When the Southeastern New England Shipbuilding Co. looked for a place to start-up in 1999, it searched for a location that gave it the best opportunity to succeed.

That's no surprise. Every company wants to locate where it has the best chance to do well. Where SENESCO ended up may surprise you.

SENESCO, which builds barges, cranes and electrical systems for ships, moved into two buildings on 25 acres of land at the former Quonset Point Naval Air Station, now the Quonset/Davisville Port and Commerce Park, in North Kingston, R.I.

SENESCO's location at Quonset/Davisville is an example of one of the potential best deals for expanding companies today - former military installations that are now open for commercial use.

Right spot at the right time

Richard Carpenter, senior vice president of SENESCO and one of seven founders of the company, said locating at Quonset/Davisville was the right choice.

"We now employ 75 people," said Carpenter. "This facility fit perfectly with what we wanted to do."

SENESCO's story is similar to thousands of companies across the country that are now doing business in former military installations.

The U.S. Navy closed Quonset Point Naval Air Station in 1975. Today, 112 companies are at the facility, and they employ over 6,000 people.

A bit of history

While Quonset has been a private entity since 1975, the majority of base closures in the United States have occurred in the last 12 years. In 1988, the U.S. Congress passed the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), which brought the first round of base closings.

Other rounds of closures came in 1991, 1993 and 1995. In total, about 200 major military installations were selected for realignment or closure, along with numerous other smaller installations.

These bases and facilities left huge voids in the communities where they were located, both in terms of employment and vitality to the area's economy.

After a closure is announced, communities form a local redevelopment authority (LRA) to come up with a plan for what to do with the base. Communities are not required to form a LRA. However, if the area wants grants from the Department of Defense or conveyance of the land from the federal government, a LRA must be in place.

The majority of communities with closed based have formed LRAs. The LRA then attempts to bring companies into the vacated facility. The results have been mixed to date. Some facilities, and the communities that surround them, are just waiting for businesses to occupy them. Others are just in planning stages.

Why check out a former military facility

There are a variety of positives that make former military installations a good fit for business. There's a good chance that the infrastructure is already in place for a potentially super business park.

"The existing infrastructure that oftentimes is there is quite substantial," said Gene DePrez, national director, Global Location Strategies, for PricewaterhouseCoopers. "And I'm not just talking about roads. We're talking about runways, housing, telecommunications infrastructure and even heavy machinery."

The availability of hangar space and a large runway helped attract Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace company, to the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York.

Pratt & Whitney is moving into a 160,000 square foot hangar and a 130,000 square foot office and maintenance facility. The hangar was built in 1956, but is undergoing renovation to bring it up to today's standards.

The facility also features a 12,000 square foot runway and a large amount of ramp space around the hangar.

"It's going to be like a brand-new hangar," said Doug Fage, manager of flight operations for Pratt & Whitney at Plattsburgh. "We're in there with one airplane now, trying to stay out of the way of the renovation.

"This facility one day will be the envy of the industry."

The renovation is scheduled for completion in August. Pratt & Whitney currently employs 20 people at the site, but that number will jump to 60 during times then the company is conducting testing. Pratt & Whitney expanded its operations from Montreal, just 60 miles to the north of the Plattsburgh Airbase.

"When we first looked around for a place to expand, we didn't know much about this place," said Fage. "But when we came down to have a look around, we thought it was marvelous.

"We've been able to obtain very good lease rates, and the community has been very supportive."

A few employees had to be relocated from Montreal, but the majority of the new employees came from the Plattsburgh area.

"We're just elated with the skills of the people," said Fage. "Some of them are former military folks, and others are from the private sector."

Big plots of land open eyes

If a base is located near a metro area, the property becomes even more attractive.

"We're talking about huge plots of land," said DePrez. "Those are next to impossible to assemble near a large metro area."

KellyUSA, formerly Kelly Air Force Base, is one military facility that offers plenty of open space for expanding companies in a metro area.

In 1995, the DOD announced that Kelly Air Force Base, the largest employer in San Antonio, Texas, would close. Since that time, the city has formed a LRA (called KellyUSA) and started bringing in companies to the facility.

KellyUSA will include a total of 2,000 acres by July of 2001, and will have 11 million square feet of office and greenfield space. KellyUSA is also building 80,000 square feet of office space for back office operations of companies already at the site.

Companies at Kelly already include Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, General Electric, Lockheed Martin and Ryder Logistics.

San Antonio's location near Mexico was a major drawing card for Ryder. Ryder consolidates and ships goods for a large number of companies.

