FORT WORTH, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
GE Aerospace's maintenance arm is moving forward with expansion in Fort Worth.
Fort Worth City Council voted Aug. 13 in favor of a tax abatement for the company to upgrade and expand its 84,344-square-foot facility at Carter Field. The facility is located on nearly 19 acres at 15225 FAA Blvd. and 15101 FAA Blvd., near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
On Wing Support, a subsidiary of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), must hire an additional 100 employees with an average salary of at least $70,000 by 2026, under the terms of the agreement. Currently, the company employs 65 in Fort Worth.
The company must also invest $50 million: $37.5 million on real property improvements and $12.5 million on equipment. The company will expand its footprint by 3.25 acres.
“We appreciate the city’s partnership to make this investment possible in the Dallas-Fort Worth community. It will help us build capacity and better serve our customers," Jay Hembree, DFW On Wing Support site leader, said in a statement.
GE Aerospace builds jet and turboprop engines used on airplanes around the world and its On Wing Support division handles maintenance and repair for those engines.
Fort Worth agreed to a seven-year tax abatement of up to 60% of the incremental value of both the company’s real and business personal property, according to public documents.
In July, GE Aerospace announced a $1 billion investment to expand and invest in maintenance, repair and overhaul and component repair facilities worldwide, including plans to spend $250 million this year. It said about $65 million would go toward U.S. operations in Cincinnati; McAllen, Texas; Lafayette, Indiana; Dallas, and Winfield, Kansas. GE Aerospace employs more than 700 people in Texas.
Robert Sturns, Fort Worth's economic development director, and Robert Allen, CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, both said the expansion speaks to the city's robust aerospace and defense industry.
"This latest investment, which grows both GE On Wing's operational footprint and workforce in Fort Worth, is exactly the type of investment the Fort Worth EDP targets as we work to attract high-quality business investment to our rapidly growing region," Allen said in a statement.
According to the city's updated economic development strategic plan, adopted in 2022, the aerospace and defense sector is a target industry to attract to Fort Worth. Aerospace jobs made up 1.9% of the workforce in Fort Worth in 2022, higher than the national average. Two of Tarrant County's largest employers are DFW International Airport and Lockheed Martin, which assembles F-35 fighter jets in Fort Worth.
