Task force wants Ohio engaged in defense spending

LIMA — Defense contracting in Ohio is a success story that needs to be told assertively and with bipartisanship, and the public and private sectors need to better work together to get more of the business, a new white paper from Task Force L.I.M.A. argues.

The community task force is finished with the paper and will soon distribute it to elected and community officials, arguing for strategies designed to double Ohio's share and benefit from federal defense and aeronautical spending in the next decade.

Task Force L.I.M.A. (Linked in Mutual Alliance) formed in 2003 to keep the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center off a Pentagon military base closure list in 2005. The work has taught the group the value of multiple interests — private, union, public, military — supporting the center, which builds the Abrams tank and supplies other defense contracts.

The paper is titled “Increasing Ohio's Share and Benefit of Federal Defense & Aerospace Spending: The Need for a Long-Term Strategy for the State of Ohio, its Communities and Stakeholders.”

The technology, manufacturing capacity and skilled workforces associated with defense contracting needs to stay in Ohio and needs to be supported in a consistent way, the paper argues. The state has room for improvement. Ohio ranks 40th among the states in the return on investment of federal tax dollars; for every dollar of federal tax paid by Ohioans, the state receives 95 cents back, according to the paper.

“There is no doubt that a strong coalition, developing and working on a long-term strategy, would bring to Ohio an ROI more like the state of Alabama (which ranks 7th),” the task force writes.

The task force is considering a spring lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., with the white paper and a new video on the JSMC. It will also distribute the paper to a wide section of Ohio economic development, elected and defense officials, starting with the governor's office. The task force is drafting a letter to Gov. John Kasich and JobsOhio Director Mark Kwamme introducing the task force and asking for their help in creating a visible, bipartisan strategy to grow Ohio's economy through defense and aeronautical contracting.

The white paper is endorsed by Dayton Defense, a community group that supports the military bases in that area in a similar way to the task force.

Kasich and Kwamme need to engage on the broad topic of defense spending in Ohio, Mayor David Berger said. The aerospace industry is one of the nine focuses of JobsOhio, but defense spending appears to play a little part, and Berger said Ohio can do more, and needs to.

“Within Ohio, there exist many separate, unique pockets of enterprise, aiding specific geographic regions or like technologies, in efforts to increase their ‘share' of defense/aerospace dollars,” the task force writes in the paper. “A sponsor should be identified who can, by working with others within Ohio, develop a long-term communication plan and network.”

The task force proposes:

•Identifying and connecting groups such as itself and Dayton Defense; and identifying and connecting more businesses with the potential of providing goods and services to the federal government.

•Providing for an “All Ohio Hands” summit to develop a vision for defense and aerospace advocacy.

•Providing mentors for entities wanting technical assistance working with the federal government.

•Securing active, bipartisan cooperation in the Ohio Legislature and congressional delegation.

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