BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Colorado Governor John W. Hickenlooper has issued an official proclamation designating December 3, 2016, as “Ball Day.”

The Governor’s proclamation recognizes Ball Corporation’s substantial contributions to the economic, scientific, and civic landscape in the State of Colorado, and congratulates Ball Aerospace, a business of Ball Corporation, on the 60^th anniversary of its founding. Ball Corporation, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, has a proud 136-year legacy as the global leader in packaging solutions, employing almost 3,500 employees in Colorado and 18,700 people worldwide, with pro forma 2015 sales of $11.0 billion. The full text of the Governor’s proclamation is available here.

Ball Aerospace was incorporated at the dawn of the space age on Dec. 3, 1956, as the Ball Brothers Research Corporation. Ed Ball, son of Edmund Ball, one of the original Ball brothers, partnered with physicists from the University of Colorado to create the new company, which has been part of Ball Corporation since its founding. From those early days of the U.S. space program, Ball Aerospace has been involved in several historic firsts, and has helped to advance the growth of the commercial remote sensing industry by providing spacecraft and instruments,

Ball Aerospace’s most well-known achievements include: designing and building the Ralph camera to withstand a journey of nearly 10 years across three billion miles to take the first high-resolution images of Pluto on the New Horizons mission; returning the first high-resolution image of Mars’ surface from the HiRISE camera; building, Deep Impact, the first spacecraft to intersect a comet; designing the mirror system on the James Webb Space Telescope to study the faintest of observable astronomical objects; building the planet-hunting spacecraft, Kepler, which has discovered more than 2,500 confirmed exoplanets; building LiDAR (light detection and ranging) instruments for CALIPSO, which has orbited the Earth more than 43,000 times in its 10-year history as it studies how clouds and aerosols impact the Earth’s climate; and building seven instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope, including helping to correct its blurred vision.

“We thank Governor Hickenlooper for his recognition of the many contributions that Ball Aerospace has made over these last 60 years,” said Rob Strain, president of Ball Aerospace. “We will continue to unlock the mysteries of the universe, shape new solutions in national defense, and advance bold innovations in Earth science.”

Ball’s first-class instruments, spacecraft, data exploitation solutions and technologies for civil, commercial, aerospace and defense applications go beyond expectations to provide customers with the best possible data and intelligence. Today and into the future, Ball Aerospace protects our nation by delivering actionable data and intelligence; supporting critical missions; and providing high performance antennas for tactical defense missions for land, sea, air and space applications. Since its inception, Ball’s history of innovation continues to make a difference in our world and in our understanding of the universe.

“Over the last 136 years, Ball has literally gone from making jars to exploring the stars, and we are proud to call Colorado our home,” said John Hayes, chairman, president and CEO of Ball Corporation. “We have long measured our success by the value that we can return to our communities and our stakeholders, and we will continue our work with the same integrity and spirit of innovation for which Colorado is known for.”

Ball Aerospace pioneers discoveries that enable our customers to perform beyond expectation and protect what matters most. We create innovative space solutions, enable more accurate weather forecasts, drive insightful observations of our planet, deliver actionable data and intelligence, and ensure those who defend our freedom go forward bravely and return home safely. For more information, visit www.ball.com/aerospace or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 18,700 people worldwide and pro forma 2015 net sales were $11.0 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements This release contains “forward-looking” statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product demand fluctuations; availability/cost of raw materials; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; competitive activity; failure to achieve synergies, productivity improvements or cost reductions; mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; customer and supplier consolidation, power and supply chain influence; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; political instability and sanctions; currency controls; and changes in foreign exchange or tax rates; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the company as a whole include those listed plus: changes in senior management; regulatory action or issues including tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return on assets of the company’s defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding the U.S. government budget, sequestration and debt limit; reduced cash flow; ability to achieve cost-out initiatives and synergies; interest rates affecting our debt; and successful or unsuccessful acquisitions and divestitures, including with respect to the Rexam PLC acquisition or the associated divestiture; the effect of the acquisition or the divestiture on our business relationships, operating results and business generally; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us related to the acquisition or the divestiture.