Manufacturer buys building after securing long-term F-35 contract
[caption id="attachment_26183" align="alignright" width="289" caption="AEG Industries owners and co-founders Dennis McIlnay and Peg McIlnay-Moe purchased their current 38,000 square foot space as part of an expansion"][/caption]
SANTA ROSA – Engineering and manufacturing firm AEG Industries is responding to an uptick in the aerospace sector by doubling its staff and purchasing the building it expanded into last year.
According to AEG president Peg McIlnay-Moe, the maker of electronic housing components and mechanical enclosures for aircraft suppliers won a 25-year contract with Parker Hannifin, a major factor in the company’s need to find larger quarters.
“We had already outgrown our quarters on Sutton Place and had to make a move. Since we’ve been in our current location we’ve doubled our staff to 18 and we’re still hiring,” she said.
AEG invested $2.7 million on the 38,500-square-foot building on Briggs Ave. in Santa Rosa.
Ms. McIlnay-Moe and her husband, Dennis, both engineers, founded AEG in 1991 as a design firm, adding manufacturing as their customer portfolio and reputation grew among major aerospace suppliers to Lockheed, Boeing and aircraft manufacturers overseas.
The contract with Parker Hannifin involves electronic control housings for the rudder and flaperons (aircraft control surfaces) in Lockheed’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes.
“We were one of only two suppliers to win a long-term contract with Parker Hannifin to supply the F-35,” said Ms. McIlnay-Moe.
The company is both ISO and AS certified, meaning it can supply the highest level of U.S. military aircraft.
AEG designs and components are also being installed in the Gulfstream G650, the latest and most luxurious of private corporate jets.
Through French manufacturer Thales Avionics AEG supplies housing for digital for passenger entertainment systems, which are also in demand by Airbus and Boeing for its 787 Dreamliner.
Along with expanding its staff and space, AEG has purchased new equipment: a $300,000 milling machine and two others for $100,000 apiece.
The new space was previously occupied by KriStar, a maker of fiber tubes for erosion control during highway projects.
“When we first moved in we had to remove 600 pounds of dust from one of the buildings,” said Ms. McIlnay-Moe. “But the location has great infrastructure and electrical power. We love being able to stretch out in a larger space.”
