The state of Alabama is celebrating another economic win in Huntsville this week after GE Aviation said it will launch two materials factories to service jet engines and land-based gas turbines.

GE Aviation, a provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for commercial and military aircraft, will invest more than $200 million on adjacent facilities at the southeast corner of the intersection of Greenbrier Road and Interstate 565 near FedEx in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County. The operation, which will employ up to 300 workers, will mass produce silicon carbide (SiC) materials for ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components.

Crews will start construction in mid-2016 and complete the project during the first half of 2018, when production begins. The company said it is in the process of hiring a technical team that will transfer to Huntsville and will begin recruiting hourly employees late next year.

Lucia Cape, vice president of economic development for the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, said GE Aviation's investment will boost the area's commercial manufacturing footprint in the aviation industry.

"This is cutting edge technology that will further our position as a leader in high-tech and advanced manufacturing," she told AL.com.

SiC ceramic fiber

Gov. Robert Bentley, GE Aviation officials and members of the Alabama delegation were in Montgomery this afternoon to make the announcement. A press conference was held simultaneously with local leaders at the Chamber building in downtown Huntsville.

One of the GE Aviation plants will produce SiC ceramic fiber, making it the first operation of its kind in the U.S. The only other factory in the world that specializes in large-scale industrial SiC ceramic fiber is Japan-based NGS Advanced Fibers, a joint company of Nippon Carbon, GE and Safran of France.

The other GE Aviation facility will use the SiC ceramic fiber to make the CMC tape needed to assemble CMC components. The City of Huntsville said the project will be developed over two phases, beginning with a $136 million initial phase that creates about 200 high-paying advanced manufacturing and engineering jobs.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said future uses for CMC materials are vast.

"GE is an innovation company and Huntsville is an innovation city," he said. 
"This announcement by GE Aviation is just the latest chapter in that history of innovation. The products that will be manufactured here represent the future of aerospace."

Incentive details

The local contribution toward the 100-acre land purchase from Chase & Cook Partners includes $1 million from the City of Huntsville, $1.5 million from the Huntsville Industrial Development Board, $500,000 from Madison County, $150,000 and utilities assistance from Limestone County and $500,000 from GE, according to city spokeswoman Kelly Schrimsher.

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Angela Till said the Alabama Department of Transportation and state Department of Commerce also will provide a $2.2 million industrial access road and bridge grant toward the project. GE Aviation will receive benefits under the "Made in Alabama" Jobs Incentive Package, which took effect this summer.

Till said the estimated payroll for the facilities for the first 10 years is $102.5 million and average annual pay is expected to be $48,000 at full production.

Under the project agreement, GE is qualified to receive:

• Job-creation credit: $3.5 million (estimated total) over 10 years
• Investment credit: $12.4 million (estimated total) over 10 years

Till said a job-creation credit represents an annual rebate of up to 3 percent of a qualifying company's prior-year payroll for new, direct jobs. An investment credit can be taken against Alabama income tax and/or utility tax liability, she added.

The company will receive assistance from AIDT, the state's workforce development agency, valued at nearly $1.9 million. GE Aviation plans to use $21.9 million in funding from the U.S. Air Force Research Lab Title III Office for the ceramic fiber portion of the project.

'A significant step'

When the plant is open, it will sell fiber to the Department of Defense, GE businesses, Herakles (Safran) and other customers subject to U.S. regulations.

The CMC tape operation will be financed solely by GE. The ceramic tape produced in Huntsville will be used by GE Aviation at its CMC manufacturing facility in Asheville, N.C., which launched last year.

GE Aviation said the demand for CMCs is expected to grow "tenfold" during the next 10 years. CMCs, which are more heat resistant than metal alloys and require less cooling air, create a more efficient engine with less overall weight.

"Establishing the new GE factories in Alabama is a very significant step in developing the supply chain we need in order to produce CMC components in large volume," said Sanjay Correa, vice president of CMC Program at GE Aviation.

In 2013, GE Aviation opened a 300,000-square-foot plant in Auburn that makes machine parts for jet engines. The company announced last year it would spend an additional $50 million in Auburn on a new 3D printing initiative to mass produce fuel nozzles.

Dale Strong, chairman of the Madison County Commission, said the local GE Aviation project was possible through a coalition of the city of Huntsville, Madison County and Limestone County.

"Our team works together beyond geographical lines — through regional collaboration — working together as one for the benefit of our entire community," he said.

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