ROME: The aerospace cluster of businesses in the Pensacola area will grow a little larger in April when helicopter lift-raft and flotation systems manufacturer Aero Sekur moves to 410 West Herman Street.
Primarily based out of Italy, the company is relocating its U.S. subsidiary from New Jersey to Pensacola after considering locations in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. The building provides more space and close proximity to client helicopter operators on the Gulf Coast who purchase safety systems and advanced flexible structures.
Although it will only staff about 15 or so primarily local employees when at full capacity, the company’s decision to move to the city could help attract even more aerospace and aviation industry businesses.
If you are looking at a purely jobs standpoint, it’s not big,” said John Hutchinson, chair of the Community Economic Development Association of Pensacola and Escambia County. “But it’s a foreign aerospace company. That’s important because it gives our community the opportunity to say not only can domestic businesses be successful in Pensacola, so can foreign companies.”
The announcement comes on the heels of September’s city council approval of a lease for 19 acres on Pensacola International Airport property for VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering, an aircraft refurbishing company that will bring 300 jobs.
Aero Sekur earns annual revenue of between $80 million and $100 million and has about 250 employees worldwide, company Vice President Ursella Slusher said. It did not receive any local incentives for the move but is eligible to apply for tax incentives through the state’s Department of Revenue because of the building’s location in a Florida Enterprise Zone.
