Celebrating CPI Aero's expansion on LI

Those who think of themselves as true believers gathered Tuesday at CPI Aero Inc., one of Long Island's last remaining aircraft parts companies.

These are the people who have always thought that the aerospace industry symbolized Long Island, and that it can and will make a comeback.

They are not as large in numbers as they used to be. Many remember the industry's heyday, when Grumman F-14 Tomcats were taking off from an airfield in Calverton. They turned out at CPI in Edgewood to celebrate the company's explosive expansion.

In late December, CPI moved across the street, literally, to a 171,000-square-foot building at 91 Heartland Blvd., from the 60,000-square-foot building it had occupied for decades at 60 Heartland. Tuesday, the company welcomed about 250 visitors, including competitors, suppliers, politicians and business executives, to view the new facility.

Less than a decade ago, CPI, which supplies wing and other components for some of the nation's largest aerospace companies, including Boeing and Sikorsky, was a dot on the industry's map.

When the current chief executive, Ed Fred, came to the company in the early 2000s, sales were about $8 million. They are projected to be an eye-popping $74 million for 2011. The company now employs about 160 people. Employment was in the low 60s a decade ago.

CPI releases fourth-quarter results Wednesday.

"I spent 10 years at Mother Grumman," Fred told the crowd on the main shop floor. He recalled an age-old quote he likes that applied to most in the room: "If you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life."

The true believers are fighting an uphill battle, against ever-rising taxes and utility and labor costs, all factors that drove much manufacturing off Long Island and to the South.

CPI's expansion is the result of a plethora of orders from Sikorsky, Gulfstream, Boeing, the U.S. Air Force and Spirit AeroSystems. CPI's nonunion workforce competes against larger companies, some of which are unionized. It has also been diversifying to more nonmilitary work.

Here's what's key: "We don't do true manufacturing here," Fred said. "Our claim to fame is we are a program member and a final assembler. Because we're small, we can be responsive and cost-effective."

Among the visitors was Vinnie DeStefano, once Grumman's vice president of manufacturing and now a CPI consultant. DeStefano is a true believer. It is not, he said, that he and the others think whole airplanes can be manufactured here. But that an aerospace industry cannot only exist, but thrive.

"It's not something that could be done tomorrow," DeStefano said. "But there could be a rebirth."