Posted April 20, 200619 yr Quaker looking at local expansion Port authority to play key role in deal Quaker Chemical Corp. hopes to consolidate it’s North American manufacturing operations here with the help of the Butler County Port Authority, officials said Tuesday. To accommodate the consolidation, Quaker could add about 60,000 square feet to the existing facilities and 45 new workers making an average of $50,000 a year in wages and benefits. www.middletownjournal.com
October 8, 200618 yr From the 10/4/06 Middletown Journal: Council OKs Quaker abatement By Ed Richter Staff Writer Wednesday, October 04, 2006 Middletown City Council Tuesday approved an enterprise zone abatement agreement with the Quaker Chemical Corp. and the Butler County Port Authority. The 10-year, 75 percent tax abatement on new construction and improvements was unanimously approved by emergency ordinance. Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or [email protected]. http://www.middletownjournal.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/04/mj100406middnotebook.html
April 20, 200718 yr "These seems like a lot of hassle for 40 jobs. But then again, Middletown needs to take all the jobs it can get . . ." Yes, it does seem like a lot of work to get 40, moderate paying jobs to Middletown (jobs pay $50k/yr including benefits) Leaves one to wonder if the Butler County Port Authority is new at this? are they trying to work out the kinks of government subsidized economic development?
August 6, 200717 yr West Chester business relocates Ventilex USA Inc. may be moving into Middletown. By Ed Richter Staff Writer Saturday, August 04, 2007 MIDDLETOWN — If all goes according to plan Tuesday night, Middletown may be gaining another new business at the city's Greentree Industrial Park. Bill Murphy, economic development director, said Middletown City Council will be considering emergency ordinances for the approval of an enterprise zone agreement and the sale of 8.5 acres to help Ventilex USA Inc. relocate to the city's industrial park. Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or [email protected]. www.middletownjournal.com
August 6, 200717 yr Well they are stealing 40 or so jobs from Detroit with the Quaker Chemical expansion :) http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=8528.0 But still, I know what you mean. The three recent economic development "coups" for Middletown came: 1.)This one from W. Chester 2.) PAC National from W. Chester and Lebanon and 3.) Inatech from Monroe. Still, Middletown lost AK Steel and Contech HQ to W. Chester. Kadant Black Clawson HQ to Mason, Dealer Specialties HQ to Monroe so I'm not going to complain about them "drawing" from the same area or state.
August 6, 200717 yr Yep, those high-tech, high-paying jobs associated with the new hospital just keep pouring into the area.
December 9, 200717 yr Rogers Ltd, the parent company of Rogers Jewelers, has been headquarted in downtown Middletown since 1920. It has been one of the largest independent jewelers in the US and has consistently been one of Cincinnati's 100 largest privately owned businesses. Currently there are 88 employees at the downtown headquarters. No word on the impact this acquistion will have on the headquarters. Rogers Jewelers acquired by overseas wholesaler By Ed Richter Staff Writer Tuesday, November 20, 2007 MIDDLETOWN — Middletown-based Rogers Ltd. Inc. has been acquired by a large international jewelry wholesaler based in India that wants to get into the retail market in the United States. The acquisition by Gitanjali Gems Ltd., a Mumbai, India-based firm was announced Monday in Mumbai and in Middletown. Terms of the acquisition were not been disclosed. www.middletownjournal.com
January 5, 200817 yr This business poaching shenanigans is really getting old fast. I'm glad to hear some good news for Middletown, but damn we need to start creating/incubating/attracting jobs and quit passing the existing jobs here back and forth.
April 24, 200817 yr From the Middletown Journal: Middletown manufacturer closing, 133 jobs lost By Jessica Lander-Heffner MIDDLETOWN — A Middletown manufacturer today announced it would be closing one of its facilities, leaving 133 people out of work. Graphic Packaging International, Inc., located on Charles Street, said it plans to discontinue its folding carton manufacturing operations in Middletown by the end of the third quarter of 2008. The site included 133 salaried and hourly workers, the company confirmed. Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or [email protected]. http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/04/23/mj042408packaging.html
April 24, 200817 yr I drove by that place (Charles Street) last Saturday. Is the facility that is staying open located along Nelbar street, at the railroad underpass?
