The State of Oklahoma: A Place to be in Aerospace.

MONTRÉAL – During the last NBAA BACE in Orlando, in November, Vince Howie, Aerospace and Defense Director, Oklahoma Department of Commerce, told me the unknown story of the ‘Sooner State’ aerospace industry. Holding a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington DC, a Master of Arts in Management from Webster University, a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from University of Central Oklahoma, Mr. Howie retired from the U.S. Air Force in April 2012 after 29 years of civil service.

Mr. Howie is a former member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) working at the Pentagon, Air Mobility Command, and Tinker Air Force Base (AFB). His Air Force career began in August 1984 at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB.

 

Oklahoma joined the Union on November, the 16th, 1907 to become the 46^th state.

At the center of contiguous United States, surrounded by Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, the State of Oklahoma covers 68,899 square miles (181,295km2). Its population is close to 4 million people, its capital and largest city being Oklahoma City followed by Tulsa and Norman.

Oklahoma’s five major industrial sectors are:

Aerospace & Defense;

Agriculture & Biosciences;

Energy;

Information & Financial Services;

Transportation & Distribution.

Aerospace & Defense

The state of Oklahoma has more than 500 aerospace companies with a wide range of capabilities from UAS to space systems employing 120,000 people.  With annual sales of $27 billion , the Oklahoma aerospace industry represents 7.4% of the State GNP and exports globally.

Among the main aerospace companies that call Oklahoma home, we find:

American Airlines

ARINC

Asco Industries

B/E Aerospace

BAE Systems

Ball Aerospace & Technology

BodyCote

Chromalloy

Circor Aerospace

DuCommun Incorporated

Eaton Aerospace

Elbit Systems of America

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

FlightSafety International

FLIR Systems

Garmin

GE Aviation

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Harris Corporation

Honeywell Aerospace

ITT Aerospace Controls

Kaman Aerospace

L-3Communications

LMI Aerospace

Lockheed Martin

Lufthansa Technik

Moog

Nordam

Northrop Grumman

Parker Aerospace

Pratt & Whitney

Precision Castparts (PCC)

Raytheon

Rolls-Royce

Saint-Gobain

Sherwin Williams Aerospace

Spirit AeroSystems

StandardAero

The Boeing Company

Triumph Group

UTC Aerospace Systems

Zodiac Aerospace

The Sooner State is also the home of six military installations

Altus Air Force Base hosting Air and Education Training Command (AETC)97^thAMW Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and KC-135R Stratotanker

Tinker Air Force Base hosting the Air Combat Command (ACC) 552nd ACW flying Boeing E-3B/C/G Sentry and Air Force Reserve Command 507^thARW Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker

Vance Air Force Base hosting Air and Education Training Command (AETC) 71^st FTW Beech T-1A Jayhawk, Beech T-6A Texan II and Northrop T-38C Talon.

Tulsa Air National Guard Base hosting Air National Guard 138thFW Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon

Fort Sill

McAlester Army Ammunition Plan

One of the two primary Oklahoma aerospace clusters is around Tinker AFB at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, the headquarters of the Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC), a part of the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) based at Wright-Patterson AFB.  With more than 30,000 civil and military employees, this Center is the largest military depot in the world, the headquarters for all the sustainment of the USAF headed by a three-star general. It takes care of the large MRO for the Boeing B-1B Lancer and B-52H Stratofortress bombers as well as for the Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS, for all the jet engines of the US Air Force and a large part of USAF aircraft avionics.  It is also where it performs the Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit program management.  As underlined by Mr. Howie, the depot activities are why all the major contractors has a huge presence nearby like Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Pratt & Whitney and at a smaller degree GE, Nordam or Spirit.

Located near Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport, the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center is the central support and training facility in the U.S. for the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Every year, the Center trains more than 20,000 students.

One hundred miles to the northeast of Oklahoma City, the other large aerospace cluster of the state is around the American Airlines Maintenance and Engineering Center at Tulsa International Airport, the largest commercial MRO facility in the world and employing more than 7,000 people and growing.

Education.

The State of Oklahoma is also the home to many research institutions with programs in:

Military training

Aerospace, Mechanical, Electronical and Software Engineering

Advanced composite molding

Precision machining

Flight simulator maintenance

Aviation maintenance

UAS/UAV/MAV Technology

Aviation Sciences

Avionics and Electronics

Nanotechnology

Advanced radar systems

Piloting

Air traffic control

Command, Control and communications

Airframe and powerplant certification

No less than twelve universities are offering aerospace engineering degrees, the two largest being the University of Oklahoma at Norman and the Oklahoma State University in Stillwater with degrees in aeronautical, mechanical, electronical and software engineering and even a PhD program in UAS design.

Oklahoma State University (OSU) offered the first master’s and only doctoral degrees in UAS Aircraft Design and operates a UAS flight station for education and training and holds multiple world records for the design of a variety of UAS.

OSU and the University of Oklahoma (OU) collaborate with the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory to use UAS to characterize severe storms, including flying specially designed UAS into storm clouds to extract data and enable forecasters to improve predictions of tornado activity.

OSU and Spartan College of Aeronautics & Technology located in Tulsa were ranked #2 and #14 respectively in SuccesfulStudent.org’s ranking of best drone training colleges.  An agreement between OSU and the FAA will develop technologies to use UAS to test instrument landing systems (ILS) and navigation aids.  OU researchers are utilizing UAS platforms for weather and radar-related research and using UAS-based technology for applications that range from lower atmospheric monitoring and boundary layer studies to the development of innovative new sense-and-avoid technologies.

