Greater Waco Aviation Alliance

Press

Waco aviation set to take off
Sept. 9. 2005

New Alliance touts city's potential as aerospace hub
By Mike Copeland
Tribune-Herald business editor

The Waco community turned out in force Thursday evening to celebrate the city's aviation potential. And the city's future got even brighter with news that six aviation-related companies are seriously considering locating here.

Hundreds of business and community leaders poured into Knox Hall at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, where more than 30 aviation-related companies eagerly talked shop and shared a meal prepared by The Partners of McLennan County and the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce.

The purpose of Thursday's festivities was to introduce the community to the Greater Waco Aerospace-Aviation-Defense Industries Alliance. It is a local group determined to see that Waco achieves its aviation potential, which it perceives as great.

Already the Waco area is home to more than 30 aviation- and aerospace-related companies that employ 3,000 to 4,600 people, according to various estimates.

They have nearly a half-billion-dollar impact on the local economy, said Steve Williams, president of FreeFlight Systems and chairman of the alliance's economic development committee.

"This is an incredible, extraordinary evening. I consider this the next wave of significant economic development in Waco," said Mayor Virginia DuPuy, who compared the aviation boom with creation of the city's massive industrial park where such companies as Huck Manufacturing, Minute Maid and Allergan have arisen.

The park, DuPuy said, is renowned for its diversity. But aviation could become the city's brand.

Williams, who travels internationally as president of FreeFlight, a maker of navigation devices, said Thursday that local officials have had discussions with 13 companies about placing aviation-related plants in Waco.

"Six of them are serious, meaning the talks have evolved to facility size and employment," Williams said. "We should be making announcements by the end of the year."

Privately, Williams said officials "are in the final stages of discussion" with two of the companies.

"These are credible prospects," Williams said. "This is not somebody's dream."

He said one of the companies manufactures planes while another makes avionics equipment.

Elton Stuckly Jr., president of Texas State Technical College-Waco, said representatives of a foreign company considering a Waco location ate dinner one evening this week at Northwood Inn with 17 local people.

"I don't know exactly how many they would hire," Stuckly said, "but they were interested in (TSTC) and where they would get employees. So we might be doing some training or providing grads."

David Henry, a Waco attorney and pilot, could not hide his enthusiasm about the alliance and the city's future.

"Things on the horizon are just mind-boggling. You can't believe the number of companies looking at moving here," said Henry, who is involved in the alliance's work. "Waco has found its high-tech."

Henry, a patent attorney, said his work in protecting the products a company may create is yet another asset Waco can offer a prospect.

"Waco's aviation climate is extremely good. The companies here are extremely well thought of in the industry, and there certainly is potential for more," said Paul Smith, a regional representative for the National Business Aviation Association.

As much as anything, Smith said, he's impressed by the community's "pro-aviation" attitude.

"Waco is doing a fantastic job," said Larry Silvey, Gov. Rick Perry's adviser for aerospace and aviation. "It has identified an asset and put together a team to maximize its returns."

Waco poised, ready

Jim Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association, and Jack Olcott, past president of the National Business Aviation Association, said Waco is poised to take advantage of the trent toward "on-demand" flying. Companies here, he said, could help build the next generation of small jets for busy business travelers.

At the heart of Waco's aviation future is a proposed aviation park next to TSTC that could employ up to 2,000 people when totally "built out," Sarah Roberts, vice president for economic development with the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, recently told the Tribune-Herald.

State Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson, R-Waco, said he's hearing that progress is being made on moving the aviation park closer to reality.

Anderson said he believes that Waco's central location on the Interstate 35 corridor, its colleges and its quality of life make the city a natural choice to become an aviation center of excellence.

mcopeland@wacotrib.com
1 (254) 757-5736