Husted, Joby and Sierra Nevada execs to speak at Dayton Development Coalition meeting today
Feb. 7—Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and executives from Joby Aviation Inc. and Sierra Nevada Corp. spoke at today's sold-out Dayton Development Coalition annual meeting.
The meeting at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force highlights two aviation projects at the Dayton International Airport: Sierra Nevada's Aviation Innovation and Technology Center, which is a maintenance and overhaul facility at the airport, and Joby Aviation's plan to build its first scaled production facility for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for commercial passenger service, commonly known as "flying taxis."
"We couldn't be happier to have brought the AITC to life here in Dayton. We are very excited to see the growth that will come to life over the next several years and we are thankful for our partners at the DDC, JobsOhio and the Dayton community at large," Sierra Nevada Senior Manager for Communications Betsy McDonald said on Tuesday. "Their incredible support for our intended growth and expansion into the Dayton and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base area has been central to our success."
Sierra Nevada Executive Vice President Jon Piatt and Joby Aviation Head of Aircraft OEM Didier Papadopoulos discussed their projects on a panel that also included retired Air Force Gen. Lester Lyles, former commander of Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. John Thompson, former commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patt, moderated the panel.
Earlier this week officials at Joby and Sierra Nevada gave this newspaper an update on their projects.
At Joby: — The company will use existing buildings at the Dayton International Airport, including the former U.S. Postal Service office, and up to 140 acres of greenfield development. — The company is "establishing a smaller operation in Dayton based on machining of parts" that will initially be used at the pilot production line in California. — Construction will begin this year and the production facility will be online in 2025. — An estimated 2,000 jobs will be created and hiring has begun for a few "keystone" roles to support build-out of the new facility and parts machining.
At Sierra Nevada: — One hangar is fully operational and construction of the second should be completed by this summer. — The company has committed to creating 150 jobs, has 75 employees now and is hiring for positions including engineers, avionics and structural technicians, mechanics, logistics, security and management. — The company anticipates the U.S. government will award a bid in March that could add more than 500 people locally if Sierra Nevada, which focuses on U.S. Defense Department aerospace and aviation work, wins the bid.
The meeting was attended by 650 people and also included discussion of the coalition's achievements in 2023. The coalition is the west region partner of JobsOhio, the state's privatized economic development arm. Economic development efforts in the 12-county west region in 2023 netted 5,212 job commitments, 5,806 retained jobs, $383.28 million in new payroll and $1.07 billion in capital investment, according to DDC data.
The numbers are for companies that worked with the coalition and JobsOhio to expand or establish new operations in the region.
"Our region led the state of Ohio in 2023," Hoagland said.
Also on Wednesday the coalition awarded:
The Maureen Patterson Regional Award to Lucious Plant, who retired last year as the coalition's talent acquisition director and previously was workforce development administrator for Montgomery County.
The Revitalization Project of the Year to Dine' Development Corp.
The Defense Project of the Year to Resonant Sciences
The Project of the Year to Joby Aviation
"Joby Aviation's Ohio production site investment is expected to significantly impact economic growth both in Ohio and across the U.S.," according to a news release from the coalition. "The new facility will likely draw other advanced air mobility opportunities to Ohio, causing a ripple effect that could lead to an overall $13 billion economic impact statewide and the creation of 15,000 new Ohio jobs by 2045."
This story is developing and will be updated.
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