By Collin Huguley – Staff Writer, Charlotte Business Journal
June 13, 2022
Collins Aerospace has unveiled the newest piece of its Monroe manufacturing operations, the latest addition in a string of expansions recently.
Late last week, the company, which is a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX), announced the opening of a new additive manufacturing center at its Monroe campus. Collins Aerospace has also expanded its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities as part of a recent investment. Just last year, Collins Aerospace completed a $30 million expansion at the campus, and the company says it has since invested an additional $15 million in improvements.
As part of the expansions, Collins Aerospace has added over 70 new employees to its Monroe operations and plans to continue hiring more workers there.
The new additive manufacturing center has opened with two 3D printers with plans for more. It is one of several additive manufacturing facilities that Collins Aerospace has nationally and globally, with similar facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Connecticut in the U.S. Abroad, it has additive facilities in Singapore and Poland.
The MRO capabilities at the campus are used to repair parts for commercial and military aircraft. The Monroe campus is one of 75 MRO locations for Collins Aerospace worldwide.
“Our Monroe site is one of Collins’ largest MRO facilities in the world, and the repairs we provide are essential to keeping our airline and military customers’ aircraft in service,” said Mary DeStaffan, Monroe site general manager for Collins Aerospace. “We’re proud to call Monroe home, to continue to invest and grow in the community here, and to support the region’s growing aerospace cluster.”
Collins Aerospace opened its first operations in Monroe in 2004 and its facility spans 160,000 square feet. As of July 2021, the company had employed over 150 workers at the location. The company’s facilities are located near Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport off Airport Road and Corporate Center Drive.
“Collins Aerospace is a vital corporate partner and a cornerstone of our aerospace cluster here in Monroe and Union County,” Monroe Mayor Marion Holloway said. “Not only are we excited about the current success of the company and their investments here, but their continued commitment to the residents of our community.”
