Muskogee Technology officially celebrated its recent partnership with GKN Aerostructures North America of Tallassee, during an open house held Friday morning at the MT facilities in Atmore.

Robbie McGhee, vice chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Tribal Council, said that MT’s growth improves the lives of not only tribal members, but also the Atmore community and all of southwest Alabama.

“Businesses like Muskogee Technology serve as working examples of who we are as a people,” McGhee said. “Caring, conscientious and committed to delivering on a promise of excellence.”

Several state officials and executives with GKN and MT spoke Friday morning at a program held in front of the MT facility in the old Vanity Fair building. After the conclusion of that program, citizens were given the opportunity to tour MT’s facilities — both the original facility and the new MT North on North Main Street in the old Brantley’s Tire building.

GKN is a supplier of complex composite and metallic parts that are used in a variety of military and civil aircraft. MT partnered with GKN to develop a plan and then install, in less than six months, a state of the art climate control facility with the ability to store and cut composite materials.

“The quality of the parts and the delivery has been exceptional,” said Jeff Barger, vice president of GKN.

Other keynote speakers at Friday’s program included Dr. Mark Heinrich, chancellor of the Alabama Community College System; Angela Till, deputy secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce; Daniele Cagnatel, president of GKN; and Tim Martin, president/CEO of the Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority.

For more on this story, see the Wednesday, April 29, edition of The Atmore Advance.