There was much to celebrate on Dec 30, 2022, when the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission, arrived safely back to Kennedy Space Center after a 1.4-million-mile trip to the moon and back. What makes this mission even more exciting is that the NASA Glenn Research Center and many local companies, all located in the Aerozone, helped make this mission possible. These companies are helping build systems to support missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Over the past several months, we have been fortunate to conduct business retention and expansion visits with some of these companies that support the NASA mission in a variety of ways. Helping support these companies is critical since they all go through a rigorous and competitive process in order win contracts to continue the work they are doing.

ZIN Technologies, headquartered in Middleburg Heights, is an aerospace company that provides advanced engineering services and product development solutions for NASA, DoD, and private industry. Besides their work with space travel, propulsion, communication, and more, they are working to support medical care in space which not only meet NASA’s mission but also can be used in commercial applications as well! This growing company was founded in 1957 and continues to grow and hire talent to take to the next generation spacecraft and apply to this to healthcare and so much more.

Mainthia Technologies headquarters are in Middleburg Heights was founded in 1996. They provide facility support operations by deliver engineering, technical and administrative services, safety, quality, information technology to the aerospace industry.

We had a great visit with Dr. Kul Bhasin and crew at Comsat Architects in Rocky River. Comsat Architect was founded in 2014 with the goal to improve communication and connectivity between earth and space. Their young and vibrant workforce has what it takes to solve complex problems. Did you know this impressive and innovative team are discovering ways to enhance communication between earth and space? Comsat is developing concepts and software so the missions can happen. This talented team of software developers, communication engineers/architects, aerospace engineers, business administrators, and more, are working hard to make space exploration continue to move forward.

Hx5, has offices in Brook Park, a stone’s throw from NASA Glenn Research Center. They set up shop in on Aerospace Parkway to support the Glenn Engineering and Research Support (GEARS) contract for NASA GRC. Hx5 has 370 contractor employees that perform a wide range of research and engineering work in space and aeronautics.

We visited Midwest Transatlantic Lines, Inc., a growing global logistics company in Berea. Tom Lazzaro, Robert Gareau, and the entire MTA team, continue to grow their freight forwarding business that founder Richard Gareau began 43 years ago. They offer unique freight services to meet their clients shipping and global supply chain needs. Also, a big shout out and congratulations on their recent rebranding and becoming an Employee-Owned Company! Aerozone Alliance appreciates the insight this group and others bring when discussing cargo expansion opportunities in the region. We are excited about the growth and future of the Aerozone region!

Cleveland is fortunate to have a company like Weston that has continued to invest in the region for over 50 years! We had a great visit discussing one of their most recent projects, the revitalization of the Brook Park Ford Plant or now known as the FORWARD Innovation Center. This is an exciting boost to the Cleveland landscape and prime strategic location in the Aerozone, with ideal access to land, water, rail, and air transport! Did you know that Weston owns an industrial real estate portfolio of approximately 25 million square feet and serves over 800 business tenants?

If you haven’t been to the Aviator Event Center and Pub since its recent transformation, you should definitely put a visit on your to do list. Khadar Soussou, Spencer Shaw, and team have done an amazing job converting this iconic location from not only a restaurant but state-of-the-art event center serving Northeast Ohio and beyond! Ifeoma Ezepue, Suzanne Broadbent, and Aerozone Alliance staff enjoyed the tour and look forward to a return visit.