Friday, February 26, 2010

Hope and Change: Not much in Florida



This report from Florida Today says that 23,000 central and east coast Florida jobs are on the line as the Shuttle program comes to an end and the Obama administration has cancelled other longer range plans like manned missions to the moon.

That sum includes 9,000 "direct" space jobs and -- conservatively speaking -- 14,000 "indirect" jobs at hotels, restaurants, retail stores and others that depend on activity at the space center, said Lisa Rice, Brevard Workforce president.

Mark Nappi is vice president of launch and recovery systems for United Space Alliance, NASA's prime contractor for shuttle operations. As things stand today, he predicted that more than 4,500 of the company's 5,500 Florida workers will lose their jobs. Geographically speaking, Nappi said 4,850 USA workers live in Brevard, including 3,250 in the northern half of the county.

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