Group set to promote state aviation industry

— A task force the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission formed a half dozen years ago to promote aviation-related training is on the cusp of becoming a statewide trade group promoting the aerospace industry, one of the state’s top exporters.

A steering committee for the Arkansas Aerospace Alliance will begin meeting this month to “see what are our next steps,” Bob East, a commission member who headed the commission’s work-force development task force in 2007, said in an interview last week. “The [Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce] has agreed to support us for the next year or two and help us staff what we do. We hope within the next six months to raise private money and start formalizing the group into a trade organization.”

A formal memorandum of understanding between the chamber and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission was reached Oct. 24 at a meeting of some 30 executives of aviation-related companies in Arkansas that convened in the governor’s conference room of the state Capitol.

“What has happened is that individuals [in the industry] have figured out that they have common objectives, common issues and common challenges,” said Grant Tennille, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. “It makes sense to take it to the next level.”

It began six years ago when the Little Rock airport commission created the work-force development task force to foster ways to develop a reliable pipeline for trained workers needed for two of the largest tenants at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field: Dassault Falcon Jet and Hawker Beechcraft. Both have completion centers at the state’s largest airport for their stable of business aircraft, requiring specialized jobs to finish their business jets to customers’ specifications.

At the time, aviation-related exports from Arkansas exceeded $1 billion annually, making the industry the state’s largest exporter. And Arkansas ranked 11th among the 50 states in aerospace exports.

The demand at that time, especially at the completion centers, generated fears that the state couldn’t meet the demand and employers would look elsewhere for workers unless training for those jobs locally was ramped up.

The task force initially recommended promoting existing aviation-related classes at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, funding a summer aviation training program for high school students, opening classes at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to focus on special software unique to aircraft and automobile design, and funding an aviation academy for high school students.

The task force eventually evolved into the Arkansas Aerospace Alliance, which was established by industry, academia and state and local governments to help meet the need for a skilled and trained aviation work force and promote the industry as a career.

“This is something we don’t really recognize enough - the opportunities not just for companies but for young people in the state to train for aerospace careers,” East said. “It’s a great career. It’s something that the more training you have, the more these companies around the country will say, ‘That’s where we can get people.’ That’s what really drives this: Where can they get skilled people?”

The alliance eventually was established in an office at the state Economic Development Commission with one staff member, a website and several meetings a year, including an annual convention.

But East and others say more is needed. Among other things, the state Economic Development Commission wants it as a recruiting resource for other aerospace industries.

“It just needs to take the next step and get more formal,” East said. “It’s not coordinated. This is the biggest export in the state.”

Gov. Mike Beebe participated in part of the Oct. 24 meeting, which, while not unusual for the governor, was tacit recognition that aviation represents an “opportunity here for Arkansas, that the growth we experienced over the past 10 years wasn’t by accident,” Tennille said.

He said the industry needs to get together “and tell us what the state needs to do to grow this industry,” Tennille added. “Some of it comes back to education, some of it to infrastructure. Where do we need to be putting money to invest in the aviation industry?”

But the industry has endured some difficult times as a result of the economic recession in 2008, particularly the business jet category. Aviation exports in Arkansas grew to nearly $1.7 billion in 2009, only to fall to $584.9 million in 2010. Last year, it fell another 16.8 percent, to $486.4 million, according to Arkansas Economic Development Commission figures.

The situation has been exacerbated by the difficulties of Hawker, which is in bankruptcy. The company has shed about 270 jobs in recent months but plans to emerge from bankruptcy as a slimmed-down company early next year.

Still, the aviation export category is exceeded only by machinery, which topped $680 million in 2011, the latest year for which figures are available.

“Hawker and Dassault, they’ll both tell you the recession was bitterly painful to that industry,” Tennille said. “It’s taken awhile to get going again.”

The industry shows signs of turning around. In September, Custom Aircraft Cabinets Inc. of North Little Rock announced it would hire 150 workers and invest $5.9 million in an expansion at a former retail store in Sherwood. The company, which makes high-quality cabinets and upholstery for private aircraft, already has 140 employees and plans to hire additional workers over the next two years, with annual salaries ranging between $31,000 and $41,600. An affiliated company of Custom Aircraft Cabinet - Reliable Fire Protection - said it will hire another 20 employees at $41,600 each a year.

“These are not call-center jobs,” East said. “These are high-paying jobs.”

Under the memorandum of understanding, the alliance will remain independent but the chamber will provide logistical and administrative support through at least the end of next year, at which time the agreement will lapse or be extended.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/26/2012

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