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Posts Tagged ‘Albany International’

Seacoast Aerospace Initiative: Cleared for Take-off; Aero/Defense Business Cleared to Land

Wednesday, May 14th, 2014

The Seacoast Aerospace Initiative launched Monday, with the ceremonial signing of a letter that clears for landing Canadian aerospace companies looking for opportunity to expand in one of New Hampshire’s fastest growing sectors.

The initiative came about in 2012, as Albany International and Safran were preparing for their co-location in Rochester, and the need to prepare for the growth of the industry.

The Seacoast Aerospace Initiative

The Seacoast Aerospace Initiative

For the past 18 months, a partnership that included officials from Dover, Portsmouth, Rochester and Somersworth, as well as the Pease International Tradeport, Great Bay Community College and the University of New Hampshire and we here at the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development, has been working to position this region as a hub for composites manufacturing.

Fast forward to this week and we celebrated a milestone: The signing of a letter – in French – inviting Quebec aerospace companies and suppliers not only  to expand here, but to work with us in other areas, such as research and education.

“This collaboration has strengthened the Seacoast’s position as a leader in the aerospace and defense industry,” said Gov. Maggie Hassan. “This is win-win for everybody – the companies involved, the cities, the Seacoast, the state and for our people. It’s a good day for business in New Hampshire.”

Quebec is our closest neighbor to the north and we share more than an international border; we owe much to them for our history, culture and work ethic.

“Montreal is the national hub for aerospace,” said Thierry Weissenburger, senior trade commissioner of the Canadian Consulate in Boston. “This collaboration is happening as burgeoning trade is going on and I expect it grow massively.”

If you recall, our aerospace industry got a boost when the New Hampshire Aerospace and Defense Export Consortium signed a MOU with Aero Montreal in December, paving the way for our aerospace companies to have preferred relationships with their counterparts in Quebec.

AeroCanW

Marianne Bonnard

“This happened six months ago and already you are moving on with the next steps,” said Marianne Bonnard, with the Quebec delegation. “You are already moving on to the step and I think that says a lot about the determination of the region here and of our cooperation.”

With that came the ceremonial signing of the letter by our Commissioner Jeffrey Rose, of the Department of Resources and Economic Development; Mayors Karen Weston of Dover, Robert Lister of Portsmouth, T.J. Dean of Rochester, Dana Hilliard of Somersworth, and Arthur Nickless Jr., chairman of the Pease Development Authority.

“This regional hub is the centerpiece for our state’s economy, built around aerospace and defense,” Rose said. “We’re ready for take-off on the Seacoast.”

 

Lorna Colquhoun

Communications Director

NH Division of Economic Development

Bridge to Something Great …

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012

What’s in a bridge?

A lot, if it’s over in Rochester (at the Granite State Business Park) and it’s called Innovation Way.

The bridge is officially open, now that the red ribbon has been cut.

It’s some great news from Rochester and Joe Morone, CEO of Albany International, spoke of the importance at the ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday morning.

 

Lorna Colquhoun
Communications Director
NH Division of Economic Development
Dec. 11, 2012

The New Hampshire Connection

Wednesday, July 11th, 2012

No matter if you are away for a few hours, a few days or, god forbid, a few years, there’s something nice about running into someone from your world when you are half a world away from home.

So it is here at the Farnborough International Airshow. We are about 3,000 miles away from home and today, it was pretty much like Old Home Day here at our booth.

Sam Campagna and Susan Siegel with the very cool holograph at the Albany International booth this week.

We started the morning with a nice chat at the Albany International booth with Sam Campagna and Susan Siegal. The booth is pretty neat, with a holograph of AI’s use of advanced composite components. They caught us up on construction of the new plant in Rochester (it’s going well) and how business has been this week at Farnborough.

(Sam told us there were times when there was a line of people waiting to speak with the team here about AI’s products and their applications. That’s the kind of information we like to hear.)

A few minutes after that, Jim Geary, the vice president of sales for New Hampshire Ball Bearings in Peterborough circled back to say hello. While NHBB does not have a booth here, Jim was walking around the show to connect and make connections, which, weeks, months or years from now will turn out to be minutes well spent here in England.

Jim wasn’t gone for 10 minutes when Michael Hanrahan, president of Hitchiner Manufacturing in Milford popped in for a few minutes. He, too, spared a few minutes between appointments to connect with us and tell us that business for his company is growing busier.

And as we manned our corner at the airshow, we were amazed at the people, in their travels down the aisles, who stopped and shared their New Hampshire moments – the British man who went to UNH, the woman from India conducting research for her doctorate who visited the Lakes Region while studying in Boston, the Alabama official whose brother lives in Concord, the caterer who remembers stopping at a New Hampshire rest area (and OK, the liquor store) enroute to summer camp in Maine.

