Congressman Mike Pompeo from Kansas’ Fourth District will be the keynote speaker and participate in the presentation of the Wichita Aero Club’s second annual trophy to Spirit AeroSystems and its chief executive officer Jeff Turner this weekend.
Spirit and Turner were selected by the Club’s Selection Committee to receive the 2011 award from among seven nominees. The trophy will be presented at the organization’s second annual Trophy Gala at the Wichita Airport Hilton on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 28.
“Congressman Pompeo is an ideal choice for our keynote speaker since, for nearly a decade, he was a supplier to what is now Spirit AeroSystems,” noted Dave Franson, Wichita Aero Club Executive Director. “He knows the people, the business environment and the challenges that faced Jeff Turner and the employees of Spirit as they made the transition to an independent company because he worked along side them at Thayer Aerospace and faced similar challenges as he and his partners built that business.”
Pompeo will be part of a program that will also include a video highlighting Spirit’s success and growth as well as the company’s contributions to the local community. In just six years Spirit has grown to become the commercial air transport industry’s design/build provider of choice. The company has expanded internationally, grown its markets, established new sites, added numerous employees, both in Wichita and elsewhere and continued to explore ways to retain jobs in the local community and surrounding areas, even opening a sub-assembly facility in Chanute, Kansas rather than opting for outsourcing the work to another country.
The WAC Trophy is awarded annually to a living person, group, or existing organization with a strong relationship to the greater Wichita area, who have distinguished him, her or themselves in the field of aviation or aerospace within the most recent calendar year or during a cumulative career of significant achievements and contributions.
The Wichita Aero Club was established in 2008 to foster and promote interest in aviation, provide a forum focused on the industry’s issues and achievements and bring together those with a passion for flight in an environment that expands and enhances professional relationships and furthers cooperation and understanding.
For more information: 316-681-4491 or WichitaAeroClub.org
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