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Airbus looking to grow on $4.3 billion spent in Ohio last year

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By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer Updated 9:35 PM Tuesday, April 6, 2010

KETTERING — Any local aerospace supplier hoping to do business with Airbus Americas Inc. had one place to be Tuesday, April 6 — the National Composite Center.

The airplane manufacturer has suppliers in 41 states and does a total of $10 billion of annual business nationwide, said Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus Americas. But the company has a greater presence in the Buckeye State — spending $4.3 billion in Ohio last year — than any other state, McArtor said.

“We want to grow that, so we decided let’s go talk to suppliers,” McArtor said.

Even with last year’s fierce recession, Airbus increased its spending in Ohio by nine percent, McArtor said. And he believes the future can be bright, with an emphasis on more efficient aircraft boasting lower emissions. He believes a $3.2 trillion market awaits Airbus and its competitors.

That was promising news to the more than 300 aerospace suppliers present at the National Composite Center for what was dubbed a “supplier summit.”

Russell Sparks, vice president, military strategy for General Electric Aviation in Evendale, noted that his company has about 7,500 employees in Ohio. He noted that his company’s aviation lineage stretches far back.

“Orville Wright himself attended the ribbon cutting for some of these buildings,” Sparks said of the company’s Evendale presence.

McArtor and others cited Ohio’s 120,000 aerospace industry workers, its educational institutions, its “best practices,” as well as workers seeking to move away from the automotive supply chain. As well, McArtor cited the Euro-dollar exchange rate, which makes its U.S. manufacturing presence less expensive compared to Europe.

Gov. Ted Strickland noted that with nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the region’s recent designation as the state’s “aerospace hub,” it made sense to hold the summit in the Dayton area. There are about 52,000 people working in aerospace “industry-related positions” in the Dayton region alone, Strickland said.

Local companies on hand included O’Neil & Associates, Mound Laser and Photonics Center and CAM Manufacturing, all of Miamisburg, F&G Tool and Die, of Dayton and Franklin and many more.

While Airbus’ U.S. presence is based in Herndon, Va., the corporate parent is headquartered in Toulouse, France, with 52,000 employees worldwide.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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