May 27, 2024 • 27 mins
Guest is Joe Hinson, the President and CEL of West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance, explaining the vision for the booming region, how the boom began, and what's coming in the next decade that will change the growing community.
Then, a look at the reason for Memorial Day.
West Chester - Liberty Chamber Alliance
Then, a look at the reason for Memorial Day.
West Chester - Liberty Chamber Alliance
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This week on iHeart Sincy was notjust going to be what people had expected
in the past, which was basicallyan exit with a place to get gassen
and you move on. Where weregoing to be a destination Cincinnati and Dayton.
We've slowly been merging into one largecommunity for decades and the bridge between
the two is Westchester and Liberty Townships. You get one hundred and fifty three
(00:22):
thousand vehicles a day that go throughour area of Westchester Liberty and I seventy
five one of the heaviest traveled interstatesin the country today. My guest is
Joe Henson. He's the president andCEO of the Westchester Liberty Chamber Alliance.
He's here to explain how vision andcareful planning have created a vibrant seventy five
corridor, countless business opportunities and growthin southwest Ohio. And later it's Memorial
(00:47):
Day weekend. We'll have things foryou to do this holiday. Now on
iHeart Sincy with Sandy Collins, wecall this iHeart Sincey because we love our
hometown. This show is for thiscommunity to find the resources needed to solve
many of the issues that we're facingright here. In the Tri State and
sharing stories that embolden and uplift people. Right here, Joe Hinson has served
(01:10):
as the President and CEO of theWestchester Liberty Chamber Alliance for over twenty five
years. It's our region's third largestchamber. Their mission is to establish this
area as the region's globally competitive andinclusive business epicenter. It's all about quality
of life and prosperity. While theregion has grown over the last twenty five
(01:30):
years, there is still much morecoming in than near future, and Joe's
here to talk about it. Joe, thank you for being here on iHeart
Cincy. Joe Hinson is the Presidentand CEO of the Westchester Liberty Chamber Alliance.
Here to talk about the amazing growthof the corridor between Dayton and Cincinnati,
which you say really was kickstarted backin nineteen ninety seven with the opening
(01:52):
of Union Center Boulevard, right,So can we go back to that,
Yeah, well, thank you,Sandy, and it's a pleasure to be
here in Center Boulevard opening nineteen ninetyseven, A lot of part in ninety
seven November twenty fifth, and whatit did was opened up three thousand acres
for commercial development. It had beentwenty five years in southwestern Ohio and I
(02:15):
seventy five before a new interchange hadopened on seventy five. And what this
did was put a full interchange ina key area of new growth and development
where it was basically off farmland,and opening up the three thousand acres allowed
for offshoots off of the interchange north, south, east, and west,
(02:38):
and kind of followed that opportunity andstarted building basically the infrastructure for what you
see the central business district of thedowntown, if you will, for Westchester
Township, and businesses came started tocome. And you know, I remember
when two thousand we had a Marriottand it was like and now we are
somebody. It was not just goingto be what people had expected in the
(02:58):
past, which was basically an exitwith a place to get gass and and
you move on where were going tobe a destination. And as they say,
the rest is history because there wasa plan, a focused plan of
attack. And so the Union Centerarea in Westchester is what we would call
downtown. Then if you go upgoing north and you would look at the
(03:19):
Cincinnati Dayton Road interchange, that wouldbe our midtown. And then if you
would look at Tylersville Road, whicha little further north, that's our uptown.
So they all basically those three exitscame together as one and basically they
started to build the business structure thatyou see today for Westchester Township. It
certainly has exploded with the visibility theyou know when Ikea came in, I
(03:45):
mean that was like the anchor.It's like that's one of the main businesses
where people have a landmark of well, do you know where Ikea is there
in Westchester? We're north of that? Where south of that? You know
whatever? Which businesses have you onto this area because of the growth of
Westchester liberty that we may not beaware of. Well, if you let's
(04:08):
go back to what you were talkingabout with Ikea. When you have a
name and an international name like inIkea, why would they come here and
see? When you get large nameshere of organizations, then businesses start to
pay attention to say, well,if it's good enough for Ikea and we
need to take a look at this. I use the term test market for
(04:30):
the state of in this region.So in Ikea, for example, came
here because they recognized that there wasno Ikea around this area. In fact,
before Ikea in this area, youhad to go to Shamberg, Illinois
or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to shop Ikea. So you come into a Westchester township
and it's an opportunity for not onlywest Chester Liberty and the Cincinnati date markets,
(04:57):
but less than a two hour drive. You You've got Indianapolis, Lexington,
Louisville, Columbus that more than doublesyour population outreach and people will come
down and shop. Yes, they'lldrive two hours to come to big stores
like that. So basically, youknow, the organizations that came to our
area saw what was happening with anIkea, an international business that you know,
(05:23):
wow, we've got an Ikea herenow. And so what you saw
was a domino effect starting with atop golf a main event, Duluth training.
