GE Aviation to invest $67 million in Ohio
DAYTON, Ohio—The aviation unit of General Electric Co. said Monday it will invest $67 million to improve its facilities in Dayton, Ohio, and build a new research and development center there.
Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO of GE Aviation Systems, announced the investment at the Dayton Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting. A bulk of the investment -- $50 million -- will go toward the construction of new Electrical Power Integrated Systems research and development center that is expected to begin operations next year. The remaining $17 million will be dedicated to capital improvements.
In the past five years, GE Aviation has added 400 jobs at its three Dayton plants and has started building a research and development center at the University of Dayton. It plans to make Dayton a test-flight hub for future unmanned aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to name six U.S. sites as future flight testing centers for unmanned aircraft in the next year. Ohio is competing with at least 22 other states, according to GE.
GE Aviation is based in the Cincinnati suburb of Evendale, Ohio. Across the state, GE has 22 sites and 15,000 employees. GE employs 2,600 workers in the Dayton area.
