Paris Air Show Gives Boost to Kent Business

The Paris Air Show, held every June, draws the biggest names in the aviation and aerospace industries. Start-ups from Ohio rarely make an appearance, but this year one from Kent did.

Thanks to a partnership with Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI), Anderson Aerospace President .

"For a start-up to go to that show is kind of unusual," admitted Rick Anderson, founder of Anderson Aerospace, which is located in business incubator office space managed by the (KRBA) on Martinel Drive. The "unusual" move proved a smart step for the company, which has designed an aerospace antenna to allow TV and Internet service on jets in flight.

"We made more great contacts than we ever thought we would, and came back with an RFP," Anderson said. An RFP, or Request for Proposal, is the first step in securing a contract or order. And Anderson Aerospace needs an order. While the company has a proven design, using superior technology that provides numerous advantages over other antenna systems in the aviation/aerospace market, the two-man firm needs money to begin actual production.

Both of the company's principles are optimistic, however, that their product will find its way into the air. With several decades of combined business experience and technical and industry expertise, Anderson Aerospace has a solid story to share with potential customers and investors. The company also has a business plan in place for each of the next steps Anderson Aerospace needs to take — a plan for which Anderson is quick to share credit with KRBA.

"They helped us early on with business plans," Anderson said, adding KRBA also helped the company access marketing data and develop contacts at . "We even set up an outline for an intern program," with KRBA, Anderson said, adding he hoped to grow the company to the point where it could support several interns.

It's not quite there yet, though.

Since returning from the air show, Anderson and Flannery have split their time between following up on the leads they got at the show (including that RFP with a major aerospace company, which was pending when this interview took place) and polishing a pitch they are scheduled to make to JumpStart, a Cleveland-based venture capital firm that works with government, public and private organizations to help fledgling companies raise the money they need to continue to grow.

If their pitch is successful, they will receive a grant that will help the company operate into 2012, Anderson said. Regardless of the outcome of their pitch, Anderson and Flannery are following up on leads and contacts that they got as a result of their decision to go to the Paris Air Show.

Ohio made a good impression at the international show, Anderson said, thanks to well-coordinated efforts among public and private organizations, largely led by OAI, with considerable support from Amanda Wright Lane, a descendent of Ohio's famous Wright Brothers, who oversees the Wright Brothers Family Foundation. Anderson and Flannery offered high praise for OAI, Wright, and the foundation, saying connections made through those contacts have proven very helpful to Anderson Aerospace, as well as to many other small aerospace companies in Ohio.

Because they worked with OAI and got to know several people in the Dayton Development Group when they went to the Paris Air Show, Anderson said, they are developing contacts with people at Wright Patterson Air Force Base who may be interested in purchasing some of the company's technology.

"What's nice about (the Dayton Development Group) is, even though they have a regional focus, they're willing to help us in Northeast Ohio," he said.

Anderson and Flannery said they believe Ohio is committed to its aerospace industry and reiterated their commitment to both the industry and to Kent. Both men say as the company grows, they want it to remain in Kent.

"We really want to make things, and we want to make them here," Flannery said. "Rick is local, I'm local, and our families are here."