The aircraft company, AVX, has moved into an expanded headquarters at AllianceTexas in Fort Worth. The company launched in South Fort Worth in 2006.
"I like to describe it as sort of the size of a broom closet," says Founder David Brody.
AVX is now moving into 14,000 square feet of office space at Alliance and 7,000 square feet of space for design and testing. The company says the expanded space will allow additional research into vertical lift technology, unmanned aircraft and design of aircraft.
"We're developing next generation airframe structures that really eliminate fasteners and joints," says AVX President Kendall Goodman. "These structures are highly fatigue-tolerant. That's so important for the next generation of aircraft."
Goodman says AVX is also developing software to make fleets run more efficiently, increase readiness and lower operating costs.
"That is so important for operating fleets of aircrafts in the Army and other fleets," he says.
AVX, which now employs 40 engineers, says it plans to double its workforce in the next year.
"This is one of, if not the leading innovation centers in aviation and mobility in general," Brody, the company's founder, says.
"The vision for what AllianceTexas could become is realized as a bustling city within a city," says Alliance Aviation Services President Christian Childs. "AllianceTexas is now home to 575 companies, believe it or not, that have created more than 66,000 direct jobs."
AVX says it is working with Army Futures Command in Austin to determine technology the military most needs to accomplish its mission. Congressman Jake Ellzey (R-Waxahachie) served as a helicopter and fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy.
"This company is going to do so much for the defense of our country in the trying years that are coming up," he says. "It looks a lot like 1938 to me, and if you look at 1938 and what happened in the evolution of World War II, the Defense Department depended on companies like AVX to expand the boundaries of technology and defense to protect our friends and allies overseas and ultimately fight wars."
Ellzey says AVX is showing a "pioneering spirit" similar to the Perot Family, which developed the area around Alliance, and Ross Perot Jr., who was the first to circumnavigate the planet in a helicopter in 1982. He says new technology will allow for the military to better determine which aircraft needs maintenance and allow for all-electronic flight controls.
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