Shaheen Kicks Off Farnborough Airshow at SENEDIA Breakfast, Connecting New England Businesses with International Defense Leaders

(Farnborough, U.K.) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and Chair of the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee, helped kick off the Farnborough International Airshow by welcoming Granite State and other New England businesses to the Air Show as part of Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance (SENEDIA)’s New England Breakfast on Saturday in London. A primary focus of Senator Shaheen’s bipartisan Congressional delegation to the Airshow is to connect smaller, regional businesses in New Hampshire and New England with industry leaders. With aerospace serving as one of New Hampshire’s largest export sectors, the SENEDIA New England Breakfast brought together a number of companies with business in New England who are supporting additional investment and trade abroad. You can find photos from the event here.

“I thank SENEDIA for hosting a breakfast during this year’s Airshow to provide opportunities for our regional small companies to make key connections with some of the biggest, international leaders in the defense and aerospace industry,” said Shaheen. “By encouraging additional engagement with our regional companies back home, we’re creating jobs, supporting our economy and bolstering our national defense and security.” 

Last year, New Hampshire exported about $19 million in aerospace products to the United Kingdom. Twenty-two percent of all exports from the state are in the aerospace industry. The SENEDIA breakfast was attended by over 75 representatives from the aerospace industry with ties to New England.  

New Hampshire’s Office of International Commerce will also feature New Hampshire exhibitors at the Air Show through the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), which provides export assistance to small businesses. Senator Shaheen created the STEP program in 2010 and continues to lead action in support of STEP in Congress—including through leading efforts to advance STEP’s reauthorization out of the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee, which she serves as Chair. Senator Shaheen’s legislation would streamline reporting and administrative requirements of STEP, making it easier for businesses to use. 

Every two years, the aerospace, aviation and defense industries are invited to Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre for the Farnborough International Airshow, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Shaheen and U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) led a bipartisan delegation to the Paris Air Show in 2023. 

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