What do these connections have to do with being at an international airshow? It’s an obvious, if not fond and nostalgic way to begin a conversation and talk to people from all over the world about the things that are special about New Hampshire. It has been a good way to introduce our colleagues sharing the booth to these new connections and who knows? Maybe one of these folks will want to come back and bring his or her business here.

Back to our booth, the two gentlemen who were politely waiting for their boss to finish a meeting a few steps away said they had never been to New Hampshire, but know the story from the movie What About Bob (when Lake Winnipesaukee, for purposes of filming it, was “moved” to Virginia).

Their boss, however, was very familiar with the Granite State.

“My wife and I honeymooned in Sugar Hill 36 years ago,” said Gov. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia. “We have many fond memories of New Hampshire.”

We don’t have much swag to give away, but we gave the him a magnet for his refrigerator, which reads ‘Live Free or Die.’

It also invites him to expand his company to New Hampshire.

Lorna Colquhoun

Communications Director

Division of Economic Development

 

400 New Advanced Manufacturing Jobs to Be Created in Rochester, NH

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Safran GroupCONCORD – Gov. John Lynch and the Executive Council on Wednesday approved a $4 million Business Finance Authority loan to complete a major economic development agreement between the State, Safran USA, and the City of Rochester.

The agreement will enable the construction of a previously announced 275,000 square-foot facility, in which Safran USA and Albany Engineered Composites (AEC) will be co-located. The facility will employ approximately 400 workers. The State, through the Department of Resources and Economic Development, worked with Albany, Safran USA and the City of Rochester to ensure an agreement could be reached.

“We have been working closely with Safran USA and Albany to see the project through to completion. Today’s news is a major economic development win for Rochester and the entire state of New Hampshire, and will result in the creation of hundreds of jobs,” Gov. Lynch said.

As part of the effort to recruit the new facility, the state has also partnered with Great Bay Community College to create a new composite manufacturing curriculum to train workers to fill the new jobs.

“Safran USA and Albany could have located their new facilities anywhere in the country, but they chose New Hampshire because they recognize that we have a strong workforce and a winning economic strategy. We worked intensely with the companies over the past several years to make the construction of this new plant, and the hundreds of jobs that come with it, a reality,” Gov. Lynch said.

“I want to thank (DRED) Commissioner George Bald and his staff, particularly state business recruiter Cindy Harrington, as well as New Hampshire’s Business Finance Authority, under the leadership for Jack Donovan, for getting us to where we are today.  I also want to thank Mayor T.J. Jean and Rochester city officials for their work and commitment to this project,” Gov. Lynch said.

“Finally, I want to thank Albany International’s President and CEO Joseph Morone and Safran USA leadership for their commitment to New Hampshire and for working cooperatively to move this critical project forward.”

“This agreement, and the manufacturing plant and new jobs that will result from it, is a reflection of not only the strength of the relationship between the State of New Hampshire, the City of Rochester, Albany International and Safran USA, but also of how tightly our futures are connected. The efforts of Governor John Lynch and his team in this process cannot be overstated, and the new plant and new jobs that will be created are the direct result of his efforts on behalf of State of New Hampshire,” said Albany President and CEO Joseph Morone.

The new facility will manufacture composite engine components.

“We are very pleased to launch the construction of a manufacturing plant in Rochester, where the Safran group and AEC will combine their resources in order to produce advanced composite parts for the LEAP aircraft engines developed by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Safran and GE,” said Peter Lengyel, President and CEO of Safran USA, Washington D.C. Operations.

Albany Engineered Composites is a subsidiary of Albany International, Corp., which employs about 225 workers at its existing Rochester facility. Last year, the company relocated its corporate headquarters from New York to Rochester.

“The City of Rochester is honored to be selected by Safran USA and Albany Engineered Composites to host their new world-class advanced manufacturing facility. This investment demonstrates Rochester’s commitment to attracting and securing sustainable industrial development and providing valuable jobs to our local economy,” said Rochester Mayor T.J. Jean. “Today’s announcement is a milestone for Rochester as we emerge from these difficult economic times.”

“This is a great day for Rochester and for the state of New Hampshire as a whole,” said Commissioner George Bald. “We thank Safran USA for making the decision to locate their facility in New Hampshire and commend the City of Rochester for its hard work in bringing in a quality company that will create new jobs and add to the economic vitality of our state.”

Construction of the new plant, near the existing Albany facility, will begin in the spring of 2012.