GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – The Honda Aircraft Company’s consideration of Greensboro as the site to build its planned larger jet – heretofore called “Project Sage” – got a boost from the state on Tuesday.
The Economic Investment Committee of the North Carolina Department of Commerce voted during its semimonthly meeting to award approximately $3.9 million so the company will build its larger HondaJet 2600 at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
WGHP last week had identified HondaJet as the object of incentive plans being reviewed by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners and the Greensboro City Council.
The plan reviewed by the EIC calls for HondaJet to invest $55.7 million and create about 280 jobs at an average annual wage of $88,761.
The city will meet tonight to consider a resolution that specifies $1,500 per job if the company creates 288 jobs by 2027. That document also specifies that the jobs would not pay less than $15 per hour and would have an average annual wage of $88,761. The resolution says the company would be eligible for an additional $250 per job “for any new employee whose permanent address is located in an Impact Zone or who is hired through NCWorks Career Center.”
On Thursday, the Board of Commissioners will have a hearing about $712,820 it has identified for the project.
Typically Gov. Roy Cooper’s office would follow an EIC vote with an announcement about a closed deal with the company – perhaps as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Department of Commerce Economists say that by 2035 the project will add $3.9 billion to the state’s gross domestic product and generate $86 million in new state revenue.
Greensboro beat out Albertville, Alabama, which had offered $9.2 million in incentives, the EIC was told.
Honda Aircraft, which builds its small-scale personal jets at PTI, had announced in mid-June plans to add a mid-sized jet, which could carry more passengers and fly longer distances, including being the first transcontinental private jet.
Continued growth at PTI
Yiyi Cui, the spokesperson for Honda Aircraft Company, wrote in an email to WGHP last week that she was aware “there have been circulating conjectures surrounding a potential connection between the Project Sage and Honda Aircraft Company.”
She had declined to identify sites being considered for the facility. She referred questions about the specifics of the situation to the public notices issued by local governments and said that she is “unable to confirm whether Honda Aircraft will receive any incentives.”
The investment in HondaJet continues the significant growth of the aerospace industry at PTI. In January 2022, the state, county and city provided about $130 million in incentives to lure Boom Supersonic to PTI and earlier this year they provided more than $4.3 million to attract Marshall Aerospace to construct a maintenance facility for C-130 aircraft at the airport.
HondaJet’s history in Greensboro
HondaJet was developed in Greensboro starting in 2001, and the Honda Aircraft Company was founded in 2006. Its first official jets were aloft in 2015. The company employs about 1,500 at 6430 Ballinger Road in Greensboro.
HondaJet as of 2021 had delivered about 200 jets to private customers, and the company has said its new product line will work in conjunction with the existing HondaJet Elite II and that the company plans to accomplish certification in 2028.
The company has described the 2600 model as “a light jet with performances comparable to medium-sized jet” and would be capable of “nonstop transcontinental flight” – which it claims would be “the world’s first light jet capable” of that – and would accommodate up to 11 occupants while being flown by a single pilot.
In addition to those three aviation companies, PTI also is home to Cessna, HAECO, FedEx and dozens of other aerospace-related contractors.
