A Menominee-based helicopter manufacturer is seeing growth thanks to contracts from two foreign governments.
Enstrom Helicopter Corp. is located in several buildings at Twin County Airport. While Enstrom may not be the biggest manufacturer in the business, it knows how to put out a quality product. That, and ease of use and trainability, are exactly what the Japanese and Thailand governments saw when they participated in demonstrations of the Enstrom 480B.
In the end, the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force has ordered a total of 30 of the helicopters, with deliveries slated to begin this year and run through 2014. In a separate contract, Enstrom will supply 16 training-configured 480Bs to the Royal Thai Army.
"That's our pride, and hopefully we're going to penetrate a lot of markets with that over the next few years," says Jerry Mullins, Enstrom's president and CEO. "There's a lot of interest in this helicopter."
The 480B carries a price tag of just under $1 million.
Enstrom made the leap into the world market in 2004 and 2005 when they successfully completed a contract with Indonesia for 18 helicopters that were to be used with the country's police force.
The company was started in 1959 and has since produced more than 1,100 helicopters from its Menominee facilities. More than 99 percent of their parts come from domestic suppliers.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Jerry Mullins, Enstrom Helicopter Corp.
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