Thiokol Corp. will move its TCR Composites Division to a 105,000-square-foot building at the former Defense Depot Ogden under a lease agreement the company signed Wednesday morning with Ogden city officials.
James R. Wilson, president and chief executive officer of the Ogden-based space and defense contractor, said moving the division and its 20 employees to the defense depot shows Thiokol will continue to be a player here, even after it moves its headquarters to the new Gateway Tower West in downtown Salt Lake City this summer."Thiokol continues to have a major presence in northern Utah and a major commitment to northern Utah and the greater Ogden area," Wilson said.
Ogden Mayor Glenn Mecham said Thiokol's move should bring additional high-quality jobs to the area as the composites division grows. And the company's presence should encourage other businesses to make a similar move to the former depot site, located near 12th Street and I-15.
The 1995 Base Closure and Realignment Commission ordered the closure of the depot, and the Department of Defense agreed to let Ogden city take over the property.
Mike Pavich, Ogden Local Redevelopment Authority director, said the depot closed Sept. 30, 1997, and it will take another two or three years for all military applications to move off the site. But the Thiokol deal was in the works for about four months, he said, and the company is taking a major position at the depot.
"We will have probably the premier economic development business enterprise area north of Salt Lake City," Pavich said. "We're building jobs and tax base out there, and this is a huge step in that direction."
Wilson said the recent decline in federal defense budgets forced Thiokol to consolidate many of its past operations in northern Utah and to diversify into new products.
The TCR Composites Division is one result of that diversification, he said. The business was created in 1995 with two employees and no sales.
Now it has 20 employees and is budgeted to account for $10 million in sales this year.
"It has continued to grow and prosper," Wilson said. "We thought it was appropriate to set up this new business apart from our traditional propulsion business."
Rolf M. Johns, TCR Composites general manager, said the materials the division now makes for commercial products like golf club shafts, hockey sticks, firefighter's air tanks, prosthetic limbs and robotic parts originally were developed as coverings for rocket motor cases.
The materials, known in the industry as "prepregs," consist of high-strength carbon, graphite or fiberglass fibers coated or impregnated with specially formulated epoxy resins. Johns said the prepregs are stronger than other building materials, like steel, but are lighter, less dense and more corrosion-resistant.
Prepregs are a $1 billion industry worldwide, and it remains to be seen how much of that market Thiokol can capture, he said. But he thinks the TCR division could double its size within a couple of years.
"We are badly in need of room to expand our capacity," Johns said.
Thiokol's lease with Ogden city includes one five-year term followed by 10 one-year options.
By early February, five companies already had moved into empty depot buildings. The five are Petersen Inc., a steel fabrication firm; FISMA, a medical laser manufacturer; Fresenius USA Inc., a medical supplier; Hoops and Nets, a youth gym; and Nevada Railroad Materials.