ST. LUCIE COUNTY — With the swoop of a small plane carrying County Commission Chairwoman Paula Lewis and the splash of water cannons from fire trucks, St. Lucie County International Airport will christen its new 4,000-foot runway on Thursday.

The $15.3 million runway is about 2,500 feet northwest of the existing pair of runways. It has been under construction for more than a year.

“We had a lot to do,” Lewis said. “We moved power lines, we acquired a piece of property for light of sight from the control tower, and I’m excited that it’s finally finished.”
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ST. LUCIE COUNTY — After weeks of police officer training in a classroom, Indian River State College students move on to a small platform that provides a high-tech simulation of how they react in a real-life situation.

They’re given a weapon that only emits lasers and equipped with a belt that zaps them if they put themselves in danger.

“It teaches consequences if they make bad decisions,” Stephen Huntsberger, associate dean of Public Service Education for IRSC, said of the VirTra Systems simulator at the complex.

The simulator is one of the planned demonstrations at Friday’s public open house at the new Indian River State College Public Safety Complex.
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HOBE SOUND — Before Harrison Ford donned a brown leather hat and whip, Kenneth E. Douglas’s two sons knew their father as the real-life Indiana Jones.

But Douglas, who was befriended by a rocket scientist, served as a police chief in tribal Liberia and had his plane attacked by a South American anaconda, was more than just a thrill-seeker.

Douglas also had the amicable Forrest Gump-like knack for running into and befriending some of the world’s most influential people across all walks of life. (more…)

VERO BEACH — Piper Aircraft Inc. is getting a new top executive. The Vero Beach-based plane maker announced Wednesday that James Bass, its president and chief executive officer since 2005, will resign on June 26.

Kevin Gould, Piper’s vice president of operations, will take over as CEO. John Becker, a 20-year Piper veteran and vice president of engineering, will become president.

Bass said his goal when he took the helm at Piper was to turn around the then-struggling company and make it attractive to a buyer. The Asian investment firm Imprimis bought the plane maker in April.

“I have successfully completed my mission at Piper and am leaving the company in very capable hands,” Bass said in a statement. “What I was brought in to do has been done, and it is now time for me to move on to other challenges.”

VERO BEACH — Sales of Piper Aircraft Inc.’s planes lost altitude during the first quarter, dropping 49 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008.

The Vero Beach-based plane maker shipped 22 planes worth $20.8 million from January through March, down from 43 planes worth $33.2 million during the same period last year, according to figures released Tuesday by the Washington D.C.-based General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

Piper’s results mirrored trends across the industry, which reported a 41 percent drop in shipments.

VERO BEACH — Piper Aircraft Inc. has been sold to an international investment firm for an undisclosed price.

The Vero Beach-based plane maker announced today that Imprimis purchased 100 stake in the company from American Capital Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS).

“Imprimis intends to invest significant capital in Piper’s current operations to strengthen its position in its traditional markets and support the development of key new products such as the PiperJet,” Piper said in a statement.

Imprimis, which operates from offices in Bangkok, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, is committed to keeping Piper’s headquarters in Vero Beach, the company said. (more…)

Slumping aircraft sales are prompting more furloughs at Piper Aircraft Inc.’s headquarters in Vero Beach.

The plane maker announced today that it would shut down the plant at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport for one week in May and one week in June, forcing all employees to take unpaid leave.

The furloughs are in addition to week-long plant closures planned for April and July, which Piper announced earlier this month. (more…)

VERO BEACH — Eight months after the state promised Piper Aircraft Inc. $32 million to keep its headquarters in Vero Beach, the plane maker has laid off 300 workers and plans to halt production for two weeks this year.

Piper made the job cuts Tuesday, pointing to “a deepening global recession” that has eroded aircraft sales. No severance packages were offered to the employees, most of whom were production-line workers.

“We can’t keep a full workforce on at this point when people aren’t buying planes,” company spokesman Mark Miller said.

The pink slips come on the heels of 150 layoffs that Piper announced last month. When those cuts were executed, most of the remaining workers were put on four-day workweeks.

In another move to slash costs, Piper will close its plant for a week in April and another in July, furloughing all workers, including executives. (more…)