Officials: Hamilton’s city tower becoming hub for cutting-edge companies

“We now have Imflux. We have 80 Acres. We have Infinite Acres,” Smith told the council. “I think that we can legitimately say we have three of the Top 10 most innovative companies in the state of Ohio headquartered in Hamilton, Ohio. And that’s huge for us.”

Some Ohio development experts didn’t quite endorse that ranking, but they agreed the businesses are very innovative, and also have the exciting ability to disrupt their industries. And the two agricultural firms also can make use of abandoned buildings in cities, they noted.

Ned Hill, who teaches economic development policy at Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs, said, “I would celebrate it.”

“I would tend to think you’ve got this little company in Evendale, Ohio, (GE Aviation) that might argue they might be somewhat innovative,” Hill said. “If you go up to the Youngstown area, there are a couple startups up there that are doing fabulous things, but what I really like is the fact that two of these companies interact around dense urban food and help to revitalize cities. That’s really exciting.”

And with Imflux, “You’ve got a new version of the Cincinnati area’s traditional strengths in machine tooling and parts manufacturing,” Hill said. “That’s so exciting. What you’re seeing is a rebound in the portfolio of products that are coming out of the Cincinnati area, and centered in Hamilton.”

Alison Goebel, executive director of the Greater Ohio Policy Center, which has the vision of revitalizing the state’s economy, said, “The hustle that landed these companies in Hamilton is great. It shows initiative. It’s always a little bit of luck, but often it’s a lot more of hard work.”

With Imflux and the two Acres companies, “You’ve got three companies that are involved with fundamental disruption, which is interesting,” Hill said. “Hamilton could end up demonstrating something that’s kind of been kicking around in literature or among advocates for a long time, around urban farming and providing fresh food very close to market.”

“It clearly is something to be celebrated,” Hill said. “I would think that there’s lots of disruptive innovation going on around the state. But there isn’t a lot that does it and also recycles buildings at the same time.”

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Goebel, whose organization has performed case-studies about what Hamilton is doing right to attract companies, said the location of companies in Hamilton shows the city is offering good quality of life for the companies’ workers.

“Generally speaking, companies are not looking just at qualifications of potential workers, but also what are the other amenities and quality-of-life conditions in the place they’re going to locate, because that’s a worker attraction/retention issue,” Goebel said. “They’ve gone to Hamilton, which tells us it’s also an amenities-rich location.”

Hamilton’s downtown area has been blossoming recently with a new park, restaurants and bars.

Shuffling who’s where in Hamilton’s city government tower

With 80 Acres Farms and Infinite Acres locating their U.S. headquarters in Hamilton’s city building at 345 High St., and the company ODW Logistics expanding its offices there, city employees won’t have to move out, but many will be moving to new areas within the building. Here’s a floor-by-floor look at who was where, and where they will be moving:

Source: City of Hamilton