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News Index
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Military Contracts Have Biz Seeing Green (MetroWest Daily News)
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Despite a reputation as a hotbed of anti-war sentiment, the Bay State has been reaping huge rewards in federal spending - much of it in the form of defense contracts - since the beginning of the decade.
Records show spending on federal contracts in Massachusetts nearly doubled between 2000 and 2005, from $5.7 billion to nearly $10 billion, and jumped more than $2 billion from 2002 to the start of the Iraq War in 2003.
Does that mean the continuing War on Terror has been a boon to the state's economy?
"I would say so, yes," said Brian Gilmore, executive vice president of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a nonprofit industry group which represents dozens of companies in the state.
"(With the) universities and everything else, like (MIT's) Lincoln Labs and all the stuff going on at Hanscom - that's several billion dollars of economic impact annually to the region," he said. "The circulation of that money is probably two to three times as it travels through the economy."
But how to jibe Massachusetts' bluest-of-blue-states reputation with the windfall brought by defense contracts?
For starters, Gilmore said, few, if any, of the contracts in the state relate to the production of actual munitions. Most instead focus on military technology, making sure those munitions find the right targets.
"Anything that has to do with communications or logistics management," he said, describing the work typically done in the state.
"What we're talking about here is guys in white coats and business suits that are developing and translating technology into products...to enhance the capability of the military," said Alan Macdonald , executive director of the Waltham-based Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative.
"You're talking sensors, communications networks, GPS guidance systems, a lot of the high-tech networking that is really central to the direction of military technology capability, and enhancing the capabilities of individual soldiers through technology," Macdonald added.
As the military undergoes a technological transformation, the idea of inter-operability has moved to the forefront and Massachusetts companies are leading the charge.
"(It's about) allowing the Navy to communicate with an Army soldier on the ground," Macdonald said. "We're moving away from big platforms to how do you gather, analyze and deliver information to the appropriate soldier in an actionable way. Those are major technology challenges that are right up the alley of the Massachusetts technology."
(Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com)
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Video: May 16 Breakfast with Congresswoman Tsongas at Mercury Computer Systems (7/7/08)
Governor Makes Case for Cyber Command at Hanscom (5/22/08)
Regional Effort Needed to Attract Cyberspace Command (4/25/08)
General Quenneville Tapped to Lead Regions Defense Voice (1/25/08)
Hanscom Could Be Site of Cyber Command Center (3/20/08)
Bay State Officials Target Air Force Cyber R&D Dollars (1/4/08)
Natick Labs: Business, Military Putting Their Brains Together (11/27/07)
Base Realignments Lead Tech Firms to Ocean State (11/20/07)
Amid Bio Push, Older Tech Firms Look for Love (11/16/07)
Collaboration is Critical to Mass. Defense Sector (9/7/07)
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