After three and a half years of surveys, conversations, and preparations, Pratt & Whitney’s $650 million facility celebrated its official opening on Nov. 16 with a ribbon cutting event featuring community leaders and speakers including Gov. Roy Cooper, CFO of Raytheon Technologies Neil Mitchell, Pratt & Whitney President Shane Eddy, Secretary of Commerce Machelle Baker Sanders, Buncombe County Commissioner Brownie Newman, Golden Leaf Foundation President Scott Hamilton, and Biltmore Farms President and CEO Jack Cecil.

Pratt & Whitney is a global manufacturer of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. After 100 years of operation there are 85,000 Pratt & Whitney engines in operation globally. Their worldwide team consists of a total of approximately 39,000 employees. The Asheville location specifically is a state-of-the-art turbine airfoil production facility.

One of the largest LEED-certified buildings in the region, the Asheville facility expands a length of seven football fields, occupying 1.2 million square feet of space. This certification can be carried throughout the facility’s existence and is a nod to the company’s commitment to sustainable operation and environmental stewardship. Pratt & Whitney’s newly-produced engines will achieve a 50 percent reduction in emissions and a 75 percent reduction in engine noise over the next few years.

The ribbon cutting ceremony opened with a posting of the colors by TC Robertson High School’s JROTC and the school’s chorus performing the national anthem.

Dan Field, Project Execution Lead at Pratt & Whitney’s Asheville facility, began with acknowledging the “major milestone” for Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney’s parent company. Field also gave thanks to the community and to the leadership team, many of whom relocated to Asheville to help facilitate the location’s beginning stages. 

Shane Eddy, Pratt & Whitney President since 2016, further described the faculty. “This facility will be producing airfoils to support some of the world’s most reliable and capable engines,” Eddy said. “With demand for airfoils to increase by 60 percent over the next few years, these will be produced with best-in-class manufacturing technology. This facility will be highly automated and efficient, improving safety, productivity, and costs with a positive impact on the community.” Eddy further described the company’s collaboration with A-B Tech to develop specific programs which will support successful employment of newly acquired talent.

Raytheon Technologies CFO Neil Mitchel said the facility will “create 800 jobs over the next five years. These employees will incorporate advanced digital manufacturing technology and have opportunities for employee education and career growth.”

Gov. Roy Cooper said, “Western North Carolina helps to make North Carolina the greatest state in the U.S.” Cooper reflected on the state’s aviation history back to the Wright brother’s accomplishments and the state’s “first in flight” reputation, celebrating the growing aerospace and aviation industry. “This is the largest manufacturing project that the EDPNC has ever recruited in WNC history. Employees will earn salaries averaging $68,000, contributing to a $7.4 billion economic impact over the next several years,” Cooper said.

NC Secretary of Commerce Machelle Baker Sanders said manufacturing is the heartbeat of North Carolina’s economy with the industry employing 46,000 people statewide and representing 20 percent of the economic output for the state.

Golden Leaf Foundation helped fund the bridge across the French Broad River allowing access to the site. Golden Leaf Foundation President and CEO Scott Hamilton said the impact of this project expands beyond Asheville and Buncombe County with labor coming from a 60-mile radius. “The regional impact on WNC is one of the reasons we decided to invest in this project,” he said.