Inland Northwest aerospace proponents are shoring up an already strong industry coalition here in anticipation that Chicago-based Boeing Co. may eye West Plains sites for any plant expansion to meet a high demand for single-aisle jets.

Much of that focus has come through the Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium, an alliance with more than 60 companies involved in the industry's manufacturing, services, and operations. In recent years, the alliance has worked to close any gaps in the supply-and-service chain here, further strengthening the region as an aerospace hub.

The timing may well be ripe.

This summer, Boeing announced it will increase the production rate for its 737 from 31.5 airplanes per month to 35 per month by early next year. Boeing says that number is expected to jump to 38 per month in the second quarter of 2013, and then to 42 by the first half of 2014.

Boeing is speeding up production of other jetliner models as well—the 747, 767, 777, and the new 787 Dreamliner—which is also boosting businesses here that supply or serve the manufacturer. Additionally, regional leaders involved with a statewide initiative called Project Pegasus—formed as an effort to keep Boeing's 737 expansion work in Washington—say they're hearing that Boeing will likely hike its 737 production to 60 a month in five to seven years, just based on existing orders.

Any 737 production beyond 42 a month is expected to max out Boeing's Renton, Wash., plant, those in the industry here say, which means Boeing is likely to consider other locations for some final 737 assembly needs. That could occur at sites in Western Washington, Eastern Washington, or perhaps globally.

"I think what we know or what we hope is true is that sometime during the first quarter of 2012, Boeing will issue a request for information for final assembly of their 737 aircraft," says Todd Woodard, Spokane International Airport spokesman, who also is on the aerospace consortium board here and involved with Project Pegasus. "If Boeing is to meet contracts for the orders they have today, they have to dramatically increase their production. At 42 planes, Renton is maxed out."

The Renton site has limited space at some point because of the Puget Sound to one side and development on the other, Woodard adds, and "if you're maxed out at 42, do you look at a site in Western Washington, or a site in Eastern Washington, which we hope they will."

Woodard says a community usually has 30 to 60 days to respond if Boeing seeks proposals, and Spokane already offers competitive features, including runway space that's required for final assembly production.

Woodard adds, "We have the physical space in place and the educational structure at SCC (Spokane Community College), and our proximity to WSU for four-year engineering degrees, coupled with a fairly robust aerospace cluster. That industry cluster here is growing, and there's an ability to have a shorter supply chain."

Another effort afoot here is to increase aerospace worker training through SCC, which has a longtime aviation maintenance technology program at Felts Field. The college is working to develop a new SCC Inland Northwest Aerospace Technology Center, to be located eventually at Spokane International Airport, though a deal to secure the exact airport site is still in the works.

"The growth that Boeing is planning is enormous; they've already added on 7,000 new workers this year," says Randall Julin, general manager and co-owner of Spokane-based Absolute Aviation Services Inc. who also is on the regional aerospace consortium board. "The domino effect is the fact that Boeing pulls trained workers from a lot of companies that are in the state, including here."

Those employees—from machinists and welders to those in electrical and electronics work—have to be replaced, adding to the need to train more industry workers for Boeing's ramp-up, Julin says. The Washington Council on Aerospace estimates 21,000 new workers are expected to be needed statewide over the next decade. Washington's 650 aerospace companies now employ 84,000 workers.

For Inland Northwest aerospace-related businesses, the future worker needs also are expected to rise significantly, says SCC President Joe Dunlap. "The numbers we've heard is that over the next several years, the aerospace industry in Eastern Washington is expected to grow by up to 40 percent in terms of the number of workers employed in aerospace," he says.

Meanwhile, SCC is the lead agency administering a recent $20 million grant through the U.S. Department of Labor that includes 10 other state community colleges. The funds will go toward SCC's Air Washington program for education, training, and services to meet the state's growing work force demands identified by industry employers. The targeted training sectors include advanced manufacturing, machining, aircraft assembly, aircraft maintenance, composites, and electronics.

SCC will receive about $5.5 million of that $20 million to cover new curriculum and training that is being geared mainly for veterans, as well as for administrative costs, some equipment, and about $400,000 toward the planned technology center at the airport, which likely will be used to remodel an existing site, Dunlap says.

One possible site for the new SCC technology center is on 5.4 acres of land that the Washington Military Department owns near Spokane International Airport, near the new airport tower. However, Dunlap says that after two years of the state Legislature requesting that the military department transfer that property, it has yet to be officially conveyed.

"We may not locate on that site, but we may use that as collateral to build or use another existing facility," which would be located at the airport, he adds. "It hasn't moved as quickly as we'd like."

Dunlap adds that Boeing is one of the aerospace industry employers involved with the grant program to boost worker training, and whether the manufacturer locates a plant here or remains on the West Side, "We are then able to provide a work force with entry-level skills."

SCC recently added new training for quality assurance programs specific to the aerospace industry, and a new business certification program.

Woodard says the work of Project Pegasus, which includes representatives from Greater Spokane Incorporated and the Spokane airport, is gathering information to respond to any Boeing expansion in an effort to keep that work in the state. A Project Pegasus report is expected to be released next month that will give the state and its regions more details, Woodard says.

Both Woodard and Julin say that the Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium since it was formed in 2005 has grown considerably, working to strengthen industry training and business growth here.

Among the several consortium members are two top industry suppliers here: Goodrich Corp., the Charlotte, N.C.-based company that makes carbon aircraft brakes at a West Plains facility, and Triumph Composite Systems Inc., of Spokane, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania-based Triumph Group Inc. that manufactures environmental control system ductwork, aircraft floor panels, and other nonstructural aerospace products.

Julin adds that one example of efforts undertaken here to meet aerospace industry needs involves two companies that needed to complete industry and Boeing certification, although both had long done industry-related work.

In the past three years, the two Spokane Valley businesses—paint and metal finisher Novation Inc. and Inland Northwest Metallurgical Services Inc., which does heat treating—completed that required certification. In fact, Novation President Fred LeFriec says that company has seen its aerospace work increase significantly in the past 12 months, mainly from Boeing's 787 production.

He says the company's total work force of 75 employees is up about 15 percent from two years ago, and its revenue has grown about 15 to 20 percent compared with two years ago.

"We continue to do more and more aerospace work all the time," LeFriec says. "We have worked with the 787 airplane; that's been within the last 12 months. That's really just starting to ramp up."

He adds, "Once you get on Boeing's approved vendor list, it takes a while to get your name out there. We have certainly had staff increases as a result of our aerospace work."

Other companies here that do aerospace work directly or indirectly for such companies as Boeing and Airbus also have had an uptick in activity. Triumph currently has 566 employees at its West Plains plant, up from about 516 employees a year ago, says Mike Schelstrate, with Truimph here.

Advanced Thermoplastic Composites Inc., a Spokane Valley aerospace manufacturer, says it expects to double its work force of 15 and quadruple its production within the next two years, from the 787 launch. It makes reinforced thermoplastic brackets used throughout Boeing's newest airliner.

Another West Plains manufacturer, L&M Precision Fabrication Inc., is seeing a rebound in production due in part to its recently upgraded certification as an aerospace manufacturer. Its specialties include welding, finishing, and computer-numeric-controlled cutting and shaping of metal parts, and the company expects its annual revenue is to jump 50 percent this year compared with 2010.