JetZero Inc., a California aircraft manufacturer with ambitious plans to build futuristic, fuel-sipping, all-wing planes, has picked North Carolina for the site of its first factory — a $4.72 billion project that could bring more than 14,500 high-paying jobs to the state, officials said Thursday.
The planned factory, to be built at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, is one of the biggest job-creation commitments in state history, buoyed in part by more than $1 billion in state economic incentives. If successful, the project’s impact could spread throughout the state, sprouting suppliers and ancillary services throughout the state and beyond. It could also play a role in transforming commercial air travel.
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North Carolina Department of Commerce officials disclosed JetZero’s North Carolina plans during a special meeting to discuss incentives on Thursday morning. The department’s Economic Investment Committee, which evaluates performance-based grants for growing companies, approved an incentives package worth up to $1.57 billion, including a jobs grant worth up to $1.02 billion. The grant would be paid out in installments over 37 years, provided the company meets investment and hiring targets. JetZero expects to hire the employees and make the $4.72 billion investment by the end of 2036.
“You think about what's going into the economy from this project — that's going to go to every county in North Carolina,” Lee Lilley, the state’s commerce secretary, told WRAL in an interview.In addition to the state incentives, Guilford County commissioners on Thursday approved a separate package worth up to $76 million, to be paid out over 20 years. The Greensboro City Council approved additional incentives to the company worth $1,000 per job.
JetZero, whose tecnhology is designed to reduce fuel consumption and lower emisisons, is among the latest clean energy company to target the state. It's also the latest aircraft manufacturer to land in North Carolina in recent years — part of a broader strategy by corporate recruiters.
"Aviation is a cornerstone of our economy and a driver of innovation in our state," Gov. Josh Stein said during a news conference on Thursday. "This decision further solidifies North Carolina's place in aviation and aerospace leadership."
If fully realized, the factory would employ a workforce larger than the population of most municipalities in the state — slightly bigger than Smithfield or Rolesville and almost twice the size of Kill Devil Hills, where the Wright brothers embarked on the first successful airplane flight.
It could grow the state’s economy by $259 billion, commerce officials estimated. The entire state’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product was $845.13 billion in late 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“Not only do you have the direct jobs associated with this project, but you have a number of indirect jobs — service providers, and ultimately, we hope to attract a number of suppliers for the assembly of this aircraft — and they don't all have to be right on site at PTI,” Lilley said, referring to the Greensboro airport. “You can sprinkle them out into other counties. But anytime you create 14,000 direct jobs, that is going to reverberate throughout the entire region.”
Tom O’Leary, the chief executive of JetZero, said the company was attracted to the state’s “innovative, ambitious and capable workforce,” and the quality of the state’s schools and colleges — including community colleges capable of helping build a pipeline of engineers, technicians and advanced manufacturing experts.
“With this announcement, the state becomes the epicenter of the next era of flight,” O’Leary said at a news conference in Greensboro, adding: “This is more than just a factory. It's a launch pad for a new chapter of American aerospace.”
Big plans, no flights
The state’s potential investment is a gamble on an aerospace startup with big ambitions — and lots of deep-pocketed partners — but not one flight under its belt.
JetZero’s innovative Z4 plane is still under development. The private company, which is funded in part by a $235 million U.S. Air Force grant, aims to have its first aircraft flying in 2027 and enter commercial service in 2030.
Even though JetZero’s demonstrator hasn’t yet been built, the state felt confident in committing such a large incentives package to the company. Lilley said the state scrutinized the company’s balance sheet, spoke with others in the industry and even the the federal government, which has been involved the Z4’s development.
“They're going to be able to succeed with this product because the engineering checks out,” Lilley said. “There's obviously a demand for it in the market, not only for defense use, but especially for commercial use, and the plane that they're designing is really going to change the way that we do aviation, because it's going to save operators so much money and fuel costs.”
Major airlines and the U.S. government have high hopes for the Z4 because of the cost-savings it promises. Fuel and oil account for more than 25% of airlines’ total operating expenses, according to the International Air Transport Association.
The Z4’s blended-wing design — similar to a Stealth Bomber — is capable of reducing fuel consumption by 50%, according to the company. The design blends the wings and fuselage, enabling the entire wingspan to produce lift, enabling it to fly more efficiently than other aircraft designs. JetZero bills its product as the world’s first commercial all-wing airplane, capable of carrying 250 passengers over 5,000 nautical miles.
