Columbus CEO Special Section: New Albany Economic Development Guide (Fall 2026)

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NEW ALBANY A SUBURBAN GROWTH SECTION

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Spring 2026 • ColumbusCEO

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WHY NEW ALBANY CONTINUES TO LEAD the exceptional quality of life that has become synonymous with New Albany.

From expanded recreational opportunities to transportation improvements and the future opening of the New Albany Fieldhouse and Community Center, these investments reflect our commitment to creating a vibrant community for generations to come.

Our success has never been measured solely by economic growth or new development. It is measured by the strength of our relationships, the generosity of our residents and business partners, and the shared belief that we can accomplish more when we work together. That spirit is reflected in our community tagline, “Community Connects Us,” and it remains the foundation of everything we do.

Whether you are considering New Albany as a place to live, grow a business, raise a family or invest in the future, I invite you to explore what makes this community so special. The stories featured in this section offer just a glimpse of the innovation and partnerships that continue to shape New Albany’s future.

Thank you for your interest in our community. We look forward to welcoming you to New Albany.

Sincerely, Photo courtesy City of New Albany

Welcome to New Albany.

As mayor, I have the privilege of witnessing firsthand the remarkable transformation taking place throughout our community. From new investments in infrastructure and recreation to unprecedented economic development activity, New Albany continues to demonstrate what is possible when a community pairs thoughtful planning with a steadfast commitment to a shared vision.

While much attention has been focused on the extraordinary growth occurring within the New Albany International Business Park, what makes our community truly exceptional is our ability to balance progress with quality of life. We have created an environment where businesses can grow and families can thrive.

Today, New Albany stands at the center of one of the most significant economic development opportunities in our state’s history. Continued investment from global leaders in technology, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and logistics is creating jobs and strengthening our regional economy.

These investments are a testament to decades of strategic planning and the infrastructure needed to support business growth and innovation.

At the same time, we remain focused on enhancing the everyday experiences of our residents. Recent improvements to our parks, trails, roadways and public spaces continue to support

Sloan T. Spalding Mayor, City of New Albany

ON THE COVER: Pictured at Amgen Inc. (from left): Sloan Spalding, New Albany mayor; Sandra Rodriguez-Toledo, vice president of site operations for Amgen Ohio; Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany community development director; and Bill Ebbing, president and CEO of The New Albany Company.

Photo courtesy City of New Albany

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CONTENTS

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A PREMIER LIFE SCIENCES HUB Strong infrastructure, partnerships and workforce boost the sector

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DRIVING JOBS AND GROWTH Ongoing economic investment creates opportunity for workers

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VILLAGE CENTER The community’s gathering place

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BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM New Albany is all-in on life sciences

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VISION FOR THE FUTURE Collaboration drives the community

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A FOCUS ON CIVIC PRINCIPLES Four pillars that guide the community

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COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s new Close To Home center

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COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE New Albany helped Axium Packaging thrive

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BUSINESS PARK IMPACT Tenant companies provide invaluable community support

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SUPPORTING BUSINESS Working together to foster growth

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GIVING BACK Donor-driven philanthropy

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BALANCING GROWTH Strategic planning and a diverse economy are shaping the future

ColumbusCEO • Fall 2026 / NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH

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Our strategic thinking will enable yours.

Every aspect of the New Albany International Business Park is the result of strategic thinking. The infrastructure. The critical technology assets.

The campus alignment. Even the freeway access. It was all designed so you could spend less time thinking about where your business is located and more time thinking about your next strategic business move.

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Amgen staff assemble and package medicines using advanced technology and automation at the company’s New Albany facility.

A Premier Life Sciences Hub

The city has seen significant growth in the health and life sciences sector, thanks to strong infrastructure, partnerships and workforce.

By Shannon Shelton Miller Twenty-six months. That was all the time New Albany needed to facilitate construction of biotechnology giant Amgen Inc.’s 300,000-square-foot assembly and packaging plant and witness its opening.

“We brought this plant from groundbreaking to license in just 26 months, making it the most rapid site development in our company’s 45-year history,” Amgen CEO Robert Bradway said when the facility opened in February 2024. The company announced a $900 million expansion of its New Albany site in 2025 and expects another rapid

trajectory to completion in May 2027.

Those are short spans for getting any major manufacturing operation from construction to opening, but they’re not out of the norm for the New Albany International Business Park, which has become an attractive destination for companies looking to build in or relocate to Central Ohio. The city has established a flourishing health and life sciences ecosystem, luring biotech and pharmaceutical companies like Amgen and numerous others to plant roots there.

Earlier this year, the Ohio Life Sciences Association and JobsOhio selected the New Albany International

Business Park as the site of a new facility to train workers for health care and pharmaceutical jobs. Located at 7800 Walton Parkway, the Ohio Life Science Training Center will be the state’s first biomanufacturing training venue. Tyler Allchin, managing director of health care for JobsOhio, says New Albany was selected for its proximity to priority employers. A $30 million investment from JobsOhio, a private nonprofit economic development corporation, along with $5 million over five years from the city, will support the initiative.

“We continue to hear from pharma companies across the market, whether domestic or international, that to be a

NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH / Fall 2026 • ColumbusCEO

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Rendering courtesy Ohio Life Sciences Association; photo courtesy James D. DeCamp

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The Ohio Life Science Training Center is expected to open in 2027.

leader in this space, we need a dedicated training facility that functions like the inside of an industry facility,” Allchin says. “This center can generate cohorts of Ohioans with biomanufacturing certificates. We couldn’t be happier to be doing this in New Albany.”

New Albany has long practiced a cluster-focused economic development approach to attract and retain companies within specific industries. The idea is for those companies to draw from shared resources and talent, while planners, engineers, building officials and economic development staff become more familiar with the industry’s needs.

The 2003 opening of Mount Carmel Surgical Hospital (now Mount Carmel New Albany) laid the foundation for a health and life sciences cluster. With the arrival of injectable medications manufacturer American Regent Inc. in 2013, the city became even more intentional about pursuing companies in the sector, which also includes direct-to-consumer digital health and wellness company Hims & Hers; Pharmavite, a national vitamin and supplement maker; brain growth and recovery company NeuroAnimation; and tube feeding device manufacturer Vesco Medical.

New Albany recently earned a “Premier” ranking in the Life Science Ready Community Designation 6

A company will not look here if it doesn’t think the skillsets needed either currently exist or can be developed over time.”

Matt McQuade, managing director of economic and business development for The New Albany Company program from the Ohio Life Sciences Association. The recognition is given to communities that have demonstrated a focus on building an ecosystem

to attract and support biotech and life sciences companies.

Sandra Rodriguez-Toledo, vice president of site operations for Amgen Ohio, says in her more than 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, she has never seen the level of cooperation from state and city governments, educational institutions and the community that she’s experienced in New Albany. “Building this facility in 26 months would not have been possible without the partnership from New Albany,” she says.

