By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - An old downtown Hamilton landmark is ready to be put to a new use.

The 65-year-old former municipal building at High Street and Monument Avenue has been transformed into the Butler County Business Incubator Center.

The facility, which county and city officials hope will be a spawning ground for high-tech businesses with good-paying jobs, had its grand opening Wednesday.

"The hope is to have new businesses begin here and spin off and locate in other places in Hamilton and in the surrounding communities," said Kenny Craig, president and CEO of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.

The center will offer low-rent office space and free consulting and technical services to the new businesses. When the businesses have grown and become financially stable, they will move out of the center and find office space at market rates.

The incubator center receives funding from Butler County, Hamilton, the Hamilton Community Foundation and the Fernald Community Reuse Organization.

The center has one tenant, Premier Mechanical Services of Greater Cincinnati Inc., which signed its lease in May. As many as four businesses are expected to move early next year.

The center held off its grand opening until now because it wanted to be sure the remodeling of the building's interior was completed and the building was connected to the fiber-optic network, said Marilyn Collmer, the center's administrator and manager.

"Eventually, we want 20 businesses in here over the next three to five years," she said.

Like other business incubators, the new center offers high-speed Internet access with the high-quality transmission of video, voice and data services. Its tenants will have access to training, mentoring, networking, technical assistance and financing.

After Jan. 1, the center will offer those services for a monthly fee to businesses that don't lease space in the building.

"We're putting a Butler County historic landmark back into use and using it for economic development and business growth for the county," Collmer said.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com