Defense Contracting

Contracting Impact In Tri-County Area
Contracts & Purchase Card Transactions	Total Dollars	Tri-County Dollars	% of Total Contracted $ Staying in Tri-County Area
Construction	$122,337,800	$40,958,891	33.48%
Service Actions	$32,766,294	$18,476,791	56.39%
Supply Actions	$35,367,087	$3,401,316	9.62%
Total Contracted Dollars	$190,471,181	$62,836,998	32.99%
Government Purchase Card Actions	$16,746,337	$9,196,457	54.92%
Total	$207,217,518	$72,033,455	34.76%

Source: Fort Drum Economic Impact Statement, Fiscal Year 2009, page 7.

The Drum Country Region is home to Fort Drum, one of the largest military posts in the nation. The Army, the Soldiers and their spouses, and the many civilians working at Fort Drum are significant contributors to the region’s economy. Today, a confluence of changes at both national and regional levels is providing new opportunities to grow the regional economy and support the defense contracting industry.

From our strong telecommunications infrastructure to our evolved support system industries, deep labor pool and key geographic location, Drum Country is becoming a strong player in the defense contracting industries world. This is not just luck--the Ottawa Valley, a center for information technology and communication firms, is just across the St. Lawrence River, and there are positive economic factors encouraging firms from that area to open operations in the Drum Country Region: lower cost of doing business, broader distribution to US markets, a deep labor pool and expanded contracting opportunities.

Some of Drum Country and Fort Drum’s major economic opportunities include:

• Fort Drum’s role as purchaser of local and national goods.
• Fort Drum’s role as a magnet for defense activities that benefit from proximity to a large military base.
• Fort Drum’s role as a unique asset, providing ideas and even a testing ground for military-related product development and testing.
• Areas of Drum Country Region designated as a SBA HUBZONE for government contracting and procurement.
• Presence of a Procurement Technical Assistance Center in Drum Country to assist firms with identifying contracting and procurement opportunities at all levels of government.

Fort Drum: Purchasing Agent

The recent Fort Drum Economic Impact Statement shows Fort Drum as a major purchasing agent:

• In FY 2009—of the $207 million Fort Drum spent through contracts and purchase card transactions, $72 million, 34.76%, was spent with firms in the tri-county region. Construction contracts accounted for $40.96 million being spent with tri-county firms.
• Corps of Engineers spending in the Tri-County area was $113 million in 2009, for construction activities on post.
• Spending and investment at Fort Drum is expected to continue.   
  
  Source: Fort Drum Economic Impact Statement, Fiscal Year 2009, page 7-8 

As Army spending is projected to remain constant, and as Fort Drum continues to be a magnet for contracts--particularly Army contracts--businesses in Drum Country will continue to see increased opportunities. Fields estimated to show continued growth in contract opportunities in the region include:

• manufacturing
• construction
• services provided to the base
• information technology

With today’s higher energy costs, Drum Country’s competitive electric, water and natural gas costs and capacity alone make a compelling case for the region. A Drum Country location strategically positions you within a day’s drive of New York, New Jersey, Boston, Toronto and Montreal.

Water and Wastewater:

    Grow with the Flow

The Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) provides water and wastewater service to Fort Drum and water to Western Jefferson County while providing contract operations and maintenance services to municipalities in Drum Country. In eastern Jefferson County, the principal source of water and wastewater services is the City of Watertown Municipal System. The City’s Water Plant is rated at 15 million gallons per day--the kind of capacity favorable to any company.

In St. Lawrence County, surface water supplies are readily available and ground water supplies are also sufficient to accommodate the needs of municipal systems, private systems and industry. There are 22 municipal wastewater treatment facilities in St. Lawrence County.

Lewis County also offers excess waste water capacity in Lowville and an abundant supply of water for expansion in most communities.

Business Incentives:

    Helping Contracting Businesses Profit

Whether you are a start up or expanding business, Drum Country can help you access the following types of incentives:

• Workforce training programs
• Real property tax and investment incentives
• Energy and power discount programs
• Grants and low interest loan programs

Electricity:

    Reliable, Safe Power

National Grid delivers electricity to most of Drum Country, and customers can purchase electricity commodity through third party marketers or brokers.

The New York Power Authority, the largest state public power utility in the US, is a not-for-profit, public benefit authority that produces some of North America’s least expensive electricity. It also operates a transmission system to public and private customers.

The Massena Electric Department is a not-for profit electric utility owned by the Town of Massena. Their service reliability is ranked among the highest nationally by leading indicators and electricity rates for businesses and residents are in the lowest 10% nationally.

Telecommunications: Connectivity with Reliability

The Open Access Telecom Network (OATN), completed in 2003, is a carrier-class telecommunications network serving Drum Country and connecting the region to co-location facilities in Syracuse. The OATN is comprised of about 750 miles of fiber optic cable and 14 central offices which contain the electrical and optical equipment that power the network. System characteristics include:

• Carrier class network reliability
• TDM based DS1, DS3 and OC-X
• 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet connection speeds, as well as virtual local area networks
• 24x7 network monitoring and support
• Redundant connectivity
• Point-to-point or ring configurations
• Fast provisioning

The OATN is managed by the Development Authority of the North Country.

Major carriers including Verizon and TimeWarner Cable also have fiber optic networks throughout Drum Country. Several wireless broadband providers offer services to more remote areas of the region; to view a list of all providers click here.