April 24, 200817 yr The facility at the Nelbar underpass is Temple Inland--a separate company (although it too was under the Gardner family control at one time). The facility that is staying open is also on Charles Street. Both facilities (the one staying open and the one closing) are part of the same complex. Their roots date back to Gardner Paperboard, later Diamond International.
May 17, 200817 yr Well at least it's not West Chester. Still, it's a blow to downtown Middletown: Rogers Jewelers leaving Middletown By Jessica Lander-Heffner Staff Writer Wednesday, May 14, 2008 MIDDLETOWN — Local jewelry store chain Rogers Jewelers will be moving its corporate offices from Middletown to a new location in Austin, Texas. Local Rogers Jewelers store officials confirmed the corporate office at 1050 Central Ave. is moving. Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or [email protected]. www.middletownjournal.com
May 21, 200817 yr Finally happening . . . $19.8M versus $44.2M Quaker poised to start $19.8M expansion By Jessica Lander-Heffner Staff Writer Wednesday, May 21, 2008 MIDDLETOWN — It's finally appears set to happen. Quaker Chemical Corp. officials announced at the Butler County Port Authority meeting Tuesday, May 20, that they are ready to move on the $19.8 million expansion project at the Middletown facility, which has been in the works for several years. Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or [email protected]. www.middletownjournal.com
May 28, 200817 yr International company plans opening in Middletown By Jessica Lander-Heffner Staff Writer Thursday, May 22, 2008 MIDDLETOWN — Ventilex USA Inc., a Dutch-owned company, is scheduled to open for business May 30 with a building dedication and open house from noon to 6 p.m. Ventilex will sell items manufactured by its parent company, IMTECH N.V., based in the Netherlands. Employees will sell industrial machinery such as fluid bed dryers and coolers primarily used by the food, dairy, pharmaceutical and aggregate industries. Its yearly profits exceed $5 billion, company officials said. www.middletownjournal.com
May 28, 200817 yr To encourage Ventilex to move to Middletown, the city offered the company a 65 percent, 10-year tax abatement worth more than $79,000 over the term. What a complete waste of resources. These jobs will be filled by the same people, in the same region, and contribute the same amount back to the area. These kinds of announcements are extremely frustrating.
May 29, 200817 yr The only benefit to this is that they MAY expand operations...other than that, it's not big deal.
May 31, 200817 yr Good news. They've already drawn up the plans for future expansion.. Company gets in at the heart of it all Ventilex USA president, CEO: 'If it was up to me, we would begin expanding tomorrow.' By Jessica Lander-Heffner Staff Writer Saturday, May 31, 2008 MIDDLETOWN — As far as one company is concerned, Middletown is at the heart of it all. Dutch company Ventilex USA chose to open its new office in the city's Greentree Industrial Park for several reasons, but one big pull was the area's optimal location, said Henk Dijkman, the managing director for the company's Holland operations and vice president of the new location in Middletown.
June 2, 200817 yr Good for Middletown, bad for West Chester...overall this is a negative for the region as nearby communities waste resources on rotation companies around the region while not significantly producing anything new for the region.
June 2, 200817 yr ^Whether that is true or not we have seen two businesses pack up and move right down the road from where they previously existed. At the same time they got tax incentives and pay-offs to do so. If it is a case of payback then the taxpayers and region have lost out twice on the same issue. That is unfortunate.
June 2, 200817 yr Companies see the back and forth going on. They try to and know that they will get a good deal with the city that just lost a company to a rival city. Why must they continue to go after LOCAL companies and not some company from South Dakota??? I have no idea. Maybe it the convenience factor.
