The long-awaited floor plans for SparkHaus — a hub for Northern Kentucky’s entrepreneurial community — have been revealed to the public. SparkHaus is being built inside the vacant 47,000-square-foot Simms Furniture building at 727 Madison Ave. in Covington’s Central Business District. The building has sat vacant since Simms Furniture closed in the spring of 2022. […]
Tag: Blue North
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Main Street Ventures marks 25 years
Northern Kentucky entrepreneur Rebecca Southern credits Main Street Ventures with helping grow her nutritious baked goods business, The Body Bakery & Company. Southern said she routinely utilized Main Street Ventures for help with business questions. “Anytime I’ve ever had questions about marketing or legal help, they always have an avenue to send us to or […]
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2024 NKY Small Business Grants program now accepting applications
Applications are now open for the 2024 NKY Small Business Grants program, which is geared toward supporting minority, women and veteran-owned small businesses in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties. The Duke Energy Foundation and Covington-based innovation hub Blue North have each contributed $25,000, bringing this year’s total fund to $50,000. These funds will be allocated in varying amounts […]
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Entrepreneur Paul Koop wants Builder Backed to become the ‘Carfax of homes’
How do you take care of a house? It’s an age-old question that all first-time homebuyers face. For Cincinnati native Paul Koop, owning a home presented various challenges – many he didn’t expect to deal with. To solve them, Koop relied on his father-in-law, a savvy tradesman with decades of experience fixing problems around homes. […]
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DAV Patriot Boot Camp helps veterans become entrepreneurs
Founded in 2012, Patriot Boot Camp, modeled from the tech accelerator program Techstars, aims to help veteran entrepreneurs and/or their spouses form businesses. However, in 2022, DAV (Disabled American Veterans), headquartered in Erlanger, KY, acquired the program, thus changing the name to DAV Patriot Boot Camp. Last year Nick Brophy, a 23-year retired Army veteran […]
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Kenton County’s annual budget surges 63%, boosted by state funding
Kenton County’s annual budget is expanding by 63% year-over-year due to massive increases in funding for capital projects, contingent appropriations and general government operations. At a meeting on June 11, the Kenton County Fiscal Court approved the county’s budget for the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year. The current fiscal year ends on June 30. The total dollar […]
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NKY Entrepreneur Fund gets $30k grant to support NKY startups
Blue North received a $30,000 grant from the Truist Foundation to support the NKY Entrepreneur Fund, which is focused on supporting Northern Kentucky-based entrepreneurs and organizations, and has already supported 23 companies with nearly $366,000 in grants.
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Children’s Entrepreneur Market debuts in Covington
Children, like adults, strive to be entrepreneurs. In 2017, Connor Boyack founded Children’s Entrepreneur Market in Utah after the state passed a bill in which children are allowed to operate a lemonade stand or any type of business without a permit. Since then, the market has expanded into 24 states, including Ohio and Kentucky. On […]
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SparkHaus secures state funding for incubator in Covington
Kenton County received $6 million in state funding for SparkHaus, an entrepreneurial incubator in Covington, to help local entrepreneurs access the resources they need to grow their businesses.
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SparkHaus development set to receive $6 million in funding
SparkHaus, a new hub for the Northern Kentucky startup community, is set to receive $6 million in funding from the state of Kentucky, with Blue North, eGateway Capital, and Connetic Ventures moving into the space upon its opening.