Newsletter: Hurry confirmed as AFMC commander

It’s an understatement to say that Air Force Materiel Command is a major Air Force command. It has authority over more than $80 billion — more than a third of the Air Force’s fiscal year 2025 budget — nearly 90,000 people.

And it’s headquartered in our backyard, on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

In this newsletter:

  • Leaders of Huber Heights consider a new TIF district.
  • Patience pays off for the Dayton Development Coalition.
  • Rumors in an era of frayed trust.

Hurry confirmed as full AFMC commander

Linda Hurry, when she was a major general. Photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Johns

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Nominated, then confirmed: It took more than few months, but after a presidential nomination and a Senate confirmation, Air Force Materiel Command once again has a full commander.

  • Lt. Gen. Linda Hurry commands AFMC, effective Jan. 30.

The job: “As commander, Hurry will oversee the installation and mission support, discovery and development, test and evaluation, life cycle management, and sustainment of virtually every major Air Force weapon system,” the command said.

Read the story.

Taking flight? The vision for a $17.6M ‘Flyghtwood Landings.’

Contributed

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The proposal: PDAC plans are just that — plans or proposals. Ideas. A wishlist.

Yes, but: This one got some attention.

  • Local entrepreneur and former University of Dayton Flyer Chris Wright has a $17.6 million vision to create an outdoor entertainment destination in Trotwood, an expansion of a project he began years ago with the Universal 1 Flyght Dome complex.

Read the story.

Huber leaders eye infrastructure moves

Construction continues on Buc-ee's on Ohio 235 in Huber Heights. BRYANT BILLING/STAFF

Credit: Bryant Billing

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Credit: Bryant Billing

What happened: Huber Heights City Council will consider the formation of a Tax Increment Financing district to help fund improvements in the area of the new Buc-ee’s on Ohio 235.

  • A vote is scheduled Monday to approve a TIF district in the northeast section of the city. Buc-ee’s, under construction near Interstate 70, will be the only business in the district, according to Mayor Jeff Gore.

Read the story.

For the Dayton Development Coalition, the ‘long game’ pays off

Jeff Hoagland welcomes a standing-room-only audience to the Dayton Development Coalition's 2025 annual meeting at the Dayton Convention Center on Wednesday Feb. 4, 2026. Hoagland is president and CEO of the coalition. THOMAS GNAU/STAFF

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Patience: In 2025, businesses agreed to create more than 984 new jobs in the Dayton Development Coalition’s 12-county service region, keeping more than an already existing 5,100 jobs here, the coalition said at its annual meeting Wednesday.

Metrics: The coalition presented numbers showing how its strategy is paying off: 13,660 new jobs created in the region from 2011 to 2015. For the most recent four-year period, 2020 to 2025, 18,964 new jobs were won.

Read the story.

‘He had a great life.’ Ex-Air Force fighter pilot looks at 100

Father and son, both named Joseph Adamo. The older Mr. Adamo, left, celebrates his 100th birthday Feb. 11. His son is 65. The elder Adamo lives at the 10 Wilmington Place retirement community in Dayton, where this photo was taken Feb. 2, 2026. THOMAS GNAU/STAFF

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Happy (100th) birthday: In a life well lived, former Xenia resident and Air Force pilot Joseph Adamo has been there, done that: Pursued a U-2 spy plane over Alaska’s frozen tundra, built tanks in Egypt and raised a family in Ohio.

Read the story.

Newsletter numbers

$1.7 billion: Businesses agreed to invest this much in the Dayton Development Coalition’s 12-county region last year. Read the story.

11,000-plus: Dayton International Airport finished 2025 with 1.7% growth in passenger enplanements, welcoming more than 11,000 additional departing passengers compared to the previous year. Read the story.

947: The number of Ohio homeowners who may cancel contracts with MV Realty of Ohio. Read the story.

Contact me: Tell me about your business at tom.gnau@coxinc.com or on X, where DMs are always on. I’m also on LinkedIn and on our Dayton Business page, with my colleagues. Find me as well on my Facebook page.

Newsletter roundup

PHOTOS: A much-needed Flyers victory.

No soup for you? This is soup season.

A UD prof on rumors: Who do you trust?

Meet the honorees: The 2026 YWCA Women Influencers.

The May primary cometh: Who’s will be on the ballot?

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