GE to Build Two Aerospace Manufacturing Plants in Alabama
GE is investing in two massive $200 million aviation manufacturing facilities that will bring 300 jobs to Huntsville.
Posted: October 29, 2015
Alabama officials announced Tuesday a significant investment in North Alabama by mega-corporation General Electric Aviation (Cincinnati, OH) in building two state-of-the-art aviation manufacturing facilities in Huntsville, as reported by Yellowhammer News.
The two factories will mass-produce silicon carbide (SiC) materials used to manufacture ceramic matrix composite components (CMCs) for jet engines and land-based gas turbines. The $200 million facilities are expected to employ 300 people once their construction is complete.
“We are honored that GE Aviation has chosen Huntsville for an advanced technology manufacturing operation to produce silicon carbide materials for commercial and military engines,” said Alabama Governor Robert Bentley in a press release following the announcement. “Today’s announcement is important because Alabama is expanding our partnership with a global aviation leader. We have prioritized advanced manufacturing in aerospace and aviation, and I appreciate the investment by GE Aviation in this new Huntsville operation.”
The silicon carbide ceramic fiber plant will be the first of its kind in the United States, and will be a key component in GE’s supply chain to make large amounts of CMCs. The only other two SiC plants in the world are located in Japan and France. The adjacent GE factory will use the fiber to produce the “unidirectional CMC tape” necessary to fabricate CMC components.
According to Decatur Daily reporter Mary Sell, the state incentivized GE with a job-creation credit of $3.5 million and an Investment credit of $12.4 million, each to be paid over ten years. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2016, with completion projected for the first half of 2018. GE hourly workers will begin being hired in late 2016.
This is the company’s second investment in Alabama. In 2010 the company built a partnership in Auburn to create a $100 million, 300,000 sq ft factory where Alabama GE employees build jet engine components.
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