CINCINNATI and COLUMBUS, Ohio—SoMoLend (www.somolend.com), a lead­ing debt-based crowd­fund­ing plat­form designed to match small busi­ness bor­row­ers with investors look­ing to make a return on invest­ment, announces a new part­ner­ship with the Colum­bus Cham­ber. SoMoLend will be the Chamber’s first rec­om­men­da­tion for crowd­fund­ing and fea­tured on the access to cap­i­tal sec­tion of the Cham­ber website.

“We are really look­ing for­ward to work­ing with the Colum­bus Cham­ber. This region has a tremen­dous small busi­ness com­mu­nity. Our goal is to help edu­cate small busi­nesses about crowd­fund­ing, and illus­trate how our plat­form can fuel eco­nomic growth in cen­tral Ohio by help­ing entre­pre­neurs get access to the fund­ing they need to sus­tain their oper­a­tions,” said Cheryl Stamm, VP of Sales. Read more

CINCINNATI and SAN FRANCSICO July 30, 2012— Cir­cleUp (https://circleup.com/), the lead­ing equity crowd­fund­ing site in the US, and SoMoLend (http://www.somolend.com/), the pio­neer­ing debt bor­row­ing plat­form con­nect­ing entre­pre­neurs with local lenders, are announc­ing a part­ner­ship to help small busi­nesses to raise growth cap­i­tal more efficiently.

The part­ner­ship will improve access to cap­i­tal for small busi­nesses by help­ing busi­nesses find the best source of cap­i­tal for their unique sit­u­a­tion.  SoMoLend sup­ports micro-loans, while Cir­cleUp facil­i­tates equity invest­ments.  By shar­ing infor­ma­tion, best prac­tices and joint edu­ca­tion efforts, SoMoLend and Cir­cleUp will improve their abil­ity to serve clients in need of either debt or equity solutions.

Cir­cleUp enables exist­ing small busi­nesses to raise expan­sion cap­i­tal through a national net­work of accred­ited investors. The com­pany focuses on con­sumer and retail com­pa­nies, which his­tor­i­cally have been under-represented by Ven­ture Cap­i­tal­ists and Angel Investors.

CEO Ryan Cald­beck says, “We started Cir­cleUp to help great con­sumer brands find the cap­i­tal they need to grow.  Part­ner­ing with SoMoLend pro­vides us another resource to offer busi­nesses, when a loan is pre­ferred to an equity solution.”

CEO Can­dace Klein founded SoMoLend in 2011 when she saw that small busi­nesses needed more lend­ing resources beyond tra­di­tional banks. SoMoLend’s tech­nol­ogy con­nects credit-worthy busi­nesses with cor­po­ra­tions and insti­tu­tions look­ing to invest locally and with a purpose.

Klein says, “Find­ing financ­ing can be very dif­fi­cult for many star­tups and small busi­nesses. Our part­ner­ship with Cir­cleUp will allow us to more effec­tively serve entre­pre­neurs and small busi­nesses by giv­ing them access to addi­tional fund­ing resources so they can find the right fit for their busi­ness and oper­ate successfully.”

About Cir­cleUp
Cir­cleUp (http://circleup.com/) is an equity based invest­ment plat­form that con­nects indi­vid­ual investors with grow­ing pri­vate com­pa­nies. Cir­cleUp fea­tures a curated list of national high-growth U.S. small con­sumer brands. All com­pa­nies have a tan­gi­ble prod­uct or retail out­let that you can touch, taste, use, or visit. Using tools pro­vided by the plat­form, investors review com­pa­nies of inter­est, ask ques­tions of the man­age­ment team and com­plete their invest­ment – all on CircleUp.

About SoMoLend
SoMoLend is a Web-based lend­ing plat­form that uses patent-pending tech­nol­ogy to con­nect small busi­ness bor­row­ers with indi­vid­ual and orga­ni­za­tional investors (lenders), exe­cuted within a hyper-localized geo­graphic scope. SoMoLend’s user-friendly tech­nol­ogy allows small busi­ness bor­row­ers to obtain loans from friends, fam­ily, cus­tomers, com­mu­nity sup­port­ers and inter­ested orga­ni­za­tions as well as from Face­book, Twit­ter, and LinkedIn con­nec­tions. For more infor­ma­tion, visit http://somolend.com/ or http://somolend.wordpress.com/.

