WICHITA, Kansas, May 30, 2007 -- Wichita is, of course, known as the Air Capital. So it’s no surprise that a local aviation company is making a big name for itself.

Business is good in Kansas; unemployment is low and companies are hiring. In Wichita, the backbone of our economy is, again, boosted by our signature industry.

"Right now, the business jet aircraft industry is very vibrant," said Russ Devasure, GM, Nordam Wichita. "Forecasts right now look good for the next 10 to 14 years."

And they’re looking better. Nordam just landed a huge contract worth millions to build the interiors of the new Cessna CJ-4 business jet.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma based company is a relatively new player in the Wichita market and now Nordam is one of four companies that compete for highly-specialized aircraft interior business.

"Everything that we use is lightweight materials -- lightweight edge fills, panel pins and so forth as construction."

Honeycomb fiber composite panels from the Tulsa plant are precisely cut on an automated pattern machine. They are then hand-crafted into aircraft cabinetry that will fit snug to the bulkhead of the plane. Then, the frame is faced with exotic wood laminates that are coated and buffed to a brilliant finish.

Looking around their 120,000 square-foot facility it seems -- well, half empty. And it is, for now. Nordam just moved in and they have almost tripled the size of their facility because the economic outlook is so favorable.

"So our plan is, in the next five to 10 years, to fill this facility up and even grow larger than that. I would like to see us double in size."

While it is tough to crack into new business, Nordam plans to diversify its business base by building interiors for military and commercial aircraft. But even with three other competitors, for now at least, there is enough business to go around.