CSW's economic power may be as unknown to most Utahns as the company's technological sophistication. The division has more than a half-million square feet of space and is planning to add more; hired 300 workers last year and figures to grow its work force 10 percent annually; produces $500 million in revenue; and has a Utah payroll that should reach $157 million this year.

Salaries average $63,000, with engineering jobs averaging $70,000-plus. "These are really high-end engineering jobs," he said.

And many are locally produced. The company has 445 graduates from the University of Utah, 235 from Brigham Young University, 159 from Weber State University and 97 from Utah State University.

"We're probably one of the largest acquirers of talent out of the University of Utah. We work very closely with them, we work with BYU, we work with Utah State and Weber State. . . . They are our lifeblood. Please continue to support those schools. We could not survive without this kind of talent being pumped into our organization," he said.

New York-based L-3, a spinoff from Lockheed Martin, last year had more than $5 billion in revenue.

"This is a tremendous success story, and Salt Lake City shares a huge part in that success," Brunson said.

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com