A subsidiary of Lockheed Martin is coming to St. Paul and plans to bring at least 100 professional and engineering jobs with it.

ForwardEdge ASIC is a new microelectronics design center focused on making application-specific integrated circuits for Lockheed's commercial, defense and security customers.

"We were attracted to the high-skilled labor force that the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has," said Lockheed spokesman Richard Sant.

The aerospace and security company hopes to have a lease for its new location on the West Side of St. Paul finalized later this week, he said. He added the company has started recruiting for engineers and other positions and hopes to open the facility by early fall after making some refurbishments and updates to the building.

This will mark a return for Maryland-based Lockheed Martin to the Twin Cities region after the company pulled the plug on a corporate campus in Eagan a little more than a decade ago. That office mostly employed engineers who worked on communication systems used on military ships and aircraft. About 1,000 people either lost their jobs or transferred to Lockheed's offices in other parts of the country.

For this new initiative, Gov. Tim Walz said Lockheed plans to invest $60 million in Minnesota while the state provides it with $1.3 million in financial awards and rebates.

"Lockheed Martin considered multiple U.S. sites for this project but ultimately chose to expand in St. Paul," Walz said in a statement. "The company's decision is a testament to Minnesota's world-class talent and access to business support and infrastructure."

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is providing the company with funding from two state programs.

One is an $800,000 forgivable loan through the city of St. Paul from DEED's Minnesota Investment Fund, contingent on Lockheed creating and maintaining at least 113 jobs through the next two years with pay ranging from $40 to $70 an hour.

The other is for $500,000 through DEED's Job Creation Fund, which includes capital investment rebates for building renovations.

"This investment supports our local and statewide vision of being a technology hub attractive to our 21st century workforce," St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said in a statement.