A signing ceremony Tuesday will mark the Air Force’s designation of 16 acres near the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on the base’s Area B for what is described as a first-of-its-kind facility dedicated to preparing the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technical professionals.
The ceremony will be but a first step. Fundraising for the new center will begin and, in time, so will construction.
But the first goal is to raise about $38 million, through a combination of hoped-for federal earmarks, state spending and philanthropy.
“There are a lot of moving pieces needed for this to fall into place,” said Joe Sciabica, a former civilian executive director of the Air Force Research Laboratory, who today leads the Employers’ Workforce Coalition, an initiative of The Dayton Foundation and its partners.
When complete, the building will host tenants and partners including Air Camp, the Wright-Patterson Educational Outreach Office, the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education and others.
As currently envisioned, part of the base fence will be moved for the new center, Sciabica said.
“The idea is, if we could bring those pieces together under one roof, the sum pieces of the parts could be more than anyone could do by themselves,” he said.
Participants in Tuesday’s event will sign an out-grant license, representing a commitment from the Air Force to allocate land to this project.
That gives advocates a five-year runway for the crucial next steps — funding, design, hiring of contractors, assembling a long-term land lease with the government and other steps.
“This is a significant milestone for the concept and the project,” Sciabica said.
The Employers’ Workforce Coalition was formed in 2024 to try to address a perennial concern for Dayton-area employers and educators — finding and creating a workforce ready to support growth in the Dayton area. One of the area’s primary needs has long been a steady supply of trained workers.
Speakers for Tuesday’s event are slated to include Sciabica, Vincent Russo, chairman of the board at Air Camp; Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of Dayton Development Coalition; and Col. Dustin Richards, commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson.
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