AEDC’s 2010 economic impact exceeds $690 million Published Dec. 8, 2010 By Darbie Sizemore AEDC/PA ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- Arnold Engineering Development Center's (AEDC) economic impact - which includes AEDC and its remote operating locations - the Hypervelocity Tunnel 9 at White Oak in Silver Spring, Md., and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at Moffett Field, Calif. - was $694 million. Each location impacted the local areas through payroll, secondary jobs created through local spending, and other expenditures for supplies, utilities, fuel and services and the spin-off impact of those purchases. AEDC's impact for each operating location is: Tennessee $656.2 million, Maryland $19.1 million and California $18.6 million. AEDC employed a mixture of active-duty military personnel from the Air Force and Navy; Department of Defense civilians; and contractor personnel, which totaled 2,562 personnel in fiscal year (FY) 2010. Of the 2,562 personnel, 66 were active-duty military; nine Air Force Reserve and National Guard; 318 appropriated fund civilian employees (includes general schedule, federal wage board and other military branches); 64 government non-appropriated fund employees; 42 other civilians (credit union, base exchange and commissary tenants); and 2,063 contractor and sub-contractor employees. Additionally, using the Tennessee Valley Authority economic impact model methodology, AEDC estimated that approximately 1,800 secondary jobs were created in the local area, for a total of approximately 4,400 jobs directly related to AEDC. Examples of secondary jobs include those created by home construction, and at local supermarkets, car dealerships and department stores. During FY 2010, the payroll cost for AEDC government and contractor personnel was $282 million. AEDC's direct expenditures - which include utility costs, service contracts with outside vendors and military health insurance paid to local doctors and hospitals - was more than $468 million. Furthermore, the indirect spin-off impact of these direct expenditures is approximately $226 million. The overall economic impact figure does not include the estimated $93.4 million paid to the approximately 4,323 retired military personnel living in the local area. In total, this retired pay group generates more than $137 million, including the spin-off effect. Additionally, these figures do not include the impact from test customers like Pratt & Whitney, General Electric or other companies who maintain staff at AEDC to manage tests of their products or participate in the test process. When the monetary amount of customer field offices are added, AEDC's economic impact exceeds $1 billion. The economic impact data and secondary employment estimates represent AEDC's economic impact during FY 2010, which runs from Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010. AEDC operates the world's largest complex of ground test facilities with a replacement value of more than $11.3 billion.