The Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s recent acquisition of ColdIron Events and Rentals is a win/win/win for the city’s business community: expanding the area’s vibrant special events scene, offering new benefits to Chamber members and area businesses, and solidifying the Chamber’s financial outlook by adding a new revenue stream.
Founded in 1983, ColdIron has provided tables, chairs, and tents to signature Chamber events like Taste of Cincinnati, Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, and BLINK while also producing festivals in Newport and Covington (Smoke on the River BBQ Fest, Great Inland Seafood Festival, Glier’s Goettafest, and others). These event productions will now merge under one umbrella, a move that WCM Holdings CEO Tim Fogarty says will help raise the bar for local events.
“The Chamber is already heavily involved in the events business, so this acquisition is a natural extension of one of its areas of expertise,” says Fogarty, a veteran advisor for mergers and acquisitions. “Much like the Cincinnati Symphony’s ownership of MEMI (Music & Entertainment Management Inc.), it presents a source of funding that can be reinvested in the Chamber’s efforts to make the Cincinnati region a better place to live and work.”
Because the Chamber has partnered with ColdIron for almost 30 years and is familiar with the company’s core strengths, Fogarty says the the transition should be fairly smooth. “Aside from the additional profits this acquisition should make available for reinvestment to grow our region, it presents an opportunity to grow the Chamber’s events management business,” he says. “The Chamber can offer events management expertise and economies of scale like no other entity in the region.”
The addition of a successful company like ColdIron will boost the Chamber’s mission of supporting community initiatives and projects, says Fogarty, while also creating new efficiencies by integrating the two organizations’ events staffs.The combined company will be able to strengthen existing event offerings while focusing on innovation, growth, and new experiences, and ColdIron’s portfolio of tent, chair, linens, electric, booth, flooring, lighting, and catering rentals will become even more accessible across the regional.
The Chamber’s vice president of events and experiences, Chelsea York, says this partnership will help expand and improve Cincinnati events. Her team will now program 50 days of community events each year in both Ohio and Kentucky and employ nearly 120 people during peak festival season.
“ColdIron has done a great job fulfilling desires for a variety of experiences, flavors, and fun that are different from the Chamber festivals,” says York. “Bringing those events into the Chamber family allows us to continue growing and evolving these festivals people already love. This acquisition brings together decades of event production expertise with the infrastructure needed to support festivals of this scale. At the end of the day, it allows us to bring even more memorable experiences to the community.”