Not many people know that Manassas is the headquarters for the space division of one of the world’s largest military defense contractors. Around the globe BAE Systems employs over 20,000 people and has multiple divisions operating in Virginia. BAE is a British company in arm’s length relationships with its US subsidiaries due to the sensitive nature of the work.
In Manassas, BAE makes products that touch every aspect of our daily lives. If you listen to satellite radio or check the weather in the morning, you are linked to a satellite that contains BAE technology made in Manassas. BAE also makes it possible to use GPS to navigate while driving. In fact, parts of the NASA Mars rover, the Perseverance, were manufactured at the BAE Systems facility in Manassas.
BAE locally operates in three markets; military, commercial and civil. NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are clients and so is our nation’s military. They employ 350 people here in Manassas and are the City’s 6th largest private sector employer. Manassas now has the 7th highest average weekly wage in all of Virginia, up from last year as the 12th highest. In fact, for Professional and Technical Services jobs (like those at BAE), we rank 4th in Virginia.
BAE employees report to work every day to imagine, design and build the technology that keeps you connected, plugged in and safe in an increasingly technology-dependent world. Because of its many contributions to our local economy and our community, it gives the City of Manassas great pleasure to name BAE—the 2021 Manassas Business of the Year.