Published: July 09, 2006 12:12 am      

Businesses prepare for life after Murtha

To say that U.S. Rep. John Murtha has played an integral role in redeveloping the local economy during the past 25 years would be an understatement.

The impact of defense-related business on the local economy may not rival the impact steel and coal once had locally, but it is significant. And the growth of that segment of the region’s economy can be traced directly to Murtha.

The congressman developed a high level of influence in defense circles while serving as chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. He continues to hold clout as the panel’s ranking Democrat.

Murtha is a 16-term congressman who is in his 32nd year in the House.

A number of area companies recognize the impact that Murtha has had on their success.

But they also realize that the 74-year-old’s run in Washington eventually will come to an end.

Dan DeVos, president and CEO of Concurrent Technologies Corp., said preparing for life after Murtha has been a real concern for about a decade. He said the congressman has impressed upon the area’s defense industry leaders the need to wean themselves from his aid.

“His involvement through directed funding helped increase the budget, and in the early years we were very dependent on that,” DeVos said in May.

“In the past five years, we have substantially decreased our reliance on those directed funds, including independently winning major contracts against top national competition.

“If Mr. Murtha were to retire, these programs would continue on. We don’t depend upon large amounts of directed funding anymore.”

David Fyock, founder of MountainTop Technologies, said his company is working to become less dependent upon government money. Not only is that in response to opportunities the company has uncovered in the private sector, but also as a means of preparing for Murtha’s eventual departure.

“We have been very dependent on military customers for the bulk of our work,” Fyock said earlier this month. “We are working very hard to lessen that dependency and broaden the scope of our customer base.

“Ultimately, we would like to see 50 percent of our revenue coming from nonmilitary and nongovernment sources.”