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Manufacturing Company will be part of Team Canada Atlantic trade mission to Chicago next week

For a small New Brunswick company, just getting in the front door of Airbus Corp. can be tough.

But David Whitton, president of CE3 Custom Electronics Integrators, recently secured 27 purchase orders for the largest airplane in the world.

The Airbus380 will be fitted with ceiling-lighting wire harnesses and printed-circuit boards manufactured by CE3 in its Dieppe plants.

"We're the only company east of Montreal with purchase orders on the Airbus380 through a large U.S. systems integrator based in Texas," Whitton said, adding that the deal is worth about $2 million over the next two years.

CE3 uses state-of-the-art equipment to manufacture electronic and electro-mechanical devices. The company made inroads into the United States market due largely to Team Canada Atlantic trade missions, Whitton said.

Given his success in previous years, Whitton is eagerly packing his bags for a trade mission next week to Chicago.

More than 60 companies from across the Maritimes will be participating in the Windy City trade mission in an effort to bolster economic development across Atlantic Canada.

CE3 is one of the 17 New Brunswick companies that will be part of the mission.

"It should be great given that Chicago is the industrial heartland of the United States," Whitton said. "I've got a car lined up with a driver and a GPS to take me 200 miles to Wisconsin one day and then 200 miles in the opposite direction to Indiana the next day."

Whitton gained his expertise in electronics manufacturing during the 17 years he worked for Nortel Ltd. But in 1985 he cashed in his company shares to get a line of credit and started CE3.

"I started in the basement of a garage, then we moved to an incubator mall and eventually to the three buildings we have in the Dieppe Industrial Park just outside the Moncton airport," Whitton said.

A New Brunswick native, Whitton decided to set up shop in the province because of the educated and steady workforce. His company currently employs 73 people.

The province is also strategically located for trade with the United States and Europe "just across the pond," Whitton said.

Although CE3 seems poised for continued prosperity, Whitton said given the current economic turmoil his goal is to maintain status quo.

"We're not looking for big growth right now, we just want to ride out the economic slowdown," Whitton said. "The province is pretty well insulated from the credit crunch but our customers in Boston are nervous, so we've got to be careful."

As Whitton prepares to approach companies across the Midwestern United States next week, he's also looking forward to forging networks with other Atlantic Canadian businesses.

"We're in the same region but it's often only at these missions that we have a chance to sit down and talk about our businesses."

The Team Canada Atlantic trade mission to Chicago is organized by the Atlantic Canada Opportunties Agency and will take place Nov.16-20. Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne will help lead the delegation of 60 companies and technology organizations from across the Maritimes."