Friday was the deadline for firms to contact the local Economic Task Force and show an interest in winning the job to do the assessment and marketing for a would-be effort to redevelop the DHL Air Park.
Not only did the task force receive “stacks and stacks” of written responses, but, if anything, the quality of the documents and the firms submitting them surpasses the quantity and has Wilmington’s mayor “very excited,” said Wilmington Mayor David Raizk.
Submissions were received from firms located around the nation and also from international firms with contacts, Raizk said. Some of the firms, in compiling their documents, indicated they have coalitions of contacts from fields such as development and real estate.
“What we’re excited about is the number of ideas that are coming forth from some of these firms. They’re putting their best foot forward. They’re putting together consortiums of engineering, development, marketing, real estate, all kinds of things that are very, very exciting. And coming up with some really fresh ideas. And that is what we wanted,” said Raizk.
When it comes to assessing something, be it one’s home or a huge air park, an outsider often brings a fresh perspective — especially if assessment is what they do for a living, the mayor said.
The interested firms include the world’s largest air-park planning firm and the nation’s three largest commercial real estate firms.
“We have attracted a high caliber of firms. My dream in this regard is becoming a reality. We are getting interest from all over the country and the world,” Raizk said Tuesday following the Economic Task Force’s first meeting after the holidays.
Raizk’s task force co-chair is Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who also serves as director of the Ohio Department of Development.
“These proposals are from companies that can provide bold, creative ideas with the expertise and contacts to execute their strategies. The Wilmington Air Park is an incredibly valuable asset to its community and our state, and we are committed to investigating every possible use for the air park,” Fisher said.
DHL Express has indicated a willingness to consider donating the air park to the community to alleviate the devastating effects of the company’s departure.
Raizk feels if the community gets control of a first-rate facility like the air park, then the community needs access to expertise that matches the facility’s potential.
“The air park needs marketing. It needs the help of those who have the contacts,” Raizk said.
Because of this ongoing process of picking a firm to assess and market the air park if the community gains control of it, Raizk believes redevelopment of the facility could occur significantly sooner than what took place during the 1970s when Washington closed the Clinton County Air Force Base.
“I think we can do some things in the next two years to get employment going, to get some things going. Hopefully, the general economy will cooperate,” he said.
“I mean, next year’s our bicentennial. We’re going to have happy news during that,” said the mayor.
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Election 2010
