Cincinnati Magazine published an article on October 30th outlining the recent history of Wilmington, Ohio. Wilmington, like so many small towns across the country, suffered immensely during the recession. In 2008 the town’s largest employer, DHL Shipping, announced that it planned to end its partnership with Airborne Express, who operated the Wilmington Air Park, and find another U.S. partner. The loss of nearly 10,000 jobs meant the city’s unemployment rate skyrocketed from 3 percent in 2007 to 19 percent by 2010. Wilmington quickly became the face of the recession, and large scale impact the economic downturn had received media attention from many major news outlets, including the New York Times and 60 minutes.
The article outlines the measures Wilmington has taken to begin the transformation of ‘face of the recession’ to a successful small town where people desire to live and work. The revitalization centers around public/private cooperation to attract young people back to the county, as well as a focus on economic diversity after they witnessed the devastation that dependence on a single industry can cause after DHL packed its bags. One of the keys of the turnaround was the town’s successful push to reclaim control of the Air Park. The 2.2 million square foot space has been used to host a number of public events, including an annual race and a ‘Tough Mudder’ human obstacle course.
Though the town has not fully recovered from the recession – the current unemployment rate is just under 10% – it is definitely heading in the right direction. Other small towns can learn from Wilmington’s experience, where their forward-thinking policies and foundation of an economic development work group have already attracted a number of businesses, including Polaris, to expand operations in the town. Farmers markets and community gardens are also being supported in downtown Wilmington. While still not fully recovered, Wilmington’s strategy seems to be working, and they soon expect to be featured in the news not for the damage of the recession, but for their impressive revitalization.
To learn more about Wilmington's recovery efforts, click here.