At the General Aviation Jobs for Arkansas Forum held last week at a hangar at Dassault Falcon’s facility at Little Rock National Airport, politicians joined officials from Dassault and Hawker Beechcraft, about 100 community leaders and more than 500 Dassault and Hawker Beechcraft employees to focus on general aviation’s contributions to the Arkansas economy. Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln (both Democrats) expressed their appreciation for the high-paying jobs the two companies bring to Arkansas, and Governor Mike Beebe noted that the state employs more than 10,000 in the aviation industry, and aerospace is the state’s number-one export.
“We look forward to recruiting even more companies to further expand that presence,” he said. “General aviation has a tremendous impact on the state of Arkansas,” added GAMA president Pete Bunce, providing 3,500 manufacturing jobs.
“We are appreciative that Senators Pryor and Lincoln, Governor Beebe and numerous state and local leaders also recognize its importance. Also on hand were NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, who said, “This event highlighted the essential role business aviation plays in serving citizens, companies and communities across the U.S.,” and Jeff Habib of Dassault Falcon, who said, “Business aviation is facing a tough market right now, but in the long term, the quality of work of Arkansans will help us persevere.”
http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/jobs-forum-highlights-ga-impact-in-arkansas/
Source: AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Date: 2009-08-18