Recovery Zone Facility Bonds Request for Proposal Second Round

A RZFB RFP Second Round has been approved by the Butler County Port Authority. This bond allocation is available for eligible private activity. The remaining allocation is $10,965,000. Contact rcampbell@butlerport.org  or phone 513-785-6302 for an RFP or more information. The deadline for submitting the RFP is January 31st.

Butler County Port Authority Five Years of Progress

"Our partners helped us to get started and now we are self-sufficient." Dick Slagle pointed out in a brief farewell as Chairman statement to the Board on December 15th at the regular monthly Board Meeting. The Butler County Commissioners and most of our municipalities and townships have supported the creation and development of the BCPA.

Recovery Zone Facility Bonds Project Approved

Greenwood Fuels technical advisor Dan Mahue provides information for the BCPA Board on the Greenwood Fuels waste paper conversion to wood pellets project in Hamilton, Ohio. The Board approved a $5M Recovery Zone Facility Bonds allocation.

State Announces Recovery Zone Bond Allocation Waiver Process

The State announced a waiver allocation policy for Recovery Zone Bonds at the CDFA Recovery and Reinvestment Bond Roundtable in Columbus on Thursday. The policy and allocation process will be in place in the next week or so with reporting and allocation plan requirement.

Butler County Chamber Caucus Hosts Legislative Breakfast

The Butler County Commissioners answered questions at the Butler County Chambers of Commerce legislative breakfast in Fairfield. The major issue continues to be the budget which offers new challenges and opportunities for local government. The HR Study for Butler County, Water and Sewer consolidation discussions, Departmental and local government collaboration were some of the specific items the Commissioners have been addressing on a regular basis.

Intelligrated ODOD Financing Project Team

Michael DiPerna from RW Baird L& Co. and Tracy Allen from the Ohio Dept. of Development provide an update on the Intelligrated Project for BCPA Board Members.

Butler County Port Authority Meeting in West Chester

Brian Elliff, Director of the West Chester Department of Community Development gives an update on West Chester economic development activities. The GE Aviation JEDD has been one of the most significant economic development initiatives.

Butler County Chambers of Commerce Caucus Meets

The Caucus meeting bimonthly to discuss countywide Chamber of Commerce and economic development issues. The Butler County Port Authority gave a brief update on the Recovery Zone Bonds and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act bond programs. Collaboration improves economic and business development opportunities.

Advanced Manufacturing Program at GE

GE in Evendale, Ohio hosted the Advanced Manufacturing Regional Employer Forum on November 4th. Tipco Punch and Amylin were Butler County firms participating in the Employer Panel Discussion. The U.S. is number 1 in manufacturing with 24% of the market. Ohio is 3rd nationally.

Governor Strickland Announces Intelligrated Project

The State of Ohio and local economic organizations collaborated to provide funding for the expansion and consolidation of Intelligrated operations. The Governor and Intelligrated CEO Chris Cole announced the funding effort that includes ownership of the West Chester Intelligrated facility by the Butler County Port Authority. More than $8M will be loaned to the BCPA to facilitate the project.

Recovery Zone Bonds Request for Proposals

Recovery Zone Bonds RFP's have been sent to economic development departments and interested parties in the past week. The deadline for submission of a project for the 1st Round is December 1st. The RFP is available on the BCPA web page www.butlerport.org.

Ohio Port Authority Council Meets

The Ohio Council of Port Authorities met today to discuss issues and programs in Columbus. Mark Locker from the Ohio Department of Transportation provided an update on stimulus related transportation funds while Steve Schoeny gave an update on the Ohio Dept. of Development programs. Cannon Moss from Norfolk Southern Corp. and Steve Davis from CSX discussed railroad economic development strategy. Steve Schoeny was questioned about the new Attorney General reporting form. Several companies have called Port Authorities about compliance issues and reporting requirements. One item for consideration is evaluating the increase of the bid threshold for port authorities in Ohio. The OCPA meets quarterly.

Board Meeting at Miami University Middletown

Kelly Cowan, Director Of Community Partnerships and Professor of Microbiology gives an overview of the community engagement program at Miami University Middletown. The BCPA Board was held on the campus in an effort to learn about community educational resources in Butler County.

Ohio Rail Development Commission Retreat

A Wilbur Smith consultant provides an overview of key areas of the Ohio Rail Plan. The ORDC is working to develop the Ohio Rail Plan 2010 evaluation and planning process. Stakeholder input will be requested in the next 30 to 60 for the plan. Jim Bradley was introduced as the new Chairman of the ORDC.

Board Meeting at Miami University Middletown October 20th

The Miriam Knoll Memorial entrance is the best way to get to rooms 136 and 137 where our Board Meeting will be held. The Interstate 75 interchange exit 32 is under construction so you might want to give yourself more time in getting to the meeting. Go west on 122 to Briel Blvd and turn right, follow Briel until you see the M.U.M. sign. Turn left into the campus and the entrance is right there. Park either directly across or in the area the photo was taken. Don't park in faculty/staff designated spaces.