“We can call the New Albany group to help us with any situation. It’s been the secret sauce to our success.”

For local officials, it’s simply how the city does business. “We believe New Albany has a 25 percent faster permitting schedule than many of the other cities in the region,” says Sara Zeigler, the city’s economic development manager. “We have this expedited schedule because we have planning, zoning, code enforcement, engineering and building services all in one department. It allows us to move at the speed of business, not the speed of government.”

Success Breeds Success Tom Stipkovich, vice president of corporate investment at regional economic development organization One Columbus, describes New Albany’s value as one that “de-risks” the process for life sciences companies.

“The whole New Albany ecosystem provides a tremendous value proposition,” Stipkovich says. “When companies are evaluating a community, I think where New Albany really excels is they have clear processes for companies as they go through the permitting process, the zoning process and taking what’s potentially a greenfield site to an operational facility in a very short amount of time. Companies are evaluating your tax environment, your workforce, your speed to market, your utilities. … As you continue to de-risk the process for them, you start to stand out.”

The Columbus region’s life sciences ecosystem is broadening as a whole,

ColumbusCEO • Fall 2026 / NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH

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Tapping Local Talent While New Albany’s economic development infrastructure has been vital to establishing its thriving health and life sciences cluster, a qualified labor force

is another key to its success.

Stipkovich calls workforce “probably the single largest factor” when companies consider a new investment.

Matt McQuade, managing director of economic and business development for The New Albany Company, describes it as “the most important input” for a biopharmaceutical manufacturing operation. “Where I view the workforce as being incredibly impactful is throughout the whole evaluation process. A company will not look here if it doesn’t think the skillsets needed either currently exist or can be developed over time,” McQuade says.

McQuade adds that companies aren’t just looking at the talent pool in a particular city, but at the wider labor market in the region or state. That means a training center located in New Albany can strengthen the Columbus region and Ohio as a whole, while also making New Albany a more competitive option for the next company deciding where to invest. “This isn’t just an asset to support companies already here,” he says.

“I’ve been in economic development my entire career and have never seen the state of Ohio in the game for as many biopharmaceutical manufacturing opportunities. This is the state looking into the future and seeing Ohio as having a right to compete in this industry.”

Eddie Pauline, president and CEO of the Ohio Life Sciences Association and Ohio Life Sciences Institute, says workers considering a move to the

Columbus region are drawn by the presence of multiple companies in a particular sector. Seeing many potential employers and employment opportunities makes the market more attractive to specialized workers and in turn gives employers a deeper pool from which to hire. “People coming to work in this environment know that maybe if something doesn’t work out at one of these companies, they can pivot to another one,” Pauline says. “They’re coming in knowing if they’re going to make the move to Columbus or New Albany, there’s going to be more opportunities to stay.”

Pauline says cities such as New Albany have benefitted from a shift in the way corporations select places to build or expand. Rural options with large parcels of land often were preferred more than 20 years ago, but companies have pivoted to locations closer to urban cores. Workers are less willing to make long-distance commutes and prefer places with diverse housing stock where they also can enjoy amenities like dining, shopping and events.

New Albany checks all those boxes, and also has a trained and educated talent pool that continues to develop as the health and life sciences sector grows.

The Ohio Life Science Training Center will help the workforce keep pace, Pauline says. The facility is expected to include simulated wet-lab and biomanufacturing space where trainees can learn current Good Manufacturing

Photo courtesy James D. DeCamp

stretching from research and development to production, logistics and medical device manufacturing, Stipkovich says. As more companies succeed and expand, it makes the region more attractive for new opportunities.

Allchin of JobsOhio says in the past two years in particular, the health and life sciences sector has seen an increased emphasis on biomanufacturing and manufacturing of medications and therapeutics. Business opportunities have grown due to post-pandemic supply chain rebuilding, increased onshoring and national and global companies bringing manufacturing and packaging processes to the U.S. “We have been privileged to chase these opportunities and win a handful with our partners in New Albany and The New Albany Company,” he says.

Once companies have chosen New Albany, many tend to stay—and grow.

They make an initial investment, have a positive experience with local partnership and workforce, then choose New Albany again for a second or third project. Amgen’s expansion, which will bring its total investment in Central Ohio to more than $1.4 billion, will add three manufacturing lines and grow its automated warehouse, adding 350 jobs for a total of 750. Additionally, American Regent is completing a multimillion-dollar expansion, and Hims & Hers in late 2025 announced a $200 million investment for a new facility and the addition of 400 jobs.

“We’re attracting new companies, but we’re serving our companies well and they’re expanding here, which is equally as exciting for us,” Zeigler says.

“We also know having this training center will make New Albany and Ohio even more competitive when it comes to attracting the health and life science cluster companies.”

The American Regent Inc. campus

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Practices, or cGMP, along with fundamentals such as requirements of personal protective equipment, documentation and working in an environment regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Early cohorts are expected to enroll about 20 students in eight- to 10-week programs, with more advanced programming added over time on topics such as compounding or making biologicals.

Columbus State Community College will deliver the curriculum, along with industry partners, and will modify training based on employer needs.

Rodriguez-Toledo of Amgen, a member of the training center’s advisory board, envisions the facility helping employees and future hires gain the qualifications they need to work at Amgen—or anywhere in New Albany and beyond. She recalls the start of the company’s journey in New Albany, and how one employee asked when the

Photo courtesy City of New Albany

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A Pharmavite employee works on a Nature Made vitamins line.

company would get a new operation there. She replied that Amgen first needed to deliver for its patients before considering an expansion.

“So, we delivered,” she says. “And

now, we are expanding. That delivery is because of our work and that secret sauce of working together, with the rest of the organization, [with] New Albany and the state.”

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Intel’s Ohio One site

Driving Jobs and Growth

Ongoing investment in the New Albany International Business Park is creating ample opportunity for construction and skilled trades workers.

You could say the New Albany International Business Park is Central Ohio’s field of dreams: If you build it, industry will come.

And although it opened in 1998, growth in New Albany’s 9,000-acre Silicon Heartland shows no signs of slowing.

The business campus is home to 43 million square feet of development totaling $85 billion in investment.

The master-planned park spans four school districts in Franklin and Licking counties, with a series of industry sectors devoted to corporate office and research and development; personal care and beauty; information technology; health and life sciences; high-tech manufacturing and logistics; and semiconductor manufacturing.

Beyond the thousands of jobs at existing companies, the continued 10

development of those operations provides a staggering 25,000 full-time construction positions. That’s a big economic benefit for the growing city of about 11,000 residents, as well as the region and the state.

“You think about the impact on the restaurant business, on the hospitality business, up and down the line,” says Brian Mooney, managing director for Turner Construction Co. “That has a lasting impact on many different industries, not just on the jobs themselves that are being done.”

“Our first project in New Albany was in 2019,” says Phil Rasey, executive vice president of development for the Columbus office of VanTrust Real Estate.

