New Hanover County is one of four beneficiaries of a GE Aviation investment slated to create 242 jobs across North Carolina over the next five years.
Gov. Pat McCrory this morning announced the jet engine producer would expand its manufacturing operations in Castle Hayne as well as in Durham, West Jefferson and Asheville for an overall investment worth $195 million.
The Castle Hayne site will add 35 new positions, the company said Tuesday afternoon; for all the new GE jobs statewide, a release from the governor’s office noted salaries will vary by position but come out to an average annual wage of $47,942 plus benefits. That’s higher than the average annual wages in all four benefiting counties.
It’s appropriate GE Aviation is expanding its name here, McCrory remarked this morning: “‘First In Flight’ is on our license plate,” he said. “The aviation industry is thriving in this state, and how ironic, because the Wright brothers started right here in this state on their historic flight in Kitty Hawk in 1903.
“It’s only fitting that alongside GE Aviation, North Carolina is continuing to produce and lead the way in aviation technology.”
While credits included the state’s workforce, incentives also played a major role. GE Aviation received an award from the state’s Job Development Investment Grant program, or JDIG, that could build up to $3.57 million for the company, according to the state.
Under the terms, GE is eligible for up to 12 annual grants worth 75 percent of the state personal income tax withholdings from jobs created since the JDIG approval. That means GE would have to prove it’s meeting benchmarks.
Local employment screening firm Castle Branch received a similar incentive earlier this year. (Related story)
A press release from the governor’s office Tuesday also noted that up to $1.19 million from the GE award could go to the N.C. Utility Fund for infrastructure upgrades in poorer counties. “When a JDIG is awarded to a company whose site is located in the state’s more economically prosperous counties [like New Hanover], 25 percent of the company’s grant is allocated to the Utility Fund to encourage economic development in less prosperous counties,” the release explained.
Local incentives were also in play. The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners in June approved an award of $875,000 over five years to GE, specifically to spur investment in the Castle Hayne site, off Castle Hayne Road.
That award is also contingent on company fulfillments of at least $63 million invested over five years there and 35 jobs created.
Related story: Business community rallies around county in support of GE investment incentive
The Ohio-based company already employs 1,300 between its four North Carolina facilities, with roughly 600 working at Castle Hayne. State officials on Tuesday said the retention of large companies like GE is a notable part of the state’s economic recovery, and that aviation in particular will be a key to additional growth.
“The aviation industry is a critical target sector for North Carolina, one that is becoming increasingly important to sustainable job and investment growth for the state,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker.
Scott Satterfield, CEO of Wilmington Business Development, noted this area’s ability to compete for such a global company, which operates more than 80 locations worldwide.
“You realize that there’s a real opportunity for this part of the world to be a player and certainly to enhance its situation here with that sector,” said Satterfield. “This [GE expansion] will add to that.”
A late-2012 report from a nonprofit called Regional Technology Strategies Inc. noted aviation and aerospace is indeed an emerging cluster regionally and is expected to grow 28 percent by 2016 in workforce size here.
Focusing more broadly, standouts are Spirit AeroSystems in Kinston’s Global TransPark, HondaJet in Greensboro and Boeing in Charleston, S.C., not to mention GE’s growing presence.
The report advised a new focus on workforce training to capture this and other industrial possibilities, which state officials on Tuesday said is well underway.
Said Decker, “Our state has the customized job training programs and skilled workforce that advanced manufacturers like GE Aviation need to compete in a global market.”
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
