The new facility is expected to be operational by April.
View full sizeEmployees at the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. facility at Barnes Regional Airport listen to comments by company officials and local political figures Friday before the groundbreaking for a new maintenance building there.WESTFIELD — A new $23 million, 125,000 square-foot maintenance hangar at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. here will create the need for an additional 130 to 150 new local jobs.
Those numbers represent an upward revision of figures announced last fall after the private aircraft builder announced plans to expand its Westfield operations.
Mark L. Burns, Gulfstream’s president of product support, announced the new growth estimates Friday during groundbreaking for the new building located on 11 acres of leased property owned by Barnes Regional Airport.
“Our previous estimates will prove to be very conservative,” Burns said, noting the new maintenance hangar is being built to provide service and maintenance to the company’s newest long-range corporate jet aircraft.
The new facility will be completed and operational by April 2013, he said.
Mark BurnsWestfield Gulfstream operations currently employs about 100 workers and Burns said 30 new employees have already been hired because of the expansion effort. “We now expect to double our current workforce, if not more,” he said.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said news of additional job opportunities at the local facility is “great news. I always believed this project had great growth potential and I am pleased to learn it is already proceeding at an increased pace.”
The expansion was called “the next milestone that will change the landscape of Gulfstream in Westfield” by local Gulfstream manager Fran Ahern.
The project includes tax incentives offered by both the state and Westfield, but the city expects to received an additional $4 million in property taxes, along with the $54,000 annual property lease payments during the first 15 years of operations. The company will save an estimated $4.2 million in taxes, and the state has also provided $3 million toward road and other infrastructure improvements to accommodate the expansion.
State Department of Transportation secretary Richard Davey said the incentives and infrastructure improvements represent the state's belief in Gulfstream. "The $3 million grant is our downpayment on that belief,” he said.
State Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield, called the expansion “the most significant announcement in Westfield during my 22 years in the state Legislature.”
State Rep. Donald F. Humason Jr., R-Westfield, said “This project puts both Gulfstream and Barnes Regional Airport on the map.”
Originally Gulfstream planned an 85,000 to 100,000 square-foot hangar at a cost of $20 million. New job growth originally had been listed at 100.
Gulfstream has operated a facility just outside the airport perimeter for many years. The expansion is a first involving leasing airport property.
The airport land lease is good for 50 years and there are five 10-year extensions. The cost of the lease increases, based on market rates, every five years.