Second Quarter 2013
Valeo Adds 105 New Jobs in Hamilton
Manufacturer plans expansion at Hamilton location

Valeo Climate Control was awarded state tax credits in support of the efforts to add 105 jobs to their Hamilton operations on Symmes Road. Valeo is a supplier of a wide variety of automotive parts. Valeo, the City of Hamilton, and the Cincinnati USA Partnership started working together on this request to the state back in 2012. Valeo is also planning to make an estimated investment of $16.2 million at the facility, predominantly on machinery and equipment. For more information, please see the JournalNews article here.
nightime
In This Issue
Second Quarter 2013
Smart
The former Smart Paper Facility
New Businesses at the Former Smart Paper FacilitySmart
Green Reclamation LLC is redeveloping the site into Champion Mill Business Park
 
There is new life in the former Smart Paper facility, which is located on more than 40 acres of riverfront land in Hamilton's urban core. When the Smart Paper facility - previous known as the Champion Paper Mill - closed in 2011 after 130 years of paper making, the City stepped in to purchase it to ensure it it did not become a cold storage facility. In 2012, Green Reclamation LLC purchased the site (the City maintained ownership of the building closest to the river) and is turning it into the Champion Mill Business Park.

Green Reclamation is currently redeveloping and renovating the northern section of the former Smart Paper facility and demolishing the southern section of the plant to make room for green space and potential redevelopment. Two new tenants have already been announced, Zumbiel Packing and NewPage. The City hopes to announce more jobs at the site in upcoming months. For more information on Champion Mill Business Park, please view the Local 12 news story here.
Liferay2
The new Liferay offices. Photo courtesy Nick Daggy at the JournalNews
Liferay Celebrates its Grand OpeningLiferay
The new sales office opened downtown in May
 
Liferay, a fast-growing California-based technology company, opened its national sales office in the Robinson-Schwenn building in downtown Hamilton. It is a 2,800 sq. ft. modern office space. Liferay will employ up to 15 people at this downtown location. For more information on the grand opening, please read the JournalNews article here.

Fast 55
Image courtesy the Cincinnati Business Courier
Two Hamilton Companies are 2013 Fast 55 Finalistsfast55
ODW Logistics and Ascendum are highlighted by the Business Courier
 
The Cincinnati Business Courier included two Hamilton companies in their list of 2013 Fast 55 finalists. The Fast 55 list recognizes the region's fastest-growing companies. ODW Logistics and Transportation Services is a full-service transportation provider located in downtown Hamilton's BizTech Center. It is the second year in a row that ODW has been a Fast 55 finalist. From 2011 to 2012, the company's revenues grew 118% to $14.7 million.
 
Koncert IT, a pharmacy support center which is located at Vora Technology Park, is a partnership between Ascendum and Kroger. Ascendum was the fifth-largest Cincinnati-based IT company in 2012. From 2011 to 2012, the company's revenues grew 76% to $44 million. For the full list of Fast 55 companies, please view the Cincinnati Business Courier article here.

artspace
Artspace during the removal of the grill facade
Artspace Hamilton Grill RemovedArtspace 
Construction begins with the removal of the "radiator grill"

Artspace USA, a national developer located in Minneapolis, is moving forward with Artspace Hamilton. The first step of construction commenced with the removal of the facade, installed in the 1960s in an attempt to modernize the building and has since become known as the "radiator grill." 

Artspace Hamilton is a $10.2 million mixed-use project that will include 42 affordable live/work spaces for artists and 3,000 sq. ft. of commercial and gallery space. Artspace Hamilton includes ground floor space for local non-profit organizations, commercial space for small businesses, and outdoor plaza areas for residents and for the community.

