EVERETT — Score one for Snohomish County in its quest to remain a dominant aerospace center.
A manufacturer of cockpit controls and displays, Korry Electronics Co. broke ground for its new facility just south of Everett’s Paine Field on Thursday. A supplier to both the Boeing Co. and Airbus, Korry will vacate its Seattle-based factory and move into a 216,000-square-foot building in Snohomish County next September.
The company has operated in the Puget Sound region for more than 70 years, having built indicators for Boeing’s 307 Stratoliner. Korry has supplied parts on every Boeing commercial jet program since, most recently winning a contract to build cockpit panels for the 787 Dreamliner.
But the proximity to Boeing’s Everett factory wasn’t the only reason Korry officials chose Snohomish County over other sites in the region. Dan McFeeley, company president and chief executive, was impressed by how smoothly the permitting process went in Snohomish County.
“Those folks made it a big deal,” McFeeley said.
Earlier this year, Korry had narrowed its list to Everett and Renton. But county officials’ willingness to work with the military and aerospace supplier swayed Korry Everett’s way. Snohomish County already employs more than 36,000 people in aerospace at more than 100 companies.
“The Puget Sound is the aerospace capital of the world,” said Dave Waggoner, director for Everett’s Paine Field, during the ceremony Thursday. And Snohomish County is its center.
In recent years, county officials have worked to attract aerospace companies to the area. The state provided incentive, in the form of tax breaks, when Boeing was deciding where to assemble its 787 Dreamliner jet. Nearly two years ago, Goodrich Aerostructures also quickly put up a new factory in Everett as it prepared to supply Boeing with 787 engine covers and thrust reversers.
Korry’s move brings not only another aerospace company but likely more residents to the county — or at least that’s what Aaron Reardon, Snohomish County executive, had in mind when he addressed roughly 650 Korry employees who had been bused up from Seattle for the event at the Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour. Reardon encouraged Korry workers to “focus your sights northward” to Snohomish County.
“We recognize the skill set you guys bring here,” Reardon said.
A division of Bellevue-based Esterline Corp., Korry occupies a 175,000-square-foot manufacturing building in Seattle’s Lake Union neighborhood.
McFeeley is hopeful the company will manage to persuade the majority to stay with Korry after it opens in Snohomish County next September.
“We know not all of them will move,” McFeeley said.
And he’s optimistic about finding skilled workers in Snohomish County.
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.
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