group of Boeing employees and others walk across the tarmac at McClellan Business Park . Once , it was McClellan Air Force Base , one of the region ’ s major aerospace concerns . Now , aside from the thriving business park , it houses an aviation museum hosting California Aerospace Day 2022 on this hot Wednesday in early August .
This group doesn ’ t really seem to be local , with an executive from Seal Beach and a California State Assemblyman from Palmdale among the contingent heading toward Boeing ’ s ecoDemonstrator , a Boeing 777-200ER plane which is testing reductions in fuel use and cleaner air emissions . None of the major aerospace players are local anymore . But they ’ re here , for one day at least , in a place where there ’ s opportunity , infrastructure and experienced personnel for the aerospace industry .
If they look hard enough , the major players will find one of the Sacramento business community ’ s better secrets : While the local aerospace industry might never again be the major hub it once was , there are a number of local companies drawing the interest of the industry ’ s major players and doing innovative work that ’ s keeping the USA in space .
War games
California ’ s aerospace , aviation and defense industries support more than 511,000 high-paying jobs and generate more than $ 66 billion in annual economic activity , larger than the agriculture and entertainment industry combined , according to the California Manufacturers & Technology Association .
Longtime Sacramento residents can remember hearing the loud booms when rockets were tested at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova or seeing military planes flying out of McClellan and Mather air force bases . Aerospace companies in the Capital Region these days aren ’ t employing thousands like in the past , but they do some wild stuff .
Take perhaps the region ’ s largest aerospace operator , Kratos Defense & Security Solutions , which is headquartered in San Diego but has offices in Roseville and Sacramento where around 600 employees support a division that manufactures and provides aerial unmanned drones that resemble smaller fighter jets to the military for target practice .
Kratos received a $ 50.9 million contract from the U . S . Navy for its realistic jet-powered target drones in December and recently secured a $ 34 million contract from an unnamed buyer for its drone aircraft . ( Kratos also sells to foreign countries and may not name the buyer for security reasons .) The jet-powered drones are used to train the military how to shoot down enemy aircraft .
“ We ’ re making a difference for the war fighter ,” says Jeff Herro , senior vice president of business development and strategy for Kratos . “ If what we can do can improve the likelihood of success and of their safety , then that ’ s a very rewarding thing for we in management .”
JP Aerospace , a Rancho Cordovabased research and development company , does high-altitude work , much of it around 100,000 feet , flying items for students and conducting research for airships . The company has also become known as a place where a company can go if it wants something photographed in space . The weirdest request ? A chair in space , via Toshiba , says President John Powell , explaining that the company was thinking it might help them sell big-screen televisions .
“ The check cleared so we didn ’ t argue ,” Powell says . “ But they
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