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INDUSTRY CLUSTERING STRATEGIES

Industry Clusters are defined as a grouping of interrelated industries in which a region specializes, enabling the region to successfully compete in the global marketplace. The City of Dayton has identified each of the following industry clusters as holding significant opportunities for the City to capture new jobs over the next 20 years:

  • Advanced Materials/Manufacturing
  • Data Management/Sensors/RFID
  • Aerospace Medical Research
  • Regional Health Services

The tactical strategies designed to meet the City's Industry Clustering objectives emphasize better understanding and collaboration among government, industry, and academic leaders. Through collaboration, the City will proactively influence outcomes by building relationships and participation early rather than later in the decision-making process.

Advanced Manufacturing/Materials

Advanced Manufacturing/Materials is an initiative developed as part of CitiPlan 20/20 to assist regional manufacturing firms in implementing new processes and technologies so that they can remain competitive in the New Economy. Advanced Manufacturing/Materials includes the themes of lean manufacturing, supply chain management, composite materials, and collaborative manufacturing.

CityWide and TechSolve have joined forces to offer business services to Greater Dayton area manufacturers, with the goal of helping them improve their competitiveness and get the most out of investments in improvement initiatives. TechSolve directly implements solutions in the areas of Lean Manufacturing, Supplier Development and Machining Optimization. These solutions are all designed to help companies increase profits and productivity, both on the factory floor and in the front office.

As part of this partnership, CityWide:

  • Provides financial incentives for local manufacturers to adopt advanced manufacturing processes.
  • Works with regional partners to provide funding to local manufacturers whose long-term outlook is promising, but who are financially strapped due to the recent economic downturn.
  • Supports the development of McCook Park as an Advanced Manufacturing Center.
  • Supports the development of Tech Town as a support center for McCook Park and other local manufacturers.
  • Works with other strategic partners who can help provide competitive advantages to local manufacturers.

Health Services Jobs

The health services industry is extremely important to the economic vitality of the City of Dayton. In fact, with more than 21,000 Dayton workers, the health services industry is technically the city’s largest employer!

Hospital/healthcare institutions export services to the region and generate wealth to the inner city. While Dayton’s population represents just 17.5% of the MSA (metropolitan statistical area), hospital/healthcare jobs in the city represent about 40% of total hospital/healthcare jobs in the MSA.  As part of Dayton's CitiPlan 20/20 strategy, CityWide Development will:

  • Collaborate with existing facilities such as Miami Valley Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Grandview Hospital, Dayton Heart Hospital, Elizabeth Place, and the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital to grow their presence in the city.
  • Provide financial incentives to attract medical support facilities and support the development of medical "themed districts" that are focused near existing hospital/healthcare facilities.
  • Support the VA Master Plan and the stabilization and growth of the job base at the VA Hospital.

Health services is a rapidly growing industry with an already-strong presence in Dayton. If properly encouraged, the Dayton region’s health services industry could grow by thousands of new jobs in the next 20 years. The official CitiPlan goal is to create 4,100 new healthcare jobs by the year 2020, and CityWide will do whatever it can to support this goal.

Data Management/RFID

The Data Management initiative is focused on creating a “center of gravity” in Dayton for the research, development, and commercialization of data acquisition, management, analysis, and delivery technologies to meet global market demand. The Data Management initiative also includes the convergence of supportive regional competencies and technologies in the areas of sensing systems and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).

NCR, Standard Register, Paxar, Reynolds & Reynolds, LexisNexis, and CDO Technologies are examples of Dayton area companies that are already well positioned within this regional cluster. Moreover, the Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL) headquartered at WPAFB serves as the Air Force's center for sensing technologies.

Aerospace and Aerospace Medical

Aerospace Medical Research refers to laboratory and clinical research conducted to better understand the way that the human body reacts to factors related to flying. It includes research in the areas of biology, psychology, psychological training, medical training, and cockpit design (understanding how the mind reacts to cockpits).

This initiative emanates from the US Department of Defense's decision to consolidate Army, Navy, and Air Force aerospace medical research in Dayton. Early in its conception, this initiative will leverage the relocation of thousands of highly trained researchers and engineers to Dayton by developing a nurturing and supportive infrastructure necessary to grow this unique competency.