*IPA – An ale brewed in England for British troops stationed in India in the 18th century. It was brewed very strong to survive a voyage that could take as long as six months. Highly hopped.

*Nose – The bouquet or the act of smelling the bouquet of a beer.

*Spice – Natural aromatics added to beer to enhance its taste. Several Belgian beers contain spices.

*Tannic – An astringent sensation that makes beer appear dry in the mouth. This sensation is often characteristic of very bitter beers.

*Balance – The proportion of malt to hops in a beer. Brewers strive for a seamless balance of the two.

*Body – The density of a beer. The amount of mouthfeel experienced by the drinker.

*Esters – Fruity flavors, such as grapefruit, banana, and peach, produced by the yeast during fermentation. Ale yeasts are known for the production of esters.

So last night I sampled several of the locally brewed beers. I found many to have good balance. The BB Black Betty was tannic in my opinion. My favorites were the Raz Wheat and the Paw Paw Ales which both had a pleasant nose, and an abundance of esters.

Be sure not to miss out on this uniquely Athens experience. I promise you will not regret it!
Ohio Brew Week

I am always interested in learning and sharing information that may help our local business, and also help create more start-ups here in Athens County.

A recent article on Inc.com titled A Tax Cut for Angels highlights how several states in including Ohio are taking advantage of tax credits given to angel investors and start-ups.

The article describes how the Ohio program lets angels deduct 25 percent of an investment in a start-up company. “

It also states that over the past 12 months in Ohio, 58 companies have received angel investments that qualified for the state’s 25 percent tax credit. “There was a dearth of [early-stage] capital in the state,” says Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development. “I wouldn’t say that capital is now robust, but it is more available.”

The article goes on to recommend that other states should adopt the same program, and how the federal government could improve tax credit as well.

Angel investor, Stephen Spinelli, co-founder of Jiffy Lube, summed things up at the end of the article by stating: “If I get an immediate tax credit, I get an immediate return. I know I would increase my investing if there was a tax credit.”

Read the entire article at:

A Tax Cut for Angels

A woman who had last worked at a local hotel completed our application. This is what she wrote in her reason for leaving section: “Got laid.” It is very important to finish your thoughts, people, especially in this situation.

The initial portion of our application process is a phone interview, where we investigate an applicant’s commitment to the area among other things. When one candidate was asked, “What brings you to the Athens area?” He replied, “I hear Meigs County has good weed.” If you’re taking notes, put that one under WHAT NOT TO SAY to your potential future employer.

Another applicant supplied us with a glowing letter of reference from a previous employer. Let’s call her Jane for purposes of confidentiality. The letter states, “I have seen Jane give her life for others on a continual basis.” That’s funny, Jane was alive and well when I interviewed her.

Our application has a box for a nickname because a lot of people go by something other than their given name. But one applicant took it to another level when she wrote, “Shnookums.”

Interests and hobbies can provide helpful insights about a job seeker, so I always check them out. What is probably not helpful, however, is a dislikes section. The following comes from the resume of one of our applicants: “Dislikes: Idleness, unfinished projects, excuses, Brussels sprouts, dolls, errors, morning glory, anything lacking imagination, and excessive rigidity.”

One woman showed up for her interview and told us she was filling out an application while she was supposed to be running errands for her boss. She also said, as she walked out the door afterward, “Don’t work too hard. I know I try not to!” How’s that for first impressions?!?

We have all written an objective on a resume, and it’s true, it can be tricky. But the guy who came up with this one didn’t seem to have any trouble: “To amplify my value as time goes on and erect a touch stone that stimulates others to imitate.” I am sorry but something about this just gives me the willies!

We have a section on our application that allows you to provide the dates you are available to work. Under “Available start date,” one applicant wrote, “3/10/06,” and under “Available until,” he wrote “Fired.” How’s that for optimism?

During a phone interview, one guy stated he was self-employed. When asked for his reason for leaving the job, he said it was because he had “an abusive boss.”

Well, I could probably go on for pages and days but I will stop with those few gems. Laughter truly is good medicine and one of the many reasons I enjoy this business so much.

