Hosts Andy and Tom talk about who is going to pay for $494 million Paycor Stadium needs for upgrades, the flight to quality when it comes to downtown office space, the acquisition of a 188-year-old Cincinnati business, why one member of the Cincinnati Southern Railway board thought Norfolk Southern was making an end-run around the body and whether craft beer has come full-circle. Interview starts at (19:01). Dean Regas thought he wanted to be a high school history teacher. But while working as a...
Apr 24, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Hosts Andy and Tom talk about how a $14.5 million purchase of 200 single family homes, to keep them out of the hands of Wall Street-backed investors, is working out. Plus, how many billionaires are there in Cincinnati? Just one? Really? We also take you inside the conversion of downtown's Textile building, new rules for OTR building and what the head chef of the now-shuttered Royce is up to. Interview starts at (18:36). Reporter Chris Wetterich guest-hosts. Darryl Haley has seen a lot in his 17 ...
Apr 17, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Hosts Andy and Tom talk about how a local restaurateur built a $90 million company after closing five venues in Columbus, a hidden portrait found while X-raying a historic painting, the $9 million overhaul of Blue Ash's living room, the revitalization of the historic Emery Theater in OTR and Cincinnati's historic showing at the James Beard awards. Interview starts at (17:32). Leigh Fox was drawn to science, so he got a degree in geology. It was working in the field, specifically seeing just how ...
Apr 05, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Hosts Andy and Tom dig into downtown Cincinnati's recovery since Covid-19 ground public life to a half in early 2020. Also on the podcast, the best places to live in Cincinnati, why the Reds' valuation has dropped for the first time in a decade, a startup lands $10 million with Mark Cuban pitching in and what a $1 billion NKY development and video game Fortnite have in common. Interview starts at (18:31). Julie Calvert is the CEO of Visit Cincy, formerly known as the Cincinnati USA Convention an...
Mar 29, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Hosts Andy and Tom talk about how reporter Liz Engel managed to snag an exclusive interview with the CEO of Workhorse Group, and the steps he's taking to right the beleaguered company. Also, Cincinnati looks to legalize granny flats, a developer takes a novel approach to build homes in Madisonville, Cincinnati is a top sports town and Wahlburgers closes its Cincinnati location. Interview starts at (19:29). Ken Lewis could have made his career in liquor retail, but on the front lines of the alcoh...
Mar 22, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Hosts Andy and Tom talk about the financial impact having a massive company like Western & Southern brings to Cincinnati – it's in the 11 digits – as well as plans for a $482 million hotel near the Duke Energy Convention Center. Sticking with the Convention District, a problem property gets the OK for demolition from a court, and then P&G's top ad chief is OK with being dethroned as the world's largest advertiser. Interview starts at (19:08). Almost nobody on staff at the Cincinnati Busi...
Mar 15, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Hosts Andy and Tom talk about the listing of a major downtown development for sale, as well as hot restaurants heading to the burbs, Fifth Third's new CEO's thoughts on balancing flexibility in office work and the triumphant return of a historic Cincinnati beer brand. Interview starts at (16:47). Anastasia Mileham is the executive director of the Cincinnati Experience. When the New York Times does a travel story on the best of what Cincinnati has to offer, chances are her fingerprints are on tha...
Mar 08, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Andy and Tom talk about the streetcar's explosive ridership growth and where it could potentially expand to, as well as the future for a prominent OTR taproom now that its parent brewery has shuttered, plans to bridge downtown and OTR and a new Lego bar coming to Newport on the Levee. Interview starts at (20:13). Brady Duncan is co-founder of craft brewery MadTree. Back when the brewery first opened, it was No. 8 on the scene in Cincinnati. Today there are more than 80. Brady talks about embraci...
Mar 01, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Andy and Tom talk about the sudden closure of two prominent downtown restaurants, as well as Joe Burrow getting involved in a new sport. Also, Cincinnati home sales have dropped sharply, but does that mean the white-hot market is cooling? And then Fifty West Brewing, one of the OGs of Cincinnati craft beer, is opening a new location. Interview starts at (17:15). Jeff Berding started FC Cincinnati because he wanted his kids to have the same connection to the city that he did growing up with the B...
