Featured Companies

Tips from the top: Best practices of a local CEO

 

Welcome to Blue Ash

Woolpert, Inc., a design firm providing engineering, architecture, water management and surveying services to clients in the public and private sectors, has leased 18,986 square feet in Duke’s Landings II Class A office building for their Cincinnati operations. As part of the lease agreement, Duke Realty will complete the interior finish of Woolpert’s space to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Silver certification for commercial interiors. The Woolpert team plans to move into their new office in June, 2010. 

Art Williams, Manager of Business Services at Woolpert said “Duke Realty delivered a LEED Silver interior, surpassing our original request. Their successful track record, coupled with the Landing II’s central location, accessibility and nearby amenities, made Blue Ash a natural selection for the relocation of our operations.”

Landings II, located at 9987 Carver Road in Blue Ash, is a five-story, 175,076-square foot building. With Woolpert’s lease, the building is 89 percent leased. Other tenants include Oracle, HDR Engineering Inc., Wilmington College and Omya Industries.

Woolpert, ranked by Engineering News-Record as a top national design firm, provides professional engineering, architecture, planning, enterprise information management, water management, surveying and photogrammetry and remote sensing services to clients in the public and private sectors. Founded in 1911, Woolpert’s innovative design approach and commitment to the creative application of technology have grown the firm into a leader in the consulting industry. With more than 600 professionals in 24 offices located throughout the U.S., Woolpert’s collaborative and multidisciplinary approach is driven by great people, great clients and great projects.

For more information on Woolpert click here.

BioRx's attention to individual patient care spurs fast growth

BioRx is a privately-owned company headquartered in Blue Ash, Ohio, co-founded by Philip Rielly and Eric Hill. The firm began operations in 2004 with only three employees, specializing in the treatment of hemophilia. Offering in-home nursing care with infusion suite nurses on staff and a unique consumer advocacy program, the company quickly grew and expanded to offer treatment for primary immune deficiencies and nutritional deficiencies. The quick growth required relocation and expansion of the office, pharmacy, and distribution facility in 2007 to accommodate the increase in business.

BioRx is the only local company specializing in the treatment of hemophilia and immune deficiency disorders. Servicing all fifty states, the company expanded to 105 employees in 2009; 27 are based in Blue Ash.

“The growth of BioRx can be directly attributed to our focus on individualized patient care. We utilize a patient advocacy program that is unique in our industry. This allows us to better understand and service the needs of our diverse patient populations across the United States. BioRx is committed to leading our industry in providing excellent clinical and customer service. BioRx is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Inc and is a Verified Accredited Wholesale Distributor,” said Mark Kestler, General Managerof BioRx.

Through the following initiatives, BioRx demonstrates its committed to serving the hemophilia community by increasing awareness and promoting education for people affected by this disease:

•    BioRx also generously offers the BioRx Educational Scholarships. Established in 2004, the BioRx Educational Scholarships are intended for anyone in the country living with a bleeding disorder, including caregivers of children affected with bleeding disorder. Since its inception in 2004, three individuals are annually selected to receive a $2,000 scholarship toward their education. 

•    BioRx produced educational materials designed for children with hemophilia called, Quest for Infusion: Nate Goes to Camp. The book, written in comic-book style, is the part of of series of children’s books produced by BioRx and Bayer Healthcare. It is offered free to individuals and families affected by bleeding disorders.

•    BioRx, produces a BioRx Kids Hemophilia 2010 Calendar that features artwork from children who either have a bleeding disorder or have a sibling or parent with a bleeding disorder.

BioRx was a finalist in the Cincinnati Business Courier’s 2009 Fast 55 Program. The company ranked 4th in the $50.1 to $199 million category. In 2008, they ranked 16th out of all private companies reviewed in the entire region. The annual Fast 55 Award, one of Greater Cincinnati’s premier award programs, recognizes the region’s fastest-growing private companies.

