A vacant county-owned building could become a key piece in the expansion of Cincinnati State Middletown.

Middletown and Cincinnati State Community & Technical College officials asked Butler County commissioners Thursday to donate the former Job and Family Services building at 1021 Central Avenue to the city. Middletown officials would in turn give the building to Cincinnati State, which opened a branch campus at the corner of Central Avenue and Main Street in September.

“We are here to request that the commissioners consider donating the JFS building to the city of Middletown so we can continue with our goal of downtown redevelopment,” Middletown City Manager Judy Gilleland said during Thursday’s commission meeting. “While the city cannot afford to take the donation of the building and hold it indefinitely, we have an end user that advances our vision, not only in the downtown area but city-wide. Pending council approval, this building will be passed on to Cincinnati State for their future use.”

Dr. Odell Owens, president of Cincinnati State, said the community college’s vision is to create a campus atmosphere in downtown Middletown.

The campus opened with 200 new students and is striving for 150 more in January. Until Cincinnati State Middletown opened, Butler County was the largest county in Ohio without a community college.

Community colleges are different from traditional universities, such as Miami University, because “our charge is to focus on the local economy,” Owens said. He said the college has two major contracts with AK Steel to train employees and continues to focus on workforce and career development that makes graduates ready for employment throughout the region.

Commissioners Charles “Chuck” Furmon and Cindy Carpenter commended Middletown officials and Cincinnati State for moving ahead and developing a partnership.

“I see nothing but positives from this relationship,” said Furmon.

Commission President Don Dixon said, “Middletown is leading the way in changing how the county looks.”

Commissioners didn’t make a decision about the building, but they did unanimously authorized county administrator Charles Young to research and pursue talks about an ownership transfer.

The Central Avenue building was built in 1987 and has 12,293 square feet. It is empty due to layoffs and the closing of the Middletown office of Job and Family Services.

Randy Quisenberry, county purchasing manager, said the building has been declared as surplus by the county and could be sold through a bid process. But chances are the building, which is among many other vacant structures in downtown Middletown, would not bring a high price tag.

“It would pale in comparison to the economic development and workforce development we will reap over the next few years (from Cincinnati State),” Quisenberry said.

Donating the building to the city and ultimately to Cincinnati State is a “win-win for everyone. It is one less empty building in Middletown and one less empty building we have to maintain,” Quisenberry said.

Cincinnati State Middletown had been a multi-year deal in the making, involving the city, Cincinnati State and Boston-based Higher Education Partners.

Higher Education Partners signed a contract in April with Cincinnati State so it could be the developer of the downtown Middletown campus. A week before that contract, Higher Education Partners signed a deal with the city to purchase the former CG&E building at 1 N. Main St. for $202,000 and accept a donation of the former senior center.

In anticipation of the college making the commitment to the city, Middletown City Council agreed to purchase several downtown buildings in hopes the college would be interested. The city spent $300,000 for the former CG&E, First National, Bank One and Masonic Temple buildings, and $175,000 for the Manchester Inn.

Staff writer Mike Pitman contributed to this report

Enrollment is better than projected at the Cincinnati State Middletown campus, according to school officials.

More than 350 students are currently registered for CSM courses, which include in-class, online and hybrid courses. Of those, 212 are new full-time students. School officials previously said they wanted to have 200 new students admitted and taking classes at the downtown college campus in the first academic year.

About 20 percent more new students have applied for the spring 2013 semester at the Middletown campus than at the main campus in Clifton, according to Jean Manning, spokeswoman for Cincinnati State Technical & Community College.

For the spring 2013 semester, the goal was to have 150 new applicants. As of last week, there were 134 — 116 of whom have already registered for classes. The school has also gotten a head start for new applicants for fall 2013. Forty-five people have applied for the summer and fall semesters, with two already being accepted.

The first 16 weeks of Cincinnati State’s inaugural year in downtown Middletown have exceeded community and student expectations, said Middletown campus director Michael Chikeleze.

“I think we’ve done a great job in staying engaged with the students and staying engaged in the community,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful experience and we hope to do more and to grow more.”

School officials are very interested in growing in Middletown, even before renovations at its 1 N. Main St. campus are complete and before starting renovations at the former senior center. The school’s renovations of the basement, first, third and sixth floors have been completed ahead of schedule, and Manning said meetings are occurring to talk about designing the remainder of the building.

