(FAYETTEVILLE) -- With the third largest military footprint in the country, North Carolina is a natural location for the growth of defense-related jobs and businesses. But U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan believes a round of automatic spending cuts called sequestration could devastate the industry.

Sen. Hagan She said she is hopeful that an agreement can be reached before year's end to avoid the cuts that would go into effect at the beginning of the year. "There's a lot of discussion about this being a very busy lame duck session between the election and the end of the year, and I am certainly hopeful that we have people that will be willing negotiate," said Hagan.

Hagan co-hosted the Defense and Economic Development Trade Show in Fayetteville this week, a meeting of more than 800 industry leaders.