Here are six things to know from our coverage:
1. The story: A new committee of Dayton-area business leaders is launching what participants hope will be a communitywide effort to grow population, retain graduates and get former and retired workers back into the labor force.
2. Goal: The effort led by the Dayton Foundation has set a goal of getting about 23,000 people back into the workforce by 2030, plus attracting and retaining thousands more people to and in the area.
3. The need: The Dayton Development Coalition estimates there will be 26,000 net new jobs annually through the year 2030 in a 14-county region around Dayton, and a need to fill some 28,000 recurring openings each year due to natural attrition.
4. Demographics: Retirements are part of the issue. Natural aging and retirements creates some 25,000 jobs a year, coalition members said.
5. Growth: The region has seen massive new investment as well. A joint venture Honda-LG Energy electric vehicle battery plant is being built, for example, outside Jeffersonville. Sierra Nevada is here and is expanding, building a third and fourth hangar near Dayton International Airport. Joby Aviation has said its Dayton operation won’t operate until next year. DMAX has built a new truck engine plant in Brookville.
6. What they’re saying: “We’ve seen nothing like this in our lifetimes,” said Mike Parks, president of the Dayton Foundation.
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