SAN DIEGO — Karamia Martinez manages Floyd's 99 Barbershop in Pacific Beach and she says they do around 100 military haircuts per week.
"They are the easiest to please because they get haircuts all the time! A military haircut includes tight and clean on the edges," said Martinez.
"I get a haircut every two weeks. I want to make sure I look good," said Jordan Ferguson, Sonar Tech in the Navy. "It's very important the military is here especially during COVID."
"San Diego is good to the military and the military is good to San Diego, it’s the partnership that keeps us safe and our economy strong and San Diego employed," said Mayor Todd Gloria.
The San Diego Military Advisory Council partnered with the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego to create an in-depth analysis of the impact from military spending on the San Diego economy.
Local military leaders and other San Diego officials met at the Naval Base in Point Loma to discuss the results of their 15th Annual Economic Report Wednesday morning.
"The bottom line findings that we had: In the San Diego region, direct spending rose to $36 billion; that's a 1.8% increase which means all the dollars the defense department brings in to pay people and do good work," said the author of the report, Rady's Dr. Michael Meyer.
Meyer said more than 356,000 area jobs are tied to the defense budget. The report found the defense sector of the local economy grew over the past several years even during the pandemic that shut down other sectors.
"31% of defense spending goes to all the small businesses that are here in San Diego. 1,700 small businesses locally owned are employing the person down the street," said Dr. Meyer.
The report's findings are a very good thing for local businesses like Floyd's 99 and the entire San Diego community.
"It is important that we are giving back to them as they have given back to us," said Martinez.
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