1. Estimated employment at Fort Gordon is approximately 26,000, and about 11,000 at SRS. Thus, the federal government is responsible for about 37,000 jobs in the five-county region. By comparison, the healthcare and social assistance sector employs just over 30,000, the retail sector employs 25,000, and the educational services sector employs 25,000. The manufacturing sector employs just under 20,000.
2. The median hourly wage for the region is $18.47, which is higher than the SC average but lower than the GA average. The US median wage is $20.78. For certain occupations related to SRS, the median hourly wage is significantly higher.
3. For SRS overall, wages constituted 51 percent of total expenditures, with fringe benefits accounting for 19 percent. Of the SRS workforce, over 80 percent live within the five-county area.
4. Outside of the federal government, the fastest growing employment sectors in the region over the last five years were lodging, restaurants, and bars; healthcare and social assistance; and retail trade. The sectors that have lost the largest number of jobs over the last five years are educational services and construction.
5. SRS also contributes to the local economy by a mechanism known as Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), which are federal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property taxes due to nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries. The Payments in Lieu of Taxes in FY 2017 were $1,620,000 to Aiken County, $4,765,868 to Barnwell County, and $89,508 to Allendale County for a total of $6.5 million.
6. For Baby Boomers, the most important criteria for choosing where to live in retirement are: 1) affordable cost of living, 2) nearby family and friends, 3) good weather, 4) low crime rate, and 5) access to excellent healthcare and hospitals. That being said, only 4 percent of people 65 and older move, and many more are choosing to remodel their homes so they can age in place.
The operations at Savannah River Site (SRS) create jobs, generate income, and contribute to the tax revenues across the SRS Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO) region. According to the recent Economic Impact Study released by the SRSCRO, SRS generated an economic impact of roughly $2.4 billion per year in the regional economy in 2016.
SRS employed 8,566 residents of the five-county region in 2016 (over 80 percent of the Site's total workforce). The average job at SRS pays approximately 2.3 times the regional average. The projected impact of a 1,000 job loss or gain at SRS would be a total regional job impact of 1,700, and a loss or gain of $200 million in output.
In addition to measuring the economic impact of SRS, the analysis estimates the consequences of the potential impact of future job fluctuations and future workforce transition, and adds research to identify how communities in the region can prepare for anticipated changes in the makeup of the SRS workforce. A large segment of the report highlights broader implications for the five-county communities of a "next generation workforce." Implications "where further investments may be needed" include single family housing and rental property inventory; educational programming to attract new residents; and "quality of place" projects to complement existing community amenities.
Beyond the present day economic impact, the study highlights the ramifications of an ongoing SRS workforce transition. The average age of a Site employee is near 50, and a large portion of the Site workforce will be eligible for retirement in three to five years. One scenario in the report looks at a retirement estimate of 25 to 35 percent of the current workforce, the economic impacts of those estimates based upon the earnings of the future workforce, and the economic behavior of the new retiree population. Although the economic impact of this transition is uncertain, there is no doubt the influx of new residents from the SRS workforce transition and from Fort Gordon will influence the local housing markets, education systems, and quality of place.
