In the aftermath of winning a $347 million U.S. Army contract – which will result in creating 200 new jobs in Huntsville – Lockheed Martin is planning a major expansion of its campus in Cummings Research Park.
Lockheed Martin has communicated to the city of Huntsville that it will spend at least $19.3 million at its Huntsville location on Bradford Drive to help support the new Army contract to serve as the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon prototype system integrator.
The Huntsville city council will consider a project development agreement with Lockheed Martin at its meeting Thursday night.
The agreement spells out Lockheed Martin’s commitment to the 200 new jobs as well as the $19.3 million investment in its Huntsville facility. That capital investment, according to the agreement, will ensure the facility is “renovated, modified and equipped.”
The agreement also calls for the city of Huntsville to spend up to $500,000 on a proposed greenway adjacent to the Lockheed Martin campus as part of the city’s “Current Master Greenway Plan” at the request of the company.
The city of Huntsville is also obligated to make a $100,000 payment to Lockheed Martin by Dec. 31, 2024, if the company has committed at least half of its obligation for the facility improvements and has at least 722 full-time employees on payroll. And Lockheed Martin will receive another $100,000 payment from the city if it meets its hiring obligations by the same date and maintaining a workforce of 822 employees by the same Dec. 31, 2024 deadline.
Lockheed Martin currently has about 622 employees at its Huntsville facility.
The new jobs will provide an average salary of at least $90,000 – exclusive of fringe benefits or overtime pay, the agreement stipulates.
In the agreement, the city of Huntsville states that its investment in the Lockheed Martin expansion is merited to promote the city “as a hub for advanced aerospace and high-tech research and industrial development” as well as expanding the city’s tax base, among other reasons.
Lockheed Martin, per the agreement, will have the expansion completed by Dec. 31, 2025 and begin operations in the new facilities by Feb. 28, 2026.