Feb 22, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Hosts Andy and Tom talk about a Cincinnati investment adviser who came up with a new model to predict how the stock market will fare based on the outcome of the Super Bowl. Also, one of the region's oldest craft breweries has a new owner, we now know just how big Blink was last year and an embattled restaurant at the Banks closes for good. Interview starts at (20:27). Chris Bergman dropped out of high school and moved to San Diego with dreams of becoming a professional rollerblader. That's where...
Feb 15, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Hosts Andy and Tom talk about how a deal to take a Cincinnati company public fell apart, a massive development comping to Reading Road, two storied chefs taking over the culinary industry's largest event and a craft brewery spinning off its most popular beer into its own company. There's also a guest appearance from another member of the Courier staff. Interview starts at (29:04). The law firm of Taft Stettinius & Hollister has been on a tear recently. Hot off of its big merger with Jaffe Ra...
Feb 08, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Andy and honorary co-host Tom Demeropolis talk about plans to build a football stadium near Blue Ash's Summit Park, a craft brewery taking over the former Brentwood Bowl, plans to expand Amtrak service from Cincinnati, an unprecedented explosion in James Beard nominations among local chefs and a homegrown pickleball brand. Interview starts at (23:30). Al Neyer is the real estate developer behind some of the biggest projects that have reshaped Cincinnati's neighborhoods. Think U Square at the Loo...
Feb 01, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Andy and special guest host Tom Demeropolis talk about P&G's super secret Super Bowl commercial and who is hiding their identity, a $200 million real estate fund that is being raised, one of our largest manufacturers adding a new line of business and a big merger involving one of Cincinnati's largest local law firms. Second segment starts at (21:05). We're doing something a little different this week. We broke the news last week that GE Aerospace will be Cincinnati's newest Fortune 500 compa...
Jan 25, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Andy and Rob talk about Cincinnati Bengals stars Joe Burrow and Sam Hubbard's purchase of a farm. An honest-to-God farm. Also, Gen Z is coming to the workforce, and companies have got to do something about it because they're not like previous generations, even those kooky millennials. They also talk about a nonprofit devoted to increasing Black business in OTR, and the funeral of Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel. Interview starts at (22:54). Rico Grant is a serial entrepreneur and something of a Renais...
Jan 18, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Host Andy Brownfield is joined by special guest host Managing Editor Tom Demeropolis this week. They talk about new plans for the former Terrace Plaza Hotel downtown, the renovation of UC's flagship dorm tower (and Tom's own experience as a student there), Jeff Ruby's newest downtown venture and a startup that wants to award people concert tickets for volunteer work. Interview starts at (20:20). Bill Baker knew he wanted to be an architect in the seventh grade. It all started with a perspective ...
Jan 11, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Hosts Andy Brownfield and Rob Daumeyer are joined by Cincinnati Business Courier Managing Editor Tom Demeropolis to break down some of the largest stories of 2022, including Kroger's proposed merger with the Albertsons Cos., the rebound of downtown Cincinnati from Covid-19, big changes in downtown real estate icons like Carew Tower and the Terrace Plaza, the corruption trial of P.G. Sittenfeld and the hell of a year the Cincinnati Bengals have been having. Above the Fold will take a brief hiatus...
Dec 28, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Andy and Rob talk about UC Basketball coach Wes Miller's massive raise, as well as how many billions of dollars Ohio could see in sports betting action once that officially becomes legal next year. In other news, Dorothy Lane Market clears the final hurdle to construct its first Cincinnati-area location, and the Queen City is crowned with its first Gucci store. Interview starts at (18:40). Lucy May is a veteran Cincinnati journalist who has been covering the biggest news in the Queen City since ...
Dec 21, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Andy and Rob talk about the future of a critical building that was at the crux of former Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld's corruption conviction, as well as the Super Friends combination of Graeter's Braxton and Dewey's Pizza in a new NKY spot and a $100 million project near UC. Interview starts at (18:51). Joel Willis began his career in IT at GE Aviation, selected for its prestigious Information Technology Leadership Program. Meanwhile though, he was moonlighting writing comedy on T...
