L&M Precision Fabrication Inc., a custom manufacturing contractor based in Airway Heights, says it's enjoying a rebound in production due in part to its recently upgraded certification as an aerospace manufacturer.

L&M has started hiring again following layoffs over the last two years due to a "disastrous" decline in orders in 2009, says Fred Brown, the company's vice president.

"In 2010, through cost containment and layoffs, we managed to hold the line," Brown says. "In the last six months, we've added five employees, to bring our total to 30."

He declines to disclose the company's annual revenue, but says he expects it to be up 50 percent this year compared with 2010.

Brown attributes much of the turnaround to the company's certification as a tier-one aerospace supplier, meaning it meets required manufacturing tolerances to serve original equipment manufacturers in the aerospace industry.

"We've got some contracts we weren't doing before," he says. "We're doing a lot of work for companies that contract to Boeing."

Brown declines to identify L&M's customers, because, he says, many of them use L&M parts in products and components manufactured under their own brand names. He says he expects aerospace-related orders to continue to escalate as the company fills its current contracts.

"We're the new guy on the block, and we've got several small contracts to see how we do before they send out for more," he says.

L&M occupies a 20,000-square-foot facility at 13026 W. McFarland, where it manufactures custom parts and subassemblies for aerospace, military, and commercial markets.

Its specialties include welding, finishing, and computer-numeric-controlled cutting and shaping of metal parts. L&M also machines and assembles metal, plastic, and composite parts.

"We're a job shop," Brown says, meaning L&M manufactures a variety of custom products, often in low volume. "So, everything we do is different. We don't make espresso machines, but we make parts that go in them."