CINCINNATI – Habi­tat for Human­ity sur­passed its 400,000 house mile­stone dur­ing its most recent fis­cal year.  Since the non­profit orga­ni­za­tion was founded in 1976, its self-help, hand-up model has resulted in rehabbed, repaired or new hous­ing for more than 2 mil­lion peo­ple worldwide.

Locally, Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Human­ity (CHFH) is part of this global effort. Since 1986, Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Human­ity has built, rehabbed or repaired over 224 houses in the greater Cincin­nati area.

Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Human­ity is mov­ing at a rapid pace of change and has had a very event­ful year, mak­ing great strides to embody Habi­tat for Human­ity International’s mis­sion. Some recent efforts include the new ReStore, which opened this past spring, and CHFH’s refo­cus on not only build­ing new homes, but also rehab­bing fore­closed prop­er­ties as a strate­gic way to revi­tal­ize Cincinnati’s neigh­bor­hoods. Addi­tion­ally, CHFH has intro­duced higher green build­ing stan­dards in order to con­struct more energy effi­cient and envi­ron­men­tally sus­tain­able homes.

“Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Human­ity and the more than 1,400 affil­i­ates like us across the United States and abroad are con­tin­u­ing our efforts to help address the poverty hous­ing cri­sis that plagues too many fam­i­lies— both near and far. We are thrilled to be a part of this impor­tant mile­stone and are deter­mined to con­tinue our work in help­ing more local fam­i­lies in need of a sim­ple, decent and afford­able place to live, grow and thrive,” said Marissa Woodly, Devel­op­ment Direc­tor, Cincin­nati Habi­tat. “With con­tin­ued sup­port from our spon­sors and vol­un­teers, we’ll help 16 more fam­i­lies in 2011 real­ize their dream of home ownership.”

In fis­cal year 2010, Habi­tat for Human­ity served a record 74,960 fam­i­lies world­wide through a com­bi­na­tion of new con­struc­tion, reha­bil­i­ta­tion and repairs. Habi­tat also helped an addi­tional 6,355 fam­i­lies estab­lish legal rights to a house or land, and pro­vided more than 46,964 indi­vid­u­als with tech­ni­cal assis­tance rang­ing from legal help to con­struc­tion advice or training.

“We are pleased that even in this dif­fi­cult econ­omy, Habi­tat for Human­ity has been able to help a record num­ber of fam­i­lies around the world have a bet­ter place to live,” said Jonathan Reck­ford, CEO of Habi­tat for Human­ity Inter­na­tional. “Our affil­i­ates are the back­bone of Habitat’s efforts. Their hard work and ded­i­ca­tion have made this mile­stone pos­si­ble. We are grate­ful for the work of Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Humanity.”

Habi­tat for Human­ity cel­e­brated its 300,000^th home in 2008, its 200,000^th home in 2005 and the 100,000^th home in 2000.

By 2013, Habi­tat for Human­ity hopes to assist 100,000 fam­i­lies world­wide annu­ally with new or improved housing.

A copy of Habi­tat for Human­ity International’s fis­cal year 2010 annual report, “What We Build,” is now avail­able online at http://www.habitat.org/support/report/default.aspx. The report gives a snap­shot of Habitat’s work around the world.

For more infor­ma­tion on Cincin­nati Habi­tat or to vol­un­teer, visit www.cincinnatihabitat.org, fol­low us on twit­ter http://twitter.com/CincyHabitat, or like us on Face­book http://www.facebook.com/CincinnatiHabitat.

About Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Humanity

Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Human­ity is a non-profit Chris­t­ian hous­ing min­istry that seeks to elim­i­nate sub­stan­dard hous­ing by build­ing and ren­o­vat­ing sim­ple, decent, afford­able homes to sell to low-income fam­i­lies in need. Cincin­nati Habi­tat works in equal part­ner­ship with fam­i­lies, vol­un­teers and donors build­ing a sense of com­mu­nity as well as afford­able hous­ing. Our part­ners include cor­po­ra­tions, churches, foun­da­tions, orga­ni­za­tions and indi­vid­ual donors who donate money, labor and mate­ri­als to fund and build our homes. Cincin­nati Habi­tat has built over 220 homes in neigh­bor­hoods that include Avon­dale, Clifton, Colum­bia Tus­cu­lum, Evanston, Har­ri­son, Hyde Park, Lin­coln Heights, Lock­land, Madis­onville, Mill­creek Val­ley, Mt. Auburn, Mt. Wash­ing­ton, North Fair­mount, North­side, Oak­ley, Over-the-Rhine, Price Hill, South Cum­minsville, South Fair­mount, Wal­nut Hills, West­wood and Win­ton Place, among oth­ers.  For more infor­ma­tion, visit www.cincinnatihabitat.org.

CINCINNATI — Fis­cher Homes (www.fischerhomes.com) will cel­e­brate a rib­bon cut­ting for Parks of White­wa­ter in Crosby Town­ship on Novem­ber 17 at 10 a.m. The event, which is open to the pub­lic, will pro­vide an oppor­tu­nity to view the community’s new model home.

Crosby Town­ship City Coun­cil and mem­bers of the Cincin­nati Cham­ber of Com­merce will be tak­ing part in the rib­bon cut­ting event.

Parks of White­wa­ter fea­tures Fischer’s Maple Street and Designer Col­lec­tion of sin­gle fam­ily homes, and is located off of New Haven Road, on the west side of Cincin­nati, near Har­ri­son. Floor plans range from 1,800 to almost 4,000 square feet and are priced from the $180s. The com­mu­nity offers pic­turesque scenery with a pool, cabana, play­ground area, and open green space. Pre-construction spe­cial pric­ing and dis­counts are still avail­able for these homes.

“We are so excited to show­case Parks of White­wa­ter and begin con­struc­tion in this beau­ti­ful com­mu­nity,” said Fis­cher Sales Coun­selor, Tim Kel­ley. “Being located in the Excellent-rated South­west Local Schools is some­thing we are very proud of. Now is really the time to buy.”

For more infor­ma­tion about Parks of White­wa­ter, call Tim Kel­ley at (513) 617‑7734 or visit www.fischerhomes.com.

About Fis­cher Homes

Fis­cher Homes (www.fischerhomes.com), a mem­ber of The Fis­cher Group, has been build­ing homes through­out Ohio, North­ern Ken­tucky, and Indi­ana since 1980. The Fis­cher Group com­pa­nies main­tain cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion rat­ings of 98%, have more than 100 new home neigh­bor­hoods through­out Ohio, Ken­tucky, and Indi­ana, and offer home choices for peo­ple in all stages of life. Fis­cher Homes range in price from the $80s to the $700s.

Nearly 200 Delta vol­un­teers turn out to com­plete con­struc­tion on Habi­tat home in just six weeks

CINCINNATI – For the sec­ond year in a row, Delta Air­lines will ded­i­cate a Habi­tat for Human­ity (www.cincinnatihabitat.org) home in the Cincin­nati com­mu­nity. Delta Air­lines and their crew of nearly 200 ded­i­cated vol­un­teers turned out to com­plete this build in just 6 weeks—the fastest Habi­tat for Human­ity build this year. In addi­tion to com­plet­ing the entire build, Delta vol­un­teers were also able to plant a flower and veg­etable gar­den for the part­ner fam­ily. Part of a seven-city part­ner­ship, Delta will con­struct seven homes through­out the coun­try dur­ing the fall of 2010.

