Valvoline Global Operations is moving its global headquarters to downtown Cincinnati, planning to renovate 50,000 square feet at 312 Elm Street to house up to 120 corporate employees when the office opens in spring 2027. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 2.000%, nine-year Job Creation Tax Credit on Sunday to help secure the relocation, part of a broader state package supporting 13 projects statewide.
The lubricant maker's move brings its executive team to a building with a rocky recent history. As reported by Hoodline, the 312 Elm Street tower, part of a 610,000-square-foot twin-tower complex, was scheduled for a Hamilton County sheriff's foreclosure auction back in May. Valvoline's lease now gives the distressed property a marquee corporate tenant just months after it faced the auction block.
According to WLWT, Valvoline Global Operations announced the headquarters move as it also confirmed its current Lexington, Kentucky campus will remain a central hub for the company. Company president and CEO Jamal Muashsher said the Cincinnati expansion and the Lexington Americas Hub will help teams collaborate, innovate and operate more effectively. Muashsher is a Cincinnati native who earned a chemical engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati, where he currently serves on engineering and cooperative education advisory councils, and he previously held senior brand management roles at Cincinnati-headquartered Procter & Gamble.
A Local Return for the Brand Behind America's First Motor Oil
Valvoline was established in 1866 as America's first branded motor oil, and the company now generates over $3 billion in annual revenue, distributing automotive and industrial lubricants to more than 140 countries through over 80,000 retail and commercial locations. WLWT's report notes Valvoline has thousands of locations across North America. The company became an independent corporate entity in March 2023, after Saudi Aramco acquired Valvoline Inc.'s Global Products lubricant division for $2.65 billion in cash, while Valvoline Inc. retained its separate retail quick-lube stores.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said the city is beyond excited to welcome the Valvoline Global team, and he called the headquarters move a major benefit for downtown Cincinnati and the local economy, per the station's report. Prior to the announcement, Valvoline Global Operations expanded its total global workforce by nearly 20% over the preceding three years, according to JobsOhio, growth that JobsOhio ties to rising global demand across the company's automotive and industrial fluid lines.
Kentucky Keeps Hundreds of Jobs as Americas Hub
The relocation is not a full exit from Kentucky. Under the restructuring plan, Valvoline's existing Lexington campus will be converted into an Americas Hub, keeping more than 400 employees there focused on operations across North and South America, with Lexington employees supporting the company's work in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Lexington sits roughly 80 miles south of Cincinnati, and JobsOhio notes the Cincinnati move positions Valvoline's global executive leadership minutes away from the company's largest product manufacturing facility, which has operated in the Cincinnati area for decades.
The 312 Elm Street building will undergo a major revitalization as part of the deal, arriving as downtown Cincinnati pursues broader redevelopment. The headquarters move coincides with an $800 million-plus makeover of the nearby Convention District, including the new Elm Street Plaza, a project Hoodline has covered as part of city leaders' push to reactivate downtown office space and boost street-level foot traffic. Valvoline's arrival adds to a string of recent corporate moves reshaping the region's business map, following Houston-based acquisition activity that shifted another local company's headquarters to Blue Ash earlier this month.
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