By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R) and Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield (R) are in Germany working to bring more aviation jobs to the state of Alabama.
On Wednesday, Gov. Bentley addressed the Aviation Forum 2012 in Hamburg as part of their continued effort to recruit more aerospace jobs to the state of Alabama.
Gov. Bentley said, “With Airbus building its first U.S.-based production facility in Mobile, the entire state is poised for growth. Suppliers can benefit from the same positive business climate that helped us attract Airbus. We’re ready to work with companies and partner with them to bring even more jobs to Alabama.”
Secretary Canfield said, “By making this trip, we want to make sure aerospace suppliers are aware of what is available in Alabama and how we can help them expand their businesses here. The fact that Airbus is bringing 1,000 new jobs to Alabama is a major achievement. But when you also consider that one assembly line job with Airbus could span as many as three to four additional jobs when related industry comes to support the company’s needs, that means Alabama will be part of a major aerospace sector.”
Gov. Bentley said, “Alabama has the best workforce you’ll find anywhere in the world, and on top of that, we also have the best workforce training program. Our AIDT workforce training program helps companies of various sizes have the highly-skilled workers they need in order to compete and succeed.” AIDT stands for Alabama Industrial Development Training. AIDT offers training facilities across the state, including on-location training sites at various employers.
Gov. Bentley said, “This year’s Airbus announcement is, in many ways, similar to the announcement that Mercedes was coming to Alabama back in the 1990s. Since then, not only has Mercedes opened, expanded and hired additional people, so have other automotive companies and suppliers. In fact, thousands of people work for automotive suppliers across the state. With Airbus jetliner production coming to Alabama, there is tremendous potential for similar growth in the aerospace industry. By meeting with suppliers at the Aviation Forum, we’re able to build on our progress and attract even more jobs to Alabama.”
The state is also working with regional and local organizations to offer aerospace companies a new Supplier Support Network – a “one-stop shop” to help companies understand regulations, permitting, workforce recruitment, training opportunities and more to make it easier for aerospace companies to set up shop in Alabama.
The stated goal of Governor Bentley’s visit to the Aviation Forum is to recruit more aerospace jobs to Alabama. Governor Bentley and other state and local leaders are meeting with aerospace industry suppliers this week to discuss the advantages of locating production facilities in the state of Alabama.
The Airbus Mobile production facility alone is expected to produce 1000 jobs. Over time, suppliers could bring many more jobs to various communities across the state as they locate in Alabama to support the Airbus facility. More than 300 aerospace-related companies are already located in the state, particularly in the northern part of the state where many work with NASA and Redstone Arsenal. Gov. Bentley said that the Airbus project in Mobile will help spur additional aerospace economic development in other parts of the state of Alabama as well.
