http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/Mad-River-Outfitters

Cincinnati native Brian Flechsig has helped define central Ohio as a fly-fishing mecca while building one of the top fly-fishing shops in the country.

Mad River Outfitters, at 813 Bethel Road, consistently records national sales in the top 10 for fly fishing, thanks to a thriving Internet business as well as a professional retail shop, according to Flechsig.

“We’re one of the top 10 fly-fishing operations in the country,” he said. “Most people think of a fly store as a mom-and-pop shop with just a few things and people sitting around talking and tying flies.

“But we’re very serious here, with a full-time shipping manager and full-time web manager. So not only do we maintain an extensive retail store, but also
an extensive online store with dozens of packages shipping out around the world daily.”

Flechsig said one of his keys to success is what he calls the umbrella.

Mad River Outfitters offers retail and online sales, guides fly-fishing tours locally, nationally and internationally, and produces instructional courses and DVDs.

“I’m hosting our annual spring Tarpin trip in the Everglades right now,” he said earlier this month. “We do these trips all over the world, South America – a lot of trips to Brazil for Peacock bass, in the Bahamas.

“We operate a full-blown guide service, including about 16 guides working for us throughout the Great Lakes region, so if you can’t afford a week to Montana or wherever, there are trips you can hop in your car and do on a weekend.”

According to Flechsig, fly-fishing has always been labeled as something that is only for trout fishing.

“Everyone associates fly-fishing with trout and snow-capped mountains, but I produced a video about 10 years ago called ‘Carpin’’ that was all about catching carp on a fly rod,” he said. “I got a lot of hate mail about it because people didn’t like that I was catching a trash fish on a fly.

“If you’re open to fishing for things other than trout, then Columbus becomes a fly-fishing heaven. There’s carp and bass all over the place here.”

Being innovative, such as teaching people to fly-fish for the local fish population, working hard, and hiring committed employees, Flechsig said, are the other keys to his success.

“I was 24 years old when I quit my job, borrowed money to start this business, and opened the doors that December in 1994,” Flechsig said. “I paid the bank off in two years and haven’t owed anyone a dime since. I’ve been very lucky, but it took a lot of hard work and thinking outside the box.

“I have some very loyal and hardworking employees who have believed in me and my dream. If it weren’t for their help and the help of great friends, I don’t know where we’d be.”

The retail store was recently remodeled and expanded and Flechsig said a new website design is under way.

“I think the future holds growth for us, that expansion will be at the remodeled store but mostly through the Internet,” Flechsig said. “After 18 years, I’m just really learning how to do this now, so if we’re halfway through, then the second half is sure to be even better.”

For more information visit www.madriveroutfitters.com.“If we can play even a small part in that, we want to. We want to keep doing this because we truly believe in
it.”

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/School-Closet

Parents looking for school uniforms have been turning to the School Closet & School Days stores for nearly three decades.

Owner Kay Butsko said while the business has evolved, it remains grounded in what she believes are its keys to success: service, quality products and employees.

“We opened our doors selling the highest-quality school uniforms we could, because this isn’t a shirt or pants you’re going to wear just once a week; the kids wear them hard, daily,” Butsko said.

“You always have to change your business to stay with the times, your marketing and technology, but one thing stays the same: You have to have a good product and really good service.”

Those quality products and focus on service paid off in a recent poll.

“We won best school uniform store in central Ohio in the Columbus Parent reader poll, and I told my employees that this award is really for them, because we’ve been blessed with amazing employees,” Butsko said.

The family-owned and -operated company currently has 13 employees at three locations: 2497 E. Main St. in Bexley, 73 N. Stygler Road in Gahana, and 4507 N. High St. in Clintonville.

“We opened our first store in Bexley,” she said. “We eventually outgrew that, so we’re now in our second location in Bexley and we have a location in Clintonville and another in Gahanna. We also ship to customers around the country through our website.”

As a longtime business customer of Key Bank, the business first launched its online store as a part of a Key Bank test group.

