FedEx delivers more new jobs to ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering
More evidence that Mobile is growing as a hub for the aerospace industry came with the happy announcement that ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering Inc. and FedEx Express Corp. will convert 87 passenger jets to air freighters at Brookley Field.
Immediately, that means 200 new jobs — good jobs, paying an average of USD14 to USD18 an hour. Over time, the seven-year USD470 million contract with FedEx will solidify MAE’s status as Mobile County’s largest employer and its position as a major player in the Mobile economy.
The contract is to convert Boeing 757 passenger planes to freighters to replace about 110 Boeing 727s currently used by FedEx. MAE expects to turn out about one freighter per month when production gets under way in May.
The FedEx contract also provides additional proof that Mobile’s growing presence in the aerospace and defense industries isn’t necessarily dependent on Northrop Grumman and EADS North America winning an Air Force contract of up to USD200 billion to build aerial refueling tankers.
That project could result in a new aircraft assembly plant and many hundreds of new jobs, which would be a major coup for Mobile. But in the meantime, Airbus is building an engineering center at Brookley that will employ 150 engineers. In all, then, 350 new jobs should come online at Brookley alone by the end of 2008.
And in December, Austal USA announced that it would hire 190 more workers because of a USD3 million expansion of its shipyard and a new USD208 million Navy contract to build a prototype of the Littoral Combat Ship. The Navy is looking at several designs for the new warship.
If this trend continues, the area will need to increase its trained workforce. Some people will be moving into the area from out of town and will need housing, good schools and uncomplicated roads and transportation. Many people will be hired locally; MAE, for example, had a jobs fair already scheduled for Saturday.
The resources of the public school system and Bishop State Community College should be directed toward ensuring that a trained workforce is ready when a multimillion — or multibillion — dollar contract is landed and a company needs to hire 200 people quickly.
Planning for smoothly flowing traffic and for enough housing will present other challenges that Mobile governments must meet. For example, elected local government leaders should be working on strategies to discourage new residents from choosing to live in Baldwin County.
However, these sorts of challenges are a result of prosperity. We feel sure that elected officials would much rather worry about increased traffic and a shortage of workers than about unemployment, falling revenues or a stagnant business climate.
It’s a good time to live and work in the Mobile area. And obviously, there’s no shortage of good work.
