Groundbreaking: GE Aviation comes to Asheville

Posted on by Jake Frankel

Rendering of the planned new GE Aviation facility by GE Aviation.

State, local and company officials met today, Nov. 14, to break ground on GE Aviation’s new 170,000-square-foot Asheville facility, being built next to an existing GE Aviation machining plant in South Asheville. It will be the first in the world to mass produce engine components made of advanced ceramic matrix composite materials.

GE will begin hiring at the new plant in 2014 and expects to employ 340 people at full capacity. The company currently employs 290 people in Asheville, according to a press release from the office of Gov. Pat McCrory.

In the complex deal, Buncombe County agreed to spend $15.7 million on land acquisition and facility construction, and give the company an additional $2.68 million in cash grants. The city of Asheville approved giving the GE Aviation $1.5 million in tax breaks.

A variety of attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony provided live dispatches from the event via Twitter. Here’s a roundup of some of their posts via Storify:

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About Jake Frankel
Jake Frankel is an award-winning journalist who enjoys covering a wide range of topics, from politics and government to business, education and entertainment.
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4 thoughts on “Groundbreaking: GE Aviation comes to Asheville”

  1. sharpleycladd

    It would be great if there was, like, a local, I dunno, newspaper or, you know, journalist, who could, like, fill the community in on, you know, who owned the land the County bought for GE, how long they owned it before, like, they sold it to the, um, County, and, like, how much they made on the deal.

    Dude.

  2. boatrocker

    Shhhhh.

    Stop posting here unless it’s

    1) yay yuppie micro-brewed beer
    2) yay below living wage restaurant jobs
    3) your female singer-song writer friend who uses
    a capo and social media bombs you for her
    “opening for” gig

    4) corporate plan to starve you to death unless
    you take an outsourced job from an outta town

  4. sharpleycladd

    And no coverage anywhere on this site about fracking heading our way. Asheville needs an independent weekly newspaper.

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