A Note From the Director

Economic growth in Hamilton has played a key role in making our community more vibrant and more attractive over the past decade. Private sector investment and expansions have proven that Hamilton is a city where people want to do business, which has created a domino effect of ever more interest in development and redevelopment. These efforts have shaped a resurgent urban core with nationally award-winning parks, regionally beloved craft breweries and restaurants, and top notch events that draw national attention and tens of thousands of visitors annually. Community and business leaders have stepped up to lead improvement efforts in their neighborhoods, creating a synergy that led Ohio Magazine to declare Hamilton as one of Ohio’s Best Hometowns in 2019.

At the start of the previous decade, Hamilton had already experienced several decades of disinvestment and a decreasing economic base as industrial jobs moved away, but it had yet to contend with the most staggering blows. Ohio Casualty moved the last of its downtown Hamilton employees out of its three-building complex in July 2010. Both the former Champion and Beckett Paper Mills shuttered their operations in 2012 after serving over a century as the backbone of Hamilton’s manufacturing sector. These announcements left hundreds without jobs and left many in the community feeling hopeless.

Still, despite the hardships faced by this city, there was optimism. Hamilton Caster, a family-owned business, was as strong as ever more than a century after it was founded right here in Hamilton. thyssenkrupp Bilstein had chosen to locate in Hamilton in the 1990s and, in the early 2010s, was only just beginning a process of rapid growth and expansion that would lead to more than 500 new jobs and a total of $43.2 million invested into its facility. ODW Logistics was still new in the community but beginning to grow. These cases show what we’ve always known to be true: that Hamiltonians are gritty, hard-working, and resilient.

The rest, as they say, is history. Much has changed in the community since 2010, but the character of Hamilton remains. This is obvious in the number of historic buildings that have been salvaged and rehabilitated rather than demolished to make way for something new. Historic rehabilitation projects have led to everything from new restaurants and apartments to 80 Acres Farms’ first growing space in downtown Hamilton, and of course to the upcoming Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill. The presence of companies such as Kirsch CPA and STARTEK has helped revitalize downtown Hamilton, while others like Darana Hybrid, Barclays, and Kaivac are driving growth closer to neighborhoods. Entire small business districts have been brought back to life as hundreds of entrepreneurs have chosen to open their bar, restaurant, shop, or other small business on High Street and on Main Street, in Lindenwald and German Village and beyond.

Through all of it, the Economic Development Department aims to serve these companies and, ultimately, the community they have chosen to invest in. Our goal is to make the process of job creation, capital expansion, and worker retention as easy as possible. We work across departmental and organizational lines to find answers and solutions quickly, because we know that when businesses succeed in Hamilton, they are inherently promoting the livability, vitality, and vibrancy of the city. With the opening of Spooky Nook fast approaching, we are optimistic about the future of Hamilton, but we are also proud to celebrate this moment in our city’s history and all the hard work that has brought us here.