[CPEO-MEF] Departure of Subs to Impact Port City Economy

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Departure of Subs to Have Depth-Charge Impact on Port City Economy
Saturday, May 11, 2002  

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

ST. MARYS, Ga. -- Business tripled for Meg Lawrence a year ago when she 
moved her buffet-style restaurant with its sidewalk carry-out window to 
a shopping center not far from the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. 

Sailors started coming to Meg's Diner several times a week for the $7 
buffet, eating barbecued ribs in their starched white uniforms. 

Like many in this southeastern Georgia city, Lawrence anchored her 
economic fortunes to the nuclear submarine base and its more than 9,000 
employees. 

But now some of her best customers are shipping out for good. 

This summer, two of the 10 Trident nuclear submarines stationed at Kings 
Bay will be reassigned to the West Coast, taking 636 sailors, a $27 
million payroll and an estimated 1,400 family members with them. 

"It's going to hit the economy hard," says Lawrence, wearing her apron 
and a ball point pen in her hair. 

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://www.sltrib.com/05112002/nation_w/736051.htm

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