LOUISVILLE - Sierra Nevada Corp. is looking to add 79 jobs to its Louisville operation and expand into a vacant 50,000-square-foot space as it continues building the DreamChaser spacecraft.

The Louisville City Council on Monday approved a business-assistance agreement with Sierra Nevada, which employs about 125 people in the Colorado Tech Center.

Most of the new employees will be engineers with an average salary of $120,000 per year, according to the Louisville Economic Development Department.

Sierra Nevada is a privately owned aerospace company headquartered in Sparks, Nevada. Its local employees develop satellites and work on the DreamChaser, a reusable spacecraft that would be privately owned and operated.

The space Sierra Nevada is considering is at 315 CTC Blvd., which formerly was occupied by Inovonics Wireless Corp. Sierra Nevada is planning to spend $2.2 million for core and shell improvements, and Louisville agreed to a $28,000 rebate on building fees and use taxes.

Sierra Nevada's current Louisville facility is at 1722 Boxelder St. in the CTC.

Sierra Nevada said it will keep its current space and move work on the DreamChaser to the additional space, Louisville's economic development director Aaron DeJong said.
Sierra Nevada has not signed a lease, and the company still is considering other locations, spokesman Steve Brecken said Tuesday afternoon.