“The All Ohio Future Funds for the Dayton International Airport Defense and Aerospace campus represent a transformational opportunity for the airport and the entire region to attract investment and high-quality jobs,” said Melissa Riley Patsiavos, marketing and air services development director for Dayton’s aviation department. “DAY is grateful to all those involved in making this investment possible for the region.”
The state of Ohio last month announced that the Dayton International Airport (DAY) and two partners will receive nearly $78.8 million from the All Ohio Future Fund for multiple investments at and around the aviation facility. About $72 million will go to the airport itself, while about $6.7 million will go to Union and the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District (MCTID), airport officials said.
Union borders the airport on the north side of the aviation facility.
Some of the funding will help prepare 150 acres of city of Dayton-owned land at a northwestern section of the airport property for future development projects in the aerospace and defense industry. The airport plans to install concrete for a new apron east of Dog Leg Road, south of Old Springfield Road.
The airport also wants to rehab existing apron west of the former Emery Worldwide cargo facility to support future aircraft hangar development. All Ohio Future Fund dollars also will help reopen a taxiway. The state program is providing $750 million to Ohio communities to help with site-readiness and site-preparation projects for economic development investments.
Two potential projects at the airport are in the “lead stage” and can only move forward with a campus expansion, says the state funding application submitted by the Dayton aviation department, the city of Union and MCTID.
The application says the campus expansion could help create between 2,000 to 6,000 new jobs. Officials say this does not count current employment commitments, like Joby Aviation’s plan to create 2,000 new positions.
More than 8,700 jobs have been created at and around the airport in the last eight years in industries like logistics and manufacturing, the document states. More than $900 million worth of investment has been committed in the airport area in the last five years. Officials say the defense and aerospace campus at the northern part of the airport already is home to Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC), which is an aerospace, security and defense firm.
SNC operates two aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities at the airport and plans to open one more hangar this fall and a fourth facility in early 2026.
Each of the hangars will be about 90,000 square feet in size. The first two hangars created about 150 new jobs, and the two in development are expected to create an additional 200 jobs.
Premier Private Jets also has an MRO facility at the Dayton airport, and a major airline is interested in creating a new MRO facility at the site, the document states.
Joby Aviation also is part of the defense and aerospace campus. The company is working to create a production facility eventually expected to employ about 2,000 people. The local facility will manufacture and test components for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, which often are referred to “electric air taxis.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
All Ohio Future Fund dollars also are expected to help reopen gates that will provide access points to support the expansion and growth of the Union side of the campus, the application states.
Ring Road
Some All Ohio Future Fund grant money will be used to enhance roadway access to the defense and aerospace campus and the surrounding area.
The local roadway network has been partially upgraded to form a “Ring Road” around the aviation facility that serves increased freight and employee traffic from existing and new developments, said Vanessa Glotfelter, executive director of the MCTID.
The project, which has multiple phases, includes installing a new roundabout at Peters Pike and Lightner Road, and parts of Old Springfield Road and Peters Pike will be improved and widened, Glotfelter said. Mill Creek bridge on Old Springfield Road will be replaced.
Road infrastructure upgrades are supposed to help open up hundreds of acres of property for redevelopment. Union has hundreds of acres of land that officials believe can be redeveloped.
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