In tough times leaders push through and set the bar for the rest of the industry. That seems to be the case for the people at Gulfstream. Gulfstream has announced that it will be expanding its headquarters in Savannah. This is good news for the people in Savannah and good news overall for the industry which shows some strength in the business aviation industry.
Apparently the project will include $500 Million in expansion which includes new construction, and renovation of current facilities. The expansion is also inclusive of office and lab facilities at the Gulfstream Research and Development Center in the Crossroads Business Park.
The good news for the local area is that it may create an additional 1,000 Gulfstream jobs. This increases the current workforce of about 5.500 jobs in the area.
Gulfstream President Joe Lombardo, states:
“This expansion is necessary to meet the projected increase for new business-jet aircraft production and the maintenance that will follow,” Lombardo said. “With our own sales trends and market forecasts suggesting an upturn over the next decade, we want to ensure Gulfstream is well positioned to meet the demand. We are already beginning to see signs of a modest recovery. In the third quarter of 2010, we booked more orders than we had in any quarter since the downturn began in mid-2008. Furthermore, as flying hours have increased, Gulfstream service centers have enjoyed a significant increase in service volume.”
Again this is great news for the industry as a whole as leaders begin to gear up for the recovery. Gulfstream has shown that it will continue to lead the industry in their efforts. It can be hoped that this marks the upturn for the remaining players in the market.