Plattsburgh Flying High
Aerospace company selects Plattsburgh for its home base.

Clinton County Today, by Jennifer Meschinelli - June 24, 2006

PLATTSBURGH—The opening of a multi-million dollar aeronautical maintenance company at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base will be "transformational" to the region's economy.

That was the prediction of Garry Douglas, president of the Plattsburgh North Country Chamber of Commerce.

"If a region is fortunate, once in a generation it has something that comes along that is transformational to its economy," Douglas said.

On Monday, Douglas welcomed Gov. George Pataki in Plattsburgh to announce that Laurentian Aerospace Corp. plans to build a 262,000-square-foot, two ñbay hanger complex at a cost of $64 million, on the ramp at the airport.

The facility is expected to employ 700 people in high-paying jobs during the next five years.

Laurentian is a newly created company that will provide aircraft service to commercial airlines, air cargo and military wide body jets such as Boeing 747s and Airbus A300s, according to the company'­s Chief Executive Officer Paul Gobeil.

While there is plenty of competition for narrow body jet maintenance, there are very few companies in the wide body business, Gobeil said.

Laurentian will be performing "C checks" which are routine maintenance checks that occur every 15 months and "D checks" which occur every four years. The cost of these checks can run from $500,000 to almost $2 million, depending on what types of issues arise during the checks.

"These are expensive, so you don't need to do many to be successful," said Gobeil.

Although presently many airlines service their own planes, Gobeil said that in an effort to save money, many companies plan to be out sourcing this service. Most existing maintenance facilities are outdated and have to annually dock planes, a process that adds a whole day of downtime when a plane goes in or out of the maintenance bay.

A new state-of-the-art laser docking system will help Laurentian eliminate this problem.

The system is expected to cut the service time in half, thus saving airlines a half million dollars per plane.

Already Gobeil has several letters of interest from airlines that plan to be customers of Laurentian, once the operation is up and running. Gobeil expects his customers to come from the United States, Canada, Europe and possibly Asia. Plattsburgh is also perfectly positioned on the transatlantic flight line between the United States and Europe, Gobeil said.

With the number of orders for large aircraft increasing each year, Gobeil sees the company expanding to more the tits original two bays. Space is not a problem with the Plattsburgh site and the Clinton County Legislature has promised Laurentian that the space they need will be reserved for them.

Also the size and length of Plattsburgh's runway will have no problem landing the large planes and was a major factor in attracting Laurentian to the area.

"We haven'­t seen anything like this space in the US and Canada," Gobeil said. "There is plenty of room for future expansion." The "father of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base," Clyde Lewis was also present for the announcement.

"This runway here is the best one in the whole northeast," Lewis said. "This area is the future of aviation." Douglas told Lewis, "What you built here 50 years ago is about to have anew life."

Douglas predicts that Plattsburgh will become an aviation center, with a cluster of supporting aviation companies coming to the area to work with Laurentian. In fact, the day after the announcement Douglas planned to give a site tour to a company that had already called and was interested.

"Just like Bombardier, this company will draw in a cluster of supporting companies around it," Douglas said.

"I see Plattsburgh emerging as a center of excellence in aero-space," said Gobeil.

For many, the announcement was the end of a long road toward fully redeveloping the base since its closure.

"We're gonna fly now," Douglas said. "This is a culmination of what weve been working toward since the base closure in '95."

Aerospace company selects Plattsburgh for its home base Over 1,600 high-paying aerospace jobs to be filled over a period of five to eight years.

Denton Publications, by Jennifer Meschinelli - June 20, 2006

PLATTSBURGH—"If a region is fortunate, once in a generation it has something that comes along that is transformational to its economy," said Garry Douglas, president of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce.

And "transformational" is the effect that Douglas says the Laurentian Aerospace Corporation will have on the Plattsburgh economy. Douglas, Gov. George Pataki and area lawmakers were present this week to introduce Laurentian and its CEO Paul Gobeil to the Plattsburgh business community.

Laurentian is a newly created company that will provide aircraft service to commercial airlines, air cargo and military wide body jets such as Boeing 747s and Airbus A300s. According to Gobeil, while there is plenty of competition for narrow body jet maintenance, there are very few companies in the wide body business.

Laurentian will be performing "C checks" which are routine maintenance checks that occur every 15 months and "D checks" which occur every four years. The cost of these checks can run from $500,000 to almost $2 million, depending on what types of issues arise during the checks. "These are expensive, so you donít need to do many to be sucessful," said Gobeil.

Although presently many airlines service their own planes, Gobeil said that in an effort to save money, many companies plan to be outsourcing this service. Many of these maintenance facilities are outdated and have to manually dock the planes, a process that takes adds a whole day each time the plane goes in or out of the maintenance bay.

"Just our computer docking system alone will save companies money," said Gobeil.

Since having to ground planes costs airlines big money, using Laurentian'­s services will save airlines a half million dollars per plane. As a result, Laurentian will be able to offer competitive rates by using the latest technology, such as a laser docking system which will cut the service time for the planes in half.

Already Gobeil has several letters of intent from airlines that plan to be customers of Laurentian, once the operation is up and running. Gobeil expects his customers to be from the United States, Canada, Europe and possibly Asia. Plattsburgh is also perfectly positioned on the transatlantic flight line between the United States and Europe, which offers many airlines convenience.

