Governor Bentley Joins GE Aviation Executives for a Groundbreaking Ceremony

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley along with officials from GE and the City of Huntsville, Madison County and Limestone County, break ground on two new GE Aviation facilities to be built in the Huntsville area. The factories will employ 300 workers once they are completed. Thursday, June 16, 2016. (Governor's Office, Daniel Sparkman)
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley along with officials from GE and the City of Huntsville, Madison County and Limestone County, break ground on two new GE Aviation facilities to be built in the Huntsville area. The factories will employ 300 workers once they are completed. Thursday, June 16, 2016. (Governor's Office, Daniel Sparkman)

HUNTSVILLE (Governor’s Office) – Governor Robert Bentley joined GE Aviation executives Thursday to formally launch a $200 million project to build two factories in Alabama that will produce unique materials used in a new generation of components for jet engines and land-based gas turbines.

Leading state and local officials also attended a groundbreaking ceremony in Huntsville for the project, which was announced last October. Once the factories are fully operational later this decade, they are expected to employ up to 300 people.

GE Aviation said the Alabama plants are scheduled to be completed by the first half of 2018, with production beginning later that year. The company expects to begin hiring its hourly workforce in coming months.

“GE Aviation is at the forefront of innovation in aerospace manufacturing, and I am proud to see Alabama expand its partnership with this industry leader,” Governor Bentley said. “This project shows the sophistication of GE Aviation’s technology while also demonstrating the company’s confidence in Alabama to supply a highly skilled workforce.”

The adjacent GE Aviation factories in Huntsville will mass-produce silicon carbide (SiC) materials used to fabricate ceramic matrix composite components, or CMCs.

One of the Alabama factories will be the first operation in the United States to produce SiC ceramic fiber. The second GE factory will use the SiC ceramic fiber to produce a unidirectional tape necessary to manufacture CMC components.

“GE Aviation is creating a fully integrated supply chain for producing CMC components in large volume, which is unique to the United States,” said Sanjay Correa, Vice President who leads the industrialization of advanced technologies at GE Aviation. “The new factories in Alabama are vital to this strategy. We are deeply gratified by the tremendous local, state, and national support for this effort.”

With one-third the density of metal alloys, these ultra-lightweight CMCs reduce overall engine weight, GE Aviation said. Further, their high-temperature properties greatly enhance engine performance, durability, and fuel economy.

“This GE facility puts a global spotlight on Huntsville as a leader in the most progressive, ceramic matrix composite technologies,” said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. “Our community is proud to provide the talent, support, and environment for this revolutionary advancement in materials.”

Thursday’s ceremony represents GE Aviation’s second significant factory investment in Alabama in recent years.

Since 2013, GE Aviation has also invested more than $100 million in a 300,000-square-foot factory in Auburn, where the company is engaged in jet engine component manufacturing (super-alloy machined parts) as well as establishing the world’s highest-volume additive manufacturing center.

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06-16-2016 GE Aviation Groundbreaking

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Provided by the Office of the Governor of Alabama | governor.alabama.gov