State of California - Defense Impact Data
Abstract
Continuing uncertainty in the defense manufacturing sector since 2011 – driven by the Budget Control Act of 2011 – has placed California’s defense manufacturers in the position of having to choose to leave the defense sector and focus instead on commercial manufacturing in order to provide some revenue stability and predictability which would allow longer-term planning and investment in capital equipment purchases and workforce development. California plays a key role in the national security posture of the United States. The national security sector and military personnel stationed within the state contribute more than $160 billion dollars and almost 800,000 full-time employment positions to the California economy, making national security one of the largest economic drivers in the state. The state is home to more than 6,000 defense manufacturers and approximately 30,000 defense suppliers of all sizes that cross-cut economic sectors to power California’s economy and provide key resources to the American warfighter. The Governor’s Office of Planning & Research, together with the Governor’s Military Council and the California Research Bureau, is facilitating a comprehensive, statewide Economic Impact Study measuring the total direct and indirect economic impact of federal investment to support the National Defense Strategy on California’s economy, including for each of California’s 58 counties and for each of its 53 congressional districts. This will include activities not included in the state’s current economic impact studies and will fill in data and information gaps that are currently unknown to California. The study will collect and analyze data to measure the financial impacts of direct or indirect national security spending on security supply chains, research hubs, military hospitals, tourism, employment benefits and other factors that contribute to California’s economy. We are aware of no state that has an accurate picture of the economic impact of all these activities in their state and these numbers are not readily available from DoD, OEA or any other single federal agency. Changes in national security spending may adversely affect the capacity of some of California’s most innovative commercial industries, including information technology, aerospace and cybersecurity. Changes in national security spending can also lead to disproportionate impacts in economically distressed regions in California that rely on the national security sector as one of their main economic drivers. The 2020 Military Economic Impact Study will provide federal, state and local policy makers with downscaled data they need to better integrate and coordinate defense spending and other federal assistance programs to support economic development efforts. This study would help inform local and state efforts to promote regional economic resiliency in the face of changes in national security spending by providing business, civic and political leaders with accurate information about the sector’s economic footprint for each county and congressional district.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 13, 2021
- Source ID
- HQ00052010051
Entities
People
- Kyle L Smith
Organizations
- Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation
- Office of the Secretary of Defense