Companies make their pitch, too

It's not just about drawing new companies to Huntsville at Farnborough, local companies made the trip to help bring more business back to the Rocket City.

Why it matters: Local companies are reaching new customers and suppliers, and expanding their reach from Huntsville all across the planet.

Case in point: Valentine Nwachukwu, CEO and president of Zaden Technologies, told Axios "We want to keep expanding the footprint beyond just North America."

• A Grissom grad, he said Huntsville "Has a really great small business community (and) really great technical talent," and is home to "any company you want to work with in aerospace and defense."

Maximum Technology Corporation is also in London, with President Kris Ison saying it gives the company access to customers it doesn't normally have access to in places like Belgium, Germany and Italy.

• "What else is out there?" he said Tuesday. "How can we diversify? How can we spread some of our technology to other areas and really help support the mission both within the U.S. and those allied countries?"

SEA Wire and Cable, based in Madison and marking 56 years in business this year, already has customers across the globe.

• And at the company's booth Tuesday, Bill Hughes, who works sales with the company, said it's already halfway to its goal of four solid new leads.

Zoom out: Primes with locations in Huntsville, like Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and GE Aerospace, all have a presence at the airshow, too, as does Huntsville-based Applied Aerospace.

• Applied, which went public last year, sees Farnborough as a chance to meet with customers and suppliers to take out cost and drive speed, COO Chris Rogers told Axios.
• Rogers called the event "the global crossroads for the aerospace and defense community."