By DONNA COLLINS, Staff Writer

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has hit the economic development trifecta – new job creation, plant expansion and government contracts that will take the defense contractor beyond 2010.

“We’re a quiet company,” GDATP plant manager Dave Chilcote recently told the Camden News. Chilcote said the company has a current workforce of about 220. GDATP is a business unit of General Dynamics, the company that once employed several hundred area workers at its plant near Camden Regional Airport. That building, now owned by Highland Industrial Park, remains unoccupied most of the year.

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command Contracting Center awarded the company an approximately $150 million order to produce Hydra-70 rockets, warheads and motors. Deliveries are expected  to begin in September 2010.

The U.S. Army Joint Munitions and Lethality Contracting Center awarded the company a multi-year contract for the load, assemble and pack of the M231 and M232A1 Modular Artillery Charge System or MACS. The value of the order is approximately $35 million, with deliveries beginning this fall.

General Dynamics Land Systems- Canada awarded GDATP a $150 million contract to produce reactive armor tile sets for the Stryker family of vehicles. Deliveries are expected to begin in March 2010.

New jobs have been created with each contract, Chilcote said, adding that some contract employees will now become permanent employees, but there are opportunities for area job seekers. The open contract positions are part of the overall jobs created. Chilcote  said the majority of new jobs are production line positions. He said workers with at least one year of work experience are preferred, but that is not a requirement. High school diplomas or GEDs are required and although GDATP does not require job applicants to have a Career Readiness Certificate, a CRC can give an applicant an edge, Chilcote said.

CRCs are part of Gov. Mike Beebe’s Career Readiness and Career Pathways programs. Participants are awarded bronze, silver or gold designations depended on the completion of job readiness tasks and tests. Chilcote said it would not be impossible for a new high school graduate to be hired. He added that most current employees live within a 25- to 40-mile radius of the plant and he does not anticipate any problems in finding qualified workers.

The hiring process, from application to acceptance, can take up to four weeks, Chilcote said, adding that the required background check adds to the wait. In April Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development awarded GDATP $21,600 in job creation incentive funds. The money will be used to setting up training programs for new employees.

Area job seekers may also want to check with area construction firms. Chilcote said local and area subcontractors are encouraged to bid on the plant’s multi-million dollar infrastructure expansion.

Good news for GDATP is also good news for other area defense and defense-related plants. Chilcote said some GDATP support services and testing are provided by area companies. And what will Chilcote be doing in the future? “Out looking for new projects,” he said. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, located in Charlotte, N.C., designs, develops and produces high-performance weapon and armament systems, defensive armor, countermeasure systems, aerospace composite solutions, and is a leading U.S. producer of biological and chemical detection systems.

More information about General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products can be found on the Internet at www.gdatp.com.