Trump Effect: Aerospace Giant Making $1 Billion Investment In U.S.

In another signal victory for the Trump administration, GE Aerospace — which builds and designs “jet engines, components and integrated systems for military, commercial and business and general aircraft as well as aero-derivative gas turbines for marine applications” — announced it would invest nearly $1 billion in its U.S. factories and supply chain in 2025, double what it invested last year.

The company has employees in 16 states and said it would hire an additional 5,000 U.S. workers in 2025. Last year, the company hired 900 engineers and 1,000 new manufacturing employees.

“Investing in manufacturing and innovation is more critical than ever for the future of our industry and the communities where we operate,” CEO  H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. declared. “We are committed to helping our customers modernize and expand their fleets while scaling technologies that will truly define the future of flight. Together, this will keep the United States at the forefront of aerospace leadership.”

The investments will be distributed in the following areas: $113 million in Greater Cincinnati; $70 million in Muskegon, Michigan; $16 million in Durham, North Carolina, and $5 million in Lafayette, Indiana, $13 million in West Jefferson, North Carolina; $51 million in Auburn, Alabama; $14 million in West Chester, Ohio; $22 million in Huntsville, Alabama; $20 million in Asheville, North Carolina; $11 million in Batesville, Mississippi Expanding the building to increase production of key parts of the engine.

Additionally, $200 million will be invested in military engine production in  Lynn, Massachusetts, and Madisonville, Kentucky, “to gear up for the new T901 Black Hawk and Apache helicopter engine and continue producing other military engines.”

“The almost $1 billion investment includes $100+ million dedicated to the company’s external supplier base, providing investments to ensure suppliers are using the newest tools to produce parts, further reducing defects and supply chain constraints,” the company noted.

GE built the first American jet engine. In October 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps selected the Lynn, Massachusetts, plant to build a jet engine.  On April 18, 1942, GE engineers successfully created the I-A engine. “In October 1942, at Muroc Dry Lake, California, two I-A engines powered the historic first flight of a Bell XP-59A Airacomet aircraft, launching the United States into the Jet Age,” GE Aerospace noted.