New industry to bring 15 jobs
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Flight Deck Specialists Inc., from Miami, Fla., will occupy the former Cookeville Tool and Die building located at 1288 Belmont Drive. Former owners and occupants, Contract Manufacturing, reportedly plan to relocate to the former DeZurik building, which they have owned for some time.
Flight Deck Specialists is involved in the aircraft industry, re-manufacturing, refurbishing and marketing various materials and components used in the interior of military, commercial and private airplanes.
The business will initially employ around 15.
Since the company plans to remodel and outfit the building, it could be as long as six months to a year before the plant begins operation. Though most of the positions will be involved in marketing and distribution, there will be some manufacturing jobs as well.
According to Warren County director of economic development Jeff McCormick, the Industrial Development Board and local officials have been working on this project since July, when company owners Juan and Cheryl Mejia expressed an interest in moving to the area and perhaps bringing their business with them. McCormick and the IDB then began looking for a suitable building, with the company eventually settling on Belmont Drive.
McMinnville Mayor Royce Davenport says this project is significant for a number of reasons, one being that another unoccupied building in McMinnville, the former Desire plant, will ultimately be utilized for manufacturing purposes. Davenport also said, though 15 jobs may not sound like a lot, this project is part of an ongoing initiative to locate businesses of all sizes in McMinnville.
?Any additional jobs are great,? Davenport said. ?The fact we have more job opportunities here locally is good for the economy, whatever the size of the business.?
Both Davenport and McCormick say another benefit is the fact this industry could help draw similar businesses to Warren County.
?It brings more diversification of industry to the area,? McCormick said.
?This is a very unique industry,? added Davenport, who is a licensed pilot. ?I?m personally happy about this coming here, since it opens the door for other aviation businesses to come to the area.?
Davenport says feels the doom-and-gloom image some pundits have painted of the local economy doesn?t fit the facts.
?What I see is different than what you may be hearing,? Davenport said. ?Sales tax collections are staying about what they?ve always been. The economy is not that off. Unemployment is in single digits, I can remember when it was in double digits back in the 1980s.?