A federal defense contractor is growing its Maryland footprint with a new facility in Aberdeen, adding momentum to the region’s defense industry push.
Maryland is advancing a $600,000 conditional loan, and Harford County is contributing a $60,000 grant to support the project.
Engineering firm Lufburrow & Company (LufCo) has acquired a 73,000-square-foot site to build out microelectronics manufacturing, producing tiny components like chips and processors that power modern tech. The company primarily serves the Department of War, alongside other government and commercial clients.
The new facility is located at the former research site operated by Ohio-based Battelle, which left last year. LufCo plans to add 120 jobs there, expanding on its existing workforce of about 100 employees statewide, according to a press release.
“LufCo’s mission is to empower warfighters with actionable technologies and tools required to dominate the evolving battlespace,” LufCo CEO Heather Couvillon Lufburrow said in a press release.
The Maryland Department of Commerce is advancing a $600,000 conditional loan, and the Harford County Office of Economic Development is contributing a $60,000 grant to support the project.
Maryland’s push for a defense tech boom
The expansion lands as regional leaders continue to position Harford County as a hub for the defense industry.
In its latest bid for federal Tech Hubs funding through the Economic Development Administration, the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) centered on dual-use defense biomanufacturing, or technologies with both military and commercial applications.
That strategy builds on existing assets like Aberdeen Proving Ground, an army facility for defense technology development. The region has yet to secure funding after two previous attempts, but leaders say the latest proposal more closely aligns with federal priorities, particularly around national security.
“In Phase 3, the Baltimore Region put forward a strategy that builds on the strengths that earned our Tech Hub designation,” GBC President Mark Anthony Thomas said in a November press release, “and aligns them directly with the administration’s investment priorities.”