“Since then, we’ve developed 11 buildings, totaling 5.2 million square feet in seven years, which is kind of crazy.”

That’s an investment of $520 million, mostly on spec properties. The company delivered a 300,000-square-foot building in May and then broke ground on another 300,000-square-foot building that will be finished later this year, Rasey says.

Those types of builds usually require 200 to 300 workers each, he says.

Turner could have 500 to 600 people on the job at a time at the peak of an average project, Mooney says.

Pharmaceutical and life science sites could utilize 400 to 600 people, and other large sites could require as many as 2,000 workers a day. Pipefitters and electricians are probably the workers most in demand, says Mooney, providing stable jobs with great earning potential.

Bryan Stewart is chairman and CEO of Superior, one of the largest electrical contractors in the United States, which

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was recently acquired by MasTec Inc. for $1.65 billion. Superior has about 1,000 employees currently working in New Albany. “Every job is a permanent job for us,” he says. “We hire people based on demand and assign them to projects and locations every day.”

After completing a four- to five-year apprenticeship, Stewart says a journeyman electrician can make $150,000 in annual compensation before overtime.

“These are amazing careers that are fundamental to the economy and really build our middle class,” he says.

“The scale and size of these jobs make them not only local and regional, but they’re national,” Mooney says.

“You’ll have craft workers come in from all over the United States.” While he says most workers are local, some projects have attracted specialty workers from Texas and California.

“This kind of growth in Columbus has been going on for the last decade

plus,” he says, noting workforce development programs, like Meta’s America’s Workforce Academy, “are massive investments that are being employed to help drive participation in the [construction] industry.”

Contruction Fuels Growth Nick Savko & Sons Inc. has been involved in New Albany site development since the early days of the village’s transformation. “We built a lot of the road systems all through New Albany,” says Martin Savko, chairman of the company his father started in 1946.

“We’ve seen an awful lot of change over the years. It’s unbelievable.

“We have 400 great people that help us operate and grow our company every day,” he says. Company supervisors earn in the $150,000 range; heavy equipment operators can make $40 an hour, and other laborers have an hourly rate in the upper $30s.

In addition to developing residential sites in the city, the company’s Scioto Ready Mix concrete operation regularly hauls concrete to sites across the New Albany International Business Park, including Intel’s 1,000-acre semiconductor manufacturing campus, where two leading-edge chip factories are under construction.

Intel’s Ohio One campus has been utilizing 1,200 workers a day, and the company has invested more than $1 billion in the site in 2026, according to city officials.

Savko likens the tech sector boom to the new industrial revolution. “We’ve seen steel. We’ve seen automobiles. We’ve seen computers. Now it’s AI,” he says.

Superior has been working in the business park for more than two decades, including work for Discover and Nationwide. More recently, it has worked with clients like Google, Amazon Web Services and Meta to

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build, maintain and expand facilities.

“It’s a busy space to be in,” Stewart says.

But technology isn’t the only sector driving employment. The business park has become a hub for the health and life sciences industry, which employs more than 60,000 workers across the state.

Companies such as Amgen Inc. and American Regent Inc., both of which work in pharmaceuticals, are expanding their footprints in New Albany. The Ohio Life Science Training Center, expected to open in 2027, will support workers in the industry and build the regional talent pipeline.

Between new builds, maintenance and retrofit work, construction projects create jobs that last for decades, Stewart says. “The economic impact is truly significant,” he says, calling the business park “one of the best examples of economic development and community building that I have seen in the country.”

Turner Construction has worked in multiple industries in the business park, building facilities for clients including Amgen, Pharmavite, Meta and Vantage.

“We’re always looking for projects in the area,” Mooney says. “[The] work that’s being developed in there is a game changer, not only for New Albany and Columbus but for the state of Ohio,” he says.

“If you look at the park from a decade ago to today, it’s quite extraordinary what’s been done. It really is a model for how economic development should be done.

“The scale of it and the complexity of investment is massive,” Mooney says.

“We’re talking billions, not millions, of dollars. You don’t see that in many places globally, the type of investment that’s going on in New Albany. Everybody in Columbus is a beneficiary of that type of investment—directly or indirectly.”

“There’s nothing like what’s going on in New Albany in the five counties in Central Ohio,” Savko says. “A lot of towns in the United States could pay attention to the city of New Albany and learn a lot.”

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Photos from top: courtesy City of New Albany; courtesy James D. DeCamp

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A view of the New Albany Village Center

Community Gathering Place

New Albany’s Village Center continues to evolve, with new parks, businesses and housing options to meet residents’ needs.

By Laura Newpoff New Albany’s Village Center is a lively gathering place for all ages. More than just a town square, it offers a walkable business district, cultural opportunities, ample green space and even a wetland.

The latter came about in the 1990s, when the New Albany Bypass Project was designed to route heavy highway traffic around the heart of the Village Center. To compensate for the impact on wetlands associated with the project, the Ohio Department of Transportation created a wetland conservation basin just south of the highway as part of the entrance into the village along New Albany Road.

Vernal pools became breeding areas for amphibians, and other areas developed as an important habitat for flora and fauna diversity, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

we continue with that same philosophy Today, the area is used by New of strategic land donations and preserAlbany-Plain Local Schools for envivation of natural and historic resources ronmental education. The project was that define our community.” possible thanks to a 30-acre The New Albany Company land donation in 1994 by has donated more than 200 The New Albany Company. acres for various projects in “The idea was to dedithe Village Center over the cate these 30 acres to start years, involving not only the a wetland park for perpetcity but also the school district ual green space that the and other organizations. One community and residents of its most recent gifts is 27 can experience as you acres for a new Nationwide enter the city from Route Tom Rubey Children’s Hospital Close To 161,” says Tom Rubey, Home facility. director of development for The New Albany Company. “It was Connecting the Community a seminal moment for our community.

The New Albany Company donated 6 It helped to define what New Albany acres in 1996 for the creation of Rose is all about and what is so importRun Park, across from the school camant to us: preservation of wetlands, pus. An additional 14-acre donation in tree stands and historic homesteads.

2006 became William H. Resch Park, We were deliberate about where we which sits along Rose Run Creek surthought those commitments needed to rounding the Civil War-era Ealy House. be made from that point forward, and NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH / Fall 2026 • ColumbusCEO

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Photos from top: courtesy James D. DeCamp; courtesy City of New Albany (2)

Students attend a New Albany Lecture Series event at the McCoy Center for the Arts.

Creeking in Rose Run Park

The New Albany Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library 14

Rose Run Park serves as a backdrop for the Village Center’s Market Square, including a branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. A farmers market takes place here every Thursday during the summer, illustrating how this area has become the heartbeat of the community and a primary gathering place. It features restaurants and shops, access to parks and greenways, and adjacency to the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany. Concerts and cultural events are held at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts and the Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater.

Rose Run Park Phase II is underway as part of the city’s enhancement efforts.

