Newsletter: Work begins on a busy Dayton thoroughfare, home to many businesses

For all businesses, roads and infrastructure matter. That’s one reason why the news in this first story comes as a relief to many.

Dayton motorists rejoice! Wayne Avenue (part of it anyway) now being repaved

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Dayton has started repaving one bumpy (but busy) section of Wayne Avenue, Reporter Cory Frolik reported this week.

Wayne is home to a Kroger store, Ester Price Candies, the original Ghostlight Coffee and many other businesses.

The city is paving a small section of Wayne from Waldo Street (by Esther Price Candies) to Edgar Avenue, which is about 0.4 miles to the south, just past the closed Tank’s Bar and Grill.

That stretch of Wayne has not had major repaving in 22 years, since 2001. Frolik was told Dayton “should be on a 15-20 year cycle for thoroughfares and 25-30 year cycle for residentials.”

‘End to the madness:’ Motorists have complained about Wayne for a while now.

“October 3rd has now been declared the beginning of the end to the madness,” wrote one person in a Facebook post.

More work is scheduled next year. Stay tuned.

Dayton could declare former fairgrounds blighted to help with redevelopment

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Dayton leaders are considering declaring the former Montgomery County Fairgrounds as a blighted area, which could help the group redeveloping the site obtain tax abatements, Frolik also tells us.

onMain, a partnership between Premier Health and the University of Dayton, want the city to determine if the 38-acre fairgrounds property is a blighted area eligible for a tax increment financing district.

Development tools: onMain told the Dayton Daily News that properties must meet the legal definition of a blighted property under state law to be eligible for residential tax abatements.

The group hired a third-party planning firm to study the fairgrounds property. That analysis concluded the site meets state criteria.

AFRL pursues nuclear-powered spacecraft with a trio of new contracts

The Air Force Research Laboratory, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is always doing something amazing.

Recently, AFRL awarded a trio of contracts to develop technologies that could bring the military and NASA closer to spacecraft powered by nuclear fission.

Big picture: “The purpose of AFRL’s research and development is always to discover, develop and demonstrate a capability,” Lt Col. Tommy Nix, the program manager, told me.

Manufacturing Day to become more than just a day, as companies seek talent year-round

Today is the first Friday in October. That means Manufacturing Day in the Dayton area, Ohio and nationally.

For more than a decade, the day has meant a chance for students to visit manufacturers, dispelling ideas industry has long fought against — that manufacturing means only dead-end, dirty jobs.

The bottom line: “The real crux of it, of course, is getting students inside manufacturing companies so they can see what contemporary manufacturing is all about,” said Angelia Erbaugh, president of Dayton Region Manufacturers Association.

Great Wolf Lodge launches ‘Adventure Training’ with Gabrielle Union

Great Wolf Lodge in Mason now has a workout for families called “Adventure Training with the Great Wolf Pack,” and it is hosted by actress Gabrielle Union for guests to get a high-energy exercise in ahead of their day at the venue.

Union, an actress, producer, best-selling author, and a “Time100″ honoree, has partnered with Great Wolf Lodge to develop an Adventure Training program at all 19 U.S. resort locations. The program was launched Oct. 1.

An energy play: “Our main audience are families, and kids are looking for activities to burn pent up energy before the water park opens,” said Kevin Eldridge, general manager, Great Wolf Lodge Mason. “So, we decided to put together a family-friendly morning workout program to help families burn off energy and prepare for their day of adventures at Great Wolf Lodge.”

Worth watching: Big surprise this morning. The national economy added 336,000 jobs last month, close to double what Wall Street economists had expected. But the unemployment rate remained stuck at (a still low) 3.8%.

Employers had added 227,000 jobs in August.

Say what you want about rising interest rates and jumpy stocks, but employers are really hiring.

Quick hits

It’s Friday, so: Fifteen great things to do in Dayton this weekend.

A gift from Google: To Central State University.

Pumpkins will be flung Saturday. And you can watch at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Jaffe Jewelers: Jaffe Jewelers, a mainstay in the Dayton area for more than 40 years, has new ownership.

Dayton EATS: The legacy of Chef Wiley.