JetZero's $450 Million State Incentive Plan

A plan that could provide JetZero with up to $450 million in state incentives over the next six fiscal years is working its way through the N.C. Senate.

JetZero confirmed June 12 it would create at least 14,560 jobs and make a $4.7 billion capital investment using private funds over 10 years at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

In exchange, the State Economic Investment Committee has made JetZero eligible for up to $1.57 billion in direct Job Investment Development grants over a 37-year period.

With House and Senate Republicans at an impasse over the 2025-26 state budget bill, the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget committee applied the gut-and-replace strategy to House Bill 125, which had passed the House with the intent of making the Moravian star the state’s official star.

The bill has been returned to the House for a vote to accept or reject the Senate changes. In this instance, given the expectation that the legislature will end its regular session by the end of the week, it is likely the House will agree with the changes.

All references to the Moravian star and heritage were removed from the bill.

Besides the incentive funds for JetZero, HB125 contains budget funding for agriculture, the UNC System, public health, public safety and law enforcement, public school safety initiatives, Hurricane Helene disaster relief, environmental, state elections, state administrative infrastructure and North Carolina’s programs for the U.S. 250th birthday celebrations in 2026.

The $450 million toward the JetZero project is divided three ways.

N.C. Commerce would receive $118.1 million in incentive funds for fiscal 2025-26 and $133.9 million in fiscal 2026-27.

The money would help the company purchase land and pay for improvements at the project site. An additional $198 million would be provided over the next four fiscal years through 2030-31.

Piedmont Triad Airport Authority would own the JetZero plant site in Greensboro and lease it to the manufacturer.

The airport authority would receive $45 million in fiscal 2025-26 and $50 million in fiscal 2026-27 for work that includes grading, building an access road and adding a taxiway.

The authority would receive an additional $35 million in 2025-26 and $55 million in fiscal 2026-27 toward construction of the JetZero plant that could include erecting the building shell, contractor fees and inspections. The authority would receive an additional $15 million in both 2025-26 and 2026-27 toward purchasing up to 150 acres.

The N.C. Transportation Department would receive $7.9 million in fiscal 2025-26 and $13.7 million in fiscal 2026-27 to spend on roadwork necessary for the project.

An additional $10.4 million over both fiscal years would go toward “renovation costs of, and capital improvements to, an existing airport hub to render it suitable for the project.”

The city of Greensboro would receive $5 million in fiscal 2026-27 for water and sewer improvements to the plant site.

JetZero announced plans for a U.S. manufacturing plant in April, where it would make its Z4 aircraft that is being marketed as the “world’s first commercial blended wing body airplane.”

Plant construction is projected to commence in the first half of 2026. The initial test flight is expected in 2027 and commercial flight service by 2030.

Jobs will include systems and aerospace engineering, supply chain, production workers, administrative and financial, human resources, research and development and customer service.

According to a presentation by the company, JetZero plans to pay an average annual wage of $89,340.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has made JetZero eligible for up to $75.9 million in performance-based incentives over 20 years. The Greensboro City Council approved paying $1,000 In incentives for every job created, which would make for at least a $14.56 million commitment.

High-profile job packages typically include state funding for infrastructure work and workforce training.

The state Economic Investment committee said JetZero will be eligible to receive $113 million from the state utility funding program, $60 million from Golden Leaf Foundation, $32 million in community college workforce training support and $10.7 million in funding from N.C. Division of Workforce Solutions.

Marvin Price, with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, told Guilford commissioners that JetZero will take most of the remaining undeveloped acreage on the airport campus.

JetZero becomes the largest piece in terms of employment commitment at the airport’s aviation megasite cluster that also features Boom Supersonic, Honda Aircraft Co., Marshall Aerospace, FedEx and HAECO.

The aviation publication Leeham News & Analysis reported the proposed JetZero plant will be on a 1,000-acre site with a building about the size of Boeing’s widebody plant in Everett, Washington.

Authority Chairman Graham Bennett confirmed the airport campus has the ability to meet a 1,000-acre request within the remaining undeveloped 4,000 acres.

Next steps for JetZero include securing an engine maker and testing the prototype. JetZero is planning for a monthly production rate of 20 planes when five years into full production.

The aircraft would feature two engines side by side at the rear of the 250-seat aircraft that resembles a stingray.

Rep. Donny Lambeth, R- Forsyth. and sponsor of both Moravian bills, said he was “extremely disappointed” by the gut-and-replacement outcome for HB125 “for the class and students who asked me to do this and write many, many letters of support.”

“But look on the bright side” that the JetZero legislation has been introduced, Lambeth added.