Tue, Oct 18, 2016
ACC Manufacturing Would Establish A Facility At Grand Rapids Airport
A loan to One Aviation subsidiary ACC Manufacturing was on the agenda Monday for a meeting of the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB). The loan would support for development of a new aircraft parts manufacturing facility in Grand Rapids, MN and infrastructure development grants that will generate $44.4 million in projects.
“These projects address infrastructure needs, support community and business development, and assist in bringing new jobs to northeastern Minnesota,” said IRRRB Commissioner Mark Phillips in a news release.
IRRRB loans of $1.5 million to ACC Manufacturing, Inc. (ACC) and $293,000 to the Grand Rapids Economic Development Authority would assist ACC in establishing a composite parts manufacturing facility at the Grand Rapids Airport. ACC produces aircraft parts for its parent company, One Aviation Company.
The Superior Telegram newspaper reports that the parts manufactured by ACC would initially be used in the Eclipse jet, but IRRRB director Mark Phillips said the long-term goal is for the company to manufacture the Kestrel turboprop aircraft in Grand Rapids as well.
One Aviation CEO Alan Klapmeier said the Kestrel was originally set to be manufactured in Brunswick, Maine. In 2012, Klapmeier and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced an incentive package to have the airplane built in Superior, WI, but that incentive package was never approved by the state. State officials told Wisconsin Public Radio that Kestrel had found it difficult to raise money for the clean-sheet turboprop and meeting requirement for federal financing programs.
Klapmeier told the paper that it makes more sense to manufacture composite parts in-house, rather than subcontracting the work. He said "minnesota is the right place for workforce compatibility, workforce productivity ... We know Minnesota. This is where we live."
Klapmeier said that One Aviation's first priority is bringing the Eclipse and a second-generation Eclipse jet to market before turning its attention to the Kestrel.
(Images from file)
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