A new Veterans Memorial, located between Village Hall and the New Albany Police Department, will feature a heroes walk, a plaza and water feature designed to provide a space for reflection, and a sculpture honoring Gold Star families and New Albany resident Albert “Mike” Butsko, who died in the Vietnam War. The 2-acre site was donated by The New Albany Company. The city is working with landscape architect MKSK on the park project, which is expected to be completed in fall 2027.

Over a period of more than five years, community officials and residents collaborated on decisions about where the memorial would be located and how it would be designed. “It will be an interactive piece of the community and a place of contemplation,” says Mayor Sloan Spalding. “It became clear during the discussions we didn’t want to put this on the outskirts of the community.

We wanted it in the Village Center.”

On the Horizon More residential options will be coming online to enhance existing opportunities in the area. A new community called Edgehill, developed by M/I Homes Inc., will bring a new concept to the city with a 243-unit mix of row homes and townhouses. It sits south of the new Nationwide Children’s facility and east of 20 acres of parkland

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donated by The New Albany Company that fold into the area near Rose Run Park. The units will be marketed to empty nesters and young professionals to minimize impact on the school district and diversify housing opportunities for future residents, Rubey says.

Additionally, a Mershad Development project called Upper East will contain a mixture of residential and commercial/retail uses on a 2.96-acre site in the Village Center. It will be a pedestrian-oriented development, as envisioned in the Engage New Albany Strategic Plan.

As the Village Center has grown, city officials have been careful to keep tabs on traffic and pedestrian patterns. A new roundabout on the Market Street extension was designed to handle current and future traffic needs, and it also features a scenic overlook along the road’s multiuse path.

Residents soon will have more recreational opportunities via a new park now in the planning stages. Kitzmiller Wetland Park will be the city’s third destination park, built along land acquired through Clean Ohio more than a decade ago between Kitzmiller Road and U.S. Route 62. Community feedback identified a desire for more passive recreational amenities. The project will preserve access to natural resources such as wetlands, mature tree stands and prairies.

Adrienne Joly, deputy city manager, says the park projects reflect New Albany’s four core pillars: lifelong learning, health and wellness, arts and culture, and environmental sustainability. “You can tie the parks back to those pillars that increase the quality of life for people who live here, work here and come to visit,” she says. “They also tie into connectivity and giving people space to enjoy family and friends and invest in health and happiness.

Community connects us. Our Village Center is the epitome of that connectivity and what that strategy to connect us looks like in real life.”

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New Albany Is Building an Ecosystem This year, the BIO International Convention in San Diego brought together over 20,000 life science leaders.

A recurring theme emerged from those leaders in the various state pavilions showcasing why they are a life science hub: The regions that win in life sciences won’t be the ones with the single best company or the single best lab.

They’ll be the ones with the strongest connected ecosystem—research, talent, manufacturing capacity and capital that reinforce one another.

That takes a community willing to invest in the whole system. New Albany has done exactly that.

Start with biomanufacturing, the tenet where competitor states have landed the biggest wins—and where Ohio, until recently, had a gap. New Albany closed part of it. The Ohio Life Science Training Center, now backed by the state’s first-ever capital appropriation for life sciences workforce development, sits in the New Albany International Business Park because the City of New Albany and The New Albany Company chose to be founding investors, not bystanders. That commitment helped unlock JobsOhio’s transformational funding support of up to $30 million over five years—capital that only moves when local partners show up.

That same pattern extends to talent development. The training center’s current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) curriculum, delivered by Columbus State Community College, fills the entry-level manufacturing and quality roles that make up nearly 40 percent of life sciences employment.

These jobs don’t require a Ph.D., but they do require a community willing to build the pipeline.

The Ohio Life Science Training Center advisory board, which includes representation from New Albany

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Photo courtesy Ohio Life Sciences Association

By Eddie Pauline

Eddie Pauline

employers like Pharmavite, Hims & Hers and Amgen Inc., will keep the curriculum relevant to ever-changing industry demands and Food and Drug Administration regulations.

Such communitywide commitment is also why New Albany recently earned a “Premier” designation through our Life Science Ready Community program. The designation is reserved for communities that have done the work: zoning, utility infrastructure, workforce partnerships and site readiness that let a life sciences company move fast.

On behalf of the Ohio Life Sciences

Association and Institute, I want to thank the City of New Albany and The New Albany Company for their transformational investment in the Ohio Life Science Training Center. Their willingness to fund ecosystem infrastructure before a single ribbon is cut is exactly the kind of local commitment that unlocks state and private capital behind it. New Albany isn’t just hosting a building. It’s helping build the infrastructure the whole state needs and will use.

Eddie Pauline is president and CEO of the Ohio Life Sciences Association and Ohio Life Sciences Institute.

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An Independence Day celebration in Rose Run Park

A Shared Vision for the Future

By Adrienne Joly When you explore New Albany, you may notice the miles of leisure trails, parks designed for all ages and abilities, thoughtful architecture and the white horse fences that tell you you’ve arrived somewhere special.

I’ve watched New Albany grow for years, and I know our success is the result of decades of strategic planning, the discipline to follow through and strong public-private partnerships. Throughout that time, we’ve remained committed to a common vision: The choices we make today should serve the New Albany our children will inherit.

“Community Connects Us” is more than a phrase on our signs and letterhead; it’s a mantra for how we live and do business. We’ve collaborated with our residents and our public and private partners for decades to strengthen public services and create new places for people to connect.

Rose Run Park is a great example. It

Local Schools, we’re planning a new combegan as a stream restoration project munity athletic campus to serve students and now showcases the heart and soul and create recreational opportunities for of our community: the Village Center. residents of all ages. This reflects how colIt is the connective tissue between laboration lets us invest in facilities that vibrant businesses, the New Albanybenefit everyone. That same approach Plain Local Schools campus, the Hinson has also led to transformative investAmphitheater, the McCoy Center for ments like the Ohio Life Science Training the Arts and the Philip Heit Center Center. It will prepare the for Healthy New Albany. workforce for one of Ohio Expanding the park with a and New Albany’s fastestnew Veterans Memorial will growing industries while provide another meaningful creating new opportunities place to gather and reflect. that will keep our children You also feel that conin the state. nection when we gather The real test of our to enjoy music at the strategic plan isn’t what’s amphitheater, share rich printed on a page; it’s what traditions during Diwali our community accomplishand Juneteenth, embrace Adrienne Joly es together over time. As we the feeling of gemütlichkeit look ahead, I’m confident at Oktoberfest, celebrate collaboration will remain one of our greatIndependence Day with a parade and est strengths and the clearest proof that fireworks, and take time to say thank you Community Connects Us. during our Veterans Day breakfast.

Adrienne Joly is the New Albany depuThat same spirit is shaping what comes ty city manager. next. Together with New Albany-Plain NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH / Fall 2026 • ColumbusCEO

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Amp Up the Arts 2025 at the Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater

A Focus on Civic Principles

New Albany relies on four pillars to guide growth: lifelong learning, arts and culture, health and wellness, and environmental sustainability.

