Aerospace industry expands in Macomb County

As the global automotive industry restructures, adjusting to today’s economic environment, many Michigan residents are suffering the resulting hardship of job loss. But unknown to many in this state, there is a thriving and growing aerospace industry in our midst. Spun out of the expertise gained in the automotive sector, many businesses are now applying their capabilities to the design and manufacture of structural and mechanical components for aircraft. Increasingly, the global aerospace industry’s Original Equipment Manufacturers are relying on the prowess of Macomb County engineering and manufacturing firms in order to address the challenge of making complex products lighter, safer, and less costly. OEMs like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are finding that our suppliers are able to meet this challenge better than those located elsewhere in the world.

Snapshot of the Aerospace Industry:

• The aerospace industry is generally comprised of two segments — civil aircraft and military aircraft.

• The civil aircraft portion of the business is made up of transport aircraft (those that carry people and cargo), helicopters and general aviation aircraft (small personal and business craft). 

• The military aircraft component of the business is made up of fighter planes, helicopters and military transports.  The fighter planes are responsible for the largest share of the revenues.  Two other components of this market segment include missiles and spacecraft.

• For 2008, it is estimated that aerospace sales were approximately $204 billion, with $400 billion in backlogged orders. 

• It is projected that the industry will continue to grow, with 2009 sales increasing by approximately 4.8 percent.

What does this mean for Macomb County? New investment and jobs! For example, two Macomb County companies that have diversified from automotive into the aerospace industry are currently expanding.  In fact, both of these companies, Models & Tools and Global Tooling Systems recently received incentives from the State of Michigan to help keep them investing and growing here.

Models and Tools, an aerospace tooling company in Shelby Township, is investing $6.2 million in a high-bay facility that will support their current aerospace work for both commercial and defense projects. Their relocation to this larger facility provides them additional floor space, thus permitting the expansion of their machining capabilities, while the added height enables them to compete in a very select market for large-assembly tooling. This project is expected to create up to 72 jobs. The MEGA award, a $2 million state tax credit over 10 years, helped to convince M&T to expand in Michigan rather than moving to Texas. Shelby Township approved a five-year tax abatement in support of the project.

Global Tooling Systems is a leading supplier of tooling and services for the commercial and military aerospace industries. The company plans to invest $17.2 million to relocate their operations to Macomb Township. The project is expected to create up to 184 jobs. Global, like M&T, received a MEGA tax credit. Valued at $2.2 million over seven years, this incentive helped to convince the company to expand in Michigan rather than relocating to either Texas, Washington, California or Georgia. The MEDC also approved up to $90,000 for employee training through its Economic Development Job Training Program. Macomb Township provided Global with a property tax abatement in support of the project.

The MEDC has a video interview posted to their website with each company.