Dublin City Council on Aug. 24 approved a $510,000 incentive package to bring Northwest Bank's Columbus-area headquarters and 120 jobs to the city, with a growth target of 300 employees by 2034.

The deal, passed as Ordinance 45-26, caps a nationwide site search that economic development director Jeremiah Gracia wrote in a memo to council included other Columbus-market options. Northwest Bank chose Dublin.

Under the agreement detailed in the council agenda packet, the city will return 15% of income tax withheld from Northwest's new Dublin employees back to the company each year for five years, from 2031 through 2035, capped at $460,000. A separate $50,000 location grant kicks in after the bank proves it has signed a 15-year lease and obtains an occupancy permit.

In an Aug. 18 statement to NBC4, before the council vote, a Northwest Bank spokesperson said the company was "looking at a real estate opportunity in Dublin to support our anticipated long-term growth, as we continue to invest in Columbus as a key growth market … we are limited in what we can share while the formal review and approval process plays out."

The exact location of the new office has not been disclosed. The council memo does not specify a site.

Northwest Bank was founded in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1896 and now operates 152 full-service financial centers across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana. The bank is also expanding its retail footprint in central Ohio, having opened its first regional financial center in New Albany in July 2026, with locations planned in Columbus, Gahanna and Westerville. That retail push is expected to create 30 to 40 additional jobs separate from the headquarters move.

The approval adds Northwest to a growing roster of financial firms choosing Dublin. Pathways Financial Credit Union relocated its headquarters and 46 employees from Columbus to Dublin in 2025, and Benefit Bank Distributors signed its own incentive deal with the city, according to Dublin Ohio Daily.

Northwest's arrival also deepens the Bridge Street District's office pipeline. The city approved a final development plan in July for Bridge North, a mixed-use project along Riverside Drive with about 75,000 square feet of office space. Construction is underway on J Block at Bridge Park, which will include more than 100,000 square feet of Class A space, with Cenovus Energy expected to anchor that building as part of a planned 2027 relocation bringing roughly 120 regional headquarters jobs.

Council also advanced economic development agreements with two other companies at the same Aug. 24 meeting: John W. Danforth Company and Innosource LLC.

No lease-signing deadline or move-in date has been announced. The $50,000 location grant and the five-year tax rebate hinge on Northwest securing the lease and occupancy permit.