The Associated Press

PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- An Alaska Native corporation has bought controlling interest in the Port Angeles-based Angeles Composite Technologies Inc.

Angeles Composite manufactures wing-edge components for aircraft ranging in size from business jets to 747s. The purchase price by Koniag Inc. was not disclosed.

The new partnership will open the door to large-scale U.S. defense contracts, inject capital for facilities expansion and could eventually add up to 400 jobs, Angeles Composite Technologies' chief executive Mike Rauch told the Peninsula Daily News. "It should be good for the company and employees and good for the community."

Rauch, who co-founded the firm with Port Angeles contractor Rick Anderson in 1996, said Koniag, with offices in Anchorage and Kodiak, is certified as a small disadvantaged business, giving it preference for commercial and defense contracts.