You also saw the most recently wereBest Pro Shop from where it was
in force Fair over to I seventyfive. And one of the reasons is
that you got one hundred and fiftythree thousand vehicles a day that go through
(05:46):
our area of Westchestern Liberty and Iseventy five, one of the heaviest traveled
interstates in the country. Fifty thousandvehicles a day exit off of Union Center
Boulevard. Businesses large and small havecome to our area. And one of
the keys I think in the developmentthat most people will see is what happened
with healthcare as an example, exactlyright. I was going to get to
(06:08):
that a little bit. Yeah,and you know and why because you've got
a large population that was not beingserviced and the mindset change from a business
standpoint of you come come to us. Now you know what we're going to
go where the residents are right andwe're going to come to you. Can
you quantify all of the different hospitalsthat have kind of settled in along this
(06:30):
corridor. You've got the major networkshere. So you've got Children's as an
example, in Liberty, you havechrist in Liberty, You've got the uc
Health Westchester Hospital. In Westchester,you've got tri healthist physician offices and doctor's
offices there. And you've got obviouslyyou've got Mercy that has got support with
(06:55):
physicians. But they recently opened upa new hospital over in off of I
seventy one in the Mason area.But they're also in Fairfield too, So
you've got the five major networks fromthe Cincinnati market there and then you bring
in Kettering, then you bring inPremiere with a Trium Medical center. They're
all connected in the Westchester Liberty areaon I seventy five. Why is that,
(07:21):
Well, again, I've got apopulation outreach that was not being serviced.
We're going to come to you,and that's what's happened. In fact,
when our Visitors Bureau looks at whypeople will come to this area for
amenities, one of the top amenitiesthat we're getting traffic from outlying areas is
healthcare. And I'm not just talkingabout Cincinnati date market. I'm talking about
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once again, Indianapolis, Lexington,louis O, Columbus. They're coming for
the name, recognition of the supportof a particular network. Could be the
doc, could be the surgeon.But they're being serviced here from a healthcare
standpoint. The Cincinnati and the Daytonarea have been they have shared history in
(08:07):
the timing of when they were developed. Joe, I'm a total history nerd,
and I remember reading back in theearly eighteen hundreds when this area was
really starting to settle. It wasall forest and it took two weeks to
travel from Cincinnati to Dayton on acart with a horse in dense, thick
(08:31):
woods, with Indians everywhere. Theydidn't like us, and they had a
good reason to, and they wouldThey didn't have to always pack their food.
They would just sleep. They wouldcatch whatever wild elk or squirrels or
whatever. This place was abundant withwildlife, and then they would fix their
food and go to sleep, andget up the next morning and take their
(08:52):
camp and then go. So whenyou think it took two weeks to travel
from Cincinnati to Dayton and now wemake it in about forty minutes with all
this beautiful industry, all these amenities, all this wonderful lifestyle, and it's
only been a couple hundred years Westchester. This isn't like a foregone conclusion for
the Westchester Liberty Area though, becausethere's other areas that haven't done as well
(09:16):
as you have. Would you saythat's true, Well, I will say
this that there was a lot ofthought and vision that went into the development
of Union Center Boulevard. And whodoes that. It's a community people that
are involved with economic development, thatare looking at the future of the area,
(09:39):
have businesses there and are looking tomaximize on the opportunity of the land
that has been purchased, which atthat time was farmland, and they want
to develop a business sector now.Because both west Chester and Liberty are townships
(10:01):
and not cities forms of government,the tax base is different. So there's
not an employee tax in Westchester orLiberty townships because there are townships. And
in turn, compared to the citywhere there was a tax on the employee,
there isn't one in both. Itis an instrumendous straw either here locally
(10:22):
or nationally, if you will.And you know, I think that they
saw an opportunity of the connectability witha central business district and this is really
I think important and why that therehas been success. And if you look
at Union Center Boulevard and I seventyfive, there are four quadrants right there
for the development of a downtown ifyou will, Okay, just like you
(10:48):
would in a metro city. Imean basically, your exits are surrounded by
your central business district, if youwill. So that is what's happened in
Westchester and that is what is happeningin Liberty. Because both Westchestern Liberty straddle
I seventy five and both townships aretaking advantage of that in that traffic flow
(11:09):
of one hundred and fifty three thousandvehicles. And so when you do that
and then you build your amenities offof that, so what happens is not
only are you servicing your residents thatare there, you're servicing residents from outlying
areas because it's easy access. Andone of the keys I think that have
developed also is we've been talking aboutnorth south access, but Union Center Boulevard
(11:33):
and now what's happening at Liberty Wayand with a new interchange at Milliken,
I'm excited. I want to talkto you about. Yes, is going
to be the east west access too. So what you're able to do is
you're able to draw in other communities. It's like I sent five easier,
like I seventy five is a magnet, and you're able to draw and because
(11:54):
that all the the epicenter, ifyou will, of business activity right there.
And I think that that's what hasmade Westchester and we'll make Liberty such
as success and give it sustainability.Is the epicenter of business is right there
on an interstate, easy access inand out to all the other amenities that
(12:15):
build around it. We didn't havea new interchange on seventy five in southwestern
ohioland twenty five years and an athirteen year period we had four because of
Union Center Boulevard. So what happenedin twenty twenty two is the federal government
finally gave its okay for the newinterchange at Milliken Road. So other than
(12:39):
the selling of land and being ableto bring get some additional dollars to get
the ball rolling, nothing has happenedthere in a way of development. The
hope would be here that within thenext couple of years you're going to start
to see some of that. Thekey is going to be an organization that
says I want this exit to bemine, and I want to come here
and I want to build. Oncethat occurs, as we've seen elsewhere,
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it becomes a dominant effect and itstarts to really bring other businesses there in
a way we go right. Soif you're not familiar with Milliken Road,
you're talking about this is a littlebit farther north from the current interchanges of
from north of Liberty Way, andis that going to be in on off.
It'll be a full interchange, fullinterchange change and it's when you build
(13:26):
interchanges, you've got to be ableto space them far enough away so you're
not competing, and so it's prettymuch it's about two miles to the north
of Liberty Way. So you're talkingabout new businesses again, like what we're
seeing is going up around the TylersvilleRoad area and all through the Union Center
Boulevard. You're talking about new housing, housing developments, condos, apartments.
