21st Century Partnership helps prepare for next BRAC

jclark@sunmulti.com

The 21^st Century Partnership has commissioned

multiple studies that will show how the region around Robins Air Force Base

compares to 12 other military communities.

“We have an open-book test for the next BRAC (base

realignment and closure),” stated Maj. Gen. Robert McMahon (retired), the 21^stCentury Partnership president and CEO, during the meeting Thursday at the

Museum of Aviation. He noted that the studies will focus on the areas the BRAC

commission has looked at in the past to determine which bases were closed.

The studies, which will be compiled by the Middle Georgia

Regional Commission, will look at education, crime, medical availability, housing,

cost of living, innovation index, transportation, capacity for new missions, encroachment,

air quality, community cost reduction initiatives and the capacity to grow,

according to Laura Mathis, the deputy director of the commission.

The results will be released between March and June of this

year.

McMahon said the studies are “just step one.” He said that

once the results are released, the focus would be on improving the areas in the

region that may be lacking.

HHJ News