Senator Sherrod Brown

WILMINGTON, OH - The Economic Task Force for the DHL Hub held its first meeting today with a commitment to saving jobs at risk from the potential departure of DHL from southwest Ohio and focusing on the future of the Wilmington Air Park. Comprised of 32 members, including community leaders, and bi-partisan involvement from federal, state, county and municipal officials, the group discussed potential initiatives and activities in support of the community.

”We want to emphasize the regional nature of the task force,” said Mayor David Raizk co-convenor of the Economic Task Force for the DHL Hub. “This impacts not only Wilmington and Clinton County but all the surrounding counties, the southwestern region and the state as a whole. We will not just accept DHL’s decision as a given. Our task force mission is two-fold: First and foremost, we must avail ourselves of every resource to retain these jobs. At the same time we will explore strategies to get control of the air park facility, to assist ABX and ASTAR in expanding their businesses, to attract new business and new jobs, and to create a successful, sustainable, regional and intermodal hub at the Wilmington Air Park.”

“I am concerned about the future of thousands of Ohio families affected by DHL’s announcement,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. “Our goal with this task force is to save as many jobs as possible, make resources available for new jobs, and ultimately ensure future success for the entire region.”

The Ohio congressional delegation intends to send a letter to Tim Timken, an Ohioan who serves as the U.S. ambassador to Germany, detailing the congressional delegation's concern and to ask whether anything can be done to convince Deutsche Post World Net to work with the Ohio stakeholders in a manner that would allow DHL to achieve its financial requirements without abandoning the Wilmington facility.

The task force is exploring long-term solutions to the potential job losses and ways that the state and federal governments can respond. Task force participants also discussed the governor’s and the Ohio congressional delegation's request to the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the anti-trust implications of any DHL-UPS agreement.

“The proposed deal between DHL and UPS raises many questions and appears to break many promises that have been made to our community,” U.S. Rep. Mike Turner said. “Our state’s congressional delegation recently sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking him to inspect the deal’s antitrust implications. I am determined to continue working with my colleagues on the task force to push for the best possible outcome for our region.”

The task force will continue its work through committees before it meets again in two weeks. Chairs for the task force committees are as follows: Retention - Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher Workforce - Keith Hyde, Exec. Dir of Workforce Services Unlimited Economic Impact, Data and Analysis - Mark Brooker, Clinton Co. Administrator and Economic Development Dir. Redevelopment - Wilmington Mayor David Raizk Community Outreach - Randy Riley, Clinton County Commissioner