Federal ammunition contract benefits Lewiston plant

LEWISTON – A Minnesota ammunition maker has secured federal contracts potentially worth more than $90 million over the next five years, with much of the new work centered at its a rapidly expanding Lewiston plant.

ATK Ammunitions Systems Group in Anoka, Minn., on Thursday announced the terms of the contracts to provide small-caliber ammunition to the Department of Homeland Security.

Innovations in .223-caliber ammunition assembly at the Lewiston plant was a key selling point in the federal bid, said company spokesman Bryce Hallowell.

“We’re ramped up for that kind of production,” Hallowell told the Lewiston Tribune. “It just makes for solid business.”

The number of employees in Lewiston has grown by about 130 to 830 since ATK bought the plant in 2001. In all, ATK employs 15,000 people in 22 states.

The company continues to hire about 10 people a month, Hallowell said. He declined to disclose average pay.

If the Department of Homeland Security exercises all options, the contract’s value could exceed $90 million. About $75 million of the money buys cartridges for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ATK will also provide the U.S. Coast Guard with tactical pistol ammunition, also under a five-year contract announced Thursday. That contract is worth up to $15 million.

“ATK has pioneered significant advances in projectile technology and has incorporated these improvements into rounds it will provide to DHS,” Mark DeYoung, president of the ATK Ammunitions Systems Group, said in a written statement.

“This ammunition performs extremely well against a variety of barriers.”

Small-caliber ammunition production has grown for ATK in recent years, outpacing increases in other weapons lines such as rocket motors, propulsion systems for U.S. missiles and satellite components, Hallowell said.

“Our small-caliber ammunition has been the backbone of the company in the last five years,” he said.

“Law enforcement officers have been training at unprecedented levels. They’re going through a lot of ammunition. The business has been extremely strong.”