“About 15 years ago, during the first surge in online shopping, Key offered us a software package to help build our website and sales and grow our online presence,” Butsko said. “Eventually, we outgrew that, but we were fortunate to get that start.”

The business has grown beyond just school uniforms. Corporate and organization-branded clothing and merchandise is a growing component of the business, according to Butsko.

“When we opened, we started as just school uniforms, but pretty quickly, parents began asking if we could do clothes for their businesses,” she said. “More and more companies are branding themselves with their employees. We’re also doing a lot of choirs across the country.”

Although the Internet has allowed School Closet & School Days to sell to a more global market, as a local business owner, Butsko said she believes it is important to support the local communities.

“We care about the community because we want it to survive and thrive, because we live here. If the community thrives, so can the business,” Butsko said. “If you look at the local businesses that have been around — and we’re one of the oldest around in Bexley –  most of them are family-owned and are very much a part of the community.”

For more information about the School Closet & School Days stores, visit www.schoolcloset.com.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/shade-on-the-canal

Shade on the Canal restaurant has been a staple of downtown Canal Winchester since the 1920s, and that community connection is important to the current owners.

Greg Powers and his business partner, Ralph Lusher, own Shade’s, as it is known by locals, as well as the Leghorn restaurants in Heath and Athens.

According to Powers, after the restaurant became vacant in 2000, he saw an opportunity to rebuild the business and benefit his community.

“The restaurant originally belonged to the Shade family,” Powers said. “It’s changed hands a number of times over the past 20 years now. I’ve lived in Canal Winchester for that long and know what the restaurant means to the community.”

Shade’s was his first business venture on his own after working in the corporate world.

“I love Canal Winchester, so it meant a lot to open my first business in the downtown area,” Powers said.

He said it took a lot of work to rehabilitate the building and reopen for business in 2004.

“The building sat empty for four years. Restaurant success rates are not high normally without this to deal with, so it took a while, talking to the owners of the building, to work out the deal,” Powers said. “It was a mess; you can’t imagine what it looks like when a building has been empty that long with no heat and a leaking roof.”

The building was gutted before being renovated, and since then, other improvements have been made at Shade’s to better serve the community, he said.

“We do a lot of community-based event hosting, like the Walk for a Cure and the Fire Department MDA kickoff that’s coming up; we donate 10 percent of our sales on those days to their causes,” Powers said.

“Right now, we’re preparing to add a patio at Shade’s and we’re continuing to spruce the place up, brighten it up,” he added. “We’re remodeling the kitchen so that we can handle more volume.”

The food at Shade’s is nearly all made from scratch, Powers said. Taking pride in what they make is one key to their success, he said.

“Foodwise, we make our own chili and chowder recipes, our own salad dressings. We just try to stay away from processed food as much as possible,” Powers said. “If you order our wings, they’re fresh, not frozen, and we make all our sauces from scratch. We take a lot of pride in our food, and that means going the extra mile and doing it ourselves.”

Another key to the success of Shade’s has been the staff, according to Powers. The restaurant employs about 75 people. Companywide, Powers’ three restaurants employ about 220 people. Many are young people in their first jobs, he said.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business for 22 years and know it’s important to hire fun and friendly people. It’s been nice to have a chance to shape these people and then watch them mature and grow,” Powers said. “We get compliments on the food, which is great, but we especially like when people ask how we found so many nice people to work for us.

“Our focus is taking care of our employees and our customers. If you care about the people you
hire, they will take care of your customers.”

Shade on the Canal is located at 19 S. High St., Canal Winchester.  For more information, visit www.shadeonthecanal.com.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/World-of-Bounce

The family behind Grove City’s World of Bounce used their own family’s expectations for a kid-friendly birthday party as the framework for their success.

Paul McKnight and his son, Jeff, have been partners in the family construction businesses since 1998. His daughter, Jennifer, approached them with the idea.

