newsworthy
More than two years after being abandoned by DHL
Express, the Wilmington, Ohio, air park is back on its feet.
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL), the Chicago-based real
estate and logistics services giant, announced June 6 that it
has begun marketing 2. 5 million square feet of office,
industrial, and aircraft hangar space at the air park for lease
or build-to-suit development. The 2,000-acre facility, nestled in southwest Ohio, has 3 million square feet in all, with
500,000 square feet already occupied by Air Transport
Services Group Inc., a provider of outsourced air-cargo
transportation and related services.
JLL is working on a master redevelopment plan that will
be submitted this November to the Clinton County (Ohio)
Port Authority, which took control of the facility in mid-
2010 after DHL transferred its ownership. Once the port
authority approves the plan, JLL will move ahead with what
David Lotterer, a senior associate at the firm, called “
targeted marketing” to potential buyers, developers, and lessees.
The announcement is significant because “it tells the
world that the air park is back in business,” Lotterer said.
Lotterer said his firm’s report will include recommenda-
tions on the most viable use of the facility. Prior to the
transfer of ownership, the air park was the largest privately
owned airport in the United States. Among its features are
two large runways capable of handling aircraft of any size,
Lotterer said.
Lotterer said the air park, located midway between
Cincinnati and Columbus, still has enormous potential as
either an air-cargo hub or as a distribution center. He said
it will probably be positioned as a multi-use facility and
that it is unlikely that one private entity would ever again
control it.
The former Airborne Express bought the air park from
the city of Wilmington in 1980, 10 years after the U.S. Air
Force abandoned it as a refueling depot. DHL took control
of the facility when it bought Airborne in 2003 and made
what it said amounted to about $300 million worth of
improvements in its seven years of ownership.
DHL’s January 2009 decision to end domestic U.S. oper-
ations and dramatically curtail operations at the air park
had a devastating impact on Wilmington and the seven sur-
rounding counties. In Wilmington, with a population of
less than 12,000, it was estimated that one in three house-
holds had someone employed at the air park at the time
DHL ended U.S. operations there.
Today, DHL serves the U.S. market only as part of an
international movement. Several months after ceasing
domestic service, it moved those international operations
to its hub in nearby Cincinnati, thus severing its ties with
Wilmington.
Ohio county seeks tenants for former DHL air hub
Walmart has honored nine of its transportation suppliers
for outstanding delivery service to Walmart’s distribution
centers. Recipients of the 2011 Walmart Carrier of the Year
awards are Baylor Trucking Inc., Heartland Express Inc.,
FedEx Corp., J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., John
Christner Trucking, New England Motor Freight Inc., Swift
Transportation Co., Western Express Inc., and YRC Inc. …
Lightning Pick Technologies was selected as one of the Top
100 Workplaces in Southeastern Wisconsin by the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. … Holland, a subsidiary of
YRC Worldwide Inc., has received the Eastman Chemical
Co. 2010 Supplier Excellence Award. This marks the fifth
consecutive year Holland has received this award. …
Intelligrated, an automated material handling solutions
provider, has earned a position on the Cincinnati Business
Courier’s “Fast 55” list for companies in the $100 million
and up category. This recognition is based on the company’s 196-percent growth in revenue from 2008 to 2010. …
Inmar and ADT Security Systems Inc. have been jointly
selected as a finalist for the Council of Supply Chain
accolades
Management Professionals’ 2011 Supply Chain Innovation
Award. Inmar collaborated with ADT to implement a warranty returns process system that automated product warranty and disposition decisions for the electronic security
provider. … DHL Supply Chain received the Sindusfarma
2011 Quality Award (Prêmio Sindusfarma de Qualidade
2011) from the Pharmaceutical Union for the State of São
Paulo in Brazil. The award recognizes DHL as the best
warehousing and distribution service supplier for the pharmaceutical industry. … Regal Logistics was recognized as
3PL of the Year by Spin Master, the third largest toy company in North America. … Ocean World Lines (OWL), a
global single-source NVOCC (non-vessel operating common carrier), has received the President’s “E” Award for
export service excellence. … Great West Casualty Co.
recently presented Choptank Freight Lines with the Gold
award for safety based on the carrier’s year-end prevent-able accident results. … DHL Express has achieved full
TAPA (Transported Asset Protection Association) certification for all of its key North American facilities.
