The project is expected to add 100 jobs to the 130 technicians Gulfstream already employs at the airport.
A conceptual drawing of the future expansion of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. service center at Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield.WESTFIELD - Gulfstream Aerospace has picked Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport as the new site for a $23 million maintenance facility for its new ultra long-range G650 corporate jet.
The project, announced Friday, is expected to add 100 jobs to the 130 technicians Gulfstream already employs at the airport. There will be 200 construction jobs associated with the 100,000-square-foot hangar.
Construction starts in April and the building is expected to be ready by the middle of 2013, according to Gulfstream, a unit of Virginia-based General Dynamics.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick expressed his excitement for the project. “It goes announcement by announcement, ribbon cutting by ribbon cutting, and we won’t stop until everyone who is looking for a job gets a job,” Patrick said.
Gulfstream already has orders for 200 G650s for delivery starting next year at a cost of $65 million each, said spokesman Jefferson Miller III. With their long range, the G650 is expected to be very popular with executives doing business in Asia.
And all those planes need regular maintenance and repair. Gulfstream already has 2,200 of its planes in the air.
Gulfstream has had a maintenance facility in Westfield for 13 years having bought K-C Aviation from Kimberly-Clark Inc. in 1998.
“We are always busy even without the G650,” said Mark Burns, Gulfstream’s president for product support. “We are working on planes outside on the apron. We need more space.”
Gulfstream is also adding 1,000 more jobs to its Savannah, Ga., facilities as part of a $500 million, seven-year expansion plan, according to a news release. In Westfield, Gulfstream has already started hiring for the highly technical aviation maintenance and repair jobs that will fill the new hangar, Mark Burns said.
“These are the kinds of jobs that can uplift a community,” Burns said. “We are very proud of that.”
Westfield beat out sites in other states that were vying for the maintenance facility because of the quality of its workforce.
“Our customers routinely tell us that this facility is the best,” he said.
Westfield is also in the Northeast, where a lot of corporate travelers do their flying, Burns said.
He also cited the help provided by the state and city governments.
Last month, the state approved a tax incentive for Gulfstream which will save the company an estimated $4.2 million over its first 15 years of operation.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, center, tours the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. service center at Barnes Regional Airport, in Westfield on Friday with Mark Burns, left, president of Gulfstream Product Support, and Fran Ahearn, right, director of the Westfield facility. The three attended the official announcement of the expansion of the service center at Barnes.But Westfield will still get an estimated $4 million in new property taxes during that 15-year period. At the end of the 15 years, the annual property tax assessed to Gulfstream for its new service center will be about $550,000 annually.
The airport has already agreed to lease Gulfstream 11 acres of land for the plant for 50 years. The lease is worth about $54,000 in annual revenue to the airport at first. It includes five, 10-year extensions. The cost of the lease will increase, based on market rates, every five years.
Airport and city officials also expect more takeoffs and landings at the airport because of Gulfstream and that will enhance revenues as well.
On Friday, Patrick also announced a $3 million state Department of Transportation grant that will improve the perimeter road at Barnes and create a new parking lot.
That might be just the beginning, said Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik. The city plans to create an aviation business park adjacent to Gulfstream which could house businesses that want to co-locate with the maintenance facility.
He said conceivably the aviation business park could mean another 100 or 200 jobs.
Burns said aviation is an industry in which the United States has maintained its pre-eminence over the years. Gulfstream has increased business in a recession, selling internationally. “When you are the number one in the world, there is always a lot of demand,” he said.
Fran Ahern, general manager of Gulfstream’s Westfield facility, said he already makes use of local suppliers and precision machine shops. He said more maintenance facilities at Barnes will also result in more pilots staying in the area and more visiting technicians.
“When we are busier, that purchasing will increase,” Ahern said. “There will be a multiplier effect through the whole region.”
Knapik seized on those downstream impacts.
“So that is our motel here in town,” Knapik said. “That’s business for our restaurants.”
The new planes are quieter than existing Gulfstreams and the airport is already taking noise-control efforts on behalf of the adjacent Barnes Air National Guard Base. Truck traffic to the site will flow off North Road, also known as Route 202.
General Dynamics has a total of more than 3,000 employees in Massachusetts and generates more than $1 billion a year in economic activity.
Civilian operations at Barnes generate $69 million a year in economic activity, according to the state.
Also on Friday, Patrick honored University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor emerita Sonia Nieto and UMass alumna and Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Wilma Ortiz, at the celebration of Hispanic educators at Patrick’s Springfield office.