June 3, 200817 yr West Chester gets Middletown's 300 plus AK executive and corporate jobs. West Chester gets Middletown's 150-200 corporate jobs from Contech Construction Products. Mason gets Middletown's 150-180 corporate jobs from Kadant Black Clawson. Alll three had been long-standing business in Middletown, two of which were founded there. Middletown gets less than 20 jobs from West Chester.....
June 3, 200817 yr Don't forget... Middletown lured the industrial Bag producer from Lebanon. At least it announced it a year ago. Maybe it never came to pass. How many jobs was that... 30?
June 3, 200817 yr West Chester gets Middletown's 300 plus AK executive and corporate jobs. West Chester gets Middletown's 150-200 corporate jobs from Contech Construction Products. Mason gets Middletown's 150-180 corporate jobs from Kadant Black Clawson. Alll three had been long-standing business in Middletown, two of which were founded there. Middletown gets less than 20 jobs from West Chester..... This post should make every taxpayer and resident of the Cincinnati/Dayton region cringe.
June 3, 200817 yr ^I attended a lecture by the Denver Mayor at the Mercantile Library...and he spoke of this very situation. When he got into office he made a pact with the other municipalities in the Denver area. He said that Denver would not poach their businesses and would actually help them in attracting businesses to their communities. The other municipalities signed on to this pact and they are working as a region to grow/attract jobs and businesses. He follows the mindset that the other communities need Denver to be successful for them to be successful and vice versa. This resonated and with strong leadership they now work regionally and avoid this kind of nonsense.
June 24, 200915 yr http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/manufacturer-pulling-out-of-warren-county-174659.html?showComments=true Sumco Phoenix Corporation in Maineville began telling its employees it will be shutting down operations at the plant over the coming year. The Warren County Commissioners made the announcement this morning, June 23, that the manufacturing plant will close on June 30, 2010, however, most of the shut down will be accomplished by March 2010. Warren County Administrator Dave Gully said layoffs would likely begin in September. According to a 2006 county economic development list of top employers, Sumco ranked eighth with 623 employees.
June 24, 200915 yr Believe it or not NCR had an early chip plant...in the 1960s(!)...in Miamisburg or Miami Twp.
June 24, 200915 yr Believe it or not NCR had an early chip plant...in the 1960s(!)...in Miamisburg or Miami Twp. I'm hip to that. I interviewed at NCR Microelectronics back in the day (1980). IIRC it was around Byers Road. And Wilmington, of all places, had a competitor to Cincinnati Semiconductor/Milacron/SUMCO at one time, named Crysteco: http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/1997/06/02/daily12.html Also, I believe that there was another (now defunct) wafer mfgr. in Eaton, or Richmond, IE, someplace west of Dayton.
June 24, 200915 yr SW Ohio is the radar detector capital of the world. Most of the top radar detector companies are either in Cincinnati or Dayton.
June 24, 200915 yr Don"t worry, Warren County Polititions and planners will hurry and announce another 623 minimum wage jobs are being created at a warehouse along I-75 or a retail spot along I-71 and declare victory for having offset the electronics jobs.
June 24, 200915 yr Nope, can't have any high tech industry in SW Ohio, it's absolutely not allowed. :x Trivantis - Mobile Phone software company headquartered in Downtown Cincinnati, that now has locations in Paris, Florida, and the UK. Scripps Co. (American media conglomerate) - Headquartered in Downtown Cincinnati. Scripps owns TV stations in 10 cities, the cable stations: HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, GAC, FLN ... and the websites: Shopzilla.com & uSwitch.com. Cincinnati Bell - Headquartered in Downtown Cincinnati. Offering landline service, ADSL Internet service, Fiber Optics and GSM Mobile Phone service. Cincom, privately held, multinational, computer technology corporation founded in 1968. Manufactures enterprise software, and provides information technology (IT) hosting services. Pomeroy IT Solutions, (Nasdaq: PMRY), provider and support of IT infrastructure including servers, storage, applications, data, networks, and systems management tools (in Hebron, Kentucky). Streamline Health, (Nasdaq: STRM), provider IT solutions for the health care industry. WhatIfSports.com, company that specializes in online sports simulations and fantasy-style games.
