The San Diego Military Economic Impact Report for 2016 released on Tuesday shows the military and defense industry in San Diego is continuing to maintain similar growth of the last two years.
The report from the San Diego Military Advisory Council shows the military and defense companies will generate an estimated $44.7 billion of gross regional product (GRP) for San Diego County in fiscal 2016.
That is 20 percent of the region’s total GRP.
According to Lynn Reaser, Ph.D with Point Loma Nazarene University, at a time when technology is a vital part of national defense, San Diego is poised to continue to see a big economic boost.
Reaser's team worked on the study.
“It's not just what the military brings to San Diego, but what the ecosystem here means to the nation's defense," Reaser said. "You cannot do what we do here in San Diego anywhere else in the world.”
The report shows that 1 in 7 people in the region have some tie to the military, accounting for $23.3 billion dollars in direct spending.
Local
“That translates not into just jobs for our service men and women but a stronger local economy across the board," said San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
The military sector is generating more than 300,000 of the region’s total jobs in 2016, aaccording to the study. This represents one out of every five jobs existing in the County. Many of those jobs are in high tech areas such as cyber security and the development of unmanned systems.
Cubic Corporation employs thousands of people, including engineers who are responsible for the development of air combat training systems, systems for SPAWAR, and other advanced systems that allow the military to train and communicate while deployed.
John D. Thomas, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Cubic Corporation says the relationship with San Diego city leaders has been vital to their growth.
“Very helpful if you need to expand and find more space and just work through the process," he said.
Meanwhile, defense companies like General Atomics are working on cutting edge projects for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA here in San Diego County.
“This is really the department of defense center of excellence for the Navy and Marine Corps this is it," said Timothy Snoke, Director of Quality Assurance Electromagnetic Systems Group.
He says the company also designs and builds the technology that helps fighter jets launch and land on carriers, adding that being in San Diego is mission critical for them.
Dr. Reaser says future growth, even in the current political climate, is buffered for San Diego, as the pivot to the pacific is already underway bringing 60 percent of the fleet to the west. San Diego has 53 ships here now and that number is projected to grow to 84 ships in 2023.
There are 60,000 Marines and Sailors that call San Diego home, and having a supportive community for their families is also important to the success of the military’s mission. That is something money can’t buy, but is another reason San Diego continues to be a place that the Department of Defense taps for growth.
Another factor, according to the study, is the number of visitors that are brought into the region--subcontracting companies coming to meet with defense contractors, parents coming to one of the dozens of Marine graduations at MCRD, and people who come to visit family stationed here.
All of these visitors bring money into the economy, says Dr. Reaser.
To see the complete report from the San Diego Military Advisory Council, click here.