By Nicholas Dekker While New Albany and its surrounding community have grown by leaps and bounds over recent decades, that growth has come with careful planning.

Multiple community organizations, nonprofits, city officials, business leaders and individuals have banded together to forge a growing city that incorporates a robust school district, abundant green spaces, dining and attractions, and neighborhoods friendly to businesses large and small.

When the New Albany Community Foundation was formed in 1995, it articulated four pillars to guide the growth of the community: Lifelong Learning, Arts & Culture, Health & Wellness, and Environmental Sustainability. Those pillars have laid the foundation for successful community planning ever since.

Many of New Albany’s organizations touch on all four pillars through their work. “Strong businesses don’t exist in isolation or as islands,” says Cherie 18

Nelson, president and CEO of the New Albany Chamber of Commerce. “The whole thing comes together for businesses. If you think about lifelong learning, you think great schools; if you think about healthy employees, you think the public spaces. I think we’re in a unique position to support and love and nurture all four pillars in some capacity.”

Lifelong Learning The city’s commitment to lifelong learning is readily apparent in the centralized, 200-acre campus for New AlbanyPlain Local Schools. In 2024, voters approved a levy to support new schools and upgraded facilities through 2031, including a new elementary school and high school technology hub, updated science labs, renovations to existing facilities and a new fine arts hub for students in grades 5-12.

“Another example of learning is that it also crosses over into leadership development and business growth, like our Leadership New Albany program,”

Nelson says. “It’s an eight-month leadership program where they learn everything A to Z about New Albany. That helps us take existing leaders, bring them to the next level and also prepare them to hopefully serve on boards in New Albany. The whole thing is like an ecosystem to me, and each piece helps and nurtures the other pieces.”

“There was a discussion about, ‘Do you describe it as education or lifelong learning,’ ” says Craig Mohre, president of the foundation. “And the reason we landed on lifelong learning is we wanted it to be multigenerational. We really wanted it to be everybody of all ages.”

To that end, the foundation created the New Albany Lecture Series, which is nationally recognized for speakers ranging from actors to journalists, generals to policymakers. The impact extends to students around Central Ohio with the Student Lecture Series; Mohre estimates more than 50 area high schools representing over 37,000 students have participated.

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the most prominent public art piece in New Albany,” says Kerri Mollard, president of the Plain Township trustees.

“We only have one Gold Star family.

The statue is Eleanor, the mom, in the act of placing the star above the door.

It’s going to be beautiful.”

Health & Wellness New Albany’s commitment to health and wellness is apparent in amenities like walking paths, playgrounds and recreation facilities. Spalding sees it as a success story for the community, with centerpieces like Rose Run Park, a winding green space featuring bridges, walking paths and children’s play areas.

“If you’re familiar with New Albany, we put a lot of time and energy into

making sure that Rose Run Park is sort of the front door, the front porch of New Albany,” he says. “Just to have that access to nature right in the center of town was super important to us.”

The forthcoming Rose Run Park Phase II extends the space between Village Hall and the police department; the Veterans Memorial will honor those who have served through a heroes walk, a contemplative plaza and the statue honoring Gold Star families. Likewise, the nearly 100-acre Taylor Farm Park, which opened in phases in 2023 and 2024, features boardwalks and trails, a playground, a community garden and preserved wetland migration areas.

These connected greenspaces have been dubbed the Emerald Bracelet.

A scene from the Healthy New Albany Farmers Market

Photos courtesy James D. DeCamp

Arts & Culture The New Albany Community Foundation played a key role in getting a local branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library built in 2003.

When construction on the project had paused, the foundation offered to assist with fundraising and arranged for historian David McCullough to be a guest speaker for an event. (McCullough was so charmed he returned to New Albany multiple times over the years.)

The library ties into New Albany’s rich cultural district, which features significant infrastructure that allows for concerts, dance, theater, film screenings and more. The Jeanne B. McCoy Center for the Arts opened in 2008 as a partnership between the foundation, the city, Plain Township and the school district. It hosts dozens of events annually, including dance festivals, concerts from community groups, school performances and guest speakers. Likewise, the 800-seat Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater next door was a collaborative project that brought an outdoor performance space connecting the cultural campus, Rose Run Park and the Market Square district. The New Albany Symphony Orchestra plays at both venues.

New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding is particularly proud of the amphitheater and its unique impact. “The Hinson Amphitheater was a long project,” he says. “It took us a lot of time to get the community support, but that one I think we definitely got right. Sometimes things take a while and you’re patient with it, but most times those delays are because you’re trying to make it the best actual product you can.”

New Albany is expanding public art, too, and in ways that are meaningful to the community. Sculptor Mike Kraus was commissioned to create a statue memorializing New Albany resident Albert “Mike” Butsko, who served and died during the Vietnam War. The statue will serve as a centerpiece of the new Veterans Memorial Park in Rose Run Park Phase II. “This statue will be

A fall leaf walk at the Easton E3 Learning Lab on the New Albany-Plain Local Schools campus NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH / Fall 2026 • ColumbusCEO

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The New Albany Symphony Orchestra and Chorus hosts an annual holiday show.

Hundreds of acres have been donated

by The New Albany Company, allowing for growth of the central park campus, an addition of a scenic overlook connected to Rose Run Park Phase II, extended parkland for Taylor Farm Park and even the creation of Rocky Fork Metro Park.

Various organizations within the city promote healthy lifestyles, too. Healthy New Albany has offerings for all ages with cooking classes, nature workshops, a food pantry, a farmers market, a community garden and the annual Healthy New Albany Walking Classic. Healthy New Albany also collaborates with Innovate New Albany on a series called Healthy Habits for High Achievers.

The program is designed for business professionals. “The message of this program is: If you’re not taking care of yourself, you will be much less effective at utilizing the skills and experiences that are being shared here,” says Neil Collins, onsite leader at Innovate New Albany. “So, taking care of your own health is not selfish. It’s actually good for you, your family, all the people that depend on you, including the teams you might lead or the customers you’re trying to serve.”

To that end, New Albany Parks & Recreation is opening a new

185,000-square-foot fieldhouse and community center in late 2026. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center operates the fitness center in the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany, offering primary care, sports medicine and mental health services.

The facility also includes spaces managed by Healthy New Albany, such as a demonstration kitchen, and community gathering and meeting rooms.

A prime example of city partnerships serving health and wellness is the addition of Fire Station 122, Plain Township’s second fire station, which broke ground in June 2026. The station is built on more than 6 acres of land donated by The New Albany Company.

The concept began in 2023 as part of the township’s master plan, and funding was included in the 2024 fire levy request. It’s strategically located in north New Albany to improve emergency response coverage for the community today and for years to come.

Environmental Sustainability The city’s fourth pillar is increasingly being embraced by organizations around the community, and leaders are looking to make a bigger impact.

