Colorado is Hub for Hush-Hush Aerospace Industry

You won't read about these high-tech, cloak-and-dagger projects in the newspaper or see them on the nightly news. Some participating in activities there don't return a reporter's calls, and they want little publicity. To be sure, this local version of Area 51 doesn't have a questionable reputation for performing experiments on the bodies of space aliens, as does the super-secret Air Force test center in the Nevada desert. What this locale does have is nearly 300,000 residents, numerous parks, golf courses and a mayor. Welcome to Aurora. At times a butt of local jokes, the 144-square-mile city actually is home to an aerospace-defense industry that's been generating jobs at a rapid clip. Much of the work is stamped "classified." Not even Aurora's top elected official knows exactly what's going on inside his city's borders. Mayor Ed Tauer, in fact, likes to joke to local aerospace-defense execs: "I have no idea what you're doing. But I'm damn glad you're doing it here." Eleven of these companies are known to have operations in Colorado's third-largest city. They are big ... and small: Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Merrick and Paragon Dynamics, to name a few. Employees of these companies crunch and transmit satellite data that military brass and civilians can use to make tactical decisions. Some integrate computer systems and write software related to fighting terrorism. Others develop software that controls orbiting satellites. Still others design sophisticated headquarters for such customers as the U.S. Army Space Command in Colorado Springs. These 5,000-plus workers occupy a vital chunk of the Aurora economy. "Outside of retail, I would say the largest industry we have now is aerospace and aerospace-related," said Paul Tauer, who served as mayor from 1987 to 2003 before his son took charge. Aurora's mother ship, so to speak, is Buckley Air Force Base, a sprawling 3,200-acre facility on the city's outskirts. Those inside Buckley's guarded walls rely on a global constellation of spy satellites to keep an eye out for hostile missile launches around the globe. As a key military outpost, Buckley plays a big role in nurturing Aurora's aerospace industry. "Many of the satellite operations that go on there make Aurora a prime spot for aerospace operations," said Douglas Hartmann, CEO of Paragon Dynamics, an Aurora company itself cloaked in secrecy. The state has the No. 4 space economy in the nation with more than 142,500 jobs, according to recent data. The annual payroll totals $9.7 billion. Chalk it up to an expanding federal defense budget, particularly in the post-Sept. 11 era. Also, officials at the Aurora Economic Development Council have been busy wooing and keeping aerospace-related companies and their higher-paying jobs. Consider the case of Raytheon, Aurora's largest private employer, with 2,600 people. That's up about 600 since the start of 2003. And this year the Waltham (Mass.)-based aerospace-defense contractor unfurled plans to expand the company's already big Aurora footprint by adding a 150,000-square-foot building to house up to 750 employees. About 70 percent of the work done there is classified, but the work involves mainly ground-control systems that control civilian and military satellites. A 2002 contract for $1 billion was for building ground systems for the nation's new weather-satellite system. Northrop's approximately 1,000 Aurora employees perform sensitive work: Engineers and scientists develop algorithms and data-management techniques to collect and analyze data for military and spy operations. Its work force has expanded 30 percent in the past two years. Aurora was little more than a prairie outpost when the East Colfax Trust Co. platted the subdivision in 1889. Former Mayor Paul Tauer recalled Aurora as "a nice homey town" when he bought a house there in 1962. Retail was Aurora's dominant business at the time, with J.C. Penney, Woolworth's and grocers dotting the landscape. Many roads were dirt. An early aerospace tenant was Stanley Aviation, which relocated to Aurora from Buffalo, N.Y., in 1954. Founder Robert Stanley, a Navy test pilot, secured land with access to the former Stapleton Airport. (The adventurous Stanley died in a 1977 plane crash in the Bermuda Triangle.) Another early tenant was Merrick & Co., an engineering and architectural firm that serves the military. It also supplies high-tech geographic and mapping information. Sears Merrick co-founded the company in 1955 and relocated it to Aurora from Denver in 1973. The roots of nearby Buckley Air Force Base date to World War II. The base was named after 1st Lt. John Buckley, a World War II flier from Longmont. In 1941, Denver donated land to the War Department. The next year, a $7.5 million deal was signed to build 700 structures. Buckley has carried various names, including Denver Naval Air Station. It was renamed Buckley Air Force Base in 2000 and has been growing. More than 10,000 military and civilian types work there. In contrast to Hughes, Raytheon has sought to reach out to the local community, although much of the company's work remains off-limits to the public. "It's more of a public organization and much more engaged with the community," such as tutoring math and science in local schools, said Raymond Kolibaba, Raytheon vice president for space systems and the top executive for the company's Aurora operations. But that doesn't mean Aurora's aerospace-defense companies are throwing open their doors to the public. Asked how much of his company's Aurora activities are classified, Boeing spokesman Joseph Tedino fired back a two-word e-mail: "Nearly all."