Aerospace a growth industry for region

From their offices just outside the northwest corner of the Carson City Airport, employees of Click Bond Inc. can walk just a few steps to a waiting private jet that will take them to meetings with customers across the nation.

Those meetings are becoming more common as Click Bond one of the five largest private-sector employers in Carson City opens new markets in the aviation, defense and transportation sectors worldwide.

And Click Bond isn't alone. Aerospace manufacturing is among the strongest sectors of the northern Nevada economy these days, and it's getting more attention from economic development executives who believe the sector is likely to be an important pillar for the region.

Statewide, employment in aerospace manufacturing more than doubled in the past decade. The sector in 2009 employed 2,810 in the state largely in the Carson City and Reno areas compared with 1,290 in 2001, says the Aerospace Industries Association.

Aerospace companies in the state compete and win in markets worldwide.

Exports of aerospace equipment made in Nevada have grown five-fold in the past 15 years, and export shipments now run well over $100 million a year, says the industry association.

The growth comes from companies large and small.