A St. George-based aerospace engineering and manufacturing company plans to grow over the next five years, creating 90 high-paying jobs in a $19.5 million manufacturing expansion.
With financial help from the state, Baxter Aerospace Inc. will expand its engineering, precision manufacturing and systems integration operations in Washington City.
Trevor Smith, the company’s chief financial officer, told the Governor’s Office of Economic Development board that the company has three initiatives: drones, nuclear fusion and satellite communications for military aircraft. The company has been installing communications systems for the military, including in F-15, B-52 and B-1 aircraft and also wants to include F-35s.
“That [sector] growth is where we’re seeing the most growth, and that is the reason we want to be able to expand to this new building …” he told the board, which approved an incentive for the project.
Baxter Aerospace was founded in 2016 in Oregon by brothers Jeff and Michael Baxter with the mission of “clearing the air.” They wanted to help tackle wildfires, and their company developed an unmanned vertical takeoff and landing aircraft — dubbed the BA-1 “Dragonfly” — to track wildfires and relay data and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in extreme conditions. The company website says the Dragonfly can track the locations of wildfires, firefighters, safety equipment, endangered homes and civilians, allowing a helicopter to fly closely behind it and drop water exactly where it is needed.
Other company activities include satellite communications and vertically integrated manufacturing of ultra-high-reliable components to support nuclear fusion and fission research.
GOED documents indicate the expansion will feature high-capacity electrical utilities, secure engineering and program spaces, specialized testing areas and cybersecurity infrastructure, creating new roles in mechanical engineering, avionics, CNC programming, electrical engineering, embedded software and supply chain management.
“We’re certainly in growth mode,” Jeff Baxter, co-founder and CEO, told the GOED board. “We’re very excited about our experience down here. … Southern Utah has been amazing for us and we really do want to grow out our capabilities here and bring some new kinds of work for people to do and quite a lot of technological growth.”
The state incentive is in the form of a tax credit of up to $456,939 over five years. The expansion is expected to result in new total wages of about $20.8 million over five years, and new state tax revenue of over $1.52 million during that time. The new jobs are projected to pay an average of $80,478. The company currently employs 77 people.
Board member Vic Hockett said Baxter is “such an incredible company,” offering high-wage, high tech jobs and expanding into different industry sectors. “This is huge for Southern Utah,” he said of the expansion.
“We love this type of business,” Rusty Hughes, Washington City economic development director, told the board. “We’re really fortunate that we’re kind of attracting a cluster here. I know it’s a targeted industry for the state. … We’re really excited to see their growth and really just have the opportunity to work with companies like this.”
Adam Snow, Washington County commissioner, said advanced aerospace is “a huge push” for the county, which is close to the Arizona Strip, which can be used for flight testing.
“We’ve spent years trying to figure out what our best resources should be and where we could help and what businesses we want to attract, and advanced aerospace and manufacturing is one of those that we’ve really tried to lean into heavily,” Snow said.
“When we look at where the global economy is heading, we recognize that advanced manufacturing infrastructure is imperative,” Jefferson Moss, GOED commissioner, said in a news release. “Baxter Aerospace’s investment signals to the world that Utah’s economic future is fueled by frontier innovation in every corner of the state.”
“Baxter Aerospace’s planned expansion will help diversify our local economy and create skilled, high-paying jobs in a growing industry,” said Washington City Mayor Kress Staheli. “For our young people, these opportunities mean more options to build a career and a future close to home. We’re pleased to support Baxter’s growth and its investment in our community.”
GOEO does not provide upfront cash incentives. Each year that an incentivized company meets the obligations in its contract with GOEO, it will qualify to receive a portion of the new, additional state taxes the company paid to the state.
