From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
AUBURN — Governor Kay Ivey announced a $50 million expansion at GE Aviation’s Auburn facility.
The expansion will create 60 jobs in the additive manufacturing operation at the plant. The site was the aerospace industry’s first to mass-produce a jet engine component using 3-D printing technologies.
Ivey said the factory will be able to launch a high volume of a second engine part.
“GE Aviation is at the leading edge of advanced aerospace additive manufacturing, and the company’s expansion plans at the Auburn facility will strengthen its technology leadership position,” Ivey said. “We look forward to seeing where the great partnership between Alabama and GE Aviation will take us both in an exciting future.”
GE has already invested well over $100 million in the landmark Auburn site, which in 2015 began producing a fuel nozzle tip using additive technologies. Last October, the Auburn manufacturing team celebrated production of the 30,000th 3-D printed fuel nozzle tip for the LEAP jet engine.
The Auburn facility already employs around 230 people and already had plans to increase that number to 300 before today’s expansion.