Women Of Influence

There were times, over the past few months, that Luconda Dager didn’t want to get out of bed.

Dager is president of Velvet Ice Cream, and the Utica-based company was outsourcing ice cream production to three partners in the Midwest. The shift followed a listeria scare in April, discovered via the company’s routine testing. It’s also part of an effort to boost capacity after strong demand in 2020...

Lori Duncan wasn't exactly sure what to do with her fine arts degree from Ohio State University. So she went rafting. Professionally. Duncan spent her post-college years as a whitewater rafting guide in West Virginia, filling her time during the winter months working in the ski industry. After nearly a decade, she realized it was time to get a "real job," a decision that led her to Columbus' retail industry. But that's not where her journey ended...

The client wanted the impossible: Give a robot all the skills of a human welder. Five years ago a custom automotive and marine supplier in Cleveland asked what was then an engineering consulting firm to help him with a labor shortage, and Path Robotics Inc. was born. "The tolerances are incredibly tight, that you have to keep with welding," co-founder and CEO Andy Lonsberry said...

Early on in Robbie Banks' career, she grew used to being in rooms where she was the only woman, the only young person, and often, the only person of color. Banks, the new program director for diversity, equity and inclusion for the Columbus Partnership, is now helping Columbus' private sector build more racial equity inside their organizations...

It’s almost hard to believe there was a time when good coffee just wasn’t a thing. But it wasn’t that long ago. Greg Ubert was working in computer software in the late 1980s, but what really captured his imagination was coffee — real, good coffee; the art and science of roasting. And, of course, the potential for business. “Good coffee just wasn’t widely available,” he said. “It wasn’t around. It wasn’t accessible...

Count North Country Charcuterie among those businesses that are wiser and more efficient at this point in the pandemic. The Columbus-based maker and processor of salami, fresh sausage and other products has used new offerings to make a better-balanced business and refigured production space to better maximize its use. The moves create more consistent cash flow and buy them more time in their current facility before they need to consider an expansion...

Harley Blakeman's LinkedIn profile is one of a kind, but he's working to change that. The founder of Columbus tech company Honest Jobs LLC lists one prior job and the book he wrote, then drops this attention grabber: "Drug dealer, January 2009 - November 2010.""Started with $500 and grew the business to over $8,000/month in revenue," reads the description for the self-employed role. "Met and exceeded customer expectations. Successfully managed multiple suppliers. .....

When LC Johnson was thinking of launching her organization Zora's House, she was balancing two competing feelings. On the one hand, she was feeling burned out from years of being an entrepreneur, but being a relatively new resident to the city, she deeply desired to build a community for other Black women and women of color in Columbus. "I was really starting to look for community," said Johnson, in the latest episode of our Women of Influence podcast...

Comune will reopen for business, but that was never a sure thing. Co-owner Joe Galati said he met with his accountant in November. The accountant asked him what Galati believed his chances of going bankrupt were. Galati said 20%. The accountant said 90% “That hit the hardest,” Galati said. “There’s a very good chance this is all going away. … That lights a fire. That’s not going to happen. What are we going to do?” The situation is better today...

Business in times of struggle often talk of getting back to their roots. Not North High Brewing. Like many breweries and other businesses, the last year was one of big changes in the face of challenges, but the North High of today doesn’t resemble the one first dreamed up by co-founders Gavin Meyers and Tim Ward a decade ago. They didn’t want to run any brewpub. Today they have four and could be in double digits by the end of the year...