A 10-year partnership between Gateway Community and Technical College and the Florence, Ky., site of financial services company Citi has received the prestigious national Bellwether Award for Workforce Development from the Community College Futures Assembly and the University of Florida. The Gateway-Citi partnership was one of 10 national finalists for the award, which recognizes public and/or private strategic alliances and partnerships that promote community and economic development. "In more than 1,200 national community colleges, this is one of the highest honors an institute can receive," said Dale F. Campbell, professor and director of the Community College Futures Assembly and Institute of Higher Education. “The awards are similar to being selected by your peers, comparable to the Oscar or Emmy award. Leaders from the winning institution are often recruited by other colleges to replicate the award-winning program.” The Gateway-Citi partnership emphasizes career development and provides resources to enable Citi employees to begin or complete college credentials. Nearly 2,900 Citi employees have been served by the partnership, and Citi has replicated parts of it atthree other sites across the country. In addition, Gateway has replicated various components in numerous companies in the Greater Cincinnati/NorthernKentucky region. "In today's dynamic environment, less robust partnerships can fall to the wayside as business, academics, and the world change. It is an amazing achievement for this partnership to thrive for over 10 years,” said Gregg Morton, a managing director at Citi. “Because the foundation was built on improving the lives of others, that principle drives the partnership's sustained success.” "The collaboration began with planning sessions in 2002-2003 and now offers multiple onsite components that include the Gateway Academic Center, academic advising, Career Discovery classes involving employee-designed career pathway maps and academic goals, and credit classes leading to certificates and degrees,” said Dr. Ed Hughes, Gateway president/CEO.

A Dayton-based accounting firm is expanding to Northern Kentucky. Clark Schaefer Hackett, which has two Dayton-area offices at Austin Landing and in Springfield, opened its Fort Mitchell, Ky. office on Feb. 1. The new Northern Kentucky office expands Clark Schaefer Hackett'sfootprint into seven cities. This will be the firm's first location outside of Ohio. The expansion provides more convenient access to the firm's Northern Kentucky employees and clients, and proves its commitment to further growth in the region. Read the full story here.

Three new flights launched in February from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Allegiant Travel Co. has launched twice-a-week service to the Orlando, Fla., area, as well as twice-a-week service to Punta Gorda/Fort Myers, Fla. Frontier launched three-days-a-week service to Trenton-Mercer Airport in central New Jersey, an access point for travelers trying to reach Philadelphia. The flights are part of the continued expansion of low-cost carriers at CVG. Read more here.

Northern Kentucky's 2013 Annual Report is now available online.

Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation (Northern Kentucky Tri-ED) announced today that Meyer Tool's corporate aircraft fleet recently located at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) as a result of the elimination of the property tax on non-commercial aircraft by local taxing districts in Boone County. "We want to make CVG a competitive location for businesses using non-commercial aircraft," said Judge-Executive Gary Moore and past-chairman of Northern Kentucky Tri-ED. "We believe the elimination of this tax will help attract new corporate planes, from sizeable corporate HQ operations, informatics-oriented firms and large-scale manufacturing companies, to CVG."   "I'm a lifelong Northern Kentucky resident and have served in various capacities on the Kenton County Airport Board over the last 20 years, including as chairman from 2001 to 2002," said Meyer Tool President Arlyn Easton. "I'm very proud to bring Meyer Tool's corporate aircraft to CVG and help create new jobs in our community." With the exemption in place, Meyer Tool will bring approximately eight full time jobs to CVG for the two corporate jets it owns and operates. Meyer Tool also has expanded its workforce at the Meyer Tool Cox Plant in Erlanger with 28 new jobs in Boone County in 2013.   Meyer Tool, a high-tech manufacturing company supplying a variety of precision components to the aerospace and gas turbine engine industries, has invested $4.79 million in its Northern Kentucky operation, which employs approximately 152 full time employees.   "We are striving at many levels to make CVG more competitive in its service to both residents and the corporate community in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky," said CVG CEO Candace McGraw. "The elimination of the personal property tax on non-commercial aircraft in Boone County will help us attract new corporate fleets and create new jobs for our region."   "In the past few years, we have lost potential economic development projects because of the non-commercial aircraft tax in Boone County," said Dan Tobergte, president and CEO of Northern Kentucky Tri-ED. "The elimination of the tax and the available land at CVG strengthen the airport's role as a major asset in our efforts to attract corporate aircraft to CVG, from a broad range of targeted industries, and create new jobs in Northern Kentucky."   Northern Kentucky Tri-ED worked closely with the Boone County Fiscal Court and the respective taxing jurisdictions in Boone County, which include the Boone County Board of Education, Boone County Extension Service, Boone County Library District, the Hebron Fire District and the Northern Kentucky Health District, to eliminate personal property known as aircraft, not used in the business of transporting persons or property for compensation or hire, as an item that is taxed and assessed per KRS 132.200 section (18). Visit NorthernKentuckyUSA.com for more information. 