Mohre says the foundation is leaning more into sustainability. “Last year we

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started with a denim drive,” he says.

“This was inspired by Abercrombie & Fitch. They had been doing a denim drive internally, and we thought, well, we could take this community-wide.”

The foundation originally partnered with a recycling company to repurpose the denim into insulation, but discovered many of the 1,000 pieces collected were in good enough condition to donate. “Some of them still had tags on them,” Mohre says. “There were about 700 that were in good enough shape that we cleaned and donated them to the food pantry so they could distribute them to their clients.”

New Albany’s commitment to sustainability also shows up in practical ways.

Each year, the city provides convenient options to responsibly dispose of electronic and household hazardous waste, shred sensitive documents and recycle textiles. By making sustainable choices easier, city officials aim to help

Photo courtesy City of New Albany

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A walking path in Taylor Farm Park

residents reduce waste and protect the environment.

Spalding sees potential in New Albany’s commitment to sustainability.

“Lifelong learning, health and wellness, arts and culture, we’ve done really

well in those three pillars,” he says.

“Hopefully in four or five years we’re going to have a real signature project to look at, to say, ‘Here’s what we did to embrace and really lift up sustainability in New Albany.’ ”

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Rendering and photo courtesy Nationwide Children’s Hospital

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Nationwide Children’s is set to open its latest Close To Home center in late 2027.

Expanding Community Health Care Nationwide Children’s new Close To Home center reflects New Albany’s decades-long commitment to planning for the future.

By Jill Moorhead A teenager breaks an arm during a lacrosse game and needs X-rays. A toddler develops a stubborn fever that won’t go away. A routine visit uncovers something far more serious than anyone expected. Beginning in late 2027, families in New Albany will have a pediatric center close to home designed to handle all three health care situations.

You can’t predict the future, especially when children are involved. But you can prepare for it.

That philosophy has shaped New Albany’s approach to growth for decades.

As the community has expanded, so has its health care footprint, bringing hospitals, specialty care and medical services closer to where people live. The next addition comes in late 2027, when Nationwide Children’s Hospital opens its 25th Close To Home center with advanced urgent care and pediatric specialty services.

For community leaders, the investment reflects New Albany’s long-standing approach to strategic planning.

The city has grown to more than 11,000 residents and has long-range plans for approximately 17,000. Health care infrastructure is considered with the same 22

clinics inside the Philip Heit Center long-term intentionality as roads, parks for Healthy New Albany since 2015, and schools. The city already offers a offering services such as sports medbroad range of medical care from the reicine, orthopedic care, sleep medicine gion’s three other major health systems, and physical therapy. During that time, including Ohio State University Wexner annual patient visits doubled from Medical Center’s 250,000-square-foot about 6,500 to 13,000, evidence that outpatient care facility and Mount demand for pediatric specialty care had Carmel New Albany, a specialty orthooutgrown the available space. pedic hospital that also offers a 24-hour As young families emergency department. continue to settle in New Additionally, OhioHealth Albany and the surroundpurchased the former Big ing northeast quadrant of Lots offices in the Hamilton Central Ohio, Nationwide Quarter development and is Children’s sees both existevaluating use options. ing demand and room for “We’ve embraced health continued growth, Hoang and wellness as a pillar of our says, adding they expect to community,” Mayor Sloan see roughly 25,000 to 30,000 Spalding says. “Having one of Libbey Hoang annual visits upon opening. the nation’s preeminent hospiCoupled with the area’s raptals in our backyard is exciting id residential growth (the quadrant is for our community.” home to approximately 47,000 children and adolescents), hospital officials view Filling a Growing Need New Albany as an opportunity to bring Nationwide Children’s has steadily more pediatric expertise and specialty expanded its Close To Home network care closer to where families live. across the Columbus region, and New The new campus will dramatically Albany was a natural location, says broaden the services available locally, Libbey Hoang, vice president of planning adding an advanced urgent care cenand the Close To Home Network. ter, expanded imaging and laboratory The system has operated specialty

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services, rehabilitation therapies, and specialty clinics ranging from cardiology and neurology to dermatology and urology.

While New Albany already has a broad range of health care services, Hoang emphasizes that Close To Home is designed specifically for children and their unique medical and developmental needs. Even the building will reflect that focus, with child-sized features and spaces designed to make visits easier for both children and families.

Cultivating Opportunities Nationwide Children’s will occupy a prominent site in the Village Center on 27 acres donated by The New Albany Company. The gift provides room to expand as community needs evolve; when the facility opens, it will become the health system’s largest single-building Close To Home center.

Within a short walk are schools, a branch of the Columbus Metropolitan

Library, the Philip Heit Center, parks, trails and the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts.

Outside the center’s doors, families will find themselves connected to miles of walking trails and Rose Run Park.

The setting reflects the community’s broader vision that parks, trails and civic spaces are integral to quality of life. Hoang says these amenities will create a welcoming environment—and moments of respite—for patients, their families and the staff who care for them.

“We had so many different opportunities to develop this ground,” says Bill Ebbing, president and CEO of The New Albany Company. “Every time we thought about it, it was like, ‘Nope.

It’s just not the right use. Something’s going to come along that’s critical to the expanding community.’ ” When Nationwide Children’s Hospital began looking for a Close To Home site, Ebbing believed that

opportunity had arrived. Rather than targeting the parcel for commercial development, The New Albany Company donated the acreage, not only ensuring the facility could be built, but also that it would have room to grow.

Hoang says the donated site gives Nationwide Children’s the flexibility to add outpatient services and expand the campus as community needs evolve.

“We always think farther ahead,” Ebbing says. The goal is to make decisions today that leave room for future growth and potential needs.

Someday, a family will pull into the parking lot focused on just one thing: the well-being of their child. They won’t think about the decades of planning that made that moment possible. They’ll simply be grateful the care they need is close to home.

After all, no one can predict the future. But the best communities prepare for it.

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Axium’s Competitive Advantage When Axium Packaging was looking for a place to anchor its future, we weren’t simply searching for land or tax incentives. We were looking for an ecosystem where manufacturing, innovation, customers and talent could come together. We found exactly that in New Albany, Ohio.

Looking back, choosing New Albany was the single most transformative decision in our company’s history.

At Axium, we manufacture rigid plastic packaging, in an industry where speed, efficiency and supply chain reliability are critical. New Albany recognized this early. Through the vision of The New Albany Company and the City of New Albany, the Personal Care and Beauty Innovation Park was developed within the New Albany International Business Park. The result was something unique: a vertically integrated manufacturing hub that brings together raw material compounders, packaging manufacturers, label suppliers and logistics providers in one location.

For Axium, that changed everything.

Instead of shipping empty bottles across the country, we manufacture packaging just minutes from our customers’ operations. That proximity dramatically reduces freight costs, shortens lead times, lowers inventory requirements and significantly decreases our environmental footprint. What was once a fragmented supply chain has become a highly efficient, collaborative manufacturing ecosystem that allows our customers to move faster than ever before.

