General Electric (GE) is expanding its Wilmington facilities, creating 200 new jobs over the next five years and investing about $78 million in the area. The expansion is made possible in part by a $300,000 One North Carolina Fund grant and a $3.1 million Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG).

GE will expand and renovate its nuclear and aircraft engine operations at Wilmington facilities that are jointly operated by two GE business divisions. The nuclear business will be relocating its inspection and field services, controls and new plants business from Memphis, Tenn., and San Jose, Calif., while the aircraft engine division will add new products lines to support both civilian and military contracts.

The expected average yearly salary for the new jobs is $65,000 plus benefits, which is well above the county average of $26,860.

GE has about 330,000 employees in 100 countries. Roughly 6,000 of those employees work in North Carolina at 20 different locations. GE first located in North Carolina in 1967.

GE plans to build 18,000 square feet of new office space and renovate another 20,000 square feet of existing space in Wilmington for this project.

According to Andy White, president and CEO of GE’s nuclear business, the expansion will assist GE in its efforts to become as efficient and competitive as possible in the expectation of new nuclear reactor construction.

"With the recent passage of the federal energy bill, which contains important financial incentives to help utilities jump-start construction of the next-generation of reactors, we are taking these steps so GE will be even more prepared to compete and fulfill orders for new reactors," said White.

Under the terms of the agreement authorized by the state Economic Investment Committee, a 10-year JDIG will be established.

The JDIG program, created by Easley in 2002, awards up to 25 grants annually to strategically important new and expanding businesses and industrial projects. These grants are only awarded to projects whose benefits exceed their costs to the state and which would not be undertaken in North Carolina without the grant.

Cumulative annual grant amounts are capped at $15 million. Since 2003, JDIG is responsible for bringing more than $1.9 billion in investment and 10,000 jobs to North Carolina.

The One North Carolina Fund helps the state recruit and expand quality jobs by providing financial assistance to businesses or industries deemed by the Governor to be vital to a healthy and growing state economy. Through the use of this Fund, more than 17,000 jobs and $2 billion in investment have been created since 2001.