Cincinnati Tech Team Plays `In Your Face' With Silicon Valley.

Business Editors, High Tech Writers

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2001

Cincinnati is playing an in-your-face pickup game with Silicon Valley, leading up to the Cincinnati Bearcats taking on the Stanford Cardinal in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tourney Thursday in Anaheim.

Cincinnati's "Fast Break" New Economy Team has placed full-page ads in the Palo Alto Daily News March 21 and 22, driving home the Queen City's high-quality, affordable lifestyle for tech professionals, and the region's new high-tech Web site, www.cincytechusa.com.

"Hey Silicon Valley, Beat This Cincinnati Slam Dunk!" shouts the ad, which goes on to explain that www.techies.com recently ranked Cincinnati in the Top 10 of most affordable U.S. cities for tech professionals, while New York City and Silicon Valley were ranked last.

(To view the ad, go to: http://www.gccc.com/about_chamber/news/techad.pdf).

Since mid-August 2000, Cincinnati has been on a "fast break" mission to position the Queen City as a player in the New Economy, with an all-out effort spearheaded by A.G. Lafley, president/CEO of The Procter & Gamble Co., and Johnathan Holifield, vice president of New Economy Enterprise at the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Holifield, an attorney and former running back for the Cincinnati Bengals, has acted as a catalyst for bringing together the traditional powers of Cincinnati business -- P&G, E.W. Scripps, Fifth-Third Bank, Broadwing and Cincinnati Bell -- with the talent of New Economy startups and Digital Rhine dot-coms -- such as planetfeedback, Copernus, Evicity and Synchrony Communications.

"Cincinnati is fully engaged as a major-league player in the New Economy, and we're coming to the table with bright young talent to reshape our image," Holifield said. "The ponytails are inspiring the big wigs to get down to business in the New Economy."

Cincinnati has been getting a lot of attention from the national and industry press as a New Economy boom town:

-- "Cincinnati area gets high-tech revival" -- headline, The New York Times,
March 4, 2001.

-- ". . .Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati. Home to the largest collection of
Italianate architecture in America, and a short walk from Cincinnati's
entertainment district, the old German enclave of corner stores and shuttered
breweries is becoming a new dot-com haven" -- Christian Science Monitor.

-- "Go to cybertown Cincinnati, with a fast wireless Broadwing LAN stretching
for blocks around offices and into chic coffeehouses." -- Forbes.

Holifield and team aren't satisfied with recent headlines and "fast break" successes. In November, P&G's Lafley and Holifield announced the Cincinnati Regional Technology Initiative (RTI), a 100-day comprehensive look into Cincinnati's role in the New Economy by six "accelerator" teams. The RTI report -- due late spring -- is expected to spark even more interest by New Economy firms hit by the high cost of operating in Silicon Valley, Boston and New York City, as well as brand-new entrepreneurial start-ups. Last week the RTI launched a Web site at www.cincytechusa.com.

Cincinnati officials point out, due to Broadwing's headquarters and leadership here, Cincinnati is one of the most highly penetrated high-bandwidth cities in the United States. And Cincinnati's Digital Rhine in the historic Over-the-Rhine district, just north of Downtown, ranks as the nation's first wireless incubator.

"We have a lot to build on in Cincinnati -- wireless and Dark Fiber infrastructure, high-tech talent from top universities and colleges, and an affordable quality of life in a true, major-league city," Holifield said. "Just like the University of Cincinnati Bearcats with their famed full-court press, we've got the momentum and we're going to be in your face with it." For more information, contact Johnathan Holifield at [phone].