But if a BRAC — short for the federal “Base Realignment and Closure” process — begins, it probably won’t be complete until 2019, said that CEO, Jeff Hoagland.
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Hoagland told the I-70/75 Development Association at Sinclair Community College that he gets up each morning with one thought:”We’re kind of under attack. Who’s coming after Wright-Patterson (Air Force Base) now?”
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Several members of Congress have introduced legislation for a BRAC, he said in what has become an annual address to the association.
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“The Dayton region and Wright Patt, we’re poised,” Hoagland also said. “We’re in a very good position … the intellectual capital of the United States Air Force is headquartered here.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, last month announced that he plans to introduce a bill that would launch another BRAC round.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Wright-Patterson is Ohio’s largest single-site employer, with nearly 30,000 jobs and an estimated $4 billion direct economic impact on the region.
The last BRAC, in 2005, was a large win for the region. It resulted in at least 1,200 direct jobs in aerospace medicine, 250 jobs in sensors and many more associated positions, with more than $335 million in new construction at and near the base, according to local estimates.
When the Air Force Human Performance Wing was moved to Dayton about 12 years ago, “it only solidified what we had,” Hoagland said.
“That being said, we take nothing for granted,” he added. Hoagland expressed confidence in the region’s legislative delegation in Washington D.C., noting that the coalition plans its annual “fly-in” to meet with decision-makers in the capital on April 24 to 26 this year.
“We’re working with a lot of people and companies in the Dayton region and across the United States to make sure we’re doing what we need to do, and we’re addressing the issues,” Hoagland said.
Further, he said the region can leverage expected growth, saying five percent growth in aerospace and defense is project in the next five years.
He said also that the coalition has 7,000 “potential” jobs for its 14-country region lined up in its “pipeline” of prospective job-growing projects. Those could come from 50 potential projects tied to 100 “qualified project leads,” he said.
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