Northern Wings Repair is deceptively modest, right down to owner David Goodreau's protests that a recent Michigan Works! award was hardly deserved. The award is given to a private-sector employer which has consistently improved the local workforce through hiring and training.
"I'm just kind of flattered," Goodreau says. "We really have a great
relationship. It's strange to me to get this award because this whole
business really is indebted to Michigan Works! from the beginning, and
then they turn around and give us an award."
The company does aviation and aerospace repair, testing and machining, not to mention stocking and distributing parts for air and space craft. They do a lot of that from a facility in Newberry, but also have locations in Wisconsin and North Carolina. And their client list is star-studded as far as the aerospace industry is concerned; Boeing, NASA, and Lockheed Martin are a few of the names on it.
The state-funded jobs development agency helped Goodreau's small Engadine aerospace company take off in 2001, finding and training qualified employees, and assisting Northern Wings Repair through the tough process of getting Federal Aviation Administration-certified as a repair station.
"We kind of started with nothing but an idea," says Goodreau, whose background is as a U.S. Marine Corps aviator. Then, two-and-a-half years ago, the company had expanded enough that a new facility with more room and better infrastructure was needed, and they moved to Newberry.
Northern Wings went from two employees at its inception to about 25 today, and has also been recognized by one of their major clients, Boeing, as a quality company to do business with. Boeing has awarded them performance excellence awards for the last few years successively, and in 2010 gave them "Silver Supplier" status in recognition of their 98 percent on-time delivery rate, putting Northern Wings Repair in the top 300 of Boeing suppliers.
The Michigan Works! award will be presented at a Traverse City conference in September.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: David Goodreau, Northern Wings Repair
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