"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - CNI Adds to Second Manufacturing Facility

***"The new 40,000 sq feet Cherokee Nation Industries facility in Stilwell will house more than 160 workers and bring new jobs and work contracts to the area."***

STILWELL, Oklahoma – Cherokee Nation Industries recently purchased the former Stilwell ALPS Food Store to further expand its second location in Stilwell. The building adjoins a newly renovated CNI facility, formerly a Wal-Mart, which will help make room for more work for the 40-year-old company’s aerospace division.

“CNI continues to be an economic driving force for this area,” said Bryan Collins, chief executive officer for CNI. “This business expansion shows we have dedicated even more resources to improve and expand our aerospace manufacturing operation. This expansion will eventually aid in acquiring new contracting programs, which will lead to more jobs in Stilwell.”

Collins says that the aerospace operation continues to thrive and customers are becoming more demanding and requiring CNI to have more capacity, in terms of employees and space, to acquire new manufacturing programs.

Since capacity is a major factor when potential clients award large contracts, CNI has spent the last two years strategically implementing expansion in phases to increase the space available for new programs.

“The Cherokee Nation has owned the former Wal-Mart facility for a short time,” said Collins. “We decided to utilize this space to make our processes more efficient and make room for additional programs.”

Collins expects that once the 45,000-square-feet manufacturing facility is fully implemented, there will be more than 160 workers just in that facility.

Since the beginning of the year, CNI has hired 50 new workers and continues actively recruiting aerospace technicians because of an increase in manufacturing programs of large prime contractors such as L3, Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin, Bell, Boeing, and many others.

“Once some of our manufacturing programs are transitioned to the new facility, we intend to redesign the current facility to improve efficiencies and workflow,” said Collins. “I expect that the redesign will accelerate growth and hiring, because we are applying a benchmark that has been set by large prime contractors and showing our commitment to the industry, which is making us more competitive.”

CNI and its affiliated companies are wholly-owned by the Cherokee Nation. CNI was established in 1969 to serve as the economic and workforce arm for the Cherokee Nation. This tribal corporation specializes in aerospace and defense manufacturing, telecommunications, construction, distribution and personnel services. For more information on Cherokee Nation Industries, visit the CNI web site.