July 3, 2012

Airbus is Coming to Mobile

What does that mean for Santa Rosa County? It presents the exciting potential for aerospace industry and job growth as Tier 1 and Tier 2+ suppliers search for sites and other amenities that will place them close enough to easily work with the new plant but will not draw away from the core plant workforce in Mobile.

The Santa Rosa Economic Alliance has spent the last several years laying the groundwork and building relationships with the global aerospace community in anticipation of just such an announcement. The new Airbus facility in Mobile will have an enormous impact on the economy of the entire Gulf Coast, and certainly a large impact on Santa Rosa County. Santa Rosa is already home to dozens of operating aerospace suppliers—and the sites and facilities to quickly and easily welcome many more.

Santa Rosa County is poised and ready, said Shannon Ogletree, interim executive director at Santa Rosa Economic Alliance.

"We have anticipated a big announcement like this for several years, and have been working on building relationships to be ready when the time came." Ogletree said.

Recruiting Efforts

Santa Rosa County has long been laying the groundwork in preparation for a major aerospace manufacturer to land on the Gulf Coast. While one facet of that preparation is making sure the infrastructure, facilities and workforce are in place, the other side of the effort is making sure the world knows what is available in the area and how Santa Rosa County can best suit their needs.

Coming on the heels of the Airbus announcement, the annual Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) in London July 9–13 will be Santa Rosa's first opportunity to get in front of the global aerospace community in this new context.

With Airbus starting up shop roughly an hour's drive from the heart of Santa Rosa County, the ready-made sites and workforce will be in great demand among Tier-1 and Tier-2+ suppliers. (Airbus may have hundreds of Tier-1 suppliers, but over a thousand Tier-2+ companies in the supply chain making parts and subassemblies.)

Ogletree is attending FIA with plenty of information in hand for not only Airbus suppliers but the hundreds of other potential Santa Rosa businesses as well. He has set up numerous meetings during his three days at the event and will be planning more during the meet-and-greet opportunities at FIA. He has met with about half of his planned appointments previously.

"It's all about building those relationships," Ogletree said. "Now that Airbus has made their decision, other companies are going to be serious in their pursuit of optimal sites and facilities. Because we've met with them before in London and at the sister event, the Paris Air Show, they know we're serious, too."

This trip to FIA will also be a fact-finding mission, said Ogletree. Part of his meetings will be focused on finding out what companies are looking for so Santa Rosa can anticipate requests as companies start shopping for sites and facilities along the Gulf Coast.

"Some may be looking for industrial sites with specific amenities and features, others may be, say, an engineering firm looking for high-end office space," he said.

FIA is an opportunity to make a global audience of aerospace executives aware of projects and companies in our region and is really the only chance for economic development professionals to interact with top decision makers from these companies face-to-face, he added. "It's a one-stop shop for the global aerospace industry."

Representatives from Santa Rosa County and other Gulf Coast communities have attended Farnborough and its sister event, the Paris Air Show, for the past several years. Building those relationships over time will now come into play in cementing development deals for Santa Rosa.

Other Florida representatives at FIA will include representatives from the Greater Pensacola Chamber, The City of Pensacola, and Enterprise Florida. Governor Rick Scott will attend.

"The state will have a large delegation at Farnborough," said Ogletree, "in addition to representation from across the Gulf Coast."

FIA is organized by Farnborough International Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ADS Group Limited (A|D|S), a British aerospace industry organization, to demonstrate civilian and military aircraft to potential customers and investors. The event is known particularly for the announcement of new developments and orders. A platform for some 1,400 exhibitors from international aerospace, defense, space and security sectors to showcase and demonstrate aircraft, equipment and technologies, FIA is specifically designed to facilitate tailor-made and unrivalled opportunities to meet, negotiate and announce business transactions.

Santa Rosa Resources

Santa Rosa County is home to several existing suppliers and manufacturers who are either already involved in aviation fabrication and parts manufacturing or could quickly evolve to meet the demands of a large plant. The county also has the facilities and infrastructure in place to welcome new manufacturing and fabrication businesses and support distribution.

The county also has a supply of that most valuable commodity: location. The Northwest Florida Industrial Park @ I-10 has shovel-ready sites ranging from two to 200 acres, industrial zoning adjacent to commercial property and easy access to Interstate 10 at Exit 31.

On top of that, Santa Rosa has a substantial pool of well-trained former military personnel—a ready-made labor force ready to hit the ground running in all sectors of manufacturing and development. More than 8,300 aviation and aerospace technology workers are considered underemployed in the area. A young, highly educated, and talented labor force is looking for opportunities, and their experience and training makes them an extremely cost-effective hire.

Developing the potential workforce is a high priority in Santa Rosa. Milton High School and NAS Whiting Field worked together to create the Flight Academy for Santa Rosa high school students. The popular program is open to students with a high interest and aptitude for science and math. The classes, known as "squadrons," learn the sciences of flight, how to design airplanes, how to service them and how to control air traffic.

Santa Rosa County School District ranked 2nd in the State followed by neighboring Okaloosa County in a close 3rd place. More than 27,000 area students attend classes at the University of West Florida, Northwest Florida State College, Pensacola State College, Locklin Technical Center, West Florida Technical School and George Stone Technical Center. The University of Florida, Virginia College, and Troy University also have branches in the area, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has a location in Okaloosa County.

"We've been building the infrastructure, listening to what these companies want and planning for this growth—which may come at us hard and fast," Ogletree said. "But we're ready to hit the ground running."

"We have the workforce, the sites, the incentives," he said. "This is the place these companies should be."

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