Investing in Main St America

This is me trying to live out what I’ve been saying for years about biblical localism…

The Main Street Campus marks another step in Maddox’s growing investment in Clermont County. Maddox’s presence in Batavia began in 2019, when Michael Foster, now Director of Employee Development, relocated back home to the east side of Cincinnati as a remote employee. By 2022, Maddox opened a small office in a rented room on Main Street. In 2023, the company opened a 40,000-square-foot shop in a former Ford factory along James E. Sauls Sr. Drive and moved its office team into the front portion of that facility.

Maddox’s Batavia operation has since grown to 28 operations workers and 38 office workers. The Main Street Campus will allow Maddox to make room for additional operations workers at the shop while creating dedicated office space for its growing sales and support teams, while contributing to the long-term vitality of the village. (Read the entire press release)

Personally, I’ve been working toward something like this for about seven years, so seeing it finally come together means a lot. Those long days weren’t wasted.

I try to practice what I preach. If you want to meet real needs and actually bless a place, you don’t just talk about it, you work to bring good jobs there. That’s been my goal the whole time: help Maddox see that this county is worth investing in and that we can create both blue-collar and white-collar jobs for the people who live here.

Because nothing steadies a community like good, honest work from a solid company. I’m thankful our leadership saw that too.

And I’ve wanted us on Main Street for a long time. I’ve believed that if you can get people working and walking downtown every day, it starts to change things. It gives other businesses a reason to come in and build something alongside you. I don’t think you ought to have to drive all the way to downtown Cincinnati just to get a great meal or have a night out. There’s no reason our county seat can’t offer that.

So seeing this take shape, by the grace of God, makes me grateful.

If you’re around on the 18th, come on down and join us for the ribbon-cutting on Main Street.