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Business News Politics

Cincinnati food trucks to help raise money for United Way at City Hall

Earlier this year Cincinnati City Councilmember Laure Quinlivan introduced a program that was intended to help embrace the city’s growing number of food trucks. Once approved in June 2010, the Mobile Food & Beverage Truck Vending Pilot Program created reserved, city-owned spaces for those food trucks to park at in the congested downtown area.

The pilot program received an initial surge of food truck operators looking to take advantage of the new program, and now, the City has issued the twentieth Revocable Street Privilege (RSP) to allow the sale of food and beverage from trucks at the three designated areas downtown at 5th & Race, along Court Street, and at Sawyer Point. This means that the program is now operating at 100 percent capacity.

This rise in popularity for food trucks in Cincinnati is similar to a national movement that has been underway for several years. To help celebrate the success of Cincinnati’s innovative program that embraces the movement, six participating food trucks will be at City Hall tomorrow to help raise money for the United Way of Greater Cincinnati.

Event organizers say that hungry guests will be able to get everything from gourmet burgers to Cajun food, barbecue ribs, tacos, ice cream, coffee, and smoothies from the participating vendors. They say that each donation made to the United Way will help support the City’s United Way fund raising goal, and will earn you a discount at the food truck vendors on-hand. Those vendors will reportedly include Taste of New Orleans, Cafe de Wheels, Just Q’in Barbecue, Senor Roy’s Taco Patrol, Coldstone Creamery, and The Coffee Guy.

The food trucks will be parked on the north side of City Hall along 9th Street (map) beginning at 10:30am on Thursday, September 23. There will be a Department of Community Development staff member on hand from the City that will be selling the tickets that will get you your discount at the food trucks and support the United Way.

Stay up-to-speed on the whereabouts of Cincinnati’s growing number of food trucks by following UrbanCincy’s comprehensive Twitter list.

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Business News Politics Transportation

Industry transit leader named as Metro’s new CEO

Professional Transit Management took less than a month to replace the fired Marilyn Shazor as Metro’s Chief Executive Officer & General Manager. Terry Garcia Crews, aka “Tear ‘Em Up Terry”, has been selected as the transit agency’s new CEO, and will begin work on Monday, November 1 following her appointment today by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority.

“We’re excited to have Terry Garcia Crews lead the Metro transit agency,” said SORTA board member J. Thomas Hodges.  “Her diverse transit background will help lead our transit agency as we move forward with future plans and manage daily service the provides 19 million rides throughout the year.”

Garcia Crews’ professional transit experience is extensive. She currently serves as the General Manager & President for a transit agency in Austin, TX that provides nearly 400 fixed-route and paratransit vehicles and a $98 million budget with 1,000 employees.

Counting her experience in Texas, Garcia Crews has more than 20 years of transit experience in both private and public sectors throughout the country. Metro officials say that they are also excited about her experience working as a national transportation consultant where she came up with strategic plans and awareness programs for transportation systems throughout the United States. This work, officials say, has helped organizations achieve financial sustainability, effect cultural change, improve service labor relations, and generate stakeholder support.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been committed to providing the best transit service possible,” Garcia Crews explained. “I’m eager to work with the SORTA board, Metro’s community stakeholders, and the Metro team to move transit forward in Greater Cincinnati.”

Metro officials went on to say that Garcia Crews is a “recognized leader” in the transit industry due to her extensive involvement with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

The selection of a candidate with so much transit experience should come as no surprise as some SORTA board members had criticized Shazor for not having public transportation experience prior to her leadership position at Metro.

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Business Development News

The Lackman to open Friday in the Gateway Quarter of historic Over-the-Rhine

Over-the-Rhine residents, workers, and visitors alike will have a new neighborhood watering hole to visit when The Lackman celebrates its grand opening on Friday in the Gateway Quarter at 13th and Vine streets.

The bar is named for the German brewer Herman Lackman who started brewing beer in Cincinnati in the 1800s and made this building into a saloon serving only Lackman brews. According to the new owners, The Lackman will once again be serving up beer, but with a much larger menu that will include 14 beers on tap and more than 30 additional bottled beers.

Inside the cozy 900 square-foot bar, early soft-opening patrons have already been treated to the restored interiors that feature original tile flooring and exposed brick. The historic features of the space, owners say, will be complimented by modern conveniences like flat-screen televisions, custom handmade chandeliers, large plush leather bar stools, and a jukebox.

