March 2, 2017 – We are pleased to announce that yesterday, Lewis Engineering entered into a partnership with Jabil, an international supply chain management and manufacturing provider with a global aerospace and defense contract manufacturing operation. The acquisition will combine two leading enterprises in the aerospace industry and will form an aerospace center of excellence in Grand Junction under Jabil Lewis Engineering.

Given Jabil’s expertise and global presence, and Lewis’ expertise and craftsmanship, this new venture offers profound opportunities for growth in the Grand Valley aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries. GJEP, as well as the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, are committed to assisting Jabil Lewis through the transition period and as the company looks at expansion options in the region.

Read the full acquisition announcement on Jabil.com.

Learn more about the aerospace industry in Colorado’s Grand Valley here.

UPDATE (March 3, 2017) – The Daily Sentinel  spoke to Jabil and Lewis Engineering about the partnership. Here’s an excerpt:

“Jabil Circuit Inc., NYSE: JBL, completed the asset purchase of Lewis Engineering on Wednesday in a transaction that Bill Frake, Jabil vice president for the defense and aerospace group, said will recognize the Grand Junction office at 2790 H Road as a global ‘center for excellence’ for complex machining and related services.

While there are custom machining sites scattered around the United States and, to a lesser extent, the world, ‘very few of them are as good as Lewis,’ said Mark Fratoni, director of business development for defense and aerospace for St. Petersburg, Florida-based Jabil.

The transaction opens new markets to the previously privately held Lewis while giving Jabil the ability to expand its global services, officials said.

Lewis’ management, including founders Mark and Lakeo Lewis, and Matt Collins, chief operating officer, all will remain with the company…

What Frake and Mark and Lakeo Lewis found was that their separate organizations and cultures would mesh because they were already similar.

Lewis Engineering’s involvement in Colorado Mesa University and Western Colorado Community College, for instance, matched up with the kinds of involvement that Jabil encourages, Frake said.

Much of the activity Jabil tries to bring to acquisitions ‘was already being done’ at Lewis, Frake said.

The cultural similarities were also clear to Lakeo Lewis, who said she was pleased to learn that the companies shared similar roots.

‘I said, “Wow, what a coincidence,”‘ when she learned that Jabil, like Lewis, was started in a garage and grew slowly over years, Lakeo Lewis said Thursday, calling the transaction ‘a perfect marriage.'”

Read the Daily Sentinel article in its entirety here.