Honda Aircraft to expand NC plant, adding hundreds of jobs. Here’s what to know.

Greensboro’s growth in the aviation industry is continuing with Honda Aircraft Company’s plan to bring 280 new jobs to the city over the next five years, partly due to a $3.43 million job development investment grant the state pledged on Tuesday.

Honda Aircraft, which is headquartered in Greensboro, plans to develop and produce a longer-range version of its HondaJet aircraft, the HondaJet 2600 model.

Honda Aircraft currently employs 723 full-time and 93 contract employees in Guilford County. American Honda Motor Company, Honda’s Aircraft’s parent, has 562 additional jobs in the Town of Swepsonville in Alamance County.

Honda Aircraft said it expects to pay the new employees an average wage of $88,761, according to the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee, which approved the grant. Guilford County’s average salary is $57,190 as of 2023.

“HondaJet’s creation of nearly 300 good-paying jobs is yet another example of why CNBC named North Carolina as the number one state in the country to do business for the second year in a row,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement Tuesday. “This decision shows our state’s commitment to developing a skilled workforce, not only in the key industry of aerospace with a flagship brand like HondaJet, but in the entire advanced manufacturing arena.”

The company chose Greensboro for the site over Alberta, Alabama, according to its application.

Honda Aircraft expects to invest $55.7 million by December 31, 2027, which would bring its total investment in the state to over $335 million.

The job development investment grant also includes moving $381,600 into the state’s Industrial Development Fund Utility Account, which helps rural areas finance infrastructure updates with the goal of attracting future businesses.

Honda Aircraft previously received a job development investment grant from the state in 2007 for the creation of its headquarters at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro. North Carolina has since paid the company $6.68 million, according to state records. The grant resulted in the creation of 321 jobs and retention of 616 jobs.

According to the Walden model, which the state uses to evaluate its major economic projects, the manufacturing site in Greensboro could increase North Carolina’s economy by $2.37 billion over the course of the 12-year term of the grant.

Earlier this year, Boom Supersonic broke ground on its 62-acre Piedmont Triad International campus in January. The Boom site will house the manufacturing facility for its future commercial supersonic jet. Officials project construction will be completed by mid-2024.