WEEKSVILLE — With TCOM L.P. set to expand its Weeksville operations and add 25 new good-paying jobs, N.C. Chamber of Commerce officials thought this week would be a good one to visit the defense contractor as part of its NC Manufacturing Tour.
On Thursday, NC Chamber of Commerce President Gary Salamido made his first visit to the Weeksville-based maker of unmanned areostats that are used for long-term defense operations.
According to Salamido, the NC Chamber began its NC Manufacturing Tour last year as a way to get to better know manufacturers large and small who operate in North Carolina. More than 474,000 North Carolina workers were employed in manufacturing in 2021, generating more than $102 billion in income, according to the NC Chamber’s website.
The tour’s goal, Salamido said, is to elevate the visibility of manufacturers, educate the public about manufacturing’s statewide impact, and introduce students to potential careers in manufacturing.
“Step 1 is increasing awareness of companies like TCOM that are here and the opportunities that will be here for young people to see, understand and learn more about opportunities at the state’s manufacturers,” Salamido said. “Most of the time we don’t know what’s available. It’s not your father’s manufacturing or grandfather’s manufacturing anymore.”
TCOM, according to its website, is the world’s only company that designs, builds, installs, and operates “persistent surveillance” aerostat systems. “Persistent” means the aerostats are tethered to the ground for long periods and used for operations that include intelligence gathering, surveillance and aerial reconnaissance.
On hand to greet Salamido and approximately 20 area elected officials, educators and business leaders was James Catteau, site operations manager for TCOM in Weeksville.
Catteau explained that aerostats are unmanned aircraft that “don’t have any structure on the inside.” He showed off how TCOM workers perform electrical and mechanical work to integrate the aerostats with ground systems that support them. He also showed guests the company’s machine shop and electrical fabrication and electronics fabrication facilities.
“We are proud of what goes on down there because four years ago, many of those capabilities didn’t exist at TCOM,” he said. “We didn’t have the machine shop, for example, and we did none of our electrical assembly work here, so we’ve worked hard over the last four years to bring those capabilities here.”
Catteau said he thought the tour was a good chance to show the types of work TCOM performs and the types of skills the company needs.
“I thought it was important to get in the community and provide an opportunity for people to know what jobs are available in manufacturing and not just at TCOM,” he said.
TCOM announced last month that it’s expanding its 300,000-square-foot operations at the Weeksville facility to feature additional training, engineering and lab space. The 25 new jobs it plans to add will include assemblers, engineers, technicians, logistics specialists, and pay an average salary of nearly $50,000. That surpasses the county’s average salary of $44,457, state officials said.
Catteau said TCOM plans to increase the scope of products its manufactures, and that not all of the new jobs it’s creating will require a college degree.
“Yes we will add skilled labors, but the additional jobs at TCOM will run the gamut from system engineers, production planners, manufacturing folks, and housekeeping,” Catteau said.
“We went through a time where you had to have a college degree to be successful. That’s just not the case in the world (anymore),” he said.
Catteau indicated he believes there needs to be a shift in how young people perceive manufacturing jobs.
“There are kids who have accumulated incredible amounts of student debt with skills that quite frankly don’t translate into the well-paying jobs they thought they were going to get,” he said. “There are a lot of opportunities in manufacturing and I really want to get people to see that.”
TCOM is also hoping to collaborate with area educational institutions to provide internships for students, Catteau. He also sees the company working much closer with both the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce and NC Chamber.
“We have a responsibility to be part of a local Chamber of Commerce and work with the NC Chamber to try and bring as much business into the region for economic development,” he said.
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