Agency to bring $64 million more in salaries to Charlottesville area

When the Defense Intelligence Agency brings an estimated 800 employees to Rivanna Station in September, it will join the nearly $110 million defense-related industry already headquartered in Central Virginia.

The DIA is relocating much of its intelligence analysis function to the Albemarle County facility now occupied by the National Ground Intelligence Center. The move will improve communications and cooperation between the agencies, officials said.

Area business leaders have heralded the new jobs as good for the area.

"The DIA says the average salary will be $80,000. That means that in October 2010 there will be $64 million more in salaries that aren't here now," said Timothy Hulbert, president and chief executive officer of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. "That's huge."

Not all of the 800 employees DIA wants to bring to town are coming. To compensate, DIA officials are opening some jobs to local residents and proffering contracts for local businesses. There are specific positions available and residents are welcome to fill out applications online at www.dia.mil by midnight Wednesday.

"It's a targeted campaign in that we have specific positions we want to fill," said Laura Donnelly, DIA spokeswoman. "These are known vacancies or anticipated vacancies, so we know the jobs are available."

DIA personnel will screen applicants. Those applicants officials are interested in will be invited to a Dec. 14 job fair, Donnelly said.

"All candidates will know if they are still under consideration when they leave on Dec. 14," she said. "Acceptance requires that candidates receive a top secret security clearance."

Diversifying the economy

Defense contracts already stimulate area businesses. In 2008, contracts brought more than $92 million into Charlottesville and $64.4 million into Albemarle County.

The federal government spent more than $991 million in defense contracts in Central Virginia between 2000 and 2008, according to federal figures, with more than $880 million in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

The contracts include everything from uniforms to laboratory analysis to commissary food. Defense-related companies in the area build weapons systems, targeting systems, radar, navigation, anti-explosive devices and firearms.

The totals do not include the military's Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School for military lawyers and legal officials at the University of Virginia, nor the Charlottesville-based Federal Executive Institute, operated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

"The defense industry is growing and bringing good jobs into the local economy that will help diversify our economic base," said Michael Harvey, of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership for Economic Development. "I think adding the [DIA] is going to be really good for the community and may attract more of these mostly high-tech companies."

Here 'for the long haul'

Several companies focusing on military and homeland security intelligence have also settled in Central Virginia to be close to NGIC and DIA, Hulbert said. Among them are HSA, an intelligence agency, and Ashbury International Group, manufacturer of laser sights for military equipment.

Companies credit NGIC, UVa and local officials for providing a positive environment.

"We've done a lot of work with the [University of Virginia], and the residents and leadership of the area have been very gracious and receptive to us," said Jerry Marsh, of NIITEK, a Sterling-based defense contractor that has a manufacturing facility in Albemarle County.

NIITEK, also known as Non-intrusive Inspection Technology Inc., has designed ground-penetrating radar that affixes to the front of military vehicles to detect improvised explosive devices. The products are being used in Afghanistan where IEDs have taken a heavy toll on military personnel, company officials said.

The company is expected to add 125 jobs to its plant after being awarded an estimated $8.4 million military contract earlier this year.

Marsh said the company expects to remain in Albemarle County. "We plan to be there for the long haul. We like the area and the people have been very good to us. We're hoping to expand as we can."

5 decades of expansion

Central Virginia has long had defense contractors in its confines, beginning with the arrival of Sperry Marine in the 1950s and the U.S. Army Foreign Science and Technology Center, which located in downtown Charlottesville in 1962.

That agency expanded in 1994, when it was merged with the Army's Intelligence and Threat Analysis Center and was renamed the National Ground Intelligence Center. In 2001, NGIC left the city and moved to its current location along U.S. 29 in Albemarle County.

"As the focus has sharpened with the addition of the DIA and its move, we've become aware of this whole economic sector that has grown almost by itself," Hulbert said. "I don't think we had a grasp of the fact that the Charlottesville area has become a center for the intelligence agencies and organizations."

Hulbert said defense intelligence contracts are a growing source of revenue and income for Central Virginians.

"It's important as an economic engine that's here and growing," Hulbert said. "Other companies like General Electric and Sperry Marine that have been here for a while see the growth as a tremendous opportunity. Knowing that NGIC and DIA are here helps cement their commitment to the area."