Report: Air Force Research Lab’s economic impact on region rises to nearly $400 million

ROME, N.Y. — The Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate at Rome generated a more than $392 million economic impact on its five-county region, up nearly $40 million from 2016, according to its annual economic-impact analysis.

The facility had 1,204 direct employees, including 727 civilian employees, 422 on-site contractors and 55 military personnel, according to the report, issued by the directorate’s comptroller.

Those workers earned more than $145 million in pay in 2017. Of that, nearly $6 million went to military personnel, the rest to civilian employees and on-site contractors.

Another $193 million was spent by the directorate locally for everything from maintenance and modernization to service contracts, education, travel, and research and development. Research and development took the lion share of that with $173 million.

The report estimated that in addition to those directly employed by the directorate, another 1,367 had jobs indirectly created as a result of the directorate’s presence. Those workers earned an estimated $58 million in 2017, the report said.

With only a small percentage of workers living outside the region, the comptroller estimated that 2,536 jobs created directly and indirectly by the directorate boosted the area economy by $199 million.

In the 2016 report, the comptroller estimated a total impact of nearly $355 million. The 2017 increase of $37 million can be traced to higher spending on research and development, which climbed nearly $46 million. Such spending, the report said, includes only scientific and technical work by contractors in the region.

The directorate is the nation’s top research organization for command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence and cyber technologies, according to the Air Force. It adds that the directorate works on cutting-edge technology.

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com

Image credit: AFRL