Panel to look at ways to bolster Ohio aerospace industry

A statewide 21-member panel of engineers, executives and legislators will explore ways to boost the aerospace industry in Ohio.

State Rep. Rick Perales, R-Beavercreek, sponsored a House bill to set up the committee with three state senators, three state representatives and 15 others on the Ohio Aerospace and Aviation Technology Committee.

Perales is the committee chairman. Sens. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, and Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, also share duties on the panel.

Area appointees include:

Mark N. Brown, a former NASA space shuttle astronaut; William “Jay” Jabour, a former Northrup Grumman executive and a retired Air Force brigadier general who was vice commander of the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; Vincent J. Russo, former executive director and a retired top civilian leader at Wright-Patterson; and Terrence Slaybaugh, director of aviation for the city of Dayton.

Gov. John Kasich appointed John E. Leland, executive director of the University of Dayton Research Institute, to the aerospace panel.

The committee will produce an annual report of findings and recommendations to state lawmakers on ways to bolster the aerospace industry in Ohio.

Ohio is the leader in aircraft engine production and is the No. 1 U.S. supplier to airliner manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, according to JobsOhio.

A total of $10 billion in aerospace research and development is invested each year in the state at places such as the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson, jet engine-maker GE Aviation based near Cincinnati, and NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, state data shows.

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