I lived through two of the worst floods Marietta has ever seen and lost a 1988 Toyota Corolla as the Muskingham and Ohio Rivers poured through that trusty old car’s doors.

While living on the west side of Columbus, I witnessed a man attack a woman with a knife as I was walking out of a party supply store, buying my son’s first birthday party supplies. (P.S. The woman was fine and the man apprehended.)

And finally, Canal Winchester, where my cookie cutter neighborhood is swarming with door-to-door salesman and religious missionaries. Not to mention I have to stand in my driveway and wave down my visitors because they can’t tell the difference between my house and the next. Did I mention the rules on making sure my trash can is put away in a timely fashion and not being able to redecorate the outside of my house without approval from the board of our homeowner’s association?

The opportunity to move back to Athens and raise my family and continue my professional career was welcomed with excitement and anticipation.

Athens, for me, is considered home for many reasons but above all because I am the most comfortable here. The people are friendly, welcoming, and unique. I feel safe here, and I feel like an integral part of the community. Maybe it is because I am involved in a small, locally owned business, but I find the outpouring of support from one business to another to be an amazing thing.

The point at which the kind of place I was coming home to really set in was when I was on the house hunt for a family-friendly rental in the Athens area. I spoke with many people, calling numbers I had found in the classifieds, word of mouth, etc. The first time someone said to me, “Sure that house is still available. Just check it out when you can — the back door is open,” I laughed with disbelief. The second time I got that answer, I thought to myself, “It is SO good to be back!”

Do not take for granted this wonderful place. Get involved! Immerse yourself in Athens and the comfort and culture it has to offer. Welcome home!

Thursday Feb. 18th
11am-1pm
The Ohio University Innovation Center
340 West State Street
Athens, OH 45701
Room 103

Register by calling Trenia Twyman 740-597-1460

With the theme of the conference being New Energy, New Jobs, I knew this would be a wonderful opportunity for our Alternative Energy Companies here in Athens County to show the wonderful things they are working on. It was a great honor to have Governor Strickland personally visit and see first hand the tremendous work that Third Sun, Sunpower, Global Cooling, and Dovetail are accomplishing. These companies are great examples of how Athens County is becoming a leader in the Alternative Energy Industry.

Day one of the conference kicked off with the option of touring sites around Athens County. These sites included:

Nelsonville Community Revitalization Tour, which included stops at Stuarts Opera House, Nelsonville Historic Square Arts District, and Hocking Colleges- Robbins Crossing Living History Site.

Athens County Arts Loop Tour, which included stops at The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Several Historic Quilt Barns, The Kennedy Museum of Art, Arts/West, and the Passion Works Studio.

Locavore Tour, which included stops at all things food in Athens. These stops included ACNET Facility in Athens, Eclipse Company Town, and King Family Farm in Albany.

I went on the Nelsonville Community Revitalization Tour and I was excited to see all the participants experiencing the great shops and stores around the square!

On day two, Governor Strickland kicked off the start of the conference by promoting all that Ohio has accomplished in regards to energy and green jobs. Expert speakers participated from all walks of the Alternative Energy field. They shared their expertise to help participants better understand where these technologies are heading, and how their communities can take advantage of it. Participants also had the opportunity to tour Alternative Energy sites around Athens County. These sites included:

Alternative Fuels Sites (Logan, Ohio): Hocking College Energy Institute and Chieftain Biofuels, LLC.

Business Innovation Center and Energy Sites (Athens, Ohio): Third Sun Solar and Wind Power, Ltd.; Sunpower, Inc.; and the Innovation Center, Ohio Universitys business incubator.

Alternative Energy Project Sites (Athens, Ohio): Ohio Universitys solid oxide fuel cell research facility, biomass gasification research facility, and electrostatic precipitation research facility; and the university’s Ohio Ecohouse.

I toured the alternative energy project sites in Athens. I was amazed at the work and research being done in regards to Fuel Cells, Biomass, and Clean Coal technology by Ohio University!

The third and final day provided everyone with more information from expert speakers, and allowed the participants to reflect and digest all the information they gathered. We all gathered for lunch and discussed next steps for our communities and how to keep the momentum going!

