First in flight components.

• Position: Western

Evendale, Ohio-based GE Aviation says it has developed something that will change the jet-engine industry, and it has chosen Asheville as the place to produce it. As part of a $195 million investment in its four North Carolina plants, the unit of Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co. will build a factory in the city to make ceramic airplane-engine components. The supposed benefits are lighter, more durable engines that cost less to operate. The state approved $9.9 million of incentives for the four projects to go along with $10.7 million of local incentives. To collect the state money, the company must meet its investment goal and add 242 to its roughly 1,300 North Carolina workers over the next five years. The new jobs have an average annual wage of $47,942.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"We have mutually decided that it is in the best interest of both parties to part ways."

--Jan Jones Blackhurst, spokeswoman for Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corp. The company ended its relationship with Paula Deen after the celebrity cook admitted to using a racial slur. Paula Deen's Kitchen at Harrah's Cherokee Casino, which Caesars operates, will be rebranded.

Source: Asheville Citizen-Times

RELATED ARTICLE: Investment by site

Asheville

Investment $38 million ($125 million by 2024)

Current jobs 290

Added jobs 52

Details Construction of a...