Philadelphia already has a reputation as an “eds and meds” region due to its many colleges and hospitals, but its economic identity could soon include the defense industrial base, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
With President Donald Trump planning to increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion in 2027, local universities could take advantage of the added research and workforce development training opportunities, said Chris Scafario, CEO of the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center.
“A lot of that investment is going to be targeted toward university and innovation-based relationships because they need help getting stuff done,” said Scafario. “They need access to brilliant people, whether they’re faculty or the faculty’s work products, the students.”
This development comes in the wake of possible cuts to research funding in other areas for colleges under Trump’s administration, such as at the National Institutes of Health. The University of Pennsylvania has already announced measures to mitigate the potential impacts of these federal policy changes.
Scafario’s Navy Yard-based center, that is dedicated to economic development and local manufacturing, is engaging with local colleges and providing support to help them take advantage of defense spending opportunities.
Read more about the region’s defense industry potential and ways it may leverage it in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
_____
