Butler County’s largest employers 2012
*Best estimates of full-time equivalents
1. Miami University, Oxford: 3,293
2. Cincinnati Financial Corp., Fairfield: 2,789
3. AK Steel Corp., West Chester Twp.: 2,400
4. GE Aviation, West Chester Twp.: 2,000
5. Butler County government, Hamilton: 1,699
6. Lakota Local School District, West Chester/Liberty townships: 1,502
SOURCES: Respective organizations, West Chester Twp.
Butler County’s largest manufacturer employers 2012
1. AK Steel Corp., West Chester Twp.: 2,400
2. GE Aviation, West Chester Twp.: 2,000
3. AdvancePierre Foods, West Chester Twp.: 889
4. Procter & Gamble, West Chester Twp.: 750
5. Koch Foods, Fairfield: 600
Hamilton’s largest manufacturer is ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America Inc.: 248
SOURCES: respective organizations, Fairfield, West Chester Twp.
Butler County hospital employment 2012
*Full-time equivalents
1. Atrium Medical Center, Middletown (Warren County): 1,434
2. Mercy Health-Fairfield Hospital: 1,082
3. West Chester Hospital: 602
4. Fort Hamilton Hospital: 578
5. McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, Oxford: 418
6. Cincinnati Children’s Liberty Campus, Liberty Twp.: 309
SOURCES: Hospitals
Butler County has a major company rising the ranks as one of its largest employers.
GE Aviation this year became Butler County’s fourth largest employer, behind long-time heavyweights Miami University, Cincinnati Financial Corp. and AK Steel Corp.
Previously, GE Aviation was the county’s sixth largest employer. It has moved up ahead of Butler County government and Lakota Local School District, based on past county government records.
The jet engine maker, headquartered in Evendale, is Hamilton County’s largest manufacturer. GE Aviation, a subsidiary of the multinational corporation General Electric Co., makes commercial and military jet engines, as well as other plane components.
Here in Butler County, GE Aviation now employs about 2,000 workers in West Chester Twp., according to township officials. That includes people working at the company’s North Pointe at Union Centre complex, where GE Aviation’s engineering team and the headquarters of its joint venture CFM International are located. CFM International, a joint venture of GE and Snecma of France, is the world’s largest jet engine producer, the company said.
GE Aviation also leases additional office space in West Chester Twp.
“The majority of them are engineering jobs, they’re high paying jobs,” said Mike Juengling, community development director of West Chester Twp. and former Butler County development director. “It puts money into the local economy.”
Altogether, 9,000 more Butler County people are working this year. The county’s employment level grew to 182,200 as of the end of October, the most recent information available from Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, as of press time.
The county’s largest employer is still Miami University, with nearly 3,300 full-time employees at its main Oxford campus, and Hamilton and Middletown campuses. Total university employment is more than 4,000 workers, including part-time employees, according to Miami.
The JournalNews learned this year Cincinnati Financial Corp. has been reducing head count at its Fairfield headquarters as it replaces outdated clerical jobs with fewer, but higher paying, technology jobs. Cincinnati Financial, a property casualty insurer, said locally it now has 2,789 employees in full-time equivalents. Nationwide, the company employs more than 4,000.
AK Steel Corp. said it has approximately 2,400 full-time employees in Butler County, including employees at its West Chester Twp. headquarters and workers at its Middletown steel plant. The Fortune 500 steelmaker has more than 6,000 employees company-wide, including workers at other steel plants in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Pennsylvania, and at its subsidiary AK Coal Resources.
AK Steel’s local employment level, 2,400, has not changed from 2011.
Some of Butler County’s other largest employers — including local government, school districts, armored vehicle maker BAE Systems and Fort Hamilton Hospital — have been reducing employment levels.
The main things driving Butler County government employment down are “revenue and the cost of keeping full-time employees,” said Gary Sheets, assistant county administrator.
Employee costs include the cost of health insurance and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System contribution from the county, Sheets said. Full-time health insurance is on average $16,000 per employee, including employee contributions, he said.
“Sales tax revenue has bottomed out and has started back up slowly,” he said. Some revenues also come from property tax collections that depend on property values, which have declined.
“There’s also been a 50 percent cut in state local government support to the county in the last three to four years,” he said.
GE Aviation in 2008 moved facilities from leased space in Springdale to West Chester Twp. in two buildings at North Pointe at Union Centre, at the corner of Cincinnati Dayton Road and Union Centre Boulevard. The company’s presence has increased in Butler County since then. In 2011, GE Aviation signed a lease for office space in West Chester Twp. at the Centre Pointe Office Park to move engineering jobs there from Hamilton County and from North Pointe, which at the time company spokesman Rick Kennedy said might create hiring opportunities at North Pointe.
In November, GE Aviation announced it is acquiring sister companies Morris Technologies of Sharonville and Rapid Quality Manufacturing of West Chester Twp. Rapid Quality will join the jet engine company’s supply chain.
Morris and Rapid Quality are world leaders in additive manufacturing technology. Also known as 3-D printing, additive manufacturing is the process of creating solid objects from a digital file by printing thin layers of material one on top of another. Later this decade, GE will be producing “end-user” engine components using the additive manufacturing process, as opposed to only prototyping components, company spokesman Kennedy said.
“Overall engine production (GE and GE’s joint venture engines) will grow from 3,400 engines in 2012 to 3,600 engines in 2013. The number of GE and joint ventures engines in service will grow from 25,000 today to about 40,000 by 2020. That’s a dramatic growth,” said Rick Kennedy, GE Aviation spokesman. “The key in this business is to build a large base of engines in service, and then provide spare parts and maintenance for them over a long period. Growing the business base bodes well for our Butler County operations.”
Staff writer Dave Larsen contributed to this report
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