In August 2015 the National Science Foundation awarded OSU and three partner universities $6 million to collaboratively develop an integrated unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to improve weather forecasting through the study of atmospheric physics. The four-year grant will be shared by OSU and the universities of Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kentucky.

Central location.

Oklahoma is centrally located between New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Toronto, Montréal and Mexico.

More than 88 million people are living within a 500-mile radius of Oklahoma.

The State has 137 public-use airports including two international ones: the Will Rogers World Airport (KOKC) in Oklahoma City and the Tulsa International Airport (KTUL) in Tulsa.

Three inland ports including one of the largest, ice-free ports in the United States and three intersecting Interstate Highways I-35, I-40 and I-44 offering access to every corner of the country.

For any company wishing to settle in Oklahoma, has nearly 5.1 million square feet (4.75 square miles) of vacant space available space within a 4-mile radius of its two major airports and Tinker AFB and nearly 1,460 acres of developable land for aviation use near airports.

Economic advantages.

Oklahoma is the third least expensive state for doing business according to Mr. Howie.

Electricity rate for industries is among the lowest in the US being 30% less costly than the national average. The state ranks 4^th in the U.S. for total wind capacity.

According to Moody’s, Oklahoma has the 6^th lowest tax burden in the US.

On top of that, Oklahoma has a world-class workforce thanks to industries collaborating with educational institutions to produce highly qualified workers.  Moreover, it has a large pool of military nearing retirement but eager to start a second career in the aerospace industry.

Oklahoma is also a Right-to-work state with labor costs 25 lower than the national average.

As underlined by Mr. Howie ‘Oklahoma competes quite well thanks to also a lot of incentive programs’:

Aerospace Engineer Workforce Tax Credit

Aerospace companies hiring engineers receive a tax credit equal to 5% of the compensation paid to an engineer and 10% if the engineer is graduated from an Oklahoma college or university, up to $12,500 per employee per year plus a credit up to 50% to reimburse tuition paid to an employee. Additionally, the engineer hired receives a tax credit of $5,000 per year for 5 years.

Investment and New Jobs Tax Credit

This program provides growing manufacturers with a substantial tax credit based on investment in depreciable property or on the addition of full-time-equivalent employees engaged in manufacturing or aircraft maintenance.

Quality Jobs 10-Year Cash Rebate Incentive

This program provides quarterly cash payments up to 5 percent of new payroll for up to 10 years for manufacturing and some services companies and certain research and development projects. Companies that have 10% of their workforce as veterans qualify for up to 6% new taxable payroll.

21^st Century Quality Jobs

This program is designed to attract growth industries and sectors like aerospace to Oklahoma through a policy of rewarding businesses with a highly skilled, knowledge-based workforce. It can pay business cash back up to 10% of payroll, for up to ten years for the creation of 10 or more jobs with average wages between $90,000 and $102,000, depending on county.

Quality Jobs+ Investment Tax Credits

These tax credits target manufacturing industries that a have a large investment of more than $40 million in addition to creating jobs with higher than the state average wages.

Small Employer Program

It provides quarterly incentive payments to companies with less than 90-employees. Payments can reach 5% of new taxable payroll for up to 7 years. Salaries have to be 110% of the average wage of the county in which the jobs are located and the qualifying companies must attain 75% out of state sales.

Investment/New Jobs Tax Credit Package

It provides a substantial tax credit on either an investment in depreciable property or on the addition of full-time-equivalent employees engaged in manufacturing, processing or aircraft maintenance.

Manufacturing Sales Tax Exemptions

This covers purchases of machinery and equipment used in design, development and the manufacturing operation at the manufacturing site.

Economic Development Pooled Financing

A financing incentive that targets job creation and retention for existing businesses wishing to expand and for new businesses entering the State and comes under the form of annual cash payment for acquisition of new building or machinery or equipment.

Customized Employee Training

Under the Training for Industry Program (TIP) through Oklahoma’s 59 technology center campuses, the State is providing job analysis, training needs assessment, pre-employment training, pre-production training, post-production training, instructional materials and development.

Oklahoma Talent Acquisition Team (TAT).

Its goal is to assist companies in meeting their recruitment needs.  The Team provides designated point of contact for all human-resource needs, identify qualified talent, and develop interview schedules. It also offers vocational counselling, promotes placement and provides other employment services.

Oklahoma the place for UAS.

In the fast-emerging Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry, Oklahoma is perfectly positioned, with its central location, ideal terrain and climate, business incentives, testing and development capabilities, training and education programs, and research and development.

Oklahoma offers various facilities for research and development and testing including a 200-acre UAV-only flight operations and training facility with access to 12,192 meters of surface and 2,574 cubic kilometers of flight space Urban UAV testing facility at Chilocco (20.5 square km) and training site with a 708,200-sq-meter acre urban testing site for training in urban operations and radio frequency and sensor testing.

The Unmanned Systems Innovation Center (USIC) is a private industry initiative focused on the creation, sustainment and growth of regional businesses in the unmanned and autonomous systems industry sector. The USIC provides a full suite of active support including access to a multitier capital facility as well as access to collaboration within the larger aerospace industry as a part of the Tinker Business and Industrial Park (TBIP), Oklahoma’s premiere aerospace technology cluster

It is good to underline that the Center for Aerospace and Defense Supplier Quality (CADSQ), a program of the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, is the only one of its kind in the U.S. It provides free expert advice and counsel to Oklahoma aviation, aerospace and defense companies, helping them understand how to conduct business with the Department of Defense.

Manufacturers, investors, and entrepreneurs in Oklahoma and southern Kansas are served by the UAS Cluster Initiative which is aiming to attract private capital, accelerates start-ups, promotes regional research parks, and enables the sharing of best practices.

 

 

 

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