NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — According to a new report, the U.S. Navy had more than $13 billion worth of economic impact in our region in 2017. That’s about a 5 percent increase from 2016.
Navy Region Mid-Atlantic gave the breakdown of $13.4 billion as about $11.4B in payroll, and the remainder in procurement of goods and services.
“It reflects a pay raise for both civil servants and uniformed service members, and that will ripple through our economy,” said Craig Quigley, Executive Director for the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance.
All that spending means a lot to Ezra Ward, manager of Cal’z Pizza. Just a few blocks down Hampton Boulevard from Gate 5, Cal’z relies on the Navy as the main ingredient for most of its business.
“60 to 70 percent I would say, easily,” Ward says. “We go to all of the piers, all of the buildings, over to the air terminals where they have the planes.”
Spending is higher and so is the number of personnel. Total active duty members have increased 7 percent.
“(That means) more pizzas being purchased, more cars being purchased, they rent more apartments, buy more homes, buy more condos,” Quigley said.
And Navy spending on shipbuilding and maintenance is up, too.
“I’ve never seen so many ships in the repair yards on the Norfolk and Portsmouth waterfront,” Quigley said. He predicts more good economic news from the Navy next year at this time, because budget constraints have been lifted in the current fiscal year, enabling even more spending.