State seeks its share of defense dollars

Group's mission: Drum up business

WASHINGTON -- North Carolina, home to hogs, newfangled enzymes and incredibly fast cars, now will consider a future in guns.

Or tanks. Or uniforms, or computer programs, or anything else the U.S. Department of Defense might need to defend the nation and fight wars abroad.

As the Pentagon prepares to bring more troops and new commanders to Fort Bragg, state leaders have been quietly developing a plan to grow a defense industry as well.

The state will launch a private military foundation, led by retired generals, in hopes of bringing more big-time defense dollars -- and perhaps a new bullet factory or tank-rehabilitation plant -- to North Carolina.

"We should have ... a significant piece of this defense-industry sector," said Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who developed the idea for the foundation. "I know we can do better than we're doing."

The N.C. Military Foundation is scheduled to hold its first meeting today in Raleigh. It will name as its director former Capitol Hill staffer Will Austin, who was an executive assistant and foreign policy assistant for former Sen. John Edwards, and appoint a board composed of North Carolina corporate heavyweights and retired four- and three-star generals.

The group begins work with a two-year, $1 million grant from five North Carolina companies. The money will go to pay Austin's salary, consulting fees and perhaps any necessary studies.

The foundation already has a problem to solve: Get more money. North Carolina ranks No. 3 nationally in the number of active-duty military personnel but 25th in private-contractor defense spending by location of where the work was performed, according to a Defense Department ranking.

As a percentage of the state's gross product, the rank falls to 38, according to another study.

"There's a great disparity," said retired Gen. William "Buck" Kernan, a four-star general from Pinehurst who is expected to become foundation chairman. "We've got a wonderful opportunity here."

Should the United States begin withdrawing from Iraq, for example, there will be a need to refurbish and replace worn-out equipment, Kernan said.

Observers say the foundation's work could have consultants and board members asking members of Congress to slip projects for North Carolina into the defense spending bill, visiting with companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin to talk about partnerships, and developing close relationships with Pentagon finance officers to learn what's needed in the realm of defense.

"Whatever needs to be done, these guys will do," Perdue said.

What's already here

Last fiscal year, $2.9 billion of work from the Defense Department was performed in the state. Among the big players are General Dynamics, which has an operation in Charlotte.

Blackwater U.S.A., based in Moyock, is a significant private security contractor for the United States and is growing enough that it recently opened a new training facility in Illinois.

The community college system also runs a military business center in Fayetteville that monitors defense spending and funnels information to a network of small businesses.

"This is a great time for government contracting," said Scott Dorney, the center's executive director. The military is picking up private contracts for everything from food service to guarding the gates at Fort Bragg.

In one day last week, the Defense Department announced contracts totaling more than $1.1 billion for engineering, logistics, weapons work and more.

The department spent nearly $240 billion last year on private procurement alone, Perdue said.