Defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions firm Raytheon has committed to building a 200,000-square-foot facility supporting new high-tech jobs at its Space and Airborne Systems headquarters in McKinney, Texas.
Once the construction project is completed in late 2020, the facility will house 500 employees. Last year, Raytheon directly employed more than 8,000 Texans, with supply chain activity and employee spending supporting an additional 10,000 jobs throughout the state.
University of North Texas Economic Research Group research recently determined Raytheon’s business operations in North Texas contribute $4.8 billion to the Texas economy.
“This is an investment in the talented McKinney workforce,” Roy Azevedo, president of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, said. “It shows we are serious about our presence in Texas, and we are here to stay.”
The McKinney facility specializes in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, including electro-optical manufacturing and the production of high-energy laser systems.
“Raytheon has a significant presence in the Texas economy,” said Michael Carroll, director of the Economic Research Group at the University of North Texas and lead author of the North Texas Economic Impact Study. “When we examined employee wages and spending, supplier spending, tax revenues, and other factors, we found Raytheon’s North Texas operations are a powerful economic engine.”
Raytheon is the top employer in McKinney with more than 3,000 employees.