Hosts Andy and Tom are joined by Business Courier reporters Brian Planalp, Abby Miller and Steve Watkins to dissect some of the biggest local news stories of 2023. Those include a record number of restaurants closing in Cincinnati – more than when Covid-19 broke out in 2020 – as well as an unassuming local millionaire leaving $270 million to local organizations; Cincinnati gaining a new Fortune 500 company; what's going on with downtown real estate as companies figure out what to do about remote and hybrid work and their physical office space; and the Western & Southern Open selecting Cincinnati as its permanent home following a $400 million bid by Charlotte, N.C., to lure the tournament there.

Above the Fold will go on hiatus after Dec. 25, 2023.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about Kroger's plans to bring its office workers back in four days a week, a public company re-establishing its headquarters in Cincinnati, Coney Island's sale to a music organization to make was for a $118 million concert venue, a badly needed parking garage at Findlay Market and Taste of Belgium's reboot.

Interview starts at (21:20). Graeter's became an ice cream empire and a brand synonymous with Cincinnati by not embracing new technology. At a time when the new continuous process ice cream makers were putting neighborhood parlors out of business by making fast, cheap desserts, Graeter's doubled down on doing things the old fashioned way, and that's what makes it special. But that's not to say the chain isn't innovating. Graeter talks about his company's collaboration with other local brands, and how it comes up with each year's unique bonus flavors.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Hosts Andy and Tom have a look at the uncertain future of the office market downtown, starting with a story on the potential foreclosure of an office tower, followed by GE pulling all of its employees out of its onetime Global Operations Center at the Banks, and then a potential new buyer for an iconic Camp Washington building and new rules banning surface parking lots downtown. We finish, as all good things do, with a burger.

Interview starts at (22:02). When you think of the yellow school bus, you probably don't think of innovation. First Student CEO John Kenning wants to change that, and he has the background for it. Tesla is the name that comes first to mind when thinking of electric vehicles, but Kenning wants his buses in that conversation. He talks about how he brings technology to the school bus industry, and why his company moved its headquarters to the GE building at the Banks and consolidated from five floors to one.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about the sale of Eastgate Mall to a new owner, a Cincinnati marketing exec who was slated to live on a cruise for three years, a local restaurant being named one of the best new eateries in America, the uncertain future of Reds games broadcasts locally and the Queen City's newest B Corporation.

Interview starts at (21:49). Rachel DesRochers started out with $1,000 and a vegan graham cracker recipe. Today, she runs a successful baking company, a restaurant incubator that has graduated some of the region's biggest names and is two years into running a conference for women's empowerment that is backed by P&G. She talks with us about how she got her start and using gratitude to grow her businesses.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about three new retailers with cult followings opening in the Cincinnati region, a fumble in the $1.6B sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, NKU adding six new varsity sports while facing a multi-million dollar deficit, the closing of one of OTR's oldest breweries and the shuttering of a historic downtown eatery.

Interview starts at (23:28). Chad Munitz wasn’t a big soccer fan before joining FC Cincinnati, but he did geek out about real estate. His career spans stints as the economic development director of the city of Cincinnati, executive vice president with 3CDC and VP with Towne Properties, and when Cincinnati’s major league soccer team needed someone to focus full-time on real estate as it embarked on a massive, $300 million mixed-use project surrounding its West End home in TQL Stadium, they turned to Chad. He talked with us about what’s planned for that project and how it will reshape that urban neighborhood.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about the results of the Nov. 7 election and the surprise passage of the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern, objections to new apartment projects near popular neighborhood business districts, FC Cincinnati's Cinderella season, the closing of a sports betting site inside of Taft's Ale House and Kings Island's big merger.

Interview starts at (23:15). Rhinegeist is not only the largest brewery in Cincinnati, but the 23rd-largest in the nation. It's done all of that with only one brick-and-mortar taproom to serve customers from, while other local breweries open second, third and even fourth locations. New CEO Adam Bankovich talks about the possibility of Rhinegeist opening a new taproom, as well as the return of a fan-favorite beverage and how the brewery manages growth as the broader craft beer market flattens.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Host Andy Brownfield and special guest host Chris Wetterich talk about the campaign to convince voters to allow the city to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway, and its chances of passing; a planned overhaul of Central Parkway into a Champs Elysee-style boulevard; the purchase of a historic downtown building to partially demolish for the new Brent Spence Bridge companion; a new food hall at Newport on the Levee; and resort-style apartments coming to the East Side.

Interview starts at (24:35). Means Cameron felt a lot of impostor syndrome at Miami University, where he was one of very few Black students at a 97% white college. His straight As in high school in the West End translated to Cs in college, but the experience, while alien, was transformative and informed the creation of his clothing brand Black Owned. Means talks about growing the brand from selling out of the trunk of his car to a downtown retail store and adjoining coffee lounge, as well as high-profile collaborations with the Cincinnati Bengals, FC Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about how Cincinnati's downtown hasn't returned to normal since the Covid-19 pandemic, and is faring worse than most other cities; as well as how FC Cincinnati's payroll stacks up against the MLS; a lawsuit against the city's largest single-family landlord; the staggering number of $1 million home listings across the city; and how two of Time Magazine's top inventions of 2023 came from the Queen City.

Interview starts at (23:55). Elizabeth Pierce leads the Cincinnati Museum Center at arguably the city's most iconic building: Union Terminal. She talks with us about how the building is a museum transformed since the nearly $200 million overhaul in 2018, celebrating America's 250-year anniversary and Ohio's place in it, as well as preserving our local history.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Hosts Andy and Tom talk about a new minor league soccer team coming to the region, Rhinegeist's new CEO, an update on Xavier University's plans to bring football back, the more than 200 letters written about P.G. Sittenfeld ahead of his sentencing on corruption charges and a wave of philanthropy benefitting local museums.

Interview starts at (20:43). John Faherty was a journalist for 25 years – he spearheaded the Storytellers series for the Enquirer most recently – but now as the executive director for downtown’s Mercantile Library, he says he’s in the last job he will ever have. The Mercantile is in the midst of doubling in size, taking over the 12th floor of the building it has called home for 183 years. Faherty talks about his career in journalism, the library’s expansion and how it secured a 10,000-year lease, brokered by the father of an American president.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Host Andy Brownfield and special guest host Chris Wetterich talk about the decision to keep the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, P.G. Sittenfeld's sentence for his two corruption convictions, a new hotel tax bringing Hamilton County among the most expensive in the nation, the more than 30 restaurants that have closed this year and a BBQ place beloved by President Biden that's expanding.

Interview starts at (25:07). Regina Russo is no stranger to having all eyes on her. She began her career in the broadcast radio world before becoming a TV news reporter and anchor. Now she runs her own communications and coaching firm. When she heard that host Andy Brownfield was terrified of public speaking – before a group of college students, no less – she offered to come on the podcast to talk him down.

Above the Fold is a podcast by the Cincinnati Business Courier.