For Athens County and Ohio University, the momentum really did continue as Gov. Ted Strickland announced on Oct. 28 that Ohio University has been named a Center of Excellence in Energy and the Environment. The designation recognizes the institutions state and national reputation for energy and pollution research, as well as its potential to create jobs in the field. For more information you can read the full article on the Ohio University’s Website.

One of the construction workers found what appeared to be animal bones while he was digging out the pit for the elevator we are installing. To make sure, we called Dr. Nancy Tatarek, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ohio University. She is an expert in skeletal biology and is the instructor for some of ACHS&Ms student interns. She determined the bones were from a young horse. Next, an archeology student noticed some interesting-looking stone slabs in the pit that appeared to be purposefully set. So we called Dr. Elliot Abrams, a professor in the same department who specializes in Ohio Valley Archaeology. He determined that, since the North end of Court Street was home to many liveries, we had probably stumbled upon the edge of the livery building, making he horse bones make a lot more sense. Both neat things to have happen underneath the historical societys building.

Next came the uncovering of the original garage doors that hung from the back of the building. The historical societys building was built as a car dealership sometime in the late 1920s. The original garage doors are of oak and glass and measure 4 feet wide by about 9 feet tall. This prompted a flurry of ideas on how we could restore and preserve these doors and somehow work them into the design. What an exciting challenge to have.

So as you can see, Ive been part of an uncovering of fires and putting out of fires. So thats my excuse for not posting a blog last week. Pretty good, eh?

We used to get OU students who just wanted to volunteer somewhereanywherevia this website. The students were polite and meant well, but they didnt have a passion for history thats required when building an exhibit or organizing a collection. How do we get students that are already in the history tent? We approached professors in the history department and a history club already established at OU: the Undergraduate History Association. Now we were cooking with gas: these students, a small handful, researched, developed and designed their own exhibits and a few did collections work.

Enter our current Curator/Education Coordinator, Heather Reed. Heather is a recent masters degreed museum professional and is technologically savvy. She came into ACHS&M with the knowledge on how to best harness our museum collection software to properly accession, catalog and locate all of our 40,000 collection items. She worked with our volunteer collections committee to narrow down the scope of work and became an expert at how to work with ACHS&Ms collection. Then she turned to the history professors for student help, but this time she wanted elite students interested in working with collections using best practices. Because she knew about busy student schedules, she wanted the hours students spent under her leadership to have meaning beyond being a volunteer, which in and of itself doesnt look too shabby on a resume. So she arranged credit-earning internships for some of the students. The result? Twenty seven students studying history, archeology, and anthropology are either racking up volunteer hours or earning class credit at ACHS&M while getting hands-on, practical experience in handling collections and/or building exhibits. We even have students interested in history education developing content for school visits.

No longer are there multiple quite days in a row here at ACHS&M. Every day at work I see students with white gloves on peering through a box of letters, or trying to determine the nature of whatever 19th century object they are inspecting, or working out under which collection name a specific object should be catalogued. Its anything but quiet here now, and I have to say, I love the buzz!

One of the most cost effective ways is social networking/marketing. Most of us have heard of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These are the most popular social networks currently, but there are many others that can be just as useful. Using social networks can provide an avenue to market your products or share information about you or your business in timely and cost effective way. Even though this is a great way to curb some of your marketing cost, it is vital to note the importance of taking the time to learn and identify which networks to use, and the most effective ways to use them.

This can be very time consuming and we all know that time is money! This is why the Athens County Economic Development Council, in conjunction with the O.U. Innovation Center, was pleased to sponsor a Social Networking Workshop which took place on August 25th at the Innovation Center. Jared Vorkavich and Tobias Roediger of RAVE, a local marketing and visual effects company who use social networking on a daily basis, provided their expertise on the subject. Designed specially for entrepreneurs and small businesses, this workshop explained the how and why of social networking. Participants were educated on how to use the most popular social networks, and create a strategy for making the biggest impact for their businesses.

We hope that all of our attendees found this workshop resourceful, and have gained a better understanding of social networking/marketing. Thanks again to everyone who participated! Your success is our success!