Spotlight on Dayton

According to the Dayton Daily News, this city's not looking so hot. Now believe me, this was pretty shocking to me too, so if you don't believe it at first, I won't blame you. After all, if you ask anybody on the street downtown, they'll go on and on about how the recession has hardly touched our town. But as the article says, there's an effort to highlight the fact that every now and then, well, we've still got a thing or two going for us.

The Dayton Region Rally, slated for November 17th (so Tuesday, for anybody who's interested), is an event sponsored by the DDN itself. Focused around three themes -- work, play and living -- the Rally will play host to a variety of speakers from regional businesses and groups such as the Victoria Theatre Association and the Downtown Dayton Plan. This event is set to take place at the UD Arena from 3:30 to 5:30, so if you can spare a few hours and this is your sort of thing, have at it.

While I can appreciate the sentiment, I'm not entirely clear on how something like this is supposed to increase confidence in the Dayton economy. Speaking personally, I'm more interested in seeing results rather than hearing speeches, albeit I can easily see the value in tidin people over with a little hope until things kick back up. To put that more plainly, even if things are going well, people have to be convinced that they're going well, and vice-versa. I can't say I know if this will have the effect they intend, but I suppose it's better than doing absolutely nothin.

The Dayton Port Authority

The Dayton Daily News reports that, despite hard times all around, things are starting to look up for the Dayton Port Authority. Roy Parker, the director of the Authority, has stated that there have been four proposals ranging from 3 to 50 million dollars. This is in start contrast to a time not that long ago when, according to the article, his phone was essentially dead.

For those not in the know, the DDN article states: "The port authority can make loans to companies or local governments, receive grants and purchase assets such as buildings or land for economic development purposes." Frankly, before reaading that I hadn't really known myself, so I won't pretend that I'm some kind of expert.

So -- and here's the constant question -- what's it mean for Dayton? Well, you can see my earlier articles for my thoughts on this stuff in a more general sense. But from a more...casual standpoint, it's nice to see the old girl getting some business going on. Oh, it's nothing like GM coming back or anything -- it's not going to be a shock to get the heart pumping again -- but it's always nice to hear that things are looking up SOMEWHERE. And further, what's good for them is good for everyone else, I suppose.

With the PA doing better, that means that (presumably) it's more likely that other businesses can get in on the loan action. I'm in absolutely no way suggesting this is the end-all-be-all-super-amazing-revive-Dayton spiel, but...well, beggers can hardly be choosers, alright?