By Andy Owens
aowens@scbiznews.com
Published May 25, 2009

More than $84 million in federal stimulus money flowing through S.C. military installations has become a lifeline for construction companies, civil engineering companies, their subcontractors and local suppliers.

The 97 projects covering every branch of the service, including the National Guard, has created a new influx of capital for an industry that has been pummeled by the economy.

“It’s giving me job security for at least a few more months,” said Massey Yannitelli, a project manager with MW Clearing and Grading Inc. “Everyone’s struggling. Work’s going cheaper than it was five years ago.”

U.S. Airman 1st Class Donny Barnec pictured here at Charleston Air Force Base. The military base is one of several in South Carolina with construction projects in the works, a bright spot in for the slow construction industry. (Photo/James Bowman)

In a few weeks, MW will begin work on a new contract for resurfacing pavement and fixing curbs and sidewalks at the Charleston Air Force Base. The Blacksburg-based company has offices in Charleston and the Upstate.

Yannitelli said MW bid on several projects at the Air Force base, including a large one that hasn’t been awarded and could mean a lot of money for his company and workers.

According to the latest numbers from the S.C. Employment Security Commission, South Carolina lost 12,500 construction jobs from March 2008 to March 2009, making it one of the hardest-hit areas of the economy. The manufacturing sector has taken the biggest losses to date, at 27,300 year-over-year.

In total, the Charleston Air Force Base is set to receive $8.11 million, according to figures the Department of Defense released in mid-May. South Carolina’s military installations, including 22 National Guard facilities, will receive $84.6 million in immediate federal stimulus money.

Add projects at the Naval Weapons Station and more than $2 million worth of work to be done at National Guard armories in Moncks Corner, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Walterboro and Orangeburg, and the Lowcountry is expected to receive infrastructure contracts worth $21.2 million.

Statewide, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter is receiving the most money, at $35.8 million, and Fort Jackson in Columbia is receiving $22.82 million, second most. Parris Island, home to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, is third, with a little more than $10 million.

The work will employ all types of contractors and construction companies, including electrical, plumbing, fire alarm, paving, fencing, roofing, termite repair, high-tech security fencing, HVAC control systems and repair, lighting and painting.

Some of the work involves building renovations or new construction, such as a new, $22.5 million dormitory at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter.

Bill Dean, engineering flight chief for the civil engineering squadron at the Charleston Air Force Base, said the work might not be the most glamorous, but the money will put people to work, infuse the local economy and improve the working conditions of base personnel.

“It was all work that we had to execute this year, so it was work we were going to do anyway,” Dean said.

Several of the contractors hired by the Air Force Base are from out of state, but all the work will be done in Charleston County and will use subcontractors and suppliers from the local region, said Kathy Edenborough, director of business operations for the base’s 437th Contracting Squadron. Most of the opportunities for small businesses in the Charleston area will be through subcontracting, she said.

“Our base has a very strong history of supporting small businesses,” Edenborough said. “All of the projects we have here at Charleston Air Force Base are going to small businesses.”

Yannitelli said MW Clearing and Grading will be using a crew of about four people from its staff and at least two local subcontractors, which could employ dozens of people from local construction companies. He said all of the supplies for the work will be purchased in the Charleston area.

“We’ll be using all local,” he said. “It all trickles down, so we’ll be purchasing asphalt and concrete locally and everything.”

At the base, several contracts have been awarded and others are in negotiation, as the deadlines approach for applying for stimulus money. Defense Department documentation shows the latest date for awarding contracts is August, but the dates are estimates based on preliminary work that was done before the stimulus money was in the works.

Many of the projects had already gone through the design phase and were just waiting on funding, Dean said.

The Air Force base is using contractors with whom they already have a working relationship because those companies could respond quickly to a work order. But speed was not the only consideration when deciding the projects the Air Mobility Command would submit to the federal government. Need was the overriding concern.

Among the 19 projects to be done at the base are repairs to pavement, stormwater drainage systems, air conditioning systems, fire alarms and roof repair.

Charleston is home to the 437th Airlift Wing. The large C-17 cargo jets that fly out of the Air Force Base carry everything — personnel, provisions, mine-resistant vehicles and other equipment — to troops stationed around the world, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. The pilots and crew also conduct humanitarian relief and airdrop missions worldwide.

“One of the big things I see in this is quality of life for our staff and our families,” said Maj. Michael Connor, commander of the 437th Comptroller Squadron. “All of the things that occur on this base are key to getting those planes up every day.”

Reach Andy Owens at 843-849-3141.