SAN MARCOS — Any Central Texan flying on a Boeing jet is probably relying on a crucial piece of equipment manufactured here.

CFAN Co. is the world's only manufacturer of composite jet engine fan blades that power GE engines for the Boeing 777, 787 and 747-8 airplanes. And business is booming: The company hired 125 additional employees last year, growing the workforce to 521, and expects to hire another 50 this year.

"For a long time, people didn't think manufacturing was important to our economy," CFAN President Ben Cloutier said.

No more.

Manufacturing took a key place in President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech. Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has made manufacturing a topic of study for every House committee before next year's legislative session. And Chrysler's Super Bowl commercial had actor and director Clint Eastwood giving a halftime speech to America that would have been worthy of football legend Vince Lombardi.

Aiming to make sure manufacturing isn't just the topic du jour, the Texas Association of Manufacturing, which represents 400 large and small manufacturers, will tackle environmental, energy, workforce, tax policy and other issues at its annual summit in San Marcos on Tuesday and Wednesday. It starts with a tour of two local manufacturing plants, Goodrich Aerostructures and CFAN.

"The cornerstone of the Texas economy is manufacturing," said Fred Shannon, chairman of the Texas Association of Manufacturers.

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