Feature Story
Hill Air Force Base a Magnet of Economic Activity
One of Utah's most significant magnets of economic activity sits on 6,698 acres approximately 30 miles north of Salt Lake City: Hill Air Force Base.
Covering parts of Davis and Weber Counties, Hill AFB is the largest single site employer in the state. It accounts for nearly 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, pumps approximately $3.6 billion annually into the Utah economy, creating $2.3 billion in personal income and annual state tax revenue of $192 million, according to estimates for 2009 from the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, which studied the economic impact of closing Hill AFB prior to the last round of military base realignment and closure (BRAC) efforts.
Having survived five rounds of BRAC activity that closed hundreds of other military installations, Hill AFB and the communities surrounding it thrive today, thanks largely to the efforts of Utah's government and business leaders, and the Utah Defense Alliance (UDA). The UDA began in the early 1990s as a group of volunteer citizens and businesses working to ensure the long-term viability of Hill AFB. The hard work, vision and planning by the UDA and other leaders resulted in Hill AFB not only remaining open, but expanding its presence as a military installation and an economic driver.
"Hill Air Force Base is one of the crown jewels of northern Utah," says Gary Harter, managing director of business creation in the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "Hill has been an amazing economic engine through the years and we do our best to work with leaders on base, as well as its partners in academia, to be sure that continues to happen now and in the future."
One in a Series Spotlighting Utah's Military Installations
National defense is a significant source of economic activity in Utah. With five major military installations in the state, including Hill Air Force Base, Dugway Proving Ground, Tooele Army Depot, Camp Williams, and Deseret Chemical Depot, defense related expenditures and payrolls circulate through the Utah economy, creating jobs and sustaining nearby communities. In upcoming issues of the Economic Review, EDCUtah will spotlight each of the Utah installations and their economic impact on the state.
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The core of business activity in and around Hill AFB has made it one of the most dominant influences on Davis County's economy since the 1930s and has been the defining factor in establishing Davis as one of Utah's most prosperous counties. What's more, Hill AFB is a key component of Utah's thriving Defense and Homeland Security Cluster area, one of seven cluster areas within the Governor's Economic Cluster Initiative. Other cluster areas include: Aerospace & Aviation, Energy & Natural Resources, Financial Services, Life Sciences, Software Development & Information Technology, and Outdoor Products & Recreation.
23,000 Military and Civilian Employees
It is estimated that over 23,000 military, defense civilians and contractors pass through Hill AFB's gates on a daily basis, performing myriad tasks for the Ogden Air Logistics Center, which provides worldwide engineering and logistics management for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The base performs depot maintenance for the F-16, A-10 and C-130 Hercules aircraft and has been designated as a primary maintainer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as it comes on-line to replace the F-16 fighter. The Hill AFB workforce is recognized as expert in the repair of the nation's intercontinental ballistic missiles, aircraft landing gear, wheels and brakes, munitions, aircraft software and information processing. According to Military.com it would cost approximately $1.2 billion to duplicate Hill's ICBM facilities and another $200 million to duplicate its world-class, fully automated landing gear facility.
Hill AFB is also home to two premier fighter wings -- the 388th Fighter Wing and the 419th Fighter Wing (Air Force Reserve). In October 2009 the Air Force announced that Hill AFB was among three active duty bases being considered for basing F-35A operations. The other two candidate bases for operations are Mountain Home AFB, in Idaho; and Shaw AFB/McEntire Joint National Guard Base, in South Carolina. The Air Force must complete a deliberate stationing analysis to determine the final bases selected for the F-35, but Hill's selection demonstrates the Air Force's commitment to the base and the excellent workforce here.
Family-Sustaining Jobs
"We are fortunate to have Hill AFB here in our community, as it brings Northrop Grumman, ATK, Boeing, Aerospace Engineering Spectrum, Valdez Machining, Evans & Sutherland Corporation, Camnetics Manufacturing, Moog Aircraft Group, Aerospace Engineering and Support, and many other companies to help provide valuable, family-sustaining jobs to the area," says Kent Sulser, economic development director for Davis County.
