‘Magnet for high tech:’ How research drives Wright-Patt’s $15.5B impact

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is the Dayton region’s largest employer, an economic powerhouse integral to national defense that also attracts a trove of intellectual capital and expertise in high-tech research and development.

That work is done on base, at local companies and in labs at colleges and universities. It not only provides well-paying jobs to local residents, it’s a selling point to lure new businesses and jobs.

“Wright-Patt is a world-class technology center. It’s like a magnet for high tech,” said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer and military analyst at Lexington Institute, a conservative think tank in Arlington, Va. “It is the intellectual capital of the modern Air Force.”

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Story excerpt provided by Dayton Daily News.

Written by Lynn Hulsey.

Originally published March 31, 2019.