ODON — Naval Support Activity Crane delivered the second-ever State of the Installation address during the White River Military Coordination Alliance’s fourth-quarter meeting Wednesday, projecting opportunities for job growth in the region and identifying new areas for collaboration.
This year, new commanding officer of NSA Crane, Commander James L. Smith, delivered the briefing.
“Over the next three years, Crane plans to continue to hire above our attrition, supporting growth across the installation and tenet missions,” Cmrd. Smith said. “We also foresee new and expanded mission areas, further strengthening our strategic value within the state, region and Department of Defense.”
As previously reported, Crane will receive a new tenant command in the next fiscal year, the Joint Hypersonics Transition Office Systems Engineering Field Activity. The JHTO will bring approximately $200 million in infrastructure and program development to the installation, which will go toward the new Underwater Launch Test Complex, and additional labs and evaluation facilities.
The installation plans to hire 300-500 personnel above the normal attrition rate throughout the next three to five years, Cmrd. Smith announced. The four primary areas for hiring are business, technical, emergency management and public works, and advanced manufacturing roles.
Cmrd. Smith said Crane’s priority during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is to protect its workforce and critical missions. As part of that effort, Crane Army has transitioned some of its flexible production workforce to make hand sanitizer for the installation and throughout the U.S. Department of Defense, and NSWC Crane has partnered with Greene County General Hospital to create and test fever detection software that has potential for use at hospitals throughout the region.
Crane will invest an estimated $300,000 in nearby counties from timber sale profits. Congress continues to increase funding for the Readiness and Environmental Projection Integration Program, which focuses on encroachment protection and helps Crane partner in agricultural, natural, and forest land conservation in the region.
Crane identified new opportunities to explore intergovernmental support agreements with the communities that neighbor the installation and state agencies, which could include things like bulk material purchasing, service agreements, and mutual aid agreements for disaster recovery and emergency services.
“Through the continued use of collaborative planning, partnerships and compatible development and encroachment protection programs, economic growth can continue to take root in the larger regional and state ecosystem for defense development, while continuing to protect those critical mission areas for the installation and protecting our strategic value,” said Cmrd. Smith.
During the fourth-quarter meeting, the Alliance was also briefed on Indiana defense industry initiatives, including Gov. Eric Holcomb’s call for the state to triple federal defense investment by 2025. This funding would create opportunities for economic development and innovation organizations to solve technical problems and research new technologies.
Also reviewed was the Regional Opportunity Initiatives’ Indiana Uplands Regional Defense Industry Strategy, which was developed to diversify the Department of Defense contract activity in the region surrounding Crane, create a better talent pipeline, and foster a more sustainable Department of Defense innovation ecosystem.
“The alliance and our surrounding communities play an essential role in growing the state’s defense economy by contributing to the wellbeing of Crane and development of a talented workforce,” said Gene McCracken, chair of the White River Military Coordination Alliance. “As Indiana makes a continued effort to increase defense spending, we also have a unique opportunity to grow our business and research and development capabilities through defense-related partnerships.”
For the alliance’s next meeting, in February 2021, membership communities will prepare a State of the Community briefing to inform Crane leadership of planning efforts or initiatives that may impact the installation.
The White River Military Coordination Alliance is a 24-member community organization that was formed in 2018 to promote positive development and growth in the communities that surround Naval Support Activity Crane and Glendora Lake Test Facility in Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, Martin and Sullivan counties by facilitating two-way communication between the communities, counties, state agencies, and NSA Crane.
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