Riddhi and Olivia on the effect of NCR leaving Dayton

Our podcast focuses on the effect that businesses leaving has on the local economy. The article we began our research with discusses what Dayton’s economy has gone through since the start of the 20th century up until 2008. It talks about how Dayton was “Once a beacon of manufacturing success”. It goes through examples of famous people and events that took place in Dayton throughout the course of history over the given period of time. These examples include but aren’t limited to The Wright Brothers, Dayton being home to the largest concentration of General Motors employees outside of Michigan, then home to some of the current Fortune 500 companies, and home to visionaries. The article also discusses the descent of Dayton’s economy; how thousands of manufacturing jobs and plants disappeared and left Dayton’s once booming economy dry which also lead to the plunge in Dayton’s population size and decrease in employment rates.

After a discussion with Mr Grieve, he suggested that we focus on one specific company, rather than doing a broad idea. We found out that NCR left Dayton in 2009. When we looked at the graphs of Dayton employment and unemployment rates in Dayton from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there was a fast peak of unemployment right as NCR announced it was leaving. We found this interesting and decided to use it in our podcast.

We chose Mr. McGrath to interview because he is the Beavercreek City Planner, and therefor has had a wide range of experiences, including the coming and going of companies. We thought he would know that people's reactions and effects on the area better than anyone. Though Beavercreek is not Dayton, it is near Dayton. In addition, we could take the things he says about Beavercreek and extrapolate them to Dayton and NCR.