Yet state and community economic development officials believe the future remains bright for the aerospace industry in Weber County.

Even without Adam Aircraft, there remains a strong base of companies - such as Alliant Techsystems, Barnes Aerospace and jet engine maker Williams International - that can be built upon, said David Harmer, Ogden's director of community and economic development.

"We knew Adam Aircraft was having liquidity problems and we hated to see them file for bankruptcy," Harmer said. "But even as we speak, we're talking with other companies in the industry that are considering relocating to Utah."

Harmer speculated that there also is a chance someone might purchase Adam Aircraft's assets out of bankruptcy with the goal of continuing to develop the company's twin and jet-engine business aircraft.

Adam Aircraft in October 2006 broke ground on a 96,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Ogden that the company said would serve as its world headquarters for the production and delivery of its twin- and jet-engine business aircraft.

At the time, the Englewood, Colo.-based company projected it would have a labor force in Utah of about 300 workers by 2008 and as many as 1,200 employees in 2009 after its planes received Federal Aviation Administration certification and started to roll off its assembly lines.

In mid-January, though, the company reported it had run into financial turbulence. It closed its Ogden facilities and furloughed its 50 workers. Then, two weeks ago, the company announced it had suspended all operations at its remaining facilities in Colorado.

The company said it failed to come to terms with its lender for the funding necessary to maintain its business operations. "They had borrowed a substantial amount, and the lenders chose not to continue lending," said M. Frances Cetrulo, Adam Aircraft's lawyer.

In filing to liquidate its assets under Chapter 7, Adam Aircraft listed debts of $50 million to $100 million and assets of less than $10 million.

Cetrulo acknowledged "a lot of people have expressed an interest in buying the [company's] assets" and some have talked about continuing with the business. "But the sale of those assets are going to be in the hands of the Chapter 7 trustee."

Under a Chapter 7, a trustee is appointed to marshal all the assets of a company and liquidate them for the benefit of creditors.

Derek Miller, who oversees corporate recruiting and incentives at the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said it was common knowledge that Adam Aircraft had run into liquidity problems.

Aircraft development and aerospace are high-capital industries, and Adam Aircraft ran into liquidity problems at a time when there is a credit crunch, Miller said. "We feel bad about that."

He said if there is a good side to bankruptcy it is that even though Adam Aircraft was awarded more than $35 million in state incentives to place its airplane manufacturing operations in Ogden, none of that money had made its way to the company.

Those financial incentives would have gone to the company only after it had ramped up its operations and met specific employment goals, Miller said. "Now we'll move on to the next project."

steve@sltrib.com