Recordpub.com - Economy Ohio city hit by loss of DHL Wilmington shutdown will put 12,000 out of work

Associated Press

WILMINGTON -- The storefronts are empty in the heart of downtown, windows marked by signs declaring "For Rent" and "For Sale." A local charity is inundated with phone calls from parents with the same plea: Help us put toys under our Christmas tree.

This is the state of affairs in Wilmington, a southwest Ohio city that is struggling to stay afloat as the impending shutdown of an air shipping hub threatens to sink many of its 12,000 residents into unemployment.

One in three households face unemployment because of DHL's decision to close its air shipping hub here, and hundreds of workers have already been laid off. One in five small businesses could close because so much of the local economy is tied to the hub.

DHL plans to hire United Parcel Service to replace ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo, which employ 6,800 workers and transport DHL packages by air from the hub.

Much of the work done at Wilmington will be transferred to a UPS facility in Louisville, Ky.

Home sales have fallen as much as 40 percent compared to last year, and the value of the homes that do sell has dropped for the first time in at least three decades.

"Everyone is just treading water, at best, and some are struggling," said Butch Peelle, owner of Peelle & Lundy Realtors in Wilmington.

Residents remind each other of the community's resilient nature and how it has survived tough times in the past. But this time may be different.

The three bright red signs in Jennifer Plank's front yard on Walnut Street attest to how much her family's fortunes are tied to the airport. Each sign, which reads "ABX Air Employee Lives Here," represents a family member who will soon be unemployed.

She has worked at ABX as a hazardous materials specialist for 21 years. Her husband, Jerry, has been there for 18 years, and her 19-year-old-son, Nicholas, for six months.

"I always just assumed I'd stay there until retirement," said Plank, a hazardous-materials specialist.

Plank's husband lost his job two weeks ago, and her son plans to move to Dayton in search of work.

"You read the newspaper articles about coping with job loss, and they say it's the same as the stages of coping with death," Plank said. "I'm still in denial. I have that Pollyanna idea that something is going to work out."

Wilmington Mayor David Raizk has spent months fighting DHL's closure and rallying support for the city in Columbus and Washington.

He's on an economic task force and wants to hire an economic recovery coordinator to find a new tenant for the airport.

"It's a tough market, but if we can be creative, there might be some exciting opportunities for Wilmington," Raizk said. "It's a great time to think outside the box."

Born and raised in Wilmington, 58-year-old Raizk remembers the panic 30 years ago when the Air Force abandoned the airport.

That eventually opened the door to private air delivery services and, eventually, DHL.

The town persevered then, and it will find a way to survive until the next opportunity comes, he said.

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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com