Posted by Courtney E. Howard
CHARLOTTE, N.C., 9 Aug. 2010. Goodrich Corp. held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark a 57,000 square-foot expansion to its Sensors and Integrated Systems (SIS) facility in Burnsville, Minn. The ceremony was attended by Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Dan McElroy, and other local and state government representatives, as well as several Goodrich executives and approximately 250 employees.
The expansion, scheduled for completion in 2012, adds to the company's existing 243,000 square-foot facility in Burnsville. About one-fifth of the space will be added to its wind tunnel test area, and the remainder will go towards expanding the Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication area. The new state-of-the-art wind tunnel will be used to test and calibrate many of the company's products in the conditions in which they operate.
The additional MEMS manufacturing facility will produce miniature silicon wafer sensors -- roughly the size of a fingertip -- that are used across the company's commercial and military aerospace sensor-based products and systems.
"Business investment and job growth are at the top of the priority list for Mayors around the country," comments Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, who also serves as president of the United States Conference of Mayors. "I am grateful to have Goodrich here, and I know the community will benefit from the jobs added through this expansion. I'm proud of how everyone worked together in a spirit of cooperation to make this a reality. This is a success story for all involved."
"I am thrilled that Goodrich is expanding its Sensors and Integrated Systems facility in Burnsville," says Dan McElroy, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). "This move adds high-skill jobs to our economy and ensures Minnesota's position as a leader in the high-tech industry. DEED looks forward to partnering with Goodrich as it maps its future in Minnesota."
"This expansion makes a strong statement about Goodrich and our future. It signals that our customers place a high value on our products and the technologies that drive them," says Phil Rosnik, vice president and general manager, Goodrich SIS. "This type of success is not luck; it's built through the hard work and dedicated service of thousands of talented employees who created and evolved the original business to where it is today. We're proud of our Goodrich team and appreciate their efforts, as well as the efforts of our state and local officials, in our present success and the very bright future we're creating for SIS and the state of Minnesota."
