WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Central Georgia's biggest employer, Robins Air Force Base, has a wide-ranging economic impact on the area.
Tuesday, we told you that the base pumps $5.5 billion dollars a year into the state's economy, mostly in salaries and contracts, but there's another cash flow we seldom hear about -- travel spending, nearly $6 million dollars worth in Central Georgia.
We spent the day breaking down the impact in Warner Robins.
$5.84 million came for people who are temporarily assigned to Robins. Some of them spend the night at hotels in town, and others stop and grab a quick bite at restaurants like Tap & Pour on Moody Road. Regardless, airmen are spending money off-base, supporting businesses in town.
Ben Banks sees about 200 to 300 military families eating here each week.
Banks said, "A lot of our regulars do work at the base every day, and they usually tell a friend, who tell a friend, and it usually just spreads from there."
Banks is the manager of Tap & Pour on Moody Road, about 10 minutes from Robins Air Force Base. He says his customers, specifically military families, mean "everything to him."
Banks said, "Without that money coming in, subsequential from the base, to us, and then to the local economy, and not just this business, but a lot of businesses in the area, that's our lifeline."
Except the impact goes beyond the restaurants business. Some temporary airmen also spend time at nearby hotels.
Billy Mansour said, "They're early birds. They're trickling out as I am going out at 7."
Mansour is the hotel manager at LaQuinta Inn and Suites on Watson Boulevard. He serves about 60 to 70 military folks a week, for about 3 to 5 days at a time.
"The base -- the base is everything. Without the base, we'd be gone, for sure," Mansour said.
According to Warner Robins' Convention and Visitors Bureau, this means they contribute room taxes that go to local government and to the Department of Transportation. Banks says their business "keeps them afloat."
"The drinking military crowd, this is kind of their spot, and if they don't know it, we want them to know it. We rely on it -- it's crucial to our business, I'd say," Banks said.
The general consensus between all the business owners is that Robins Air Force Base keeps their doors open and they are thankful.
The base now employs just over 23,000 people. More than two thirds of those are civilians.