Ball Aerospace continues regional expansion

BROOMFIELD — Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has completed its new Payload Development Facility in Broomfield, even as it expands its Aerospace Manufacturing Center in Westminster and seeks to expand its Boulder facilities.

Ball’s new Broomfield facility is attached to its existing Broomfield Research and Development building. The 160,000-square-foot facility provides offices, clean-room space, advanced integration and test areas, and a Mission Support Center that will provide post-launch support for various programs.

The Aerospace Manufacturing Center in Westminster will add about 122,000 square feet to the facility, bringing the building to more than 490,000 square feet and “significantly enhancing Ball Aerospace’s capabilities in the development and production of tactical mission systems for government and commercial customers,” the company said in a press release.

The project is scheduled for completion this fall.

The newest addition to the AMC campus comes after a 146,000-square-foot expansion in 2019, addition of a Compact Range testing facility in 2020 and completion of a 12,500-square-foot high bay in 2021. 

“Ball Aerospace has experienced tremendous business growth in recent years, which has allowed us the opportunity to add more people to our team and more space to meet the needs of our customers,” Ball Aerospace president Dave Kaufman said in a prepared statement. “Throughout this period of growth, we have been committed to nurturing a strong culture of innovation and inclusiveness that makes Ball unique. A big part of that culture is collaboration, and these new facilities, combined with the increasing number of our team members returning to the office regularly, will be vital to fostering that culture.”

Ball Aerospace also is working through a site-review-amendment process with the city of Boulder for a phased expansion that would allow it to construct three new buildings totaling 375,000 square feet — plus an 850-space parking garage — at the company’s Boulder campus near East Arapahoe Avenue.

Ball Aerospace has grown significantly in recent years, and now employs 5,400 workers, up from almost 2,700 just five years ago. Most employees work in Colorado, but Ball Aerospace also is adding employees at facilities in Ohio, New Mexico, Maryland and Virginia, as well as other locations.

A spokesperson for Ball Aerospace said the company employs about 1,000 in Broomfield, 1,900 in Westminster and 1,700 in Boulder, with parent company Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) employing another 1,500 in Westminster.

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