Aerospace company buys
Fairhope plant
Crestview, Fla., aircraft parts maker buys former Goodrich building
May 21, 2005
By DAVID FERRARA
Mobile Register
Staff Reporter
A rapidly growing Florida aerospace company has purchased
the former Goodrich Corp. plant in Fairhope, which has been closed for three
years.
Crestview Aerospace Corp. of Crestview purchased the 123,000-square-foot
building, which sits on 57 acres at the H. L. "Sonny" Callahan Airport in
Fairhope on Tuesday, according to a release from the company.
Lance LaCour, executive director of the Baldwin County Economic Development
Alliance, said the building had been listed for $3.1 million, but the
closing cost was not released.
Crestview makes sheet metal structures and parts for Bell Helicopter and
Boeing, Gulfstream, Lockheed and Vought aircraft, according to the release.
Company officials said new business prospects, plus a need to expand
manufacturing space to accommodate current orders, necessitated the
expansion. The aircraft parts manufacturer expected to start work on the
facility shortly, the release stated, but it is unclear when workers would
be hired.
Initially, Crestview said it would hire about 100 new employees within the
next year, according to Fairhope Mayor Tim Kant. About 100 workers lost
their jobs when Goodrich closed the plant in 2002.
LaCour started courting Crestview that same year, he said. Since then,
Crestview has doubled its employee count to 1,000, according to LaCour.
Kant said he hopes such growth will help launch the planned expansion at
Callahan Airport.
"The jobs and more activity at the airport will make it more viable for the
community," Kant said. "Part of my long-range plan is to see that the
airport turns into an economic development area. The first step is by having
a company like Crestview Aerospace coming, because others, I hope, will
follow. Businesses like to surround themselves with businesses, and then we
can work on other high-tech and high-paying jobs."
At least six other unnamed companies had discussions with officials in
Fairhope about purchasing the facility, according to LaCour.
Under Goodrich, the Fairhope facility served as a maintenance, repair and
overhaul facility for aircraft already in service. While a medical company
also expressed interest in the plant, the Baldwin County group has focused
on recruiting an aerospace repair company since the Fairhope plant closed.
LaCour agreed that Crestview's purchase would be an economic boon to the
Eastern Shore.
"Somebody's got to repair those aircraft," he said. "Why not do it here?
It's a great fit for what the building is designed for, and the company has
done really well."
