March 18, 2004

Talking The Talk...

...not walking the walk. Liberal, anti-war SF Bay Area folks are working for the Pentagon in increasing numbers as Bay Area companies snap up profitable defense contracts.



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Bay Area firms large and small tap into Pentagon budget

A growing number of Bay Area companies have found a flush new customer -- the Pentagon.

With the occupation of Iraq pumping money into the military, roughly 300 more local companies sold to the U.S. Defense Department in 2003 than in 2002, an increase of 30 percent.

Their products range from the highest of tech to the lowest. One new contractor makes sophisticated diving gear for Navy Seals. Another makes brownies.

All are drawn by the chance to grow. For some companies, the Pentagon's swelling budget represents a welcome change from commercial markets that have stayed sluggish for years.

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A Chronicle analysis of Defense Department spending found that the amount of money pouring into the Bay Area economy through the Pentagon rose 19 percent from 2002 to 2003, hitting $5.5 billion. That figure doesn't even count cash from other federal agencies -- the Energy Department, for example, or the State Department -- that may be linked to defense work.

The number of companies selling to the Pentagon also rose. In 2002, about 1,000 local companies appeared in the Defense Department's spending records. In 2003, the number reached about 1,300

Uh-oh, is this a indicator that California may not be as firmly in Kerry's pocket as assumed?


American Underwater Products already has a working prototype of the mask, developed under a multiyear agreement with the Navy that allowed the company to use military expertise but provided no money until the Pentagon chose to place an order last year. The cash will be used to make a version of the mask that can be mass-produced. The company wants to sell the mask outside the military as well, said CEO Robert Hollis. The firm markets a line of diving gear under the brand name Oceanic.

"It will be affordable to those who seek out the high-end toys, like the people who always want the latest laptop," he said.

Hollis said he sees potential in selling to the military, but he also sees reasons for caution. Military budgets and priorities change. Programs funded by one administration can die under another.

"A change in administration or a change in policy, and it could evaporate, " he said.

One wonders if these firms and folks are part of the conventional media's White House-Halliburton conspiracy.

Posted by feste at March 18, 2004 09:34 AM | TrackBack
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