Apr. 25—BRIDGEPORT — Aurora Flight Sciences will use 50,000 square feet of new manufacturing space to help aerospace take flight in West Virginia.

The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its facility in the Benedum Airport Complex on Wednesday morning. Governor Jim Justice and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito delivered remarks, as did Mike Caimona, the company's president and CEO.

"This is an important facility for Aurora, Boeing and the aerospace industry," Caimona said. "We manufacture some parts of airplanes and aircraft that are critical for national defense. Outside of our defense programs, we're designing and building experimental airplane technology that's never been built before. To have that type of advanced capability here in West Virginia, I think, is important for everybody."

Aurora Flight Sciences is a subsidiary of Boeing.

The company produces aircraft parts using composite materials, according to Scott Jones. Jones is the facility's senior operations manager who oversees the plant. Light and strong, composite parts are used in military aircraft such as aerial drones, helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes.

The new space roughly doubled the size of the building Aurora Flight Sciences already uses to manufacture composite parts. The company hopes to grow the aerospace community in North Central West Virginia by onboarding 100 people over the next five years.

"STEM is a huge initiative in this state," Jones said. "I think we see some of the prior industry that fueled this area kind of ticking away, so we want to make sure there's something else to do and bring talent here. I think aerospace and technology is a great way to do that."

Sen. Capito said having companies like Aurora Flight Sciences create jobs in aerospace will encourage more families to stay in West Virginia.

Gov. Jim Justice said encouraging companies like Aurora Flight Sciences to do business here provides a multiplier effect on the state's economy.

"First of all, their payroll, that's the first thing," Justice said. "And then all the inputs they buy from vendors all across West Virginia, or across the area, that's going into the stuff they're building. Those dollars are real dollars for the multiplier effect that I'm talking about. Those dollars are the dollars that are seven to ten times all across all of us. Whether they be in the clothing stores downtown, they be at buying a Big Gulp at the 7-Eleven, it doesn't matter. It just multiplies."

Education also benefits from the multiplier effect. Jones said the company partners with Pierpont Community and Technical College, as well as West Virginia University. Jones said the company also provides opportunities to individuals who don't want to go down the college track and work with their hands. Pierpont's aviation campus is next door to the company. Jones said he discussed the possibility of setting up a clean room space for students to gain experience working with composites before even applying to the company.

Although composites are an important part of the aerospace industry, Pierpont President Milan Hayward said, it's important to build industrial diversity throughout the state.

"Other advanced manufacturers in the region also need help with assembly, pneumatics, hydraulics, mechanical, etc.," Hayward said. "Pierpont has plans to build out and enhance our advanced manufacturing training capacity to ensure a stronger and more robust talent pipeline in the region."

Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com.