H/t the Good Dr. Barmpot. People who contract work with passports:

The next time you have to renew your U.S. passport ? assuming it’s not already in process or due in the next month or two ? it most likely will be mailed to you from right here in Tucson.

Stanley Inc., a provider of systems integration and professional services to the United States government, announced Dec. 10 it will open a passport production facility in what was the Gateway Ice Center, 7333 E. Rosewood St., near East Speedway and Kolb Road on the eastside. Stanley will use about 52,000 square-feet of the 80,000 square-foot facility but has an option to expand, if necessary, Eric Wolking, a senior vice president, said in a telephone interview.

A passport ready to be mailed from Stanley’s production facility in Arkansas.
The Tucson facility will be Stanley’s second production facility, after one it opened in March in Hot Springs, Ark. Stanley, based in Arlington, Va., produces passports under a $164 million, 10-year-contract with the Department of State.

The company plans to “ramp up fairly quickly” once it opens mid-April, said Paul Belanger, another senior vice president at Stanley. He who said he anticipates the company will begin hiring soon after the new year. He said the plant will open with one shift but move up to two shifts by the end of summer.

Between 150 and 200 employees will be hired from the local workforce, about 85 percent of whom will be processing clerk associates whose salaries will range from $10 to $13.50 per hour, plus “a generous benefits package that is not insignificant,” Belanger said. The remainder of the workforce will be made up of varying salaried management positions that will be paid from $30,000 to $70,000 per year.

Wolking said the State Department is expecting even more demand for passports as a result of new travel requirements and, as older passports are due for renewal. In the last year, the State Department issued 18 million passports and the new Tucson facility will significantly increase that ability.  Read more