“The goal of The Lackman is to create a stylish but casual neighborhood bar reflecting the resurgence of Over-the-Rhine,” owner Bob Deck explained in a prepared release. “With a friendly staff, eclectic music and large draft beer selection, we feel that customers will feel right at home.”

Deck is also a partner in the Cincinnati-based Four Entertainment Group (4EG) which operates eight local establishments including the popular Righteous Room in downtown Cincinnati just seven blocks away.

The Lackman (map) will be open from 7pm to 2am on Friday and Saturday this weekend. Following the grand opening weekend, owners say that the establishment will be open at 4pm every day, and will open earlier on Saturdays and Sundays during football season.

Photography contributed by 5chw4r7z.

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Business News Transportation

ArtWorks looking to secure sponsors for final nine Queen City Art Racks

After installing the first Queen City Art Rack in May 2010, ArtWorks is in the process of securing sponsors for the remaining 14 artist-designed bike racks they hope to have installed around Cincinnati by May 2011 to coincide with National Bike Month and ArtWorks’ 15th Anniversary.

ArtWorks executive director Tamara Harkavy said that the non-profit organization has now secured enough sponsors to fund six of those remaining bike racks which cost approximately $7,500 each. The additional money came through sponsorships by Kroger, the Duke Energy Convention Center, Truepoint Financial, Pantene, and Clairol.

The organization plans to install these recently funded bike racks in Northside, Price Hill and Hyde Park Kroger stores, and two locations in downtown Cincinnati. All of the rack locations are being determined based on the needs identified in the city-wide Bicycle Master Plan.

“We are excited about the early support of the Queen City Art Racks program,” said Harkavy. “We have at least nine more funding opportunities along with a number of creative proposals from artists, and we are now looking to close the funding phase and move to the creation phase of the project.”

Project officials at ArtWorks say that the designs for these bike racks will not be developed until December 2010 when they have finalized all fund raising efforts with potential sponsors.

In May, the first Queen City Art Rack was celebrated outside of Coffee Emporium in Over-the-Rhine where it was installed. Named Tours de Cincy, the first rack was designed by Pam Kravetz, Carla Lamb, and Karen Sanders. It was fabricated by Cincinnati-based Vulkane Industrial Arts, and sponsored by the NLT Foundation.

Those interested in sponsoring one of the additional nine racks needing funding can contact Michael Stout at ArtWorks by phone at (513) 333-0388 or email at Michael@ArtWorksCincinnati.org. All sponsorships must be submitted by Thursday, September 30.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Neighborhood-wide home tour to showcase Price Hill’s comeback story

West side residents and community leaders are gearing up for the fall Price Hill Showcase of Homes that will take place on Saturday, September 18 from 11am to 3pm. The neighborhood-wide open house will include close to four dozen homes that highlight what the historic neighborhood has to offer.

Matt Strauss, director of Marketing and Neighborhood Promotion at Price Hill Will, says that this will be the neighborhood’s first showcase of homes since the end of the first-time home buyer tax credit. At the same time, Strauss is excited to show off what Price Hill has to offer in the new real estate landscape that is emerging nationwide.

One of the homes on this year’s tour is located at 918 Elberon Avenue, and homeowner Lorain Mendleson says that she and her husband will look back on their eight years living there fondly.

“The neighborhood has a variety of architectural styles, including some beautiful churches, and it is great to have such a close proximity to downtown and several bus lines,” Mendleson explained. “We’ve been able to walk to the library, grocery store, convenience store, and the Corner BLOC coffee shop.”

The Mendlesons say that as their family has matured that they no longer need the space their 105-year-old house currently provides. They believe that whoever ends up buying their home could take advantage of its space by potentially renting out the first floor while still keeping a three-bedroom house for themselves upstairs. The couple also believes that the next owners will be able to take advantage of the positive momentum the neighborhood is experiencing.

“In the eight years we’ve lived here, this street has greatly improved. When we moved in there were several abandoned houses, and now most have been renovated and occupied,” Mendleson stated. “People wave and say hello to each other, and it’s easy to get involved and invested in this community. It is going to be difficult to move away.”

Much of that progress the couple attributes to the hard work of organizations like Price Hill Will and the East Price Hill Improvement Association, saying that they do not know where the neighborhood would be today without their tireless work.

Those attending the Price Hill Showcase of Homes are encouraged to stop by the Price Hill Housing Resource Center at 3724 St. Lawrence Avenue to pick up a map of participating homes. Organizers state that refreshments will also be available at the office. For more information, please contact Matt Strauss at (513) 251-3800 or Matt@PriceHillWill.org.