At our Annual Meeting last February, DDC President and CEO Jeff Hoagland said we won’t stop competing for big projects even as we break records.
“We want to create an economy so vibrant people move here to be a part of it,” Hoagland told the crowd. “We won’t be a fly-over and drive-thru state. We are a destination.”
That holds true today. Joby Aviation’s Dayton facility adds to a growing list of opportunities that put the Dayton Region in the national spotlight. We want people across the country to talk about these jobs and learn how easy it is to build a fulfilling life here.
While we continue to face major headwinds such as interest rates, a competitive real estate market, and the uncertainty that comes with a presidential election year, workforce stands alone as our toughest challenge.
Our community must remain focused on supporting talent growth, retention, and attraction for our region to maintain its economic momentum. This is an effort that will require strong partnerships and cooperation across industry, academia, K-12 education, and a long list of community-based organizations as partners. It’s critical we get this right.
We also need sites and buildings to accommodate the growth. The DDC is working with our local and state partners to leverage programs such as the Ohio Department of Development’s recently announced All Ohio Future Fund, JobsOhio’s Ohio Site Inventory Program and its SiteOhio authentication process. These programs help ensure sites are development-ready and allow us to pursue development of speculative industrial buildings and specialized office spaces that can support growing defense and R&D companies.
The efforts supporting Digital Transformation have the potential to also transform our community. The DDC will continue to champion and move initiatives forward as part of the region’s Digital Dayton Strategy.
But none of this works if we don’t have the people to fill the jobs.
Everyone has a role in this effort, and the most important steps might seem small. Engage young people, tell them what you love about the Dayton region, share about our companies so they know the jobs that are available, and help them get connected. Create the stickiness for us to retain talented young people.
We want our young people to see Dayton as a place where they can have a fulfilling career, an excellent quality of life, and live out their dreams. We have excellent partners who work with students in the local schools to help them chart their career path.
Next month, we will gather for the DDC Annual Meeting to celebrate another historic year. We hope job seekers across the country will take notice.
Julie Sullivan is the Dayton Development Coalition’s executive vice president of regional development. A University of Dayton graduate, she lives in Dayton with her husband and three sons.
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