu aren’t deterred. “As far as other bookstores are concerned, I feel like we’re in this together, because Amazon is so huge and online is so huge,” says Stonecash. “There’s a clear distinction in the shopping experience between online or buying the book somewhere else versus buying it at an indepen-

dent bookstore where you’re able to talk to someone about that book. We enjoy providing a space that’s been carefully looked after and carefully organized to help people navigate this body of products that’s a little bit more complex.”

The evolution of Shake It Records is similar to Joy and Matt’s Bookshop, though it predates them by about 20 years. Originally opened in a small space on Hamilton Avenue in Northside in 1999, the store moved to its current two-floor spot in 2001. Encompassing more than 3,200 square feet, Shake It is filled to the brim with records, CDs, books, and music ephemera. People come from across the city and around the world

to shop the extensive collection of both new and used records.

“Most people who come in on a regular basis might be looking for one or two new releases, but they’re also going to shop the used records and see what we just put out,” says Jim Blase, co-owner with his brother, Darren. “You constantly have to keep, as much as you can, a fresh batch of product in the used bin, because that’s how a record store differentiates itself from buying online or going to Target or whatever.”

The Blase brothers source their used records primarily from private collections people contact them about selling and occasionally from stores that are closing. They also stock new

music, particularly special albums and singles released exclusively to independent record stores. The basement level is all books, with many recent acquisitions from the closing sale of Duttenhofer’s in Clifton Heights.

“There’s a small segment of the population that still wants physical media,” says Blase. “They still want to touch it and hold it and own it, because on iTunes or whatever you don’t really own the music—you’re renting it for a while. And then there’s a collectibility angle to records for some people, but our customers care less about whether a certain record has value or not and more about owning the thing.”

Blase says the physical nature of

TOUCHY FEELY

Shopping is literally a handson experience at Joy and Matt’s Bookshop (far left) and Shake It Records.

TAKEAWAYS

ANALOG SURVIVORS

One thing the Amazon delivery truck can’t bring to your doorstep is community—and that’s increasingly in demand. Locally owned brick-andmortar stores create activity and community in neighborhood business districts and offer person-to-person contact in a world that increasingly dehumanizes retail transactions.

CLEAR DISTINCTION

The pandemic shifted every retail business to remote sales, but in the intervening years a large number of consumers have come to appreciate in-person stores again. “There’s a clear distinction in the shopping experience,” says Matt Stonecash of Joy and Matt’s Bookshop.

DIG IN THEIR HEELS

Owning and operating a retail store in a neighborhood business district feels like a victory for Handzy Shop + Studio co-owner Brittney Braemer. “Why not dig our heels in here in Covington and grow roots in the place where we live?”

handling and playing vinyl albums and singles is a big draw for people visiting his shop. “There’s even more of a connection because you have to participate in playing records,” he says. “You have to take the record out of the sleeve and put it on the turntable and place the needle on it, and you see where the sound comes from. Plus an album cover is a piece of art.”

In contrast to other businesses, Shake It is consciously moving away from selling as much of their material online. “It’s a lot of extra work and a lot of extra expense when you’re shipping products to online buyers, and you have to charge for that,” says Blase. “We had to do that during the pandemic, but ever since we reopened we’ve slowly gotten away from that. We don’t really do much business online in terms of selling new records, because you can usually find it cheaper at Target or Amazon. That change hasn’t affected our bottom line at all.”

CAPTURING CONNECTIONS

CAMERON SCHAEfer, owner and founder of OTO Supply Co. in Norwood, is also interested in helping his shoppers capture a unique in-person shopping experience with its screenprinted and embroidered apparel, branded apparel, and promotional products. “We’re focused on brickand-mortar experiences,” he says. “We’re a champion for the in-person merch-buying experience and customer service.”

Schaefer cut his business teeth in past positions with Luxxotica and Nielsen Research Group, and he’s interested in the concept of vertical

integration. OTO has adopted some shades of that model; where the company previously outsourced decal and vinyl work, it’s now acquired machinery to bring that manufacturing in-house. They weren’t able to handle large-quantity orders on their manual printing press, but new printing equipment can handle any size run.

Those improvements allowed OTO to partner with the Cincinnati Regional Chamber in 2024 to pro-

“WE TRY TO CAPTURE LIVE EVENT CONNECTIONS THAT PEOPLE FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT,” SAYS OTO SUPPLY OWNER CAMERON SCHAEFER. “EVENT MERCH IS MORE SPECIAL IF YOU CAN ONLY GET IT AT THE EVENT VERSUS, HEY, I CAN BUY THIS SWEATSHIRT ONLINE.”

duce branded BLINK and Oktoberfest apparel that was available only on-site at the events. “The conversations we had on both of those events with the Chamber kept coming back to one question: How do we capture and promote the live experience?” says Schaefer. “We wanted to try to capture those event connections that people feel really strongly about. Event merch is commemorative. It makes it more special if you can only get the

merch at the event versus, Hey, I can buy this sweatshirt online? Why would I do that?”

And much like Shake It Records, Schaefer wants to bring non-event-specific purchasing back in-person, too. “Being able to simply put a purchase in a paper bag and hand it across the counter, that’s the really nice thing when you go and buy something in an actual store,” he says. “I love the whole brick-and-mortar experience, because you get instant gratification like, I can buy that shirt. And as a business, we aren’t creating so much waste and charging unnecessary dollars. That’s kind of a fringe benefit I always think about.”

Blase agrees. “It’s really fulfilling to be lucky enough to create a business that’s lasted and that people have a warm feeling about,” he says. “That just adds a lot to your own personal self-worth, to be honest. There’s a psychological impact of people leaving our store with a smile. Whether it’s records or whatever you’re selling, what you’re ultimately selling is good warm feelings. That’s the number one thing.”

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT In-person shopping helps cut down on the waste and energy costs involved in shipping, says Cameron Schaefer of OTO Supply Co.

It’s TrainingAlwaysDay

AREA COMPANIES

AND RETRAIN NEW HIRES AND EXISTING EMPLOYEES ALIKE.

BY SARAH M. MULLINS

As businesses across the Cincinnati region grapple with persistent skills gaps and workforce challenges, many are taking matters into their own hands by developing in-house training programs. An employer survey conducted by Cohear, the local community engagement and strategy firm, discovered that the biggest skills gap wasn’t in technical abilities but in fundamental workplace competencies such as time management, communication, and interpersonal skills.

While organizations like Cincinnati Works and Ohio Means Jobs offer targeted training to address these needs, many companies are taking a more direct approach by developing their own workforce programs. The Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio recently polled employers to ask them what topics they’d be most interested in learning more about in 2025, and four rose to the top as a skills gap or additional training needed: Recruiting and retaining people experiencing a disability; artificial intelligence (AI), including the ethical considerations of AI and upskilling staff to

“EMPLOYERS MIGHT WANT TO OWN AT LEAST SOME PIECE OF TRAINING SO THEY CAN TRAIN THE PERSON IN THEIR PARTICULAR CULTURE,” SAYS BETH YOKE.

embed AI tools in their work; general employee retention strategies; and upskilling workers to create career pathways for growth and develop leaders within the organization.

