FORTIFIED BY DIVERSITY

Localities must continue to pursue avenues that facilitate entry for private-sector businesses

There are days when the stars seem to align — you find a $5 bill on the ground; the customer ahead of you in line buys your coffee; the sea of traffic seems to part during your evening commute.

We relish those days, but it would be unwise to simply rely on good fortune.

A measure passed by the Senate Tuesday that would direct more than $670 billion toward a wave of Defense Department spending increases would be a blessing if it is passed by the House of Representatives and signed by President Donald Trump.

If approved, service members’ pay would rise, as would the number of troops, equipment and weapons funded in the 2019 fiscal year as a part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.

That money will surely fund much-needed projects and improvements, but we must also caution that defense spending should not be considered this region’s golden goose.

Hampton Roads heavily relies on defense spending to fuel our economy. It comes with the territory; we host every branch of the military — and proudly so.

So now is a good time to remind our local leaders once again that, while increases in defense spending will surely nourish the local economy, we must also renew our efforts to encourage private sector growth.

Our overreliance on a single industry is a problem, especially considering Congress continues to struggle finding money to stave off budget deficits, growing debt and growing entitlement program costs.

Private sector growth at home will help us diversify our economy while protecting us from any political and financial fracas taking place in the halls of Congress.

We must consider more ways to spark small business development and to entice tech companies to grow roots here. Cybersecurity and other web-based fields are growth industries in the years to come.

Groups such as 757 Accelerate are identifying quality early-stage businesses and connecting them with local investors, capital, mentors, customers and solutions. They must be commended and given the tools to expand their efforts.

We also need to create a regulatory environment that grants businesses the freedom to operate responsibly.

This week, Hampton named Charles E. “Chuck” Rigney Sr. as the city’s new economic development director. We hope he will use his contacts as Norfolk’s former director and assistant director of economic development to help draw businesses to the city. We would also expect him to work with like-minded job creators in neighboring localities to advertise this region as a whole, rather than competing against each other.

Ultimately, the defense spending approved in Washington will be a boon to Hampton Roads. And that money will be put to good use.

The military is facing real demands that must be addressed.

An internal report maintains that the Air

Force needs to grow to meet evolving threats from China and Russia. And the Navy’s leaders have urged Congress to fund expansion to a 355-ship fleet, a 28 percent increase from the existing 277 ships.

We gladly encourage the region’s military leaders to brace for such growth.

The Air Force report notes the number of operational squadrons must grow about 25 percent by 2030, from 312 today to 386. That increase would require personnel levels to grow by about 40,000 service members on top of the Air Force’s current growth projections. Joint Base Langley-Eustis could be a good fit for some of that expansion. Increased Naval spending could benefit Naval Station Norfolk as well as the public and private shipyards in our region.

Hampton Roads is a military-friendly region — after all, the armed forces are a part of our history. But imagine Hampton Roads as a hub for cybersecurity, a hot spot for information technology or an epicenter of cloud computing.

Local leaders need as much cooperation as possible to work as a single unit to build a more robust private-sector job market here in Hampton Roads. Learn from metropolitan regions that are doing well.

Relying on good fortune risks foundering on the ebb and flow of resources that will never be under our control.