NEWS RELEASE
12/20/2018
Regional Efforts Bring Weatherly Aircraft Company to Newton,
Kansas
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Newton,
Kan.
– Through regional
efforts, Harvey County Economic Development and the Greater Wichita Partnership
worked with the Kansas Department of Commerce to assist Weatherly Aircraft
Company in locating their headquarters and assembly operations to a 26,000 sq.
ft. facility at the Newton City-County airport.
Weatherly Aircraft
Company is an American agricultural aircraft manufacturer of planes designed
for small grain farming. The
company plans to add about 109 jobs in the next five years and invest over $1
million in capital investment.
Gary Beck, General Manager for Weatherly said, “As a first
move to make Weatherly Aircraft Company’s new home in Kansas, we have selected
hangar space at the Newton City-County Airport as an assembly facility for our
model 620-B plane. We appreciate the
support we have been provided and will begin production within the first
quarter of 2019.”
The City of
Newton Commission and the Harvey County Commission voted to approve a five-year
lease at a special joint meeting on Dec. 20th. Weatherly Aircraft
will take possession in February, 2019 and be operational beginning March,
2019.
“Weatherly Aircraft will be a great
addition to a growing list of dynamic manufacturers in Newton and Harvey County
who are doing business all over the world,” said Bob Myers, Newton City Manager.
Harvey County
Economic Development Executive Director, Beth Shelton said, “We are delighted
to welcome Weatherly Aircraft to the Newton City-County Airport. This project
is a wonderful example of collaboration between our city, county, region, and
state working together to facilitate growth and create valuable jobs in Harvey
County.”
“This
is another terrific development for the city of Newton, for our aviation
industry, and for Kansas as a whole,” said Robert North, Interim Secretary of
the Kansas Department of Commerce. “Weatherly Aircraft Company’s decision to
move their manufacturing operations to Kansas is the right move for them. The
amount of new employment opportunities coming to Newton is really
extraordinary.”
“We were honored
to support Weatherly Aircraft Company’s search for new facilities outside of
California by demonstrating opportunities available throughout our region,”
said Andrew Nave, Executive Vice President of Economic Development for the
Greater Wichita Partnership. “The Newton City-County airport provided an ideal
site for this exciting aviation business and the City of Newton, Harvey County
Economic Development and the Kansas Department of Commerce worked very
collaboratively to make the business case to win this company to our region.”
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For additional
information, please contact:
Beth Shelton, Harvey County Economic Development (316) 283-6033
Bob Myers, City of Newton (316) 284-6001
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About Harvey County Economic Development
Harvey County Economic Development is dedicated to the
growth and advancement of Harvey County’s economy. We strive to maintain our
economic health by supporting the business and industry we have while
continuing the recruitment of new industry. We have a firm belief that the
vitality of our economy is directly connected to the wellbeing of each resident.
For more information, visit www.harveycoedc.org.
About the Greater Wichita Partnership
The Greater Wichita
Partnership works to align and focus organizations, industries, businesses, and
leaders to cultivate the environment for businesses to succeed and grow in
order to fast forward economic growth in the greater Wichita region. For more
information, visit www.greaterwichitapartnership.org.
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