Southern Arizonas major aerospace employers are among the technology-based companies that staged a resurgence in 2013, as several firms serving commercial aviation markets boosted their payrolls.

Meanwhile, aerospace-oriented defense firms like Raytheon Missile Systems shed some jobs in 2013, while military employers like Davis-Monthan Air Force Base saw cuts mainly in civilian workers due to sequestration and Pentagon budget-cutting efforts.

Bombardier Aerospace, the areas biggest aviation employer, added more than 100 jobs last year as it opened three new maintenance lines for its Q400 and Q400 NextGen turboprops to support new long-term maintenance contracts with North American carriers.

Another local aerospace firm that made big strides in 2013 was B/E Aerospace, a maker of luxury interiors for the corporate and private jet markets. The company has nearly doubled its staff since 2011 as the global market for cabin interiors has begun recovering from the recession and its lingering aftermath.

Some smaller aerospace companies are growing as well.

Prized for its relatively high wages and high-value exports, the technology-driven aerospace sector is the focus of economic and workforce development in the region.

Aerospace is a mainstay of Pima Countys manufacturing sector, accounting for nearly half of the 23,200 manufacturing jobs in the county in 2013, according to the Arizona Department of Administration and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But overall, employment in aerospace products and parts manufacturing in Pima County fell from 11,200 jobs in January 2013 to 10,900 in January 2014, a drop of about 2.6 percent.

Aerospace and defense are a major focus for Tucsons economic-development group, Tucson Regional Economic Opportunites Inc. (TREO), along with solar energy, biosciences and logistics.

At a meeting of the Pima County Workforce Investment Board, TREOs David Welsh compared the aerospace and defense sector to the sun in a model solar system.

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Aerospace firms boost payrolls; defense slips