Construction Accelerates on Spectrum Astro’s ‘Factory of the Future’

Spectrum Astro announced today
that financing for its all-new aerospace manufacturing facility, the “Factory
of the Future,” is complete and construction will accelerate beginning
January 13, 2003. The final financing for the project was a $10 million
completion loan provided by Bank of America and Comerica Bank to cover final
construction of the building and a $2 million lease provided by CG Commercial
Funding for mechanical systems. The new facility, located two miles from the
company’s headquarters in Gilbert, Arizona, is dedicated to the manufacture,
integration, and final assembly of high performance space and missile defense
systems and will include state-of-the-art equipment that brings the total cost
of the facility to over $30 million. The building is scheduled for completion
by February 2004.

Joe E. Woods is the general contractor and Deutsch Associates is the
architect for the facility that will provide 115,200 square feet of
manufacturing and test space allowing the production of more than 20 space
vehicles simultaneously. The loans are in addition to the nearly $10 million
already invested by Spectrum Astro in the immediate construction, adjacent
lands, and utility infrastructure. State-of-the-art equipment includes a
thermal vacuum chamber, an acoustics chamber, shock and vibration test
systems, and an Electromagnetic Interference/ Electromagnetic Compatibility
(EMI/EMC) facility, all utilizing the latest data acquisition and control
systems. The facility also includes modal and static load test capability and
all integration and test areas are located in class 100K clean rooms.

Spectrum Astro is a privately held, rapidly growing high technology
company, specializing in the design, development, integration, test, and
production of high performance satellites and space-based satellite systems
and subsystems for sophisticated defense, science, and commercial
opportunities. The company is headquartered in Gilbert, Arizona and maintains
additional offices in Los Angeles CA, Pasadena CA, Tucson AZ, Colorado Springs
CO, Herndon VA, and Washington D.C. For more information, visit
http://www.spectrumastro.com .

Joe E. Woods, Inc., a Mesa, Ariz.-based organization, is one of Arizona’s
largest general contractors. The company’s portfolio of completed projects
includes corporate offices, hotels, entertainment and sports facilities; high
tech electronics manufacturing complexes, large retail centers, and facilities
such as hospitals, schools, post offices and correctional institutions.

Deutsch Associates (DA) designs and provides completed architectural
services using the DA process. The 350 projects completed under DA’s
design/build format include projects for Motorola, Honeywell, Sitix, Steris
Laboratories, and Orbital Sciences, as well as higher-education, retail, and
medical enterprises.