en.Wedoany.com Reported - JetZero has broken ground on a 600-acre, 8 million-square-foot manufacturing campus in Greensboro, North Carolina. The facility is roughly equivalent to 140 football fields in size.
The California-based company announced a $4.7 billion investment in the production facility in 2024, which is said to create over 14,500 jobs. The plant was co-designed with Siemens' smart infrastructure, electrification, and automation divisions, utilizing digital and industrial artificial intelligence tools. JetZero claims this is the largest economic development project in North Carolina's history.
JetZero has secured investments and conditional purchase agreements from Alaska Airlines and United Airlines for its Z4 aircraft. Designed for the commercial mid-market, the aircraft can accommodate 250 passengers with a range of up to 5,000 nautical miles. The company also holds a contract with the U.S. Air Force to design, test, and integrate the structures and systems of a full-scale blended wing body demonstrator, which is scheduled for its first flight in 2027. JetZero is also developing military variants of its aircraft, including aerial refueling tankers and transports.
The Greensboro plant will be designed using digital and artificial intelligence platforms developed in collaboration with Siemens and Deloitte. These platforms enable engineers to build a complete digital twin of the factory before pouring concrete, used to test how machines, people, and materials move within the building. According to Grand View Research, the global digital twin market was valued at $35.82 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $49.47 billion by 2026. The technology's application in manufacturing, aerospace, and construction is accelerating.
JetZero CEO and co-founder Tom O'Leary stated that by using the best digital tools before breaking ground, they designed a factory that can grow and change together, enabling faster delivery of better aircraft. Siemens USA President and CEO Ann Fairchild noted that the collaboration with JetZero demonstrates how cutting-edge industrial technology can help reindustrialize America, with digital twins helping to bring next-generation manufacturing facilities to life faster and with greater confidence. Siemens is also supporting the design, construction, and testing models for JetZero's demonstrator, for which the company secured a $235 million contract from the Department of Defense in 2023.
JetZero was founded in California in 2021, with investors including United Airlines Ventures and Northrop Grumman. According to the company, its Greensboro facility received the largest state-level incentive package ever offered to a startup in any industry. North Carolina Governor Josh Stein stated that JetZero's choice to build in the state is a vote of confidence in the local workforce, universities, community colleges, and long-standing aerospace tradition. JetZero CEO Tom O'Leary believes that North Carolina's vision for the future as a global aerospace hub aligns with the company's philosophy.
