BUSINESS REPORT: AeroTurbine Opens HQ In Miramar As Florida Aerospace Grows

By Ed Felton
From the January/February 2014 issue

Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope, President & CEO of Enterprise Florida.
Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope, President & CEO of Enterprise Florida.

AeroTurbine, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), recently opened its 264,000-square-foot in Miramar. The manufacturer, repairer and warehousing company of aircraft engines and engine parts, will create new 75 jobs.

“This new facility is designed to take AeroTurbine and our great employee team into the next decade,” said AeroTurbine President and CEO Michael King. “The building will support the unique requirements of each of our core business lines, engine material, airframe material, asset leasing and asset trading.”

“We are especially appreciative to the City of Miramar, Broward County and the State of Florida, as they have been extremely cooperative to work with and have provided all the support necessary for our new facility to come online,” added King.

The company chose to expand in Florida after much time and research and is now centrally located between the Miami International and Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale International airports.

Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope, president & CEO of Enterprise Florida, said: “AeroTurbine’s expansion in Miramar validates the state’s position as a leader in aviation and aerospace.”

Bob Swindell, President and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance said, “AeroTurbine’s presence is an important addition to Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward’s dynamic cluster of aviation industry companies.”
Florida is home to one of the nation’s largest aviation and aerospace industries with more than 2,000 aerospace and aviation companies across the state.

PROLEXIC MOVES GLOBAL HQ TO DOWNTOWN FORT LAUDERDALE

Prolexic Technologies, the global leader in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection services, will expand and relocate its Global Corporate Headquarters and 24×7 Security Operations Center to downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The company, which focuses on protecting businesses from network and machine hacking, will invest $1.16 million in capital and lease approximately 35,000 square feet of space at the New River Center office building. The project will result in the addition of 118 new jobs at an average salary of approximately $100,000 along with retaining 120 existing Florida jobs.

“It was crucial that we secured a larger, more efficient office facility to accommodate our rapid expansion and attract the highest quality employees,” said Scott Hammack, CEO of Prolexic Technologies. “We’re pleased to stay in Florida and bring new jobs to Fort Lauderdale. We appreciate all the combined efforts of Gov. Scott and many other groups that made it possible.”

Officials from the company and its location advisory consultants worked with a number of city and state organizations to craft incentives that totaled $1,589,300. The incentives consist of $826,000 from the Qualified Target Industries Tax Refund Program, $125,000 from the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund and $125,000 in a Direct Cash Incentive from the City of Fort Lauderdale for the hiring of its residents. In addition, Workforce Florida, Inc. will provide up to $380,800 for the customized training of new and retained employees through the Quick Response Training Program, and WorkForce One of Broward County will provide an additional $132,500 for local recruitment assistance programs and services.

Florida Power and Light (FPL) will support the project by offering backup generation services, which will include evaluating the needs of the company and building the system. “It’s extremely rewarding to provide our state an advantage in attracting companies,” said FPL President Eric Silagy.