(13:50):
If it's going to start here soon, how long do you think it's going
to take for that area to buildup? Twenty twenty five years, I
would say, I mean, ifyou look at you know, Center Boulevard
November of ninety seven, and herewe are still talking about it where there's
still opportunities for development, you cansee how long it has taken. And
so i'd say in the next youknow, twenty twenty five years, you're
(14:13):
talking about kind of a repeat ofwhat you see at Union Center. The
real key here is that with thisnew interchange at Millican Road, which will
become Millican Way, there's seven hundredacres of new commercial development on the east
side of seventy five. So ifyou think so, you're going north on
(14:33):
the east side of seventy five thatwill open up for new businesses. So,
yes, we're talking about residents.But see, Liberty does not really
have a strong business presence today andit wants to get It will never be
a Westchester, but it wants tobe able to take about eighteen to twenty
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percent of the township and make itbusiness. And so right now it's maybe
one or two percent. So itkind of gives you an idea. So
with this new opportunity with an interchange, just think of seven hundred acres to
the east side of I seventy fivegoing toward from Liberty Way up to Milliken
Road. That's all going to becommercially based. And that's really what's exciting
(15:18):
for Liberty and the next being boonif you will, of growth and development
in our area. If we've gotbusiness people listening, I know we do,
and they are kind of peaked theirinterest from what you're talking about.
How do you find out about gettinginvolved your business there in the in the
Westchester Liberty growth Corridor Right now?What you do have openings still around Union
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Center Boulevard and you've said and thenthere's there's more coming soon. How do
we get involved or how do wehow do we various ways to go about
it. Both townships have economic developmentarms. Westchester does and so does Liberty
Township. And so one of thefirst things I would do is, you
know, look at both of theirwebsites and go to economic development. So
go on the icon economic development,give you a kind of an overview of
(16:07):
the businesses that are there currently andthe new development opportunities, and obviously,
taking that another step further, callit either one of the two townships of
interest, and they can help youkind of navigate, you know, because
when you start talking about development,you're also talking about zoning. And by
that I mean you can't just putI have a business, I want to
(16:30):
put it here, It's got tobe zoned in particular. Also, we're
an organization ourselves that though we donot have the economic development arm, we're
well connected to both townships, andso we can help steer that conversation and
make the right connections and be ablepossibly to help kind of educate and inform
on what the future opportunities look like, and you know, help the business
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and bringing them in or having themstay and then growing and developing as a
because obviously we've the greatest compliment forus is when a business decides to expand
and stay in our area to doso. We know that small business is
such an important backbone in this country. What kind of opportunities would you say
for small business owners that want toexpand into this area of Westchester and Liberty.
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Well, seventy percent of our membersare one to twelve employees, So
we're a real big support for smallbusinesses and we have We're very active and
we have over seventy events that weput on a year, and so what
we do is we educate and inform, we make connections. Our events have
a lot of energy, so there'sthat connectivity to other businesses. It's a
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very transient area, new people comingin and out all the time, and
so we help and support that.We also have relationships with a couple entities
that work with small businesses. Oneof them is score at Washington, d
C. And their Mentor is asmall Business. So if you've got a
business that's starting up or one that'saccelerating to the next left, at no
cost, you've got counselors that cansit down and help you mentor the business.
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And what we have found through theirsurveys and number one area in southwestern
Ohio, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indianafor their Chapter thirty four number one area
for that type of businesses in WestchesterTownship. Another thing we've done as most
recently is we have a relationship withthe African American Chamber of Commerce, who
has a grant through the Department ofDevelopment through the State of Ohio for the
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opportunity of getting applications and getting certifiedas a small business that is either minority
owned, women owned, or veteranowned. Now, what does that do
for small business? It allows forresources that you may not be able to
have connect with that can help yougrow your business. It helps with opportunities
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of connecting with businesses throughout the stateOhio that can help you network and can
continue to build your business. Butmost importantly, who else for you some
opportunities through the state certification to beable to get funding that you possibly would
not be able to get as justa small business on your own. Sounds
like a lot of hope going on, a lot of growth and a lot
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of wonderful things happening. Tell meabout this expo that you've got coming up
in July, which yes, we'reexcited about this. We've been doing this
now for over twenty years and it'sat Lakota West High School on July the
sixteenth. It's a Tuesday. Wehave a luncheon prior to and it's from
eleven to twelve thirty and it's ataste stuff and by that, we have
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different restaurants that will participate and we'llhave probably thirty to forty that do so,
so they have their different specialties.You go through like a buffet.
We have a luncheon and the keynotespeaker there is Rich Grater, the CEO
of Greaters, So that'll go fromeleven to twelve thirty and then from twelve
thirty to four to thirty still atLakota West High Schools when we have the
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expo, so we'll have over onehundred exhibitors, over a thousand people attend,
business to business and business to consumer, and so we're excited to once
again bring back the luncheon and conjunctionwith the expo. The Expo on I
seventy five is the largest under oneroof of between the two major markets,
and the draw is not only WestchesterLiberty, but the surrounding areas including the
(20:17):
Northern Kentucky Cincinnatian Dayton where we alsohave members, and so they're going to
come to this event and they're goingto be able to network with note yes,
be able to absolutely you get youget a chance to network with the
business people that are there with theexhibitors. If you will look for new
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clients, look for new vendors,look for new suppliers. And the thing
is is that people that are listening. You don't have to be a member
to participate. So if you goto our website, the Chamberlines dot com
www dot the chamber lines dot com, and you can participate in the luncheon.
