Ducommun started business in Greene County in 1977 as DynaBil Industries, started by local entrepreneurs Mike Grosso and Hugh Quigley. The company makes high-precision parts for aircraft and aerospace applications, and has long been a company of choice for aerospace giants such as Boeing, Sikorsky and Pratt and Whitney. Aircraft such as the Black Hawk helicopter and Boeing’s Dreamliner rely on parts made in Greene County.

DynaBil grew through several expansions, and reached an employment level of 250 people with sales of $43 million before it was acquired by California-based Ducommun, a large international supplier of aerospace parts. Unlike many other manufacturing companies in New York State, Ducommun not only did not consider closing down the plant, but it completed an ongoing expansion and added workers to the company’s facilities in Greene County.

Ducommun and its skilled workers are experts in working with titanium, an expensive metal that is key to the success of many aerospace applications. At 35,000 feet or under enemy fire, failure is not an option.

Greene County has assisted the company twice. The first time was as DynaBil on an expansion that allowed the company to expand into titanium production. The second funding created an access road in the Business and Technology Park that paved the way for the construction of the Ducommun building there. The County’s Workforce Investment Office regularly works with Ducommun to ensure that the company has the supply of skilled workers that it needs.

In both cases, Greene County’s economic development team was able to smooth the way to ensure that the expansions took place. Its Industrial Development Agency (IDA) was also instrumental in ensuring that when Ducommun needed assistance to expand, there was only one choice for the business.