Businesses await furloughs at Dayton air base

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Up to 13,000 civilian employees at Ohio’s largest military installation could face furloughs if defense spending cuts kick in as scheduled March 1 and that has business owners and public officials in surrounding communities worried about their bottom lines.

Scheduled cuts in defense spending — part of the so-called sequester that’s subject of a standoff between Democrats and Republicans in Washington — could have a significant effect on the communities around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress this week he may have to furlough civilian workers if the cuts aren’t averted.

For Wright-Patterson, that could be as many as 13,000 civilian employees for 22 days beginning in April. Base officials said no determination has been made on whether the days would be consecutive or one day a week through the end of the fiscal year, but furloughs would amount to about a 20 percent pay cut.