Raytheon opens Diné warehouse

$5M project supports manufacturing plant on Navajo land near Farmington

Raytheon Co. opened a new $5 million, 30,000-square-foot warehouse this week on the Navajo Nation in support of the company’s nearby Diné manufacturing facility, where Raytheon makes electromechanical assemblies and other products for missiles.

The 95,000-square-foot Diné factory, in operation 25 years near the Navajo Agricultural Products Industrial Park south of Farmington, needed more warehouse space to store finished products. That includes parts and assemblies for the Tomahawk cruise missile, the Javelin weapon system and the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile.

The new warehouse, financed by the Navajo Nation and leased to Raytheon, added about 70 new jobs to Raytheon’s Diné operations, including assembly line operators, engineers, supervisors and managers. That brings Raytheon’s total Diné workforce to more than 350, said Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye.

“With a foundation of skilled Navajo technicians crafting the highest-quality products, the 93-percent Navajo-staffed facility in Diné includes Navajo team members in all roles from operators, to engineers, to management,” Begaye said in a statement.

A $200,000 Local Economic Development Act grant from the state Economic Development Department helped pay for the warehouse architectural design. Builders broke ground on the warehouse in late 2014.

Raytheon bills itself as the world’s largest missile manufacturer. The company reported $24 billion in sales in 2016. It employs about 63,000 people globally, with customers in more than 80 countries.