Falcon Field Area Alliance

Nammo Talley Inc. of the Falcon Field Business District was recently awarded a $26.2 million contract from the U.S. Army for M141 bunker defeat munitions systems. The M141 system is a single-shot weapon designed to destroy masonry walls and armored vehicles Nammo Talley operates a complete industrial complex designed for the development, testing and manufacturing of a wide range of propellant-based products. The contract runs through 2013. Nammo Talley was formed last year when Mesa’s Talley Defense Systems Inc. was purchased by Norway’s Nammo AS.

Mesa Community College recently welcomed Dr. Shouan Pan as its new President. Dr. Pan comes to Mesa from Broward Community College in Ft Lauderdale, Florida where he was Provost of the South Campus. Prior to that he spent time at Florida Community College at Jacksonville-Kent Campus in Jacksonville, Florida; Community College of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona; Central Arizona College, Coolidge, Arizona; and Hefei Polytechnic University, Hefei, Anhui, P.R. China. One of Dr. Pan’s visions for Mesa Community College is for the college to become a more powerful force for long-term, sustainable economic development in the East Valley. He is committed to having MCC remain flexible in responding to the community’s educational needs for high demand and high paying jobs.

Semflex RF & Microwave Cable Assemblies located at 5550 E. McDowell Road in the Falcon Field Business District was recently purchased by Emerson (NYSE: EMR), a diversified global manufacturing and technology company. Semflex is part of the Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solution’s Division. Semflex currently employees over 250 people.

The Boeing Company has been awarded a contract to provide an AH-64D Apache Longbow Crew Trainer (LCT) and Life Cycle Support to the Egyptian air force. The LCT, a full-mission, high fidelity flight simulator, provides training for Apache Longbow helicopter crews. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the LCT in July 2009.

The City of Mesa is actively working to open about 64 acres of city land for development in the Falcon Field Business District. The land, located in the 2000-3900 blocks of Greenfield Road, is part of a 152-acre parcel that was purchased by the city to protect Falcon Field Airport. Airport management and the FFA have concluded that the northern portion of this parcel should be made available for development while the southern portion (88.34 acres) will be maintained as Natural Area Open Space to provide airport and runway protection zones.

The land use designation for this 64-acre parcel is Business Park with the city’s goal for this area to be a high quality employment area for professionals, technical experts and highly skilled labor. This has been approved by the Planning and Zoning Board and will be presented for the City Council’s consideration.

The FAA recently released figures that show Falcon Field Airport is the fourth busiest general aviation airport in the United States. The airport skyrocketed from the nation's 12th-busiest general aviation airport to number four in one year. The dramatic rise in take-off and landings can be attributed to the opening of four new training facilities.

But the real story is the dramatic economic impact that Falcon Field has on the economy in Mesa and Arizona overall. The Arizona Department of Transportation’s latest economic impact numbers show $2.1 billion of economic impact can be attributed to the Falcon Field Airport and the businesses located in the Falcon Field Business District.

Right now on the airport campus there are four multifaceted office and hangar facilities either in the planning stages or under construction. Falcon Office Center, Exec Jet Holdings, Desert Pacific Aviation and Desert Jet Center are building projects that will house many types of businesses that need an airport to conduct their business. In addition to flight training schools we could see aerial mapping and photography services; aerial fire control operations; air ambulance, search and rescue, emergency response, blood transport, and human organ transplant services.

In addition, Phoenix Heliparts, a helicopter repair company, recently announced that next year it will be building a 100,000-square-foot combination hangar, warehouse and office facility on five acres on the north side of the airport. The company will employ 85 people. And, Arizona Aircraft Painting will break ground next month on a state-of-the-art aircraft painting facility that will be designed to accommodate twin-engine planes and small corporate jets.

Business Facilities Magazine, in their April edition, featured an article on Arizona “Growing in the Sun”. The article highlighted Arizona’s fast growing workforce, the outstanding university and community college system, strong infrastructure assets and attractive business costs, all of which help to make Arizona a first tier choice for expanding companies. In the article they featured a chart breaking down operating costs that compares Arizona and six competing states. The chart points out very clearly that no state offers a company a free ride.