Rural Alabama sees Aviation Growth

By Jennifer LeClaire

Rural Alabama is a hotbed for aviation – and the economy isn’t holding back its momentum. Just ask Covington County.

In December 2008, Vector, an international company headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, hosted the grand opening of its newest 38,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art helicopter repair and overhaul facility, known as Vector Aerospace-Andalusia, at the South Alabama Regional Airport (SARA).

Vector Aerospace has enjoyed a presence in the Covington County region – about midway between Andalusia and Opp – since the opening of its first repair and overhaul facility in 2004. Since that time, the company has experienced strong business growth, making it necessary to build a larger facility dedicated to serving the helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul needs of operators from around the world.

"Our Alabama operation has seen consistent growth, and this trend bodes well for our on-going operations in this region," says John MacDougall, president of Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services. "Thanks to our dedicated employees, loyal customers and a supportive community, Vector-Andalusia is a success and we appreciate the support and trust we have received."

The Big (Rural) Picture

In all, there are 300-plus aerospace and avionics companies in Alabama today – 300 percent more than just three years ago. These companies work in space and defense, aviation and maintenance refurbishment as well as other areas.

While metropolitan areas of Alabama, such as Mobile and Huntsville, have developed strong aviation clusters, the rural counties such as Elmore, Calhoun, Lawrence, Madison, Walker and Marshall are all strong competitors thanks to low costs of labor, available land and aviation colleges.

Indeed, rural Alabama is attracting aerospace companies that have found their perfect location nowhere near a metropolis or an interstate. Beyond Vector, GKN Aerospace, a first tier supplier of structures, components, assemblies and engineering services to aircraft and aerospace manufacturers has a major presence in Tallassee. Meanwhile, Sikorsky, which designs and builds some of the world’s most advanced helicopters for commercial, industrial and military use, is a staple of Troy’s economy.

Covington County

"We have been targeting the aerospace industry since 2003," says Tucson Roberts, president and CEO of the Covington County Economic Development Commission, noting the success of the South Alabama Aviation Advantage, a collaborative among 22 Alabama counties targeting the aviation industry. The efforts have paid off for Covington County. Today it is also home to Advanced Air Lifts, Sierra Nevada Corp., Acrohelipro and EJM Aerospace Services.

In fact, more than 50 aviation companies conduct business within the South Alabama area. Two college campuses dedicated solely to aviation – one in Mobile and the other in Ozark – turn out a supply of trained aviation labor with avionics, airframe and power plant (A&P) certification and maintenance experience.

"We are located right in the middle of what I call ‘helicopter world,’ which is between Fort Rucker and Pensacola," Roberts says. "The Navy does its training in Pensacola and the Army does its training at Fort Rucker. We are almost the exact geographic center of that location. Plus, you have all of the military facilities in the Florida Panhandle. The location is a huge benefit for aerospace companies."

Tallassee

Tallassee is rural community that has proven to be highly attractive to aerospace companies. One of the major attractions of Tallassee is its non-union work force. Location-wise, Tallassee is only 120 miles southwest of Atlanta, 60 miles southeast of Birmingham and 120 miles northeast from the Gulf Coast port of Mobile.

"Tallassee has had a lot of success – aerospace is its largest industry," says Eric Basinger, executive director of the Elmore County Development Authority. "We have had a few very good prospects come through here recently that are aviation-aerospace related. We deal mainly with aerospace manufacturing. GKN is Tallassee’s main aerospace presence."

GKN Aerospace has called Tallassee home for nearly 20 years. In 2005, GKN Aerospace decided to build a 120,000-square-foot expansion to its Tallassee facility as a result of the additional work the company won across its customer base. GKN’s expansion in rural Alabama totals about $21 million.

One of the world’s largest engineering companies, GKN Aerospace specializes in the supply of lightweight metallic and high-performance composite structures, transparency systems and equipment, and engineering services to prime airframe manufacturers.

"Our decision to expand in Alabama emphasizes our commitment to our customers and reaffirms our commitment to Alabama and our work force in providing a state-of-the-art manufacturing capability at competitive prices," says Paul Crocker, Vice President and General Manager of GKN Aerospace Alabama.

Basinger confirms that Tallassee has a productive work force, but it also has land. Elmore County offered GKN roughly 300 acres near an interstate so it is easy to get product to market. GKN supplies composite parts to facilities to aviation companies all over the country, but also sends parts to Europe for Airbus.

Troy

Troy, which also has achieved aviation and aerospace success, is located in rural south central Alabama between Montgomery and Dothan on U.S. Highway 231 (40 miles south of Montgomery and 50 miles north of Dothan). Troy is a small city of approximately 15,000 plus a student population at Troy University of 6,500.

Lockheed-Martin expanded its Troy facilities in 2004, adding 120 new jobs and investing $19 million. In addition, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. doubled the size of its work force in Troy in 2007. Sikorsky builds major assemblies and sub-assemblies to support U.S. government H-60 Naval Hawk helicopter production.

"The aviation industry is one of our target markets," says Marsha Gaylard, president and CEO of the Pike County Economic Development Commission (PCEDC). "The Sikorsky Troy facility has been extremely successful in terms of productivity and making sure their product comes in on budget. They attribute this to their great labor force."

When Gaylard was working with Sikorsky to convince them to build the Naval Hawk in Troy, she had to assure company leaders that they would be able to hire 300 new employees within a six-month time frame. With the help of Alabama Industrial Development Training, better known as AIDT, she was able to deliver on that promise.

Rural Alabama is just getting started with its efforts to aggressively recruit aerospace companies. "We try to keep our doors open to any interested industries looking to come into our county," Basinger says, "but aerospace manufacturing is a big target for us. We expect good things to happen in 2009."