Additionally, the school will acquire a donation by the Butler County Commission of the former Butler County Workforce One office near the downtown campus. School officials have also expressed interest in obtaining the former First National Bank building across the street.

Mayor Larry Mulligan called the partnerships between Cincinnati State and the city “phenomenal.”

“It’s a great model that’s worked out well, that’s revitalized an underutilized building in downtown,” Mulligan said.

The mayor, who serves on an ad hoc committee with Cincinnati State President Dr. O’dell Owens, has talked with local businesses about participating in the school’s workforce development and co-operative education program.

“I see a lot of continued growth,” Mulligan said. “They have a nice fit. They balance out what we’re offering with Miami University (Middletown).”

The interest Cincinnati State has in downtown Middletown, said Vice Mayor Dan Picard, is only sparking interest from others.

“It’s leading to a great deal of more development in that general area of the downtown area,” Picard said.

“We’re seeing a heck of a lot more activity downtown than we had two or three years ago,” he said. “The growth is continuing, and I see nothing but good things happening in the future.”

School officials met last week to discuss course expansion in allied health, computers and business programming, according to Manning.

Cincinnati State Middletown opened on Aug. 29, just five months after the college and city signed respective deals to sell and build the downtown campus with Boston-based developer Higher Education Partners. The project had been a multi-year deal in the making that involved the former CG&E building and former senior center.

“If we hadn’t been able to make this deal with Cincinnati State I think downtown would be as dead as it was two or three years ago,” Picard said.

Exactly what would be done with the building is uncertain at this point since plans are being discussed to finishing the renovations of their building at 1 N. Main St. The former senior center, which is part of the cache of Cincinnati State buildings, must be renovated by 2015, according to the school’s contract with developer Higher Education Partners.

“My guess is sometime next year is when we’ll really look at it and see what our future needs will be,” Manning said.

The other buildings that were purchased for $300,000 included the former Bank One building, which is catty-corner from the main Cincinnati State Middletown building, and the Masonic Temple building, which is adjacent to the First National Bank building.

City Council last month donated that building to the Art Central Foundation, which had occupied the building for the past few years. City officials had recently said there have not been any offers to purchase the former Bank One building, though Miami University Middletown does rent space inside it.

The city also purchased the former Manchester Inn & Conference Center for $175,000 in anticipation of Cincinnati State committing to the city. College officials have no interest in the building and city officials said they plan to put the building on the market. A price tag is not yet known.

Middletown City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers in the lower level of the Middletown City Building at One Donham Plaza.

City officials had recently said there have not been any offers to purchase the former Bank One building, though Miami University Middletown does rent space inside it.

I guess this statement was directed to me.
Well Mr. Adkins you will never get a bid on this building if City Hall is unwilling to even let anyone inspected the building.

Cincinnati State Technical & Community College is expected to receive $123,000 from the state to develop new co-op opportunities in the city, and strengthen existing college-wide experiential learning programs.

The funds are part of a statewide initiative from the Ohio Higher Ed department designed to promote co-op and internship opportunities at the state’s colleges and universities. The state is investing $11 million from casino license fees with matching funds coming from employers, including Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble.

“This is a win for students across Ohio, and especially for ours in the Middletown area,” said Cincinnati State President Dr. O’dell Owens.

The funds still need the approval of the State of Ohio Controlling Board, which is scheduled to consider the request in January. Nine other community colleges and 13 public and private universities have been awarded funding, according to the Ohio Board of Regents.

Undergraduate programs are required to match the state funds 100 percent with private funds. State officials estimate this initiative will create as many as 1,500 co-op and internship positions.

Owens said the college believes in a “earn as you learn” philosophy, and the value of on-the-job experience has been proven time after time during the past four decades.

Cincinnati State claims to have one of the country’s largest cooperative education programs.

The college’s share of the state funds will help build the co-op internship programs infrastructure at the downtown Middletown campus, university officials said.

The proposal that earned the $123,000 grant “has long-term sustainability and economic impact,” said Monica Posey, Cincinnati State academic vice president.

“Providing employer training, developing new positions, and enhancing our infrastructure will benefit current and future students,” she said.

The city has attempted several times over the years to revitalize it’s downtown, but for various reasons has come up short. However, this latest attempt at revitalization seems to be taking root with millions of dollars in public-private investments and renovations sprouting throughout the downtown core.

And city officials say millions more of investment and renovation dollars are still to come.