Quaker Chemical Ribbon Cutting

The Butler County Port Authority Chairman Dick Slagle speaks at the Quaker Chemical Ribbon Cutting Ceremony held on October 14th at the Middletown Quaker Chemical facility. More than $20M was invested in the project including a $10M industrial development bond provided by the BCPA. The project took several years to coordinate the financing. Mr. Slagle thanked Quaker Chemical on their resolve to see the project through to completion.

Fairfield Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase 2009

Solomon Wilcots talks about how he prepared for a broadcasting career after his retirement from the NFL in 1992 at the Business Showcase. He learned the broadcasting business from the bottom up at Channel 5 in Cincinnati. He currently is a commentator and has a radio program.

Liberty Interchange Dedication

Christine Matacic introduces speakers for the Liberty Interchange Dedication. The collaboration of the Butler County Commissioners, West Chester and Liberty Township Trustee in partnership with the Transportation Improvement District was critical to planning and completing the $41M project. State and local officials, the West Chester Chamber Alliance and the Ohio Dept. of Transportation were part of the project and the dedication program.

Discussion at Midfest Indonesia Trade Program

The BCPA Executive Director talks with Robert Clark of CBI Global and Christopher Gibson of American Apex at the Indonesian Trade Program in Middletown on Friday. The Chamber of Middletown, Trenton and Monroe organized the event held at the Manchester Inn.

Butler County Economic Development Team Meets

The Butler County Economic Development Team held their quarterly meeting at the Government Services Center recently. One topic of discussion was the Recovery Zone Bonds allocation. Criteria for project approval will be developed based on the Economic Development Team recommendations.
Photo: A small group of EDT members discuss some project items.

Freight Improvement Technology Highlighted at the Ohio Freight Conference

Randy Butler from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation gave a presentation on new DOT programs in improving freight transportation. The Electronic Freight Management (EFM) initiative is a USDOT-sponsored project that applies Web technologies that improve data and message transmissions between supply chain partners. It promotes and evaluates innovative e-business concepts, enabling process coordination and information sharing for supply chain freight partners through public-private collaboration. The CEFM (Columbus EFM) project was a successful 2007 deployment test which implemented web services and other components to support an existing international import truck-air-truck supply chain. The goal is to provide a mechanism for sharing supply chain freight information that is simpler, cheaper, and more efficient to implement than traditional EDI, allows for all, but especially small to medium sized and less sophisticated, supply chain partners to access the information, and makes it easier to customize the flow of information between and among partners. Another goal of the initiative is to design a system to ensure that data are entered once but used many times, thereby eliminating data transcription errors. EFM aims to help companies replace paper trails with electronic information, freeing up human resources that were previously devoted to manual data entry. For more details on the program visit the EFM web page at http://www.efm.us.com/.
The Cross Town Improvement Program was also discussed. More information can be obtained from the web page at http://www.ctip-us.com/.
Contact: Randy ButlerTransportation SpecialistOffice of Freight Management and OperationsU.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Phone +1 202.366.9215 mailto:randy.butler@dot.gov

Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors Presentation at the Ohio Freight Conference 2009

Adrienne Gildea, Manager of the Coalition of America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC)—an organization dedicated to bringing national attention to the need to significantly expand U.S. freight transportation capabilities— provided a presentation at the Ohio Freight Conference on their efforts to fund freight infrastructure. Infrastructure funding for freight is a centerpiece of the next federal-aid surface transportation program, with the current legislation SAFETEA-LU expiring on September 30.

Freight 21: A National Strategic Freight Mobility Program and Trust Fund (FTF) is to provide a new, separately-funded freight program that would improve the current federal-aid surface transportation program and balance and separate these interests. It would be based on user fees and funding from outside traditional sources. CAGTC added a new type of freight funding mechanism is vital, as “passengers and freight in the U.S. compete for an inadequate supply of infrastructure capacity and financial resources with both suffering.”
CAGTC said Freight 21 is comprised of:
a national strategy guide to long-term planning;
dedicated and firewalled funding mechanisms;
merit-based criteria for allocating funds; and
a partnership with the private sector. For more information visit the CAGTC web page at www.tradecorridors.org

Freight Conference Highlights

The President of the University of Toledo provided introductory remarks for the Ohio Freight Conference on September 22nd. He indicated it was a time to avoid being faint hearted and risk aversive. New paradigms are needed to meet the transportation and specifically the freight hauling challenges during this economic recession. In the coming days more highlights and photos from the conference will be posted on the BCPA Newsletter/Blog.

Butler County Port Authority Board Meeting at Butler Tech

Barry Franz from Burgess & Niple gives an update on the application process for a Brownfield Assessment Grant. The Intermodal Rail Study will be used to develop an intermodal focus for the grant. The BCPA met at the Butler Tech Public Safety Complex on September 15th. The next meeting will be held at Miami University Middletown on October 20th.

