GE Aviation backlogged with orders for CMC technology

ASHEVILLE – With construction nearly complete on its new 170,000-square-foot Asheville plant, GE Aviation already has a backlog of $161 billion in orders for jet engine parts made from revolutionary ceramic matrix composites.

But GE Aviation needs the continued backing of the Export-Import Bank of the United States to make sure those future projects fly in emerging markets where private financing may not be available, company officials told U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry on Monday.

“We have to compete internationally. The Export-Import Bank issue is important not just to us, but to Asheville,” said Michael Meguiar, manager of the Asheville plant, which will expand to around 350 workers in the next few years.

The 10th District representative toured the construction site and the CMC production lines already at work in the existing GE Aviation plant in the Sweeten Creek Industrial Park.

The charter for the 80-year-old Export-Import Bank expires on Sept. 30, but some Republicans in Congress have called for ending the bank. Critics have called the credit agency corporate welfare that corrupts the free market.

McHenry said the Export-Import Bank is still necessary but does need reforms. “Over the long term, government should get out of subsidizing business, but unfortunately we live in a global marketplace where other governments will not unilaterally disarm.”

China and Europe heavily finance their manufacturers and businesses exporting products worldwide, he said.

“Ideally we wouldn’t be in the export-import business in America, but there are some practical realities we need to face. Injecting reality into the political debate, there are reforms that need to be made to the agency,” the Lake Norman Republican said.

The issues affects not just large corporations, but 85 percent of the Export-Import Bank’s financing is for small business, said Ben Teague, executive director of the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville and Buncombe County. In 2013, the bank approved 3,413 deals for small business.

During the tour, McHenry marveled at the advances in lightweight, super-strong materials that GE Aviation has pioneered. Asheville is the first plant in the world to use the technology in production for new jet

At a third the weight of super-alloy metals and able to handle up to 500 degrees hotter temperatures inside jet engines, CMC parts promise to improve fuel efficiency, saving each modern jet up to $1 million a year in fuel. Better efficiency also means fewer emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

McHenry could feel the difference, hefting a metal part in one hand and the CMC part in another. “That’s amazing,” the congressman said. “This is the only place on the planet where this is happening. It’s really encouraging that this is happening here in Asheville as part of the manufacturing renaissance that America’s experiencing.”

GE Aviation plans to hold a grand opening for the new plant in October. As more CMC parts are developed for jets, production will expand in coming years at the Asheville plant.

While the company has conservatively committed to 52 new jobs for Asheville, more production will likely require even more workers.

“With the backlog we have and as the technology builds, it’s only going to be a matter of time before we outgrow even this building,” said Kelly Walsh, a corporate spokeswoman for GE Aviation.