Securing Our Future
SAMANTHA CART
Growing the Defense Industry
“ I believe West Virginia is poised to make the defense industry the second most profitable industry in the state ,” says Eric Clark , federal contractor and defense liaison for the West Virginia Department of Economic Development .
While the energy industry has almost always dominated the number one spot in the Mountain State ’ s economy , Clark and his peers are working to make defense a driving economic force .
State leadership has been laying the groundwork for the defense industry ’ s accession for years . In 2014 , the U . S . Department of Defense ( DOD )’ s Office of Economic Adjustment ( OEA ), now known as the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation , provided funding for each state to map its defense supply chain to ensure resiliency . Initially , Anne Barth , executive director of TechConnect West Virginia , met with OEA officials to learn more about what this opportunity meant for the Mountain State .
With collaboration from the West Virginia Department of Commerce , West Virginia University ( WVU ) and
TechConnect received $ 1 million in grant funding to engage external consultants in research and help mapping West Virginia ’ s defense industry supply chain . The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness ( CREC ) was chosen for this research and provided the West Virginia Defense Industry Supply Chain Report , which was published in 2018 and helped inform state leaders , manufacturers and stakeholders of the contributions , impacts and potential opportunities this sector represents .
The report concluded that West Virginia should actively promote a dynamic defense industry . Along with opportunities to utilize the state ’ s existing manufacturing infrastructure , the DOD awards billions of dollars in contracts each year , funding that flows through federal contractors and subcontractors all the way down to local businesses and into communities . The study also found that the best ways to help West Virginia ’ s defense industry partners would be to encourage collaboration between companies and provide them with information and resources to accelerate growth .
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