July 2, 200915 yr Solar firm scouting plant sites locally An Athens, Greece-based solar panel manufacturer has looked at several sites in Southwest Ohio for a more than $50 million plant that could employ several hundred people. Kimm Coyner, director of the Warren County Port Authority, said the Ohio Department of Development only identified the prospect as an international manufacturing company using the code name "Project Helios." She said she understood the project could eventually employ between 400 and 600. For more, click the link http://news.cincinnati.com/ http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090702/BIZ01/907030353/Solar+firm+scouting+plant+sites+locally read more about it here.
July 2, 200915 yr That's some great news. I've learned recently that there is a fairly strong Greek community in Cincinnati - something that might help make the decision to locate here a little easier.
July 3, 200915 yr I think it is more for incentives, and Ohio really needs to play hardball with this. Southern states are pulling the jobs because they can offer more incentives and financial assistance to whoever steps up to the plate, and are offering non-unionized labor. If we can do that, we may have a competitive edge. And the Dayton region really needs this more so than Cincinnati, which is why I'm glad most of the locations are located closer to Dayton than Cincinnati. I hope the green wave is permanent. Under the Bush administration, coal-to-liquids was touted as a "green" way of using coal to generate power, and funding was being given to a lot of start-ups for their research. My friend's start-up was one such instance, and their hopes were pretty promising until the Obama administration came into power. And their funding from the government all but dried up. I hope that whoever comes after Obama will keep this wave going.
July 3, 200915 yr I think it is more for incentives... I was just saying that the relatively strong Greek community here might help in the process of trying to attract them here. And the Dayton region really needs this more so than Cincinnati, which is why I'm glad most of the locations are located closer to Dayton than Cincinnati. Actually these are all locations that are sucking the life out of southern Dayton. You might get some people from that southern portion of Dayton's MSA to work there, but anyone else would probably relocate if they wanted a job there. That would take them out of the Dayton MSA and into the Cincinnati MSA. In the end the two are growing more intertwined, but this would not really be a gain for Dayton all that much.
July 4, 200915 yr ^Agreed, C-Dawg. Also, many of the people that work for the Iams headquarters in Vandalia by 70/75, which is relocating to Mason, are not going to relocate along with it. Being a northsider, many of us don't feel that it is necessary to move just to combat a 1-hour commute (although I will admit it is god-awful, fortunately I don't have to do one anymore!). And, since Dayton's economy is so horrible, few feel that it is sensible to try and sell their house in this market. Unfortunately, many of the employees of the new outlet mall in Monroe will be former auto workers from Dayton, so yeah. Many around here have ridiculous commutes.
October 11, 200915 yr I figured I'd post articles I come across about business activity in the Central Butler/Warren county communities. The southern region of these counties seem to be covered pretty well (Westchester/Mason) elsewhere. The norther region (particularly Springboro) seems to be lumped in with south Dayton and gets some coverage there. Recently, Monroe just got the Outlet Mall. Middletown has not had much activity since the new Atrium hospital went in. And Lebanon is struggling with the Race Track and what is to become if it. But I thought I'd start posting article from the local (online) newspapers that cover these areas. There have been a number of small stores closing lately, so I think it will be interesting to see how many are closing and what the cities are doing to try to reverse the trend.
October 11, 200915 yr Monroe IGA to close... http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/lack-of-business-forces-iga-to-close-339900.html Lack of business forces IGA to close MONROE — After opening a little over a year ago, Monroe IGA will be closing its doors Oct. 31. Owner Tim Finke, whose family took over operation of Munafo Seven Inc. Jubilee Foods in 2008, said he is closing the store at 601 S. Main St. because it did not get enough support from the community. Finke said he has gotten a couple of tax reprieves from the city to help keep the store open, but it still wasn’t enough to save the business. This store anchors a small strip mall on Cin-Day road just south of the 'downtown' block. A couple of years ago another small strip mall was built on Cin-Day road just north of the 'downtown' block, and it is struggling as well. Of the 11+ store-fronts, only 2 have been rented since it opened - a postal-office-type store, and a coffee shop. The remaining 9+ continue to sit empty.
