By Dan McCue

CHARLESTON -- Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties have become a nexus for the nation’s burgeoning homeland security industry. Billions of dollars are spent in the region on a wide range of security-related initiatives, according to contractors and state and local law enforcement officials.

But to automatically assume that Sept. 11, or even the continuing threat of terrorism in one of the nation’s largest port and tourism centers, is the principal catalyst behind that trend would be wrong, say the experts.

“The real change in the region’s direction, in terms of the work we do, was the result of the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1993,” said Fred L. McCarthy, a board member with the Charleston Defense Contractors Association.

“With that BRAC and its closure of the Charleston Naval Base, the local industry was dramatically transformed,” he said. “In the years since, defense contracting has evolved from shipbuilding and a heavier kind of industry to more of a high tech, engineering-based cluster.”

AngelouEconomics recommended fostering what it terms “advanced security” as a linchpin for the region’s future.

But while the growth of homeland security initiatives in the Lowcountry has been rapid, it appears to be occurring purely as a result of the industry’s internal momentum rather than as the result of civic boosterism or finely honed incentive packages.

This appears to hold true whether the companies in question are household names such as defense contractors Raytheon and Honeywell, or entrepreneurial ventures such as Rotomotion of Mount Pleasant, a manufacturer of robot-surveillance helicopters.

For the majority of active homeland security contractors in the Charleston area, that anchor is the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, the government-sponsored information technology agency created by the Navy to provide sailors and marines in combat with every possible electronic advantage.

Four years ago, defense-industry consultants Booz Allen Hamilton was asked by the Navy to perform an analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of its various materials suppliers around the country.

The report found that SPAWAR Charleston was the Navy’s most cost-efficient engineering organization when measuring workload in relation to overhead expenses.

That ranking kept Charleston running, from a defense-industry perspective. Today, SPAWAR employs 2,500 individuals directly, while contractors employ an additional 10,000 locally.

The hallmark of the community, as illustrated by contractors’ close proximity in the Aviation Business Park near Charleston International Airport, is a willingness to collaborate on projects.

Last year, SPAWAR, the Charleston Defense Contractors Association, and the South Carolina chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association began jointly sponsoring a program to bridge the gap between large and small companies interested in vying for Defense Department and Homeland Security contracts.

The goal of the event, the first of anticipated quarterly gatherings, is to further develop a searchable small business portal being developed by SPAWAR through which companies can find potential partners for joint bids on federal contracts.
“Small business is the backbone of our economy and a very important element in SPAWAR’s business model,” said Ann Howell, who has since retired from her position as deputy director of SPAWAR’s small business program.

“On one level, this will provide a greater opportunity for us to do some networking with small technology companies in the area,” she said. At the same time, I think the programs will provide a great opportunity to educate local companies about doing business with each other, with SPAWAR and, by extension, with the federal government.”

The effort comes at an auspicious time for those engaged in economic development in the tri-county region.

“We’re really in the midst of a very interesting time for the region,” said David Ginn. “There isn’t a community in the country that’s stepped up and said, we want the mantle of being the leading provider of homeland security, and we have all the attributes to be that.”

Activity levels and an increasing number of players have shown up recently on the homeland security front.
In addition to programs underway at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, the Port of Charleston and Hollings Marine Lab, there are ongoing law enforcement training programs and myriad research projects being conducted independently by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and the Medical University of South Carolina.

But if that momentum is to continue, planners, developers and private companies will have to create a setting in which the companies and agencies involved become inextricably bound to the Lowcountry, said Pennie Bingham, director of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s ThinkTEC program.

The chamber has tried to foster that environment by hosting an annual Homeland Security Innovation Conference to highlight the development of security products for both private and public users.

“When we first came up with the idea for this conference, the idea was to reach out to a market that had benefits we wanted to promote,” Bingham said. “Our goal was to showcase Charleston as a model community for public/private partnerships that furthered the nation’s homeland security goals.”

In order to plan and support the conference, the chamber formed a task force consisting of key players in the current local homeland defense industry.

“In terms of their work, there are some things they can talk about and some things they can’t, but a large part of promoting any industry is simply helping people make connections,” Bingham said.