Search the list of cities that will get the first Comair service July 2, and it isn't difficult to figure out why they're on the list.

        Appleton, Wis.? Hmmm, Procter & Gamble Co. has a couple of plants in nearby Green Bay.

        Huntsville, Ala.? That is the home of a Toyota Motor Manufacturing assembly plant, under construction.

        Grand Rapids, Mich.? It's probably a coincidence, but Fifth Third Bancorp just bought Old Kent Financial Corp. there.

        After a debilitating 89-day strike that ended Friday night, the regional airline wanted to get up and running quickly. And those three companies provide a consistent base of passengers to Comair cities.

        For example, Toyota's most popular destinations from here are Toronto and Detroit, two others on the list.

        Comair only said it based the decision on the number of passengers connecting onto Comair flights, whether Comair provided the only jet service there and whether competitors were operating in the same airport.
       

Riverfront pitch
        The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority last week extended the carrot to developers to bid on The Banks riverfront project.

        But will any of them bite?

        Not many, unless they are assured that Cincinnati and Hamilton County can fund the surrounding streets and parking garages, a prominent local developer said.

        That money is in doubt, with the county now saying it doesn't have sales-tax funds to build the garages to support the development.

        Though most developers like the concept, they won't leap at it, said Arn Bortz of Towne Properties.

        And privately, several developers questioned whether they want to jump through hoops such as chaotic Cincinnati City Council meetings and the city's Urban Design Review Board, which approves all designs.

        “I think it's a good project, and it's important that it happen,” Mr. Bortz said. “But any well-informed developer is going to certainly hedge his bets and devote a minimal amount of time at this early stage.”

        While most big developers easily can respond to the Request for Qualifications issued last week, the later Request for Proposals can require more — up to half a million dollars — for models, architects and the like.
       

Fifth Third donations
        The Taft Museum of Art and Children's Hospital Medical Center will be the beneficiaries of two $1 million gifts from Fifth Third Bank.

        Through its own foundation and three private trusts that it manages, the bank will contribute one gift to the $17.5 million Taft renovation.

        In a separate gift from the Jacob Schmidlapp Trust, Fifth Third has contributed to the Albert Sabin Education Center at Children's. The high-tech space is almost complete, fully wired for training and other corporate functions.

        If you have a tip about Greater Cincinnati companies, send e-mail to Cliff Peale at cpeale@enquirer.com or call 768-8573.
       

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