County staff recommend 75% enterprise-zone abatement for Monte Incorporated’s proposed Evendale plant

Hamilton County economic development staff asked commissioners to consider an enterprise-zone agreement that would support Monte Incorporated’s planned copper manufacturing facility in the Village of Evendale.

Michael Whitten, Hamilton County Economic Development Office, told commissioners the company recently purchased the former GE Aerospace building in the AeroHub development and intends to demolish it to build a new, state‑of‑the‑art 50,000‑square‑foot manufacturing building with room to expand. "It's 75% for a term of eight years," Whitten said when asked to restate the incentive being requested.

The project as presented would involve approximately $16.5 million in total new investment, including roughly $12 million in new construction; Whitten said the company plans to relocate about 45 full‑time employees from its Cincinnati (Paddock Hills) facility and create about 55 new permanent full‑time jobs in Hamilton County. Whitten estimated new permanent annual payroll of about $6 million and said the proposed abatement is recommended because of the project's scale and local benefit. The Village of Evendale has approved a resolution supporting the incentive and Whitten said a relocation waiver from the Ohio Department of Development was approved March 6; the city of Cincinnati was notified and has not objected.

A company representative said the move to Evendale is intended to expand capacity rather than close the existing Bond Hill facility: "That is not our intention. We plan to move machinery, add new machinery to the Evendale facility to expand our capabilities," the representative said, adding the Bond Hill site would continue to support growth.

Commissioners asked for clarification about ownership of adjacent property and the potential for future expansion; Whitten and the company representative said the site area would allow for additional buildings beyond the initial 50,000‑square‑foot phase, including a possible 30,000‑square‑foot addition in a later phase. Whitten told the board the item was likely to be placed on the commission's agenda for a formal approval vote on June 5; if approved at the county level, staff would forward required approvals to the state for processing.

This presentation was informational; no formal county vote on the enterprise‑zone agreement was recorded in this meeting. Commissioners and staff discussed the financial terms, job impacts, property ownership and next procedural steps.

Next steps: the county staff said they expected the matter to appear on the board's June 5 agenda for a formal vote and that, depending on the board's action, state processing would follow.