HAMILTON — Butler County may be booming, but its county seat is getting bypassed.

Hamilton Mayor Donald Ryan stands near One Renaissance Center and the Government Services building along High Street in downtown Hamilton. (Michael Snyder photos) | ZOOM |

        Hamilton is a city in transition, a historically blue-collar, heavy-manufacturing industrial town struggling to reshape its image and capture the New Economy's high-technology jobs.

        The second-largest city in Greater Cincinnati, Hamilton has been losing businesses and population.

        Meanwhile, West Chester Township, its suburban neighbor in southeastern Butler, is growing into one of the region's commercial centers and boasting upscale subdivisions topped by Wetherington, now the Tristate's wealthiest.

        Hamilton has lost more than 3,000 jobs in the past three years, while West Chester has gained about 5,000 jobs. West Chester is strategically located along Interstate 75; Hamilton missed out on being part of the interstate system five decades ago.

Matandy Steel & Metal Products crane operator Rod Huff replaces the lid on a coil car in the Matandy receiving building. | ZOOM |

        Hamilton Mayor Donald Ryan, who took office in January with a City Council that includes three new members, vows to reverse the city's fortunes.

        Hamilton is at an economic crossroads. The city's finance department projects general-fund deficits of $750,000 in 2004, $1.5 million in 2005, $2.3 million in 2006 and $3.2 million in 2007.

        That's why city officials believe it's crucial for Hamilton to fatten its revenue stream by attracting a lot of good-paying jobs in the next two years.

        “We don't want to offset our growing expenses by raising taxes or downsizing our police and fire departments because they will just keep businesses from coming,” Mr. Ryan said. “We need to increase our revenue. And there's only one way to increase our revenue — and that is to get more jobs here.”

        Hamilton's economic decline has mirrored the plight of many U.S. cities hurt by the disappearance of heavy manufacturing jobs. The city's labor force has taken heavy blows in recent years: International Paper and Smart Papers drastically reduced production; Ohio Casualty Corp. moved 1,350 jobs to Fairfield; Hamilton Die Cast, Mosler Inc. and Mercy Hospital Hamilton closed.

Signs for hope

        The city's selling points for economic development include:

        • Good interstate highway access.

        • A location in the middle of the county's labor pool.

JOBS VANISH

The decline in manufacturing jobs in Hamilton:    1991 ....... 5,919    1992 ....... 5,735    1993 ....... 5,577    1994 ....... 5,540    1995 ....... 5,534    1996 ....... 5,357    1997 ....... 5,427    1998 ....... 5,349    1999 ....... 5,284    2000 ....... 5,128    2001 ....... 5,113    Source: City of Hamilton

        • City-owned utilities and city control over utility rates.

        • . Butler County Regional Airport, convenient for corporate travel.

        • A city school district recently selected as the best urban school district in Ohio.

        Earlier this year, Hamilton was named a renewal community, a federal designation that allows the city to offer tax credits and other incentives during the next eight years to retain and attract businesses.

        The 11-mile Michael A. Fox Highway, which opened more than two years ago, connects Hamilton to I-75. But it hasn't attracted large commercial and industrial businesses so far.

        Hamilton officials say the Fox Highway has brought customers to existing businesses and has spurred housing construction and small commercial developments on the city's west side.

        Since the highway was built, the cost of land on the west side has jumped from $5,000 to $12,000 an acre, said Hamilton Councilman Ed Shelton, who is a developer.

        “Even though it hasn't gotten us large industries, it's making people look at us a little more now,” he said.

        Hamilton officials believe that more commercial and industrial development will come its way in a few years as the commercial and industrial land in West Chester and Liberty townships starts to fill up.

        The Fox Highway freed Hamilton from decades of limited accessibility caused by the city's decision 50 years ago not to be part of the interstate highway system.

        City leaders are trying not to repeat that mistake, working to convince the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Council of Governments to support running a rail route linking Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland through Hamilton instead of West Chester.

        The commercial rail system is at least 25 years in the future, but OKI is making decisions about the route now.
       

Industrial park key growth spot
        Hamilton is pinning most of its economic development hopes on its 263-acre Hamilton Enterprise Park on Hamilton-Mason Road and 350 acres near the industrial park and the Butler County Regional Airport.

        The industrial park, which opened in 1999, has three tenants. One of them, the Butler County Surgery Center, is expanding.

        City officials believe the industrial park is in a choice location because of the nearby Fox Highway and the recently completed Symmes Road extension.

        Hamilton plans to establish a fiber-optics network at the industrial park that will appeal to the many businesses relying on high-quality, high-speed transmission of video, voice and data.

        “Our objective is to stand up against any other suburban industrial park,” said Tim Bigler, the city's economic development director.

        The development of Hamilton's 350 acres near the airport, which just opened a new $1.2 million terminal, depends on extending Bobmeyer Road from the airport's entrance to the Ohio 4 Bypass.

        That would provide the airport and that undeveloped land with better access to the Fox Highway and I-75.

        “That would open up a whole new corridor for economic development,” said Mr. Shelton.

        City Council has assumed an activist role in economic development. This year, it began requiring weekly reports from Mr. Bigler on efforts made to attract and retain businesses.

        Mr. Ryan and Mr. Bigler recently accompanied an Ohio contingent led by Gov. Bob Taft on a business recruiting trip to Germany and France.

        “We're beating paths to all doors,” Mr. Ryan said. “We can't wait for them to come to us.”
       

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