GE Aviation breaks ground on West Jefferson, NC, facility

West Jefferson, North Carolina – GE Aviation recently hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of its machining factory in West Jefferson, N.C.

 

GE Aviation's Randy Hobbs, General Manager, Rotating Parts & Compressor Airfoils and Tim Tucker, West Jefferson Plant Manager were joined by Rep. Virginia Foxx and officials from the Town of West Jefferson, Ashe County and the North Carolina Department of Commerce to commemorate the groundbreaking.

 

The new 80,000ft² expansion will allow for increased capacity as the shop assumes additional machining work. The increase in volume is driven largely by orders for the new LEAP jet engine of CFM International, a 50/50 joint company of GE and Snecma (Safran) of France. To date, CFM has logged total orders and commitments with airlines for more than 6,000 LEAP engines – and it does not enter service until 2016. It will power new Airbus A320neo, Boeing 737 MAX, and COMAC (China) C919 aircraft for airlines worldwide.

 

GE could begin hiring at the expanded facility as early as 2015. Within five years, the plant's workforce is expected to grow to 265 people with capacity to do both rough and finished machining of components for the core of the engine (disks, spools, shafts).

 

"This investment is a testament to GE's commitment to this community. The West Jefferson team will play a vital role in the next-generation of aircraft engines, and we're proud to be a part of it" said Tim Tucker, plant leader at West Jefferson.

 

To prepare for the new workload, GE will partner with Wilkes Community College. The training program at the Tigra facility, will allow current and prospective employees to train in a hands-on environment with state-of- the- art machinery.

 

"I'm excited that GE has chosen the West Jefferson plant to expand production for its incredibly popular LEAP engine, which will power next generation aircraft from around the globe. I'm extremely pleased as well that GE is partnering with Wilkes Community College to give local workers the opportunity to learn the skills needed for the new jobs this expansion will bring to West Jefferson. The work done here will demonstrate yet again that American manufacturing and American workers can compete in the global economy."

 

The new facility is part of a larger commitment by GE Aviation to invest $195 million across its North Carolina operations through 2017. GE Aviation has more than 1,300 employees in North Carolina at sites in Durham, West Jefferson, Wilmington, and Asheville. The West Jefferson expansion, combined with the new facility in Asheville, N.C., and plant and equipment upgrades at existing sites across North Carolina, will create 242 additional GE jobs by 2017.