Northrop breaks ground on $80M complex
Defense contractor's selection shows faith in city, officials say
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
At the ground-breaking for an $80 million Northrop Grumman campus in Cummings Research Park, Sen. Jeff Sessions said he has often referred to Huntsville as the state's economic gem.
"But maybe I should call it the mother lode," Sessions said Monday morning.
From Gov. Bob Riley to Mayor Loretta Spencer, the official word at the ceremony was that Northrop Grumman's locale selection for its five-building complex shows confidence in Huntsville's support - economic and congressional.
"They could have put this building anywhere, and they chose Huntsville," Riley said.
The company's Huntsville customers include the Army Space and Missile Defense Command; Army Aviation and Missile Command; the Army Program Executive Office for Aviation; the Army Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space; and elements of the Missile Defense Agency.
The defense contractor has 1,200 people working in 20 sites across Madison County; most of those operations will be consolidated in the new facility, including laboratories and research centers.
The first building will be four stories high and 110,000 square feet. The campus will take three to five years to build.
Daniel L. Montgomery, Northrop Grumman's lead executive for the region, said the Huntsville operation will support or manage several major programs and new contracts.
Included is the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, a mobile, land-based missile-defense system able to destroy a hostile threat during its boost and ascent phase of flight. Other defense programs here are the anti-tank Hellfire and Longbow missiles and Viper Strike munition.
Dozens of Northrop Grumman employees attended the ground-breaking, and Riley commended them. He said the work they do saves lives and promotes freedom, "and that's not political rhetoric."
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