[Ferro-Alloys.com]Titanium will open its doors in Plattsburgh sooner than expected in order to meet its customers’ demands and build -- what CEO and president Warren Boley hopes is -- a generations-long relationship with the region.

Touting what its executives call “first-in-the-world technology,” the aerospace manufacturing company leased a space yards away from the plot where it intends to build its permanent manufacturing facility, according to Boley.

“It is a temporary transition point that allows us to get the machines into New York and start hiring and satisfying customers about a year earlier,” he said. “Norsk Titanium can sponsor a Little League team during the summer of 2017, not the summer of 2018. It's a great strategy to bring the technology to Plattsburgh even faster.”

Norsk is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, but after two years of discussions with regional leaders, Boley said Norsk will call the former Clinton County Airport home by the end of 2017.

Norsk uses additive manufacturing, similar to 3D printing, to create parts for airplanes. Boley explained its machines use melted titanium wire and its Rapid Plasma Deposition (“RPD”) machines to print it into print airplane or engine parts.

“In the way your dot matrix printer would work in printing ink, but we print liquid titanium,” Boley said.

The company produces the components 50 times faster and at one-third of the cost than traditional methods, according to Boley.

Norsk Titanium was founded 2009 to develop a less-expensive way to build parts using titanium. Its leadership announced the company would be moving to the North Country during the Farnborough International Airshow in London in July.

A formal announcement is expected from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

North Country Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Garry Douglas attended the show with leaders from throughout the aerospace manufacturing industry.

"Suddenly, there are all of these high-profile announcements that Norsk was doing this in Plattsburgh, New York," he said. "They were asking us, 'Where is Plattsburgh?' 'Why Plattsburgh, New York?' And those are the questions that you want to be asked because they're easy to answer and you get to tell your story."

Douglas said he pitched the North Country as Norsk’s new home for myriad reasons, but said a special task force highlighted the aerospace and transportation equipment manufacturing cluster already in the region to Norsk’s leadership team. Douglas said there are already 32 such companies in place throughout the region, with Norsk Titanium now planning to join the fellowship.

Boley said he felt his company would fit well into that transportation hub, but also felt the company’s move to New York fits with wider statewide plans coming from the Governor’s Office as well.

“It's very, very aggressive and it's visionary and it's very bold,” he said of Cuomo’s visions for expanding technology development in the Empire State.

Boley said Norsk, too, has bold visions for titanium usage in the future.

"It's a culture of excellence, a culture of change." Boley said. "It’s a culture that started out with a very bold vision that titanium is important to mankind. It should be more available. It should be more affordable."

The company services big-name customers such as Airbus, Boeing and Alcoa, according to Boley. He said the factory will be the first in the world to produce the titanium parts at this scale.

Boley credited the company's ability to now make the move to New York to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vision for the state and a partnership with SUNY Polytechnic.

“It's a great opportunity. I would be remiss if I didn't stress the importance of SUNY Polytechnic here," Boley said. "The building will say SUNY Polytechnic Norsk Titanium. They are providing the game-changing opportunity to this game-changing technology. What SUNY Polytechnic is doing is enabling the industrialization, the first industrial scale 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, factory in the world."

The factory will need to be staffed by a full team ranging from engineers to sales and marketing experts. Boley said hiring has already begun and some of its newest employees, who are from Plattsburgh, were in Norway training on the equipment.

Boley said operators will be hired shortly. It is estimated the company will bring 400 new jobs to the region.

City and town leaders were working with the company to ensure residents were prepared, should they want to apply. Douglass said that includes people with engineering backgrounds, professionals looking for a career change and students.

“We are building a multifaceted relationship with Clarkson University,” Douglass said. “We'll be taking a number execs over there in the next few weeks for a full day visit that will party talk about workforce.”

Norsk plans to be involved with many schools throughout the region through outreach and internship programs. Boley said he hoped all middle and high school students will have the chance to visit the manufacturing facility once it is complete.

In the meantime, the company is focused on hiring its team and completing construction plans. Anyone interested in applying for a job at Norsk should register with OneWorkForce. The North Country Chamber of Commerce is currently working with Norsk to determine the exact skills Norsk will need its new employees to have.

Boley said he plans to have a residence in Plattsburgh and that other executives have already purchased homes in the region. He said he is excited about the challenges ahead.

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• [Editor:Jiang Li Juan ]