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Wellman Dynamics has announced that the U.S. Army Contracting Command has selected Wellman as the recipient of a Defense Production Act Title III award of $15.7 million. As a condition of the award, Wellman is required to fund a matching investment of $7.9 million. The total investment of $23.6 million will be used for plant modernization in response to the growing demand for Wellman’s products. Wellman specializes in producing aluminum and magnesium sand castings used primarily on military and commercial helicopters, including the presidential helicopter, Marine One.
“This is great news for the company and the City of Creston. Our customers include many of the world’s leading producers of military and commercial helicopters, aircraft engines, and missile systems,” said Jim Pinto, CEO of Wellman. “Our customers rely on Wellman to supply some of the largest and most complex sand castings in the world. After years of negligible investment, the business is now positioned to modernize the plant operations into a world class foundry.”
In addition to the $23.6 million investment, Wellman will invest an undetermined amount to expand its Creston facility to include the addition of a standalone facility to produce aluminum castings for the U.S. military’s next generation of heavy lift and attack helicopters.
The DPA Title III program provides the president broad authority to ensure the timely availability of essential domestic industrial resources to support national defense and homeland security requirements through the use of highly tailored economic incentives. The program is designed to sustain, expand, modernize, and restore the domestic industrial base.