For each fiscal year Westover Air Reserve Base studies their economic impact on the local economy. For 2013, about 3,800 civilian reservists and federal employees spent about $225 million within a 50-mile radius of the base here in Chicopee.
International Aero Engines, Pratt & Whitney’s multinational partnership, has landed a major jet engine contract from a subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, company officials say.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren had already lashed out on the topic of the federal sequestration budget cuts, in a Sept. 30 speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate. 'More than a thousand employees at Westover Air Force Base and Barnes Air National Guard Base in Western Massachusetts are facing furloughs,' Warren said. 'Scientists and medical researchers in Massachusetts are also getting pounded by the sequester.'
Col. Steven Vautrain, commander of the 439th Airlift Wing, had submitted a list of essential personnel he requested to be exempted from the furlough to keep the base running. The Air Force did not approve exempted personnel until Tuesday morning so most did not know if they would be staying or going home. Even those who are working knew they should not expect their regular paycheck, Bishop said. All active duty military are exempt from the furlough but Reservists and civilians are not. At Westover about 10 percent of all personnel are active duty while the remaining 90 percent are ...
Promoting our regional aerospace cluster is a high priority
for the EDC this year. Enhancing Western Mass – Canada trade is a significant
tactic in our initiative. US – Canada trade tends to be north-south. Canada’s
aerospace firms predominate in Quebec, so our region is well positioned to pick
up future business opportunities.
The Defense Department and Pratt & Whitney reached an agreement Tuesday on an order for the sixth lot of F135 engines to power the F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. The bulk of the work will be done in Connecticut, with 67 percent going to Pratt’s East Hartford and Middletown plants, according to a Defense Department contract listing. The contract includes 38 engines, as well as program management, engineering support, and spare parts, Chris Flynn, vice president of Pratt’s F135 engine program, said.
Pratt & Whitney said this morning that it has finalized a deal with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide engines for a sixth batch of F-35 fighter jets.
Though Pratt has yet to state the value of the deal, an anonymously sourced Reuters story that preceded the announcement pegged it at $1 billion or more, similar to contracts for previous batches.
You’re bound to get a lift – in spirits at least if you attend the first Great New England Wings and Wheels event Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24 and 25, at the Westover Metropolitan Airport. “There’s a certain excitement about being in a crowd,” said Bud Shuback, president of the Galaxy Community Council, which is producing the Great New England Wings and Wheels event. He’s expecting more than 10,000 people a day to attend. “Word is out” and excitement is generating, said Bill Sheehan, public affairs director for the non-profit Galaxy Community Council. He said there is ...
Westover Air Reserve Base received an overall score of "excellent" in an intensive review of all of the 439th Airlift Wing’s operations. The full-base inspection was done by a team of 55 examiners from Air Force Reserve Command at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia from Aug. 8 through Aug. 12. When inspectors left on Monday they told Westover officials they passed with flying colors.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. awarded more than $250,000 in scholarships to 17 children of employees at the company's sites in California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Texas and Wisconsin. The students were recognized at special events at each company site.
The EDC made a conscious decision to prioritize our region’s
aerospace cluster during 2013. Western Massachusetts is a key link along the
aerospace supply chain that follows I-91 from Connecticut through Massachusetts
and Vermont and continues north to Montreal. We call the Hartford CT –
Springfield MA section of that corridor New England’s Knowledge Corridor©, but
the entire corridor is legitimately Aerospace Corridor.
One of our tactics was to organize a presence for
Massachusetts companies at the Paris Air Show. The EDC organized meetings with
global OEM’s and B2B opportunities with international aerospace clusters for
the three Western ...
In a visit to Westover Air Reserve Base last week, acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning admired the base and spoke and asked questions about the impact federal budget cuts have had on local military. “That’s a lot of iron on the ramp,” Fanning said during his July 25 visit to Westover, seeing a row of 10 C-5s on the East Ramp.
The federal government is kicking in $8.7 million toward $20 million in runway improvements and other work in at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport. U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, announced that he'll visit the airport Monday morning to announce the funds, which come from aircraft fuels taxes collected and then distributed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Residents near Westover Air Reserve Base are likely to experience increased noise from training flights of F-15 Eagle fighter jets that will be stationed there or as long as six months. About 14 of the jets from the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing will be temporarily located at Westover while Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield undergoes a $30 million project to repair its runways.
But we also joined with the Hartford-Springfield Economic
Partnership and the State of Connecticut in a lead generation initiative for
New England’s Knowledge Corridor©. We met with over 20 international companies (from
France, Germany, Austria, Norway, Israel, Italy, even Liechtenstein) that have
an interest in the US market.
The EDC organized a stand for three Massachusetts companies –
Hoppe Technologies, Westfield Electroplating and Aimtek -- in the United States
Pavilion at the recent Paris Air Show. The company executives who attended experienced
first-hand the world’s biggest air show.
The capital dollars would be available for the six military bases in Massachusetts: Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee; Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield; Natick Soldier Systems Center; Fort Devens; Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford; and the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod. Brooks said a runway resurfacing at Barnes, which is owned by the City of Westfield, is a "perfect example" of how the state funding can be put to good use, and combined with federal and local funding for what Quenneville said is a $20 million project.
A major modernization project is about to begin; one designed to improve the way planes are fueled at Westover Air Reserve Base. The base is receiving $24.5 million for a new fuel hydrant system, which will consist of 14 hydrants and two 210,000 gallon above-ground tanks.
“This is a very significant investment into the infrastructure and long-term viability of the base. The $24 million upgrade will help Westover perform its mission more effectively. As one of the largest employers in the region, this contract will bring construction jobs and economic growth,” said U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, who represents the base.
We will meet 22 global companies that have been prequalified for (at minimum)
interest in the US market and awareness of the Knowledge Corridor aerospace
cluster. Some are potential inbound
investors and some are looking to enhance their US supply chain.
The “first edition” of the Great New England Wings & Wheels show will debut Aug. 24 and 25 at Westover Metropolitan Airport, 255 Padgette St. Planning for the show came about in the wake of the federal budget sequestration’s effects on military air shows around the nation. This show will take place on the civilian portion of Westover and is not expected to include any active military aircraft.
We hope that we receive a robust response as we want to be
able to showcase how robust our cluster is when we meet with numerous
international aerospace companies and officials in Paris. We will use the booklet
to point out our firms’ specific capabilities, the overall capacity of our
cluster and to attract companies who want a US supply chain.
Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray congratulated the National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing Thursday for a strong showing in its recent NORAD inspection, a result he said might help the 104th and the 1,100 people who work there survive the federal budget ax. "When you have quality personnel responding in such an exemplary manner, the Pentagon knows that can't be easily replicated," Murray said during a visit to a hangar at Barnes Air National Guard Base.
Eastec, which features truck-sized industrial equipment that can cost up to $1 million and churn out precision parts to tolerances many times smaller than a human hair, is expected to draw more than 500 exhibitors and visitors representing nearly 700 companies from across the country, said Kimberly L. Farrugia, senior event manager for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Farrugia said it’s a 15 percent increase overall increase in registrations from 2011, the last time Eastec was in West Springfield. She anticipated overall attendance of about 11,000 over three days, May 14, 15 and 16.