“In spring of 2008, Jennifer had taken one of her sons to a birthday party where they had huge inflatables. She came to us and said she enjoyed the concept and the kids liked it so much she thought it would work in Grove City,” Paul McKnight said. “I thought it was an opportunity for our family to develop the type of family center we would like, and since I had a building available, we decided to turn it into the World of Bounce.”

The three agreed that the focus should be on private parties in a safe environment where families could enjoy time with their guests, McKnight said.

“With 11 grandchildren, we’ve been to all of the other places around town and you spend all the time you’re there counting heads and trying to keep track of your kids,” he said. “So we knew we wanted a private party center with the biggest inflatables that we could get. Making this a family-friendly business has been very conscious in every decision we’ve made.”

There are two separate rooms filled with inflatables at the World of Bounce, which helps to maintain separation between the parties, according to McKnight. This strategy has worked well for the business so far.

“We’ve been able to stick with this plan pretty well. We have ‘open bounce’ at different times, and a ‘family bounce night’ where families can come and for a fixed price, get pizza and drinks and then enjoy the bounce houses,” he said. “That’s all by reservation, though, so that it doesn’t get out of hand.”

McKnight said he directs his employees to have fun at the job and interact with children and parents to make sure everyone is having fun.
“I think the biggest key for us is paying attention to detail. What we try to do is make every guest’s experience as good as it can be,” McKnight said. “We invite the parents to join the children on the inflatables and use the birthday child’s name as much as possible to recognize them on their day.

“We realize that these parents have chosen to spend their dollars with us, so we want to exceed their expectations, making sure everything is nice, orderly, clean and coordinated.”

The attention to detail and encouraging fun and participation is working, McKnight said.

“Even in today’s economic climate, we find that when you do your job correctly, you can be successful regardless,” he said. “Our long-term goal is to take the World of Bounce, its operation and procedures that we’ve developed, and open a second or third location.

“We checked into some franchises before starting this up and found the current franchise structure to leave something to be desired, so we may expand into that area, too, but it would be prototype. I don’t like to just follow the norm.”

For more information about the World of Bounce, visit www.worldofbounceparty.com or 1649 Gateway Circle in Grove City.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2012/05/14/growing-company-receives-additional-incentives.html

Manufacturer Manifold and Phalor will receive additional city incentives in its quest to hire skilled workers as part of expanding its Canal Winchester facility.

Canal Winchester City Council agreed unanimously May 7 to a deal that provides the company with a $42,000 loan, forgivable after five years if Manifold and Phalor succeeds in hiring eight new positions or increasing payroll by $376,000, as well as investing $300,000 in related equipment purchases.

The city currently provides Manifold and Phalor with a Commercial Reinvestment Area tax abatement for 15 years. In February, the state announced it would give the company a five-year Job Creation Tax Credit of $87,416 as a part of its expansion efforts.

“We have a chance to help this manufacturer grow their business after they came to us and asked for incentives to help with the expansion,” city Finance Director Nanisa Osborn said at the May 7 council meeting. “We think this is a good opportunity for the city and for this business.”

Osborn said hiring certified skilled machinists will be in done conjunction with the purchase of the specialized equipment the new employees will operate.

“They’ve been trying to recruit from as far north as Sandusky and as far south as Kentucky because those kinds of technical skills are difficult to fill in Ohio right now,” Osborn said of the company’s hiring efforts. “They’ve shared with us some cutting-edge activities they could be a part of and we’d like to see that happen in our community.”

Normally, the Canal Winchester Industry and Commerce Corp. would supply funding for an incentive such as this, Osborn said. However, the organization currently doesn’t have that amount available in its budget.

“This is something the CWICC could do but they don’t have the money, so this appropriation ordinance amendment will give the CWICC the $42,000 which they can then give to Manifold and Phalor,” Osborn said. “The city is asking (council) to suspend the rules (requiring three public hearings of the ordinance) because there is a timing issue with purchasing the equipment.”

