U.S. military leaders have been calling on American firms to produce more munitions — and a new company in Cody wants to help the country meet that goal.

US Ballistic Laboratories is currently working to launch a “Load, Assembly, Pack” (LAP) facility on the City of Cody’s northern edge that will fill, assemble and pack artillery shells.

“When the final product leaves the facility, it will be ready for the warfighter to use on the battlefield or in training,” US Ballistic COO Ryan Story wrote in a recent email to city planning officials. He said the company’s venture “is set to bring the United States defense industrial base into the 21st century by leveraging new technologies and incorporating advanced automation.”

US Ballistic expects to employ at least 30 people when operations begin in Cody, and the company could expand if things go well. The company’s  website says it will use “state-of-art manufacturing facilities” to produce high-quality munitions “for our country and its allies.”

“I think it’s going to be a big help for Cody,” said CEO John McCue, a longtime Cody businessman who’s been working on the concept for the past couple of years.

US Ballistic is moving into a building on Road 2AB that has generally remained vacant and unfinished for half-a-decade.

The 35,000 square foot, 82-foot-high facility was originally intended to be part of a major pharmaceutical manufacturing campus for Cody Laboratories, but that company’s owners halted construction in 2018 and soon laid off its 135 local employees. Kanye West and his Yeezy brand swooped in with plans to manufacture shoes and other apparel at the facility in 2020, but that effort also fizzled out and West moved on.

The building has remained vacant since then, and McCue said he’s looking forward to revitalizing what’s been a “black eye” in the community.

“I think it will be a good fit,” Story added.

Unanimous approval

The City of Cody’s Planning, Zoning and Adjustment Board unanimously approved US Ballistic’s site plan at a Thursday meeting. 

The biggest change to the property will be the construction of a dozen concrete magazines east of the main building. Each of the structures will hold up to 2,000 pounds of ammo, protected by concrete retaining walls and earthen barricades.

Forklifts will shuttle the shells between the manufacturing facility and the magazines on a newly paved road and driveways. It’s possible that the shells will be able to be shipped out via the nearby rail line.

The gated facility will have to meet federal safety standards — including requirements imposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms — and have security personnel on-site 24/7.

Although there are security considerations, “it’s not nearly as difficult as what was originally planned in that facility,” Story said, referring to Cody Labs’ plans to manufacture pharmaceutical-grade painkillers with highly controlled substances.

Story said the materials used in the artillery shells are actually very stable.

The whole operation, McCue added, is “not more exciting than a guy in his basement loading shells.”

At Thursday’s planning and zoning meeting, board members’s questions focused on the lighting and landscaping.

Military background

Both McCue and Story served in the U.S. Marines and, later, worked with separate organizations to provide aid in Ukraine.

Story also brings a background in project management, including large oil and gas and solar and wind ventures, while McCue describes himself as “kind of a serial entrepreneur.”

McCue’s local businesses have included Cody Cartridge and Carry and McCue Automotive. He also has a business in Poland, where the men initially considered setting up the LAP facility. However, the prospect of dealing with European Union regulations — and potentially needing to build a brand new building — would have meant a significantly longer timeline. That’s part of the reason they wound up back in Cody.

Some other states might be willing to offer the company tax subsidies, Story said, but he said those kinds of arrangements put more control in the hands of the government and take up more time.

“Those delays just simply aren’t worth it, at least in our opinion,” he said.

US Ballistic’s venture is purely a private enterprise, he said, which also differs from the many government-owned, contractor-operated (GoCo) ammunition plants. 

“We can move pretty quickly,” McCue said of private ownership, “because it’s us making decisions.”

Past hopes and dreams

The 2AB facility has a complicated history, begun with the hopes of anchoring a public-private partnership that would create scores of pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs in Cody.

In 2015, the state government provided a $2.53 million grant to help construct a $3.7 million warehouse that sits immediately west of US Ballistic’s property. The 11,300 square foot warehouse, which is owned by the economic development group Forward Cody, was supposed to be just the first piece of a sprawling Cody Labs campus.

Wyoming’s top elected officials later agreed to give the company a $23 million, low-interest loan to help build the production facility now owned by US Ballistics, but Cody Labs’ parent company scrapped the project before ever drawing on the state funds.

After the lab and then Kanye West pulled out of the building, Forward Cody presented the Cody City Council with a new possibility in the fall of 2023.

Under the proposal, a subsidiary of the Bozeman-based consulting firm, Stryk Group, would take organs and other raw materials from area meat packers and use a freeze-drying process to turn them into a variety of products — from pet treats to ready-to-eat meals to health supplements like desiccated beef liver. The Cody council agreed to seek $15.56 million from the Wyoming Business Council  — a $12 million grant and a $3 million loan — to buy the adjoining property from Cody Labs’ owners, finish the interior of the building and purchase equipment. However, that proposal didn’t come to fruition, either.

A new beginning

The building and the surrounding 14.86-acre property remained on the open market for the past several years, last being listed for $1.2 million. Park County records show the property was sold and transferred to an Arizona-based limited liability company, Laurel Holdings, in January, which was a part of US Ballistic’s plans.

Although it’s physically attached to US Ballistic’s facility, Forward Cody’s warehouse sits on a wholly separate piece of land and was not part of the site plan approved last week.

In a statement to the Tribune, Forward Cody CEO Jake Hogan congratulated US Ballistic on its purchase of the adjoining property, saying the organization is glad to have the company as a neighbor.

“It’ll be great to see how they grow and contribute to the Cody community,” Hogan said.

US Ballistic is only planning to use the 20,273 square feet main floor of the building and not the upper level — at least at first. Story and McCue say they’re hoping to make a “substantial impact” on munition defense, but are also being careful not to overpromise.

“When we work with partners, it’s not just a pipe dream and kicking tires,” McCue said generally. “When we say things, we’re going to do it.”

Exactly when the LAP facility might be up and running has yet to be announced. US Ballistic still has some more hurdles to clear before getting up and running, but “we’re feeling very confident,” Story said, adding, “I think we’ve been very clear-eyed about just still doing it carefully, step-by-step.”