Rockford exec builds military aircraft parts after serving in combat Air Force

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A manufacturing executive in Rockford has gone from flying military aircraft to building parts for them.

Jeff Kaney is the founder and CEO of Kaney Aerospace, at 1300 Capital Drive, in Rockford. The combat Air Force veteran said there’s nothing he’d rather be doing these days than running his company.

“I actually love doing what I’m doing. It’s the best job ever,” Kaney said.

He started the company from scratch nearly two decades ago.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “Sometimes that excitement is positive and sometimes it’s negative. But, all in all, it’s been a great ride since I started in 2006. It’s kind of overwhelming some days to think that we built this and we grew it, and ‘we’ is all the team members here at Kaney Aerospace.”

Kaney makes components used in the aerospace and medical fields.

“There’s four main areas that we play in,” he said. “Aerospace, and then we leverage that at the Department of Defense. So we’re working directly with the Department of Defense to create new electrical systems and actuation systems. And then we share that technology and from the Department of Defense into the aerospace world. And then the other areas, two areas are medical devices. We make medical devices here and also some of our products that will go to industrial uses, specifically that our electrical components have use in industrial u

Every inch of the facility is busy with workers operating in unison with the bigger picture in mind.

“In aerospace, we’re all about the future,” Kaney said. “We are looking forward to more electric aircraft, more environmentally friendly vehicles and more automated vehicles. And that’s the heart and soul of what we sell to our customers so they can bring new technologies into the world.”

Kaney has its main facility in Rockford, and another in Dayton, Ohio. In 2024, Kaney shipped 265 different part numbers to almost 60 customers around the world. It takes all of their more than 150 team members to make it all happen.

“The secret to our success boils down to hiring and motivating the brightest and best people that we can find,” Kaney said.”

Kaney said some of his finished products are made for flight controls on aircraft of all sizes, even the largest aircraft in the world. He said every little piece his team makes has to be perfect considering what’s on the line.

“We have to understand that these are flight-critical components that we’re making. So we hold the safety of passengers, pilots, and crew members in our hands day to day. And we have to make quality products. They’ve got to be shipped on time and they have to be of the utmost quality and reliability because lives depend on them,” Kaney said.

While Kaney said he works hard each day to ensure efficiency and quality, he always has an eye on the future.”

“Growth,” he said. “More platforms, bringing more efficiency to highly certified vehicles.”

He said it’s exciting working towards that growth.

“It’s so exciting it keeps me up at night,” he said.