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GKN Aerospace a foundation for county’s high-tech growth
By David Goodwin
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If the process of building Elmore County’s next-generation industrial base was compared to the construction of a home, GKN Aerospace would be the foundation upon which industrial recruiter Eric Basinger is building.
Basinger, director of the county’s Economic Development Authority, or ECEDA, and Elmore County Commission Chairman Joe Faulk traveled to England last month for an industry recruiting junket at London’s 60-year-old Farnborough Air Show. There, they presented the CEO of GKN Aerospace with a plaque “to recognize the company’s commitment to its growing Alabama-based operation.”
“GKN Aerospace has added more than 500 jobs to their Tallassee operations since 2005,” Basinger said of the county’s leading manufacturing employer. “Their increase in new programs has demonstrated that the Alabama facility is capable of contributing to the best aerospace production programs in the world.”
In Tallassee, GKN Aerospace makes carbon-composite assemblies for Sikorsky Blackhawk helicopters and F-22 Raptor fighter jets used by the U.S. military, as well as EADS/Airbus’s mammoth A380 passenger jet. But beyond the 500 area workers who draw paychecks from GKN, the aerospace supplier aids Elmore County in other ways, Faulk and Basinger said.
“The standard and consistency of the contribution the Alabama team makes is second to none,” GKN Aerospace CEO Marcus Bryson said. “We must thank Elmore County, and the state of Alabama for their very real, constant and active commitment to our operation from the outset. In many ways it is us that should be presenting an award to them today - as their involvement and support has, and is, a key element in the success of our Alabama operation.”
Alabama’s delegation made the 40-minute train ride to the Farnborough Air Show on two separate days, they said. The first day, Basinger met with representatives of 10 companies he considered “prospects” to expand into Elmore County. On Monday, Faulk said, the ECEDA director met with each prospect to discuss what Elmore County had to offer, in terms of incentives, quality workers and available property.
When the two returned to the air show’s exhibition floor Wednesday, the representatives ”had already talked to GKN and, because of that, they were very interested in what Elmore County had to say,” Faulk said.
Faulk said they couldn’t be specific about their accomplishments, because industrial prospects want to keep the competition in the dark on the their next potential move.
“We were successful at making as many contacts as possible with legitimate international concerns that, most of the time, already know about Elmore County, Alabama,” Faulk said.
The companies, Basinger said, are generally “looking several years into the future.”
“I’m talking to them about Elmore County and our workforce, when they may not even have a project they’re looking to begin,” he said. “But 2 or 3 years later, when they have a need for a United States presence, we’ll be near the front of their minds.”
GKN is Elmore County’s leading employer in the manufacturing industry, Basinger said. Recently, the company helped lessen the blow of layoffs by Russell Corp. at its Wetumpka plan, he said, by inviting local workers to join their workforce in Tallassee.
Basinger said his goal is to continue expanding the county’s base of high-tech, skill-intensive jobs. These jobs, he said, offer the best salary possibilities for county workers. By building on the county’s foothold in aerospace and automotive manufacturing, he hopes to remake the county’s economic landscape after the gradual collapse of its 20th century textile infrastructure.
Faulk and Basinger attended the Farnborough Air Show July 14-20. First held in 1948, the exhibition bills itself as “the world’s premier global showcase for all things aerospace.” More than 1,200 companies from “literally every part of the world” exhibited their aircraft, components and cutting-edge technology at the show.
