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Dayton, Xenia: Flying High

The Greater Dayton area has had its roots firmly planted in the high-tech world for some time. For instance, Dayton was home to the infamous Wright brothers, and it is where the first cash register was developed and the electric starter for automobiles was invented. With that kind of background, Dayton's economy had no place to go but up.

And ever since Orville and Wilbur's first ascent, the aerospace industry has been booming in Dayton. Today, the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base helps maintain the industry and has created one of the highest concentrations of aerospace high-tech firms in the nation. Wright-Patterson is home to the Air Force Material Command (AMFC), which handles research, development, procurement and maintenance for the U.S. Air Force. AMFC, in fact, manages more than 59 percent of the Air Force's annual budget.

And despite the fact that the base has had some cutbacks lately, the Air Force continues to invest in the base, bringing in new civilian and military jobs. Recently, the Air Force announced a new cargo plane flight simulator and training facility for the base. The Air Force will spend $1.6 million to modify a building on the base that will house the new cargo plane simulator and training facility.

"The more things Wright-Patterson can do and do well, the better opportunities we'll have in the future to secure more jobs in mission-specific and military-specific activities," says Jon Husted, vice president of business and economic development for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. "It's important for Wright-Patterson to have all the technology competencies to be the leading aerospace center. Small pieces like the flight simulator will make Wright-Patterson stronger in the future."

In nearby Xenia, one aerospace firm hopes to take advantage of the opportunities the market presents. Electronic Image Systems opened a new facility last year, and "they handle probably 80 percent of the world's projectors for flight simulators," says Dale Grimes, executive director of Xenia Economic Development Growth Corp.

Of course, aerospace is not all that is happening in the Greater Dayton market. The area is capable of providing support for a wide variety of high-tech activities. Dayton is home to Miami Valley Research Park, the 10th-largest university-related research park in the country. The park was established to create close relationships between academic institutions, nonprofit technology consortiums and advanced technology firms. It has more than 1 million sq. ft. (92,903 sq. m.) of developed space and employs some 1,600 people.

The region also has the Edison Materials Technology center, the University of Dayton Research Institute, University of Dayton Center for Competitive Change, the National Center for Industrial Competitiveness and the Wright Technology Network, which facilitates technology transfer from Wright-Patterson AFB to the private sector.

"We also have a good central location and an excellent labor force," says Grimes. "Within Green County alone, we have six colleges and universities, and within a 35-mile (56-km.) radius, there are in excess of 20 colleges and universities. So we're an exceptionally good area for colleges, universities, engineering and other high-tech basics."

One technology industry that is performing particularly well in the Greater Dayton region is the biomedical industry. In Xenia, CIL Isotopes Separations, a division of Cambridge Isotopes Laboratories in Andover, Mass., for example, has expanded three times in the last five years. The most recent expansion is a $6.5 million addition to its manufacturing facilities. The new facility will be used to develop oxygen-18 distillation.

"The biotech/biopharmaceutical area is becoming one of the fastest-growing core competency areas for this market, particularly Green County and the Greater Dayton Region," Grimes explains.