TROTWOOD — In November 2009, a group of local investors stepped up to save the Dayton Gems, then members of the now-defunct International Hockey League. Kathy Rupp, Dr. Paul Nitz and Rob Garfield have doled out their own money to guide the franchise through two Central Hockey League seasons.

Now they are asking the Dayton community to do exactly what they did in order to save pro hockey here.

They held a news conference Thursday at Hara Arena requesting additional investors. Without more investment, the Dayton Gems probably won’t be around next season, they said.

“The owners got in this to save jobs and keep pro hockey in Dayton,” Gems president Joe Greene said. “Today’s message is that we need additional investors to step forward or else the Dayton Gems pro hockey team is in jeopardy of not being here.

“They have taken on a heavy burden and have carried it as long as they could on their own.”

The franchise has been looking to add 10 to 12 investors since Rupp, Dr. Nitz and Garfield took over. There has been interest but to date no one has jumped aboard, which led to Thursday’s public plea.

For the Gems, whose last home game of the season is Saturday, closing shop would have ramifications beyond the hockey community. In the past two seasons, the franchise, which promotes itself as “affordable family entertainment,” has donated more than $50,000 to local charities. Game nights at Hara require approximately 100 employees.

“We’re a part of the Dayton economic engine,” said Greene.

A two-year deal between the Gems and the CHL expires at the end of this season. The league itself also will enter the offseason with numerous question marks, the most pressing being the potential departure of teams like the Fort Wayne Komets and the Evansville IceMen, the Gems’ most important opponents geographically.

“Our ownership’s goal,” said Greene, “is to keep the Dayton Gems in the Central Hockey League.”

The latest incarnation of the Gems replaced the Dayton Bombers on the local scene. The Bombers, founded in 1991, folded after the 2008-09 season. With three games remaining, the Gems are 23-27-13, in sixth place in the Turner Conference.