Lockheed Martin to open office at Hill AFB bringing more jobs to area

Lockheed Martin to open office at Hill AFB bringing more jobs to area

(Weston Kenney, Deseret News, File)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s aerospace industry is expanding its local footprint.

Lockheed Martin announced Thursday that its program management office for the U.S. Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program will be located in a newly planned development in the Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park at Hill Air Force Base in Layton.

The Maryland-based defense contractor will be the first tenant in a new building to be constructed by Woodbury Corp. in the 550-acre commercial property. The lease agreement is for 25,000 square feet of office space and technology development capability in a new, 75,000-square-foot facility that will include laboratory space, explained John Karas, Lockheed Martin vice president and program manager. Initially, the company will hire about 25 employees to staff the location, with possible expansion ahead if the company is selected to develop to new strategic deterrent program, he said.

“As the program grows, so will the number of employees,” Karas said during a news conference at the Governor’s Office of Economic Development in downtown Salt Lake City. The ground defense program is a competition to replace the military’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system with an updated integrated weapon system.

“This (first) phase of the program is three years,” he said. “The following phase is (much longer.) This is potentially a 40-year program.”

Lockheed Martin employees in Utah currently work on Minuteman III sustainment programs and aircraft like the F-35 Lightning II and F-22, he noted. The company submitted a proposal to the Air Force for the Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction phase of the program earlier this month and expects to occupy the new building beginning August 2017, said Taylor Woodbury, chief operating officer of Woodbury Corp.

An F-35 Lightning II flies during the Warriors Over the Wasatch Open House and Air Show at Hill Air Force Base on Saturday, June 25, 2016. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News, File)
An F-35 Lightning II flies during the Warriors Over the Wasatch Open House and Air Show at Hill Air Force Base on Saturday, June 25, 2016. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News, File)

The announcement by Lockheed Martin signals the growing strength of the state’s aerospace technology sector, said GOED executive director Val Hale.

“Aerospace manufacturing in Utah is about 31,000 jobs in the state and over a thousand companies,” he said. “To have a company like Lockheed Martin expand their presence is really significant for us.”

He also noted that the long-term benefit could result in thousands of jobs in the years to come, if the program flourishes, and could lead to increased stability for the Hill Air force Base community and surrounding area.

“This one huge program could increase our aerospace presence statewide by up to 25 percent,” Hale said. “The more companies come and participate (in economic growth) in and around the base, the more secure the base can be.”

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