In January 2010, the U.S. Army’s Fort Lewis and U.S. Airforce McCord Airforce Base were combined. Now the combined base is the largest military installation west of the Mississippi river and the third largest employer in the state of Washington.
A new study indicates that the joint base Lewis-McChord will pump billions of dollars into the Pierce County economy over the next few years. By 2016 there will be nearly $4 billion spent on new construction on the joint military base since 2006, according to a City of Lakewood administered finding of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Growth Coordination Plan. There are now more than 50,000 military and civilian persons stationed at the base, up from 32,700, 7 years ago. In the next six (6) years there will be a need for off-base housing for nearly 800 military personnel and their families in the cities of Lacey, Tacoma and Lakewood.
These articles, as well as numerous other articles are being welcomed by business as harbingers of an upward turn in the local economy and that better times maybe ahead for the construction industry.