Cessna breaks ground on Georgia site expansion

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. company, recently broke ground on what will be its third building in Columbus, Ga. The company will invest up to $24 million to expand aircraft subassembly work here, including construction of an $11 million facility at Muscogee Technology Park.

The 100,000-square-foot building is slated to be completed in August 2008. Cessna Columbus started with a 110,000-square-foot building in 1996. The company added a second building – roughly 130,000 square feet – in 2001 to move the newly acquired McCauley Propeller Systems from Dayton, Ohio, and to support increased production rates in Wichita, Kan., and Independence, Kan.

Cessna Columbus employees manufacture detail parts and assemblies for Cessna’s line of single-engine pistons, Caravans and business jets. Additionally, employees manufacture high quality propellers under the brand McCauley Propeller Systems. Cessna expects to add up to 150 jobs in Columbus over the next five years.

“Our company has enjoyed dramatic growth over the last few years, and as a result we must continue to expand on many fronts, especially manufacturing, to meet the growing demands of our customers,” said Ron Alberti, senior vice president, Integrated Supply Chain. “To that end, we have seen considerable expansion at our various sites around Wichita and in Independence. Today, we’re pleased to announce that we will be expanding our Columbus, Ga., facility, where we produce parts that feed our assembly lines in Wichita and Independence.

“When we came to Columbus in 1996, there were about 70 employees here, and now there are almost 600. The strength of the workforce and the business climate in Muscogee County provides a terrific environment in which to grow our business, and we expect strong job growth as our business expands. Georgia’s Quick Start training program and the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce have been instrumental in allowing us to expand over the past 11 years.”

Cessna’s newest building will be on a 40-acre site at Muscogee Technology Park. The company’s existing two buildings will continue operation on the 30-acre site they occupy at Columbus East Industrial Park, three miles from the new building.

Cessna plans to spend an additional $13 million over the next two to three years to add machinery for increased capacity and to introduce new technology at all three Columbus buildings.