Colorado's aerospace economy 2nd in the nation
The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) released its 2007 Aerospace Industry Cluster Profile on September 19, 2007, which reported that Colorado’s aerospace economy has propelled to the nation’s No. 2 position for private aerospace employment.
With 26,650 people employed in aerospace throughout Colorado, the state’s direct industry employment grew 12.9 percent from 2006-2007, compared to a 0.8 percent growth rate nationwide. From 2002-2007, Colorado tallied a 27.4 percent aerospace employment growth rate, compared to a national growth rate of 2.7 percent.
2006 Total Aerospace Employment
#1 – California
#2 – Colorado
#3 – Texas
#4 – New Jersey
#5 - Florida
“Colorado's aerospace industry is poised for explosive growth. We have the right mix of major contractors, highly educated workforce, research institutions, military presence, and NASA funding to further grow this industry,” said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver EDC. “Our state's major contractors continue to win a commanding share of major NASA contracts, which is driving employment up for these companies and smaller contractors and suppliers.”
Several projects have contributed to the state's aerospace growth:
The United Launch Alliance (ULA), a new venture combining Boeing’s Delta and Lockheed Martin’s Atlas programs to form one of the strongest rocket launch companies in the world, selected Metro Denver as its headquarters. The ULA began operations in December 2006 and currently employs about 1,600 workers in the Metro Denver area.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems is developing the $8.2 billion Orion project, a state-of-the-art crew exploration vehicle that will replace the Space Shuttle and take human explorers to the International Space Station, back to the Moon, and eventually to Mars. Almost 500 of Lockheed Martin’s Colorado employees are currently working on the project, and an additional 600 Orion-related jobs could be added in Colorado by 2009.
Colorado companies were involved in all aspects of the recent launch of the WorldView-1 satellite, the most advanced commercial imaging satellite developed to date. DigitalGlobe, a Longmont-based provider of satellite images for Google Earth, launched this next-generation, $500 million satellite into orbit in mid-September 2007. The satellite was launched on a Delta II supplied by the United Launch Alliance of Centennial. WorldView-1 was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder.
