Lockheed Martin facility creates 70 jobs in Alabama’s Lawrence County
October 29, 2021A cutting-edge technology aerospace company is transforming a rural World War II-era Air Force base into an economic juggernaut, Alabama officials announced.
Lockheed Martin, according to the state’s Department of Commerce, has repurposed the 65,000-square-foot former base in Courtland in Lawrence County into a facility that will produce a digital first center for the production of hypersonic strike technologies designed to protect the nation.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said at the site’s grand opening that the “project was a result of a lot of hard work from our federal delegation, our valued local leaders, and a great corporate partner our state has in Lockheed Martin.”
According to the release, the federal government cited “hypersonic strike capabilities as critical for defense against adversaries” as the weapons travel at five times the speed of sound and can intercept enemy missiles.
“This latest digital factory in Lockheed Martin’s infrastructure means we can make the most of digital engineering practices to revolutionize the way we develop and manufacture American-made hypersonic systems with efficiency and affordability,” said Sarah Hiza, vice president and general manager of the Strategic and Missile Defense Systems at Lockheed Martin Space., in the release.
To help fill positions at the facility known as Missile Assembly Building 4, the aerospace company utilized a federal apprenticeship program to trains workers through the Advanced Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship Program, which in turn, according to the release, puts $6.62 back into the economy for every dollar invested.
Brenda Tuck, who serves as Rural Development Manager for the Department of Commerce, said in the release, “Lockheed Martin found the workforce” and the “other ingredients it needed for success in Rural Alabama.
According to the release, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin has used Courtland as a manufacturing hub since 1994, and over the past two years the facility has grown by 117,000 square feet and brought 70 new jobs to the area, in addition to 200 in Huntsville.
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