D

eep in the heart of Mexico lies Querétaro, one of the country's smallest states, with a thriving industrial base largely composed of automotive, food processing and electronics companies. A two- hour drive from the sprawling megalopolis of Mexico City, Querétaro, the state, has a population of about 1.5 million, most living in Querétaro, the city. The name is thought to be derived from an expression in the Otomi language meaning "the great ball game." Today, federal and state governments are laying the ground work in hopes that aerospace will become Querétaro's great ball game.
   The cornerstone of Querétaro's hopes for an aerospace cluster is Bombardier Aerospace's manufacturing site, now under construction at the Querétaro Aerospace Park near the new Querétaro International Airport.
   Manufacturing began at Bombardier's temporary facility in Querétaro's El Marques Industrial Park in May. By September, 100 trained employees and 100 students completing a four- week training program were producing electrical harnesses and structural aircraft components. Bombardier projects that the new site will be operational during the second half of 2007, and by the end of that year employment will reach 600.
   Réal Gervais, vice president of the new Bombardier Aerospace Mexico Manufacturing Center, says the Montréal- based company did a thorough analysis of Mexico before selecting Querétaro for its first operation in the country.
   "The biggest thing was the engagement from officials with the State of Querétaro who wanted to develop a new industry," Gervais says. "They showed a lot of interest and were willing to participate in many aspects of development such as the school. They wanted to work with us to develop an aerospace school."
   Gervais describes the labor force in Querétaro as being more stable than those in border regions: "There is a lot more labor turnover at the border than if you are in the center of the country," he says.
   Gervais says other appealing aspects of Querétaro include the presence of auto manufacturing and the quality of life in the region.
   Querétaro is well positioned with a technical university (UTEQ) to produce graduates for high- tech jobs. The new Querétaro aerospace school, which also will have a permanent home in the developing aerospace park, is a collaboration with the government of Québec through the Montréal Aerospace Trade School (EMAM), the first of its kind in Canada to employ the school- factory concept.
   "An education system ranging from manufacturing to aircraft maintenance to anything to do with programming has been developed in Québec over the past 30 years," Gervais says. "An agreement of transfer of knowledge between the governments was developed so what we ended up doing was like a partnership [with] the Québec educational system. They sent some of their teachers to UTEQ to train instructors."
   Gervais says instructors from EMAM and from Bombardier worked with UTEQ officials to build a course to teach required aerospace industry skills. The school opened in January 2006 and has been training ever since, he says.
   The system is working so well, in fact, that Bombardier has greatly accelerated its plans for Querétaro and has moved major fuselage assembly to the site two years ahead of schedule.
   "The original plan was to transfer electric harnesses from Montréal and Wichita over the next two and a half years and at the same time start to transfer some of the substructures assembly," Gervais says. "With the quality of people coming out of the school, we felt we could go into major parts right away rather than build the industry around small sub assembly. What we have done is transfer fuselage assembly of the CRJ200 from Belfast. The first one assembled at Querétaro will be out in early November."