Goering Center news

Cincinnati, Ohio – August 1, 2020 – Nine up-and-coming leaders from Cincinnati-region family and private businesses are in the running for one honoree position, who will receive the “Rising Leader” Award given by the University of Cincinnati Goering Center for Family & Private Business this fall. 

Since COVID-19 has precluded the traditional annual awards ceremony from taking place at JACK’s Casino, the nine Rising Leader finalists and final honoree will be recognized in the Cincinnati Business Courier supplement coming out on Sept. 18, along with the honorees of the Family & Private Business Award and the Volunteer of the Year Award. Honorees will also be celebrated across the Goering Center’s social media and digital channels.

Help honor the region’s future generation of leaders by casting your vote online by Aug. 21. Voting is now open at bit.ly/GoeringRisingLeader. Here are the semi-finalists for the 2020 Rising Leader Award:

• Trey Harness, President & Chief Client Officer at Curiosity Advertising, is recognized for advancing the Goering Center's best practice of "Business Growth" at his company.  After joining the company in 2018, Harness implemented a new and better organizational structure, which has been a key driver of leadership and management training. Harness has also generated plenty of new business, which resulted in a 40% sales growth in 2019, and continues to manage dozens of client relationships.
• Anton Gaffney, General Manager at Sweets & Meats BBQ, is being recognized for excelling at "Business Growth" at his company. “It is because of Anton’s personal commitment, loyalty, business savvy and leadership that Sweets & Meats BBQ has been able to continue growing at the level we have,” says Kristen Bailey, CEO. This private business has gone from a road side pit stop in 2014, to a brick-and-mortar carry-out restaurant, two food trucks and a premier BBQ caterer in Cincinnati – thanks to Gaffney’s contributions.
• Geoff Culbertson, Director of Sales & Marketing at Omni Technologies, is recognized as a Rising Leader for his work advancing the best practice of ”Business Growth” at his organization. In 2019, Culbertson helped revamp the Omni Technologies sales team and boost sales by 12%. The company is also on track to match this growth in 2020, despite the current economic challenges. 
• Chris Pratt, Senior Consultant at HORAN, has been selected for contributing to the best practice of “Business Growth” at his organization. "Chris has helped the Small and Emerging Business Segment, one of HORAN's growth engines, almost double in size in the past three years. His commitment to clients, the community and his own leadership development has made a great impact on our team," says Julie Highley, President of HORAN Emerging Business Advisors.
• Genevieve Kramer, Project Coordinator at Wm. Kramer & Sons, has been selected as a Rising Leader for her work on the best practice of “Dynamic Business Strategy.” Kramer has an ability to visualize business processes and excels at problem solving to achieve the best, most streamlined ways to conduct business; she has developed extensive field and project experience as well as a clear understanding of accounting practices, which has allowed her to foresee and solve high level business problems.
• Grant Taylor, General Manager of Warehousing at Taylor Logistics, was nominated for contributing to the best practice of “Dynamic Business Strategy” at his company. Taylor has expanded the Taylor Logistics’ network from one public warehouse to three contract warehousing solutions in Greater Cincinnati and Omaha. With this expansion came the hiring of 100 new Team Taylor members and an entirely new service portfolio.
• Kelly Ackerman, COO at Frame USA, was nominated as a Rising Leader for her work on the best practice of “Giving Back.” CEO, Daniel Regenold explains, “the complexity of running a major charitable initiative the last two months of the year while trying to also run a business has shown Kelly's keen leadership abilities, along with one of our core values of giving back through our monthly charitable giving program.” Ackerman also led marketing efforts to bring in more than 51,000 items for last year’s charity event, filling over two semi-trucks.
• Nick Enger, CTO & Senior Consultant at Advanced Technology Consulting, Inc. (ATC), is being recognized for his impact on "Business Growth" at ATC. Enger has played a major part in ATC's Ohio office seeing seven consecutive years of record revenue growth. He has secured more and larger clients for the company each year, trains junior consultants and develops strategies on sustaining explosive growth. "There isn't a lot Nick hasn't done to help with ATC's business growth," says David Goodwin, managing partner and co-founder of ATC.
• Nichole Ramsey, COO at Woodhouse Day Spa, is being recognized for her contribution to the best practice of “Leadership Development." Chris Mann, Owner of Woodhouse Day Spa said, "Nichole has created a truly amazing mentoring and leadership development program. She identifies internal talent and then works with them weekly on leadership skills, mentorship, emotional intelligence and a host of other skills."

Vote for the Rising Leader Award, here.

For media inquiries, you can contact Nicole Menkhaus, Marketing Director of the Goering Center, at 513-225-3948 or at goering@uc.edu.

Featured image at top: Kelly Backscheider, BGR, 2018 Rising Leader winner, pictured with Eric Arling, Integrity Express Logistics, 2019 Rising Leader winner and Larry Grypp, Goering Center president emeritus. Photo/Jay Yocis/UC Creative Services.