Upskilling an organization’s own workforce is the best place to start, says Beth Yoke, executive director of the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio. “It’s cheaper to retain and upskill an existing employee than it is to do a job search, onboard, and train somebody brand new,” she says. “Employers might want to own at least some piece of training so they can train the person in their particular company’s culture, processes, and ways of doing things.”

In addition to an employee knowing how to operate a certain machine, for instance, Yoke says he or she can learn how to repair the particular model and make it for the company. Beyond efficiency, training support also improves retention—proven by multiple studies that show employee loyalty increases when their employer is investing in them.

This investment is becoming increasingly accessible as the region sees more state support for workforce development through initiatives like Ohio’s TechCred, a program for current and future employees to upskill for the sort of tech-related jobs employers are offering now and will

continue to create. The Individual Microcredential Assistance Program provides funding for employee upskilling. There’s also a growing trend in apprenticeship programs as a way to train new workers in a lower-stakes setting. Apprenticeships were popularized by the trades but are now common in many industries. “There’s been a growing interest in apprenticeships among companies and at the state level,” says Yoke. “The state is providing guidance, and an apprenticeship office in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is a resource for businesses to help them get apprenticeships started so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel on their own.”

Yoke also says European companies with offices or plants in the region can be a resource, given that Europe is more accustomed to the apprenticeship model. The European American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cincinnati, which works with companies in Europe establish an American business and businesses in the Cincinnati area establish in Europe, can help make connections. While resources and funding exist for companies wishing to develop training programs—from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to state initiatives like TechCred—many businesses find it challenging to navigate these oppor-

tunities, and there’s an overall lack of awareness that these programs exist. “It’s an uncoordinated effort,” says Yoke, noting that the Workforce Council hopes to better align training needs and implementation across the region so companies aren’t working in isolation. “There are a lot of resources and funding streams and expertise out there, but a lot of times they’re hard to find.”

Despite these challenges, several local companies have successfully launched internal workforce development programs to create pathways to sustainable careers while developing and strengthening new and existing talent pipelines. Here’s a look at a few organizations leading the way.

FOCUS ON RESOURCES

Beth Yoke says the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio is trying to coordinate training resources and funding.

MESSER CONSTRUCtion has a long history of workforce development, including creating successful talent pipelines, upskilling existing workers, and training prospective employees who are new to the construction industry. Company offerings include a two-year Laborer Apprenticeship Program and a four-year Carpentry Apprenticeship Program, both certified by the U.S. Department of Labor, along with a 55-year history of hiring co-op and interns to perform paid work while still in college.

In 2015, Messer saw an opportunity that went beyond construction when Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

began planning its new Critical Care Building. Messer proposed leveraging the project as a catalyst for community engagement and workforce development among the hospital’s direct neighbors, with a goal of hiring 50 residents from neighborhoods near Cincinnati Children’s to work in fulltime roles for the project and beyond. Messer met the goal, employing new workers across the company and 16 different subcontractors.

What started as the Uptown Workforce Development Initiative has since evolved into a broader Urban Workforce Development Initiative (UWDI), creating more than 100 construction careers for Cincinnati resi-

A COMPANY OF BUILDERS

Stanford Williams (above) says Messer Construction is sincerely interested in training new skilled workers.

dents. It represents a comprehensive approach to creating sustainable careers while addressing industry-wide workforce shortages.

Another UWDI success is a partnership with Building Value and Easterseals Redwood. The paid training program focuses on non-technical job skills such as the value of teamwork, the importance of punctuality, following safety guidelines, and having the right tools each day. “We assessed several prospective nonprofit partners, and Easterseals Redwood and Building Value were a good fit because they provide all the components needed to be successful, such as recruiting and following up with candidates post-employment,” says Stanford Williams, Messer’s vice president and chief inclusion and diversity officer. “Building Value was the right fit because it’s an architectural salvage outlet, so the deconstruction work is good training for those new to the construction industry.”

In addition to teaching skills, the program is unique in the support that’s provided. A dedicated case manager helps participants overcome barriers to consistent, full-time work by addressing challenges with housing, transportation, financial literacy, health care, and child care. This support continues even after individuals are hired full-time. “People are unique and their circumstances are unique, so it’s been very important to listen to what UWDI participants need and find solutions to support those needs,” says Williams. “In addition to partnering with an organization that provides reliable vehicles under market value, we saw value in partnering with a driving school and vehicle maintenance clinic. Much of the program is looking at the full spectrum—not just getting a car, but how to maintain a li-

cense and manage upkeep/payments.”

The program is also working to develop a social emotional learning course so participants can become better at managing situations in their personal life in a professional environment, setting life-long career goals, and building healthy relationships.

In summer 2024, Messer celebrated its 100th placement of an individual into a construction career. The program expanded beyond its original focus, with UWDI participants working on building projects such as UC Health’s Emergency Department, Cincinnati Children’s College Hill behavioral health project, and the Duke Energy Convention Center renovation. “I think it’s unique that a construction company cares enough about workforce development to dedicate the staff and resources to something as complex and impactful as UWDI,” says Williams. “Messer is a company of builders, so workforce development has always been ingrained in our company and we’re sincerely interested in addressing the shortage

of skilled construction workers in the industry as a whole.”

THE HEALTH CARE INdustry is becoming increasingly complex, merging traditional medicine and medical education with new technology and information systems. As a result, leaders at UC Health recognized that the normal career path for pharmacy techs needed reimagining to meet the evolution of health care. “It’s a much different world than it was 30 years ago, with more complex medications and more sophisticated processes,” says Vice President of Pharmacy Jeff Akers.

Six or seven years ago, he says, the level of expertise needed to launch a pharmacy career started to increase exponentially, but the labor force didn’t expand to meet the demand. Despite salaries rising in other health care professions, the pay level for pharmacy tech roles wasn’t increasing, and job listings competed with many other roles, such as retail jobs paying the same hourly rate or more. The

HEALTHY OPPORTUNITIES

UC Health is actively recruiting individuals as early as high school and training them to become full-time pharmacy technicians.

TAKEAWAYS

RETENTION IS BETTER THAN RECRUITMENT

Upskilling an organization’s own workforce is the best place to start workforce training, says Beth Yoke of the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio. “It’s cheaper to retain and upskill an existing employee than it is to do a job search, onboard, and train somebody brand new,” she says.

PERSONALIZED TRAINING

Messer Construction is trying to personalize its talent recruitment and training practices. “People are unique and their circumstances are unique, so it’s been very important to listen to what our recruits need and find solutions to support those needs,” says Stanford Williams.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

From the very beginning, UC Health provides pharmacy tech recruits a vision for progressing up the leadership ladder. “Nothing kills an employee’s worth more than stagnation,” says Vice President of Pharmacy Jeff Akers.

restructuring had to start at the beginning, which meant developing the talent pipeline and targeting existing UC Health employees for additional training.

