Mission critical: hill air force base is a core engine in Utah's economy.

• Author: Webb, Gaylen

Sitting on 6,698 acres approximately 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, Hill Air Force Base is an economic powerhouse that impacts not only Davis and Weber counties, but the entire state. The base directly employs tens of thousands of military and civilian workers, and supportive industries have blossomed alongside the installation, employing countless other workers.

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Marshall Wright, director of business development for the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED), says the business activity related to Hill AFB has made the base the most dominant influence on Davis County's economy and the central component of Utah's thriving aerospace and defense industries.

Indeed, the future of Hill looks bright, but it wasn't always so. In 2005, Utah faced the potential demise of 40,000 to 50,000 jobs and the near annihilation of Utah's military and defense industry. That was because the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) listed Hill Air Force Base as a potential target in what was then the next round of military base realignment and closure (BRAC) activity.

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A study by the University of Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) put hard numbers to what most people already knew--that shuttering Hill AFB would be a catastrophe for the economies of Weber and Davis counties. As the largest single-site employer in Utah and a magnet for economic growth, Hill AFB accounted for approximately 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, pumped approximately $3.6 billion annually into the Utah economy, created approximately $2.3 billion in personal income annually and put tax revenue of $192 million into state coffers annually, according to the BEBR.

Fortunately, the closure never happened. Thanks largely to the vision and leadership of the Utah delegation in Washington, Utah government and business leaders, and the Utah Defense Alliance (UDA), rather than close Hill AFB the DOD expanded the base's workload and moved 4,000 more employees there.

Today, Hill AFB is a crown jewel of northern Utah, says Gary Harter, managing director of business creation for GOED. "Hill has been an amazing economic engine through the years and we do our best to work with leaders on base, as well as our partners in academia, to be sure that continues to happen now and in the future," he explains.

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A VAST BEEHIVE

No one knows the intricacies and potential of Hill AFB better than James O. Sutton, who directed plans and programs in Hill's Ogden Air Logistics Center for 15 years. He was the go-to guy for workload development until his recent retirement.

As one of the Air Force's fighter depots, Sutton says workers at Hill sustain the most technically sophisticated planes...