The May 2nd Tipp City Rotary Club program was about the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC), which is a 14 County economic development organization representing 1.7 million people. Their mission is to retain, expand and attract jobs to the region. It was established in 1994 to focus on Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the Springfield Air National Guard (SANG) as well as focusing on economic development in the region. The DDC’s three (3) initiatives are 1) recruitment, retention and expansion of jobs; 2) R&D and Commercialization and 3) Regional Advocacy. Their four (4) industries include 1) Airspace and Defense; 2) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing; 3) IT and Advanced Data Management and 4) Human Sciences and Healthcare.
The DDC is working on future BRACs at WPAFB and SANG and making sure these federal installations are protected from Federal budget cuts. They are also working to be one of six test sites for the Unmanned Aerial System (UAV) initiative being led by the Federal Aviation Administration. The goal is to be a test site which will attract more Defense contractors to the region to test UAVs and then have these companies manufacture the UAVs in the Dayton Region. This could be up to a $35 billion industry in the next 5 years in the US. Growth continues around WPAFB and SANG.
The DDC is also one of six of the State’s JobsOhio agencies focused on job growth and attraction to the area. Projects like Abbott Labs, GE, CAT, All Services Plastic Molding and any other project with State incentives will be managed by the DDC. The goal is to continue to work with our county and local officials to grow our region. Through May 1, 2012, the region has closed on 21 projects accounting for over 1,650 jobs. Pictured are Jeff Hoagland CEO for the DDC and Program Chairperson Bill Rodenberg.
