Economic impact of NUWC Division Newport was $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2021

NEWPORT — The total funded program of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport reached $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2021.

Of its total operating budget, $606 million was spent by Division Newport in payroll, materials, operational support, facility maintenance and military support, while $755 million funded contracts.

“There’s lots of good news to report for 2021," Technical Director Ron Vien said of the economic report released Tuesday morning. “This report really shows the tremendous impact Division Newport has on our local, state and regional economies. It’s also a great illustration of the work we do in educational outreach, because the children of today are the workforce of tomorrow.

"These kids can earn their college degrees, work for us and enjoy a high quality of life in and around the state of Rhode Island, while supporting our vision of ‘Undersea Superiority Today and Tomorrow.’”

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NUWC Division Newport's employee base includes 3,579 government civilian employees and 28 military members with a total gross payroll of $532 million. Of the full-time government civilian staff, 72% are classified as scientists or engineers. Of those, 85% have four-year degrees and 31% have graduate degrees.

In addition to the government workforce, Division Newport contracted for approximately 2,930 work years during fiscal year 2021, which runs from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021. Those contracts involved companies in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, bringing its combined government and contractor workforce to more than 6,509 positions.

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Money spent for contracts totaled roughly $755 million, with small business contracts obligated to Southern New England companies during the year exceeding $255 million. Approximately 92.5% of Division Newport's contract obligations paid for new services in Rhode Island, and 90.6% of fiscal year 2021 contracts were competitively awarded.

Academic and intellectual outreach in 2021 included nine programs and 36 educational partnerships that totaled $698,000 and reached 2,421 students in kindergarten through grade 12.

In 2021, Division Newport had 64 active cooperative research and development agreements, four university contracts and its employees published 198 technical papers.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: NUWC Newport economic impact was $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2021