►
Description
The press conference unveiling Buncombe County's Project X with General Electric Aviation. It took place on Monday, June 17th, 2013.
A
Thank
you
all
for
coming
here
today
now
that
I
think
everyone's
here
and
we've
got
a
lot
of
good
stuff
to
talk
about
so
we'll
go
ahead
and
get
started.
If
that's
okay,
this
is
a
great
day
for
asheville
and
buncombe
county,
I'm
paul
zurich,
I'm
the
board
chairman
of
the
economic
development
coalition
for
asheville
and
buncombe
county
the
edc.
A
A
A
A
A
We,
but
we
are
before
we
go.
We
are
very
grateful
for
the
exceptional
efforts
of
many
people
who
made
it
possible
for
us
to
celebrate
this
opportunity
today
and
I'd
like
to
thank
some
of
those
people
now,
first
and
foremost,
the
community
thanks
the
staff
and
employees
of
ge
aviation
glad
so
many
of
you
are
in
the
in
the
audience
today.
A
We
thank
you
very
much.
We're
also
thankful
to
our
buncombe
county
delegation
in
the
state
house
of
representatives
in
the
north
carolina
senate
for
their
support.
They
are
all
in
raleigh
in
session
this
afternoon,
but
if
you
see
them,
please
thank
them.
Senator
tom
apodaca,
senator
martin
nesbitt
representative
susan
fisher,
representative,
tim
moffat
and
representative
nathan
ramsey.
A
A
We
have
a
number
of
members
of
the
edc
staff
here.
Some
of
them
are
not
here,
they're,
actually
out
trying
to
acquire
new
clients
for
the
new
new
companies
for
the
community,
but
we
do
have
kit
kramer,
president
of
the
asheville
chamber,
kit,
ben
teague,
who
is
not
here,
tim
lampkin,
our
director
of
industry
retention
and
expansion
and
various
other
staff
from
the
edc,
laura
johnson,
desiree
monstrella.
And
if
I
miss
anybody,
I'm
sorry,
but
please
give
them.
Please
give
them
a
hand.
These
people
work
incredibly
hard.
A
And
and
now
it's
my
distinct
honor
and
privilege
to
introduce
some
champions
for
this
project
advocates
for
the
people
of
buncombe
county
and
their
their
team
and
staff.
Here,
please
give
let
me
introduce
them
and
let's
give
them
a
warm
welcome,
mike
kaufman
supply
chain
manager
for
ge
aviation
and
randy
hobbs
ge
aviation
supply
chain,
strategic
leader.
B
Thank
you
paul.
Well,
I
didn't
get
a
chance
to
be
in
paris
today,
but
I
can
assure
you
I
would
have
much
rather
been
right,
where
I
am
here
in
asheville,
north
carolina
and
buncombe
county
so
good
afternoon.
What
an
exciting
day,
as
paul
said,
my
name
is
mike
kaufman.
I
lead
the
rotating
parts
manufacturing
for
ge
aviation,
which
three
of
those
manufacturing
sites
reside
right
here
in
north
carolina,
wilmington
west
jefferson,
in
our
very
own
asheville
plant
here
today.
B
While
we're
all
excited
about
the
investment
in
the
jobs
and
the
economic
growth.
You
should
also
be
immensely
proud
of
your
commute
that
your
community
will
be
the
home
of
the
most
highly
technical
and
cutting
edge
propulsion
innovation
in
the
world.
This
technology
will
change
commercial
aviation
and
you
will
be
the
team
to
make
it
happen.
B
B
B
That's
what
guides
us
every
day
with
this
project,
asheville
will
truly
be
able
to
say
you
are
inventing
the
future
of
flight
and
rightly
claim
your
place
among
the
greatest
communities
to
contribute
to
aviation
history,
and
while
we
literally
while
we
literally
run
a
business
that
enables
people
to
be
lifted
up
in
the
air,
we
find
a
dual
meaning.
In
that
purpose,
we
take
seriously
our
responsibility
to
lift
up
our
people
and
our
communities.
B
B
B
B
We
put
them
in
the
unenviable
position
of
selling
a
large
project
to
the
public
and
not
even
telling
them
who
it
was
for
or
what
it
would
be
tall
order,
but
I
can
assure
you
that
secrecy
was
only
to
preserve
the
anonymity
of
one
of
the
most
exciting
announcements
to
bring
buncombe
county
to
the
world
stage
at
the
paris
air
show
my
personal
thanks
to
wanda
green
ben
teague,
paul
shurick,
the
commissioners,
council,
men
and
women,
mayor
bellamy
and
our
neighbors
old
dominion
who
are
graciously
vacating.
