BAE Systems to Expand in Upstate NY

Defense and aerospace company BAE Systems will expand its Johnson City, N.Y. (Broome County) operations, preserving more than 1300 existing jobs and creating 125 new ones, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Empire State Development Upstate Chairman Dan Gundersen announced today. The BAE Systems facility, which has been in Johnson City since 1949, develops and produces aircraft control and avionics equipment for military and commercial aviation and provides hybrid electric drive systems used by New York Transit and other urban transit fleets across North America. More than 800 New York City buses use the company’s hybrid drive trains. BAE Systems agreed to move a significant amount of the work performed at its Los Angeles facility that designs military aircraft avionics and control systems to Johnson City at Gunderson's urging after the state learned it was considering relocating it there or to Ontario, Calif. New York's Empire State Development Corp. and BAE Systems have agreed to project milestones through which the company will be eligible to apply for up to $462,500 in capital grants. Because it is located in the Triple Cities Empire Zone, BAE Systems is also eligible to apply for Empire Zone tax benefits. As part of the agreement, BAE Systems will invest $2.4 million to renovate existing facilities, train workers and create the targeted 125 jobs by July 2008.