“We’re definitely believers in the impact of proximity,” Barnett said.
The coalition’s sold-out annual meeting at the Dayton Convention Center saw more than 650 attendees.
Utility and infrastructure work should begin at the new “Convergence Research Center” on Wright-Patterson west of National Road this summer, with a groundbreaking for the site tentatively planned about a year from now, and the first building opening in the spring of 2027, Barnett said.
Speed is of the essence, he and others say. The Air Force is reorienting itself for possible conflict with China and Russia, and that means a renewed focus on what Wright-Patterson decision-makers do best, advocates are saying.
“We need space right now,” Barnett said.
“We’re refocusing our efforts on acquisition, bringing weapons to the warfighter,” said Col. Travis Pond, deputy commander of Wright-Patt’s 88th Air Base Wing. “Where does that happen? It happens at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.”
This year is the 20th anniversary of the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process that led to what has been a doubling of the workforce at Wright-Patterson, making it Ohio’s largest concentration of employment in a single location.
Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of the coalition, said that doubling has confirmed a strategy coalition leaders crafted some three decades ago. While the coalition seeks to engage private businesses in several distinct areas, protecting the community’s large Air Force base usually sits at or near the top of the organization’s to-do list.
“It wasn’t too many years ago when we had 19,000 people working there,” said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, speaking with reporters after his remarks to the coalition audience. “Now there are 38,000 people working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. That didn’t just happen. That’s because the Dayton community was preparing for that.”
He called the base “the brains of the Air Force.”
The base hosts the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory and other globe-spanning missions that create new planes and weapons while sustaining existing equipment.
“All roads do in fact lead to Dayton, Ohio,” DeWine added, echoing the coalition’s theme for this year’s annual meeting, itself a reminder of the words of former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in July, also at the Dayton Convention Center.
In other business at this year’s annual meeting, the coalition’s Maureen Patterson Regional Leader Award honored former Montgomery County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman.
The annual award is named for Patterson, who dedicated her career to the region’s growth.
“In her 20 years on the Montgomery County Commission, Debbie worked to improve early childhood education, support workforce development efforts, and advocate for criminal justice reform,” Hoagland said. “Her partnership in the region’s economic development efforts yielded thousands of jobs for Montgomery County and Ohio. She’s supported many of the region’s arts and cultural institutions, working to keep the region a place that can attract workforce talent.”
2024 milestones
$1.2 billion in new capital investment
$568.4 million in retained payroll
$176.7 million in new payroll
8,257 existing jobs retained
2,559 new jobs
38 total projects
Source: Dayton Development Coalition
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