Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Myrtle Beach company announces 50 new jobs

AvCraft, an aviation company in Myrtle Beach, announced today that it would expand the business, creating about 50 new jobs.

The company gained approval from the Federal Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency, allowing it to do heavy maintenance on ATR 42 and 72 aircrafts. The expansion is in conjunction with Indaer Industrial Aeronautics, which earlier this year helped train AvCraft employees. Indaer will provide engineering and program management support.

"It certainly will expand our capabilities and certainly expand the business as a whole," said Mike Hill, the general manager of AvCraft.

He said the expansion into more types of aircraft, the company previously worked on Dornier 328 regional jets and helicopters, will mean a larger customer base.

"We could very well see the doubling of our size in the next two to three years," Hill said.

AvCraft made the announcement during a visit from Gov. Mark Sanford, who toured the facility and discussed potential benefits the Boeing Co. plant in North Charleston could have in the area.

"I think there's an inevitable synergy that we can't in this moment describe," said Sanford. He said he talked with AvCraft about what services the company could provide to Boeing.

Hill said the company could potentially assemble some components of the airplanes for Boeing.