“Over time, absolutely, these things will become much more critical,” Chadwick said.
GE Aviation’s management expects to decide in March 2010 whether to build a center that would expand the company’s ability to supply electric power systems for the nation’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and civilian aircraft including the Boeing 737 and Airbus 30X.
Vic Bonneau, president of GE’s Electrical Power Systems business in Vandalia, made a presentation in mid-December to an internal GE panel assessing whether to go ahead with the project.
If GE’s leadership gives the go-ahead, the company is leaning toward locating the center at either its Vandalia operation or the GE Aircraft Engines plant in the Cincinnati suburb of Evendale, in order to provide easy access to engineers at those locations, Bonneau said.
GE has told the Ohio Department of Development that it is also considering sites at GE operations in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Erlanger, Ky., and Cheltenham, England.
Ohio’s Third Frontier program, which supports technology development in the state, has offered GE $7.6 million if it will locate the Electrical Power Integrated Systems Center within Ohio.
“The significance of the grant amount really helps us,” Bonneau told Eric Fingerhut, chairman of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, during a Dec. 18 meeting at the University of Dayton. “This is a big deal for us, and we know it’s a big deal for the state of Ohio.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@coxohio.com.
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