< Previous166 JULY 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N D A YT ON | INTELLIGENCE REPORT Q&A: Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein A Seamless Approach to Growth Managing city systems and public safety during a sequence of tornadoes. Keeping the peace during a Ku Klux Klan demonstration and counter-demonstrations. Responding to accusations of chemicals in drinking water. By any standard, it ‘s been an eventful and stressful spring for Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein. But she took the time to respond to questions from Site Selection. Dickstein oversees a budget of over $ million and a workforce of approximately , employees. With years of urban administration and economic development experience, she has structured and overseen the completion of development projects that created , new jobs, supported the retention of , jobs, and leveraged over $ million of development in the Dayton community during this tenure of public service. What are the chief concerns and priorities you hear from company leaders in the region? Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein: e chief concern right now is workforce and the ability to attract skilled labor, but this is a national problem, and Dayton has been successful at winning projects because labor studies show that Dayton still has adequate labor for most industries. is is, at least in part, due to the City of Dayton and Montgomery County working collaboratively with our state and local partners to make sure that we have the talent and skills that our local companies need to thrive — beginning with our Preschool Promise program, all the way to graduation, through access to and partnerships with the world- class higher education entities in the region. What do company leaders from elsewhere (including abroad) want to know about Greater Dayton? Dickstein: Business leaders want to know that a community is ready to meet their needs in every way. ey’re also largely interested in the quality of life for their employees and are generally surprised at the great higher education institutions and overall lifestyle amenities in the Miami Valley. Southwest Ohio is home to % of the country’s aerospace and aviation workforce — a little known fact to most visitors, dispelling the Rust Belt image the Midwest has worked to discard. As a mid-size city, Dayton off ers robust infrastructure, easy access to transportation networks, an educated workforce and a wonderful quality of life. e biggest takeaway for them is that we excel in our teamwork at the local level, bringing every available resource and stakeholder to the table with a collaborative, cross-functional approach. What are the most important infrastructure projects you’re pursuing? Dickstein: It’s hard to say that one or two are the most important — so many of our infrastructure projects are impactful to our residents’ quality of Dayton was the rst large U.S. city to adopt the city manager form of municipal government, in 1913. S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2018 167 life and to our economy. Road improvements are such a critical need in supporting and fostering development projects. There’s also the terminal modernization project in its final phase at the Dayton International Airport for instance, or the responsible maintenance and constant improvements to our water systems and infrastructure. The City has always taken infrastructure projects seriously and has a history of working hard to partner with other agencies or levels of government to leverage additional dollars for our projects. How has the city progressed in terms of red tape reduction and ease of permitting in order to shorten project timelines for companies? Dickstein: The City has made three recent major changes to make permitting easier. First, we built a new culture of customer service and accountability from the bottom up. Second, we combined the economic development team and our building services team into a unified department for a seamless approach to growth. Third, we created a Small Business Advocate position to help businesses navigate the permitting process. Describe how you collaborate with the Dayton Development Coalition and with partners in other communities in the metro area. Dickstein: You cannot structure successful programs for new companies without the cooperation of school districts and municipalities at the local level and the extra support of regional and state government. We work with the DDC and other partners to attract and retain businesses in Dayton through the site selection process and the regional “BusinessFirst” program. What is your favorite thing to do or place to go in the Dayton region? Dickstein: When I have free time in Dayton, it’s not uncommon to see me puttering around in my flower gardens or enjoying a drink and meal at one of Dayton’s many great independently owned establishments. Unlike recent weeks, when the weather cooperates I also love to ride my bike on the nation’s largest paved trail network, exploring the City and region from a different vantage point. 