Dotloop is an innovative new online software program created by Austin Allison. Austin Allison, software-designing entrepreneur, Maineville native and a real estate veteran at 24, is on a $100 million mission. Allison recently pitched his new software on Fox's Business Network "So you think you're an entrepreneur". View video.

The CEI Foundation received a grant of $30,000 from The Greater Cincinnati Foundation to fund the Dr. Richard S. Kerstine Vision Outreach Program, which provides free eye screenings and lectures to the Greater Cincinnati community. The GCF grant will be used to support a fulltime outreach coordinator for the Vision Outreach Program, a program launched in January 2009. It is named in honor of Dr. Kerstine, one of Cincinnati Eye Institute's founding doctors and an active volunteer. The Outreach Program provides free eye and vision screenings and educational lectures on eye health to the Greater Cincinnati community. More than 2,900 adults have received services.

LAN Solutions is now know as Intrust Group. Managed services provider LAN Solutions said it has merged with Intrust Group in Chicago, effective immediately. The company will operate under the Intrust name, with corporate headquarters at the LAN location on Cornell Road in Blue Ash. Service delivery headquarters will be located in Chicago.

Akebia Therapeutics Inc. has raised 24.2 million in private and public funding, including funds from Ohio's Third Frontier program, the state's $1.4 billion initiative to spark high-tech industries and create new jobs. Akebia is developing small molecules for the treatment of anemia and vascular disease. Read more.

Mercy Health Partners has offered an annual stipend of 15 percent of its operating profits, or nearly $4 million last year, to the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine as part of a wide-ranging partnership. The partnership proposed by Mercy in early December would tie one of the region’s fastest-growing hospital operators to its only medical school and would make Mercy the first area hospital to contribute a direct cash subsidy to UC not tied to a specific service contract. Read more.

Raymond Walters College in Blue Ash is accepting scholarship applications for the 52-plus scholarships worth more than $40,000 that are offered to students at the college. Learn more.

Operation Give Back (OGB) is a community based non-profit organization based in Blue Ash committed to serving our local communities through programs that equip and empower individuals to succeed in enhancing their lives and community. Learn more.