Rockford Region aerospace companies to attend Paris Air Show

ROCKFORD, June 12 — More than a dozen aerospace organizations and companies will promote the strength of the Rockford Region’s aerospace supply chain June 15-21 at the 51st International Paris Air Show.

The Paris Air Show alternates annually with the Farnborough International Airshow (England) as one of the world’s premier aerospace trade exhibitions. More than 2,200 exhibitors from 45 countries were represented in 2013, with 139,000 professionals in attendance.

Goals at the air show are to promote the Rockford Region’s exports and to attract additional aerospace companies to open facilities here. The show offers significant networking opportunities; meetings with high-level executives take place conveniently and often.

Along with the Rockford Area Economic Development Council, six local companies will attend thanks to financial assistance from Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity:
• American Precision Assemblers
• American Standard Circuits
• Ingenium Technologies
• Ingersoll Machine Tools
• Ipsen
• Midwest Aero Support

Additionally, the state provides valuable support with travel arrangements, a shared exhibition space and multilingual staffers. Also representing the region in their own booths: AAR Corp., B/E Aerospace, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Esterline, GE Aviation, UTC Aerospace Systems and Woodward.

Participation in the International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget is vital to the economic development of the Rockford Region, home to four Tier One aerospace companies and part of a broader cluster of more than 250 companies in the aerospace supply chain of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. This critical mass is strengthened by the region’s strong manufacturing skills, engineering expertise and high productivity.

The region’s presence at this show is also part of the six-pillar strategy of the Rockford Area Aerospace Network (RAAN), a consortium of companies working to increase the competitiveness of the Rockford Region for aerospace expansion and attraction. The six strategies of RAAN are to:

• Enhance the global brand of Rockford as “mid-America’s best international aerospace community.”
• Foster innovation through industry and cross-industry synergies.
• Encourage supplier development through growing awareness of requirements and continuous improvement.
• Expand business development opportunities through B2B matchmaking and sales missions.
• Increase the focus on workforce development that feeds the pipeline at all levels and disciplines for industry growth.
• Grow the size and diversity of our cluster by attracting new companies to establish operations in the Rockford Region.