On Wednesday, more than 600 regional business leaders gathered for the Dayton Development Coalition’s Annual Meeting.
Gathering at the Dayton Convention Center, DDC President and CEO Jeff Hoagland touted the region’s economic accomplishments last year.
In 2025, companies committed to create more than 984 new jobs and keep more than 5,100 jobs in the Dayton region. Those projects will generate more than $73.3 million in new payroll and $1.7 billion in capital investment. The number represent companies that worked with the DDC and JobsOhio to expand or establish new operations in the region.
“We believe 2025 is a story of a region whose long game continues to pay off," Hoagland said. "Where collaboration is not an aspiration but a defining trait and where resilience is built into the culture of innovation that has shaped the Dayton region for generations.”
Leaders of IBM spoke at the meeting about that company’s history, its ties to Dayton and emerging tech like AI, hybrid cloud, and quantum strategy.
James Kavanaugh, senior VP and chief financial officer for IBM, spoke to the area’s strengths, such as its top universities, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the Midwest Microelectronics Consortium, and the local workforce.
“IBM has shown — and will continue to show— our commitment, whether it’s the beginnings with Wright-Patt AFRL with our quantum innovation center, or most recently the proud announcement with the University of Dayton about how we’re going to unlock the next breakthroughs in semiconductor chips. So the future is bright,” he said.
Kavanaugh repeated what he called a "well documented story" about IBM founder Thomas Watson Sr.'s career start at NCR.
Watson rose up to the level of company president at NCR, which at the time was one of the most influential companies from Dayton. Watson's boss was NCR founder John Patterson.
Kavanaugh described a well-known division between the two because Watson wanted to take NCR international.
"John Patterson wanted nothing to do with it," he said.
"And the actual term, 'you've been fired' started in Dayton, Ohio," Kavanaugh said. "Literally, Thomas Watson Sr.'s furniture in his office, Patterson took out, brought it on the front lawn in front of the corporate headquarters, and set it on fire."
For Kavanaugh, the firing actually "ignited a whole new industry and a whole company called IBM."
