Smith Aerospace To Bring More Than 300 Jobs To County An official meeting was held on Monday, Halloween Day with all treats and no tricks to welcome Smith Aerospace Components to Ashe County. Local county, town and officials with Wilkes Community College all expressed their sincere appreciation and willingness to work with the new company. WJ Town Manager Ken McFadyen; General Manager Dale Collins, Human Resources Manager Pam McIntyre, Operations Manager Ed Mayer (Ashe) and Controller Jon Bellows of Smiths Aerospace Components of Asheville; County Economic Director Pat Mitchell and County Manager Dan McMillan. Photo by Fawn Roark Gov. Mike Easley announced Thursday that Smiths Aerospace Components Inc., the largest European-based aerospace equipment company, will invest $44 million to build and equip a plant in West Jefferson to produce turbine engine components. The facility, which will employ 305 workers within five years, will be the company’s second in North Carolina. Smiths Aerospace currently operates a similar plant in Asheville with 295 employees. The company is a major supplier to both Boeing and Airbus, providing equipment for large civil aircraft, prominent regional and business jets, and military helicopters and planes. The company employs more than 10,000 workers with annual revenue of $2 billion in Europe and North America. Smiths Aerospace considered sites in both North Carolina and South Carolina before choosing Ashe County. “We are pleased to grow our business in North Carolina, which offers a skilled and competitive workforce with excellent community college training programs,” said Smiths Aerospace Components President Peter Wright. “This new facility will be in close proximity to our existing site in Asheville and provides for the consistent flow of processes and best practices between the two operations.” Smiths, a UK-based global provider of innovative solutions to builders and operators of military and civil aircraft and engines, currently operates a major facility in Asheville. General Manager Dale Collins of Smith Aerospace Components in Asheville spoke at the event Monday as well. “We are elated to come to the conclusion to locate here. This spring we started looking in numerous states to find a location. It’s been a long journey the past six months or so. We had 50 potential sites and worked until we were down to a couple of states. We had a special feeling about this site,” Collins explained. “We were very pleased with the state and local grants that could make this our choice. We are happy to be here – thrilled to be here. There is great training available through Wilkes Community College and great local folks to work with. We are looking forward to it.” The company considered expanding operations into several other states before choosing to expand operations in western North Carolina. Smiths will acquire the former Oldham Saw Company facility, which AdvantageWest highlighted during a global site consultant tour in May of this year. In September, AdvantageWest hosted metal finishers from across the country to focus on western North Carolina’s strong business climate. Dale Carroll, President & CEO of AdvantageWest-the Western North Carolina Regional Economic Development Commission-said that the announcement represents a major step in the right direction for the region’s economy, and noted that the organization will continue to partner with state and local efforts to create jobs. “I want to thank Bill Payne of the western Regional Office of the N.C. Department of Commerce and Dr. Pat Mitchell, local economic developer for Ashe County, for their tireless efforts on this project. Everyone’s commitment to this project will pay great dividends to the people of Ashe County,” he said. AdvantageWest provided a $12,000 matching grant to Ashe County to help pay for “soft costs” directly related to bringing closure to the recruiting negotiations. The County of Ashe, Town of West Jefferson and Ashe County Job Development Corporation assembled an approximately $1 million recruitment package for this project. A North Carolina Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG), valued up to $2.4 million, assuming that the company meets guidelines stipulated in the JDIG agreement, and tax credits of up to $3.5 million available through the W.S. Lee Act, paired with customized training from the state’s Community College System helped round out the incentive package that enabled Smiths Aerospace to ultimately choose the West Jefferson facility for its precision metalworking needs. The new jobs in Ashe County will be primarily for machine operators and, while individual wages will vary, the jobs will pay an average of $520 a week plus benefits. That is well above the county’s average weekly wage of $441 plus benefits. Smiths Aerospace is the 31st recipient of a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) since Easley began the program in 2002. Under the terms of the JDIG agreement approved unanimously by the state Economic Investment Committee, which oversees the program, a 12-year JDIG will be established. Over the life of the grant, the N.C. Department of Commerce estimates the project will: • Generate a cumulative gross state product value of $683.8 million; and • Produce a positive, cumulative net state revenue impact of $20.67 million For each year the company meets required performance targets, the state will provide a grant equivalent to 70 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs. If the company creates the jobs called for under the agreement and sustains them for 12 years, Smiths Aerospace could receive a maximum benefit of $2.4 million. In addition to the state incentive, other partners who helped make this announcement possible include the N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Community College System, Ashe County and Advantage West. For more information about the company, visit www.smiths-aerospace.com. For information about company job opportunities, contact the Ashe County Joblink Career Center at 336-982-5627.