A groundswell of local bipartisan support is building to save the C-17 military cargo plane assembled in the aerospace industry’s last remaining large plant in the L.A. area.
The 18-year-old Boeing Co. jet, which supports 5,000 assembly jobs in Long Beach, has been targeted for elimination under the proposed reorganization of the defense budget by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who believes the U.S. spends too much on big-ticket items from the Cold War era.
However, local supporters are arguing that the Globemaster makes sense to keep, because it is relatively inexpensive at $218 million per jet and has played a crucial role in U.S. operations around the world in recent years.
“It seems quite shortsighted to cut the program,” Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, told the Business Journal, noting the C-17 has delivered supplies for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as performed in humanitarian missions to Pakistan and Thailand after natural disasters.
“It’s going to put us at risk not having enough of these with all the occupations we have around the world, not to mention potential forthcoming conflicts and disasters,” Richardson said.
She has been joined in her advocacy by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, and L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes Long Beach. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of a motion by Knabe to send a letter of program support to President Obama and other lawmakers.
“At a time when the federal government is pouring billions into protect jobs and shoring up the economy, it’s counterproductive to cut a program employing thousands making equipment that has proven itself time and time again in military operations,” said Knabe during a telephone interview.
Boeing officials said the plant only has enough orders to stay open through January 2011. The closure also would threaten 25,000 jobs at parts suppliers in 41 other states.
Those kinds of numbers have prompted out-of-state politicians to assist California in its efforts to keep the plant open. Last week, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer was joined by Missouri Republican Sen. Kit Bond in sending a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The pair is seeking $3.9 billion in funding in next year’s Supplemental Defense Appropriations Bill for 15 C-17s.
In July 2006, C-17 production was planned to end in 2009 unless Boeing received additional orders. After much lobbying, the government ordered 10 more. Then in February, Boeing was awarded a contract for 15 additional C-17s for $2.95 billion, pushing total C-17s on contract to the Air Force to 205, the number Gates has said will cap its need.
Foundry Closure
Gregg Industries, a manufacturer of metal parts for trucks and machines, closed its iron foundry a week ahead of schedule on Wednesday, citing alleged harassment by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The iron foundry was supposed to close April 30, but Gregg pushed up the date to April 22 after repeated visits by AQMD inspectors to the plant at 10460 Hickson St. in El Monte.
Company officials said that inspectors were demanding to be let in when the foundry was closed on Good Friday, but AQMD officials said they were investigating some of the two dozen odor complaints lodged against the facility in April.
“At this point, we feel like AQMD is literally running Gregg out of California and our employees out of their jobs,” said Bob Ostendorf, chief executive of Gregg Industries’ parent company in Neenah, Wis., Neenah Enterprises Inc.
AQMD Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein defended the agency’s treatment of Gregg.
“Over the years, Gregg Industries has been a source of 446 complaints from surrounding residents,” Wallerstein said. “They are mounting a media campaign to blame us for closing when it really had to do with their decline in business.”
The iron foundry has been in operation in El Monte for more than 60 years, but announced its closure in February after sales dropped by more than 50 percent. At the time, the company blamed it on customers that were slashing inventories, moving production overseas and buying from suppliers closer to their operations. The foundry employed 247 workers.
New techie
National Technical Systems Inc., a Calabasas-based defense industry technical services provider, announced last week it elected Dr. John Foster to its board of directors. Foster, 50, fills the vacancy created by Ralph Clements, a longtime director of the company who died in November.
Foster, 50, is the chief executive and chairman of privately held Innovative Micro Technology Inc. in Santa Barbara, a micro-electromechanical systems contract manufacturer and foundry. He has held management positions at Applied Magnetics Corp. and IBM, and received his Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Staff Reporter Francisco Vara-Orta can be reached fvara-orta@ labusinessjournal.com or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 241.
