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A Czech company that committed to invest up to $20 million in Roswell has produced its first engine at a facility that opened within three months of announcing plans to locate in the city.
PBS Aerospace anticipates the new plant to be the first of many expansions, both locally and across the United States as it boosts sales to the U.S. Department of Defense.
PBS ramping up to replenish the “arsenal of democracy” that has been depleted as countries have sent stocks drones and short-range missiles to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion, said Erin Durham, CEO of PBS USA.
According a news release, PBS is working on breaking into the F-35 supply chain with Lockheed-Martin and is soon to begin a new program with Pratt & Whitney. Internationally, PBS is supplying Ukrainian aircraft maker Ivchenko Progress and Israeli conglomerate Rafael. It also recently opened an operation sourcing components in India.
In Roswell, it took just 90 days to get permits, install manufacturing equipment and assemble the first TJ40 turbojet engine, which will be tested at Georgia Tech before an inaugural production run in September. The model is PBS’s smallest, but the company plans to quickly move into larger variants.
Support from the city, whose Czech ties developed quickly after a trade mission last October, was key to the company’s quick ramp-up, executives said.
“We took things that would take maybe a month or two in other municipalities to get completed, and our permits were done within hours or days,” Mr. Durham said.
Pavel Čechal, CEO at the broader Prague-based PBS Group, said the Roswell plant will start making engines by the hundreds this year, with the goal of reaching to the thousands by 2026. Committed to hiring up to 150 people, PBS is in talks with the city of Roswell about finding additional space as the company anticipates growing output to up to 20,000 engines per year. It also plans to house some research and development in Roswell.
Mayor Kurt Wilson said the move gives credence to Roswell’s pursuit of an economic development strategy focused on advanced manufacturing, including air mobility and aerospace.
“Today is proof that the strategy is working and I can tell you in all earnest it’s only the beginning,” Mr. Wilson said.
Mr. Čechal, for his part, said the investment is the fulfillment of a long-term strategy of PBS to localize manufacturing in the U.S. market, where it has had a sales foothold for more than a decade.
Roswell, he added, welcomed the Czech team with open arms.
“After these several months, we feel like a member of this community, and I really appreciate it.”
PBS showed confidence in its growth trajectory by spurning an offer from a Czech arms manufacturer that valued the company for about 5 billion Czech korunas, or some $225 million, Mr. Čechal told Czech media on LinkedIn.
PBS Group is wholly owned by a single shareholder, William Didden, whose nephew, Jakub Fischer, joined the Roswell opening as chair of the company’s supervisory board.
The event was live-streamed on YouTube with real-time participation from Czech media and is still available to watch here.
Read more: With Czech Aerospace Investment, Roswell Sees International Strategy Taking Off
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