Timco may expand at PTI, add 300 to 400 jobs

June 8, 2012

June 08--GREENSBORO -- A Timco Aviation Services executive said Thursday that the Gate City-based maintenance, repair and overhaul company could add significant buildings, business and manpower in the next two years.

Kip Blakely, vice president for sales and marketing, said Timco could expand into two new hangars at its headquarters here and add 300 to 400 jobs.

But Blakely stressed the company will consider several other locations for the possible expansion.

Blakely said the company would seek an unspecified amount of state and local incentives.

"We are looking into expanding, and we are keen to do it in Greensboro or wherever it makes the most financial sense," Blakely said. "In the last six to 12 months, we have been seriously considering what our options are as we have seen the (maintenance and repair) marketplace intensify."

The expansion would allow Timco to overhaul more wide-body jets, such as 767s, 777s or 787s, at its campus at 623 Radar Road on the east side of Piedmont Triad International Airport.

"We see the opportunity for more wide-body work coming to the U.S. from the Far East," Blakely said. "(Prices are) rising so rapidly in the Far East that we find that we can be competitive (with companies there.)"

If Timco expands at PTI, the additional maintenance work would take place in one of the two new hangars. A second hangar, if it's built, would be used to paint or repaint aircraft.

"We are less certain about the paint facility," Blakely said, "but it is still on the drawing board."

The new hangars, which could cost an estimated $50 million, would be built by the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority and leased to Timco.

It isn't clear how the authority would pay for the project.

"We will figure out a way to do that at the appropriate time," said Henry Isaacson, chairman of the authority. "We will make every effort to accommodate their needs."

Timco, which employs 1,800 workers at PTI, uses four hangars at the airport. They cover more than 600,000 square feet.

The new hangars would add a combined 200,000 square feet of space.

"I would say the odds of Timco expanding its (maintenance and repair) business in the next two years is better than 50-50," Blakely said. "I would give it a 50-50 chance of happening in Greensboro."

Blakely said Timco also does maintenance and repair work in Macon, Ga., and Lake City, Fla., but added, "Greensboro is where we have traditionally done all of our wide-body work."

He said the company will consider other, unspecified sites.

Airport officials have anticipated that Timco would at some point want to expand and have included that possibility in their long-range development plans.

Local officials said land is available adjacent to Timco's current location to accommodate two new hangars.

"The fact that they are saying there is better than a 50 percent chance that they are going to need room to expand in the next two years gives us a chance to prepare a site," said Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance. "The onus is on us to have a site in place and competitively priced."

In the end, Isaacson said he hopes Timco will follow the lead of its neighbor, Honda Aircraft Co.

"When Honda decided to expand (last fall), they chose their headquarters (here)," Isaacson said. "I hope the same holds true for Timco."

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or [email protected]

Copyright 2012 - News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.