CINCINNATI, OHIO (February 23, 2022) — HCDC, Inc. held its largest-ever Annual Economic Development Awards and Expo with over 400 guests on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at the Sharonville Convention Center, to celebrate organizations and individuals who have partnered with HCDC to help build the local economy “one business at a time.” The room was filled with banking partners, community leaders, economic developers, entrepreneurs, government officials, and Startup Cincy ecosystem partners, all gathered to celebrate the region.
Lt. Governor Jon Husted delivered the keynote address and spoke about the great value entrepreneurs bring to our state and the importance of investing in local startups because that money gets directly pumped back into our local economy.
The event included two major announcements. HCDC announced the merger with Access Business Finance. This merger will allow them to connect with more businesses and third-party lenders. In conjunction with the merger on March 21, 2022 HCDC will also change its name to Alloy Development Company to showcase that they add strength to businesses, ideas, and communities. “We’ve always been the solution that has been in the shadows of many development projects. With this new name and this new brand, we look forward to being in the light going forward”, said Patrick Longo, president, and CEO.
This year, seven individuals and organizations were celebrated by HCDC for their success and contributions to our community.
- Cincy Brewing
- Enliven Nailcare and Massage
- Nancy Aichholz of Aviatra
- Taiga Data
- Stephanie Maher- WesBanco
- Angela Norman with Goddard School of Centerville and Stone Valley Meadows
- Dan Kincaid
The recipients of the Ronald Schallick Economic Development Award this year were Cincy Brewing Company in Lockland and Enliven Nailcare and Massage in College Hill. Both companies were negatively impacted by Covid and utilized Hamilton County grant funds to help them persevere.
The Todd Portune Innovation Champion Award went to Nancy Aichholz of Aviatra. Nancy has served amazing female founders from idea to exit and everything in between. She has piloted a program that has welcomed over 3,000 women with ideas or businesses into the community and offered them education, coaching, mentoring, networking, and access to capital. Businesses that she and Aviatra have worked with have created 15,000 jobs, accessed multi-millions of dollars in funding, and generated cumulative revenues of over $1 Billion.
The recipient of the Business Center Client of the Year was Taiga Data. They focus on a niche market, providing business intelligence and data analytics to convenience stores and fuel retailers. Their ability to focus on a specific market has allowed them to reap the benefits both in terms of sales, product-market fit, and investment funding. They recently received $2 million in funding and have grown to 15 employees.
We celebrated Stephanie Maher of WesBanco as the Lending Advocate of the Year. Stephanie obtained the approval of five SBA 504 Loans, totaling over $8.5 Million in total investment in our region. This equated to 29 jobs created. WesBanco obtained a total of nine loan approvals for $12 million in total investment and 39 jobs created. These efforts will have a long-term positive impact on our community’s economic development.
Angela Norman with Goddard School of Centerville and Stone Valley Meadows was celebrated as the Business Lending Project of the Year. Angela is an experienced entrepreneur and has worked with HCDC to obtain SBA 504 funding on multiple projects.
The last award, the Larry Albice Entrepreneurship Award, which celebrates successful entrepreneurs who assist others in the local startup community, went to Dan Kincaid, a serial entrepreneur, whose current project is Sense Diagnostics. He was an Executive in Residence at BioStart, an Executive Director of an Innov8 for Health, a local Healthcare Accelerator, an Angel Investor, and a startup founder.
This event would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Our premier sponsor was Wood & Lamping LLP. Our Media Sponsor was The Business Courier and Cincy Inno. Bronze sponsors included: Bricker & Eckler Attorneys at Law, Graydon, Griffin Fletcher & Herndon LLP, Johnson Resource Group, Key Bank, Miami University Department of Entrepreneurship, Neyer Management, Office Furniture Source, Plante Moran and Riskversity. Gold sponsors included Duke Energy, Heartland Bank, Michelman, Park National Bank, Peoples Bank, Queen City Angels, Republic Bank, Urban League, Uptown Consortium.
About HCDC
HCDC, now operating as Alloy Development Co. is a marketplace where organizations, businesses, and communities can find the things they need to grow. We are a commercial capital lender, a growth lab for startups, and an economic development partner all under one roof, which makes us an active and influential business partner, able to assist any organization at any stage of growth.
