COLORADO SPRINGS — The opening of a National Cyber Intelligence Center in Colorado Springs is expected to accelerate efforts to make the city a national hub for cybersecurity that will help the thriving local industry grow more quickly, officials say.

The center, announced Thursday by Gov. John Hickenlooper, will be housed in a former manufacturing plant near the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs campus.

It would help businesses, nonprofits and government agencies combat and recover from cyberattacks, help public officials and bureaucrats learn more about cybersecurity, and conduct research into cybersecurity threats.

A leadership team of about 15 executives from industry, nonprofits, government agencies and higher education assembled by the Colorado Technology Association and governor’s office must determine structure of the center, when it will open, who will operate it and other details.

“This center could become a huge economic driver for Colorado Springs and an incredible catalyst for the great work Colorado Springs has already created, and could springboard that economy back to levels reached during the heyday of the semiconductor industry and beyond,” said Erik Mitisek, the technology association’s CEO.

The response center “will be operated in partnership with higher education, military, private sector, cybersecurity vendors and suppliers and full-time leading industry professionals to detect, analyze, understand and share threat intelligence — and most important, assist with real-time cyber response,” according to a concept plan developed by Mitisek.

Hickenlooper said Friday that he plans to ask legislators for $8 million to renovate the former TRW manufacturing plant, 3650 N. Nevada Ave., so construction can begin by July. The cost of the project over the next 12 to 18 months will be $15 million to $20 million, with the rest coming from industry and foundations, he said.

The plant, which once employed 1,600 to build electronics systems for the space shuttle and the Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter, was vacant for more than a decade before the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs leased the north half of the 135,000-square-foot building in 2011 to operate the Mortgage Solutions Financial Expo Center. Hickenlooper said the cybersecurity center initially would use the south half of the building, but could use the expo center for some of the training programs planned for public officials.

The center could have up to 100 employees when it is at full capacity, Hickenlooper said, but the project over the long term could generate thousands of jobs from “all of the businesses that want to locate near the center. It will be a catalyst for business that wants to be close to this facility and all of the military assets that are already in Colorado Springs.” He said Colorado’s largest technology companies told him they would support the center.