The entrance ramp for I-71 South is expected to open this hour with the exit ramp from I-71 South expected to open within the next three hours.
“The Western Row Road interchange project was a major infrastructure priority for ODOT, not just because of the improved safety this provides to drivers throughout the area, but because of the access it has established to the growing regional hub of economic activity in Mason,” said ODOT District 8 Deputy Director Tammy Campbell.
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The new ramps bring with them increased visibility to Mason, a rapidly growing hub of biohealth, advanced automation and aerospace innovation that has seen more than 4,000 new jobs and $700 million in investment since 2014, according to city officials.
That’s something Mason Mayor Victor Kidd said is part of a 5-year period of “unprecedented growth” that included companies like Festo, Myriad Neuroscience (formerly Assurex Health), L3 Space & Sensors, Procter & Gamble Global Health & Beauty and AtriCure.
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Here are a few of the targeted corporate and technology sector investments accompanied by high paying jobs that Mason has been able to attract in just the past five years.
• In 2014, medical device manufacturer AtriCure, picked this location for its global headquarters and a $16+ million investment. Three years later, the site thrives with 150 percent more job growth than expected at more than 300 employees.
• In 2015, Procter & Gamble’s Mason campus announced a $400 million expansion, which will add more than 1,000 new jobs to its global Health & Beauty Innovation Center when it opens this year, making it the largest R&D center in P&G’s international portfolio and the largest center of tech and science employees.
• Also in 2015, Mason landed global advanced automation and mechatronics leader Festo, which opened a $50 million facility and brought 200 jobs to the city.
• In 2017, one of Mason’s fastest growing companies and CincyTech startup, Assurex Health (now Myriad Neuroscience), expanded for the sixth time at the city’s Western Row gateway. Chard Snyder invested in a new $9 million facility bringing 250 jobs; and the Western & Southern Open, part of the U.S. Open Series, invested more than $26 million at Mason’s Lindner Family Tennis Center.
• In 2018, the City of Mason opened its third campus of the Mason Tech Elevator at 5412 Courseview Drive along I-71 just south of Kings Mills Road. This location is now home to fast-growing biohealth CincyTech portfolio companies, Genetesis and Clarigent Health and L3’s Innovation Lab. Also, Festo announced its $90 million investment, nearly tripling the building’s footprint along Columbia Road adding 350 additional jobs.
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