June 21st, 2009 by Sharon Stead Galantino

Rockford has definitely taken flight and continues to spread its wings and gain altitude as a result of the recent Paris Air Show.

Rockford Area Economic Development Council’s initiative to contact Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity resulted in sponsorship and private/public support to exhibit and attend the Paris Air Show at the historic 100 year anniversary of Le Bourget Airport in Paris.

Our mission: To inform the world’s aerospace industry that the Rockford Region is a very strong contender as an ideal local for foreign companies seeking a US location for their operations in North America.

Rockford’s impressive  “Aerospace Cluster” was up till now lesser known to the likes of European aerospace suppliers. Raising their profile at the Paris Air show is step one in their long term strategy to be a center of excellence in aerospace.

This was a great experience giving Rockford and the entire State of Illinois great exposure. We certainly raised our profile to the industry.

The Illinois Office of Trade and Investment’s office in Brussels had the pleasure of working with Eric Voyles, VP for Rockford, Russ Dennis, Jr of Leading Edge Hydraulics and Ron Gustafson, Jr of Clinkenbeard who were all working hard from Rockford’s booth to promote the Rockford region and products.

It is in Rockford’s, as well as in Illinois’, best interest to keep up the momentum that has been gained at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget France by having Rockford take off and fly high at the Farnborough International Airshow held next year on July 19 – 25 in Farnborough England.

The Paris Air Show and Farnborough International Airshow, 40 miles southwest of London, England, alternate venues annually.

June 17th, 2009 by Eric Voyles

Activity remains swift at the combined RAEDC / State of Illinois booth at the Paris Air Show.

Much interest has been generated about the Tigerfish project announced on June 15th in Paris. About half of the people who stop at the booth and inquire are coming by to get a glimpse of the model and take a Tigerfish Aviation brochure.

A large number of inquiries are from folks just interested in Rockford.

Many grew up in Rockford and moved away. Others visited family in the area as children. Yet another grouping are current and former employees of Rockford area companies. All are impressed with the Rockford region’s initiative and level of detail we now know and can share about the aerospace cluster. The most common comment is, “It is about time that Rockford and the state of Illinois have presence here (Paris Air Show)”. Which is followed by, “Will you be at Farnborough (Farnborough International Airshow) next year?”

Then there’s the network that Sharon Stead Galantino has built in Europe and around the world to support Illinois’ economic development objectives.

Sharon has been great here introducing the Rockford aerospace cluster to these individuals and encouraging them to think about ways to partner with Illinois and Rockford to create mutually beneficial partnerships with her counter-parts from around the world.

Finally, we have the companies that stop by to inquire about a Rockford location. We have had several of these.

A few examples (I can not divulge the names for confidentiality reasons) include companies that would like to establish a distribution operation and another that would like to establish a maintenance and repair operation at the Chicago Rockford International Airport.

Two curious visitors quizzed us for several minutes about workforce, incentives and property, yet would answer none of our questions, and then just walked off.

Due to the advance work that the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the US Department of Commerce and our RAEDC office staff (primarily Carrie Zethmayr) did to arrange meetings, we are running from meeting to meeting all day long every day with pre-qualified leads. I could not be happier with the quality of leads we are getting.

The word is definitely getting out that Rockford is interested in and is a good location for Aerospace Companies involved in;

1. R&D, engineering and software

2. MRO (Maintenance & Repair Operations)

3. Logistics or warehouse/distribution

4. Sales offices

5. Divisional or NA headquarters

6. Warranty and service operations

7. Advanced manufacturing in metals, alloys and composites

8. Sub-assembly …and…

9. Airframe assembly.

Our inquiries mirror most of these categories.

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With Thanks to Special Guest Author

Eric Voyles, VP
RAEDC
+1-815-987-8118

http://www.rockfordil.com/