168 JULY 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N INVESTMENT PROFILE: CLINTON COUNTY PORT AUTHORITY When the Clinton County Board of Commissioners, City of Wilmington, Wilmington Community Improvement Corporation, Clinton County Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Clinton County Port Authority committed in June to launching a comprehensive, collaborative county-wide economic development program, it was a natural next step for an important regional player in southwest Ohio. The Clinton County Port Authority is a special purpose government entity formed to operate transportation infrastructure and lead economic development efforts. It owns and operates the Wilmington Air Park, an integrated aviation and logistics business park located on 1,900 acres with nearly 2 million sq. ft. of industrial space, 200,000 sq. ft. of office space and 300,000 sq. ft. of hangar space. The Port Authority will serve as the area’s primary point of contact for economic development activity, presenting a unified front and eliminating potential duplication of effort. “We believe that this structure adds clarity and value to the community’s economic development efforts,” said Clinton County Port Authority Chairman Walt Rowsey. The Port Authority since taking ownership of Wilmington Air Park in 2010 has seen tenants grow from four employers and 750 employees to 13 employers and 2,000 employees. This mirrors activity throughout Clinton County. Among recent investors is global pharmaceutical firm Alkermes, which announced an expansion in 2017 that retains 400 jobs and adds 90 jobs totaling $5.3 million in payroll (just under $59,000 on average). AZEK, the maker of TimberTech high-end decking SEEDING FUTURE A new plan and new projects position the Wilmington, Ohio, region for takeoff. by ADAM BRUNS adam.br uns @ site s ele c tion.c om S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2018 169 This Investment Profile was prepared under the auspices of the Clinton County Port Authority. For more information, visit www.wilmingtonairpark.com. and other extruded building products, opened its second facility in Wilmington in April 2019, adding 40 employees to an area footprint that already employed 475. Wilmington beat out a competing site in Pennsylvania for the $40 million investment. BrightFarms, a producer of greenhouse- farmed greens, herbs and tomatoes, opened in Wilmington last summer and announced expansion plans less than a year later as its greenhouses sprout across the country to serve major grocery chains as well as restaurants. With a $10 million investment, a 120,000-sq.- ft. greenhouse and 30 employees initially, the company partners produces 800,000 pounds of greens and herbs annually. Oh, and there’s a little outfit called Amazon about to launch an air cargo operation at the air park. “We were just at a new hiring orientation event last night where we distributed several hundred airport security badges, we’re doing another one tonight and another one the next day,” Clinton County Port Authority Executive Director Dan Evers says of the Amazon operation. Case Studies in Teamwork The AZEK decision showcased the Port Authority’s close collaboration with the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC) and JobsOhio on an attractive assistance package, and with utilities to make sure such a large power user had the power it needed and that systems upgrades were accommodated economically. The upgrade of a former warehouse involved four 72-foot silos for feedstock, which introduced some concerns about penetrating the airspace at an airport with a full instrument landing system. The FAA told the Port Authority that even though that runway is temporarily closed, the Authority could kill the project if it wanted to. “Well, we didn’t want to kill the project,” Evers says. “So we worked toward a solution.” The Port Authority worked with the DDC, the office of Congressman Steve Stivers and airport operator LGSTX Services, “who were extraordinarily helpful working with us to navigate this process,” Evers says, whittling a review process that normally takes a couple months down to a couple weeks. “Everyone leaned in.” The result? “When we bring the runway back, there will be more testing, and we will expand our antenna array by the amount necessary to operate on that runway at full instrument landing capacity,” says Evers. It’s an investment of up to $100,000 that the Port Authority was willing to make so the project could move forward. “Those are exactly the kinds of jobs we want in this community, and this region can supply the workers for,” says Evers. “That is the Dayton region — technology and manufacturing writ large.” BrightFarms opened its greenhouse in 2018 not in the air park proper, but on a parcel right across the street owned by the Community Improvement Corporation of Wilmington that backs up to Wilmington College, which Evers says has the second most robust agricultural science program in Ohio after Ohio State. The ag tech program of Southern State Community College is just down the street. Along with the Port Authority, the DDC, City of Wilmington officials, JobsOhio and the local Ohio Means Jobs office (for personnel screening and recruitment) have been there supporting the company from the start. And it appears the hydroponic company already has cultivated ties in the community. “I took my parents out to a local place for dinner, my Dad pointed down to the menu, and it said, ‘We proudly serve BrightFarms products.’ That’s emblematic of this community — an international company like BrightFarms is interfacing with an independently owned restaurant that just started serving food.” Clinton County Port Authority Associate Director Beth Huber has seen the resilience of Wilmington first hand, having worked at the air park for 20 years, including when Airborne Express ruled the roost, then when DHL, after acquiring Airborne, in 2003, decided in 2008 to move its hub to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, causing the Wilmington area to lose 8,000 jobs. The transition echoed what happened when the U.S. military closed up in the 1970s before handing the property over to the community. “There have been tons of changes and regrowth,” says Huber. Evers says the intentional diversification of the air park into new industry sectors “speaks to the grit of the community and the collaboration of the region. Nobody came here to make us feel better. They came here because we’re good for business. There’s nothing better than market validation.” Wilmington Air Park and the Clinton County Port Authority Fully functional, Part 139, 1,900-acre airport specializing In: Aviation Manufacturing, R&D, Maintenance Repair Overhaul, Unmanned Aerial Systems, Testing, Air Cargo and Logistics Home to Foreign Trade Zone No. 101 In final stages of certifying two shovel-ready sites that, when approved, will bring total shovel- ready land to over 500 acres170 JULY 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N Where Flyover Territory is a Good Thing Where Flyover Territory is a Good Thing D A YT ON | INTELLIGENCE REPORT Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson exists to achieve military objectives rst. Its economic and R&D power extends much further. Beyond the visual line of sight is a major part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s global vision. When Outgoing Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson confi rmed the selection of Wright Patt to host the F- Hybrid Product Support Integrator (HPSI) Organization this spring, it was just one more feather in the cap of an economic force like no other: With over , employees — including military, civilian and contractors — Wright- Patterson is the largest single-site employer in the state of Ohio, with an economic impact of $. billion per year. e base covers more than , acres of land (. square miles) and provides operational support for more than associate units located at Wright-Patterson. In April, another feather had been added when Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted (both from the Dayton region) joined Major General William Cooley, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson, to announced that the Ohio Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center and AFRL will begin testing groundbreaking aviation technology at the Springfi eld-Beckley Municipal Airport. e news came after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confi rmed that new technology developed in collaboration between AFRL and the State of Ohio — called SkyVision — safely, accurately and eff ectively allows unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drones) to detect and avoid other aircraft while in fl ight. e validation of this aviation technology led the FAA to grant AFRL a certifi cate of authorization to test defense- related drone technology without reliance on a visual observer or chase aircraft. Typically, drones can only fl y within the uninterrupted line of sight of the person operating the UAS, but this special waiver allows AFRL and the Ohio UAS Center, which is part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s DriveOhio Initiative, to use SkyVision to test drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLS) within a -square-mile parcel of unrestricted airspace. e State of Ohio and AFRL invested a combined $ million for the R&D behind SkyVision. Now the area is the only site other than North Dakota with BVLS capabilities. The Air Force Research Laboratory developed the XQ-58A Valkyrie, a low-cost unmanned air vehicle, together with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Photo courtesy of AFRL S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2018 171 D A YT ON | INTELLIGENCE REPORT “Today’s announcement comes after years of hard work and collaboration among an incredible group of partners,” said Jeff Hoagland, President and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC). “AFRL and Ohio had a bold vision to bring UAS into the national airspace for true beyond-visual-line- of-sight fl ight. e work done here will shape the industry for years to come.” “ e Secretary of the Air Force just last week released a new strategy for Air Force Science and Technology,” said AFRL Executive Director Jack Blackhurst, “and objective three of this strategy talks about partnerships — partnerships with