Gov. Abigail Spanberger joined Avio USA leadership in Hurt for the groundbreaking of a $500 million manufacturing plant projected to create more than 1,500 jobs, according to the governor’s office.
The roughly 900,000-square-foot facility at the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park in Pittsylvania County will produce solid rocket motors for defense, tactical propulsion, missile systems and the commercial space sector. Avio USA Inc. is a subsidiary of Italian aerospace company Avio S.p.A.
Spanberger announced the investment in February. In July, she met with Avio leadership in Milan during her administration’s first international economic trade mission.
“This groundbreaking represents what is possible when an innovative company, a skilled workforce, and committed state and local partners come together with a shared vision.”
Spanberger added that the investment will create jobs, advance critical manufacturing capabilities and strengthen Virginia’s standing as a destination for aerospace and defense growth.
“Avio USA is building more than a manufacturing facility in Virginia,” said James Syring, the company’s CEO. “We are building an American company and workforce that can bring Avio’s proven propulsion expertise to the U.S. defense market.”
The company aims to become an independent, open-source merchant supplier that can serve multiple customers and programs and give major defense primes an additional source for rocket motors, Syring said. In his view, that approach would bring more capacity, more competition and greater resilience to the American rocket motor supply chain.
Syring also thanked the commonwealth, the Town of Hurt, Pittsylvania County, the Department of War and the company’s customers for their support.
Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery described the groundbreaking as the result of years of preparation that gave Virginia the site, workforce and aerospace and defense expertise needed to attract the company. She called the project the continuation of a long-term partnership to help Avio USA build its plant and hire workers.
“Virginia is committed to being a stable and reliable partner along that journey,” Chenery said.
The state secured the project through the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Staunton River Regional Industrial Facility Authority, Pittsylvania County, the City of Danville and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance. The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission also took part.
The governor’s office also noted Virginia’s recent rise to No. 3 in CNBC’s “America’s Top States for Business” rankings.
The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program will support the project’s workforce needs. Business Facilities ranked the program the nation’s top customized workforce training program for the fourth consecutive year, according to the governor’s office.
