Hamilton County staff recommend $3.4 million in Economic Impact Program awards for 13 communities

Hamilton County staff on April 29 recommended $3,400,000 in awards from a new Economic Impact Program that combines county general funds and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars to support place-based economic projects in 13 communities across the county.

Senior economic development officer Kelly Adamson and senior program manager April Lehi told commissioners the program mixes $2,500,000 in county general funds with $970,000 in CDBG funds. The department received 20 applications from 17 communities requesting roughly $7,400,000 in total; an advisory committee scored and ranked projects by readiness, need, support and potential economic impact.

Recommended projects include a range of infrastructure and redevelopment activities:

- Springfield Township: stormwater and flood mitigation in an industrial corridor along Chile Creek and Congress Road. - Blue Ash: infrastructure improvements to support redevelopment of the former Procter & Gamble Sharon Woods site. - Forest Park: site redevelopment of the former Cincinnati Mills Mall; private partner Hillwood is reported to be investing more than $100,000,000 in reuse that would include industrial and retail space. - North Bend: an ADA crosswalk, a bike trailhead and a pedestrian pathway into the William Henry Harrison riverfront park. - Village of Laughlin: building stabilization and a West Wyoming business-district streetscaping program (project derives from a 2024 mini planning grant). - Mount Healthy: continuation and expansion of a façade-improvement program for its historic central business corridor; the district is being considered for the Ohio historic register. - Columbia Township: construction of a municipal parking lot in Plainville to increase consumer access and support new businesses. - Loveland: demolition of the deteriorated former Dinesi Mirror Factory in the Madeira business corridor to remove a barrier to new development. - Woodlawn: acquisition and demolition of a property on Springfield Pike to enable redevelopment. - Elmwood Place: convert multiple parcels on Vine Street business corridor into a public parking lot. - Harrison: additional façade projects in the cityhistoric business district. - Colerain Township: engineering to identify stormwater-management solutions for redevelopment of the former Northgate Mall.

Adamson said award letters will go to the communities and that individual grant contracts will come back to the board for approval as they are executed. The county and its partner Alloy plan a June workshop and one-on-one technical-assistance sessions for applicants and awardees to boost capacity and help communities access other funding streams.

Commissioners praised the cross-departmental structure of the program, which combines community development and economic development funds and uses outside advisory review. Commissioners asked staff to provide an award table showing the percentage of each request funded and to continue work on an interactive map that displays county investments across municipalities.

What the recommendation covers and next steps

- Program budget: $3,400,000 total ($2,500,000 county general funds; $970,000 CDBG). - Applications: 20 applications from 17 communities requesting about $7,400,000 in total project funding. - Selection criteria: project readiness, need, community support, place-based investments and potential for economic growth. - Next steps: notify applicants, present individual award contracts to the Board of County Commissioners for approval, hold an Economic Impact Program workshop in June and provide one-on-one technical assistance.