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How can area businesses win more WPAFB contracts? Panel set to find out

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer 6:00 PM Friday, December 4, 2009

FAIRBORN — U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, said he has assembled a commission that will spend five months examining Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s contracting process and how the region’s businesses could go about winning more of the contracts to serve the base.

The panel will include about 20 members from the region, among them business and academic leaders and former employees of the base, Austria said in a telephone interview Friday, Dec. 4, from Washington. He plans to attend the commission’s initial meeting Monday at 10 a.m. at Wright State University.

“We want to better understand the process at Wright-Patterson so, as a region, we can take better advantage of that,” he said.

The commission will look at various issues, including concerns of some defense contracting companies that the Defense Department may hire employees from them as part of the Pentagon’s plan to increase its work force of contracting specialists for acquiring aircraft, weapons and services, Austria said.

He expects to receive a report from the commission in about five months which he would then share with the Dayton area community, spokeswoman Courtney Whetstone said.

Austria said he had been working to develop his commission since he was elected to Congress in November 2008, but that the panel would have discretion to look at a variety of Wright-Patterson contracting matters.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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