Defense contractor L3Harris has opened its second Advanced Manufacturing Facility in Huntsville.

Why it matters: The facility and other local investments are further bolstering Huntsville's role in U.S. missile defense as the Golden Dome initiative advances and the Army continues to modernize.

• L3 Harris invested more than $20 million in the 379,000-square-foot space, allowing the company to manufacture inert rocket motor parts in a highly flexible, scalable and efficient space, it says.
• The facility, AMF-South, makes rocket parts like nozzles, exit cones, aft closures and cases. L3Harris' AMF-North, a 136,000-square-foot facility at Cummings Research Park, opened in 2019.

What they're saying: "This transition reflects a long-term vision of how we scale our components across the business to meet surging demand," said Scott Alexander, president of Missile Solutions at Aerojet Rocketdyne/L3Harris, at an event Monday celebrating the opening.

• "Huntsville, after all, is our Center for Excellence for inert solid rocket manufacturing."
• He said the company has been able to reduce the distance an inert rocket motor part travels during manufacturing by more than 95%.

Zoom in: Parts from the facility will power defense programs including the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, Javelin and Standard Missile, said Angel Crespo, vice president of operations, engineering and PMX at Aerojet Rocketdyne.

• L3Harris acquired Aerojet Rocketdyne in 2023. Crespo said the company is investing almost half a billion dollars in modernizing, expanding and improving solid rocket motor production in Huntsville and elsewhere.
• Forty workers are employed at AMF-South, and the company plans to hire 100 in the next few years.

The big picture: Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, program executive officer for missiles and space at Redstone Arsenal, said there's a "significant demand signal" from around the world for advanced missile defense and other military readiness capabilities.

• It's "about being ready to go fight and win at any point in time. ... We can't be ready without the great, tremendous work you all do on a daily basis," he said.

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People who grew up in parts of the Upper Midwest and the Northeast tend to have relatively high credit scores in early middle-age, newly released data shows, while those from the South tend to have lower scores.

Why it matters: Credit scores can determine people's access to loans, housing, better interest rates and more — despite their flaws and biases.

Driving the news: The data for the above map comes from The Opportunity Atlas — a joint project from the U.S. Census Bureau and Opportunity Insights at Harvard University — and is based on anonymized info from a major credit bureau.

• The map shows average credit scores in 2020 by childhood county for people born 1978-1985, making them roughly 35-42 at the time of measurement.
• The result: a snapshot of people's credit scores based on where they grew up, not necessarily where they lived when the snapshot was taken.

Zoom in: People in the target age range who grew up in Slope County, North Dakota (757); Emmons County, North Dakota (754) and Sioux County, Iowa (752) had the highest average credit scores as of 2020.

• Those from East Carroll Parish, Louisiana (593); Allendale County, South Carolina (596) and Claiborne County, Mississippi (597) had the lowest.

In Alabama: Madison County, 667; Limestone County: 656; Morgan County: 659; and Marshall County: 657.

Between the lines: A related Opportunity Insights study published in July found "significant differences in credit outcomes by race, class, and geography."

• "In particular, Black Americans, individuals from low-income families, and those who grew up in Appalachia or parts of the South are more likely to have lower credit scores and more limited access to credit."
• "These gaps emerge early, persist into adulthood, and remain stable through age 65."

The bottom line: Measurements based on your childhood neighborhood can reveal how the geographic roll of the dice may impact the course of your life, even if you're no longer there.

Go deeper: FICO to incorporate buy-now-pay-later loans into credit scores

We had a great event last night at Stovehouse: Future of Defense: Domes, Drones and Dollars.

• Colin Demarest, our Future of Defense reporter, and Nicholas Johnston, our publisher, led interesting conversations on pertinent topics surrounding drones and missile defense.
• Catch the details in tomorrow's newsletter. And say hi if you see me wandering around SMD today!

Thanks to everyone who came out, and stay tuned for the next Huntsville event!