A local manufacturing company announced Tuesday that it will buy new machines and expects to hire more workers.
TECT Power makes large metal rings, mainly used in jet engines for commercial and military aircraft.
On Tuesday, the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition announced that local and state governments have promised incentives to help TECT Power.
The Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission will vote on the incentives in coming weeks.
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In return for the incentives, the company has pledged to spend $2.7 million on equipment and renovations and hire 26 new workers over the next five years.
"The orders we now have we can do on our existing equipment," said general manager Derek Hallmark. "But the expansion will take us to the next level."
The plant, which employs 15 people, recently rehired two workers and added a second shift because orders are up.
The company moved into the 43,000-square-foot building at 2019 Southwest Boulevard once occupied by its sister company, TECT Aerospace. It has its vertical turning lathes and mills set up to make the giant titanium rings, but it is still renovating the office space.
The new space and new machines will help the company go after new work, including from non-aircraft companies. It already makes rings used in construction.
"It's not just for aerospace," Hallmark said. "It's really for any type of industry that uses things that are round."
TECT Power has five other plants across the country with customers throughout the aerospace, power generation and marine industries, including Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Rolls-Royce, Siemens, Spirit AeroSystems and Carlton Forge.
TECT Aerospace has headquarters in Wichita and has manufacturing facilities in Wellington and Park City, as well as three facilities in the Seattle area.
The Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition is a regional public/private partnership managed by the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce. Its mission is to recruit new companies to the area, and aid those already here to stay and expand.
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