Monroe Chat

Business would bring 400-600 jobs to area
Officials working on incentives package to lure manufacturing company to Monroe.

By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer
Updated 1:19 PM Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monroe is one of three Ohio cities in the running to land a new business, according to City Manager William Brock.
An unidentified manufacturing company is looking at some industrial property at the Corridor 75 Park — developed by Vandercar Holdings Inc. — on Ohio 63 off Interstate 75 in Monroe.
The project has been given the code name “Project Helios.” “By far (it) would be our largest income tax generator in the city. It will likely spur additional development, both in the need for suppliers for this company, as well as the need for services, restaurants and those types of things,” City Manager William Brock said.
“They’re looking at several other states and we’re one out of three cities in Ohio currently that they’re looking at.”
However, Brock declined to identify the company.
Monroe’s Director of Development Kevin Chesar said the state would know if it is still in the running within the next four to six weeks.
“We’ve made a first cut and now we’re at the second cut. I think our intent is if we make this third cut, we can get more specific with council regarding some of the specific incentives,” he said.
Kimm Coyner, economic development director for the Warren County Port Authority, said any project the authority gets a lead on from the state about a prospective company interested in locating in the area is always given a code name such as Helios.
“Depending how far you get in the process, it becomes more clear,” she said.
Kelly Schlissberg, a spokesperson with the Ohio Department of Development, said during the early stages of negotiations, “projects we’re working on are confidential.”
“Many times before companies have announced a decision or anything like that or before we have any incentives approved for a company, a public board ... many times details and discussions regarding a project are confidential just to simply honor the company’s request for confidentiality,” she said.
The company, which is considering several other states, is requesting a combined incentives package from all the states in the running for the project in excess of $50 million, Brock said.
Other areas are offering multiple incentives packages such as free land and community reinvestment area tax abatements already in place, he said
Brock said some of the programs that council will be asked to consider to encourage the company to move to Monroe include a waiver, which would affect the corporate income tax, a potential loan, waiving a portion of the city’s building fees, restructuring its utility costs and waiving site plan and engineering review fees.
“It’s not a lot of money, but it can make an impact,” he said.
“This is again a very competitive market. We’re trying to be competitive with the other sites in Ohio and the other states. Obviously, the state plays a huge role in landing this company. Whether or not we can do it, again our piece is very small, but the state’s piece is going to be pretty big.”
Coyner said landing the business would be a “huge coup for Warren County” and Monroe.
“We don’t know that many details, which isn’t unusual at this stage, but even moreover, I think, that everyone’s being incredibly closed-lip because this is such an unusually large project given the current economy that we’re in,” she said.
Coyner said she’s hearing that if the company chooses to locate in Monroe and Warren County it would bring between 400 to 600 jobs to the area.
“That’s not a once-in-a-year project, that’s a kind of once-in-a-10-year project that you have the opportunity to work on,” she said.

VERY interesting.

Go above & beyond Mr. B!!!

Great news.

This is some very good news. I am curious to know the pay for these jobs. If they are upper 5 figure and six figures that is pretty good. We need some high paying jobs here in Monroe simply because that would generate increased revenue for local business. I think we need to display Monroe as the ideal place for this project. The new highway interchange will help out alot. We also need some attractive incentives to bring this company to Monroe. The incentives I think are dependent on the average wage and how much incentive this will bring to the Monroe economy. If it brings alot and could change the landscape of Monroe then you better believe we need to go all out to get this company here. Overall some goods news and I hope to learn more at time goes. on.

Reserving comments until I hear more about what they manufacture, and what kind of neighbor they are in general wherever else they have been.

Don't hold your breath on those jobs being upper 5 figures or 6 figures. Probably in the $30k-$50k range, with a few higher-ups pulling down over $100k. Not too many manufacturing plants will pay 500-600 employees in the 6 figure range, or upper 5 figure range.
I'm with monroegardener. Lets wait and see who shows up. It could be Suncoke's long lost brother!!!!

All I can tell you is, it's not......LOL

Shoulda given it a better "secret" name - the story was in yesterdays paper. It appears they'd be a very good neighbor. I'd love to see them in Monroe!

C&C,
C'mon girl!!! Give it up. I don't usually get the Middletown Journal and didn't see the article. Enlighten us poor deprived souls who aren't readers of local paper.
Who's possibly coming to town?????

Since the "cat is already out of the bag" or there is no longer a "cat on a hot tin roof"... Here is the link at cincinnati.com. The Enquirer puts in a decent amount of stories on Monroe.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2009 ... es+locally

Very interesting.....but China will undercut any and all green technology and put this facility out of business. They are already ramping up "green" technology production.

kolby wrote:Very interesting.....but China will undercut any and all green technology and put this facility out of business. They are already ramping up "green" technology production.

I am reminded of the character named Glum from Hanna Barbara's Gulliver's Travels.

One of the things he frequently said: "It'll never work."