Recruiting individuals as early as high school and training them to become full-time pharmacy technicians was part of UC Health’s plan. In addition to initial recruiting, the organization developed a comprehensive career advancement program to upskill current employees from entry-level positions to level up to specialized roles and into leadership positions, creating a sustainable pipeline of skilled pharmacy professionals.

“As the pharmacy technician career path has evolved and progressed, the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board has introduced more specialized certifications,” says Akers. Hospitals and health systems will bring on uncertified hires into pharmacy technician trainee positions, and the board allows them one year to hold that position before they get certified. Once they pass the certification exam, they can pursue a pathway toward new roles, increasing their pay, moving into more specialized programs, and entering into leadership roles.

“At UC Health, we will hire on individuals with no experience, no formal education, and no certifications, and we work with workforce groups like Talbert House, the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, and the Cincinnati Public School system to allow them to shadow a pharmacy technician or, if they want to pursue a pharmacy degree, find out what the higher education opportunities are there.”

Once a trainee becomes certified, he or she starts the Technician Ad-

“THERE’S A WHOLE CAREER PATH IN PHARMACY HEALTH CARE THAT YOU CAN PROCEED DOWN, AND NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THAT OUTSIDE OF THE FIELD,” SAYS UC HEALTH’S JEFF AKERS.

vancement Program, which combines hands-on work with education components. Employees work full time while getting training to help reinforce what they’re learning, and they can then apply to be a senior certified technician. From there, multiple specialization paths open up.

“Being a pharmacy technician is not just working at CVS and Walgreens and counting by five, putting medication in bottles, and applying labels,” says Akers. “Especially in a hospital and health care system, there are countless different areas that you can work in. It isn’t just one job you’re doing—there’s a whole career path that you can proceed down. To be quite honest, nobody knows about that outside of the pharmacy field.”

Looking ahead, UC Health is rolling out a new career ladder initiative to further enhance the pharmacy pro-

gram by hiring a tech education coordinator to help support education opportunities and professional growth. “Nothing kills an employee’s worth more than stagnation,” says Akers.

The focus is on helping certified techs and leaders meet their professional goals through development pathways. According to Akers, the key to the program’s success is in meeting candidates where they are and focusing on two essential qualities: self-motivation and integrity. “When you’re working with drugs, especially controlled substances, I’ve got to be able to trust you,” he says.

For those who do enter the program, UC Health aims to make the pharmacy track a long-term career

path. “What we want to do is bring in tech trainees, bring in certified techs, and let them make UC Health a long-term plan for their career and give them the tools they need to make that a successful career,” says Akers. “But also provide them with a salary and benefits to be successful.”

GORILLA GLUE TAKES A slightly different approach to workforce development, focusing on existing employees by dedicating time and resources to their development. As a result, the company has been rated a Top Place to Work in Cincinnati for 13 years in a row. Leadership recognizes the impact of the whole person, both at work and at home, can have on the daily lives of each other, and this dedication plays out specifically through a collaborative partnership with Cincinnati Works.

The partnership began in 2018 by bringing in three different coaches to work with 120 employees enrolled in the program. Employees have access to a workforce coach, a financial coach, and a behavioral coach, each available to the employee at different times of the month. The workforce coach is onsite twice a week to engage with employees on career advancement, life goals, and daily challenges with housing and childcare. The financial coach and behavioral coach support in their expert areas, which includes

connecting and creating a safe space for discussion on one’s mental health, depression, anxiety, and stress. The Cincinnati Works team collaborates with Gorilla Glue’s Wellness Committee to host lunch-and-learn events for employees throughout the year.

“The program works for employees who are committed to wanting change and security in their lives,” says Stephanie Styles, Gorilla Glue’s senior human relations generalist. “The workforce coach will support them in all challenges throughout the process.”

Though the program is open to all employees, there are specific success stories that stick out to Styles. One employee who’s been with Gorilla Glue for three years worked with both the workforce coach and the behavioral coach to get support them with struggles in making connections, building trust, and maintaining stable housing, and they were able to support the individual in securing second-chance housing. Another employee worked with the workforce and financial coaches to guide them through things like budgeting and credit building that ultimately supported the process of purchasing a home.

“We have seen an impact on our retention,” says Styles. “Most employees who are in the program stay employed longer and have the support to bring their best self to work each day.”

GORILLA GLUE’S APPROACH WORKS

Stephanie Styles (below) says Gorilla Glue offers employees access to workforce, financial, and behavioral coaches.

Child Care Help Takes Baby Steps

FINDING AND PAYING FOR CHILD CARE IS A MAJOR WORKFORCE PROBLEM TODAY THAT ALSO IMPACTS THE WORKFORCE OF TOMORROW. BY

CARRIE BLACKMORE

Across the country today, many states, including Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, are testing “trishare” programs that spread the financial burden of child care among workers, their employers, and government. In Hamilton County, a new program pays individuals while they train for jobs in child care. In state capitols and in Washington, D.C., organizations and individuals are lobbying for expanded government assistance for child care and higher wages for child care workers. These and many other efforts are attempting to ease a mounting crisis. Child care costs are up nationally, with the average annual cost for an infant in child care running about $14,996 in Ohio, based on data collected by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. That’s an almost 18 percent increase since 2018. Availability is down, stemming from a shortage of child care providers, and the result is a very real struggle for many working Americans to find safe, reliable, and affordable child care for little ones up until age 5.

Study after study is confirming that inadequate child care is bad for business, America’s workforce, and the nation’s economy, says Julianne Dunn, senior regional officer of the Cincinnati Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Studies show that parents are cutting back working hours or dropping out of the workforce entirely in order to provide care themselves.

“I spend much of my time out in the district talking about the economy with business leaders,” says Dunn, sharing her personal views on the topic. “When I ask questions about their staffing needs or turnover rates,

the conversation is increasingly turning to barriers to work like child care, transportation, and housing.”

The impact is so substantial, it’s now being tracked by a Parental Work Disruption Index created by professional services firm KPMG. Based on previously unpublished Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the index tracks losses in working hours, yearly and lifetime wages, and other data points related to child care access in the U.S. KPMG found that costs for daycare and preschool rose at nearly twice the pace of overall inflation between 1991 and 2024 and that between 1.2 to 1.5 million individuals—nearly 90 percent of them women—miss work in any given month because of child care needs. “This is on a clear upward trend compared to the pre-pandemic baseline,” says Dunn.

The child care conundrum is a double whammy for employers, says Charles Aull, executive director at the Center for Policy & Research at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, and warrants considerations for what can be done by all parties, including business leaders.

“Child care is both a current and a future workforce issue,” Aull says. “The more access to child care that’s out there, the more adults are going to be available to work. Investing in child care is making an investment in that future workforce, too, by increasing access to high-quality child care for those who will become your future workers.”