If you want to participate and bea vendor that supports the luncheon with
(21:00):
one of your specialties, we'd behappy to have you do that. If
you wanted a booth at the expo, and there's, as I said,
over one hundred exhibitors, so you'rein good company across the board and over
a thousand people attend, you cando that. If you just want to
attend, and if you want toattend the luncheon, you can do that.
If you want to attend just theexpo, you can do that.
(21:21):
So there's many ways that day toparticipate and again it's a lot of energy,
a lot of opportunities. The networkingpiece is basically off the charts because
you're meeting with a lot of peoplein a large area that you know,
from the Cincinnati Daton markets to WestchesterLiberty. Opportunity to meet new people,
see products ce services that are outthere, and make the connection to help
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your business grow, which we're allabout. Joe, thank you so much
for coming in, Thanks for beinga listener to iHeart Sincy, and thanks
for what you do there with WestchesterLiberty Chamber Alliance. Thanks again for being
here on iHeart Sinc. Thank youSandy nice talking. Well, there's a
lot to do this Memorial Day weekend. We'll run down some of those great
activities next on iHeart Since this isfifty five karc an iHeartRadio Station, sixteenth
(22:11):
Minute of Fame is the new weeklypodcast hosted by me Jamie Lachtas, and
every week we take a closer lookat an Internet character of the day,
been Dad the Dress, thirty tofifty faral hogs. If you knew what
any of those were, you spendtoo much time online and I do too.
Who are they, what made themnotorious, why did the Internet choose
them? And what does a persondo when they get more attention than the
(22:33):
human psyche can handle. Listen tosixteenth minute of Fame on America's number one
podcast network, iHeart Open Her Free, iHeart app and Search sixteenth minute of
Fame. This is iHeart Cincy.I'm Sandy Collins. This Tri State public
affairs show tries to enlighten, andembolden and inspire. And this Memorial Day
weekend, it's a time to pauseand remember the hundreds of thousands of war
(22:56):
dead that have made it possible forus to be here and celebrate this Memorial
Day. I'm a big history buff, so let me take you back just
a little bit to the conflict thattook the most lives, the most American
lives, no doubt changed the trajectoryof our young country, and that was
the American Civil War from eighteen sixtyone to eighteen sixty five that took six
(23:18):
hundred twenty thousand American lives. Thewar in the first one hundred years of
our new nation sparked by decades ofcontroversy over slavery, different economic principles and
policies, the reach of the federalgovernment, states rights and cultural values.
The second deadliest conflict for the USWorld War II four hundred and five thousand
(23:41):
casualties. Then the US lost onehundred and sixteen thousand men in World War
One in just one year. Sothose are the top three, followed by
the fifty eight thousand, two hundredand nine Vietnam War dead young men forced
into service at the direction of theUS government through the draft. All the
(24:02):
other wars Korean War, Revolutionary War, the War of eighteen twelve, Mexican
American War, the Spanish American War, and finally the War on Terror combined
over another one hundred and four thousandlives. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration
Day. Following the Civil War ineighteen sixty eight, it was formalized by
(24:22):
a Memorial Day Order issued by theGrand Army of the Republic Commander in Chief
John Logan. The modern proclamation callson Americans quote to observe Memorial Day by
praying, according to their individual religiousfaith, for permanent peace. With so
much war going on all around theworld right now, that's something to think
(24:44):
about. So that's how we gothere with the first Memorial Day after the
Civil War, and now today wecelebrate with family, friends, and food
and the Queen City's crown jewel.Memorial Day event Taste of Cincinnati, a
three day festival showcasing the region's bestculinary offerings over seventy participating restaurants and food
(25:06):
trucks, live entertainment on many stages, and the cost of admission is free.
Over half a million people came lastyear. Look for the Taste of
Cincinnati, going on today again andtomorrow on Fifth Street in downtown Cincinnati.
It is open through Memorial Day.You can park anywhere along the Cincinnati Connector
route and take it for free rightto the celebration. The South Bank Shuttle
(25:30):
runs from Covington and Newport every fifteenminutes, and of course there's all kinds
of parking downtown as well, andother things to do on Memorial Day.
The Reds are hosting the Dodgers todayand then the Cardinals on Memorial Day.
The first pitch Monday afternoon is atfour to ten. There are remembrances on
Memorial Day at Marymount's Parade. They'restepping off at eight thirty. Early on
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Monday, Loveland's parade begins at nine, Milford's parade at nine to thirty,
then more parades Middletown, Westchester Township, Fairfield and Hamilton, Sycamore Township in
Silverton their communities begin at ten am. Then the Blue Ash Parade at ten
fifteen, Clifton and Cheviot at eleven, plus Anderson Township's bell ceremony is Monday
(26:15):
morning at eleven forty five with CraigMcKee from our friends over at Channel nine.
And then in Northern Kentucky parades tomorrowat Newport at nine, Florence at
ten, and Park Hills at eleven. And to all our veterans and active
duty military personnel, want to takesome time right now to thank you for
your service too. That's the showfor this week. You can find all
(26:38):
the episodes of iHeart Cincy on theiHeartRadio app. It is free, just
look under podcasts. Plus you canlisten to this radio station on the app
as well. If you don't alreadyhave the iHeartRadio app, download it today
from your app store. If you'vegot a comment, suggestion, or show
idea, just drop me a line, just like Joe Hinson did. The
(26:59):
email address is Iheartsinsey at iHeartMedia dotcom. That is iHeart Sinsey with an
I at iHeartMedia dot Com. ISandy Collins. Thanks for listening. We'll
see you next weekend. Iheartsinsey isa production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
This week on iHeart Sincy was notjust going to be what people had expected
in the past, which was basicallyan exit with a place to get gassen
and you move on. Where weregoing to be a destination Cincinnati and Dayton.
