Mesa, Arizona Williams Gateway Has a New Tenant!

Jet maker plans Mesa, Arizona service center

There is a new facility being set up at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa. A Brazil-based jet maker, Embraer, broke ground on July 2, on an $8 million service center.

Scheduled to be completed by August 2008, this facility will bring 60-65 high paying jobs and national and international recognition to Mesa with its first five years of operation.

Williams Gateway Authority, the airport's multicity governing body, will spend more than $12 million in improvements to make it happen. Included will be a new taxiway, fire suppression technology, storm water drains and more terminal parking spaces. Those amenities are needed to ready Williams for the additional businesses likely to show some interest in the hub due, in large part, to the new Embraer facility.

Williams Gateway was selected by Embraer to land its only Western U.S. repair shop because of its "favorable location, quality work force and favorable business climate," said Bob Davis, managing director for the executive jets division. This shop will fix versions of the 8-passenger Legacy 600 and a new super premium line, Phenom, which the company introduced in June. Williams Gateway will be big enough to handle three to eight jets at a time.