Army Times - Officials: Arrival of Seabees should... -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 8/23/2006
Last Visited: 8/31/2006
The nearly 4,500 civilian and military employees already on the Seabee base contribute about $393 million annually to the local economy, or a little more than $1 million per day, said Mark Ashley, business manager at the base.
That figure, based on things like tax contribution and retail spending, is likely to increase with the arrival of about 676 civilian and military employees accompanying the new Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11 and Regiment 25, said Ashley.
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Ashley said base officials have two main challenges in preparing for the incoming Seabees - housing and office space.
While it would seem that in the difficult local housing market the arrival of hundreds of new families would be challenging, Ashley said base officials have prepared for it.
"We have an ongoing program to project our requirements (for future needs)," Ashley said."We were already, prior to this increase, looking to build 296 additional units of family housing as part of our recapitalization efforts.This additional increase just gets plugged into that process."
The base is also in the middle of a $430 million construction program, Ashley said.
Hurricane Katrina presented the base with the opportunity to replace faded structures, Ashley said, so housing and office space and their efficiency will be increasing in time for the arrival of the new Seabees.