panish aviation firm Grupo Aernnova's customer base includes some of the industry's biggest names in North America, such as Boeing, Bombardier and Sikorsky. Another prominent customer is Embraer, South America's leading aerospace manufacturer.
   In his letter in Aernnova's 2006 annual report, Chairman and CEO Inaki Lopez Gandasequi announced goals of establishing a U.S. engineering facility and deployment of industrial projects in other countries. Aernnova, which specializes in design and manufacturing of aeronautical structures and components, made good on both counts in September with separate announcements of new projects in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Querétaro, Mexico. Aernnova is a name created in 2006 when Gamesa Aeronautica was acquired by a consortium headed by Caja Castilla La Mancha Corp. Aernnova, which has an annual turnover of more than US$500 million and employs more than 3,000 worldwide, operates five business units: aerostructures, engineering, composite components, metallic components, and product services.
   Aernnova will establish an engineering center in the Pittsfield Township suburb of Ann Arbor that may eventually create 600 jobs. The company is initially investing US$10 million in the project.
   "Last February, we started a process to ID the best locations in the U.S. and there were many factors under consideration," says Luis Pérez Oliva, senior vice president, commercial. "After six months, we came to the conclusion that Ann Arbor was the best place to locate."
   Oliva said availability of a large number of experienced engineers in the Ann Arbor area was a key factor in Aernnova's decision. Aernnova plans to hire 400 engineers within four to five years and 200 more within 15 years.
   "That was something that was quite important to us," Oliva says. "We are looking to ramp up very quickly."
   Other key considerations included the area's universities and schools – including the University of Michigan, which has one of the country's leading aeronautical engineering programs – and the region's quality of life, which pleased Aernnova officials. Incentives also played a major role, Oliva says. The Michigan Economic Growth Authority board approved a state tax credit valued at more than $18.5 million over 15 years. Pittsfield Township is considering a $304,000 tax abatement.    Aernnova's search combed sites in 15 states before narrowing to a final three of Ann Arbor, Atlanta and Austin, Texas.
   "We evaluated many factors such as proximity to our customers, local competition for labor, universities, quality of life, cost of living," says Juan Carlos Ortiz, managing director of Aernnova Engineering U.S.
   "We came down to a short list of three sites and after taking a much closer look, we selected Ann Arbor. Basically, the initial research started with places close to high-level universities with good engineering programs. The University of Michigan ranked very high. Neither Luis nor myself knew anything about Ann Arbor in the beginning."
   Ortiz anticipates the 10,000-sq.-ft. (930-sq.-m.) facility will "grow with us." He estimates that Aernnova will add space at a rate of 10,000 sq. ft. annually, eventually reaching 70,000 sq. ft. (6,500 sq. m.).
   Greg Sweeney, principal of JGS International Advisors of Port Townsend, Wash., advised Aernnova during its search.
   "We initially thought of looking at where other aerospace companies are congregated, such as Phoenix, but we quickly realized we would be the last kid on the block in the aerospace engineering market," Sweeney says. "We quickly turned to where the competition maybe isn't as keen and we may have better luck attracting local engineers not already absorbed by the aerospace market. Ann Arbor percolated to the top quite early."
   As it turns out, automotive and aerospace engineers both use CATIA (Computer Aided Three Dimensional Interactive Application) design software.
   "It's a transition of people already in use of this software rather than a ground-up grooming to talent," Sweeney says.
   Aernnova announced its first North American manufacturing platform in early September. It plans to invest $134 million in a two-phase project to build manufacturing facilities in Querétaro, Mexico, an area that is fast becoming an aerospace hotbed. The first phase will create approximately 1,000 jobs and the second phase will add about 600.
   "We will build a facility for manufacturing detailed parts and assembly of structures," Oliva says.    Rolls-Royce has an ongoing facility investment program with multiple global projects. One of the latest is a $200-million project involving two new facilities at the company's massive Derby, England, complex. Rolls-Royce opened a manufacturing center for aero engine components, and one of the world's largest test beds in September.
   The test bed, known as "58 Bed," adjoins the company's twin 57 Bed, forming the most advanced indoor jet engine center in the world, Rolls-Royce officials say. The new facility allows the company to close older and noisier beds in Derby. The new manufacturing plant will produce 170 different components for 23 engine types. About 800 employees will be based at the 355,410-sq.-ft. (33,000-sq.-m.) facility. The Derby factory was one of four announced in April 2004. One in Lancashire and another in Nottinghamshire are complete and operating at full capacity, while another in Bristol opened a few days after the Derby facility. Rolls-Royce also recently opened a new operations center in Dahlewitz, Germany.    But bigger news could be coming soon from the venerable U.K. manufacturer. Last December, Rolls-Royce issued a "Request for Qualifications" to eight U.S. states – Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. That list, which may also include an international site, reportedly has been narrowed in subsequent months, with Greenville, S.C., among two finalists, according to published reports. Speculation about Greenville has been fueled by the opening of the Nasmyth Group's first U.S. manufacturing site in Newberry, S.C., about 50 miles (80 km.) away. Nasmyth is a Rolls-Royce supplier.
   Rolls-Royce spokeswoman Mia Walton tells Site Selection that the company is still in the evaluation phase and no decisions have been made. The facility would include manufacturing, assembly and test operations.
   "We are sticking with our original timeline announced last December," Walton says. "We are still in the evaluation phase and plan to make a decision by the end of the year."
   Embraer has opened a new facility in Singapore and is building another in Connecticut. Embraer Asia Pacific's new $40-million E-Jet training service facility at Singapore's Changi Airport has capacity to train an average of 300 pilots annually. It will be expanded in 2008 to include operational aspects for flight attendant training. Heretofore, regional customers were required to travel to training centers as far away as Zurich to prepare for delivery of Embraer E-Jets.
   Embraer broke ground in July for a new executive jets service center at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn. The $10-million, 45,000-sq.-ft. (4,181-sq.-m.) facility is slated for completion in mid-2008 and will employ 60. Embraer is building similar facilities in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Mesa, Ariz.    Key divisions of the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. have moved forward with major projects during 2007.
   Eurocopter, the world's largest helicopter manufacturer, inaugurated its Eurocopter Logistics Center in Donauworth, Germany, in August. The facility, the first phase of the Helicopter Technology Park, will coordinate all merchandise to and from Eurocopter's main German production site. It will be operated by European logistics specialist Fiege.
   The logistics center covers a surface area of 204,630 sq. ft. (19,000 sq. m.). It consolidates the activities of 10 facilities scattered inside and outside the Eurocopter factory premises.
   The next construction phase will be a Cooperation Center, a 43,080-sq.-ft. (4,000-sq.-m.) facility that will provide space for Eurocopter engineering partners, service provides and industrial suppliers to work together.
   Construction began in May on the Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly line in Tianjin, China. The plant is a joint venture between Airbus, which will hold 51 percent of the shares, and the Chinese Consortium, which holds the remainder. The Chinese Consortium comprises the Tianjin Free Trade Zone, China Aviation Industry Corp.1 and China Aviation Industry Corp. II.
   Assembly of the first aircraft in China is scheduled to begin in August 2008 with the first plane to be delivered in the first half of 2009. The plant, which will ramp up to a pace of four aircraft per month by 2011, will be based on the latest Airbus single-aisle final assembly line in Hamburg, Germany. Airbus has not released cost figures, but reports indicate the plant investment could reach $1.3 billion.