That speed and proximity have been especially valuable in serving major consumer brands such as Bath & Body Works, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, L’Oréal, SC Johnson, Nestlé and many more, where quality, agility and speed

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Photo courtesy Axium Packaging Inc.

By Paul Judge

Paul Judge

to market are essential. Being located within this ecosystem allows us to collaborate more closely, respond more quickly to changing customer needs and support the kind of innovation that global brands require.

But a world-class ecosystem requires more than neighboring businesses. It depends on infrastructure, leadership and a community committed to growth.

New Albany has consistently delivered all three. Shovel-ready sites, dependable utility infrastructure and an efficient permitting process have enabled us to expand at a pace that would be difficult to match elsewhere. As our customers’ needs have grown, the city has allowed us to grow alongside them without unnecessary delays. Equally important, Central Ohio has provided access to an exceptional workforce whose talent, work ethic and commitment have been instrumental to our success.

When Axium opened its first New Albany facility in 2011, we planned for 65 full-time employees and approximately 120,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

Today, our campus has grown to 10 buildings encompassing more than 2 million square feet and employing over 1,200 people. New Albany also served as the foundation for Axium’s broader growth. Across North America, Axium now operates 33 facilities, employs more than 3,500 people and occupies more than 4.7 million square feet of space.

Along the way, we also launched Vertix Inc., a state-of-the-art plastics recycling facility that recovers more than 50 million pounds of high-density polyethylene each year, advancing our commitment to sustainability and the circular economy.

Our story demonstrates what is possible when long-term public vision aligns with private investment and entrepreneurial ambition.

New Albany didn’t simply provide Axium with a place to build factories. It created an environment where companies can innovate, invest, attract talent and compete on a global stage. That competitive advantage has helped transform Axium from a startup manufacturer into one of North America’s leading packaging companies.

As communities across the country seek to attract advanced manufacturing, New Albany offers a blueprint worth studying. Its success wasn’t built on incentives alone, but on decades of thoughtful planning, strategic infrastructure investments and a commitment to creating an ecosystem where businesses can thrive together.

Axium is proud to be part of that story.

Paul Judge is the president and co-founder of Axium Packaging Inc.

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Photos from top: courtesy City of New Albany; courtesy James D. DeCamp

Businesses Are Showing Up for Our Community

By Richard Roggenkamp Building a community requires more than just housing and roads. It requires a sustainable economic engine that fuels public services, supports public education and elevates the quality of life for every resident. In New Albany, that engine is the New Albany International Business Park.

The New Albany Company first envisioned this master-planned business cluster in the mid-1990s and collaborated with the city to make it a reality. The goal was to attract world-class enterprises and job opportunities. Today, the 12,000acre business park is a bustling hub of 25,000-plus employees who work at a multitude of companies, such as retail powerhouses Abercrombie & Fitch and Bath & Body Works; life sciences leaders Amgen Inc., American Regent Inc. and Pharmavite; and global technology firms such as Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The financial impact of the business park is a cornerstone of our city’s success. Tax revenue from local businesses generates the majority of the city’s general fund income tax revenue. Those revenues fund critical infrastructure, community-wide parks and leisure trails, and exceptional public safety services, all while significantly easing the tax burden on individual households.

The true value of these companies extends far beyond corporate balance sheets and tax revenue; it is measured by their deep commitment to the community. Business park companies are deeply invested in the community, with a strong

Students work in the Amazon Think Big Space.

thousands of visitors to its campus and focus on nurturing the next generation. raises millions of dollars in support of These philanthropic efforts are mental health programs for teens and reflected in robust scholarship funds young adults here and around the world. and educational grants distributed Ultimately, the New Albany through the New Albany Community International Business Park proves Foundation or awarded directly to local that true economic development schools, and in donations made directly extends far beyond corto nonprofit organizations. porate bottom lines. It Tech leaders like Meta represents a shared vision and AWS have underwritten where business growth fuels experiential STEAM (science, local prosperity and civic technology, engineering, arts well-being. The companies and math) programs across within the park are not just the New Albany, Johnstown corporate tenants; they are and Licking Heights school vital pillars ensuring a prosdistricts. AWS recently perous future for the entire funded an Amazon Think Big New Albany community.

Space to provide students Richard Roggenkamp We proudly celebrate the with hands-on, experiential engaged companies that drive this STEAM experiences. In March, Meta premier business hub, and the local announced its 2026 Meta Data Center community, forward. The New Albany Community Action Grants to 10 local Company remains dedicated to fostereducational and nonprofit organizations. ing an environment where business Together, these collaborations help growth and community well-being go ensure students are equipped to excel in hand in hand. a rapidly changing global economy.

Richard Roggenkamp is the managEach September, Abercrombie & ing director of real estate for The New Fitch hosts The Challenge, an annual Albany Company. music festival and fundraiser that draws NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH / Fall 2026 • ColumbusCEO

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Innovate New Albany moved to a new space on Walton Parkway in 2025.

Businesses Supporting Business

Organizations around the community work together to foster long-term, sustainable growth.

By Nicholas Dekker One of the most powerful factors in the growth of both new and existing businesses in New Albany is the support organizations offer each other, whether it’s networking opportunities, financial resources, training centers or spaces to gather and innovate.

Here’s a look at some of the organizations working to further the city’s economic growth, both now and in the future.

New Albany Chamber of Commerce “As a chamber, we do the traditional things you’re familiar with: the ribbon cuttings and welcoming new companies and groundbreaking,” says Cherie 26

Nelson, president and CEO of the New Albany Chamber of Commerce.

“Networking events, especially for small and medium businesses, can really help them get business. It brings people together, but on a regular basis. It’s about relationships.”

The chamber is focused on building connections and helping businesses solve problems. “I think a lot of what we can do is information,” Nelson says.

“I always say, if we can be part of a solution that helps our community, we’ll jump into it with two feet.

“Another thing we do that’s kind of outside of events is advocacy,” she adds. “A lot of small businesses and

medium-sized businesses, they don’t have time. If you put yourself in the shoes of a small business owner, whether it’s a restaurant or a shop or a small brokerage, you’re typically the person that’s opening up and closing and filling in if somebody doesn’t show up. You don’t have time to follow the legislature in the Statehouse, so we try to fill that niche.”

Innovate New Albany One of the area’s leaders in developing entrepreneurs and new businesses is Innovate New Albany, an incubator and business resource hub.

“People have always asked me, what is Innovate New Albany?” says

ColumbusCEO • Fall 2026 / NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH

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Brick House Blue When Innovate New Albany moved to its new location, the city and the New Albany Community Improvement

Corporation turned to Brick House Blue to manage the site. Brick House Blue operates five venues around Central Ohio, offering co-working spaces, suites, offices, studios and more.

