Aviation firm to invest $2.5 million in LR facility, create 75 jobs

Gov. Mike Beebe on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, announces plans by Beaudet Aviation, a subsidiary of JCB Aero, to add a facility near the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock to supply Dassault Falcon Jet with completion work for its Falcon models.
Gov. Mike Beebe on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, announces plans by Beaudet Aviation, a subsidiary of JCB Aero, to add a facility near the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock to supply Dassault Falcon Jet with completion work for its Falcon models.

A subsidiary of a French aviation company will invest $2.5 million in a new Little Rock facility and create 75 new jobs, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission said Wednesday.

Beaudet Aviation, a subsidiary of JCB Aero, will open to facility adjacent to the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport to provide Dassault Falcon Jet completion work for its Falcon model planes, the commission said in a statement.

Gov. Mike Beebe joined company officials to formally announce the facility at a news conference at the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.

The development commission said the company would add the 75 jobs before expanding "gradually" and ultimately building its own hangar for work on larger planes.

The facility will be located on Lindsey Road in Little Rock, in a building which formerly housed a L’Oreal distribution center, Arkansas Economic Development Commission spokesman Scott Hardin said.

Reconstruction of the building is expected to begin as early as October.

“We wanted to be nearer to our American customers and especially to Dassault Falcon Jet and I admit I am very proud that Beaudet Aviation has been selected to take part in the completion of the Falcons Jet series,” JCB Aero Chairman Jean-Claude Beaudet said in a statement. “In the long run, we would like to create the exact duplication of the company based in France or even bigger: being in America sort of gives you wings and you feel like you are going to fly. In a few years’ time, Beaudet Aviation would like to offer the widest range in terms of cabins and systems for VIP Aircraft and Commercial Airlines and become completely autonomous, provide total completion in one place and even expand new facilities adjacent to the airport.”

Dassault Falcon Jet broke ground earlier this month on a $60 million expansion of its private-jet finishing plant at the Little Rock airport.

“Aviation is Arkansas’s leading export, and Beaudet Aviation now increases that sector’s strong momentum with its arrival in Little Rock,” Beebe said. “With the confidence that our aviation companies place in Arkansas, we have become an ideal destination for important suppliers like Beaudet.”

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