Councilman Steve Donahue asked what the financial impact would be.

“Their payroll withholding for this would be right around $42,000, so this loan would be equivalent to that,” Osborn said. “The loan is forgiven if they stay in the community and meet the agreed commitments over the next five years.

“Due to the CRA, they are already expected to stay for 15 years. If they don’t, they’ll have to pay us back in full.”

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2012/05/14/downtown-zoning-changes-get-final-council-approval.html

After more than a year’s worth of meetings and revisions, Canal Winchester City Council approved sweeping changes May 7 to the city’s downtown zoning code.

At the May 7 council meeting, members voted unanimously to accept the final amendments to five previously tabled ordinances.

Current council rules require an extra public hearing if an amendment is made during the final reading of an ordinance. However, council voted to suspend that rule last week and proceed with the vote. No residents provided testimony.

The new zoning laws will go into effect 30 days after the mayor signs off on them.

“I just want to say thank you (to council) for sticking with us through these Old Town ordinances and working with us to get them adopted,” Development Director Lucas Haire said. “I especially want to thank (Planning and Zoning Administrator Andrew Dutton) for putting in countless hours to get these done.”

Dutton said there were about 20 public meetings held on the proposed legislation prior to the final vote.

“We had a meeting first with downtown business owners, then public workshops and then several discussions in committees and with staff,” Dutton said. “(This legislation will) streamline the zoning code and process to make it easier in the downtown area to make changes.”

The legislation creates an Old Town Zoning District with 495 current properties.

Of those properties, 138 will be rezoned Old Town commercial from general commercial; six will be rezoned Old Town single-family from general commercial; seven will be rezoned Old Town multifamily residential from multifamily residential; and 344 will be rezoned Old Town single-family residential from low-density residential.

All property owners have been notified of the zoning change, Haire said.

Properties previously subject to Landmarks Commission review are the only ones affected by the change, Dutton said. Discussions about adding other areas were not pursued by council.

The new zoning code addresses issues specific to the downtown area, Dutton said. He said it is aimed at simplifying the approval process for redevelopment and changes to structures, minimizing the number of conditional uses being administered, encouraging a more pedestrian-oriented downtown and prohibiting certain uses.

“Geographically, we’re talking about a small section of town,” Haire said. “The idea is to protect the investment people have made down here and build off of that.”

Amendments to the current Preservation District guidelines also were adopted, creating separate sections for the Historic District and the Preservation District, both of which are within the Old Town zoning district.

The Landmarks Commission is in the process of reviewing all the Preservation District guidelines, said commission President Patrick Lynch. When all of the proposed edits to the guidelines have been made, they will have to be approved by council before taking effect.

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, May 21, at Town Hall, 10 N. High St.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2012/05/14/sowing-gods-garden-community-plots-are-part-of-churchs-outreach.html

Since Gender Road Christian Church opened its doors in 1999, its congregation has been making plans for a community garden.

This summer, those plans have finally blossomed.

The city of Canal Winchester’s community garden was one of many inspirations for the church, the Rev. Kay McGlinchey said, and its success helped to move the church’s garden plans forward.

“I’ve visited several community gardens and talked with the folks behind the Canal Winchester community garden and they said they didn’t have enough plots,” said McGlin-chey, the church’s minister of nurture. “Their setup is very similar to ours, so they said if we went ahead, they’d send their overage to us.”

The church at 5336 Gender Road has nearly 13 acres of land, said McGlinchey. Plots are available in three different sizes: 10 by 20 feet for $20 a plot; and 10 by 10 and 10 by 6 feet, both for $10.

Reservations for plots currently are being accepted at the website genderroadcc.com.

“Our senior pastor (John Romig) will be plowing up the ground and getting it ready for gardens,” McGlinchey said. “We feel that sharing this land that God provided us is a way of God’s work being done.”

There will be both a teaching and service component associated with the community garden, she said.

