Helicopter Maker Abandons New Factory

The company had planned to “conquer” the U.S. market. In early 2019, a Swiss helicopter manufacturer held a press conference to tout its plans to “conquer” the U.S. market from its new factory in southern Louisiana. Three years later, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan — in fact, it turns out the company has pulled the plug on the project altogether. Kopter, a maker of single-turbine helicopters for transportation services, utilities, and first responders, reportedly selected a location in Lafayette, Louisiana, ahead of dozens of potential sites. The company bought out the lease at a former Bell Helicopter facility at the city’s airport and vowed to invest more than $4 million in the complex. The plant was reportedly in line to make a new helicopter for the company, creating more than 120 new jobs — and receiving millions in incentives from the state.Less than a year later, however, Kopter was acquired by Italian aerospace company Leonardo, whose primary U.S. operations are in Philadelphia and which operated a maintenance facility in nearby Broussard, Louisiana. Although Kopter continued to operate independently, by the following March, the fate of the Lafayette project was apparently already in jeopard