This month Crissair Inc. completed the relocation of its operations to Valencia after having run out of room at a long-time facility in Palmdale. The aerospace parts manufacturer will move into a 70,000-square-foot building it bought last year with its acquisition of Canyon Engineering Products Inc., also an aerospace supplier. President Mike Alfred said about 180 employees will make the move to the Santa Clarita Valley to join the 60 workers at Canyon. “We were out of space in Palmdale; that’s what was driving (the move),” he said. Crissair was founded in 1954 and moved to the Antelope Valley from El Segundo in the 1970s when land was plentiful and cheap. The company was operated by founder Robert Stockberger and then his daughter Linda Bradley until 2010, when it was acquired by Esco Technologies Inc., a St. Louis manufacturer for the utility, industrial and aerospace industries. The company also has a plant in Tijuana, Mexico. At the time it was bought out, Crissair had revenue of $27 million. This year, the company will approach $50 million in revenue, a testament to the vitality of the commercial aviation industry Crissair serves. “Our legacy parts are on everything Boeing has ever built, same with Airbus,” Alfred said, referring to the two largest commercial jet manufacturers. Crissair makes valves, pumps and other devices to control the flow of fuel in commercial, military and business aircraft. Canyon made similar parts and as a separate company was a supplier to Crissair. Canyon was occupying about 25 percent of its building at 28909 Avenue Williams when it was bought by Crissiar. With commercial aviation on a building boom, Crissair will need the additional space. It is supplying to all the major new passenger aircraft being produced, such as the 787 Dreamliner from Boeing Co., in Chicago, and A380 from Airbus SAS, in Toulouse, France. Boeing alone will be turning out 50 aircraft a month, Alfred said. “At the same time we expanded the facility in Mexico where we make the components in high volume that go in our valves,” he added. Holly Schroeder, chief executive of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp., said that Crissair’s relocation was a great addition to the region’s aerospace industry. The new location should make it easier to attract and retain a high quality workforce, she said. “We have been assisting them in the transition and helping with working out logistical issues,” Schroeder added. Audio Abroad When Richard Brent, chief executive at audio surveillance equipment manufacturer Louroe Electronics, heard about a U.S. Commercial Service trade mission to Panama and Colombia, he just had to be a part of it. Brent learned the value of these trips after a similar mission to Mexico in 2012. Because of that trade mission, sales of the Van Nuys company’s products skyrocketed more than 1,000 percent in the Mexican market. The five-day Panama and Columbia mission at the end of September put Brent in front of government and industry officials to talk about Louroe’s devices and their usefulness in security. The meetings, organized by the Commercial Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, raised the visibility of Louroe, one of 17 U.S. businesses on the trip, and what it can offer the public and private sectors, Brent said. “It is in our strategic best interest to stay focused on Latin America,” he added. Louroe. founded in 1979, makes one-way and talk-listen microphones, speakers, base stations and other support equipment. A 2009 study by the Security Industry Association, a Silver Springs, Md.-based trade group, identified Columbia as having a $70 million security market while Panama’s was $18 million. Both, however, trail Mexico which has a $430 million market and still remains a top exporting site for Louroe. That is changing with Brent’s efforts, albeit at a slow pace. At the meetings in Panama and Colombia, no one came in with a pen and checkbook. Potential government clients want to see a demonstration of the equipment and to analyze the opportunity, Brent said. “I expect we will see purchase orders in some cases before the year is out,” he added. Colombia would have need for audio surveillance equipment as it engages in peace talks with the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, while in Panama the devices can be handy with security at the canal, Brent said. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].