“An airplane cluster in Duluth, MN? How did that happen?” With its cold winters and short days, it isn’t where I would have expected it. But, Duluth (population 86,918) took a chance a couple of years ago and it is paying off—in spades!
Cirrus Design was started in Baraboo, WI (population 10,711) by the Kladmeier brothers as an airplane kit builder. They decided to start to build their own revolutionary planes, but the town of Baraboo didn’t share their vision and in fact viewed the 25 or so cars of the Kladmeiers and their workers that were constantly at the local airport as a bit of nuisance. “Look somewhere else” they were told.
Duluth embraced them, offered them space in an old hanger at their airport and their business started to take off. Today they have 350 employees building over 300 airplanes each year. Plans are to more than double this production in the next several years. Suppliers of parts, upholstery and other services have set up in Duluth’s industrial park because of Cirrus’ growth. Others will follow as this cluster develops.
Cirrus currently has three models of planes that retail for from $190,000 to $335,000. Their SR22-G2 model is the best selling single-engine four-seater in the world. All of their models have the most unique safety feature in the world, an airplane parachute that allows the entire plane to float to the ground in case of an unexpected emergency.
My schedule only allowed me to drive by their operations and snap a few pictures. I’d love to get back and visit their facilities and airplanes at a future time.
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