GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – The ever-growing aviation business sector around Piedmont Triad International Airport is growing just a little more.

TAT Piedmont Aviation, which does maintenance repair and overhaul, is investing $12.8 million and bringing in 85 jobs, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office announced in a press release.

This adds more people behind the aviation vendors who work at PTI. Boom Supersonic and HondaJet may get the bigger headlines, but the so-called MRO companies, which include HAECO Americas and Cessna Aircraft, are a big part of the operation.

TAT specializes in auxiliary power units and landing gear systems for major aircraft and serves dozens of manufacturers, including the U.S. Army, Boeing, Airbus, Honeywell, Gulfstream and their neighbors with Honda, Cessna and FedEx.

“With our extensive history in North Carolina and especially Greensboro, we are excited to be able to announce our next growth initiative here in 2023,” TAT General Manager Marty Cervellione said in the release. “With our new APU MRO capabilities and state-of-the-art test facility we are very optimistic for the future growth of our footprint in this area.”

He didn’t specify how and by what date the investment would be made, but TAT’s new positions will pay an average wage of $51,706, the company announced. The state provided a $200,000 performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund to help facilitate TAT Piedmont’s expansion. 

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (AP Photo/Bryan Anderson, File)

“Aviation and aerospace companies of every stripe are choosing North Carolina as the best place to grow their business,” Cooper said in the release. “The state’s investments in workforce training for this industry are really paying off, which is why good employers like Piedmont Aviation continue to expand and grow in North Carolina.”

Cooper twice has been to PTI in the past 15 months to help with the announcement and then the groundbreaking for Boom’s plans to build its passenger jet factor at PTI, and just last week Marshall Aerospace was said to be considering a $50 million investment in Greensboro for a maintenance facility that would bring 240 jobs, which would pay an average of $73,250. Greensboro and Guilford County are considering incentives.

State Sen. Michael Garrett (D-Greensboro)
State Rep. John Faircloth (R-High Point)

But TAT’s announcement showed “there’s no better demonstration that Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad region is a great place to do business,” Rep. John Faircloth (R-High Point) said. “We’re proud that Piedmont Aviation is a growing member of our strong aviation and aerospace industry cluster.”

Said state Sen. Michael Garrett (D-Greensboro), whose district includes PTI:  “Industry expansions like we’ve seen recently don’t happen by accident. Many people and organizations have been working hard behind the scenes for many years to prepare our infrastructure and our workforce systems to support growing aerospace companies like Piedmont Aviation.”