Momentum for Strong Aerospace & Defense Strategy 

Sometimes a shock can be a good thing. When leaders in Tucson learned that aerospace & defense giant Raytheon Missile Systems selected Huntsville, Alabama as the location for its $75 million manufacturing plant, they didn’t take the news sitting down.

Local leaders quickly began discussions to determine what actions we as a region need to take to stay in the game. It was agreed that change was necessary. In fact, it was imperative.

But before you can change, you have to assess where and how you can improve. It was with this goal in mind that a group of 15 local community and business leaders traveled to Huntsville to meet with community leaders to discuss “best practices.”

Raytheon chose the Huntsville location for many reasons, the most important being room to expand (not currently possible in Tucson). Incentives, too, played a significant role in the decision. Being close to the defense customer was also critical. Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal is home to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Space and Missile Defense Command, and major components of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Missile Defense Agency.

Huntsville also is home to a cluster of defense contractors and aerospace companies within Cummings Research Park, one of the world’s leading science and technology business parks. The facility employs 25,000 people at some 285 companies. The research park serves as a central hub for aerospace technology and a technology incubator for the entire aerospace & defense industry.

Bruce Wright, head of the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park and the Arizona Bioscience Park, was on that two-day trip last July. He was impressed by the collaboration and cooperation that permeate Huntsville’s leadership.

“The community leadership is