‘Sense of optimism around the budget’: Area defense leaders buoyed by Trump defense proposal

Some local defense contractors think recently proposed increases in federal military spending could benefit the area economy.

President Donald Trump wants to up the Pentagon’s budget to $603 billion during 2018, a  3 percent jump from the current fiscal year. Hawkish members in the Republican-controlled Congress have called for even larger growth.

Some of that extra money, if the budget is approved, could work its way to local companies.

“I think there’s a sense of optimism around the budget,” Concurrent Technologies Corp. CEO Ed Sheehan Jr. said during the recent Showcase for Commerce in Johnstown. 

“There’s a sense that it might even be bigger, that Congress might add additional dollars to the defense budget to help with readiness improvement and modernization efforts.”

JWF Industries owner Bill Polacek felt sequestration and the budget approaches of former President Barack Obama created uncertainty across the defense industry.

“It stymied everybody, because no one knew what was going to stay and go, so you just didn’t buy anything,” Polacek said. “When now you see that we’re only going to increase, you don’t have to worry about cutting something. So now they’re ready to get task orders done and get contracts ordered.

“I think it’s going to be very good for this area in the defense market.”

U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Sewickley, from the 12th Congressional District, wants to see funding placed into the base budget, as opposed to using the Overseas Contingency Operations, a separate pot of money for the Department of Defense and the Department of State.

“Certainly, we need to be spending more than we are right now,” Rothfus said.