Saeler steers community development
If you needed proof of the work the Community Development Corporation of Butler County does, simply look around.
Look at the industrial parks on Kriess Road and Victory Road. Look at the many who are employed in East Butler at the industrial parks there. Shop at Gabe’s or Joann Fabrics at Pullman Square and you are enjoying the work of the CDC.
Not the other CDC, the one we’ve been hearing from this past year about COVID-19, but the one where its mission is to revitalize Butler County.
In a little more than 50 years, Butler County’s nonprofit CDC has been at the helm of a lot of changes. “The reason the CDC exists is to help with buildings, infrastructure and workforce within the community,” said Joe Saeler, executive director of the CDC.
“The biggest thing we focus on is environmental: brownfields, companies that have left the area. We try to revitalize those areas to recreate tax-based buildings along with jobs for the community.”
A recent example of what the CDC does is the sale of the AK Steel Plant 2 along Bantam Avenue, which recently was sold to Cincinnati-based Capital Environment Risk Transfer Alliance for $2.6 million.
“That would be a perfect example,” Saeler said. “AK Steel no longer needed the building; they (closed) the building off, so we will revitalize that area so that it becomes usable again to the community.
“The last thing we want is just a building sitting there because, as the years come on, it will just deteriorate.”
That’s only one slice of the CDC pie, however.
“We’ve done a lot of infrastructure upgrades throughout Butler County, including water, sewer, roads, building rehabs,” Saeler said. “We offer a lot of grants through our offices along with financial assistance for businesses.”
That important grant money, used for a myriad of community projects, comes from a myriad of places.
“Grants come from all over,” Saeler said. “They can come from federal. They can come from the state. They can come from the county, from within.
“We look at where the grant is coming from and then at the avenue it takes to get the money to where it needs to go.”
Last year alone, the CDC secured $6 million to $8 million in grants for projects, and another $2.7 million from the CARES Act for small-business grants. The CARES money came through the county.
One of the CDC’s big-ticket jobs is convincing industry to move into the area. Saeler said Butler County has a reputation for having a ready workforce, good infrastructure such as roads and utilities, to name a couple, and land ready for new use.
When the phone rings, Saeler answers the call, because it often is a company’s leadership looking for a place to grow.
“We help with the building plans,” he said. “We help with the permit processing. We look at stormwater, all the utilities to the building.
“We finally execute to sell the property or lease it. Then from there we’ll help them build the building until they get moved in.”
The process can take years.
In the case of Bayer’s plans to build a 220,000- square-foot distribution center on Victory Road — one of Saeler’s favorites these days — talks began more than three years ago on that project. Ground was broken at the beginning of April.
Saeler said there is one major factor for placing a new company or industry in Butler County, and it has to be considered.
“A lot of times when we look at sights, we have to start with what municipality we’re in, and then what’s the zoning and where does it best fit?” Saeler said. “A lot of this goes back to truck routes. Can you get trucks in and out, especially when it comes to distribution? We wouldn’t want to land a heavy truck route in a small township.
“Truck routes are our No. 1 thing.”
