An economic model by Advocate Drum (also known as the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization, or FDRLO) found Fort Drum in New York provided a economic output of $1.7 billion for Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
“Those are jobs not on Fort Drum, but that exist off-post because of Fort Drum”, noted David J. Zembiec, Deputy CEO at Jefferson County Economic Development and an Advocate Drum board member said to NewzJunky.com.
Fort Drum’s direct spending of over $1.3 billion for payroll and purchases, the model adds nearly $360 million in indirect and induced business activity to arrive at the total impact $1.696 billion.
“In order to understand the full economic impact of that spending on the three-county region, you have to understand the additional economic activity that spending generates and the jobs that spending supports”, said Mr. Zembiec. “We entered the numbers reported by Fort Drum into a model developed just for that purpose.”
Photo by U.S. Army