Reports - Mississippi Renewal

116 | DEFENSE AND GOVERNMENT CONTRACTINGDEFENSE ANDGOVERNMENTCONTRACTINGAs with all physicalstructures on the Coast,Mississippi’s federaland private sector defenseand governmentservice facilities were severely damagedby Hurricane Katrina. Some weredestroyed. While estimates of physicaldamage are still being compiled, earlyprojections put the total in the billionsof dollars. 1Compounding the capital loss isthe lack of housing for employees inthis sector. Immediately following thestorm, all production ceased; however,quick action by industry leaders resultedin a resumption of at least somework in a matter of days. Affected operationslost employees who evacuatedand were unable to return. Many ofthose workers remain absent, creating asevere labor shortage. Northrop Grumman,for example, had approximately15,000 employees at its Pascagoula andGulfport operations before the storm.Three months later, only 10,000 returnedon a full-time basis. Some wereworking only part of the week becauseof the housing shortage. 2 Some maynever return.The responsibility and the resourcesfor repairing much of the physical damageare relatively clear, especially withthose facilities owned and operated bythe federal government. More problematicare the connected issues that mustbe addressed before the military, otherfederal agencies and their contractors,and local governments can resume andgrow their partnership.RecommendationsRegarding the defense and governmentcontracting sector, the Commissionrecommends the following:HousingWhile the overall housing issue is ad-