Santa Clarita’s Rye Canyon business corridor is set to lose one of its longest-standing employers. Woodward Inc., the aerospace and industrial systems manufacturer, announced this week that it will close its Santa Clarita facility no later than December 2027, shifting production of military flight control actuation systems to a new campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The Rye Canyon Road plant has deep roots in the Santa Clarita Valley, tracing back to the 1970s when it operated as Hydraulic Research Manufacturing Co. and later Hydraulic Research Textron before Woodward took over. Roughly 400 employees currently work at the site, and the company says the transition will happen in phases rather than all at once, giving affected workers time before operations wind down.
In a statement, Woodward’s aerospace segment president Shawn McLevige acknowledged the human cost of the move: “We don’t make decisions like this without recognizing what they mean for the people affected. Our team in Santa Clarita has contributed to Woodward for 17 years, and we are committed to supporting them through the transition with respect.”
Beyond relocating military fixed-wing and rotorcraft flight control work, Woodward also plans to divest several legacy product lines tied to the Santa Clarita site, including commercial rotorcraft, land systems, and business jet components, while selling the facility itself. The company is projecting $34 million to $47.5 million in pre-tax closure-related charges. Its new South Carolina campus is expected to come online in summer 2027 and will also take on manufacturing for Airbus A350 spoiler actuation systems.
For Santa Clarita Valley business owners, the closure is a reminder of how concentrated the region’s aerospace and advanced manufacturing sector can be, and how a single corporate decision can ripple through local suppliers, commercial landlords, and the broader labor market. With roughly 400 skilled manufacturing jobs winding down over the next year and a half, workforce and economic development groups in the SCV will likely be watching closely for how displaced talent is absorbed locally versus lost to relocation.
Local businesses that supply parts or services to Woodward’s operation should start planning now for the transition timeline, and workforce-focused organizations may want to get ahead of retraining or placement efforts before the phased layoffs accelerate.
Source: KHTS Santa Clarita
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