AirTech to Move Headquarters, Factory to O.C.

AirTech International Inc., a manufacturer of high-tech composite materials, plans to move its headquarters and factory from Carson to Orange County next year.

The privately owned company said all its 105 employees are expected to make the move after a 118,000-square-foot office, factory and warehouse complex in the McDonnell Centre Business Park in Huntington Beach is completed in June.

The company expects to hire about 10 more employees after moving into its new quarters, with additional hiring dependent on growth after that, said Jeff Dahlgren, AirTech’s executive vice president.

AirTech makes graphite, Kevlar and Fiberglas sheet material used for manufacturing aerospace tooling, sports equipment, power boat hulls and race car bodies. The company had about $70 million in sales last year, Dahlgren said.

He said the 24-year-old company is moving from its 65,000-square-foot facility in Carson because it needs more space.

AirTech chose to put up its own building in the Huntington Beach business complex, Dahlgren said, “because we are a high-profile company in our industry and we needed a high-profile building and area. We have a lot of international visitors and we wanted them to see us in a nice new environment.”

That the facility is next door to Boeing Co.’s space division in Huntington Beach “is a nice coincidence,” he said. Boeing is one of AirTech’s major customers.

AirTech has retained Charles Terry Architects of Newport Beach to design the facility, and a Los Alamitos general contractor, Millie & Severson, to build it. Total cost, including land acquisition, is $7.2 million, the company said.

The McDonnell Centre is part of the old McDonnell Douglas Corp. property.