We've slowly been merging into one largecommunity for decades and the bridge between
the two is Westchester and Liberty Townships. You get one hundred and fifty three
(00:22):
thousand vehicles a day that go throughour area of Westchester Liberty and I seventy
five one of the heaviest traveled interstatesin the country today. My guest is
Joe Henson. He's the president andCEO of the Westchester Liberty Chamber Alliance.
He's here to explain how vision andcareful planning have created a vibrant seventy five
corridor, countless business opportunities and growthin southwest Ohio. And later it's Memorial
(00:47):
Day weekend. We'll have things foryou to do this holiday. Now on
iHeart Sincy with Sandy Collins, wecall this iHeart Sincey because we love our
hometown. This show is for thiscommunity to find the resources needed to solve
many of the issues that we're facingright here. In the Tri State and
sharing stories that embolden and uplift people. Right here, Joe Hinson has served
(01:10):
as the President and CEO of theWestchester Liberty Chamber Alliance for over twenty five
years. It's our region's third largestchamber. Their mission is to establish this
area as the region's globally competitive andinclusive business epicenter. It's all about quality
of life and prosperity. While theregion has grown over the last twenty five
(01:30):
years, there is still much morecoming in than near future, and Joe's
here to talk about it. Joe, thank you for being here on iHeart
Cincy. Joe Hinson is the Presidentand CEO of the Westchester Liberty Chamber Alliance.
Here to talk about the amazing growthof the corridor between Dayton and Cincinnati,
which you say really was kickstarted backin nineteen ninety seven with the opening
(01:52):
of Union Center Boulevard, right,So can we go back to that,
Yeah, well, thank you,Sandy, and it's a pleasure to be
here in Center Boulevard opening nineteen ninetyseven, A lot of part in ninety
seven November twenty fifth, and whatit did was opened up three thousand acres
for commercial development. It had beentwenty five years in southwestern Ohio and I
(02:15):
seventy five before a new interchange hadopened on seventy five. And what this
did was put a full interchange ina key area of new growth and development
where it was basically off farmland,and opening up the three thousand acres allowed
for offshoots off of the interchange north, south, east, and west,
(02:38):
and kind of followed that opportunity andstarted building basically the infrastructure for what you
see the central business district of thedowntown, if you will, for Westchester
Township, and businesses came started tocome. And you know, I remember
when two thousand we had a Marriottand it was like and now we are
somebody. It was not just goingto be what people had expected in the
(02:58):
past, which was basically an exitwith a place to get gass and and
you move on where were going tobe a destination. And as they say,
the rest is history because there wasa plan, a focused plan of
attack. And so the Union Centerarea in Westchester is what we would call
downtown. Then if you go upgoing north and you would look at the
(03:19):
Cincinnati Dayton Road interchange, that wouldbe our midtown. And then if you
would look at Tylersville Road, whicha little further north, that's our uptown.
So they all basically those three exitscame together as one and basically they
started to build the business structure thatyou see today for Westchester Township. It
certainly has exploded with the visibility theyou know when Ikea came in, I
(03:45):
mean that was like the anchor.It's like that's one of the main businesses
where people have a landmark of well, do you know where Ikea is there
in Westchester? We're north of that? Where south of that? You know
whatever? Which businesses have you onto this area because of the growth of
Westchester liberty that we may not beaware of. Well, if you let's
(04:08):
go back to what you were talkingabout with Ikea. When you have a
name and an international name like inIkea, why would they come here and
see? When you get large nameshere of organizations, then businesses start to
pay attention to say, well,if it's good enough for Ikea and we
need to take a look at this. I use the term test market for
(04:30):
the state of in this region.So in Ikea, for example, came
here because they recognized that there wasno Ikea around this area. In fact,
before Ikea in this area, youhad to go to Shamberg, Illinois
or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to shop Ikea. So you come into a Westchester township
and it's an opportunity for not onlywest Chester Liberty and the Cincinnati date markets,
(04:57):
but less than a two hour drive. You You've got Indianapolis, Lexington,
Louisville, Columbus that more than doublesyour population outreach and people will come
down and shop. Yes, they'lldrive two hours to come to big stores
like that. So basically, youknow, the organizations that came to our
area saw what was happening with anIkea, an international business that you know,
(05:23):
wow, we've got an Ikea herenow. And so what you saw
was a domino effect starting with atop golf a main event, Duluth training.
You also saw the most recently wereBest Pro Shop from where it was
in force Fair over to I seventyfive. And one of the reasons is
that you got one hundred and fiftythree thousand vehicles a day that go through
(05:46):
our area of Westchestern Liberty and Iseventy five, one of the heaviest traveled
interstates in the country. Fifty thousandvehicles a day exit off of Union Center
Boulevard. Businesses large and small havecome to our area. And one of
the keys I think in the developmentthat most people will see is what happened
with healthcare as an example, exactlyright. I was going to get to
(06:08):
that a little bit. Yeah,and you know and why because you've got
a large population that was not beingserviced and the mindset change from a business
standpoint of you come come to us. Now you know what we're going to
go where the residents are right andwe're going to come to you. Can
you quantify all of the different hospitalsthat have kind of settled in along this
(06:30):
corridor. You've got the major networkshere. So you've got Children's as an
example, in Liberty, you havechrist in Liberty, You've got the uc
Health Westchester Hospital. In Westchester,you've got tri healthist physician offices and doctor's
offices there. And you've got obviouslyyou've got Mercy that has got support with
(06:55):
physicians. But they recently opened upa new hospital over in off of I
seventy one in the Mason area.But they're also in Fairfield too, So
you've got the five major networks fromthe Cincinnati market there and then you bring
in Kettering, then you bring inPremiere with a Trium Medical center. They're
all connected in the Westchester Liberty areaon I seventy five. Why is that,
(07:21):
Well, again, I've got apopulation outreach that was not being serviced.
