Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 14, 1993 TAG: 9303140014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
EASTERN VA. STANDS TO GAIN FROM CLOSINGS
Hampton Roads stands to gain more than it will lose from the base closings and realignments proposed by the Pentagon, local economists and business leaders say.However, the unexpected proposed shutdowns of several major Navy facilities in the area would force thousands of federal workers and contract employees to make tough transitions to new jobs.
"I think we came out rather well, all things considered," said John Whaley, chief economist for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. "But I don't want to be cold-hearted about this. Certainly, this is bad news if you're one of the folks who's . . . going to lose his job."
He figures that Hampton Roads will gain at least 5,000 jobs - directly and indirectly, through spinoff effects. Economists said many, if not most, of those people would earn less than they do now.
Dozens of local military facilities would be affected if the proposals announced Friday by Secretary of Defense Les Aspin are approved.
Most would gain jobs. Others, including the Naval Aviation Depot in Norfolk and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Detachment, are to be shut down altogether.
About 9,000 more people in uniform would be stationed in the area - helping to offset the loss of about 4,300 civilian jobs at various military facilities.
Gregory Wingfield, president of Forward Hampton Roads - the region's main economic-development group and an arm of the chamber of commerce - likewise saw the news as positive overall.
"We need to take a look at the big picture," he said. "We came out a lot better than places like Charleston or the West Coast." South Carolina is to lose more than 17,000 jobs and two major bases; California 32,000 jobs and seven major bases.
But with the region headed for thousands of Defense Department civilian job cuts, including some of the highest-paying blue-collar jobs in Hampton Roads at the Naval Aviation Depot, Wingfield is preparing for some painful dislocations.
"That was a complete surprise," he said.
Gerald Lake, a General Electric Co. manager and an officer of the Tidewater Association of Service Contractors, said the depot's shutdown and the closure of the undersea warfare center would have consequences that go far beyond their several thousand civilian jobs.
"If you have a contract with one of these guys, it's going to be devastating," Lake said. Contractors who deal with the facilities would have to lay off some or all of their employees, too.
But, Lake said, "As an area, we're probably all right. It's clear the military will still have a very strong role here."
Doug Forrest, vice president of Colonna's Shipyard Inc. of Norfolk, said the planned movement of seven ships to Norfolk from other East Coast ports would help the struggling local ship repair industry.
"It's good news the Navy has made [Hampton Roads] their citadel on the East Coast," he said.
But adjusting to negative news won't be easy, especially for workers at the Naval Aviation Depot.
"This was just a total surprise - a shock," said George Yaeckel, chairman of Lodge 39 of the International Association of Machinists. "We're going to do everything we can . . . to try to get this thing overturned."
Of all the jobs Hampton Roads stands to lose, the depot jobs are the most valuable and would be the hardest to replace, Whaley said.
For every industrial-type job like the depot's, 1 1/2 jobs are spun off in the local economy, he said.