Economic Opportunity for Urbana

Here is a possible shot in the arm:

Conferences to link Airbus to Ohio suppliersBusiness First of Columbus - by Matt Burns
Print Email Reprints RSS Feeds LinkedIn Share CommentsOhio is looking to plug more manufacturers reeling from struggles in the automotive industry into the state’s aerospace supply chain.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a conference call on Wednesday unveiled details of two conferences set for December and early next year aimed at linking existing and potential new Ohio suppliers with aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus. The company contracted with suppliers in Ohio, where it does the most business out of any state in the U.S., to the tune of $4 billion last year.


Airbus Americas Chairman Allan McArtor said in the call that the company expects to spend that much in Ohio on procurement this year and in the near future as the airline industry mounts a recovery.

“We like what we see in Ohio,” he said.“We want to up the ante and become more engaged by holding these supplier conferences.”

The first conference, co-hosted by the Ohio Aerospace Institute and Ohio’s Edison Technology Centers, will be at 10 a.m. on Dec. 7 at the institute’s Cleveland headquarters, 22800 Cedar Point Road. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and more information will be available here.

The events will allow Ohio companies to meet one-on-one with Airbus representatives.

A place and date hasn’t been set for the early 2010 conference in southern Ohio, but Brown said officials are eyeing Wilmington, where thousands of jobs have disappeared at the Wilmington Air Park as shipping giant DHL scales back domestic shipping and moves operations to the Cincinnati area.

Frank Svet, president of Dayton’s Edison Materials Technology Center, said Wednesday that a shift to aerospace contracting could be a key factor in strengthening the state’s manufacturing base, hobbled by a slump in the automotive industry. Manufacturers of items such as instruments, controls and sensors for that industry could find a fit with a company such as Airbus, he said.

Brown said Ohio is home to more than 600 companies directly plugged into the aerospace industry that employ about 186,000 workers. Estimates from his office indicate 140 companies in Central Ohio could benefit from the Airbus conferences.

In this economic climate, communities have to compete and prospect for new businesses. When they learn of a possibility, their economic development committee has to decide if they want to go after a prospective opportunity and if they do, get after it.

One of the reasons I suggested an area effort is to be able to present a greater economic benefit to a prospect. If you have a cohesive economic engine to put in front of a prospective corporation, it presents a more powerful picture to them and makes the selling job easier. If you present Marysville to Sidney and Kenton to Urbana with Bellefontaine as the hub, you have an area in geographical size to Dallas/Ft. Worth or Kansas City, Mo /Kansas City,Ks or Boston/Providence or, Phoenix.

It gives you something to grow on and besides, you offer a lower cost of living and lower crime. All you lack is the development.

You have to have a plan put together and, a very slick and comprehebsive presentation dvd you can show a prospect to pique his/her interest.