GE Aerospace has invested more than $130 million in its Wilmington-area plant since 2024, according to company officials.

The company also has announced plans to spend millions of dollars on its facilities nationwide and is marking the first year of its Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) apprenticeship program. A major employer in the region, GE Aerospace operates a manufacturing facility on Castle Hayne Road.

In 2024, the Wilmington plant saw $22 million in new investment from the company, according to Matthew Lehner, a spokesperson for GE Aerospace. The next year, it saw $52 million in investment, and the company expects to invest $60 million in the facility by the end of 2026.

Much of that funding is being used to support ongoing projects and to refresh the facility’s manufacturing equipment – particularly its Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, along with new tooling and building and facility improvements, Lehner wrote in an email to the Business Journal.

“The Wilmington site supports both our commercial and defense customers,” Lehner wrote, “manufacturing precision parts used in the core of jet engines, including blisks, spools and high-pressure turbine disks — components built to perform under extreme operating conditions.”

In March, the company announced the $60 million investment in the Wilmington plant, as part of a larger $1 billion investment in sites across the U.S. to accelerate jet engine production.

"We're bringing more equipment online to better serve our customers and meet growing demand, and that is good news for this community as the team grows," Mark Moon, site leader for the Wilmington plant, said at the time of the announcement. “We are all in on U.S. manufacturing, Wilmington and our customers."

Between 2024 and 2026, employment at the Wilmington facility grew by approximately 35%, according to Lehner, and as of late August, the plant had 17 open positions. Lehner did not provide an employee count for the Wilmington facility.

Late last month, the plant also marked the first year of an apprenticeship program with CFCC. The roughly eight-week program prepares students for careers as CNC machinists. It involves on-site and on-the-job training at the GE Aerospace facility and at CFCC, according to a news release.

More than 80 apprentices have graduated from the program since its launch last year. The apprentices are paid as full-time GE Aerospace employees throughout the program, and the cost of instruction is covered by North Carolina’s NCEdge program, the release states. CNC machinists set up and operate equipment that creates precise parts for jet engines.

“This apprenticeship opens the door to a career at GE Aerospace for people from many backgrounds, including those new to the industry,” Moon stated in the release. “It helps us grow the skilled workforce we need in Wilmington to deliver the critical engine parts our customers depend on.”

“As GE Aerospace continues to expand its operations and invest in the Wilmington region, CFCC is proud to provide the training and talent pipeline needed to support that growth,” CFCC President Jim Morton wrote in the release. 

“Through this customized machining training program, we are helping individuals launch rewarding careers while ensuring one of our region’s leading employers has access to a highly skilled workforce prepared to meet the demands of advanced manufacturing.”