Adam lays off 50 in Ogden

Adam Aircraft Industries Inc. has shut down its operations in Ogden for several months, but the company's long-term plans for employing more than 1,250 people at the facility remain intact.

The company said Thursday that it has suspended operations at its Ogden manufacturing facility through early summer, affecting 50 workers at the south end of Ogden-Hinckley Airport. But the company expects to bring back those positions as it begins ramping up production of its A500 aircraft, a six-seat, twin-propeller plane.

The company also has laid off 80 workers in Pueblo, Colo., and about 170 in the Denver area, leaving it with about 500 workers.

During a conference call Thursday afternoon, company president Duncan Koerbel said the shutdown in Ogden is a result of several factors. One is getting the company's production process ready for the A500. That process, called "Make Production Fly," is designed to allow the company to eventually streamline operations so that a plane can be made in 12 to 14 weeks.

Another factor is working on an area of the facility to handle carbon-fiber composite materials needed for the aircraft, he said. The company also wants to curtail spending while it secures long-term financing from potential investors. The company is working with Citibank, and Koerbel said he hopes Adam Aircraft can raise $75 million to $100 million.

"It's a combination of making sure that the 'Make Production Fly' effort is matured so we are ready to release a proven production process to the Ogden facility, and it is a combination of getting the long-term financing in place, and getting the actual facility built out to support the composite piece of the operations out there," Koerbel said of the Ogden facility. "It's not one single thing."

The company has received financial incentives from the state of Utah and the Ogden Redevelopment Agency to boost employment in Ogden. In December, the company said that it would add about 600 jobs in Ogden over the next two years and eventually have 1,255 workers over the next 15 years, making Ogden its worldwide production headquarters. The site would be used to produce the A500 and the seven-seat A700, a similar plane powered by a pair of jets.

Koerbel said Thursday that the company's long-term plans for Ogden have not changed.

"We are very pleased with all of the support that we have gotten from the state of Utah and the Ogden facility and our team there. What our obligation is is to give that team a production-proven process that they can go build, if you will, 380 miles from the corporation here in Denver," he said.