Chase set to go solar at center in Polaris

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is set to build the state’s largest rooftop solar array in Columbus.

The bank announced Friday that it will put solar panels atop the McCoy Center at Polaris, part of a plan by the bank to rely exclusively on renewable energy by 2020. The bank also said it will put $200 billion to work by 2025 to finance clean-energy projects for corporate and investor clients around the world.

The $200 billion can be used to finance clients’ renewable energy projects and innovation. Chase also will advise clients on acquisitions and raising money in the renewable energy market.

“Business must play a leadership role in creating

The idea is to cut out much of the state’s liquor control system, which is designed for distributing large amounts of booze across Ohio’s more than 450 sellers.

“We just made a sale this week (in Columbus),” said Greg Lehman, co-founder of Watershed, describing how a local restaurant bought an entire barrel of bourbon to give it the ability to market its exclusivity. “(The new rule) solved a tough issue for us. It was a lot easier.”

Watershed is big enough to take advantage of the state’s distribution system for most of its sales, but the new rule will open up unique opportunities, like the single-barrel buys, that were too cumbersome before.

Jim Canepa, the new interim superintendent of the Division of Liquor Control, said he has been reviewing policies and decided the change could boost Ohio’s small distillers.

“The division closely monitors the liquor industry,” Canepa said in a statement, “and this policy is a direct result of the trend we are seeing in Ohio’s growing micro-distilling industry.”

The change is really aimed at distillers even smaller than Watershed or those just getting into the industry. Tiny distilleries can now supply customers close to home and build a “local” brand without having to ship product to one of the state’s two new warehouses — in Columbus and Cleveland.

So, for distilleries in places like Cincinnati, the rule change should eliminate a lot of wasted miles driving bottles to centralized warehouses.

“It is critical to cultivate this industry,” Lehman said. “I love that they did this.”