Sponsored content | Arizona Commerce Authority
You may not recognize the name Hexcel, but if you’ve taken a commercial flight on an Airbus or Boeing jet, chances are you’ve come into contact with one of its products.
That’s because the Stamford, Connecticut-based company supplies the lightweight materials found in airplane parts, from the fuselage and passenger doors to the window frames and engine components.
Hexcel has a global footprint in the aerospace industry, with 18 manufacturing plants worldwide that produce advanced composites, such as carbon fiber and honeycomb. But it’s the company’s Casa Grande, Arizona, plant that has the special designation as the world’s largest producer of honeycomb for the commercial aerospace industry.
The 321,000-square-foot facility, an hour outside of the Phoenix metro area, marked its 50th anniversary in the region this year. Much of its long-term success can be attributed to the company’s innovative product line and Arizona’s strategic geographic location.
Arizona’s position as a national aerospace and defense hub is well known. The sector contributes billions of dollars to the state’s economy and employs thousands of high-wage workers. The state also has a long history of US military partnerships and consistently ranks among the top states in US Department of Defense spending.
These are some of the things that first attracted Hexcel to Casa Grande in 1965, according to Robert Moray, manager of Hexcel’s Casa Grande plant.
“The US government – which was a major customer for us at the time – suggested the location because there was a readily available workforce,” he adds. Since then, the company has expanded and broadened its focus to producing a variety of composite materials used in both defense and commercial aircraft.
The Casa Grande plant has made four major expansions, in 1966, 1973, 1994, and 2012. In the past three years, Hexcel has invested more than $36 million in the plant. Today, the company employs more than 500 people.
Location is everything
Jim Dinkle, executive director of Access Arizona, an economic-development group in Pinal County, Arizona, says it makes sense that a global company like Hexcel would thrive in the Southwest.
“Aviation and aerospace is one of Pinal County’s targeted sectors,” he says. “There is a rich history of aviation here. We have five general aviation airports within 15 miles of Casa Grande.”
Moray notes that Hexcel’s expansions in Casa Grande were to meet customer demand, as well as to accommodate consolidated business from other locations and new product lines.
He cites available workforce and great location as some of the advantages, along with the region’s weather. “The dry air here is a considerable advantage in honeycomb manufacturing,” he says. “Customers like the fact that this is a low-risk zone with few earthquakes and little risk of hurricanes or tornadoes.”
The company has worked with the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), the state’s economic development arm, and last year was honored by the governor at an ACA board meeting.
As Dinkle of Access Arizona puts it, “Hexcel Casa Grande is definitely an Arizona success story.”
