Peninsula aviation-services firm to consolidate, hire 51 workers

NEWPORT NEWS

An aviation-services firm plans to spend $4 million and hire 51 workers to consolidate its operations at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Thursday.

Orion Air Group, based in Yorktown, will build a 40,000-square-foot hangar and office complex at the Air Commerce Park. The firm also will move 57 of its current employees to that location, which will serve as its new headquarters.

The company, which operates a charter aircraft service, plans to hire the 51 new workers within the next year. The new jobs will pay salaries that average $81,569, the governor's release said.

"Keeping the company and those 57 jobs in the Commonwealth was our goal, and I am pleased that Newport News offered the infrastructure that Orion needed," McDonnell said.

The airport's proximity to the company's base of government customers and the availability of well-trained aerospace workers was attractive to Orion, said Scott Terry, the firm's president.

Kristen Logan, an Orion spokeswoman, said the company had outgrown its space in Yorktown and plans to consolidate several East Coast locations at the Newport News airport. She declined to disclose which of its eight locations might close. Orion's website lists East Coast locations in Martinsburg, W.Va.; Hagerstown, Md.; and Greenville, S.C.

The company, which already employs more than 100 workers, offers a variety of aircraft services, including insurance, sales and leasing of planes and maintenance.

The Newport News location also will house its aircraft operations center and maintenance operations, Logan said.

While Orion did not receive any economic development grants from the state, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will help train new workers, according to the release.

The company has a government contract backlog of "nearly $225 million" from clients such as the Air Force and Army, according to its website.

Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com