Xenia, Ohio

market, with access to nearby Dayton International Airport, which reaches over two-thirds of the country’s population and businesses. In addition, Xenia has a very diverse economic base, anchored by the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, located just east of Dayton. “It is the largest single-site employer in the entire State of Ohio, with about 27,000 employees – military and civilian,” says Steve Brodsky, Xenia’s Economic Development Director. “Wright-Pat is home to the Air Force Research Lab; it’s home to the Air Force Material Command – the folks that purchase all of the equipment for the Air Force; it’s home to the National Air & Space Intelligence Center – the folks that are gathering intelligence around the world. So, there are these major commands that are here and, obviously, there are defense contractors and related businesses that support them – a lot of smaller industrial manufacturing businesses that run the gamut from regional trucking, to more traditional tool and die shops, to a company that manufactures memory-shape polymers that are used in smart tooling, to a company that produces isotopes of oxygen and carbon used in testing equipment and medical equipment. The good thing is, because it is so diverse, when there is a downturn in the economy, if there is one sector that is affected by that downturn, the effect on our economy is not nearly as bad because we have a lot of other businesses that are not affected.” Recently, Xenia has experienced a spate of new development, some of it spurred by a signature project in the city, called the REACH Center, which is an acronym for Recreation, Education, Activity, Community, and Health. Brodsky explains the project’s genesis and the synergy that it has ignited: “Our YMCA building, which was built in the early 1950s, has given its all and then some,” he begins. “So, the ‘Y’ was looking at the potential of building a new facility. At the same time, the Xenia Adult Recreation and Service Center, our senior center, was looking to expand, or perhaps, move into a new facility because they needed additional room for programming for their seniors. Also, at the same time, workforce has been an issue in XENI A , OHIO