Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Fayetteville (NC) Observer
May 13, 2008
Pg. 1
By Francis X. Gilpin, Staff writer
Since the war began in 2001, personal income in military communities across the U.S. — including Fayetteville — has skyrocketed by as much as 40 percent, federal data suggest.
The Fayetteville metro area ranks fourth in the U.S. for per capita income growth from 2001 to 2006, the most recent year of data. Six other communities, also dominated by military installations, rank in the top 25 for growth, among several wealthy havens and a few cities such as New Orleans where recent hurricanes changed the demographics.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be behind the jumps in income, according to experts. Combat pay and re-enlistment bonuses for professional soldiers, combined with the activation of National Guard and Reserve units, put more money in the bank accounts of personnel shipping out of Fort Bragg, said David G. Lenze of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, which issued the income data.
Fayetteville’s metro area — defined as Cumberland and Hoke counties — saw personal income jump 37 percent from 2001 to 2006, the most recent year available in the data.
Just three other metro areas out of 363 in the U.S. showed higher growth, with one of them being Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood.
Fort Campbell, which straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee line near Clarksville, Tenn., saw personal income rise nearly 37percent. Hinesville, Ga., near Fort Stewart, had a 35 percent jump in income.
The Fayetteville metro area — where per capita income rose by more than $8,900 over the five-year period — ranks No. 1 for North Carolina, according to the federal data. When considering Cumberland County by itself, without Hoke County, the numbers are even better: Personal income reached $34,245 in 2006, up more than $9,600 since 2001.
The second-fastest growth in the state — and 13th in the nation among metro areas — was Jacksonville, home to Camp Lejeune.
Per capita personal income is defined as what people earn from all sources, divided by the Census Bureau’s population estimates for that area.
Not all of the big gainers were military towns.
Retirement and vacation spots in Florida and the West showed up on the top 25 list, too. So did two metro areas in Louisiana, which was recovering from the economic devastation of Hurricane Katrina by 2006.
Still, N.C. State economist Michael L. Walden said the contingent of military communities supports the idea that Fort Bragg is the reason why Fayetteville is on the list.
But Walden said not all of the Fort Bragg-related pay will circulate into the local economy.
If soldiers are overseas, their earnings could be spent by their families back in their hometowns, Walden said.
But Paul Dordal, executive director of the Base Realignment and Closure Regional Task Force, said there’s evidence everywhere that Fort Bragg soldiers are spending.
“Look at the number of Harleys around here on the roads,” Dordal said. “If they just came off deployment and they’re single and living in the barracks, they’re ready to spend.”
Army 1st Lt. Yonel Charles, who returned from Afghanistan on April 13, drove away Friday from Cape Fear Harley-Davidson on Sycamore Dairy Road atop a new Rocker.
“I had a bunch of buddies over there that had bikes, so I got into the fray,” said Charles, who e-mailed his motorcycle order from a remote corner of Afghanistan.
Charles, 33, said Fayetteville businesses should benefit from Fort Bragg paychecks.
“It’s due in large part to the war itself and, of course, the extra pay and tax breaks that we receive while we’re overseas,” Charles said. “Being over there and being without for so long, you come back and feel, ‘Well, OK, I’m going to treat myself nice.’”
John W. Tew, general manager of the Fayetteville motorcycle dealership, said he draws customers from Hoke and Robeson counties as well.
“But the military helps us a lot,” Tew said. “Fort Bragg, because of their fixed income, does help out a lot.”
While higher paychecks are usually welcomed, a school official said Cumberland County’s military-generated rise in income can hurt in one respect.
State officials use per capita income to determine school subsidies, and they have cut Cumberland County education funds because of the income increase.
Ricky Lopes, an associate Cumberland County school superintendent, said the county still is relatively poor. Sporadic local spending by transient troops probably doesn’t mitigate the county’s overall poverty that much, Lopes said.
Downturn’s effects
The boon for military towns may not last forever.
Lenze, the researcher with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, said the rate of personal income growth created by the Pentagon already is showing signs of decline.
In a report last year, Lenze singled out Fayetteville among six military communities where the bump in income from 2005 to 2006 was less dramatic than the year earlier.
Recessionary conditions in 2007 and 2008 won’t make it easier to reverse that, experts say.
Nevertheless, Dordal predicted that incomes in Fayetteville will continue to see a steep upward trajectory over the next five years. Dordal said the BRAC process will bring Fort Bragg more senior officers, who make an average of $85,000 a year.
“That goes right into our disposal income pool,” Dordal said.
