By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - This Butler County city is battling Hebron for Cincinnati Machine and its 300 jobs and $24 million annual payroll.

Hamilton and Butler County officials are working with two Chicago developers who want Cincinnati Machine to relocate to Hamilton Enterprise Park on Hamilton-Mason Road, near the Butler County Regional Airport-Hogan Field.

Cincinnati Machine, which plans to move from its historic Oakley manufacturing complex and build a new aerospace technology center, is weighing the financial advantages of the Hamilton and Hebron sites.

But the two Chicago developers, Brad Evans and Brian Pesmen, are worried that Hebron might win the company because Kentucky has offered a sweeter financial package than Ohio.

Under the financial packages offered by Ohio and Kentucky, Cincinnati Machine would save $700,000 a year by moving to Hebron instead of Hamilton, said Evans and Pesmen in a letter sent this week to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft.

Ohio needs to increase its grant offer from $200,000 to $2.2 million and its loan offer from $3 million to $4 million, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Enquirer.

"If we are not able to improve the financial package offered to Cincinnati Machine," the developers write, "Ohio will lose 300 highly skilled jobs to Kentucky."

Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox said he hopes Ohio steps forward and tops Kentucky's package.

"We need to be aggressive in competing against Kentucky," he said. "We're committed locally to doing whatever it takes to make this deal come together. We'll be grateful for whatever the state can do."

He said that Cincinnati Machine, with its high-skilled, good-paying jobs, is exactly the kind of manufacturing company Butler County wants to attract.

Hamilton Mayor Donald Ryan and Councilman Ed Shelton said Cincinnati Machine would be a great addition to the city, which has been trying to rebound from the loss of about 3,000 jobs in recent years.

"It would certainly be a big plus for our city to be able to lure a company of that magnitude to Hamilton Enterprise Park," Ryan said. "That's what that industrial park was built for."

"It would bring a great company with a great history to Hamilton," Shelton said.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com