In a press release on Tuesday, July 3, the Santa Rosa Economic Alliance (formerly TEAM Santa Rosa) proclaimed that its county is ready for Airbus and its Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers.
What does Airbus coming to Mobile mean for Santa Rosa County?
According to press release, the $600 million capital investment presents potential for aerospace industry and job growth as Tier 1 and Tier 2+ suppliers search for sites and other amenities that will place them close enough to easily work with the new plant but will not draw away from the core plant workforce in Mobile.
The Santa Rosa Economic Alliance stated that over the last several years it has laid the groundwork and built relationships with the global aerospace community in anticipation of just such an announcement.
“Santa Rosa County is poised and ready,” said Shannon Ogletree, interim executive director at Santa Rosa Economic Alliance. “We have anticipated a big announcement like this for several years, and have been working on building relationships to be ready when the time came.”
Coming on the heels of the Airbus announcement, the annual Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) in London July 9–13 will be Santa Rosa’s first opportunity to get in front of the global aerospace community in this new context.
With Airbus starting up shop roughly an hour’s drive from the heart of Santa Rosa County, the ready-made sites and workforce will be in great demand among Tier-1 and Tier-2+ suppliers. (Airbus may have hundreds of Tier-1 suppliers, but over a thousand Tier-2+ companies in the supply chain making parts and subassemblies.)
Ogletree is attending FIA with plenty of information in hand for not only Airbus suppliers but the hundreds of other potential Santa Rosa businesses as well. He has set up numerous meetings during his three days at the event and will be planning more during the meet-and-greet opportunities at FIA. He has met with about half of his planned appointments previously.
“It’s all about building those relationships,” Ogletree said. “Now that Airbus has made their decision, other companies are going to be serious in their pursuit of optimal sites and facilities. Because we’ve met with them before in London and at the sister event, the Paris Air Show, they know we’re serious, too.”
Part of his meetings will be focused on finding out what companies are looking for so Santa Rosa can anticipate requests as companies start shopping for sites and facilities along the Gulf Coast.
“Some may be looking for industrial sites with specific amenities and features, others may be, say, an engineering firm looking for high-end office space,” he said.
FIA is an opportunity to make a global audience of aerospace executives aware of projects and companies in our region and is really the only chance for economic development professionals to interact with top decision makers from these companies face-to-face, he added. “It’s a one-stop shop for the global aerospace industry.”
Other Florida representatives at FIA will include representatives from the Greater Pensacola Chamber, The City of Pensacola, and Enterprise Florida. Governor Rick Scott and Mayor Ashton Hayward will attend.
“The state will have a large delegation at Farnborough,” said Ogletree, “in addition to representation from across the Gulf Coast.”