Saluting the military
DAYTON — Wrightpatterson Air Force Base and other military sites in that area of western Ohio have infused billions of dollars into the local economy, a trend likely to grow in the next five years, economists say.
As Wright-patterson anticipates more jobs coming to the base, the Dayton Daily News found nearby communities are bracing for an influx in population growth — more job seekers, home-buyers and shoppers in the Miami Valley.
The Air Force has selected Wright-patterson Air Force Base as the “preferred location” for the F-35 Lightning II Hybrid Product Support Integrator organization, which supports the entire F-35 enterprise.
The move is expected to bring at least 400 jobs to the base, but the potential impact to the region can’t be measured in base jobs alone. It’s likely that it would result in more growth for contractors and businesses — retailers, commercial builders, housing projects — in neighboring communities.
A new study by the Dayton Development Coalition found that Wrightpatterson Air Force Base, the Springfield Air National Guard Base and the Dayton VA already have a combined economic impact of $16.68 billion in the 14 counties surrounding Dayton.
The three entities generate more than 88,000 jobs with an estimated payroll of $5.87 billion, according to the report. The study considered how employees and contractors spend money generated from federal employment and contracts within the community and the jobs that spending creates.
Most of the companies that Greene County’s economic-development program has supported have operations that are connected to Wright-patt. Eight of the nine companies that have received grants through the Economic Development Incentive Program are “tied to the base,” according to Eric Henry, Greene’s economicdevelopment coordinator.
“Wright Patterson AFB is the crown jewel of the state of Ohio, and our department will continue to do everything we can to accelerate the growth of WPAFB and attract jobs to the region,” Henry said.
Expanding neighborhoods
Local government leaders said the region has available housing stock and room to build additional homes as Wright-patt grows.
Housing construction has been fast-paced in nearby Beavercreek Township, where more than 2,000 homes have been built in 24 subdivisions, according to township records. Nearly 70 percent of the proposed homes are complete, with 207 shovel-ready sites currently available and about 150 additional home sites being added this year, according to Ed Amrhein, the township’s planning and zoning administrator.
Steve Brodsky, development director for the city of Xenia, said the city is eager to welcome new military families to the region due to the F-35 program. The city is considering creating a specific housing project geared toward civilians and military at the base, he said.
“We’re already seeing an expansion in housing in Xenia,” he said.
With more than 140 new single-family housing units added in the past three years and plans for more than 100 more in the next two, Xenia is poised to help meet the housing needs of an increasing workforce at the base, Brodsky said. Projects such as the Hampton Inn, the downtown safety project and the REACH center also will help meet service and recreational needs.
Commercial growth
As the base grows, so does interest in commercial spaces that can house defense contractors.
The base spurs revenue for top defense contractors in the region, which land millions of dollars in contracts annually. Some of the top defense contractors include Ball Aerospace, LION, UTC Aerospace Systems, Universal Technology Corp., Macaulay-brown Inc., UES Inc., and GE Aviation Systems.
Wright-patterson spent an estimated $965 million in 2017, which includes funds spent on construction, maintenance, local service and defense contracts, equipment and supplies. The number varies year to year.
Gov. Mike Dewine’s administration is looking at infrastructure readiness in cities surrounding Wrightpatterson. He said he’d like to see available buildings right off base so that contractors and other businesses could easily move into a building in close proximity to the military base.
A study from two state task forces found that aging infrastructure on base at Wright-patt is an issue. Deborah Gross, executive director of the Dayton Area Defense Contractor Association, said it makes sense to be ready for the potential of growth in the defense sector.
Communities are looking to benefit from a potential need for more office space. Mark Carpenter, city manager of Riverside, said the city already has seen a slight interest in office space as a result of the future F-35 program.
“We have a lot of base employees in the community,” he said. “We get a lot of base traffic for our local businesses, especially the restaurants during lunchtime. Some of our offices, the Wright Point Office Park, host contractors.”
Wright Point Office Park, a 163,000-square-foot park in Riverside, leases space to tenants including the Army, Air Force and defense contractors. Riverside also has four parcels of 10 to 13 acres of land available for potential projects, both commercial or residential.
Purchasing power
The base brings skilled workers to the region through spouses and family members of employees who work on base. State officials are attempting to make Ohio one of the friendliest places for the military community in the U.S. — Dewine is hiring a military liaison to lobby for local bases.
“These installations are critical to our economy and the whole Miami Valley,” Dewine told the Dayton Daily News. “That is the lesson of this report, and that is why I created a cabinet-level position for my aerospace and defense adviser.”
The state encourages base growth through militaryfriendly laws. A new state law allows spouses of transferred military members to collect unemployment benefits if the move forces the spouse to quit a job. The law will increase benefits paid out each year in Ohio by about $242,000, a mere sliver of the benefits doled each year, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission. The state issued $854.2 million in unemployment benefits in 2017.
The state also passed a law that would require any state or local agency to issue temporary licenses and certificates to members of the military and their spouses who are licensed in other states and have moved to Ohio for active-duty assignments. There are around 1,300 Ohio military spouses who are employed in an occupation that requires some form of licensure or certification.
More workers means even more spending in the region — dollars for retail developments such as the Mall at Fairfield Commons and The Greene Town Center. Dayton Development Coalition leaders said much of the development in Greene and Montgomery counties can partly be attributed to the presence of Wright-patterson.
Steve Willshaw, general manager of The Greene Town Center, said the retail and mixed-development center has a strong relationship with the base and its employees.
The base brings a wealth of consumers — active military and civilian spenders. Active-duty consumers are young, family-oriented and diverse, according to Nielsen research. Almost half of active-duty family heads are younger than 35 years old, compared with nearly 16 percent of total U.S. shoppers. The majority — nearly 60 percent — of active-duty shoppers have families, and 28 percent of them have kids younger than 6, Nielsen found.
“On any given day, you can see dozens of men and women from the base eating and shopping at The Greene,” Willshaw said. “We also have military and contracted workers who live at The Greene, as well as a number of office tenants that serve the base.”