Workhorse Begins Production
Bob Shiles, Staff Writer
© The Free Press

When she first met Bettie Fisher in Jones County more than a year ago, Workhorse Aviation Manufacturing President Melanie McTaggart hired her on the spot.

“She came highly recommended,” McTaggart said. “I told her she had to first finish the machinist program at Lenoir Community College, but offered her a job that day.”

Fisher took McTaggart’s advice, finished the machinist program, and came to work for WorkHorse on Feb. 1. She is the company’s first employee to complete LCC’s Advanced Machinist Program, housed at the Global TransPark Education and Training Center, and will officially receive her associate’s degree at LCC’s graduation ceremony May 12.

“Bettie has been superb and is a true success story,” McTaggart added. “She is unstoppable.”

Fisher is part of a small workforce that has created a manufacturing presence at the Global TransPark with Workhorse Aviation, which makes structural parts for out-of-production, as well as existing, military and commercial aircraft. The parts are manufactured in a 27,500-square-foot that opened at the GTP last December.

The fledgling company completed its first production run April 1. In this run, landing gear bushings were made for the De Havilland Caribou aircraft, a Vietnam-era transport plane operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. More than 300 units were manufactured.

“This first run was difficult,” said Glen Stalnaker, the company’s CNC programmer. “It was tedious. We are still getting things in order and had to start from scratch.

“You can’t just crank out metal parts for aircraft,” he added. “They have to be made properly so it’s safe for people to fly. With an aircraft, you can’t just pull over and replace a part if something goes wrong.”

McTaggart said that another major purchase order has been secured through the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. Production of parts for the CH53 Sea Stallion helicopter, a craft used by both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps., will begin in the spring.

The president said that production at WorkHorse is ahead of where she expected the company to be at this time in its history. Hiring of employees, however, is behind where she hoped to be at this time, she said.

“I wish we could hire more. There are plenty of applicants waiting,” McTaggart added. “Right now we employ seven and have two independent contractors working with us. By the end of the year, I hope to have 12 employees.” When McTaggart cut the ribbon opening the new plant last December, she expected to hire 50 workers initially.

Fisher, a Trenton resident, was a manufacturing assembly operator with Buehler Products in Kinston for 20 years before being laid off 2½ years ago when the company relocated to Mexico. She contacted the Lenoir County JobLink Center and found that as a dislocated worker she was eligible for retraining under the federal Workforce Investment Act program.

“I decided right away to go back to school and chose the machinists program,” she said. “There were mainly only men in the tool and machinists shops, but I decided there is nothing we women can’t do. Someone had to stand tall and lead the way for women.”

Bob Shiles can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 237, or bshiles@freedomenc.com.