Rockwell Collins recipient of half of military spending in Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS - More than half of the $1.4 billion the U.S. Department of Defense spent in Iowa during the 2014 budget year went to Linn County, according to the latest accounting from the Pentagon.

Nearly $856 million was spent on defense contractors in Linn, according to a report issued Monday by the Defense Department.

Most of that - $714 million - went to Cedar Rapids-based avionics technology company Rockwell Collins.

Another $118 million went to Data Link Solutions, a joint venture also involving Rockwell Collins that provides shared communications technology to U.S. and allied armed forces.

Defense spending is not a large share of Iowa's overall economy - the Pentagon said the state ranks 40th in its per-state funding. But it can have significant effects in parts of the state where the spending makes up a bigger slice of the local economy.

As troops were drawn down in Iraq and Afghanistan, and as Congress adopted forced budget cuts, military spending has been on the decline nationally since fiscal year 2011.

The Pentagon projects military spending will have been reduced by $454 billion between fiscal 2013 and 2021, when the forced budget cuts were intended to end.

For fiscal year 2014, the Pentagon said it spent $418 billion nationally on payroll and contracts, which is about $1,300 for every U.S. resident and about 2.4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.

For Iowa alone, the spending came to about $450 per resident - or less than 1 percent of the state's economy.

'The extent of the impact of reduced defense expenditures on states that have been the recipients of relatively little defense spending will be minimal; certain regions within these states, however, may face relatively large impacts,” according to the report.

Indeed, Rockwell Collins has had to cope with such defense cutbacks.

In 2013, its chief executive officer said the company faced the possibility of eliminating about 1,000 jobs primarily because of the Pentagon cutbacks.

The company employs about 20,000 people worldwide, it says. With more than 8,500 employees locally, according to the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, it is by far the largest employer in the city.

Among other components of military spending in Iowa, according to the Pentagon report:

' Polk County came in a distant second in military spending, with $120.8 million.

' Johnson County received the eight-largest share in Iowa, at almost $18 million. About $4.7 million of that went for research at the University of Iowa.

' More than three-fourths of the money spent in Iowa went to acquire supplies and equipment. Six percent went for research and development.