Global Ground Support to stay in Olathe, seeking to expand

Global Ground Support has been a fixture in Olathe for 17 years and the airline-related manufacturing company plans to remain here for at least five more .

The company, which has about 70 employees, recently signed a five-year lease extension on its 112,000-square-foot facility at Old 56 Highway and Harrison Street.

The company assembles an array of airport equipment including deicing vehicles, catering trucks, scissor lift trucks, mass casualty mobile decontamination trailers and other vehicles for airlines and airports around the world and for the U.S. military. Among its customers is Southwest Airlines.

Global Ground , which is one of four subsidiaries of AirT Inc., of Maiden, N.C., has been based in Olathe since 1997. It was organized that year to buy the Simon Deicer division of Terex Aviation Ground Equipment.

Rick Smith, president of Global Ground, said the Harrison Street facility has “plenty of capacity to expand. Our overall goal is to grow this business.”

The company received some undisclosed state incentives to remain at the facility.

Smith said the company expects to make improvements to the plant, including parking lots, carpet, lighting and overhead cranes.

“Global Ground Support has been such an important part of Olathe’s business landscape and we are thrilled that they will continue to call Olathe home,” said Olathe Mayor Michael Copeland.

This is at least the second recent employee retention victory for the city. Last November, Farmers Insurance Group committed to keeping its significant operations in Olathe for at least 10 more years. It is among the city’s largest employers.

This story was originally published March 18, 2014 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Global Ground Support to stay in Olathe, seeking to expand."