http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/hj%20111014%20sb%20aerospace%20survey.mp3
It’s well known that Connecticut’s economy is heavily dependent on defense spending. But concern usually centers around the state’s big employers like Electric Boat and Pratt & Whitney. A new survey aims to demonstrate what the effects might be of defense cuts on small subcontractors. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.
Cutbacks in the nation’s defense budget, once unthinkable, are now firmly on the table.
“We must reform how and what we buy, meaning a fundamental overhaul of our approach to procurement, acquisition and contracting.”
That was then Defense Secretary Robert Gates two years ago, when he announced the termination of the F-22 fighter jet program – a big blow to Connecticut’s aerospace manufacturers. Since then pressure on the defense budget has only gotten more severe, as debate over the national debt has mounted. Republican Representative John Campbell recently offered an amendment to a budget bill that would have cut the Pentagon’s spending by two percent.
“We can’t deal with this debt unless we include the large spending in the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and Defend this country for less.”
All of this is causing disquiet in Connecticut, which ranks sixth among all states for its dependence on defense spending. The Department of Defense projects that it will spend almost $13 billion in Connecticut in 2011. That’s already a three percent cut from 2010, but the state may face something closer to a ten percent cut in defense dollars by 2015.
“So we specifically wanted to play out some scenarios of what might happen to companies in terms of their contracts and subsequently their workforce.”
Patricia Downs is director of workforce strategy at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. They’ve just received federal funding for an in-depth survey of Connecticut companies in the supply chain for the F-22 fighter jet and the F-35 joint strike fighter. Engines for both planes are assembled by Pratt & Whitney but hundreds of other, smaller companies supply parts to the giant engine maker.
“And we are talking about companies that range from 10 workers to companies that perhaps are more in the range of 100, 125 workers.”
In fact it’s estimated that the supply chain for the F-22 alone may involve more than two thousand workers in the state. At the time that program was cancelled, the Pentagon envisaged ramping up production of the F-35, but it’s now possible that may be delayed or scaled back, posing a further threat to employment. Deloitte Consulting will carry out the survey of aerospace companies for CCAT, and Patricia Downs says the aim of the data gathering is clear.
“Our goal is to keep those workers employed in aerospace whether it be defense or commercial, or at least keep them employed in our region in advanced manufacturing.”
She says, depending on the results of the survey, more federal funding may follow, as CCAT implements programs to retrain dislocated workers. And she has one message for companies currently receiving the survey.
“If you see this email come across your computer, please fill out the survey, because we need as much data as possible.”
For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.
