DeWine seeks to position Ohio as military powerhouse
New cabinet position intended to attract jobs, protect installations.
With the creation of a new military cabinet position, Gov. Mike DeWine is strategically positioning Ohio as a military and aerospace powerhouse to attract defense-related jobs and to protect the state’s military installations like Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
DeWine appointed retired Col. Joseph Zeis Jr., a Centerville resident and Dayton attorney, last week to serve as senior advisor for aerospace and defense.
“I guess what’s amazing is this position hasn’t existed before,” DeWine told the Dayton Daily News. “Other states are doing this and have been doing this for some time and have been putting some money into it so I wanted someone to focus on this every day and Joe’s the right person.”
More than 60,000 people and another 50,000 related private sector jobs are basedatOhio defense-related installations like the NASA Glenn Research Center, the Defense Information Systems Agency, Veterans A ff ff ff ff ff ff airs hospitals and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
“So many jobs directly dependonWright-Patt, NASA Glenn, the Tank Company in Lima, th ed if ff ff ff ff ff fe rent guard bases,” DeWine said. “So it’s a tremendous economic generator. What I’ve tasked him with doing is working not onlywith bases but working withthe localcommunities.”
Ohio’s federal and military installations generate more than $6 billion in annual economic benefit to the state, according to a report released in August 2018 by two state task forces.
Goal of new role
Zeiswill report directly to DeWine. He will have three main objectives:
■ Identifyandseekgrowth opportunities for the state’s militaryandaerospaceinstallations
■ Concentrate on development opportunities in defense industries
■ Work to advance the qualityof life of servicemembers and their families
In the next few months, Zeis will make his way around to the state’s military and aerospace installations, includingWright-Patt, NASA Glenn and the SpringfifieldAirNationalGuardBase. He told this newspaper that his focuswill also extend to the defense contractors in the region.
As he defifines the role for himself, Zeis will play the
part of advocate for Ohio’s existing and unique programs at installations — like NASA Glenn’s evolving space technology orWright-Patt’s
one- of-a-kind, $34-million centrifuge device.
“As a serving offifficer and even my time at the Dayton Development Coalition, I’d show people around to Wright-Patterson or various locations, and they’d say, ‘Wow! I didn’t knowyou did that here,’” he said. “Every time I hear that, it equates to lost opportunity.”
Deep Dayton ties
The last time Ohio had a role like this was about a decade ago. Joe Renaud served as the state’s Aerospace & Defense Advisor from 2004 until he left the position in 2009. After that,
the role was not fifilled. Zeis’ background is uniquely tailored for a position like this.
Currently an attorney with Sebaly Shillito + Dyer, Zeis has an immense background in aviation and aerospace law, including drones and unmanned aeronautical vehicles, connections to the Dayton Development Coalition, and a 26-year career in the Air Force as a pilot and acquisitions program manager.
“They could not have found a better person,” Dayton Development Coalition
President andCEOJeffffHoagland told the Dayton Daily News. “[This role] is a loud
signal that Ohio is open for military-related and aerospace business.”
He has more than 1,800
flflight hours inmore than 26 difffffffffffferent aircraft, according to his biography on the law fifirm site.
After retiring from the Air Force, Zeis worked at the Dayton Development Coalition from2007 to 2013 where he was responsible for the identifification, facilitation, and implementation of aerospace and technology-related opportunities to support business development and expansion in the Dayton region.
“It is a very new position,” Zeis told the Dayton Daily News. “I think it really reflects Gov. DeWine’s emphasis on the critical importance of the military installations in Ohio, the real gems that are the research and development facilities that exist in Ohio, and also the aerospace and defense industry.”
Wright-Patt importance
Framing Ohio — with Wright-Patt at the helm — as the Midwestern military capital couldbe vital to keeping jobs in the state as the federal defense budget faces cuts in the future.
Realignment of military units happens frequently, outside of the Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC) process. The Congress-authorized process allows the Department of Defense to reorganize bases.
During the last round of base realignment and closures in2005, Wright-Patterson gained 1,200 jobs with the relocation of the 711th Human Performance Wing andthe U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.
The 2005 BRAC closed 22 bases andcreatedanother 22 joint bases. The creation of Ohio’smilitarypositions lags behind some other states — includingAlabama, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and Massachusetts — that have made signifificant infrastructure investments or legislation changes to protect state installations against future consolidations or closures.
Supporting military installations
Michael Gessel, vice president of the DDC’s federal government programs, told the Dayton Daily News that a person in thispositionwould likely work with local military leaders to determine the needs of the installation and how the state can help support them.
“Oneofthewaysofdefending the installations is simply to have a good environment so that the installations are as effifficient as possible,” Gessel said. “They give the federal taxpayers theirmoney’s worth.”
The Department of Defense may look for some key state functions when deciding base closures and mission realignments:
■ States need to have functioning transportation options for military members and civilian workers near bases.
■ Defense offifficials may look at the quality of public schools available to military families. They would look at how a state’s education policies and laws supportmilitary families. Ohio recently passed a law that would require any state or local agency to issue temporary licenses and certifificates tomembers of the military and their spouses who are licensed in other states and havemoved to Ohio for active duty assignments.
■ Military installations want a skilledworkforce that can support new missions. Communities would need to “ensure the best workforce to meet DoD needs,” Gessel said. The F-35 Lightning II Hybrid Product Support Integrator coming to Wright-Patterson will create around 400 high- paying jobs for skilled workers like engineers.
Building infrastructure
DeWine has also talked about the importance of having readily available infrastructure nearWright-Patterson. A 2018 report from the Ohio House BRAC taskforce determined that aging infrastructure needs updated at Wright-Patt to “keep ahead of the technological curve.”
DeWine said he’d like to see available buildings right offff base so that contractors and other businesses can easily move into a building in close proximity to the military.
“We’re looking at doing some type of partnership,” he told this news organization.
If a partnership like it did occur, it would likely be a large economic driver for surrounding cities like Fairborn and Beavercreek, as well as Greene and Montgomery counties. Deborah Gross, executive director of the Dayton Area Defense ContractorAssociation, said she was not aware of lack of space being an issue but it makes sense to be ready for the potential of growth in the defense sector.
Gaining more missions
To gain more missions, the base cannot be “facility-limited,” Zeis said. “You want to be able to allowthat on demand so you can readily accept newmissions and the new opportunities that may arise given an evolving defense strategy.”
The synergy and mutual support between organizations at Wright- Patt — the Air Force Life CycleManagement Center, the Air Force Research Lab, the School of Aerospace Medicine, the Human Performance Wing — creates a stronger incentive for the DoD to continue investing in the base.
“If you follow the trail of consolidation over the years fromBRAC 2005 and on ... it leads toWright-Patterson,” he said.