Brad Lawrence is 64 years old, and he's having the time of his life.

"Ever since I turned 64 I can't get that Beatles song out of my head," he said, laughing.

The CEO of the Esterline Corporation, which has a 350-employee location in Coeur d'Alene, has good reason to sing.

Though he might not say it, it's been a good year for Brad Lawrence. A very good year.

Let's start with this bit of news: Lawrence was named Large Manufacturing Company Executive of the Year by the Seattle Business Magazine.

And then, there's this little tidbit worth noting: Esterline, a manufacturing company primarily serving aerospace and defense markets, enjoyed second quarter income of $46 million on sales of $435 million. That represents a 13.8 percent growth in sales over last year's $382.5 million, and a 57.9 percent growth in income over last year's $29.1 million.

And finally, its stock closed Friday at $80.75, an all-time high.

"We truly are on a roll at the moment," Lawrence said in a phone interview.

Mention all this to Lawrence, who owns a home in Hayden Lake, and he tries to downplay all the attention.

"I was a little bit embarrassed," he said of his Executive of the Year honor.

He notes that he was named Esterline's CEO in 2009.

"After a year and a half in the CEO position, I can't take credit for the success of the organization," he said. "Most of the activities and success was put in place by my predecessors. I just had the good fortune to be here when those plans shine through."

Success

Esterline's headquarters are in Bellevue, Wash. It employs 12,000. More than half of its workforce and facilities are outside the United States. Lawrence refers to it as a global company operating in a global market.

So what's the secret to Esterline's success?

There are a few keys, Lawrence said.

Despite rising revenue, Esterline has about 50 administrators. Lawrence guides five company presidents who oversee about 40 business units around the world.

"We keep our corporate staff quite small," he said.

It allows each of its companies to make local, day-to-day decisions, which Lawrence believes leads to superior performance.

"They know their market. We give them a great deal of autonomy," he said.

And then, the aerospace industry is doing well, he said, and demand for Esterline's products is strong.

Boeing and Airbus are increasing their build rates and working on new models. Airlines are flying full planes again with greater frequency, increasing the need for spare parts, which Esterline provides.

AIS, too, has seen strong demand from its core markets.

"We're enjoying a resurgence in our market," Lawrence said.

He emphasized confidence in Esterline's strong overall defense sales funnel and solid order book for both new and retrofit aircraft.

"The new production F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and T-6B trainer programs should continue to be solid contributors to Esterline's performance," Lawrence said in the release, "and the need to extend the life of older aircraft through avionic retrofits plays right to our strengths."

Coeur d'Alene site

In Coeur d'Alene, it operates Advanced Input Systems just off U.S. 95 behind Borders. According to its website, AIS designs and manufactures touch, sensing, and complex control panels, keyboards, for Original Equipment Manufacturers in the medical, electronics, gaming, industrial, marine, transportation, and defense industries.

"We just doubled the size of that facility a year ago in Coeur d'Alene," he said of the 54,000-square-foot addition.

"Advanced Input Systems has a demonstrated record of incorporating any user-input technology and any display technology in over 2,000 different input systems for more than 1,000 companies," the website says.

Lawrence was president of AIS and lived in the area from 2002 to 2007.

"At one time, we were the largest manufacturer employer in North Idaho," he said.

Work and family

Lawrence, who grew up in western Pennsylvania, graduated from Penn State University and earned his MBA at the University of Pittsburgh. As Esterline's CEO, he reacts to a continuous stream of new, technical data. No day is ever the same.

That's fine by him.

"Probably the most satisfying thing of all is seeing these talented people organized into a team, setting a creative strategy, and an executive plan, watching it unfold the way we designed it," he said.

And that leads to, as Lawrence says, "producing extraordinary results and delighting our shareholders."

While there is no limit to the number of hours he works, Lawrence finds time for family and relaxation.

"I am a great believer in life balance," he said.

He skis in the winter, golfs in the summer, fly fishes on the St. Joe River and hikes often with his Labrador retriever, Lilly. He and his wife, Donna, have been married 32 years and spend time at their summer home here.

The future

The man has no plans to retire.

Why should he? Lawrence is in good health, maintains high energy and enjoys his work.

"Where some people may be overwhelmed by a large number of business issues, it invigorates me," he said

Last year was a record one for Esterline, and this year looks better. And the long-term future, he states, is strong.

The numbers say so.

For the first half of fiscal 2011, Esterline reported net income of $75.9 million, or $2.44 per diluted share, on sales of $806.1 million. That compares with net income of $42.4 or $1.40 per diluted share, on $717.8 million in sales in the same period last year.

New orders for the first six months of 2011 were $862.1 million compared with $733.5 million for the same period last year. Backlog at the end of the period was $1.16 billion compared with $1.09 billion a year ago.

He added that the company expects to improve over last year's record levels, and raised full-year earnings guidance to the range of $4.80 to $4.95 per share.