Acorn and TBIP Host Roundtable on MRO Trends in the Aerospace Industry | Posted 03/23/2007

A comprehensive look into trends and projected growth in the commercial and military Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) sector of the aerospace industry was presented during two recent meetings held at Tinker Business & Industrial Park and hosted by Acorn Growth Companies.

Lt. Governor Mary Fallin, Congressional staff members, state and community leaders including Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Tourism Kathy Taylor, representatives of Tinker Air Force Base and the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC/ALC), and area managers of aerospace companies located at Tinker Business & Industrial Park attended the sessions, Acorn President Jeff Davis, said.

The report was presented in two different roundtable sessions by Kevin Michaels, President of Aerostrategy, a leading aerospace marketing research firm with a particular focus on the MRO sector. Michaels has authored an article in the January/February 2005 edition of Overhaul and Maintenance Magazine which features his forecast of the industry for the next several years.

Due to the enormous cost of new aircraft, the U.S. Government has invested heavily in extending the life of the existing fleet. For this reason, Michaels said demand for the MRO work performed by the nation's military depots will remain strong. According to Michaels, however, the desire is to shift the economic emphasis from the maintenance aspect to items such as precision weapons systems, research and development, and new technologies.

"Kevin's presentation demonstrated just how significant the Tinker mission is to the overall operational readiness of our military," Davis said. "Tinker has management responsibility for all of the engines in the U. S. Air Force, which accounts for about 80 percent of the entire Department of Defense aircraft fleet," he added.

In addition to the roundtable sessions held at TBIP, Michaels and Davis met with key leaders at Tinker Air Force Base for several informational sessions on the MRO work performed there and also toured several Tinker facilities.

Acorn Growth Companies is a private enterprise development firm that accelerates the growth and evolution of small, niche-specific companies to augment the aerospace, communications, environmental sciences and human capital development industries in the State of Oklahoma. Acorn's business incubator, located at TBIP, was the first private incubator to be certified by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.