“City council and the CIC and the city saw that there’s a ton of entrepreneurs, people building businesses in New Albany. There’s a nice innovation culture there, and we really didn’t have a place for them to go,” says Philip Smith, president of the CIC. “We really hatched this idea of creating a co-working facility. That’s something we wanted to leverage, people that had the experience and the market relevance to do it. We think New Albany is an amazing community, and we like to do stuff in an amazing fashion.”

Dazzling Event Spaces Brick House Blue at Innovate New Albany is among several event spaces that are ideal for area businesses.

These range from upscale to casual, metropolitan to rural.

Set amongst rolling greenery and a 27-hole course designed by Jack Nicklaus, the New Albany Country Club is capable of hosting business meetings, corporate retreats, fundraisers and other get-togethers.

The Estate at New Albany is a modern venue tucked into 5 wooded acres featuring indoor and outdoor spaces,

a Grand Hall, a dramatic foyer with a 28-foot fireplace, plus private suites. It is ideally suited for corporate functions and getaways, as well as private events and weddings. Jorgensen Farms connects visitors with nature through multiple event spaces, from the modern Farmhouse, to stunning gardens and arboretums, to the secluded Oak Grove with towering trees. The venue hosts corporate events, retreats, holiday parties, weddings and more.

Training for the Future New Albany also is home to multiple education centers, with more on the way. In 2024, Columbus State Community College opened the Northeast Franklin County Accelerated Training Center. The facility, located in the New Albany International Business Park, offers customized workforce training and upskilling opportunities, especially those geared toward businesses in the park.

Likewise, the Ohio Life Sciences Association has committed to building a new Ohio Life Science Training Center at the business park in partnership with JobsOhio and the city of New Albany. Announced in September 2025, the $35 million facility will focus on developing entry-level employment, manufacturing and lab skills. It is expected to open in 2027.

Photo courtesy City of New Albany

Neil Collins, onsite leader for the organization. “And a phrase I’ve used is, it’s a hub for entrepreneurs as well as other innovators. But at its core, it’s a resource for the entire New Albany community.

“When it first started, the people that I work with at the city were very clear that the ultimate goal was to do things to grow the economy,” Collins says.

“That really influenced everything we’ve done since then. I always remember those words: Its point is economic development, and to provide resources for residents and local businesses to enable them to make that happen for themselves and the economy more broadly.”

In 2025, Innovate New Albany moved to a new 22,000-square-foot campus on Walton Parkway that includes meeting and co-working spaces, offices, podcast studios and more. One of its flagship programs is the TIGER event series, focused on Technology, Innovation, Growth, Entrepreneurship and Responsibility. TIGER events include “Talks” from educational speakers, “Tools” that often feature software and “Tales” from successful business leaders.

“We want people that come here to a TIGER event to learn from a great speaker. We want them to meet other people here, other innovators here that have at least one thing in common,” Collins says. “Then we want them to enjoy themselves, have some fun and leave imagining new and/or better possibilities. And if all of those things happen, then innovation is the likely result, we believe.”

TIGER events just scratch the surface of Innovate New Albany’s offerings.

Collins points to their Expert Office Hours, where visitors can meet one-onone with specialists in different topics, as well as their “So You Want To…?” events that help professionals explore new business interests.

Mayor Sloan Spalding (center), Innovate New Albany’s Neil Collins (right) and councilmembers (from left) Kasey Kist, Andrea Wiltrout and Marlene Brisk at the opening of Brick House Blue at Innovate New Albany

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A Stronger Community

By Nanette Nardi Triplett

global educational travel opportunities, extracurriculars and the Easton E3 Learning Lab, where students explore engineering, energy and environmental sciences through hands-on learning experiences that prepare them for future STEM careers. Families facing hardship receive assistance. When unexpected challenges arise, donor support allows NACF and its partners to respond quickly and effectively.

Many community assets residents enjoy were made possible through philanthropic investment. The Charlotte P. Kessler New Albany Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Safety Town, the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts and the Charleen & Charles Hinson Amphitheater enrich students and residents through performances and educational programming.

For more than 30 years, the New Albany Community Foundation has demonstrated how donor-driven philanthropy can strengthen an entire community and create lasting impact through long-term investment, thoughtful stewardship and a shared commitment to future generations.

NACF has awarded over $25 million in grants to nonprofit organizations serving the New Albany-Plain Local Schools community through donor annual contributions and funds, supporting four pillars: lifelong learning, health and wellness, arts and culture, and environmental sustainability.

The impact of this support is deeply integrated into daily life. Students benefit from the Author Residency Program,

Donor support also enables the highly regarded New Albany Lecture Series. Students from over 50 area high schools have had the unique Nanette Nardi Triplett opportunity to interact, broadening perspective and inspiring future leadership.

Across all four pillars, donors ensure that New Albany remains a vibrant and thriving community for generations to come. For more information, visit newalbanyfoundation.org.

Nanette Nardi Triplett is a board member of the New Albany Community Foundation.

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A Diversified Path to Economic Growth For decades, New Albany has approached economic development with a simple philosophy: Grow with purpose, broaden the mix of employers, and make sure new investment supports the quality of life our residents expect.

That steady approach is a big reason why businesses, from advanced manufacturing to health and life sciences, have decided to put down roots here. As the technology cluster in New Albany has grown, data centers have become one part of the city’s broader economic landscape.

As demand for digital infrastructure increases, communities across the country are weighing both the opportunities and challenges data center developments present. In New Albany, data center projects are located within the New Albany International Business Park, where infrastructure planning has occurred over many years. Our approach reflects decades of strategic planning and infrastructure investment.

At the same time, we recognize that every community has its own priorities, opportunities and challenges, and that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to economic development.

Like other forms of commercial development, data centers contribute to the city’s revenue base and support long-term investments in infrastructure and public services. Through income taxes, infrastructure financing tools and long-term agreements, that investment helps fund roads, parks, public safety facilities and other amenities that benefit our residents and Central Ohio.

None of this erases the questions residents have. Concerns about water

Photo courtesy City of New Albany

By Jennifer Chrysler

Jennifer Chrysler

use, power demand, noise and environmental conservation are fair, and they deserve clear, fact-based answers. The city continues to monitor infrastructure capacity, apply development standards and work directly with companies if issues arise. The industry continues to evolve, with companies moving toward more efficient cooling, stronger water-saving practices and alternative power options.

No one industry is the whole story for New Albany. What keeps us resilient is balance: a diversified economy that includes research, manufacturing, health

care, corporate offices, logistics and technology. Data centers are simply one piece of that mix.

Our responsibility is to keep growth consistent with the values that have guided New Albany for decades: careful planning, responsible public finance and protecting the high quality of life that makes this community what it is.

I encourage you to learn more about our approach to data centers by visiting DataCenters.NewAlbanyOhio.org.

Jennifer Chrysler is the New Albany community development director.

NEW ALBANY / SUBURBAN GROWTH / Fall 2026 • ColumbusCEO

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