TEN YEARS AGO, WHEN

Vanessa Freytag became president of Southwest Ohio’s nonprofit child care resource and referral agency, 4C for Children, she immediately recognized a problem. “I was a commercial banker earlier in

BRAINS ARE SPONGES

Vanessa Freytag of 4C for Children says 90 percent of the brain’s formation happens up through age 5, “yet we have underinvested in child care as a state and as a country.”

my life,” she says. “Beyond health care, I would tell you child care is the most complicated and high-cost delivery industry that there is. Families can only afford so much, so the cost of delivery can in no way be scaled based on a family’s ability to pay.”

4C for Children directly helps roughly 1,000 local families a year find child care, maintains a searchable database to aid countless others, and provides training for regional child care workers. Through that work, Freytag has learned how multifaceted these businesses can be—providing child care services but also often some level of food service and perhaps transportation services. Child care is a regulated industry that carries high labor costs for a reason, she says, because child-to-caretaker ratios must be kept low for safety reasons and to help every child receive adequate attention and interaction.

“Children are like sponges from the ages of zero to 5,” she says. “Ninety-plus percent of the brain’s formation happens during that time. Yet we have underinvested in child care as a state and as a country.”

The situation starts with a wage problem, says Kyle Fee, a policy advisor for the Cleveland Fed who conducts applied research and outreach related to economic development, workforce development, and economic geography in the Fourth District, which includes Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Cleveland Fed is a part of the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the U.S. that’s mandated to set monetary policy with the intent of strengthening the nation’s economic performance. Promoting full employment is part of that mandate, Fee says, and child care has shown itself to be a big factor in maximizing participation in the U.S. workforce.

Child care providers are paid on av-

erage $14 an hour across the country, Fee says, earning the 10th lowest annual median wage ($28,520) out of 825 professions in 2022, just ahead of fast food counter workers and cashiers. There isn’t a state in the nation where a child care worker’s average pay provides a living wage for a single adult plus one child, Fee adds.

“Jobs at Amazon and other retail

JUST ONE HOUR OF WORK LOST EACH WEEK DUE TO CHILD CARE NEEDS RESULTS IN AN ANNUAL LOSS OF BETWEEN $780 AND $1,504 IN INCOME.

occupations are paying in the $18-$19 per hour range and sometimes also offering benefits,” he says. “When you think about the nature of the work in child care, you really have to have an interest and passion for children. The workforce is extremely important to

the overall availability and quality of services that are offered.”

The child care sector is further plagued by a turnover rate that’s 65 percent higher than the typical job, according to Fee’s research. All of this turmoil translates to fewer child care workers, leading to fewer available spots in classrooms, reduced numbers of classrooms, and the occasional closure of a child care center, Freytag says. 4C for Children conducted a survey in 2022 and 2023 that received a response from 40 percent of the region’s providers, which showed that the region had lost 2,500 child care seats since 2020, Freytag says.

“Local parents, if they have transportation, may be driving extraordinary lengths to a place that can provide child care,” she says. “Other families are having their children stay with neighbors or family, which maybe is a loving, caring setting, but in most cases those children are not getting the educational foundation they need.”

While there are public funds available to support child care for low-income households, the threshold is

extremely low, Freytag says. Help is offered only to parents and guardians working or in school with a gross monthly household income equal to or less than 145 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. That works out to assistance being available for a family of four with a gross monthly income that is less than $3,770 a month, or $45,240 a year, says Judy Leonard, chief of the Child Care Section at Hamilton County Job and Family Services, which is responsible for distributing public funds.

Once a household qualifies for assistance, the family can continue to receive it until gross income exceeds 300 percent of the poverty level. “We don’t want child care being the astronomical cost that it is as you grow your income,” Leonard says. “We don’t want people to fall right off, because that isn’t going to help them sustain and become self-sufficient.”

Still, public assistance programs don’t cover the entire cost of child care, Freytag says. Parents must pay the rest.

In creating the new Parental Work Disruption Index, KPMG calls access to child care “a headwind to econom-

ic growth.” As “a source for unbiased economic intelligence,” KPMG Economics studies industries and topics such as child care, to “encourage fresh thinking, provide actionable insights, and improve strategic decision-making,” according to its website.

The firm’s research found that a lack of adequate child care disproportionately impacts women and low- to medium-income households but that men and higher income households are also seeing reduced productivity and lifetime earnings. Just one hour of work lost each week due to child care needs results in an annual loss of between $780 and $1,504 in income.

“Lack of access to child care results in millions of lost work hours,” the KPMG report says. Lost work hours include a decline in productivity and output from the workers who are absent as well as additional losses as coworkers pick up the slack. The report goes on to say “the blow to productivity and output compound over time, harming competitiveness. Together, they negatively affect the potential growth of the U.S. economy.”

In his work at the Kentucky Chamber, Aull hears from leaders in every industry who complain of workforce challenges in the tight labor market. While things have improved a bit since the pandemic, he warns this child care problem will not simply sort itself out. “Our population is getting older, and we’re having more and more folks enter into retirement,” says Aull. “We’re having fewer and fewer folks move into that working-age group and participate in the workforce, and so the workforce challenges we face are going to be playing out for a long time.”

When child care needs are ig-

nored, the quality of care suffers even more, which can’t be downplayed, Freytag says. “Having problem-solving skills and being able to share and work successfully with another human are things you learn up through age 5,” she says. “If you ask HR folks, What are the most common reasons why you’re saying goodbye to a staff member? they’ll say things like, They didn’t show up to work on time. They didn’t work well with their coworkers. These are things children learn early on.”

NEW APPROACHES ARE necessary, says Aull from the Kentucky Chamber, and the Commonwealth is trying several, including piloting the Employee Child Care Assistance Program to incentivize employers to contribute a stipend toward child care costs for their employees. The stipend will be matched

by state funding.

“ECCAP is focused heavily on improving affordability, especially for middle income families who don’t qualify for any government assistance,” says Aull. “It continues to show a lot of promise, but there are certain things that need to improve. Primarily, we need child care to exist for it to really work.”

That’s why Kentucky’s executive branch has also made the category of child care workers eligible for free child care, Aull says. As of January 2024, 3,811 child care workers were taking advantage of the benefit. “The real impetus behind that program was to create an incentive to encourage more folks to actually join the child care workforce,” Aull says.

There are similar incentives in Hamilton County as well. 4C for Children created a program called

RECRUITING MORE WORKERS

4C for Children is among a number of nonprofits and government agencies recruiting and training additional child care providers.

TAKEAWAYS

THE PRODUCTIVITY CRUNCH

Costs for daycare and preschool rose at nearly twice the pace of overall U.S. inflation between 1991 and 2024. Between 1.2 to 1.5 million individuals— nearly 90 percent of them women—miss work in any given month because of child care issues.

THE LOW-WAGE CHALLENGE

Child care providers are paid on average $14 an hour, earning the 10th lowest annual median wage ($28,520) out of 825 professions tracked by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in 2022—just ahead of fast food counter workers and cashiers.

