Airbus commits to Ohio aerospace

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WDTN) - Ohio's domination in the aerospace industry is growing.

Airbus committed to running its supply chain through Ohio, including Dayton.

Ohio ranks first in Airbus spending in the United States and it appears the sky is the limit when it comes to growing the relationship between the company and the Buckeye State.

A big announcement in Columbus brought together Airbus, the National Composite Center in Kettering and the Dayton Development Coalition.

The announcement boils down to this. Airbus is committing further support of aerospace suppliers in Ohio and is looking to create a centralized Ohio materials manufacturing technology hub.

"Having future interest from the global leader Airbus creates a significant encouragement and support for aerospace in Ohio," said Lisa Novelli, President and CEO of the National Composite Center.

Ohio's Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown who was there at the announcement predicts lots of jobs down the runway.

"What's happening with Airbus means there will be more jobs come to the National Composite Center and there will be more jobs in the supply chain with a lot of small businesses in miami valley and all of Ohio who want to be part of airbus and later want to be part of the aerospace industry as a whole," said Sen. Brown.

Senator Brown helped bring the parties together to reach agreement.

For those skeptical of the timing of the announcement given Senator Brown is in a contentious race with Josh Mandel, he has this to say. "The timing is all Airbus. It wasn't my decision when it would be done, but I don't care about that. I've been working on this for three years."

Airbus is based in France and reportedly plans to double its U.S. spending within the next ten years.