Nearly half of the some 900 workers at a Boeing Co. satellite venture in Huntington Beach have opted to stay put and not move to the Denver area as part of a planned relocation of the business.
United Launch Alliance, a venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. formed in December, is in the process of moving people from Orange County to Colorado, where United is based.
About 350 workers plan to move by the end of the year, United spokeswoman Julie Andrews said. A small number of workers already have quit rather than move, she said.
Another 450 engineers and clerks don’t plan to move and still are in Huntington Beach, according to Andrews.
“They’re mostly engineers,” she said. “Family is the main reason they chose not to go.”
United is working with those staying behind to find new jobs, according to Andrews.
“Some want to go back to Boeing, others are looking at Rockwell (Collins Inc.),” she said.
They might not have to look too hard.
The local job market for aerospace engineers is strong, according to Chapman University’s economic forecast in December.
Rockwell Collins, which has operations in Tustin, and Raytheon Co., which has operations in Fullerton and El Segundo, are among those eyeing United engineers.
Especially coveted are engineers with government security clearances, which can take up to a year to get.
Contractors bidding for government work in many cases are required to have a certain number of their workers with security clearances.
United has offered jobs in Colorado to all of its Huntington Beach employees. United, which was formed to save money on satellite launches for NASA and national security agencies, employs about 3,800 people nationwide.
Littleton, Colo., outside Denver, serves as the headquarters for engineering. Decatur, Ala., is the rocket production hub.
The move to Denver was always part of the plan, Andrews said.
“There’s more room at the new facility, and for the employees the lower cost of living is part of the allure,” she said.
So few transplants from Huntington Beach has prompted a hiring frenzy to fill jobs in Colorado.
United is looking to fill openings by hiring from the Titan missile program and a Colorado rocket program the Air Force is ending, United Chief Operating Officer Daniel Collins said at a Washington, D.C., conference last month.
The company also plans to hire recent college graduates for half the openings, he said.
Employees staying behind in OC are helping to train their Denver replacements, Andrews said.
United was formed by a combination of Lockheed’s Space Systems Co. with Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems’ Expendable Launch Systems division. Both companies contributed equally to the venture.
The combination is expected to save the government up to $150 million a year on launches.
United makes the Atlas V, Delta II and Delta IV rockets used for sending satellites into orbit.
Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the first Atlas launch, a ballistic missile. The next launch is set for August to launch a satellite.
