AP, HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A survey of 400 companies shows that Alabama's growing aerospace industry provides more than 139,000 jobs, mostly in small business operations statewide.
A report by the University of Alabama in Huntsville for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs says the industry is anchored in NASA and Army operations in north Alabama.
But the industry includes manufacturing plants in Mobile and Dothan.
The report was released Friday by the Alabama Aerospace Industry Association.
The aerospace industry pumps billions of dollars into the state economy, said Mary Spann, senior business adviser for the Alabama Technology Network at UAH.
Spann said at a time when jobs are being lost in apparel, textiles, pulp and paper, plastics and chemicals, the aerospace industry is a bright spot with substantial growth opportunities ahead.
Huntsville and its surrounding areas have the most aerospace-related jobs because of NASA operations. The Huntsville area has about 40,000 aerospace workers while the Mobile area has about 2,300.
The 400 companies surveyed for the report were either aerospace businesses or firms that support aviation work.
“What we want to accomplish is to look within the state to buy services and products and look for partners in aerospace to strengthen this sector of business,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. Jim Link, president of Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., a space and defense contractor in Huntsville.
The state's aerospace industry is divided into these sectors: General manufacturing; missile and space vehicle parts manufacturing; aircraft parts; missile and space vehicle manufacturing; aircraft maintenance and repair and overhauling.
Other findings in the report:
–More than 90 percent of Alabama aerospace companies are small, with 500 or fewer employees, and 54 percent had 50 employees or less;
–Alabama aerospace workers have a high skill level, with 34 percent possessing an advanced technical degree and 23 percent in jobs requiring a high level of skill;
–Aerospace work in the state is concentrated in five regions across Alabama, and 99 percent of the aerospace jobs are located in 14 counties.
Link, who sits on Alabama Aerospace Industry Association board of directors, said the report helps Huntsville put a “positive face on its ability to attract other related industries and lure other aerospace investments here.”
Alabama is reportedly in the running as a location for a major Boeing commercial aircraft plant. The aerospace giant has been considering Huntsville and Mobile as possible sites to build its 7E7 “Dreamliner.” The company hopes to build a fuel-efficient passenger jet that would cut airline operations costs.
“We certainly have the job base and intellectual capital to support it,” Link said.
