ELIZABETH'S MUSTANG SURVIVAL DOUBLING WORKFORCE - 45 New Workers $8 An Hour

(08/31/2006)

Mustang Survival, Wirt County's largest private employer, is planning on hiring 45 new workers by the end of the year. Plant manager Greg Stover said "This is big news for us." The company has secured a federal contract to make anti-gravity suits for U.S. Navy and Air Force fighter pilots. The new workers will start at $8 an hour and receive extensive training. Eight to 10 people will be hired each month until the end of the year. Currently about 45 employees work at the plant, about a dozen from Calhoun. The company also announced it is expanding production of inflatable life vests. Stover said Navy officials were at the manufacturing plant in Elizabeth this week, inspecting a sample suit. He said the suits will inflate when pilots are subjected to G-forces during flight. The suits restrict blood flow to the hands and feet, ensuring that pilots don't black out. The government contract calls for 3,000 suits next year, all of which are hand-stitched. The Wirt County plant opened seven years ago after Mustang Survival bought Wirt Inflatables, which was owned by Calhoun resident Shirley Fitzwater and his partner.

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