BUSINESSES NEED TO TAKE CHARGE

Business leaders must start pushing local, state, and national government to help fund child care for employees, says Vanessa Freytag of 4C for Children. “If our business community wants their employees to have more access, more affordability, and higher quality, they need to add child care to the list when they’re advocating for the things they need in their own industries,” she says.

Child Care Careers with funding support from partners such as the city of Cincinnati, the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, and Cincinnati Preschool Promise. The program pays individuals as they train to become a child care provider; over its first 18 months, 135 individuals have completed the program, resulting in 93 new early childhood educators working in the region, Freytag says.

Organizations like 4C for Children are working hard to fill in the private employment gaps. Freytag is happy to report the opening or expansion of 76 child care businesses in the Cincinnati region during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which added an additional 927 child care seats.

Several child care bills were introduced last year in Columbus, many from State Rep. Andrea White (R-Kettering). Three of her bills deal with child care tax credits for businesses and households. “It’s no secret that Ohio is experiencing a child care crisis right now, which in turn creates enormous challenges for businesses seeking to attract workers and sustain economic growth,” White said at a press conference last year. “Only 35 percent of our children are entering

kindergarten ready to learn. That’s why we need to act now to help our communities partner together to solve this problem both for our families and for our businesses.”

4C for Children has helped some companies, including regional food manufacturer SugarCreek, create onsite child care centers for their workers, says Freytag. That makes sense for some businesses but not so much for others, she says, once again because child care is so challenging to provide. Freytag definitely supports child care stipends from employers.

“It is time for companies to really consider what is it actually costing them right now because they can’t fill positions or they lose their employees,” she says. “What would it mean if they could partially assist?”

At the least, Freytag asks that business leaders consider how much weight their voices carry inside the state capitol. “If our business community wants to change things in child care so that their employees have more access, more affordability, and higher quality, they need to add child care to the list when they’re advocating for the things they need in their own industries,” she says.

IN TODAY’S TIGHT LABOR

market with its shrinking labor force participation rate, child care support goes a long way for recruiting and retention, Freytag says. The Modern Family Index found that nearly half of respondents (46 percent) put help paying for child care atop their wish lists of helpful benefits/supports, even above unlimited remote work (40 percent) and more flexible work hours (45 percent). Another source, the KinderCare Parent Confidence Report, released in 2023, found that 60 percent of parents said they would stay in their current jobs if offered subsidized child care.

Some child care programs, including ECCAP in Kentucky, operate using American Rescue Plan Act funding, which was divvied out to states to help mitigate economic downturn during the pandemic. But, as Aull says, much of that funding will dry up soon.

Child care has become such a

contentious issue that the Kentucky Chamber’s Board of Directors recently elevated it to one of five pillars in its strategic plan and announced the Kentucky Collaborative on Child Care. The initiative pulls together a stakeholder group of business leaders, subject matter experts, HR professionals, economic developers, workforce professionals, state and local tax professionals, and more to decide how to proceed. “We’re doing this work

through March to build consensus,” says Aull. “Then we’ll spend the next year trying to bring that vision to life.”

It’s time, he says, for business leaders to think long and hard on this topic and how they too can get involved. “There’s a huge return on investment,” Aull says. “Not only in the form of getting access to a larger qualified workforce today, but also making sure you have a trained workforce tomorrow.”

Gambling Growth Is a Winning Bet

LEGAL SPORTS WAGERING HAS POSITIONED THE CINCINNATI REGION TO ATTRACT THE GAMING WORLD’S BIGGEST NAMES.

BY DAVID HOLTHAUS

Gambling is big, big business, and getting bigger. In 2023 alone, more than $35 billion was wagered in Ohio on various available legal games of chance. That’s more than Ohioans spent on groceries.

Of course, grocery shoppers don’t spend their cash in the hopes of winning a jackpot or at least breaking even. Bettors won enough to keep them coming back and driving the growth of gaming across the tri-state region, the state, and the country. That still left about $7.6 billion in revenue for the casinos, racinos, sports books, and lottery in Ohio.

In the Cincinnati region, some of the biggest players in gaming nationally have invested hundreds of millions in recent years to upgrade facilities, add amenities, and attract more customers in what’s become one of the most competitive U.S. gaming markets. The advent of sports betting in Ohio in 2023 and Kentucky in 2024 grew the market significantly, and more growth is anticipated.

The next big thing has the potential to expand the market even further. Online gaming, or iGaming, is already legal in seven states—including three that border Ohio— and is under consideration by the Ohio Gen-

eral Assembly.

“The industry has seen a drastic change in the past few years,” states a 2024 legislative commission report on the future of gaming in Ohio. “Revenues continue to increase, [and] the regulatory backbone remains strong.”

All of this new wagering has grown state tax coffers, but it’s also increased concerns about a rise in gambling addiction.

The latest revenue bonanza is sports betting, which launched in Ohio with a bang, as $7.6 billion was wagered in the state in 2023. In year one, Ohio became the sixth-largest market in the country, according to PlayOhio, which covers gaming in the state. “Sports betting has changed the landscape completely,” says Jay Masurekar, managing director and head of gaming and travel investment banking at KeyBanc Capital Markets in Cleveland.

The mobile gaming companies FanDuel and Draft Kings currently dominate the market. FanDuel is owned by Flutter Entertainment, an $11.8 billion Irish sport betting and gaming operator that’s traded on both the New York and London stock exchanges. Draft Kings is a $4.8 billion company that went public in 2020 on the Nasdaq exchange.

The region’s four casinos get much of the public’s attention, but the onset of sports betting has resulted in a new heavyweight contender in the local gambling arena: Belterra Park in Anderson Township. As soon as sports betting became legal in Ohio, the racino formerly known as River Downs announced a partnership with FanDuel to offer an online app and a 2,300-squarefoot retail sportsbook with three betting windows, 21 televisions, seating for 68, and nine self-service betting kiosks.

The Belterra/FanDuel tie-up was the highest grossing sports gaming enterprise in Ohio in 2023, according

to Ohio Casino Control Commission records, and was on track to lead the pack again in 2024.

“That one property has almost 40 percent of the total Ohio sports betting handle and 33 percent of the win,” says Masurekar. For the uninitiated, “handle” is the total amount wagered, while “win” is the amount the house keeps and is often called “revenue” or “gross gaming revenue.”

Sports enthusiasts wagered more than $2.7 billion with Belterra Park in 2023, most of it through its FanDuel app. After paying out winnings and accounting for its considerable promotions, Belterra Park reported $391 million in taxable revenue from sports gambling in Ohio’s inaugural year.

The FanDuel partnership was the eighth with Belterra parent Boyd Gaming, which owns a small stake in the Irish company. The partnership also includes Belterra Casino Resort in the southern Indiana town of Florence, 50 miles from Cincinnati.

SPORTS BETTING IS THE

latest expansion in a gambling marketplace that’s evolved and grown quickly over the last decade. Gambling in Ohio took off in 2009, when casinos received the green light to open in the state, launching an ultra-competitive multibillion-dollar industry. That year, Ohio voters approved Issue 3, legalizing gambling at casino sites in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo, the first of which would open in Cleveland in May 2012. Cincinnati’s casino opened in 2013 under the Horseshoe brand.

