Dassault foresees 40% output rise

By Jack Weatherly, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/6/14

Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. expects to increase its output by 40 percent after a $65 million expansion at its Little Rock completions center is finished by the end of 2015, Robert Smith, senior vice president of business development, said Wednesday.

Smith declined to say how many people will be hired after the expansion. He said the company’s total employment now is between 1,800 and 1,900. “We’re going to hire people.I’m not going to say how many,” Smith said.

The expansion was announced in May, after the state approved an incentives package that included a 3.9 percent cash rebate for 420 jobs created by the expansion or retained for at least 10 years.

Smith said that for every new Dassault job, five support jobs are created in the state.

Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, confirmed that the “multiplier” effect for aerospace is one of the highest.

Smith also declined to say how many construction jobs will result from the expansion, though he said most of the work will be done by Arkansas builders and most of the building materials will be purchased in the state.

The cost of the expansion was initially estimated at $60 million, but Smith said Wednesday that it will be $65 million.

Smith was one of the speakers at the Aerospace Summit at the Embassy Suites hotel in west Little Rock. The gathering, which is sponsored by the Arkansas Aerospace Alliance, will conclude today.