Study: Military Significantly Impacts San Diego Economy

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 31, 2007 at 12:06 PM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

A new study by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce concludes twenty per cent of jobs in San Diego County are either directly or indirectly supported by military spending, KPBS reporter Alison St John ha

A new study by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce concludes twenty per cent of jobs in San Diego County are either directly or indirectly supported by military spending, KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The study looks at the economic impact of the military in San Diego. The Federal government pumped $11 billion into military salaries, research and manufacturing contracts in 2004, and that number is growing.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Chamber of Commerce President, Ruben Barrales, says San Diego's economy is getting more diverse, so military spending isn't as big a part of the economy as it used to be.

Barrales: Even though the military dollars in our region are increasing, it's actually a somewhat smaller percentage of the overall economy.

Back in the 1930s, the navy was 30 percent of the local economy. Now, the study says, federal contracts, plus military and related civilian salaries make up 15 percent of the gross regional product. That makes the military the second largest employer in the region after manufacturing. Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

twitter

Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.