Innovation and growth occur every day in Uptown, benefiting the entire Southwestern Ohio Region. From world-class healthcare and education to exceptional jobs to recreation and living opportunities, Uptown is on the rise. To acknowledge that momentum, “All Rise” was the theme of this year’s Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) annual event, Innovate | Celebrate Uptown Cincinnati.
UCI brought back its annual event on September 7, 2023, after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, making the theme of “All Rise” especially meaningful for the nearly 250 Uptown stakeholders who attended. The event took place at the Digital Futures Complex on the third floor of the newly built Building 2. Terrex Development & Construction supported UCI hosting the event in the brand-new space, to showcase the completion, a space now ready for tenants.
Uptown Rising
UCI President and CEO Beth Robinson, University of Cincinnati (UC) President Neville Pinto and Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney each shared updated pieces of the mosaic that defines how Uptown is rising. WCPO’s Cincy Lifestyle Co-Host Michelle Hopkins served as the event’s emcee.
“We are excited about what we can do together to build a future rooted in innovation that creates new opportunities for everyone. Collaboration will be the key as it always has been in Uptown. We can’t wait to work with all our community partners to continue our momentum this year and beyond. We are continuing to rise together,” Robinson said.
More than $1 billion of investment is complete or underway specifically around the MLK & Reading Road interchange where the Digital Futures Complex is located. Nearby, UCI member organizations, University of Cincinnati, UC Health, Cincinnati Children’s, and the Cincinnati Zoo are all working to improve lives and continue to grow. Together, they make up Uptown’s densely populated employment hub, employing over 75,000 people, generating $8 billion in annual economic impact, and are situated amid historic and diverse neighborhoods where 46,000 people live.
“The Cincinnati Innovation District is making a real and lasting impact on our city, region and state. We have strong partnerships within the city of Cincinnati and surrounding businesses to jumpstart innovation and make positive impacts on society,” President Pinto said.
Vice Mayor Kearney told the crowd the city is thrilled by the opportunities the Cincinnati Innovation District is providing. “The transformation of Uptown into a world-class innovation district is only just beginning. The Cincinnati Innovation District is on the forefront of building the future workforce and creating opportunities for Ohioans in the local community,” she said.
Impactful Work
During the networking hour, stakeholders had an opportunity to see first-hand some of the impactful work being generated in the district.
UC’s Future Mobility Design Lab is a full virtual reality experience of the future of the MLK/Reading Road intersection. The vision behind this experience is a more walkable, accessible, friendly, safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.
UC Health's Neuro-Interventional Surgery demonstrated life-saving technology to treat brain aneurysms from inside blood vessels, and to remove blood clots from patients experiencing acute ischemic stroke.
The Zoo demonstrated how it uses technology to collect data from penguins and elephants to inform habitat designs that encourage movement and other health behaviors
Children’s Hospital showed off its VR Surgical Simulation Suite platform used to navigate actual congenital heart surgical cases on patient-specific anatomical digital twins and interactive surgical tools.
The saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” certainly applies to images from the event found in this photo carousel. All these people came together in community for Innovate | Celebrate Uptown Cincinnati representing our anchors, local businesses, and residents, acknowledging how far we’ve come together and how we will “All Rise” together for Uptown’s future.
Thank You’s
UCI would first like to thank its Board organizations, University of Cincinnati, UC Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for sponsoring the event. In addition, UCI would like to thank its silver sponsors, REDI Cincinnati, JobsOhio and Sure Mechanical. UCI would also like to thank its partner sponsors pictured below.
In addition to sponsors, UCI would like to thank Terrex Development & Construction for hosting the event and Altafiber for powering the event. The Uptown communities of Avondale, Clifton, Clifton Heights, University Heights, and Fairview (CUF), Corryville, and Mt. Auburn, were also well represented during the event by each community council, business association and neighborhood CDC.
Finally, UCI would like to give a special thank you to Claudia Abercrumbie, from The Abercrumbie Group. The inclusions of live music and a 360-photo booth, with the cutting-edge research activations from our anchors, set the tone for a true celebration of Uptown. Claudia did a fabulous job bringing the right partners to the table, from food and drink, to audio, visual, photo and video. Each vendor shared in our vision of bringing the space to life.
Please reach out to Brooke Rapp by email if you are interested in supporting the UCI annual event in 2024. UCI hopes to see familiar and new faces next year.