Goodrich Corporation on August 6 held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark a 57,000-square-foot expansion to its Sensors and Integrated Systems (SIS) facility in Burnsville, Minn. The ceremony was attended by Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Dan McElroy, and other local and state government representatives as well as several Goodrich executives and approximately 250 employees.
The expansion, scheduled for completion in 2012, adds to the company's existing 243,000-square-foot facility in Burnsville. About one-fifth of the space will be added to its wind tunnel test area, and the remainder will go towards expanding the Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication area. The new state-of-the-art wind tunnel will be used to test and calibrate many of the company's products in the conditions in which they operate. The additional MEMS manufacturing facility will produce miniature silicon wafer sensors – roughly the size of a fingertip – that are used across the company's commercial and military aerospace sensor-based products and systems.
"Business investment and job growth are at the top of the priority list for Mayors around the country," said Kautz, who also serves as president of the United States Conference of Mayors. "I am grateful to have Goodrich here, and I know the community will benefit from the jobs added through this expansion. I'm proud of how everyone worked together in a spirit of cooperation to make this a reality. This is a success story for all involved."
"I am thrilled that Goodrich is expanding its Sensors and Integrated Systems facility in Burnsville," said McElroy. "This move adds high-skill jobs to our economy and ensures Minnesota's position as a leader in the high-tech industry. DEED looks forward to partnering with Goodrich as it maps its future in Minnesota."
"This expansion makes a strong statement about Goodrich and our future. It signals that our customers place a high value on our products and the technologies that drive them," said Phil Rosnik, vice president and general manager, Goodrich SIS. "This type of success is not luck; it's built through the hard work and dedicated service of thousands of talented employees who created and evolved the original business to where it is today. We're proud of our Goodrich team and appreciate their efforts, as well as the efforts of our state and local officials, in our present success and the very bright future we're creating for SIS and the state of Minnesota."
Goodrich Sensors and Integrated Systems enjoy a long history in Dakota County. It began as the Rosemount Engineering Company in 1956 originally based in Rosemount, Minn. The first product was a sensor that measured total air temperature for jet aircraft. Over the years, the company has become a leading supplier of sensors and sensor-based products for the aerospace and defense industries worldwide. The company's initial presence in Burnsville was 1979 when it leased manufacturing space. The building at the present 14300 Judicial Road location was constructed in 1980. The facility was expanded in 1985 to its present size. It was acquired by Goodrich Corporation in 1993. Today, the division has approximately 4,000 employees in multiple locations across the world.
Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a global supplier of systems and services to aerospace, defense and homeland security markets. With one of the most strategically diversified portfolios of products in the industry, Goodrich serves a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and service facilities.
