You may not hear about it often, but a humming, privately-held company tucked away in Camp Washington has been churning out a core product for almost 175 years.
Powell Valves has seen a civil war, two world wars, economic downturns and boom times. And soon, it will face another big change — a relocation from the site it has occupied since 1892 to a new facility just down the road.
As it does, it will make way for an expansion of one of Cincinnati’s other manufacturers — beauty product brand KAO USA, which has its headquarters for the Americas right next to Powell on Spring Grove Avenue.
The swap involved months of negotiations led by Greater Cincinnati development agency The Port, which will oversee the remediation of the Powell site for KAO. On March 11, The Port’s board of directors approved the final plan — and up to $8 million in tax increment financing bonds for the remediation of the Powell site.
Private nonprofit job creation agency JobsOhio, job creation initiative Regional Economic Development Initiative Cincinnati and the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County governments all played pivotal roles in the relocation and expansion plans as well, officials say.
Powell Valves has been manufacturing in Cincinnati since 1846, when it started as the Union Brass Works and Foundry. It made swords and other metal equipment for the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. After changing its name to the Wm. Powell Company in 1866, it started racking up patents and growing quickly. It produced valves for the U.S. military in both World War I and World War II and, at least according to a 1976 advertisement by the company, made products that played a role in the 1969 moon landing.
Though the company has grown over the years — it currently operates around the world — it has done much of its business from Camp Washington, including at 2503 Spring Grove Ave., the large facility fronted by an imposing and historic red brick building.
That building — a part of Camp Washington’s unique industrial streetscape — will have to go to make way for KAO’s expansion. It will likely be demolished sometime next year.
The expansion will keep KAO’s American headquarters and its 525 jobs in Cincinnati, Port officials say, and will also mean the creation of 45 new jobs.
KAO’s presence in Cincinnati dates back to 1988, when the Tokyo-based company purchased the Cincinnati-based Andrew Jergens Co.
Powell will move to the former Kahn’s/Sara Lee site — a four-acre property just down the street at 3261 Spring Grove Ave. remediated by Hamilton County and the Port in 2011. It is currently vacant and has been owned by Rhinegeist Brewery since 2017. The sale of that property to Powell Valves is expected to close in May.
This article appears in Mar 4-17, 2020.