Regional officials are hoping aviation jobs, non-aviation jobs and aerial testing of unmanned aircraft could all be part of the future for Wilmington Air Park, along with the jobs those operations would bring.
The closing of DHL’s donation would conclude months of negotiations between public officials, DHL and holders of bonds sold to finance improvements DHL made at the former freight hub. Under terms of those bonds, Wilmington Air Park will continue as an airport, although some non-aviation businesses may still wind up there, officials said.
Since two years ago when DHL first stunned the region with plans to cut costs and shift the freight business elsewhere, Ohio and local elected officials began trying to get DHL to donate the former Air Force base. Officials said public control of the property was essential to directing the hoped-for recruiting of aviation and other employers to bring new jobs there.
They want a diverse employer base to avoid a potentially disastrous over-reliance on one large employer, like DHL. Clinton County’s unemployment rate of 17.7 percent in April was the highest of any county in Ohio, according to the state’s latest unemployment report.
Job retraining programs funded by $15 million in federal and state funds for the region have been popular, indicating that the potential work force is doing all it can to stay primed for employment, officials said.
“We’ve got a lot of room in our economy to create jobs and to find employment opportunities here — and in the state of Ohio,” said Kevin Carver, the Ohio Department of Development’s Dayton-based regional economic development director.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@coxohio.com.
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