VERO BEACH — With development of the PiperJet moving forward and a 50 percent increase in deliveries anticipated this year over last, Piper Aircraft is continuing to expand its hiring to meet the expected demand.Piper has gone on record as one of the few aircraft companies preparing to increase deliveries in 2010 and began late last year to hire back employees laid off after two rounds of reductions were instituted when the market crashed in 2008. The first PiperJet is expected to reach the market in mid 2013 priced at around $2.2 million. As it moves into its next phase of development, the company has been actively adding engineers to its payroll.In addition, the company is expecting to see increased deliveries in the latter half of 2010 for its current aircraft line and has been actively recruiting laid off workers. The company took out a large ad in the Sunday local paper last month looking for workers and continues to seek employees for local jobs on the company Web site www.piper.com.CEO Kevin Gould said recently that company’s new owner, Singapore-based Imprimis, is willing to provide the necessary financial backing for the company to continue its expansion.”Imprimis is making a significant capital commitment to enable the company to grow and secure its future, build on its iconic reputation, fully support its R&D programs and exciting innovations such as the PiperJet, and enhance its existing product line,” he said. “It will also increase Piper’s competitiveness by expanding its sales and marketing initiatives, and dealer development efforts. For example, Piper has in the last few months added 50 new engineers in Vero Beach to work on the PiperJet, as well as a number of other positions in various departments.”
