On May 28, 2008, Deutsche Post World Net, parent company of DHL Express, announced it was negotiating with its competitor United Parcel Service (UPS) to have UPS replace ABX Air’s U.S. airlift and hub operations, including national hub in Wilmington, Ohio, and its 15 regional U.S hubs. If it goes through, this deal will devastate the economy in Wilmington and seven southwest Ohio counties and impact 15 other cities through the direct loss of at least 8,200 jobs and thousands more indirectly.

The Wilmington Air Park has been a regional cargo facility since the late 1970s when Midwest Air Charter was flying out of the recently decommissioned Air Force Base. Airborne Express bought the former Clinton County Air Force Base in 1980, creating the largest privately owned, operated and maintained airport in the U.S. It has been one of the area’s largest employers since the mid 1980s. It also has two runways with the capability to handle simultaneous incoming and outgoing flights, and technology enabling flight operations even in inclement weather.

In 2003, DHL acquired Airborne, and with it ownership of the Air Park. Since then, the State of Ohio, City of Wilmington and Clinton County have offered DHL more than $400 million in direct and indirect financial support for the Air Park. In addition, the state fast-tracked construction of a $99 million Wilmington Bypass extension of Ohio Route 73 to provide easier access from the air park to nearby Interstate 71.

DHL currently contracts with ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo for air transport services in the United States, and ABX Air also manages sorting and logistics operations on the ground at the air park in Wilmington and at 15 regional U.S. hubs. The DHL air network includes approximately 100 aircraft providing overnight and next-day air cargo services to DHL customers across the U.S.

Based upon 2006 data, the DHL Air Park and the businesses located there are collectively the largest employer in a seven-county southwest Ohio area that includes Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Brown, Ross, Greene and Adams counties. Air park employees live in 45 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

A DHL-UPS contract would result in the direct loss of 8,200 area jobs, with nearly 2,000 more indirect job losses. Annual wages and salaries paid to employees of ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo alone total more than $200 million, with county-by-county breakdowns as follows:

The deal would have far-reaching implications for Ohio’s logistics industry as a whole. Ohio is a U.S. logistics leader, and DHL’s national sort facility in Wilmington is a key asset. Ohio’s central location means that companies located in Ohio are within one day’s drive of 62 percent of U.S. manufacturing facilities and within 500 miles of nearly 60 percent of the U.S. population. Keeping DHL is crucial to maintaining Ohio’s edge in logistics.

Ohio’s elected officials are spearheading efforts to avert the potential economic disaster that could follow if DHL is successful in negotiating a deal with UPS. On June 6, 2008, Mayor David Raizk and Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher formed a broad-based task force to preserve jobs and craft economically feasible solutions stemming from the potential deal.

Since the announcement in May, the task force has convened every other week to report progress. Meetings of individual committees have been held weekly. Committees and chairs are listed below.

• Retention – Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher
• Workforce - Keith Hyde, executive director of Workforce Services Unlimited
• Economic Impact, Data and Analysis - Mark Brooker, Clinton County administrator and economic development director
• Redevelopment - Wilmington Mayor David Raizk
• Community Outreach - Randy Riley, Clinton County commissioner

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has emphasized the importance of the issue in communications with numerous federal government officials and has set up a Web site for affected families to share their stories at http://brown.senate.gov/ohio/constituent_services/wilmington_families/

Lt. Gov. Fisher and key state government officials held a public forum in Wilmington on July 23 and have set up a Web site at www.airparkhelp.com to keep citizens informed.

• Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers has put DHL and UPS on notice that she will be looking closely at any potential DHL-UPS agreement for compliance with the state’s antitrust law.
• On June 11, 2008, the Ohio Congressional Delegation wrote to Klaus Scharioth, Germany’s ambassador to the United States, and to Robert Timken, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, concerning antitrust and other issues raised by the proposed agreement under both U.S. and German law.
• On June 23, 2008, Governor Ted Strickland and Lt. Governor Lee Fisher asked United States Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, to investigate antitrust implications of the proposed transaction between DHL Express and UPS. They also asked Secretary Mary E. Peters of the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate it as a potential combination of U.S. common carriers. Secretary Peters subsequently declined to block the transaction. The request to the Justice Department is pending.
• On July 15, 2008, the 20 Representatives and Senators who comprise Ohio’s Congressional Delegation asked the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the proposed agreement between DHL and UPS for possible violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Act.
• On Aug. 4, 2008, U.S. Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Antitrust Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, called for federal review of a proposed arrangement between United Parcel Service and DHL Express. Senators Kohl and Hatch stated that a proposed 10-year contract for UPS to become the exclusive provider of air transportation for DHL in North America raises important antitrust and competition issues.
• On Aug. 13, 2008, the Ohio Delegation wrote to German Chancellor Angela Merkel concerning the proposed agreement and its potential impact on Ohio and relations between the United States and Germany.

• On Aug. 19, 2008, State Senator John Carey of Wellston and State Representative David Daniels of Greenfield convened a joint meeting of the Ohio House State Government and Elections Committee and the Ohio Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee in Wilmington to hear testimony from those affected by the potential agreement between DHL and UPS.
• On Sept. 9, 2008, the full Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing on competition in the package delivery industry. Several task force members, testified that the proposed agreement violates U.S. antitrust law, would harm customers and would result in an unnecessary loss of jobs that would uproot the lives of thousands of families in Ohio. They emphasized the need for congressional action before DHL and UPS adopt an agreement that would permanently alter the competitive landscape in the U.S. package delivery industry.
• On Sept. 16, 2008, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing to examine the effects of the proposed arrangement between DHL and UPS on competition, customer service and employment. Several task force members testified, contending that DHL has not fully explored its options to maintain its national air network and sorting operations in Wilmington with substantially lower costs.

The task force has also reached out to the White House as well as to officials with the U.S. Departments of Labor, Commerce and Transportation.

Following discussions by Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Mike Turner with White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, the Bush administration tapped Sandy Baruah, assistant secretary for economic development at the Department of Commerce and acting administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Karl Zinsmeister, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, to lead the Bush administration’s response to the situation. As part of that assistance, the U.S. Department of Commerce is awarding a $150,000 economic development grant to help plan new uses for the Air Park.

Robert Hickey, a representative from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, has visited Clinton County and discussed federal Economic Development Assistance grants with city and county officials.

The State of Ohio has submitted an initial $6.7 million National Emergency Grant request to the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant would be used to provide training and other support to help employees get back to work as soon as possible.

On September 11, 2008, the U.S. Department of Commerce presented a workshop on redevelopment options for the Wilmington Air Park. Task force members attended presentations outlining redevelopment lessons learned by other communities following the loss of large employers.