TRANSPARK'S PAINT PUSH.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: STATEWIDE: East

A new tenant that paints and refurbishes aircraft says it will help attract other businesses to the North Carolina Global TransPark in Lenoir County. LGM Enterprises, a jet-charter service owned by Kinston native Jim Segrave, is launching Jetstream Aviation at a new 32,000-square-foot facility.

"We think we can use this project as bait to recruit other [maintenance and repair operators]" that benefit from being near an electrostatic paint and coating plant, says Allen Thomas, the TransPark's executive director.

Funding for the $10.5 million project, which will include two hangars and offices, comes from a variety of sources, including nearly $5 million in private investment and bank financing; $2 million from the N.C. Department of Transportation Division of Aviation; and $1 million from the TransPark's foundation.

LGM says it expects to create 145 jobs over the next few years. It had considered a Missouri site before selecting Lenoir County. If those job goals are met, the state has offered as much as $2.3 million in incentives over 12 years.

Segrave started a private-jet charter business in Kinston in 2000, then sold it a decade later to Delta Air Lines for an undisclosed sum. After his noncompete agreement expired, he founded LGM and its flyExclusive service, which now has nearly 40 Cessna Citation jets that can haul six to nine passengers each. LGM expects to add another 10 or so jets this year, Thomas says.

As commercial airports become more congested, private jet service is increasingly in demand by...