LONDON, England – At GE Aerospace’s display at the Farnborough International
Airshow, a large digital map displays the company’s investments in Alabama.
About 750 employees between its Auburn and Huntsville facilities.

Investments of more than $100 million last year alone. Sixty in-state suppliers.

“GE was a game changer for us,” Auburn City Manager Megan McGowen Crouch
said Tuesday at the airshow outside London. GE Aerospace announced in 2010 it
would locate in Auburn a facility to produce parts for its jet engines. Later, it
expanded operations to add high-volume additive manufacturing.

Earlier this year, GE Aerospace Foundation announced that Auburn would be one
of five communities worldwide to be part of a new $30 million workforce
training program.

Continuing to develop the city’s relationship with GE and seeking new
opportunities in the aviation industry brought McGowen Crouch and other
Auburn leaders to the airshow this year as part of the delegation led by the
Alabama Department of Commerce.

City leaders and economic development groups from across the state are at the
biennial aviation, aerospace and defense industry expo.

‘Ready to scale’

Birmingham’s delegation includes Mayor Randall L Woodfin and other city and
airport leadership.

“Walking the floor at Farnborough, you can feel the sheer velocity of where
global industry is heading – and Birmingham is built to run at exactly this pace,”
Woodfin said. “We aren’t just watching the future of aviation and technology take
flight; we are here to ensure Birmingham is the launchpad for its next great
expansion. Our message to the global innovators here today is simple:
Birmingham is open for business, open for partnership and ready to scale.”

Loyd Jenkins, CEO of the Montgomery Regional Airport Authority, is part of the
Capital City’s delegation at Farnborough. The airport has more than 300 acres of
developable land ready for development, he said.

“This mission is about creating meaningful partnerships that will strengthen our
airport, attract aerospace and aviation investment, expand air service and cargo
opportunities, and drive economic growth throughout the River Region,” Jenkins
said. “Every meeting is an opportunity to showcase Montgomery’s strategic
advantages and reinforce our commitment to building a globally connected
airport that serves as a catalyst for innovation, commerce and prosperity for our
community.”