A good portion of that investment and renovation will come from either Cincinnati State or its developer, Boston-based Higher Education Partners.

City Council is expected to vote on donating the First National Bank building to Cincinnati State at its Jan. 8 meeting. This would be the second of two buildings the city owns that it will be giving away. In November, the city gave the former Masonic Temple building on Main Street to the Art Central Foundation. These two buildings were part of a $300,000 purchase of four buildings (which included the former Bank One and CG&E; buildings) in anticipation of Cincinnati State coming to Middletown.

The city made back two-thirds of its money when it sold the CG&E; building for $202,000 to Higher Education Partners to develop the Cincinnati State Middletown campus. It still can make up the difference if it sells the former Bank One building, which is caddy-corner to Cincinnati State Middletown, for the remainder. No offers, however, have been made, according to city officials.

There are a number of next steps for Cincinnati State. The remainder of its downtown campus at 1 N. Main St. is to be renovated, and school officials need to figure out what to do with its two other buildings — the former senior citizens center (which was included in the sale of the CG&E; building) and the former First National Bank. Cincinnati State would also need to determine a use for the former Job & Family Services office on Central Avenue, if Butler County commissioners agree to donate that building to the city of Middletown, which in turn would give it to the community college.

Whatever those plans are, significant dollars could be spent.

The school hopes it will be investing the state funding it anticipates receiving into Middletown.

It was announced earlier this week that Cincinnati State is in line to receive $123,000 from the Ohio Higher Ed department. School officials say the downtown Middletown campus will benefit since part of the money will be used to develop co-op opportunities in the city. Approval will be known in January if the State of Ohio Controlling Board approves it at its next meeting.

In Cincinnati State’s application for the grant, the college cited several objectives, including:

Being able to train the workforce in the greater Middletown area was one of the key reasons the city recruited Cincinnati State Technical & Community College to open a downtown campus.

The Middletown campus will host an event May 16 to showcase the partnership with Middletown businesses and the college’s Workforce Development Center, said Brian O’Keeffe, Workforce Development Center operations manager.

“It’s a chance to sit down with some of the folks we’ve worked with in the Middletown area, and to show off what we have done and what we can do,” he said.

A select number of area businesses have been invited to attend, O’Keeffe said, but the event is open for any area business who wants to have a better-trained workforce.

Tracy Intihar, executive director of the Office of Workforce Transformation, will speak at the open house and provide an overview of what her office, which was created by Gov. John Kasich in 2012, does, and its three goals.

“The governor early on understood the importance of workforce,” she said. “He believes strongly that to grow the economy and jobs in Ohio, we need to have a robust workforce.”

“The ultimate goal of our office is to create a more unified and better aligned workforce system that supports business in meeting its workforce needs,” Intihar said

Cincinnati State’s Workforce Development Center is headquartered in Evendale and opened a fulltime office after the Middletown campus opened last year.

Rep. Tim Derickson (R-Hanover Twp.) has been a champion for workforce development in the Statehouse for years, and said Ohio has made “incredible strides” in offering these opportunities.

“Any college campus that does not involve themselves with workforce development will not be successful in this day and age,” he said. “Workforce development is simply what our population needs. They need training, they need new skills. What Cincinnati State is doing, they’ve recognized that people have these needs that unemployed and underemployed workers need their help.”

Cincinnati State Middletown is important to the city, and the region, as the school that can train and educate a broad area, Derickson said.

“Middletown was home to many manufacturing companies that simply are not there today,” Derickson said. “We have a great workforce but that workforce simply needs the skills or training that they don’t have, or haven’t needed to acquire in the past.”

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How to go

What: Workforce Development Center Open House
When: 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, May 16
Where: Cincinnati State Middletown, 1 N. Main St.
Info: The event will serve as an exchange of information about training, development and collaboration opportunities in the Middletown area. Regional employers, economic development professionals and workforce development staff have been invited to the event.
To attend: For area business owners or managers, call 513-217-3100

Since Cincinnati State Middletown opened this past August, about 100 jobs have been created in downtown.

Unemployment in Middletown has exceeded 10 percent from 2009 to 2011, and has been consistently below 10 percent since February 2012. But the efforts of the city, businesses and downtown champions are doing what they can to keep that number down.

