New efforts to boost Arizona's aerospace and defense sector are about to take off, aided by recent federal grants worth $1.8 million.

Last month, the Arizona Commerce Authority won the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator grants from a consortium of five federal government agencies. The state agency was one of only 10 grant recipients nationwide.

Commerce Authority CEO Sandra Watson said the money will help the state advance one of its most important sectors.

The grant proposal was focused on a six-county region: Cochise, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma.

Grant applicants could propose projects in any industry involving advanced manufacturing.

"We selected aerospace and defense as our industry focus area due to the critical mass of clients and companies we have in our state," said Watson, who was named chief of the Commerce Authority last month after serving as interim CEO since last summer.

She noted that the aerospace and defense industry cluster comprises some 1,200 companies and 55,000 jobs, accounting for about 6 percent of the state's gross domestic product.

Local aerospace and defense companies include Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems (the state's biggest defense employer, with about 10,500 employees); Honeywell Aerospace; Universal Avionics; Paragon Space Development; Sargent Aerospace and Defense; Bombardier Aerospace; and B/E Aerospace.

grant types

The grant money will be used for various initiatives depending on the source of each grant, with specific projects still to be determined, Watson said.

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Tucson tech: US grants to help foster aerospace, defense in state