Community-wide effort between Dayton, Bellevue, Newport, Covington and Fort Thomas, Kentucky to revitalize the energy and spirit of the river cities
BELLEVUE, Ky. (February 18, 2025) – Northern Kentucky’s river cities, along with meetNKY, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and New Riff Distilling, are collaborating on “Bridging Back Business,” an effort to bring customers and prosperity back to the businesses affected by the unexpected closing of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge late last year.
In December 2024, many of the river cities in Northern Kentucky experienced a decline in foot traffic and holiday sales. Mayor of Bellevue, Charlie Cleves, and his team heard from businesses across the community that they experienced as much as a 30% decline in business from 2023, which they attributed to the unexpected closing of the bridge.
"The bridge closure has brought significant quality of life challenges, with heavy traffic rerouting through our community, disrupting daily routines and creating a strain on local businesses and residents," said mayor of Newport, Tom Guidugli. "The impact of the Bridging Back Business campaign is important to restoring the routine of customers for our businesses. I want to say thank you to ODOT and the team of workers for your swift and efficient bridge repairs. Their impressive can-do approach allowed for the opening weeks ahead of schedule.”
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) reopened the bridge one month ahead of schedule on Feb. 8.
“The long hours and dedication of the workers in zero-degree weather at the beginning contributed greatly to the completion of the Big Mac Bridge project one month earlier than anticipated," said Mayor Cleves. "Even though the repair was finished ahead of schedule, it has still been difficult to watch our businesses struggle. This motivated me to try to find a solution. When all of the cities came together as one, I knew the impact would be exponentially greater.”
From Feb. 24 – March 15, various businesses across the participating cities of Dayton, Bellevue, Newport, Covington and Fort Thomas, Kentucky, will offer discounts and specials, and host events to encourage the community to come back out to support them and help revitalize the energy and spirit of the river cities.
Bellevue and Dayton will kick things off the week of Feb. 24, followed by Newport, Covington and Fort Thomas the week of March 3. All of the cities will offer specials and events the final week of March 10. Each city and participating establishment will provide details on the various specials and events taking place during their week, but some examples include lunch specials, extended happy hours and complimentary appetizers, promotions offered by retailers, and specialty cocktails/mocktails with Molly Wellmann at participating locations on various days.
“The City of Dayton sincerely appreciates the hard work of the construction workers and contractors who endured frigid temperatures from the Ohio River to finish this project more than a month earlier than the projected completion date,” said mayor of Dayton, Kentucky, Ben Baker. “We also appreciate the commitment of ODOT in managing this complex project whose early completion was welcome news to our residents and businesses who rely on this bridge for their commutes and their customers.”
In addition, New Riff is sponsoring a Bridging NKY Cocktail Contest across the cities that will culminate in a grand cocktail showdown on March16 at its Aquifer Bar. The competition invites bars and restaurants across NKY to feature a signature New Riff Rye cocktail to help bring foot traffic into local venues. Those visiting the bars and restaurants can order the cocktail and scan a QR code to vote for the best ones. Winners in each city will make their way to the showdown to face off and create an original cocktail on the spot using New Riff Rye and a mystery ingredient provided by Kroger.
“As Kentucky found out in late 2020 with the Brent Spence Bridge, fixing damage of this
magnitude on a bridge is a staggering challenge, and we appreciate that ODOT, like its
counterparts in Kentucky, not only accomplished that feat but did it ahead of schedule, helping to alleviate the pressure of detoured traffic on our streets in Covington," said mayor of Covington, Ron Washington. “Our restaurants and other small businesses are the proverbial lifeblood of our local economy, and in an era where everything from transportation issues to supply chain pressures increase the challenges those businesses face, we’re eager to do whatever we can to help them, our downtowns, and their employees and thus our families not only survive but thrive.”
Fort Thomas is also eager to welcome customers back to its local businesses.
"We are grateful that ODOT was able to open the bridge ahead of schedule and for all the communication they have provided during this shutdown," said mayor of Fort Thomas, Eric Haas. "It's amazing how we take so many local routes for granted until you no longer can use them. It took this event to truly appreciate this bridge and fully understand the negative impact it had on so many businesses being closed. We are pleased to welcome back more customers for our amazing local businesses now that the bridge is fully open. Let's focus even more on our small businesses and show them our support this month."
The bridge reopening will also alleviate challenges for tourists as spring break and other large community events approach.
"We are incredibly grateful to ODOT for reopening this bridge ahead of schedule," said Julie Kirkpatrick, President & CEO of meetNKY. "Many of our locally owned businesses help define the unique character of this region, making it a top destination for visitors and a wonderful place for residents. Northern Kentucky is thrilled to welcome back visitors just in time for key tourism events like spring break and Reds Opening Day with the Bridging Back Business initiative."
Each week, specials will be shared on the various cities’ websites and social media channels. You can follow along for updates each week here:
City of Bellevue
Website: bellevueky.org
Facebook: @BellevueKYGovt
City of Dayton
Website: daytonky.com
Facebook: @DaytonKY
City of Newport
Website: newportky.gov
Facebook: @CityofNewportKY
Instagram: @CityofNewportKY
City of Covington
Website: covingtonky.gov
Facebook: @CovingtonKYGov
City of Fort Thomas
Website: ftthomasky.org
Facebook: @FtThomasKY
Instagram: @FtThomasKY
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About meetNKY:
meetNKY drives quality of life and economic growth for Northern Kentucky through tourism marketing and destination development. Learn more at meetNKY.com and visitycincy.com.
About the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce:
The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Inc., (NKY Chamber) founded in 1969, is the leading business organization in Northern Kentucky with more than 1,750 member companies representing approximately 175,000 employees. The NKY Chamber strives to promote and support the development of strong businesses and a vibrant economy in the Northern Kentucky region, through leadership and advocacy, resulting in a better quality of life for all. Jason Payne, Senior Vice President, Managing Director for Republic Bank in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati market is the Chair of the Board and Brent Cooper is the President and CEO of the NKY Chamber. Additional information is available at www.nkychamber.com.
