South Carolina’s aerospace cluster includes manufacturing, air transportation and air transportation support services firms operating in the private sector and the state’s four military aviation facilities. The private sector component of the aerospace cluster in South Carolina contains more than 400 firms. Approximately 74 percent of these firms are small businesses, containing five or fewer employees.

South Carolina is outpacing North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama in private sector aerospace employment and revenue growth, according to Dr. Joseph Von Nessen, a research economist with the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business.