May 13, 2008
Pg. 1
By Francis X. Gilpin, Staff writer
Since the war began in 2001, personal income in military communities across the U.S. — including Fayetteville — has skyrocketed by as much as 40 percent, federal data suggest.
The Fayetteville metro area ranks fourth in the U.S. for per capita income growth from 2001 to 2006, the most recent year of data. Six other communities, also dominated by military installations, rank in the top 25 for growth, among several wealthy havens and a few cities such as New Orleans where recent hurricanes changed the demographics.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be behind the jumps in income, according to experts. Combat pay and re-enlistment bonuses for professional soldiers, combined with the activation of National Guard and Reserve units, put more money in the bank accounts of personnel shipping out of Fort Bragg, said David G. Lenze of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, which issued the income data.
Fayetteville’s metro area — defined as Cumberland and Hoke counties — saw personal income jump 37 percent from 2001 to 2006, the most recent year available in the data.
Just three other metro areas out of 363 in the U.S. showed higher growth, with one of them being Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood.
Fort Campbell, which straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee line near Clarksville, Tenn., saw personal income rise nearly 37percent. Hinesville, Ga., near Fort Stewart, had a 35 percent jump in income.
The Fayetteville metro area — where per capita income rose by more than $8,900 over the five-year period — ranks No. 1 for North Carolina, according to the federal data. When considering Cumberland County by itself, without Hoke County, the numbers are even better: Personal income reached $34,245 in 2006, up more than $9,600 since 2001.
The second-fastest growth in the state — and 13th in the nation among metro areas — was Jacksonville, home to Camp Lejeune.
Per capita personal income is defined as what people earn from all sources, divided by the Census Bureau’s population estimates for that area.
Not all of the big gainers were military towns.
Retirement and vacation spots in Florida and the West showed up on the top 25 list, too. So did two metro areas in Louisiana, which was recovering from the economic devastation of Hurricane Katrina by 2006.
Still, N.C. State economist Michael L. Walden said the contingent of military communities supports the idea that Fort Bragg is the reason why Fayetteville is on the list.
But Walden said not all of the Fort Bragg-related pay will circulate into the local economy.
If soldiers are overseas, their earnings could be spent by their families back in their hometowns, Walden said.
But Paul Dordal, executive director of the Base Realignment and Closure Regional Task Force, said there’s evidence everywhere that Fort Bragg soldiers are spending.
“Look at the number of Harleys around here on the roads,” Dordal said. “If they just came off deployment and they’re single and living in the barracks, they’re ready to spend.”
Army 1st Lt. Yonel Charles, who returned from Afghanistan on April 13, drove away Friday from Cape Fear Harley-Davidson on Sycamore Dairy Road atop a new Rocker.
“I had a bunch of buddies over there that had bikes, so I got into the fray,” said Charles, who e-mailed his motorcycle order from a remote corner of Afghanistan.
Charles, 33, said Fayetteville businesses should benefit from Fort Bragg paychecks.
“It’s due in large part to the war itself and, of course, the extra pay and tax breaks that we receive while we’re overseas,” Charles said. “Being over there and being without for so long, you come back and feel, ‘Well, OK, I’m going to treat myself nice.’”
John W. Tew, general manager of the Fayetteville motorcycle dealership, said he draws customers from Hoke and Robeson counties as well.
“But the military helps us a lot,” Tew said. “Fort Bragg, because of their fixed income, does help out a lot.”
While higher paychecks are usually welcomed, a school official said Cumberland County’s military-generated rise in income can hurt in one respect.
State officials use per capita income to determine school subsidies, and they have cut Cumberland County education funds because of the income increase.
Ricky Lopes, an associate Cumberland County school superintendent, said the county still is relatively poor. Sporadic local spending by transient troops probably doesn’t mitigate the county’s overall poverty that much, Lopes said.
Downturn’s effects
The boon for military towns may not last forever.
Lenze, the researcher with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, said the rate of personal income growth created by the Pentagon already is showing signs of decline.
In a report last year, Lenze singled out Fayetteville among six military communities where the bump in income from 2005 to 2006 was less dramatic than the year earlier.
Recessionary conditions in 2007 and 2008 won’t make it easier to reverse that, experts say.
Nevertheless, Dordal predicted that incomes in Fayetteville will continue to see a steep upward trajectory over the next five years. Dordal said the BRAC process will bring Fort Bragg more senior officers, who make an average of $85,000 a year.
“That goes right into our disposal income pool,” Dordal said.