NORTHERN FLORIDA GETS HUGE BOOST FROM NORTHROP GRUMMAN EXPANSION
It isn’t often when a company’s expansion is so large that affects an entire region. But that is exactly the case with the expansion of Northrop Grumman Corp. in Melbourne Florida, which is going to be big no matter what, but it could be huge. Just how big is the expansion? It is so big that it actually has a name, Project Magellan. It will cost $500 million and encompass the completion of a 200,000 square foot building currently under construction, another building of 220,000 square feet and another 500,000 square feet of expansion is possible over the next 6 years. There could be 1,800 high paying jobs created by the expansion, jobs that have annual salaries of around $100,000. The reason why it could is that much of the expansion is tied to the Company’s bid for the B-2 stealth bomber contract, which is pending. For the sake of Melbourne, I really hope they get it! 1,800 jobs is a lot of jobs for any place, but considering this area lost the space shuttle program it would seem like poetic justice. It only cost the state of Florida $20 million in incentives to spur the growth (despite competition from other states), which saw Northrup move employees from New York to the Florida area. The initial jobs estimate was 1,000 over 4 years. Given the conflicts America is currently faced with around the globe, it seems like the need for long range strike capabilities has never been higher and shows no signs of slowing in the future. Yes the B-2 stealth bomber is going to be a large part of our military for years to come, and it very well could be manufactured in Florida. It should be noted that the current B-2 is manufactured in Palmdale, California, who could never put together an economic package as attractive as we can in Florida. We win that battle on taxes alone, much less occupancy and housing costs. So it is another big win for Florida, with the potential to be huge. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.
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