SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Springfield is officially set to become a factory town for the next era of flight, as Electra moves forward with its $850 million production campus at AirPark Ohio, an investment the company says will create 1,975 jobs building a nine-passenger hybrid-electric aircraft that can take off and land in as little as 150 feet.
Electra formalized its commitment to the site adjacent to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in Clark County, celebrating with Gov. Mike DeWine, JobsOhio, the Dayton Development Coalition and local partners in Springfield in late October, according to the company and state officials. The planned facility covers about 96 acres at AirPark Ohio, home to the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence.
The aircraft Springfield will build is the EL9 Ultra Short, a fixed-wing plane using hybrid-electric propulsion and blown-lift aerodynamics to operate from extremely short landing areas — a design Electra says opens the door to point-to-point regional air travel from places that cannot support conventional runways.
Production is planned in phases: the first phase is designed for capacity of 400 aircraft a year, with a second phase expanding output to 800 aircraft annually, according to the company. Construction is expected to break ground in 2027.
Ohio backed the project with a substantial incentive package after Electra ran a year-long national search that evaluated more than 140 potential sites. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority has approved a 30-year Job Creation Tax Credit for the project tied to new Ohio payroll that Electra projects could reach about $181.5 million a year by the end of 2035, according to JobsOhio and state records.
Electra’s chief executive, Marc Allen, put the choice plainly when the project was welcomed to the Miami Valley: Ohio is “genuinely now the hub for aerospace,” Allen said, according to the company’s announcement.
The EL9 itself is still working toward the sky. The aircraft is before the Federal Aviation Administration for Part 23 type certification, with a first flight expected in late 2027 or early 2028 and entry into commercial service targeted for 2030, according to the company. Electra has also signed an airframe agreement with The Atlas Group to build airframes for the flight test and certification program, with first deliveries expected in 2027.
For Springfield and Clark County, the payoff is nearly 2,000 skilled aerospace jobs — engineers, mechanics and technicians — in the region that first gave the world powered flight. Design work is under way now, and the first hiring waves will follow as construction begins in 2027.
Photo: Nyttend, CC BY 2.0