"We can support the whole Texas-Mexico border out of San Antonio," said Chuck Rose, group logistics manager for Ryder.

In southern Johnson County, Kan., part of the Kansas City Metro, the New Century AirCenter is another former military site now being used for business. The 1,800-acre facility has had improvements to its infrastructure.

Besides the runway, hangars and other flight operations, the center features rail access and is adjacent to Interstate 35.

In 1998, Gonzales Communications expanded to the New Century AirCenter. The telecommunications company employs 20 people, and occupies a 10,000 square foot building.

Heartland Precision Fasteners, a supplier of fasteners to the aviation industry expanded at New Century in 1999. Heartland employs 40 people in a 30,000 square foot building.

"The AirCenter's convenient access to Interstate 35, lower tax mill levy and cost-saving land lease are some of the reasons we chose the site for our company," said David Rose, president of Heartland Fasteners.

Cecil Air Field fills up fast

Another air facility near a metro area is Cecil Field Airport, in Jacksonville, Fla. The ex-Navy base used to be known as Cecil Field Naval Air Station before being turned over to the city of Jacksonville in 1999.

Cecil Commerce Center already has a number of tenants, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp. and Logistics Services International.

Boeing repairs and maintains aircraft for the Air Force and the F-18 jets for the Navy.

Legwork must be done first

Don't assume that every former military site is ready and able to handle an expanding company. Some are, and some aren't. Usually a sizable amount of work must be done to a former base to make it usable for a company.

The Grissom Aeroplex, formerly Grissom Air Force Base, in Peru, Ind., is one site that's ready to go. A number of improvements have been made to the Aeroplex in the last five years.

The facility features a new spec building, with all new telecommunications, water and sewer capabilities. There is good office space available, not to mention the 12,500 foot runway.

A shining example

For a look at how a well-developed former military facility-turned-business park can end up, one need look no further than MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor Creek, Okla., in northeast Oklahoma.

The 9,000-acre center was founded in 1961, and features a 5,000 foot runway.

Growth at the park in the last decade has been phenomenal. In 1999, a total of 44 companies employed just over 3,000 people at the park. Today, that number has grown to 69 companies employing 5,000 people, with a payroll of $140 million.

Taking a second look

When ACN Communications Services set out to find a home for its call center, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan wasn't high on its list. In fact, it wasn't even on the list.

But that all changed once the company found out about the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, in Marquette County.

"Instinctively, it (military facility) was not what I thought we'd look at," said Lance Beck, director of customer service for ACN.

Beck was then a site consultant hired by ACN. A group of real estate advisors tipped off Beck that he might want to take a gander at K.I. Sawyer.

"What we found was really a diamond in the rough," said Beck. "There was updated infrastructure, which could easily be upgraded to meet any of our future needs.

"When I stepped out on the runway after we flew in, it was just huge. I thought we'd have a hard time finding a suitable structure, but we started to tour the facility and I saw the perfect building."

That building is now ACN's facility, which currently employs 34 people and should be up to 100 by the end of the year. The company renovated the building and moved into its new digs in July.

Once the company found out about K.I. Sawyer, it became really interested when the site became a Michigan Renaissance Zone. Businesses that occupy and expand in these zones are exempt from nearly all state taxes in Michigan.

"We said ‘Wow,'" said Beck. "Those tax breaks really kept Marquette in the running. We had our choices nationwide."

ACN now occupies 30,000 square feet, with an option to add 40,000 square feet in the future.

Community support can make a difference

"Many of these facilities have ambitious incentive programs," said DePrez of PricewaterhouseCoopers. "And sometimes the community is very much behind business development at the site.

Another community that is supporting a former military facility is the Utah Industrial Depot, formerly the Tooele Army Depot, in Tooele County, Utah.

Since converting to an industrial park in 1999, 168 new jobs have been created. The UID is spending $10 million on the infrastructure at the site. The park is located west of Salt Lake City, with quick access to Interstates 80 and 15.

Looking for the right fit

In any expansion project, there are certain parameters that limit exactly where a company can locate. Maybe the market dictates that your company must be in a specific region of the country or a certain type of facility.

But you owe it to yourself to at least examine the benefits of locating in a former military site. There may be a good business deal just waiting to be had.

"We're fat, dumb and happy, just so happy with our decision," said Fage of Pratt & Whitney. "The community here has been totally supportive, we obtained a good lease rate and the work force is outstanding. What more could you want?"