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Union County leaders say a recent grant earned by South Piedmont Community College's aerospace manufacturing program will strengthen the area's draw for the industry.
"(Aerospace manufacturing) is a focus area for economic development efforts for Union County and Monroe," said John McKay, president of South Piedmont Community College. "I think it will continue to grow."
The city of Monroe already is home to 14 aerospace engineering companies, including Allvac and Turbomeca. Monroe Economic Development Director Chris Plate said the area's "sweet spot" is in suppliers to larger manufacturers. Local aerospace manufacturers make everything from helicopter parts to fuselages.
The recent announcement that Boeing will build a $750 million aircraft assembly plant in North Charleston will provide another incentive for suppliers to locate in Union County, Plate said.
"There are not that many locations between here and Charleston that have the skills and labor force that we do," Plate said.
Plate wouldn't say if any new companies are considering Union County, but he recently visited France, where he met with aerospace manufacturing companies.
In Monroe, 26 percent of the manufacturing work force is in the aerospace industry. In 2008, N.C. Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain said Monroe had the highest concentration of aerospace industry in North Carolina.
Manufacturing jobs typically pay $15-19 an hour.
The $575,000 grant from Golden LEAF was part of $4.2 million the group awarded to develop North Carolina's aerospace industry. The Golden LEAF foundation uses money given to this state from a national tobacco settlement to create new economic opportunities and help retrain workers who had been dependent on tobacco.
SPCC will use the money it receives to buy equipment to train aerospace manufacturing employees, McKay said. A skilled work force is a selling point for aerospace manufacturers looking to locate or expand.
"(The courses) will train an advanced class in industrial maintenance technology and industrial systems technology," McKay said. "These are the individuals that keep the equipment running and make sure it's maintained. It's one of the higher skilled jobs in a plant because they have to have a wide range of knowledge."
Plate said economic development leaders began targeting the aerospace manufacturing industry after Sept. 11, 2001. Fewer people were flying, but Plate said they knew the industry would bounce back.
"We chose to go out and hit that industry as hard as we could," Plate said. "We had a couple of base industries here that helped us with that, and we've had nearly half a billion dollars of investment in aerospace manufacturing since 2002."
McKay said the purchase orders already are written for the new training equipment, which should be in place in a few months. Training classes primarily are attended by workers who need additional skills, but McKay said the economic situation is bringing more new students into the SPCC aerospace manufacturing program.
"This grant will allow us to expand our programs to provide a work force with higher level skills to meet today's and tomorrow's job requirements," McKay said. "This is a great boost to our employers and current and future students."
