Job cuts in Columbus

Pratt & Whitney has cut 55 jobs at its jet engine and repair business, the Columbus Engine Center. The Connecticut-based company says the cuts are a result of a reduction in the volume of engine overhauls. Earlier this year, the company conducted a voluntary separation program for workers at least age 60 with 10 years of continuous service.

(Associated Press)

Columbus: hi-tech company invests $53M

(l-to-r) Mike Gaymon (Chamber of Commerce), Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington,
PCI Director Dr. Yair Raz, Governor Sonny Perdue, Stella Shulman (Chamber of Commerce)
(Photo: Dave Bender)

A company that makes hi-tech parts for airplanes is expanding in Columbus after winning major military and civilian jet blades contracts.

Precision Components International plans to spend 53 million dollars to add another 60,000 sq-ft. to its facility and create 100 more jobs. The company makes finely-machined, jet-engine parts for military and civilian aircraft, among other forged metal products.

Governor Sonny Perdue attended the groundbreaking ceremony, and lauded the firm's abilities:

"They make some of the most precise components to go into some of the most severe use... aerospace, driving these F-15's and our combat aircraft..."

PCI employee sanding metal blade. (Photo: Dave Bender)

PCI is half-owned by an Israeli hi-tech consortium. It counts Pratt and Whitney, General Electric and Samsung among its customers. Both Perdue and Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington called the move a vital part of an ongoing wave of area business investments.