Fort Benning’s value to the Columbus economy a ‘massive’ $4.8 billion per year
Ponder this multibillion-dollar question: What if an employer guaranteeing nearly 22,000 good-paying jobs, and generating a ripple effect of about 37,000 more workers in the region around it, were to be on the market for any American city interested in it?
Serving as an operational and training hub for thousands as well, it would have an annual economic impact of $4.8 billion, with the initial construction of new facilities and infrastructure by even more skilled tradesmen the gravy on top of it all.
That’s not Amazon we’re talking about, the online mega-retailer that has been publicly shopping for a second headquarters outside of Seattle, dubbed “HQ2,” that will bring up to 50,000 jobs and a $5 billion construction investment to some fortunate city in the U.S.
Instead, the employer with the $4.8 billion impact would be none other than Fort Benning, a U.S. Army Infantry and Armor training post that is now celebrating its 100th year in Columbus. And it’s a fair bet that, like Amazon, a plethora of states and communities across America would salivate at landing the lucrative government installation in their area and eagerly work to attract it.
“I think the states would get real, real serious, and that’s why we never take Fort Benning for granted,” said Gary Jones, executive vice president of government and military affairs at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce.
“We approach Fort Benning as a massive economic development project,” said Jones, a retired Army colonel and former garrison commander at the post. “That’s the reason we work so closely with them to retain their current organization and to assist where we can in mission growth. … We want to do everything we can to help it better serve the Army, and also to better serve our nation.”
Since its relatively humble founding as Camp Benning in October 1918, Fort Benning has grown in size, population, missions, legacy and stature through major wars and isolated conflicts around the globe. Here at home, the installation’s workforce and economic impact has primarily risen through the years — save an occasional budget-cutting sequester order from Capitol Hill — with Jones calling the installation the “largest single economic factor in our bi-state region.”
That includes the huge payroll that is spent heavily in the Columbus-area each and every day of the year. The impact can be felt at retail stores, restaurants, car dealerships, service businesses and in the real-estate purchase and rental markets.
That money flows from the pockets of 11,000 active-duty soldiers and just under 11,000 government and contract civilians who work on the 182,464-acre installation and live on both sides of the Chattahoochee River, in Georgia and Alabama.
That doesn’t include the family members that the military personnel bring with them to Columbus or the estimated 31,000-plus military retirees and their families living in the area and supporting local businesses. The post also trains nearly 17,000 individuals yearly, with graduations often drawing family members and friends to the city, those visitors staying in hotels and eating out locally.
No one has to convince Will White of the importance of the military, with the managing partner of Columbus-based Greystone Properties, an apartment development company, estimating that 20 percent of his 2,500 units in the Columbus-Phenix City area are occupied by active-duty soldiers, some of those with families.
“In the multifamily industry in Columbus, we’re heavily dependent on the military and Fort Benning,” said White, whose company has 4,300 apartment units altogether in seven Southeast cities, with more on the way. “We obviously are very thankful for the military and the importance that they represent in our business. But we can see the ebb and flow of Fort Benning probably a little bit in advance of other businesses, just from our online rentals and from our (lease) notices” as soldiers come and go from the area after receiving transfer orders from the Army.
In the single-family housing market, Grayhawk Homes President Dave Erickson, a leading local builder in terms of units produced, estimates that as much as 40 percent of his sales in the region are to those connected in some way to the military. That includes active-duty soldiers, as well as those leaving the service and seeking a house in the area.
“By any measure, Fort Benning is a major contributor to economics and the daily lifeblood of the Columbus-area market, both Georgia and Alabama,” he said. “I emphasize that a lot. There’s a lot of retirees that choose to live on the Alabama side of the river for tax reasons, and that’s contributed to the growth of the Phenix City, Fort Mitchell and Smiths Station area in particular.”
Erickson, a former Army officer who served 12 years before departing in 1992 and jumping into real estate full time, believes that Columbus would be a modest-sized industrial town on the fringes of a corridor between Atlanta and Montgomery, Ala., if Fort Benning had not landed here a century ago and grown into the economic powerhouse that it has become.
“There’s a lot of former soldiers and military retirees who chose to stay here who have worked their way into the community as employees at various levels from banks to manufacturing to small businesses across the area,” he said. “I don’t think you can talk to 10 people of adult age in Columbus before you’re going to bump into somebody with some connection to Fort Benning — that works there now, that worked there in the past, or has a good friend that works there in some capacity.”
Columbus executive Reynolds Bickerstaff, a partner in Bickerstaff Parham Real Estate, echoed that thought somewhat, pointing out that it would be fair to say that the military post and all that comes with it, including its workforce, could easily be an Aflac, Synovus and TSYS all rolled into one. Those firms — an insurer, banking firm and credit-card processor — all are very significant and treasured employers in their own right locally.
“But what impacts our community the most from a real-estate perspective is … they’re your neighbor, they’re the parents of your children’s friends at school, they’re the potential purchaser of your home, you could be the potential purchaser of their home, they could be your landlord. It’s widespread in real estate,” he said.
Bickerstaff noted that local military-related people, either those who have served and entered the civilian workforce, or spouses of active-duty soldiers, have proven very valuable in running a company such as his. They’ve become agents selling homes, accountants and managers.
“Right now we have four employees in managerial positions whose husbands are active duty, and they would not be working at Bickerstaff Parham if their husbands weren’t stationed here,” he said. “There’s a lot of military wives who are overqualified for the positions here, but will work because they love to work and love to be a part of a community.”
That’s very important to note, he said, because while the economic cash that comes from Fort Benning paychecks and companies doing business with the post both are critical, there’s also a social impact that is made by those at the installation connecting with the surrounding communities.
“It’s not just what Fort Benning brings with the active duty, it’s what comes along with them, the family members. That has a huge impact,” Bickerstaff said. “They’re the ones that are also working in the private sector, who are working at the concession stand at Friday night football games. Fort Benning is a very large active participant in our community. It also has helped broaden our perspective and helps Columbus become a more diverse community.”
The bottom line, in a state where the military presence is prevalent, Fort Benning and its $4.8 billion annual impact is second only to Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Air Field’s $4.9 billion in Georgia. Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins is next at $2.9 billion, followed by $2.1 billion at Fort Gordon in Augusta, and $1.5 billion at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany.
Columbus commercial developer Ben Billings, who brought Walmart and its supercenter to Gateway Road several years ago, summed up the value of Fort Benning in historical terms.
“I had some landscape contractors in from out of town recently and we were talking about the importance Fort Benning plays in our community,” he said “You go back to when Fort Benning just came along and we weren’t anything but a spot in the road. We weren’t along a major highway. We were just stuck out here in the woods somewhere.”
Had history and a persistent effort by the local chamber of commerce not favored Columbus?
“Without Fort Benning, we would still be stuck out here in the woods somewhere,” Billings said. “They are very important to us and we applaud improvements or expansion at Fort Benning.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Here are various numbers related to Fort Benning and its U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence:
▪ Economic impact — $4.8 billion per year, includes payroll, job creation off post, sales and taxes generated
▪ Active-duty soldiers on post — About 11,000
▪ Civilian workers on post — Nearly 10,900, which includes federal employees and contract workers
▪ Troops in training — On average, nearly 17,000 each week
▪ Geographic size — 182,464 total acres, with 170,510 of those acres in Georgia, the rest in Alabama
▪ Training infrastructure — 83 live-fire ranges, 34 artillery/mortar points, 300 training areas, 49 training sites (145 daily training missions); home to the U.S. Army Infantry School and the U.S. Army Armor School
* Source: Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce/Regional Military Affairs Update
This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 12:00 AM.