FORT COLLINS – Woodward Inc. is adding employees, developing plans for a new manufacturing facility in the United States and expanding operations in Poland and China.

Last year, it set a record of $132 million in net earnings and raised its dividend by 12.5 percent.

In short, the more than 140-year-old company and its investors are enjoying good fortune.

The company seems poised for even greater growth as its customers develop next-generation aircraft that include better fuel-efficiency controls.

Fuel can make up more than 40 percent of an airline's cost, so airlines are demanding greater fuel efficiency in their planes, Woodward CEO Tom Gendron said. Meanwhile, European countries have targeted fuel-guzzling planes with emissions taxes.

Aircraft manufacturers are responding by updating their designs, which is good news for Woodward.

"What's going to happen in the next five years is they're all going to be updated," Gendron said. "We've done really well securing content on almost every one."

The decade ahead

The Fort Collins-based company's operations span the globe, with production, service and engineering facilities nationwide as