So
we
can
put
a
facility
here.
B
C
C
As
mike
hardy
said,
the
mayor
mayor,
terry
bellamy
today
is
in
paris,
but
I
got
the
better
job
of
being
here
with
you
to
help
make
this
exciting
announcement
with
me
today
is
fellow
councilmember
mark
hunt
as
well
as
several
of
our
staff
members.
Our
city
manager,
gary
jackson,
is
here
sam
powers
with
our
economic
development,
jeff
richardson,
making
sure
I
know
exactly
what
I'm
doing
today.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
all
for
being
here,
as
well
as
the
other
city
of
asheville
employees
that
are
here.
C
C
The
city
also
appreciates
ge's
investment
in
the
workforce
in
this
region.
It
is
good
business
to
invest
in
the
people
of
asheville
and
western
north
carolina,
and
for
our
part,
it
is
good
governance
to
support
leaders
like
ge
aviation,
whose
contributions
have
such
an
impact
on
our
economic
vitality,
the
quality
of
life
of
our
residents
and
future
generations.
C
Thank
you
mike
and
to
every
ge
aviation
employee
here
today
for
the
hard
work,
creativity,
long
hours
and,
above
all,
for
your
confidence
in
this
community.
We
look
forward
to
a
very
bright
future
as
home
to
the
newest
flagship
facility
in
the
ge
aviation
family
and
as
a
small
token
of
our
appreciation
from
the
city
manager's
office.
I
have
a
beautiful
picture
of
city
hall
when
it
doesn't
have
scaffolding
all
around
it
like
it
does
today.
Thank
you.
D
Hi,
I
am
mark
hunt,
asheville
city
council,
member,
proud
colleague,
of
esther's,
and
there
are
not
many
days
where
I'm
able
to
be
as
proud
as
I
am
today
and
is
honored
to
be
part
of
this.
The
introduction
of
cmc
is
actually
nationally
internationally
significant
and
it's
going
to
be
transformative
to
the
national
economy,
the
local
economy,
especially-
and
that's
what
I
really
love.
D
Over
12
months
ago,
the
ge
aviation
shared
with
those
of
us
involved
in
economic
development,
here
very
tightly
guarded
plans
to
invest
in
ground
in
the
groundbreaking
cmc
technologies
that
would
transform
the
aviation
industry.
Just
as
high
precision
metal
working
did
generations
ago,
they've
revealed
their
plans
to
invest
billions
of
dollars
in
in
this
new
materials
technology
way
ahead
of
the
competition.
D
The
investment
in
cmc
manufacturing
the
reinvestment
in
this
comp,
this
incredible
workforce
that
you
are
the
care
and
respect
for
the
hard-working
employees
of
ge
aviation
here
in
nashville,
is
corporate
responsibility
at
its
very
best.
The
city
of
asheville
is
proud
to
call
you
a
partner.
Thank
you.
So
much.
E
Ladies
and
gentlemen,
my
name
is
holly
jones
and
I
am
honored
to
be
here,
as
vice
chair
of
the
board
of
county
commissioners,
to
recognize
a
really
a
once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.
With
ge
aviation,
few
employers
can
match
the
seven
decade
legacy
of
ge
aviation,
going
back
to
your
roots
as
nci
and
smith
aerospace.
E
It's
really
raining
out
there,
isn't
it.
I'm
gonna,
take
a
note
to
not
touch
the
metal
myself,
but
this.
This
economic
development
announcement
today
has
been
called
transformational,
which
generally
means
a
project,
may
have
a
lasting
impact
on
a
part
of
town
or
perhaps
part
of
a
local
economy
economy.
But
the
opportunity
for
this
project
is
transformational
in
a
global
sense.
E
E
E
Using
cmc
materials
can
reduce
fuel
consumption
by
15,
resulting
in
an
annual
and
annual
fuel
savings
of
over
1
million
dollars
per
plane.
For
some
context,
if
each
of
the
723
aircraft
in
the
delta
fleet,
for
example,
were
powered
by
the
new
ge
aviation
jet
engine
with
cmc
components,
they
could
realize
savings
of
some
723
million
dollars
per
year
in
fuel
cost
alone.