government, our allies, universities, industries and anyone who wants to work with us. is is a shining example of such a partnership.” “As our country steps more and more into the unmanned age of fl ight, this technology is on the forefront of the aviation frontier, making Ohio a critical national asset for the research and development of UAS technology,” said Governor DeWine. “ is also opens the door for commercial companies to work with Ohio, AFRL, and the FAA to test their own UAS-related technology using our SkyVision detection system. is is a major step in revolutionizing the transportation industry, with Ohio leading the way in aerospace, defense, and aviation innovation.” VyrtX, a company based out of Dayton, is among the fi rst companies that has committed to expand into Springfi eld to work with AFRL and the Ohio UAS Center. VyrtX is currently developing technology for the potential transport of organ donations between hospitals for transplant surgeries. In an interview, Hoagland calls the beyond line of sight waiver “a big one.” He says the AFRL identifi ed the area as one they needed to enter more than a decade ago. “A lot of 172 JULY 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N D A YT ON | INTELLIGENCE REPORT 172 JULY 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N studies had to be done to identify where in our reigion this fl ying could take place,” he says. “ ey were tired of fl ying out to Arizona, New Mexico and Florida, and if the weather was bad, they’d have to come back and reschedule. ey wanted something in their backyard.” Project Factory Some organizations’ news feeds are worth following because they engage with so much of what’s going on in the world, and what might go on in the future — think MIT, Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, NASA or Brookings Institution. Following the parade of projects and discoveries emanating from Wright-Patt, the ARFL and associated organizations off ers no less an engagement with not only warfare and the warfi ghter, but future technologies and economic development. “Growth among defense contractors is a signifi cant driver of the Dayton Region’s economy, but when defense contractors create jobs, their growth often fl ies under the radar,” says Shannon Joyce Neal, vice president of strategic communications for the DDC. “Many of our region’s military jobs are tied to IT, cyber and advanced manufacturing, making the region’s tie to aerospace easy to overlook.” When fully staff ed, the F- Hybrid Product Support Organization will comprise people, with most located at Wright-Patterson. Another major project is the expansion of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), the DoD’s primary source for dealing with foreign air and space threats). In the FY National Defense Authorization Act, U.S. Senator Rob Portman secured $ million in funding for phase one and two of the NASIC modernization eff ort. “I will continue to look for ways to grow and develop additional defense jobs in Ohio,” he said in February on the release of a DDC report about the base’s economic impact, “and I have already reached out to Joe Zeis, Governor S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2018 173 DeWine’s senior advisor for aerospace and defense. I look forward to working with the DeWine Administration as the state puts a focus on strengthening our role as a leader in defense.” These excerpts and summaries of recent AFRL and Wright-Patterson news releases and stories provide a glimpse of the action. For more wow factor, visit afresearchlab.com: Biosensors For athletes or people with health conditions, an immediate physical “status update” would be a great convenience. For the warfighter in the field, it could be the crucial element of a successful mission. The AFRL is working to turn this possibility into reality through a government-industry partnership to advance remote human performance monitoring. In 2018, AFRL entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Profusa, Inc., a company specializing in the development of biosensor technologies. Through an investment from both DARPA as well as the private sector, the San Francisco-based startup researched and developed minimally invasive physiological sensing technologies over the past decade. Its novel approach involves a two-part monitoring system in which tiny flexible hydrogel sensors are injected under the skin, integrating into the surrounding tissue. A lightweight optical reader worn on the skin detects a fluorescent signal from the embedded sensors, resulting in a data readout that can be sent to a smartphone or other data collection device. “With this solution, the biosensor in the body is the consistency of a contact lens and is smaller than a grain of rice,” said AFRL Scientist and Program Manager Dr. Jeremy Ward. “While there are no electronics that go inside the body, the biosensor is engineered with specific molecules that respond to specific wavelengths of light.” To take the technology to the next level, AFRL recently partnered with NextFlex, a consortium of government, industry, and academic institutions dedicated to advancing the manufacturing of