LMI Aerospace, a leading supplier of structural components, assemblies and kits to the aerospace industry, is expanding its Savannah facility, which provides kits and assemblies to both Gulfstream Aerospace and Aviation Partners Boeing, general manager Phil Lajeunesse told the board and advisory council of the Savannah Economic Development Authority Tuesday.
“We started in 2003 with Gulfstream, developing fuselage skin kit assemblies that worked with their lean, just-in-time manufacturing process,” he said.
Over the years, LMI’s reputation for quality and reliability allowed them to deliver the kits directly to the assembly line on the manufacturing floor for the shift they would be needed, Lajeunesse said.
Five years ago, the company added Aviation Partners Boeing to its client list, producing a kit that supports the installation of winglets on the Boeing 737, 757 and 767.
Meanwhile, LMI’s local enterprise grew from 28,800 square feet to its current 86,600 square feet. The latest expansion, expected to be complete in the fourth quarter, will bring the company footprint on Coleman Boulevard from 86,600 square feet and 44 employees to 111,400 square feet and 52 employees.
Last year, the Georgia Department of Economic Development named LMI’s Savannah facility the Georgia Manufacturer of the Year for 2010 in the category of small manufacturer with 150 or fewer employees. In February of this year, the facility was named Supplier of the Year for 2011 by Aviation Partners Boeing.
Recently, the company built a world class, $3.2 million high speed machining center using the latest in leading edge machining technology and added the high-speed machining of aircraft aluminum to its complement of services supporting both Gulfstream and Boeing. A second machine, this one with an automatic pallet system, is in the works.
Lajeunesse credited Georgia Quick Start and Savannah Technical College for helping to provide technical skills and quality training critical to the company’s success, adding that LMI continues to work with those partners in recruiting new empoyees.
Brynn Grant, SEDA’s vice president of competitiveness, said LMI is just the kind of company Savannah should embrace.
“From a business development standpoint, it represents a great opportunity for our area,” Grant said. “It fits well with our strategic goal of growing our aerospace manufacturing base.”
In other SEDA news:
• Brandt Herndon, vice president of business development, reported SEDA currently is working 66 active projects, 46 of those new business attraction and 20 business retention projects. Those potential projects represent 6,843 jobs and $1.1 billion in investment.
• Grant, who also serves as interim vice president of SEDA’s World Trade Center Savannah, announced the WTC’s latest founding investor, Peeples Industries. The parent company of East Coast Terminals in Savannah, Peeples is a bulk marine terminal operation with locations along the Southeastern coast.
• Grant also announced that the World Trade Center Savannah would welcome three interns in January for a five-month program.
• Noble Mouse, a full-service interactive firm with offices in Los Angeles and Atlanta, announced that it has opened a 22-person agency in Savannah at 208 E. Broughton St. to serve national, regional and local clients.
“When you look at the three companies you heard from today – LMI, Peeples and Noble Mouse – you get a sense of the depth and breadth of Savannah’s economy,” SEDA president Steve Weathers said.