OXFORD – Oxford Aviation Inc. is in ongoing discussions with numerous airports in Maine to expand its aircraft refurbishing business, a move that is anticipated to add slightly more than 200 new jobs at the company and increase annual gross refurbishing sales tenfold, Jim Horowitz, president of Oxford Aviation, said Tuesday.
“We are looking to expand,” he said. “We have limitations to the runway length for expansion within this facility, so we are currently looking to expand our company to an airport with a longer runway to allow for refurbishing larger aircraft, primarily larger corporate jets.”
Oxford Aviation currently has about 65 employees. The company refurbishes small, single-engine aircraft and corporate jets at its main location in Oxford and operates a smaller facility in Fryeburg that does aircraft maintenance and offers flight school services and aircraft rentals. The company’s annual gross refurbishing sales are currently $5 million.
The runway at the Oxford location is 3,000 feet long. Horowitz said he is seeking a runway that is about 5,000 feet long so the company can refurbish larger planes to serve existing and future customers.
“Many of our customers have larger aircraft and we refurbish their smaller aircraft but, because of our runway limitations, cannot bring their larger aircraft to our facility,” he said. “We already have and enjoy a worldwide reputation for the kind of work we do and that reputation brings inquiries into our facility on a daily basis to do larger aircraft.”
Horowitz, who founded Oxford Aviation upon relocating to Maine from Florida in 1986, said he anticipates that the expansion will create slightly more than 200 new jobs, although the total number could be higher when the project is completed. “We initially project 202 employees. But we always try to be conservative in our estimates for what Oxford Aviation is going to do and achieve so that we can meet and exceed those estimates,” he said.
Additionally, he said gross sales will rise from the increased amount of refurbishing business. “I would think we’ll have a tenfold growth,” he said.
Horowitz said Fryeburg Airport is one of the sites under consideration but declined to comment further due to ongoing discussions with numerous potential locations. “(Fryeburg) is one of the potential sites. There are numerous others in the state that we are considering and in discussions with,” he said. “I do feel confident that we’ll have a new location settled and decided upon in the near future. We’re hoping to have construction and completion sometime in the next year.”
Horowitz said current jobs in Oxford will not be adversely affected by the expansion, and some employees will be given the option to transfer to the new location. “We will retain this facility and we will retain all the jobs in this area,” he said. “We see the expansion as an opportunity for all those that are with the company and have been with the company to improve their jobs, pay scales, and benefits as the result of being part of a larger company.”
Pay scales are anticipated to rise due to the expansion. “Typically, pay scales are between about $9 and will go up with the new facility to $27, $28 per hour, with an anticipated average mean salary of somewhere in the $16 to $20 range with full benefits,” Horowitz said.
Oxford Aviation has already received offers from airports in other states to complete its expansion. Horowitz said he decided to keep the company’s operations in Maine and he believes the state’s business climate is improving, giving business owners reason to be optimistic.
“I’ve been here long enough in business to see times where workmen’s compensation expenses were some of the very highest in the country, to a point now where it’s a little bit more in line with averages in the country. I think there’s a desire within the state to make us more equitable when it comes to business,” he said.
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