The Colorado Springs City Council gave informal support on Monday for a $24,000 financial incentive request for an unidentified Colorado Springs-based aerospace and defense engineering company considering an expansion that would add an estimated 620 high-paying jobs to the community over the next eight years.

Bob Cope, the city’s economic development officer, presented plans for “Project Bullseye” to the council at a work session, recommending the board approve a resolution in August authorizing a 10-year economic development agreement between the city and the unnamed women-owned company with headquarters in Colorado Springs.

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The “rapidly growing small business” is contemplating spending $3.4 million over 10 years to expand in Colorado Springs, one of at least three locations the company is considering, Cope said.

The company plans to remodel an existing commercial location, mostly of office space, and will add secure facilities in the future, he said.

If the council approves the agreement next month it would create 620 high-paying jobs over eight years, he said, with the average annual wage estimated to be between $153,125 and $160,484, according to figures Cope and state officials have shared since Thursday. That’s more than double the current average annual wage in El Paso County, Cope said.

“These are very good-paying jobs,” he said.

An additional 1,053 jobs could be created indirectly or through induced demand over the proposed 10-year agreement term, bringing the total of new permanent jobs up to 1,673. Fifteen additional construction jobs could also be created as part of the agreement, Cope said.

The city of Colorado Springs would offer up to $24,000 in incentives for the project. This includes a $14,000 sales and use tax rebate on the company’s purchase of business personal property like machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures; and a $10,000 rebate on its purchase of construction materials, according to a staff presentation.

Cope estimated the agreement would grow the local economy by about $843 million over 10 years and would generate, after incentives, about $9 million in new city revenues during that time.

The company is already headquartered in Colorado Springs; if its current operations remained here and it expanded locally, Cope said over the proposed 10-year agreement it will result in 2,250 combined permanent jobs, the local economy will grow by $1.4 billion and it will generate about $13.4 million in new city revenues.

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The Colorado Economic Development Commission on Thursday approved up to $7,499,388 in financial incentives for Project Bullseye.

If Project Bullseye does expand in the Springs area, it will be the latest in a series of new local economic development efforts.

On Monday, Switzerland-based Meyer Burger, which manufactures solar cells and solar modules, announced it plans to build a manufacturing facility in Colorado Springs. The company expects to bring more than 350 jobs to the area. The state Economic Development Commission last week also approved offering up to $4.9 million in financial incentives for this project over eight years.

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High tech manufacturers Entegris and Microchip Technology have also announced their intent to expand their existing Colorado Springs operations in recent months, adding more than 1,000 jobs and making combined investments of nearly $1.5 billion. Zivaro, a Denver-based information and technology firm, has also announced it will bring more than 300 jobs to Colorado Springs.

City Council could vote on a resolution approving an economic development agreement between the city and Project Bullseye at the board’s next regular meeting on Aug. 8, Cope said Monday.

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