The developers recently received $619,026 in tax credits from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, allowing them to move forward to the next phase of development which will commence in the beginning of 2014. Completion is set for September 2014. For more information, visit the project website here or follow its Facebook page here.
Vora
Mahendra Vora
Mahendra Vora Receives Lifetime Achievement AwardVora2
Vora receives the Cincinnati Business Courier's Lifetime Achievement Award for Innovation

Mahendra Vora, the founder and managing director of Vora Ventures and owner of Hamilton's Vora Technology Park, received the Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to the Cincinnati business community through his innovation and entrepreneurshipExplains Vora, "Innovation and entrepreneurship are the core fabric of long-term success for any country, culture or community."
 
Vora Technology Park contains 365,000 sq. ft. of class A office space. It includes a state of the art data center, redundant power sources, and fiber optics throughout. For more information on Mahendra Vora's Lifetime Achievement Award, please read the Cincinnati Business Courier's article here. For more information on Vora Technology Park, please visit its website here.
finpan
Fin Pan Receives Giving Green Award for Product DonationsFinpan
Fin Pan has donated more than 100 loads of backer board and other products since 2010
 
Fin Pan, an industry leader specializing in backer board and other tile installation solutions, was recognized by Mountain Re-Source Center (MRC), a non-profit organization that coordinates donations of materials for other non-profits around the country. Fin Pan was awarded the "Giving Green" award for its support of community improvement projects. 
 
Fin Pan President Lisa Schaffer stated, "The Clear Family and the employees of Fin Pan are glad to have the opportunity to help those who are in need or are recovering from natural disaster through Mountain Resource Center and Tile Partners for Humanity." Fin Pan is located on Symmes Road in Hamilton. For more information, please view the press release here.
true west
True West Opens Second Location in Downtown HamiltonTrueWest
True West Downtown will open in Robinson-Schwenn building

True West Coffee, a coffee and sandwich shop on Hamilton's historic Main Street, has decided to open a second location downtown. It will replace Kofenya and have later hours that mirror the Main Street location's hours.
 
Chris Cannon, the owner of True West, plans to create a menu that caters both to the downtown lunch crowd as well as a dinner crowd. True West Downtown expects to be open the last week of June. For more information, please read the JournalNews article about the expansion here.
Mindy Muller at Pappa Luigi's. Photo courtesy Greg Lynch at the JournalNews
Mindy Muller inside Pappa Luigi's, a downtown pizzeria
Mindy Muller Recognized as Small Business Person of the YearMuller
Her efforts to revitalize downtown Hamilton are recognized by the Chamber of Commerce

Mindy Muller started Community Development Professional (CDP) ten years ago out of her home, moved to Hamilton's BizTech, and then bought and rehabilitated the former Hamilton City School Board of Education building downtown. CDP has since become part of the Center of Community Revitalization (CCR).
 
Her involvement in Hamilton's revitalization efforts goes further than her work at CCR. In 2012, Muller purchased and reopened Pappa Luigi's in downtown Hamilton. She also plays a large role in Film Hamilton, which aims at attracting films to Hamilton, and created the Hamilton Film Festival, which had its inaugural event in 2013. For more information on Muller's recognition, please read the JournalNews article here.
buildingdoctor
The Building Doctor conducting a site visit in Hamilton
Hamilton Hosts Building Doctor Clinicbuildingdoctor
Building Doctor provides support for owners of historic homes

On May 16th and 17th, consultants or "Building Doctors" from the Ohio Historical Society visited Hamilton to share their expertise. The Building Doctor hosted a seminar to educate interested residents on how to properly maintain older buildings without sacrificing historic integrity. The evening event was attended by approximately 33 individuals at Miami University Hamilton Downtown.  

 

The Building Doctor also conducted free site visits for ten historic buildings throughout the City.  These site visits allow home and building owners to leverage firsthand the expertise and knowledge of the "Building Doctors" while walking through their structures. The Building Doctor Clinic is conducted on an annual basis and is delivered by the Ohio Historical Society. The community sponsors included the German Village Association, Dayton Lane Association, CORE, Historic Hamilton, Butler County Historical Society, Miami University Hamilton, and the City of Hamilton. For more information on the Building Doctor, please visit their website here. 

