Navy Week Showcases Defense Sector’s Central Indiana Impact

Indy Chamber News Archives

Dozens of sailors and officers from the U.S. Navy will visit Indianapolis this week to highlight the economic impact this military branch makes on the state and Central Indiana region during a week-long series of meetings and events, known as Navy Week.

The U.S. Navy and the state of Indiana share steadfast economic ties. Some 55 Indiana companies are direct suppliers to the Navy, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center and Naval Support Activity in Crane make an outsize impact on the state and regional economy. Crane, where technologies deployed by the Navy to meet its mission of protecting America “around the world, around the clock,” are developed and tested, is the third largest naval installation in the world. It wields an annual economic impact of $796 million in Indiana, which includes a $15 million cumulative impact each year in the Central Indiana counties of Marion, Morgan, Hancock, Hendricks and Shelby.

The Navy’s activity in the region and state is part of the sizable economic dent of overall defense spending in Indiana. Such spending doubled in the Hoosier state over most recent decade, with more than 1,100 Indiana companies attracting $4.4 billion in contracts from the federal departments of defense and homeland security in 2010, according to a study released by the Indiana Business Research Center in October 2011. Such dollars support more than 38,000 jobs.

Navy Week provides the opportunity to acknowledge these investments and showcase the long-standing relationship between Central Indiana and the Navy. Throughout the week, top-ranking Navy officers and sailors will engage with local corporate, civic, government, and education leaders and will participate in various community service projects. Among the visiting leaders is Vice Admiral Robin Braun, who is one of the highest-ranking women in the Navy and has 35 years of service.

The U.S. Navy is honored to protect the airways and seas, improving the security of commerce in Central Indiana and around the world, and the Navy is proud to showcase the impact it has made in this region.

To learn more about the events taking place during Navy Week, please visit: http://www.navyoutreach.org/newsite2/programs/navy-weeks/navy-week-indianapolis/