If the term “air show” conjures up jets in tight formation performing death-defying stunts, think again. For the world’s economic development experts, it means a place to make the connections that keep the aviation and aerospace industries humming across the globe.
And that means Alabama — with a swath of aerospace across the northern tier and a healthy band of commercial aviation across the coast and a mix throughout the rest of the state — turned out in force for the 2024 Farnborough International Air Show near London.
The Alabama Department of Commerce — the chief economic development agency for the state — led a team of state officials and private business leaders to the conference, one of the two largest and most important in the world, with 100,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibitors from 60 countries.
Beyond showing off the state at Farnborough and the similar Paris Air Show in alternate years, Commerce also helps facilitate the meetings that can lead to big and small deals for the state’s businesses.
Those meetings are the ultimate goal of attending these shows, according to Alabama Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Angela Till.
“[We] have been participating in the air shows at Farnborough and Paris for a long time, and we keep coming back because these shows provide a great return on investment,” she says. “To get the results that we achieved at Farnborough this year, we would have had to jet all over the world in hopes of getting meetings with top companies. It’s just a very efficient, cost-effective opportunity for us.”
That’s because Farnborough, and its unofficial sister show, the Paris Air Show, are unique for their appeal to the top executives in the industry. “Just about every aerospace and aviation company in the world is at these two shows, and they bring most of their C-Suite with them,” explains Bob Smith, assistant director of business development for the Alabama Department of Commerce. “If you walk up to the show, you’d think you were walking up to Bryant-Denny Stadium on a Saturday for a football game; there’s just that many people walking in every direction, getting where they need to be.”
This year, Alabama’s delegation included several top private business executives, Department of Commerce officials, Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and U.S. Sen. Katie Britt.
“I was honored to help be a part of the team showcasing Alabama as a Sweet Home to do business,” Britt told Business Alabama. “The Air Show is a great annual opportunity to encourage international companies to invest in our state and create good-paying, 21st-century Alabama jobs.”
The route to those jobs is relatively straightforward.
“Our goals when supporting Alabama companies at this and any trade show are to support them in generating sales and reaching new customers. Those sales lead to more production back home, which leads to quality jobs,” explains Till. “One thing we’re able to do at these international air shows is project a positive impression about Alabama… Our ‘Made in Alabama’ exhibition booth transmits the message to the world that Alabama is sophisticated and plugged into the future of the aerospace industry. Many meetings are held at the booth, so it’s valuable for us to project that image.”
Britt concurs. “I always enjoy sharing our story with companies who are thinking about opening or expanding facilities in Alabama. We never let them down; that’s a fact.”
But shows like Farnborough aren’t just valuable opportunities to connect Alabama industry with potential clients. They’re also useful media platforms.
“[These shows] give us a world stage…All of the aerospace journals and industry publications are there. There’s a newsroom and everything,” Smith says. “If you have an announcement, everybody everywhere has an opportunity to see that — hey, here’s somebody going to Alabama.”
One of the most significant Alabama projects to be announced at an international air show came in 2014 from GE Aerospace. “The GE Aerospace project [introduced] mass production of a jet engine fuel nozzle using additive manufacturing technology in Auburn,” says Till. “This Alabama plant became the first in the industry to launch high-volume 3-D printing of a jet engine part, and that elevated our aerospace sector to another level.” That Auburn-based manufacturing plant represented a $50 million investment from GE in Alabama, and it has paid dividends in the years since: in 2021, GE celebrated shipping its 100,000th fuel nozzle from the Auburn plant that still employs several hundred people.
And the successes of these shows are not slowing. At the 2024 Farnborough show, the Alabama Department of Commerce engaged in 18 scheduled appointments with industry leaders. “We identified seven new growth projects from companies interested in Alabama,” says Till, “along with 10 other solid prospects whose growth plans could eventually include the state.”
And those prospects can render results quickly.
“We had never made a large airplane in this state until 2016,” says Smith, “and now we’re about fourth in the world in large airplane production behind Seattle, Hamburg and Toulouse. That’s pretty big.”
As Alabama’s “pretty big” aviation and aerospace industry continues flourishing, the Alabama Department of Commerce remains steadfast in fostering it.
And the message they bring, to all who will hear it, is summed up by Britt: “There truly is no better place to do business or work than Alabama, where our policies support growth and innovation and stakeholders are surrounded by some of the strongest brainpower in the aerospace, defense and intelligence sectors,” she says. “Alabama is open for business.”
Steven Castle is a Mobile-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
This article appears in the October 2024 issue of Business Alabama.
