An unnamed manufacturing company is asking Guilford County for incentives
totaling almost $76 million, just days before airline startup JetZero may select
Piedmont Triad International (PTI) Airport for a 10,000-plus employee assembly
factory.
The county’s Board of Commissioners will consider granting $75.9 million in economic development incentives during a special meeting Thursday, June 12.
Long Beach, California-based JetZero may announce its site selection later this
month, possibly taking advantage of the global aviation audience during
the International Paris Air Show scheduled for June 16-22.
Three weeks ago, the company confirmed it’s considering PTI as one of three U.S.
finalists for producing its revolutionary “all wing” passenger airplane. In an email
earlier today, JetZero spokeswoman Jenny Dervin declined to say whether the
company is seeking county incentives.
Offering local and state incentives is customary, if not practically mandatory, in
multistate competition for economic development trophies. This latest project is
shaping up to be a whopper, compared with incentives offered to big prospects that
selected Guilford County.
The company is asking Guilford County for more than six times the $12.1 million it
granted Boom Supersonic for its $450 million assembly factory for its faster-than-
the-speed-of-sound passenger jet. The company is equipping and preparing to
hire for the facility at PTI.
The unnamed company is expected to be identified during next week’s meeting,
according to the county’s legal notice on May 30. While looking elsewhere in the
U.S., the company “anticipates creating new jobs in Guilford County over the life
of the project and anticipates adding significant taxable property to the tax base,’’
the notice said.
The company is also requesting other local and state incentives before deciding
where to locate, according to the notice. It added “the local approval of
incentives does not commit the company to locate in North Carolina.’’
At full run rate, the JetZero factory will produce about 20 airplanes a month and
would employ more than 10,000 people, Dervin said in an earlier email.
Employment will grow over the five years until the facility is running at full speed.
The plane’s all-wing design refers to the blending of the wings and the body,
creating a broader appearance that resembles the flat body of the stingray fish.
The design allows the entire airplane to produce lift and reduce drag, resulting in
up to 50% better fuel efficiency, according to Dervin.
It will carry about 250 passengers with a range of 5,000 nautical miles. It’s aimed
at carriers looking to add planes for the “un-served middle market between
single-aisle workhorses and larger twin-aisle airplanes,” Dervin said.
