UPI is reporting that the federal government announced Friday a satellite intelligence facility that employs about 3,000 people will remain in St. Louis instead of moving to Illinois.

The announcement, heralded by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and other local, state and federal elected officials, means a new construction project worth about $1 billion and another $750 million in equipment for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency facility in the city of St. Louis.

Nixon said the bidding process was a competitive one, and heralded Missouri for coming out on top.

"I think when folks look at this, they like to think there's some sort of magic political juice that pushed this over the top," Nixon said. "This was not a rigged game, this was a real game, and in the most competitive atmosphere, we won."

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