7/19/2005
Media Contact:
Steve Campbell, [317] 327-3622
Monica Brase, [317] 327-3690 |
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Mayor continues lobbying effort for Pentagon plan to add jobs to Fort Ben finance center
Indianapolis – Mayor Bart Peterson this week continued the lobbying effort to add jobs to the Indianapolis’ Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) center at Fort Benjamin Harrison and consolidate much of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) accounting and financial services to Indianapolis.
Yesterday, the Mayor wrote the Defense Base Realignment & Closure Commission (BRAC) to strongly support the defense secretary’s recommendation that proposes consolidating much of its accounting services from other facilities around the country into the Indianapolis center, adding as many as 3,500 jobs to the existing 3,000 employees. DOD has estimated this expansion also would create an additional 2,490 jobs in central Indiana.
The commission met today in Washington to discuss the recommendation and voted to include the DFAS-Indianapolis center and other DFAS centers in continuing discussions, but the move allows the BRAC to continue discussion multiple sites around the country.
"Indianapolis is a world class city offering all the opportunities and resources that will enable the Department of Defense to make the proposed expansion of the DFAS Center a major success," Peterson wrote to Commission Chairman Anthony Principi. "Hoosiers have a proud history of military service to our country and welcome the opportunity to provide further service to our men and women in uniform."
Peterson said his administration would continue to work with local, state and federal officials to expand and bring jobs to DFAS-Indianapolis.
Steps already taken have included:
- The Mayor met personally with Pentagon officials including national DFAS leaders;
- Submitted testimony to the BRAC hearing in St. Louis in June;
- Gathering support of local universities, including Purdue University and IUPUI, to support the effort and discuss the pool of potential employees for such an expansion; and
- Providing up-to-date information to BRAC on the business case for DFAS consolidation and the quality of life and workforce in Indianapolis.
DFAS-Indianapolis was established in 1991 after the closure of Fort Harrison and has played an integral part in transforming DOD’s accounting, military pay, travel pay and commercial pay support services for the nation’s military personnel, civilians and retirees.
With 3,000 employees, DFAS-Indianapolis currently has the largest number of employees of any DFAS facility in the country and the greatest capacity for growth. It oversees 40 percent of DOD’s network including eight smaller DFAS facilities, disbursing more than $39 billion annually and providing services to 1.9 million people.
These functions are housed in one of the most sophisticated and secure facilities in the country, the Emmett J. Bean Federal Center. With 1.6 million square feet – one million of which is currently occupied by DFAS, the c enter is the third largest federal building in the nation behind the Pentagon and the Ronald Reagan Library.
In November 2003, the facility completed a $123.7 million renovation, which means that minimal costs are required to accommodate the influx of thousands of employees to the center.
In addition, the General Accountability Office, the federal "watchdog" that investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars, recently issued a report supporting DFAS consolidation.
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