“We have a daycare here that we’re going to encourage to use this as a teaching tool, as well as with our Cub Scout group that meets here,” McGlinchey said. “We hope that people who can afford to will donate part or all of their produce to the Community Food Pantry as well, and we invite groups to take advantage of our space to do this, too, to support the pantry.”

The church hopes to have plots ready for planting by May 24; however, there is no water supply for the gardens.

“Gardeners will have to bring their own water. We do have a stream that they may be able to collect water from, though, and we’ll have a compost pile,” McGlinchey said.

The gardens will be available through Oct. 1, by which time gardeners are expected to clean up their plots.

“The garden was in our original plans and we’ve been talking much more about it over the past three years,” McGlinchey said. “With the economy as it is and interest in (gardens), we felt it was needed now.

“This is a mission project for us, to give people the chance to grow their own food and control the way it is grown.”

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2012/05/07/music–art-in-the-park-annual-summer-concert-series-starts-may-18.html

Canal Winchester’s 2012 Music & Art in the Park summer concert series kicks off Friday, May 18, with country music by Cliff Cody.

Other events are planned for June 15 and July 20, all at Stradley Place on South High Street in downtown Canal Winchester. All are free and run from 6 to 9 p.m.

Among the attractions on May 18 will be a display of fire, police, military and construction vehicles, a magician and free balloon art by Miss Dee the clown.

The Canal Winchester Art Guild will provide live art demonstrations, with artwork available to view and purchase.

City Administrator Diane Mays said people are welcome to bring picnics, although no alcohol is permitted.

The event usually grows to about 300 people by the end of the summer, Mays said.

“The kids are always dancing around and sometimes the adults get up and dance, too,” she said. “We like to make sure and have things for the kids to do on their own so that the parents have a chance to sit down and enjoy the music a little bit.”

The June 15 event will feature 1970s cover band Agent 99, an inflatable obstacle course, a magician and balloon artists.

The July 20 event will have live music from The Gas Pump Jockeys, along with an airbrush tattoo artist and a caricature artist, Sean Platt.

The July concert also includes a cruise-in, sponsored by Jeff Wyler Chevrolet, with awards for People’s Choice, Mayor’s Choice, Band’s Choice, Sponsor’s Choice and Farthest Traveled. Dash plaques will be given to the first 50 registrants. Registration is from 5 to 6 p.m. the night of the event, with advance registration available by emailing dmays@canalwinchesterohio.gov.

According to Mays, Music & Art in the Park has been an annual tradition in Canal Winchester for more than seven years and is a favorite for many residents.

“I can say, bringing my kids down to these is great. They have fun playing with the other kids and my daughter loves the airbrush tattoo artist,” she said. “The downtown businesses are usually busy; Shade’s is always packed and people get food to carry out over here, and we will have a food truck.”

More information is available online at www.canalwinchesterohio.gov.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2012/05/07/old-town-district-proposed-zoning-changes-returned-to-council-for-a-vote.html

Zoning code changes for Canal Winchester’s Old Town District are headed back to City Council for a vote.

The latest draft includes a conditional use for automobile repair and services and car washes when they are not the primary business use for a property; otherwise, they will be considered a prohibited business.

“We also added a section to allow sale items in a 25-square-foot or smaller area outside of Downtown businesses,” Zoning Administrator Andrew Dutton said. “Also, (we added) a section to allow outdoor seating, which includes indemnity for the city in case there is an accident.”

In March, council members tabled action on proposed changes to the code, asking that several concerns be addressed by staff members and committees first.

At the April 30 Committee of the Whole meeting, Dutton and Development Director Lucas Haire presented the revisions and answered questions for committee members.

“We’ve made some changes just for clarification, and we added some things based on what (council) said they were looking for,” Dutton said. “We’re also going front to back through the preservation guidelines with the Landmarks Commission, but it’ll take a few more months to do that.”

The Landmarks Commission uses the preservation guidelines in making decisions on whether to approve a requested certificate of appropriateness when a property owner in the historic district proposes an alteration or new construction.