Indeed, scores of general contracting companies provide high-paying jobs in their efforts to support Hill AFB's mission. Some of the larger contractors not mentioned by Sulser include such companies as ARINC, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, and SAIC. Numerous other small businesses provide subcontracting services to the base as well. During fiscal 2009 Hill AFB contracted $2.97 billion. The largest single contract, worth nearly $800 million, went to Northrop-Grumman for maintenance on the Minuteman missile. In other work, Hill AFB was selected for an increased workload in its software engineering workstation due to continued superior performance in this function. The additional software workload will result in the hiring of 300-350 engineers and technicians. Hill was also selected to perform maintenance, repair, and overhaul logistics functions for the Predator Unmanned Aircraft System.
"What has really been great to see is the collaborative relationship between Hill, the local communities, the defense contractors, academia, and state government leaders. Everyone is working together, which has really made Hill successful and kept it off of the closure list," adds Harter. "We continue to work with Hill to get more workload. I'd like to see direct and indirect employment at the base keep on growing and growing."
Sulser says another element that makes Hill AFB so valuable to the military is the Utah Test and
Training Range (UTTR), which the base manages. The UTTR is the largest overland safety footprint available in the Department of Defense for aircrew training and weapons testing. It supports training customers with capabilities for air-to-ground, air-to-air, and ground force exercises. The UTTR is located in north-western Utah and eastern Nevada. It is contained within the Great Salt Lake Desert, approximately 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. Mission Control facilities are located off-range at Hill AFB. The UTTR is characterized by variable desert terrain that includes undulating sand dunes, mountains rising abruptly from the desert floor, and rolling hills building up to mountain ranges.
"It's a great place for training," notes Sulser.
Falcon Hill
Through an Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) contract between the Department of the Air Force and private developer Sunset Ridge Development Partners, LLC, a $1.5 billion aerospace research park called Falcon Hill is planned for 550 acres of land on the west side of Hill AFB.
Under this EUL, the largest in the history of the Department of the Air Force, the developer will finance, build and manage eight million square feet of office space, including supporting restaurants and hotels at Hill AFB under a 50-year lease. In compensation, Hill will receive up to 1.6 million square feet of free office space to use for Air Force projects. The remaining office space will be leased to private entities, such as defense contractors and other governmental agencies.
In addition to the state-of-the-art office space that Falcon Hill will provide Hill's existing workforce, the development is expected to be a huge addition to Utah's aerospace family, attracting aerospace, aviation and high-tech corporations to northern Utah.
Another development, called East Gate, covering 550 acres next to the eastern border of Hill AFB, has been zoned for industrial use. Its developer, J.L. Properties, is working with an interested aerospace-related client and hopes to announce East Gate's first tenant in the near future. Layton City recently completed road access and public utilities into the industrial park, and a new gate entrance into Hill AFB will allow contractors direct access to and from the base.
"East Gate is a significant parcel in a strategic location. It will really compliment what is going with Falcon Hill," says Sulser.
Utah Cluster Acceleration Partnership
Harter notes that Hill AFB has been an active participant in the Utah Cluster Acceleration Partnership (UCAP), which is a collaborative effort between leaders from industry, state government, higher education and Utah's research community. In his State of the State Address in January, Governor Herbert cited UCAP as one of two education groups that will look to improve public and higher education in shaping higher education to workforce needs.
"UCAP will significantly increase the economic impact of higher education on Utah's important industry clusters," Harter adds. "UCAP is a way for academia to connect with industry to ensure that academia is forward-looking and has a strategy in place to supply the needed workforce for industry now and in the future."
The first effort to come out of UCAP was an aerospace project supported by Hill AFB, Weber State University, Barnes Aerospace, ATK, USTAR, and the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
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