WASHINGTON – The U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) Secure Production Facility in Mississippi is celebrating 15 years of service to the American people. GPO opened the facility in 2008 to help meet the rising demand by the American people for U.S. passports and chose the Stennis Space Center, NASA’s primary center for rocket propulsion testing, for its strong security. GPO has produced nearly 91 million U.S. passports since the facility became operational.

“Congratulations to the entire team in Stennis for surpassing all of our expectations,” said GPO Director Hugh Nathanial Halpern. “Stennis was initially meant to be a backup site for the production of the U.S. passport. But our teammates there quickly proved their value and are critical to our overall secure credential production business. Thanks to each of them for 15 years of dedication to delivering a first-rate product and customer experience to our Federal customers.”

“When the GPO needed a secure location for a second passport production facility, South Mississippi and Stennis Space Center answered the call,” said Congressman Mike Ezell (MS-04). “Congratulations to everyone at Stennis and the GPO on 15 years of a successful partnership.”

Stennis Secure Production Facility Facts:

Nearly 91 million passports produced since 2008
Nearly 9.5 million secure credentials produced since 2013
110 teammates across two shifts
25 of the original 47 teammates still work at the facility
Personnel growth more than doubled since 2008
Became ISO 9001 certified in 2010, standardizing passport production across production facilities

GPO is the Federal Government’s resource for publishing trusted information for the Federal Government to the American people. The GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at no charge through www.govinfo.gov and partnerships with approximately 1,100 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.