by J. D. Davidson
With more than 90,000 jobs and 30 defense installations across the states, Ohio political leaders continue to push the state’s commitment to military personnel and its role in the country’s defense operations.
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), recently joined Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, Congressman Steve Stivers, Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof and State Sen. Stephanie Kunze in a virtual town hall with JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef regarding the state’s plan on expanding its military and federal assets job sector.
The town hall focused primarily on Central Ohio.
“Ohio is known for our commitment to the nation’s military and to those who serve,” Obhof said. “We have worked hard to protect our current military installations, attract new opportunities and provide a welcoming home for our military families and veterans. I appreciate the support and expertise JobsOhio provides to our state and communities in this effort.”
Ohio is home to the Defense Supply Center in Columbus, the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, the nation’s second largest Air Guard in Toledo, Mansfield’s Lahm Air National Guard, the Youngstown Air Reserve, and Lima’s heavy armor plant, among many others.
In September, NASA released its first agency wide economic-impact study that detailed all NASA activities across the country in an effort to understand how the U.S. economy benefited from lunar and mars exploration efforts.
Ohio ranked eighth in the nation in total number of NASA jobs with 11,139. The agency’s economic output for Ohio is $2.3 billion annually.
Also, Gov. Mike DeWine recently asked President Donald Trump to establish the U.S. Space Command headquarters in Dayton. The headquarters are expected to house 1,400 military and civilian jobs.
Ohio also received a $5 million U.S. Defense Department grant to improve defense manufacturing and train state workers for next-generation jobs. That grant went along with the state being named as a Defense Manufacturing Community.
More regional town halls are planned throughout the state in November and December.
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J. D. Davidson is a Regional Editor for The Center Square.
