Bend’s Epic Aircraft on expansion flight

The Bend City Council approved a lease transfer Wednesday night that will allow Epic Aircraft to expand and add up to 150 jobs next year.

The airplane manufacturer took over the lease on 614,000 square feet of Bend Airport land that houses several buildings once owned by Cessna, the plane manufacturer that left Bend in 2009.

The city owns all the land at the airport, and some of the buildings, so the deal needed city council approval. Councilors voted 6-0 to approve the new lease with Aircraft Manufacturers RE LLC, the group of plane owners that now run Epic air.

The deal is another step forward for Epic, a once-troubled company that used to just make kit planes. In March, a Russian aviation company bought Epic, putting it on the fast track to make FAA certified, fully factory-built planes.

Calls to Epic Aircraft on Thursday were not returned, but Councilor Mark Capell told NewsChannel 21 the expansion could mean up to 150 new jobs next year.

Learn more about the company at their Website.