But Cincinnatians had been within an easy drive of a casino since 1996, when Rising Star Casino Resort debuted in southern Indiana, a little more than a half hour from downtown Cincinnati. That was followed by Ar-

AN INSTANT WINNER

After just one year of legal sports betting, Ohio became the sixth-largest U.S. market, says KeyBanc’s Jay Masurekar.

gosy Casino, now called Hollywood, in Lawrenceburg. At first confined to boats that were required to cruise the Ohio River while gamblers played, the Indiana casinos are now full-service land-based resorts with restaurants, hotels, and event spaces.

In 2019, the competitive environment heated up when Hard Rock, one of the most recognizable brands in gaming and entertainment, entered the region to run the downtown Cincinnati casino. The company infused the Hard Rock vibe there—including rock & roll memorabilia, live concerts, and dining—and made more than $40 million in renovations, unveiling the changes in an October 2021 grand re-opening.

Not to be outdone, one of the biggest names in gaming, Churchill Downs Inc., entered the market in a big way in 2019 with the purchase of Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky. The Louisville-based company overhauled and expanded Turfway, installing 800 of Kentucky’s version of slot machines, called historical horse racing machines. It also tore down the old grandstand and built a new indoor venue with dining and an event center. The new facility, now called Turfway Racing and Gaming, opened in 2022 following the $226 million renovation.

“This is one of the more competitive landscapes in the U.S. from a gambling perspective,” says Turfway General Manager Matthew Shehadi, who started at Turfway six months ago after 20 years in the Las Vegas market. Turfway has designs on increasing its share of the market. “We’re third in the Northern Kentucky/Ohio/Indiana market from a market share perspective. We’ll continue to grow our reach in in this very competitive arena.”

Horse racing still takes place at Turfway, where a year-round synthetic track was installed as part of its massive renovation. The Kentucky legislature

approved its version of slots partly to boost revenue for the state’s signature racing industry, increase prize money, and attract better-ranked jockeys and horses. In December, the racino held what it called the Turfway Park Synthetic Championships, four stakes races with a purse of $250,000 for each.

That kind of prize money is possible partly from the revenue earned with the slot machines. “A percentage of our revenue goes right into a purse account, and we use that to drive a better quality race here,” Shehadi says.

“WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE U.S., YOU CAN FIND A CASINO WITHIN A 90-MINUTE DRIVE.

GAMING IS NOT A NOVELTY ANY LONGER.”

Turfway recorded a 5 percent increase in overall attendance in 2024 over 2023, he says.

The Cincinnati market, encompassing three states and 2.2 million people, has attracted some of the biggest and wealthiest gaming companies in the world. The Hard Rock Cincinnati casino is owned by VICI Properties Inc., a $3.6 billion real estate investment trust that owns a large portfolio of gaming, hospitality, and entertainment venues, including Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand, and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, three of the most well-known entertainment facilities on the Vegas Strip. VICI Properties owns 54 gam-

ing properties in the U.S. and Canada and leases the Cincinnati casino to Hard Rock, whose business and brand is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Hard Rock International is a privately held company based in Davie, Florida, with an estimated annual revenue of $5.9 billion in 2023. The Seminole Tribe acquired the Hard Rock brand and franchise rights in 2006 for $965 million, prevailing over 72 other bidders. That enterprise has since grown to include 23 Hard Rock hotels, 11 casinos, and more than 150 Hard Rock cafes, with more in the pipeline. The Seminole Tribe has an overall estimated net worth of $12 billion. Churchill Downs is a $2.5 billion publicly traded company headquartered in Louisville that owns Turfway Park Racing and Gaming, Newport Racing and Gaming, and a 50 percent stake in a joint venture that owns Miami Valley Gaming and Racing in Lebanon. An organization that launched the world’s most famous horse race, the Kentucky Derby, in 1875 has grown into a major gaming and hospitality corporation owning 12 regional casinos, 14 gaming entertainment venues with more than 9,000 historical horse racing machines, and an online wagering platform for horse racing.

Penn National is a $6.4 billion company based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, that owns 43 casinos and racetracks throughout North America, including Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg and Hollywood Casino Columbus as well as online sports betting in 18 jurisdictions, including under the ESPN Bet brand. Gaming and Leisure Properties is a $1.4 billion company that owns 61 gaming prop-

erties in 18 states, including Belterra Park. It leases the horse racing and slot machine venue to Boyd Gaming. The company was created in 2013 as a real estate spinoff from Penn National.

Boyd Gaming is a $3.7 billion company based in Las Vegas that operates 28 gaming properties in 10 states, including Belterra Park, and is a minority owner of FanDuel Group.

Full House Resorts is a $241 million company based in Las Vegas that owns seven casinos, including Rising Star Casino resort, and more than 3,000 slot machines. In a sign of the cutthroat gaming landscape, the region’s first casino now wants to relocate from Rising Sun to a town outside Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s been the least profitable of the region’s four casinos and among the 13 in Indiana. The move would make it the only casino in a more populous area than its current location. Any move requires approval from Indiana gaming regulators and the local community.

WIDESPREAD LEgal gambling in Ohio can be dated to 1973, when voters approved State Issue 1 to establish a statewide lottery, which rolled out in August 1974. Fifty years later, the state-owned lottery offers more than a dozen games and records an average sales volume of more than $12 million a day, or $500,000 an hour, former Ohio Lottery Commission Executive Director Dennis Berg told the state study commission.

“The Ohio Lottery, as compared to years past, is a very different and complex organization which no longer simply sells just an instant scratch-off ticket and a daily draw game,” Berg said. “The Ohio Lottery is literally tied into a very complex

web of integrated technology, communication systems, social media services, and multistate lottery consortiums.”

The more than 11,000 retailers in the state who participate in the Lottery sold $4.5 billion in lottery tickets and scratch-off games in 2023, the Commission reports.

But it was the casinos that turned gambling into mainstream entertainment. Once the near-exclusive domain of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, casinos have become part of the American landscape. “Wherever you are in the U.S., you can find a casino within a 90-minute drive,” says KeyBanc’s Masurekar. “Gaming is not a

novelty any longer.”

That saturation has driven the rush to sports betting and to gaming companies offering other amenities such as dining and entertainment.

“Gaming is one of the most attractive value propositions for a consumer today,” Masurekar says. “Rather than spending $200 on a concert, I can go to a casino and spend the same amount of time and money with my friends and have a great time and maybe win something back.”

While company profit margins are significant on slot machines, sports betting’s margins are smaller for several reasons, he says. The tax on sports betting revenue, currently

20 percent, is higher than in most states. There are also technology costs in designing and deploying online applications, and customer acquisition costs are significantly higher, with most purveyors offering big bonuses for first-timers. “You have to continuously do marketing and make sure you’re retailing the customer and not letting them go to a competing platform,” says Masurekar.

