06/10/11: A Hands On Adventure: For Ambitious Adults!

BUSINESS SECTION, Above the Fold

A Hands On Adventure: For Ambitious Adults!
By: Aaron Sedaka

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The meeting of the business moguls was conducted as part of a benefit for the AHA! A Hands-On Adventure: Children's Museum. In between enjoying the various exhibits and a luncheon catered by Columbus' own celebrated catering genius, Agnes Maize, the attending Chief Executive Officers, Vice-Presidents, and consultants were able to discuss their bigger business plans to each other. Even heated competitors like James Renton, C.E.O. of Citystart LLC., and Logan Bowman, C.E.O. of Shawnee Corporation were shaking hands and exchanging chuckles and stock tips. The two men have been fighting each other financially for over two years, although it is said that Bowman is the more aggressive entrepreneur, having established fourteen new places of business in the southern half of the state in only the past four months. Much of that effort, sources say, was very hands-on for Bowman, who insisted on meeting with each and every employee brought into Shawnee Co. and discussing their future careers with the corporation.

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The merger of Lancaster's own Aqua Rich Development and GratisWater Innovations, headquartered in Empire LA, was entirely unexpected by the economic enthusiasts of the state. Elvis Shell, 24, of Portland OR may become the most popular young business consultant of the year after his hands-on work with the two companies. In a recent press release he offered: "People all over the world are becoming more concerned with where their energy is coming from, but they're also becoming more aware of the negative impact our dependence on energy has on the planet. Both C.E.O's, Mr. Arquette and Mr. Castle, knew it was time to think about how hydromet could become both viable and responsible."

Hydrometallurgy is the technology where metals are extracted into an aqueous solution and subsequently recovered by a variety of methods. Hydrometallurgy is mainly based on the science of inorganic and physical chemistry. Many hydrometallurgical unit processes involve metal transformations between a solid and liquid phase as well as changes of oxidation state within the liquid phase. Aqua Rich Development's expansion will include an emerging sub-field of the science that is growing in popularity: Biotechnology. Several noteworthy scientists were hired to implement the use of microbes to enhance the chemical processes required in hydrometallurgy.

"Even though hydrometallurgy strictly defined only deals with applications of economical interest, research and knowledge about natural geochemical processes involving metals probably relate to a better comprehension of hydrometallurgy," Shell said in a news bulletin to the two companies. "Natural processes like metal transformations may be interesting in their own right, but we are now fully acknowledging we must better understand the environmental impacts of our mining activities, as well as invent new applications of economical interest."

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Panopticon is providing very complex, yet moderately affordable technological and computer devices and software security measures to many local business of various kinds. They have offices in Columbus and Delaware, Ohio. With the backing of one of the large financial institutions in the area, Cooper State Bank of Columbus, Ohio they began sale of their consultation services in November 2010. Their premier anti-virus and anti-spam software, called TeleForce 2k+11, is being distributed about as widely as AVG Anti-Virus per capita in Fairfield County.

The C.E.O. is Tyrone Macke, 42, who graduated summa cum laude from Ohio University only three years ago. "Returning to school after battling with my cancer almost seemed like a greater challenge than the surgeries and being sick for so much of my life. It was the best decision I've ever made and I look back on it with pride." Macke has been fighting bone cancer (Ewing's Sarcoma) for the last 16 years of his life and it has been a truly uphill battle that has cost him his left leg, and it almost forced him to declare bankruptcy at the age of 29. Macke now employs thirty-five skilled employees. He believes that with the contracts signed over the weekend, expansion is inevitable and will greatly benefit the city of Lancaster. "We're no Silicon Valley," Macke was overhead saying while sitting with perhaps his most celebrated new client, Logan Bowman of Shawnee Co. "But there are plenty of people ready to work here and they deserve stable incomes. The means to provide for their families, and their children's education."

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The name of the company is Citystart LLC. Self-proclaimed "suburban visionary" James Renton, 44, born to wealthy parents of West Virginia, has a dream of bringing new vitality to the less economically viable areas of the country by appealing to various modern-thinking consumers. Renton's handful of civic projects, most of them in the early stages of infancy, will require the support of the community to be successful. His willingness to meet with members of the local press will likely go a long way toward forging that support. Renton has been a rather aloof man of interest in the area since his residency in Lancaster began in 2007. A handful of the attendees of the luncheon were both surprised and pleased to see Citystart's C.E.O. in a public setting.

Renton has gained the interest of a number of retail companies with his plans of creating an outlet mall. While he and Bowman were recently shaking hands in front of cameras this past weekend, local financial interests are indicating that their bidding war of portions of the Clear Creek Wildlife Preserve continues. While they both have earned vocal support from the County Board officials they have petitioned, it may come down to the best business proposal. "I have been prepared to bring economic and educational benefit to the people of this area for several years now," Bowman said. "With new contracts being signed as we speak, I think the delays will finally end." He insists that a final decision must be made by the County Board by the first of July. In the meantime, his construction machinery waits to be used again. Renton joked to some of his business associates later in the afternoon that he would "happily buy that equipment off of Mr. Bowman as soon as the land is apportioned appropriately."