More established aerospace companies including Airbus and Boeing, have also been testing blended-wing aircraft. Lilley pointed to the state’s performance model as a safeguard against competitive risks or other threats to the company's viability. Grant payments only occur if the state can verify that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets. The state regularly cancels job-creation grants for companies that don’t meet those targets.
But JetZero is also seen as a viable competitor. United Airlines, buoyed by the prospect of cost savings, announced in April an investment in JetZero that could lead the carrier to order 100 JetZero airplanes, with an option for another 100, provided JetZero meets development, safety and financial milestones. Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air Group have also announced partnerships. Delta plans to offer operational guidance on things such as customer experience, which is expected to be much different in a JetZero plane than in traditional tube-and-wing aircraft.
To deliver the planes, though, the company needs to build them. That’s where Greensboro comes in.
Aviation hub grows
The 400 aerospace companies that operate in North Carolina contributes $88 billion to the state's economy each year, state officials said. Over the years, the Triad has blossomed into a hub for aerospace companies luring the likes of jetmaker Honda Aircraft Co. and Boom Supersonic. Those companies have opened massive operations at Piedmont Triad International with thousands of employees.
During the announcement Thursday, Republican lawmakers — who are expected to appropriate of as much as $450 million to cover site preparations; road, water, and wastewater improvements, as well as the construction of the manufacturing and a research and development center for composite structures — touted their legislative efforts to lower taxes and reduce regulations as reasons for the economic success.
"This wouldn't be possible without state policies that have created an environment that enables private sector growth and development all across the state," Republican Senate leader Phil Berger said.
JetZero’s factory would dwarf the size of those operations combined if its plans become reality. The company is likely to need thousands of engineers, material scientists, aerospace technicians, electricians and electrical engineers and others to assemble the aircraft. The new factory is expected to include a research and development center for composite structures.
To build up its staff, it’s likely the company would have to pull from the state’s labor pool and beyond. The company hopes to entice workers with high pay; the average annual salary for workers at the facility would be about $89,000. That’s about 53% above the average private sector wage in Guilford county, according to state commerce officials. In all, the project could have an annual payroll impact of about $1.3 billion for the region.
Aviation companies have been drawn to the region due in part to the state’s labor pool and the availability of workforce training — two things JetZero’s CEO lauded in remarks at Thursday’s press conference. The company and state also hope to train people to become competitive for positions at the factory, and at other aerospace manufacturers in the state.
Guilford Technical Community College has been expanding its aviation program, where it offers courses in aerospace manufacturing, engineering, assembly and repair, among other disciplines. The college is planning a multimillion-dollar expansion that could grow its headcount by about 40% when it’s complete in 2027.
Included in JetZero’s incentives package were services from the state’s Division of Workforce Solutions valued at $10.7 million. The package also includes $32 million for specialized training through the state’s community college system. Those will help the company and competitors bolster their ranks. Local leaders realize it'll take time to build those resources and the workforce.
"This is a long term project," Brent Christensen, chief executive of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce told city officials Thursday as they approved local incentives for the project. "You don't need 14,000 employees on day one. This is a 10-, 15-, 20-year project that will grow the airport and grow our community. But it won't grow overnight. It will be measured in stages."
Aerospace isn’t the only focus of North Carolina’s recent efforts to bring in new manufacturing industries, to replace the jobs lost in the furniture and textile industries over the past 30 years. Toyota recently opened a massive factory, also in the Greensboro area, where the company promised to hire thousands of people to make batteries for its electric cars. Another electric vehicle company, Vinfast, plans to build its cars in Moncure, on the border between Wake and Chatham counties, though its project has been delayed.
Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper made attracting the clean-energy industry a key strategy of his economic development efforts. The JetZero announcement shows his Democratic predecessor, Stein, is continuing those efforts — even as Republican President Donald Trump has sought to slow or stop some of the federal funds and tax credits aimed at the clean tech industry that the federal government had previously approved under former Democratic President Joe Biden.
The JetZero talks began under Cooper, but Lilley told WRAL that one of Stein’s first calls after replacing Cooper was to the company, reassuring them of his continued support.
“The real hard work starts now, because we're going to have to get them off the ground,” Lilley said. “But we fully believe that they will achieve liftoff here in North Carolina.”
WRAL State Government Reporter Will Doran contributed to this report.