(The Center Square) – Maintenance and aircraft overhaul for the Fleet Readiness Center East will be supported at the North Carolina Global TransPark in Kinston.
The $15 million a year agreement with the U.S. Navy is 10 years in length and expected to bring 400 jobs to the eastern part of the state. Facilities are expected to be in use by July, with aircraft arriving in the fall.
Additional construction will complete the hangars next summer, providing 17 acres under roof.
“The innovative acquisition strategy the Department of the Navy executed in partnership with the state of North Carolina demonstrates how we can deliver lethal outputs – ready warfighters, platforms, and sustained readiness – at the speed and scale necessary to win our nation’s wars,” said Andy Napoli, U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Assistant Commander. “This hybrid mix of leased facilities and Intergovernmental Support Agreement aviation support services rapidly accelerates the delivery of critical aviation maintenance facilities.”
The TransPark welcomed a temporary move of the Fleet Readiness Center East, and officials say time since has confirmed more efficiency than at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
“This agreement marks a defining moment for the Global TransPark,” said N.C. Global TransPark Board Chairman Tom Hendrickson in a release from first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. “Years from now, we will look back and recognize this partnership with Fleet Readiness Center East as the catalyst for a new era of growth and opportunity.”
The Global TransPark bills itself as a “world-class, 2,500-acre multimodal, industrial and business park.” An 11,500-foot runway and 33,000-square foot composite training center are anchors.
Originally three decades ago, the park was intended for air cargo transport infrastructure and manufacturing facilities. Things didn’t work out, a new vision was hatched, and the aviation and aerospace industry as well as nearby military installations are benefactors.
