(Courtesy of Florida Times-Union) At a former military base where Navy jets once roared, Embraer, along with Lockheed Martin Corp., will manufacture its aircraft for U.S. military and homeland security uses.

The first aircraft to be produced there will be next-generation spy planes for the Army and Navy, at least 57 sleek jets that -- once loaded with high-tech surveillance gear to be installed in Texas -- will soar over trouble spots collecting images and intercepting communications. For that program, dubbed the Aerial Common Sensor, Embraer is part of a team led by Bethesda, Md.-based defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp.

The total contract value is estimated at $10 billion over 20 years, with about 16 percent of that being spent on the aircraft, according to Lockheed Martin.

The ceremony attracted a galaxy of about 150 business and political leaders, including Gov. Jeb Bush, Mayor John Peyton, Embraer President Mauricio Botelho and Robert Stevens, Lockheed Martin's chief executive officer.

Bush called the Cecil Commerce Center, former home of FA18 jet fighters,"one of Florida's jewels in the economic development world."

The facility, scheduled to open by October 2005, will bring 200 well-paying jobs to Jacksonville, mark the next phase in Cecil's transformation from a former naval air station to a business park and help identify Jacksonville as a center of aviation manufacturing.

The 200 jobs will be spread among a range of positions, he said, including engineers, project mangers and administrators. The average wage will be about $35,800 per year, 15 percent above the state average, according to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. As with any large manufacturing operation,suppliers are expected to sprout up around Cecil Field to support Embraer. But it's too soon to tell how many that might be, said Gary Spulak, president of Embraer's Fort Lauderdale-based U.S. division.

Still, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce is readying a marketing plan to help attract those companies, said Jerry Mallot, the chamber's executive vice president. Because of the relatively low number of planes being made, a flood of other businesses isn't expected, he said, at least at first. "At this stage it may be small, but as the company grows it could be very significant," he said.

Peyton has high hopes for Embraer spurring economic development in Jacksonville. The company's presence marks "the beginning of the gold rush on the Westside," he told the crowd.

Embraer will spend $10 million equipping the facility and training its workforce, Botelho said.

The groundbreaking came on the heels of an announcement by Bush on Friday that Florida continues to lead the nation in job growth. According to the Agency for Workforce Innovation, Florida added 163,200 jobs from July 2003 to July 2004,or a growth rate of 2.2 percent.

Florida's July 2004 unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, well below 5.2 percent a year ago and 1.1 percentage points below the national average of 5.5 percent.