State aerospace potential massive

BYLINE: D.R. STEWART World Staff Writer

Oklahoma Aerospace Alliance members want to leverage skills and assets at the industry's 300 companies statewide.

Tulsa's and Oklahoma's clusters of aerospace industries, educational institutions and public-private partnerships could propel the region into one of the top seven aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) markets in the world, business and political leaders said Tuesday.

The leaders spoke at a meeting of the Oklahoma Aerospace Alliance, a trade group representing aerospace companies and interests, at Tulsa Technology Center at Jones Riverside Airport.

The speakers emphasized the advantages of leveraging skills and assets at Oklahoma's 300 aerospace companies to increase employment from within as opposed to recruiting companies from outside the state.

Warren Thomas, managing partner of Tinker Industrial Developers Tulsa LLC, proposes to establish a $10 million Tulsa Aerospace and Technology Park on 880 acres at Tulsa International Airport. Thomas and his company are negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust that will guide potential investment of $1 billion at the park.

Thomas said Tulsa's future economic success will be derived from the emergence of "gazelle firms," formed by mining and commercializing regional intellectual capital.

"Additionally," Thomas said, "we believe that the new Tulsa Aerospace and Technology Park . . . if properly developed, can be an enormous wealth-creating catalyst in Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma. The aerospace park can be uniquely positioned to serve as the platform upon which synergistic combinations of physical, cultural and educational assets give rise to an emerging culture of innovation and ultimately the inducement of high-wage, high-value employment opportunities."

Aerospace is Oklahoma's largest industry, with an annual economic impact of $11.7 billion, 143,000 direct and indirect jobs and an annual payroll of $4.7 billion, according to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the aerospace alliance.

Thomas quoted Kevin Michaels, principal of the market research firm Aerostrategy, who said Tulsa -- with American Airlines, Spirit AeroSystems, L-3 Aeromet, Nordam Group, Lufthansa Technik, Bizjet and 200 other aerospace companies -- is a significant aircraft MRO hub.

"When the strengths of Tulsa's aerospace community are combined with the resources of Tinker Air Force Base and the Federal Aviation Administration in central Oklahoma, Michaels lists the state of Oklahoma as one of the top MRO hubs in the world," Thomas said.

"It is clear. The stage is set," he said. "Tulsa has great leadership: I can tell you Mayor (Kathy) Taylor gets it. She has assembled a bright, competent and energetic team to move Tulsa forward. The intellectual capital of the region is strong.

"What remains to be done is the work of fashioning a place, a physical location that serves as the face of the transformation of Tulsa and demonstrates to the world that government, academia and the private sector can come together to advance a common vision."

Taylor said meetings with executives of aerospace companies have produced a consensus that work-force development is paramount.

"Aerospace is the driver for the future we want for our kids and grandkids in Oklahoma," Taylor said, adding that Oklahoma's low cost of living and low tax rates could be magnets for aerospace firms and employees.

Amy Polonchek, interim executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, said a tight labor market, work-force shortages and skill-set shortages impair the state's potential.

"Over the next five years, we will need 200 engineers and engineering technicians," Polonchek said. "We will need another 200 five years after that. We need 70 aircraft mechanics in the next five years and 100 aircraft structural workers."

Polonchek said aerospace issues include the fact that 40 percent of students entering engineering programs in the state are foreign nationals.

John Uczekaj, president of chief operating officer of Nordam Group, said the company has 250 job openings for engineers, sheet metal workers and composite materials workers.

"Our number one marketing tool is to get the customer to fly into Tulsa and see the size of our aerospace industry," Uczekaj said. "It's very impressive. It made a big mark when I interviewed here, and it makes a big mark on others who come here also."

Nordam expanding Singapore operation

Tulsa-based Nordam Group is tripling the size of its Singapore aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operation and is expected to double employment there over the next year, company executives said Tuesday.

Ground was broken Tuesday on the expansion of the Singapore overhaul facility, which covers 60,000 square feet and will grow to 185,000 square feet in response to growth in the Pacific Rim aerospace market, officials said. The plant employs 130 people and is expected to add 140 workers by the time the expansion is completed in July, according to Asian press reports.

Executives at Nordam, which is privately held, declined to provide a dollar value for the facility expansion.

"There is no denying the growth potential in Asia," said Brett Benton, Nordam vice president, Asia Pacific, in a written statement. "With the continued support of Singapore's Economic Development Board and our customers' recognition that Singapore is the MRO hub of Asia, Nordam is firmly committed to serving the Asia Pacific market out of Singapore."

Several Singapore business and government leaders attended the ground-breaking, including Monohar Khiatani, director of logistics and transport for the Economic Development Board; Ong Chit Chung, executive chairman of TEE International Ltd.; Phua Chian Kin, group CEO and managing director of TEE International; and Lee Bee Wah, principal partner,, LBW Consultants LLP.

"Nordam's investment will enhance our vibrant aerospace industry and is testimony to Singapore's attractiveness for aerospace MRO and manufacturing," Lin Siong Guan, chairman of Singapore's Economic Development Board, said in a written statement. "We are committed to grow the industry and to support companies seeking to broaden and deepen their capabilities."

Nordam executives said the expansion is in response to a strong Asian repair market, increased work loads and development of new generation engine nacelle repairs.

John Uczekaj, Nordam president and chief operating officer, said in an interview Tuesday that the Singapore expansion is partially a result of Nordam's acquisition of General Electric Co.'s CF6 jet engine thrust reverser maintenance and overhaul business in July.

"Some of those customers for the CF6 engine are Japan Airlines and Thai Airways," Uczekaj said. "In addition, that is the fastest growing region of the MRO business."

Benton, Nordam's vice president, Asia Pacific, said the new facility will enable the company to accommodate the expanding volume and scope of parts serviced in Singapore.

"There is obvious room to grow in the MRO market, especially as newer engines begin to require maintenance," he said.

Nordam's Singapore plant has been in operation for 13 years. The company, which employs more than 2,400 people worldwide and 1,900 in Tulsa, also has plants in Wichita, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

"We have built a solid MRO foundation in Asia, but we are also exploring where we can apply our skills in the manufacturing market," Benton said. "With increased work space and new clean rooms, manufacturing components for original equipment manufacturers becomes a strategic focus. Our goal is to make Nordam Singapore the (composite) bonding center of excellence in Asia."

D.R. Stewart 581-8451

don.stewart@tulsaworld.com