We're going to come to you,and that's what's happened. In fact,
when our Visitors Bureau looks at whypeople will come to this area for
amenities, one of the top amenitiesthat we're getting traffic from outlying areas is
healthcare. And I'm not just talkingabout Cincinnati date market. I'm talking about
(07:46):
once again, Indianapolis, Lexington,louis O, Columbus. They're coming for
the name, recognition of the supportof a particular network. Could be the
doc, could be the surgeon.But they're being serviced here from a healthcare
standpoint. The Cincinnati and the Daytonarea have been they have shared history in
(08:07):
the timing of when they were developed. Joe, I'm a total history nerd,
and I remember reading back in theearly eighteen hundreds when this area was
really starting to settle. It wasall forest and it took two weeks to
travel from Cincinnati to Dayton on acart with a horse in dense, thick
(08:31):
woods, with Indians everywhere. Theydidn't like us, and they had a
good reason to, and they wouldThey didn't have to always pack their food.
They would just sleep. They wouldcatch whatever wild elk or squirrels or
whatever. This place was abundant withwildlife, and then they would fix their
food and go to sleep, andget up the next morning and take their
(08:52):
camp and then go. So whenyou think it took two weeks to travel
from Cincinnati to Dayton and now wemake it in about forty minutes with all
this beautiful industry, all these amenities, all this wonderful lifestyle, and it's
only been a couple hundred years Westchester. This isn't like a foregone conclusion for
the Westchester Liberty Area though, becausethere's other areas that haven't done as well
(09:16):
as you have. Would you saythat's true, Well, I will say
this that there was a lot ofthought and vision that went into the development
of Union Center Boulevard. And whodoes that. It's a community people that
are involved with economic development, thatare looking at the future of the area,
(09:39):
have businesses there and are looking tomaximize on the opportunity of the land
that has been purchased, which atthat time was farmland, and they want
to develop a business sector now.Because both west Chester and Liberty are townships
(10:01):
and not cities forms of government,the tax base is different. So there's
not an employee tax in Westchester orLiberty townships because there are townships. And
in turn, compared to the citywhere there was a tax on the employee,
there isn't one in both. Itis an instrumendous straw either here locally
(10:22):
or nationally, if you will.And you know, I think that they
saw an opportunity of the connectability witha central business district and this is really
I think important and why that therehas been success. And if you look
at Union Center Boulevard and I seventyfive, there are four quadrants right there
for the development of a downtown ifyou will, Okay, just like you
(10:48):
would in a metro city. Imean basically, your exits are surrounded by
your central business district, if youwill. So that is what's happened in
Westchester and that is what is happeningin Liberty. Because both Westchestern Liberty straddle
I seventy five and both townships aretaking advantage of that in that traffic flow
(11:09):
of one hundred and fifty three thousandvehicles. And so when you do that
and then you build your amenities offof that, so what happens is not
only are you servicing your residents thatare there, you're servicing residents from outlying
areas because it's easy access. Andone of the keys I think that have
developed also is we've been talking aboutnorth south access, but Union Center Boulevard
(11:33):
and now what's happening at Liberty Wayand with a new interchange at Milliken,
I'm excited. I want to talkto you about. Yes, is going
to be the east west access too. So what you're able to do is
you're able to draw in other communities. It's like I sent five easier,
like I seventy five is a magnet, and you're able to draw and because
(11:54):
that all the the epicenter, ifyou will, of business activity right there.
And I think that that's what hasmade Westchester and we'll make Liberty such
as success and give it sustainability.Is the epicenter of business is right there
on an interstate, easy access inand out to all the other amenities that
(12:15):
build around it. We didn't havea new interchange on seventy five in southwestern
ohioland twenty five years and an athirteen year period we had four because of
Union Center Boulevard. So what happenedin twenty twenty two is the federal government
finally gave its okay for the newinterchange at Milliken Road. So other than
(12:39):
the selling of land and being ableto bring get some additional dollars to get
the ball rolling, nothing has happenedthere in a way of development. The
hope would be here that within thenext couple of years you're going to start
to see some of that. Thekey is going to be an organization that
says I want this exit to bemine, and I want to come here
and I want to build. Oncethat occurs, as we've seen elsewhere,
(13:01):
it becomes a dominant effect and itstarts to really bring other businesses there in
a way we go right. Soif you're not familiar with Milliken Road,
you're talking about this is a littlebit farther north from the current interchanges of
from north of Liberty Way, andis that going to be in on off.
It'll be a full interchange, fullinterchange change and it's when you build
(13:26):
interchanges, you've got to be ableto space them far enough away so you're
not competing, and so it's prettymuch it's about two miles to the north
of Liberty Way. So you're talkingabout new businesses again, like what we're
seeing is going up around the TylersvilleRoad area and all through the Union Center
Boulevard. You're talking about new housing, housing developments, condos, apartments.
