An Anchorage group is examining economic options to cope with Army downsizing in the years ahead. The Base Economic Analysis Review, or BEAR group, held its second meeting Wednesday.
City officials are working with a small division from the Department of Defense that routinely helps plan for what to do when changes in the military hit the communities where troops are based.
Myer Hutchinson is a spokesman for the mayor, and says the BEAR group met with the Office of Economic Adjustment over a grant he’s “fairly confident” Anchorage is going to receive. That money will go toward “A study, or studies, to figure out the potential economic impacts of a force reduction at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.”
Hutchinson says that while the administration is still working with its partners to reverse the drawdown that will remove more than 2,600 troops and thousands more dependents from the Anchorage area by 2017, the city is making sure to cover its bases by examining ways to mitigate negative effects.
Currently there’s no timeline for when the OEA report will be available.