E
F
Good
afternoon,
commissioner,
joe
belcher-
and
I
was
glad
to
be
relieved
that
ms
hawley
got
finished,
because
where
I'm
sitting
there's
a
drip,
that's
it
it's
right
there.
So
I'm
not
worried
about
hanging
on
to
the
podium.
Now
that
I
got
out
of
the
wet
sea.
But,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
this
is
indeed
a
great
day
for
buncombe
county
community
and
for
american
manufacturing.
F
F
I
know
the
city
joins
the
people
and
the
leadership
of
buncombe
county
and
pledging
our
strong
and
continued
partnership
to
see
this
process
through
and
ensure
your
success
in
western
north
carolina
for
generations
to
come.
Now.
I'm
delighted
to
introduce
a
respected
leader
and
a
powerful
advocate
for
the
employees
and
community,
the
general
manager
of
ge
aviation
asheville,
michael
mcguire,.
G
Wow
so
guys,
I'm
michael
mcguire,
the
plant
leader
here
in
asheville
and
man.
I
tell
you
I
am
about
to
explode
with
pride
right
now.
You
guys
this.
This
is
it's
just
a
fantastic
team
and
I
cannot
tell
you
how
proud
I
am
to
be
a
part
of
it.
You
know
this
team
team
consists
of
300
employees
that
are
talented.
G
They
are
extremely
intelligent,
hard-working
and
dedicated,
and
it's
a
great
team
to
be
on,
but
this
team
is
also
not
just
made
up
of
our
employees,
but
it's
made
up
of
this
local
community
and
paul.
I
think
you
made
the
comment
earlier
that
that
the
the
local
community
shouldn't
reach
out
to
our
employees
and
shake
their
hands.
Well,
I'm
telling
my
team
when
you
see
your
local
officials
reach
out
to
them.
Thank
them
because
we
did
this
as
a
team.
G
It
was
a
great
collaborative
effort
by
all
groups,
employees
and
asheville,
local
buncombe,
county
city
and
state.
So
it
really
was
not
just
one
group.
It
was
all
of
us.
So
congratulations
to
the
employees.
You
know
the
the
site
selection
process
was
was
pretty
intense.
You
know
they
were.
There
were
12
or
so
states,
they
were
competing
and
you
know
we
really
had
one
differentiating
attribute
and
as
you
guys
that
are
out
there
right
now
so
again
it's
it's
that.
G
It's
that
it's
that
innovative
spirit
of
our
employees
that
have
endured
years
of
transformation
from
company
to
company
changing
products
and
yet
we're
gonna
we're
embarking
on
this
totally
new
and
different
change,
and
it's
about
to
be
very,
very,
very
exciting.
You
know
our
employees
most
a
lot
of
them
have
been
around
for
decades
and
they're
about
their
families,
they're
about
their
communities
and
they're
about
growing
and
seeing
their
children
work
in
a
place
like
ge,
asheville
and
their
children's
children.
G
So
you
know
we
gave
someone
gave
analogy
the
last
couple
of
days,
the
fact
that
we're
embarking
on
this
technology-
that's
changing
our
industry
all
together,
like
years
ago
as
we
went
from
wood,
props
and
components
to
aluminum
and
metals.
Well,
that's
what
we're
doing
today
we're
moving
from
nickel
based
alloys
and
and
titanium
to
really
cmcs.
G
You
know
the
discussions
of
cmcs
are
really
not
out
there
and
and
that's
the
biggest
part
that
they
missed,
but
the
second
part
is
our
employees.
This
is
the
reason
we're
here
and
I
want
to
thank
for
all
you
guys
for
every
effort
you
do.
Thank
you
know
you
should
be
proud
of
this
and
thank
your
local
community
and
then.
Lastly,
you
know
congratulations
to
north
carolina,
buncombe,
county
and
asheville,
because
potentially
could
have
just
took
the
biggest
fish
in
our
entire
industry.
So
thank
you
very
much.
A
Thank
you
yeah.
I
think
everyone
got
a
sense
of
the
type
of
people
we
were
working
with
here
and
why
it
was
a
pleasure
working
with
them
throughout
this
process
very
difficult
process.
I
tell
you,
I
know
the
rain
may
seem
inconvenient,
but
I'm
from
west
texas,
where
we
get
about
six
inches
of
rain
a
year.