New center, changes at Fort Knox starting to be felt in region
Posted June 23, 2010
The shuffling of commands at Fort Knox is expected to result in 7,800 new jobs and $322 million in payroll across the region.
FORT KNOX, Ky. -- Mike Zong was warming to the prospect of calling Kentucky home as he hit the midpoint of a recent five-day, six-county tour of the Fort Knox area. “It's not ‘small town' at all,” said Zong, a database manager who works in a suburb between Baltimore and Washington. “It has almost everything that I have right now.”
Zong is among thousands of workers who soon must decide whether to follow their jobs to Fort Knox later this year once the Army's Human Resources Command opens its new headquarters here.
Their decisions will ultimately determine how many families will move to counties surrounding the post and how many positions will be left over for local job seekers.
In the midst of a prolonged economic downturn, the new jobs at Fort Knox, and a related construction boom, are expected to send millions of dollars into the local and state economies. And 2010 marks the peak year for state and local tax revenue associated with the work on post, pumping as much as $6.4 million into the nine surrounding counties, according to a consultant's estimates for the Lincoln Trail Area Development District.
The Army expects 4,200 civilians, military personnel and contractors will work at the Human Resources Command's new headquarters, most of them by this fall.
Fort Knox spokeswoman Connie Shaffery said she expects 2,700 workers will move, leaving about 1,500 jobs to be filled. Many of the new workers, like Zong, work for companies that have contracts to provide services to the Human Resources Command.
The shuffling of commands at Fort Knox is expected to result in 7,800 new jobs and $322 million in payroll across the region, according to preliminary results from an economic impact analysis being prepared by University of Louisville economist Paul Coomes.
The nationwide base realignment is giving Fort Knox a facelift, with seven organizations arriving and three departing by the time the changes are complete next year. In October, the post welcomed the first soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. Starting this year, the U.S. Army Armor Center and School will begin its move to Fort Benning, Ga.
The Army's base changes announced in 2005 are starting to be felt as the year begins. Col. Eric Schwartz, Fort Knox's garrison commander, calls 2010 “The Big Inhale” because the post population will swell before the Armor School departs. “It's an exciting time for the installation as new units and organizations begin arriving,” Schwartz said. “We are finishing up important construction projects and renovations for all our new Fort Knox organizations.”
Jobs for local workers
There's been no lack of interest in the jobs coming to Fort Knox's Human Resources Command, though the Army doesn't yet know how many openings it will have.
About 2,000 people, mainly from about a dozen counties in the Fort Knox area, have attended three-hour federal hiring symposiums held each month over the past two years, and economic development officials say they've presented a shorter overview at 18 college campuses in Kentucky and Indiana and other locations.
In the midst of a prolonged economic downturn, the new jobs at Fort Knox, and a related construction boom, are expected to send millions of dollars into the local and state economies. And 2010 marks the peak year for state and local tax revenue associated with the work on post, pumping as much as $6.4 million into the nine surrounding counties, according to a consultant's estimates for the Lincoln Trail Area Development District.
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