Smart Papers Cogeneration Facility Tour

The Smart Papers cogeneration facility towers are shown in the photo. The facility is operational in Hamilton, Ohio. A tour of the facility featured a visual inspection of turbines for steam generation. Two coal-fired boilers can produce nearly 37 megawatts of electricity including about 20 megawatts that can be sold on the Midwest electric grid. The $30 million project was completed in June. Dan Maheu, Smart Paper's CEO answered questions and provided background on the power generation process.

Vision 2020 Hamilton Riverfront Committee Explores Financing Options

Mike Campbell and Sean Fraunfelter conducted a presentation on Port Authority Transaction Benefits and Financing for the Hamilton V2020 Riverfront Committee.
Riverfront Committee members listened and asked questions on financing. Port Authorities can provide long-term financing, grants and transaction cost reduction for project development.

BCPA Miami University Intern

Andrew McCreadie, a Miami University Senior started his orientation session today at the Butler County Port Authority offices in Hamilton. Andrew is majoring in Business Economics and his minor is political science. Andrew will assist in projects and general port authority programs during the internship this fall and winter.

Fairfield Director of Development Reports on Economic Development in Fairfield

Tim Bachman, Director of Development provides an update on economic development activities and programs in Fairfield. The West Chester JEDD for GE Aviation has been a significant accomplishment this year. The BCPA was the first organization to utilize the new audio/visual systems in the Fairfield Council Chambers.

Quaker Chemical Project Update at the August 18th BCPA Board Meeting

Fred Sansom from Quaker Chemical gave an update on the $10,000,000 Industrial Development Bond project started in late summer of 2008 with a Groundbreaking Ceremony. Forty people will be hired over a three year period and interviews have already started for the Production Manager. A Ribbon Cutting is anticipated for the new facility in October. BCPA Chairman Richard Slagle thanked Mr. Sansom for the opportunity to assist in funding the project. The City of Fairfield hosted the BCPA Board Meeting.

National Gateway Groundbreaking

The Groundbreaking represents an investment of $175,000,000 and over 200 jobs. The Butler County Port Authority has been a supporter of the National Gateway Project since November of 2008. Executive Director of the BCPA, Mike Campbell attended the ceremony in New Baltimore on Friday afternoon.

The BCPA has partnered with CSX and the Ohio Rail Development Commission to develop a rail car rebate program for installation of electric lock switches for three manufacturers in the Hamilton and Fairfield area. The Intermodal Rail Study and rail car rebate program were completed in 2007.

Fairfield Council Meeting on August 10th

City Manager recognizes employee as part of the STAR program in Fairfield.

Renovated Fairfield City Council Chambers Host August 18 BCPA Board Meeting

State of the art equipment for audio-visuals, computer connectivity, and applications have been installed in the renovated Council Chambers of the Fairfield Municipal Building. The August 2009 Board Meeting will be held in the Council Chambers.

Ohio Port Authority Council Meets

The Ohio Port Authority Council met on Thursday to discuss stimulus bond financing, legislation and fostering collaborative partnerships. The BCPA is a member of the OPAC.
The Internal Revenue Service regulations on new bonds are being finalized. Allocations for the Recovery Zone Facility (private activity) and Economic Development have been made by the Federal Government with large municipalities and counties receiving allocations. OPAC members are working to increase the availability of funds for project development.

The Butler County Port Authority Manufacturer Financing Resources

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has expanded the scope of Industrial Development Bonds to include subordinate facilities and intangible assets related to manufacturing. Recovery Zone Bonds have been allocated to jurisdictions which can also be utilized for qualified projects.

Projects and SWOMC Featured at BCPA Board Meeting held in Trenton

Mike Garrett from Burgess & Niple gives an update on the Middletown Regional Hospital Deconstruction Project. The $9.1M project should be completed in September.
Scott Ellsworth of the Southwest Ohio Manufacturers Consortium (SWOMC) provided an update on their strategy to build a mass of manufacturers in the region capable of producing energy related components. Butler Tech and the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce have been strong supporters of the effort. The Butler County Port Authority can assist in financing with the expanded stimulus industrial development bond capabilities.
Jim Foster, City of Trenton Economic Development Director, discussed economic development programs such as quality of life improvements, industrial park development and the reactivation of the Trenton Community Improvement Corporation. The City of Trenton hosted the July Board Meeting.

Butler County Port Authority Quaker Chemical Groundbreaking

The BCPA most recent groundbreaking was the Quaker Chemical project in Middletown, Ohio. The expansion was funded with a $10M Industrial Revenue Bond. Other projects include the Greater Miami Valley YMCA, the Middletown Regional Hospital Deconstruction and the Electric Switch Lock Systems (rail development) for three companies.