RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — The CEO of Constellium Rolled Products, which operates a rolled aluminum products plant in Ravenswood, says a contract with Airbus to support all of the company’s leading aircraft programs is big news for the plant.
“I think it’s a real boost in confidence for the future of this plant,” said Buddy Stemple, CEO at Constellium Rolled Products. “It’s a multi-year agreement, so that’s good. We had already signed a multi-year contract with Airbus in 2010, so it’s obviously been good for both parties.”
The company said it plans to supply Airbus with “innovative and high-quality products” from its plants in Ravenswood and Issoire, France. One of those is a new pusher furnace investment.
“That in itself was a $35 million investment,” Stemple said. “It’s a new furnace technology in addition to adding capacity, it’s going to give us much tighter control on the process. There could be a few new products. Some things we’ll move around and change based on the airplanes they’re making at the time.”
Stemple said Constellium is the largest employer by far in Jackson County, and the 27th largest in the state of West Virginia.
“With that many people, our tax revenue; it’s a big deal here,” Stemple said. “It really solidifies the future and what we’ve been doing here in terms of quality of our product and the investments we’ve been making.”
The Ravenswood plant employs 1,100 workers, with about 750 hourly and roughly 300 salaried employees, Stemple said.
Constellium will supply Airbus with advanced aluminum rolled products for airframes including wing skin panels, aero-sheets for fuselage panels, as well as rectangular and pre-machined plates for structural components, according to a company release.
The company did not disclose the exact length of the contract.