Before the shells end up on the front line and kill a few aggressive Putinists to protect Ukraine, they have to be manufactured at military plants. And these factories employ a lot of people. Defending the state is a noble cause. In addition, factory workers are paid for it.
Since the beginning of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the United States has allocated about $175 billion to defend Ukraine. However, much of this money has remained in the United States. And the Scranton munitions plant, which produces 155mm ammunition, is among those receiving this money. As well as the plant in Alabama, which produces armored vehicles, and in Texas, which produces mobile rocket launchers.
For example, at the General Dynamics Army Armory, more than 200 new jobs have been created since 2022, and ammunition production has doubled. This enterprise produces about a third of the 155-mm shells supplied to the frontline in Ukraine every month. In Karbondel, the Gentex arms factory increased its workforce by 10%. The German optics company Schott’s plant in Durey also has dozens of new employees. And these labor months are helping to revitalize the local economy.
For decades, after the closure of coal mines and textile mills, the unemployment rate here was a couple percent higher than the national average. Today, it’s better than the U.S. average, which means money for healthcare, education, and infrastructure. And also for what locals call economic recovery. The state’s unemployment rate is currently the lowest in the country, and this is no coincidence.
The shells produced in Scranton are then shipped to Iowa, where they are filled with gunpowder and fired. Only after that are the shells sent to Ukraine to defend against aggressors.
New job opportunities attract people to Scranton. The city itself has a population of about 77,000, but it is the center of a growing region of half a million people. As the city grew, it became short of healthcare workers, electricians, and retail workers.
And Pennsylvania also lacks highly skilled workers, such as teachers for local universities and medical colleges, engineers who can work in optics manufacturing or create software that integrates helmets and armored vehicles.
Part of economic recovery is attracting workers from big cities. For example, Gentex has many employees who commute to Carbondale from Philadelphia.
And local officials hope that new opportunities will convince young workers and college graduates to stay in Scranton, or to return home from where they were looking for work before. And the conditions for this are there – housing is cheaper than in big cities. The restaurant business is gradually developing. And the new train station in Amrak will provide a direct connection to New York City.
