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Vandenberg to bring jobs & tax income to Keys
The Vandenberg Project represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to place a large, world class artificial reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Key West. The economic and environmental benefits of this project are permanent and compelling. This project is fully supported by the entire cross section of our community. For reasons cited below, action is necessary now to reap these benefits or forever lose them.
Economic Benefits:
- Projected to generate between $56 million and $168 million in commerce for our economy in the next ten years. (As projected by Solutions for Progress Inc. Philadelphia, PA)
- Generates full time and part time permanent jobs. Many of these are traditional “working waterfront” jobs, including jobs for captains and crewmembers, dive and tackle shop employees, and marina staff.
- No overhead: unlike parks or other attractions, the ship will require no maintenance after sinking. It will improve as natural processes enrich the habitat.
- The economic benefits are realized year-round. especially in the off-season when warm-water diving and snorkeling are popular.
- Benefits are anticipated to last indefinitely
- Attracts tourists and benefits locals
- Environmental, scientific, educational and historic:
- Designed specifically to take pressure off the natural reef by providing an attractive alternate site for all types of marine recreational activity.
- Provides a platform to accommodate an “underwater classroom” for the Florida Keys Community College (FKCC), among other institutions, driving enrollment and providing a real educational asset to our community
- Represents an “underwater laboratory”, a baseline for conducting meaningful environmental research, currently required and planned, and attracting worldwide interest and prestige
- Historical connection to Florida Keys via Little White House and widespread veteran support
- Supports training programs for local Law Enforcement and Military Programs as well as FKCC’s pioneering Port Security Training
Comparable example of economic benefit:
 The Spiegel Grove artificial reef project in Key Largo generated between approximately $9-10 million (NOAA) and $14.2 million (Key Largo Chamber of Commerce) in commerce in its first year alone. This was in the year of 9-11 when all other areas in the keys were reporting business being off as much as 60%. The success in Key Largo was realized in a market that is fully mature with little room for upside growth (NOAA)
The Socioeconomic Study of Reefs in Southeast Florida, (conducted by NOAA and engineering and economic development consultant Hazen and Sawyer Environmental Engineers & Scientists, with participation by the Monroe County Tourism Development Council), which included the Florida Keys, provides much information regarding the economic contribution and use values of artificial reefs in Monroe County. This study represented recreational uses of artificial and natural reefs from June 2000 to May 2001 (pre Spiegel Grove). Some of the findings of this study are excerpted below:
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During this 12-month period, Monroe County residents and visitors spent 1.471 million person-days recreating on artificial reefs in the Florida Keys. These recreational activities included fishing, diving and snorkeling. A person-day is one person participating in one or a combination of these activities for all or a portion of one day.
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Monroe County residents and visitors would be willing to spend as much as $2.142 million per year to pay for and maintain new artificial reefs in Monroe County. This means that the deployment of new artificial reefs can be justified if the annual cost of deploying and maintaining them is less than or equal to $2.142 million per year.
[The study asked resident and visiting taxpayers about willingness pay a tax for artificial reef programs.]
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Total Monroe County artificial reef related tourist spending was $823 million in 2000. From the 1.471 million person-days of activity artificial reefs generated 1,9164 jobs. The total income contribution (the sum of employee compensation, proprietor income, interest, rents and profits) that remained in Monroe County from artificial reef related activities was $26.55 million.
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The study investigated the socioeconomic value of artificial reefs in four counties in southeastern Florida (Monroe, Dade, Broward and Palm Beach). The results indicate that artificial reef related expenditures generated income for each community in the range of $32 million to $501 million6, and provided a total of 26,8867 jobs in all four counties. [see NOTES]
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Yet another study further concluded that for every dollar that Florida has spent on reef construction in the Panhandle region, $131 has been returned in recreational value to anglers and divers (NOAA).
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An initial analysis of dive shop revenue in the Key Largo, Florida area shows a 20 to 25% increase in the first six months since the reefing of the Spiegel Grove, currently the largest ship sunk specifically for reef development. 25,000 divers dived the Spiegel Grove reef in its first year (NOAA).
NOTES: 9/1/06: Continuing analysis of Socioeconomic study by Dr. Grace M. Johns, project manager, of Hazen and Sawyer Environmental Engineers & Scientists indicates figures revised upward as follows: 1.1.58million- person days; 2 $2.19 million taxpayer willingness to pay; 3 $131 million artificial reef-related spending; 4 2400 jobs; 5 $33 million in income contribution; 6 $33-$502 million in visitor expenditures in four counties; 7 27000 jobs in four counties
Who will come?
While the Project is designed to be used by and benefit the whole community, some user groups (fishermen, divers, snorkelers, and glass bottom boat riders) are easier to quantify than others. As an example, a subscriber study done for Rodale’s Scuba Diving, the largest magazine in the field with a total audience of 1,169,000, revealed the following information about a major component of our targeted market, scuba divers:
- Average household income of $121,000
- Mean number of dive trips in last twelve months 4.8
- Average spending on dive trips in last twelve months $3,045
- Percent spending more than $1,000 on their last trip 46%
- Willingness to pay a $ 2/day fee to support a protected area 92.8%
- Planning a dive trip in the next 2 years 98.5%
- Planning dive trip to the Florida Keys in the next two years 47.9%
- The total number of adults who participated in scuba diving in 2001 is 2,189,000.
- What is the market?
- Recently Dive Training Magazine conducted a study that found:
- Tourism is now the world’s largest industry
- Ecotourism is the fastest growing segment of that market
- Marine ecotourism is the fastest growing sector of the segment
- The Vandenberg project is designed specifically to attract participants from the full range of ecotourism
More about Artificial Reefs, worldwide
1/31/07, Key West Citizen
City gives final OK on wreck
KEY WEST - The City Comission approved three agreements with state and federal officials on Wednesday night that complete the paperwork for the sinking of a retired military ship as an artificial reef. ...(read more)
Key West Citizen
Vandenberg funding has nothing to do with county's general fund - 01/16/2007
Guest Editorial by Key West City Commissioner, Bill Verge
One of the earliest things you learn when you enter public life is the few avenues you have to reach the public to explain the decisions you make when you vote. The electorate has to feel, or at least hope, that you have done your homework when you cast a vote. Such is the decision to bring the USS Vandenberg to Key West and the Florida Keys as an artificial reef. ...(read more)
Vandenberg will be cleaned and prepared at one of the nation's oldest shipyards, Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk Va.
See images of Vandenberg while it was still in the MARAD James River Reserve Fleet
Individual and business sponsorships are still available. Funds are still needed for day-to-day operations, like this website, and for educational and historic preservation events and displays to be presented during "Sink Week." You can still participate in this historic project, see our donor page.
MARAD commits funding for Vandenberg project click here to see clipping
More high level support for Vandenberg Click Here
click to enlarge this image showing scale drawing of the ship and cutting plan for reefing preparation
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