Category: Aerospace/Defense

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, said Monday that a proposed reduction in aircraft at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee is just that – a proposal – and one that makes little sense given recent federal investments in improvements at the base.

Westover Air Reserve Base has about 6,000 people working there, from pilots to barbers to clerks at the base exchange store, and the base pumped about $238 million into the regional economy in 2011, according to an Air Force Study.

A manufacturing company in West Springfield laid off 76 employees on Wednesday.

The $29.4 billion overall F-15 deal is part of a $60 billion sale to the Saudis tentatively announced in late 2010, which includes the purchase of Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft’s Black Hawk and Boeing’s Apache helicopters.

Defense contractor ITT Exelis will be laying off an untold number of employees at the West Springfield, Virginia and California facilities in 2012.

Derek Dunaway, Cyalume president and CEO, stated, "The ability to work with Nammo Talley, a unit of an established international defense company, confirms my confidence in Cyalume's past achievements and growth prospects. We are pleased to collaborate by contributing our non-toxic, non-incendiary and non-dud producing payload to Nammo Talley's superior products."

The ITT Power Solutions factory in West Springfield is now part of ITT Exelis now that conglomerate ITT has split itself into three separate corporations

“We have companies who have developed vests that help autistic children deal with their conditions and some of those applications may be suitable for military, just to choose one example,” said Allan Blair, President and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts.

The U.S. Air Force says the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee poured nearly $238 into the local economy in the financial year ending Sept. 30, marking a $29 million drop over the previous year.

  The EDC commissioned CWS Consulting Group to assess ten regional industry sectors for growth and investment potential. CWS used the western Mass section of a 2008 statewide study by Moran Stahl & Boyer commissioned by the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development (“MassEcon”) as its starting point and assessed changes and opportunities that have arisen since then. This study achieved two objectives for us. It addressed our competitiveness against a regional peer group and it helped us improve our understanding of the internal workings of the sectors as part of our Homefield Advantage program. The study identified regional competitive advantages in the ...

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.

Gulfstream Aerospace plans to host Gov. Deval L. Patrick at a news conference Friday at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, an apparent sign that Westfield has been successful in its efforts to bring a new Gulfstream maintenance hangar and 100 jobs.

“It appears that the company wants to consolidate its position as a commercial aerospace market supplier, hence the exclusion of Sikorsky from this new group,” Pettibone said, referring to Sikorsky Aircraft. “With all the operations under one organization, the new aerospace unit should be able to offer significant packages of components – one-stop shopping, if you will – to manufacturers.”

Governor Dannel P. Malloy today appointed four people to the Connecticut Airport Authority and named the board's chair. Appointed board members must have business and management experience and expertise in financial planning, budgeting and assessment, marketing, master planning, aviation, or transportation management.

Hartford conglomerate United Technologies Corp. - called Connecticut's signature aerospace company by DECD - reported significant orders for jet engines during the show, which will ripple through to the state's supply chain.