On top of that, the betting platforms—FanDuel, DraftKings, and others—take a cut of betting revenue from the casino or other licensees.

All that makes for a highly competitive marketplace vying for sports gambling dollars.

GAMBLING’S NEXT FRONTIER

Boyd Gaming, which operates Belterra Park, is in favor of iGaming in Ohio, with one executive calling it “a natural step in the evolution of the industry.”

TAKEAWAYS

FEEDING THE DEMAND

In 2023, the first year of legal sports gambling in Ohio, more than $35 billion was wagered in the state on various games of chance— more than Ohioans spent on groceries.

CINCINNATI GETS COMPETITIVE

Cincinnati is one of the most competitive gambling markets in the U.S., with casino and horse track investments from major players like VICI Properties, Hard Rock International, Churchill Downs, Penn National, Gaming and Leisure Properties, Boyd Gaming, and Full House Resorts.

IGAMING IS NEXT

The next big thing in legal betting is iGaming. A bill introduced in the Ohio Senate in September would permit each of Ohio’s four casinos and seven racinos to offer websites and apps enabling gambling on casino-style games such as slots, blackjack, and poker.

Some companies have found it too competitive. In mid-2024, both the Cincinnati Bengals and FC Cincinnati lost their sports betting providers, as the Bengals’ partner, Betfred, and the soccer club’s partner, SuperBook, withdrew from the Ohio market.

“The sports gaming world has proven to be a dynamic space, and evolving market conditions have impacted Betfred’s operations in Ohio,” Bengals officials said in a statement after the announcement.

Enter internet gaming, or iGaming, which offers mobile online casino games. As legal gambling has expanded in Ohio with the lottery, casinos, and sports betting, the next step is likely to be permitting online poker or other internet casino gambling. Masurekar tabs the profit potential as being better than sports betting.

“The iGaming profit margins are much higher,” he says.

A bill introduced in the Ohio Senate in September would permit each of Ohio’s four casinos and seven racinos to offer websites and apps enabling gambling via casino-style games such as slots, blackjack, and poker.

The major gambling players, however, are still sorting out what online gaming might mean for them, and the idea has both detractors and proponents. Some casino operators say it would cannibalize sales at their brickand-mortar slots and table games, while others think it would help recruit new patrons. Some lottery retailers say it would hurt their sales.

The three Republican House members of the study commission say they support iGaming. “While we understand their hesitation to expand due to an uncertain impact, we believe that iLottery and iGaming could be a net benefit to the state of Ohio,”

wrote House Finance Chairman Jay Edwards of Nelsonville and Reps. Jeff LaRe of Fairfield County and Cindy Abrams of Harrison in a joint letter.

“Looking at other states who have implemented either or both iLottery and iGaming, we see significant increases to tax revenues generated with greater participation but also that in-person sales continued to increase. That can largely be contributed to more people participating in the market on their phones and becoming more comfortable/knowledgeable about doing it at a physical location.”

Boyd Gaming, which operates Belterra Park, is in favor, says Ryan Soultz, the company’s vice president of governmental affairs. “We see iGaming as a natural step in the evolution of the gaming industry,” he told the commission.

MGM Resorts International, which operates a racino in the Cleveland area, also supports it. “Based on our operational experience in New Jersey and Michigan, where iGaming is offered, we have observed that there are complementary synergies between our retail casino properties and iGaming,” Rick Limardo, its senior vice president of government affairs, told legislators.

But Miami Valley Gaming & Racing President and General Manager Craig Robinson says iGaming should be confined to existing operators.

“Further expanding Ohio gaming to include internet-based gaming outside of the existing racinos would lead to a dramatic shift away from existing gaming products and locations, which have invested heavily in Ohio,” he told the commission.

Daniel Reinhard, senior vice president of government affairs for Jack Entertainment, which operates the Cleveland casino, says online gaming

would hurt the brick-and-mortar casinos. “Ohioans can observe their local malls to understand the impact that iGaming will have on local economies,” he said. “Just like online retail has decimated local retail, iGaming will do the same.”

WHATEVER

HAPpens with iGaming, mental health professionals have already noted a significant impact from the expansion of gambling on the potential for addiction. In the first year of legal sports gaming, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services saw a 55 percent increase in call volume to its Problem Gambling Helpline, testified Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson, chief of the Office of Prevention and Problem Gambling for the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

The department has conducted a survey every five years since 2012 of the prevalence of gambling in Ohio. The latest survey, which included nearly 15,000 people in 2022, found that only 17 percent of Ohio adults do not gamble at all. Of those who do, 20 percent (which extrapolates to more than 1.8 million people) are at risk of developing a gambling disorder. Three of every 100 Ohio adults are diagnosable with a gambling disorder, the survey found. “That 3 percent is about 255,000 people, or the population of Toledo,” said Frohnapfel-Hasson.

The state’s problem gambling and addiction fund receives 2 percent of the state taxes collected by the casinos. The state also operates a program called TimeOut Ohio, which allows people to exclude themselves from the seven racinos and four casinos for one year, for five years, or

for a lifetime. Through January 2024, more than 8,000 people have participated in the program.

Much of the state tax revenues from casino and sports betting are directed toward schools, although it’s far from a windfall for education funding. About 34 percent of the casino taxes are distributed twice a year to school districts on a per-pupil basis. Jennifer Hogue of the Ohio Schools Boards Association says districts tend to view that money as one-time funding, as it falls outside the state funding formula and they can’t count on receiving a steady amount year to year.

Ohio schools received a total of $114.2 million from the casino revenue tax in the 20232024 school year, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation. In Hamilton County, that ranged from $2.2 million for Cincinnati Public Schools (which has an annual budget of more than $600 million) to $32,000 for Lockland schools.

About 51 percent of casino taxes collected is distributed quarterly to all 88 counties based on population. In Hamilton County, the city of Cincinnati splits that money with the county under a provision of the law that allows the most populated city located in the county, if its population is over 80,000, to receive half of the county money.

Profits from the Ohio Lottery and from the state tax on sports betting revenue are directed to the Ohio Lottery Profits Fund, which state legislators use to help fund education. Lottery profits and the sports betting tax don’t provide any additional money for schools beyond what the state legislature has already approved. “When the General As-

sembly does the budget, they take the money in the Lottery Profits Fund and they use that to fund the school funding formula,” says Hogue. “The amount that’s needed is arrived at, they use the lottery profits to fund that, and then whatever is still needed they’ll fund with general revenue funds. So it doesn’t really provide any extra funding for schools.”

The bottom line, as Hogue explains, is that lottery profits and sports betting taxes actually support the state’s general revenue fund, which can be used in any way the

“WE BELIEVE THAT ILOTTERY AND IGAMING COULD BE A NET BENEFIT TO THE STATE OF OHIO,” SAYS HOUSE FINANCE CHAIRMAN JAY EDWARDS.

legislature desires.

