In fact, any area serious about retaining and growing its aerospace cluster would do well to put measures of this sort in place, because competition for aerospace jobs is intensifying. States competed vigorously for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner assembly facility, which in the end went to existing Boeing facilities in Washington State. But smaller projects get

Aerospace Manufacturing Gains Altitude      The U.S. aerospace industry is the healthiest it's been in several years, and several key indicators signal continued growth into 2006. The industry exported $33 billion in goods during the first half of 2005 and imported $14 billion, resulting in a $19 billion trade surplus, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA).      "This news comes on the heels of growth in aerospace employment as well as orders, shipments and backlog," says John Douglass, AIA's president and CEO. "Our industry can boast the largest positive foreign trade balance in U.S. manufacturing." The industry logged about $99 billion in net new orders through June 2005, which would put it on pace for $197.7 billion for the year. The value of new orders in 2004 was $165 billion.      In August, AIA reported 11,100 new aerospace industry jobs since the end of 2004. Total U.S. employment in the industry was 618,400 at mid-year, up from 607,300 in December 2004. Aerospace employment had been falling steadily since the early 1990s due to the end of the Cold War and other factors. It hit a 50-year low of 579,700 in February 2004 before rebounding to add 27,400 by the end of the year.

plenty of attention, too, especially from areas seeking to establish themselves as aerospace centers. The Four Corners states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona are a case in point.
      "We were very thorough in our site-selection process, working with many states around the country," says George Bye, chairman and CEO of Aviation Technology Group (ATG), which chose the Front Range Airport in Adams County, Colo., as the site for its manufacturing facilities. ATG, based in Englewood, Colo., produces the Javelin, a military-looking very light jet (VLJ) that seats two people. Alabama, Texas and New Mexico reportedly were among the states in the running.
      Also based in Englewood is Adam Aircraft, which is producing two twin-engine light aircraft, the A500 and A700. The company occupies office and manufacturing space in Englewood and Pueblo, Colo., and a manufacturing and testing facility in Ogden, Utah.
      VLJs are an increasingly important subset of the aerospace industry with several manufacturers working on aircraft prototypes that will eventually supply air-taxi service providers, individuals seeking entry to the biz-jet market at a lower cost point and other niche aviation markets.
      Eclipse Aviation is based in Albuquerque, N.M., where it is developing the Eclipse 500 VLJ; several prototypes are in various stages of flight testing. In August, Eclipse Aviation finalized a training partnership with Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell and Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute to prepare students for careers in aviation manufacturing.
      "We are on track to start delivering Eclipse 500s to customers in early 2006 and will need to increase our team with many qualified manufacturing employees over the coming years," said Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation, at the August 23rd announcement. "Eclipse is bringing modern manufacturing processes to aviation, and we are working closely with ENMU-Roswell and TVI to help students develop the progressive skill sets needed for these positions."