(13:50):
If it's going to start here soon, how long do you think it's going
to take for that area to buildup? Twenty twenty five years, I
would say, I mean, ifyou look at you know, Center Boulevard
November of ninety seven, and herewe are still talking about it where there's
still opportunities for development, you cansee how long it has taken. And
so i'd say in the next youknow, twenty twenty five years, you're
(14:13):
talking about kind of a repeat ofwhat you see at Union Center. The
real key here is that with thisnew interchange at Millican Road, which will
become Millican Way, there's seven hundredacres of new commercial development on the east
side of seventy five. So ifyou think so, you're going north on
(14:33):
the east side of seventy five thatwill open up for new businesses. So,
yes, we're talking about residents.But see, Liberty does not really
have a strong business presence today andit wants to get It will never be
a Westchester, but it wants tobe able to take about eighteen to twenty
(14:54):
percent of the township and make itbusiness. And so right now it's maybe
one or two percent. So itkind of gives you an idea. So
with this new opportunity with an interchange, just think of seven hundred acres to
the east side of I seventy fivegoing toward from Liberty Way up to Milliken
Road. That's all going to becommercially based. And that's really what's exciting
(15:18):
for Liberty and the next being boonif you will, of growth and development
in our area. If we've gotbusiness people listening, I know we do,
and they are kind of peaked theirinterest from what you're talking about.
How do you find out about gettinginvolved your business there in the in the
Westchester Liberty growth Corridor Right now?What you do have openings still around Union
(15:43):
Center Boulevard and you've said and thenthere's there's more coming soon. How do
we get involved or how do wehow do we various ways to go about
it. Both townships have economic developmentarms. Westchester does and so does Liberty
Township. And so one of thefirst things I would do is, you
know, look at both of theirwebsites and go to economic development. So
go on the icon economic development,give you a kind of an overview of
(16:07):
the businesses that are there currently andthe new development opportunities, and obviously,
taking that another step further, callit either one of the two townships of
interest, and they can help youkind of navigate, you know, because
when you start talking about development,you're also talking about zoning. And by
that I mean you can't just putI have a business, I want to
(16:30):
put it here, It's got tobe zoned in particular. Also, we're
an organization ourselves that though we donot have the economic development arm, we're
well connected to both townships, andso we can help steer that conversation and
make the right connections and be ablepossibly to help kind of educate and inform
on what the future opportunities look like, and you know, help the business
(16:55):
and bringing them in or having themstay and then growing and developing as a
because obviously we've the greatest compliment forus is when a business decides to expand
and stay in our area to doso. We know that small business is
such an important backbone in this country. What kind of opportunities would you say
for small business owners that want toexpand into this area of Westchester and Liberty.
(17:19):
Well, seventy percent of our membersare one to twelve employees, So
we're a real big support for smallbusinesses and we have We're very active and
we have over seventy events that weput on a year, and so what
we do is we educate and inform, we make connections. Our events have
a lot of energy, so there'sthat connectivity to other businesses. It's a
(17:41):
very transient area, new people comingin and out all the time, and
so we help and support that.We also have relationships with a couple entities
that work with small businesses. Oneof them is score at Washington, d
C. And their Mentor is asmall Business. So if you've got a
business that's starting up or one that'saccelerating to the next left, at no
cost, you've got counselors that cansit down and help you mentor the business.
(18:04):
And what we have found through theirsurveys and number one area in southwestern
Ohio, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indianafor their Chapter thirty four number one area
for that type of businesses in WestchesterTownship. Another thing we've done as most
recently is we have a relationship withthe African American Chamber of Commerce, who
has a grant through the Department ofDevelopment through the State of Ohio for the
(18:30):
opportunity of getting applications and getting certifiedas a small business that is either minority
owned, women owned, or veteranowned. Now, what does that do
for small business? It allows forresources that you may not be able to
have connect with that can help yougrow your business. It helps with opportunities
(18:51):
of connecting with businesses throughout the stateOhio that can help you network and can
continue to build your business. Butmost importantly, who else for you some
opportunities through the state certification to beable to get funding that you possibly would
not be able to get as justa small business on your own. Sounds
like a lot of hope going on, a lot of growth and a lot
(19:11):
of wonderful things happening. Tell meabout this expo that you've got coming up
in July, which yes, we'reexcited about this. We've been doing this
now for over twenty years and it'sat Lakota West High School on July the
sixteenth. It's a Tuesday. Wehave a luncheon prior to and it's from
eleven to twelve thirty and it's ataste stuff and by that, we have
(19:32):
different restaurants that will participate and we'llhave probably thirty to forty that do so,
so they have their different specialties.You go through like a buffet.
We have a luncheon and the keynotespeaker there is Rich Grater, the CEO
of Greaters, So that'll go fromeleven to twelve thirty and then from twelve
thirty to four to thirty still atLakota West High Schools when we have the
(19:52):
expo, so we'll have over onehundred exhibitors, over a thousand people attend,
business to business and business to consumer, and so we're excited to once
again bring back the luncheon and conjunctionwith the expo. The Expo on I
seventy five is the largest under oneroof of between the two major markets,
and the draw is not only WestchesterLiberty, but the surrounding areas including the
(20:17):
Northern Kentucky Cincinnatian Dayton where we alsohave members, and so they're going to
come to this event and they're goingto be able to network with note yes,
be able to absolutely you get youget a chance to network with the
business people that are there with theexhibitors. If you will look for new
(20:40):
clients, look for new vendors,look for new suppliers. And the thing
is is that people that are listening. You don't have to be a member
to participate. So if you goto our website, the Chamberlines dot com
www dot the chamber lines dot com, and you can participate in the luncheon.