More than 50 jobs have been created by Cincinnati State Middletown, but dozens more have been created when various businesses — including Mockingbird’s Cafe, the Liberty Restaurant, Stained 1054 Bistro and Tufts of Hair — opened within the past year. Since Cincinnati State Middletown opened in August, more than 100 jobs have been created in the downtown area, according to Downtown Middletown Inc.

And the more people that come downtown, for work or pleasure, means the more money being spent downtown, said Patrick Kay, executive director of Downtown Middletown Inc.

Being a part of the job growth for downtown “is very important,” said Tom Hale, assistant director at Cincinnati State Middletown.

“It’s sort of why we were invited to be here and one of the reasons we came here, to be a part of the growth,” he said. “We’re not an engine for economic development, but we’re a piston in the machine.”

Downtown development and job creation is a team effort, Kay said.

“It takes a village, and that’s exactly what’s going on,” he said. “We’re here full-time to work on the development of the downtown in terms of the way it looks, the way it operates, the infrastructure, working with the city. We’re just another piece in the puzzle of economic development.”

And the services that are developed downtown “create a mix where one compliments the other,” said Denise Hamet, Middletown Economic Development Director.

“We definitely have a new interest and a new energy downtown,” she said. “It’s on the upswing. It’s a long-term redevelopment but we’re starting into it.”

The city has invested in the downtown through loans, facade grants, building donations, demolitions, brownfield redevelopment and demolitions.

City Manager Judy Gilleland said that in the past five years the city has invested about $1 million in the downtown, including at the Pendleton Art Center, Cincinnati State Middletown and Governor’s Square.

“The downtown is the heart of our community and it is important that it remain vibrant,” she said. “I see the heart beating strongly now.”

Bringing jobs downtown isn’t just about bringing in new businesses, said Kay. While some may think Downtown Middletown Inc. works to put on events, that’s not the case, he said.

“What people don’t realize are those events and the fun stuff that happens downtown are part of what brings jobs and retails and business downtown,” Kay said. “No one wants to be downtown when there’s nothing going on. Our job is to create a place to be, and part of that place to be is the events and the happenings of downtown.”

Mike Robinette, a board member of Downtown Middletown Inc. and former city economic development director, said shops, restaurants and other amenities that have opened in downtown is the start.

“The trend is moving in the right direction,” he said.

But jobs are only the start, he said.

“We want to bring jobs, and we want to bring housing, and we want to bring amenities in the downtown,” Robinette said. “We’re looking to create a unique neighborhood that’s different than what you would see in a strip development or mall development.”

There are still doubters of the future of downtown, and Robinette said it takes time.

“Anyone who looks at it has to say things are moving in the right direction, perhaps not as quickly as everyone would like,” he said. “Downtown Middletown and downtowns in general didn’t get close to dying in a year or two, and they’re not going to be revitalized in a year or two.”

The activity happening downtown is helping area businesses.

Sally Hollon re-opened the famed Liberty Restaurant earlier this year and business is good, she said. So good that she’s planning to expand.

“We’re hoping in the next month to have the bar open and then I’ll be hiring some more people,” Hollon said.

Hollon now employs 10 full-time and three part-time people, and looks to hire two more for part-time work. When the bar opens — and her business will be re-branded as the Liberty Pub and Grub — she believes she’ll need to hire at least six or seven more people.

And with the anticipated expansion of Cincinnati State Middletown — which was donated two buildings near its campus at 1 North Main Street — the start of the Broad Street Bash on May 15, the buzz around downtown “is going to help everybody.”

Tufts of Hair opened last June. Owner Lynn Tuft doesn’t employ anyone but rather rents booth space to stylist who brings their clients to downtown. She has room for two more.

“There’s a lot more here than when we first started,” she said. “More people are starting to see it’s not scary downtown.”

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By the numbers

About 100 jobs have been created since Cincinnati State Middletown opened in August. Here is the employee count* of some downtown businesses that have opened since August 2012:
Cincinnati State Middletown: 53 full-time and part-time employees for the summer semester
Liberty Restaurant: 18 full-time and part-time employees
Stained 1054 Bistro: 20 full-time and part-time employees
Design 2 Wear 2: 3 full-time and part-time employees
Gift Gallery: 2full-time employees
Mockingbird Cafe: 3 full-time and part-time employees
Tufts of Hair: 1 full-time employee and 2 stylists who rent space
Splattered Platter: 2 full-time and part-time employees
Downtown Middletown Inc.: 1 full-time employee
Barber Stop: 2 full-time employees
*Full-time employees may also include owners of the business