The ded­i­ca­tion cer­e­mony will be at 1 p.m. on Fri­day, Octo­ber 22 at 1185 Home­side Ave. in Col­lege Hill. There will be a bar­be­cue through­out the day with food donated from sev­eral local ven­dors. Barry K. Matthews from Delta and Ed Lee, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of Cincin­nati Habi­tat, will speak. This is one of three Cincin­nati Habi­tat projects on Home­side Ave., includ­ing a rehab project next door to this home. The pub­lic is invited to tour the rehab project, as well as this home ded­i­cated by Delta. The com­mu­nity and mem­bers of the news media are wel­comed to attend.

The home will belong to Senga (Alex) Big­ure, his wife, Saada Alfani, and their four chil­dren, Grace, 16, Deane, 12, Ken­neth, 9, and their baby girl, Glo­ria, just born on July 3^rd. Senga and Saada are from Burundi.  Senga came to the United States in 2005 due to the civil war in Berundi. Saada fol­lowed with Deane and Ken­neth in 2009. Their old­est daugh­ter, Grace, is in board­ing school in Tan­za­nia wait­ing for immi­gra­tion to approve her depar­ture so that she can rejoin her fam­ily. This fam­ily of six cur­rently lives in a two-bedroom apart­ment with absolutely no stor­age space, much less the room needed for their grow­ing family.

“This is going to change our lives,” said Senga. “We have always believed that one day God would help our fam­ily, and now through Habi­tat, God has pro­vided for us. We will have so much more space, and our chil­dren will finally have a place to play. My fam­ily loves each other and we love to be with peo­ple and neigh­bors and to sim­ply live a peace­ful life. We are plan­ning to be a part of the Habi­tat fam­ily for all of our lives so that we can help other fam­i­lies like we were helped by Habitat.”

“This fam­ily has known much hard­ship, more than most Amer­i­cans can imag­ine. They have endured civil war and many years of sep­a­ra­tion,” said Lee, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, Cincin­nati Habi­tat. “Thanks to the gen­eros­ity of Delta and their many ded­i­cated vol­un­teers, who fol­lowed through on their promise, this fam­ily can finally be together, under one roof in a home of their own. Delta is a model spon­sor as well as the fastest build­ing group we’ve had.”

To qual­ify for their Habi­tat home, the fam­ily had to meet a vari­ety of cri­te­ria, includ­ing hous­ing need, abil­ity to pay a mort­gage, and will­ing­ness to part­ner with Cincin­nati Habi­tat. The fam­ily worked beside vol­un­teers from Delta Air­lines, invest­ing 500 hours of sweat equity into the con­struc­tion of their home. Cincin­nati Habi­tat will sell the home to the fam­ily with a 0%, 20-year, interest-free mort­gage held by Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Humanity.

For more infor­ma­tion on Cincin­nati Habi­tat or to vol­un­teer, visit www.cincinnatihabitat.org, fol­low us on twit­ter at http://twitter.com/CincyHabitat, or like us on Face­book at http://www.facebook.com/CincinnatiHabitat.

About Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Humanity

Cincin­nati Habi­tat for Human­ity is a non-profit Chris­t­ian hous­ing min­istry that seeks to elim­i­nate sub­stan­dard hous­ing by build­ing and ren­o­vat­ing sim­ple, decent, afford­able homes to sell to low-income fam­i­lies in need. Cincin­nati Habi­tat works in equal part­ner­ship with fam­i­lies, vol­un­teers and donors build­ing a sense of com­mu­nity as well as afford­able hous­ing. Our part­ners include cor­po­ra­tions, churches, foun­da­tions, orga­ni­za­tions and indi­vid­ual donors who donate money, labor and mate­ri­als to fund and build our homes. Cincin­nati Habi­tat has built over 170 homes in neigh­bor­hoods that include Avon­dale, Clifton, Colum­bia Tus­cu­lum, Evanston, Har­ri­son, Hyde Park, Lin­coln Heights, Lock­land, Madis­onville, Mt. Auburn, Mt. Wash­ing­ton, North Fair­mount, North­side, Oak­ley, Over-the-Rhine, Price Hill, South Cum­minsville, South Fair­mount, Wal­nut Hills, West­wood and Win­ton Place, among oth­ers.  For more infor­ma­tion, visit www.cincinnatihabitat.org.