Revivalists
The Revivalists kicked off the 2013 Summer Concert Series
Hamilton Summer Concert Series UnderwaySummerConcert
Series is the first at Hamilton's new RiversEdge amphitheater

The Summer Concert Series lineup is set and concerts have begun. The Revivalists, featuring Hamiltonian David Shaw, packed RiversEdge for the first concert of the series before heading to Manchester, TN to play the Bonnaroo Music Festival. They, nor opening act The Salients, did not disappoint an eager crowd.

Concerts will be held throughout the summer the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. Concerts begin at 6 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The full schedule:
  • June 13 - The Revivalists w/ The Salients
  • June 27 - Motor City Josh & the Big 3 w/ Blue Sacrifice 
  • July 11 - Shaker & the Egg w/ Flawless 
  • July 25 - 90 Proof Twang w/ Pistol Holler 
  • August 8 - Pokey Lafarge w/ Young Heirlooms
  • August 22 - Scotty Bratcher w/ Okeanas 
Riverbank
During the public input process, the Riverbank building on Main St. was identified as the design aesthetic most preferred for the area
Hamilton Adopts Form-Based ZoningFormBased
New zoning for downtown, East High Street, and Main Street

Hamilton is now using form-based zoning in some of its urban core neighborhoods. Form-based zoning tools focus more on detailed design of buildings to ensure that future development and redevelopment contributes to the existing character of a defined area, while allowing the owners of those buildings a wider range of mixed uses within those buildings.

The City hopes that form-based zoning will promote the historic character of these communities while allowing more flexibility in use. The form-based zoning regulations were produced through an interactive community process. For more information on Hamilton's form-based zoning, please visit the Planning Department's website here.
CFL
Hamilton's Electric Rates Very Competitive Among Ohio Utilitieselectric2
Hamilton's electric rates had the lowest overall rate increase in southwest Ohio from 2005 to 2012

Based on data collected by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), Hamilton's electric utilities rates are very competitive with utilities across Ohio. A review of a typical January 2013 electric bill found that Hamilton had the lowest rates in southwest Ohio. During the study period 2005-2012, Hamilton's electric rates had the lowest overall increase in southwest Ohio (2% average annual increase compared to the southwest Ohio average of 5.5%). Hamilton's annual rate increase was among the 5 lowest of all 115 retail electric suppliers in Ohio. For more information on this study, please read the Columbus Dispatch article here.
OhioCasualty
Two of the three former Ohio Casualty buildings
Property Highlightpropertyhighlight
The former Ohio Casualty complex

Located at 131-136 N. Third St., these three buildings offer 428,000 sq. ft. of office space in downtown Hamilton. The buildings include:
  • Fiber optic ring cabling located within the building
  • Category 5 cabling
  • Full floor data center
  • Full service cafeteria
  • Over 750 parking spaces
For more information on the property, please check out the property brochure here or contact Peter Goffstein at 513-792-5000 ext. 220 or at [email protected].
search
Small Business Tipsearchengine
Maximizing your online presence

One way to help ensure your customers find your website is to register or update your business with popular search engines. For example, you can update your business with Google Local Search. To do so, follow the link here. Another good resource that will connect with all the major sites is Get Listed. To register your business on Get Listed, follow the link here.
Need Assistance From the City? bizdevteam
Contact the Business Development Team

The City established the Business Development Team to make investing in Hamilton easier for current and future business owners. The Team focuses on assisting retail and commercial development. It is a single point of contact that coordinates between all necessary departments to help businesses from the first inquiry until the issuance of final occupancy. To contact the Business Development Team, call 513-785-7070 or email [email protected].
Contact:
Jody Gunderson, Director of Economic Development
345 High Street, Hamilton, OH  | Visit Website  | 513-785-7070
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