Why should hoosiers, represented by the indiana general assembly, devote precious time and energy to supporting and developing the state's commercial defense operations?

Consider this fact: Indiana counts it's gross state Product in the billions of dollars. the U.S. defense industry measures its global fiscal impact in the trillions. in a time of serious economic concern for Indiana, it's important to note that U.S. government defense spending alone hit $675 billion - it's highest in a decade - in fiscal year 2008, according to the U.S. department of defense.

With this magnitude of market share available, indiana is uniquely positioned to grow its commercial and military defense cluster. the possible outcome? Thousands of new jobs and real wealth creation. Hoosier universities and commercial defense businesses have already generated thousands of high-paying technology jobs by capturing a share of this military economic sector, but many more opportunities remain. the important consideration? Coupled with the presence of the $2 billion NSA national federal laboratory in southern indiana, the state can attract addional major commercial defense companies and multi-million defense contracts. By leveraging the emerging assets at the westgate @ crane technology Park, located adjacent to the NSA/NSWC military technology facility near Crane, Indiana.

Given the existing military assets around the state, including the nationally recognized Muskatatuck urban training center, Camp Atterbury, Air National Guard (ANG) units at Terre Haute and Fort Wayne, and other facilities, the state possesses an enviable position. This opportunity is magnified when one considers how the state's major universities are already tied into national and international defense initiatives.

For those who haven't been to the region, the depth and breadth of commercial defense employment in the Crane area remains impressive. some 6,000 professionals drive every business day from 40 counties in indiana to work at the Naval Surface Activity (NSA) near Crane. The base, which is officially designated as a national federal laboratory, represents Indiana's largest military base in terms of geographic size and employment, and the U.S. navy's third-largest physical base. The approximately 3,000 federal civilian employees working at Crane and another 3,000 government contractors working in the Crane region constitute one of the most educated and well-paid workforce areas of the state.

NSA crane has a number of department of defense tenants, including its largest in terms of civilian government employees - naval surface warfare center (NSWC) crane.

NSWC crane officials have long desired the presence of a commercial defense-focused technology center outside of the base gates, and the WestGate is today beginning to fulfill that role.

Long considered to be an economic powerhouse, NSA Crane punches more than $1.7 million a day into the Indiana economy. While these numbers remain impressive, the base annually contracts out an additional $700 million in services beyond Indiana's borders. With defense tenants increasing at the WestGate, the park - with the support of the Indiana general assembly and state business leaders - hopes to lead the charge in re-capturing that $700 million in outside services and bring it back to Indiana.

As it comes online with additional new buildings, research and development facilities, and high-tech secure warehouses, the WestGate Technology Park is ideally situated to bring more of that potential back into Indiana.

Why is this important to the people of Indiana? Consider this view: "Commercial facilities with a research and development component can provide major advantages to a technical military facility like NSA Crane", says Jason Lovell, Director of the Indiana Office of Defense Development. "They enable high-tech commercial operations to work closely with federal engineers and scientists, thus potentially accelerating production and delivery of key products to the U.S. government." Accelerated production means more jobs and more business for all areas of Indiana.

As the tech park grows, Lovell predicts that the WestGate will become a "critical component in advancing the growth and influence of Indiana within the defense community."

How did a $2 billion high-tech facility get built in such a remote area? Begun as a deliberately isolated ammunition storage base during world war II, the Crane base dramatically increased its strategic value and diversity of services over the following decades. Today, the base is well-established as a vital strategic center for all branches of the U.S. military and homeland security.

The commercial nature and Certified Technology Park status of the WestGate add real value to the park's capacity to help NSA/NSWC Crane grow its multi-billion military funding attraction powers. Says Lovell: "Given its location next to NSA Crane, the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park is in an ideal location to develop synergies with on-base research and development operations. "Such synergy can only be expected to increase the attractiveness of the park and the region to multi-billion-dollar defense companies.

Certified as the state's only three-county Certified Technology Park (CTP) by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), the WestGate continues to focus its growth of the state's commercial defense industry by targeting high-tech companies for expansion and relocation to the WestGate region.