Posts Tagged ‘economic development’

The city of Philadelphia on Friday unveiled a new master plan for the former Philadelphia Navy Yard, a move necessitated by the remarkable investment and job growth the base has experienced since most naval activities shut down following the 1995 round of BRAC. Since 2000, when the city acquired 1,000 acres from the Navy, more than $130 million in publicly funded infrastructure improvements has leveraged more than $700 million in private investment …

The Solano County Board of Supervisors was scheduled this week to approve an economic diversification study intended to craft a strategy to reduce the local economy’s reliance on Travis Air Force Base in northern California. If the board approves the study, the county would receive a $370,000 grant from DOD’s Office of Economic Adjustment. The county would be required to contribute a 10 percent in-kind match of $41,000, which would be provided by staff managing the project …

A new initiative launched by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is aimed at protecting the state’s installations, partially by recruiting contractors to defense communities to help increase the military value of local bases. The Governor’s Defense Initiative, launched in November, isn’t specifically focused on the next base closure round, but it will attempt to ensure DOD policymakers are aware of Georgia’s military assets. “You can’t wait until BRAC lists bases that are going to close to start worrying about these things …

The FAA has indefinitely shelved a competition to select six test sites to assess whether unmanned aerial vehicles can be integrated into manned airspace, a prize a number of defense communities plan to pursue. The agency was to have named the six sites by next month, but previously missed a July deadline for requesting applications. Now the FAA is saying it needs to delay the competition because it needs to first address privacy concerns raised by the use of drone aircraft …

A new research alliance in central Virginia devoted to logistics is trying to build on the recent emergence of Fort Lee, located 25 miles south of Richmond, as the Army’s academic center for military logistics. The Virginia Logistics Research Center, housed just outside of the post in Petersburg, links the expertise of the engineering schools at the University of Virginia and Virginia State University with the business schools at Virginia Commonwealth University and Longwood University …

Jacksonville is going for a twofer when it hosts its Week of Valor next month, an effort to raise its profile as both a military-friendly and sports-friendly city. The week’s events will feature a college basketball game aboard the USS Bataan at Mayport Naval Station, a veterans jobs fair and a military appreciation lunch. For Jacksonville, the Week of Valor is an opportunity for the city to showcase its support for the military …

California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed six measures Saturday intended to restore some of the economic development tools to municipalities lost after the state eliminated its 400-plus redevelopment agencies last year. One measure, AB 2144, would have allowed cities to create “infrastructure and revitalization financing districts” if approved by 55 percent of voters. Another bill, SB 1156, would have allowed municipalities to set up joint powers authorities to finance projects within sustainable community investment areas …

More than 40,000 people attended last month’s Great State of Maine Air Show at Brunswick Landing, helping the LRA for the former Brunswick Naval Air Station break even on the event’s $800,000 cost. The air show — which featured the Thunderbirds, the Air Force’s precision flying team — was the second held at the air station since it officially closed. Last year’s event attracted 25,000 after the event was interrupted by Hurricane Irene …

The Navy’s plans for a developer to turn 104 acres at Saufley Field into a research/business park under the enhanced use leasing program appears to be stopped in its tracks due to the cost of moving several facilities to nearby Naval Air Station Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle. The Navy had selected DCK Worldwide to develop the parcel, but as the two parties began negotiating a development plan, the project ran into problems, reported the Pensacola News Journal …

The Fort Bragg Regional Alliance is partnering with two local economic development organizations in a year-long effort to attract defense-related companies to 11 central and eastern North Carolina counties. The alliance, an organization founded to ready communities surrounding Fort Bragg for BRAC-related growth, will contract through mid-2013 with North Carolina’s Southeast and the Research Triangle Regional Partnership to continue the development of the defense industry cluster in south central North Carolina …