Rohr Denies Plans to Shift Any Jobs From California
Rohr Inc. has acquired an option to buy 229 acres in Casa Grande, Ariz., but the Chula Vista-based aerospace manufacturer Thursday denied published reports that it plans a large-scale shift of jobs from its California operations to the site.
Rohr spokesman John Walsh said that if Rohr exercises its option to buy the land, the site will be used to store tools for the making of aerospace parts that are no longer in regular production, or programs that have “ceased being run on a day-to-day basis.” A maximum of 15 employees would be stationed there, he said.
Walsh denied Arizona newspaper accounts that the site will eventually be home to 300 Rohr employees who will work on making the out-of-production parts. Rather, Rohr plans to truck tools stored in Arizona back to plants in Chula Vista, Riverside or Moreno Valley for production on a temporary basis, Walsh said.
Walsh declined to state categorically, however, that the Arizona site would never be used for manufacturing. Rohr now dedicates only 23 acres of its property to out-of-production tool storage, he said.
Buying the 229 acres makes sense because Rohr “makes it a practice to go in on the high side for property requirements to allow for potential expansion. The day you put a plant up, the price doubles of everything around it,” Walsh said.
If consummated, the purchase of the Arizona land will fulfill a long-stated Rohr goal to find a storage location “in a dry climate” to replace storage space rented from the San Diego Unified Port District, Walsh said.
Rohr makes jet engine nacelles or housings, as well as other engine components. The company employs 10,380 people, including 5,500 in Chula Vista.
