Innovation Factory
The Department of Defense has identified several factors that threaten our nation’s industrial base, threats to our supply chain was exposed by COVID-19 as dependency on
foreign production, manufacturing and workforce skills. To rectify this, Funding from the EDA’ Build Back Better grant to the West Texas Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing Coalition will aid in closing America’s gap in aerospace and defense manufacturing capabilities.
The El Paso Makes Coalition along with GM, the El Paso Electric Company and the City of El Paso, University of Texas El Paso (UTEP), the El Paso Chamber of Commerce and the City of El Paso has joined forces to bolster defense and manufacturing capabilities by attracting and assisting new entrants into those industries in our region, while also building skills of our area’s workforce.
Due to the close proximity of Fort Bliss, white Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base the property available at El Paso International Airport (ELP) was identified as an ideal location. Co-locating aerospace, defense and other advanced manufacturing activities in a centralized location at ELP will create economies of scale for tenants which will benefit through cost savings in training back-office support, environmental management, product design and value chain.
The El Paso International Airport Air Cargo Complex, Cargo 4 building will be transformed into Innovation Factory and will be a part of the Advanced Manufacturing Campus. The Innovation Factory will be a space to allow start up companies' options for collaborative work.