flexible hybrid electronics within the U.S. Through an AFRL investment, the NextFlex team worked with Profusa to make improvements to the sensor patch worn on the skin. “NextFlex has outstanding 174 JULY 2018 SI T E S E L E C T IO N Master sample Pull Quote, to use as a template.” — John Doe, vice president, Sample Company D A YT ON | INTELLIGENCE REPORT capabilities in fl exible electronics that have enabled acceleration of our manufacturing plans,” said Dr. Oxana Pantchenko, Profusa’s Wearables Technologies lead. Armor As AFRL’s Donna Lindner reported in June, “Transparent aluminum, a technology fi rst suggested in the science fi ction fi lm ‘Star Trek IV: e Voyage Home,’ is now a reality.” AFRL and the DoD-wide Manufacturing Science and Technology (DMS&T) program support the manufacturing of aluminum oxynitride products for a transparent ceramic armor that provides superior ballistic protection at less than half the weight and thickness of traditional glass laminates. ALON is a transparent ceramic material composed of aluminum, oxygen and nitrogen, formed into unique shapes and made transparent through the application of high temperature and pressure. Because of the support since , ALON windows have grown from a limited size of . sq. ft. to up to sq. ft., now manufactured routinely by a small business, Surmet Corp. Transparent armor is currently used on U.S. Army Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters. ALON’s excellent durability and impact resistance have made it of interest to NASA for Cupola scratch pane windows on the International Space Station. As depicted in the “Star Trek” and “Jurassic World” movies, ALON also was used in creating windows in a giant aquarium as well as a protective bubble vehicle. “Obtaining eight square feet is an accomplishment that we have been working on for years, and [we] couldn’t have done it without funds from AFRL and DMS&T as well as other organizations,” said Richard Porter, manufacturing lead of the Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies Division, AFRL. “Manufacturing a larger window that is both lightweight and durable is an enormous enhancement in enabling the warfi ghter to fulfi ll the mission.” e next step? Make it curve. “ is eff ort demonstrates that science fi ction can become reality thanks to science and engineering,” wrote Lindner. Missions Abroad A group of AFRL scientists and engineers, hosted by Dr. Ehud Galun of the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD), visited universities throughout Israel to learn about their technology focus areas and explore areas of common interest. ey learned about the technical advancements taking place within Israel and shared AFRL research activities and goals, with the objective of increasing S I T E S E L E C T I O N JULY 2018 175 collaborative opportunities and cooperative technology development with IMOD. According to AFRL Senior Scientist Dr. Ruth Pachter, the visit was an opportunity for researchers from the Air Force materials and manufacturing community to meet with some of the country’s most technologically- minded entrepreneurs. She and the team visited every major university in the country, meeting with leading researchers in the areas of optics, composites, metals, biotechnology, and other areas of interest to both the military and commercial sector. “ ey are a small country that engages in three-legged collaborations among the military, academia and industry,” said Pachter. “ ey have the highest number of per capita startups in the world, and they engage in very innovative work that couples research with application. It is a good incubator for technologies that can support our own eff orts.” Autonomous Technologies AFRL’s ARCNet portal launched in May. ARCNet is the Autonomy Research Collaboration Network, an electronic platform and business opportunity which facilitates collaborative R&D related to autonomous technologies for AFRL. ARCNet membership is open to academia, large and small businesses, start- ups and all of AFRL, and allows ARCNet to serve as a conduit for communication among potential research partners. “ is platform creates a ‘new collaboration paradigm’ for autonomy technology development,” said Dr. Corey Schumacher, ARCNet Chief Technology Offi cer. “ e consortium platform allows for a deeper dialogue between the government and potential performers on research projects, allowing the potential performers to participate in defi ning the requirements and execution strategy for a project.” ARCNet was established Feb. through a $ million cooperative agreement between AFRL and the SPG Institute, a technology-driven Ohio nonprofi t organization. “ e response from potential consortium members has been remarkable and refl ects the energy and diverse knowledge base around Members of the Metro Early College High School’s The Metrobots work on their machine in the team’s pit area on the oor of the Nutter Center, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, March 8, 2019, between quali cation matches of the FIRST Robotics Competition Miami Valley Regional competition. U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez courtesy of DVIDSNext >