Honda will lay out its intention today
 

Honda this morning is expected to announce a jet engine plant in Burlington, cementing the state at the center of the Japanese automaker's aviation strategy. Honda has scheduled an 11 a.m. news conference at Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport. Company officials and local and state leaders declined to divulge details in advance. But the company for months has looked at the area for a site to build a plant -- in partnership with GE Aviation -- for a new line of jets that are lighter and more efficient than traditional models. The facility is expected to employ as many as 70 workers. The announcement "will be significant," said Mac Williams, president of the Alamance County Area Chamber of Commerce. The implications are broader than the employment totals indicate. Honda's decision to build the engines in Burlington, about 60 miles northwest of Raleigh, would make North Carolina integral to its foray into aviation. Honda in February agreed to build a $100 million facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro to make the jets and house the aircraft division's global headquarters. The only question that remained: Where would it make the engines? "I hope they come," said Rep. Cary Allred, an Alamance County Republican who owns a Honda motorcycle dealership. "Honda makes the best stuff on earth." Even so, Allred has been critical of the recruiting process. Last month, he revealed the negotiations, usually shrouded in secrecy, after the publisher of The Alamance News was arrested for refusing to leave a meeting that officials shut to the public to discuss the project. Local leaders have authorized $11 million in loans to expand and improve the airport for economic development. And state incentives could be awarded. Honda got as much as $6.68 million in grants to go to Greensboro. Beyond the incentives, the site likely makes sense for operational reasons. GE Aviation has a plant in Durham where it makes engines for jetliners. And Honda has a plant in Swepsonville, also in Alamance County, that makes engines for lawn mowers and other equipment.

Source: [url=http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/639607.html]News & Observer[/url]