By Ken Alltucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

In an aggressive move to keep one of Cincinnati's largest employers from moving to Northern Kentucky, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft's administration has negotiated a $144.2 million package to help Convergys Corp. establish a new downtown headquarters.

The state's tax credit authority and controlling board is expected to vote on the deal Monday.

The vote apparently signals an end to Convergys' high-profile, two-year search to consolidate three downtown office buildings at a single location that it will buy, not build. The firm has studied more than a half-dozen locations from Blue Ash to California in eastern Cincinnati before settling on two finalists - downtown and Camp Marydale in Boone County.

City officials have worked hard to keep the company in Cincinnati, fearing the loss of earnings tax income - and the glut of empty office space that its departure would create.

Ohio's offer of tax breaks, grants and a loan requires that the Cincinnati-based billing and customer management firm spend $115 million buy, build or renovate a downtown building, according to documents obtained by the Enquirer under the state's Public Records Act. Convergys would retain 1,700 high-wage jobs and create another 195 full-time positions within three years.

Yet the state's offer is only part of the government subsidy sought by the former Cincinnati Bell subsidiary with 45,000 employees across the globe. Company officials and the city of Cincinnati are haggling over the size of a municipal tax break and city grant to keep the firm north of the Ohio River.

Mayor Charlie Luken expects to wrap up talks next week, one week after City Council tentatively agreed to build a $15 million parking garage for Kroger Co.

"I very much want to keep Convergys, but the issue is how much and what is fair?" Luken said. "This is a big request that's being made of the state and the city. We have to balance this request with other things that are on our plate."

Convergys spokeswoman Renea Morris said the state's offer is not "the last piece of the puzzle." She declined to discuss details about Convergys' new downtown headquarters - including its location - before the state board votes next week and the city reveals its hand.

Ohio's tax break offer, according to the records obtained by the Enquirer, shows that Convergys would receive:

• Up to $131.5 million in tax breaks over 15 years through Ohio's Job Retention Tax Credit and Job Creation Tax Credit programs. The state's General Assembly recently approved extending this standard tax break program from 10 to 15 years to make Ohio more competitive in its pursuit of employers such as Convergys, said Chad Munitz, assistant deputy director of Ohio Department of Development.

• A $4 million business development grant to offset costs of machine and equipment purchases.

• A $2.7 million Ohio Investment in Training Program grant to cover half of the company's training costs associated with the move.

• A $6 million low-interest loan, also for machine and equipment purchases.

Munitz described the Convergys offer as one of Ohio's most aggressive plays to keep a corporation from leaving the state. But Convergys promises economic gold in exchange for the hefty public subsidies. The firm's average salaries ($69,674 for retained jobs, $67,933 for new positions) far exceed the typical Ohio worker's earnings, and the firm also said it may create up to 650 jobs over the next decade.

"We want Convergys to know we're for real, that the state of Ohio is good on its commitment," Munitz said.

He acknowledged that the state must rework its existing tax package for Convergys' Norwood call center. Convergys plans to move 300 call center jobs from Norwood to the new downtown building. Just 100 jobs will remain in Norwood.

"We will have to modify that (Norwood) agreement," Munitz said, because Convergys will no longer meet its terms.

Norwood Development Director Rick Dettmer said Friday that he was unaware that his city's call center would be affected by the state-negotiated deal. No representatives of the state's department of development called Norwood, he said.

"What we heard during the site-selection process was that they were not planning to relocate the call center," Dettmer said.

While Convergys officials declined to discuss the proposed headquarters, the firm's tax credit application shows it plans to spend more than $126 million to establish a downtown building of 600,000 square feet. The new headquarters won't be a new development, because the application shows Convergys expects to spend $67.8 million to acquire an existing building, $2.6 million on renovation and $15.7 million for lease improvements.

Munitz would not say whether Convergys plans to buy the Atrium I building where the firm's 150 executive and administrative employees now work.

At more than 560,000 square feet, the building is nearly as large as the proposed headquarters outlined in the tax credit application. But it would require significant moves.

Convergys' former parent company, Cincinnati Bell, now occupies about two-thirds of its Fourth Street building, so the firm would be required to relocate hundreds of downtown employees under such a move.

Most of Convergys' workers are at Convergys Center, a building the firm leases at the northeast corner of Sixth and Vine streets.

"This is one of the largest employers in the city, but we've got to be careful," Luken said. "I think the Kroger deal made sense for all reasons. It was a good project for the company and the neighborhood. The Kroger deal was easy from my point of view. This one is much more difficult."

E-mail kalltucker@enquirer.com