Aerospace Company Looks To Bring Jobs To Stillwater

It seems 2014 will be a big year for an Oklahoma aerospace company.

ASCO Aerospace recently celebrated its first sale of parts manufactured in Stillwater.

And it's just the beginning of more deals and jobs to come.

Since taking over the former manufacturing facility for Mercruiser on Perkins Road in Stillwater, Belgium-based ASCO Aerospace has worked to bring in equipment and get the massive facility configured for its needs.

They've reached the point for the business to take off.

"We're making everything new, new machines," plant director Jean Pierre Gielen said. "We'll start from scratch again, and move that into Stillwater in order to be successful in Stillwater."

ASCO makes steel tracks which are part of the mechanisms on 737s that enable wing flaps to lower. They also make aluminum structural parts for airplanes.

The Stillwater facilities first deal was finalized with Spirit Aerosystems, and now ASCO is ramping up production and hiring.

"We're buying equipment," Gielen said. "We're laying out the building. We're setting up the building and now we're moving into assembly."

The company is hiring 40 additional employees to start 2014.

What's even better is hiring will continue throughout the year as production ramps up, and ASCO expands what it manufactures at the Stillwater facility.

Gielen said, "2014 will be very much an implementation and production year, and we'll have to prove ourselves to be succesful."

Reporter: That means jobs for Oklahoma.

Gielen: Yeah. That means a lot of jobs, yes it is.

An estimated 150 new jobs will be created in 2014 with the potential for even more.

The facility in Stillwater offers plenty of room for new equipment and growth, and is in a great location for Oklahoma's growing aerospace industry.

"We're here to grow," Gielen said.