Angel's Paws: Unique business to offer end-of-life care for pets

Tammy Wynn, a licensed social worker who specializes in hospice care, knows what it's like to lose a beloved pet. A few years ago she lost her cat who died at 18 after a drawn out illness.

"I was single. She was sick, and I was there on my own. I had questions about when it was time (to let her go) and if she was suffering. I didn't feel like I had control of the process at all," she said.

That was in stark contrast to how she dealt with the illness of her father who had died two years later and received Hospice care.

"My father died of bladder cancer, that's when we were introduced to Hospice. They took the most difficult day of my life and made it manageable because of all of the support that I had," she said.

Wynn wants to give pet owners the same support that their human owners get for end-of-life care. That's why she opened Angel's Paws, which offers a full range of hospice and palliative types of services, pain management for pets and bereavement and group counseling to help family's deal with a pet's death. Funeral and memorial services are also available in the chapel.

Tammy opened the business this year January, at 11341 Grooms Rd., with a team of vet techs who will come to pet owner's homes. Once an owner decides a pet is too ill to continue, they will offer euthanasia in home if the owner chooses.

They will also offer cremation services on Grooms Road. Each pet will have a private, scheduled cremation while you wait, which is uncommon, she said. It will be the only pet cremation service inside the I-275 loop that specializes in this service.

Wynn completed the vet tech program at UC Raymond Walters College and graduated last August. For more information, call 513-489-7297(PAWS).

Tips from the top: Best practices of a local CEO

Lessons from our Merger
by David Greenfield, 3-hab CEO

3-hab, a Blue Ash-based MCO for workers' compensation, successfully increased its market share by merging with two companies in early 2008 and 2009.

3-hab more than doubled its employee size from 15 to 30, with its February 2008 acquisition of Avatarcomp. In February 2009, 3-hab acquired ALPS Services. Both companies were in the managed care field, but were suffering from performance issues. 3-hab management saw this as an opportunity. By acquiring both companies, 3-hab could quickly grow and bring higher quality processes to the absorbed companies.

Let me share some keys to managing quick, smooth mergers:

MERGER is one of those words that emit many emotions when that decision to take that giant step to merge with another company is made. A few of the emotions our teams experienced are listed below:

•    GREAT - We are enlarging our market share!

•    SECURITY – Job security!

•    ANXIETY – How and what are we going to do to make this happen?

•    FEAR – Are we really going to be able to pull this off?

No one understands these emotions and concerns more than 3-hab.

3-hab not only did one but two mergers within a year with one of them taking on a company twice our size and growing our staff from 15 to 30 employees overnight.

I’m proud to say those two mergers were text book and couldn’t have gone any smoother.

HOW YOU ASK?

1.    Multiple meetings were held to discuss potential issues and strategies to deal with then regarding changing roles and positions.

2.    We knew the best way to maintain 3-hab’s high level of customer service was to be able to transfer as many trained personnel from the company being merged with as possible thus helping us to minimize in depth training.

3.    We interviewed each person to ensure their personality and work ethics fit into the 3-hab profile.

4.    Listened intently to what the interviewees and current employees said about their concerns regarding the merger and examined them to ensure they would be addressed if applicable.

5.    We brought the selected personnel in prior to the merger so they could get comfortable with their new surroundings and computer system.

6.    Once the staff merged together we teamed each new person with a seasoned 3-hab staff member to assist with direction.

7.    Each employee was tenured to the number of years they worked at the previous company to receive their accumulated vacation and sick time.

8.    On the day of their arrival each of them received flowers plus a welcoming luncheon starting the team unification.

9.    A picture was taken of each person and a sheet with everyone’s picture and name was posted for easy recognition.

10.    Each employee had a name plate at their desk reinforcing the name recognition.

11.    The supervisors checked periodically to see how all was going and worked to resolve any issues.

12.    As much as possible, clients belonging to the previous company were placed with an employee brought over in the merger to maintain continuity.

13.    Management staff routinely thanked all the staff members for their dedication and hard work.

Submit your idea for a “Tips from the Top” series to lbaas@blueash.com