WILMINGTON — A task force focusing on the region's economic redevelopment after DHL's scheduled shutdown of operations at its U.S. cargo hub at Wilmington in 2009 has hired an economic recovery coordinator.

The task force said it used federal funding to hire Rafeal Underwood, who is a former Ohio Department of Development economic development official. Underwood is to begin work in January and will be assigned to write a comprehensive economic development plan for Clinton County and surrounding counties, task force leaders said.

On Dec. 19, the task force plans a meeting for companies interested in responding to the group's request for information about redevelopment of the 2,200-acre, DHL-owned airport, which was once an Air Force base. For more information, contact Christian Shock, executive director of the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission, at (937) 382-3582.

DHL has said it plans to cut back its U.S. cargo operations in 2009 to cut costs and will hire rival United Parcel Service to sort and fly DHL's domestic express packages at UPS' Louisville, Ky., freight hub. That will wipe out about 7,000 remaining jobs at DHL's Wilmington hub, the region's largest employer, Ohio officials have said.