Raytheon shutting its ABQ operations

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | May 19, 2020 | Kevin Robinson-Avila

[CedarDave]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Raytheon Technologies Corp. is shutting down operations at the Sandia Science and Technologies Park in southeast Albuquerque, where the company employs about 200 people.

Raytheon’s Albuquerque operations will be transferred to other company facilities outside of New Mexico, company spokesperson Heather Uberuaga told the Journal Tuesday morning.

“After careful and deliberate consideration, Raytheon Technologies has chosen to close the company’s Albuquerque facility and relocate support for key capabilities and customer programs to our other facilities around the country,” Uberuaga wrote in an email. “We think this move is in the best interest of our customers as we look to further integrate and streamline our capabilities with pursuits and programs located at other sites while working with employees on a case-by-case basis to explore their individual employment options going forward.”

Raytheon’s Albuquerque division has specialized in designing and building directed energy systems, including laser-based technology and high-powered electromagnetic, or microwave, systems. It’s worked closely in recent years with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base on those technologies to develop modern laser and microwave weapons.

That work will now be transferred to Raytheon Missiles and Defense headquarters in Tucson, Arizona, Uberuaga said.

The company received $850,000 in Local Economic Development Act funding from the state to offset [2017] expansion costs. It was supposed to receive another $450,000 from the City of Albuquerque, but it never got that money, Uberuaga told the Journal.

“We’ve returned the full amount of $850,000 that we did receive from the state,” Uberuaga said.

The company announced the shutdown to local employees Tuesday morning in a conference call with the workforce, taking many by surprise, according to one employee, who asked not to be identified.

[CedarDave]

More bad news for the NM economy. Meanwhile, the Dem NM governor continues lockdown of many businesses, especially in majority of state counties with less than two dozen cases of the covid-19 virus.

[CedarDave]

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[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Such a shame. These jobs will never return.

[livius]

Is that why they left? Unfriendly business climate?

I don’t know much about NM, although I used to go there fairly often (Santa Fe and Taos) for various art-related things.

Your current governor looks like an idiot, so if that’s why they left, sadly they may be the first of many.

[Mr. Rabbit]

No thanks, I’m sure, in part to the brainless pantsuit governor we have.

[WildHighlander57]

CedarDave wrote:

“More bad news for the NM economy. Meanwhile, the Dem NM governor continues lockdown of many businesses, especially in majority of state counties with less than two dozen cases of the covid-19 virus.”

Now 200 people’s lives have been upended, in the midst of a pandemic lockdown.

[CedarDave]

Unfriendly business climate and overwhelming poverty with taxes going to support a welfare culture and teachers who follow the party line of more social welfare and less individual initiative. We would have had a chance to climb out this year but the 2018 elections brought an all-progressive legislature and all Dem slate of state officials, and the anticipated oil boom with a billion dollar surplus (in spite of Dem attempts to shut down the industry) has gone bust. However, the pandemic did it for them.

[Liberty Valance]

Sad. Saw my first laser in Albuquerque. A presentation to our Boy Scout Troop in the mid 60’s by someone from Sandia Base. That was a great town back then.

[LaRueLaDue]

Wow. That is a big middle finger to the local Albuquerque and state governments, and their opinion on the future of business there. Can’t say I blame them...

[Tijeras_Slim]

Doing business with the Labs (Sandia and Los Alamos) as well as other defense oriented entities such as the Air Force Research Lab goes through cycles. The large contractors such as Raytheon and SAIC lose a step and become too slow to compete with the smaller and newer companies that start up. Most of these companies are headed by people that learned the ropes in the biggies, get disgusted with the red tape and start their own. I know several like this. Raytheon personnel who have specific skills will be snapped up by the new companies.

[DarthVader]

Actually the Tuscon AZ, facility is huge and rather modern. It’s a good business move on Raytheon’s part.

[Schatze]

the 2018 elections brought an all-progressive legislature and all Dem slate of state officials

As a conservative living in Cali, I wish you luck with one-party rule. Here it's destroying what was once a great state.

[S.O.S121.500]

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham would make a choo choo train take a dirt road.....more stupid than a rock.

[Deplorable American1776]

Just as long as they don’t close their East Hartford operations...