Aerospace and defense companies in the Antelope Valley have laid the groundwork for a new coalition to work on issues facing the industry. A unified front also aids in gaining the influence of U.S. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, who as chairman of the House Armed Services committee is a powerful voice on the defense spending these companies rely on. This new group joins similar coalitions formed in the Santa Clarita Valley and Victorville – areas heavy with defense contractors that fall within the boundaries of McKeon’s district. The City of Palmdale has long had strong ties and relationships with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman at Plant 42. This new group would do the same for the smaller subcontractors located within the city and throughout the Antelope Valley. Getting all the companies to speak with a single voice puts them in a position to be more competitive and continue to get defense work even when spending at the Pentagon is cut, as has been recommended by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. “In good budget times or bad budget times it’s a formula that is always going to work,” said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. A Jan. 18 meeting in Palmdale brought together representatives from some of the aerospace companies, the city, and federal and county officeholders, including Bob Haueter, the deputy chief of staff for McKeon. Ledford, Haueter and Kim Shaw, a staff consultant with the Palmdale Airport Authority, outlined for those in attendance their vision for the new coalition and issues that could be addressed. As the congressman’s eyes and ears in the Santa Clarita Valley, Haueter has contact with groups representing other industries, including real estate, banking, health care and education. A similar group representing the aerospace and defense contractors, however, was missing from that list. The formation Haueter already knew of about 15 or so of those companies but there were many others he was not aware of until he and then- Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Larry Mankin made cold calls on the others. Independently, Bill Ball, then a sales manager with Western Filter in Valencia, was doing something similar for the Valley Industry Association. Out of those visits came the Santa Clarita Valley Aerospace and Defense Coalition, a group of about 50 companies. They have met twice over nine months, with McKeon appearing at the first meeting and staying 2 ½ hours. “This gives a chance to band together and to get the attention of the city and county,” Haueter said. The coalition is in its early stages and the membership process is still being formalized, said member Allen Sumian, of True Positions Technology in Valencia. As the owner of a business that grew from two employees to a workforce of 100, Sumian had little time to look outside his office walls to meet with other business owners to find out what issues and concerns they had. With the U.S. having lost so much of its manufacturing base to foreign countries where products can be made cheaper, protecting what is left was important to him, Sumian said. The issues “Aerospace and defense is one of the last areas where there is a lot of manufacturing and I think it is an area we should take care of,” Sumian said. With the meeting in Palmdale, the companies set out on the same path as the Santa Clarita group. Already identified as some of the issues to be worked on are getting Plant 42 into the city’s redevelopment area; creating a corridor for unmanned aerial vehicles to fly from Plant 42 out to Edwards Air Force base for testing; and setting criteria to keep wind turbines from affecting radar operations at Edwards. One executive at the meeting made a plea for timely follow-up by those in attendance. There were common challenges the companies faced that needed to be addressed, said Tommy Tomlinson, site manager in Palmdale for Northrop Grumman.
Coalition Tries to Gain Influence in Aerospace Matters
