Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic fuels $2.1B economic impact in SC

South Carolina’s economy is defined by many things, often recognized for the prominence of manufacturing and tourism.

Among the contributors is the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, which develops the information technologies in warfare for the U.S. military, playing a quiet but profitable role.

In fiscal year 2024, NIWC Atlantic has contributed $10 billion to the United States, with six states being some of the largest impacted. Second behind Virginia, South Carolina saw a $2.1 billion economic impact, with a majority of payouts in the Lowcountry, according to the NIWC Atlantic economic impact study.

In addition to the financial contribution, NIWC Atlantic’s location in Charleston employs almost 8,000 people throughout Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties. According to the study, the labor income for employees hit over $648 million.

“Charleston tends to see more variation in its economic growth. It tends to see high rates of growth during periods of expansion. It tends to be impacted by recessions,” said Joey Von Nessen, research economist at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. “But NIWC has helped to insulate Charleston from some of those variations because it is such a stable footprint and stable impact overtime.”

Engineering is NIWC’s largest job category, employing about 90% of all the electronic engineers in Charleston, Von Nessen said. The average wage for NIWC employees is about 65% higher than the state average in South Carolina.

About 50% of NIWC Atlantic’s personnel work in cybersecurity-related fields which contributes to 25% of the cybersecurity sector in Charleston, according to the study.

“Its contribution is unique because it supports, and it helps to expand the state’s knowledge economy,” Von Nessen said. “When you look at industry sectors or businesses that have a strong knowledge economy; they generate very high levels of productivity, strong spillover effects because they tend to be better at attracting and retaining talent, and they contribute as a result to higher rates of long run economic growth.”

Erick Fry, executive director of NIWC Atlantic, said in efforts to grow the NIWC workforce development, the organization partners with schools like Clemson, University of South Carolina and College of Charleston.

NIWC also works with private industries as partners for additional support, Fry said.

“We partner with our local companies that help provide additional support because we can’t have 10,000 civil service employees,” Fry said. “Those industry partners provide a critical workforce footprint to deliver that mission. We could not be successful without them.”

For every 10 jobs created through NIWC, about 18 are then created elsewhere in the state through them, Von Nessen said.