Hunter Says Thousands in Poway Could be Affected by Federal Shutdown

Editor's Note: As of 8:10 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, both parties reached a temporary budget deal.

Poway’s General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., or GA-ASI, apparently would continue production of the Predator B unmanned aircraft deployed by the U.S. military in hotspots around the world if the federal government shuts down this weekend.

The privately held defense contractor employs 5,000 employees, most of whom work in Sabre Springs and in the Poway Business Park, as well as other locations throughout the region, including Palmdale.

Many local military observers are concerned about the future of defense spending, and what impact political infighting would have as Republicans and Democrats duke it out in the nation’s capital.

“We don’t talk about or speculate” about the future, “so we’re not commenting about operations,” said GA-ASI spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz.

“I will tell you that we’re moving ahead with our job fair at our Poway site,” she added. “That’s going to be held as scheduled.”

The job fair will be held April 15 and 16 at 14115 Stowe Dr. in the Poway Business Park, and she said that it will be “business as usual.” It’s expected to draw a huge crowd of job seekers, given the ongoing downturn in the local economy.

Joe Kasper, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who represents Poway, said the congressman asked the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service for an evaluation of the situation. The agency responded that failure to fund defense could result in the loss of 100,000 civilian jobs, including 10,000 in the Washington, D.C., area, he said.

Kasper said he couldn’t say specifically how General Atomics might be affected.

Nevertheless, he did note that the Predator B program is an important one, so the fallout might not be that great. But it was only a guess, he said.

He added the Pentagon might find ways to keep the program going while the partisan imbroglio in the capitol continues, given its importance to U.S. security.

Still, he said San Diego would feel the pain in other areas of the military, given the huge deployment of U.S. Marines and sailors, as well as the tens of thousands of civilian workers.

“It would be hard to imagine that the impact wouldn’t be felt in San Diego,” said Kasper, pointing to the recent layoffs at Nassco/General Dynamics Corp. shipyard, where more than 300 workers have lost their jobs in recent months due to budget wrangling and its impact on the Navy.

The defense shipbuilder is warning that as many as 1,500 workers could lose their jobs if no defense budget is passed before the start of the Oct. 1 fiscal year.

The military has proposed a $671 billion 2012 budget that calls for continue financial support of the unmanned aircraft built by GA-ASI.

San Diego is the largest recipient of defense dollars in the nation, with the annual total amount approaching $15 billion, according to several studies.