Art Thomason – Jun. 2, 2009
The Arizona Republic
With a multibillion-dollar economic impact, the aerospace industry is the southeast Valley’s payroll leader, one of the region’s largest employers and a workplace for some of Arizona’s top research talent.
Collectively, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe are home to more than 200 private firms, a state university, community college and an Air Force lab, all of which are engaged in a range of aerospace manufacturing and research, from helicopter assembly to space technology.
In March, a group of influential business, government and academic leaders warned that Arizona’s $3.8 billion annual aerospace payroll could dwindle unless determined efforts are made to expand the industry by supplying the science and engineering talent it demands.
“I’m jazzed about this group’s proposal for creation of an aerospace think tank,” said John Schroeder, provost of Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s Williams campus in southeast Mesa. “We’ve got to look at the space side of the aerospace equation, which tends to exist very quietly here. It’s a really big deal.”
Here is a city-by-city breakdown of the impact of aerospace:
GILBERT: Space exploration and science make a strong showing in Gilbert, where aerospace employs 9 percent of the town’s total workforce, or 4,200 residents.
More than 200 companies in the town of 215,000 are engaged in aerospace, defense and the supply chains related to those industries, officials said.
Gilbert’s eastern boundary adjoins Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, where aerospace development is a priority.
MESA: The biggest aerospace players in Mesa are situated at and around Falcon Field Airport near the city’s northeastern corner, helping generate an annual economic impact in excess of $2.1 billion.
Though Mesa received national attention last year for its aerospace development, activity in recent months has been sluggish, a downturn tied in part to the nation’s economic crisis.