Dec 14, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Andy and Rob talk about the (final?) closing of what was once the Cincinnati region's largest mall, as well as a craft brewery being acquired by an Ohio peer, the closing of yet another urban restaurant and P&G's fall from its position as the world's largest advertiser. Interview starts at (19:00). Molly Wellmann was Cincinnati's undisputed queen of cocktails. She got her start at Jean-Robert de Cavel's Chalk, where she was given unprecedented latitude in the kitchen when it came to making c...
Dec 07, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Andy and Rob talk about the surprise departure of Luke Fickell from University of Cincinnati football, the closing of a downtown restaurant, Graeter's Ice Cream being served at the White House and an April Fools prank that probably should not have happened. Interview starts at (19:55). Steve Leeper came to Cincinnati in 2004 to head the then-new organization calling itself the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., which we now know better as 3CDC. Since that time, the organization has invest...
Nov 30, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Andy and Rob talk about why a high-profile developer would sue to stop himself from getting paid $5.1 million, the sale of Cincinnati's only city-owned railway for $1.6 billion, why Amazon's local workers want to unionize and a company that is going all-in on hybrid work, cutting out two-thirds of its office space. Interview starts at (24:46). Jackie Reau, in addition to managing public relations for major organizations and events like the Taste of Cincinnati and ArtsWave, has a pretty unique po...
Nov 23, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Andy and Rob talk about how Cincinnati's second-largest law firm is extending its reach to the Golden State through a merger that nets it three new offices. Also in the news, a tech startup ditches Washington, D.C., to make Cincinnati its home; a major development in Walnut Hills is sold; and a Cincinnati craft beer is named one of the best of 2022. Interview starts at (18:58). Jake Warm, inspired by "Jerry Maguire," thought he wanted to be a sports agent. That's despite his family running a hig...
Nov 16, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Andy and Rob talk about the record-setting $50 million donation to Xavier University, all of the new things going on around Fountain Square, plans to expand rail service around Ohio, a new IV therapy bar coming to Cincinnati and local CEOs' favorite restaurants. Interview starts at (15:22). Thane Maynard has been hosting the nationally syndicated radio show "The 90-Second Naturalist" since 1987, but you might know him better as the director of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. He talks on...
Nov 09, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Andy and Rob talk about electric vehicle maker Workhorse and its multimillion-dollar settlement of a class action lawsuit, what 3CDC wants with a six-story parking garage in a critical part of downtown, just what makes 80 Acres Farms tomatoes so good and the Bengals' new indoor practice field. Interview starts at (16:27). George Goldhoff is the president of Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati. On Above the Fold he talks about what the upcoming legalization of sports betting means for the casino, what th...
Nov 02, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Hosts Andy Brownfield and Rob Daumeyer talk the big news of the week: The Banks, the massive development on Ohio's riverfront, between the two sports arenas, as a new owner; why Gold Star spends a full quarter of its marketing budget on the Bengals; and Kroger unveils its "store of the future." Interview starts at (17:52). Aftab Pureval is the mayor of Cincinnati, the first Asian American to be elected to that position. On Above the Fold he talks about pressure to assimilate and change his name ...
Oct 26, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Hosts Andy Brownfield and Rob Daumeyer talk about what's quite possibly the biggest news of the year: Kroger has a deal to buy rival Albertsons, the fourth-largest grocery chain in the U.S. Also, what the New York Times has to say about Northern Kentucky's bourbon industry and the Western & Southern Open has a new owner. Interview starts at (17:44). Britney Ruby Miller is the CEO of Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment, which just opened its newest restaurant – Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse – adjacent ...
Oct 19, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Hosts Andy Brownfield and Rob Daumeyer talk about the massive Blink festival – on hiatus since 2019, Joe Burrow's new foundation, one of the biggest-ever startup exits and why Andy hates sports. Interview starts at (18:23). Josh Heuser is a co-founder of Blink, but he got his start by throwing parties in college. He had no intention of joining a fraternity, but a flag football team needed a 15th player and he fell into it. Today Josh is a co-founder of experiential marketing firm Agar; owner of ...
Oct 12, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 1
