The Daher Group is a key sponsor of this week’s SUN ’n FUN Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida, where a major exhibit area of the annual public air show has been branded as the “FUTURE ‘n FLIGHT PLAZA by Daher,” and includes the company’s high-level participation in the event’s Career Fair.
Daher’s sponsorship of the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo highlights its growing presence in the U.S. and North America, where the current six locations cover the company’s four business divisions: aircraft manufacturing, industry, industrial services, and logistics.
“The FUTURE ’n FLIGHT PLAZA is focused on the themes of career opportunities and the encouragement of youth to join the aerospace industry, which are fully aligned with Daher’s corporate social responsibility strategies,” explained Julie de Cevins, the Daher Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “As a family-owned company, these themes are part of our ability to take a long-term approach to our business development and employment.”
As part of its SUN ‘n FUN sponsorship, Daher has one of the largest booths in the air show’s Career Fair tent – which is located within the FUTURE ’n FLIGHT Plaza. The company’s Career Fair slogan: “Make your career take off with Daher” underscores the many employment opportunities now available at its North American locations.
Christopher Gonzales, Daher’s Vice President of Human Resources in North America, said the SUN ’n FUN Aerospace Expo’s venue at Lakeland in Central Florida is well-positioned for Daher’s employment outreach, based on a concentration of its locations in the southeast United States. These locations are: Stuart, Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale in Florida; as well as Mobile, Alabama on the Gulf Coast. Daher’s other North American locations are at Sandpoint, Idaho; and Nogales, Mexico.
The Stuart location in Florida’s Martin County is a major aerostructures production and assembly facility acquired by Daher in July 2022, becoming one of the company’s largest industrial sites worldwide. Its production positions Daher as a Tier 1 supplier for aircraft manufacturers in North America, including Boeing.
Daher currently employs more than 460 persons at the Stuart site, located adjacent to the Witham Field airport, and has committed millions of dollars in equipment and inventory improvements since its acquisition to further enhance the quality of locally produced aerostructures. As part of Daher’s development strategy for Stuart, the company plans to bring in new aerostructures business and announced plans to install a final assembly line for the company’s TBM/Kodiak turboprop-powered general aviation aircraft – opening new employment opportunities at Stuart, as well as creating the first high-value, high-visibility production and delivery of modern aircraft from Martin County.
The Florida operation at Pompano Beach is the delivery and support center for Daher’s TBM aircraft, while Fort Lauderdale is the location for Daher’s North American headquarters – serving functions that include administration, accounting, and human resources.
Daher’s Mobile, Alabama site has expanded its ongoing logistics activity, providing a wide scope of logistics services to support Airbus’ U.S. final assembly lines for the A320 and A220 jetliners.
In the Pacific Northwest, Daher acquired the Sandpoint, Idaho-based Kodiak aircraft manufacturer during June 2019, adding this multi-role single-engine turboprop-powered airplane to Daher’s portfolio – joining the fast, efficient TBM family produced in Tarbes, France. Under Daher’s ownership of Kodiak, the company introduced new versions of the aircraft, invested $2.7 million in a 9,000-sq-ft. aircraft painting facility to streamline production and further improve the build quality at Sandpoint, while also establishing a second final assembly line at this facility.
Daher’s Nogales, Mexico site is situated adjacent to the U.S. border with Arizona, and is specialized in finished composite parts and sub-assembly for aircraft engines and systems, including plenums, acoustic shrouds, struts, low-pressure ducting and cockpit panels.
The Daher Group’s sponsorship of the FUTURE ’n FLIGHT PLAZA at this week’s SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo is complemented by the presence of Daher’s Aircraft Division, which is showing the TBM 960 and Kodiak 100 airplane versions on its exhibit stand (#MD-022B). Daher’s Aircraft Division and its predecessor companies have been participating at SUN ‘n FUN during 45 years of this air show’s five-decade history.
