Fort McCoy supports session of 17th Wisconsin Government Opportunities Business Conference

Fort McCoy supported a session of the 17th annual Wisconsin Government Opportunities Business Conference in building 905 at the installation.

Tamaya Jo Loewe, executive director of the Juneau County Economic Development Corporation served as the master of ceremonies for the session of the conference. The conference, which was organized in part by the Wisconsin Procurement Institute, focused on helping small business owners and representatives learn more about working with the federal government facilities at Fort McCoy.

In the description for the conference description for the session, the institute stated, “These sessions will give small and diverse businesses the opportunity to learn more about Wisconsin’s federal government facilities, meet with leadership, learn more about the installations’ operations, and about regional procurement opportunities for your business.”

Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger and Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Calarco, garrison command sergeant major, both spoke at the beginning of the conference. Calarco spoke briefly in the start with Messenger, and then Messenger spoke in more detail about the installation’s mission, relationship with neighboring communities, economic impact, and more.

“I have the best job in the Army just to come here and welcome you to this phenomenal installation,” Calarco said. The garrison’s senior enlisted adviser also discussed the proximity of building 905 and the location of the conference session being next to Fort McCoy’s historic Commemorative Area where some of the attendees later visited.

“This is my favorite part of this installation,” Calarco said. “I walk around here … you can see our tanks and our trucks … our buildings have displays and it talks about some of our history. (It) definitely represents our past. But I can also see, if I look really hard, our future contributions … right? So, Col. Messenger and I are not that much different than (Maj. Gen.) Robert Bruce McCoy. I don’t know if you guys heard of that guy — he’s the founder of this great installation. General McCoy was a Citizen Soldier. … So, Col. Messenger and I represent all of the Guard and Reserves here in that’s our primary function.

“And as I stand here, on this great piece of land that we’re … on right now, … I can’t help but feel the weight of all those Soldiers, men and women, who have had amazing contributions,” Calarco said. “Some of them … the ultimate sacrifice. So, there’s a significant weight that I carry every single day. But I can honestly say that it’s not possible for us to do what we do if it wasn’t for the people in these chairs coming here. … So, with that, I just want to thank you very much for coming.”

Messenger also said he was appreciative of everyone who attended the event.

“So, what you’re doing here is not normal. I want to lead with that. I was at the Monroe County Fair …. and I spoke there, and I told the crowd this,” Messenger said. “This is not normal across the nation. What Wisconsin does in getting together in these small groups trying to solve our biggest challenges, and trying to really get after some things as a community as we do (is great). … I appreciate you coming together to think about some of our bigger challenges.”

Messenger also spoke about the importance of Fort McCoy’s economic impact to the local economies. He pointed out the installation’s impact for fiscal year (FY) 2022, which was approximately $2.52 billion. The data for the economic impact was compiled by Fort McCoy’s Plans, Analysis and Integration Office. As determined, workforce payroll, operating costs, and other expenditures totaled $629.08 million for FY 2022 compared to $481.6 million for FY 2021.

A total of 2,444 personnel worked at Fort McCoy in FY 2022 — 1,320 civilians, 586 military, and 538 contract employees. Approximately 66.4 percent of the workforce lives within Monroe County. FY 2022 operating costs of $391.46 million included utilities, physical plant maintenance, repair and improvements, new construction projects, purchases of supplies and services, as well as salaries for civilian contract personnel working at Fort McCoy.

Other expenditures accounted for $52.25 million and covered $339,994 in payments to local governments (including land permit agreements, school district impact aid, etc.) as well as $51.91 million in discretionary spending in local communities by service members training and residing at Fort McCoy.

“That’s hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts,” Messenger said. “That’s hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction. It’s hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll that we have here. And this is a driver of the economy, but it’s not because of Fort McCoy being here. It’s because of the integration that we have in the local community. And mainly when I say local, I mean this part of the region.”

In addition to support from Fort McCoy, the Wisconsin Procurement Institute, and the Juneau County Economic Development Corporation for this session on post, other agencies assisting with the event were the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Speakers included Vance Bickford, contract specialist with Mission Installation Contracting Command-Fort McCoy; Jessica Adams, store manager with AbilityOne Base Supply; Shane Mahaffy, lead business opportunity specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration; Nicole Boehler, lending resource specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration; Mark Tallman, regional economic development director with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation; Paul Ndon with business automation of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation; andAina Vilumsons, president and executive director of Wisconsin Procurement Institute.

Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.