THE DEVELOPMENT SOURCE |
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Community Profile: Lockland |
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Incorporated in 1849, Lockland owed its early development – and its name – to its location on the Miami-Erie Canal, a major 19th century route for commerce. Four locks on the canal were built in the village, and provided a major transportation route, as well as an abundance of water, both of which attracted industry. The modern-day version of the canal is Interstate 75, one of the country’s major north-south highways. The interstate bisects the village and provides easy access to markets throughout the Midwest, the Great Lakes region, the South, and beyond. The Hamilton County Development Co. maintains a database of available buildings and sites in Lockland. It is available at www.lockland.com. Chief among the properties available for redevelopment are two 25-acre former brownfield sites that have good access to the interstate. Companies seeking to expand or locate in Lockland may have economic development incentive programs available to them, including one for customers locating on a former qualified brownfield site, and the Ohio Voluntary Action Program, which provides incentives for voluntarily cleaning up property contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum. Incentives include low-interest loans for clean-up costs and a 10-year tax exemption on the increase in real property value resulting from voluntary action. Lockland boasts of having the first Clean Ohio Program brownfields that have not only been remediated, but have been returned to commercial use by two companies that both used the SBA 504 loan program through HCDC to build new facilities on the sites. Many companies have already found Lockland to be a place where they can do business. They include Evonik Degussa, a maker of specialty chemicals, Catanzaro Sons and Daughters Food Service Distributors, general contractor Reece-Campbell Inc., Moxy Trucks, a construction equipment distributor, Sawbrook Steel Castings Co. and direct mail provider Amity Unlimited. Lockland has workforce that is skilled and experienced. About 22 percent of its adult population works in manufacturing; and 17 percent works in education, health or social service. There is a 52-unit housing development planned for the village, which consists of 1.2 square miles where 3,400 residents live. About half of the houses are owner-occupied, and the median age of residents is 38. |
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