EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - An aviation startup has announced it is consolidating its operations at a new facility in Washington state, the company said.
The local startup MagniX announced Tuesday it has moved its headquarters and 50-person workforce from Redmond to Everett, The Seattle Times reported.
The company develops electric motors to replace the gas turbine engines on commuter airplanes carrying up to 40 passengers. The new 40,000-square-foot (3,700-square-meter) building will house the company’s engineering, production, testing and delivery of its motors.
CEO Roei Ganzarski, a former Boeing executive, said the consolidation was long planned but was accelerated by the pandemic-driven downturn affecting potential customers.
He said to cut operating and staffing costs, MagniX shuttered its engineering center in Australia and laid off most of the 30 employees. Ten of those workers have relocated to Everett.
Ganzarski said the company expects to grow to “at least 60” in the coming months.
The MagniX electric motor technology was initially developed and the company founded in Australia in 2009, The Times reported. The company set up a U.S. headquarters and engineering site in Redmond in 2018.
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