US pitching innovation, partnership at Paris Air Show 2017

The upcoming International Paris Air Show, June 19-25, 2017, will showcase the leadership of American aerospace and defense companies in producing innovative systems that bolster international security, enhance global economic development, and strengthen long-term, bilateral alliances.

“No person, no company, no country succeeds in isolation. Now more than ever, success in international trade comes from partnership and teamwork,” said Kallman Worldwide Inc. President and CEO Tom Kallman, longstanding organizer of the U.S. presence at Le Bourget, who this year will unveil America’s new onsite headquarters at the show, the USA Partnership Pavilion.

More than 350 U.S. companies are expected to exhibit at Paris this year; 240-plus representing 32 states in Kallman’s new 4,200m² Pavilion, located prominently in Hall 3. In addition, many U.S. civil and military aircraft will be displayed during the show.

“For two decades, our successful U.S. International Pavilion helped sharpen America’s focus on the opportunities expanded trade has for keeping the entire U.S. industrial base healthy, so that it can continue to invest in technological innovation and create good paying jobs,” Kallman said.

“Now into our third decade at the Paris Air Show, the new USA Partnership Pavilion builds on that foundation to help position U.S. companies to advance our nation’s leadership in the global economy. Many of our American exhibitors – from publicly traded stalwarts to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – already have significant sales and partnership opportunities in the global marketplace. In the years to come, many more will,” Kallman added.

He pointed to 18 state economic development groups exhibiting in dual roles in the Pavilion at Paris as examples of how U.S. industry is developing business partnerships at home and internationally: promoting state-based companies looking to grow exports overseas, and at the same time prospecting for overseas companies to establish or expand operations in the U.S.

The USA Partnership Pavilion will celebrate “a century of French and American partnership” during the Paris Air Show. Starting with the 1916 founding of the Escadrille Americaine comprised largely of American volunteers flying for France during World War I (it was renamed the Escadrille Lafayette later that year), and continuing through milestone military, commercial, and space achievements of the 20th and now 21st centuries, the relationship between the two countries exemplifies the spirit of bilateral cooperation for mutual success promoted at Le Bourget.

The theme will be promoted in the USA Partnership Pavilion during the show, and at the opening of The Forum, the new USA Partnership Pavilion networking and presentation stage, on Tuesday, June 20.

“Since the days of the Wright brothers and Bleriot, France and the United States have shared a proud history, healthy competition, and mutual respect for each other’s pioneering accomplishments in flight,” said the Chairman of the Paris Air Show, Emeric d’Arcimoles. “We are pleased this year to host the new USA Partnership Pavilion, and look forward to joining our American partners in the conversations and celebrations of our two nations.”