Boom Supersonic breaks ground on ‘Overture Superfactory’ at Greensboro PTI airport
A year to the day after Boom Supersonic announced that it would open a supersonic jet facility in North Carolina, the company held a groundbreaking ceremony for its “Overture Superfactory” on Thursday at the Piedmont Triad International Airport.
Like last January, Gov. Roy Cooper and Senate leader Phil Berger were on hand in Greensboro to celebrate the development.
Boom, a Colorado-based startup, pledges to employ more than 2,400 people at its “superfactory,” which will sit on a 62-acre campus at the airport. The site will be used for final assembly of Boom’s prospective supersonic airliner, called Overture, as well as for testing and delivering the jet.
“Today’s groundbreaking for the Overture Superfactory represents a significant step forward in building sustainable and accessible supersonic travel for the world,” said company president Kathy Savitt.
Boom believes it has the technology to build a supersonic jet capable of traveling above water at Mach 1.7, or more than 1,300 mph, which is approaching twice the speed of sound. Last month, the company announced a new design team for its Overture engine, rebounding from the collapse of its original partnership with engine designer Rolls-Royce.
North Carolina landed Boom following a long courtship that included periods when state officials assumed the jet company was instead heading to Florida. To lure in Boom, the state and Guilford County offered incentive packages worth more than $121 million if the company hires at least 1,750 people and invests $500 million in the Greensboro site by the end of the decade.
According to public documents reviewed by The News & Observer, competition from the Sunshine State motivated North Carolina officials to appropriate an additional $56 million to construct two aircraft hangars at the Boom site.
“I remember the day that (Boom executives) came to my office in Eden and talked about what could happen here, at this airport, if we did certain things,” Berger said during the groundbreaking ceremony. “And it’s that kind of foresight, that kind of thought process, that results in these kind of results.”
In a statement Thursday, Boom reaffirmed Overture is scheduled to enter production in 2024, and the company hopes the jet gains commercial certification in 2029.
Preparing supersonic workers
Before Cooper made his remarks, he was handed the latest projected model of the Overture.
“We are ready for this to take off,” the governor said to applause.
“It is amazing to see what is happening right now with economic development here in the Triad,” he said. “And I think a key to that success has been clean energy and aeronautics.
In December 2021, a month before Boom’s announcement, Toyota unveiled it would open a $2.5 billion electric battery plant just south of Greensboro in the Randolph County town of Liberty.
For many economic leaders, the training and recruiting of workers for these massive economic projects is an ongoing concern. Boom said it has begun recruiting for its Overture Superfactory and intends to create a 200-student internship for those in North Carolina’s public universities, community colleges, and trade schools that will prepare participants for working on supersonic jets.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Boom Supersonic breaks ground on ‘Overture Superfactory’ at Greensboro PTI airport."
