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Aerospace trade show born out of study

Congress OK’d  $1 million for plan that pushed Dayton as site for event.

Trade, technology expo brings focus to Dayton

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer 6:01 PM Saturday, July 11, 2009

A federally funded consultant’s study, commissioned by the Dayton Air Show board and done four years ago, said a U.S. aerospace trade and technology show could fill a need for companies unable to afford attendance at the every-other-year air shows in Paris and Farnborough, England.

The result: The United States Air, Trade and Technology Expo, which begins Tuesday, July 14. It will take place in Dayton International Airport’s Exposition Center, which was built in the 1990s to house a short-lived predecessor show.

“Now, there’s an event,” said Michael Emoff, chairman of the United States Air & Trade Show board of trustees that puts on the Dayton Air Show, of the 2009 expo. “We feel really good about the work that was done.”

The trade expo and affiliated industry sessions have attracted an A-list of defense contractors and speakers from the Air Force, business and academia.

Emoff said he hopes that at least some of the more than 750 people registered to attend will stay on for the air show July 18-19, bringing more paying customers through the gates.

With the support of U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, Congress in 2004 appropriated $1 million for a study by Boston-based consultant Arthur D. Little Inc., which concluded that Dayton could support an aerospace trade show and that it could attract millions of dollars in spending by defense contractors. The study cautioned, however, that the show’s success and longevity would depend on financing, continuing institutional support and private partnerships.

The organizers of this week’s show said they will soon start work on lining up sponsorships and other financial commitments for the next show, planned in 2011 as part of an every-other-year rotation.

“I think it’s a huge opportunity for the Dayton region. I wanted to be part of that,” said Larry Dosser, president and chief executive officer of Mound Laser & Photonics Inc., a Miamisburg company signed on as a sponsor of this week’s show.

Dosser is active in DaytonDefense and was among the many volunteers from that organization and the Air Force Association who combined to arrange the expo’s agenda.

John McCance, who helped bring about the trade and tech expo as Ohio president of the Air Force Association, an organization of current and former Air Force personnel and supporters, said he hopes lessons learned from arranging the 2009 show will carry over for the 2011 version.

“It’s going to be something that we can all walk away from with a sense of pride, with the understanding that it was the first one,” McCance said.

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