How a single defense juggernaut just pumped $1 billion into Alabama small businesses

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June 29, 2016

The Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a successful first engagement of a ballistic missile target with the Arrow-3 interceptor. (Photo: U.S. Missile Defense Agency)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A jaw-dropping $1 billion is being pumped into north Alabama’s economy by a single company, the latest success for a region of the Yellowhammer State that has experienced unprecedented economic growth in recent years.

Northrop Grumman is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world, employing almost 70,000 people around the globe, including many here in Alabama. The company is a prime contractor for the U.S. government working on the nation’s ballistic missile defense capabilities, and has decided to sub-contract $1 billion worth of work on the contract to small businesses in the Huntsville area. The company sees it as an investment back into a community that has done so much for U.S. national security efforts over the years.

“It takes these small businesses and develops more of their credentials and skills and expands their capabilities,” Kevin Campbell, an executive with Northrop Grumman, told WAFF. “With more capabilities comes more businesses.”

Huntsville was recently ranked the best place in the country for engineers to live.

NerdWallet analyzed the largest 350 cities in the United States, looking at the size of their engineering industry, average cost of rent, and average engineering wages, then gave each city a score out of 100.

Huntsville, nicknamed The Rocket City for its role in sending a man to the moon, shot to the top of the list for its plethora of engineering jobs, high average wages for engineers, and low rent prices. The city received a score of 85, an astonishing 25 points higher than the No. 2 city.

In Huntsville the average engineer can expect to make $102,766 annually and pay only $725 a month in rent. Engineers make up an incredible 6.1 percent of the workforce in Huntsville.

With another $1 billion flowing into the economy, it looks like Huntsville’s demand for engineers and other high skilled workers will only increase in the years to come.

“I’m overwhelmed that they can sub-contract a billion dollars,” Joe Green, the president of local firm Davidson Technologies, told WAFF. “Wrap your mind around that amount, that number and realize how big it is. We’ve had almost 90 people working on that contract and we have Northrop Grumman to thank for that.”

(h/t WAFF)