Cincinnati Chamber acquires ColdIron Events and Rentals

The Cincinnati Regional Chamber is taking a bigger role in the region’s festival scene with its acquisition of local company ColdIron Events and Rentals. Finalized Jan. 5, the deal brings decades of production expertise to the Chamber and positions it to enhance popular events like Taste of Cincinnati while expanding its services by adding rental offerings.

ColdIron, founded in 1983, has long supported Cincinnati-area events, providing rental equipment and producing community favorites such as Bacon, Bourbon and Brew, Smoke on the River BBQ Fest, and the Great Inland Seafood Festival, all in Newport, Kentucky.

Originally a concession business, ColdIron expanded into full-scale event production under Marc Wertheim, who purchased the company in 1999. Its rental division, launched in 2015, grew quickly and now operates alongside ColdIron Productions and ColdIron Concessions.

Under the new arrangement, ColdIron Event Rentals will operate as a subsidiary of the Chamber, continuing to provide tents, tables, chairs, stages and other event equipment. The Chamber will keep the rental business open to event producers and plans to offer discounts to Chamber members in the future.

“This acquisition was a proactive decision focused on future growth for our events and the Chamber as a whole,” said Brendon Cull, the Chamber’s president and CEO.

The merger includes all full-time ColdIron staff, ensuring continuity for clients and employees. The Chamber declined to share deal terms but said ColdIron’s business has seen double-digit growth in recent years and is “a robust business on its own.”

“By joining forces with ColdIron, we are creating one of our region’s most experienced and creative festival production teams that will serve our community,” Cull said. “We are also diversifying our revenue model, which makes it possible to invest even more in our mission to create a growing, thriving region where everyone belongs.”

Chamber aims to grow events, not rescue them

In an email to Movers & Makers, the Chamber described the acquisition as “very much a proactive decision focused on future growth.” ColdIron’s expertise aims to bolster the Chamber’s existing events, including Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, Taste of Cincinnati, Asian Food Fest and BLINK, the multiday arts and light festival returning this October. 

The Chamber emphasized that its festivals and major events already generate profits and said it is using the ColdIron acquisition to strengthen – not rescue – them.

As part of the move, the Chamber is also absorbing the ColdIron’s roster of events. No specifics are available yet. However, the Chamber said the combined organization plans to produce nearly 50 days of community events annually across Ohio and Kentucky and employ about 120 people during festival season. 

The Chamber said the integration will also strengthen its partnerships with nonprofits, foundations and local residents by tapping ColdIron’s event expertise, vendor networks and community connections. The expanded lineup of events will create more opportunities for collaboration, sponsorship and engagement while helping the Chamber drive regional economic and cultural growth.

Cull called the adding ColdIron both a strategic and natural fit, reinforcing the Chamber’s central role in connecting the organizations and leaders that drive growth, culture and talent in the region.

“With ColdIron joining the Chamber, we’ll continue to innovate and expand our event portfolio, strengthen the region’s cultural vibrancy, and better serve businesses and partners across the region,” Cull wrote on LinkedIn. 

“One of our core values is ‘Grow With Purpose,’ and this partnership reflects that perfectly. On we go.”

Cincinnati Chamber Community Events