If you want to participate and bea vendor that supports the luncheon with
(21:00):
one of your specialties, we'd behappy to have you do that. If
you wanted a booth at the expo, and there's, as I said,
over one hundred exhibitors, so you'rein good company across the board and over
a thousand people attend, you cando that. If you just want to
attend, and if you want toattend the luncheon, you can do that.
If you want to attend just theexpo, you can do that.
(21:21):
So there's many ways that day toparticipate and again it's a lot of energy,
a lot of opportunities. The networkingpiece is basically off the charts because
you're meeting with a lot of peoplein a large area that you know,
from the Cincinnati Daton markets to WestchesterLiberty. Opportunity to meet new people,
see products ce services that are outthere, and make the connection to help
(21:45):
your business grow, which we're allabout. Joe, thank you so much
for coming in, Thanks for beinga listener to iHeart Sincy, and thanks
for what you do there with WestchesterLiberty Chamber Alliance. Thanks again for being
here on iHeart Sinc. Thank youSandy nice talking. Well, there's a
lot to do this Memorial Day weekend. We'll run down some of those great
activities next on iHeart Since this isfifty five karc an iHeartRadio Station, sixteenth
(22:11):
Minute of Fame is the new weeklypodcast hosted by me Jamie Lachtas, and
every week we take a closer lookat an Internet character of the day,
been Dad the Dress, thirty tofifty faral hogs. If you knew what
any of those were, you spendtoo much time online and I do too.
Who are they, what made themnotorious, why did the Internet choose
them? And what does a persondo when they get more attention than the
(22:33):
human psyche can handle. Listen tosixteenth minute of Fame on America's number one
podcast network, iHeart Open Her Free, iHeart app and Search sixteenth minute of
Fame. This is iHeart Cincy.I'm Sandy Collins. This Tri State public
affairs show tries to enlighten, andembolden and inspire. And this Memorial Day
weekend, it's a time to pauseand remember the hundreds of thousands of war
(22:56):
dead that have made it possible forus to be here and celebrate this Memorial
Day. I'm a big history buff, so let me take you back just
a little bit to the conflict thattook the most lives, the most American
lives, no doubt changed the trajectoryof our young country, and that was
the American Civil War from eighteen sixtyone to eighteen sixty five that took six
(23:18):
hundred twenty thousand American lives. Thewar in the first one hundred years of
our new nation sparked by decades ofcontroversy over slavery, different economic principles and
policies, the reach of the federalgovernment, states rights and cultural values.
The second deadliest conflict for the USWorld War II four hundred and five thousand
(23:41):
casualties. Then the US lost onehundred and sixteen thousand men in World War
One in just one year. Sothose are the top three, followed by
the fifty eight thousand, two hundredand nine Vietnam War dead young men forced
into service at the direction of theUS government through the draft. All the
(24:02):
other wars Korean War, Revolutionary War, the War of eighteen twelve, Mexican
American War, the Spanish American War, and finally the War on Terror combined
over another one hundred and four thousandlives. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration
Day. Following the Civil War ineighteen sixty eight, it was formalized by
(24:22):
a Memorial Day Order issued by theGrand Army of the Republic Commander in Chief
John Logan. The modern proclamation callson Americans quote to observe Memorial Day by
praying, according to their individual religiousfaith, for permanent peace. With so
much war going on all around theworld right now, that's something to think
(24:44):
about. So that's how we gothere with the first Memorial Day after the
Civil War, and now today wecelebrate with family, friends, and food
and the Queen City's crown jewel.Memorial Day event Taste of Cincinnati, a
three day festival showcasing the region's bestculinary offerings over seventy participating restaurants and food
(25:06):
trucks, live entertainment on many stages, and the cost of admission is free.
Over half a million people came lastyear. Look for the Taste of
Cincinnati, going on today again andtomorrow on Fifth Street in downtown Cincinnati.
It is open through Memorial Day.You can park anywhere along the Cincinnati Connector
route and take it for free rightto the celebration. The South Bank Shuttle
(25:30):
runs from Covington and Newport every fifteenminutes, and of course there's all kinds
of parking downtown as well, andother things to do on Memorial Day.
The Reds are hosting the Dodgers todayand then the Cardinals on Memorial Day.
The first pitch Monday afternoon is atfour to ten. There are remembrances on
Memorial Day at Marymount's Parade. They'restepping off at eight thirty. Early on
(25:52):
Monday, Loveland's parade begins at nine, Milford's parade at nine to thirty,
then more parades Middletown, Westchester Township, Fairfield and Hamilton, Sycamore Township in
Silverton their communities begin at ten am. Then the Blue Ash Parade at ten
fifteen, Clifton and Cheviot at eleven, plus Anderson Township's bell ceremony is Monday
(26:15):
morning at eleven forty five with CraigMcKee from our friends over at Channel nine.
And then in Northern Kentucky parades tomorrowat Newport at nine, Florence at
ten, and Park Hills at eleven. And to all our veterans and active
duty military personnel, want to takesome time right now to thank you for
your service too. That's the showfor this week. You can find all
(26:38):
the episodes of iHeart Cincy on theiHeartRadio app. It is free, just
look under podcasts. Plus you canlisten to this radio station on the app
as well. If you don't alreadyhave the iHeartRadio app, download it today
from your app store. If you'vegot a comment, suggestion, or show
idea, just drop me a line, just like Joe Hinson did. The
(26:59):
email address is Iheartsinsey at iHeartMedia dotcom. That is iHeart Sinsey with an
I at iHeartMedia dot Com. ISandy Collins. Thanks for listening. We'll
see you next weekend. Iheartsinsey isa production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
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