Governor Stein: Why aerospace startups like JetZero are picking North Carolina 

It is common for aerospace companies to time their major announcements around the Paris Air Show. This was the case with JetZero, the US startup developing a revolutionary blended wing body airliner capable of carrying 250 passengers. 

On June 12, 2025, JetZero announced it had selected a site in Greensboro, North Carolina, as the location of its future production facility, a project that is expected to bring more than 14,500 jobs to the state. 

JetZero will join Boom Supersonic, another disruptive aerospace startup which has selected Greensboro as the city in which it will build its clean-sheet supersonic aircraft. 

AeroTime spoke with North Carolina Governor Josh Stein during the Paris Air Show to find out more about what is drawing this new wave of ambitious aircraft makers to his state. 

“We were first in flight, and we are the future of flight,” Stein stated proudly at the start of our conversation, referring to the Wright Brothers’ first ever powered flight, which took place on the beach of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. 

Stein also pointed out that these investments are not happening in a vacuum. North Carolina is currently home to some 400 companies that are active in the aerospace industry, contributing a combined $88 billion to the state’s economy. This includes names such as Honda Jet, GE Aerospace and Pratt & Wittney, in addition to a myriad of other smaller firms that produce a broad range of aerospace parts, components and systems. 

However, all of this pales in comparison to the scale of the latest announcement by JetZero. 

“It is the largest job creation announcement in the history of North Carolina,” Stein said. 

He also explained that North Carolina runs a program to stimulate investment in the state, which includes some conditional support for firms establishing operations. The disbursement of these funds is dependent on the firms hitting some capital investment and job creation goals. 

“If they succeed, we help them to succeed. But if they don’t succeed, our taxpayers don’t lose any money,” he said. 

Stein elaborated further on the JetZero investment. “The way we look at it is that JetZero and the state of North Carolina are now partners, and we want our partner to succeed, because when JetZero succeeds, its thousands of employees succeed, the community of Greensboro succeeds, the state of North Carolina succeeds, and, frankly, so does the whole world.” 

“They [JetZero] are producing an airplane that will consume half the fuel and produce half the emissions compared to a traditional plane, so that’s good for the world.” he added. 

In addition to the financial and institutional support, Stein alluded to one more advantage his state can offer prospective aerospace investors – the weather.  

“We love Seattle, but it rains a lot,” he said. “The weather in North Carolina is always perfect.”  

Stein concluded by referring to yet another element that is essential to the development of a thriving aerospace ecosystem: the availability of a pool of skilled labor. 

“We produce incredible engineers. We have five Tier 1 universities, three of which are engineering schools,” he said. “But we also produce skilled workers. We have the largest manufacturing workforce in the southeast and an excellent community college system that can develop targeted curricula for the unique needs of employers.” 

All of this, Stein said, makes North Carolina a “very attractive” place for corporations to locate themselves. 

If all goes according to plan, JetZero expects to reach full production capacity making 20 aircraft per month at its North Carolina facility by the early 2030s. The post Governor Stein: Why aerospace startups like JetZero are picking North Carolina  appeared first on AeroTime.

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