When it comes to gambling, one thing is a sure bet: With the public’s voracious appetite for gambling, the major players here will add games and invest in their facilities while new ones will seek a piece of the action, as Hard Rock and Churchill Downs did a few years ago. Turfway Park, for example, wants to deploy its new event center to bring in corporate events and expose a fresh audience to its new games and racing cards. As Shehadi says, which could apply to the rest of the field, “We’re just focused on continuing to drive market share.”

The stakes have never been higher.

CORPORATE TABLES ARE AVAILABLE

Our lavish four-night dinner series returns to celebrate the bounty of Spring. Be sure to #savorthedate for this festive atmosphere.

New this year: Friday becomes Grand menu.

Limited tickets available.

DARRIN MURRINER

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO

CLOVERLEAF

HOW DOES CLOVERLEAF FILL A NICHE NEED IN THE COACHING MARKETPLACE?

We’re at a moment in time where a plethora of factors have combined to diminish individuals’ and organizations’ ability to connect with others and to collaborate effectively. Cloverleaf understands these challenges require new dig-

ital solutions to build emotional intelligence, build workplace connections, and create new pathways for upskilling employees in key human skills. We’ve built the only workplace coaching app that requires no human involvement and is integrated into the flow of work to nudge behavior in a way that’s been proven

ASK ME ABOUT Cloverleaf’s recent startup funding award of $7.3 million.

to increase trust, improve collaboration, and increase engagement.

HOW DOES CLOVERLEAF PLAN TO USE THE NEW FUNDING? First, we added to our leadership team with experienced go-tomarket leaders for the sales and marketing teams, including Grant Burrall and Shelby Bolinger. We also continue to

make investments in our core workplace coaching app by building integrations with core HR systems like Workday, partnering with additional behavioral assessments, and contextualizing the coaching to increase our impact for talent management teams.

HAS THE COMPANY ALREADY GROWN FROM THE IN-

CAMILLA WORRELL

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION’S WOMEN’S FUND

ASK ME ABOUT What I’m bringing to the Women’s Fund as its new executive director.

VESTMENT? Yes, we continue to grow in almost every way possible. We see steady growth in our customers and coaching and consulting partners. This growth was recognized by Inc. Magazine as we were recently named to the Inc. 5000 list for the second year in a row.

–ELIZABETH MILLER WOOD

HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE THE PROGRESS OR CHANGES YOU’VE IMPLEMENTED IN THE PAST YEAR? Our HR team created strategic priorities and identified milestones to indicate progress. Top priorities are developing visionary leaders who will shape the future of pediatrics; attracting, developing, and activating extraordinary talent; cultivating the most engaged workforce in health care; creating a workplace in which everyone thrives; and cultivating a culture in which everyone feels safe, welcome, valued, and respected.

HOW DID YOUR PREVIOUS CAREER ROLES PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AT CHILDREN’S? I spent nearly 22 years at Nemours Children’s Health, rising through the ranks to become chief human resources officer for the multistate pediatric

system that’s headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. Nemours prioritized leadership development, and so I acquired skills and gained experience that prepared me for my current role.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE COMING YEARS? When you think about HR’s role in an organization, talent and culture come to mind. The lever that moves both, however, is leadership. Therefore, a top priority is implementing a three-tier leadership development program: an emerging leader program for rising talent, a core leadership program for existing leaders, and courses and other learning experiences tailored to the needs of select senior leaders. –E.M.W.

PETER ADEBI

HOW HAVE YOUR PREVIOUS NONPROFIT ROLES PREPARED YOU FOR GCF? In my 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, I’ve developed a deep understanding of the complexities that individuals and families face in overcoming barriers. As a former executive director of a nonprofit focused on helping families leave homelessness, I gained experience in programs that address both immediate needs and long-

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES

CINCINNATI CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

ASK ME ABOUT The past year in my new role as a Florida transplant.

term solutions. My background as an attorney equips me with a strong foundation in advocacy and a deep commitment to social justice. I’m passionate about addressing systemic inequalities.

WHAT COMPELLED YOU TO JOIN GCF? I was excited about leading the Women’s Fund because of its mission to promote the economic self-sufficiency of women and families in the Cincinnati region. I’ve witnessed firsthand the systemic barriers that prevent women, particularly those from underserved communities, from achieving economic independence. The Women’s Fund’s focus on addressing these issues at a systems level aligns with my own passion for creating lasting, impactful change.

HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CONTINUE AND EXPAND THE MISSION OF

THE WOMEN’S FUND? As the Women’s Fund celebrates 30 years of serving the community in 2025, I hope to bring more awareness to our impact. Our plan is to broaden our grant-making efforts to support more innovative projects in the areas of childcare, access to living wages, and workplace equity. We believe investing in women uplifts the entire community. –E.M.W.

A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE MERCANTILE

The iconic downtown library now has two full floors for books, conversations, and events. –JOHN FOX

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CATHERINE VIOX

A major renovation of the Mercantile Building allowed the library, famously ensconced there with a 10,000year lease, to connect the 11th and 12th floors with a new staircase and spread its wings (and books) a bit more.

NEW HEIGHTS

Downtown’s renowned Mercantile Library reopened at Thanksgiving after a multi-year construction project added a fully functional second floor, giving the membership library full occupancy of the 11th and 12th floors of the Mercantile Building. Model Group invested $84 million to convert the former office building to apartments that started renting in the fall.

A LIGHTER LOOK

The library had been using a conference room on the 12th floor for years, but this expansion allowed the organization to spread its book and art collection across the two floors, creating more open floorplans and additional private meeting and reading spaces.

SOME THINGS DON’T CHANGE

Thanks to its famous 10,000-year lease for $1 per year, the Mercantile Library can afford to maintain all of its traditions, from lunchtime book clubs to author talks to personal attention from Executive Director John Faherty (right in dark sweater) and his staff.

A SLICE OF HISTORY

The Mercantile Library was founded in 1835 before the creation of public libraries in the U.S., offering access to books to Cincinnatians of all backgrounds. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, and Horace Greeley were among the noted writers who spoke at the library, which in recent years has hosted talks by Margaret Atwood, Colson Whitehead, and Aaron Sorkin.

REMEMBER TO BE A MEMBER

Membership dues start at $65 a year for individuals and fund the nonprofit library’s operations, along with sponsorships and donations. Members get free borrowing privileges and free admission to signature events; public tickets are also available for certain events.

$75 million Operations Spending Impact

$10.3 million Student Spending Impact

$571.9 million Alumni Impact

$657.2 million Total Impact

10,303 Jobs Supported

For every dollar spent on training employees at Cincinnati State’s WDC, businesses receive a $33 ROI.

85% of Cincinnati State’s alumni remain in the regional economy.

Cincinnati State and its students support one out of every 134 jobs in the area.

Cincinnati State has been a part of every economic recovery in our region for over 50 years and will continue to lead workforce development through exceptional real-world, hands-on learning, quality transfer education and technical training.

Start by accelerating the potential of your employees through our Workforce Development Center. Contact Amy Waldbillig, Vice President, Workforce Development at (513)569-1643 or amy.waldbillig@ cincinnatistate.edu.

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