newsletterJUGGERNAUT

...The Mississippi Gulf Coast, as strong as its aerospace sector is, has a neighbor to its east that’s
been on a roll of late. Mobile’s success luring EADS to the city, along with the subsequent
success at getting a commitment from EADS partner Northrop, is just the tip of the iceberg.
...Alabama is an aerospace juggernaut, ranked 14th in employment and for years a fixture at
international air shows. In the Aerospace Industries Association list of the nation’s 30 primary
aerospace centers, Huntsville is ranked 16th.
...Bad news for Mississippi? Hardly, at least not when it comes to Mobile. It all boils down to
proximity.
...Don Gaw, former plant manager of Northrop Grumman’s Unmanned Systems Center, said
Mobile’s push in aerospace is bound to benefit Mississippi. Should the team of Northrop
Grumman-EADS win the Air Force tanker project, “it’s going to spill over into Mississippi.”
...That exchange of workers has been common. Many Mobile residents work at Northrop
Grumman Ship Systems, which has been one of Mobile’s largest employers for years. And the
Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point has employees who once worked for ST Mobile
Aerospace, said Gaw.
...“I think the same will be true if we end up with that tanker project. I think Mississippi will see
some jobs from that as well,” he said. “It’s not much of a commute.”
...Creating a coast-wide aerospace cluster has the benefit of building a cadre of people who are
able to work at a host of facilities with similar job skill needs, Gaw said. And while that means a
company has to try harder to keep employees, it’s probably a good thing. The biggest benefit of
that skill mix is to the supplier community.
...Bryan Mahoney, the current plant manager at the Unmanned Systems Center, said anything
Mobile might get would cause an increase in engineers and expansion of the supplier community.
That buildup “can only benefit this entire region … The opportunity to grow here is huge.”
...While Mississippi has a much smaller aerospace infrastructure than Alabama, the state has
some real bright spots, not the least of which is Mississippi State University and its department of
aerospace engineering. That department includes Walker Engineering Laboratories, Patterson
Engineering Laboratories, Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, Diagnostic & Instrumentation
Laboratory, and the Engineering Research Center. Mississippi also hosts a NASA facility and has
a foot in the door of the high-growth unmanned aerial vehicles field.
...That Alabama would target aerospace is natural. Alabama can trace its aviation roots to 1908,
when William Massey Quick made the first known airplane flight in the state. In 1910, Orville
and Wilbur Wright chose Montgomery for the world’s first civilian flying school. Its modern day
role goes back to 1949 when Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal, established in 1941, was designated
the Army Missile and Rocket Center. A year later Werner von Braun and the German rocket
group moved to Huntsville to join a team of American scientists and engineers to form the
nucleus of the U.S. rocket and space program. In 1960 newly created NASA established
Marshall Space Flight Center at Redstone Arsenal.
...Although Huntsville usually comes to mind when it comes to aerospace, Mobile has always
had a foot in the aerospace door. For years Brookley Air Force Base was the city’s primary
aerospace activity. When that base closed in 1964, the city had an initial tailspin but has long-
since recovered. Today, the Brookley Industrial Complex is the city’s calling card. And now the
Mobile Regional Airport has also become a key location as well.
...Mobile elevated its stature when it won the national competition to land EADS. Mississippi
knows well the kind of competitor Mobile has become. Hancock County, too, was a finalist for
EADS. Since the EADS win, Mobile received a commitment EADS partner Northrop. Just how
important aerospace has become is indicated by the wealth of aerospace-related news published
by the Mobile Press-Register, the largest newspaper in South Alabama.
...Alabama’s strength in aerospace is important to Mississippi by virtue of the benefits of
proximity. That’s been most obvious in recent years with the buildup of the South’s auto
industry. The arrival of manufacturers leads to the influx of suppliers, and all of that builds up
the automaking infrastructure.
...The same now appears to be occurring in aerospace. – Tcp

January 2007