Eastern North Carolina
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Military Contracts in North Carolina. The number is large. Four hundred and sixteen thousand military men and women are based in North Carolina.
Their goal: protect and defend our country.
Here in the Tarheel state, there is another military mission underway: Promote and expand economic opportunities through Department of Defense or DoD contracts.
“This is a growth industry, we’re in the war in terror, we don’t see an end to that right now, whatever your feelings about that it does create business opportunities,” says Scott Dorney, Executive Director of the North Carolina Military Business Center.
While North Carolina bills itself as the most military friendly state, it lags in valuable defense contracts.
Dorney explains, “Despite being 4th highest with 7 major military installations, we’re 26th in the country where the DOD spends their money for procurement. So what that means to us, is we have a lot of work to do to make sure we translate the presence of the military in our state into economic benefit, job creation, and expanding our economy in the state.”
State lawmakers want North Carolina businesses to seize opportunities. Legislators funded the non-profit North Carolina Military Business Center back in 2004. The website www.matchforce.org is helping link existing companies with military business.
Will Austin is Executive Director of the privately funded NC Military Foundation. Austin is focused on building what he calls the state’s defense and homeland security economy. He says the military impact is already significant. “It had a 24.3 billion dollar impact.” Austin adds, “That footprint is growing incredibly. The NC Department of Commerce forecast we will add 49 thousand jobs due to defense growth.”
Thanks to BRAC or base realignment and closures from other states, North Carolina’s military presence will swell over the next 4 years. More than 11 thousand additional Marines are headed to Camp Lejeune. Fort Bragg is on target to become the largest army installation in the world.
“When the government is going to spend five billion dollars in your state on construction, they’re putting that opportunity on your plate, you have to take advantage of it,” says Dorney.
Workers at Industrial Opportunities Incorporated, a former jeans plant, now make dozens of military products as a sub contractor for larger companies.
Tom O’Brien is President and CEO of IOI. “That’s where our little niche is, we can take the products that bigger businesses may not take on, it fits us real well.”
In Lillington, workers at the Saab Barracuda plant are taking advantage of technology the military needs. Workers carefully stitch camouflage sniper protection. They are making a product that helps soldiers practically vanish from view.
“We’re very close to Fort Bragg, and what we manufacture saves live so it’s special to all of us. We’re proud of what we do,” says Dottie Womack President and CEO of Saab Barracuda.
From security to supplies, some companies are finding ways to target skills and products and bring military dollars home to North Carolina. This year alone, Dorney says NC businesses have won 500 contracts, worth 1.5 billion dollars. “That’s not our accomplishment, it’s the accomplishment of great businesses in this state, and performs this work … It’s not tanks, planes, and submarines yet, although we’re working on that … What we have to make them understand, is that the opportunity exists."
The North Carolina Military Business Center
PO Box 1748
Fayetteville, NC 28302-1748
Scott Dorney, Executive Director
dorneys@ncmbc.us
910-323-4824
The North Carolina Military Foundation
5 West Hargett Street, Suite 801
Raleigh, NC 27601
Will Austen, Executive Director
wausten@ncmilitary.org
919-828-1322
Watch the NC Now Feature
An interview with Scott Doney