October 12, 200915 yr So sad. I remember the original IGA in town where Family Dollar is now, really a nice, small-town store actually. Then, I moved right before they built the Munafo store, which kinda bummed me out because I could walk to it from my house. I guess the Kroger up the pike killed it. Still, Monroe could use a library, and that would make a nice spot. I also remember there being talk of putting in a library on that location before the grocer went up, so maybe now is the time!!!!!
October 12, 200915 yr ^Except that the state is massively cutting library funding. I doubt any of the systems (Middletown or Lane/Hamilton) would be interested in an additonal location and Monroe probably could not pull it off without a levy.
October 12, 200915 yr In Monroe, there is a sign on SR63 that points to the 'Monroe Free Lending Library'. Not sure exactly what it is, or where it's located. Middletown is about to open a branch library in Westchester, The new library near completion at Westchester town center has a sign on it now that says its an extension of the Middletown library.
October 12, 200915 yr Today's online Middletown Journal has an article about a Community Improvement group in Monroe helping the local businesses.... http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/businesses-get-helping-hand-343031.html MONROE — The newly reformed Monroe Area Community Improvement Corporation is planning to increase its presence in the city by assisting local businesses through two funding programs that encourage investment.
October 12, 200915 yr Middletown is about to open a branch library in Westchester, The new library near completion at Westchester town center has a sign on it now that says its an extension of the Middletown library. The Middletown library system has operated the West Chester Library for years, back to its days as the Union Township Library. The new building simply replaces the smaller facility on Cox Road; this is nothing new.
October 20, 200915 yr Lebanon - New McDonalds to open (replaces old one - same location) http://www.western-star.com/news/lebanon-oh-news/new-mcdonalds-opening-next-week-355910.html [from Lebanon's "Western Star" semi-weekly newpaper] After three months of construction, the Lebanon McDonald’s will reopen for regular business at 6 a.m. Thursday, October 27. The new restaurant, located at 650 E. Main St. in Lebanon, will feature a new design and more convenient services, according to its owner and operator, Ed Wernet. (more in link)
October 20, 200915 yr Reds legend Joe Morgan to open Honda dealership in Monroe http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-business-news/reds-legend-joe-morgan-to-open-honda-dealership-in-monroe-356353.html MONROE — A groundbreaking ceremony has been scheduled next month for a new automotive dealership in Monroe. The Nov. 17 ceremony is for Joe Morgan Honda, said Kevin Chesar, director of development for the city. The dealership, which bears the name of the former Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame second baseman who is the majority owner of the project, will be located in the Warren County area of Monroe. It will be on about 4.5-acres of land just south of Treasure Aisles — formerly known as Turtle Creek Flea market — off Ohio 63 and Interstate 75 on Garver Road, Chesar said.
October 23, 200915 yr http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-business-news/former-central-avenue-movie-theater-slated-for-demolition-352805.html Former Studio Movie Theater in Middletown to be demolished..... MIDDLETOWN — It originally opened nearly 80 years ago as a place to catch a movie on a Saturday. But by year’s end, the former Strand Theater on Central Avenue, later known as the Studio, will be demolished. The former movie theater and the former bar adjacent to it in the 1300 block of Central Avenue are on the city’s demolition list as part of its effort to clear blighted and unsafe buildings and set it aside for future development. ---------- I remember seeing a number of movies there in the '70s. Just a year ago, I sat in the Madison Theater in Covington, KY with a childhood friend from Middletown watching a live music performance. We spent a good deal of time talking about what it would take to turn the Studio in Middletown into a club for live music. I guess my opportunity to do so is about to end.
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