Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about Fort Gordon and its effect on the CSRA’s economy. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact.
ABD: How does having Fort Gordon in Augusta affect our economy?
Rick: It’s a two-fold impact – there’s the direct spending, like with all the construction that’s going on out there now, and the other things that support the mission, like computers. But also obviously, as the number of personnel grows, as we’ve seen with cyber command, all of those people are adding to the economy. The more people who come here, the more services they need. It drives the service industry significantly.
Total defense spending in Georgia in 2018, the last year I can find numbers for, was $12.6 billion. It was 2.6 percent of the GDP of the state. Not all of that was for Fort Gordon, of course. But there’s been a lot of growth at Fort Gordon since then.
ABD: How has the move of cyber command to the area affected the economy?
Rick: When you think about the effect that Amazon has had when they brought their buildings here, the cyber command has done more than that. When you move a whole command, it’s as big as moving a company.
We’re definitely seeing a buildup of the military-industrial complex and we’re a bigger piece of it because of all the cyber. In addition to people moving here from other bases, we also have a lot of contractors moving in. That all spurs growth in the economy.
We’re fortunate to have the combination of the Department of Defense on one side with Fort Gordon and the Department of Energy with SRS on the other side. It doesn’t necessarily make us recession-proof but it is a big buffer for our economy.
ABD: Fort Gordon’s name will change to Fort Eisenhower by Jan. 1, 2024. Will that have any impact on the base or the local economy?
Rick: I wouldn’t think it’d have an effect one way or the other. I don’t know exactly who Gordon was, but I think if he was much more of a major figure you might have people boycott or protest, but it’s hard to see people getting riled up about it. Eisenhower was a very popular figure nationally and locally. We already have the Eisenhower Army Hospital, so there’s a significant impact of his name around here already.
ABD: You mentioned the need for more services with more personnel. Does this present some good opportunities for entrepreneurs?
Rick: It goes the full spectrum. It’s certainly an opportunity for cyber-related entrepreneurs. The military is trying to get things to the field as soon as possible, so there’s an opportunity for technical advances to do that. But also for the existing small business base, it’s an opportunity to see what you can do better to serve all of these people.
ABD: While it’s a great opportunity for many businesses, what do all the extra people moving in do with the already tight housing market?
Rick: It further exacerbates the market. There is only a limited amount of base housing, so there’s a wide breadth of the kinds of housing needed. Because the cyber assignments are typically longer than others, they’re more willing to buy a home rather than just rent. Another advantage of having cyber here is that people can retire here and get jobs working for other companies.
ABD: How have Augusta University and Fort Gordon worked together?
Rick: Unfortunately, we haven’t done much, but the good news is that we’re working more diligently on building a relationship. The military needs online classes more than anything because is so difficult for them to do face-to-face education. The university is building AU Online and I think online programming is where a lot of our work together will happen.
We do have some of those who, after they separate from the military, come here to finish up their degrees. We also have an undergrad mix of active duty, spouses, and other family members. At the graduate level, we have those getting out – we just had a graduate from the MBA program who got his MBA to transition into the private sector.
