Report: Denver Metro region ranks No. 1 in aerospace employment

By: InnovatioNews Tuesday February 10, 2015 Tags: Denver, Exelis, HB 1178, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Raytheon, Sierra Nevada Corp., The Boeing Company

 

METRO DENVER - The nine-county Metro Denver region ranks No. 1 in private sector aerospace employment out of the 50 largest metro areas in the nation with nearly 20,000 workers, according to the Colorado Space Coalition.

Colorado had the third-largest space economy in the nation in 2014, behind traditional space leaders California and Florida.

The Metro Denver aerospace industry includes 120 companies with 19,560 direct employees at such companies as Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., The Boeing Company, Exelis, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Raytheon, Sierra Nevada Corp. and United Launch Alliance.

The average wage in the Metro Denver aerospace industry is $124,380.

The report said Colorado's ranking was made possible by its ability to recruit and retain technical and scientific employees and entrepreneurial talent, its proximity to vendors and customers, its proximity to higher education institutions and low-to-moderate costs of doing business.

The region is also helped by HB 1178, signed into law in April 2014 by Gov. John Hickenlooper, that provides a tax exemption for qualified property used in space flight, the  report noted.