“They say, ‘Hey, do you have space?’ Our answer is ‘Yes,’” Barlow said.
In a panel discussion hosted by the the NAIOP (National Association for Industrial and Office Parks) Dayton Area Chapter at Pentagon Centre, Barlow said two flying units will move to Wright-Patterson this summer while runway repairs are performed at other bases.
But later in the day, a base spokesman said federal budget cuts have altered those plans. Today, it’s not known if the units — the 434th Air Refueling Wing from Grissom Air Reserve Base, Indiana, and the 180th Fighter Wing, Toledo Express Airport in Swanton, Ohio — will move to Wright-Patterson.
“It’s real fluid right now,” said Ted Theopolos, a base spokesman.
Barlow also reminded listeners that the base benefited in the 2005 BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) round with the relocation of six missions and about 1,200 jobs from five U.S. locations.
Joe Zeis, chief strategic officer and executive vice president with the Dayton Development Coalition, expects a new BRAC round, perhaps in 2015-2017. Wright-Patterson did well in the 2005 BRAC, which helps position it for future moves, he said.
“I think the region is teed up extremely well as a receptor base, rather than as a giver base,” Zeis said. “Take a look at Wright-Patterson. Follow the trail of consolidations that have occurred since BRAC 2005.”
The coalition has hired three contractors to help take advantage of future BRAC rounds, said Jeff Hoagland, coalition chief executive.
“In 2005, we were more in a reactive mode,” Hoagland said. “The BRAC announcements came out, and then we reacted.”
This time, he said: “We’re in a proactive mode.”
Dennis Andersh, SAIC Dayton region executive, said the company moved offices to the Dayton area because of the 2005 BRAC. He said much also depends on a Federal Aviation Administration decision on possibly locating a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) test site in the region.
“There are a lot of new companies interested in moving to Dayton and opening offices here,” Andersh said.
Speakers also addressed the impact of automatic federal budget cuts. Called “sequestration,” the cuts amount to a 20 percent cut — and far higher in some cases, up to 75 percent — for the base and affected employees, Barlow said.
“‘Devastating’ is the word,” she said.
Andersh said SAIC “saw this coming” for some time. The company has pulled back on overhead spending, travel and local hiring, he said. “It’s a pretty significant impact,” he said.
In his own remarks, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, said defense represents less than 18 percent of overall federal spending, yet is bearing 50 percent of the sequestration burden.
“It is going to be devastating,” Turner said. “And the mechanism by which it was put together in its indiscriminate effect will have a devastating effect on our national security and our spending.”
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