Report highlights growth in Camden

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CAMDEN — To summarize the growth of local businesses in the Village of Camden, Deputy Village Administrator Benjamin Gunderson recently presented a detailed report to inform residents of finished and ongoing projects.

“The Village of Camden has had unprecedented economic development growth during 2022. Starting back in late 2021, the village created the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) throughout the entire village, as well as incorporated 40-plus parcels in the downtown area into the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) business incentive. By passing and adopting that legislation going into 2022, it has opened up roughly $21 millions in private investment and has helped foster 60-plus new jobs in the community,” wrote Gunderson.

“To begin, I would like to highlight the newly erected Dollar General Market. Prior to the completion of the DG Market, the village didn’t have a grocery store in town for over two years. I started working with the DG Market developer back in September of last year to help attract the project to Camden. During conversations, I wanted to ensure two things: We end the grocery store drought in Camden, and we attract a quality investment in the community that will bring a quality building to the community and will help clean up one of our main intersections in town. Due to the significant cost of the project, the village elected to create the “North Main TIF” which is the business incentive that captures the increased taxable value from the project. Doing so, it allows for the village to have increased revenues that can be used for public improvements that will have an impact on the property. The DG Market project totaled roughly $2 million in total cost and will provide 10-20 jobs here in the community. Fun fact — ours is the first standalone DG Market in the State of Ohio.”

Village of Camden officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the DG Market on Sunday, Nov. 6, and it is now open for business.

Gunderson continued, “The second project I would like to discuss is the Ohio Slitting and Storage expansion. Ohio Slitting and Storage provides full slitting and storage services as a recognized toll processor for steel coils. When expansion talks first started, Ohio Slitting and Storage was seeking a property tax abatement on the improved value of the land, more specifically the expansion. Furthermore, other sites were being considered throughout the process. It was inevitable for the village to work closely with the Dayton Development Coalition as well as the Preble County Development Partnership. Due to those partnerships, the project was awarded JobsOhio incentives as well as the local incentives passed by the village and Preble Shawnee Local Schools. Acquiring this expansion brought an additional $17.5 million in private investment to the village. Additionally, they will create between 20-30 new jobs in the village.”

Village officials as well as representatives of OSS held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

“The third project initiated in fiscal year 2022 is the Medship project. Medship specializes in shipping at-home wound care products. Currently, the business operates out of The Dover in town. Medship plans on tearing down three vacant buildings (owned by the company’s CEO, Rob Jarrell) and replacing them with a new, fully brick, 8,000 square foot building. They also plan to tear down two additional buildings across the street from their building location to replace them with a fully landscaped parking lot which will be open for public use, and will be a nice compliment to the Tech Center project. The village plans to leverage existing business incentive revenues generated from the DG Market to help pay for the costs associated with the parking lot. The village is also working with the Preble County Development Partnership and Dayton Development Coalition to help allocate state funds to the project. The Medship project will bring an estimated $1.5 million in private investment and will create an additional 20-30 jobs within the community,” Gunderson continued.

Camden Village Council is currently working with the owners of Medship to plan future developmental projects and structures.

“As I conclude the current projects, I would like to point out that none of these would be possible without our partnership with the Preble Shawnee Local Schools. Each of the incentives mentioned above had to be passed by the school district board in order to fully maximize the business incentive. The village would like to thank Preble Shawnee School Board for their continued support towards economic development efforts and looks forward to continuing the working relationship.

“As we look ahead to 2023, the village fully expects the Tech Center project to secure the needed funding to get the construction under way. The village has been working hard with its interested parties to secure the needed funding to help support the total cost of the project. The Tech Center project has a goal of creating one centralized spot in which the community and local students can use the center for workforce development and education initiatives. The project is focused on relocating the Camden Library Branch to the bottom floor of the Tech Center building, which will also work in conjunction with the Tech Center component of the project. The space will maintain its traditional book, audio book and magazine materials, while also having numerous collaborative workspaces. The workspaces will have interactive screens and other needed technology devices. The upper floor of the building is slated for leasable office space. The project is expected to bring in both private and public investments totaling around $1.4 million and bring around 10 jobs to the community. The village is very excited for this project and believes this will be a massive compliment to the community,” Gunderson added.

Gunderson concluded his summary by saying, “The village passed at the beginning of 2022 the “Strategic Planning Priorities Outline” which identified three areas of focus: live, play and work. Although the village continues to work tirelessly towards improving those three areas, we would like to bring attention to our Camden Comeback group for yet another successful Black Walnut Festival. Camden Comeback continues to bring immense value to the community across so many different levels. The Black Walnut Festival continues to grow and improve year after year and the Camden Comeback group continues to lead those efforts.”

Recently, Camden Village Council has concentrated efforts towards reviving Camden’s business sector post-pandemic, as well as re-imagining village branding, such as introducing a new logo on its website and social media.

Camden Village Council has concentrated efforts towards reviving Camden’s business sector post-pandemic, as well as recreated village branding, including introducing a new logo on its website and social media.
https://www.registerherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2022/12/web1_Revised-Camden-Logo-2022.jpgCamden Village Council has concentrated efforts towards reviving Camden’s business sector post-pandemic, as well as recreated village branding, including introducing a new logo on its website and social media. Submitted

By Nathan Hoskins

[email protected]

Reach Nathan Hoskins at 937-683-4057

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