Bulverde, Texas – Dean Baldwin Painting, LP is moving ahead with plans that will nearly double the size of the company and increase its accessibility to the East Coast. The company signed a 20-year lease with the Miami County Economic Development Authority on January 18th of this year to acquire Hangar 200 at the Grissom Aeroplex in Peru, Indiana, located 65 miles north of Indianapolis. The facility will be modernized and expanded prior to its opening, planned for December of this year.
The selection of the Indiana location was a long and deliberate process that included the review of strengths and weaknesses of over 20 different locations. “Our expansion plans developed over a span of 5 years.” said CEO Barbara Baldwin, “Together with my team we considered a number of great locations; but, in October of 2009 we decided the Grissom Aeroplex best suited the needs of our company and our customers.”
The present hangar complex will be undergoing an estimated $10.5 million expansion and conversion to a state of the art strip and paint facility. When the expansion is complete, the facility will have two wide body and two narrow body bays and will easily accommodate aircraft as large as a B747 or A330. Grissom Aeroplex is an active Air Reserve Base with a 12,500 foot runway enabling it to land aircraft as large as a B747.
The facility will run two shifts providing 24/7 coverage and plans to hire over 200 employees. “We’ve invested a great deal in our training programs over the years and we take great pride in our ability to cross train from other skills and have them move up the ladder earning $15 to $25 an hour,” explains Barbara Baldwin.
The work force will be recruited primarily from the six county region of north central Indiana. “The region, with a ready work force in excess of 250,000, has a rich history of manufacturing and producing quality products,” adds Jim Tidd, Executive Director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority. The community is also home to many Community Colleges, post secondary school and vocational training institutions capable of providing training support to Dean Baldwin Painting.
The local community fully supports the addition of an aerospace company to their community. “This is what we wanted,” said Rachel M. Daily, director of marketing and business attraction for the Miami County Economic Development Authority.” We are very excited about the diversification this project will bring to our region and the job opportunities that will be made available within our local economy. “The estimated economic impact of the project could be $161 million for the region within the first five years.”
The Indiana location is a short hop from many of the nation’s major cities in the Eastern U.S. and Midwest such as Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Louisville, Memphis, New York, St. Louis and many more making this site ideal to support a wide array of air carriers.
Dean Baldwin Painting, LP, has corporate offices located in Bulverde, Texas. Its Roswell operation is an ISO 9001:2008 compliant, certified minority-woman owned, small, privately held business specializing in aircraft refinishing services.
Dean Baldwin Painting has specialized in aircraft painting services for over forty-five years and has a respectable client base that includes US Airways, Air Canada, United Airlines, Jet Blue Airways, ABX Air, American Eagle Airlines, Skywest Airlines and many other highly regarded air carriers. In addition, the company is an experienced service provider to the US Government having completed a seven year contract with Hill AFB for stripping and painting C130 aircraft which earned the company a good Past Performance Record with the Air Force. Dean Baldwin also carries out high end paint services for corporate and private operators. This segment has increased over the last few years and the plans are to bring this capability to the new location in addition to the airline and military capabilities.
In 1999 Dean Baldwin Painting, LP expanded its operation by acquiring the 165,000 sq. ft aircraft strip and refinish facility in Roswell, New Mexico. The facility has six independent temperature-controlled bays with environmentally friendly air filtration systems utilizing two independent integral waste management systems.
Dean Baldwin Painting LP. successfully accomplished ISO 9001:2000 registration and certification in 2006, affirming its commitment to achieving the highest quality standards in the aircraft refinish industry.
