Cincinnati business leaders share insights on pricing, workforce
Cleveland Fed president and CEO Beth M. Hammack covered the gamut of timely economic issues during an afternoon in Cincinnati.
From small business owners navigating pricing pressures to nonprofit executives tackling affordable housing, President Hammack recently heard from Cincinnati business leaders about how they are navigating an uncertain economic environment.
On June 2, Brendon Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, and Christy Samad, executive vice president with nonprofit development corporation 3CDC, led Hammack on a tour of the city’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Stops included Cintrifuse, a nonprofit that helps startup firms grow; Graeter’s, an iconic ice cream purveyor; Nostalgia, a thriving jazz club and restaurant; and Thunderdome, a Cincinnati-based restaurant group.
Tammie Scott, owner of Nostalgia jazz club and wine bar, tells Hammack about her expansion plans and challenges keeping pace with ups and downs in customer demand
The businesses mentioned inflation and the workforce as key factors in their near-term outlooks. And yet each also expressed cautious optimism about the future. Several had expansion plans, and most pointed to the resiliency of the markets where they do business as important to their growth expectations.
Hammack gets some Over-the-Rhine insights from Brendon Cull, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber
While enjoying a cup of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from Graeter’s, Hammack asked Rich Graeter, president and CEO of the fifth-generation ice cream company, how inflation in recent years has affected business. Graeter noted that the company has increased prices to keep up with rising costs but that overall, the business continues to adapt to the economic landscape.
Chip Graeter (left), chief of retail operations at Graeter’s, and Rich Graeter (center), president and CEO, talk with Hammack about the business’s outlook
Hammack also met with Joe and John Lanni, owners of Thunderdome Restaurant Group. They said that despite some pricing pressures and the ongoing challenge of recruiting and retaining workers, their business continues to grow. In fact, they are looking at opening new locations in the coming year.
Hammack talks with Thunderdome Restaurant Group owners John (left) and Joe (right) Lanni on the patio of one of their establishments, Pepp and Dolores
Hammack capped her afternoon with a meeting at the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority. There, the topic was affordable housing and the Port’s efforts to rehabilitate formerly investor-owned homes. Port CEO Laura Brunner and her team told Hammack that rising construction and acquisition costs have made it increasingly difficult to keep homes affordable for buyers—a challenge for everyone in the building sector.
Even so, the Port has made great progress, recently selling its 47th home as part of the CARE Homes Initiative, converting what were once investor-owned properties into affordable homeownership opportunities.
From left to right, Andrew Garth (Port), Robert Brinkley (Cleveland Fed), Hammack, Jilson Daniels (Port), Melissa Johnson (Port), and Laura Brunner (Port)
About President Beth M. Hammack’s Around the District tour
President Hammack is visiting communities across the Fourth District as part of her Around the District tour to meet and connect with the people who live and work in all corners of the region and to gain a better understanding of how the economy is working in different communities. The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Hammack will use this information to inform her policy views and better represent the Fourth District around the Federal Open Market Committee table.
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Beth M. Hammack
Beth M. Hammack is the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, one of 12 regional Reserve Banks in the Federal Reserve System.
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