For 20 years, Rocky Centers has being doing business at the A to Z Upholstery shop on Central Avenue. He has never had a problem with the city. His shop has never been broken into, costs are low and although most of his business comes from out of town, he doesn’t plan on moving anytime soon. But in his time along this main drag into downtown with each block featuring more vacancies than occupants, he’s thought about how Middletown could do more to attract business.
“I think they can always try to go after more jobs. That is what people are always complaining about,” Centers said.
As one of Butler County’s big industrial cities, Middletown was buoyed through tough economic climates by large industrial companies such Armco Inc. and Sorg Paper, which employed thousands.
But as industry downsized, the city struggled to adapt.
As Mike Robinette, economic development director for Middletown, explained, “Business needs to move at a very efficient pace and sometimes local government has difficulty keeping up with that pace.”
It’s not that small businesses — which today make up 60 percent of the local business chamber’s members — expect the same privileges as those of AK Steel, but they do feel the city could do a better job catering to its existing companies, said Dan Picard, owner of Picard Paper Processing Inc. and councilman-elect.
Picard had difficulties with the city when his company, which has been in town for more than 20 years, was looking to expand three years ago and approached the development department about possible assistance.
“My first impression when we got there was they didn’t know who we were. They knew me, but they didn’t know much about my business and neither did the development director,” he said. He is concerned that other businesses also could be getting a negative first impression of the city.
Picard said he knows it is much easier to get business from existing clients than attracting new ones, another reason why Middletown needs to reach out to companies already in the city.
And part of reaching out is knowing who they are.
“The bottom line is I think the city is doing better than the public perception of what is going on with the city, and there needs to be more communication and I don’t see that,” Picard said.
City’s image key to business owners
After 60 years in business, Richie’s Pawn Shop has heard a lot of stories.
Its shelves, full of guitars, tools and firearms, tell the tale of those down on their luck and in need of cash. But more and more these days, manager Allen McIntosh said so too speaks the streets of Middletown with its empty store fronts.
“Middletown has to look desirable to the communities outside of the city. Right now the empty buildings are telling a story,” he said.
That story of late has been one of business unfriendliness, a town that despite being declared “open for business” by City Manager Judy Gilleland a year ago hasn’t adapted from its heydays when big-time players like Armco took care of the city both in terms of employment and community service. Now with fewer and smaller industries — 60 percent of the local business chamber’s members have 10 employees or less — the city has to learn to look to small business for support. A bad reputation can be costly when the city is in competition with thriving communities like Monroe, West Chester Twp. and Liberty Twp. for every development dollar, said Bill Triick, president of the Chamber of Commerce Serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton.
“I think maybe the cities, and not just Middletown, ought to have some way to understand the needs of the smaller businesses. When you are dealing with an AK-type business, they have their own (team) to help get work done, but the smaller companies don’t have that stuff and need more attention,” he said.
Wayne Prater admitted he was confused and had no idea what direction to go in when he decided he wanted to open his own appliance resale store in Middletown. While he had heard tales of red tape, he said city employees were very helpful getting him a vendor’s license.
“They have made it really easy for me to get in and telling me what I can do and what I can have on my signs,” he said. “For just $40, I was in business.”
But developer Lenny Robinson tells a little different story about his difficulties with the city over his property in the C2 district near Interstate 75.
He has been the subject of a recent lawsuit by the city of Middletown regarding the signs still in place near the vacant Score car dealership lot, which went out of business earlier this year. Robinson has been told to remove the signs, which the city has deemed “abandoned,” according to its ordinances. But Robinson maintains the signs are a key advertising tool for the property, for which he hopes to find another tenant.
“Why would the city take us to court over an important advertising tool to help bring business to the city and increase revenues?” he said.
It’s just another piece of the ongoing puzzle of changes in the C2 district, which Robinson maintains will be detrimental to the businesses already located there. Among the regulations outlined in proposed ordinance changes are adding sidewalks and bike paths, and increasing office and residential usage of the space. And while the old Score lot was once a car dealership, new ordinances would not allow such a business to fill that vacancy.
“If the changes make sense and are economically viable for our market, we would have seen this already in the marketplace throughout the region,” Robinson said. “(The ordinance changes) are probably better suited for an urban downtown district ... but we are talking about a suburban interstate district here, and I have not come across one business, one industry that is demanding zoning of this nature.”
Mike Robinette, Middletown economic development director, said the city is not trying “to shove anything down the throats of businesses” with the proposed ordinance changes, but is merely trying to make the interstate developments a more appealing “front door into the city.
“We see the Renaissance East End area as frankly the city of Middletown’s last opportunity to create a way into the city that is very friendly and is an inviting front door into the area,” Robinette said.
Importantly, no business would be forced to adopt new ordinances, if passed, unless they were sold, changed ownership or wanted to change their configuration, he said.
In terms of improving the city’s rap, Robinette said he just completed a survey of area businesses, with 75 responses. Overall, the city scored a 3.3 rating out of five for being a good place to do business, showing room for improvement. Part of that improvement will be ramping up efforts like Middletown Moving Forward, which beginning in 2010, will make monthly visits to local businesses.
“I think it is good that the issue (of business friendliness) is being out there and being debated, but I think if people look at it closely, we have our issues — all communities do — and that the city overall is doing a good job,” Robinette said. “It’s a balancing act.”
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