MOBILE, Alabama -- The July announcement of an Airbus final assembly plant in Mobile leaves the region with an unanswered question: Can a new top-tier aerospace employer co-exist with existing mid-wage companies in the same industry?

The recent back-and-forth between Mobile and Pensacola over ST Aerospace Mobile brings the issue into focus.

Earlier this month, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward said he expects that an aerospace company now operating in Mobile will expand to his city.

He did not identify the company, but speculation has centered on ST Aerospace Mobile, and officials with that company have confirmed meeting with Pensacola officials.

One of the city's largest industrial employers, ST Aerospace has about 1,500 workers at Brookley Aeroplex, where it maintains and overhauls large airplanes.

Ed Castile, director of Alabama Industrial Development Training program, said it's good to have jobs at a wide range of pay levels within the same industry sector. But, he said, it's also typical that existing companies are nervous when larger industry players such as Airbus or Mercedes Benz come to an area.

"They're concerned they'll lose people, and if the new company pays more per hour, they may lose some employees," he said. "But I think that just by Airbus being there, companies are going to be propelled into other business. All boats are going to rise in this water."

Castile, who is working now with ST Aerospace to find sheet-metal technicians, said he doesn't know what the company will do, but doesn't believe it will leave Mobile.

Airbus Americas spokesperson Mary Anne Greczyn said the company hopes not to take anyone from businesses already in Mobile, but to help grow the workforce and existing companies.

"Our intention is not to disrupt, our intention is to grow the town," she said. "We hope our presence will bring even more companies to the region and more jobs outside of the jobs Airbus will be offering."

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Airbus may lift aerospace workforce