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.

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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.

Besides traditional passports, the Tucson production facility will be responsible for most of the production of the State Department’s new PASS Card, a high-tech wallet-sized identification card that can be used for land and sea entrances and exits between the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

PASS − an acronym for People Access Security Services − Cards are intended to be used by people who make frequent border crossings. A person may have both a PASS Card and a regular passport. Along with a $25 execution fee, the PASS Card will cost $20 for U.S. citizens 16 and older and be valid for 10 years or $10 for those younger than 16 whose cards will be good for five years.

Wolking and George Wilson, executive vice president, explained how the company’s passport production facilities fit in to the overall passport processing operation.

Once people apply for passports − and despite the production facility’s Tucson location, it will not be an application location − they must be reviewed and adjudicated by State Department officials.

Once that is done, the information is forwarded to Stanley’s production facility where the individual passports are personalized with the individual’s data, assembled and mailed out. The pages, including the high-tech chips included in newer passports, are produced by the federal government and sent to the production facility.

Stanley is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was founded in 1966 and has grown to about 3,500 employees working in more than 100 locations, both in the U.S. and around the world.

It has contracts with 38 federal agencies. Besides the State Department, Stanley has contracts with the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, Transportation, Treasury and NASA.

For the six months ended Sept. 30, Stanley reported its net income grew by nearly 139 percent to $11.7 million from revenues of $283.7 million that were up 49 percent. In its financial report, the company attributed its growth to new contract awards, faster-than-expected ramp-ups of contracts and modifications to existing contracts that have exceeded expectations.

The passport operations represent a little more than 10 percent of the company’s overall business, Wilson said.

Earlier this year Stanley was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For."

"Stanley Associates brings quality high technology jobs that will further strengthen and diversify Arizona’s economy," Gov. Janet Napolitano said in a statement. "The company will fill a critical void for the nation in speeding processing of U.S. Passports, while adding to the significant homeland security strengths already in Southern Arizona. It is a pleasure to welcome the company and its workers to Arizona."

Joe Snell, president and CEO of TREO, welcomed Stanley noting that its arrival here comes at a time when economists are forecasting a slow-down of job growth.

Even though Stanley is about 1½ years into its 10-year contract that doesn’t mean there is an end date coming for Tucson’s facility.

The lease arrangement for the facility is done through the State Department. If Stanley were to lose the renewal of the contract, the facility would go to whatever company gets the contract.

Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or at (520) 295-4237.