Report: NAVWAR Brings in $3.1 Billion to San Diego Area

By Alexander Nguyen / KPBS / February 5, 2024

San Diego’s Naval Information Warfare Systems Command accounts for more than $3.1 billion in gross regional product (GRP) for the economy, according to a report released last week by the San Diego Military Advisory Council and the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business.

The report compiled by USD researchers found that in Fiscal Year 2022, NAVWAR was responsible for between $3.14 billion and $3.38 billion in GRP. Additionally, it employs more than 5,300 people and, when wages and benefits are considered, that workforce brings $910 million to the local economy.

The 2023 Military Economic Impact Report released last October shows total defense spending is 25 percent of the county’s economy.

The report comes at a time when the Navy is looking to redevelop the 70.3-acre Naval Base Point Loma Old Town Campus, home to NAVWAR.

San Diego’s Naval Information Warfare Systems Command accounts for more than $3.1 billion in gross regional product (GRP) for the economy, according to a report released Tuesday by the San Diego Military Advisory Council and the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business.

The report compiled by USD researchers found that in Fiscal Year 2022, NAVWAR was responsible for between $3.14 billion and $3.38 billion in GRP. Additionally, it employs more than 5,300 people and, when wages and benefits are considered, that workforce brings $910 million to the local economy.

The 2023 Military Economic Impact Report released last October shows total defense spending is 25% of the county’s economy.

“What’s important in that report is just to show that our presence, partnering with industry, partnering with academia, partnering with the city, it really helps us do our mission,” said John Pope, NAVWAR’s executive director. “Our mission is support the sailors and marines out in the fleet.”

Part of the mission is to keep critical naval communication systems operational under any condition.

According to the report’s authors, across the region, NAVWAR business is responsible for over 18,800 jobs. Contracts awarded by NAVWAR reach businesses across the country.

“I think one of the biggest significant impacts of NAVWAR is the contribution it makes to the resilience of our economy,” said Jeremy Gabe with the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate, who helped with the study’s economic impact modeling. “We know that their contribution has grown since previous reports. And it’s been remarkably consistent through a pandemic like one of the big economic disruptions of the time. Again, showcasing that resilience.”

Gabe said that resilience helps San Diego weather the economic boom-and-bust cycle — or when the economy grows or shrinks.

The report comes at a time when the Navy is looking to redevelop the 70.3-acre Naval Base Point Loma Old Town Campus, home to NAVWAR. Earlier this month, the Navy announced the selection of Manchester Financial Group/Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate as the potential master developer of the site, the authors of the report wrote. The potential redevelopment could see new commercial, residential and transportation facilities.

“When you look at reports like this, you look at what NAVWAR does directly and who they employ,” said Stath Karras, executive director of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at USD. “But they also provide about $1.7 billion in contract work to companies that, by and large, are here in San Diego or have offices here in San Diego.”

Gabe said a significant chunk of that $1.7 billion stayed in the region.