On an earlier visit to the Triad about 35 years ago, JetZero CEO Tom O’Leary was studying environmental policy at Furman University. He toured High Point’s solid waste disposal dumps, a much less glamorous task than his return in mid-June.
Amid all the fanfare that state and local officials could muster, O’Leary and his West Coast colleagues gathered at Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport for the biggest job announcement in state history.
The Long Beach, California-based aviation startup said it expects to invest $4.7 billion and eventually employ 14,564 workers in an assembly factory on several hundred acres at the airport. The site is near two other aviation companies with optimistic plans, Boom Supersonic and Marshall USA.
“This is not my first rodeo here,” O’Leary told local and state dignitaries during a late-afternoon reception. It followed an official announcement and meetings in Greensboro, Raleigh and Rocky Mount that pledged more than $2 billion in state and local economic development incentives — if JetZero follows through.
Along with cookies emblazoned with “JetZero” was a realization that the Triad is emerging as a major national aerospace hub. It also cements the airport’s role as the Triad’s economic engine, led by FedEx, Honda Aircraft, HAECO
and others.
“It is Greensboro’s time; it is the Triad’s time,” Greensboro Councilman Zack Matheny said as the council approved economic incentives for as much as $1,000 for each JetZero job.
After considering sites in 17 states, JetZero picked Greensboro as one of three finalists. (Huntsville, Alabama, was also a finalist.) The selection is tied to a $1.157 billion state incentive package that pays off over 37 years, hinged on hitting job and investment targets. The company could score $784.7 million in local incentives from Greensboro and Guilford County, mostly property taxes that the company could skip.
The Golden Leaf Foundation, a public-private group
that backs economic development in the state, is providing
$60 million.
The jobs pledged in North Carolina will pay an average wage of $89,340, which is 48% more than Guilford County’s current average of $60,195. The jobs start at $18.75 an hour, or $39,000 a year. JetZero will need to invest a minimum of $3.8 billion and employ 10,000 workers to max out the state incentives over the next 37 years.
Dubbed Project Atlas, the JetZero project involved more than a year of negotiations among local and state leaders and company officials. JetZero was founded in 2021 by aircraft designer Mark Page and O’Leary, a startup veteran. O’Leary described the Triad as “the epicenter of the next era of flight.”
“For more than 100 years now, a place called Wichita has been known as the air capital of the world,” Greensboro Chamber of Commerce CEO Brent Christensen told the audience. “After today and with a nod to the Wizard of Oz, it’s not in Kansas anymore. Everyone here will be shaping the future of aviation for the next 100 years, and it’s going to be a great ride.”
To be sure, JetZero has raised about $300 million of the estimated $2 billion that industry officials will be needed to launch. The U.S. Air Force and United Airlines are among groups showing support, hoping a new rival can spur competition in an industry dominated by Boeing and Airbus.
At full run-rate, the JetZero factory plans to produce about 20 airplanes a month, spokeswoman Jenny Dervin says.
The plane’s design shows a blending of the jet’s wings and body, creating a broader appearance that resembles the flat body of a stingray fish. The design allows the airplane to produce lift and reduce drag, resulting in as much as 50% better fuel efficiency, according to Dervin.
Earlier this year, United Airlines indicated interest in ordering as many as 100 airplanes, and secured an option for an additional 100. The agreement is based on JetZero achieving development milestones, including flight of a full-scale demonstrator in 2027. ■
