Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Saab Plans Air Force Jet Facility Near<br />
Purdue Campus<br />
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Swedish manufacturer Saab<br />
plans to open an Indiana manufacturing site as part of its<br />
production of a new Air Force training jet, bringing a major<br />
aviation project to Purdue University’s research and business<br />
district.<br />
Company officials announced Wednesday, May 8, that it<br />
would spend $37 million on building and equipping the facility<br />
at Purdue’s Discovery Park District near the West Lafayette<br />
campus. The move comes after Saab and Boeing won a $9.2<br />
billion contract from the U.S. Air Force last year to build at<br />
least 351 T-X training jets.<br />
Saab CEO Hakan Buskhe said the facility is expected to open<br />
next year and will eventually have 300 workers. The company<br />
said those positions would include assembly operators,<br />
airplane mechanics, manufacturing engineering and management.<br />
Buskhe said he envisioned the West Lafayette facility becoming<br />
one of Saab’s most important around the world in<br />
Trust your Cooling Tower with<br />
the Professionals...<br />
We provide Engineered Solutions to<br />
optimize your towers performance<br />
and provide energy savings.<br />
production, research and development.<br />
“The ecosystem consisting of both the university and the<br />
many companies that has clustered around it is something<br />
we definitely would like to be a part of,” he said.<br />
Buskhe made the announcement inside a Purdue University<br />
Airport hangar with Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and other<br />
state and local officials.<br />
Purdue President Mitch Daniels said Saab’s facility will bring<br />
more research partnerships with the university’s faculty and<br />
boost the region’s economy.<br />
The Saab project comes as Purdue pushes development of<br />
the Discovery Park District on 400 acres (162 hectares) owned<br />
by the Purdue Research Foundation west of its main campus.<br />
An electric power industry equipment manufacturer started<br />
construction last year on a research center in the district. In<br />
May, officials announced plans for a single-family housing<br />
development and four-story buildings with apartments and<br />
commercial space.<br />
State incentives to Saab include about $4 million in tax credits<br />
and up to $1.15 million in training grants based on the<br />
company’s investment and job creation plans, according to<br />
the Indiana Economic Development Corp.<br />
Bullock, Logan<br />
& Associates, Inc.<br />
COOLING TOWER REPAIR & PARTS<br />
Celebrating<br />
25 Years<br />
Bullock, Logan & Associates, Inc.<br />
In Industry Cooling &<br />
Heat Transfer Excellence<br />
Building Controls &<br />
Building Automation Systems<br />
cbullockjr@bullocklogan.com<br />
bbullock@bullocklogan.com<br />
www.bullocklogan.com | P: 847-434-1200<br />
24-Hour Service Hotline<br />
815.724.0525<br />
www.ibs-chicago.com<br />
info@ibs-chicago.com<br />
18 | Chief Engineer<br />
Volume 84 · Number 6 | 19
Change language