Outside the fence of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, people in the city of Fairborn are watching, waiting and wondering what’s next as defense spending cuts could hit the state’s largest single site employer and the community’s economic engine.

Inside Cadillac Jacks, a sports bar-themed restaurant on Kauffman, manager Angie Stringer wondered aloud Monday what the future holds. A handful of customers stopped in on the snowy afternoon and a federal holiday that kept most base employees home. The base has more than 29,700 military and civilian personnel, according to the most recent figures.

In a “worst-case scenario,” she said, “we could be out of a job ourselves. We’re struggling as it is to keep the business up and running.”

She’s not the only one concerned about what massive spending cuts could mean.

“Anything that costs people jobs in your neighborhood is a big issue,” said Robert S. Johnson, owner of Fairborn Transmission.

The Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson, the biggest employer at the sprawling base, could impose a civilian hiring freeze, fire temporary employees and not renew contracts with contracted employees, among other measures ordered by the Pentagon.

AFMC officials expect this week to explain how and where they will carry out those directives.

Wright-Patterson also is expected to curtail travel, defer base maintenance, curb buying office equipment such as furniture and computers, and could reduce spending on advisory and assistance services and custodial contracts, among other possibilities the Air Force has outlined in the short term.

If Congress and President Obama fail to stop nearly $500 billion in automatic cuts, known as sequestration, from starting March 1, the Air Force hasn’t ruled out the possibility of rolling civilian furloughs of up to a month and deeper cuts, also. Without those cuts, the Pentagon has already agreed to $487 billion in less spending in the next 10 years.

In downtown Fairborn on West Main Street, Roush’s Restaurant owner Mike Gharst waits anxiously.

“The only way we survive is with the base, so any up or down at the base affects us,” he said. “If (cuts) happen, we’ll just be slower. There’s always bumps with the base.”

Sitting at a table eating lunch at the eatery, Wright-Patterson retiree Carl Newman, 76, a former program analyst, noted the prevalence and importance of Wright-Patterson in everyday life in Fairborn.

“The people that live here work there or have relatives who work there,” he said. “I wouldn’t call it a company town, but it’s kind of in that same vein.”

Fewer Air Force contracts to local contractors will hurt, although civilian hiring freezes are not new to the base over the years, he said.

Still, even with the uncertainty, he’s optimistic. While empty storefronts are found in city strip malls and downtown has struggled, Fairborn has improved in recent years, he said. One bright note: recently repaved city streets.

“Maybe it’s because I like to look at the glass half-filled instead of half-empty,” he said.

Jim Wheeler, 61, a patron at Cadillac Jacks and a retired janitor, wasn’t as optimistic if big budget cuts set in.

“Fairborn is going to dry up,” he said. “It seems like it pretty much has already. You hate to see all that stuff.”

Fred Domicone, owner of Domicone Printing Inc., said the town can tell when the base brings in a new group of employees or cuts another.

“We can actually see it in the volume of people that come in,” he said. “We can see it in the amount of open businesses in the community. And it’s a noticeable difference.”

Even so, his business has gradually watched the base take more printing jobs inside the fence over the last decade, but Wright-Patterson customers continue to be an important part of his business.

“Even though the Air Force doesn’t order much from us anymore, base personnel do,” he said.

He’s brought in new products to keep business steady. “It’s remained steady because we’ve had to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

While budget cuts could be the latest impact on Fairborn, the recent closure of part of Ohio 444 and rerouting of traffic to improve base security has hurt businesses, according to one store owner.

“Business has slowed down actually a lot,” said David Johnson, owner of Customer Computer Builders on North Broad Street. “(Ohio) 444 was a highly traveled road.

“To close down that section, now there’s no more traffic coming through there,” he said.

Douglas Bingham, a Realtor at Wright-Patt Realty in Fairborn, said business picked up last year and real estate agents hope for more good fortune this year.

“We’re definitely somewhat dependent on the base for part of our business, but there are other areas of the economy that support us as well,” he said. “… Hopefully, they won’t cut the budget or it will be very minimal.”

Joseph E. Zeis, executive vice president and chief strategic officer of the Dayton Development Coalition, said Wright-Patterson is well-positioned to handle consolidations since it gained jobs and missions with the last base realignment and closure process in 2005.

The area can best prepare to withstand cuts and push economic growth with a focus on core areas tied to Wright-Patterson and its industrial and research base: advanced human performance technologies, automation efficiencies, unmanned aerial systems, and information technology, among other things.

“Given the budget situations that we face, the region (and) its industrial base and its infrastructure are pretty well positioned because of its expertise and focus,” he said.

While defense budgets fall, military and commercial technologies have merged and commercial aviation is a growing market, he said.

“The civilian aerospace world is expanding rapidly,” Zeis said, noting General Electric’s $51 million Electrical Power Integrated Systems Research and Development Center under construction in Dayton.