There is only one thing on the agenda for an emergency Tucson City Council meeting set for Friday morning — Raytheon Missile Systems.
The council is expected to head into a closed-door meeting with its lawyers, apparently to discuss economic development incentives for a major expansion expected by the region’s largest private employer.
Details of the incentives have not been disclosed. Closed-door meetings are legally allowed for negotiating economic incentives. The state is also reportedly offering financial incentives to encourage Raytheon’s expansion in Tucson.
Two county officials recently confirmed Raytheon is considering a major expansion of its Tucson manufacturing operations that could create nearly 2,000 new jobs with high-paying salaries.
The company has major manufacturing operations at its headquarters site next to Tucson International Airport and at the University of Arizona Tech Park on South Rita Road.
Officially, the executive session is about an amendment to a pre-annexation and incentives agreement the city has with Raytheon.
The agreement, last updated in 2009, covers a number of areas, including fire and emergency medical response inside the Raytheon annexation district as well as a special taxing district designed to offset some of the costs of expansion.
However, the maps included in the 51-page document don’t reflect property purchased by the county near Raytheon in 2012 to provide a buffer for the company.
The buffer area was identified in 2010 as essential to facilitate Raytheon’s expansion as it was one of the reasons Tucson lost out to Huntsville, Alabama, for Raytheon’s new missile facility in 2009.
Officials said at the time that Raytheon didn’t have enough room at its south-side Tucson site to handle the new contract.
The scheduling of the Tucson City Council emergency session suggests an imminent announcement from the company, as the council was already scheduled to meet next week.
John Patterson, a spokesman for Raytheon Missile Systems, would not comment.
City Manager Mike Ortega wouldn’t discuss specifics.
“I asked the mayor and council to meet because we want to discuss this important issue as soon as possible and a meeting (Friday) morning allows us to accommodate everyone’s busy schedule,” he said.
City Councilman Steve Kozachik said he supports efforts to help Raytheon grow in Tucson.
“It’s all about putting the tools in place to allow them to grow and bring high-paying jobs into the community,” he said Thursday night.
Mike Varney, president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, was guardedly optimistic. He said while he didn’t know anything specific, he hopes the amendment is a necessary step before a major expansion announcement from Raytheon.
The pre-annexation agreement between the city and Raytheon itself dates to 1995, with documents referring to the company as Hughes Missile Systems. Raytheon acquired Hughes in 1997.
Raytheon is Southern Arizona’s largest employer with about 9,600 full-time-equivalent employees at the start of the year, according to the annual Star 200 survey.
