Published: 04.29.2008

Global Aircraft makes a Boeing sale

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Tucson’s Global Aircraft Solutions Inc. announced it will sell one of its Boeing 737 aircraft to Kabul, Afghanistan-based Pamir Airways for $2.3 million.

The company said Monday that the sale has “significantly reduced” its senior debt, and anticipates the sale of a third 737 soon. The purchase price includes payments made to Global under a past agreement on which Pamir defaulted.

Last week, Hamilton Aerospace Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Global Aircraft, said it received Federal Aviation Administration approval to add Boeing 737-600, 737-700, 737-800 and 737-900 aircraft to its repair station certificate.

Published: 04.19.2008

D-M unit constantly at war

Families struggle, cope with repeat, long deployments

By Aaron Mackey

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

In the four years that Master Sgt. Tony Roy’s electronic combat unit has been deployed, he’s spent nearly two years away from home.

Roy is one of roughly 140 airmen based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base who have been constantly at war since March 2004, deploying several times to provide electronic cover to troops in Iraq and Afghani-stan.

Members of the 55th Electronic Combat Group hop back and forth from combat zones to Tucson for months at a time, coming home only long enough to retrain, regroup and head back.

The pace of the deployments — one of the fastest in the U.S. Air Force — has shattered several unit milestones, as pilots and crews have flown more than 4,000 missions and spent roughly 28,000 hours in the air, disrupting enemy communications and performing other tasks.

Online firm wins entrepreneur contest

RENÉE SCHAFER HORTON

Published: 04.19.2008

SkillIT, an online business that would connect tech-savvy college students with tech-needy community members, took top honors Friday at the CB Richard Ellis/McGuire Entrepreneurship Business Plans Competition at the University of Arizona.

Undergraduate and graduate students at the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, which is part of the Eller College of Management, work all school year to come up with viable business plans to enter in the competition. The intent is to teach business students how to become entrepreneurs

“We weren’t expecting this idea to be so well received,” said Eric Wilson of the winning team.

Competition judge Christopher McGuire, vice president and directorof the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, said all four plans were excellent but judges thought SkillIT “has the best potential for the future.”

Published: 04.15.2008

UA ‘home run’ is hit vs. cancer of colon

Two-drug combo in study is hailed as ‘breakthrough’

By Carla McClain

Striking a major blow against a top killer — colon cancer — a new drug therapy cuts the threat of this disease by as much as 90 percent in high-risk patients, University of Arizona scientists announced Monday.

The new therapy — combining the drug DFMO and an anti-inflammatory known as sulindac — was tested in patients who had developed precancerous colon polyps, putting them at high risk for full-fledged colon cancer.

Overall, their likelihood of developing more dangerous polyps was cut by 70 percent after three years on the combination therapy.

Published: 04.09.2008

Ariz. biotech grows apace

But some firms troubled, expert says

By Jack Gillum

Arizona’s biotech companies are showing continued growth, but fixed costs and lack of capital may pose problems for some in the industry, one leading expert said at an annual conference in Tucson Tuesday.

At a luncheon speech, Celtic Therapeutics LLLP co-founder Peter B. Corr said problems include “massive” patent expirations and a lack of capital for some companies.

At the same time, Corr, a well-known pharmaceutical executive and academic, said growth among Arizona’s biotech firms is palpable.

“If I would have given this talk 10 years ago, there would have been one table, maybe two,” he said. At Tuesday’s event, Arizona biotech leaders filled more than a dozen tables.

Published: 04.07.2008

UA working to help grow economy in Tucson area

By Michelli Murphy

Growing the local economy has been Bruce Wright’s focus for 20 years.

Wright serves as the University of Arizona’s associate vice president for economic development, and he is the founder of the Arizona Center for Innovation, the local high-tech business incubator at the UA’s Science and Technology Park.

Wright is working on plans to build a new 65-acre biotech park at East 36th Street and South Kino Parkway, and he is hoping the project will break ground by late 2009 or early 2010.

He spoke about the UA’s economic development efforts in an interview Friday. Here are excerpts:

Q: Why do you think it’s necessary for the University of Arizona to have a hand in developing the local economy?

Published: 04.07.2008

Local manufacturing company thrives

Anewco Products’ new acquisition and new building signifying success

By Michelli Murphy

While some local manufacturers are cutting jobs and scaling back operations, one is on a steep growth curve.

Anewco Products Inc. is expanding its facilities, and, with its latest acquisition, the company is expanding its capabilities, too.

Anewco bought Tucson Spraying Technology Inc. in January.

Founded in the early 1980s, Tucson Spraying Technology, or TST, was the first local company to specialize in powder coating — a process of coating metal with dry powder, then heating it to form a finish more durable than paint.

Acquiring TST allows Anewco — a metal machining firm that makes products for the aerospace, military and medical industries — to produce completed products, said Bob Horn, Anewco’s vice president of marketing.

$2.3 billion for Raytheon missiles

Military industry in Arizona supplies key equipment for war

MAX JARMAN

Published: 04.07.2008

President Bush’s $515.4 billion 2009 defense budget, now before Congress, bodes well for Arizona’s more than 6,000 military contractors and subcontractors.

The spending package, the largest since World War II, funds most major programs and does not include any significant cuts.

The 2009 budget is a boon to scores of small businesses that do subcontract work.

It’s also generous to the state’s major defense contractors.

There is $2.3 billion for missiles made by Raytheon Corp. in Tucson, $800 million for the Boeing Co. to remanufacture Apache Helicopters in Mesa and $728 million to upgrade Abrams tanks with new engines built by Honeywell International Inc. in Phoenix.