Consolidated Turbine Specialists is an independent MRO facility specializing in PT6 Repair and Overhaul. In 2019, CTS was acquired by Kratos, which has made possible further investments into the facility, expanding the Kratos footprint in the state of Oklahoma. Commerce sat down with the company, Oklahoma Speaker of the House Kyle Hilbert and Bristow Mayor Kris Wyatt to discuss how CTS has helped make Bristow an Oklahoma aerospace powerhouse.

Q: Tell us about the role the aerospace and defense sector plays in Oklahoma.

Kyle Hilbert, Speaker of the House of Representatives: The role of aerospace in Oklahoma is really massive. In recent years it’s jumped up to the number two industry in terms of revenue for the state of Oklahoma. Where I live in Bristow, Oklahoma, there are three aerospace companies, and it creates an opportunity for for young men and women who are graduating high school, who can come back to their hometown and really not just have a job, but have a career.

Q: Tell us about Consolidated Turbine Specialists and the company’s history.

Johnny “Bump” Grant, Sr. Vice President of MRO, Kratos: Here at CTS, what we do is we do maintenance, repair and overhaul for PT six engines. All engines have a timeline on them. So they can only run for X amount of hours. So once they run those hours, they bring them to us, we repair them, we send them back to the customer, and they go run another 7 to 10 years before they come back for another maintenance event.

Q: Tell us about the role aerospace plays in Bristow.

Kris Wyatt, Mayor, Bristow, Okla.: Aerospace has become a defining role in Bristow industry. It started off with a few key investments, but it’s growing.

Q: Tell us about the role the company plays in the community and the job opportunities it offers to residents.

Kris Wyatt: CTS has been a cornerstone for the aviation industry here. They bring good jobs. We have two generations actually employed here, a strong workforce, a strong work ethic that they bring.

Q: Talk to us about the process of working with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the ACES team. How does Commerce/ACES help CTS? What is that partnership like?

Johnny “Bump” Grant: The support from the state of Oklahoma has been incredible. We established the company in in October of 2012. It’s a little bitty building, it’s 3200 square feet. We grew to 20 people. We enrolled in Quality Jobs. We started working with Oklahoma at that point. The Quality Jobs Incentive Program has been great and it’s helped us in many different ways. If you look at that money that comes back, we have reinvested it totally into our employees. Whether it be payroll, adding to the facilities, improving the facilities or adding different equipment so that the work is done better and more efficient. But it’s all been invested back into this facility, 100% dollar for dollar.

Q: What are your thoughts on the workforce in Oklahoma?

Johnny “Bump” Grant: [Oklahoma’s] motto is labor conquers all. We prove that every day. The people show up to work, they work, they get it done. They take pride in it, and it’s quality work at the end of the day.

Q: What does the future look like for CTS and Kratos in Oklahoma?

Johnny “Bump” Grant: 2023 was our best year that we’ve ever had, and 2024 beat that by 37%. We had a 10% increase in employees. We’re headed in the right direction and we’re planning for the future.

Q: Tell us what role CTS plays in Bristow and the benefits it brings to the community and surrounding region.

Kris Wyatt: The job opportunities offered by CTS has provided residents with paths forward, and has helped to make sure that some of our younger generations are staying here to build their future in Bristow.

Kyle Hilbert: The work that Bump Grant and his team have done there has, has been phenomenal to really see that, company continue to grow. And as they’ve, partnered with Kratos, it’s been truly phenomenal to see an operation that really started in his garage into, into what it is today. And it’s created a lot of opportunities for people in and around the Bristow area.