The local VA center continues to employ about 2,300 employees at its 450-acre campus on West Third Street and about 3,000 employees total at various area locations.
“Overall, we have our typical turnover, just like any other organization,” Brian Hays said in an interview. “We have about a 5% turnover rate here in Dayton. We have filled every position that has turned over, and we continue to fill positions today.”
The Dayton center has about 200 employment vacancies, he added. “We work with HR (human resources personnel) to recruit for those vacancies, and we continue filling our positions.”
At one point this summer, national VA leaders envisioned cutting more than 80,000 employees through nationwide layoffs before walking back those plans.
What’s happening in southwest Ohio:
• WPAFB funding: Final action on the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act is approaching. Supporters of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are hoping for the inclusion of $45 million for a Human Performance Wing Laboratory and $15 million in planning and design for a refurbishment of the base’s primary runway in annual defense spending and policy bills. And a major Air Force command based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base spent or obligated nearly $83 billion in fiscal year 2025. The Air Force Materiel Command is responsible for marshalling resources, weapons and planes the Air Force needs to defend the nation. The entire Air Force budget in the past fiscal year was about $217 billion, meaning the team headquartered at Wright-Patterson controls about 38% of the Air Force budget.
• Fuyao investigation: An amendment to a federal appropriations bill working its way through Congress would pressure the Department of Justice to explain what it’s doing to address concerns about illegal labor practices by automotive glass producers tied to the Chinese Communist Party. The legislative language describes — but does not name — Moraine-based Fuyao Glass America, which is owned by Chinese company Fuyao. The Moraine plant was raided by federal agents last year as part of an investigation into alleged illegal staffing and money laundering.
• Sarajevo: The city council of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina bestowed the title of “Honorary Citizen of the City of Sarajevo” to U.S. Rep. Mike Turner and Dayton City Council member Matt Joseph. This honor comes 30 years after an agreement to end the Bosnian war was negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Other federal updates:
• Food costs, economy: U.S. consumers are much less confident in the economy in November in the aftermath of the government shutdown, weak hiring and stubborn inflation, per recent consumer confidence data. While economists forecast healthy growth for the July-September quarter, many expect a much weaker showing in the final three months of the year, largely because of the federal shutdown. Ahead of the holidays, too, some retailers were lowering the cost of holiday staples — such as turkeys and pumpkin pie mix — to soften the potential blow to Thanksgiving meal budgets. But overall, other holiday meal items (potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, biscuits and more) have seen upticks in price.
• Epstein files: The Justice Department renewed its request to unseal grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking cases, arguing they should be made public under a new law requiring the government to open its files on the late financier and his longtime confidante. The Justice Department is required to release Epstein-related files in a searchable and downloadable format by Dec. 19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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