VisionAire, a St. Louis-based aeronautics company, announced plans recently to set up a branch office and factory in Ames, bringing 153 new jobs with it.

The company will construct the prototype of a single-engine corporate jet.

Ames Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Sterling Patterson said the factory is tentatively scheduled to open in 1997.

“This is an exciting and innovative business,” Patterson said. “It should put Ames on the map of the aviation community.”

Patterson said she hopes the company’s expansion into Ames will have a ripple effect on the rest of the community.

The fact the company has a commitment to build much of the jets in Ames is likely to open up the market for related businesses, she said.

Chamber of Commerce President Fred Miller said he agreed.

“This project could exceed anything done in Ames in the past other than Iowa State University,” Miller said.

The employees moving into the area are expected to have a positive impact by bringing $10 million into the Ames area each year, Ames Public Relations Officer Pam Reinig said.

One business that may be affected by the new changes is Hap’s Air Service. Hap’s owner Hap Westbrook said he is not worried about any potential changes.

He said the new company would be more compliment than competition to his business of charter flights and student rentals.

“We are tied very closely to the community,” Westbrook said. “It’s going to be good for the community and good for us.”

In order to help attract the business to Ames, a community response team helped to raise a portion of the $6 million required to build a prototype of the kind of plane that the new factory is scheduled to build.

The response team has collected $1.2 million in investments from various people in Ames.

The group is also planning to allocate about $3 million from grants on the federal and state level, Miller said.

While these donations may have had some effect on the decision to locate the plant in Ames the fund-raising job is still in progress.