Avio USA, a subsidiary of Italian aerospace company Avio S.p.A., broke ground on a $500 million manufacturing facility in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, that is projected to create more than 1,500 new jobs.
The facility, located at the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park in Hurt, will span approximately 900,000 square feet and produce solid rocket motors for defense, tactical propulsion, missile systems, and the commercial space sector.
Governor Abigail Spanberger announced the investment in February. The project was secured through the combined efforts of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Staunton River Regional Industrial Facility Authority, Pittsylvania County, the City of Danville, and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance.
James Syring, CEO of Avio USA, said the facility represents an effort to establish an independent supplier for the U.S. defense market. "Our goal is to be an independent, open-source merchant supplier, able to support multiple customers and programs and provide major defense primes with an additional source for this critical capability," Syring said.
Virginia's Talent Accelerator Program, recently recognized as the nation's top customized workforce training program, will support workforce development for the project. Virginia ranked third in CNBC's "America's Top States for Business" rankings earlier this year.