Western Skyways moving to Delta
After about three decades in Montrose, Western Skyways will be relocating to Delta, the company and Delta County’s economic alliance announced Friday.
“I think it’s a real benefit to Delta County,” said Greg Pope, executive director of One Delta County Economic Alliance. “It’s exactly the type of business we try to target, not necessarily aviation, but manufacturing. It’s skilled labor. They have internal training programs, on the job training, benefits and very good wages. It’s a perfect fit, I think, for Delta County and the surrounding area.”
Western Skyways, which provides piston engine servicing and other services for general aviation, will be moving into a commercial building at 18436 F Road in Delta. The company president, Eric Barker, says that building is essentially turn-key, and that Western Skyways intends to retain all current employees.
Barker was not available for a full interview Friday. In an email, he indicated that owning a facility is better than leasing one, as Western Skyways does in Montrose at 1 Creative Place, which abuts Montrose Regional Airport property.
The announcement from One Delta County states Western Skyway’s rent in Montrose was its second largest expense. In the announcement, Barker said the company has been considering Delta for years “due to its favorable environment for growth and expansion and its strategic geographic location for recruitment.”
He added: “Owning our own building in Delta will decrease our overhead costs and enable us to attract skilled labor from a wider region.”
The hope is to draw from the labor pool from the Surface Creek and North Fork valleys, all the way into Mesa County; Delta’s location between Montrose and Grand Junction was touted as “an ideal choice” in Friday’s announcement.
Western Skyways was founded in the 1940s in Oregon and came to Montrose in 1994. The company now employs 55 people, some of whom have worked there for as long as 30 years. Barker, with other long-term employees Don McArthur, Ryan Dickerson and Tony Bogart, purchased Western Skyways from Al Head in 2019. The company reports sales increases between 30 and 40%, post-COVID.
“Our employees are the backbone of our success,” Barker said, in the announcement. “We believe in investing in their best interests because when we support them, they, in turn, support us. We provide good pay and high-quality career paths in the company.”
The F Road location is on the southeast edge of Garnet Mesa, about 5.5 miles from Blake Field Airport in Delta. The 6.25-acre site boasts a heavy industrial facility in the form of a 20,245 square-foot building, plus an 8,500 square-foot concrete pad that will allow for expansion in the future.
One Delta County has been in touch with Western Skyways for a few years and talks ramped up once the F Road property became available. Pope said no financial incentives were provided to facilitate the move.
Delta County is hopeful of attracting manufacturing jobs, including aviation, because these tend to be stable and higher-paying — a boon in a county that in recent years has shed mining jobs and in 2014 also saw its Meadow Gold milk-processing center closed.
Pope is pleased to welcome Western Skyways to the county. “It’s a good, stable company. We know who they are. They’re established in the area and do a great job,” he said.
A timeline for the move hasn’t yet been announced.