Two Northern Kentucky tech companies -- Clear Measures and Xcelerated Learning Dynamics (XLD) -- plan to bring 341 jobs to Covington over the next three years. Both companies hosted their grand openings in offices in the Corporex Companies RiverCenter office complex in December. "XLD and Clear Measures' investments show that Kentucky is an innovative and exciting place for startups and information technology businesses," said Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear in a news release. Read the full story here.

For many, 2008 was a year of downturn and downsizing. For Matt Strippelhoff and Ron Dunlevy, it was a year of new beginnings and growth. In 2008, the two partners, who have now been working together for more than a decade, founded Red Hawk Technologies, which produces sophisticated applications, websites and mobile applications for a variety of B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) clientele.   Located in Newport, KY, Red Hawk has thrived despite its genesis in the midst of a down economy. Last year, the company was recognized by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce as an Emerging 30 Company. And Red Hawk was recently notified that it will be recognized among the Emerging 30 again this year.   "I believe we can attribute our success to our dedication to client service," Strippelhoff says. "We take care of our clients' businesses as if they were our own; our client retention rates are exceptional."   Much of Red Hawk's work is comprised of websites and mobile applications designed to support custom workflows, supporting clients' sales and service needs. "A lot of the work is done behind the scenes, creating entire portals designed to support specific business interactions with client teams, third-party service providers and applications," Strippelhoff says.   Comb through Red Hawk's client list and you'll find some impressive names likeProcter & Gamble, Empower Media Marketing, The Kroger Co. and The Ohio State University. "One of my favorite projects we've worked on is the viewbook application we created for the Ohio State University," Strippelhoff says.   "The Ohio State University is saving a lot of money with regard to printing and mailing costs, and prospective students are getting the immediate gratification they're seeking via a custom PDF viewbook. It's a great example of making things easier for the end user while also benefiting the client."   As technology continues to change at a growing rate, companies like Red Hawk must remain nimble and able not only to meet clients' needs, but also to innovate. Mobile technology in particular is where much of the growth is happening.   "We're excited about developing more mobile application for our clients. I don't think there's any question that we'll continue to grow in the next year," Strippelhoff says. By Michael Sarason 

Gateway Community and Technical College recently received a $100,000 grant from Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, trustee, for its Urban Metro Campus. Gateway is in the early stages of a more than $80 million development in downtown Covington.   Plans for Gateway’s expansion have been in the works for more than 12 years. The Urban Metro Campus is intended to make college education more accessible to residents of Northern Kentucky who live in urban river cities. Northern Kentucky is home to many high-tech jobs, and many residents can’t compete for those jobs due to lack of education.   Gateway announced its comprehensive plan in Nov. 2012, which involves the purchase of nine properties for the Urban Metro Campus. Phase 1 is underway, with the renovation of the former Marx Furniture store into the Gateway Design and Technology Center.   Three other facilities will also be renovated and occupied by Jan. 2015, with other properties to follow. In all, seven existing buildings will be renovated and one new facility will be built over the next three to six years.   To date, Gateway has raised more than $2.6 million of a $5 million initial amount set by the Gateway Foundation to support campus development and scholarships. The college has also supported development with $350,000 for its campus master plan and $10 million for Phase 1 development costs.   By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter