Updated: AeroVironment commits $100M to new Moorpark campus
Despite relocating its corporate headquarters five years ago, AeroVironment is committed to growing in California, more specifically the Central Coast.
AeroVironment doubled down on its Ventura County presence Aug. 24, announcing a $100 million investment in a unified, company-owned campus across approximately 20 acres in Moorpark. The campus will bring together capabilities from five leased Southern California locations to strengthen collaboration. across research, engineering, design, prototyping and production.
“AV’s been in California for decades and we’re continuing to stay in Ventura County,” AV CFO Sean Woodward told the Business Times. “This location that we selected was after a search throughout Ventura County, trying to find a property that we could purchase and own to really solidify our ownership in the area and we found the perfect spot.”
Woodward said the goal of the unified campus is to unite everyone across the five different campuses in Southern California, which include locations in Moorpark and Simi Valley. Woodward spends a lot of time traveling, but he usually works out of the Ventura County offices and so he is excited for the move.
AeroVironment closed on the purchase of the property, located across the street from its current Moorpark office, in the second quarter, Woodward said.
“I’ve seen us grow over the years to the different sites throughout the country and internationally, and it’s great to be able to see a path forward to get all of our employees, at least in this area, all in a single building,” he said.
“There are so many inefficiencies in driving from one building to the other, having dual production, shipping and receiving, and having to coordinate all of those different activities, whereas now we can do that under one roof and one building, and really get to work more closely together as a team.”
AeroVironment employs about 4,200 people around the world, and while he could not provide specifics, Woodward said the majority of those employees are based in Southern California. Renovation and construction are set to begin in fiscal year 2028 at the new campus, and it is expected to be operational by fiscal year 2029.
When it is up and running, Woodward said the company will be looking to employ even more people from the region.
“It’s intended to consolidate the teams into a single facility, but also with room for growth. We’re a high-growth company; we expect to continue to grow across the whole country, but our Southern California roots are deep and strong, and we want to continue to grow here as well,” Woodward said.
Earlier this year, AeroVironment also expanded its Central Coast presence when it announced it would be purchasing San Luis Obispo-based ESAero for $200 million.
Founded in 2003, ESAero employs over 300 people at its San Luis Obispo manufacturing headquarters, where the company specializes in aircraft electrification, focusing on prototyping, manufacturing and production of unmanned aircraft systems.
Brian Young, the senior vice president for loitering munition systems at AeroVironment, told the Business Times in March that this acquisition complements the company’s production capabilities in California.
“A lot of people think it’s not possible to do production in California these days, but ESAero has been able to do that the right way for years,” Young said.
Woodward said that the new Moorpark campus will not interfere with SLO operations and that those employees are intended to stay working there. SLO is about three hours north of Ventura County.
“This is intended to be separate. This has its own employee base and will continue to grow and expand here thanks to a great talent pool in this area with the universities and other technology companies in this area,” he said.
Founded in 1971 in Monrovia, AeroVironment has held a Southern California presence throughout its entire existence. In 2018, the company shifted its headquarters to Simi Valley in Ventura County before ultimately designating Arlington, Virginia, as its headquarters in 2021.
That move came because the company wanted its headquarters to be “where many of our key customers are located,” CEO Wahid Nawabi said in 2021. AeroVironment designs and manufactures autonomous systems, counter-UAS systems and space systems for the U.S. military.
The company has always maintained research and development, engineering, design and production in California, including Ventura County, where the company has held plants in Simi and Moorpark. The new Moorpark campus is “designed to provide flexibility to accommodate future technologies and evolving mission requirements.”
“This infrastructure investment reaffirms AV’s enduring commitment to California, where the company was founded more than five decades ago,” Nawabi said in a press release. “We are reinvesting in labs, lines and people. The campus will be designed around how our teams work, with modern, flexible spaces that support focused work, technical collaboration and future growth.”
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