The latest is Joby Aviation Inc,, a much-watched player in the emerging field of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which recently announced that they plan to invest up to $500 million to build an aircraft production operation near Dayton International Airport.
Over the last several years, NorthPoint Development has constructed massive industrial, warehousing and distribution facilities on property that formerly belonged to the airport and city. Among them is the 400-acre industrial park around the airport called Park 70/75.
Here are some of the companies that have made a presence in the area around the Dayton International Airport in recent years:
Amazon
Amazon, one of the world’s largest online retailers, opened a new, state-of-the-art robotics fulfillment center near Dayton this year that will employ about 2,000 workers.
The new 2.8 million-square-foot facility is located at 1835 Union Airpark Blvd. in the city of Union, on the northwest side of the Dayton International Airport.
The fulfillment center, called LUK2, was expected to begin processing and delivering customer orders on Aug. 31.
Amazon already has hundreds of people working at its Union fulfillment center, and the facility will ramp up hiring to meet customer demand.
Chewy
Chewy is an online pet retailer with a local fulfillment center.
It occupies the 690,500-square-foot NorthPoint Development building VII, north of the airport at 3280 Lightner Road.
The facility opened in July 2019 and as the eighth of Chewy’s 11 fulfillment centers
Crocs
Crocs is a footwear manufacturer and distributor.
The company has expanded and moved to new, larger facilities over recent years.
Crocs quickly outgrew its first distribution facility, which fulfills orders from retail stores, wholesalers and its e-commerce business.
Credit: Staff photo
Credit: Staff photo
Crocs occupies space in NorthPoint’s Buildings IV and VI.
The new facility now handles 95% of the company’s e-commerce sales for the Americas, most of which come from crocs.com.
Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay needed to relocate its distribution center after tornadoes tore through the region in 2019.
The new location is at 10451 Dog Leg Road in Vandalia.
Innovative Plastic Molders Inc.
Innovative Plastic Molders Inc. moved into NorthPoint’s Building III in January 2020 and leases about 120,000 square feet.
The nearly 17-year-old company consolidated multiple locations into the facility, including its former 45,000-square-foot building on Webster Street in Dayton.
Innovative Plastic Molders produces parts for car seats, automotive uses, potty seats for children and bird feeders
The company manufactures all the plastic parts in house.
Sierra Nevada Corp.
Sierra Nevada Corp. opened a roughly 96,000-square-foot Aviation Innovation and Technology Center at the Dayton International Airport in February of this year, helping to bring about 150 new jobs.
Sierra Nevada is one of the largest private aerospace and defense companies in the United States.
The company does a lot of work for the Air Force, the Department of Defense, the Navy, Army and other federal customers, with some commercial work, as well.
The facility, located on the north side of the Dayton airport property, consists of a large hangar and offices.
“This is our first step — the first of several hangars we are going to build here, and we have a big vision,” said Fatih Ozmen, CEO and co-owner of Sierra Nevada Corp, which is based in Sparks, Nevada.
At the time, local leaders and economic development officials said work on a second facility is getting underway and there’s space for about five of these facilities if the private defense and aviation-focused company continues to grow and invest.
The company hopes to have a second hangar — a 90,000-square-foot facility, with an additional 11,000 square feet of administrative space — finished by the second quarter of 2024. It will be located near the company’s first hangar at the airport.
Others
NorthPoint’s Park 70/75 Building II at 2700 Concorde Drive opened in 2018 and has been occupied by plastic-packaging manufacturer ALPLA, Land O’Lakes Inc./Purina Animal Nutrition and General Pet Supply.
