The Cincinnati Local Development Co. (CLDC) isn't losing any local popularity contests, but it isn't winning any, either.
It's just been going sort of unnoticed.
Here's a downtown group, providing small-business support, organized almost 15 years. Yet few people know it to call and query about a loan, the group's main function.
''It hasn't been real active,'' executive director Glenn Clevenger explained. ''That's why they hired me.''
Mr. Clevenger joined the non-profit CLDC in December to give the group, based in Centennial Plaza, some presence, a little profile.
''Our focus is on the city,'' he said, referring to Cincinnati-proper businesses. CLDC offers the SBA 504 Program loan and the city's Small Business Loan Fund.
A former banker of 20 years and small-business owner, Mr. Clevenger knows what puts these loans into the pockets of entrepreneurs: banks. So for the past three months, he's been schmoozing with bankers, executives and others who could refer businesses to his group. He's had almost 100 meetings with bankers so far.
And Mr. Clevenger is optimistic that they'll help. Included in his future plans are a newsletter, some advertising and a thank-you dinner for the bankers who will direct business toward CLDC. Call 352-1958.
EARS TO YOU:
At what price success? Deborah Spangler, owner of Deborah Spangler Communications in Blue Ash, said she paid with an open ear and an open mind.
''I listened to all the advice that everybody in the world gave me,'' she said. ''It didn't matter who it was.
''I tried almost all of it and narrowed down what worked from there.''
Four years later, she's listening to praises. Ms. Spangler will be collecting an entrepreneurship award on her business' anniversary Thursday, just a few days after opening the doors to an Indianapolis office.
Ms. Spangler is one of a dozen Cincinnati women to be honored Thursday at the third annual ''Celebration of Women'' luncheon reception, sponsored by 29 Greater Cincinnati women's organizations, called Leading Women. The event coincides with Women's History Month.
The other women are: Kathy Fryer Helmbrock, advocacy; Marie Speziale, arts; Marilyn Mitchell, corporate/business; Eila Roark, education; Jo Anne Warren, office support; Marcia Swehla, medicine/health care; Betsy Ross, media; Laura Rosato, research/technology; Patricia Mann Smitson, law/law enforcement; Jane Anderson, public service; and Maya Hamler, Young Women's Recognition Award. Ms. Hamler's award is a first for the organization.
PRESSING AWARD:
Will Prime Valet Cleaners box or hang its recent award, naming it one of the top-five U.S. cleaners for plant design?
American Drycleaners magazine selected Valet's Union Township plant, opened in September, among 38,000 plants in the United States and Canada. The magazine cited its environmental controls, work-flow efficiency, system backups and employee comfort.
Valet owns seven stores and three retail routes. It posted 1996 sales of about $1.6 million and a net profit of about $55,000.
Lisa Biank Fasig covers small-business news for The Enquirer. Call her at 768-8498.
