Joel Davis grabbed his hard hat in a construction-site trailer and peered through a window at the Superstition Mountains. "It's impressive," he said of the view. "We were very fortunate to get this piece of ground."In the next several weeks the Cessna Aircraft Company executive hopes to sell that captivating vista and more to nearly 80 of the manufacturer's mechanics and their families. "We want the children, the wives, everybody involved," he said. "This is a major change in their lives. There is an ocean where they're living now and we want it to be a family decision to come over here."
Their elaborate introduction to Mesa and invitation to move here from Southern California starts later this month as the company prepares to relocate its Long Beach, Calif., aircraft maintenance operations to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. "It's kind of a Herculean effort because of flying so many people over here," Davis said. "We want them to become acclimated to the community. It's quite an ordeal to close one operation and open another."Such a massive and painstaking exercise to woo employees and their families to pull up roots and resettle in another state is rare in Mesa, said Charlie Deaton, president of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, which is helping Cessna carry out the project.The costly venture will pay dividends, however, if it enables Cessna to retain much of its experienced workforce, said Deaton and other business analysts."These are highly skilled people who know the airplanes, said Doug Oliver, director of Cessna's corporate communications. "They have a wealth of information and knowledge that's hard to find."And even if all of them make the move, Cessna will eventually hire additional mechanics to keep up with a growing demand being fueled by the company's climb in aircraft production, said Davis.
From the Arizona Republic
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