By Matthew French
Staff Writer

Now that EADS North America has decided to forgo the Lowcountry in favor of Mobile, Ala., economic development professionals are turning their sights to the region’s next potential aerospace newcomer.

A contingent of South Carolinians, including representatives from the Charleston Regional Development Alliance and the Upstate Alliance, Commerce Secretary Bob Faith and Gov. Mark Sanford, made its way last month to the City of Lights to court executives at the Paris Air Show.

During the event, the development alliance partnered with the S.C. Department of Commerce to host a reception and dinner, which drew approximately 75 high-level aerospace executives for one-on-one conversations and information exchanges, according to alliance spokeswoman Natalie Lawrence.

“As a direct result of these face-to-face meetings, the alliance will work three new project leads for our region and nurture several other corporate relationships,” Lawrence says.

South Carolina has a longer history in the aerospace field than most realize, says Heyward Horton, a senior project manager for the development alliance. A decade before the region landed Global Aeronautica, the joint venture partnership developed between Vought Aircraft Industries and Alenia Aeronautica, AAI Corp. of Hunt Valley, Md., established a facility in Summerville and SKF Aerospace established its first after-market service center with the SKF Aero Bearing Service Center in North Charleston.

“With Project Buffalo landed and Vought-Alenia under construction, the easy strategy we are employing is finding out who its suppliers are likely to be,” Horton says. “The company has been very helpful and has introduced us to a handful that we are beginning to work with.”

Life after EADS

Many considered the Charleston area a shoe-in to land EADS North America and its 1,100 potential manufacturing jobs, but the company instead opted to settle in Mobile, Ala. Local politicians, economic development professionals and state representatives vow to not sit idle after this loss.

The time that was put into the project and presentations will not go to waste, says Commerce Department spokeswoman Clare Morris. The state can build on that information and be even more prepared when future prospects consider the South Carolina.

The state will continue to focus on the aeronautics industry, particularly after securing Global Aeronautica, Morris says.

“We’re not letting this set us back; we’re still focused on the future,” she says. “We are focused on landing more world-class companies and good jobs, and we’re not going to slow down in our pursuit.”

And that pursuit was employed full bore in Paris, Horton says.

“We were able to make a good bit of market penetration with the right people, and by that I mean the decision-making folks,” he says. “But now that we’re home, we still have a lot to do. We have to follow up with these companies and maintain these relationships.”

Overcoming hurdles

The presence of Global Aeronatica makes it both easier and more difficult to attract companies to South Carolina. While a lot of the suppliers for Global Aeronautica may look to locate here to be closer to their customer, others may be wary of moving to an area where most of the qualified manufacturing employees are likely already employed, Horton says.

“There is a sizable population here of underemployed folks,” he says. “We have good people here with jobs that just don’t challenge them or don’t meet their earning potential. Landing Global Aeronatuica, or a company like EADS, will give them an opportunity to step up. It may be painful to some companies who would surely lose employees to the new companies coming in, but it would give others the opportunity to step up into their now-vacant positions.”

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., says the region will certainly continue its pursuit of aerospace companies and sees in the future a concentration of companies in the area.

“To Charleston’s credit, it has the natural beauty, a world-class port and airport, the height of the new bridge and deepened port that will allow the largest vessels to dock,” he says.

The one drawback he sees to landing a major manufacturing company is the availability of large tracts of land.

North Charleston’s Mayor Keith Summey is quick to point out that the large tract of land that the city had set aside for EADS is once again available

“We’ve had that land for years, and Vought-Alenia was the first to take advantage of it,” Summey says. “But this goes to show that once one company starts to build there, it’s easier to attract the attention of the second.”

The state’s time was not wasted by making the trip to Paris, despite the fact that EADS chose to locate elsewhere. Horton says.

“With or without Paris, we will continue to work with suppliers to facilitate the companies under construction,” he says. “I think we’ll be making more announcements about companies in this industry sector in the next six months.”

Matthew French covers manufacturing for the Business Journal. E-mail him at mfrench@crbj.com.

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