6,000+ AEROSPACE
Industry Employment
100 AEROSPACE
firms operate in the region.
JACKSONVILLE AND NORTHEAST FLORIDA SPONSORED SECTION 45
Northeast Florida’s military
background has spawned a
growing aerospace industry
in the region, with many major defense
contracts taking advantage of the
region’s assets.
Northrop Grumman is St. Johns
County’s largest corporate employer
with more than 1,000 employees at its
facility at Northeast Florida Regional
Airport in St. Augustine.
The area’s largest hub of private aerospace
activity is the Cecil Commerce
Center, located on Jacksonville’s
Westside at the site of what once was
the city’s third naval air station.
The large runways at Cecil make it
ideal for major aerospace operations. Its
biggest employer is Flightstar Aircraft
Services, which employs more than
1,000 people in aircraft maintenance,
repair and overhaul services.
LSI is a simulation and training
company started by two U.S. Navy
veterans nearly 40 years ago and now
employs about 500 people at Cecil,
with nearly half of those military
veterans.
“There is a lot of military expertise
available in the Jacksonville area,” says
Dave Risha, director of business development
for LSI.
Risha says access to quality health
care and the appealing lifestyle in
Northeast Florida entice veterans to
stay in the region after retirement.
“It’s a good place to be when you
separate from the military,” he says.
In addition to conventional aircraft,
Northrop Grumman
Flightstar Aircraft Services
Kaman Aerospace
“There is a
lot of military
expertise
available
in the
Jacksonville
area.”
— Dave Risha
LSI Director
of Business
Development
Cecil is also equipped to handle
spaceflight. Cecil Spaceport is the only
licensed horizontal launch commercial
spaceport on the East Coast.
Other aerospace firms in the area
include Brazil-based Embraer, which
is building its A-29 Super Tucanos
aircraft in a facility at Jacksonville
International Airport, and Kaman
Aerospace, which is producing
commercial airplanes at its facility at
Imeson Industrial Park, the site of Jacksonville’s
original public airport.
BOB MACK / FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (BOTTOM RIGHT)