With the numbers of orders for large aircraft increasing each year, Gobeil sees the company expanding to more than its original two bays. With the Plattsburgh site space was not a problem and the Clinton County Legislature has promised Laurentian that the space they need will be reserved for them.

Also the size and length of Plattsburgh'­s runway will have no problem landing the large planes and was a major factor in attracting Laurentian to the area.

"We haven't seen anything like this space in the US and Canada," Gobeil said. "There is plenty of space for future expansion."

The father of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Clyde Lewis was also present for the announcement.

"This runway here is the best one in the whole northeast," Lewis said. "This area is the future of aviation."

Douglas told Lewis, "What you built here 50 years ago is about to have new life."

Douglas predicts that Plattsburgh will become an aviation center, with a cluster of supporting aviation companies coming to the area to work with Laurentian. In fact, the day after the announcement Douglas planned to give a site tour to a company that had already called and was interested.

"Just like Bombardier, this company will draw in a cluster of supporting companies around it," Douglas said.

"I see Plattsburgh emerging as a center of excellence in aerospace," said Gobeil.

For many, the announcement was the end of a long road toward fully redeveloping the base since its closure.

"We're gonna fly now," Douglas said. "This is a culmination of what we'­ve been working toward since the base closure in '95."

Laurentian Aerospace was landed within 30 days from the first meeting.

Press Republican, by Dan Heath - June 20, 2006

.PLATTSBURGH—The Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce and its local partners pulled together the deal to bring Laurentian Aerospace Corp. to Plattsburgh within 30 days.

Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce President Garry Douglas said a friend from the Montreal business community had mentioned the maintenance, repair and overhaul startup to him last fall. The friend said he would put the people behind the project in touch with the chamber. But for some reason, the call never came.

Douglas saw the friend again at an aerospace industry meeting at Mount Tremblant in May. The friend called Laurentian Aerospace officials, then came back and gave Douglas the names of the key players and told him to meet them the next day in Montreal.

"I checked the names and realized this was a big thing," Douglas said.

He and the chamber team put together and delivered a presentation within 24 hours.

"Our goal that day was just to get a second meeting. They decided to take a look at us."

That was critical, as Laurentian Aerospace was already at the 11th hour for site selection. Chief Financial Officer Robert Caron said the company already had offers from a few airports in Canada.

"The state and county worked very fast. They changed our mind," Caron said. "We visited many airports. This one has by far the best setup."

Laurentian Aerospace was attracted by the lack of congestion at Plattsburgh International Airport, the workforce availability, the lease and reduced landing fees, as well as its scenic location and proximity to Montreal.

Caron said landing fees usually run $5,000 to $10,000 at airports but are only 10 to 20 percent of that figure here.

The Development Corporation President Adore Kurtz said that agency was in on the meetings with Laurentian Aerospace and helped set lease rates and landing fees.

"The county is in a position where most of the airport functions are funded by the federal government. When users come, we don't have to set rates that help us recoup our investment," she said.

Douglas said he told Laurentian officials he had three surprises for them. The first was a meeting with New York State Sen. Betty Little at the chamber.

During that meeting came surprise No. 2; New York State Gov. George Pataki called and spoke with Laurentian Aerospace President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Gobeil, telling him he was making bringing the company to Plattsburgh a personal priority.

The third surprise was a phone call with U.S. Rep. John McHugh, who discussed Laurentian Aerospace's ability to compete for Department of Defense contracts.

Douglas said he saved a fourth surprise for a week later. Susan Merrell, North Country regional director for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's office, took part in the site-selection meeting, and Clinton and McHugh helped underscore the possibility of bidding for Department of Defense work when Laurentian Aerospace officials visited Washington.

The final negotiations took place on Wednesday, June 7. Douglas and Clinton County Administrator Michael Zurlo met with Gobeil and cleared up details during the morning, then waited for the final offer of incentives from New York state, which came at 1 p.m.

Those incentives include Empire Zone benefits and commitments from Pataki and Little. They each secured half of $3 million in funding from the New York State Department of Transportation's Multi-Modal program, and Little got an additional $500,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's new construction program.

Laurentian is eligible to apply to Empire State Development for a capital grant of up to $6.1 million, which includes $4.1 million for Phase 1 construction.

Additional funding is available through the County of Clinton Industrial Development Agency. Its exempt-facility bonds are designed for use at airports, Kurtz said.

In a press release, IDA Chairwoman Darcy Murnane Mousseau said, "We are delighted to have the opportunity to complement the powerful economic-development strategy New York state has crafted to attract Laurentian Aerospace to New York state and to our region. The agency's exempt-facility bonds offer access to attractive financing, will be the vehicle for Empire Zone real-property benefits for the company and, at the same time, provide full tax revenues for all the affected local taxing jurisdictions."

That means Peru School District, Clinton County and the Town of Plattsburgh will receive their full share of taxes.

Douglas said he will always remember when the deal was sealed.

"At 1:45, I asked Paul, 'Are we at yes?' He stood up and said, 'Yes.'"

Douglas said the chamber has never been prouder of any team effort it has led. Other key players were County Airport Manager Ralph Hensel, Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corp. President Bruce Steadman and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkens, he said.

"The results (of the team effort) have the capacity to be transformational in terms of the future economy of the North Country, truly putting us in the aerospace business and creating quality jobs for the 21st century. Because of the nature of this venture and the principals behind it, the entire North American aviation sector will be taking notice of Plattsburgh."