Aerospace manufacturer relocates to Gardnerville

The aerospace manufacturing cluster in greater Carson City area got another player.

Aerospace and Commercial Precision Machining, formerly located in Palmdale, Calif., last week completed a long-anticipated move to Gardnerville. AnC Precision joins a diverse base of aerospace manufacturing companies, such as Click-Bond, Phoenix Aerospace and Chromalloy, that specialize in making parts and equipment for the aerospace industry.

AnC president Greg Havemann says he relocated the company from its home in the Southern California desert after 32 years because he finally soured on California's business practices and regulatory environment. AnC Precision took 13,000 square feet at 1119 Sawmill Road in Gardnerville.

"Here, with the tax advantages and other business advantages, I have a shot at making a dollar and growing and building my company and employing people," Havemann says.

Havemann bought the company from its founder in 2000 and grew the business from three employees to a peak of 18 to 20 before the recession trimmed its staff. AnC Precision employs nine, with eight employees making the transition to northern Nevada.

And what a transition it was. After a lengthy months-long buildout to combine two spaces into one at its new headquarters was completed in April, AnC began packing. The company used three extra-long flatbeds for manufacturing lines and two 54-foot box trucks for tools and accessories for the 360-mile journey up Highway 395.

"It was quite extensive and quite expensive," says Havemann, who also moved his home at the same time. "We were down on production just a total of five working days. We are still unpacking, but we are glad we are on this side of it."

AnC is a full and complete manufacturing provider offering welding, in-house engineering and machining services. The company began servicing existing contracts in early May and expected to be fully operational by end of last week.

Past clients in the aerospace sector include jet Propulsion Laboratory, Northrop Grumman, Dryden Flight Research Center, Lockheed Martin and L-3 Communications.

"We work directly for scientists and engineers and their departments," Havemann says. "We dare the world to give us a part we can't make."

ANC Precision also does commercial work, such as tooling for the high-speed packing industry. Its customers include Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. However, Havemann says no job is too small.

"I am here for the local guy, the rancher, or whoever needs a service done. I am not just here to do the top work; I am here to support this community, and I will do any kind of work."