Ducommun Inc., which recently relocated its headquarters from Los Angeles to Santa Ana, has begun manufacturing aluminum aircraft structures for the Next-Generation 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter program.
The company’s Orange and Gardena operations will handle production of fuselage skins that frame the cargo door of the converted aircraft, which can carry nearly 24 metric tons of cargo and fly routes of about 2,000 nautical miles. The 737-800 features 5,000 cubic feet of cargo space on the main deck.
The first models are scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Ducommun, established in 1849, is California’s oldest continuously running company and the oldest manufacturer in L.A. It has worked on Boeing 737s since their inception in the 1960s.
Its relocation is a coup for Orange County, which gains another public company after losing headquarters designations of several big technology players in the past few years, including Broadcom, Ingram Micro and Western Digital. Its new headquarters will employ about 40, and its Orange location has about 70 workers.
The new year has brought several new publicly traded companies here, including hospitality and restaurant staffing company ShiftPixy Inc. and analytics software maker Alteryx Inc., both based in Irvine.
Ducommon is the seventh addition to OC’s roster of publicly traded companies since February. All of the others were gained through initial public offerings.
The aerospace manufacturer, which trades under DCO on the New York Stock Exchange, has a market value of $323 million. It posted revenue in the June quarter of $140.9, up 5.6%. Net income fell nearly 1% to $3.8 million.
ADOMANI Eyes China
Newport Beach-based ADOMANI Inc., which raised about $9.2 million in net proceeds from its June IPO, is in negotiations to establish a manufacturing operation in China.
Chief Executive Jim Reynolds and Vice President Kevin Kanning recently hosted an economic development delegation from the Middle Kingdom in San Francisco that included Jinhai Cao, head of the Nantong Gangzha District; Jian Tao, director of the Qingzhao Subdivision of Gangzha District; and Feng Jin, head of Business Development Bureaus of North City, the subdivision of Gangzha District—a technology and industrial production zone.
Among the topics discussed were setting up a drivetrain development and manufacturing facility in Nantong; the economic benefits of such a move; interest from Chinese original-equipment vehicle manufacturers in zero-emission drivetrain systems for local markets; and the facility and labor force required to build electric drivetrains in China.
The meeting followed several others led by ADOMANI’s China general manager, John Wang, to carve a business path in the largest potential market for zero-emissions.
ADOMANI, which converts school buses and other fleets into zero-emission electric and hybrid vehicles, is the first equity crowdfunded company to list on the tech-heavy NASDAQ exchange.
The company raised funding through a provision in the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act, which was signed into law in 2012 by President Barack Obama and allows crowdfunded companies to issue securities.
Its shares are up about 67% since its IPO to a recent market value of about $830 million.
Toba in $3M Round
Vinny Smith’s Toba Capital, OC’s largest venture capital firm, led a $3 million funding round for Funraise.
The Long Beach company says it boosts philanthropic giving through custom digital donation forms and websites, wealth screening, and donor management and automated retention tools.
Consider the funding the latest extension of Smith’s “impact investing,” a growing interest the Business Journal has chronicled for more than a year that’s taking root at his private foundation, Teach a Man to Fish.
We reported this month that he plans to donate half of the profits from his expanding portfolio at Newport Beach-based Toba to charitable causes and foundations this year and beyond.
Smith started Toba after netting nearly $1 billion in March 2012 from the $2.8 billion sale of his Quest Software in Aliso Viejo to Dell Inc. The fund has invested about $600 million in more than 40 companies and has several big exits to its name, helping to build his foundation and charitable giving.
