The approval of Daher’s long-term lease of its U.S. aerostructures facility at Witham Field in Stuart, Florida, is a new milestone for the company’s presence in the strategic North American market.
With this extended lease term in Stuart, Daher can continue its current production of large airframe components — called aerostructures — as a Tier 1 supplier to major aircraft manufacturers, and is positioned to pursue future development in the facility’s evolution as an industrial center of excellence in aviation.
The Witham Field plant is in Martin County, and the lease was approved this week by the Martin County Board of Commissioners.
Daher acquired the Stuart plant in July 2022 and currently employs 700 people at the facility, which covers approximately 40877 square meters of manufacturing and activities on a 44-acre site. Since the acquisition, Daher has committed millions of dollars in training and qualification of staff, as well as equipment and inventory upgrades, to further enhance the quality and throughput of its locally produced aerostructures and position the Stuart plant as a high-performance partner in of American aerospace.
The recently approved lease at Witham Field offers the potential for additional improvements at Daher’s site, as well as opportunities for business growth. This includes Daher’s intention to create a final assembly line at the site to build the company’s own TBM/Kodiak turboprop-powered aircraft families, introducing the first production of next-generation aircraft to Martin County.
“As a family-owned company, Daher places great value on business development and job stability in the regions where we operate, and we look forward to a beneficial partnership with Martin County, the City of Stuart and the State of Florida for many years to come,” said Didier Kayat, Chairman and CEO of Daher Group.
Kayat added that Stuart is strategically located in the southeastern United States, where Daher Group is expanding North American business volume for its four divisions: Aircraft, Industry, Industrial Services and Logistics. In addition to the Stuart facility, Daher has a presence in five other locations in North America: Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale in Florida; Mobile, Alabama; Sandpoint, Idaho; and Nogales, Mexico.
Daher currently employs over 1.200 people in North America, out of the -based company’s 13.000 total international employees. Daher’s reported total revenue in 2023 was €1,65 billion (approximately $1,7 billion), of which 35% was generated by its North American operations.
Stephen J. Stasiak, Daher’s general manager at the Stuart site, added: “As we look to the future, the Witham Field site will offer a full spectrum of employment opportunities, ranging from aerostructures and aircraft assemblers to quality and management positions. The excellent Daher receives at the local and regional levels is a real motivator for us as we look to the future.”
One example of local-level is the Martin County REACH vocational center taking shape adjacent to the Stuart plant, which can provide entry-level training in the aviation industry manufacturing structure for new employee candidates at the Daher operation.
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