The zoning code changes presented by Dutton and Haire are intended to streamline rehabilitation and redevelopment in the historic district by creating setbacks and development codes that conform to the smaller lot sizes and pedestrian focus of the area.

“Under current requirements (for new construction Downtown), you’d have to put the house back 30 feet (from the street) like the rest of the city, but with these changes, you’ll now match the setback of your neighbors’ houses without needing to request a variance,” Haire said.

Councilman Joe Abbott said he believes exterminators or other businesses that deal with chemicals should be allowed to open an office Downtown, as long as they don’t store chemicals on-site.

“We will need to change that text because right now, (an exterminator’s office) would be prohibited, even without the chemicals,” Dutton said.

Abbott requested that be changed.

“We used to have one right next door (to Town Hall),” Abbott said. “This should be a conditional use and not allow the chemicals so that … an exterminator’s office would just fall under office space.”

Dutton said any final proposed changes will be made before council votes on the guidelines.

According to the current council rules, because the proposed code changes were tabled on the third reading, a vote to approve the changes will be taken following a fourth reading, tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. May 21 at Town Hall, 10 N. High St.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2012/05/07/rules-changes-could-affect-how-quickly-council-can-act.html

Canal Winchester City Council is considering several changes in how it handles its business, which could affect the speed at which action could be taken.

In discussions at council’s April 30 Committee of the Whole meeting, city Development Director Lucas Haire said he wants a committee to hear planning and zoning issues on a monthly basis instead of during the quarterly Committee of the Whole sessions.

“My goal is to give certain projects that need it the ability to move at the speed of the project,” he said. “Waiting three months for this committee to hear something can be unreasonable, like with annexations.”

Several council members said they believe the Old Town Committee should hear any planning or zoning issues that Haire and Zoning Officer Andrew Dutton need to be brought before council.

“If (Haire) thinks he needs time, then let’s give him that time somewhere,” Councilman Steve Donahue said. “A lot of times, Old Town doesn’t have meetings, so those people have the time to be involved in this.”

Councilwoman Bobbie Mershon said the rule requiring a piece of legislation amended on a third reading to have a fourth reading before a vote would be changed to allow for a final vote to occur immediately.

She also suggested controversial topics should go through a committee first before being placed on council’s agenda.

“I don’t want staff to have more meetings at night then they have to, so if there are topics that are going to send up a red flag, we shouldn’t put them on a council agenda until after it’s been approved by committee,” Mershon said.

She was referring to a recent request to remove a review of a demolition request from the Landmarks and Planning and Zoning commissions and send it directly to council without those commissions hearing the request first.

Currently, committees are established by City Council to review, investigate and then recommend action to council. Committees are composed of members of council and city staff. Commissions are established under city code and are a combination of appointed residents and staff members.

“A member of a committee should approve all the resolutions that have been placed on the agenda before they’re heard by council,” Mershon said. “We should put that in as a matter of course, unless there’s an emergency.”

Public Works Director Matt Peoples said it is important to have language that allows council to skip a committee hearing if it would be detrimental to the city to wait.

“I think that’s when mandatory sponsorship (of proposed legislation) takes place,” he said. “If we find out about something Friday morning that we have to act on, we’ll call a member of the appropriate committee to sponsor the legislation before it gets to council. That rarely happens.

“Before we put in a mandatory requirement that (proposed legislation) go through committee, we should write something that shows that intent but still allows us to be flexible.”

Finance Director Nanisa Osborn pointed out council already has the right to suspend the rules calling for three readings of an ordinance before it is voted on.

“Remember that that is what you’re doing when you declare an emergency,” she said. “These are the rules you’re suspending.”

Peoples said other suggested changes focus on Canal Winchester’s move from village to city status, and update responsibilities split among council, staff and committees.

Council’s Rules Committee will finalize the changes based on suggestions from the Committee of the Whole prior to bringing those changes to council for a vote.