Andalusia Star News

10 local, 10 transfer employees to begin C-130 repairs

Yulista employees will be on site at South Alabama Regional Airport by the middle of next week, and expect to begin work there on Jan. 3 with 20 employees.

SARA director Jed Blackwell told board members in a meeting Tuesday that the company plans to employ 10 people between now and January, and will relocate another 10 from within their company.

Yulista is an Alaska Native Corporation with operations in 14 states, and doing business in 28 countires, CEO Josh Herren said. Its shareholders are of Yup’ik descent. The company has leased the twin hangars in the SARA complex, which were designed for C-130 and B-737 aircraft.

Blackwell said initially, Yulista will do maintenance and repairs for six C-130s, which is expected to take at least 16 months.

In a ceremony at SARA earlier this month, Herren said the company “is going to be very good for your community.”

Blackwell and Covington County Economic Development Commission executive director Rick Clifton said there has been renewed interested in the Standard Arrow/Vector facility. The company has ceased operations in Andalusia, but has a lease on its building until April.

SARA also has leased its warehouse facility – the original home of AcroHelipro, which later became Vector – to Joey Davis and Mark Sweiger.

Andalusia Star News