Submitted Photo rom the left, Capt. Ben Shea, 91st Operations Support Squadron minuteman combat crew commander, and 2nd Lt. Taylor Yost, 740th Missile Squadron deputy MMCCC, review Missile Alert Facility checklists at MAF Delta-01, near Max on Oct. 26, 2019, shown in this photo by Senior Airman Alyssa Akers.

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE -More than $10 billion from Minot Air Force Base has gone into the Minot community and surrounding area communities during the past 10 fiscal years.

More specifically, from fiscal year 2010 through 2019, the base contributed more than $10.8 billion into the local economy

That contribution includes payroll, personnel, construction on the base and in the Minot missile field, contracts for services, expenditures for health care and education, housing and much more. Military retirees also contribute to the local economy but are not part of the analysis.

During the past fiscal year 2019, the base contributed $559.4 million to the local economy, Capt. Crosby Hunt, deputy budget officer with the base’s 5th Comptroller Squadron, reported when presenting the current economic impact analysis to local community leaders attending the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Committee in Minot on Feb. 6.

Hunt said the economic analysis quantifies how Minot AFB plays a role in the local economy. The current data is as of Sept. 30, 2019.

Minot Air Force Base owns 5,300 acres of land. The base also has right-of-way easements for over 19,000 acres that make up the Minot missile field across the region. Besides industrial buildings, family housing units, dormitories and visiting quarters and temporary lodging facilities, there are miles of utility distribution lines, roads, the flight line with its runway and taxiways, a large number of vehicles and many other items such as communication and electronic systems that need to be maintained.

There are 12,041 personnel including 5,637 military members, 5,305 family members of military members and 1,099 civilians employed at the base.

Of the total personnel, 1,960 military members and 2,329 military family members live on the base and the rest – about 60 percent – live off the base.

Although the months of June to September are the main months of moves for military members and their families, Hunt said the number of personnel at the base continues to stay constant on an annual basis.

Of the more than 1,000 civilians at the base, the number includes and civilians working at the Base Exchange and for private businesses at the base.

Military and civilians at the base had a total annual payroll of $392.3 million in fiscal year 2019, a slight increase from fiscal year 2018 when the yearly payroll was $361.4 million.

The Air Force invests an extensive amount of money in construction, services and obtaining materials, equipment and supplies, according to Hunt.

He said the total construction for the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Missile Wing was $7.7 million. Additionally, he said there was just under $5 1/2 million in services contracts that go toward such things as roads and upkeep on buildings.

Services contracts includes only contracts in the local economic area or contracts requiring the use of locally supplied goods and services, according to the economic impact analysis.

Materials, equipment and supplies including for the commissary, Base Exchange, health (Tri-Care, government cost only), education (impact aid and tuition assistance), temporary duty, government purchase card (local area) and Balfour Beatty privatized housing totaled $47.9 million.

How does this play out in the Minot economy?

An estimated 2,104 indirect jobs were created in the Minot area in fiscal year 2019. The number of indirect jobs is determined based on an average annual pay of $50,336 (of the city of Minot), resulting in an estimated annual dollar value of jobs created at $105.9 million.

The indirect jobs show how the base money ripples through the local economy.

The total annual economic impact estimate as of Sept. 30, 2019, includes annual payroll, annual expenditures and estimated annual dollar value of jobs created for a grand total of $559.3 million.

Hunt said military retirees are not included in the analysis although as of Sept. 20, 2019, there were 1,461 military retirees living in the local area and receiving a yearly retired pay of $33.6 million.

He said military retirees make up about 3 percent of the population in the city of Minot. That number has stayed quite constant over time, he said.

Hunt pointed out the analysis is an estimate and based on assumptions but it is a way for them to measure how the Air Force base interacts with the city in terms of dollars, etc.