Aviation has been creating jobs and opportunities in North Carolina since the days of Wilbur and Orville Wright and the aerospace industry is still an important job growth cluster for North Carolina.

Carolina Precision Machining (CPM), a home-grown Davie County aerospace manufacturer has relocated its manufacturing operation to the former Trim Building in Mocksville at 351 Bethel Church Road.

Founded in Davie County by Steve Vick in 1993, CPM manufactures precision machine parts for aerospace, aviation and heavy equipment manufacturers.The company employs 30 people and this move will help the company create 10-25 new jobs over the next 12 to 18 months.

“While big economic development deals like Ashley Furniture, Avgol, Baptist Health, Gildan, and Avgol get lots of attention and news coverage, it is the small business entrepreneur that creates most of the jobs in this country,” said Terry Bralley, Davie County Economic Development Commission president. “Entrepreneurs in Davie County like Steve Vick know how to get things done. They are taking the initiative, assuming the risk, and putting our people to work.

“Davie County seems to have the right combination of factors that make this fertile ground for the entrepreneurial mind-set. We are growing but we are still small enough that a small business owner in Davie County can feel like a big fish in a small pond.

“Many of these successful leaders are up and coming young folks with vision, high energy, passion and talent. We’re blessed to have folks like Steve in our community. The Davie County EDC is looking at ways to foster and grow this entrepreneurial talent base.”

The new location provides room for expansion and reduces operating costs by enabling work-flow efficiency improvements.

According to Steve Vick: “This new location gave us a clean slate and the opportunity to think outside the box and re-configure workflows from scratch; improving efficiency, reducing costs and making us a more valuable partner for our customers.The additional floor space and plant layout has allowed us to improve every aspect of our operation.”

One of the biggest advantages of the new location is additional space for new equipment. CPM is in the process of installing and configuring the newest laser in the new location. The cost of cutting hard-to-machine materials by conventional mechanical machining processes is high due to the low material removal rate and short tool life. Some materials are not possible to be cut by the conventional machining process.

Laser beam machining uses a laser beam to remove materials without mechanical engagement with the work-piece material.

The N.C. Community Colleges system, DCCC Community College and the Northwest Piedmont Workforce Development Board worked together in support of private sector job growth at CPM.

With the support of an Incumbent Workers Grant from The Northwest Piedmont Workforce Development Board and a Workforce Development Grant from Davidson County Community College and the N.C. Community College System, CPM earned the aerospace manufacturing certifications AS9100C and ISO 9001:2008 in 2013 paving the way for continued job growth in the aviation sector.

“The AS9100C certification enables CPM to compete on a level playing field with firms that are many times our size in the aerospace industry,” Vick said. “It is unique for a firm our size to achieve this prestigious certification and it demonstrates our commitment to total customer satisfaction.”

“Congratulations to Steve Vick and to the entire team at Carolina Precision Machining,” Bralley said. “It is impressive when a firm is able to compete at this level and we look forward to the continued success of Steve Vick and the entire team at Carolina Precision Machining.”

CPM is a privately owned and operated company established in 1993. CPM provides precision machine part manufacturing for aerospace, aviation and heavy equipment manufacturers with quality that is certified to comply with AS 9100C and ISO 9001:2008.

Machinists at CPM do high-precision, close tolerance tooling work and high volume turning and milling. They also perform first article inspection components and prototypes prior to production.

Carolina Precision Machining can be reached by telephone at 751-7788 and on the web at www.cpmmachining.com.