Airplane manufacturing plant coming to Elizabethtown

ELIZABETHTOWN, N.C. (WECT) - The Town of Elizabethtown announced on Sept. 13 that a grant has been awarded to build a 40,736 square-foot publicly owned facility for aerospace manufacturing at the Elizabethtown Industrial Park.

The NC Department of Commerce awarded a $4.4-million Community Development Block Grant for the work.

Gov. Roy Cooper announced back in February that Bladen County will be the home of the fifth U.S.-owned general aviation manufacturer in the country.

“According to Elizabethtown Town Manager Dane Rideout, this grant announcement is the next step in establishing the headquarters, manufacturing facility, and maintenance operations for Vulcanair North America at the Elizabethtown Corporate Airpark located at the Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Airfield (KEYF). Vulcanair North America will begin producing the Vulcanair V1.0 aircraft, which has been in production in Italy since the late 1960s,” a town announcement states.

Sovereign Aerospace-Bladen COO Ken Hadaway says the Vulcanair V1.0 aircraft is a small four-seat trainer aircraft used by flight schools and private businesses. The facility will be able to produce 96 aircraft per year with a total cost of delivery for each aircraft at about $450,000.

“Hadaway also noted that the manufacturing facility will ultimately create over 100 jobs with an average salary of $56,061 in areas like manufacturing, warehouse receiver & dispatch, A&P mechanics, structural technicians, avionics installers, Aircraft Inspectors (IA), sales, entry-level apprenticeship to engineers, pilots, and others.