The 2013 Economic Development Annual Report highlights the many positive economic development activities of last year, which included 9 business attraction and retention projects in Hamilton. Six of the projects were in the city's target industries of advanced manufacturing and information technology and are anticipated to result in 456 new advanced manufacturing positions and 98 new information technology positions.

To view the 2013 Annual Report, please follow the link here.

ODW Logistics & Transportations Services (LTS), a leading provider of transportation management services, will be moving to One Renaissance Center, Hamilton's Municipal Building. Since 2009, ODW LTS has provided domestic and international transportation solutions from its location in Hamilton's business incubator, Biztech. 

The company was looking to move to a new location due to its continued growth. "After five years of operation, ODW LTS has almost 30 young professionals providing supply chain solutions for our customers on a domestic and International level," said John Guggenbiller, President of ODW LTS. "This region has many universities that make the talent pool for labor very attractive. The City of Hamilton's vision and leadership complement the direction that we see for our company. ODW LTS looks forward to growing and being a part of the City of Hamilton."

For more information on the move, please read the announcement here.

Biztech recently announced its second tenant since the new vision was announced in late 2013. Lagoon is a start-up that is developing an application-based solution that provides monitoring of water usage, water leakage, proactive prevention, and goal-based statistics via a device that attaches externally to residents' or businesses' water distribution systems.

"After understanding the new direction at Biztech we knew immediately that this was the home for us," said co-founder Eric Elias, "Our goal is to leverage the tremendous, forward thinking green initiatives that the City is undertaking and grow our company forward." 

KW River, Biztech's first tenant since the new vision was announced, moved into the building during the first quarter of 2014. KW River is a start-up that is in the process of testing and researching a hydroelectric power turbine.

For additional information, please read the press release on Lagoon here. Visit Lagoon's website here to sign up to be an "early-bird tester" for their new technology. 

A new restaurant will open in the space formerly filled by Riverbank Cafe, which has been vacant since July 2013. The building, 102 Main Street, is located at a prominent gateway into Hamilton's Main Street business district. The restaurant has yet to be named, but the concept is a gastropub that would serve lunch, dinner, and brunch. 

Work on the building at 254 High Street has begun, which includes a new roof and interior demolition to prepare for new tenants in the building. The first floor retail space will be occupied by Sara's House, a home decor shop currently at Bridgewater Falls. According to a Journal-News article, Sara Vallandingham, owner/curator of Sara's House, started exploring options for moving last summer and the renovations occurring downtown made her interested in a location in Hamilton. The second and third floors are currently envisioned as condominium units.

The building was recently acquired by Hamilton's CORE Fund, an entity focused on the revitalization of Hamilton's urban core. For more information on the project, please read the Journal-News article here.  

Five years ago,the Courtyard by Marriott Hamilton opened in the redeveloped space of the former Hamiltonian hotel. The six-floor hotel has 120 rooms, 7,000-square-feet of flexible banquet and meeting space, and the restaurant Plaza One Grille. 

According to the Journal-News article about the anniversary, Hamilton community and business stakeholders played a vital role in the redevelopment, ensuring the city continued to have a downtown hotel. "The Hamilton Courtyard by Marriott was the catalytic development necessary downtown, providing momentum to propel other projects forward," stated City Manager Joshua Smith.

For more information on the anniversary, please read the Journal-News article here.

In March, a busload of Hamilton stakeholders drove down to Foster, Kentucky to tour the Meldahl hydroelectric facility, one of the last opportunities to view the project before the power plant is flooded. Meldahl is a $500 million capital project that is a partnership between the City of Hamilton and American Municipal Power, in which the City owns the majority share. Once completed, 65-70% of the City's electricity will be powered by renewable hydroelectric energy. Meldahl is slated to come online in early 2015. 

For more information on Meldahl and the recent tour, please read the Journal-News article here.

The Hamilton Utility Department analyzed the rates of Hamilton's twenty top electricity users in 2013 and found that the rate they paid was 7.5% less than Duke's posted rates. For high energy users, this difference can result in significant annual savings. 

Hamilton is able to provide customers with highly reliable, competitively-priced green energy. This differentiator is an important component of Hamilton's economic development strategy.

The City of Hamilton placed second at the 24th Annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Competition in the "Best Tasting Tap Water in the U.S." category.  The Berkeley Springs Water Tasting Competition, the oldest and largest water tasting competition in the world, is held in February of each year in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

The City of Hamilton, by placing second in the U.S., received the Silver Medal in the "Best Tasting Tap Water in the U.S." category.  Hamilton has won numerous tasting awards in the past for its tap water, including the Gold Medal at the 2010 Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Competition for the "Best Water in the World" and the 2012 "Best of the Best" award by the Ohio Section of the American Water Works Association for the best tasting tap water in Ohio.

According to Site Selection Magazine's annual rankings, the Cincinnati region ranked 6th nationally for the number of new attraction and expansion projects for 2013 for metro regions with 1 million residents or more. This is 2 spots higher than the previous year. 

In the state rankings, Ohio ranked second nationally in both total new projects and new projects per capita.  For more information, please review Site Selection Magazine's state rankings here and metropolitan rankings here.

If you represent an existing business in Hamilton, please take 10 minutes to complete the broadband survey to let us know about the quality of your current service and your existing and future Broadband needs. 

To take the survey, please follow the link here.

The City of Hamilton is constantly working to improve business expansion and business attraction to the area and we need your help. Please consider participating in our anonymous 2-minute Workforce Survey.

To take the survey, please follow the link here.

By collecting anonymous information regarding residents' employment characteristics and preferences, we can better understand the local workforce and identify trends in employment that will be used to augment our economic development efforts.  We appreciate your help.

Property highlights:

• Over 170 acres of undeveloped land
• 0.5 miles to the nearest 4 lane highway
• Owned by the City of Hamilton, providing the City the opportunity to work with prospective businesses, including the ability to offer discounted real estate prices and utility rates 

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 startmeup@hamilton-oh.gov.