Mike Ponder's makes flavors and fragrances.

And Sal Wertheim's makes schnitzel and sauerkraut.

They're in different parts of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and different industries, but they all are symbols of Cincinnati's German connection - both its past and its future.

The 19th-century wave of German immigrants that came to Cincinnati created the work force, skilled trades and industrial economy that supports them all.

While few companies now would locate here solely because of the region's German roots, those immigrants spawned signs of German culture that remain today, from the numerous Oktoberfest celebrations every year - including Oktoberfest Zinzinnati that starts downtown Saturday - to the thousands of local residents who have joined German clubs such as the Germania Society.

The city of Cincinnati's 15-year Sister City relationship with Munich is alive and well, and Blue Ash and Colerain Township have similar relationships.

"Even if you have a big German community, these are second and third generations," said Ingrid Thomas, president of the Munich Sister City Association of Greater Cincinnati. "Most of the people are not speaking German anymore. But I still think it's a drawing point."

Overall, about 467,000 Greater Cincinnatians reported German as their first ancestry in the 2000 census, by far the biggest country, dwarfing the Irish at 161,000. That was about 180,000 fewer people than the 1990 census.

Some of that culture has translated to business:

• Greater Cincinnati has traditionally been strong in the skilled trades that those immigrants brought, from bakers to printers, said Don Tolzmann, curator of the German-Americana Collection at the University of Cincinnati.

• Local icons such as Kroger Co. and Graeter's Ice Cream sprang from German immigrants.

• There are about 60 German companies operating here today, more than any other European country, according to the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

• Hofbrauhaus, the Bavarian institution that is one of Munich's top tourist draws, chose Greater Cincinnati to open one of its first North American locations.

Heritage not main concern

But today, companies care less about German heritage than bottom-line concerns, including highway and river transportation, the growing international airport and the stable work force.

"It's centrally located and there's a really good work ethic and work environment here," said Ponder, president and chief executive officer of Wild Flavors Inc., which invested $40 million into its North American headquarters in Erlanger seven years ago and just paid another $5.4 million for a nearby warehouse to expand.

"Cincinnati's a hub of the flavor industry," Ponder added. "It's just a really nice location for us."

Local development pros hoped when they left for Munich this week on a trade mission led by Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken to add more companies like Wild Flavors to the mix.

For the first time, they have gathered German biotechnology companies and entrepreneurs in Munich today to try to find connections.

Luken and others also will visit specific prospects who are considering relocating or expanding in Greater Cincinnati.

It was just such a visit from then-Mayor Roxanne Qualls five years ago, during a similar Sister City trip to Munich, that helped cement a decision by Baerlocher, a Bavarian maker of plastics additives, to build a plant in Cincinnati.

The Winton Place plant opened in mid-2001, and including an adjacent warehouse the company just opened several weeks ago, it has invested $24 million in the operation, said Kuebel, chief financial officer.

Baerlocher employs only one German employee here, and that worker did not come directly from the German parent company, Kuebel said.

He said the best things about operating here are the region's low costs, incentives from the city of Cincinnati and accessible transport systems. Several of its largest raw materials suppliers also are here, he said.

"I think we're very satisfied here," Kuebel said.

"One of the nice things about Cincinnati is, there's a lot of freight that can come in. It's very easy to get product in and out."

Those business connections can create customers for people like Sal Wertheim, who has operated Wertheim's restaurant on Covington's MainStrasse since 1989.

"We need to continue to promote the relationships like the Sister Cities program, which brings new people to the area," Wertheim said. "We must not let the German heritage die."

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com