Brown Precision, a high-tech manufacturing company in Huntsville plans to invest $7 million to open a new facility in Atmore.

Gov. Robert Bentley’s office made the announcement Thursday. In a statement, Bentley said the expansion would create more than 100 new jobs.

“Aerospace is Alabama’s second fastest growing industry sector and a key target in my Accelerate Alabama economic development strategy. I’m committed to helping companies like Brown Precision expand in Alabama and strengthen their aerospace business,” Bentley said. “Rural communities are important to me, and I am honored to know the hard-working men and women in Atmore will soon have an opportunity to compete for more than 100 skilled well-paying jobs.”

Brown Precision, a family owned company founded in 1964, performs precision machining for clients in the aerospace and medical industries. It manufactures complex components ranging from aircraft and helicopter components to artificial human joints. Clients include GE Aviation, GKN Aerospace, Bell, PPG Aerospace and Smith & Nephew.

“Brown Precision is a great addition to Southwest Alabama’s growing aerospace cluster, which is poised to become a key region in this global industry over the next decade,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “Brown Precision counts many of the industry’s biggest names as clients, so its expansion to Atmore says a lot about the region’s potential.”

Workers at the Atmore plant would be engaged in activities such as CNC-based manufacturing, custom fabrication and component coating.

“We think the Atmore area is a great fit for what we do at Brown Precision Inc., and we look forward to being part of the community,” said Dan Brown, the company’s co-CEO and chief operating officer. “We believe southwest Alabama and the Coastal Gateway region is positioned extremely well as a point of growth for the aerospace industry, and we wanted to be on the leading edge of that. We look forward to putting down roots that will hold for many years to come.”

Company Co-CEO and Chief Financial Officer Greg Brown will move to the Atmore area to oversee the new facility.

At a ceremony in Atmore today, Mayor Jim Staff welcomed Brown Precision as the first industrial tenant in the Rivercane Industrial Park, located at the intersection of Interstate 65 and Alabama 21. A new access road to the park will be built in coming months.

“This is an important day for Atmore, our citizens and our business community,” Staff said.

To develop the park, the city of Atmore received funding commitments from the Alabama Department of Transportation, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and the Delta Regional Authority.

The Alabama Department of Commerce and AIDT, the state workforce development agency, lent support to the Brown Precision project, as did numerous local agencies and businesses. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians and Creek Indian Enterprises also supported the project.

“We believe our region is going to benefit greatly over the years from the presence of Airbus and the expansion of the aerospace industry in general,” said John Johnson, executive director of the Coastal Gateway Economic Development Alliance, which acted as project manager.

“Adding Brown Precision Inc. to existing local aerospace companies, such as Muskogee Technology, and connecting with our local community colleges and training programs, serves notice that the Coastal Gateway region is not only ready to expand our aerospace sector, but has also proven capable of doing so,” Johnson added.